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Chapter 101 - An Offer They Can't Refuse
🕑 Added 2018-06-20 15:54:43 +0000 UTC "Why aren't you just eating them all?" I hear Senka's voice inside my head. Ever since I returned within the range of her telepathy, we've been talking to each other a lot. She even openly expressed that she has been missing me a lot, especially recently, due to the situation on the Demon Continent. "You could easily end this battle.""Oh yeah, I haven't told you my plans." I speak in my mind while I fly across the battlefield sowing death and terror. "I don't intend to wipe out all of humanity."
"Hm, why not? You said you didn't care about their existence." Senka sounds surprised, and I can imagine her raising an eyebrow. She chose not to transmit an image of herself since I'm somewhat busy fighting a war out here; I'm sure she's watching from inside the demon palace.
"I still don't care about them. But I might need them." All the while, I kill human soldiers by the droves, using my dragon blade and plasma cannon without any reservations. Those I need aren't the useless rabble, but the powerful ones like the dragon rider, who's fighting a purple-skinned, six-armed demon, that I spot from all the way across the battlefield.
According to Senka, there are around one hundred and forty-thousand human soldiers, and only around sixteen thousand professional demon warriors. Among those humans are several outstanding ones, who are known as Chosen Knights. Apparently, it's a newfangled term to refer to humans with special powers, who are similar to the gods of Adanak. In other words, they can cast spells without incantations, and wield them as naturally as one would breathe.
Vitalis was the one who found all that information from her time spying on the top brass of the humans. She's currently still doing her work in Pontis Daemonis, the empire's bridgehead for this large-scale extermination war. I'll pay that city a visit soon after this siege is over, just like my mother did.
But for now, I'm going to secure the city.
I make my way across the human army, randomly shooting and slicing at those who don't disperse from feeling my presence or seeing my approach. Soon, I fly parallel to the wall and let my dragon blade cut along it as if I'm trimming a hedge. There are no demons manning the defenses anymore, so I'm not accidentally killing anyone I shouldn't be killing.
Suddenly, I crash into an invisible wall, although the dragon armor holds. Catching myself in midair, I look around; there must be some kind of barrier, so I'm searching for the caster. With the masses of people under me, that's an impossibility though.
"Scatter!" I roar. An almost visible shockwave expands from me, and the humans do as they're told, running head over heels in every which direction, as long as it's away from me.
The strategy paid off because there's only one person left standing in the clearing that the humans made for me. It's a man in pure white armor, with medium-length blue hair, and wielding a rapier in one hand. He looks up at me with a fearless expression - or maybe it's one of steadfastness, as he holds back his feelings of dread.
"Are you one of those Knights I heard of?" I lower my volume to a more normal one and address the man.
"And you must be the demon queen's child." He replies while narrowing his eyes. "I am Colart, Knight of the Iron Veil."
"I see. I am Chaos, the crown princess of the Dominion." Dropping out of the sky and landing effortlessly about a dozen steps away from the white knight, I fold my wings and speak to him as a civilized person would do. "You seem to be well-mannered and sensible, so let's talk this out, Colart."
"You wish to negotiate?" Raising an eyebrow, the knight looks at me unbelieving. I had him as the type that has their emotions under control, and I was right; his reaction is quite mild compared to what one would expect under the given circumstances.
"No, I wouldn't call it a negotiation; I'm making you an offer that you can't refuse." There's no time for empty phrases, and I get straight to the point. "Take your troops and leave."
In the next instant, something strikes my neck from the side and bounces off my dragon armor. I've increased my density to the maximum, just in case there's an ambush; it seems to have been the right call.
"Folke, stop that." Colart speaks into the air, and I deduce that it must be someone invisible.
"Damn, what is this creature made of?" A voice comes from next to the white knight and then a veil with what seems to be a print of reality is swept aside. From within appears a man in mismatched armor pieces. That must be Folke.
"I will overlook that just now. So, what is your answer?" Ignoring the newcomer, who must be another one of those knights, I continue with my previous talk.
"And if I refuse?" Looking straight into my eyes, Colart probes for my reaction.
"As expected, you don't understand what I mean by 'an offer you can't refuse', do you?" My tone doesn't change, and I speak as if I'm talking about the weather. "If you make any choice other than the one I offer, you will have chosen death."
"Hah, the walls have fallen, the city is being sacked as we speak, and we have the numerical advantage." Folke seems to be a more vulgar person than his companion, as his speech is much cruder. His outfit also makes it clear that he's a man of practicality rather than form. "You should be begging for mercy. Not like you're gonna get any, though."
"Does he speak for you?" I continue to focus on Colart and don't address the other guy.
"He does not, but he speaks the truth." The white knight replies while raising an eyebrow. "We have an army that far surpasses yours."
"We have a Korenga." I respond with a quip and shrug. With perfect timing, I hear the Black God's roar and see an explosion of dirt, in which a bunch of humans are flung through the air like ragdolls. "Well, I assume that's your final answer."
Colart stares at me with a hint of confusion, doubtlessly thinking about the situation with every single one of his brain cells. Folke doesn't seem to have any trouble concluding our conversation by covering himself in his cloak of invisibility.
But my Chaos senses can still tell where he is. So far, the only one who has been able to fool it was Mataku, and he couldn't erase his presence completely, only mask it as that of a human's. I don't know whether he also has the Chaos senses or not, but for now, that's a huge advantage I have over humans and gods alike.
Folke is coming at me straight from the front, most likely aiming at my eyes or my mouth, thinking they're weak spots.
"I take that as a yes." With these words, I stab at the invisible man by extending my dragon sword. I feel his presence dodging sideways, but my spike still connects with something and creates sparks out of thin air.
"What?!" Folke's voice rings out from where his presence registers on my radar.
"Wait, we-" The white knight begins, but I shoot up into the sky, no longer listening.
So those are the Chosen Knights. I can see why normal demons would have trouble against them. They cast magic without incantations, and their physical prowess seems to be a cut above the rest as well. In other words, they're really like the gods of Adanak - albeit nowhere near the level of those I have with me.
I see the Tokomaha clone army, consisting of over five hundred of them clad in golden armor, advance through the enemy ranks in an unstoppable onslaught. It's like a repetition of the Battle of Kairaki, where we attacked an army of humans with just a handful of powerful individuals.
Korenga is barreling through armored soldiers like a train, on a direct path towards the other side of the battlefield. It's clear that she aims to fight the dragons raging among the ranks of the demon reinforcements on the southern side of the city.
Aurelia's shining figure is still standing around where we first landed, not showing the slightest inclination to join the war. I'm sure fighting like a common soldier among the rabble isn't her style, and unlike me, she can't fly; in other words, she can't stand above the rest like she deserves to.
They're still far enough away that this won't affect them, then.
I raise my hand and cover my face with a visor. This is the first time I'm doing this, but during our journey from Adanak, I've been thinking about the Imagination Engine a lot. While I didn't have many opportunities to try things out during our flight across the sea, we did make some stops after reaching the Demon Continent, and I was able to play around and realized several issues.
Mainly the fact that I'm most likely subconsciously limiting myself in my imaginations. I'm unable to do things I haven't achieved through magic before; I can fly without having to rely on air magic and boosters now, but I still can't turn rocks into meat, like I tried on the moon. Maybe that's impossible to achieve anyway, but according to Mataku's explanation, everything should be possible, as long as it's imaginable. After all, there's a sorcerer whose body is made of lava. If you can turn meat into rocks, the opposite should be possible.
Above my dragon cannon, a ball of plasma forms and grows bigger and bigger. The heat it emits is immense, but I've shielded my body with the light magic spell I've forgotten to use ever since our journey under the mountain. In this case, it's not a static sphere like back then, but it wraps around my body like a personal shield.
Wordlessly, I throw the massive plasma bomb down at the human army. I won't do something as silly as giving this move a name or even calling it; that's not what people do in reality.
The giant ball of light hits something invisible in midair, and I see that Colart is pointing his rapier at my attack. But whatever his barrier is made of, it's unable to last against the immense temperatures of the plasma, as the air around it becomes heated up. Then it seems that the invisibility is dispelled and I finally see what the Knight of the Iron Veil's ability is.
It's a giant shield made from iron - I assume, judging by the guy's title - lacking any ornaments and embellishments. As expected, when it's being kept invisible all the time. But judging by his straightforward personality, I would have been surprised to see something gaudy anyway.
That shield melts away and drips molten slag down onto the soldiers it's trying to protect from the plasma ball. The screams of the humans are music to my ears, as I watch their flesh melt and their clothes catch on fire. Then the plasma ball breaks through the iron wall completely and falls into the middle of the human army. Many have scrambled out of the way already, but those caught in it evaporate without leaving behind any remains.
Colart is staring up at me wide-eyed, though it's hard for me to interpret the meaning of his expression.
I raise my arm and create another ball, this time charging it up much more quickly than the last. Throwing it into another densely packed formation, it impacts them unhindered, and they don't even have enough time to scream. The earth itself is turned into a pool of molten dirt and rocks, stamping a perfect circle out of the human army.
The screams of terror and despair rush into my body, and I feel refreshed. This is far more exciting than our attack on Kairaki when I held myself back from just annihilating them all.
For the third time, I raise my arm and begin to generate a new plasma bomb, but someone is yelling up at me, and I look down.
"Please stop! We will leave!" A blonde man in a very ornamental suit of golden armor, sitting on a horse covered in the same, is screaming in despair.
"Who are you?" I float down and come to a stop slightly above the man, who's barely able to keep his horse under control while his body is shaking all over. The cavalry around him are all in uniform silver armor, and even though they look like they want to run away, they're somehow still holding on. They're obviously personal guards for an obviously important person.
"Y-your majesty, please do not reveal yourself before-" One of those guards implores, revealing the status of the one he's tasked to protect.
"Silence! I cannot watch my people die like this any longer!" Said majesty reprimands his follower and returns his blue-eyed gaze to me. "I am Hector, Fourth Prince of the Empire of Terminus, Commander of the Second Expedition Army and-"
"Ohhh, so you're the commander." I interrupt him since I'm sure that he'll just continue to rattle down his titles if I don't. "You should choose your men better." I point over at where Colart is standing, frozen in place from the shock of witnessing my power. "I see that you're far more sensible."
"Yes, he does not have the authority to command a retreat, but I do. I promise that I will order a general retreat, so please cease your killing." Hector pleads although he does try to keep up a facade of pride before his men.
"Well then, do it." I point at the city, from which I can still hear the sounds of battle. The soldiers across the battlefield are still in a general movement towards the siege ladders. Even though I've left my mark, each of these plasma shots killed a few hundred at best. There are still over a hundred thousand left all around and within the city walls.
"But should we not first talk-" He begins, and I instantly summon a ball of plasma, unhesitatingly throwing it over his head into the troops behind him. Witnessing how serious I am his tone immediately becomes desperate. "I understand! I understand! Sound the retreat!"
He was trying to stall for time, most likely either hoping that the city's sacking progresses to a point of no return or that any one of the other Chosen Knights comes here and takes me down.
Suddenly, a blast of wind knocks me out of the air and down to the ground. Apparently, it was the latter, and somebody arrived who thinks they can deal with me.
But as I try to stand up, a mass of humans come down on me and start hacking away with their swords. Of course, I'm still covered in dragon armor, so they can't even hope to hurt me at all. I explosively spread my wings and will a shockwave to burst out with me as the epicenter. It happens as I imagine it to, and my immediate surroundings are completely cleared of people, as they're flung into the air in an explosion of bodies.
Rising to my feet, I orientate myself and find that the dragon rider has come all the way across the battlefield and is covering for Hector. I'm surprised to see that it's a young woman, wielding a giant, drill-like lance and wearing full crimson armor that seems to be made of crude materials - potentially dragon carapace, too. The dragon whose base of the neck she sits on is completely black and looks similar to the one that teacher at the academy could turn into - only that this one has no wings. Were they clipped or is this a ground-based species?
"You..." The crimson knight looks at me with a surprised expression in her intense blue eyes.
"Do I know you?" I feel compelled to ask since clearly, she thinks she knows me.
"How dare you... no, it matters not." Raising her drill lance, she points it at me and makes winds swirl around its entire length. "Dragon Knight Svanhild. I shall be the one to claim your head."
"Is that so." I feel like I remember that name from somewhere, but it escapes me right now. It doesn't matter though. I raise my hand and create a ball of plasma, before flinging it at the humans to my right, evaporating a whole swath of them in a simple move.
"You fiend! Your opponent is me!" With an angry roar, Svanhild stabs her lance forward, and a torrent of wind comes towards me. I increase my density again and what would have swept me away earlier feels like a simple breeze.
"Is that all?" I ask her, not in a mocking tone, but rather out of curiosity. If she can't do more than this, she won't be useful to me. "Show me your full power."
"What?! You dare mock me?" But Svanhild takes it the wrong way and commands her dragon to attack, while she charges up her lance again.
The dragon's paw comes down on me, but I lift my hand and catch it with my palm as if giving it a high-five. Even though the impact should be tremendous, I don't budge an inch, and instead, the dragon loses its balance and falls on its side. The crimson knight's lance stabs at me and bounces off my armor, releasing its magic at the same time.
A whirlwind shoots out from the lance's tip and hits her allies behind me, creating a path of destruction as dozens of humans are shredded into pieces. I admit, her power may be quite handy in a large-scale battle where she has to cut through lines of enemies, but it's less useful against single targets and completely ineffective against me.
"I wonder, what makes you a dragon knight, other than that you ride on one?" I ask without being really interested to hear the answer. Creating a long spike, I stab the black dragon in its exposed side, right below where its armor plates end. But that's not where I end it, as from the tip of that spike I recreate Hedgehog Mode and skewer the creature from the inside thousandfold.
Svanhild falls off the writhing dragon's back and quickly rights herself, staring at her dying steed in surprise. Then anger flashes over her face, and she gives me a deadly glare. But I turn away from her and look over to Hector on his horse.
"This is your last chance." I rise into the air and call out to him. "Retreat now."
"Never!" Svanhild shouts at me from below, and a pair of dragon wings break through the armor on her back. No, it seems that the armor itself formed the wings. She beats the giant wings and flies up at me with her lance pointed at my face. I grab onto it and guide it to the side, but her expression shows triumph, as she fires up the wind around her weapon - most likely thinking that it will shred my hand to pieces.
I pull on the lance and prolong my arm, wresting it out of the dragon knight's hands. The storm is instantly dispelled when it leaves her grasp, and I let the whole thing sink into my body.
"Wha-" Hanging in midair, Svanhild stares at me wide-eyed.
Whipping my arm around, I swat her out of the air, and she crashes back-first into the dirt below, her wings breaking in the process. Then I form a massive ball of plasma and point my free hand at Hector.
"What's your answer?" I roar, putting all my thoughts into letting my Crawling Chaos aura run wild.
The humans near me either faint from the feeling or scream in terror as they scramble to get away. The effect reaches the prince of the empire and his horse bucks, throwing him off; the same happens to many of his guards, and only a few are able to keep their steeds in control.
"Sound the retreat! Retreat! Quickly, retreat!" Hector screams as he crawls along the ground trying to create any kind of distance between himself and me. In response to his order, one of his guards blows a horn with a distinctive high-pitched sound.
I hear the same horn being blown elsewhere on the battlefield, and finally, I see a general movement run through the human army, as they back away from the walls. Maybe it's a trick; maybe it's real. In either case, that should create some breathing room for those who might still be fighting in the city. I'll take care of those if they refuse to retreat.
"[Korenga, calm down for a moment. They're retreating.]" With the volume of a dragon, I roar across the battlefield to give the Black God the signal to cease hostilities for a bit. "[But kill those that still attack you.]"
Lightning flashes across the sky above and thunder rumbles. Tahiri is beating the drums loudly, although she isn't making it rain just yet. If she does, it means that Zenlith has come, as per our agreed signal.
I watch as Hector and his guards scramble onto their horses and ride away in full gallop. Svanhild is lying on the ground, seemingly unconscious after the heavy impact. Landing next to her, I make sure she doesn't escape in the confusion; I don't really need her powers, but she might provide me some useful information.
If the whole thing is a feint though, I won't be giving the humans another chance.
