Pallidus stood from his position and was shocked to see how much the town grew, he remembered the town had reached the 100 population mark but did not expect a larger number to appear. He saw hundreds of sinners in front of him wielding shields, spears and swords. Although only half of them had reached class 2s it was still a formidable army to see. The small group that was once class 2s became class 3s and the same applied to Tigris’ group.
Pallidus realized how much weight he held in protecting these people. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember how long it’s been since the beginning of the construction to now. It was quite difficult to tell the time of the eternal night.
“Long live the Executioner of the Sinners! Long live the Executioner of the Sinners! Long live the Executioner of the Sinners!”
The sinners gave him that nickname to represent them. To strike down the demons for the sinners. To execute them in blood. Their voices grew louder as more and more sinners joined in. Such feelings cannot be described in mere words or actions of their gratitude… Their loyalty. The reason the settlement could exist was that of him. It was their home and they had hope for the first time in their miserable lives that something good could happen.
A small group of sinners came out from the crowd with Elreon leading them. A lone sinner beside Elreon was dressed in red rags dyed in blood from the beasts they hunted. The group kneeled down in front him while Elreon stayed standing.
The sinner spoke out with deep respect “My liege, we are your sword and shield. Wherever you have us strike, we shall decimate them in full force.”
Pallidus was touched and at the same time uncomfortable with them kneeling. Their display of loyalty and resolution was admirable.
“Rise. There is no need to kneel before me. An army without its leader is nothing. But the same goes with the leader. Without an army he is nothing. We both support each other.”
“Yes my liege.” everyone stood up and felt that they had placed their lives in the right person. Someone that wasn’t arrogant and selfish. With his strength and protection over the past few weeks, they felt weak and undeserving. They were hunted by the strong, suppressed by the hunters, yet they grew in strength thanks to him. He had been with them through the hardships they had to face. They wanted to return his kindness and if their lives could be used to benefit their savior, they will not hesitate.
“I have one condition for you all. You are not allowed to die. You are part of the foundation of this settlement. All of you are crucial to this place. Every sinner we lose, our overall strength falls.”
“Yes my lord!”
-------------
Cyrus sat atop on his throne that was made of the bones out of the sinners he has killed. He held a small purple core harvested from a large beast. He played around with it in his hand with a bored expression.
The Sinner of Execution.
He placed the core down on a bowl to his right.
How Infuriating
He was the sole ruler of this land and planned to grow his strength to challenge the others. The sinners that travel in his land became slaves, cannon fodder for his army. Yet these inferior creatures dare to resist him.
He laughed as he thought a mere group of ants could threaten him. The demon that was in charge of logistics arrived breaking his thoughts.
“Lord Cyrus” the praying mantis demon spoke out. “There has been a fluctuation in the lands.”
“Hoh? And what would this be?” Cyrus asked while narrowing his eyes.
“It seems that Your Majesty is not the only one with an army.”
“So they have started to move. Prepare the troops.” Cyrus ordered with a cold gleam in his empty sockets.
“All of them?” the demon asked.
“All of them. Make them an example for those that dare to oppose me.” Cyrus remained still on his throne.
---------
Situated at the front of the settlement
The sinners were outnumbered four to one. It was without a doubt that the army Pallidus possessed was not small. The progress in the growth of his army could not be denied and was more impressive due to the vast empty desert. It was a miracle that a group of 50 could be held but a thousand? It was an absurd dream yet it became a reality. However, Cyrus’ army was far larger. They were composed of 4 battalions each holding a 1000 demons varying small humanoids to giants to insects and beasts, all that held a minimum strength of class 2.
Each of those battalions was led by peak class 3s who were in front that wielded similar claymores to Realis’. They held a considerable amount of strength and battle experience. They were not to be underestimated. In front of the army was Cyrus in red robes swaying against the wind. He had his large axe that was as tall as his figure on his back. His army was positioned a few miles away from the sinners.
The sinners’ were divided into four divisions. Each held 250 sinners with two class 3s leading them. The remaining two class 3s was Elreon and Tigris who stood on each side of Pallidus was remained in the front.
In war, opportunities multiply as they are seized. The first preemptive strike was what the sinners’ needed badly otherwise they would be placed in a defensive position leading a slow path to defeat.
With Pallidus’ abilities, he can strike from a distance. He materialized his red bow and black spear from the other time with their encounter with the scout. Pallidus fired off multiple spears in succession that soared off into the sky massacring the frontlines of the enemy with massive pitch black explosions.
[Eliminated Demon Class 2]
[Eliminated Demon Class 2]
[Eliminated Demon King Class 3]
…
The messages continued to pop up in the corner of his eye and ignored them as he continued to release his ‘arrows’.
[Morale of Sinners boosted by 50%! Due to killing a massive amount of enemies in a short period of time your comrades’ morale has increased. Bonus overall stats have been temporarily applied by 10 to all sinners!]
Before the battle, Pallidus was actually worried that the people will suffer heavy casualties but now he had full confidence in protecting them.
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The demon army’s leaders responded swiftly to the attack and immediately scattered to reduce casualties. The first battalion of demons started to move forward at incredible speeds and made contact with Pallidus’ army.
Due to the demons were adept at speeds they had horrible defenses and the main purpose of this unit was to pierce through the weak points of the army. However, the sinners had increased their strength over the few weeks massively and had a major boost to their stats due to their morale. They were not to be underestimated.
The sinners stood firm and held the frontlines unyielding. With two class 3s, Pera, who was part of Elreon’s elite force, and Izaro handling the class 3 demon, they quickly diminished the strength of the battalion without losing a single warrior.
Pallidus sighed in relief as the initiation of the battle did not amount to any casualties.
“Charge!!!”
Pallidus and the two people at his side almost spat as they saw Ivara being piggybacked on a tall man’s shoulders while pointing her crooked sword forward with a whip in her other hand. She led a division of sinners towards the advancing battalion of demons led by a demon that had scales. You would expect her to be on a mount when leading an assault.
Keep calm. Just ignore it. Yep. Ignore it. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Tigris had a helpless expression and looked at Pallidus. He nodded to him and Tigris immediately followed after Ivara.
Pallidus cleared his mind and focused on the battlefield ahead of him. Even after decimating a battalion Cyrus’ army still held the number advantage. He was unsure to display overwhelming strength to even the playing field. If he did this, a good portion of sinners would lose out on an opportunity to grow against pressure and not only that they would become more dependant on him. If he didn’t, the army may suffer heavy casualties and perhaps he would be forced to decimate the entire army anyways.
“Hoh, so this is the sinner that came from the Plains of Deprivation. I was expecting a lot but it seems I have been overestimating you.”
Pallidus turned towards a demon flapped his wings as he descends. He was plated in red armor indicating he was a general.
“You have the strength to annihilate large groups of warriors within seconds with that bow of yours. But even with that, your army shall fall before Cyrus as he eradicates your settlement.” the demon said with glee and snorted at him as if he was looking at a piece of trash that insulted him.
“Tell your king that if he doesn’t withdraw,” Pallidus said unyielding. “He will regret stepping forth in our territory.” He looked at the demon general and identified his stats.
< Demon King >
Name: Xern
Age: 200 years old
Level: 405
HP: 500,000/500,000
…
He didn’t bother looking at the other stats however he did take a look at equipment.
Armor of a Flying Lizard: Boosts defense by 30%
He noted that he should take it and hand it to Elreon to see if it was worth reforging.
“You overestimate yourself.” the demon general would’ve striked at the arrogant man before him but he was ordered by his lord to only ascertain the man’s identity.
“If that bow of yours is your trump card. Then you have already lost this war. My name is Xern, the general of Cyrus’ army, be honoured to die at the hands of my lord.” Xern flew off making a few tactics but did not focus too much as he saw who the victor was already.
-----
Tigris had developed a new skill where he could form orbs of energy around him and fire away at his enemies. A class 3’s physical attacks were no joke but their energy attacks were far more dangerous as they were just below a class 4’s physical power.
He had been friends with Ivara for a long time and he had always known her as a cheerful and innocent girl. She wasn’t brought down here in this realm like him. She didn’t have a choice as she was born here.
He would be damned if he let anything happened to her.
“Haha! Go Tigris! Send them to hell! Oh, wait..”
Tigris stared at Ivara as she was piggybacked by the tall man who was recognized as part of Elreon’s elite force. What was his name again? Something about Daes? He shook his head and focused on the safety of his friend.
“Impossible! There’s no way a class 3 can easily decimate large groups at a time! ” the leading demon shouted. He himself was a class 3 and he knew very well the energy reserves of one. To consistently fire off energy attacks can easily empty out one's own reserve. Yet the sinner in front of him was continuously forming balls of energy around him.
The scaled demon slowly backed off as he saw his own unit weaken in numbers. Sweat started to travel down his face as he knew he was no match for the sinner before him. He needed to escape but he looked across the battlefield towards the commanding general.
The demon knew that if he were to retreat he would be blasted off by Cyrus just like the demon from Realis’ group. The other was to stay and continue to fight resulting in his death. Before he could make a decision he was blasted off by one of the orbs and his body could not be seen.
---
Xern looked towards where Tigris group was and immediately assessed him as a threat.
“Relay my order. Regroup two battalions worth of demons near the eastern flank.”
Those orbs of energy were certainly dangerous. He had planned to overpower the division of sinners with 2,000 demons. Perhaps killing the energy blasting sinner would raise the morale of his troops.
“Surround that unit and make sure to space yourselves!” Xern shouted with his orders echoing in the battlefield despite the loud clashes. He severely underestimated the sinners but he noticed the lack of organization in the army. Therefore it should be easy to send them in shambles.
Xern was slightly perturbed by Tigris’ energy attacks but shook his head as he rationalized that a single sinner could not possibly take down 2,000 demons by himself. What happened next baffled him and he widened his eyes.
Tigris noticed a large shift in the land and started to increase his fire rate of his energy orbs. Xern had seen Tigris fired off his energy attacks in rapid succession but now it was way faster than before and the two could not be compared. He levelled small plots of sand placing the demons in disarray.
Ivara took the chance to slash at the dazed enemies while the tall man named Daes focused on defending. The sinners fought harder when they saw this despite being surrounded by overwhelming numbers.
Two divisions were focused on defending against the demon’s assault while one unit was charging towards the encirclement of demons to assist Tigris’ group and attacked from the rear.
Bodies were slashed apart and obliterated by energy attacks from several individuals. Weapons smashing against each other as sparks filled the sky.
The battle was longer than the demons expected. They thought they could demolish the sinners in the first part of the battle yet they were the ones that had lost numbers. As the battle dragged on with their superior numbers dwindling almost to the sinners’ level, the morale of the demons fell to rock bottom.
Xern was in a dilemma, it was out of his expectations that he would face this situation. Their army was frightening, even they had stronger leaders of their divisions. They were pillars of the small units compared to their battalions.
He saw the formation breaking and the loyalty that held the demons together. Xern knew that the only reason Cyrus was able to amass a large army of demons was through oppression and fear. The demons in front of him would desert him. Desert their lord, Cyrus. Such actions were punishable by death.
An idea popped up into his mind and he looked towards Ivara and the tall man. He vanished and sent a suppressed energy blast towards the duo and grabbed Ivara by the throat. Xern launched a kick towards the injured Daes resulting in him being blasted away from the group.
The wind blew away the dust showing Xern gripping Ivara’s throat and the nasty wounds on her pale skin.
Tigris burned with rage. He didn’t expect the commander of the army to personally go after his friend. He stood still as he knew a single step can lead to Ivara’s death.
Xern laughed at Tigris’ motionless figure and he felt no shame in using underhanded tactics. Tigris knew his strength was not enough to match him and he could only grind his teeth.
----
Pallidus was not happy as he surveyed the battlegrounds. He knew that people would die for him despite him promising that he would protect them. His eyes reached the area where Tigris was. His fury welled up within him and he flashed in front of Xern who was startled by the sudden appearance of Pallidus.
Tigris’ anger vanished as he was relieved and joy filled him as he saw that his friend arrived.
Pallidus grabbed him by the face forcing Xern to let go of Ivara who was in a tattered appearance. They both went up towards the sky, visible to everyone.
“You have made a big mistake in not leaving.” Pallidus’ voice was eerily calm and could be heard from everyone despite how quiet his voice was. The pressure around him increased steadily forcing those on the ground to back away from the area despite the distance.
“Adding to that by bringing forth your army closer.”
Elreon realized that Pallidus was going to unleash his power and knew that the sinners could not handle it. He warned the others to back off as the path before them would be decimated.
“Manifest”
A large two-handed sword emerged with a small rectangular compartment of red energy embedded in the pitch black blade. The hilt was filled with gold and silver patterns and its glow was as bright as the moon in the sky. The sinners had never seen their savior become serious as he had only used his spear and bow casually.
I’ll stop you from your carnage you bastard! Sacrificing those around you for what?
A phrase flashed in Pallidus’ mind as he furrowed his eyebrows. A very small piece of memory returned to him.
“Despair for all eternity and witness the results of your foolishness. It will be the last thing you’ll ever see in your pitiful life”
Pallidus raised his sword while the pressure locked Xern’s movements. The man before him was truly angered beyond belief yet looked so calm on the outside. It was frightening for Xern as he never experienced such power before him. Not even Cyrus’ strength could compare to Pallidus.
“My body drenched in the blood of my enemies, the call of my strength and duty, the weight of a thousand souls. Punish those that caused you harm.” The sword began to radiate a red light that blinded those that watch.
He had seen the growth of the town. Seen the empty eyes of the sinners turn to more lively ones. Had people that relied on him.
“Sinner’s Redemption!”
A pouring wave of energy expanded outwards and spiralled down towards Xern and his army with the intent of erasing their existence from the realm. A blast of red energy, that could make mountains look like hills, filled up the dark sky.