The Storm (4)

Time kept slipping away, and soon less than thirty minutes remained. The ground itself began to tremble, as if to prove that this wave of the enemy was no joke. An immense army was hurtling toward Fort Haman from beyond the horizon at a terrifying speed.

But unlike me, who had been expecting this, my squad members had been thrown into fear and outright panic by the sheer scale of the horde. I did everything I could to keep their morale from collapsing, kindling the Authority of Purification up from the earth beneath their feet.

At last, when the timer announcing the arrival of the Tide of Corruption ticked down to zero, the fortress was still carrying out its final preparations — watching an army that had long since finished its own. Had this been an open pitched battle, I judged it far more likely than not that we would have been crushed without even putting up a real fight. I marveled, once again, at Eli's foresight. Drawing my sword from my hip, I spoke.

"Are there any 'Crows' present?"

At my words, a little over ten people rose to their feet, announcing themselves. I had brought more than five hundred, and only about ten of them were Crows. I knew their numbers were few and that they were difficult to train, but still.

The Crows were an organization devoted to intelligence, espionage, and assassination, modeled after the imperial 'Shadows.' Naturally, every one of them was a formidable expert in their own right — it would be fair to say each carried enough power to face a Supreme Demon alone.

"Your task is to kill as few demons as possible. Draw their attention and stay on the run — that's all. Can you manage it?"

At my question, the Crows nodded without a moment's hesitation.

"Understood."

I had no intention of using them for anything beyond baiting the demons. During the first Tide, when I had operated alongside the Crows, I had learned a few things. First, they are extremely vulnerable to fighting many enemies at once. They can move in secret, conceal themselves, and quietly cut an enemy's throat — but the moment they are detected even once, their combat effectiveness plummets. They might handle a one-on-one, or perhaps up to three opponents at the limit of their personal skill, but this was a battlefield. A place where you needed to fight at least one against ten just to survive. I judged that with only a one-versus-three capacity, there was no way to keep the Crows alive here.

Second, their killing power simply wasn't exceptional. One-versus-three, or any real anti-personnel capability, was achievable only by those who could push their adaptability to the absolute ceiling. Most Crows couldn't manage it; what I actually saw from them was flashy footwork — obscuring an opponent's vision, deceiving them, and finishing the job afterward.

And third and last: they possess more than enough ability to seize an enemy's attention and divert it. That alone was reason enough for them to be in our unit. Our squad had been formed in the first place with the express purpose of pulling even a fraction of an overwhelming enemy army away from the fortress and easing its burden. For those three reasons, the Crows became our lure teams.

The remaining half of the unit split in two: one half would serve as ambush teams, annihilating the demons the lure teams dragged in, and the other half would ride with me, striking and withdrawing in hit-and-run assaults — the raid teams. There was no chance of anyone being confused; Yeon-i ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and I had drilled the men on the terrain features late into last night.

"Ambush teams — move now with the lure teams to the cliff zone and destroy the demons there together. Total time: two hours. Whether you've killed too few or too many in those two hours, ignore it and return. However, any demons that trail the ambush teams must be killed or shaken off so they can make it back to the main force."

"The same goes for the lure teams. Your first objective is survival. Give it everything, and survive no matter what you have to do. In an emergency, I will permit you to kill demons — but a frontal engagement is forbidden."

The Crows nodded at my words. And last, the raid teams.

"Finally, the raid teams. You fight at my side — strike, withdraw, and meet them head-on when we must. I won't waste words: survive. As long as there's breath left in you, I can bring you back. So cling to that breath. That's all. Everyone — move to last night's assigned units, swiftly!"

Before me now, a wave of pitch-black malice surged and overflowed to the horizon. The seething horde had nothing in its many minds but the thought of tearing down the walls. Not one of them suspected we were hiding at the cliffs.

Which meant this was our chance.

The ambush and lure teams filed back along the fork in the cliff path, filtering out one by one in orderly succession. Every squad member carried three emergency potions in their belts, and I trusted they would do splendidly. I was still confirming that the lure and ambush teams had fully withdrawn when the defense of the fortress began — and the sound of a thousand arrows loosed at once left our ears ringing. In step with it, I issued my simple combat order to the raid team.

"All of you — draw."

At my word, blades honed razor-sharp hissed from their scabbards. I drew mine alongside them and carved an X into the rock wall. If anyone was wounded or gravely hurt, the wind wolves would carry them here.

The ring of blades leaving sheaths rang out, then settled.

"Charge!"

At my word, the raid team dismounted as one and struck. The demons, fixated entirely on the fortress, could mount no defense — and our assault opened with a demon's head leaving its shoulders at the edge of my blade.

I drove forward ahead of everyone else and mowed the demons down in a single sweeping stroke.

"Commander! Ahead — Supreme Demons! A pack of Creta's Nightmares!"

At a knight's shout I turned my head to find roughly five black minotaurs bellowing at the top of their lungs, winding up to butcher the knights.

"Gather."

At my word, ten wind wolves answered the summons.

"Sweep the battlefield as you roam. But if any of my people fall in danger, protect them at once — you can do that much, yes?"

The wind wolves all nodded as one, understanding, and vanished from sight. Only Jeongryeong remained at my side — and that was more than enough.

"Jeongryeong. We punch straight through to the minotaurs."

From where I stood, that pack of Creta's Nightmares was no particular calamity. But if only ordinary soldiers had faced them, the odds were nearly certain they would have died. Which meant the faster I brought those beasts down, the fewer of my men would meet a meaningless death beneath their axes. I had a duty to fell them quickly.

"Run!"

At my word, Jeongryeong slammed her paws into the ground hard enough to gouge claw-marks into the earth, and we charged on every axis at once. Wind whirled around me, sharpening into blades, becoming a chariot that carved through everything it touched. The demons that tried to block our path were nearly all torn apart by the mere force of it — and the High-tier Demons among them fared no differently. Thanks to that, I closed on the minotaur pack in moments, dropped my stance, and unleashed the Starlight Cleave, shearing through a minotaur's ankle in a single stroke. Both Achilles tendons and the ankle's sinews went together; with no strength left in the leg, the beast couldn't even stand.

A minotaur's head sailed into the air with almost insulting ease. Its kin, watching their brother die before their eyes, erupted in fury and began swinging their body-sized axes from every angle.

In an instant the current that had ruled my blade vanished, its place seized by black Sword Flame. The black flame shattered, with trivial ease, the axe that came chopping down to split my skull —

— and wreathed in that same black flame, I carved through everything around me. A second bull's head dropped to the ground like a head being chopped from a log, and in the blink of an eye two of the pack were neutralized. Even watching this, they kept shrieking, as if determined to have their say.

= You... Successor of the Azure Dragon! Do you have any idea how many of our precious kin have died because of you?! =

"And the humans dying because of you — do they not count?"

= That is what our King desires. Successor of the Azure Dragon... bow your head and swear fealty now, and I swear on my own life I will plead your case before the King! =

"Even so, you're merely a Supreme Demon. A Great Demon, maybe. And I have no reason to bow my head to either."

With a roar of flame, sword energy in the shape of a dragon — not azure, but jet black — punched forward and shattered everything in its path. The two minotaurs who failed to escape the stroke collapsed to the ground, bodies scorched and cloven. One remained.

= You dare...! Our King himself extended his hand, and you answer with insolence...! For that sin, your head shall be the offering that repays it! =

I shifted my stance just enough to read the axe that fell toward me a second time — and evaded it. The axe struck not my skull but the earth, burying itself deep. The distance between the axe and me: a mere thirty centimeters. But those thirty centimeters were, for this demon, a realm no method could ever cross. No matter how it thrashed, it could not bridge the distance — the sword I had forged to protect the people precious to me would not permit it.

Using the great axe beside me as a foothold, I planted my foot on its flat and leapt, and collected the last minotaur's head. The demon's final gaze held nothing but defiance — a will to watch me to the very end.

Just as I turned my head to search for a new target—

An explosion of staggering Sword Flame erupted on the far side of the field. Flame the color of her hair burst outward around her, pushing everything back. Only... something was wrong. The sector Yeon-i was supposed to hold was the enemy's rear. So why had she climbed all the way up to the midpoint where our raid team was positioned?

I didn't like the feel of this.

"Jeongryeong!"

Jeongryeong, who had been laying about herself with claws and fangs, reached my side in an instant.

"Until I tell you to stop... run. Can you do that?"

Her answering bark boomed — I was glad it rang so certain.

"Let's go."

Once more Jeongryeong detonated the strength in her legs and tore ahead, and every demon in our path was flung aside as corpse or half-corpse — and the demons struck by those flying bodies, blinded, hesitated to move, and a road opened before us by itself.

When I drew close, I found Yeon-i clutching her side, looking at me. Behind her, five squad members lay unconscious with their eyes closed — including that squad member who'd cursed her for being vice-commander.

"Are you okay?"

"Hah... hah... Hyun... if it weren't for you... I'd be dead. Burned through every drop of mana... heh..."

For wounds that deep, she was laughing awfully leisurely about it. Honestly...

I invoked the Authority of Life at once to treat Yeon-i's injuries, then gave Jeongryeong the order to call four wind spirits. Jeongryeong almost never lets anyone but me ride on her back — but this was an emergency. The enemy had brought an army of fourteen thousand, and their ranks kept swelling from somewhere no matter how many we cut down. I might be a Successor, and they might all be opponents easy enough to fell, but my limits were clear. Getting out of this place, and fast, was the correct call.

"Please. Once they're out, I can pull out easily too."

Leaving behind Jeongryeong's grudging, straining I understand...!, I had no choice but to spread my domain and shield the unconscious squad members and Yeon-i as best I could.

Blades of razor wind fell from the sky, and the demons caught between them were, almost all, cut down in a single stroke. This was the inside of my wind domain — my territory, where any entrant of unclear allegiance would be flagged to my senses at once. And yet they kept breaching it, one after another, demons of every rank — Lower Demons up through High-tier, such a variety I might as well have been staring down a buffet line.

Yeon-i, fighting beside me, heaved ragged breaths yet held her Sword Flame alight and raised her sword — until I caught her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand, pressed my own flame over hers, and snuffed it out.

"Huh...?"

Her face went utterly flustered at having her Sword Flame extinguished by me.

"Rest. You're in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no condition to be moving around yet."

Yeon-i's injuries were grave. A peak Expert who wasn't a Sword Master, taking wounds like hers — not as badly as these, granted — would be flat on the ground catching her breath. My Authority of Life, at its core, was not a power of healing. It was, at best, emergency aid that accelerated regeneration. If she went spraying Sword Flame and swinging her sword around now, the wounds I'd barely stanched would tear right back open. She needed to rest, comfortably, as much as possible.

...But really, why had Yeon-i come this far? The plan was for me to split the enemy down the middle with the raid, lure, and ambush teams and devour as much of the horde as I could, while Yeon-i struck the rear — blocking the enemy's rear-guard attack and the demons rushing to reinforce them, tilting the whole battle in our favor...

No. Enough stray thoughts. The instant I shut them down, the wind wolves arrived before me, dispatched on Jeongryeong's command. I had them carry the unconscious squad members one by one.

"We move."

I carved a path forward, swinging my sword little by little ahead of us. We were inside my domain now, and I could feel it in my bones — the blade moved faster, truer. But the moment we crossed its boundary, it would be at all of us, teeth bared.

"Wind spirits — attention. From where I stand, follow the right-hand line straight, and you'll find the gap in the cliffs marked with an X. Hide the unconscious squad members there and guard them."

Jeongryeong told me she would come back to my side — and I refused.

"No. The wind spirits alone can't protect the squad. The moment I need you will come, I promise. Go. Guard them with your pack. Understood?"

At that I stroked her head, and she licked my cheek once —

— and with a howl, swept her wolves away and vanished. I hoisted Yeon-i onto my back and ran. One hand holding her steady, one hand gripping my sword, cutting the road open.

"Hyun-ah...."

"......"

Her voice reached me even through the fighting, but getting out of this demon-planted field on every side came first. And then, as I pushed through—

A chill crawled up my spine. I swung Yeon-i from my back to my front, held her against my chest, and slapped aside a sharp blue spear that came shrieking toward me.

= Well, well... who do we have here? So that's why our 'Queen' sent me? A tasty-looking boy, aren't you? =

Horns of deep blue — not black. A demon of the ranked hierarchy who wielded sea-magic much like Genbu's own. Ranked Thirtieth — Forneus.

"Forneus...."

= Oh? You know my name? A handsome boy like you asking after me — how sweet. Shall I give you a reward? =

"Sorry, but I don't touch anyone who isn't mine."

= Who, that girl you're holding? =

"If you know, get lost."

= So if I kill that woman, I can have you? Easy! =

Water droplets scattered from her palm and, in moments, condensed into a deep-blue spear. And from within my arms, slowly emerging, Yeon-i brandished a sword of scarlet radiance — the very opposite of her opponent's.

"Kill... me? You? Ha... of course flies come buzzing when a man's this handsome... Go on, then. If you can pierce my Sword Flame, I'll give you credit."

Even wheezing for breath, she couldn't seem to stomach another woman coming for me. And who on earth could stop this woman?

= Ha... you're provoking my competitive streak...? A nobody like you! =

With that, Forneus hurled her azure spear full-force at Yeon-i and closed in on us herself, a blue spear of her own in hand — trailed by a swarm of demons for good measure. But Yeon-i's Sword Flame erased the incoming spear and the demons in Forneus's wake all at once.

Against Forneus, of course, it looked perfectly useless.

= figures. What could the likes of you possibly do! =

She couldn't — because I was there to stop it.

"What do I do, you ask...? Am I a decoration?"

I swung, met the spear with my blade, wrenched our locked swords free at my leisure — and hurled crackling lightning down the line ahead. The thunder-dragon flew, and everything in a straight line became ash in its wake.

= Ha... if you'd stayed quiet, I was going to keep you around as a pet to suck on forever... I suppose I'd better tear you limb from limb first. =

A True Name Release...?! A sphere of water coiled around her — and when it peeled away, she stood revealed: the figure of a mermaid, a tiara upon her head, black hair crowned by those deep-blue horns, and a figure that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

= ...Well? A body like this...? Won't you toss that girl aside and come to me? =

Yeon-i was clinging to consciousness by her mana ring alone, breathing hard.

"Haa... haa..."

And the words that would leave my mouth were already decided. However bewitchingly Forneus had been made, the woman in my arms outshone her. All ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of her.

"Get lost. I'm taken."

A domain of deep gold spread wide, and a colosseum for facing Forneus took shape around us.

= Then let's see this through to the end... shall we? =

Wearing a smile that crawled under the skin, Forneus sprinted at me at full speed — and I answered by swinging my sword, opening my first true battle against a demon of the ranked hierarchy.