Nathaniel

To put it simply, things are not going according to plan. Which honestly, is to be expected in the chaos of war. If every strategy went off without a hitch, there wouldn’t even be any wars. It would all be just one side curb stomping the other as they are unable to fight back.

At the airport, everything admittedly went quite well. We managed to take out several high-priority targets, killed a couple tens of thousands of Goblins, and even managed to safely retreat without suffering a single casualty. An amazing win by every metric if you ignore the fact that we had to sacrifice an incredibly valuable location in the process, though if what we have been hearing over the radio is true, then the airport’s value as a Forward Operations Base has gone down quite a bit, considering that the most of the city has been destroyed now by Lain and the Goblin’s Leader fighting.

The whole point of the place was to act as our spearhead into operations for retaking the city, but if the city is destroyed now… Well, the reports we are receiving over the radio from our drone operators are spotty at best that far north now. With the storm brewing overhead, they can’t get clear images of what is going on over there anymore without risking the drones, and we only have so many of them left.

Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and there might still be something left of the city for us after this is all over… Ah, who am I kidding, it’s probably all rubble by now…

Regardless of the state of the city and our plans for it, our current plans aren’t going well.

Originally, the plan was to head back towards base and then strike the Goblins from their flank as we make our way back into the safety of the walls. What we hadn’t accounted for was just how fast the Goblins would manage to get there.

We had hoped that the little green creatures wouldn’t arrive till the next morning, even if they traveled through the night, but we had seriously underestimated their ability to cover ground. They had all ran, without rest or stopping once, to reach our walls, only stopping once they ran face first into our defenses and were forced to come to a grinding stop so they could siege our northern wall.

Meanwhile, those of us moving south from the FO where stuck to a hard march, forced to move at the pace of our slowest to keep everyone safe. Not everyone who was stationed there is a hardened soldier that can trek for miles through harsh forested environments, let alone in the winter.

We had to takes breaks, do head counts for the nearly two hundred people to make sure that no one goes missing in the wilderness, stop to perform scouting runs to make sure that we wouldn’t be walking face first into danger, and despite the war going on, or because of it, we still had the old threat of wandering monsters to worry about. The last thing we needed was to worry about having some several hundred-ton monstrosity plowing its way through a group of engineers or have people randomly go missing by getting snatched away by giant bats or mauled by a family of hungry racoons.

Soldiers were tense, surrounding our noncombatant and those hauling supplies on all sides as we fast marched our way through dangerous territory and a few feet of snow.

For us Demons, the Lieutenant Colonel didn’t hesitate to use us extensively. Scouting missions, monster elimination, and even just for tearing down trees or tossing aside vehicles to clear a path or make quick impromptu bridges for people to be able to cross creeks safely.

To make a long story short, it took a while to get back to base safely, and while us Demons could have made the trip in not even half the time, we had no intention of just leaving everyone to fend for themselves. Our mission was to get everyone back home, and we did it.

Except, now, because we unfortunately arrived late, we now can’t get back inside because there is an army of hundreds of thousands of freaking Goblins slammed against our defenses, demanding to be let in.

From where we are currently hiding in the woods, far from the combat and the rain of artillery, the Goblins have reached the wall in some areas and are trying to climb or destroy it, but are being held back desperately by soldiers and guards manning the wall, wielding both firearms and even spears to force back the little green invaders from climbing up. When they get to be too bad, the men throw bundles of razor wire over the wall to tangle up the little menaces and leave them screaming. In other areas, the Goblin lines are continuing to spread out, a network of trenches growing out along the side of the wall from which more charges sally out to try and attack reach the wall, forcing our people to further spread out their defenses.

In many parts of the trenches, large boulders and even magical attacks are sent flying to strike the wall, tearing into the steel coverings that protect the construction of wooden scaffoldings and thick log posts that make up the body of the wall. In some parts, the wall is already starting to fall apart from the abuse, people working quickly and desperately to repair the damaged sections or keep them standing by parking large industrial vehicles against its body to keep it all together and standing.

“Really not looking good…” I say as I am looking through binoculars at the ongoing siege.

“Yeah, no shit. I had really hoped they could hold for longer, but I guess there is only so much you can do against sheer numbers and bullshit magic.” Sam comments beside me.

“Mmm, still, not like this is our only line of defense, but it would definitely suck to lose the wall. It takes a lot of effort to claim these expansions and we finally got some new farms started out here.”

“Yeah, but we’ll take it back. Just have to get these damn Goblins off our land first. Well, at least the ones that Lain says aren’t allowed to be here...”

I choose not to comment on the fact that we both know that Lain is probably planning on keeping some of the Goblins for herself or on how I personally feel about it. It’s weird, but, my instinct are just telling me that it is only natural for her to take them over if we win. The spoils of war go to the victor, and the losers must fall in line…

Shaking my head, I push aside those thoughts. “Mhm… Let’s head back and report. We need to get these people back inside before we start losing them to the cold.”

“Yeah, no shit. It’s fucking cold out here.” Sam curses as she pulls her blanket around herself.

Crawling away from our vantage point, we then turn and run back to camp.

“How are you holding up by the way? Sin not acting up too bad, is it?”

“Considering that I’m not trying to rip your clothes off? Yeah, I’m keeping it under control for now. Just don’t run in front of me so I can’t stare at your ass, ok?”

“Got it…”

I want to joke about how good looking my butt is now, because it is good looking, damn near perfect you might even say, but I know that this probably isn’t something I should joke about. I’ve seen how much her Sin hurts her. Even if she is normally a weird person and usually a perve by her own volition, being forced against your will to feel a certain way, when you don’t want to, can’t be pleasant.

It would be easy to write it off and laugh. Haha, your cursed so where the cold makes you horny, but when I really think about it, it is still quite horrifying.

Lain’s forces her into anger, which is obviously not great, but what if there was one that forced you to feel joy? At first glance, much like getting horny, it wouldn’t seem all that bad. But what about when those emotions are pushed to a point of being uncontrollable? Just like how Sam had screamed hysterically and was out of her mind with lust after being frozen, what would it be like for someone with too much joy, too much sadness, too much fear, or apathy, or any other feeling or desire for that matter?

It would be horrifying. To have your mind running out of your control and flooding with feelings that you can’t hold back, your actions influence beyond your will simply because some arbitrary condition is met…

What will mine be? I think I am starting to figure out what it might be. From how I acted when I faced that Shadow Mage… I think mine might end up being Pride, but what will the conditions be? What will it do to me? I’m honestly scared to find out, but I can’t stop moving forward now. I have already stalled long enough, and because of that, Lain is having to fight all on her own. I could have been out there helping her, I could have been stronger. Even now, in this siege, if I had magic of my own, I could be doing even more.

I was the first. Lain’s first Demon, her first Fiend, the very first that she had ever changed. I should be the strongest, but at this rate Sam will pass me by. Hell, even Frank is bigger and stronger than me. I can’t let this keep going like this. I need to become better. I need to be her best, her number one.

...

It doesn’t take long for us to get back to camp, forcing me to switch gears and force my mind back onto the mission. Soldiers are on guard all around the perimeter, protecting a grouping of tents and supplies, all our noncombatants safely protected in the middle as they wait for things to get moving again. They look both worried and hopeful, knowing that they are close to being back home again, but also that they are not out of danger yet.

Working in the center of camp is the Lieutenant Colonel and his staff, radios set up on crates as makeshift tables, communications going back and forth, and updates are given.

Arriving before the man, we don’t bother with snapping a salute, old training saying that that is a good way to get your superior’s head blown off by a sniper.

“Report.” He says without looking up, his eyes firmly on the maps before him.

“Sir, it’s not looking good. The wall is getting hit hard and it is only a matter of time until it is breached, some parts are already falling apart and are being reinforced. We couldn’t see any way of reaching the north gate from here, combat is too heavy there.”

He nods his head. “Alright then. We can’t get back in through the east gate, they are also busy fighting off monsters and even if we did, we would have a long walk to get back and reinforce the north wall. They will probably have breached by then… Going in through the west is obviously impossible, we would have to cut straight through the enemy forces. Alright, we are pushing our way through the front then.” He says resolutely.

I blink at this. “But sir, the gate is under siege. We would get shot by own guns before we ever make it?”

“Then we don’t go through the gate, but the wall. Did you see anywhere that we could fit through? Any openings in the wall that we could use ourselves?”

Sam speaks up at that, stepping forward to point at a section of wall on the map. “Sir, the Goblins catapults had collapsed this section here. To plug the hole, they parked a road roller against the wall, sir.”

He nods looking down at the map and the hastily drawn lines that most likely represents the enemy’s trenches.

“Good, then we are going through there. Lieutenant, call it in and make sure that they are ready for us to come in. I want that road roller ready to move the moment we get there. That’s our new gate.” He says to one of the men at the radios. Turning to us, he continues. “You are going to act as our vanguard. Cut through the enemy and lead us to the wall, understand?”

“Yes sir!” We both respond.

He quickly dismisses us and then starts shouting out orders for everyone to get ready to move. Camp is quickly put away, supplies gathered, and everyone moved into formation with noncombatants comfortably tucked in the middle of over a hundred soldiers with rifles aimed outward and ready to fight. Frank and Xander quickly join Sam and I near the front, and when the order is given, we all move out.

Arriving at the exit to the woods, I can practically feel the nerves of those behind us growing tighter. We are about to run across a battlefield, and it isn’t guaranteed that everyone will make it. They can hear the gunfire and the explosives, the sounds of boulders impacting the wall, the screaming of thousands of Goblins, and they know that they about to be in the thick of it.

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From here, I can clearly see our destination, where the giant yellow road roller is currently parked and holding up a section of the wall. As soon as we are through, we are going to have to fight to hold that opening. I can also see the back of our enemy. They are in the trenches, facing towards our defenses as they wait for their own orders to charge forward.

The order comes and we move forward, a group of nearly two hundred running across the clearing and toward the first trench with us four Demons leading the charge. We run as quietly as we can, no war cries giving us away. The enemy doesn’t see us until we are jumping into their own trench, crushing a few of the little green people under foot as we land on them.

Before they can even realize what is happening, Frank and I are unloading down the line of the trench with our LMGs, gunning down and clearing the trench of every Goblin we can see until the turn of the trench’s walls. Within moments, the place is cleared, and people are able to start jumping in, soldiers taking up position to hold back any more from coming back. And they do, it isn’t long until more Goblins come to try and fill the trenches as they move through its networks, but instead of finding more of their kin, they instead find the barrel of a gun.

People keep moving, not staying for long before climbing over the other side and running for the next trench to dive in. Sam and Xander take the second one, jumping in first to clear it while Frank and I move to escort the people to the next. Like this we leapfrog our way from trench to trench, not stopping as we all run to reach the wall as quickly as possible. The defenders see us coming and wave for us to keep running, cheering for us to rejoin them as floodlights are moved to illuminate our path and the defenders aim to gun down anything that tries to stop us.

And inevitably, they do try to stop us. A group of two hundred humans cutting though their forces is too much for the Goblins not to notice, and it isn’t long until they are swarming to try and stop us from escaping their midst.

Shooting as they run, the soldiers spray any Goblins that get too close, moving from trench to trench as they fight to both run and maintain formation at the same time, lest those they are protecting get exposed. Moving like a single amoeba with poisonous needles aimed outward in every direction, the group moves at a stop and go pace of holding and sprinting from trench to trench, from cover to cover, pushing back any attacker with deadly force as they draw closer.

From up front, us Demons continue to push through and clear, cutting through swaths of enemies to force our way through like the wedge of an axe through wood.

Our surprisingly smooth progress is suddenly cut short as a fireball hits the group, several soldiers going up in flames as they scream and others getting thrown aside from the blast. People panic at the attack, but the soldiers are quick to take charge as orders start getting thrown around. Noncombatants and wounded are grabbed and dragged into the nearest trench, supply crates immediately become cover, and everyone hunkers down to wait and hold position.

We move, not needing to be ordered to know what our job is. Frank and I peel off from the group and head for where the fireball originated, while Sam and Xander move to protect and intercept in case of another mage showing up.

Sprinting into the mage’s Field, we hardly buckle under their pressure, instantly knowing that they are far weakier than most of the others we have met so far. And that proves to be true when we find her cowering behind a boulder. She peeks out from cover to throw another attack towards the group, but pales when she sees the two of us barreling towards her, two Demons more twice her size, simply plowing through her forces to head straight towards her.

Cursing something out in Goblin, she screams and throws the attack at us, but we easily dodge and then are on top of her position. She tries to flee, even throwing up a shield of fire to stop our bullets from gunning her down, but when she turns to look over her shoulder, she pales in fright and trips to the mud-covered ground.

Frank had stopped to pick up her cover, ripping the massive boulder, about three meters thick, out of the mud and lifting it above his head. She tries to crawl away and get back up to her feet, but before she can turn and run, Frank had already thrown the boulder. It arcs through the air and lands on her, crushing her flat into the mud as she screams. Her Field immediately dies with her as the boulder sinks into the mud, her body buried underneath.

I don’t comment on the brutality of it. It had saved us the effort of chasing her down and killing her with our bare hands, so I won’t complain. Instead, I call into my radio as Frank is gunning down any Goblins that tries to get close.

“Mage is dead, keep moving! We’re on our way back! Come on Frank, let’s move!”

The group starts moving and we are quick to catch up, but we had remained in one place for too long. The delay had given the enemy enough time to catch up and move to attack us. Our retreat to the wall is cut short again at the final stretch as more mages arrive to attack us, Hobgoblins riding on mutated dogs sallying out in a calvary charge of several dozen drooling mutts, hungry for flesh.

We hunker down, readying to weather the attack as our forces on the wall fight to protect us. With the four of us, we could head out and hunt down the mages, but that would leave them exposed to the dogs. From the next trench over, a war horn blows, and more Goblins climb out to charge at our position.

And then, before the dogs can get close, and before the charging hordes can reach us, a wall of ice shoots up from the ground and surrounds us on three sides, an incoming fireball splashing against the translucent wall and showing though as nothing more than a splash of orange light through the ice, not even cracking as it shrugs off the blast.

A familiar Field washes over us, and I immediately know who did this. Turning around, I find our prisoners, the Hobgoblin women huddled up together with Gra looking incredibly irritable, as if she was just forced to do something she hates or like she just swallowed a nasty bug.

The Lieutenant Colonel is quick to work with this, not letting the suddenly appearing wall slow him down, but instead taking advantage of the situation. He orders for everyone to run.

Gra just looks resigned as she waves her one good arm, causing the ice walls to grow and meet up with the north wall, forming a corridor for us to run through.

Everyone hauls ass, racing to get back to safety as fireballs and spears of other magics slam into Gra’s ices walls from every side. As we move, I run up to Gra as she is running with her little friend holding hands. Her little friend doesn’t seem like she is enjoying all this running very much, but other than that, isn’t really looking bothered by all the combat.

“Thanks for the walls! Why did you help us?” I ask as we run.

She turns to me, looking absolutely pissed. “I had no choice! The contract prevents me from running away, and doing nothing apparently would have counted as trying to escape! How the fuck does this contract thing even work!? And now, because I helped you, my siblings now all know that I am a traitor!!! Ahhhhh, this sucks! Lain owes me after this, you hear me, Demon!? You master owes me big!”

“Ehh… got it…”

The road roller is moved aside, and everyone is quick to run through the gap in the wall, getting welcomed inside by the waiting soldiers and guards that are relieved to see old friends returning to safety. Some small trouble comes when the prisoners try to enter, scaring the guards into aiming rifles at them, but all it takes is us stepping between them to block their view. They quickly get the idea not to shoot the prisoners when four Demons, ranging from seven to nine feet tall, are physically blocking them. The order is quickly spread to not shoot at the Hobgoblin girls wearing army jackets, and then we move on because we have work to do. The wall isn’t safe yet, and just because we are inside, it doesn’t mean that we get to rest.

The Lieutenant Colonel is quick to bark out orders. Soldiers are to reinforce the wall. Noncombatants are given jobs where they can, like repairing damage or putting out fires, and the LC takes his staff to fall back to a command position where he can oversee operations. He decides to take the prisoners with him, so the last we see of the three Hobgoblin girls is them getting into the back of a Humvee, looking very confused about what it is, and promptly screaming when it starts moving suddenly.

Us Demons are given our job as well and are quick to move. Some sections of the wall are getting hit harder than others and we need to help. We move, sprinting at top speed to get there as quickly as possible. Sam and Xander break off when they reach areas that need them, and Frank follows shortly after, peeling off to leap up onto the wall and punch a boulder away before it can break the wall. I keep moving, getting news about a mage wrecking a tower and causing chaos.

It doesn’t take long until I reach that section, the area made obvious by the sheer chaos unfolding here. The soldiers are barely holding on and, in some areas, goblins are breaking through or climbing over the wall to attack people or run off into the fields towards the base. The situation has devolved so much that most of the remaining men are fighting using knives or spears to stab at the little hellions. And at the center of it all, dancing like a ballerina on a stage, is a Hobgoblin woman with curly hair that bounces with her every spin. She is laughing maniacally as she spins and spins like a little tornado, wind flying in every direction and sending people flying or punching dents into surrounding objects. With a slash of her hand, a blade of wind leaves a gauge through the muddy ground. She seems to be simply attacking at random and without reason, throwing out spells in every direction as she dances her crazed dance, though whenever a soldier tries to attack her, her spells seem to become much more deadly, hitting them with terrifying precision as if she is entirely aware of everything around her at all times.

It only takes me a moment to realize that she isn’t something that the regular soldiers can handle, and if it wasn’t for the fact that she is so caught up in her dance, there probably would be a lot more dead bodies on our side over here. I quickly move, leaping onto the wall with a single jump before charging for her head on. I don’t bother with using my guns. I already know that they will be useless. The only thing I can rely on is my body.

I step through her Field, and I can tell that she instantly notices me. Her eyes move to me for just a moment before she lets out a chittering laugh and spins on the spot. As she spins, she slashes her arms out like a pair of swords, one vertical, the other horizontal.

The path of the vertical strike is clear to see as it tears through the floor of the wall towards me, but the other is invisible, my only clue by the path her arm took. Moving to dodge the vertical slash, I jump to clear the second, still moving at amazing speeds as I soar through the air towards her.

But despite my hurtling towards her, she looks entirely unperturbed, and just continues to laugh and dance. Before I can reach her, she throws both her arms down, her shoulders up as she raises her chin and looks to the sky. A blast of air explodes all around her, demolishing her section of the wall and flattening it instantly.

I get thrown back but manage to land on my feet as others are sent tumbling away. People curse as the wall breaks and the Goblins are allowed to pour through, but I don’t take my eyes off the mage. She is the threat that I have to deal with right now, and she is currently hovering in the air, spinning around and around as the wind pushes her about like a leaf.

Dancing in the sky, she takes a step and is propelled back up again and again as she hovers around like a fairy. She looks like she is the happiest person in the world right now, as if everything in life is just perfect right now.

I move to keep attacking her, ripping up parts of the now ruined wall to hurl at her, but the projectiles all miss, gently pushed aside by her wind just enough, despite their mass, so that she can dodge them by dancing through the air. One of my throws, a sheet of metal thrown like a frisbee, makes her dodge by leaning back until she is lying down in the air, arms spread wide as she looks up towards the heavens.

She stops laughing, lying on her back in the air, she speaks up towards the heavens, speaking in Goblin, but looking like she is in rapture at this very moment, as if this is the highest point of her life and there is no being in this world more blessed than her.

She rises, her face serine as she no longer laughs or dances, as my projectiles continue to just barely miss her. With one arm raised above her head, and one aimed towards me, she smiles and speaks, her voice almost lost in the din of battle.

“In the Sky and on the Earth, I alone am truly blessed.”

For a moment, I almost allow myself to be startled by her speaking English, but my instincts are screaming at me to move, to get the hell away from her as quickly as possible.

Gathering on the fingertip of her hand aimed towards me, blades of wind are gathering in such density that I can even see them from far down below her. I move to run and yell for others to do so as well, but before I can even turn, she moves to snap her fingers, her smile filled with complete and utter bliss.

She speaks, her words resonating though her Field to reach everyone. “Air Erasure.”

“Run!”

Just as she is about to snap her fingers, a bolt of blue lightning tears through the air and pierces her chest, the bolt continues to dart through the sky until it hits the clouds in the distance.

The Air Mage blinks and looks down at herself, her body spasming as blue electricity arcs over her body and locks up her limbs. In the center of her chest, a hole now pierced through her, her flesh smoking and charred black. Her spell falls apart in her hand, the wind dissipating as she looks down in abject shock at the hole in her chest.

Opening her mouth, she tries to speak, but only blood comes out, a wet cough her only and last words before she falls from the sky headfirst and hits the ground with a splat.

“What?”

I turn and look to where the bolt of lightning had come from, only to find Lain’s lover there, blue lightning dancing over her body and arcing from her hands as she stands there wearing a pink puffer jacket. Soldiers that I recognize as some of Lain’s friends are standing near her, rifles raised as they are busy gunning down any Goblins that run through the broken segment of wall. And finally, standing behind her is an army of Kobolds that look like they are on a holy mission, standing in lines with spears held with pride and at the ready, as if they are standing at the back of their Goddess and are marching to fight off invaders from Hell.

Sky speaks, her Field rippling out for everyone to feel her presence, like electricity playing over your muscles and stimulating your nerves.

“I am She who Dances with the Sky, Immortal Empress of the Kobolds and eternal mate of the Demon Queen! All who stand against me shall face my divine wrath! Forward my people, to the wall! We shall hold back these invaders! They shall die on our spears! And they shall regret this day with their dying breaths! Forward!!!”

“RRRRRaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhHHHH!!!”

Thousands of Kobolds cry out with vigor as they raise their spears to the sky. Charging forward, they meet the Goblins head on and stab at them with a viscousness that only be found in the most hated of rivals. They savage the Goblins and run them through before tossing aside their corpses like so much trash, spitting as they walk over their corpses.

With the precision of a well-oiled machine, the Kobolds move in and fill the gap in the wall with their little bodies, brutally murdering every Goblin that tries to force their way through. Climbing the wall, the Kobolds join the defenders in stabbing down at any Goblins that try to climb over, taking much joy in running their spears through their enemy’s faces.

Within moments the wall is back under our control and the soldiers and guards are given a much-needed break to be able to pull back their dead and wounded.

Sky stands atop the wall now, shouting out encouragements for her people as she releases arcs of lightning into the oncoming enemies, charring dozens of Goblins with every bolt she sends into their masses.

When the hell did she get magic!?

Forcefully pushing this thought aside, I decide to just roll with it, I need to rejoin the fight. Grabbing one of the spears meant for the human defenders, I move to join the Kobolds that are holding the break in the wall, joining them in holding back the nearly endless swarm of Goblins that are trying to break through.

“Hahahaha, feels like I am fighting in one of those fantasy movies! Raaaahhhh!”

…

Elsewhere, sections of the wall continue to slowly fall, the defenders only being able to hold back so much before needing to fall back. But here, where the Empress has staked her claim, the wall shall stand. She will remind the Goblins, no, the world, of who she and her people are.