Chapter 21: The Few for the Many

I dodged another sword slash and sloppily shot the demon. The bullet buried itself right into it’s torso and it staggered back before falling over backwards. Then suddenly the demons all turned and began running back towards the plains. I raised my gun and emptied the remains of my clip into their retreating backs until I felt the slide click back.

I looked around and saw the rest of the demons were retreating all along the line. The soldiers all let out cheers as the demons fled but as I looked around at the surviving soldiers I could see significant damage to the remaining numbers. The slopes above were littered with dead archers and the front line was battered to all hell.

This place wasn’t going to last another assault…

I raise my mask as I look around and take stock of the situation. The ground was littered with corpses both human and demon. The whole place was a mess, the watch tower was covered in pockmarks from the stray shots of those shambler demons.

Then I see one of the demons rise off the ground, it stood up as if it was held up by puppet strings. I draw my gun but I pause as I see there was no green glow.

“What the hell?” Jacob said as he pointed his sword at it.

The demon’s head lolled forward and I saw it had the top right quarter of its head missing. There was no way this thing is still alive, something was controlling it. Then the green glow seemed to flicker on as if an old light bulb was just switched on.

Onaga Katsuro…

I heard a voice say, it’s voice was rough and crude as if its mouth wasn’t suited to speaking.

“What the hell? What is it doing?” Jacob asked again.

“I don’t know what that growling means, we should kill it before it tries something.” Ivan said.

“Wait you all can’t understand it?” I ask, surprised.

“Hang on, that thing is speaking?” Jacob asked, turning to me.

They cannot understand us

Only those of the dark can understand our tongue...

“Yeah… it says that all of you can’t understand it because you are not of… the dark...” I reply, so it appears I am really different from the rest. What is that Dark God playing at?

“What do you want?” I ask and I feel the gaze of everyone snap to me. I turn to see everyone looking at me wide eyed in shock.

“Katsuro… you just talked like that thing…” Ivan said his brows furrowed.

“What?” I ask, surprised.

“Yeah we got that, what you said before just sounded like weird growling and hissing.” Jacob said.

You speak our tongue as well Champion of the Dark God

“What do you want?” I ask again.

You cannot comprehend our purpose

We are beyond your understanding

The Dark God sends an interesting pawn to face us

“How do you know my name?” I ask.

We have always known it

The first are we and the last are we

Your lives are measured in year, decades

You wither and die

And die you shall

We are numberless

We are legion

We are eternal

Before us, you are nothing

“Big words for a group that has failed every invasion so far.” I reply.

You cannot understand our purpose

You think this a simple war

No

Our purpose is not as mundane as you believe

You cannot grasp the nature of our existence

We have no beginning, no end

When your bones fade to dust

We will endure

“Then give us your best shot, you’ll find that we are no easy prey.” I retort, as I glare at the speaking corpse.

Purpose? This Rift is not some simple invading force, it’s not like those movies or games where some invasion comes and the heroes defeat it. No… I have a feeling there is more to it, I doubt these are just hollow words.

If they wanted to demoralise me then why speak in these cryptic circles? Make me think that they are some otherworldly existence that I can’t even fathom? No, if they are this powerful and all knowing then I wouldn’t even be here, this world would be ash. It doesn’t make sense…

Confidence born of ignorance

You flail and writhe as you struggle to grasp our nature, our purpose

No matter, face us at the door between worlds if you dare

This exchange is over…

With that the light in the demon’s eye went out and the body crumpled.

“What did it say?” Jacob asked.

“Threats, cryptic threats. I don’t understand most of it. But from what I can gather these demons aren’t just mindless creatures pouring out of some tear between worlds. They talked about some purpose that they say we won’t understand.” I say as I furrow my brows, my mind still on what that thing said.

“So what do we do?” I hear Ivan ask.

“Nothing changes, all that conversation did was tell me not to expect a stupid enemy. Which is a good thing, you can never have too much intel on the enemy.” I say as I bend down and help pull Momo to her feet. She’s still shaky but she stands nevertheless.

I’m feeling absolutely exhausted and as the adrenaline starts to fade I feel my body start to feel heavier and heavier with each passing second.

“Come on, we need to formulate a plan…” I say a bit breathlessly.

“You ok?” I hear Jacob ask as he hears my voice.

“I’m fine, just a little tired, that's all.” I say as I take a few shaky steps forward but I then feel my right leg give way. Ivan catched me and steadied me.

“Come, let’s go.” Ivan said as he turned his head towards where Charlotte and Amethine were waiting. I could see Charlotte looking down at us and Amethine was on her knees, her staff held up at her side to support her.

“Jacob help Momo, I’m not sure if she can walk.” I say as I take an unsteady step forward supported by Ivan.

“Yeah, I got it, I don’t think you can walk rambo.” Jacob said with a laugh as he lifted Momo and carried her in his arms.

“Rambo?” I ask quizzically.

“It’s nothing, just a reference to an old movie.” Jacob said with a laugh.

“Come on I bet Charlotte’s worried.” Jacob said as he began leading the way forward.

As our bruised and battered group made our way to the slope I saw Charlotte run down. As she got closer I saw her face twisted with worry as she approached.

“Are you hurt?” I hear Charlotte ask as soon as she got close enough.

“I’m fine, we all are, we’re just tired.” I say with a smile.

“That’s good, haaa…” Charlotte said with a weary sigh.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“No it’s nothing…” Charlotte replied softly as she looked away.

“You’re sounding like me now.” I say.

“Well… yes… I am understanding why you sometimes don’t want to talk about things now…” Charlotte said softly.

“Hey what’s wrong?” I ask as I extract myself from Ivan and walk over to her.

“Can we talk about this later?” Charlotte said softly.

“Sure.” I say as I take her hand.

“But we’ll talk about it. Promise?” I ask as I run my thumb over the back of her hand.

“Promise.” Charlotte said as she gave me a small smile.

“Alright then, Jacob, Ivan, Alfie, Volva, you guys feeling ok?” I ask.

The rest all assent to my question and I nod. Battles don’t end once the fighting ends, in fact most of the work comes after…

“Ok the four of you go help move the wounded. Charlotte rest up a bit with Amethine and heal up whoever you can. Don’t over do it, I have a feeling we will be hitting that Rift tomorrow, I need all of you in tip top shape. Jacob you leave Momo somewhere quiet, I’ll watch over her. I think the two of us need to sit down for a bit.” I say with a weary sigh.

“Got it boss.” Jacob said as the rest of them got to it.

In the end I found myself leaning against the watchtower with Momo sitting next to me. I watched as the soldiers got to the grim task of saving who they can and disposing of those who were dead.

They had to clear the bodies before the next wave came, there were too many bodies and it would affect their ability to fight with so many corpses lying around. At least they didn’t have to deal with demons after about an hour the corpses started to turn to ash. Forming a grey sheet of ash in front of the line that was soon carried away by the wind. If enough of the demons died over a long enough period of time it would cause problems. I have no idea what that ash will do to the soil or the water if enough of it gets spread around…

I look over to Momo who is sitting there just staring at the scene before us.

“Hey.” I say as Momo turns her gaze to me.

“Yes? Katsuro sama?” Momo asked.

“Good job today, hell of a show.” I say I reached over and placed a hand on her head.

“Thank you.” Momo said shyly.

“You know I’m glad we got you away from that Brareil guy.” I say as I take my hand off her head.

“Me too, masters are kind. I have clean clothes now and can eat my fill. I like being with masters.” Momo said with a smile.

“We aren’t your masters. We may have bought you but honestly if any of you want to leave, none of us will stop you.” I say softly as I turn my gaze back towards the desolation in front of me. I spot Ivan carrying two guardsmen corpses, one over each shoulder.

“I don’t want to leave, Volva and Alfie don’t either. We are happy here.” Momo said, I could feel her gaze on my face.

“I’m glad to hear that.” I say softly as I watch Charlotte try and heal an injured man.

“Are you happy Katsuro sama?” Momo asks.

“It varies from moment to moment.” I say as I turn back to look at Momo.

“Oh… well you make us happy all the masters do.” I hear Momo say with an almost childlike innocence. It was strange, she was incinerating demons no less than an hour ago and she talks like a grade schooler.

“Charlotte sama is kind and always asks us if we’ve eaten enough. Jacob sama is funny and makes us laugh. Ivan is quiet but he takes care of us, he makes us feel safe. And you…” Momo said as she paused.

“Yeah?” I ask.

“You tell us what to do, it makes us feel like we’re useful. We don’t know much besides fighting and… other stuff… you always look like you know exactly what you are doing. I guess you make us feel safe too.” Momo said with a smile.

“Thanks Momo.” I say with a smile of my own. Then I noticed her smile fade and she furrowed her brows.

“What’s wrong, something hurts?” I ask, getting concerned.

“No no, I was just thinking…” Momo said softly.

“About?” I ask, curiously.

“You said you were a soldier before you came here, were things here the same in your world?” Momo asked as she shifted her gaze to the corpse littered view in front of us.

“No, things are better here…” I reply softly.

“Really? Did you have demons in your world too? Scarier ones?” Momo asked as she tilted her head and looked at me.

“There are worse things than demons…” I reply as I shift my gaze back to the scene in front of us.

“Like?” Momo asked.

Humans...

By the time everything was settled and the dead were all laid aside for transport back to the city it was getting dark. We were all called for an emergency meeting by the other commanders and I found myself once again in the tent.

The faces of all the commanders were grim, after looking at the piles of dead, I can safely say this has been the most costly fight so far.

“Heroes, I will not mince words, the situation is now dire.” Jerome said.

“We have lost most of our archers, the slope that they were positioned on ended up making them an exposed target. We lost a third of our front line soldiers and our medical teams are strained past their limits. Right now we most likely will be unable to repel the next assault tomorrow.” Jerome said through gritted teeth.

“We should retreat to Northedor and wait for reinforcement.” Mihael the guard commander said.

“I agree.” Lady Scilla, the Archmage said quietly from the side.

“As do I.” Liana the High Priestess added.

“Not an option.” I say curtly.

“Do you have a suggestion Dark Hero? I don’t see how we can hold this ground with the men we have.” Jerome said.

“We should retreat, to attempt to hold this position is madness!” Mihael shouted.

“LOOK AT THIS!” I snap as I point down at the town of Weston

.

“If we abandon the encirclement Weston will be overrun and the demons will push west past the river. The forces at Weston are cut off if we run. They’ll all die if we turn tail.” I reply coldy.

“Tragic as that will be, us dying here won’t change anything.” Lady Scilla said from the side.

“Those men are already dead men walking. If this is the first Rift I doubt any of them will see the new year.” I reply.

“Then what would you suggest? If we die here it means nothing.” Lady Scilla said coldy.

“I suggest we take the one in a million chance of victory rather than sit around and die. The Rifts are getting wider, none of you have seen those ranged demons before. Those showed up after just a few days. If we retreat how long would it take for reinforcement to arrive?” I say as I look up at Jerome.

“A two weeks at the minimum.” Jerome said softly.

“Two weeks? Another Rift is coming in A week! What if it’s on the other side of the continent near Alvuan? We don’t have the time, if we run now and the Rifts get too large and the heroes aren’t strong enough to close the first goddamn Rift what do you think is going to happen?” I retort.

“I suggest we strike back at the Rift...” I say as I point at the Rift.

“WITH WHAT?” I hear Mihael shout.

“We don’t have the men, we can’t even hold this fortified position!” Mihael exclaimed.

“With our knights and the Bronze Bulls. I assume this is a scouting force?” I ask as I point at a horse symbol on the map that looked to be on top of a hill.

.

“Yes that is the force tasked with ensuring the communication lines between us and the forces of Port Jura.” Jerome said.

“We take our Knights, mages, priestesses and the Bronze Bulls, we move them towards the hill in the night so the demon’s don’t spot us and we hide behind the hill for the night. Tomorrow when the attack wave hits the line, the forces here will fight them. The demon’s are predictable; they send armies to all three points fronts They obviously don’t have an infinite amount of soldiers if not we wouldn’t be having this conversation. While the demons are tied down in the attack we make a beeline for the Rift.” I say as I point at the map.

“That will mean sacrificing all the soldiers here…” Liana said softly.

“Yes I know, I fought the demons this afternoon.” I reply dryly.

“This is the only way forward, it gives us the highest chance of victory. We need to close that Rift before the breach gets too big. We need the heroes to approach a lightly guarded Rift, we don’t have the power to carve our way through a horde of demons yet. So we need the bulk of the demons to be somewhere else… doing something else…” I say as I finish with a sigh.

“This is madness…” Liana said softly.

“I agree, but I also agree with the Dark Hero. We have to end this now, our chances of victory decrease with each passing day.” Jerome said as calmly as he could manage.

“You can’t expect me to ask my men to carry out suicidal orders.” Mihael said as he shook his head and took a step back from the table.

“I don’t care about your conscience. If we run now they’re all dead anyway, so what difference does it make? What happens when the demons are tearing at the gates of Northedor? It will take time to evacuate the city, someone will have to buy time. Guess who is going to be sent on that fucking suicide mission?” I snap at him.

“The Dark Hero is right… we have no choice…” Lady Scilla said softly.

“That’s easy for all of you to say, all of you are heading out to the Rift. I’m the one being left behind here to die!” Mihael shouted.

“The men will never agree to it, they’ll desert! There is no way I can make them fight to the bitter end when all the higher level capped soldiers run off to take glory.” Mihael said desperately.

“Then I will stay behind with a few of my hand maidens… our presence will give the soldier hope… we can also administer some prayers before the battle so prepare the men for the end...” Liana said softly her head down as she looked at the map.

“You understand what that means…” Lady Scilla said from the side.

“Yes I am aware my lady… all my life I have served the Life God. I have worked to preserve life as the Life God has demanded. Now it appears I shall give my own for the preservation of all life in this world… a more worthy end I cannot imagine…” Liana replied softly.

“So what say you commander of the guardsmen? We all have our place in the plans of the seven, it seems mine is to fall in battle for the greater good… The seven demands much of all of us, we all have a purpose that they call us to. Only the bravest and the worthy do not refuse it…” Liana said as she looked at Mihael.

“If you could persuade the men… I… I will… I will stay and do my duty.” Mihael said, his voice shaking.

“The gods once said some words written in an ancient book, I feel they would be appropriate for the current situation.” Charlotte said softly from behind me.

“Yes Lady Charlotte?” Liana asked.

“The passage reads…” Charlotte said as she closed her eyes.

I heard the voice of the gods saying

Whom shall we send?

And who will go for us?

And I said

Here am I

Send me…

“I suppose that saying works for both missions…” Jerome said softly.

“Yes, those sent with us to the Rift must create a perimeter around the Rift. If the demons return you must fight a holding action. You must fight for as long as you can, delay as long as you can, every second can mean the difference between victory and defeat. It is no less of a suicide mission.” I say.

“What say you Bovarian of the Bronze Bulls, will you fight?” Jerome asked.

“Aye, I’m not stupid. Everyone with a working set of ears knows the stories. The Rifts get bigger over time, the bigger the Rifts the bigger the demons that show up. The bigger the demons the better they are at killing men. Simple enough to understand.” Bovarian said gruffly.

“Besides, the Bronze Bulls have never broken a contract. That’s why we can charge so much for our services, I won’t let some puny demons tarnish our reputation.” Bovarain said with a smirk.

“Alright then, if the demons suddenly turn and try to retreat mid way through the battle. All remaining forces must push to engage the enemy, you cannot let them run. We will need to send word to other fronts as well. They cannot let the demons run back to the Rift.” I say.

“I will send a Lieutenant with the Crown’s seal to each of the other fronts and have them take command of the forces there. We will not have to worry about cowardice, the demons send weak strikes against the other fronts anyway.” Davis said.

“Good, is everyone agreed?” I ask, as the rest of the room nodded.

“Very well, we have all our tasks and our missions.” I say as I cast my gaze around the room

By this time tomorrow the Rift will be closed

Tomorrow we will send a message to their misbegotten kind

Tomorrow will be legend…

After the meeting my party and I were led to an area of the camp where we could get a few hours rest before we headed out to the hill in the west. There won’t be much sleep tonight but considering what’s going to happen tomorrow I doubt any of them will mind.

As we gathered around a crackling fire, a small group of soldiers approached carrying a pot filled with steaming stew. They put some in bowls and handed each of us one. I look down at the dark soup with what looks to be salted meat and some limp bits of vegetables. Well it didn’t look that appetising but at least it was hot, that was more than I could say back home.

So I picked up the wooden spoon and began to eat, I got a few bites and saw Jacob and Charlotte were looking down at the food with a strained expression on their faces. Ivan and the rest didn’t seem to care; they just ate it like anything else.

“We’re in a war zone, just be glad the food's hot.” I say as I look at the pair.

“Right…” Charlotte said as she gingerly put the food in her mouth. She choked slightly but managed to swallow it nonetheless.

“It’s so salty…” Charlotte said after she swallowed.

“It’s the salted meat, we ate stews like this back in my village.” Ivan said as he looked up from his stew.

“We ate cold combat rations that were supposedly expired back in my world.” I added as I took another bite.

“Supposedly?” Jacob asked.

“The expired ones tasted the same as the none-expired ones. Our rations were so full of preservatives they were safe to eat years after the expiry date.” I say as I look up.

“I guess this is an upgrade for you then.” Charlotte said with a small smile.

“Well it’s hot so… yeah.” I reply with a shrug.

“You’ll get used to it, humans can get used to almost anything.” I say.

“You should eat, you will need your strength for tomorrow.” Ivan said.

We ate in silence after that, this was quite common on the eve of a battle. If there was alcohol the last meal often went the completely other way. Lots of drinking and fornicating rather than grim silence. Probably why the brass never gives the troops too much alcohol unless they can help it…

Well sometimes when we… procured alcohol from the Russians the platoon did end up getting smashed. Although me and Shuji never did get drunk, we were just so hung up about our positions that we never indulged.

As we ate I started hearing shouting in the distance I turned to see the army gathered around something.

“There’s something happening.” I say as I rose from my seat, a bad feeling in my gut.

We approached the crowd of soldiers and the shouting became clearer and clearer. They were not happy…

Why the hell should we stay here and die?

Yeah! All of you highborns get to ride out to fight the Rift and you leave us behind as bait?

We aren’t just pieces of meat to be used!

I hear the shouts echo out, I could sense that the entire army was on the verge of mutiny.

“Please good soldiers, you must be brave. This war will not be won without sacrifice.” Liana said from atop an elevated platform.

Speak for yourself!

If you want to martyr yourself that’s your choice!

Don’t ask the rest of us to go along with your suicide pact!

I heard a voice shout. Well this isn’t entirely an unexpected outcome… It’s a good thing I have experience in asking soldiers to throw themselves into the abyss. I got quite good at it after the first twenty or so times I had to do it. The trick… was to persuade them that they were already dead, it was just a matter of when and where…

Why the hell should we fight and die for all of you!

“You will fight because it must be done.” I say as I walk up the platform.

“Dark Hero.” Liana said as she turned to face me.

“I’ll handle this.” I say with a sigh as I turn to face the hundreds of angry desperate faces.

You ask why should you fight and die as bait?

Why the answer is simple

Because no one else can…

I say as I look over at the crowd of soldiers, who have paused their shouting and just looked at me.

Do you see another army around here?

Is there another few hundred hiding under a rock that I’m not aware of?

Again silence as the crowd of soldiers glares up at me.

No?

That’s what I thought

You will fight and die here because it must be done

You will fight and die here because no one else can

The more astute of you may be thinking

Why don’t we retreat to the city and wait for reinforcements?

I say as the soldiers look to one another and their mouths opened as one

Yeah why don’t we?

I hear one shout as I expected.

Because the Rifts grow wider with every day

If we want to win this we need to close it now

By the time reinforcement arrive it will be weeks later

Another Rift is coming in a single week

We don’t have time

I say and the heads of some of the soldiers lower, others were still glaring at me defiantly.

In truth this whole plan was my idea

I know I’m asking all of you to die

I know I’m asking your parents to bury their children

I know I’m asking your spouses to go on without you

I know I’m asking your children to live and grow without a parent

I know I’m asking that of all of you…

And I know I have no right to ask you to do it…

I say as the whole army goes silent their eyes fixed on me.

Tomorrow I will be going out with the rest of the heroes, knights and mages to the Rift

In truth if you want to desert there’s not much we can do to stop you

We can’t kill all of you

But the fact remains that if you stay and buy time with your lives

The demons won’t be able to stop us from reaching the Rifts

If you desert now or run during the battle

The demons will turn around and kill all of us

Then with no heroes the Rifts remain open and then they turn around

And kill all of you

If we retreat now, the demons will become too strong for us to overcome

And then they kill us all

All of you are dead men already

There is no choice

If you run the Heroes die

Then they kill you all

If all of us run, the demons will overwhelm us

THEN THEY KILL US ALL

I shout at the dead silent army.

So the only question is where would you prefer to die?

Over here?

Or over there?

I say as I point off in a random direction. The army looked at me quietly, a few with tears in their eyes as the truth started to sink in...

If you die here then your death meant something

You ask why should you die here?

If you don’t millions will die

Every soul that breathes will die

If you tell me that’s not enough I don’t believe you

Every civilization is built on sacrifice

For history to be written

For borders to be drawn

The blood of soldiers must be the ink

The Rifts have come for a more than a thousand of years

And each time the Rifts have been repelled

A thousand years of sacrifice in your veins

Regus controls most of the world

The willingness to sacrifice is what sets your people apart...

And every generation must know its own suffering…

I say as the army starts to look down, finally realising that in a few hours they will see their last sunrise.

If you run tomorrow the man next to you may decide to run too

If he runs then one next to him may

If that happens and we fail because of it

Then the end of this world will be on you

But no matter what happens tomorrow all of your deaths...

Are on me…

My plan, my choice, my responsibility…

I curse the Rifts

I curse the price I have to pay...

But I’m making my peace with it

Now you make yours…

I say as I survey the army, I could see it in their eyes now. The resignation and a determination only possessed by the damned.

Tomorrow, fight because it must be done

DIE because it must be done

Unless that Rift closes itself it’s our fucking problem

So as far as we are concerned there is no land beyond that river

This place is all that matters

It’s just me, you and the men around you

They say you see the true character of man in his final moments

So if you must die

Die right here

I watch as the soldiers start to stand a little straighter, their eyes harden as their minds accept their fate.

The night is coming

Do not go quietly into that good night

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Show the world that even Demons can be made to fear

The demons are knocking on our door

LET’S GO KILL THEM

I finish with a roar and soldiers answer with a cry of their own. Their voices echoing out into the night. I noticed some of them were in tears and shouting almost hysterically. That’s the look I want to see, the look of doomed men accepting their fate. They now know what will happen, they know they are dead men walking, that makes them effective soldiers...

Humans are a curious set of creatures, they know death will come yet they never think of it. They pretend as if it won’t happen, only panicking when the end draws close. As Shuji once said, people know death will come, yet they are never prepared…

For real soldiers, in a real war. One that truly tests the limits of the population, in truth there is no going home, there is only the war.

As I got off the platform and the soldier all dispersed to their tent, their eyes glassy with a mix of terror and resignation.

“You are a capable speaker, Dark Hero.” Liana said as she approached.

“I’ve had a lot of experience ordering men to charge into a slaughter…” I reply softly.

“Then your skills will be invaluable in the battles to come.” Liana replied as she looked wistfully back at the camp.

“Tell me Dark Hero, do you have any fond memories of excursions with your family?” Liana asked.

“Huh? Erm… yeah a few. Why?” I ask, surprised at the sudden question.

“That’s good I would have liked to go fishing with my son. He always did like fishing by the Velirian river, he said it was calming. I never got the chance to join him.” Liana said wistfully.

“We all have many regrets, many think that as long as we have enough time we can settle all our regrets. But that's not true.” I say as I look at Liana.

“Why do you say so?” Liana asked.

“The trick is not to live forever, the trick is to learn to live with yourself.” I say with a sigh.

“Hmmm, you are unusually wise for someone your age, Dark Hero.” Liana said.

“Wisdom is born from suffering, I’ve suffered plenty of it.” I say.

“So you have… you will be leaving on your great crusade soon. I wish I am able to see your victories but sadly my road ends here.” Liana said as she turned away from me. She paused as she looked over her shoulder and she looked at me from over shoulder.

I wish you good fortune in the battles to come...