While the demonic children hid behind Ragellon, Dreu found himself only covering one flank. Even if Ragellon somehow could hold off the attack in front of her, the two of them would be too preoccupied to address the remaining flank. One of the demonic gnolls, wearing its new armor, shouted orders in an unknown language. Once in formation, the gnolls attacked. While two gnolls were assigned to fight Dreu and Ragellon, the other four approached the group through the vulnerable flank.

Zog! Take Aggich and the other demon worms to hold the open flank the best you can. I'll assist you all as soon as I address the gnoll sent at me.

Dreu readied his blade when Ragellon summoned a large stone. Dreu’s eyes widened at the sight of the massive red stone that was nearly half of the demonic child's height. Having never seen anything resembling the stone in the past, he could only assume the stone was native to the demon realm.

Maybe these are more powerful versions of the lesser demonic crystals? Didn’t Tragthan say demonic crystals are worthless?

Seeing the demonic gnolls halt their attack upon seeing the stone, the young man was certain that this was no ordinary stone. The gnolls even started backing up from the group, showing fear in their eyes.

What is she going to do with it? I hope it sends them chasing.

As if answering the question, Ragellon chanted loudly in an unfamiliar language. As she chanted, dark smoke emerged from the stone. The smoke embraced the red stone while giving off a powerful aura. At the sight of this, the gnolls backed away a couple more steps but they never once faced away from the stone. Even Dreu debated if he was too close. He vaguely recalled stories about smoke released by demonic spells that were toxic to humans who inhaled the gas. Such a prospect terrified him, especially when he stood so close to the gas. He breathed a sigh of relief when the smoke vanished while a shadow remained. He turned his attention to the gnolls whose bloodthirst expressions were replaced with fear and terror. As Ragellon got to the end of her chant, the shadow formed a large silhouette of something neither Dreu nor the gnolls wanted to know personally. Before the demonic child finished her chant, the shadow disappeared. Several seconds later, the gnolls regained their courage and resumed their charge.

Dreu waited for his opponent to be within swinging distance before he slashed at the gnoll. Faced with a gnoll dual wielding daggers, the young man had a reach advantage. By taking a swing as soon as the opponent got close, Dreu forced the gnoll to halt the charge to avoid losing an arm. He then transitioned to a stabbing motion as the gnoll lost its balance from its earlier dodge. Faced with a vulnerable foe, his blade went easily into the gnoll’s abdomen region. Dreu then slashed to his left resulting in the disembowelment of the gnoll. His follow-up swing saw him beheading the gnoll while his opponent was still shocked by its injury. Before the gnoll head hit the ground, the young man turned to the rest of the battlefield.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Ragellon, undeterred by her earlier failure, proceeded to throw green fireballs at her opponent. The gnoll, with several burn marks, stood its ground as it braced for the incoming fireballs. The rapid rate Ragellon threw the fire balls held the demon at bay but the young man couldn’t tell if the spell had any impact other than singeing the creature’s fur. Given how the gnolls appeared angry already, he also couldn’t tell if they were angrier. Trusting the demonic child to hold her own, Dreu turned his focus to their weakest flank.

They have courage. I’ll give them that much!

Eight demon worms and one cursed fox had a staring contest with four of the gnolls. While Dreu’s side boasted quantity, he would still place his bets on the gnolls as they had too big of an advantage. Yet, the gnolls were surprisingly cautious when they faced the demon worms. They observed where they stood, not eager to continue their charge.

Maybe they don’t know how strong or weak in this case the demon worms are?

Given how weak demon worms were, he wouldn’t be surprised if they never saw battle. If the demon realm was as terrible as Tragthan made it out to be, then the chances of demon worms surviving in the wilderness was practically zero. Luckily for his side, the gnolls were unfamiliar with the creatures, resulting in their hesitation. With him slaying one of the gnolls and Ragellon dealing with another one, the odds were quickly shifting in their favor. Still, he feared that the demonic gnolls might have a few more surprises for them.

What the?

When the gnolls finally did resume their charge, they moved as slow as turtles. Dreu had to rub his eyes a few times to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. While he was still processing the scene, the demon worms, with Zog leading the charge, swarmed the weakest looking gnoll of the four. While their attacks were pitiful, they easily avoided the slow attacks from the gnoll. While they inflicted obvious wounds on the gnoll, none of the wounds looked even close to life-threatening. Unwilling to put the slow to waste, Dreu dashed over and dispatched the gnoll with numerous demon worm bites. The gnoll’s death was swift but Dreu and the demon worms were already focusing on the next gnoll. The second gnoll, having seen its fellow gnoll attacked earlier, had made little progress in closing the gap. However, it moved enough to isolate itself, making it easy for Dreu and the demon worms to kill it.

She looks almost done.

Dreu looked back at Aggich and got the impression that the slow was coming to an end. Two gnolls still remained, one with a polearm and the other being the leader with armor.

“That’s enough, Aggich! We’ll handle it from here!”

The fox collapsed where she stood but Dreu didn’t fear for her safety. He and the demon worms had to address the two problems before them.