Tides Of Protomis CXLI

The holy order’s charge into battle had begun, and as one would expect, said charge necessitated a command center. In the outskirts of the city, once more, makeshift earthworks had been erected, and command tents set up. And this impromptu forward base was a hive of activity. As troops made their way back from the battlefield, sometimes, carrying the injured, while others were making their ways back out. While others were returning to combat. The various commanders had begun meeting as well, but there were murmurs of discontent, to no surprise. A group of soldiers stood in a circle in front of the mess.

“Why are we working with demons? They could very easily turn on us, and join the other Denizens of this realm?”

“Indeed, it is a fool’s errand-”

“Enough…” As the troops heard the familiar voice, they all looked to see the commander of the force itself, Volker, standing there.

“S- Sir Volker!”

“While I understand your suspicions, It would not do well for our operations if we were to make an enemy of them, especially considering the Terran 8 are on their side…. If they were against us, there’s no doubt in my mind that they would’ve sticken them down by now. I'm sure we all know quite well their reputation for getting rid of threats to them. The Kaemerge being a prime example.” That was enough to silence the discontent, at least for the time being. Attention did not stay on this subject for long, however, as the sound of clanking boots on the ground, and the presence of a large amount of holy energy, these large sources, drew all of their attention…

The camp went silent for some moments, as heads turned, and work came to a grinding halt, as just who’d arrived was noticed. All the members of the holy order supreme council, except for Gilga Lyle stepped forward, placing a hand on Volker’s shoulder as he stepped forward.

“Volker… We were informed of the situation before we passed through the tunnel. You’ve done well.” Fransisco stepped forward as well, and began looking off at the battlefield that was Zylsis. The architecture was certainly different than anything he’d ever seen, but the surprise mostly lay in the fact that the settlement was this organized, this dense. How many demons populated its streets before the battle began, was a question. From what they knew of the demons, things like this were very rare, nonetheless, there was a looming threat that one had to worry about, especially if this conflict were to come to a close anytime soon. Farid stepped to his old friend’s side, as his gaze focused upon the keep all the city’s streets led to. Or rather, upon the power it held within.

“That must be him, the one who forged this polity… The one we must eliminate.” Volker turned once more, staring at Farid’s back.

“Is that wise? There are other enemies we have to face…”

Lyle took his hand off of the slayer’s shoulder, as he began to step toward the other two members.

“True enough, but I trust in you, and your troops… We will attempt to remove the head of the snake, and end this battle as quickly as possible…” With this much said, the heads of the holy order did not wait for a response, leaping into the sky, and barrelling toward the keep. Within a single moment, they’d already demolished one of the keep’s walls, and arrived at the source of the demonic energy. The room itself was Ornate, lined with pillars of Ordyx, various precious metals lining the walls. But that all fell beneath their notice, given with the oppressive pressure which filled the room, and the gaze from the one who sat upon the throne, at the far end of the room. A certain hunger in his eyes. For blood, For combat…

“So you’re the ones those slayer types call their leaders… I hope the men can match up to their legends.” Maleggan stated, as he rose from his throne. The three council members glanced at each other, as they nodded, calling forth their respective holy arms, A glaive came into existence between Lyle’s fingers, gauntlets with sharpened edges in front of the knuckles appeared over Fransisco’s hands, and a scimitar gleamed in the sunlight, falling from the same hole they’d made upon entry. Yet, even with this, Maleggan seemed undisturbed. Only letting his own demonic energy out, a blindingly bright light excluded from his body. But it seemed that the emperor would not be in this alone. Descending from the sky above, were two demons, the human-demonic specimen known as Sebastain Heinrich, and one who’d only now decided to join into the battle in Zylsis. Eight legs clamored upon the stone floor, bringing the human-like torso, covered in armored red skin, into view. The demon paid the members of the council no mind, as he glanced toward his two allies.

“Heinrich, Zagan, so you’ve arrived here as well…” Maleggan stated.

“That we have… I decided I may as well join in, as a courtesy. I have plenty of time to eliminate that bastard Arctaius Corde…”

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“I hope I’ll be entertained here. Those weaklings I killed on the way required no effort.” Weaklings…no effort… It was certainly a known fact that all of them wouldn’t make it out of this battle, thinking such a thing was possible could be considered ignorance at best. But to hear this creature speak about killing his troops in such a casual manner, to disrespect their memories. The head of the Holy Orders expression began to change. From what was usually calm and collected, to a subdued rage, and the same could be said for the others.

But the two demons paid no mind, leaping into action almost immediately. Zagan clapped his hands, and soon, one of him, had turned into 3, as biomass split off from the original, and forged new bodies beside him. The two created ones would charge toward the slayers, leading to them acting in their defense quickly. Farid raised his blade above his head, jabbing it into one of Zagan’s clones. The effect showed itself immediately, in how it was reduced to dust within moments, and the same could be said for the second who charged. As Farid leaped above it, jabbing it into his thorax. But the slayer found himself hit by another attack, a kick slammed into his back, by Sebastian descending from above, which caused the slayer to fly into the ground, obliterating the floor underneath, and causing a tremor to reverberate. But even he did not make it much farther before the blade of Lyle’s holy arm was jabbed into Sebastian’s torso. The man quickly took action to remove it, stepping back, and launching forth a flash of demonic energy. Interference from Fransisco, who landed in front of the holy orders head, resulted in this attack dissipating, as a bubble of green light appeared around them.

Lyle pressed a counterattack, leaping into the sky, and pointing his blade downard, nearly impaling the human, had a quick backstep not absolved him of that fate.

“Look down upon us as you’d like, but me and my Gáe Bolg have never lost against a demon!”

He began advancing toward Sebastian once more, a rapid flourish of swipes and stabs sent toward him, slowly but surely, the distance between the strikes had begun to become more narrow, causing the smirk to disappear from Sebastian's face.

“He’s better than I anticipated, but regardless, it will take more than that just to stop me..” Before the son of Seto could think anything more, Farid had appeared behind him, ready to carve into his back with his own holy arm, but the man was thrown aside by Zagan, who charged him with an uncanny amount of speed. The two generals regrouped, as did the members of the council, and it almost seemed as if they would begin to strike again.. But, to the surprise of most of those there, Volker had already turned on his heel, and began to levitate.

“Impressive, but not nearly enough… This is beneath my notice, I go to kill Arctaius Corde.” His declaration made, the blonde shot off into the sky, to act upon his plans. And Zagan, similarly, left silently, leaping out of the hole the council members had made, leaving the emperor alone to face the remaining members in the room.

Farid tightened his grip upon his blade, and began to point it toward the emperor.

“It’s three against one now.. Why allow your generals to exit, when it leaves you out-” The man didn’t even get to finish his sentence, before he found that the one he was speaking too, was no longer there, rather, directly behind him… And almost as soon as he turned, a punch which nearly felt like it would demolish his body, landed upon his back.

“It's funny, you believe that makes any difference…” An unsettling grin grew upon the demon’s face, as he let out a chuckle, which became a hearty laugh. It did not take long for Lyle to clamp his hands together.

“He’s too powerful to face in this state, I’ll need to weaken him… A seal this incomplete isn’t exactly advantageous, but we need to act quickly!” A golden light shone from the man’s palms. As he began expanding his influence outward, weaving “threads” of holy energy in the demon’s presence, a circle of light appeared under his feet, markings and runes came to fill it, as it shined brighter and brighter, and began to rotate, leading to the emperor looking upon this with interest. But the councilman only continued to hone his focus, his pupils only grew brighter as time went on, and he began his chant.

“Divus Superius, Ne permittas prosperi. Percutiat eos virtus mea, ut salvemus stellam nostram.”-The Divine Above, do not allow the wicked to prosper. Let my power help strike them down, so that we may save our star…”

“SEAL!” The technique took its effect immediately, something noticed by all of those in the city, which now seemed to stand still in light of the development. The presence of the Ever-powerful emperor had… Weakened? Just what was going on here, how could any of those who invaded the city even stood a chance? Or was this a betrayal from within, the tension between the highest ranked in the Empire having finally exploded? The fact of what was happening in the building outside was of no concern to the council members, especially given the opponent they faced.

“That much won’t guarantee our victory, we need to pull out the stops!” Lyle’s holy energy was sent outward once more, as wings forged of an azure light appeared on his back, and a halo over his head, holy drive.

“Right!” Farid took the same action, the trademark wings and halo appeared upon his body as well, though his own were verdant in color. And as for Francisco's, a golden hue.

But it seemed the demon looked upon this not with worry, but with glee. He’d been weakened, and his opponents had grown stronger? For he, who searched for a challenge, to become the strongest, to cut loose as much as he wanted, this was nothing short of providence. As the three slayers regrouped, and charged at him once more, the man only shouted out as he returned their charge.

“Come then, Entertain me, Humans!”

The clash of forces that resulted just moments after, shook the city to its very foundations, the ground below of the feet of those fighting began to tremble and crack, as buildings collapsed upon themselves. The keep that Maleggan had taken as his home had been reduced to naught but a crater and nary a few pieces of rubble. The battle between both sides’ heads had begun in earnest.

Elsewhere, a differing battle was about to begin…. General Zeta had already decided he would continue fighting with Maleggan, at least, for now he would. But these chaotic elements, humans, and demonic alike, needed to go, microwaves saturated a building the invading armies had turned into a stronghold. Before any of them knew just what was happening, human, and demon alike, they exploded into a pink mist… The same could be said for those directly outside.. But it seemed that his slaughter wasn’t to continue for much longer, as he found himself the target of a downward swipe from Enkidu, one which he barely dodged. Zeta looked upon the human with disgust in his eyes, and the same could be said for the slayer.

“So you are the one who put that scar on Honshu, and killed our comrades then too…”

“What of it?” Zeta responded.

The one to respond was not the slayer, but rather, the monk who appeared behind the general.

“What of it, hm..? Regardless, we have a battle to win.”

TO BE CONTINUED

つづく