RD 5 Ch 8

"Into the hills!" I shouted, leading the juggernaut back as it picked up steam coming at us faster.

The demon was at least nine feet tall, plated in armor like carapace with a few spots of dark veiny skin peeking out when it flexed its limbs. The helmetted head had a crown of horns stabbing up in every direction. It was rather impressive, and that didn’t take into account the battle axe almost as big as it was, that the demon swung around like it was a toy. The trick with them was that they were almost all about momentum, big body and big weapon.

Tarel came crashing through the demons behind me, his heavy stone armor clearly hindering his movement. Even the juggernaut seemed more agile than it was at moving through the demons.

I looked at my group. "The hills will restrict its movement, and that's exactly what we need." Nobody argued with my advice, moving in the direction I had indicated.

We rushed into the foothills, the juggernaut doggedly pursuing us like a runaway train. Tarel, Kal, and I rotated in taking its blows as we pulled further away from the demon army.

Some of the other demons took to the skies or ran on four legs to try and keep up with our retreat, but it only took a few wide-area attacks from casters in our group to blow the chasing demons off our tail. 

Tarel laughed as he shed stone spikes from his armor, shrinking as he ran. He needed to get smaller, otherwise there was no way he was going to escape this juggernaut.

Our ranged group peeled the demon army off our tail as we got deeper in the hills. The juggernaut was so tunnel-visioned that the demon didn't seem to notice it was entirely alone, suddenly surrounded by enemy forces amongst the hills. 

When I came to a sliding stop and squared up against it, the demon checked its surroundings. I could see the realization dawn on its face.

The juggernaut snarled, tilting its horned head down towards me and charging like a bull.

I had learned through brutal experience that large opponents were unexpectedly fast if they threw their full weight and strength forward. I barely had time to throw myself to the side and slide out of the way. 

The demon started moving uphill once it passed me, breaking the momentum of his charge. The other members of our group had enough time to scatter while the ranged group pelted it with spells and forcing it back down into the valley between hills.

Amongst the hills, it was like a rat trapped in a bucket.

"Not so tough now," Kalmain said, appearing behind the demon in a flash and slashing an blade across his back.

But the hit did little more than scratch the demonic plate. 

"Fuck, tough bugger," Kal said, as he jumped back and caught the very tip of the juggernaut's backhanded swing on his swords. The momentum was enough to send Kal flying, but I had no doubt he sustained no serious injury.

I shook my head at his overconfidence.

Tarel came rushing in from the side, a lance of stone gathering in his hands. He slammed into the side of the juggernaut far more effectively than Kal. The weight behind the charge and the heft of the lance were enough to punch several inches into the demon's carapace, squirting out thick black blood.

The juggernaut smashed the lance of stone before turning on me, attempting to cleave me into two.

But I was rather fond of my current form in its entirety. I managed to sidestep and parry the head of the axe down and to the side. I could feel my skills assisting me as my sword mastery flowed through my use of the weapon, adding a significantly enhanced aura to my blade and making every touch with it even more powerful. 

The demon roared and tried to bodily check me out of the way, but I found my sword coming back up quicker than I would expect. I attacked using an upward stroke that contained my entire will.

The world seemed to flicker almost, a juxtaposition showing of fighting this juggernaut and also another, bigger, meaner version. My brain tried to interpret what I was seeing. It was like a deja vu in actual visual form.

But the strange, stuttering juxtaposition disappeared after my sword stroke. But the juggernaut went down as the strength of my blade extended far beyond the tip and I sliced the juggernaut cleanly into two. 

"Fuck me. Remind me not to piss him off," Kal said, just as surprised as I was at the power of my slash.

I wasn't sure what exactly just happened. I would have expected a system message but none had appeared. I wanted to check my current stats, but there was no time. The demons that had taken to the sky were beginning to swell in number as they circled overhead, ready to bore down on and crush us.

"Be in awe of me later," I smirked. "Continue the retreat," I ordered, even as Tarel snatched up a fat spatial ring from where the juggernaut had fallen, as well as a skill book. I began to rush away with the rest of the group, but I shot him a raised eyebrow, letting him know I had spotted him. 

"Just collecting the loot for you, boss," the big man promised. Based on the way he spoke, I decided to believe him.

"Fire into the flyers," I shouted at our retreating group and swung Sanguine Slashes over my shoulder, not even bothering to look to see if they hit.

Arrows and abilities fired from the group in front of me. The attacks were a haphazard, poorly aimed barrage, but it was enough to keep the flyers from diving on our group and fouling our retreat. 

"Tarel, you got anything for the ground?" I called out as we ran.

With the delay from the juggernaut the army had managed to recover and respond. It seemed they’d chosen to chase us into the hills. Several demons rode what might pass for steeds, while others raced along on four legs. 

"Yeah, I've got something for that," Tarel said, shifting and stomping hard enough that he created a row of spikes that ran diagonally across our retreating path. The big man was armorless now, and somehow, despite his large size, it made him seem smaller simply by comparison.

Kal began to cackle. "That was a good run, boss," he said to me over his shoulder. "Do you think we can hit them a few more times?"

"Do you have anyone who can tell us how many are chasing us into the hills, the angles too?" I asked.

Kal looked forward and whistled. "Jazz. Get a bird in the air. How many are chasing?"

Among his group, a woman threw her hands forward and a small group of locusts shot out from her sleeves, sweeping through the air before returning to her.

Several of the flying demons swooped and tried to attack the mass of locusts, but the insects simply scattered and fell faster than they could be caught. Dealing with a swarm was remarkably difficult.

"Maybe two hundred in the air and another eight hundred on the ground," Jazz estimated.

"Those don't seem like too bad odds, to me, Kal. What about you? The hundred or so of us versus eight hundred of them?" I offered.

Kal snorted. "I certainly wouldn't bet on the demons."

I liked his attitude.

I started calling out my orders. "Ranged support, turn and fire on the flyers. Melee and anyone with some spears, get up front to receive the knights when they come over this hill."

Those that were already reaching the top turned and immediately began aiming and firing into the flyers.

The sudden shift caught plenty of them off guard. Abilities knocked them out of the air and hopefully to their deaths. Even for those of us granted strength from the system, the physics of a fall were still extraordinarily brutal.

I turned with the rest of our group and Tarel took the tip of the formation with me without even saying anything. Their two groups had made a wedge formation with their backs facing each other. I reached into my spatial ring and pulled out a number of spare spears, stabbing them into the ground around me as well, making a quick impromptu tilted palisade wall.

The demons, riding on steeds or rushing on four legs crested the hill at full speed. They were trying to catch up to us after all

My own defenses were mimicked up and down the line. Not everyone had spare spears, but cones of ice and earth as well as halberds and any other pointed object were thrusted towards the enemy in preparation.

The demons at the front of that charge had seen the danger and attempted to pull back, but those behind them either ran them over with their momentum or forced them onwards. Even with the front line trying to stop, they crashed into our defenses, instantly skewering and dismounting themselves.

I roared in challenge and saw the morale bar spike upwards as I hacked my way through the demonic horde that had stumbled to a halt before me. There was very little they could do.

Those upon steeds struggled to keep their animals in check as our group fell upon them like a pack of ravenous beasts, cutting our way clean through the masses. In short order, those at the back had already turned and ran, and the fliers that had been gathering either limped away from where they had fallen or were turning tail as well.

I turned to the range group, not spotting the woman from before but shouting her name. "Jazz, eyes in the air please."

Sure enough, a burst of locusts flew up from a location behind several men.

"The main army is turning to the hills, sir." She voice called out.

I nodded. "Then let's rush back to the fort and take the field." I smirked at the group that had followed me. We were going to lead these demons on a merry chase.