The demon backs off a step after being wounded giving me a chance to glance past him to check on the soldiers. Bones has engaged the middle group and they are stopped for the moment, but those on the wings are still coming straight for me. The rebel's foot troops are far behind them but the rebel cavalry is almost in range to attack them.

My focus returns to the shadow demon as he steps forward to swing again. As I parry I push his sword out to the side and step forward and snap my head down until my forehead impacts the demon's nose. As it staggers I release Blitz with one hand and grab the demon by the throat.

'Create Soulscape!'

This time for the soulscape I keep it simple, we are both standing in the middle of an arena. As I open my eyes I am hit by some kind of shadow explosion that sends me flying. Then while I am still in the air I get hit by several shadow bolts, this demon is not like the others I have fought in here.

When my feet hit the ground I immediately dodge and manage to avoid another volley of shadow bolts. Trying to teleport him further away from me doesn't work, apparently his will is as strong as my own. I blast him with beams of light as I continue to dodge his shadow bolts, after a minute I manage to kill him.

He respawns a few seconds later and he has shrunk by about an inch. Looks like this will be just like the fight with Drog, must be something about being rank five that changes things. Now that I have killed him once he takes me more seriously and starts dodging or blocking my attacks.

As he launches another attack I imagine wings on my back and give a hard flap to both dodge and get off the ground. At the same time I imagine the sands of the arena floor turning into holy water. He lets out a scream as he sinks into the holy water and quickly dies again.

As soon as he respawns he floats into the air, so I imagine a tentacle of water grabbing him and dragging him back down into the water. With his third death he teleports to the stands as soon as he respawns. I am about to attack him again when something tells me to dodge so I follow my instincts.

A good thing I did, a massive tentacle came out of the water and went right through where I was hovering. A beast made of darkness starts to rise out of the water so I imagine it returning to sand. The beast is trapped but not killed, with my attention on the beast the demon manages to hit me with more shadow bolts.

They are causing me pain but I am not seeing any damage from them, then again this is a soul battle so I'm not sure how it works. I realize this is the first time I've actually been hit in the soulscape, even against Drog I never got hit. I guess the damage will accumulate until I die and respawn smaller just like a demon, I really don't want to know what that will feel like.

Wanting to deal with both of them I create a downpour of holy water that hits everywhere in the soulscape except where I am. The beast doesn't seem bothered by it but I hear the demon scream somewhere behind me. Since holy water doesn't work let's try some lightning, and since everything is soaked even a close hit will cause damage.

Thousands of lightning bolts fall every second, the beast dies after a few hits and the demon keeps dying over and over. This time I am not taking any chances, I keep the holy water and lightning going until the demon is completely destroyed.

'End Soulscape!'

Core Upgrade Progress: 40% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 50% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 60% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 70% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 80% +10 DP

Core Upgrade Progress: 90% +10 DP

'Aw! So close to rank six!'

When I open my eyes I am surprised to see I am holding the hero by the throat still, he didn't turn to ashes. Realizing he must not have been a corpse I release him letting him fall to the ground. Not counting the large slash across his chest he still looks terrible.

Hero gasps "Thank you!" and dies!

Hopefully with the demon dead the hero's soul is free and he can rest in peace. Although, knowing the shadow demons can take over someone who is still alive is valuable information. But that is for later, now I need to see what is going on with the battle.

Bones has gained a level!

Well, Bones is doing well at least, as I look around I quickly realize it will be over soon. The controlled soldiers that didn't just collapse are standing dazed and being cut down quickly. Bones and the rebels are just slaughtering the enemy, there is no mercy being offered.

Since I have no idea if someone who was controlled for this long can even recover I don't worry about it. Mercy is a good leader, I'm sure she thought through the possibilities and decided on this route after careful consideration. The rebels probably don't have the resources to care for that many enemy wounded anyway.

Drog 'Master! Master! I ranked up! I am back to rank two now!'

'That's good, Drog. I made it to rank five, almost rank six. Did you leave any of the shadow demons alive?'

Drog 'No, master. Just like you ordered, I killed every single one!'

'Alright, good job.'

Drog 'I'm going to go find Isabella!'

'Why are you obsessed with her?'

Drog 'She has the biggest boobs out of everyone!'

I just shake my head and cut contact with Drog, I can't help but compare him to a trucker friend from my last life, the biggest pervert I ever met. Now that the battle is mostly over Mercy rides towards me, she looks tired but happy. From the blood covering her it is obvious she didn't sit back and watch the fight like most nobles would.

Mercy says "Ash! Are you alright?"

"Yes, princess. I'm completely fine."

Mercy says "That's good! I'm glad you are alright! It was an overwhelming victory thanks to you!"

"How are the casualties on our side?"

Mercy says "Very light! Almost like we fought a skirmish instead of a battle where we were outnumbered!"

"Good, this should really hurt the king!"

Mercy says "Absolutely! This was half his army, he will be enraged and probably scared!"

"Good, then he will make mistakes!"

Mercy says "Hopefully he will, but we will worry about that tomorrow. Now it is time to celebrate!"

Walking back to the camp we are unable to talk due to the loud singing of the soldiers. I was expecting Mercy to invite us all to her tent to celebrate but instead she and her commanders are wandering the camp. They are talking with people, even the lowest of the soldiers, Mercy really is a good commander.

Not wanting to socialize much I tell the others to go enjoy themselves and find a nice quiet tree to lean against. Watching the festivities from a distance is far less bothersome for me. Even from here I can hear a lot of the conversations and other things going on, it is enough to distract me so I don't notice a big bird before it lands on my shoulder.

Brother Raven says "Stay your blade, warrior! I come bearing a message!"