The massive presences, each of them a terror in their own right, drew closer with each passing second. Aziz didn’t need to see anything to know what was going on — clearly, these Demigods had finally made a move.

What were they intending to do? Aziz didn’t know. With such forces, they could have crushed the entire invasion force long ago. Why did they then spend so much trouble to destroy their supplies and camps, only to refrain from killing the defenceless soldiers?

“And why,” Aziz muttered, “are they moving now?”

“We’ll find out soon,” said Marie.

“Do we have time to turn back just yet?”

“…no. And we shouldn’t,” the marshal replied, her face impassive. “It is possible that the kids would do something reckless if a Demigod intercepts us at the last leg of our escape.”

“If we ditch the supplies and flee, we might be able to make it out.”

“We’ll just be encouraging the Demigods to chase us down. They might even injure us or kill us outright. I will not run the risk of that happening. We’ve lost enough people to the insanity of the Demon God; I will not lose any more people to our own desperation.”

Raising her voice, Marie said, “All troops, do not attempt to resist if the enemy does not show hostile intent. It’s possible that they have no desire to kill us.”

She paused. “Yet.”

“Very reassuring, ma’am.” Aziz eyed Marie, but he had to admit that her orders were the best ones for the situation right now. Even if they fired on the same target with unerring accuracy, the colonel knew that they had no chance of actually nicking any part of a Demigod’s body…even if the Demigod happened to be nude and asleep at the same time. As for escaping…

“I know, right?” Marie smiled, but Aziz could see her hands trembling slightly. She had probably used all her courage to issue such an order — not just because Marie was literally surrendering before a fight, but also because she was worried for herself and the other officers.

They had studied this before. Officers who became prisoners of war weren’t treated well at all. Unlike their more obedient underlings, officers were expected to lead, maintain morale and — if possible — plot an escape. Therefore, particular attention, for the lack of a better word, was paid to captured officers to break their will and resistance.

Aziz took a deep breath and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”

He didn’t know if those words were directed at Marie or himself, though. To Aziz, being captured was probably one of the worst outcomes that could occur. Bodies were frail, especially humanoid ones, and there were all kinds of nasty things that could be done to them.

Breaking a person was very easy, especially if the one dishing it out had unfettered access to a restrained target. Even words alone could break someone; being able to use someone’s body against themselves just made it much easier.

“Should we stop walking?” Aziz asked. “Save our strength and everything.”

Marie considered for a moment, and then nodded.

The First Aerial came to a halt. A few more instructions followed, and before long, everyone had stepped away from the wagons they were escorting.

Aziz shook his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am. If I didn’t bring up the suggestion to bring everything one day forward—”

“Not your fault,” Marie replied. “No one could have known.”

The kids of the First Aerial were beginning to worry amongst themselves. Fortunately, the battalion commanders and their own officers were already calming them down, making use of the fact that the demons hadn’t struck any fatal blows so far.

Without such a fact, it was possible that the First Aerial might have resisted capture, but clearly, the act of sparing the Five Lands’ soldiers had made them more docile and less willing to fight.

Aziz looked around the place and felt another bud of admiration for the mysterious commander behind the whole thing. Their disdain of killing didn’t just serve to bog down the Five Lands’ war effort, but it also made the soldiers more amenable to simply surrendering.

“What do you think they’ll do?” Aziz asked. “And will the War Council know what’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Marie replied. “But as long as we prove ourselves to be cooperative, we should not be harmed substantially. If they wanted to kill us, the Wildlands would have done so long ago.”

“Then…”

“I suspect this attack is a very political one,” Marie continued. “Take a look at the Demigods and the Exemplars. They’ve already encircled the entire invasion effort, including us. If I’m not wrong…they intend to capture us for some reason.”

She smiled. “Maybe to negotiate. Or something.”

“Negotiate?” Aziz asked. “I really want to deny that possibility, but…”

It was easy to see why she had come to such a conclusion. The Wildlands had deliberately avoided killing. Even when the Five Lands’ troops were in no condition to fight — something a Demigod would definitely sniff out — the demons hadn’t exploited this advantage at all, choosing to deprive the invaders of their food instead.

Other than stalling the war effort, the demons had chosen not to attack at all.

“You might be right,” Aziz concluded. “And…oh. Well. We’ll find out very soon.”

An Exemplar had appeared at the front of the convoy at some point in time, a calm expression on his face as he stood in their way. Lean and muscular, his purple hair danced in the wind as he scrutinised the people in front of him. Aziz did the same in return, but to his relief, he couldn’t discern any ill intentions aimed at them.

The demon, whose face lacked any of the insanity Aziz had grown used to seeing, eyed the very clear delineation between soldier and wagon, and then descended onto the ground.

“Surrender, and you shall be unharmed,” said the Exemplar. “Although I don’t really think I need to say that, looking at everyone here.”

“We’ve already done that,” Aziz replied, his instincts have taken over.

“Yeah, I know.” The demon rubbed his nose. “This is awkward. Why do I get the weird jobs?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Disarm yourselves and follow me, I guess. We have no intention of harming you, so don’t make us do anything we don’t want to,” said the demon, his next words colder than usual. “Do not mistake mercy for weakness.”

“All troops, disarm,” Marie looked around and shook her head. “Unless, of course, someone here thinks they can beat him.”

No one stood out, and before long, everyone had stuffed the wagons with their own Straight Shots. The demon Exemplar was clearly discomfited at how compliant everyone was, but that was his problem, not theirs.

For the First Aerial, their problem was about their impending captivity, and nothing else. Fortunately, this particular Exemplar seemed to be rather easy-going…and his instincts were telling Aziz that he was telling the truth.

Or what he knew as the truth, anyway.