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(TPD) Chapter 13: Triple Threat (1)
🕑 Added 2024-11-13 10:23:07 +0000 UTCChapter 13: Triple Threat (1)
(Third Person)
The atmosphere inside Sylas’s tent was tense.
Sylas, Klauth, and Lith were all standing around a table with their arms folded. Looking down at a map that had been set in front of them, alongside different pieces marking certain areas of it.
“Mortis, Krovos, and the Capital Valkorion. Just losing one of these will put their finances in shambles,” Sylas grinned. “Once Mortis has been conquered, the armies defending Krovos and Valkorion will be scared shitless.”
The Fallen Angels only had three major cities, each of which had a drastically lower population in comparison to the Devil cities.
And of course, there was the research institute Grigori where all of their research personnel, alongside the Cadres dwelled. The hope being that the latter would make an appearance during the current campaign to claim Mortis.
The Cadres were the Fallen Angel’s shining beacons of hope, if they died, their hope would die alongside them.
“Either that, or they’ll be enraged to the point where they get a second wind.” Lith countered, earning a sharp glare from Sylas in return.
“How about we don’t jynx ourselves by saying what will and won’t happen before we’ve even begun our march?” Klauth intervened, deciding to be the voice of reason. “More importantly, what did the researchers Avalon captured tell us?”
“Nothing major, they apparently have some sort of tower that can increase the defense of both the Scourges and Fallen Angels, but the researchers he caught didn’t seem to be high-level enough to give us anything of concrete value.”
“Well, it would’ve been strange if they had their more important researchers just lying around on the battlefield. Still, it would’ve been nice to have known how many of these towers they had, alongside the scope and range of them.”
Sylas shrugged. “Like I said, nothing of concrete value.”
‘Or maybe you just didn’t do a good enough job of interrogating them,’ Lith thought to himself.
The entrance to their tent fluttered, followed by a young man wearing a blindfold entering inside.
“Ah, Avalon. You’re back,” Sylas smiled. “Spot anything of interest?”
The plan was to march on Mortis tomorrow, which is why Sylas had ordered Avalon to check one last time to make sure the Fallen Angels hadn’t made any attempt to reinforce the position where they had defeated the Sentinels.
“No, they still haven’t tried to set anything up. I think we’re clear to move tomorrow morning,” he had also checked up for any squads trying to sneak up on the main encampment just in case.
One could never be too careful.
“Excellent, I was just going over the plan with Klauth and Lith.”
Like with where the Sentinels were, the terrain in front of Mortis was quite ragged in nature. Filled with hills, mountains, valleys, and all sorts of natural obstacles that the Fallen Angels could easily take advantage of to increase their defense.
“Have all the reinforcements come in?” Avalon asked.
“Indeed,” Sylas motioned for him to come closer.
Sylas’s army was now back at full fighting strength, with 10,000 men under his command once again.
Klauth’s army only consisted of 4,000, however, he also had his Demonic Beasts to accompany him.
Lith’s army was still a mere 1,000, but each of his soldiers had fought with him during the Civil War, and carried a wealth of experience and knowledge in warfare to make up for what they lacked.
If it were based on individual quality alone, Lith’s army was the strongest.
“We’re going to adopt a three-pronged attack, splitting our forces across the left, middle, and right of Mortis. They’re probably going to bring as many Scourges as possible, but since we know they don’t really work well when split up, we’re going to try to scatter our forces as much as possible.”
Avalon nodded while listening attentively.
“Have you already decided who’s taking where?”
“The left side is the hardest to traverse, which is why Lith will be taking it since he has the least amount of men to maneuver. The middle is the least difficult, which is why I’ll be taking it, and Klauth will be taking the right.”
“Sounds good, how do you want me and my peerage to help?”
“If they do send a Cadre, which I’m pretty confident they will. I imagine they’ll go after my army since it’s the largest, so I want you to come with me. As for your subordinates, you can decide how you want to spread them out.”
Avalon pursed his lips, taking a minute to think.
“Lith, are you fine with having Lars go with you?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Then Klauth, can Adaloth go alongside your army?”
“No issues here.” Klauth didn’t seem to mind.
‘Well, that went a lot smoother than I thought it would.’
“But this is all preparation for during the advance towards Mortis, what about when we actually get there?” Avalon queried.
This was a two phase battle, and the better the first phase went the better the second would, and vice versa.
“Mortis relies mainly on heavy artillery and defense barriers for protection, which as much as I hate to admit, might be on par with my castle.” There was a noticeable amount of spite in Sylas’s voice, even though it made perfect sense for a city to be better defended than a castle. “I’m hoping you and Adaloth can work together to disable most of the defenses, or at least weaken them to the point where we can handle the rest.”
‘That’s the whole city you’re talking about! The fuck do you mean disable most of their- Ugh, I’ll just cross that bridge when I get to it.’
“We’ll do our best,” Avalon said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice, having expected something more iron-clad from Sylas.
At the end of the day, Avalon and Adaloth were the strongest Devils currently deployed on the battlefield. It was inevitable for them to be constantly treated as such.
‘Oh well, I like fighting anyways. I don’t mind exerting myself a little if it means I can get more action.’
“I advise you all to take care once we’ve entered Mortis, we’re not just looking to cripple their finances after all. We’re also trying to preserve whatever technology and information we can get our hands on, to make the rest of the war even more one-sided than it already is.”
Lith, Klauth, and Avalon all gestured approvingly.
“How do we handle the civilians?” Avalon felt the need to ask.
“If they haven’t been evacuated to either Valkorion or Krovos, then we’ll make sure none of them are able to flee, and hold them as prisoners of war for the time-being.”
“I see,” civilian treatment was something Avalon had yet to encounter throughout the war.
He just hoped it wouldn’t be as gruesome as his world’s history would suggest.
“I suggest you go brief your peerage, the rest of us will continue to fine-tune our plan of attack, and ready our men once that’s been finished.”
Avalon nodded and left the tent, keeping his concerns to himself for now.
“The Twin Prodigies Avalon and Adaloth,” Klauth said. “To think that two children are the deciding factors of this war, it’s a strange time we live in.”
“It wasn’t all that different with the Great War centuries ago, our society is constructed on the fabric of talent, and theirs on technology.” Lith added. “I believe recent events have proven which is superior.”
In a way, they were this war’s Ajuka and Sirzechs.
“Even so, we can’t let them do all the heavy lifting. What will it say about us adults if we become overly reliant on the achievements of those we’re supposed to nurture?”
---
(First Person - Avalon)
“So we’re being split across three armies,” Adaloth hummed after I had relayed the information Lord Bael had given me.
“Yes, I’ll be going with Lord Bael, you’ll be going with Klauth, and Lars will be going with Lith.”
“And me?” Esdeath asked. “Don’t tell me I’m being left behind again-”
“You’re not part of my peerage, so it isn’t up to me to decide where you’ll go, but judging by the fact that Klauth brought you here. You’ll more likely than not be going with him.”
“Good, I’ll glue him and his army to the ground if he doesn’t.”
Aren’t they technically your soldiers as well?
“But about Mortis itself,” Adaloth said. “Does Lord Bael really expect the both of us to handle its defenses on our lonesome?”
“Apparently he does, his exact words were to weaken it enough for his soldiers to pierce through. However, I’m 99% sure he wants us to do all the work.”
I could only breathe a helpless sigh as the words left my mouth.
Why must our General be such a slave driver?
“If that’s the case, then I might have to use my Power of Destruction.”
Uh, I’d rather you don’t.
“Won’t you end up destroying the city itself if you do that? Lord Bael wants to salvage the information and technology inside the city to see if we can use it to our advantage. There might also be civilians in there while we’re attacking.”
“And? He’s already asking for a lot, he should take whatever I give him with a smile on his face.”
Yeah, how about we don’t become flat-out war criminals?
“I should be able to locate a weak spot in the barrier, it’d be much more efficient if I guide you to that and have you attack it instead.”
“And if there isn’t a weak spot?” She retorted with a raised brow.
“Then I’ll find some other way.”
“Your softness will be your downfall one day,” she shook her head in a disapproving fashion.
“Maybe, maybe not. I just think it’s common sense for me to consider other options first before deciding to raise a city to the ground.”
If there aren’t any civilians in there, I’m actually not against having it crumble.
But if there are, I refuse to accept slaughtering them all in the name of convenience.
“Also, try to keep in mind that this is a two phase battle. Our jobs will be to keep the casualty toll to a minimum for our soldiers while we’re advancing to Mortis, so that once we’re there we can handle whatever final defenses they’ve set up.”
“They’ll probably just try to use Sentinels to stall us for as long as they can, I’m more worried about whether there are going to be Cadres on the battlefield or not.” Lars brought up.
“There will be,” Adaloth stated, standing up as she returned to her tent. “Trust me, there will be.”
For once I hope you’re right, I’m itching to see what their top brass is all about.
---
(Third Person)
Morning had arrived, the air over the rocky expanse that spanned between Sylas’s camp and Mortis had remained quiet for the most part.
But as time continued to march on and on, the sound of an alarming amount of footsteps could eventually be heard in the distance.
The footsteps grew louder and louder with each passing second, the ground seeming to tremble under the weight of whatever was encroaching upon the area.
The pebbles scattered across the floor started to jump, forceful ripples being sent through the nearby lake to the point where it appeared like an earthquake was about to occur.
This was the result of 10,000 fully armored soldiers under the banner of the Bael Clan beginning their march through the middle section of the expanse as planned.
Each fully rested, with their stomachs filled, and their morale uplifted as a result of their earlier victory over the Sentinel blockade that had been constructed to block their advance.
And at the helm of the advance were none other than Sylas and Avalon, the latter having already scouted the area beforehand just to be safe.
Half an hour had passed since they had begun marching, and only now did Avalon raise his hand to motion for Sylas to come to a halt.
“Is this the place?” Sylas asked.
Avalon nodded in response. “Wait here,” he started to slowly walk forwards. The soldiers behind him each shooting confused glances to one another.
They didn’t see anything in front of them, so what was the issue?
Avalon extended his arm, calling forth his two-meter long Demonic Sword, Muramasa, and pointing the tip of the blade downwards.
He turned back towards Sylas, the General interpreting his signal and motioning for his men to prepare for engagement.
“My Lord? What’s going on?” One of Sylas’s men at the front of the march asked him.
“An ambush is about to begin, or more accurately, about to fail.” Sylas replied without a hint of hesitation or fear.
After all, Avalon had already figured out what was going on, thus Sylas knew exactly what to expect.
“Honestly, you guys just get craftier and craftier each time.” Avalon smirked, thrusting his blade into the ground for no apparent reason. “I’ll give you credit where credit is due, had I not been here, this probably would’ve worked.”
Sparks erupted from the ground as Avalon lifted his blade from the dirt, revealing what looked to be a robotic frame embedded into his sword.
A Scourge, one that had been hidden with a well-masked trapdoor underground. Coupled with a cloaking barrier so that Sylas’s men wouldn’t know what had hit them until it was too late.
“It’s almost like they’re trying to recreate Vietnam or something,” Avalon chuckled, watching as the rest of the trapdoors in front of him all started to open up. Armored Scourges rising from below and charging towards him and Sylas’s men.
But unfortunately for the Scourges, Sylas’s men had not stepped deep enough into the expanse to be taken by surprise.
“How many of them are there?” Sylas asked, stepping forwards and cleaving a few of the Scourges with his spear.
“About 5,000 Armored. I’d suggest you have some of your men guard the left and right flanks, I can sense Projectile Scourges coming over the hills in an attempt to entrap us.”
“Got it,” he immediately got to work.
As much as Avalon hated to admit it, Sylas wasn’t actually a terrible Commander. He didn’t have the same presence as Lith did, but it was still something to commend.
‘Strange, they did all this preparation to not get detected, but still had a failsafe at the ready just in case they did.’
Avalon hummed to himself, scratching his chin while in thought.
‘Could it be that they expected this to fail? No, they would have to have known about my sensory abilities beforehand for that to be possible.’
And then it clicked.
Avalon reached into the back of his blindfold, pulling out the feather of a Fallen Angel from within.
‘I see, she must have been watching me from the very start of the battle. Which also means she saw me beeline towards the hidden cores like it was nothing,’ he couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating chuckle. ‘Not bad, Eurus.’
He brought out his wings, soaring into the air in order to get a bird’s eye view of the terrain.
‘I wonder if they’ve taken Lars and Adaloth into account as well? Although, I doubt they would’ve noticed Lars since he kept a pretty low-profile during that battle. And Adaloth, well, even I don’t know how you’d prepare a counter for her.’
Avalon continued to keep track of everything going on below him, acting as a live-feed for Sylas so he could make his orders as accurate as possible.
Where the Scourges moved, how they moved, when they moved. Everything was under his watch.
‘Aren’t you going to go down there and fight?’ Tomoe asked.
‘Why? They’re just Scourges, there aren’t even any Sentinels here. I’m more useful supplying him with information rather than fighting at the moment.’
Even though it was technically possible for him to go off on his own with Tomoe’s strength, the point was to reduce the casualties amongst Sylas’s men as much as possible.
Once they got to Mortis, then he could go haywire.
‘What’s the point of having my power if you’re not going to use it?’
‘I’m going to use it, just not now. So stop trying to tempt me and learn some patience.’
‘Hmph, you’re being boring again. At least provide some airborne support or something.’
‘And waste my energy before the main battle? Fat chance, now for the love of Lucifer please shut up.’
His inner grumblings were eventually interrupted by the sight of something unusual catching his attention.
“Oh? I’ve never seen those before,” Avalon thought aloud.
Coming towards them from the east side were what looked to be Scourges that were neither the Armored-type or Projectile-type.
There were only five of them, but the fact that their presences were different from the rest was more than enough to make them stand out to Avalon.
They had dark-colored cylinders plastered all over their body, and they walked in a fashion that made them seem zombie-like in nature, arms loosely hanging to the side and everything.
The cylinders had lids on them, each of which started to open and release what looked to be a bright-yellow mist that was headed in the direction of Sylas’s men.
Mist that was chalk-full of Light Magic.
“Alright, now I should probably do something.”
Avalon took a deep breath and held it, swooping downwards while covering himself in Touki to off put the effects of having his skin doused in Light Magic.
And though it kept him alive, it did little to alleviate the burning pain it caused.
He held out his open palm, releasing a torrent of Ki towards the mist, clashing with it and repulsing it back towards the never seen before Scourges.
But like zombies, they were perseverant.
The mist continued to spew from the countless cylinders on their bodies, shocking Avalon once he realized just how much mist each of them had stored up.
‘So that’s why there’s only five of you! They assumed that only bringing a small amount of them would be too difficult for me to notice amongst all the chaos, but made sure that they were overloaded with poison to ensure their effectiveness.’
He couldn’t help but breathe a slightly bemused chuckle.
Even though they were enemies, the craftiness of the Fallen Angels was something he had to respect.
A torrent of Fox Fire spewed out of his blade, engulfing the ‘Poison Scourges’ while Avalon sent out another blast of Ki to direct the mist away.
‘I should probably make sure Adaloth and Lars are made aware of them, it’ll be a lot tougher for them to detect these guys than it was for me.’
Avalon scanned his surroundings one more time, making sure that there wasn’t another wave of Poison Scourges before going airborne again.
The fight against the 5,000 Armored Scourges proceeded as Avalon had hoped.
Sylas was making good use of the information he was being fed, relaying them through his ranks with admirable precision and keeping the cohesion of his men as stable as possible.
As a result, the Bael Clan soldiers experienced little trouble when it came to breaking through the lines of the Armored Scourges, especially when they outnumbered them 2-to-1.
‘I guess their defense for this section was just all one big gamble, or two to be more precise if I count the trapdoors. A good attempt, but they would’ve had more success grinding our numbers down if they just went all out with as much brute force as they could muster.’
Avalon’s base senses were already in a realm of their own, and now with the Senjutsu he had obtained from contracting Tomoe, they had gone even beyond that.
It was ironic in a way, the one dubbed the ‘Blindfold Devil’, could see more than any other Devil in the Underworld.
About 800-1000 of the Bael Clan soldiers had fallen, leaving them with 9,000 strong to siege Mortis with.
Still, Avalon would’ve liked the casualty toll to be a little lower than that.
‘Not everyone can be Lith I suppose, what a shame.’
The first sight he had been met with when he had arrived at Sylas’s temporary camp was that of 2,000 corpses lined up in neat rows, so it was safe to say that he was starting to get used to death on the battlefield.
Even so, he would still mourn them silently. That was the bare minimum he could do from his perspective.
[“Judging from your silence, I’m going to assume we got them all?”] Sylas opened a transmission with him from below.
“Yeah, you got them all.”
[“Good, but don’t let your guard down just yet. They might still have something planned for us before we’re out of this expanse.”]
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Avalon had the mistake of letting himself get complacent once.
He wouldn’t let it happen again.
---
(First Person - Lars)
I just had to be assigned to the hardest area to traverse didn’t I?
We’re not even allowed to fly since we’ll risk being spotted, not to mention that it’s only been half an hour since we started moving and I’ve already got enough rocks in my shoes to create my own mountain.
And the worse part of it is, I’m the only one who seems to be struggling!
What’s with these people? Are they all secretly part mountain goat or something? I’m part convinced that they’d even be slower than they were now if they flew.
“Would it kill you to pick up the pace a little?” Esdeath turned around, shooting an annoyed glare my way. “We’re supposed to stay at the front of the pack.”
Also, isn't she supposed to be with Klauth? Why did she get sent with us instead?
“What does it look like I’m trying to do!?” I shouted back at her in protest.
“Well try harder, unless you want me to pick you up and carry you the whole way?”
“Uh, I politely decline,” I replied swiftly. “Also, being picked up by gorilla women is Avalon’s thing, not mine.” I muttered under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” I quickly redirected my attention to the sky.
As I continued to hop from rock to rock, I heard a static ring through my earbud signaling that I was getting a transmission.
“Lars,” Lith approached me. I hope he’s not also going to complain about my lack of mountain-goatness.
“Yes?”
“I just got a report from Avalon, apparently there’s a new type of Scourge that just appeared where Sylas’s army is, one that releases Light Magic in the form of mist into the atmosphere.”
Of course they’ve developed another Scourge, honestly, I can’t even find it in me to be surprised anymore.
“Any word on what they look like?”
Since I’m not interested in burning to death from the inside out, I might as well figure out some sort of plan to deal with them.
“They’re supposed to look similar to the Projectile ones, except they have a bunch of cylinders jammed into their bodies which is where they release the mist from.”
“I see, we’d be in quite the predicament if they ambushed us in a place like this.”
There’s not much room to move around here, so if something like that attacks us our best bet would be to just accept the risk of getting spotted and go airborne.
“Any way you can prepare us for that?”
I’m surprised this guy is able to trust an 8 year old with the safety of his men so easily, maybe that’s just the effect of Avalon’s reputation.
And Adaloth’s now I suppose, since everyone saw her toss around a Sentinel like it was nothing first hand.
“I should be able to manage something,” I conjured a few Magic Spheres, tossing them into the air as they started to orbit around us like drones.
One of the advantages of our numbers being significantly smaller than the other armies, is that it’s a lot easier for me to keep our blind spots covered.
Detection barriers are one of my strong points, so I should be able to give us a good amount of time to prepare before anything gets the chance to attack us.
“What are those balls supposed to do?” Esdeath asked.
Don’t call them balls! They’re spheres!
Yes, there’s a difference.
But I can’t bring myself to say that to her aloud, I don’t think Lith is going to be a good enough meat shield to keep me protected from her temperament.
“They’ll keep watch over us from up above, that way it won’t be possible for any Fallen Angels or Scourges to get the jump on us.”
My Magic Spheres can even see through their presence-masking cloaks, which is to be expected since I’m a once-in-a-millenia super genius.
“I see, then I suppose your balls do have some use after all.”
Now you’re just doing it on purpose!
“Why the long face? You managed to get a woman interested in your balls, you should be happy.” Lith nudged my shoulder.
“Keep this up and you might wake up to find yours missing,” I threatened, which seemed to surprise Lith a fair bit.
Esdeath and Adaloth are the only people I’m afraid of, I refuse to sit here and have another man insult my SPHERES to my face.
…
Another half hour passed, and thus far we’ve encountered absolutely no action whatsoever. Nor have my Magic Spheres detected any movement or presences around us.
Honestly, I can’t help but feel a little disappointed.
There’s no way they didn’t account for this part of the expanse, I find it hard to believe that they actually left this whole place undefended.
We’re probably going to have Mortis in our sights soon at this rate, I wonder what my King and Queen are doing?
“Stop,” Lith said all of a sudden, putting his arms in front of me and Esdeath.
“What is it-” I cut myself off, my Magic Spheres having caught onto something approaching us from the front.
Wait a minute, how did he detect it before I did?
I heard the sound of the rattling start to intensify, coming from the purple scabbard hanging by the side of his waist.
Don’t tell me, did his Demonic Sword warn him about something?
Lith proceeded to raise his hand, making some sort of gesture that caused all his men to go bleary eyed and start to scatter across the rigid expanse.
They brandished their weapons, their Demonic Power starting to flare to life as my worries deepened.
“What’s going on?” Esdeath asked.
“That,” he pointed in front of us.
…What the hell?
There’s a person there! And my Magic Spheres didn’t notice them!
“Oh my, you actually managed to notice my presence before I could even introduce myself. Haha… Well, isn't this embarrassing?”
He was a young man with disheveled long black hair reaching down to his shoulders, wearing thick glasses and a lab coat.
My hunch is that he’s a Fallen Angel… but I’m completely unable to read his presence.
He scratched his head in a sheepish manner, coughing a few times before seeming to recollect something.
“Right… It’s been quite some time so forgive me if I’m a little rusty at this whole war thing. Uh… Let’s see here, my name is Sahariel. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of me or not, but I’m a researcher working at Grigori.”
The expressions of everyone, myself included, went completely pale.
Sahariel…
That’s… A Cadre isn’t it?
The sound of rattling coming from Lith’s scabbard was the only thing that snapped me out of my trance, leading me to tap my earbud that was connected to our communications system.
[“I know, there’s no need to say anything.”] Avalon’s voice came through. [“Support Esdeath and Lith from the back, and collaborate with his second-in-command to keep the rest of the soldiers moving.”]
“Wait… You’re not going to help?” With his speed, he should be able to come over here no problem.
[“Sorry, but I'm in the same situation as you are at the moment. You’re on your own here, if the opportunity to retreat arises, my advice would be to take it.”]
“Hey! Wait-!” The transmission ended before I voiced any further complaints.
Hold on a second, he said he was in the same situation as me.
Great, that means there are two Cadres on the battlefield.
“Uhhh… I don’t see him amongst you.” Sahariel said while scratching his stubble, leaning from side to side while getting a good look at us. “Darn, Souji Okita isn’t with this army is he? I guess that means either Amaros or Penemue won the bet.” He sighed.
Amaros? Penemue? Aren’t those also Cadres?
You can’t be serious… There are three Cadres here?
Also why is he talking about Avalon’s teacher?
Lith fell uncharacteristically silent, unsheathing his Demonic Sword and assuming his demonic form without a shroud of hesitation or doubt.
“Oh? A Demonic Sword? That’s a fine weapon you have there…” Sahariel’s gaze shifted towards me and Esdeath. “Hmm, I thought you were also using disguise spells like Souji supposedly was, but to me it seems that you’re actually children.”
I felt my breath hasten as he locked eyes with me, my mind dreading his next move.
“You two can leave if you want, actually I encourage you to do so. I’m not really interested in becoming a child-murderer,” he smiled.
YES!
“Hah! As if I’d give up the chance to kill a Cadre!” Esdeath bellowed.
NO!
“Is that so? Maybe my understanding of Devil children has grown misconceived over the years,” he chuckled. “Alright then, if you think you’re capable. I welcome you to fight me, vessel girl.”
If we die, I’m going to make her afterlife as miserable as possible.
“Hey, Lith.” I spoke.
“Yeah?”
“It doesn’t matter if we go airborne now does it?”
“No, it does not.” Each of us wasted little time flying upwards, not intent on fighting a Cadre on such uneven terrain.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to fight me down here either if I were you.” 10 dark feathery wings sprouted out from Sahariel’s back as he met us in the sky. “You’re probably expecting me to bring out a hoard of Scourges or something, but unfortunately I’m not a big fan of Kokabiel’s creation, if it weren’t for their ease of production we probably wouldn’t bother with them at all.”
Sahariel reached his hand out into the air, pulling on what looked to be a blanket that was perfectly camouflaged with the sky.
One that I had not noticed the presence of the whole time it was there, which means it must be capable of top-tier Spatial Manipulation.
Tch, being bested in that field kind of wounds my pride a little.
“And let’s be honest, you’re probably also bored of fighting them aren’t you?” He pulled on the blanket, revealing a hoard of Fallen Angels that had been covered underneath it with strange sets of armor on them.
Yeah, I have a bad feeling about this.
“I personally created their armor if you were wondering, it’s far better than what those sad excuses for Golems use. It goes beyond just bolstering their defense and offense, it can heighten their perception, brain function, and even minimizes the amount of Light Magic they need to use for their spells. Impressive don’t you think?”
Is he a cliche Levi-tan villain or something? Explaining his creations during a battle like this.
Sahariel snapped his fingers, to which the 1,000 or so Fallen Angels that had been hidden under his blanket created a blockade between us and him.
“I’ll play with you for a little while if you manage to beat them, so do your best alright?” I’m shocked that he’s able to say things like that without a hint of noticeable hostility in his voice.
It must be a Cadre thing.
---
(First Person - Adaloth)
I like the Auten Clan.
Their puppies are cute.
“Ruff!” One of their wolves came up to me, to which I responded by scratching its chin.
They remind me of my huskies from my past life, these ones are just a little bigger.
I miss my huskies.
I turned around, watching as one of the fully-grown wolves carried three soldiers on its back.
Yeah, just a little bigger.
“Klauth,” I called out to Esdeath’s father.
“Yeah?”
“I want one,” I pointed to the wolf that was vying for my attention.
Good grief, this one has been clinging to me ever since we began our march. You just can’t seem to live without me can’t you?
At least you know better than stray from your owner, I wish someone else would learn from you.
I smiled as it rubbed its snout against the side of my head.
I’ll name you Adrian.
“Sure, I can talk with Zeoticus once we’ve finished up here about getting one for you. Actually quite a few of my friends from other families like to keep them as pets.”
Zeoticus? Oh right, my father.
“I want this one,” I pointed to Adrian.
Maybe if I put a blindfold over Adrian it’d be more fitting? Or should I rename him to Avalon? No, that might get confusing.
Do I combine them? Adra-lon? Ava-lan? Avalanche? Oh! I like that.
“Your name is Avalanche,” I told formerly Adrian. “You’re mine from now on, Avalanche, if you separate from me you’ll be in big trouble, understand?”
“Ruff!”
“Good boy,” you listened, therefore I shall pet your head.
“Uh, that one already has an owner-”
“I know, it’s me.” I scooped Avalanche up in my arms, causing a lot of the soldiers around me to stare.
They’re just jealous that Avalanche is better than all of their wolves, don’t you think so Avalanche?
“Woof!” I see, our bond has already grown to the point where you can tell what I’m thinking.
Good dog, you will make an excellent tutor for Adrian. He has much to learn from you.
“Adaloth.”
“I already told you I’m Avalanche’s owner-”
“That’s not what this is about,” Klauth raised his hand and closed his fist, causing the 4,000 soldiers behind him to come to a halt. “I think we might be needing your expertise for this.”
Avalanche brought his head closer towards the ground, flaring his teeth at whatever was in front of us.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Ah, I recognise those footsteps.
“Well this is a bit problematic, we’ll need my brother to locate all the cores for us.”
It would appear they’ve prepared a few Sentinels to block our advance, from first glance alone I think I can see about seven of them in the distance.
Strange, they only prepared two to combat more than double our current numbers last time. I wonder what made them decide to bring more?
Maybe they believe Klauth to be more of a threat than Lord Bael?
I can understand the sentiment, Klauth has cute puppies and Lord Bael doesn’t, therefore he’s a much better Commander.
[“I’ve got it handled.”] I heard my disobedient brother’s voice through my earbud.
Several small objects started to speed through the air, landing behind the Sentinels as a pillar of Demonic Power erupted from their positions.
[“The cores are where I’ve thrown each of the kunai, even if you lose track of them the dogs should be able to pick up on the residual Demonic Power. You can handle the rest.”]
How annoying, he cut off the transmission before I could respond, though judging by his tone he seemed a little hurried by something.
He better have a good excuse for that.
“He can see us from all the way over there? I’m shocked.” Klauth looked at me and nodded, having received the same message.
At least Avalanche and Adrian have already begun to collaborate, that is a good sign. It’s important for a teacher and their student to get along.
“I’m led to believe you are rather capable when it comes to fighting Sentinels?” Klauth looked at me.
Very well, since you are responsible for bringing Avalanche to me, I will be of help.
“Stand back,” I instructed him.
I stretched my shoulders a little while taking a deep breath, reaching out with my hand and pinching my thumb and middle finger together.
“You’re going to need to move back a little further if you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire,” I instructed
Klauth is also good at listening, his wolves must get their well-mannered obedience from him.
But I will not pet his head, I don’t want to make Adrian jealous after all.
He is, what did they call it back home? Oh right, “Tsundere.”
It must be painful for him, harboring that much love for me but not knowing how to convey it properly.
Avalanche will do a good job of helping him, and I have already laid the groundwork to help him understand his emotions as well.
However, this can all wait for now.
Let’s get this bothersome battle over with.
Oh wait, I almost forgot.
“You also need to go back for now Avalanche, don’t worry, you have my permission to part from me temporarily.” I can’t let him get caught in this either.
I started to charge up my Demonic Power, sparks erupting around me as my surroundings were hit with an onslaught of stray energy.
This is all still a work in progress, I’ll get it eventually.
I snapped my fingers, a wave of Demonic Power flooding over the terrain in front of me, obliterating the foliage and Scourges hidden below the canopy layer alike.
And of course, the Sentinels had been reduced to ash as well. They’ve already started to regenerate, but this should buy everyone enough time to reach the cores before that’s done.
Oh great, they’re staring again.
“Well?” I raised a brow, waiting for them to do their job.
They finally snapped out of their stupor, the wolves leading each of them to the cores Adrian had marked with his aura from afar.
“Avalanche, come here.” At least you listen to me much better than they do. “Sit.”
“You’re… Quite something.” Klauth said to me with a stunned look on his face.
“Don’t talk to me, I’m playing with Avalanche right now. If you want attention, I will consider giving you some later.”
“Uh… A-Alright…”
Sorry, but there’s only one lost puppy I’m interested in rescuing.
