The setting sun backlit the sea of glittering armor. Hundreds of thousands of troops marched in near-perfect harmony across the rolling hills. The bright blue flags of the Ciel Empire fluttered in the wind. This was a military force capable of toppling countries.
To the south, Demonkin walked out of the veil of mist that had shrouded them up until now. More than ten thousand hideous creatures sauntered into view. While their numbers paled in comparison to the human soldiers, the Demonkin represented a much bigger threat in my eyes. At a glance, I spotted more than a hundred that no normal soldier could ever hope to face. Even with all the strength I had gained recently, just five of the fully mature Demonkin would probably be enough to overwhelm me.
Messengers from Bastya to the east also reported Demonkin were approaching the mountian pass. There were already several hundred of them entering the mountains and that number grew with each passing hour. The coalition army was officially cut off from the rest of the world.
All of this, however, was not the focus of my attention. Instead, my gaze was locked onto five figures floating above the Demonkin army. Five Demons who watched us with a mix of amusement and bloodlust, like predators toying with their food.
“It looks like Berith did not bother to come and watch our struggle in person,” I said with a sigh.
“She probably foresaw our plan to kill her if she showed up,” Svend replied with a shake of his head.
“At least we have one less enemy to fight. Let’s test how prepared their army is,” I said as I turned to look towards our own forces preparing to defend.
Fear, anger, determination, and bravery, every face was an intense emotion. Most of the people here would not survive the coming conflict. There was not much the domain warriors could do the help them. If we tried, the Demons would undoubtedly attack. If we exhausted ourselves fighting Demonkin first, we would be too weak to fight back. However, everyone agreed that I would be the one exception.
Since Berith had not shown up herself, my priority was the mature Demonkin, not the Demons watching from above. I would leave them for others to deal with. After all, my talent was far more suited to the battlefield.
I waved my hand and one hundred fifteen undead soldiers began to move in unison. Their eyes glowed with a bright green light. At my command, these hundred undead soldiers began sprinting towards the Demonkin horde still emerging from the blood mist.
There was still a long distance between the edge of the plateau where I was and the Demonkin but my undead did not tire. They ran at full speed without any concern for the enemy they were charging towards.
The Demonkin did not simply wait and watch my undead approach. Under the command of the Demons, they started picking up rocks and boulders to hurl at their incoming enemy. Any one of the rocks now raining down across the hills could cave in a man’s skull. My undead did their best to dodge the oncoming hail storm but many were hit. My undead could not feel pain but that did not mean they were immune to the force of the blow. When hit, they would stumble and fall. Once on the ground, they were unable to dodge and were ground into paste by giant boulders.
Towards the back of the Demonkin army, I spotted one creature that looked like a giant mutated caterpillar. Its mouth was large enough to swallow ten men in a single moment. I had been keeping an eye on all of the mature Demonkin and when this one started to move it immediately drew my attention.
The giant caterpillar made a loud gurgling noise that echoed across the battlefield. A slimy, sickly green liquid began to leak from its mouth. With a jerking motion, the caterpillar Demonkin spit the slim out of its mouth as if launching an artillery strike. The liquid soared over the battlefield. It cleared the heads of countless other Demonkin before splashing down directly on one of my undead.
The slimy liquid splattered in all directions, catching nearly ten of my undead in its spray. The moment the slime touched the undead men, it started to hiss. I did not even have time to warn the undead before the corrosive slime started to eat away at their flesh. Within just a few seconds, the ten undead were nothing more than a puddle of goo and quickly burning through even the rock and earth on the ground.
Before the first shot had even landed on my undead, the Demonkin had already launched a second. Green slime rained down across the fields like rain, corroding anything it touched. My undead did not even reach the Demonkin army before they were unceremoniously turned into piles of boiling flesh.
I narrowed my eye as I looked at the caterpillar Demonkin. “It looks like I have found my first target.”
Svend waved his hand dismissively as he watched the Demons overhead. “I will leave that to you.”
I nodded and closed my eyes. My mind connected with thirty new undead creatures. These were not men that needed to run across the battlefield though, these thirty undead flew far above it. With a thought, thirty undead crows swooped down from all directions.
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The five Demons floating above their army noticed my attack and their domains flared to life but they were not able to intercept the undead crows before matching domains rose up from our encampment to stop them.
Flying Demonkin took to the skies. Their red predatory eyes locked onto my crows. One of the flying Demonkin grabbed hold of a crow with its sharp talons, but at that moment, a small blue crystal in the crow’s beak shattered. An explosion of golden flames rocked the battlefield.
This process repeated as more and more Demonkin flew up to intercept my crows. It almost looked like fireworks. It would have been beautiful if the lives of countless soldiers did not depend on my success.
The flying Demonkin were far faster and more vicious than any of my crows. My undead were torn apart in midair. Only three of the crows managed to break through the blockade of Demonkin and dive-bombed the caterpillar creature. However, despite their success, the crows were never able to reach their target. Other Demonkin around the caterpillar threw themselves in front of the crow, sacrificing themselves to keep the one alive.
I frowned at the failure of the crows, but at the very least, each one had taken a Demonkin down with them. The area around the caterpillar Demonkin was now filled only with the charred remains of its fallen comrades.
Within all the chaos, the Demonkin did not notice a small field mouse crawling through the tall grass behind the caterpillar. My crows may have failed but this Demonkin would still die.
The small mouse bit down on the crystal and exploded in a wave of golden fire. The caterpillar Demonkin was caught completely unaware by the sudden attack and even though the creature's thick hide was not injured by the explosion, the flames stuck to the creature like glue. No matter how much the Demonkin struggled, it could not put out the flames that slowly consumed its body. After a minute of horrible screeching, the creature fell still. All that remained was a charred husk.
The nearby Demonkin snarled furiously at the death of the caterpillar creature. If not for the strict command of the Demons, they probably would have charged the plateau right then.
I let out a sigh of relief after the Demonkin burned away. The field mouse was the last undead I prepared in the area. If that had failed, more Demonkin would have been moved to protect the other. I would have had to come up with a new plan, probably a plan that would have cost a lot more sacrifices.
My relief was short-lived however when a thunderous growl shook the world. The temperature began to plummet and my breath turned to frost. A flash of blue scales reflected the setting sun as the form of a massive dragon took to the air.
“Vile plague upon the realms, your stain cannot be allowed to exist!” Vissna’s voice boomed across the sky.
I cursed loudly as my domain wrapped around my body. “Vissna, stick to the strategy! Do not charge off alone!”
Vissna did not heed my words as she flew directly towards the five Demons. Nobody had been ready for her sudden charge and we were still preparing to take to the skies when Vissna reached the five Demons. Her mouth opened in a deafening roar and an avalanche of frost poured out.
The five domains of the demons moved to meet the dragon’s charge and one of the Demons stepped forward. His eyes glowed red as the air in front of him turned into a massive reflective mirror.
Everyone watched as the icy dragon’s breath struck the mirror. There was a slight ripple across the mirror, almost as if the dragon’s breath was disappearing into the unknown depths of a lake. A second later, the dragon’s breath reappeared, no longer aimed towards the five Demons, but instead back towards Vissna.
There was no time to react before the full force of her own attack slammed into Vissna’s head. While she did not seem to be bothered by the cold, the force of the attack was not something Vissna could just shrug off. She was thrown down to the ground in an avalanche of ice and snow.
The earth shook as soldiers fell to the ground. An entire hill was flattened as Vissna’s giant body cratered it and everything nearby. Dozens of Demonkin were squashed by the dragon but this did not dissuade those nearby from charging her. Claws and talons descended on the bright scales. The horrible screeching of bone scratching against metal echoed out but the Demonkin were too weak to actually leave a mark on the tough scales.
With a shake of her body, Vissna tossed the rabid creatures to the side and took flight towards the Demons once again. The other Domain warriors and I were also flying towards the fight, hoping to help Vissna before she got herself killed but she was far faster than us.
Vissna did not seem to care about the danger she was putting everyone in as she once again charged the Demons. This time, she did not use her dragon’s breath to attack and instead tried to slash at the Demons. Her mighty talons could probably slash apart a mountain but when they came down on the Demons, they only cut air.
All five Demons had teleported to Vissna’s back in the blink of an eye. One of the Demons punched down at Vissna with a mighty blow that caused shockwaves in the air. Vissna was forced down slightly but her scales were as tough as ever. She was completely unharmed by the blow and unlike when she was hit by her own attack, Vissna was not sent flying. The might of a dragon was on display as she easily took the attack and swiped her tail at the Demons. Once again, the Demon was easily teleported to safety without taking a hit.
One of the Demons’ eyes began to glow as he looked at Vissna. It felt as if all my clothes had disappeared as his gaze passed across the battlefield.
“Attack the scale below the base of her neck,” the demon, Aym, said as he used his ability to examine the dragon's body inside and out.
Another of the Demons nodded and in a blink, he disappeared. The Demon teleported under Vissna faster than any living creature could move and threw a punch towards the scale Aym pointed out.
Vissna’s scales remained as sturdy as ever. The scale pointed out did not break under the force of the Demon’s punch but the moment the hit landed, Vissna reeled back as if she had once again been hit by her own attack. Her power went out of control as a vicious cold leaked from her body. Both the Demons and all of us rushing to help Vissna were forced back by an irresistible frost as Vissna fell from the sky.