RD 4 Ch 42

"Report," I commanded, returning to the fortress. Only Simone, Nyx and Gloria were with me. The generals and other leaders of our forces were still occupied with the aftermath of their battles. Circe and Merlin were watching over the retreat.

I had noticed that the other two major sections of our forces had encountered more problems while I'd been preoccupied. A group of analysts from the recon team were hastily using laptops and the occasional lined notebook to compile what I hoped would be an answer to my question.

"Lord Bran," the analyst began, hesitating. "We lost some."

"Of course we lost some," I replied, sitting down, understanding his apprehension. He felt as though any loss was a failure. "It's war. We're going to hear that a lot."

He nodded. "Well, our early estimates suggest about a 5% fatality rate and 25% wounded."

I pursed my lips, processing the information before I spoke. "That's not bad at all."

"Not bad?" He asked hesitantly.

"Wounded are fine. It's practice for the healers." My words seemed to make the man a little queasy. But that was the truth, not to mention the Mul Branova were quite adept at healing, even if the abilities were steeped in blood and made more than a few soldiers look uneasy.

"What Bran means to say," Simon interjected, giving me a stern look, "is that our people will be back on their feet. It will just take time. And our healers could certainly use some practice to improve their skills."

"Right. What she said. " I gestured to Simone. “The priority is going to be the transportation of the healers and their protection so we can get the wounded to walk themselves out."

“My girls can handle themselves, but a few extra eyes wouldn’t hurt.” Simone seemed almost offended that I’d offered them protection.

The analyst began scribbling furiously before I looked over at a nearby group. "Recon team, you aren't done yet."

"We're not?" They asked.

"Not even close, unfortunately. We need to keep an eye on this whole situation so that we can get the healers out of there if it becomes at all troublesome. Keeping them alive is essentially the same as keeping our wounded alive." I told them. “You are our eyes and ears and even though the fighting is done for now, I can’t have you turn away and stop listening. Work in shifts if you need a break.”

The recon team nodded in understanding.

"Five percent is an unfortunate number, but fatalities are inevitable. Was there any group that was particularly hit hard?" I asked.

"The worst was the group that you went and aided, Lord Bran. Others also faced smaller ambushes, but nothing quite as severe. General Delery’s forces were ambushed but she only lost a single man."

"That's our luck. Let's hope it stays that way." I nodded. It was no surprise that Winnie fared well.

"Sir Bran," someone rushed into the room panting, stopping as he spotted me.

"Yes?" I said slowly, wondering what emergency had arisen now.

He hesitated, at least intelligent enough to read the room. "There's an urgent request from the Heros Clan. They asked for you or Circe, and I cannot find Circe." He said the words like it was an admission of guilt.

"Thankfully, you have me. What's the message?" I prompted.

The messenger paused, holding up an actual letter. “I didn't open it. I was just told it was urgent for Lord Bran or Circe. The man's waiting in the lobby if you'd like to ask him yourself.”

I held my hand out for the letter and ripped into it, unconcerned whether somebody would try to poison me through the letter. Really, that would simply be training. However, once my eyes fell upon its contents, I grew increasingly concerned. 

I was already halfway out the door, with a trail of Nyx and Simone following me. Apparently, Gloria had pulled the short straw; she stayed behind to talk to the team. 

"What's wrong, Bran?" Simone said, practically jogging to keep up with my long stride. 

"Trouble," I replied, "but that was easy enough to guess, wasn't it?" 

I reached the lobby and stopped, sweeping the room quickly with my gaze before I picked the Heros clan member out of the crowd. Without even being introduced, I stormed right up, wagging the letter in my hand. 

"Is this true? Who sent it?" I asked both questions without giving the poor messenger a chance to respond to the first. 

"Zeus sent it?” He eeked out, stepping back and looking over his shoulder like I was about to eat him or something. “Yes, it's real. I would never..." 

Based on his reaction, it seemed I was making a name for myself. Fear was a terrible motivator, though if it came with an edge of respect, it was worthwhile in my opinion. It was a good way to influence those people around you. 

"Start explaining then. How long ago were they hit? How bad is it?" I prompted.

"Bad," the messenger said, "and as far as how long ago… it's still going on." 

I swept around the room. A number of Mul Branova had stopped what they were doing. "Someone get ahold of Merlin for me. Tell her it's urgent. I need her. Right away." I tried to remain calm, however, I could not help the urgency from filling my voice. Every Mul Branova in the room literally and figuratively dropped what they were doing and scrambled to go find Merlin. 

"That'll get her quickly," Simone said with a proud smile. 

I began rifling through the various Rocky Talkies in my spatial ring before pulling out the one for Circe. 

"Circe, you need to meet me in the fortress front lobby. And if by chance you're with Merlin, bring her too. We'll meet you there in just a second." I commanded. 

She responded immediately, her own urgency almost palpable. Perhaps I had been a little too firm in my tone. 

"Who else do we need?" Simone asked, beginning to pick through her own sets of Rocky Talkies, ready and waiting to call on whoever we needed. 

"Right now, no one. However, I rushed the healers dealing with our troops. I think we're going to have another job for them soon…the Heros Clan. Apparently, the Heros Clan got hit hard. As did two other of the five clans." It had been a coordinated effort. I wondered how close we’d been to the forces we’d found converging and marching on us.

If they’d been one solid unit then we would have had significantly more losses. Based on the timing, I’d say that we set off these attacks early.

For the Demon Lord to be attacking this early on, with such force was surprising, especially since I had robbed him of the spare Hell Gate and he wasn’t amassing forces within the Heavenly Fist Sect.

Circe was obviously concerned about the situation as she swept in on a gust of wind that was strong enough to knock over high level Mul Branova. "What other clans?" she asked.

I was shocked that her first question wasn't about her own family. "Surprisingly, the Kailash and the Wukong," I replied, "though I'm fairly certain we can ignore the Wukong's cry for help because they're secretly in league with the demons."

"Are they?" Simone asked. 

"Yes and no.” I answered.

“If they're secretly evil, I would very much like to know that before I go visit next time," Circe said, stepping up behind me. Merlin was there as well, the world warping around her as she arrived.

"It's a long story. How about we get going before I share it? Merlin, can you get us as close as possible to the Heros clan islands? I doubt you can punch through their protections after I helped enhance them. We'll have to rely on Circe getting the rest of the way."

Both of them nodded, and Circe’s eyes bore into me for a better explanation. 

"The leadership of the Wukong is compromised," I offered.

"Bran, I know you know plenty of things, but that is ridiculous," Circe said. "You know that the Wukong…"

I held up a hand to stop her, but she continued anyway.

"Are impervious to any sort of attacks on the soul or spirit?" She finished.

"Well aware, Circe. That's what makes the demon's plan so devious. They're only immune to soul attack after they awaken the Monkey King bloodline, correct?" I pressed.

Circe frowned. "Correct," she said thoughtfully, "and those that they identify at a young age with the bloodline are immediately sequestered and go through intense training."

I smiled at her. "Of course they do. They have to be prepped to be the perfect host, after all. That sequestering means there's no need for significant imitation, because no one's going to know the original host's personality. But that's only those of the Monkey King bloodline. And they cannot be inspected.”

Her face began to fall. She realized it too, it was both perfect and even if you knew, it was impossible to prove unless you watched it happen yourself.

I nodded. “That's how they've hidden so seamlessly amongst the five clans. The lower echelon of the Wukong clan have no idea what's happening, but I'm not quite ready to dive into that particular den of vipers just yet, so we'll ignore Wukong's request for help. I'm far more concerned about the Kailash. Shiva was lured away from the rest of the clan due to a significant threat at their hell gate. They got the king out of the castle and went to take the castle. My assumption is Shiva is unscathed in all of this, which at least is good news. He makes up for the vast majority of his clan's strength."

Simone crossed her arms and looked at me as if I was being too cold and calculating. War required an analytical mindset, not one of emotion.

Besides, this was the truth.

"Does that mean we're going to India?" Merlin asked. 

"No, the plan will remain to go to the Heros clan. I'm sure Shiva can sort his own concerns out. At a certain point, we're just inviting his ire by sticking our noses into his business." There were more nods all around from the group.

Most likely this was going to cause Shiva to race back home and stay with his clan rather than wander the battlefield. It was likely to sequester him rather than do any real harm. Though, they’d have to deal some damage to keep him from marching out again.

As Merlin's spell grew stronger, we blinked, and in a blink of an eye, we went from standing inside a fortress to floating over a massive body of water. Simone yelped and scrambled to latch onto me, only for Circe's wind to pick up and catch all of us, cradling all of us in a gentle cup of wind. 

"Don't worry, Simone, I wouldn't let you fall." Circe reached over and pinched the other woman's cheek. 

"Of course you wouldn't," Simone said, smoothing out her illusioned outfit and regaining some of her confidence. 

Simone got a little startled with the sudden change, as she said that we were already beginning to hurtle through the air towards the large, enchanted dome not far in the distance.

To my surprise, the dome was still intact. The message had seemed far more dire and slightly accusatory towards my upgrades to their enchantments.

Instead, battle was largely occurring outside of the structure. Clusters of Heros Clan members were charging past the barrier, either with abilities to move over water or on small structures, only to attack the side of the Demon Army that was busy smashing itself against the shield and trying to crack it.

"Bran," Circe spoke as the demon army came into view.

"I know, I see it too." The demons that were present largely resembled those that were coming from the gate outside Vein City. I had no idea how they had managed to get all the way here. But regardless, the simple answer was that something would need to be done about them.

"I have no idea how they got here. Just throw me down. Circe, I'm going to hop into the thick of it." I told her.

"Won't you sink like a brick?" Simone asked, and I frowned briefly.

"I'll figure it out." I answered, as several options spooled out in my mind. Water was terribly hard to fight in, but I’d make it work.

Circe shrugged and dropped me. The blue-haired beauty had absolute trust in my ability to manage.

Figuring it out took me a few seconds, but a plan already formed in my mind as I dropped Crimson Barrier underneath me. I pushed the ability to form a half circle that crashed into the water. And even with my weight, I was able to stand in the center without it sinking in the slightest.

There was a splash outside my barrier as Nyx, her tail converted back to a serpent, landed and immediately shot through the water with surprising speed. 

"Huh," I grunted. "She’s in her element. Glad to see she understands that it’s better for combat.”

She popped out of the water a few seconds later, firing off waves of arrows into the demon army.

Meanwhile, I was somewhat stuck floating without means of propulsion until Circe landed on the barrier and wind picked up behind both of us. 

"You realize something is going to shatter this," she said.

"Until then, we'll have to do our best." I answered.

Circe didn't bother with more talk. Instead, her wind whipped around her before firing off a hail of blades that cut into the demonic army. 

"And where's Merlin?" I asked, turning only to see the other woman on a small ice float with Simone, the two of them chasing after something that I couldn't make out. 

"They're focusing on providing emergency aid," Circe said. 

I shifted in what was essentially a giant red bowl as a Bloodiron Blade formed in my hand. We flew forward, and anticipation built inside of me. Another battle had begun, and I was ready to kill some demons.