The End of Aggro is Obsession (3)
A flag bearing a red griffin on a black field fluttered in the wind, mounted atop a circular black tent crafted from luxurious fabric. In front of the tent stood a sign shaped like a steel shield, inscribed with the words: [Diablo 1st Legion].
The entrance to the tent parted, and a group of women emerged, clad in dark red light armor that revealed patches of their skin. Judging by the heavy sigh let out by the woman standing at the front—the 1st Legion Commander—the meeting had not gone well. She turned, pointed her baton at her subordinates, and began to reprimand them.
"What on earth are the regimental commanders and staff officers doing?"
"..."
"How much longer are you going to keep the front lines at a stalemate like this?"
"..."
"Do you think we’ll win the war just by keeping your mouths shut?"
"We apologize..."
"Ha... who are we?"
"Diablo’s vanguard! The Diablo 1st Legion!"
"And what is our mission?"
"Advance! And advance again!"
"Then what are you doing right now?"
"..."
"Holding the line?"
"..."
"If you have mouths, say something! Do you have any idea how much my younger sisters tease me because I’m the 1st Legion Commander? I can’t even bring it up to Mother anymore because I’m too self-conscious!"
"...We are sorry!"
"Ha..."
It was then.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!
KA-POW!!!!!!!!!!
An explosion echoed in the ears of the Legion Commander, who had been busy striking fear into her subordinates.
"...?"
"...?"
The Legion Commander, dumbfounded that an explosion meant for the front lines had reached the meeting area, said with a sneer:
"What a mess...? Not only are you holding the line, now you’re retreating? What are you doing? Move! Do you want to see how far back we get pushed—all the way to where Mother is?"
Scramble, scramble, scramble.
As the regimental commanders and staff, jolted by the Commander’s scolding, scattered to their respective positions, a sound signaled an arrival.
Shhh-pat.
With the sound of a manifesting spell, a messenger in black light armor slowly appeared. The messenger approached the Commander, knelt, and shouted:
"Reporting to the Legion Commander!"
"What is it?"
"Human heroes have appeared on the front lines!"
"...What? How many?"
"Four in total!"
"...They’re moving already? They overcame Mother’s terror?"
Each legion took turns rotating in the war against the Heaven-folk. While it was common for one legion to advance one day and another to be pushed back the next, the 12 human heroes summoned by the treacherous Heaven-folk were a different breed. Individually, they were manageable, but once they grouped up, they became the most troublesome existence to deal with—especially when they utilized guerrilla tactics.
The Legion Commander had believed that after the human heroes who had foolishly attacked Mother were crushed, they had scattered in terror. Yet, it seemed they had overcome that fear and were back in action.
'Humans who can overcome Mother’s terror... heroes truly are remarkable beings,' the Commander thought, revising her assessment of them upward.
Trusting that her regimental commanders and staff would achieve good results, she turned away, but a strange, grating sound began to vibrate through the air.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-
The Commander tilted her head in confusion, turning back to look at the front lines. As the sound died down, she stepped forward to see what the Heaven-folk were up to. That was when she saw it.
In the distance, toward the Heaven-folk camp, something red was rising high like a tower, spreading out into a wide wall.
Overwhelmed by the sight of the red wall expanding across the sunset-lit plains, the Commander, her regimental commanders, and her staff could only stand there, stunned and motionless.
And a moment later...
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOM-
The red entity, which had been expanding infinitely, let out a roar and began to surge from the Heaven-folk camp toward the front lines like a tidal wave.
Seeing the red wave, the Commander, faced with a situation far different from her planned strategy, panicked and issued orders that deviated from the original plan.
"B-block it! You have to block it right now! Pull the vanguard back! Magic units, prepare shields! Tell every legion to provide rapid support! Hurry! At that scale... if we don’t stop it here, it might reach where Mother is! Do you understand? If you fail, it’s your heads! Your heads!"
Surprisingly, the Commander shouted and laid out a detailed response. Though her lack of composure and frantic demeanor were undignified, she was showing the true spirit of a Legion Commander.
"Why does something like that have to come out on my shift! I’ve never anticipated anything like that!"
Of course, that grumbling didn't help her score any points.
It looked like the [Diablo 1st Legion] was going to be very busy for a while.
"Yaaaaaaah!"
"Push!"
"Hold!"
KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-BOOM!
Clang-!
Pow-!
The battlefield, where the Heaven-folk and Demon-folk were shedding blood in a chaotic melee, was, as always, a crucible of confusion. However, since they were all veteran soldiers who had seen it all, they were skilled enough to sense each other's states intuitively. As the sun began to set and both sides grew exhausted—to the point where even holding their weapons became a burden—they fought passively, waiting for the order to end the day's battle and rotate with another legion.
The front lines were maintained by the tearful efforts of veteran soldiers who would glare at and warn the clueless rookies who tried to raise the momentum of the battle.
Just as a faint smile began to form on their lips at the thought of retreating to rest, the efforts of the veterans on both sides were rendered meaningless. Four human heroes suddenly burst out from the Heaven-folk camp, changing the nature of the stagnant front.
'Damn it, read the room! You human hero bitches!'
The soldiers of both sides screamed this in their hearts, their faces filled with resentment. But because the human heroes charged in recklessly with overwhelming power, the Heaven-folk soldiers had no choice but to follow, and the Demon-folk soldiers, unable to retreat without the Commander's order, gritted their teeth and threw their lives into holding the line. The dying embers of their fighting spirit were reignited.
"Send a messenger to the Commander quickly! And gather around me to form a formation! Hurry!"
Under the command of a seasoned veteran among the Demon-folk, they sent a messenger to the Commander, and the Demon-folk began to cluster into a ∧ formation.
The Heaven-folk soldiers, who had been surrounding the Demon-folk in a ∩ formation, were puzzled when the human heroes at the front of the formation stopped and stood still, looking back as if waiting for something. But they couldn't afford to look away, as they were locked in a standoff with the Demon-folk.
It was then.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-
A grating, strange sound began to vibrate through the air from behind the Heaven-folk formation. The human heroes, the Heaven-folk, and the Demon-folk all felt a sense of unease, their minds filled with hooks of anxiety. They gripped their weapons tighter, waiting for the strange noise to end.
Click-
The sound cut off abruptly. From the direction of the Heaven-folk camp, something red began to rise high like a tower, spreading out into a wide wall.
"W-what is that?"
"What, what!?"
"What is it?"
"What is that!"
Even the seasoned veterans who had survived countless battles had never seen such a sight. Not knowing how to respond, they stood there in a panic, staring blankly.
And a moment later...
VROOOOOOOOOOOOOM-
The red entity, having finished its expansion, let out a roar and began to surge from the Heaven-folk camp toward the front lines like a tidal wave.
The Demon-folk were terrified, but they couldn't escape the encirclement of the human heroes and the Heaven-folk. The Heaven-folk couldn't pull back because the heroes leading them were standing their ground.
KU-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA!!!!
As the sound of the red wave rushing toward them at high speed grew louder, the front lines became even more tense.
A moment later, the red wave reached the front lines.
Everyone who had seen the red wave from afar now felt a sense of dread at the appearance of this unknown entity up close.
Shhh-pat.
Just then, a messenger appeared behind the Demon-folk formation and shouted:
"Retreat order! All troops, disengage from the front line immediately!"
Sighs of relief and psychological pressure were released from all sides.
"It’s here-!"
"D-damn it, run!"
"Move!"
"Why are you so late! You bastard!"
"Maintain formation while retreating!"
"Don't talk nonsense! Do you want to get swept up in that?"
"...Then would you rather show your back to the Heaven-folk?"
"Damn... it!"
They grumbled, but since they couldn't show their backs to the treacherous Heaven-folk, the Demon-folk quickly reformed their lines and began to retreat in an orderly fashion.
Watching them for a moment, a veteran Heaven-folk soldier asked the human hero:
"Human hero! What shall we do?"
"..."
King Arthur, the human hero clad in pure white full-plate armor and wielding the sword Excalibur, watched the approaching red wave and remembered what the male hero had said the previous night.
'I can provide support from a distance with auxiliary abilities like full stamina recovery.'
"Is that... that man’s ability...? He said it was recovery, didn't he...?"
"Pardon? What did you just say..."
"No, I was just talking to myself. That red wave is likely our side's power."
"Pardon? You mean that red wave is our power?"
"Probably... unless there’s an anomaly."
"..."
While they were talking, the red wave reached the front of the Heaven-folk formation with a roar.
KU-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA!!!!
'As expected... it wasn't a bluff that he had an ability... Let's see what kind of effect it has.'
KU-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA-KA!!!!
In an instant, the red wave swept through the Heaven-folk formation.
But...
Surprisingly...
The red wave only produced a roar; it exerted no physical effect. It simply brushed past them.
A red aura began to linger around the bodies of all those the wave had touched.
The wave reached the point where the Demon-folk had been, then suddenly began to emit smoke and vanish.
The entity that had caused a panic for everyone just moments ago vanished as if it had never existed...
Like a mirage...
"Kyaaaa- Huh?"
"???"
"Wh-what is this?"
"My body feels like it’s slowly recovering!"
"My body feels lighter!"
"My weapon feels light!"
"I feel power surging within me!"
"Hey! There’s a red aura around your body!"
The Heaven-folk camp became noisy as everyone talked about how they felt better, having received some kind of positive influence from the wave.
Watching the Heaven-folk soldiers, King Arthur’s eyes went wide at the incredible efficacy of the red wave, and he looked at his fellow heroes. It seemed they were all feeling the same way, as they were looking at each other with wide eyes.
"Shall we charge!? I think all our troops can charge now!"
"Yes! Everyone looks fine, so I think a charge is feasible."
Watching the Heaven-folk, who were excited perhaps because they had finally gained the upper hand, King Arthur fell into thought for a moment. But soon, he and his fellow heroes encouraged the high-spirited Heaven-folk soldiers and began to race across the plains without hesitation.