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Chapter 123 - Charge
🕑 Added 2019-07-19 12:24:36 +0000 UTC
Is he serious right now? Where does that confidence come from? Maybe he got more powerful over the years since his last fight with Exla - in other words, expanded his mind to get a better imagination. But are people able to do that through effort? I thought that was something you only lose the older you get, as more influences ground you in reality.
My visage is a physical mask right now because I know that I let my feelings show too easily. I need to keep a poker face in front of Zenlith as well as my entourage. If this comes down to a battle, which is highly likely, I want him to think that I'm more confident than he is.
"Did you maybe mean to offer your own surrender?" I look down on him with the self-assuredness of someone who knows that they have the upper hand here, even though I'm confused about where we stand power-wise. "Leave now and never set foot on the Ceogath continent again. If you choose to fight, we will come for your empire after wiping out every last one of you here today."
"I take that negotiations have broken down then." Zenlith shakes his head with a sigh. It's not like he ever thought we would do what he was demanding of us. Surrender was never an option to begin with because the result would have been a genocide - the same as if the humans won today.
"My, that was quick." Apate comments in an amused tone. She turns her eyes toward Hestia, who glares back in hatred. "You never had a place among our people, so turning into a demon was the only way for you to belong somewhere. It is befitting of you to be on that side."
In the next moment, an invisible barrier shatters in midair but is instantly mended again. I glance at the fallen angel to realize that she just activated her cursed eyes to disintegrate Apate, but something blocked it.
Then Kamii suddenly turns around, opens her crab pincer and snaps something up. The gasp of a person can be heard even though there's nothing visible. But then I realize that I had the Chaos senses off all this time because it was annoying when surrounded by countless people inside the fortress. That's a huge oversight on my part.
When I turn it on, I notice that the little dark elf is holding a human in her grasp - and that there's a whole contingent surrounding us right now, all turned invisible by a certain somebody I've met not long ago.
Kamii closes her pincer completely, and two halves of a human appear out of invisibility and drop onto the palanquin. They belong to a man in form-fitting clothes to muffle all sounds while moving, his hand still clutching a dagger with which he was most likely trying to kill one of us.
From underneath the palanquin, tentacles sprout and turn into spikes that extend in all directions, piercing through all the invisible soldiers' heads. I feel one of them dodge, and another deflects my attack, so those two must be Folke, the Mirage Knight, and Colart, Knight of the Iron Veil.
The instant the soldiers die, their invisibility gets undone, and corpses appear on my spikes, skewered like meat ready to be grilled. I pull them in and under the palanquin, where I swallow and instantly shred them to prevent a suicide bombing from happening inside me again - even if I'm pretty much impervious to that now due to being able to line my insides with dragon armor and barriers.
Evelyn stares at my ride - which is another part of my body - with round eyes, terror filling them as she doesn't understand what just happened.
"What about the sanctity of parlays, huh?" I turn to Exla, who scowls at her brother's underhanded tactics. Did he really expect to kill us in this manner? He saw how I was able to survive being turned into mist myself, and not even because of the Imagination Engine but due to my alien biology.
"Were you trying to kill us with this?" The Guardian of the Soil gets up from her seat and balls her fists in anger. Her hair turns darker like angry thunderclouds, and her galaxy eyes begin swirling. "It seems that you have become rotten to the core, brother."
"Your Majesty, who is this girl?" Thorvadis is the one who asks this time, but Lucianus raises his hand to shut him up just as he did with his wife earlier.
"[Does this mean we're going to fight?]" Korenga stands up and cracks her neck in anticipation, feeling the atmosphere crackle from the killing intent sent both ways.
"[Yes, negotiations have broken down, so we'll fight.]" I reply with a glare at Zenlith. He must understand the Armerian language as much as Exla does, and his eyebrows furrow in disapproval.
"[Remember my warning.]" He suddenly says while pointing at me. "[Sister being here changes nothing.]"
"[What do you mean?]" That sister in question asks him with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
"[I had Alverost's mother revoke your absolute rights for today just now.]" Zenlith is visibly trying to suppress a sneer as he makes this revelation. "[So you either play the game, or I will remove this entire continent from existence, and you alongside it.]"
"[What makes you think I'll let you do that?]" I try bluffing to make him think that I'm entirely capable of overriding his imagination with my own to stop him from abusing the Imagination Engine. In reality, I don't even know how Exla was going to do that.
"[You are an irregular existence, and your data is not even recorded in the Imagination Engine, so you get to keep your fantasy. But you cannot oppose mine.]" So that's where his confidence came from. He just cheated by snitching on the host's mother, who then took away Exla's rights to moderate the meeting of rowdy kids. "[But do not worry, sister. You only lost the absolute rights, but you are still as immortal as I am. When this is all over, you'll realize that it was all just harmless fun.]"
Without waiting for a response, he gestures for his entourage to follow him, as he turns his horse around and leaves. Arcelia and Thorvald don't follow right away, staring at the back of the emperor of Terminus. They must be wondering about many things that happened in this meeting, including his use of another language they don't know. Zenlith's mask is clearly crumbling already, and as I've seen with Rolan and other humans before, they may turn away from the false gods if they found out the truth.
"Master Eklundstrom, a word, please?" I extend a hand toward the principal, who turns his head.
"You wish to talk? I always thought the time for that was over when you attacked the academy staff and me not once but twice." He feigns surprise as he scrutinizes me with his inquisitive eyes. It's as if he can see right through me with those. "So you are the demon queen now. What should we call you?"
"That's not important right now. You can stop this bloodbath-" I start, but he raises a hand.
"No, you could have stopped it. But it is too late now." With these words, he directs his horse away without listening any further. But then he stops when he notices that Arcelia isn't moving. She has her eyes closed as always, but I can feel her stare on me.
"Lady Crux, I have a child of the Lady of Brilliance in my custody. He told me that-" I thought she would listen if I brought up the bard's connection with Sintress, the goddess that she adheres to, but my wording may have backfired on me instead as she opens her eyes, which glow from inside.
"Speaking of hostages now, Miss Marcott? I am sure that an adherent of the Lady of Brilliance will gladly give his life for the greater good." Her voice is level, but it's clear that she's enraged by my statement that may have sounded like I was trying to threaten her. "You will be destroyed, and then there can finally be peace."
And just like Thorvadis before, she turns her horse around and leaves. Finally, the two invisible knights I was unable to kill with my spike attack earlier walk away as well and turn visible once they think they're outside my reach. Folke turns around to glance at me, his full helmet hiding his expression. But I can tell that he must be angry that I saw through his invisibility again.
"[Why are we letting them leave?]" Korenga asks with an expression of incredulity. "[Didn't you just say negotiations broke down and we could fight?]"
"[We have bigger problems right now.]" I say while making the palanquin float back toward the gates. Of course, I'm talking about the revelation that Exla essentially lost her god status through a very underhanded move from Zenlith. He did say that she didn't lose all her powers, but she can no longer stop him from destroying this continent if I don't keep out of this battle.
"I can't believe he would do that." The cloud girl looks up at me with a vulnerable expression. It's the first time she has shown such weakness, even though she's still immortal and most likely more powerful than me. But that's the look of somebody I have to protect. "And how could Alverost's mother allow it?"
"Next time she's around, we'll have to ask her." I say while approaching the gates of our fortress. They open for us, and I reduce the size of the palanquin so that it can fit through. "But for now, we need to concentrate on this battle. Zenlith wants this to go like a conventional war without using any godlike powers. Let's win this fair and square - and drag it out until you get your absolute rights back so that you can stop the tantrum that he will be throwing when that happens."
"Hm, that sounds like a plan." Rubbing her chin while in thoughts, she agrees with me. It hurts to lose her support, but even without using the Imagination Engine, I'm still a powerful being that can oppose the Old Humans. Otherwise, Mataku wouldn't have been able to nearly wipe them all out back in his early days.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Dregana comments after listening to our exchange. I doubt she was expecting Exla to actually help in this battle, but she has learned the truth of this world from me not too long ago and knows that this war involving millions of lives boils down to a group of kids playing a massive war game. Now that the fickle Old Human in charge holds all the power in his hands again, she doesn't see a good outcome to this.
We're still at a numerical disadvantage of about one to fifteen.
When we reach the top of the battlements, I look across the no man's land to see that the armies have lined up and almost come to within the range of the lamia archers' arrows. Lucianus is personally leading the troops and riding along the lines while raising his richly ornamented sword.
He's most likely artificially amplifying his voice and holding a speech which reaches all the way to us. The contents are the typical hero babble about justice and slaying evil, bringing peace to the lands and light back into the world. Even Kamii rolls her eyes at how clichéd those lines are.
"This kingdom of evil will fall today. Join me, men, and bring an end to the demons!" Lucianus seems to conclude the motivational speech and turns his horse around to face us. Making a brief pause for dramatic effect, he raises his sword and opens his mouth. "Cha-"
"CHAAARGE!" A roar suddenly emerges from the mountain to our right, and takes the disguised Zenlith off guard, as he closes his mouth in surprise.
The contingent under Chandra emerges from the forest covering the mountainside on the enemy's left flank. It consists of the entire cavalry, all of her Ajura clansmen, minotaurs, and centaurs, as well as any demon quick enough on their feet to match the speed of charging nightmares. They number around twenty thousand, which is nothing compared to what the humans are fielding.
But their charge is so quick, and the enemy is taken by complete surprise, that they break right into the left flank of their infantry lines. Even from my vantage point, I can see human limbs flying left and right as the whirlwind of ajura weapons hit first. Then whole bodies are flung through the air by the minotaurs and centaurs, before the cavalry, and other individual demons start hacking away at the stragglers. Within seconds, thousands are killed.
The confusion among the humans spreads and the archers, unsure whether or not to shoot, decide that it's best to protect their own hides first. Sending a volley into the demon army, they aim to take as many down as they can even at the expense of their own people.
But Chandra expertly directs her troops and changes course while still in the middle of their charge. Only a few demons are hit by arrows, while far more find their ways into human bodies instead.
I see Lucianus shouting something while raising his weapon, and a movement runs through his entire army. I couldn't hear what it was, but he's rallying his troops after this devastating preemptive strike, most likely intending to surround them in their midst and wipe them out. The Fatas circling above come to a stop and prepare to display their air superiority.
"Air contingent, to battle! Keep those white-winged pests away from our troops!" I expand my lung capacity and roar this order across the fortress. From the rooftops behind me, a swarm of winged demons takes to the air. They include ones based on birds, insects, and flying reptiles, all led by a male harpy commander.
"I shall be going then." Hestia turns to me with a confident smile and takes a golden spear handed to her by an attendant. Is that the one that Aurelia almost killed her with? I didn't know she kept it.
The fallen angel beats her wings to join the ascending demon air force. Dregana jumps off the battlements and explodes into flames in midair. From within, her winged dragon form emerges - the biggest flying being among all those that fill the airspace above the battlefield now.
All the mobile troops are fighting now, and only archers and infantry remain in the fortress, which won't be able to make it in time to join the battle before Chandra's momentum runs out. I'm not allowed to fight directly unless they come to me, so all I can do is watch from here.
Arrows, javelins, spirit spears, and other projectiles are flung through the air as the two sides clash and split up into various dogfights. Meanwhile, Chandra has cut off the entire forward left flank of the human army and is chasing them toward the fortress. They're composed entirely of heavy shield and spear infantry, which makes her success so much more impressive.
A volley of arrows is let loose by the lamia archers even without my command. I've given their leader free rein to do as they see fit because they're far more experienced than I am when it comes to shooting. They know the distance at which they're most effective.
The humans are too preoccupied with the stampede of demons coming after them to notice the deadly rain, causing droves of them to drop to the first volley. Upon the second, they brace themselves in time to avoid most damage by raising their shields. But no third comes because it was all just a distraction.
Chandra's army charges into the stopped infantry troops from behind and annihilates it, even while the enemy cavalry is chasing them.
"Catapults! Fire!" Rhosk, the Kirali commander of Erbilan, roars with his deep smoky voice. With the Ajura clan leader in the field, I've given the strategic command to him. I'm better used as a figurehead to inspire the troops because as I noted before, I'm not great at strategy games.
It was the perfect timing for the artillery strike, as the scattering rocks fly over Chandra's troops and come down on the enemy cavalry chasing them in a deadly rain. Even with the improved mobility on horseback, they can't dodge the barrage in time, and hundreds are pummeled to death. And among those that died instantly, the commander seems to have been one, as the entire formation crumbles in confusion.
"Reload and halt!" Rhosk realizes this opportunity and commands the catapults to stop so that Chandra can do what she does best.
The Ajura clan leader almost instantly turns her army around on their heels, their mobility much higher than that of humans on horses. Those that ride on nightmares have to perform a wider turn, but they do so with intent; they box in the scattering enemy cavalry contingent from both sides. And once more, they decimate a large detachment from the enemy army.
It feels like their momentum just doesn't stop, so I don't worry about those in the field and look up into the sky. Surprisingly, very few have died and fallen so far, as hitting flying enemies is pretty hard. Dregana is the biggest target, but her dragon armor is thicker than the one I ate back then. It's even capable of taking spirit spears, which only explode on the surface and leave little scorch marks rather than pierce through.
I spot Hestia's black wings, as she zooms across the sky faster than any other Fata. She must have learned to incorporate magic into her flight just like I did with the Chaos warhead, as she isn't even beating her wings. Instead, they seem to be blown around by unnatural winds, which she doubtlessly casts underneath or behind them to propel herself through the air.
With a spear thrust behind which she put her entire body, she pierces an enemy Fata through the chest. Then a burst of air under her wings pull her backward to avoid a spirit spear, while at the same time pulling her weapon out of the lifeless enemy. Closing her wings and spinning around herself, she changes her orientation while pointing at an enemy. A black javelin shoots out from the tip of her spear and pierces another Fata through the wing, which causes them to plummet from the sky.
But there's a development in the field, and my eyes are naturally drawn to it again. With the enemy cavalry destroyed, the entire human army advances on us like a wave. It's not something Chandra could handle, especially when most of her non-ajura troops are winded after the quick maneuvers and sprinting. They seem to want to go for one last charge before returning, but I don't want them to risk it.
"Sound the ground retreat, ready to open the gates!" I turn to Rhosk and give him the command. He gestures at the designated lamia archer, who nocks a shaped arrow that plays a loud whistle when fired.
I descend the battlements and wait on the other side of the gate while activating my Chaos senses. Everybody else will think that I want to congratulate the returning troops personally, but it's mostly to make sure nobody invisible is trying to sneak in alongside them.
Invisibility really is a troublesome power to deal with, and this Mirage Knight can extend it to anybody he wants. Only at too large a scale does it cause a shimmer that can be seen from the outside, but now that the demons know about it, he can't pull it off again. Even then, he can still use it to infiltrate us and spy on our strategies.
The gates open and Chandra steps through the doorway first. She's covered in blood just like all the troops that follow her inside, but it's clearly not their own. I greet the Kingmaker with a smile and pull her aside to commend her on that genius foray while keeping my Chaos senses sharp.
"We did quite some damage not only to their numbers but also their morale." The Ajura clan leader reports with a toothy grin.
"Were you the one who wanted to continue?" Just in case, I ask her what that moment of hesitation was before I sounded the retreat order.
"Rankud was the one; he wanted to keep goin' until everybody was completely exhausted." Turning around and delivering a punch to the minotaur chieftain's midsection as he passes us by, Chandra explains. He falters under it and gasps for air even though she made it look like a friendly tap. But he doesn't try to retaliate and laughs it off. "It was good everybody agreed that you'd have the last word in everythin'."
We made it so that a special set of whistle arrows would be used when I was the one who gave the orders, while Rhosk and Chandra had their own sets. It was recognizable by the difference in pitch, so they instantly knew that I had decided to stop them from continuing.
"Now comes the hard part." The stream of demons coming through the gate goes on for a while, so I ascend the stairs to the battlements alongside Chandra to view the situation outside, not forgetting to keep my senses trained on the gate to screen for invisible humans. "This is where the actual siege begins."
"Hey, if each of us took out five, we cut their numbers down by almost a tenth." Wiping the blood off her body with a cloth an attendant handed her along the way, we reach the top of the gatehouse and look across the no man's land onto which the human army is flooding now. "But I gotta say, there really are a lot of 'em."
"Fire at will!" The lamia captain orders her archers to rain death on the enemies. Erbilan has stocked enough arrows to shoot every single human twice, so even if not all hit or many are deflected, it should be enough to cause some severe damage.
Even then, the sea of bodies hiding behind their shields while advancing is daunting to look at, especially now that they're this close. If I could just fly up and fire a Sp*rit Bomb at them, this whole thing would be over in an instant. But I can see Zenlith watching from the back of the army, standing on a wooden platform constructed to give him a better view over the battlefield. The entourage he had with him during the parlay is also there, as well as other members of the military staff.
"Can our catapults reach there?" I ask Rhosk while pointing at the platform.
"No, that's too far away." He understands what I want to do, but shakes his head with an apologetic expression - as far as a lizard face can make any expression at all.
"It's alright. I doubt it would be able to do anything against them. Just wanted to send them a message." Shrugging, I wave him off. "For now, concentrate on keeping the humans off the battlements."
Shield bearers protect groups of siege engineers carrying ladders while they approach the wall. Even then, arrows find their ways between the openings and kill a few of them. But it's like a drop in the ocean, as there are plenty to replace the fallen soldiers. Enemy archers begin to shoot at us to provide cover for the siege ladders, which are put up against the walls while everybody has to take cover.
"Bakari ready!" Rhosk's thick scales protect him from the arrows, so he doesn't have to hide. I stand beside him while covering Kamii with an arm turned into a tower shield made from dragon armor. "Ladders!"
"Good." I hear the little dark elf mutter in anticipation when she hears that the enemy is coming into her range.
"No, you're staying back as long as arrows are being shot at us." I frown at her enthusiasm. It's not that I don't want her to enjoy herself - if she derives enjoyment from battle - but safety still comes first. It's one thing to let Hestia, who's incredibly mobile and possesses powerful light magic, fight in the skies; it's another to have Kamii on the ground using her bare cursed arm and no armor to fight swarms of enemies.
"[Can I go down there?]" Korenga points in front of the gate while arrows bounce off her skin. She's not yet in Black God mode, but her body is already near-indestructible even now.
"[Wait a bit longer. You're a trump card, so keep low for the time being.]" I extend my hand and hold her back. Then I grin at her while pumping my fist. "[But when I give you the go, you'll get to smash as much as you like.]"
Korenga smiles like a child who was promised snacks if she behaves. I have to consciously remember that she used to be a peace-loving person that was cursed by Mataku to become an uncontrollable rage monster. Once this war is over, I want to give her a quiet life so she can have peace again.
The battle in the skies seems to slow down, as both sides become tired from flying. Especially those demons that expend a lot of energy because they have to beat their wings continuously to stay airborne become hard-pressed to dodge the flying magic of the enemies now. On the other hand, Fatas have a far more efficient method of flying, gliding through the air on their large wingspans or using wind magic to change their altitude.
"Sound the retreat for our air company. Have our archers keep the Fatas away from us." I turn to Rhosk and point into the air.
"But what about those beyond the wall?" The commander asks while pointing at the enemy archers. They're in range of the lamia archer battalion and have to hide during each volley coming at them. But if given the leeway to shoot continuously, we would be under a constant rain of arrows.
"Use the catapults and turn the rocks smaller. They won't do as much damage, but it will force the enemy to seek shelter all the same." I decide while gesturing at the designated archer to send the signal into the sky.
"Break the rocks further and fire at will!" Rhosk walks over to the other side of the wall and gives the order to the catapults, which immediately get to work. At the same time, the signal arrow whirrs through the air, and a high-pitched whistle tells our troops in the air that they should make an orderly retreat.
"Enemy siege weapons aren't ready yet, so we'll have some time before they rain stones on us." I point behind the enemy archer lines, where a palisade wall is being erected hastily, beyond which catapults are wheeled into position.
"Taragasura was right to leave the walls and destroy their siege weapons in Arkaim. But this time, they got far more troops." Chandra gestures across the battlefield. "And they're preparin' for a prolonged siege by buildin' forward fortifications."
"Can I ask you to try it still? Korenga will come with you this time." It's a tall order, but we have to demand the unreasonable of our troops to make it through this.
"I'll go meet with Rankud and Kethorn." Chandra states with a grin. The majority of her contingent is resting now, but they had planned to do another foray through a mountain pass later anyway. It was meant to strike their camp and set it on fire to destroy their supplies, but the more pressing matter is to destroy the enemy's siege engines before they can carpet bomb us.
"Give them enough rest first." I say to her as she walks away. She waves without turning around to acknowledge my order.
The air company flies across the wall, chased by the Fatas that see an opportunity to bombard us from above. But Hestia turns around in midair and creates a whole array of black spirit spears with a swing of her golden weapon which seems to double as a staff for her. The spells spread out like a shotgun shot and takes the enemy by surprise.
Most can dodge, but three aren't so lucky and have either their wings or bodies pierced. They fall from the sky and into the human masses outside the walls. However, one is able to crash-land on the rooftop of the gatehouse, where she's beset upon by several demons that were placed there as additional lookouts.
"Wait!" I bellow from below, and the soldiers stop immediately. Floating up, I look down on the Fata to find that it's a girl. Her right wing has been pierced and burned by Hestia's spell, and the skin on her hands and arms are scraped from the landing, but otherwise, she doesn't look especially wounded. "She'll make a good hostage."
"I will not-" Before she can continue talking - and potentially cast a spell - I shoot out a tentacle and gag her with it. Her eyes widen in terror as she realizes who I am, and she struggles against the demons holding her down. It seems being touched by them was still fine, but the demon queen is a whole different matter, huh? "Hestia, do you know her?"
"I do not." The fallen angel lands next to me after having made sure everybody got away, and the Fatas in the sky are retreating.
Dregana lands on the square between the barracks and remains in her dragon form to await further instructions from either Hestia or me. I was told that whenever she returns to human form, she can't transform into a dragon again for a while, so it's better to stay that way until the battle is over. She needs a lot more food and takes up more space, but other than that, it doesn't have any drawbacks for her.
"Can you leave her to me? I will break her in for your use." Hestia says with a cold smile that causes the enemy Fata to stare at her with her eyes wide open in terror.
"No, that's alright. I have you, so why would I need her?" I reply with a shrug. Then I come up with an idea, and a sinister smile flashes across my face. "Bring me ropes."
