CHAPTER 3

 “I should have come alone…” said Greetman but I who was next to him could only say

“Well you can’t help it. We were given orders by the council…man I hate those old farts, they really think that they know everything…”

“I don’t think that speaking ill of the council will get you on their good side Osfor” said Takeda.

“Not my problem, I hate them and that is my personal freedom. I get to hate anyone I don’t like and no one has the right to stop me from hating anyone, otherwise I will add them to my long list of hated people…” I replied

But to this statement none dared to speak back…either it was too complex for them to understand or that they just gave up on trying to figure what I was trying to say…

“So what do you think our mission is going to be?” said Ousay

Takeda then replied “Well, as you can see, we are now leading the army of Alsa. And seeing that our direction is towards Alikh I believe that the battle will happen at the border of the kingdom or inside it…”

And as it was, we actually were in the leading portion of an army made of eighty thousand mages and archmages.

Our fire power is vouched for by all the other kingdoms, but we still are similar to a glass canon. Most of our army, if not all of it, is composed of just magicians…quite a bad choice to engage in a battle where demons are solely relying on close quarter combat. Our army can certainly cause them heavy damage, but if we don’t have anything to stop them from advancing, we will all get wrecked in no time…

“I think it is really all we can do at the moment…we will just try and assist Alikh ‘again’ and hope that their soldiers are going to act as vanguards…we will need to take down the devil lords that the intel had said are leading each charge part of the army that just divided itself…” said Takeda

I then replied

“Well, I guess it is much easier now that they divided themselves and at the same time very dangerous…”

“What do you mean?” said Midorikawa

“Well, frankly speaking, if they divided their main army and sent each portion towards one of the countries, then this would mean two things: First being that they are confident in their ability to overpower any kingdom with but the divided army and are trusting each leader with their forces. And secondly this means that if we don’t hurry up, we will be forced to fight the individual portions before we have time to rally with the Alikhian army… and in either case we will still be outnumbered…by a lot.”

All five of us stayed silent at these words as we all knew how hard it was to accomplish such a feat.

“However…” I said

“I think that even if the information is correct and that one of the largest forces is advancing towards Alsa as we speak I think that we are far better off than Astarte…”

“Stop talking in riddles and get to the point Osfor” said Greetman. “It is clear that we are the ones that are in deep shit at the moment…having to face an army of more than six hundred thousand demon is annoying enough while we are but a mere eighty thousand…I can’t even fathom the damn size…”

“No you got it all wrong. Although it is true that we are, like you just said, in deep shit…it’s Astarte that’s buried in it…The army that is advancing towards them is composed of nothing but Gores. Giant hulking beasts and blighted creatures that will only bring carnage to that country. The problem is that most Astartians are relying on the sword and having to fight a gore in close quarter is the same as suicide.  One touch and the same man wielding the sword will become a gore themselves…” As I said these words they once again remained silent. The country of Astarte will probably perish before we can even get to them. That is if we somehow manage to defeat an army of six hundred thousand demons with our low numbers…

It took an entire day to reach to Alikh and luckily there was a messenger awaiting us.

The messenger, who was wearing the uniform of an Alikhian soldier, found us resting in a camp near the border.

“I have an urgent message from the captain commander and leader of the Alikhian forces.” said the man.

And with that he handed us a sealed letter that Greetman began reading after dismissing the messenger.

“We are most thankful for the support that your country is providing us in these dark times. As we can only afford to supply you with but fifty thousand soldiers and mages, we will have to ask of you to help us stop the forces that split from the main army and that is right now heading toward Alsa. The enemy forces are avoiding cities and anything that would slow them down, so you will have to get there as soon as you can. The Alikhian forces will rendezvous with you before you will engage the demonic forces. We thank you dearly for helping us in our time of need.” said Greetman with a monotonous voice.

“Hmm, we will have to move again. I hope that we are not too late…I don’t know if the Alikhian army is enough to fight off the forces that are within the country but I do hope that they can at least manage to stand their ground…” I said

Ousay then left, giving the order to resume our march, this time directly towards the rendezvous point.

It took us but hours to meet up with the reinforcements of Alikh and few more to intercept the forces…

The first sign of enemy forces was seen once our army was on top of a hill that was overlooking a valley. The forces were marching through the valley that was more than a kilometer in width. However, it was still filled with demons from side to side.

Six hundred thousand demons might actually be easy to say with words…but seeing it in person one could only shudder…how the hell were we supposed to halt the advance of such a force with but our numbers?

Leading the advancing army was the same devil lord that showed up the last time as a leader of the recon forces. And right after him hundreds of massive demons with sizes even bigger than his. And following them were countless demons and devils alike. Following their leader with only one thought in mind. Kill!

***

A young girl was on the rooftop of the dormitory at Albion. She was looking at the faraway horizon as if yearning for something that she knew she will never have. A look of solitude and solace was painted on her face, yet somehow made her look more beautiful to the lucky ones that could take a look upon that divine face.

“Lori.” said a young man addressing the now dazed girl.

The girl turned and changed her expression to one that was much more serious, saying

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“What is it Jibi…I need my time alone, so if it is not important I don’t want you to bother me with it at the moment…”

The man in question then sighed saying

“You are still sulking over that girl…drop it damn it, it’s been days and you can’t do anything to her…she is a damn clan leader for god’s sake…”

The girl after remaining silent for a moment said

“Did you come here just to tell me that?”

“No.” said the boy “There is someone here to see you.”

“I am not interested in seeing anyone at the moment, especially those of this country…damn it, if only I was back at Astarte I could have participated in the war and now we are stuck here in this school with no choice of leaving…” the girl said angrily.

“I know how much you love to fight and prove your worth but it is futile to do so this time. Let the army handle the invaders. You still need more time before you can go into a war.” Seeing the change of look on Lori’s face Jibi had to hurry up and add

“Well, anyway the one that is asking for you is not from this country. He said he is one of your tribe. One of your family I guess.”

For just a second the expression of the girl changed to one of shock and stupefaction, but in a moment she regained her composure and said

“Is it true? How do you know he is from my clan? Did he say so or does he have a proof?”

The boy then answered

“Well he has the same hair color as you and the same emerald looking eyes.”

“Let’s go and take a look then,” said the girl.

After few minutes of walking they arrived directly at the principal’s office and in there they met two people. One of them the principal and the second was a green haired old man.

The man then rose from his seat and looked at the girl with warm gazes as if he felt pride in looking at one of his own.

“My family,” said the man

And with but those words Lori, whose complexion was stoic, managed for the first time to shed a tear. Although unintentional her eyes bled tears of joy.

She did not speak, nor bothered to wipe them away. She just stood there unmoving and cried silently.

The man approached and wiped the tear off the girl’s face and said

“It is really good to finally see one of mine again.”

The girl then regained herself saying

“You really are one of us. Where have you been? How did you manage to survive?”

The old man then began to tell his story.

How he was a foolish young man that decided to take on the greatest challenge and how he discovered that he was too weak to finish it back then. He was stuck inside the crucible for decades until it finally opened once more and how he was also forced to make a great sacrifice, if he was to retake the challenge once more.

He told them how he managed to clear all the floors and how he met a young man. The young man told him of his clan’s fate. It was the same young man that told him that one of his own still lived and that she was strong and he although strong himself said that she was the only one that proved challenging enough and very hard to defeat when he fought her. And that same person said that the one of his own was to be found in Astarte. But once he got there he was told that she went to Alsa so he came all the way here, just to take a look at her.

Lori then interrupted saying

“What do you mean? In almost all my life I only lost to those that are teachers in Astarte. None of the people my age are strong enough to challenge and defeat me. Your information is flawed.” Said the girl

But right after that she remembered something. There actually was a man that defeated her…but it couldn’t be…that man was dead and she had seen him die…

“How did he look like?!” hastily said the girl.

The man then answered

“I am sorry, but he was wearing a mask…I was unable to see his face.”

Right after saying those words the principal then spoke

“Lori-san…I have some news to tell you about that boy. It seems that it was really him who met this man of your tribe… Asura still lives…”

…

***

I just passed by the booth that was registering those that are volunteering for the war…it seems that many are enthusiastic enough to risk their lives for a chance at wealth…Humpf simple minded people. Only death and carnage awaits them. If they had seen what I saw back at the crucible and what lies in the blighted lands, most of these people would run for their lives…

Once I left the city through the gates I decided to take a stroll. Heading directly towards where the ruckus was coming from.

I began picking up my pace and running in the direction where I felt the demonic forces.

It took me a few hours but once I reached my destination I was able to observe the entire scene.

The human army was composed of tens of thousands of warriors and mages…they looked resplendent to say the least…and while I was a bit too far from the battle scene I was still able to see it, thanks to dragnifying my left eye.

As for the demonic army they all looked disgusting and horrid but still they kept their composure and stood their ground…the difference in numbers was really enormous…the human army was reeking of fear…and seemed to be nervous…

It took a few hours of staring contests before a horn of advancement was blown. The humans were first to attack…

What a pointless way to get killed…

Once both armies collided a massacre began.

The humans were at first pushing back the demonic forces and it was surprisingly clear that they have an advantage. The warriors would tear down the front of the demonic army and act like vanguards while the mages would either buff them from behind or use grand scale magic to shower the demons with their spells.

Yet something seemed strange…the demons were only fighting back whomever attacked and did not move forward. Not even one step…

The humans feeling that they have some sort of advantage decided to become more aggressive. A huge portion of the infantry had pushed too deep into the demonic army and managed to reach all the way to the middle. And in that moment the demons had begun to move encircling the portion that was inside and trapping them. This was at the cost of thousands of demons and at the same time hours of gruesome fighting.

Now that the infantry was within the demonic ranks the mages became cautious and were hesitating before firing any spells.

The demons began then to press the small congelation of enemies within their ranks and killing them off one by one.

This whole affair took but a few hours, but once the demons had managed to kill the last one, they all turned back and reorganized themselves. This time advancing towards the rest of the human army.

In but few hours thousands upon thousands of humans had lost their lives…in vain and uselessly just because they thought they had managed to push the demons back…

The demonic army continued to move forward, their pace increasing from a normal walk to a jog and then to a stampede of hulking, running demons and devils alike. Now they themselves began to cast magic and fireballs towards the human mages that were now left with very few warriors to protect them.

“Time to give them a hand, I think…”

I then used the dragon aspect. I thought about using the demon aspect but I don’t think I have enough confidence in it because I have yet to master it and would need more time to fully understand it. It is filled with magic and has enormous amounts of power, but I will feel much better using an aspect that I’ve used before and I am much more accustomed too.

I used the dragon warrior arts full buff and instantly reached the area between the two armies.

I feared that the humans would attack me thinking I was one of the devils so in that moment I used a spell.

“Dragon fire breath.”

Aiming it at the demonic forces I managed to scorch a gigantic amount of them and was instantly rewarded with massive amounts of spells coming from the demons that now had ascertained my existence being an enemy to them.

In that moment I grabbed my sword and dashed into the hordes slashing at anything that was in my way and focused on getting directly towards the center of the army…I know I said that the humans were stupid for doing the same thing I am currently doing but I still had an advantage over them.

First, I already fought in a similar situation before so I kind of knew what I was doing. Second, I am just one single person and not a thousand of idiots that are trying to hide behind each other. And lastly, I am no longer a human and not as weak.

“Dragon fire breath!”

Sending another purple breath that managed to clear another great swath of enemies in front of me I got myself a good breather. But a moment later that same room I cleared was once again filled with more demons.

“Disintegration!” I casted another spell and moved my hands in a sideway motion ripping thousands of enemies to shreds…

I began to feel weakness in my body and instantly absorbed more energy from the outer world and my right eye was beginning to use mana flux to fill me with mana.

The power within me began to coil and demand release as aura, spiritual energy and mana reached a grander level. So I grated its request…

I began casting spells left and right. Scorching, freezing, electrifying enemies and slashing at them without pause.

It seems that the humans were shocked by my behavior as they were probably unable to do anything. Not even casting some supporting spells.

“Dragon fire breath!”

Another breath to clear more space in this almost endless sea of demons. But this time the breath was stopped by something.

“Interesting…” said a young looking boy that was in the middle of the entire fighting camp.

I looked at him huffing a bit and said

“It is good to see you again…Devil lord how about we have a rematch this time a 1v1”

“See me again?” said the boy “I would probably not forget someone as strong as you…”

“Ah” I said “You probably don’t remember me in this form. How about this then. Morfii Kami!”

I said the words and a divine light showered over me.

P.s

Chapter has been proofread by Mhhbot. all thanks to him for the assistance and advices.