Domains clashed like thunder through the clouds. Several Alpha Demonkin surrounded Svend as he charged into their ranks. Their razor-sharp claws raked across his skin and left long gouges in his armor but they were unable to break through the insane toughness of his Divin Body. Sebastion held nothing back as thin beams of light flashed across the battlefield. The bodies of the Alphas were nothing to scoff at though as the full force of his attacks only left superficial wounds. The other domain warriors were much less impressive than those two, only being able to face one or two of the alphas at once and barely survive.
It was a pitched battle on all fronts. As the Alphas rampaged through the skies, the normal Demonkin clashed with soldiers on the ground. Screams of pain and anger were drowned out by the clash of steel. To the west, the human soldiers of the Ciel Empire were closing to engage our flank. The armies of the coalition held their ground in hopes of holding off the attack for as long as possible. For the moment, we were holding strong but that could change at the flip of a coin. Mature Demonkin were beginning to tear through the soldiers at the front lines and the few undead I still had at my disposal were not enough to stop it.
I wanted to go down and help the army but now was not the time. My attention was instead focused on the five figures watching the battle with amusement. The Demons had yet to move since the Alphas appeared but that was about to change.
The first of the Demons to act was the one I recognized as having the self-healing talent. He ignored everyone else across the battlefield and flew directly towards the Sword Saint, Sigmund. The two had already clashed once before and it looked like the Demon wanted to go for a second round. Sigmund tried to avoid the Demon so that he could focus on taking out one of the relatively weaker Alphas, but it was useless.
The second Demon to move was Aym. He stayed near Vissna without engaging her directly, only attacking when she was distracted by one of the Alphas. His ability to see through solid objects allowed him to see the Dragon’s weak point created by my golden flames and target it perfectly every time. While she was in human form now and the attacks did not disable her as much as they had the first time but they kept her from being able to engage any of the Demonkin with her full strength and forced her to stay on the defensive, something she was clearly not very happy about.
To my surprise and slight disappointment, the remaining Demons did not move to invade Dragon’s Nest again. It was a shame we did not get to test Mare’s new defenses against the Demons. Perhaps they were worried I had set another trap for them or maybe they were just playing a longer game. Instead, the teleporter flickered across the battlefield, preventing any of the Alphas from being killed when their domains broke. Whenever Sebastion or Svend severely injured one of them, he was always there to interfere before the final blow could be dealt. It created an infuriating situation where neither side gained an advantage over the other.
Meanwhile, the Demon I recognized as the one with a talent to control wind was staying out of the battle. It appeared he was more interested in protecting the mirror Demon I had weakened with my little stunt than dealing any damage to the coalition and commanding the Demonkin army.
My attention was once again drawn to the battlefield down below as a mature Demonkin that look like a giant tiger scaled up the cliff of the plateau amidst a hail of arrows. The arrows pinged off its tough hide harmlessly as it leapt towards the troops at the top of the cliff.
A black blur intercepted the tiger Demonkin in an explosion of golden fire. Nox and the Demonkin wrestled in a flurry of fur and teeth for nearly a minute before Nox finally managed to sink his teeth into the neck of the tiger. Golden flames consumed the corpse of the Demonkin as Nox roared triumphantly.
Similar scenes played out across the battlefield as Naga, Sylvie, and even the two stallions moved to intercept the mature Demonkin. Unfortunately, while they held the advantage thanks to the golden flames, The Demonkin outnumbered them several times over. Lesser Demonkin swarmed up the edge of the cliff like insects. Arrows and Glyphs rained down on them constantly but hundreds still made it to the top of the plateau. Screams of terror rang out as several mature Demonkin rampaged through the ranks of the soldiers, acting as the vanguard, while the normal Demonkin followed behind in a flurry of blood and death.
I looked at my family and saw their expressions of anger and passion. I knew what they wanted to do and agreed. “It looks like the Demons have no intention of attacking our island right now. Let’s go cull the herd a bit. Just remember to stay within range of Dragon’s Nest’s protection and keep your eyes out for the teleporter.”
The five of us leapt down to the battlefield below as a purple glow radiated from Dragon’s Nest and surrounded our bodies. We landed amidst the carnage and stepped onto the blood-soaked ground. Beasts ripped straight from a person’s worst nightmares rampaged in every direction. The steep cliffs of the plateau did little to slow down their assault.
Dad and Mom exploded with power. Their domains radiated across the battlefield. The closest Demonkin backed away in fear as if the specter of death pressed down on their heads. The normal Demonkin in our surroundings could not even move.
Mom swung her blade and it vanished from sight. Blood sprayed from three of the nearest Demonkin as wounds suddenly appeared on each of their necks. “Push them back down the cliffs!” She shouted, her blade blurring into a dozen more strikes.
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Snowflakes began to fall as a dozen glyphs appeared in the air around Dad. Spiked pillars of ice rose up out of the ground, impaling several Demonkin. The ice also created a momentary blockade between the Demonkin and the soldiers, allowing those at the front line to rotate in with fresh troops.
Donte did not have a domain but ever since becoming an Adept, his control of the wind around him had become no less potent. It was like a storm of razor blades followed him everywhere he moved. Every swing of his sword shredded the Demonkin with thousands of small cuts that were very reminiscent of the attacks of the wind Demon he had faced before.
The one who surprised me the most, however, was Charly. At my request, he had been avoiding Vissna and I had not seen him much since he ate the fruit of life. Surrounding his body was now the faintest layer of a domain. His had not been awakened through a normal method so it lacked energy and definition but it was there. What surprised me though was not the domain. The fruit of life was worth more than this planet. Its effects were expected. It was how he fought that caught my attention.
There was none of the fear or hesitation I had seen from my brother in the past. He looked completely confident despite being surrounded by monstrous Demonkin. Blood from the battle pooled around his feet and Charly’s domain reacted to it. The blood squirmed as if alive. It swirled around Charly before rising up into the air and forming a series of glyphs. These blood glyphs flew out and plastered themselves onto the skin of the surrounding Demonkin. A moment later, the glyphs began to glow a bright red, followed by a series of explosions. Any creature lucky enough to survive the initial attack was quickly finished off by a shot from Charly’s crossbow.
I watched my family with pride as they tore a path through the Demonkin that had managed to scale the cliff. In my hands, a whip of golden flame lashed out at any creature that tried to flank them. With most of my energy used breaking the mirror Demon's defenses, I could not be as aggressive as I would have liked but I did not fall behind. A single lash from my golden fire was enough to end any Demonkin unlucky enough to get hit.
Our presence sent ripples through the battlefield as we pushed the creatures back. One of the Demonkin I had marked as mature noticed the sudden change and moved in our direction. It looked like a large horned lizard with stone spikes running down its spine. Every attack aimed in its direction pinged off its tough scales harmlessly. Even a shot from Charly's crossbow could not harm it. It was an unstoppable force to normal soldiers but when I saw how thick the hide of the Demonkin was, my eyes lit up in excitement.
Despite my lack of energy, I sprinted towards the oversized lizard. The bracelet on my wrist stretched out to wrap around the creature. The Demonkin sensed the danger that thin chain held and leapt back in a hurry to avoid being caught.
Dad noticed my change in target and created a wall of ice behind the Demonkin and cut off its retreat. The lizards smashed into the wall mid-leap and shattered the ice but Dad’s actions slowed the Demonkin long enough for my chain to wrap around its clawed foot. With a yank on the chain, I pulled the lizard down into the dirt. The Demonkin struggled against the chain that was holding it down and the metal creaked in protest but held firm. With a twist of my wrist, the chain looped around the remaining legs of the Demonkin and tied them all together.
With a satisfied smile, a flickering green flame appeared in my hand. The Demonkin roared in protest as the flame sunk into the thick scales without harming the creature and entered the creature’s skull. The creature thrashed violently and I knew it would not die any time soon but the chain would hold. With my current strength, killing a mature Demonkin in such a manner might take up to an hour but adding such a tough creature to my roster of undead was worth the wait. Demonkin like this always made the best meat shields and when combined with the healing factor of my innate talent they became almost impossible to take down permanently.
While I was wrestling with the lizard Demonkin, a shout rang out from the highest slope of the cliffs. It was there that the fighting was the fiercest. The army of the Novus Kingdom led by General Arthur barely held back the Demonkin horde scaling the terraced fortress built into the cliffs.
“This is the moment boys! Show these dimwitted beasts that humanity will always bite back!”
At General Arthur’s cry, the rumble of hoof beats began to rise up. One thousand calvary charged along the edge of the cliff. These calvary did not wear the colors of Novus but instead the recognizable blue belonging to the Church of the Myriad Realms. Each and every rider exploded onto the battlefield with either innate talents or glyphs. At the very front of the charge, was the bright red of General Arthur, his glyphs exploding across the battlefield.
The calvary charged the length of the cliff throwing Demonkin back down to the distant ground. With his single charge, the entire battlefield changed. Separated from the rest of the horde, the Demonkin still atop the cliff were surrounded and cut down by legions of soldiers. Boiling oil was dumped over the side of the cliff face, dousing the Demonkin and coating the rock, making it harder for the creatures to climb up. Arrows and glyphs rained down on the few that still clung to the walls as large war ballista, covered in glyphs, were rolled into position.
For nearly an hour, the defense of the cliffs turned into a proper siege. My family and I hunted down almost a dozen mature Demonkin while General Arthur’s calvary worked tirelessly to keep the horde from succeeding in gaining a foothold on the cliff a second time. Countless men died. Unless they had an innate talent or glyphs, it often took up to a hundred soldiers to take down a single lesser Demonkin but the defenses held firm.
In the skies above, the thunderous booms of clashing domains constantly rang across the battlefield. Neither side held an absolute advantage and after an hour of fighting, it was clear both our domain warriors and the Demons were beginning to run low on energy. It was actually Vissna who turned the tide first.
Despite being weaker in her human form, she seemed to have a never-ending well of energy. As the battle dragged on, she began to overwhelm the Demon, Aym, as well as the wind Demon, Andras, that came to his aid.
Aym was sent flying as a blade of ice sliced open his chest. This moment marked a turning point as the Demons and their Alphas began to fall back to the blood mist. Following the Demons’ lead, the Demonkin sieging the cliffs began to retreat as well.
Deafening cheers echoed from the cliffs as soldiers celebrated in tears. Despite the odds, we had survived the Demons’ first assault.