RD 5 Ch 7

I wiped the demon blood off my blade, standing over the scout whose body was rapidly sinking into the ground, being reclaimed by the system.

"Could you please be a little more cautious?" I said, staring at the men behind me. I had to rush ahead and catch a scout before he could put the whole operation at risk. 

From the hills we could slide sideways into the army, and the demons were just as aware of that as we were. They had put a number of observers on and amongst the hills to give them early warning should we move a force through the hills.

That meant we needed some caution and to be strategic not only in how we moved, but how we dispatched the scouts.

"Don't blame me," Kalmian crossed his arms and glared at our largest ally. "Some of us don't know the meaning of subtlety."

I continued to tend to my blade, not looking up at their spat as I spoke. "You'll forgive me if I have no interest in your squabble. My priority is ensuring the success of this mission and the survival of the fortress." I looked up from the blade at both of them to make the point. "If either of you put that at risk, I hope you understand the decision I'll have to make."

Throughout our short trip through the hills, Kalmian had become more cautious and respectful in how he addressed me. Apparently there was hope for him yet. 

"How long have you been fighting demons?" Tarel asked. He wasn’t testing me, no he was asking to get the rest of his men to hear the answer.

"Long enough," I said, letting weariness creep into my voice and making my gaze go hard as I cast a glance towards where the main army should be. 

The demons seemed to have no end. Every time we held or pushed back an army, it seemed another had formed behind them and would march on us before we were able to rest.

Like this, they had ground my kingdom to dust over the course of years. Fighting them seemed to be about as futile as fighting ocean waves.

I knew that I must look like a weary old soldier. I simply did not have the time to put energy into appearance. But it also helped generate respect from the men.  And while I certainly didn't need the validation, earning their respect now would serve me well when I needed them to listen to my orders.

“Are they always so… rabid?” Tarel asked, glancing down at a few he’d killed himself.

"This, this is tame." I gestured at the dead scout at our feet.

The demon had realized he was about to die and simply expended all of his energy trying to do as much damage as he could, or perhaps draw attention from a scout further away. Regardless, it was always impressive to see how far demons would go to simply harm us.

When the end came, most humans grew timid, weak and reflected on their life with regret. Yet, demons on the other hand, grew savage, angry and had no desire besides taking as many with them.

"At least his death throes weren't too strong," I mused, shaking my head. “Sometimes, the big demons took an entire group to tear down, and they put up quite the fight when they realize they aren't getting out of the encirclement. For them, and all of the demons, their life wasn’t nearly as important as our death. We're fighting to survive, and they're simply trying to destroy us.”

Tarel shook his head. "I can see why an enemy like that would be difficult to fight."

I chuckled. "Difficult is an understatement. But like us, demons die. There must be some end to them eventually," I said, some knowledge I was forgetting tickling at the back of my mind, but simply couldn't seem to push through whatever fog was hiding those thoughts. "Regardless, we need to keep moving," I said, focusing once again on the task at hand, keeping my sword ready and moving swiftly through the hills.

A little over a hundred men followed me, all of them high-ranked classes, well-equipped and well-leveled. While I was suspicious of their total experience when it came to fighting demons, it was easy to describe this group as elite.

Tarel held up a fist to stop our men.

The demon army was merely two hills away, and we could already see the final battle. Marching along the ridge, I saw a group of demons, all of them high levels, no doubt keeping watch.

At the same time, our hundred or so odd men weren't easy to hide. But thus far, it appeared we'd managed to avoid notice.

"Thoughts?" Kal asked.

"We should strike swift and strike hard. We can't let the demon army fully engage us, or we’ll lose too many men," I spoke to the two leaders, keeping my tone low and soft to keep it from carrying further than I wanted.

Both of them were nodding with my words.

“If they turn hard on us?” Tarel asked.

“Then we turn harder away from them. It's suicide to fight with their full attention on us. Strike and run." I simplified for their benefit.

Kal seemed less than excited about that concept. The man looked only a moment from licking his blades. Every inch of him seemed poised and ready to kill.

I stepped closer, letting my stature help reinforce the words I was about to say. This would be so much easier if I could do this all on my own, but I needed their help. "Do you always argue with the plan?" I would have said orders, but for both of these men, I worried obviously putting myself above them would cause them to baulk and ruin our current strategy.

"No. But we're here to get experience. To do that, we need to kill more demons," Kal shrugged.

I gasped playfully to diffuse the tension. "You mean you're not here to help?"

Both men laughed, and I cringed that they were comfortable enough with their positions to laugh at the idea of being here to help.

"No, our king recognizes the sheer value of the experience lying out here," he gestured as if it was some instance to be farmed, not an army of demons that would claim thousands if not millions of lives. 

"What he means," Tarel, who had a lick of sense, cut in, "is that our primary goal is to increase the level of our men. Now, of course, that's going to involve killing as many demons for you as we can. Different goals, but in the end, they are the same."

I smirked at the larger man. "And who knew you'd be the brains between the two of you?" It had been obvious from their stats.

Kal did a quick about-face and snarled at me.

"All you're doing is proving his point." I told him.

Tarel laughed and Kal stepped forward. "Rather than stupid jokes, let's go cut up some demons." He was halfway to rushing out before I even realized what he was doing, and I had to rush to follow up behind him. Tarel was in the same boat as me, though neither of us uttered a single complaint. After all, this was the reason we were here. 

Kal hit the marching line of demons first. He came in with two blades, fighting as if they were a pair of scissors. He snipped arms and limbs by drawing them opposite of each other and slicing the demons apart.

I barreled in behind him using Blood Boil, making my veins bulge and my muscles swell. Sanguine Slash bled off the tip of my blade. If my strike was strong enough, it would cut not only through the demon right in front of me, but the one behind him too. 

When humans were faced with a threat that crashed into a group of this size, they would usually scatter.

But demons did not react the same way. The group in front of us collapsed as we charged in, each of them bearing claws and weapons, rushing forward with snarls and spittle. The grunts weren't bright creatures, and they made up the vast majority of any army. 

Tarel came in behind me, the man some sort of close-range earth caster. He pulled stone up from the ground into a larger form and transformed himself into a burly, craggy knight. With each movement, the rocks ground a grating sound, with the only relief being the sweet squish of demon blood as it splattered across the ground. 

Their soldiers came in all varieties, though I would note what was sent were all those who could take part in a battle. Even those that were healers were half-healers at best, launching some barriers or reprieve alongside swirling blasts of magic.

Our clash with the demon army was short-lived. They turned on us, the edges curling in, and I physically grabbed Kal by the back of his collar.

He spun, trying to stab me with his blades. He even managed to prick one into my side, but I still pivoted, shifting my weight, and hurled him behind me. 

"Retreat!" I shouted, and Kal’s men listened. 

Tarel glanced over towards us, his large, stony figure who smash the ground, causing a quake that gave him enough breathing room to kick off the ground and show he was moving back as well.

We fought a short but retreating battle, demons rushing into me as I skewered them.

I gave some protection, letting our support at the back lead the retreat. Tarel and I held the line, ensuring our men were getting out, putting ourselves at risk.

The risk only became more obvious as a squad of winged demons flew over, clearly getting a read before diving in.

To make matters worse, an armored demon just as big as Tarel in his stone armor came barreling through.

I immediately recognized the juggernaut as it crushed grunts beneath it in its mad dash to reach us. "Defensives!" I shouted at Tarel as I threw the Crimson Barrier out from myself and rushed back.

There was a faint memory of a juggernaut that screamed danger at me. The hulking demons were a wrecking ball on the battlefield. A massive demon with extreme strength, defense and quick decision making to use it all to his best advantage.

The juggernaut slammed into the red screen, shattering it before swinging the axe off his shoulder and trying to cut one of the men.

Kal had made it back at this point and pulled his man out of the way, not even daring to clash with the juggernaut's axe that landed amidst the ground, shattering it and creating a cloud of dirt and dust. 

Tarel started to step forward, but I caught his eye and shook my head. 

"Back into the hills. You don't want to fight this one on the flat plains," I snapped. 

Apparently, being the one giving orders drew the juggernaut's attention. His head quickly pivoted, eyes locking on me and coming in hot.

I tried to parry his axe swing, my Bloodiron Blade straining and cracking as I tried to turn the heavy blow. I more or less managed to push myself out of the way before a second Bloodiron Blade appeared in my other hand. I stabbed the juggernaut's side, but he twisted just enough to catch it on his armored carapace.

My blade managed to skip off of the protection and into a groove where I pushed with all of my strength. I barely managed to stab an inch of the sword into him, but it was enough as I wiggled my wrist and cast Sanguine Slashes off the tip.

Blood from my ability mixed with the darker blood of demons as it splashed out, only for the juggernaut to twist and snap that blade.

His axe swung horizontally in a wide arc. 

Kal was next to me as the hit came. With a strange ability, he had juked forward to grab me, and then back in a fluid motion, pulling me out of the path of the axe head. 

"You owe me one, actually two," he corrected himself. "There was no need to throw me."

I smirked. "Wasn't there? You came back to return the favor, didn't you? And just in time."

Kal scoffed as I pretended it was all part of my plan.