469. On the Ground

The Human forces pushed on closer and closer to the city of Ertos. Whether it was Faith El, the Fallen Queen of Elutra, charging ahead, spearheading Elutra’s Resistance in an attempt to retake the walls. Or whether it was Daniel Song who stood at the frontlines of the army, cutting down dozens of [Lesser Legions] with each swing of the Sword of Alexander.

Everyone played a part here. Edithe Dawnrise stood amongst a group of [Mages], using her Skills to aid their magic and increase their power. Orgaf lurked in the shadows, targeting the higher-leveled Demons using his speed to rapidly traverse the fighting. Mori Gladius and Scarlet Vermillion stood at the heart of the army, giving commands, and offering aid from afar.

And Amanda—

“Fuck you.”

Amanda cursed as she tore through the ranks of the [Lesser Legions]. These Demons were weak. Most of them were below Level 40. Lesser Demons. Sure, they were individually stronger than a Silver Ranked adventurer of the same level. They were still Demons, after all. But they were outnumbered at least four-to-one.

Furthermore, there were hardly any high-leveled Demons amongst the Demon army. Amanda danced through their lines, cutting through dozens of them until she ran into a giant wall of pink flesh. She narrowed her eyes when she saw the creature. It stood as tall as a small house— at least ten feet in height, and nearly half as wide. A bloated beast.

She stepped back as it loomed over her.

“A [Greater Legion]?”

“Human, your killing of my people will stop here.”

The Demon bellowed as it raised a giant fist. She narrowed her eyes, identifying its level as it swung down at her.

“Now, die—”

“Fuck you too!”

Amanda ripped straight through the [Greater Legion]. It collapsed behind her, and the ground shook. It had been Level 68. A Greater Demon. But still— weak compared to her.

The former assassin was nearly twice its level. She might not have been the highest-leveled Human present in the adventurer army, but she certainly wasn’t a pushover. Shaking her head, she kicked the dead Demon for good measure.

“Fuck all of you…”

Amanda murmured. She wasn’t in a good mood today. Well, she hadn’t been in a good mood at all for the past few days. Even here, in the middle of a battlefield, her mind was elsewhere. Preoccupied with thoughts of a certain [Hero].

Her face burned red just thinking about it. She was jealous. The tempest brewing in her heart was definitely that of envy. With every Demon she cut down, her mind flashed with images of Daniel hanging around with other women. Whether it be Edithe, Mons Merryster, that [Crusader], or the hordes of other women flocking to him.

But most of all, Amanda saw Daniel standing next to a silver-haired girl. Salvos. The Liberator of the Plaguelands. And the only girl he seemed to even be interested in. It hurt Amanda, knowing that Daniel showed interest only towards that one girl.

Amanda’s heart ached, knowing that she could never be with Daniel. But she knew she only had herself to blame for that. After all, when her first interaction with him was an assassination attempt at his life, it was going to be very hard to suddenly become lovers.

But even worse still was the fact that Daniel clearly liked Salvos, but she showed no interest in him. Anyone with half a brain could tell that it was an unrequited crush. It hurt Amanda more than anything. It could’ve been her, but it wasn’t. She could treat him so much better.

Or can I? Amanda asked herself, guilt eating up her insides knowing that she tried— and failed— to seduce him once before.

She stood there in the middle of the battlefield in a daze. A [Lesser Legion] crept up on her, ready to strike the former assassin while her back was turned. Amanda only noticed it at the very last moment. She spun around, raising her dagger—

And the [Lesser Legion] was blasted apart by a streak of elemental magic.

Amanda blinked, lowering her weapon. Saffron started forward, accompanied by dozens of armed bodyguards surrounding her from all sides. They spread out and cut down the nearby [Lesser Legions] before they could even draw close to her.

Saffron casually strutted up to the former assassin with a smile.

“Seems you were distracted. Are you really still upset about Daniel?”

“What? How do you—”

Amanda bit her lower lip, cutting herself off. Saffron shrugged as she raised a finger and sent a blast of flames and ice down into another group of [Lesser Legions].

“I mean, it is quite obvious.”

“Shut up. It’s none of your business.”

The former assassin scowled as she marched ahead. But Saffron simply followed. The two women continued carving their way through the battlefield as the army of Demons was slowly pushed back.

“Why don’t you just confess to him already?

Saffron asked casually as she sent elemental spells sailing in all directions. She could handle the [Lesser Legions] just fine, but when a [Greater Legion] showed up, her bodyguards piled on the Greater Demon, protecting her and bringing it down through sheer numbers alone.

Amanda just blinked.

“Con…fess?”

She asked, utterly confused. Saffron nodded.

“You so obviously like him. Everyone with half a brain can see that. Just shoot your shot. I don’t see why you’re being so coy with it.”

“I’m not being coy.”

Amanda clicked her tongue as she sliced another [Greater Legion] in half with the flick of her wrist.

“I am simply being realistic. Someone like me can never be together with a [Hero]. That is all.”

Saffron raised a brow.

“That’s—”

The young noble started, but Amanda’s eyes flickered. She saw it coming, even as Saffron spoke unknowingly with her guard down. The former assassin dashed forward as she whispered.

“[Savage Step].”

Saffron blinked, only to be yanked into the air. The young noble sputtered as Amanda carried her up into the sky.

“What are you—”

And a terrible explosion rocked the ground where she stood. A blast of lighting ripped the earth open, leaving nothing but a crater behind. Saffron stared at the explosion, then turned to the source of the attack.

An Archdemon stood on the walls of Ertos, conjuring up another lightningbolt. But before it could unleash the spell, a silver-haired girl attacked it from behind, cutting the Demon down.

Amanda just snorted as she landed, Saffron still in her arms.

“You’re welcome.”

The former assassin quipped. Saffron stared at her savior. For a moment, she said nothing. And that made Amanda uncomfortable. But eventually, the young noble shook her head.

“You’re not a bad person, you know that, right?”

Amanda paused. She slowly lowered Saffron down and shook her head.

“You don’t know what I’ve done.”

With that, she dashed off, culling the hordes of Legions once more.

“Where are you guys hiding? Come on! I’m right here!”

I yelled as I spread my wings wide, standing at the tallest tower of the city’s walls. I had already killed a dozen Archdemons at this point. All of them were over Level 100. At first, I had hunted them down, using my spatial sense to find them.

But then I realized that if I just stood here and shouted as loud as I could, they would come to me. Most of them were in the low Level 100s, and they thought that I was a Human. I just had to show the level of my second Class, then they’d come rushing at me, thinking I was easy pickings. But unfortunately for them—

A wind blade shot up at me from one of the other towers. I raised my Divine Nebular Scythe, simply parrying the attack. I grinned as I faced the wide-eyed [Fiend].

“Tricked you.”

The [Fiend] tried to make a break for it, but I was next to him in an instant. [Greater Teleportation] carried me there. He tried to create a wind barrier, and I sheared through the protection spell with ease. He collapsed with a thud, his black blood pooling at my feet. Another notification rang in my head.

Class [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!

[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 113] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 114]

Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!

He was Level 115, so not too weak. He even gave me a level in my Class. But still, killing him barely awarded me with any experience for my Subspecies.

I shook my head and sighed.

“At this rate, I may as well just help kill those Legions if I wanted to level up faster.”

I was already getting less experience for fighting Archdemons, after all. So perhaps killing a hundred [Lesser Legions] would be more efficient for leveling than killing a single Archdemon.

I wasn’t entirely sure, of course. I might be completely wrong. Maybe killing a single Level 110 Archdemon was equivalent to killing ten thousand Level 20 Lesser Demons. At that point, it would be far more efficient to just hunt down Archdemons. I would never know unless I decided to somehow test it out. Even then, I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to carry out a test.

So it probably didn’t matter. I crossed my arms, yelling again, trying to draw more Archdemons out. It worked two more times. Another pair of weak Archdemons showed up, but I didn’t level up in my Class since I barely used any space magic.

Then I was left there, shouting as no other Archdemons attempted to take me down. I harrumphed and glanced around after nearly half an hour of nothing happening. Then I caught a glimpse of a familiar cloud drifting towards me.

Helena Warshade descended on my position, nodding.

“The walls are cleared, Salvos. There is no Archdemon left.”

“Huh.”

I glanced back towards the clashing armies ahead. The number of Legions had dwindled down to half of their original numbers in such a short amount of time. Meanwhile, it looked like the Human army hadn’t even lost a tenth of their forces. Well, that was expected from the level difference between the highest-leveled Humans and the highest-leveled Demons.

And it didn’t help that Helena and I efficiently took down their strongest fighters. Perhaps if we hadn’t wiped out all their Archdemons, the battlefield would be looking to be a little worse for wear for the Humans.

“Are we going to take down the ritual site now?”

I asked, turning back to Helena Warshade. The Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy nodded.

“Indeed. But we cannot be careless. These Demons may have other traps or tricks lying in wait for us. I doubt that this is all the defense they have mustered. Especially after what Orgaf has said.”

She spoke warningly as she turned her attention to the crimson pillar extending to the sky. I swept my gaze over the barren city. There were corpses littering the streets of Ertos— civilians who died, having been sacrificed to carry out a single part of the grand ritual. I wondered if there were any Demons hiding in the empty houses, just waiting to pop out and ambush me from behind.

I couldn’t be too complacent. If Ira were here, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to defeat him, unless I had help from my Grand Skills. That was if he were here.

I highly doubted that he was. Nodding, I spread my wings wide and flew into the air. I stopped next to Helena.

“Alright, let’s—”

I paused as the palace of Ertos exploded. My eyes darted to the city’s center, watching as something emerged from the crimson pillar reaching out to the sky. A dark, giant figure that stepped out with multiple limbs. That knocked down houses, sending earthquakes out across the city with a single step.

Helena Warshade’s eyes grew wide as she watched this Demon pull itself out from the Netherworld. A creature with eight glowing eyes and eight massive legs. I slowly blinked.

“Huh. I guess we found out what tricks they’ve been hiding in wait for us, right?””

[Archarachne - Lvl. 165]

The wild Demon let out a shriek as it charged forward at us.