My Special Ability is Growing Muscles

Staring at the over a hundred Demons that suddenly appeared in front of the frontier outpost, just when he thought the mission was finally over, Kairo felt like his whole world was being upturned.

'No… no, no, no!'

'C'mon… not here… not now!'

From the reaction of the soldiers that manned the watchtowers, it was clear that just like the students, the human soldiers didn't see this coming.

'How?!' was the silent question that lingered in the air.

After the Demon attack at the heart of the human domain more than 2 weeks ago, announcing the war intent of the Demon race, one of the cities that immediately became heavily fortified was Ironveil City, and Blackgate fortress.

As the city and fortress directly facing the Demon domain and acting as the border between both civilization territories, in an eventual war between both races, Ironveil would be hit first.

This was why after the higher up meeting weeks earlier, the decision was passed as the security in Ironveil City and Blackgate fortress was tripled.

The city and fortress were put in a state of alert since then, but unlike what they expected, the Demons did not attack immediately.

For some reason, despite just dealing significant damage to the human domain and the Orcish domain, sending the Orcs into an even fiercer civil war, the Demons refused to press on their advantage and force the war.

Human analysts speculated lots of reasons.

Maybe the Demons realized that they could not fight on two fronts against the human domain and the Orcish domain?

Maybe they pulled out afterall after the show of power by Major Pain?

Myriad reasons were speculated and as more time passed, the more people became convinced that maybe the Demons' attack more than 3 weeks ago was just a one-time attack, right until now.

The Demons let the alert level of the humans lower, and it was what gave them the leverage to sneak in close and strike at the first defensive line of Ironveil City… Blackgate fortress.

"…!" Kairo felt like his world was crumbling apart as he watched over a hundred Demons appear in his sight.

BA-DUMP!

Instinctively, his heart race increased.

But he didn't despair yet; he gave himself hope. 'This is not like 3 weeks ago'.

'The human domain is more prepared now. Surely, they won't let the Demons succeed right?'

'This is suicide for the Demons, right?'

Even he was not confident in his thoughts, but that was the only thing that he could do, think in the presence of the overwhelming might of the Demons.

Their aura pressed against him like a tsunami.

Kairo did not know the exact rank of the Demons that were attacking, but they were miles stronger than the F and E Rank Demons that he fought against with the other survivors of the scholarship entrance tournament weeks ago.

Proving his conjecture was the reaction of the 5 instructors charged to watch over them as with Captain Helios leading them, they charged to protect them.

"Retreat!" They bellowed and the students scrambled to turn back.

As for the soldiers of Blackgate Fortress? They were already roused to life. They were caught off-guard by the sudden Demon attack, but as elites and veteran Awakened, they were able to react without panic in a bid to curb the danger.

Blackgate Fortress erupted to life.

BZZZ!

The fortress loomed like a jagged crown at the edge of Ironveil City.

Its walls were carved of obsidian-hued stone, reinforced with Dwarven runes that pulsed faintly under the night sky.

Blackgate was more than just a fortress, it had a greater significance to the city behind it in the fact that it was the heart of Ironveil's shield array, the sprawling mana-dome capable of wrapping the city in a veil of impenetrable light.

The Demons didn't just plan this preemptive strike so thoroughly, burning so many resources to keep the elite Demon Awakened hidden because Blackgate was a fortress.

No, they attacked the fortress first because it was the heart of the shield array.

With the shield array, Ironveil City itself was a fortress.

After the attack 3 weeks ago, the President of the Union directed even more resources to reinforce the shield array of Ironveil even more.

If the Demons dared attack, they would suffer terrible losses before they could breach the shield array. This was why they aimed to bypass it instead of trying the hard way of brute forcing their way through it.

But the soldiers of Blackgate were now roused, alert, and fired up.

Every man and woman stationed here knew its reputation… Blackgate had never fallen. They would not let it fall today; not on their watch.

As soon as the hundreds of Demons appeared, the soldiers of Blackgate reacted with mechanical efficiency to intercept them and a skirmish erupted.

BOOM!

While battle erupted outside, inside the command chamber of Blackgate, golden runes lit the floor as engineers and rune-mages worked in perfect unison, hands poised over etched plates in a bid to activate the shield array.

At the center stood Commander Varros, an A Rank Hero, Blackgate's Commander. His armor was scorched from decades of fighting, but his gaze was steady, and his voice was unyielding as he directed the engineers.

"Steady your hands. We don't have time, raise the shield," he ordered calmly.

Around him, soldiers straightened as the nonchalant confidence of their Commander seeped into them. If Varros was here, Ironveil would stand.

But the Demons had planned for this.

Far from the front lines where the soldiers of Blackgate already clashed against the preemptive Demon strike force of over a hundred Demons, a squad of elite infiltrators moved like shadows through the chaos.

Their bodies shimmered, bending the light around them as they infiltrated silently like ghosts without being detected.

Their invisibility would not last, but their mission was also not a long one.

In their ranks marched elite Demon footsoldiers, four C+ Rank soldiers, two B Rank elites, a towering B+ Rank Demonic construct, and at their head, a lithe figure draped in an obsidian veil… an A Rank assassin-class Demon.

A terrifying pressure buzzed around her body, but with the help of the absolute invisibility artifact, an S Rank artifact, and the stealth nature of her class she managed to deceive Blackgate's sensors.

"Five minutes," she hissed, his voice a rasp of broken glass. "That is all it takes to gut their pride".

"We must finish our mission!"

They moved, unseen, cutting down patrols with surgical precision even as the bigger Demon strike force outside provided the necessary distraction. By the time alarms rang, they were already inside the command tower.

Before anyone could react, the chamber doors of the command center exploded inward as crimson glyphs burned into the walls.

Commander Varros was shocked as he turned his head sharply in their direction, and instantly, his eyes squinted as his aura erupted like an avalanche.

BZZZ!

"Demons! Protect the core!" Varros roared.

His greatsword flared with fire as he cut down the first infiltrators, two of the C+ Rank Demon assassins in a blaze of molten steel, heavily injuring one of the B Ranks in the process.

His aura burned hot, crashing into the Demons like a storm even as they quickly encircled him.

But even when outnumbered, even when flanked, Commander Varros did not hesitate as he fought like a man who had held the line for decades.

The few soldiers in the command center rallied behind him, emboldened by his strength. For a moment, hope flared.

But the Demons were not here for war, they were here for a kill.

The B+ Rank hulking construct bore down on Varros. It was a heavy physical Demonic construct with high offense and defense, and each one of its blow hit like a siege hammer as it briefly stopped the Commander's momentum.

If it was a one on one, give Varros a few minutes and he would destroy the construct, but it was not a one on one.

At the same time that the construct clashed with the human Commander, the lithe Demoness assassin slipped through the chaos like a whisper in the dark.

Varros cleaved the construct's arm clean off, fire spilling from the wound. Then he quickly turned, already anticipating the next strike, and that was when cold steel lanced through his chest.

Bam!

The assassin's blade burst out through his ribs!

Varros froze, blood bubbling at his lips as his knees buckled. His sword slipped from his grip, clattering to the floor.

His eyes reddened in confusion at how a single rib wound could cause him so much weakness, and that was when he looked down at his rib where he saw dark veins already appearing. "Poison…" he rasped.

Darkness encroached on his vision.

"Protect… Ironveil…!" His voice cracked like thunder, then he died.

The Hero of Blackgate collapsed, just like that.

"Now!" The A Rank Demoness hissed.

Without hesitation, the strike team swarmed the core.

With Commander Varros assassinated, everything else was easy as the remaining C+ Rank Demons who were engineers accessed the core.

Golden runes thrummed, seconds away from activation, but corrupted glyphs scrawled across the array like a disease, strangling its light. Sparks flew, mana warped, and one by one the glowing lines of power faded to black.

The great dome that should have shielded Ironveil never rose. It's light was strangled before it could ever blossom.

Outside, soldiers screamed as the realization finally spread.

"The shield! It's not coming up!"

Blackgate, once humanity's unbreakable wall, was collapsing from within. In five minutes, it had gone from fortress to tomb.

The students at the outpost, Kairo, Mira, Valek, Adrain, Selene, and the others watched from their positions as explosions lit the night sky. Smoke billowed, blood sprayed, and the banner of the Demon race rose above Blackgate's ruins.

Kairo's heart pounded. 'The shield… it was supposed to be invincible. How could it fall so fast?'

'What of the Commander?'

'I thought Blackgate was supposed to have an A Rank Commander!'

He could not understand how this happened; he was confused.

Beside him, Mira's face went pale. Valek clenched his fists so hard blood trickled between his knuckles.

And then the horn of Ironveil sounded, shrill and broken.

WHOOOOOM!

The horn spread the horror news…

Blackgate had fallen, and Ironveil was naked.