The Deceiver's Path - Chapter 137 - Winter Warrens (Patreon)

Piper twisted to the side as [Ambush Detection] alerted her to a new threat, and an arrow whistled past her ear. It disappeared behind her into a snowbank with a puff of white flakes. She continued to race down the road, throwing up illusions to hide her tracks. Not that her efforts to conceal her trail were successful, as the redcaps continued to charge in her direction.

Spinning around, she rapidly cast [Umbral Terror] at the nearest group of archers reloading their bows. One of the redcaps began to wail, while another dove into the snow, and the final target froze in place. The spell always affected enemies differently, but it reliably took them out of the fight.

Ding! Your spell, Umbral Terror has reached Level 13.

…

Ding! Your spell, Umbral Terror has reached Level 15.

A searing pain erupted in her hip, and she glanced down to see an arrow buried in her flesh. An instant later, her [Wraithskin] broke apart, exposing her position to the pursuing redcaps. Their numbers had swelled to well over fifty, a number she suspected could probably pose a threat to Helidros itself.

Ripping the arrow free, she activated [Demonic Blood]. She gritted her teeth as the spell scorched her skin before sealing the wound shut and regrowing the damaged bone. She tossed the stone-tipped arrow to the side before spinning around and racing away.

As she ran, she tried to think of a plan. The sleigh carrying the others had disappeared over the horizon, so there was little chance of catching up with them. More than anything, she wanted to disengage from her pursuers. But with the narrow road and towering walls of snow blanketing each side, it would be difficult to disappear.

She could always summon duplicates of herself to lead the redcaps away. But she was still kilometers from the villa. Before long, they would discover her deception and return to hunt her down. And she couldn’t just hide behind an illusion and stay put. The temperature would plunge tonight, and she’d probably freeze to death if she was caught out here after dark.

“Stupid sleigh driver,” she muttered to herself. “I’m so going to sic Ophelia on him when I get back. He’s going to get such a poking!”

Another barrage of arrows fell from the grey sky, and she hurled herself to the side. She landed on the frozen road and rolled away. Through some miracle, she avoided the volley. She immediately clamped her mouth shut and decided to worry about revenge later.

If there was a later.

Before she could rise to her feet, the closest snowbank erupted and disgorged two heavily armed redcaps. The creatures charged at her with wild eyes, holding their rusty weapons above their heads.

Leaping to her feet, she barely managed to duck under a sword swing that would have beheaded her. Then she jumped back to dodge a vicious spear thrust from her other attacker. The creatures cackled as she retreated.

Unlimbering her meteor hammer, she dismissed Gorebark. The bow was almost useless in close combat, especially if she accidentally struck a target three times. She gripped the heavy weapon as she uncoiled the chain.

The spear-wielding redcap attacked first, and she spun around to launch her hammer at it. The metal ball smashed into its face, sending a spray of blood and teeth flying into the air. She waited for the kill notification, but her eyes widened slightly as the redcap simply grunted and staggered back a pace.

Holy cow, these are some tough fighters.

Piper was really starting to notice the difference in physical stats between herself and the higher levels she encountered. Most of her stat points had been allocated to magic-related attributes, and she simply couldn’t compete with high-level warriors.

Continuing to retreat, she noted that the other redcaps were closing in fast. She needed to end this fight fast before the main body of the raiding party caught up. If that happened, she was a goner.

Piper swung the hammer over her head and launched it at the uninjured redcap. She watched with dismay as he knocked the weighted end of the weapon aside and charged forward. Its bowed legs carried the humanoid forward surprisingly fast.

Evading its swing, she danced back as she yanked her weapon into her grip. The pursuing redcaps were growing closer by the second. She had hoped to escape—mainly because a major battle would draw undue attention to herself—but she needed to stand and fight.

Piper sighed and used [Subjugator] to call upon Sarnyxia. She followed it up with summoning Gretch and then paused as she considered the dreadhulk. While a massive demonic turtle would help, the arrival of something larger than a building from the Infernal Realm would almost certainly be felt by someone.

And she wasn’t ready to give up her life at the villa yet.

Ding! Your racial skill, Subjugator has reached Level 19.

Ding! Your racial skill, Subjugator has reached Level 20.

The fact that she’d immediately gained two levels confirmed the level of danger she currently faced. Then again, she was facing dozens of redcaps, all of whom were over level 400. Most people she knew would already be dead in this situation.

Sarnyxia appeared beside Piper, rapidly swatting away a flight of arrows with her palm. Without slowing, she spun around and delivered a devastating kick to the nearest redcap. A loud crack followed, and the creature rocketed up the hillside. It landed in a heap before rolling down the slope like a rag doll.

At the sight of a demon appearing in front of it, the other redcap slowed. But instead of fleeing, it approached more cautiously.

Piper had honestly expected the redcaps to run away when she called upon her demons. During her journey across the mountains, the redcaps who’d witnessed her true form had fled in terror. Then again, she had used her spell to change her level to 600, but she still thought that these ones would be afraid of demons.

A second later, Gretch appeared, a dark blade clutched in his hand. The little imp grinned at the sight of the redcaps. “Finally, a real fight. I’m going to hack them apart.”

“How lovely,” Sarnyxia said. “These filthy creatures are far more challenging than your usual opponents.”

“Stop the ones chasing me!” Piper called out before pointing at the redcap advancing on her. “I’ll handle this one.”

“As you wish.”

Sarnyxia rushed toward the main body of redcaps, effortlessly knocking aside another salvo of arrows as she moved. In her wake, Gretch bounced along, fingering his dark blade. Both demons looked far too bloodthirsty for her taste.

Piper returned her attention to the last remaining redcap blocking the road. It clutched its rusty sword tightly, watching her with narrowed eyes. After witnessing her conjure two demons, the creature no longer seemed to underestimate her.

The redcap launched a cautious strike, and Piper swung her hammer around, the chain wrapping around its blade. She tried to wrench the weapon free, but instead the redcap heaved her forward. She gasped in shock as she stumbled toward the creature.

Temporarily off balance, she side-stepped and barely evaded a flurry of swings. This redcap was far stronger than she expected. She wasn’t going to win this fight through brute force.

Piper continued to give ground and cast [Shifting Veil]. She focused on conjuring a woolly rhino behind the redcap. She nearly lost her concentration as she was forced to dodge another lightning-fast attack.

As the beast appeared, she used [Flesh Weaver] to give her illusion form. Then she lashed out with her mace, sending the heavy weight on the chain hurtling toward the redcap. It dodged slightly too slowly, and her weapon crashed into its shoulder with a fleshy thud.

Behind her, she could hear the growing sounds of battle. Her summons were taking on an entire raiding party, while she struggled to defeat a single warrior. With a grimace and a silent prayer to Infernus that no nuns were nearby, she cast [Pit Chains].

Thick chains wrought from the darkest metal and with sharp barbs on each link erupted from the ground. As the restraints wrapped around the redcap, she commanded her illusory rhino to charge forward.

The redcap barely had time to cry out before the rhino impaled it. She winced at the shower of gore and turned away. As she did, a notification appeared in her vision, only for her to dismiss it. She could deal with everything afterwards.

Slinging her hammer over her shoulders, she snapped out her arm and Gorebark appeared in her palm. Curling her fingers around the grip, she drew and nocked an arrow in one smooth motion. At the same time, she recast [Wraithskin] and disappeared from view.

Piper caught sight of a redcap charging toward Gretch and loosed. Her shot pierced the side of the warrior’s neck and erupted out the back. Her attack staggered the redcap and gave the imp breathing room to react. The summoned demon surged forward and buried its dagger in the redcap’s chest.

Sending the illusory rhino lumbering forward, she ordered it to disrupt the archers. Already, Sarnyxia resembled a pincushion, but she bravely fought onward. As Piper watched, the shadeling ripped out a handful of arrows, and then her skin began to glow like molten metal.

Holy cow, Piper thought in surprise. She’s learned the skill ‘Demonic Blood’.

Piper kept up a steady fire on the archers forcing them into cover behind icy boulders. A caster popped up and hurled a stream of black liquid at her imp. She could only watch helplessly as the corrosive liquid splashed over Gretch; he let out a croak before keeling over, his skin cracking and splitting open.

Holding her breath, she lined up a shot at the caster. She drew back and loosed in one smooth motion, sending a missile soaring toward the magic user. At the last second, the redcap dove behind cover, and her shot clattered against the stone.

Fighting down the urge to stamp her foot in frustration, she kept picking off targets as Sarnyxia waded into the raiding party. After a few seconds, it was clear these were far more powerful than the zombies they’d faced recently.

While broken bodies were slowly piling up around the demoness, most of the redcaps were taking hits from the shadeling and not going down. They must have impressive stats and classes to stand against a demon.

Piper briefly paused her fire to cast [Umbral Terror] as the caster popped up again. She grinned as her spell landed, and the robed redcap spun around before sprinting away in terror. That should remove the last serious threat to her summons.

Glancing over, she noted that the rhino was still locked in combat, though its hide sported nearly a dozen spears and twice as many arrows. It was liberating not to have to control her illusions every action. Though it was also far less effective than when she managed its actions. So, there was a trade-off to her new spell.

The sight of the fleeing caster must have broken the morale of the remaining redcaps, and as one they turned and fled. After a short distance, they disappeared from sight. At first, she couldn’t understand where they had gone, but then a collapsing snowbank revealed a tunnel entrance. There must be warrens dotting the hillside here.

Sarnyxia limped over to Piper, a spear impaling her leg. Puckering her lips, she ripped the weapon free and tossed it away. Then her skin glowed as the wound reformed. “Shall I pursue them?”

Piper briefly considered sending the demoness after the fleeing redcaps. The raiding party would likely become a major threat to anyone taking the road to Helidros in the future. Though for some reason, they hadn’t attacked the sleigh this morning.

I wonder why they didn’t bother us earlier?

Anyway, she had no desire to pursue them into the tunnels. Who knew what traps awaited them in there? She’d survived the attack, which was enough for now.

Sarnyxia walked over to a corpse and prodded it with her foot. Her frown deepened as she reached down and tore a string of teeth from around its neck. The demoness held it out for Piper to see. “These are imp teeth.”

Piper leaned forward to examine them. To her eyes, they looked no different from normal teeth. “Are you sure?”

“I am certain. These redcaps have defeated demons in the recent past, which may explain their power.” Sarnyxia paused before continuing. “This is concerning as it means there are demons close to here. I would ask that you don’t return me to the Infernal Realm until the demons are dealt with.”

Piper inspected the other corpses. “I’ve sort of heard that there might be an infernal cult nearby.”

The shadeling looked over at her sharply. “Do you know which noble they serve?”

Piper shrugged.

“I would strongly recommend you hunt down this cult immediately. Until you do, your life may be in grave peril. Many of the nobles seek your death.”

“How the heck am I supposed to do that? I only get one day off a week.”

“Such things are for you to figure out.”

“Great,” Piper muttered to herself. “Just great.”

Now all she had to do was deal with the undead threat, take out an infernal cult, and somehow keep up her appearances with the guild. Oh, and she had to hide her demon’s body before returning to the villa. Her balancing act was growing more difficult by the day.