Arthur Belmont (the hero)
The next day, we were already besieging one of the important fortresses situated on our path. We traveled light and had no supply lines that needed to be established and protected, but that didn't mean that we could just overlook a major force behind our lines. A force like that, if overlooked, could strike our rear or prevent retreat in the midst of battle and cause our loss.
The plan was simple - we had no siege engines or ladders, so taking the fortress by force wasn't likely, but that didn't deter us from attempting a frontal assault.
The battle started, the vanguard headed by Eugene - the 'Immovable shield', followed by a group of others - notably - Tania - a shorty, sporting brown pigtails and a cheery attitude rushed towards the fortress gates.
The rain of arrows, like a big, ominous and dark cloud, formed above their heads. As the arrows descended, a gust of wind, formed by Silvia - our storm mage, focusing on wide range area defense, swept them aside.
The vanguard reached the gates and Tania took the lead. She planted her feet solid on the ground and took up a striking stance. A strike - loud and powerful enough to shake the heavens - rang out. The solid steel gates creaked, and bent, but didn't give. Another strike, then one more.
Tania was about to strike again, but before she could, the gates opened and an army of demons spilled forward. This was what we were waiting for, this was what we planned. No matter how many times Tania struck, there was no way for her to break down the gate, but the sound was frightening enough for the demons to think otherwise and they decided to fight head on.
As the gates of the fortress opened and the demons spilled out, an army of undead demons, that was waiting in the forest nearby, began their march forward - a march that would undoubtedly cost them their un-dead lives. But they didn't hesitate, they didn't waiver, for they all shared the same mind and purpose - to serve their new master - the 'Priestess of life and death' that arose them from their slumber.
While the army was marching, the vanguard, consisting of no more than 40 people, held their own against an army of thousands. Those that were good at fighting head on, formed a circle around the casters with Silvia in the very middle.
Eugene stood in the front with his massive shield embedded into the ground. His heavy armor, Stone skin, body enhancement and other defensive skills with his mastery over earth and wind magic that he used primarily for defense wasn't the best thing for sieges, but when it came to protecting those that were behind him, there was no one more suited than him.
While Eugene was holding the front singlehandedly, Silvia provided a barrier from the various projectiles from above. But no matter how they tried, the demons were simply too powerful and numerous, the circle was breached.
A troll, the size of a two story house, swiped its club at the side of the formation, sending three people flying and went for the center. It smiled wickedly when it saw the one that blocked its way - Tania - one so small that she didn't even reach up to its knees.
The troll swung its massive club downwards onto her, creating a massive dust cloud on impact with the ground below. The dust cloud covered everything to the troll's waist and it thought that the 'little human' was crushed beneath, until Tania jumped out of the dust cloud, landed on the club and began running towards the troll's body.
The troll panicked, raised its club and began shaking it, but it was of no use, because Tania, after getting flung into the air, began her descent towards its head. With a loud bang, her heel connected with the troll's head, cracking the ground beneath its feet, shattering every single one of its vertebrae and exploding all of its inner organs.
The troll was the one that broke the circle, but it wasn't the only demon that managed to get inside. Tania rushed to deal with them, dodging spears, axes and swords like an infighting boxer closing the distance.
She ducked below a horizontal sword slash aimed for her throat and delivered a powerful hook to the demon's right side, straight to the liver, tearing it apart with the impact. The demon fell down, but the one behind him slammed his massive axe down, trying to split Tania in two from head to tow. Tania dodged to the side, with the axe almost grazing her nose and delivered a back spinning round-house kick to his head, sending the head flying while the body stood.
Just as she exhaled, a spear plunged through the headless demon from behind, grazing her cheek. The spear was pulled back and struck the headless demon with the shaft to the side, sending the body flying. What Tania saw when the body blocking her view was tossed aside, was a more than a six foot tall, red skinned, white haired, muscular demoness, with fire in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
Tania smiled as well, she loved more than anything showing everyone around her that just because she was small, didn't mean that she was weak. She wiped the blood from her cheek and took up a Muay Thai stance - tall and narrow. With her left side slightly forward and fists raised, she began to slowly approach her opponent. Step after calculated step, until she entered the demoness's spear range.
The demoness struck with her spear like with a machine gun. Her strikes were so fast that they began to blur. Tania dodged most of them, but was still cut a few times until she retreated. She looked at her throbbing wounds, assessing the damage and lowered her stance to that of a wrestler.
The demoness lunged forward, her spear like a blur aimed straight at Tania's flat chest. The spear was inches away, when Tania bent backwards into a handstand and knocked the spear up into the air with her feet, then she landed with her feet behind her and rushed towards the demoness. The demoness wasn't able to lower her spear in time and lost her head as a consequence.
After the others dragged the ones blown to the side by the troll, the circle closed again and the injured ones received healing. But the danger wasn't over yet. One by one, those forming a circle were injured and the circle began to shrink. When it looked like all hope was lost, the army of the dead finally reached the battlefield.
The wave-like army of the dead, crashed into the demons. Though their weapons were chipped or broken, though their armor was full of holes, they held their own and they advanced. The army of the demons was being pushed back and the vanguard became enveloped by Lina's undead troops, giving them a much needed respite.
Finally, the vanguard retreated from the battle field and began licking their wounds, while the whole front line was left to Lina and her legions to hold. Her undead army, while not as strong as the living and unable to break down the heavy iron fortress gates, was almost unmatched when it came to a battle between armies.
While this fearless, relentless and untiring legion was buying time and creating a distraction, it was time for the special unit of merely eight people including myself to advance.
The special unit consisting of me, Daria called the 'Saint of blades', Caleb our sound magic using support, Owen - the 'Shadow blade', Wade - our sword master, Mister West - 'millennia blacksmith' and one of our teachers, Rory - the 'Sonic boom' and Tina - our healer approached the fortress from behind.
"Caleb, you know what to do." I said when we approached the fortress.
"Roger." He placed his hands together and closed his eyes. A ball of energy formed in between his palms, Caleb crushed the ball with a clap and a barrier began to expand outwards. Soon, we could no longer hear the bloody battle around us.
"Mr. West, you're up." I said, gesturing to the wall.
"You got it, kid." He answered and retrieved an item that was clearly not from this world. It looked like one of those alien blasters that were a popular toy decades ago. "Still, it feels strange to take orders from one of my students." He grumbled and aimed the device at the fortress wall.
A moment later, Mr. West's hands that were holding the handles of the device began emitting an electric sizzling and crackling sound and the strange device began to glow. With a burst of light, a laser shot out from the tip, then hit the various lenses in its way before touching the wall.
"Is it broken?" Rory asked, looking at the device.
"Not broken, just needs an adjustment." Mr. West said and began tweaking the various lenses in the lasers way. After one last turn, the laser fully focused on the target and began to dig its way through the wall.
"No wonder, they call you the 'Millenia blacksmith', teach." Caleb said. "You really can create anything."
"You could too, if you had studied in school."
"Fair point."
15 minutes later, a square was cut in the side of the wall. "Daria." I said.
"I know…" She concentrated and the huge stone block inside the wall began to move out. When it was pulled out, we all got inside and the block was placed back in its original place to hide our tracks.
Our goal was simple: no matter how big the army of the undead was, they were all dead, meaning that they could not use mana - the life force of this world to cast spells or enhance their bodies. They would still be defeated, it was a matter of time, so before it happened, we had to infiltrate, find the highest ranked demon and take its life.
The demon society is ruled by strength alone, strength is the only thing they respect, it is engraved in their very culture to grow stronger, to prove their strength and to fight. In order to gain recognition after taking any post, no matter big or small, the demon usually shows its new underlings that it is so powerful compared to them, that it would be futile to fight it, that wins him respect and obedience.
But when the one they respect - the strongest in the fortress falls, it will mean that someone even stronger than that demon has appeared and that it is their enemy. When someone that you respect, someone you view as unmovable and untouchable is defeated, your whole world view breaks and it takes a while to regain your composure.
When this happens to the whole army, they become unstable, panic sets in and their loss becomes imminent. That is what we are aiming for, that is our win condition - to destroy the whole army when they are at their weakest.
We ran through the maze of corridors stopping to check for guards at every corner. Most corridors were empty, but there were a few that were guarded, after neutralizing the treats, we moved forward until we reached a seemingly ordinary corner.
I pressed myself to the wall and peeked at what was behind the corner. To my surprise, I saw a pair of large wooden doors guarded by two heavily guarded demons. I was about to order Owen to do as always, but something stopped me. An inner feeling that something was wrong, or that something was going to go wrong.
"What is it, Arthur?" Rory asked. "Are there guards, or not?"
"There are two, but…"
"I'm on it." Owen said and disappeared into the shadows before I could stop him.
Owen was our team's assassin, that could go anywhere he wanted unnoticed. Silent and unseen, his stealth skills were unmatched by anyone, so taking out a few guards should have been an easy thing for him, but I still felt restless.
I held my breath and peaked behind the corner again. The guards were standing where they stood. The torch light flickered, a sound of a blade being drawn, a stab, one of the guards fell, gurgling blood. The other guard looked at his companion and drew his blade, but it was too late, something unseen struck at his neck. The second guard fell to his knees clutching his throat.
The shadows danced in the torch light and a body clad in black materialized before the two dead guards. Owen looked at his work, nodded, took a knee and wiped his blade on one of the guards' clothes. This calm efficiency, this lack of presence was the reason Owen was dubbed the 'Shadow blade'.
The whole party cautiously approached the wooden doors. I was about to push them open, when a voice came in from the other side. "Come in." The voice was calm and even courteous, but carried an undeniable power. It sounded as if it was amused at our presence, as if it was waiting for our arrival.
I looked at my companions to see their reactions. They were all on edge, but most nodded for me to proceed. I swallowed hard and pushed the doors open, a gust of wind blew from the inside. I closed my eyes in order to shield them.
When I opened them, I saw a lavishly decorated room with swords, spears and other weapons adorning the walls. An eight foot behemoth of an ogre with long white hair and bulging muscles covered with scars doing a full split on two chairs with his arms crossed on his bare chest was occupying the middle, observing us like a curious cat would observe a mouse. "And here I thought that you would never come." He smiled, baring his fangs.
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