Chapter 50: Live Practice

I looked around and saw nothing but a grey landscape. The land was covered in soot and ash, with only the odd burnt out tree stump jutting out of the sea of grey.

“It’s horrifying isn’t it, a once beautiful forest reduced to this…” Charlotte said wistfully as she looked around at the grey landscape.

“Yeah… I used to go to this park with my family back in the states. We would have picnics on the grass in summer, living the american dream…” Jacob muttered in response as he gazed at the desolation around him.

“The forest will heal, one day this place will be a verdant forest again.” Ella replied as she gazed at the ruins of Hearthian.

“It can be rebuilt.” I said as a memory of the ruins of Sapporo flashed before my eyes. The buildings now mere husks, the walls all gone, the only thing left were the core structural supports. The streets covered in ash, destroyed cars strewn everywhere and corpses either burnt or rotting lying in the open. The sky is dark and grey from all the fires burning around the city.

Then I heard Styx in my head, his snide voice echoing out.

Looks familiar doesn’t it?

The ashes go on as far as the eye can see…

Get used to it, more is to come…

You are the instrument of my dark symphony…

HAHAHAHA

Styx laughed in my head, his mad laughter echoing out to the deepest corners of my mind.

When the world is turned to grey

Hatred and madness pervades

Mortal minds, frail and scared

Freed by death, and death is fair

Helpless souls, play your part

In my wicked work of art

Such a joy, every time

Taking life, take what's mine

At the end, here you lie

Here you burn or you die…

I looked up at the massive city, at the once great trees that held it up now reduced to dry husks. The Alvs were hesitant about this to say the least. Many of the frontline soldiers viewed it as madness. It wasn’t madness, there is no such thing as madness in war. Madness is what you use to describe war after the fact. Madness is the word used by those whose minds still believed that the world still worked on the old rules.

I turned around to see the mages channeling their spell. The two hundred mages were split into five mage teams. So that was 40 teams and 40 spells. The runes swirled as the power poured into the ever growing fireballs.

“This is madness, we can’t do this.” one of the Alvs behind me said. I turned around and looked at the lines of Alvs who were standing on guard against a counter attack from the city itself. The demons had fled into it, soon their shelter will be their tomb.

“Madness? There is no such thing in war. Madness impies sanity, there is no such thing as sane war. Look around you, do you see any sanity? Your great forest is now ash. If we don’t win, this will be the fate of all of Alvuan. Your entire civilization will be just ash and cinders,” I replied calmly.

I don’t know who spoke but it might as well have been all of them. Their eyes all betrayed the same thing, disbelief at what was about to happen. I could understand their thoughts very well, it would be like burning Kyoto for me or Munich for Charlotte. It wasn’t an easy thing to burn your own city to win a war.

“Sacrifices must be made, count your lucky stars that the only cost this time is a pile of rubble. Imagine if there were still people in there...” I said.

“What is left behind if we give up who we are?” one of the Alvs asked.

“Who you are? What are you then? Enlighten me.” I asked as I turned to face him.

“We are Alvs, this is our home, Alvuan gives us everything, we don’t burn our homes…” the Alv replied shakily.

“You have a family? People you care for? If we don’t do this, we might lose. If we lose then they die... ” I said.

“It is for them that I speak, my cousin. He is just a boy, his parents and siblings perished when they fled Hearthian. How am I to face him when I return? How am I to tell him that I allowed his home to burn? This is insanity…” the Alv replied shakily.

I narrowed my eyes at his words. The Alvs here were the weaker units, the young and inexperienced. All the stronger units have already swung around to move towards the eastern front. We were supposed to burn this place and move on, the fire will screen our flank.

“Insanity…” I replied with a scoff.

“There is nothing sane about this war. Your cousin, his mother’s dead, his fathers dead, his siblings are dead, his home is a pile of rubble. There is nothing sane about this war. The demons do not know fear, their numbers are endless, ideals barely hold up against a conventional enemy let alone a potentially world ending one.

Get used to it, there is much more to come. This war has just begun...” I replied and the Alv lowered his head slightly.

I turned to check on the Mages and I saw Lady Scylla standing there facing me.

“The preparations are complete Dark Hero, we await your command.” Lady Scylla said calmly.

“Burn it.” I replied and I saw the Alv flinch at my words. I ignored him and turned back around to face the city.

I watched as the volley of spells fired from the Regus mages. I heard Ella sniffle slightly and the air was silent as all the Alvs watched as we burned one of their cities. The massive fireballs roared and screamed as they flew. Almost moving in slow motion, I could see the flames trailing as they flew towards their city.

Then impact, the large fireballs split and smaller fireballs began emerging from the initial blast. The fireballs started slamming into the side of the city. Some flew deeper into the city and the sound of the blasts was all the confirmation that we needed that the targets were hit.

I watched as the magical fire snaked along the structures unnaturally. The fire looked alive, as if it was crawling along the wood trying to spread and expand. This must be what Scylla meant by the spell being used against Alven trees. If you drop something like that on a forest the fire will actively try to spread from tree to tree. Also seeing as the fire burned hotter and longer than your average fire this should keep the demons at bay for awhile…

Still just in case...

“Now then it’s done…” I said as I turned away from the city that was now going up in flames.

“Lieutenant.” I said as a nearby Alv stepped forward.

“Keep an eye on that, make sure no demons pop out of that city. We don’t want to be hit in the ass while we attack the demons.” I said and the Alv gave me a pale nod in response.

“Good, we’re moving out!” I shouted at the soldiers from Regus and we all got onto our mounts. I was familiar with multi-phased operations, I’m not sure on the planning since I’ve never actually been part of planning one before. I was only the one of the many pieces being thrown at the enemy in the name of the commander's grand strategy. Although the ones in the past were mostly thinly veiled suicide missions, this one however had a good chance of succeeding.

When we reached the frontline I saw the battle was already starting. From what I could tell the demons were getting pressured hard. The Alvs have them sandwiched all across the line, I looked further away and I saw one of those giant treemen clashing swords with a greater demon. In fact that looked like where the main fight was…

I could see Alvs and Demons trading ranged fire, the frontline was a mess of screaming Alvs and roaring demons. The Alvs were winning but they were still taking losses, well I need to mitigate some of that…

“We’re going there to get rid of the greater demons. We’ll hit them from the back, punch deep in and start collapsing their lines.” I shouted and the rest nodded in response

The demon lines looked to be in a U shape, with the front and back having a distance between them. I took out the spyglass that the captain gave me and I saw a column of demons retreating to the east just as we expected. The Ruined Queen knows this fight is lost…

The plan is simple: breach in from the rear line and enter the 50 meter gap between the lines, then we spread out and systematically collapse the demon’s formation from within. There isn’t much danger of us being surrounded, if the demons really do all turn around to attack us. The Alvs will cut their exposed backs to pieces.

“We’ll do the charge. Once in I’ll do a charge on the left flank, Jerome you take the right.” Davis said.

“Got it.” Jerome replied and I nodded at the pair of them.

I watched as Davis and the rest of the Silver Lions formed up into a wedge formation at the head of the cavalry. They took out long lances that were on their backs and they readied themselves for a charge. One of the Alven officers saw us approaching and he began shouting orders. I watched as the Alven lines opened a corridor and allowed the demons to pour through.

Perfect… with demons pouring out their formation weakens, turning that corridor into a bowling alley…

The Regus and Alven cavalry had a clear difference. The Alven cavalry was light and fast, making them powerful skirmishers. The Regus cavalry however had barding made of steel. The horses were bred for strength and not stamina. Combine that with armoured knights armed with lances and you get devastatingly effective shock cavalry. Davis one said, “Give me one good rear charge and I’ll collapse any line.” Time to put that statement to the test...

[Plunging Ram] the Silver Lions all shouted at once and the front of their horses glowed and formed a glowing structure that looked like the prow of a ship. Well that was cool, skills made especially for mounted combat…

[Shatter Bolt] the mages intoned behind us and I watched a wave of blue bolts fly over us and towards the corridor. The bolt exploded mid air and released a wave of smaller bolts that exploded on impact. The attack landed neatly in the corridor with no friendly fire at all. Huh I guess these women being the best in Magus Order wasn’t just an empty boast.

The spell fire blew the already fragmented line of demons to pieces. When the Silver Lions slammed plowed into the scattered remains of the line it looked like a double decker bus plowing into a stack of empty soda cans.

In moments we were in, immediately the Silver Lions and the Grey Eagles peeled away. The two groups of knights all turned and rear charged the demons on the edge of the corridor. Seeing this the Alvs all roared as they started hacking into the demons with a vengeance. Soon the hole we made started to widen and surprisingly the Alvs didn’t rush through en masse; they just entered enough to keep the corridor open.

The Demons tried to close the hole naturally but the Alvs beat them back not giving an inch of their newly won ground. Then I heard roars and I turned to see those bear chariots from before charge through the gap followed by mounted Alvs. The chariots with their bladed wheels began driving along the line cutting the demons to pieces. The mounted Alvs drew their bows and started firing into the unprotected backs of the demons. The ranged demons by now have been cut to pieces by the concerted fire from the Maidens of Alvuan.

Then I heard the cry of eagles and I looked up to see five Great Eagles and their riders dive down into parts of the line. The eagles swooped down and raked the lines with their long talons tearing holes in the demon's lines.

It looks like the back line is collapsing now for the front… I spured my horse and we approached the three Great Demons that were fighting the Alvs. I summoned a [Breaching Charge] and I looked at Ivan.

“Ivan, catch! Throw it at the big one when we get close!” I said as I tossed it at Ivan.

“Got it!” Ivan said as he caught the bag and we started getting closer to the rear line.

When we got close I shouted at the rest to dismount and we began approaching the demons from behind. The lesser demons noticed us and started to charge towards us to prevent us from interfering. But Ella and I made short work of them, there weren’t that many to spare with the Alvs hell bent on breaking the line.

“Ivan the nearest one.” I said and I watched as Ivan chucked the [Breaching Charge] with all his strength at the head of the nearest Greater Demon.

I took aim with my rifle and shot the charge mid air, there was a flash followed by an ear splitting explosion. The Demon staggered forward from the blast and the tree man delivered a hard downward slash with it’s amber sword. The sword cut a deep gash into the demon's chest. It fell backwards and was met by a barrage of spells from the Mages. The mages had to be careful with their shots, after all if they missed it would land on friendly troops…

“Mages smash their rear line, we’ll handle the big ones. Bovarian cover us.” I said as Scylla and Bovarian nodded in response.

The other two greater demons turned at the sound of the blast. The tree men however didn’t give them the chance and they attacked. The greater demons were pressed and they had no choice to focus on the enemy in front of them. Well this is looking good, looks like we’ll overpower them with little issue.

As we ran closer to the two remaining greater demons something happened…

One of the greater demons froze and it started twitching. The tree man paused at the sight and our footsteps ground to halt at the sight. Something was wrong…

The demon's body suddenly ignited and I got a bad feeling. This was starting to look like the first Rift…

Assuming Direct Control...

I heard the voice of the queen echo out from the demon and it’s body came alight with that green fire again. The demon turned to face us and the tree man raised it’s sword. The demon however just turned and delivered a hard slash at the downward strike. The demon’s now flaming sword easily parried the strike and with a swift movement it delivered a shield bash and the tree man was knocked back.

This wasn’t an increase in power, this was an increase in skill….

The demon stabbed it’s sword down into the ground and a flaming ring appeared around us. The fire consumed one of the tree men who roared in pain as it cumbled to ash. What was left in the circle was my party, the demon, and a few lesser demons. Shit did this ring kill any of the Bronze Bulls and Mages?

“HEROES!” I heard Scylla shout from the other side of the fire wall.

“WE’RE FINE, WHAT ABOUT ALL OF YOU?” I shouted back through the fire.

“We are well, we managed to get out of the way. Heroes, that's an Outworld Arena, the only way out is to kill the demon holding it in this world!” Scylla shouted through the wall.

“Got it!” I replied through the firewall.

“Looks like the queen wants us all to herself…” I said with a grimace.

“Well it was going a little too well, what was it you said? Plans never survive first contact with the enemy?” Jacob replied as he raised his shield readying for a fight.

“If the queen let the battle carry on as is, the army would just be lost. This way she could at least maybe kill one of us. It’s probably not strong enough to wipe us out but if it manages to kill one of us then it would be a victory…” Ella said.

“Alright you attendants take it slow, don’t take risks. I don’t think it’s that strong, it’s not even a rift commander. The mages said there’s only so much power the demons can muster in this world at a time.” I replied.

“This is probably the room left behind from all the dead demons we killed so far. Not sure if there’s limitations however, if she could do this all the time why wait until now?” Charlotte said.

That was true, if I were the queen I would pull this stunt everytime her army met ours. The more shots she got at us the better… unless… was there a cost? Maybe if we killed this one it would give us more EXP… or maybe it was something else…

“Alright Jacob, just as we planned…” I said as I reference the plan.

“Got it, been itching to try out this new skill I got in the last fight…” Jacob muttered as he hefted his shield.

Dark Hero, even if you succeed to seal the rift it is just a minor setback at best…

“We’ll see bitch…” I spat as I took aim at the demon and took a shot at it. The bullet didn’t meet a barrier, and it smashed into the armor, ripping a hole in the armor. I guess this one lost it in the fight. Looks like there were limits to the Queen's power...

“Alright let’s do this… [Righteous Charge]” Jacob roared and he jumped straight up, his body glowing gold.

Then his body shot at the demon like a comet, the rest of our party rushed forward to get into a good position. Jacob slammed into the demon and their swords crashed but surprisingly I saw the demon strain slightly against his attack.

Ivan rushed forward with Alfie and Volva as the ranged fighters took aim. When Jacob landed back on the ground the demon raised it’s sword and slashed down at Jacob. Ivan dashed in from the side, [After Shock] [Gaia’s Fist] Ivan roared and he slammed his earth covered fist into the side of the blade. The force of his strike knocked the sword off target and into the dirt.

[Chains of Conviction] Charlotte shouted and chains appeared wrapping around the sword and the arm, holding it in place.

[Rapid Fire] I intoned as I took aim at the left leg.

[Armour Shatter] Ella muttered as she took aim at the same leg.

[Searing Lance] Momo intoned.

[Lightning Spear] Amethine said as she raised an arm taking aim.

We all fired our attacks at the same moment hitting the leg together. The demon’s body buckled as our attacks tore right through it’s kneecap. The demon was right handed, with it’s right hand bound and it’s left leg basically gone below the knee it could barely keep itself upright.

“Alfie!” Volva shouted and Alfie jumped as Volva knelt down and put her sword above her head. Volva pushed Alfie up, at the same time Alfie jumped and their combined actions propelled Alfie high up in the air.

[Piercing Throw] Alfie shouted and she hurled her now glowing spear right into the demon’s right eye socket. The spear landed perfectly inside the eyehole of the helmet. [Shackled Return] Alfie shouted and a red chain appeared between her hand and the spear. With a swift movement she pulled the spear back in her hand.

[Tectonic Propulsion] Ivan shouted and he grabbed Alfie mid air before dropping back down.

[Warping Earth] Ivan said as he used his new skill, the earth rose up to catch him. The earth then moved below Ivan, pushing him along. The earth shifted and moved carrying the pair of them behind the demon. My whole party got new skills from the initial fight with the demons. It turns out the skills they get from the skill tree are just especially powerful and unique ones. Their other skills come from what they do, so they needed a fight to fully obtain their abilities.

Ivan has turned from a rather static hard hitter to an extremely mobile flanker. Changing terrain to improve his mobility while hindering his enemies.

The demon tried to swing it’s shield at Charlotte’s chains to break them but Jacob rushed in. He met the shield with his own, [Staggering Riposte] Jacob shouted and his parry knocked the shield bash away. [Concussive Wave] Jacob shouted as he followed up his parry with a wave of force into the shield knocking it away and embedding it in the earth.

The demon turned to look at its restrained arm and it began to strain against the chains as if trying to break the chains through sheer strength. But the demon exposed his one good eye when he looked at the chains.

“AMETHINE SWITCH!” Charlotte shouted when she saw the opening as she dispelled the chains.

[Thorned Shackles] Amethine shouted and her black thorns immediately grabbed onto the disabled arm.

[Sunlight Spear] Charlotte intoned as she hurled a gold spear at the exposed eye. The spear struck the helmet but it exploded in a blinding flash of light. I could see the demon’s remaining eye covered with gold light indicating that it was blinded.

“GET HIS ARM!” I shouted as I took aim and fired a shot at the restrained arm.

[Searing Lance] Momo intoned as she hurled a pair of flaming spears at the joint.

[Bale Arrow] Ella said as she aimed her bow, summoning a large purple arrow that crackled with latent energy.

When the attacks landed, Ivan, Alfie and Volva were already in position next to the arm.

[Ferro Cull] [Lacerating Cleave] [Tip of the Spear] the three of them shouted and their highest damage attacks slammed right into the back of the elbow. I watched as the elbow gave way as it bent at an unnatural angle.

“BUNKER BUSTER! NOW!” I shouted as I charged forward.

Hearing this, everyone involved prepared for the combination strike.

[Armour Shatter] this skill from Ella had a unique property, the damage was distributed along a physical area. It was designed to weaken armor…

Her purple arrow hit the demon in the chest. I watched as the arrow cracked and dented the thick chest armor.

[Tectonic Propulsion] Ivan roared as he was launched at the chest.

[Ferro Cull] [After Shock] [Gaia’s fist] and Ivan’s first hit with it’s high penetration made a hole. His second strike cracked the armor further. As he dropped down Jacob shot up with [Righteous Charge] and slammed into the same spot before delivering a [Concussive Wave] the kinetic force slamming right into the severely weakened armor. The chest plate cracked and then shattered revealing the black flesh below.

Now it was me and Momo’s turn…

[Blazing Dash] Momo shouted and I watched as she flew overhead at the exposed chest.

[Blazing Bolt] Momo intoned and fired a pair of fire bolts at the exposed chest. There was a blast of fire and the fire spread into the gaps of the armor.

“Show time…” I said as I felt Ivan shoot me up into the air a short distance towards the burning opening with [Tectonic Propulsion]

[Breaching Charge] I said as I hurled the explosive charge right into the flaming opening. As soon as I threw it I felt Charlotte’s [Chains of Conviction] yank me backwards to safety. Momo was using [Blazing Dash] again to retreat as well. Ivan already was carrying Volva and Alfie with [Warping Earth] away from the demon and Jacob has dashed away with [Righteous Charge]. Then I saw a flash of light followed by that familiar ear splitting roar.

I saw fire burst out from the openings in the armor, the faceplate of the helm even blew open in a ball of fire as all the kinetic energy tried to find an opening to escape from. It was a grisly scene, the damaged limbs blew apart at the joints and all that was left was this ruined corpse that hovered upright as if teetering on the edge of falling.

Then I heard the Queen’s voice again…

HAHAHAHAHA

We all froze at the Queen’s hysterical laughter… I looked inside the helm and saw the ruins of the demon's face. But the eye sockets still had that ominous green glow within them.

I see you have improved Heroes

Thank you for your demonstration

I never intended to kill any of you

This army is lost but I will have another come the morrow

We are numberless afterall

Death has no meaning to us...

To trade this flawed and pathetic vessel for information…

Truly a worthy trade...