Tides Of Protomis CXXIX

The Visionary

The tide of battle continued to shift, time and time again, the Dismantlement of Zylsis’ walls, and the very visible death of General’s Xi, and Epsilon, had begun to cause disorganization among Maleggan’s legions. In common fashion, some had begun to get impatient, intent upon being the one to gain victory in this battle, kill the most enemies and make themselves distinct in comparison to their “Allies”. If I can prove my power, I can become powerful, I can put myself on top of the food chain, I will be the one to dominate, the one to control. But to others, this was a sign of the end of times, some of the demons had begun splitting off from their respective battles in the city, and took whatever escape routes they could. Especially with the incoming rush of demons who seemed to just be joining in, completely disconnected from either faction, possibly for the same purpose of making a name for themselves.

The troops of the holy order were no less involved in this battle. Goda Ayaka watched the sight of the battle from the top of a building, with apparent confusion. These demons were already deeply entrenched in combat, with each other, at that. They’d heard nothing of the sort from the reports… Sharing her confusion, was Saka Ademola, who stood beside her, a hand on his chin.

“If they were here before us, they must’ve been here with the Terran 7… Could they possibly be working with these demons to eliminate the generals?” The man questioned.

“That seems most likely… We’ll need to tell our troops to exercise discretion, then… Let’s join this fray.” Ayaka summoned her holy arm, and leaped from the summit of the building, driving her blade into the skull of a large reptilian creature, causing it’s four legs to go limp, as it fell to the ground, and its carrion began to disperse into the air around them. Saka began his attack as well, summoning his bow, and letting loose a rain of arrows upon maleggan’s legions. The deadly accuracy to which they hit began having an effect almost immediately, as they attempted to split themselves up to avoid being hit. But even this was not easy, as fire from ranged holy arms rained down upon them from the windows of the various buildings around them. But the slayers within could not continue their attack for long, as some of the demons had gotten wise to their strategies, and made their way inside, forcing them into a close quarters fight.

While all this took place, on top of one of a tower in the eastern districts of the city, Alarick engaged the bulky draconic demon, that was General Deltus. The general stepped into his range in about a second, bringing down a large fist upon his head, Alarick dug his feet into the ground, and crossed his arms above his head, stopping the attack from doing as much damage as it did. Though his frame was certainly shaken. The ground under them shook, as the tower they stood on collapsed into rubble, taking the footing from underneath their feet. Deltus acted quickly, as he noted his opponent falling backward, pressing his advantage by slamming a fist into his gut, and sending him crashing into the ground below. Or at the least, he would have had a pillar of earth not launched Alarick back into the air. The man rebounded, flying past the General, and slamming a kick into the small of his back as he changed direction. The general rounded on him as he fell, however, firing out a compressed stream of red liquid, one which nearly punched a hole in Alarick’s torso, a strike he barely avoided.

“... I need to figure out what his Limits are… If it’s his own blood he’s using, surely that can’t be without its drawbacks. He’d still need to keep some in his body, wouldn’t he?” A second,and third stream of blood came next, while one struck true, nearly hitting a lung, he managed to move in the nick of time, managing to leave it a glancing strike. The second, he’d managed to avoid entirely. In a short time, he leaped back into close range, straightening his fingers, and forming the void blade over his left hand.. If he hit a vital enough area with this, he could win, but that was the issue…

The demon began to break away as soon as he saw the light appear, parting his jaw to speak.

“That technique of yours, the void blade, the effect it has reached my ears long before this battle began!” The demon’s blood was fired out once more, but it began to take a different shape, a sort of… Liquid rope which wrapped around Alarick’s void blade wielding arm, keeping it in place.

“Now then… How about we have a bit of a discussion, rather than more mindless combat?” This made Alarick raise an eyebrow.

“Discussion? Why would you want any such thing?” The general began to look off into the distance.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Well… Unlike my Brethren… I see you humans as something to be admired. Having a code of laws, punishments for breaking those laws, a want for advancement, a more harmonious society…. Most demons would not even take the time to build a city like this one. And technology? Many don’t even know the concept of writing… I work with this one, Maleggan, to get the resources I need to do that, to build a new Ixian continent…” Deltus explained.

So that was the case, but a question had come to his mind.

“While I can not say I disagree with what you’re saying… But I have two questions. Why did you tell me all this? What are you hoping to achieve?”

“In order to truly make sure this world of ours is better… We will need Humans, to teach us, to unite with us, to create a unified state between us, by any means necessary, and all those who wish to stand in the way of this progress, must be removed from our path, without hesitation… I want you to join me in this endeavor. We will work with my troops, and clear out the forces in this area. They are dangerous to the future we shall build, Alarick Von Zaisen” That was his answer? It certainly didn’t do much to convince him, in fact, he felt a vehement disagreement with him. He’d studied history, and these types of ideologies, they’d never end well in the end. That much, the blonde knew… He forged another void blade, in his free hand, and carved through the liquid stream holding his arm in place.

“I refuse… If that is your path to this future you want, you may as well be just as dangerous as that Emperor you serve under.” This caused anger to find its way to the general’s visage. To be compared to HIM… No, he would keep his calm. If that was the human’s answer, then…

“So be it…” With that said, the general resurged, beginning a wild charge to his opponent. Alarick found the demon slamming into his chest, as he was launched backward. While he certainly felt the effects of this attack, in away, it only served to his benefit.

“I’ll need to keep a distance between us, and get him to the right place… If I land an attack with the void blade, it will be fatal, that much is guaranteed. I’ll need to bait him, and start creating walls based upon how he moves. From there…”

A simple enough plan, but one that would work. The blonde skidded to a stop, and charged toward the general. The general got ready to meet his charge, sending himself forward once more, but Alarick took action soon after, changing his direction within moments, and leaving him in the dust. His protomis pushed out once more, brought more pillars of earth from the ground below, forming a sort of makeshift wall to the two’s left and rights respectively,

“To think that I saw you as a possible ally… A pity that you are too foolish to see the potential in what we could achieve!” Deltus shouted. The man turned on a dime, and fired off a stream of blood toward Alarick, which the blonde narrowly avoided.

“The implications of what methods you’d use to make those achievements are more than enough for you to be considered an enemy in my eyes!” Alarick forged a longsword of stone in his hand, and shot toward his opponent, bouncing off of the wall he’d forged, with the blade cutting through as it ran across Deltus’ skin. In response, the demon went to follow him, but found himself surprised by a pillar of earth pushing him up from below, and the Blonde rebounding, running the blade across and cutting him once more.

Shortly, he came for another pass, and then another. Something that began to make annoyance visible on the demon’s visage. Before a spark of recognition took place… If the human already knew of the knowledge he’d gained before the battle began, then it was obvious he wouldn’t let himself be attacked… So that’s what he was aiming at.

“Death by 1000 Cuts… He plans to make this into a battle of attrition. To hold me off long enough to get a fatal strike…. Such bleeding would keep me from using my attacks as well… A good plan, but not one that will work on me!”

The demon fired off six streams of the pressurized blood, but strangely, didn’t even bother turning to face his opponent. The blonde viewed this with some amount of confusion, until he noted what happened next. The streams rebounding off of the walls he’d created, and driving themselves into his body. In his Torso, legs, and arms respectively. Alarick clenched his jaw as he felt himself being impaled, while he himself, stopped his charge, and landed on the ground below.

“Dammit… Did he figure it out?!” If the growing smirk on the demon’s face was anything to go by, then that was the case… If so, that made his battle a lot harder. But this wouldn't be the first time he had to create new strategies on the fly. Before long, however, the general was blindsided by a stream of yellow projectiles slamming into his back. Causing small, but very visible burns to appear on the surface of the demon’s skin. Deltus’ eye shot over to see the source of the attack. To see one of the commanders of the Holy order’s incursion force, Mazurus, with Ogun’s barrels pointed toward the general. Before long, he heard the sound of rushing air filling his ears, and he jumped back, narrowly avoiding spinning wheels of sharp metal.. The chakrams that were Bui Lai Phuc’s holy arm, Zaisus. The red-haired man looked from the demon, toward Alarick.

“Alarick Von Zaisen, you may not know us, but we know you. We’re here to help eliminate that one…” So the holy order had arrived, it seemed. The help wasn’t exactly something he expected, but he didn’t plan on refusing it, or anything of the like. There was a battle to be won, after all.

“Fine then…”

Yet, even with this, Deltus seemed nonplussed. He was not planning to lose here, not in the least. One of them was already injured enough, the other two certainly wouldn’t be that much more of a challenge. He had a future to build, and they would not stop him.

つづく

To Be Continued