RD 5 Ch 9 (Patreon)

The group of soldiers followed me as we made our way back, looping through the hills and emerging near the fort itself. Meanwhile, the demonic army struggled to stay organized and moved through the hills with the same alacrity as our smaller group. 

"Lord Bran!" someone shouted as we approached the walls. I shaded my eyes to glance upwards, seeing Frank standing next to a gruff, mustached man. It was a good mustache and somehow he still had oil for it.

"What news do you have of the demons below?" He called.

"They might be a little confused," I smirked. "They've lost a juggernaut and some of their cavalry." 

I had no intention of going inside the walls. Instead, I gestured to the men who had come with me. "Fan out on the field. Let's see what damage we can do when they realize the hills won't do them any favors." 

Kal and Tarel gave a quick salute and rushed to organize their people. 

"Lord Bran, are we taking to the field?" Frank asked. 

"No, that would be nonsense. However, if we stay on the field for now, we might be able to do substantial damage.”

“They won't be able to move out of the hills in a broad enough formation, but it leaves us terribly exposed." The mustached officer hesitated to agree with me.

"Well, then we'll just have to be prepared to meet them and retreat," I said, meeting the mustached man's eyes with all the same confidence I had held when I took the field to increase morale. 

"Understood, my lord." He dipped his head after meeting my gaze for the briefest of moments. "I only wish to offer a counter-argument so that you may think of the full breadth of possibilities."

"In that case, you've done your job. However, my orders stand. Prepare the walls, prepare the men, and expect angry demons." I told him.

Kal cackled beside me. Somehow through fighting side by side, or perhaps by letting him gain experience on demons, he was now treating me like a best friend. "It's alright, I don't even know if I've decided to leave any for your men on the wall." Kal licked his lips as if killing demons was particularly thirsty work.

"We've got a minute before they come. Water and a brief respite for your men wouldn't hurt." I told him.

Kal shrugged and gestured over where plenty were already squatting down or finding something to sit on for the moment. Most of them were stretching a leg or arm and checking to make sure their straps and buckles were all where they were supposed to be. 

"Good enough for me." He replied, the disorder wasn’t ideal, but they wouldn’t be around forever and they were good enough to do substantial damage to the demons.

I looked out over the landscape. The hills were hiding the demons' numbers. Chunks of their army were cresting hills while others were at the bottom. It made it difficult to get a full gauge of the number marching through. It also meant that if we went and engaged them in the hills themselves, it would be all too easy for their forces to circle around and surround our group. 

"They sure are slow," Tarel said, shielding his eyes from the sun as he was watching the same scene as me.

"We really should jump in and maybe get them to hurry up.” Kal shifted his weight restlessly from one leg to the other.

"Oh trust me, I have the same urge," I told the fighters, "but…" I paused as I noted the eyeroll Kal gave my statement. I stared at him for a moment until he stopped making eye contact.

“...if we fight, especially if we end up fighting in the hills, losing line of sight on the demons is pretty much guaranteed. At least some part of their army is going to be hidden by the other hills, and that's just asking for us to find ourselves surrounded. Unfortunately the best approach is to wait for them to exit the hills and bite at them whenever they show their heads." I finished.

The demon army continued to move into the hills, winged demons flying, circling high overhead. It was a laborious exercise for them to flush the hills, yet I understood the need for them to ensure there wasn't a larger force waiting to come at them from the side.

Scouts in the war between humans and demons were very capable, which meant so were the ones who could hide entire armies.

I watched as one of the demons smashed into the hills with a mace, just to check that it wasn't an illusion or some other trap. “So, besides become a big stone knight, what do you do to pass the time, Tarel?”

“Knit.” The big man said, glancing over to check my reaction.

“Not what I expected.” I shook my head. “Kids, wife? Why do you fight?” Getting to know these two would do well to build a rapport, besides people liked to talk about themselves.

“Power makes the world go round.” Tarel gazed off into the distance. “But it’s a job. Be a guard, kill monsters and make sure idiots don’t piss off nobles enough that they get vengeful.”

Kal scoffed. “I thought guards were supposed to protect the nobles?”

“They don’t need it.” Tarel shrugged. “Keeping the peace helps the citizens because nobles tend to overreact. One of their kind gets hit with a rock and suddenly you see the slums cleared out and the executioner making nooses all day.”

I scoffed. “Terrible leadership if that’s what’s happening.”

“Way of the world.” Tarel said succinctly.

I stared at him for a long moment to see if I could get more out of him.

“Power attracts people’s favors. The noble doesn’t even have to ask for the nooses, someone who wants to curry favor will get it all started in some sort of showy attempt to gain their favor. Be it another noble or some merchant looking to get his daughter hitched.”

Kal smiled. “But if you’re strong enough they won’t touch you or yours.”

Tarel nodded. “A powerful person’s family has security. That’s why when given the option I came here on the first wave. I got people back home depending on me to be the scarecrow against those of the noble flock. Fighting is a means to an end.” He pulled out a pair of little pink booties. “Now these are hopefully going to fit the latest when I get back.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that happens.” I put a hand on the big man’s shoulder.

"They're really taking their time, aren't they?" Kal said, looking away and pretending to have something in his eyes.

I could only nod in agreement. "Whoever's leading these demons is far more cautious than I would normally expect from demons.” I agreed.

“Don't they just use their men like mindless fodder?" Kal asked. 

"Demons split their souls and then shove the new fragments into a body in the form of possession. So the weaker the demon, the more likely he's a fragment of a fragment of a fragment. They have less spirit and as a result less memories. Which really is the basis for intelligence. Now, if there's some general, it's the opposite. They've likely consumed dozens or hundreds of other demons and sapient souls. With that comes more memories, more spirit. And, generally speaking, more intelligence." I told them. Both of the men nodded along with my quick explanation. 

"They keep splitting themselves from the souls, then how do names work?" Kal asked. 

"The sense of self doesn't go with the split. They are more of a bundle of instincts than anything else." I shrugged. They couldn’t be compared to children, there was none of the innocence that we associated with children in those newly formed fragments.

Before I could say more, the demons peeled themselves out of the hills. I smiled. The game was on and I got to remove more demons from the world.

"Let's go. Rest time is over," I said as I set a hard pace. I could keep this pace over a considerable distance as I ran over the field to greet the demons.

The hills were formed in a way that kept them from being able to form massive ranks. Instead they had to funnel their soldiers into smaller lines, which let our group of a hundred soldiers slam into a battle line that was smaller than our own. We hit them hard and fast, shattering the front of their line. 

In short order, my Sanguine Slashes ripped through demons while Tarel led a group of men to shatter the landscape and make it even more difficult for the demon army to get their men past the hills.

I smirked and gave the man a thumbs up for his work.

Tarel matched my smile even as demons bore down on his position. Yet despite the mass swarming towards him, he seemed completely unbothered, rising up like a statue with his stone armor donned once again.

The flying demons swooped in to protect the lines exiting the hills, but those still on the walls began to fire long ranged abilities into the air and someone was even strong enough to hurl head sized stones well past our line.

My own strength didn’t go unnoticed as several larger demons turned to me and began making their way through the chaotic melee.

I spun and cut down three grunts before I slid to the side just in time to dodge a beam of fire that scorched the spot I’d just been standing in.

Leaping over several more grunts, I tried to get at the caster, but an ogre-like demon plowed into me before swinging a crude hammer for my head.

There was no option but to take the hit while jumping back and reducing how much impact I took.

Tarel however, must have seen what was going one as he barreled into the bigger demon and pinned him long enough for me to cut through several grunts and pounce on the caster.

This one was reptilian with hard scales and a large fin running down the back of his head. Fire leapt from his hands to block me, but I waded through the fire, relying on my resistance and regeneration to protect me.

My sword found him quickly running him through before I ripped the sword out his side and tossed the dying demon into the crowd that threatened to surround me.