Their formations were crisp and clean. They didn’t care whether the person beside them was an alligator or a bunny Beast Kin—a red, black, or gray Demon. They were all soldiers of the Devil’s Crater Army. They no longer looked out for challenges as they moved. They looked forward together at the enemy that threatened their home.
Lezar, stone-faced, watched the army finish moving into their formations. All their nerves, fear, and anxiety were held in by their courage, dedication, and the silent promise they made to their brothers- and sisters-in-arms standing beside them. They would stand together and face their enemies head on. They would not flinch from their duty and they would do everything in their power to save those beside them.
“Let’s go show this Horde how an army really fights,” Lezar said over the brigade voice chat. “Fooor-ward!”
With his yell, fifty thousand feet moved forward in sync.
***
Efri watched his soldiers spread out in a line as they advanced forward. His scouts had already pushed out in front to make sure the Demon Horde was where their interfaces showed.
As they moved forward, the Stone Raiders seemed to appear out of the forest like ghosts, waiting for his brigade to come closer.
Thinking over their battles, a shiver ran down his spine. I hope I never have to face them in battle.
Kim glided from a hill down to meet him. The rest of the Stone Raiders casually lounged around. Although a few moved toward him with Kim, the others were eating, sleeping, sitting around, and watching the DCA as they moved through the thick forest.
“General Efri, I see that you’re looking a little thin in the center. Me and my Stone Raiders could take that area, freeing you up more to your right flank,” Kim said.
Efri nodded; he knew his center was thin. Their priority was focused on boxing the Horde against the cliffs and not letting them circle around the cliffs of Devil’s Crater to attack from multiple directions, which required a heavier concentration on the flanks.
“If you would, that would help me greatly,” Efri said.
“No problem. Besides, in the center, we get the best vantage point to rain hell down on the Horde.” Kim’s smile nearly made Efri flinch.
“I did not expect your raids to do as well as they did. Nearly seven hundred thousand Demons died.” Efri shook his head in disbelief.
“Well, don’t be too happy. The ones who survived are stronger than before. Most of them gorged themselves on their dead. Also, their stats make them more comparable to level 150 than level 100 now,” Kim said in a serious tone.
“Then we will have to fight them with everything that we have.” Efri’s tone mirrored hers.
“I look forward to seeing how you do in battle. If you need me, send me a message,” Kim said.
“Thank you.”
She gave him a smile as she, and her Stone Raiders, moved to reinforce the center of the DCA forces that would be right behind the Demon Horde.
***
Alkao watched as the Demon Horde poured out of the treeline that ended just a few miles from the Devil Crater’s cliffs.
For a moment, they stopped and looked up the single flat road that ran from the forest toward Alkao’s keep, the sole route between the impenetrable cliffs.
The keep shone as the first of the morning sunlight touched its metal walls. Thousands of Demons and Beast Kin lined the walls, readying their weapons and waiting for the Demon Horde.
The Horde let out a bellowing cry and rushed toward the keep.
“Fire!” the Dwarven artillery commander yelled.
Alkao flinched as the artillery pieces fired. They recoiled along their tracks; balls of pure Mana shot up and toward the morning sun.
Earthen and metal spikes rippled out from the keep and down the side of the cliff. Earth creations that had been hiding in the forest jumped up, tripping and killing anything they could get close to.
Magics of all manner spread from the Stone Raiders’ mages: hexes, lightning, Fire, ice, Water, Air, Earth, stone, and metal. Some mages grouped together, enabling them to fire even larger Mana artillery than the Dwarves could upon the Demons.
The Dwarven artillery bellowed again. Although there were only ten of the pieces, they could fire once every ten seconds. This was three times faster than the much more powerful mage’s artillery, enabling a tremendous rate of fire.
The DCA was not about to be outdone, and added in their own magical powers.
The Demon Horde seemed excited in the face of overwhelming weaponry. Despite the spells landing in their midst and tearing through the Demons’ ranks, they kept charging with maniacal grins.
Alkao suddenly felt the very air chill several degrees. His eyes thinned as he heard an unnatural scream tear through the battlefield.
A Demon bashed the ground; its wings clawed at the ground while it held its head. As a black miasma poured from its body, it grew in strength and power. Its aura doubled in its force. As it finally gained control, it turned its red eyes toward the walls. The look within them could only be described as an unquenchable hunger. It launched itself into the air at brilliant speed.
The Dark Lord turned his Creature of Power into his champion! Alkao took a running jump, spreading out his massive wings, and flew into the sky. Malkur and Vrexu didn’t hesitate to follow their brother.
The three of them rushed out to meet the champion as it raced over the battlefield.
As Dark magic warped Vrexu and Malkur’s weapons, they threw them away and followed their older brother. Alkao tossed his sword back to Vrexu, but kept his shield. The trust in his younger brother’s eyes filled Alkao with confidence. Alkao’s face turned into a grin as he released his full aura for the battle ahead.
The Dark Lord’s champion turned to face Alkao. It proved its rookie flying abilities as it tried to stop and hover; instead, it plummeted a few feet and twisted awkwardly.
In comparison, Alkao smoothly swung around the champion while cutting his speed.
The creature rushed toward him, screaming its anger. Spit trailed down its face, hungry for Alkao’s flesh.
Alkao waited, watching the creature as it came straight at him. He closed his wings and dove toward the champion. Alkao slammed his shield into the champion’s head, making them tumble. As they righted themselves, they rushed toward Alkao with blind rage.
A blur cut between Alkao and the champion.
“Thank you.” Alkao laughed and flapped out his wings once again to their full length.
The Demon looked at its gut in confusion; he’d been opened up from his hip to his shoulder.
“No problem.” Vrexu twirled a sword in his hands, cleaning the champion’s blood from it.
From the other side, Malkur’s claws cut its neck open, nearly cutting it all the way off. The Dark Lord’s champion dropped lifelessly to the ground. Malkur and Vrexu carved through the air to float behind their brother.
As two more familiar screams ripped through the air, Alkao looked to his two brothers.
“Well, let’s go hunting, shall we?” Vrexu asked.
“After you, big brother,” Malkur said.
Alkao flapped his wings and dove toward the two newest champions of the Dark Lord.
***
Esa looked over the walls of the keep. Destructive magic rained down on the Demon Horde.
Calling it a formation would be a compliment to the milling and raging group that tore into anything in their path. It came with the morning light, shining over the keep’s walls. The Demon Horde was a mass of shadow moving beneath the forest’s canopy, surging up the cliffs toward the keep and its barriers.
The Demons’ agile feet turned the defenses below the cliff into a deadly obstacle course. However, it only took one break in concentration to make them miss their footing or handholds, sending them into the spikes around them.
Great swathes of land were ripped apart by the magical forces in play. It was but a drop in the ocean that was the Demon Horde. One and a half million Demons
were no small group. Even as many died, more continued on.
It seemed that new energy filled them upon finally finding their quarry. Champions seemed to be born every few minutes. An aura of power washed over them as they charged toward the keep.
The Horde’s magics were finally awakened, out of anger, hunger, and frustration. Runes flared to life along the walls, stopping magical attacks.
“Aerial Demons!” one of the Demon commanders yelled out.
The sounds of wings flapping and gaining purchase in the air overtook even the Dwarven artillery as they recoiled in the keep’s courtyard.
Esa felt a shadow pass over her. She looked up to see legions of Demons flying over the keep. Gripped in their hands and feet were round containers. They released their containers down the cliff and into the Demon Horde.
Upon hitting the Demons, the magic stored inside was released. Every type of Mana raged up and down the Demon Horde’s lines. It held them for a few minutes. Enraged, the Demon Horde threw anything within reach at the flying Demons, catching a few of the unlucky ones.
A few recovered while others slammed into the ground or exploded as their Mana containers were ruptured.
The Demon Horde pushed forward, rushing over the spikes or using their magics to advance.
“Archers! Ready!” a Beast Kin commander called out. Archers, along the top of the keep’s wall and within the courtyard, strung arrows.
“Pull!” Strings were drawn back and bows aimed.
“Reee-lease!” The Beast Kin’s bellows were followed by thousands of arrows arcing over the keep’s walls and down into the Demons rushing toward the cliff.
The aerial Demons returned to the keep as fast as possible, as they ran out of more bombs to drop.
Archers rapidly drew and fired again; arrows were much more simple and plentiful than Mana bombs.
The Demon Horde cried out in pain as arrows continued to fall from above. Esa continued through with her motions, targeting single Demons and watching as a feathered piece of wood sprouted out of their bodies with each release of her bowstring.
***
“If we continue a frontal assault, the Demons will continue to get slaughtered. Pull back ALL our forces to the forest and find out where the traitors’ forces are in the woods. We’ll destroy them and go around their cliffs to hit them from different sides,” the Dark Lord said.
“Yes, my lord,” Boran-al said, now a glorified war-aide as he placed waypoints for the Demon Horde to follow.
Boran-al did as commanded, passing down quest changes to the Demon Horde. It had been ingrained into them to follow the quests that they were given. They thought that they might be able to fill the hunger within them.
It took long minutes before they started dispersing out into the forest, hunting the forces that the Dark Lord believed to be there.
Just over one million Demons were still alive. Nearly half the number that had been in the forests the afternoon before.
Boran-al cursed inside his head as he saw Demon corpses being raised from the dead, now under the control of the Stone Raiders’ necromancers as they tore at any of their nearby allies.
***
“Brace yourselves! The Demon Horde’s turned back and is heading right for us!” Josh said.
“Shields!” Dwayne called out.
Shield-bearing Stone Raiders moved forward while others held back as they scanned the forest for Demons.
The ground smoked in places, the undergrowth and trees twisted by magic. Demon bodies littered the ground, with tombstones above their corpses. The Stone Raiders cleared out the Demons’ inventory, turning the corpses into dust that filled the air.
Dave looked to Gurren and Lox on his left; their eyes scanned ahead. Steve stood on his right as they advanced.
The Devil’s Crater Army were spread out, moving through the forest to pin the Demon Horde against the keep’s defenses. They pulled their weapons free, moving through the destruction brought on the forest while looking for their enemy.
“They’re coming! One mile out!” Dave yelled.
“Buffs and resistances!” Kim barked.
Mages spread the spells over the closest DCA members.
“Archers ready!” Deia called out.
Bows were held at the ready.
“One thousand meters!” Dave yelled, moving up through a crater and looking at the pockmarked forest as they came over a slight rise.
The Demon Horde’s mass rushed toward them with everything they had.
“Seven hundred meters!” Dave yelled.
“Archers! Pull!” Deia yelled.
Dave could hear the bow strings go tight with tension.
“Release!”
Hundreds of arrows leapt into the air.
Dave placed his shield in the ground and closed his eyes. The world seemed to slow as he latched onto the magically imbued arrows of the barrage. Runes across his skin lit up in power as the hundreds of arrows multiplied into thousands. A dozen arrows added themselves to every arrow the Stone Raiders had fired.
The wave of arrows rained down on the Demon Horde, collapsing the front runners.
Another barrage of arrows fired overhead. Dave destroyed his previous constructs, making new ones and channeling power through him. Again, the Horde’s lines faltered.
Dave gripped his shield tighter; sweat poured from his brow as his legs shook from the effort.
Half of the arrows had conjured extras on the next barrage. His thoughts were disjointed as all of his senses cried out to him.
He opened his eyes, looking at a cluster of five Demons yell out in pain as their bodies seemed to grow. A truly fearsome aura came from their bodies.
“Malsour! Kill them!” Dave yelled.
Dave saw stone racing for the surface, like spears through the ground. They got within five feet before being destroyed.
“They’re turning into champions; they’re invulnerable during the change!” Malsour said.
Dave regained his feet. His eyes glowed gray under his hood. His face was illuminated by runic lines as runes across his skin flared with life and gray smoke wafted away from them.
“We’ll see about that.” Dave’s voice became deeper and more powerful as he channeled more power through his body.
Spell formations showed around the changing creatures, showing the new input of stats and the shield barrier around them. Although it was a normal barrier, the power that went into it was incredible.
A grin spread across Dave’s face. “Well, I’ll just have to put that power to use.” He let out a deep laugh.
He didn’t see the worried looks on those around him. His aura seemed to surge outward, making people shake in fear as he pulled more and more Mana into his body from his armor.
It felt as if they stood next to a Dragon with clear killing intent.
Dave pulled and altered the spell formation; it was clean, as if computer-generated. There were clear inputs and calculations, all of which had been made by the AIs of Emerilia, turning the Dark Lord’s commands into actions.
“Today, the gods learn they’re not the only ones with power,” Dave said as he changed the last rune.
The power that had been going into the Demons was now removed, and rushed toward Dave in a concentrated white streak with black veins. Dave’s shield and sword changed in his hands as the power slammed into him. A magical circle appeared below him; magical coding filled it.
Dave slowly started to rise above the ground; power poured off his body.
It felt as though his very body was being torn apart with the power of a god being channeled through him, enough power to change a normal person into a champion of a god. He wasn’t just tapping into one, but had redirected all five of them, while sucking the very life force from the Demons who were supposed to gain that power.
His rods covered his arms. At the end, there was a hollow aperture, which started to glow with white light.
Twin streams, identical to the power that was rushing
into Dave, projected out of his hands. Pure Mana slammed through the Demon Horde as Dave unleashed the power into their front lines. Dave pushed against the force of the twin streams, bracing himself as the very ground around him was ripped up and thrown away with the forces he controlled.
Nothing survived the streams.
Dave closed his eyes, changing the streams to thin and wide blades that tore through the Demon Horde.
It was all his mind could do to keep changing his armor while redirecting the charge through it and right out of the now linked gauntlet-cannons he wore. The power was immense but it wasn’t infinite. Dave let out a cry as the last of the energy stopped. He descended back down to the ground. The magical formation he’d created underneath him left burnt marks on the ground.
His gauntlets turned to rods and returned to his side. He immediately grabbed a Stamina and Mana potion, drinking them both at the same time.
“Ugh, well, damn,” Dave said. The glow of his eyes and runes fell away as he looked over the destruction he’d created.
“Archers!” Deia yelled, getting people back into the right state of mind.
Dave looked to his friends, who looked at him with a look of shock. “What? I just took the power from those five bozos becoming champions, funneled it through the armor and then out of my hands. Basically just one big Mana conductor. Pain in the ass fixing up the armor’s runes; lots of damn power,” Dave complained, grabbing his rods as they turned into a shield and golden sword.
“Are you okay? That’s more damned Mana than I’ve seen since Boran-al,” Lox said.
“Yeah. Cause I used the armor, it took all of the force. I’ve got just a minor headache from keeping the runes the right way,” Dave said.
Gurren let out a deep laugh and clapped Dave hard on the back. “Yer a damned monster, but yer our monster. Redirecting the Dark Lord’s very own power! Hah, I bet he won’t be doing that again any time soon!”
This is Our Land (Emerilia Book 5) Page 8