Chapter 253: Chapter 253

  “Troop three fire at eighty degrees!” Commander Okos shouted. Hundreds of glyphs lit up the blood mist as soldiers fired blindly into the haze.

  Howls of anger rang through the air. The corpses of several Demonkin tumbled from the sky, landing amidst the soldiers below in a splash of blood and gore. Demonkin that survived the fall, rampaged in brutal desperation before the nearby soldiers eventually put the creatures down for good.

  I pointed in another direction as another figure entered the range of my Domain. “Alpha at nine o’clock.”

  Commander Okos did not hesitate to issue another order. “Troop six fire at sixty-five degrees.”

  Another wave of glyphs and innate talents activated. Their attacks were not accurate but the sheer density of them was enough to force the Alpha back beyond the range I could sense. This was the power of an army compared to an individual. The mistake many inexperienced domain warriors made was believing that they were invincible among normal men. However, numbers could overwhelm even the most powerful of Alphas. A domain could only last so long under constant bombardment before its user was drained of energy. Even Sebastion had been taken down with this method. A simple Alpha could withstand even less. So long as I was careful very few would reach the soldiers under my command.

  While we were successful in driving the Alpha back, it had already achieved its goal just by being there. It had been almost two hours since the storm had begun and there was no sign of it letting up any time soon. The men had gotten accustomed to firing blindly and we were doing better at minimizing the death toll but everyone had their limits. Hours of fighting left the men tired. Every time an Alpha appeared, we had to respond without full force or risk getting torn to shreds. The men could not see what they were firing at but they heard the screams when their comrades were ripped apart or carried off into the blood mist. Nobody knew who would be next. It was a nightmare that caused even the most courageous of men to shake in fear.

  To make matters worse, my side of the army had yet to kill even a single Alpha. Just forcing them back was already a trying challenge but as soon as their energy recovered, the beast returned. I knew the Demons were trying to wear us down. They were waiting until our exhaustion had reached a peak before making their move but even though we knew this, there was nothing we could do about it. This was a battle of attrition brought about by nature itself. Until the storm ended, the tribulation would continue. I only prayed that most of us would make it out alive when it was finally over.

  Another wave of glyphs lit up as I pointed out a flock of flying Demonkin diving towards the soldiers. Most of them died but a lucky few managed to survive the barrage and swooped down towards the source of the attacks. Soldiers screamed as they were carried into the sky before falling to their deaths. Just like that, five more men were dead and five fewer attackers remained to fight off the next wave.

  It was at this time that a new figure suddenly appeared at the peripherals of my domain. My blood turned cold as I instantly recognized it but before I could even shout in warning, the Demon was already gone.

  “Captain!” I heard one of the soldiers shout in horror as the body of a man slumped to the ground with a large hole in his chest.

  “Demon spotted on the eastern front!” I shouted. Fire swirled around me as I prepared for a sneak attack from the Demon.

  “Demon spotted on the southwest front!” another shout rang out, “He is targeting commanders!”

  More shouts echoed through the blood mist as the Demon teleported dozens of times in a matter of seconds. With each appearance, he struck down another high-ranking soldier. The army immediately fell into disarray as commanding officers were killed one after another. Several tried to flee or hide among common soldiers but nobody escaped. The moment the Demon appeared; he reaped a life.

  My dad’s silver armor was able to protect the soldiers against the average Demonkin but against a Demon of this caliber, it might as well have been made of wet paper. It did not even slow the Demon’s claws as he ripped apart soldier after soldier.

  Simultaneously, all the Alphas that had been circling overhead swooped down to attack. Men screamed in panic as the beasts dropped out of the sky, crushing soldiers into pulp beneath their feet.

  I immediately moved into action. Without hesitating, I flew to the nearest Alpha tearing its way through a troop of soldiers. I heard more screams rise up around me as the Demon moved unhindered through the army but there was nothing I could do to stop him. Only Sebastion or Vissna had any hope of tying the Demon down. My task was simply to mitigate the damage as much as possible.

  Despite the thick red mist, it was not difficult to find the Alpha rampaging nearby. The bloodlust radiating off the massive gargoyle-like creature was impossible to miss. I did not slow down as I approached the creature. Instead, I immediately activated my Divine Body and barreled into the Demonkin’s side with all the force I could muster. Golden flames exploded upon impact as I used every skill available to me in order to end the creature before it could retaliate.

  The Alpha’s domain reacted instinctively, shielding the creature from the worst of the impact but the strength I put into this single attack was more than the Demonkin could bear. The domain shattered and my fist slammed into the Alpha with the force of a bomb. Stone-like skin splintered, revealing the pink flesh underneath. The golden flames spread through the wound and began to devour the Alpha from the inside.

  I smiled in satisfaction at one-shotting a creature that would have forced me to run for my life a few weeks ago. Even if I had caught the beast by surprise, it still felt nice to not be completely helpless.

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  I could not gloat for long though. Nearby, another Alpha had begun another slaughter. I once again rushed at the beast but this time I was not able to finish the creature quickly. The gargoyle had been weak compared to this cobra-like Alpha. I fought against the serpent for several minutes and kept it from rampaging through the army but no matter what I tried, I was not able to deliver a killing blow.

  As I fought, the screams of panic and death resounded throughout the army. The Demon avoided getting tied down by any of the domain warriors as he continued his slaughter. If any of them managed to get close he would teleport away without hesitation. If any of his targets were strong enough to survive his first surprise attack, the Demon did not stick around to attack again. He stayed on the move constantly, making it impossible to predict where he might strike next.

  I grit my teeth in frustration as I clashed with the Alpha in front of me again. I barely managed to avoid a spray of acid strong enough to melt through stone as I led the creature away from the nearby squads of soldiers. Attacking the creature directly proved to be useless. I was still too weak to crack this one’s domain, so instead, I led it across the battlefield to where another Alpha was slaughtering soldiers. Acting carefully, I threw my flames at both of the Alphas, keeping their attention away from the normal soldiers in a life-or-death game of tag. I circled around the two large Demonkin attacking when I could to keep their attention for as long as possible.

  Nearly fifteen minutes after the Demon made his first strike, I was starting to feel the strain from my prolonged fight with the Alphas. I had reached the limits of how long I could maintain my Divine Body and without it, I was not certain I was fast enough to continue dodging without making a mistake.

  Screams still rang across the battlefield. I had done all I could but it was not enough to stop the slaughter. Dying now was not worth it. I decided to retreat but before I could act the two Alphas I had been fighting suddenly stopped moving. They raised their heads as if listening to something only they could hear before suddenly flying up into the sky.

  I spread my domain to its limit as I tried to figure out what changed and I realized that I no longer felt the blood-curdling chill of the Demon.

  “So, his limit is fifteen minutes,” I muttered with a smile despite my exhaustion.

  Deactivating the Divine Body, I felt my legs buckle underneath me and my muscles scream in protest. I had reached my limit as well but I had a feeling the Demon would recover his energy faster than me.

  I looked up to the sky but all I could see was the blood mist shrouding my vision. I could not see the storm that caused all this heartache but I knew it was not ending any time soon.

  “Two hours,” I said with certainty, “We have at least two hours before he returns. In that time, we need to come up with a counter-strategy to trap him past his limit.”

  Ignoring my shaking legs, I forced myself to walk to the front of the army where I knew General Arthur and Sebastion were located. Despite knowing where I was going, it took me several minutes before I found them. The blood mist was so thick now that I could barely see a person when standing right next to them.

  The only reason I found them as quickly as I did was because I heard Sebastion’s cursing echo through the camp. From what I heard; he was furious. He was the strongest attacker out of all of us and the Demons knew it. Throughout the entire fight, the Alphas avoided him like a plague. Even the Demon did not teleport too close for fear one of Sebastion’s light beams would strike faster than he could teleport away. No matter how strong the man was, he couldn’t do anything if he didn’t know where the enemy was. The range of his domain was just too limited. If the enemy wanted to avoid him, they could do so with ease.

  “This is why I told you not to rely too much on your innate talent,” I teased as I approached the two men. Sebastion scowled without replying. I gave General Arthur an exhausted smile. “How bad are our losses?”

  “Reports are still comin’ in but it looks like we only lost a few thousand men. The problem is that a majority of those men were commandin’ officers or soldiers with strong talents. This Demon, Seir, he knows what he’s doin’. A strike like this can cripple even the sturdiest of armies.”

  I nodded in understanding. In war, it was sometimes better to lose tens of thousands of common soldiers rather than a single competent commander. Our losses this time would not be easily shrugged off. “He will return again as soon as he recovers his energy. Meanwhile, we will still have to fight off the constant harassment of random Alphas and Demonkin. Our losses will be higher next time.”

  General Arthur’s expression was grim. He knew it too. “I can order the remainin’ officers to hide amongst the common soldiers but that would mean the army will be fightin’ without any direction. We need a real solution or our entire army might collapse before this blasted storm ends.”

  “Then you are in luck because I might have just the solution you are looking for.”