NOVEL NEXT V11: Chapter 7
V11: Chapter 7
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Interlude: Sirena
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An avalanche to destroy the army, a plague to kill those who survived, and finally the faithful to fall upon that which remains.
The King of Wisdom's meticulousness was as overwhelming as always.
I glanced at Ilych and found her gaze meeting mine at the same time.
Rita had fired her six poisoned arrows and terrified the Demons. They saw their comrades scream in agony and pain as they were consumed by living poison. Attempts to heal only gave the poison more flesh to consume. When a single drop fell on one of the Demons trying to help their leader, he was forced to take off his hand and watch it be consumed. Rita's attacks struck the torso, at flesh that was not easily removed, and the bodies melted into red sludge that sat upon rock and ice like a predator waiting for prey.
The terror provided by the attack gave me and Ilych the opening that we needed.
Ilych summoned up magic and gave a tremendous roar that echoed through the valley. At the same time, she drew her immense firearm, and the sound of thunder resounded through the valley. Alchemical rounds imbued each one with a potent flame that could burn through steel. They exploded and showered the Demons in the hot flames and suffused the land with white fog that obscured vision.
Ilych said once to me that one shell of her weapon cost the same as a whole box of ammunition.
It was well worth the cost.
She set the Demons aflame and gathered all their attention after Rita killed their officers.
Our foes saw a speeding beast in black armor surging through the snow who carried a great sword better suited for a giant.
Without anyone to control them, they charged against their new foe.
Allowing me to flank their charge.
I pushed my physical form forward. I lightened my body enough to walk upon the unpacked snow, covered myself in a barrier of wind, and channeled that wind to push me forward. What once took ten strides became achievable in four. The burst of speed allowed me to streak past Ilych, turn, and strike at the flank of the Demons' charge just as they were about to make contact with Ilych.
Ilych swung her blade early, crashing it against the valley's floor, and a great cracking and grinding noise resounded.
Solid ground turned into rubble before her and turned stable footing into shaking, broken rock.
The charge of the Demons was disrupted.
They stumbled and caught themselves, focused on their opponent even as they still burned and regenerated through the white flames.
The elites capable of surviving the avalanche were as strong as we feared.
But strength can be overcome with faith and devotion.
I touched the neck of the first. The sensation of their skin was closer to marble than living flesh. There was no foothold, so I created one. A fierce gale that lasted for just a moment allowed me to twist my frame. I found purchase as my frame twisted and held tight. The muscle below was close to iron, but I have cut through iron many times before. I carried on with the cut, gliding through skin, flesh, and arteries. Even the walls of the throat were as tough as leather. The bone was like interlaced mesh that dispersed force across one layer after another before allowing what was below to crack.
Despite being cursed and weakened by the Ancestors, the Demons were still powerful foes.
But I have been a Sword Saint longer than I have been a mere mortal.
When my frame's strength is insufficient, I overcome the limits nature has provided. Muscles burst within my skin, unleashing all the might that my mortal shell can conjure. Pain courses through the whole of both my frame's arms. Innumerable tears and cuts within and without my arms created suffering similar to flaming blades blending muscle and sinew while gouging bone. The force exerted was too much for skin and blood and muscle burst out from my frame's limbs.
I coursed with magic, elevating my sharpness and speed, and guided my path with control over wind. The wind screeched and shook my entire form as I sliced through iron-like flesh. Not only did I cut, I also sheared and shook apart everything in my path with blades composed of wind. Stone-like skin came apart, iron flesh tore, leather-like vessels of blood were destroyed, and bone broke.
Then, I saw the light at the end of the Demon's neck.
The next one then saw me in the corner of his vision.
His body shifted and changed before my very eyes. His arm undulating and contorting as skin was swallowed by muscle and bone grew out into blades. A yellow eye burst into being and locked onto me while all the bones turned into blades and muscles straightened into a long and continuous set of strands and compressed… before surging towards my frame and going through protections and finding purchase through the skin of my frame.
But it did not go through the bone beneath.
It was tough, but its ability to do harm seemed to be limited.
My frame's arms already healed, my next foothold was ready, and Ilych was ready to strike after I swung myself and cut through the overextended, transformed limb. Bone, muscle, and then a long vessel filled with blood came apart with ease. Ilych surged forward, and with a single blow of an armored fist, smashed through the skull of her closest foe, while another of her hands grabbed hold of another Demon and crushed its skull in another. Rita began to rain fire from her perch and slew one by placing an arrow through its skull.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The leader might have been their equivalent to a champion, but he perished by the King of Wisdom's machinations. The rest seemed to simply be elites or individuals with the possible potential to become Champions with time and investment.
How many of these people existed in the quarter of the world that the Demons held?
The thought was staggering.
I could kill thousands of them, and there will be more to replace them.
Fear threatened to grasp my heart, but with a singular intake of breath, I put it aside while piercing the brain of my second foe by going through his eye.
The eye was as soft and filled with fluid as expected, and they had the same gap all mortals had that led to the brain. With a twist, I went through, entered the brain, and found it as soft and weak as all others I pierced.
Still, just in case, I suffused myself with wind and expelled it through my end.
The mottled, soft thing came apart and became like goo, and my foe went limp.
There was no reason for me to fear.
An army had died in just the last hour.
The same will happen to any other who opposes the King of Wisdom.
I knew what I needed to do in order to fulfill my purpose.
That was to be a blade that followed his commands.
All that was left was the will to see it through.
…
Good news!
The Demons were all dead except for the ones we planned to let go!
Bad news!
The Demons were all dead except for the ones we planned to let go!
"They were weaker than we expected, and Sirena's miracles harmed them rather than healed them." Rita reported. The survivors of the avalanche had been a tough bunch. Probably part of the noble caste of the Demons, meaning that they were inherently tougher, stronger, and more powerful. They weren't Champions, but a single unit of them (1000 or so) could threaten a mid-game Champion. It was a good thing that I sent two in there and Ilych. "My apologies, my king. All we could do was take their heads for Eminent to check before she leaves."
"It's fine. I should've expected holy magic to not work on Demons. Their own methods of healing are more akin to amplifying their body's own ability rather than our miracles." They manipulated flesh and blood through the sacrifice of others. In-game their troops were either writhing masses of scarlet muscle that were vaguely humanoid and covered in bone plates or tanned, horned succubae or incubi with wings and horns that wielded powerful magic. A whole race of supermodel blood cultists with a vaguely Aztec theme. "Eminent, do it."
"As you wish, my master." Eminent bowed deep and curtsied. She went forward while watched by Sirena, Rita, and Ilych. There were other officers present from the army that I brought. We were going through the avalanche now in a long line with Conquerors ready to break the skulls of any survivors in air pockets. Recovering the armor, weapons, and bodies at this stage of the crisis was going to be a boon for sure. "Return. I demand it."
There was nothing overt.
No ghostly mist from her hands entered the cadavers.
No shining light from the sky that somehow permeated through the insulated tent's roof.
Eminent told the spirit of the corpse to return, and it did.
The singular Demon bound in chains twitched alive. A scream ripped through the tent, but the chains were not tested. Eminent laughed lightly, and I was sure that the Demon had tried to escape, but it was under its control.
I stood before a Demon, a creature of this world that would have me turned into an undying sacrifice to power some furniture, and spoke to it.
"Tell me the location of the town from which your expedition was launched." I didn't bother with anything personal. His name, where he came from, and what his dreams were all didn't matter. He didn't need to be my friend. I didn't need to get into his good graces. This was an interrogation where I was holding the very essence of his being hostage. "Tell me. Now."
Something close to a sneer formed on the Demon's face, but it turned to horror as its mouth opened.
"Cintal. Four weeks march east of here." I nodded at the information and looked over my shoulder. It was being written down already by Ayah and two other transcribers at the ready. I motioned for the map to be brought forward, made from our last expedition in their lands, and had the chains undone. The Demon knelt with the map in front of him without any bindings. Horror turned to terror as he realized he could truly do nothing. "What curse is this? What have you done to me?"
I ignored him and just considered my next question.
There was plenty now that I could 'reveal' to the gathered individuals by using him as a mouthpiece.
"What are the intentions of your people? Also, point at the map at the location of Cintal." He pointed at the map first. A marker was placed on the location. It was right where we had the closest town to our lands.
"We came here to reclaim our birthright. This is the unreachable land where all blessings have been hoarded. This is where our people can reclaim their lost gifts and take the world as our own! Tell me what you have done to me!" He raged, but he was unable to yell or move. His face contorted between anger and anguish. Eminent sure was having fun. No necromancer could do this. As far as I knew, Eminent was the only being that could make this happen. Probably because she was directly connected to whatever system took in souls after death. These guys weren't allowed to paradise, and everything that they were was just left to linger in oblivion. But with a body, Eminent could call that back. "Know your place! You are nothing more than blood and flesh! How dare a beast demand anything of a person!"
I ignored him, but it was tough.
I almost wanted to pump my fist in victory because I was able to cajole those lines out of him.
They were almost word-for-word for when you tried to use their diplomacy screen!
The rest of the tent was noticeably pissed at the Demon's statement. Of course, we had analysis of what they did from afar. Everyone here knew that they kept people as slaves for sacrifice for their society to function. Blood flowed like water in Cintal to power everything. According to the last report, they even saw doors that opened by themselves and that required slaves to let loose their blood at an altar. The advance scouts trying to start cults and fighting like hell when confronted was also known. It's another thing entirely, however, to have someone you respect be called a beast fit only to give blood and flesh for actual people.
At least, I hoped everyone in the room thought highly enough of me to be seriously offended.
Anyway, I ignored him again and spoke.
This time it was to gather actionable intelligence.
"Who is the military commander of the Cintal region, and who do they answer to? What is the population of the Cintal region? Give me the direction on the map of the region's capital." I bulldozed forward. Here was the perfect chance to convey to people the threat the Demons posed. They were taken out by an avalanche, but dozens still came out swinging and had to be killed by Champions. They intended to turn us all into chattel and take the Citadels from us. However, if I wanted my population to be okay with me dropping the Scarlet Mist on them if things got hairy, then they had to know what we were facing. "How many regions, commanders, and population do your people have under their control?"
With the limited freedom that he had, he answered me, and a smile formed on his face.
Nice.
He fell for it.
"We are four hundred million strong across a vast swathe of the world! This force is nothing. You have achieved nothing. Blood Commander Atlan can call upon eighteen legions to his cause, and eighteen others hold him in high esteem. He will rise to power with the conquest of this realm, take the throne, and put our true foes to the sword!"
Every single word was meant to intimidate us, and some people in the room were, but it's easy to summon courage while you're pissed off and the other guy literally can't move.
A little glance around the room informed me that more people were pissed than afraid.
Still, it was also good to have something bolster morale.
"Do your people have the ability to defend against the weapon that killed your leader when it is released in all your cities at once?"
I already knew the answer, but it was nice to see the Demon try desperately to not say a word.
"No."
There you go, guys.
You know what I'm afraid of, but you also all know that we've got a way to kill them all.
Now, let's all work hard to make sure we don't use it and turn this world into a barren hellhole that'll take generations to fix up.