Tok, already breathing hard from the run here, took the lead. Brushing her hand along the top of her arm, overlapping shells made of blue light appeared as they trailed down her arm until her hand swept out to the side. Then she hit the first junk creature shoulder first, sending half of its body scattering like a dropped Lego sculpture and the other half rolling out of our way.

Chloe swept the legs out from under the next one and I slashed at what looked to be the closest thing to a head on it, scattering a handful of parts as I passed by it.

With a clear patch in front of us I glanced back to see all the pieces from the one Tok hit pulling back together and flipping, rolling, and hopping toward the still intact remains of its lower body. The one I hit seemed to be having more trouble, whatever I had hit must have been its most vulnerable spot.

How I was supposed to target such a spot again, I had no clue. Also, they seemed to have noticed us and some of them started to move to head us off.

We needed an edge, and my I might even have one. "What does Bless do?"

Bless.

This ability can be used to protect those being attacked by demons or demonically directed being or effects.

It may also increase the effects of a weapon when used against a demon.

There is no limit to the number of Blessing that can be given out, but they only last one hour per level of the Rector.

"Well. I guess I really should have checked that before."

I began pointing at people, and their weapons, one by one starting with the people closest to me. "Bless, bless, bless."

The effects were almost instantly of use, as mop handles, axes, hammers and clubs began to not only blast the things apart but seemed to stun them, so they didn't go back together again.

It was also instantly recognizable to the enemy, as Chloe screamed at me. "Sean, watch out!"

The vehicle looking thing next to the scrap metal ammunition dump hand began to turn, and lower, as it began to aim at me. "Whoops." I started running in the opposite direction of its turn and threw myself to the ground. It may have looked like I had somehow managed to trip, but I swear it was deliberate.

There was a loud hum, like a transformer when it was about to blow up, then something flew out just over my head. Whatever it was, it tore through a dozen trees, reducing them to splinters, before slicing halfway through one before it bounced off at an angle.

Crap, they were going to hit me with that? I would have been a thin stain on the grass.

For a second, I just wanted to stay down, let everyone else finish up and do the work. Then for reasons which still escape me, I got back up and looked around. Most of my people had gotten blessed along with their stuff. Now, it was the hairy Hazak's turn.

Mostly they ignored the blessings I was slapping down on them, even when I blessed one who had a moment to look around before they jumped back into the fight barely did more than glare at me as they got the alert. Probably because they were saving their really dirty looks for Tok who had reached the scrap throwing tank thing and was trying to take it apart.

Not destroy it, she was literally taking off panels and unscrewing things as she dismantled it.

Well, that was one way to take it out of commission. Me, I was running back into the fight, my now blessed weapon tearing the things apart well enough that I was able to take a moment to poke at the bits that looked important.

I some cases I destroyed something that let out a thin stream of black smoke which faded off to nowhere, other just made a sad electronic sound then went still.

With the additional numbers to reinforce the big foots and some weapons that could seriously hurt them, the whole fight took less than two minutes. Then the two groups were looking at each other.

The back to nature guys decided to inform us that they wanted us to drop all our stuff, and strip down.

I gave the one in charge, or at least the one doing all the talking so far, a chance to change his mind. "Are you crazy? I mean that in all seriousness, are you crazy."

One of the other one's began yelling at Tok who was collecting some the bit and pieces from the ground and the thoroughly trashed metal launcher. "Put that down poisoner, this must all return to the ground. Drop it!"

Tok stood up and glared at him. "This is not your world, you have no claim to it, or any right to command others."

i moved over to stand in front of her. "What she said. I don't know exactly what went on with your world, but we are in a war against an enemy that we simply cannot fight with our bare hands. You just saw how much we need our stuff. So respectively, back off."

The bigfoots all stared at me and began to back up. Then I realized they were looking past me.

The scrap throwing creature the demon had put together had smashed its way slowly through the trees to get here. Leaving a wide path of destruction behind it.

They had been the advance group.

The at the head of a dust cloud coming up the path at us was a group at least three times as large, and those were only the ones I could see through the dust.

I stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out... something, anything. Then I remembered. I only needed a handful of additional people as residents to get to Sanctity level five, which would extend the safe zone right over the demon army heading our way.

And I had seventeen bigfoots right here.

I looked for the one who had been speaking to us earlier and gave him my best winning smile. "We can beat them, I just need your people to move over into the radius of my safe zone and agree to become residents, and that's it. They lose."

The pale indigo furred Hasak look at me and grinned. "Shove it up your backside poisoner. Our enemies are about to kill you and all your people, or maybe you'll finish them off on your own. Either way, we win."

Then he turned and called out. "We go, now." And they took off to the east as a group.

Well, that didn't work. I looked at around to see a group of exhausted and wounded people, including Chloe who was limping my way. "Are you okay?"

She grimaced as she tried to put more weight on her leg. "Took a pretty good hit, I think it cracked my Fibula. I can still walk, kind of."

Chloe actually looked the worst out of us, but everyone looked like they had taken some cuts and bruises. Heck, now that I had a chance to think, I could feel a few spots where I had gotten hit myself.

Looking in the direction of the dust cloud i could see them more clearly as they slowly got close, which meant they should be able to see us as well. "We got to get moving folks, we got inbound."

Tok, looking ready to drop from the run and the fight, still wrapped a arm around Chloe and helped her back toward the safe zone. Even before we go all the way there the first of most wreckage was already flying overhead.

We got to the coast and Chloe pulled out a signal flare from her bag to call for a lift. Having determined on her own we were going to have to run.

I sighed. I lost. But if I had to be driven from my home in defeat, at least it was going be in a private room onboard a luxury liner. Not too shabby. We could easily move far away from the demon scrap launcher, safe and sound.

We could.

Attention.

Your Holy ground St Kentigern's has been destroyed.

But we weren't the only ones in the area.

"Hey Chloe, I need to go talk to the Ifrit. You get everyone on board and I'll met the ship down the coast tomorrow."

She turned to me with a concerned look. "Seriously? Those jerks are as likely to attack you as hear you out. We already tried to deal with them, and they made it very clear they wanted nothing to do with us. Screw 'em."

I nodded at her. "That was the people in charge, the rest of them should be warned that they's about to be an army of demons looking for their next target, and that's most likely to be them. Besides, I need a win right now."

She tried to chase after me as I began to walk away, only to nearly fall over as she stepped on her bad leg. "Go ahead then, go be a hero. Jerk."

I managed to a few hundred feet before I realized I really didn't know how to get to the Ifrit village, and that Rill was right behind me."

She tilted her head. "Do you even know where you're going? Fool."

I thought about claiming I wanted her to take point, and then follow her there. But I knew I wasn't l was going to fool her. Instead, I pointed off vaguely to what I thought was the southeast. "I think it kind of that way."

The Verco girl snorted at me and started leading the way.

I could still hear crashing sounds off in the direction of what was left of the church, I guessed the demon wanted to be sure. Or they didn't realize they could take control of an animal and send it to where the safe zone used to be to test it.

It was nearly two miles to get to the Ifrit village. An almost hobbit shire like collection of tiny houses made of stacks of flat, irregularly shaped stone making up the walls and roofs of fifty or so building.

And standing watch, a bunch of little guys staring at us angrily. Sharp tipped metal poles in their hands began heating up to a dull cherry glow as they saw us and two of them advanced to meet us where they fields met the forest.

"Turn back, you are not welcome here. This is your only warning."

As described, they looked like little classical devils. Hooves, goat eyes, and horns. Thier skin varied from a deep red to a pale brown, with a few with pitch dark skin mixed in. They wore loose layered clothing so I couldn't tell if they had hairy legs, but chin beard seemed to be almost universal. As did their looks of hostility.

I held up my hands. "I'm sure you've heard the crashing noises, that's from an army of demons that just destroyed my home. There's a good chance, actually it's pretty much a certainty that they will find you next. I came to warn you and offer you a two other options. But I think I need to talk to your leader."

The two of them looked over to yet another crashing sound off in the direction of my former home. One of them looked at me again. "Wait here."

The other one stood there silently, ready to strike me down if I tried to get pass him. I thought about trying to get him to chat, but I was too worn out to try."

Eventually the first one reappeared and waved at me to follow him.

I only got as far as the first few buildings of the village, where a small, hostile crowd had gathered. Others stood farther back or just peeped out at me from half open doors and window.

An older Ifrit, one of the one with darker skin that had faded to a deep gray that made his white beard stand out sharply, nodded at me. "Speak your words, so I can send you away never to bother us again." Many of the other Ifrit made sounds of approval.

Right, tough crowd. "You know what's coming, right."

The guy in charge nodded.

"And you know they are going to find you and what will happen... right?"

He nodded again, slowly. "We will fight, some will survive. But we will all, dead or alive, remain free."

I nodded right back at him. "I can give you some options. One. Pack up what you can carry and follow me. We can get picked up by a ship large enough for all of you and either take you somewhere safe, and just move off a way until the demons move on."

"I don't know what your concern about staying free is about, I got no desire or need to treat you in any other way then a free people. I just want to offer you a chance to survive, without any cost to you but some time."

Thier leader though things over. "What was the other option?"

Got him. Or at least I got him thinking about other possibilities then staying here and dyeing. "Well, it depends on if you have some sort of holy place, and how you feel about others using it."