Within the inner walls of Profectus, Knights were busy on the streets assisting the final straggling civilians. The city itself was consumed by an eerie silence in contrast to the sounds of war nearby. Amongst the many Knights rounding up and escorting the stragglers, two Knights in particular stood out as they slipped through various alleyways. They masked their presence avoiding both the civilians they neared and their fellow Knights. Of the many potential destinations they could have moved for, they appeared to be closing in on one particular residence.

The estate of Countess Aria Sugimoto was of moderate size. The Countess herself was well known to eschew most of the standards associated to typical Nobles and her estate demonstrated that trait fully. Rather than high fences with steel rails, she instead boasted a modest stone wall less than a meter high. The estate itself was only two floors stacked and the internals were void of most gaudy decor one would usually expect to see inside of even a Earl's estate. The estate itself was small enough to require very few servants to maintain it and so there were only ever 10 servants on site at any time. Of those, only two lived in the estate along with the Countess herself.

Following the departure of the Countess early in the morning, her servants followed the rest of the city for the evacuation. Staying behind waiting for her Master's return, maidservant Roxanne Delphi continued her daily routine. The nondescript interior of the house eased the daily cleaning required to maintain it. Today in particular, Roxanne finished her duties without issue and was spending her break in the small courtyard under an apple tree. The tree was fully grown and offered a moderate amount of shade. She took it upon herself to sit on a small stone bench beneath it and enjoy the cool air. The sounds of battle in the distance reached her position occasionally as the estate was positioned on the North side of the city.

While her mind was distracted by the affairs her Master was currently going through, two shadows reached for her from behind. One covered her mouth with a rag while the other restrained her arms. As her mind slowed to a crawl and her surroundings slowly darkened, she saw the brief outline of two Knights wielding sinister smiles. They pulled her across the yard and over the side of the wall where they had prepared a large rug. Her body was laid across an edge and they quickly rolled her into it. From the site, two Knights walks away carrying a rather thick rug over their shoulders.

***

Countess Sugimoto was busy controlling various messengers and ensuring information flow was fluid to the front line. Already the flow of backup arrows, replacement bows and staffs were slowing in strange fashion. The promised food was also somehow delayed with the messengers feeding ridiculous reasons back to her. She reached out repeatedly to the council leaders in charge of those sections without any luck. They appeared to be either indisposed, their location unknown, or flat out ignoring her.

Her frustrations built as she took on the role of working both food distribution and armory logistics. She was able to handle the shortage of weapons through ransacking of local stores and keeping tabs of what weapons came from where. She fully intended to repay any stores ransacked after the war ended but the food was a far harder problem to solve. The evacuation obviously panicked the people, even if they appeared to handle it calmly, and they took food reserves with them. The shops she sent taxers to returned with meager scraps that wouldn't feed even a tenth of the adventurers fighting on the front lines. She chose to tap into her own stockpiles and as such, sent a messenger for her maid.

"Countess Sugimoto."

A young messenger returned and bowed lightly. He patiently waited for her to complete the document she had in hand before continuing. Adopting a slight frown, he spouted his report.

"Upon arrival at the good Countess estate, I was unable to locate any maidservant"

"That's impossible. Lady Roxanne should have been near the main entrance. Did you call for her?"

"I did. She didn't appear."

"That's strange... Maybe something came up... For now, take a few Knights and carriages with you. The store is in the cellar of the estate. Take everything out of it and bring it here."

"I understand."

The young man left the office passing by another Noble in the process. The pungent oder from the man's cologne raked at his nostrils. In politeness, he simply held his breath and moved on.

"Are you having trouble Countess Sugimoto? Shall I lend you a hand?"

"No hand you offer me could do more than undo what its already done. This is your command I take it?"

Aria knew the man without even having to look up at him. No. She refused to offer him the satisfaction of even laying her eyes across his figure. The powerful smell wafting from his direction was all she needed to know who it was. Rather than entertain him with banter, she took to the throat.

"What could you mean? We are at war. No one in their right mind would knowingly hamper logistics."

"And yet, here I am. Missing weapons, armor, ammo and food. What a strange coincidence... Tell me, Marquees Tabor. What have you been doing exactly again. I feel as if I've assumed your and the rest of the council's roles."

"I control only the Knights, my dear. I'd say I've performed admirably. I'd be willing to bet there's no more than one disappearance this time. I may win you over yet."

A cold sweat broke out across the Countess. It was a strange premonition, but she had nothing to attribute it to. Was it the specific number? The person delivering the line? She couldn't be sure. She knew every second he was near her was a second she wasted not helping the front lines. Swallowing her pride and ego, she forced the conversation to a conclusion.

"I haven't the time for this. Do you know of Marchioness Farrar or Marquess Webb's location? If you're unsure, could you instead deliver a letter for me?"

The Marquess contorted his face. The displeasure of being mixed up with an errand boy all but practically fractured his self restraint.

"I am no messenger."

"Then I have no use for you. Leave me to my work."

"Mark my words Aria, you will bow to me. And on that day, I will destroy that useless pride of yours."

"That will be the day I die. Leave!"

Two adventurers who were outside the door heard the scream and rushed in. Realizing their presence, the Marquess backed down stockpiling his fury for the future. He quickly spun around and knocked the two extras aside while making his way out. Attempting to regain her calm, Aria dove back into the paperwork and dealt out further instructions to help ease the barricades she could feel being thrown up around her. The adventurers who came in to check on the situation frowned heavily. It wasn't just Aria who knew of the corruption in the council. In was in fact almost common knowledge amongst the Adventurers, mercenaries and criminals.

Along with that terrible knowledge though came news about the Countess Aria Sugimoto who was anything but corrupt. She was in fact a coveted gem to the locals of Profectus, though she probably never realized it. The nearly 24 year old girl was elected to the position almost six years ago now. Her candidacy was originally placed in by one of her friends as a joke, but she was somehow elected over the others. At the time, she didn't know just how corrupt the top officials were, nor how commonly it was known amongst the three main groups. Rather than see an obviously corrupt Noble take the stand, they all saw the name of someone they didn't recognize and took a bet on her.

Through a strange course of events, she somehow won majority vote of the population, much to the dismay of the current council and was a sheep tossed into the wolves. Those who voted her in didn't even realize her age at the time and were distraught seeing a barely 18 year old Noble, and a Countess at that, being tossed into one of the most critical leadership positions the City had. As time went on though, her reforms on how criminals could regain their citizen status, how adventurers gain notoriety, and how mercenaries could control their contracts and negotiate won the hearts of the City over. She was quite literally, an honest to a fault person.

Seeing such a morsel tossed to the starving hounds of upper society who were just waiting to corrupt her, a background organization was created by the Guild Master to help protect her. There was no limit as to who could join but their common goal was simple. Act as decoys for the girl when she needed it and apply pressure to keep the council from openly harassing her as much as possible. Time passed and the organization has only gained in strength. Many of the deeds being reported to her about the council and the evidence provided were acquired by this organization. What once started as a fan club grew to be an official organization with section leads and a strategy department. To date, their only failure is the eventual marriage between Countess Aria Sugimoto and Marquess Tabor. The man himself requested it as a reward from the King and it was granted almost immediately.

Such is one of the primary reasons Aria is so focused on taking down the corrupted members. Everyone knows that the moment Marquess Tabor gets his hands on her is the day the gem will burn out. The woman herself is in fear of him specifically because of that. In the recorded history, the Marquess had a strange habit of beautiful young wives dying mysteriously. Officially, they died from natural causes, but both the Countess and her following refused to allow her to become part of that list.

The two men allowed their favorite Countess some space and send a errand boy to grab her some tea.

***

Throughout the last few hours, Demon General Zannon watched the fights unfold between his shadow creatures and the adventurers. The primary swarm tactic he favored wasn't working nearly as well as he hoped. He had waited and hoped that the enemy forces would exhaust themselves, but a proper supply of what he believes to be stamina drinks and orderly swap outs with members resting in the back destroyed that hope of his.

There were many issues with his strategy, if it could even be called that, and the General himself was slowly wising up to it. The main front line hadn't budged at all yet and nearly a third his forces were wiped out. Strangely, he couldn't figure out where he was losing his summons at most. Although the front line was consuming them quickly, it wasn't enough to account for such a large disappearance of his forces. Because of their summoned nature, the creatures disappeared on death practically converting into mist and fading away instantly. The lack of bodies frustrated him as he knew they were being picked off somewhere else other than just the front line.

Over the past hour, the General watched closely and observed how the defenders improved mid combat. The initial team struggled with the numbers rushing them, but by the third shift, information on how best to quickly slaughter his beasts seemed to have been passed around and it now appeared as if the adventurers and mercenaries on the front lines were toying around with them. The mere thought of it ignited his fury but the actual sight of it nearly dropped him into insanity. The only two things keeping him from taking action on the front line was his own ego and the creatures he was forming in front of him.

Believing Humans, Elves, Fairies and Beastmen to be nothing more than trash for crushing underfoot, he refused to acknowledge their strength as equal to his. Why should he go out himself, that's what the shadow creatures are for. Why should he personally need to get involved? His thoughts were circular and he appeared unable to think rationally instead choosing to focus on the large writhing black masses distant to the front of him.

Hiding in the shadow of the blazing craters, nearly forty large slimy masses consumed tens of shadows that rush at them. The shadow monsters willingly ran into the beasts, sacrificing themselves for their master. As each mass consumed a shadow, it grew slightly larger and proportionally stronger. The matte black that covered the smaller shadows eventually turned into a slimy exterior and the four legged trait that carried the shadows along in a frenzied manner was non existent. Rather instead, a series of sharp legs with multiple joints lodged themselves into the ground. The new creatures had no mouths and simply ate the monsters provided by allowing them to run straight into their bodies. When General Zannon counted his one third losses, it only included those not fed to the new creatures. If he had to include those as well, nearly half his army was now consumed.

He looked upon the slimy creatures and was almost flush seeing the crimson red of the craters reflect off their surfaces. In his eagerness to see them in action, he ordered two of them to move forward and assault the enemy.

***

Mr. Redmon had been keeping an eye on the monstrosities that were growing on the other side of the molten crater. The heat was slowly dropping and he knew there wasn't much time until the smaller shadow creatures would simply run over the heated ground. The enemy losses were enormous so far while they only had minor scratches and a few sprains on their side. He preferred to keep it that way, but fate isn't such a kind mistress. His eyes followed two large slimy looking masses far in the distance. Each broke off from where they were growing at and split apart with one walking down each side of the division.

He took action immediately after verifying their path.

"Twins! Send them late lads to help the right side. Tell em a big snail is comin their way. Don't underestimate it. Tell the left side as well. They'll be hit by the snot balls first I bet."

Two young women quickly ran up next the man and acknowledged his orders. One of the women leaped off the front wall to speed the process up while the other was sprinting along the top edge of the wall. Moments later, Mr. Redmon had to move slightly after a roped hook grappled the ledge in front of him to halt the fall of the first woman.

He watched six extra teams rushing to the right side to help give the ranged teams extra close range support. When he glanced to the left, the members who were previously resting went to join the back line in preparation for the incoming monster.

It was now visible to both sides, but the left side was clearly the first to encounter it. As it moved closer, the reserve heavy armored troops moved forward to help support against the expected surge of shadow monsters, but oddly, they stopped pushing forward. The creatures abruptly turned around and retreated back up the hill passing the large mass in the process. Refusing to be lured, the adventurers held their ground but collapsed their second and third line together.

The slimy mass approached the line using its large multi jointed legs to leverage and push itself along the ground. The creature entered the range of a few adventurer and mercenary troops with focus in long range combat. Multiple chants and companion orbs floated into the air emitting a brilliant light. Each one was constructing a specialized magic that invoker was confident in. As the magics completed one after another, the front line was treated to a fireworks show with beams of light arcing over them and impacting the slime surface. Parts of its surface froze over while others dried up, cracking from the rapid loss of moisture and application of heat. Some of the invokers forgo elemental magic and focused purely on destructive and piercing power. Sprays of wet, mucous like entrails ruptured from the back and front side of the creature painting the ground black.

Those who applied more tactics to their combat chose to target the creature's mobility and aimed for the legs. Piercing rounds shattered the joints spread amongst the swarm of legs, and detonations from explosive magic made quick work of the creature's supposed hip region. The various blasts and shots tore flesh, limbs and freedom from the monster and yet it barely halted its movement.

Where the ground was painted black, the slime slowly oozed to reach the main body crawling over itself like jelly. Where limbs were bisected and blasted into multiple parts, the leg itself was reabsorbed into the main body and another sprouted to replace it. Cracked skin slowly re-moisturized itself, sealing the wounds that split open during the initial assault. Overall, the creature was hardly phased and continued to push forward. It appeared to act less like a shadow now that it was so dense and more like a viscous sludge.

The experienced adventurers and clever mercenaries didn't fail to notice it though. Along the surface of the mass, there was an area still damaged.

"Align to ice! Freeze that fucker!"

Companion orbs that once shown in a rainbow assortment of colors instantly flickered to shades of blue at the command. The invokers tossed their prided magics away in favor of freezing magics since the time for useless things like pride passed long ago. The Companion Orbs grew brighter and the focus of every invoker was drenched in sweat. They were pushing themselves hard to reserve their stamina previously, but fate wouldn't allow them to be so casual now. The wall of invokers appeared like stars with each flickering upon completion of the spell. One by one and some at the same time, they invoked their magic launching everything they had. The adventurers and mercenaries dropped to a knee allowing dense shards of ice to pass over their position and dig straight into the creature. Far above it, rings expanded outwards with scripts etched into them. Light gathered the surrounding moisture from wherever it could generating large chunks of ice to drop onto it using gravity as its primary damage dealer. Below the creature, rings of light appeared as well and the ground dropped in temperature rapidly. The multiple casts from different people built on top of each other dropping it further than any single invoker could accomplish alone.

From the sidelines, Mr. Redmon watched in baited breath. The scene before the left side was nothing short of a frozen hell. A light fog formed from the super cooled air that covered the scene, but he wasn't able to see anything moving within it. He slipped a smile at having found a weakness in the monster and sent another messenger to relay the tactic to the other side. The right side didn't have nearly as many invokers, but they had a large number of criminals who tended to focus on equipment load outs rather than magic or physical enhancements. They loaded arrows enchanted with ice magics into their guns, bows and cross bolts in preparation for their own enemy. Moving his attention back to the frozen shadow creature, Mr. Redmon watched as three criminals rushed forward. It was hard to tell what their plan was from his position, but he saw them holding large spheres in each hand.

"Explosives?"

He watched them toss, throw, and lob the bombs into the frozen hell. Seconds later, massive explosions erased any fog that was hiding the scene. The concussive force seemed to fracture the creature into hundreds of pieces, each slowly disintegrating into the air similar to the death of the smaller shadow creatures. Even from his location, he could hear the cheers erupt as the criminals who went forward returned back to the group and they established the three line defense once more. The shadow creatures appeared to relaunch their assault without hesitation drawing the first and second lines into combat once again. Although the shadow creatures held no morale to speak of, Mr. Redmon could tell the adventurers and mercenaries were pumped up with the win.

His attention focused once again to the right side of the divide. The slimy mass on that side was still trudging down the hill. The various pitfalls seems to do nothing against it, but the front line was able to make out in detail the smaller shadow monsters disappearing every time the large mass ran over them. Wounded creatures filling the pits were erased and the pits were left in near pristine states. Mr. Redmon could only tell it was happening since he watched the black sludge move and leave behind a brighter terrain uncluttered by dark bodies. He glanced towards the center directly across from him and observed the large masses on the other side. They were still growing even larger than the two that came down.

"Are they testing them snotball's current power...?"

Utilizing similar strategies as the left side, the right defense line managed to freeze the creature and shattered the lower torso. The frozen ice ball shattered after rolling down the hill and slamming into a few outcroppings. Somehow, the victory felt light in Mr. Redmon's heart. The tension hadn't let up yet.

***

General Zannon watched as the final of the two minions shatter apart on a rocky outcrop. The shattered remains slowly dissipating into the air. Unlike what one would expect though, his demeanor was calm. A strange smile drifted across his face while he stared at the remaining 38 amorphous shapes. They were slowly growing larger and although he wanted to destroy the city sooner, he knew there simply weren't enough monsters to accomplish it. At this point, he only had a little under half his army left. He continued to feed more shadows to the blobs increasing their size and power further. Although he couldn't witness them fight, he knew simply from the damage they received and the number of consumed shadows that they were powerful. No. They were growing even more powerful.

While he was considering his options, an unexpected massive pulse of mana drew his attention. Down the hill, across the previously molten craters, beyond the flattened field and atop the first stone curtain stood nearly sixteen figures. He wasn't able to make them out in detail from his distance, but the mana signatures they emitted were extremely powerful and he could easily tell they belonged to different species. He watched as sixteen small lights rose into the air beside them flickering and partially falling only to recover slightly in the next moment. It was as if the lights were struggling to lift something nearly beyond their capacity.

A few flickers later, the entire hill in front of him became a sea of liquid fire. The flames were so dense, he could swear the mana feeding them was thick enough to be visible. Any minions he had in the middle of the assault disappeared almost instantly. The plume of smoke that initially rose to the sky was not smoke, but the disintegrated corpses of his creatures. Unlike previously with his two test monsters getting wiped out, anger swelled inside him. That invocation annihilated nearly 800 of his minions and wounded those furthest from the flames severely. The flames licked the edge of the hill and the heat followed the crest line blasting him with a constant reminder of their potency. He worriedly checked on his test creatures. Almost a third of them were consumed in the flames, another third appear near deaths door and the few who escaped the initial onslaught were still taking damage from the flames.

General Zannon clenched his teeth at the fiasco before him and give the surviving slime masses the order to consume each other. He pulled back his minor minions and prepared them into groups. He knew. These flames were something they couldn't produce constantly. The density of mana feeding the flames would simply take an immense amount of time to collect. His gaze attempted to focus through the intense heat wave on the figures in the distance. A confident sneer broke across his face and he ordered the remaining masses to retreat and begin consuming the rest of his army.

***

Mr. Redmon was astounded by the sight in front of him. Sixteen high ranked invokers collected mana and stored it to their up most limit. The sea of fire in front of him, hot enough that even the land itself was slowly turning molten, was a direct result of sixteen simultaneous invocations of one of the most powerful flame magics known to creation. He removed his gaze from the awesome sight and turned to attend to the sixteen collapsed bodies beside him. Each one of their companion orbs were shattered into fragments spread across the wall. Their staffs appeared to splinter starting from the source orbs embedded into them. Many of the source orbs themselves appeared damaged as none of them appeared to have the faintest flicker of mana stored inside them anymore.

He issued orders for the teams on both sides to retreat back to the main camp. He left watchmen posted and called for mandatory rest. In the back of his mind, he knew they'd only get this chance to rest. They wouldn't be able to cast such a barrier again within any reasonable time. The next assault will likely be the final assault.

Mr. Redmon handed off the sixteen invokers over to the medical teams and quickly hobbled his way over to the strategy room.

***

There was no one who moved during that initial sight. Flames rose in the distance and the beaming light broke through every window and door facing the North hill. Aria and the workers with her all slowly rose from their seats to face the scene in awe. The scene captivated them until Aria snapped out of the trance.

"Prepare food and water for the front liners! Rush it to them!"

Her yell knocked everyone else's mind into gear and they quickly scrambled to perform their roles. Section leads who substituted the Nobles that were still missing diligently began issuing orders. Aria sent a runner to bring Mr. Redmon to the strategy room, but he returned almost right after exiting the room with the elderly man trailing behind him. In her surprise, her voice slightly squeaked.

"Mr. Redmon! Why are you here?!"

"Little Sugimoto... You sent for me, didn't you?"

"Well... yes... but, so soon?"

Aria was practically dumbfounded at the casual reply. He was certainly right, but she somehow was still caught off guard. Stumbling over her words internally, she maintained and awkward silence with him. Mr. Redmon seemed to wait for a minute or so until even he started feeling a tinge of awkwardness. Seeing the poor girl still gasping at air trying to come up with any words at all, he lent her some assistance.

"Little Sugimoto. Can we start our meeting?"

"OH! Yes! Right this way, please!"

The man smiled warmly at the back of the woman as she walked away. His memories of his granddaughter overlapping with her figure. He smiled slightly brighter and with a little pep in his step, followed Aria into the primary meeting room. The large tables had documents piled onto it, mostly consisting of IOU's stacked up for businesses to refund. The various section leads standing in for the various Council Nobles filed into the room taking their respective seats around the table. Verifying everyone was in attendance, Aria kicked the meeting off with an angry rant.

"Historian, note this meeting provisionally as the Absentee War Meeting. Ensure you write down and emphasize the lack of certain section leads and their lapse in duties. During one of the most important moments in this war, the City Defense Council is manned by nothing but replacements. Well... at least the substitutes are more qualified for the roles..."

Her dry laugh that followed the final statement told wonders about her opinion of the members in question being absent. She continued into the primary discussion.

"Let's hit this quickly. Estimated stocks of food are holding at..."

"60% Countess Sugimoto."

"Estimated stocks of arrows?"

"Just under 25% Countess Sugimoto."

"What's the state of the front liners equipment?"

"Yes, Countess. They are in fair condition for the most part. The bows need to be restrung and the staffs for each invoker is starting to show some critical wear and tear. Those who took the brunt of the attack have dented armor, but none of it appears to need immediate repair."

"Do we have replacement staffs?"

"I'm sorry, no. We can manage a few Companion Orb replacements since we have some left over from the last Belmore delivery, but the staffs we have in stock are too low quality to redistribute. There's a real chance of them exploding during an invocation mid battle."

Mr. Redmon stepped into the report without an ounce of hesitation.

"Distribute them wands. We all know them risks, but potential death through wands or battle is about equal right now."

"You're willing to accept that risk?"

"We all know them risks."

Aria peered into Mr. Redmon's eyes trying to read his intentions. The old man didn't avoid eye contact in the slightest. His brown eyes reflected only the truth back. That truth was slightly startling to Aria. She felt the need to confirm what she sensed.

"Is our situation that bad?"

"..."

The elderly man broke contact and exhaled rather loudly. He settled in his chair relaxing as much as possible.

"If we only had to worry about the minor shadow beasts, it wouldn't be too bad. We could probably last a few days. The problem is them snot balls that rolled down earlier. Their durability is off the walls. The only thing that seemed to hurt the things was freezin em. Without them staffs, we are gonna have to focus on enchantments. That young gentleman just said we was just under a quarter of the reserves... That doesn't bode us well..."

"If we had a way to freeze them, would it improve out odds?"

"Only slightly I reckon... I know I said they were the problem, but they ain't the only problem. There was a strong Demon at the crest of the far hill. I've felt it staring down on us for the past few hours. If I can feel that damn thing's glare from here... I don't want to meet it personally."

"What about tackling the Demon?"

"You ignoring me, ain't you?"

"Is it too far fetched? We don't have the resources to fight a long term battle. The Demon has access to creatures that are highly regenerative and a large swarm of smaller ones, of which might I add, we have yet to see the end of. Taking out the head of the operation sounds better to me."

The man exhaled once more rather loudly. He meant no disrespect by it, but was honestly stumped as how to answer. He felt the young Countess was correct, but couldn't under good conscious knowingly send out men and women to their deaths. As he sat in silence thinking about it, he felt the gazes of the room focus on him. Unable to hold back any longer, he revealed the simplest truth he could in its barest form.

"We can't beat it."

The twitch that ran across Aria's eyebrows didn't go unnoticed by Mr. Redmon. He continued...

"That Demon is one of them Generals under the Demon Lord. Every beast we killed tonight vanished in seconds. Only summons disappear like that and only that Demon is around to control them. Judging by the numbers it summoned, we be out classed. Little Sugimoto... It be time to consider abandoning Profectus."

"You can't be serious. If we give up, the Demons will have a foothold on the only land attached to every other nation!"

Mr. Redmon only smiled lightly at her reply. He certainly felt the overlap with his granddaughter. The strong sense of duty and resoluteness that came with it. As the memories of the fate his granddaughter suffered reeled through his mind, his smile slowly disappeared. He knew this woman was resolute. He knew she was resolute. He knew she was what a Noble should aspire to be and yet he also knew the flip side of that. Yes, she was resolute, she was bullheaded. Yes, she had a sense of duty, she was crushing herself in that responsibility. He knew if she didn't find a proper support soon, she would end up crushing herself. She needed someone to balance out her meticulous nature and free her from some of the worries she took all on herself.

"...mon. ...Mr. Redmon?"

Aria called out to the old man who was wielding a saddened expression. He broke from his thoughts and returned back to reality. He adjusted his seating and chose to say how it will be. He could no longer allow this to be a negotiation if he wanted this woman to survive.

"You will evacuate once the next fight begins, Countess Sugimoto."

"What?! You're out of your mind! I'm not abandoning everyone to save myself!"

"We wont win this battle. Backup is improbable. The supplies are gathered already. Distributing them can be done by us old cronies standin round. You will only waste your time here waiting for an eventual death... Countess Sugimoto. Leave Profectus to us. Consider this an order from Guild Master Derick Redmon, Leader of the Defense and Strategy. You will obey the order."

Aria felt her face flush with anger and embarrassment. Did they not want her help? Was she in the way? Did she mess up somewhere? Could she have done better? The shame she felt rising in her kept her from even properly replying. With budding tears, she stood up steeling her facial expression and quietly left the council room. She stopped when near the exit door.

"I'll stop by my estate first. One of my maidservants should still be there waiting. Once I collect her, I'll evacuate as ordered. Is that fine?"

Mr. Redmon smiled lightly at her back and at the emotions he felt slip out with her words.

"That be fine, Little Sugimoto. Please don't blame yourself. Profectus ain't never had a better leader."

Without replying to his comments, she nodded her head and continued out the door. Mr. Redmon waited a few minutes until he was certain she was outside any hearing range.

"Right then. Let's talk about how we plan on dying today."

***

The forest floor quickly flickered past three bodies as they traveled at superhuman speeds. They kept this obscene pace up for almost four hours now and their group appeared as if it just began. Originally, they were running in silence, but in the previous two hours, they could feel massive waves of mana reach them. In particular, one caught Lapis' attention. Hiiro could remember the giddy smile on her face when she said a primal fire magic was used. At the time, Hiiro couldn't get any extra information from her and even now, he was struggling to keep up with her pace.

They were currently crossing the terrain at a pace he'd never seen before. If he compared it to his time on Earth, their group was essentially covering an entire football field length in almost three seconds. The wind was swiping at their newly threaded clothes and without a constant supply of mana emitted in front of him as a wind breaker, he felt like the wind would have damaged his eyes long ago.

***

I felt it! I certainly felt it! Four different species all managed to invoke one of the most primary forms of fire into existence. This fire, unlike your normal fire, consumed mana directly and was only invokable if you were able to knead a dense enough supply of mana and then contain it in a localized area. Without localizing it, a massive explosion would destroy the area. The question then becomes, 'Why would someone pick a slow burning intense fire over an incredibly damaging explosion?' I was positive they chose to use the flames over the explosion in order to buy time. The Demon I'm sensing appears quite powerful compared to the other mana signatures at the site. It'd make sense for them to try holding out until help arrives. Coming to that conclusion, I ordered Hiiro and Zirco to quicken their pace.

If that City falls, I'll have to pick a new place to start my new life. From what I learned though, this is the only place in this world that has such a variety of species coexisting in relative harmony. What better a place for me to start my new life? While I was lost in my thoughts, a ripple of mana went through me halting me instantly in place. Hiiro might of felt it as well as he skidded to a stop as well at almost the exact same time I did. Zirco... Didn't feel it?

"Zirco, did you feel that mana pulse just now?"

Zirco quickly turned to my side and dropped to a knee.

"My Lord, this one apologizes. This one failed to notice anything."

"Hiiro, what about you?"

"Yeah, I felt it. I was surprised it felt so sticky. It's the first time I've felt something like that..."

"That was similar to a more sinister version of summoning magic."

"Summoning?"

"Yes. Unlike the more pure version used to summon you Heroes, there are other forms that reap the will and mind of the summoned. Without a mind and will, the body is reshaped into something grotesque that typically aligns with the summoner's image."

"So someone is summoning near the site?"

"No... It feels more like the summons are merging together... What an insane number to feel this terrible though... Hiiro. Once we arrive on site, take heavy caution against anything you fight. Power is rarely ever reflected in one's outer appearance. Considering our objective this time, focus on protecting those in the city. I'll go ahead of you two and join the fight. Catch up quickly."

I began kneading a large amount of mana. The City and hill of fire became visible nearly 20 minutes ago and I was able to gauge the distance. It would strain my limits as a Fairy, but was well within the bounds of my normal abilities. I visualized the distant location and transcribed the require symbols into a circular platform that etched itself below my position.

Teleportation magic required vast amounts of mana to properly activate and safely execute. I refused to tap into my reserves and so consumed the mana in the surroundings rapidly. The depressurized zone quickly filled in as it was consumed whipping gusts about. I watched Hiiro step back a bit before taking off towards the city with Zirco in tow. They shouldn't be far behind me once I arrive. I finalized the target location and overlaid the magic across the site. Allowing the dense mana to flow off my body, it swirled around the teleportation circle and once I reached the required amount, I invoked it.

***

"Quickly! Fall back to the inner wall!"

"Go ahead! I won't make it, my path is blocked!"

"Dammit!"

"Arrrrgh!"

Screams of war and semi consistent orders were being shouted across the battle field. The flames had finally died down and from the flames a wall of shadow creatures rushed through. At first, the defensive strategy held out as it did initially, but soon, strange creatures started being mixed into the swarm. These creatures were humanoid in shape but covered in a black slimy substance. At first, it was thought the creature was nothing more than an oddly shaped shadow beast until it swung its arm and bisected three of the front line heavies in one swing. The men screamed in pain and confusion not understanding what even hit them. Their shields and armor did nothing against the creature as it sliced through the metal akin to a heated knife through butter.

When three front liners fell at the same time, all hell broke lose. The swarm was no longer filtered down and broke through the hole fully assaulting the second line surrounding the other front liners. The beasts slammed into the adventurers knocking them over in their heavy gear and pinning them. They tore at small openings in the armor shredding the internals of anything they touched. Screams of heavy front liners being killed slowly as their eyes were clawed at through the visor. The screams resounded as small holes on the back side of the calf armor plating was used to tear at the flesh inside and pull tendon and nerves from what their claws could reach. Some more unlucky mercenaries with lighter armor quickly had their limbs torn off wherever the armor was weak at. Clawing at the freshly torn limb, one mercenary was vomiting from pain as the shadow creatures pulled chunks of his internals out through the freshly torn off arm. One creature in particular managed to dig deep enough to grab the mercenaries heart and yanked it violently through his nearly hollow chest cavity killing the man.

The second line of defense wasn't fairing much better. Reserves were sent in to assist, but they could only hold off the wave that reached them. They weren't able to assist their peers being torn limb by limb in the distance. News of the new creature on the battlefield and how dangerous it was quickly spread through the various teams.

Mr. Redmon heard the news and ordered a retreat back to the inner wall. The outer stone curtain of Profectus was hardly in condition to survive an assault, but the inner wall was far better maintained. He glanced at the battle field and wiped away the sweat pouring down his face. After the first line broke, there wasn't time to send a messenger for reinforcements so he went himself until the reserves caught up to replace him. Now that he issued the order to retreat, he fired the flare into the sky and signaled the invokers waiting on the back line.

Although not in peak from from the massive invocation earlier, the 15 of the 16 invokers had recovered enough to be usable in the following fight. They kneaded as much mana as they could keeping their focus on the distant targets. Their magic this time was rather simple, but it required a heft amount of mana to accomplish due to the sheer size of their target. All 15 invokers consumed the surrounding mana generating a slight breeze as the air slowly filled itself it. In the distance, they saw the flare for retreat burning in the sky and prepared themselves. They watched their allies rushing through the main gate towards them. Some were hopping the walls and others carried on the back of another. Even from the distance they were at, the invokers understood the grim state of the war and seeing their allies with limbs missing and bleeding out.

Mr. Redmon halted his retreat and turned to watch the progress of those retreating. He chose to cut it as close as possible until finally he saw shadows starting to climb the walls and near the entrance. Unable to hold out any longer, he silently whispered apologies to those left behind and fired a flare once more. A surging mana behind him suddenly disappeared as it was consumed. He heard loud explosions behind him and quickly glanced up to where the invokers were stationed only to see three of the staffs have exploded killing the invoker instantly and injuring the two near it. His face contorted, but he held the emotions inside, instead glancing at the huge pillars of ice covering the front wall. The sheer size of the ice prevented the shadow creatures from leaping over it and its trait as ice prevented them from climbing it. Without a side channel to enter from anymore, the creatures would eventually flood the main gateway which was left uncovered. Though their staff exploded, the magic seemed to go through regardless. In a way, they were quite lucky. He quickly swallowed the thought in shame after being reminded of the sacrifice given for their final defense.

Any bodies capable of fighting were now focused on the main entrance. The sniper teams took high positions and readied their bows, magics, and bombs. Swordsmen readied their swords and drank whatever stamina and recovery potions were left in their reserves. The heavies who survived the front line readied themselves as shields to funnel the enemy. From beyond the front gate, they could hear the creatures snarling. A single beast emerged into view from beyond the gate. Mr. Redmon and the beast appeared to lock eyes before it released a massive screech. Through the canyon, the screech was repeated by its peers.

Just before it broke into a run for their position, it halted itself in place. It cocked its head strangely at the survivors no more than just 100 meters from it. Mr. Redmon, confused at the beast's behavior, focused elsewhere from the battle for a split second. His eyes widened and he bellowed orders instantly.

"Give space! Spread out! Something big is coming!"

The adventurers, mercenaries and even criminals didn't hesitate knowing their lives were on the line and their trust in the Guild Leader infallible. They quickly backed apart widening their cage until they felt it was safe. Showing their professionalism, they still maintained their formation and only widened it. Mr. Redmon couldn't help but subconsciously smile at the sight even though he was entirely distracted by the strange phenomena happening in front of him.

Other beasts started congregating with the one that halted initially. They appeared confused as well and stayed away from the rippling space near the entrance.

[Are they afraid? Is it not with them?]

He slowly felt his blood boiling in excitement at the thought of a third party intervening. At this point, he knew they would die if the battle continues and so anything disruptive would be appreciated.

The ripple in space fluctuated once before pulsing outwards. Mr. Redmon quickly glanced at the invokers behind him just to verify it wasn't their doing. None of them returned his gaze, but he could see the expressions of shock spread, overpowering the pain they were feeling. He knew they weren't involved now and whatever was happening is something beyond their capabilities. Another pulse ripped through his being. He felt a cold chill run down his back and the creatures across the way seemed to back down feeling the pulse as well. Small sparks of lightning connected to random points in the air surrounding the ripple and the wind began to gust. The gusts swirled into a spiral converging on the ripple and generated even further bolts of lightning. He felt a third pulse. A fourth pulse. The ripple seemed to widen its influence with every pulse until it was no longer a distortion but a massive fluctuation that could fit even a man inside it. Below the distortion, a circular ring expanded and scribed itself with symbols he'd never seen before. The circle started glowing and the wind raced to the site even faster. He felt a final pulse, far stronger than the others, dropping him to a knee almost vomiting from the feeling. Glancing around, he saw only a few of the troops seemed to feel it.

[Only the stronger ones felt that?]

Confusion started to spread as members who didn't feel the ripples only saw their comrades fall to a knee or vomit. Mr. Redmon barked orders to stay calm trying to hold his nervousness. That final pulse connected something. He could tell that much. The swirling air blocked the view, but he knew it was nearly complete. A shock wave rippled from the swirl blasting the air away from it along with portions of the ground. The dust cleared and a young woman was standing at the site. Her stature no more than 158 cm tall, She sported a layer of white pelt covering what seemed to be a white inner dress. She held supple arms and carried with her two large wings. He could easily see the strange blood red petal designs gracing those wings and the mixed green and blue neon trim contouring them only served to bewilder him more. The young girl lifted her head allowing her gray hair tinged with blue to sway slightly. She opened her eyes glancing at the beasts and then at the adventurers. Mr. Redmon made eye contact with her for a second and as if to disagree with his imagination, her eyes stayed focused on him. Unable to blink he could only stare straight into azure eyes.

***

What a nuisance this magic is... I was unable to perform a short range teleportation to the site. To arrive as soon as possible, I selected a mana signature near the flaming field. They appeared to be moving en mass though, so I had to hold back until they were re-situated. Once they sat still, I locked onto that signature and began carving out a path in space to the site. I felt many things happen during that invocation time. Three of the more powerful mana signatures completely disappeared right after releasing a massive ice magic. The thought infuriated me somewhat, but they were at war... I couldn't blame them too much. No, it wasn't my place to.

I felt the site establish itself and so I sent mana through the path tearing it further open to fit myself through. It only took a few tries, but the path was established and I was confident in my site target and so, I invoked my first 'self created' long range teleportation.

I landed on the site and instantly felt the information flowing into my senses. The remote Demon must have felt my appearance by now as well. I glanced around at the various Humans, Pantherians, Elves and Fairies surrounding me. They looked horrible. I focused onto the beasts nearby and analyzed them lightly. Their mana signatures were far clearer now than they were in the distance. I knew for sure now, these things were warped during the summoning process. All that's left of them is a beastly desire and a body to fit it. Interestingly there were some bodies mixed into the beasts that felt more intelligent than others, but I left that alone for now.

It is my first time appearing in front of any intelligent species on this planet apart from that one team. I had to ensure I got this right. I scoured the faces of those surrounding me and checked for anything to indicate the presence of a commander. Found him. An elderly man situated at the center of the funnel exit locked eyes with me. I could feel him carefully observing my actions and he certainly knew I was doing the same to him. I stepped forward to approach him, but four people with swords and knives blocked my path.

"Move."

The men froze in place as if they lost the ability to walk. Was it too much? I noticed the Fairies around me were all wide eyed in shock. Did I mess up somehow? They appeared to be barely functional. I ignored the ridiculous site and instead turned my sights back to the old man.

"I am here to help."

A smile crept across my face when I saw how quickly the old man came to a decision internally. He is a good leader. Decisive and resourceful. The man stepped forward and ordered the four to return to the formation before turning his attention back to me.

"There is a Demon General located on the far hill. We can't take him out ourselves. Can I leave it to you?"

"That is fine, but first..."

The snarling beasts appeared to make up their mind and started sprinting through the entrance. I kneaded a large amount of mana instantly dropping the air pressure and temperature around me. Overlying my imagination, I targeted the four legged beasts only. I could tell these men needed a victory, and an easy win wouldn't settle the losses in their hearts.

"Around a thousand three hundred I see. You all did well."

I muttered the compliment under my breath but the old man appeared to have both heard me and understood the meaning.

"I am going to destroy all of the more feral beasts. There are eight unique ones mixed in amongst them that this spell wont be able to fully kill. Can I leave it to you to clean them up?"

"..."

"Is that a no?"

"Leave it to us."

The old man responded and barked orders after I questioned him lightly. I turned my focus back to the warming monsters and unleashed my magic. In regards to the magic fairies can use, light magic was the one that stood out most in that Elf's head so I used that light magic. A ball of light rose from my out stretched palm floating into the sky. It reached far into the heavens before exploding. Shooting stars raced across the sky for a moment before disappearing.

"I will leave the rest to you."

"What? But them beasts!"

"It is fine. They are already dead."

Golden rain fell from the clear sky splattering onto anyone near it. The light drizzle didn't soak into any clothing, nor did it moisten skin. Those surrounding me only looked in awe before the painful screeching of the beasts stole their attention. I quickly took to the sky with a bit of magic reinforcement and a stroke of my wings. I left behind the defensive force while they watched the beasts roll in pain as the light rain ate through their skin, muscles, nerves and bones like acid. As I rose up, I saw the old man reorganizing the groups and sending thme off to hunt for the special beasts. Although this rain wouldn't kill them. It will certainly injure them.

Rather than concern myself with the petty revenge hunt happening below me, I focused my senses on the Demon in the distance. I could feel his gaze locked onto me and I felt a tiny smile spread across my face.