Volume 2 chapter 30
When Clyris arrived at Picars City with the main army, she was greeted by the skeletal remains of a fortress.
Marseilles, the Thunder Demon Lord, had lost half of his body. Supported by his weeping subordinates, he dragged his maimed form before her and knelt on his one remaining knee.
"Your Majesty... Your subordinate... has not failed the trust placed in him! We held!"
"You have suffered greatly... Go to the rear and heal." Clyris stepped forward, helping him up with her own hands and patting his uninjured shoulder. "You did well! Marseilles"
"For the survival of the Demon Race, I would sacrifice everything without hesitation!" Marseilles looked at her with tears streaming down his face. "I only regret that I was too weak. I could only resist by trading lives... One million soldiers fought until only three hundred thousand remained..."
"You did your best!" she comforted him softly.
"You need not comfort me. I have no regrets..." Marseilles shook his head weakly. "It was the only way... But... Your Majesty, you are far stronger than I! I beg of you... please, let fewer of our brothers die!"
He looked into Clyris's eyes with desperate hope. A Seventh-Rank Commander, usually proud and mighty, now humble as a beggar for the sake of his men.
"I will!" Clyris nodded solemnly, making her promise.
"Then I leave it to you, Your Majesty..."
Hearing the Demon Lord's promise, Marseilles seemed to lose his last ounce of strength and allowed his subordinates to carry him away.
Clyris turned to look outside the city.
She saw the pockmarked earth, the zig-zagging trenches filled with blood and mud. Her gaze extended forty kilometers out to where the Alliance banners fluttered in the wind.
"Gina. Lucas." She turned to two of the four commanders she brought. "Are you willing to charge with me?"
"We are willing!"
The Flame Demon and the Beast Demon stepped forward instantly, their voices firm.
"Good! Bella, Marcus. You organize the defense!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Succubus and Winged Demon responded loudly.
"Excellent! Go prepare! We're going to teach them a lesson!"
She looked at the distant camp, a cold, ruthless smile playing on her lips.
Nightfall.
Clyris took the lead, her warhorse thundering across the assault lanes that the Alliance had filled in for their own siege engines.
Far behind her, Gina and Lucas led two thousand shock troops, keeping their distance to allow the King to open the path.
Clop-clop-clop...
Iron hooves trampled the dark red mud, kicking up specks of crimson earth.
The stars were dim tonight. The moon hid behind the clouds, as if unwilling to witness the coming slaughter.
"Enem—"
An aerial patrol knight spotted the movement first. But before the word could leave his throat, a Finger of Death shot from Clyris’s hand, blasting him out of the sky.
"ENEMY ATTACK!!"
The scream finally came from the ground sentries. Although Clyris silenced the first few she encountered, she couldn't clear all the hidden scouts in time. The warning went out.
"Enemy Attack! Enemy Attack!!"
Shouts echoed through the camp as magical lights flared to life. Squads of knights on night watch surged forward like a disturbed ant colony, rushing to the front lines.
"Hmph! Don't even think about stopping me!!"
Clyris snorted coldly at the vanguard. She raised her hand and pressed down toward the earth.
"Gravity Crush!"
BOOM!!
Hundreds of times the force of gravity descended instantly. The ground collapsed, forming a massive crater. Knights and their heavy armor were flattened into pancakes before they could even scream.
However, a few High-Rank Knights withstood the pressure, their mana shields flickering as they struggled to stand on trembling legs.
"Hmph!!"
She waved her hand forward again. Mana erupted.
"Winds of Death!"
A hurricane of necrotic energy rose thousands of meters high, sweeping through a quadrant of the camp. Where the wind passed, anyone below the Fifth Rank was instantly turned into dry bones. Even Seventh-Rank Knights had their life force stripped away, dying on the spot.
"Demon Lord! Insolent!!"
Two Ninth-Rank Knights charged out of the main tent—one wielding a massive saber, the other a long spear.
"Two isn't enough!!"
Clyris met them head-on. She drew her longsword and slashed horizontally.
The sword light illuminated the night sky like a crescent moon, shearing through flagpoles, tents, and bodies alike.
The two knights coordinated their attack. The saber wielder chopped down with the ferocity of a tiger, his blade wrapped in raging fire. The spearman thrust with lightning speed, thunder coiling around his tip.
BOOM!!
An earth-shattering explosion rocked the camp. The shockwave spread like an earthquake, peeling the ground layer by layer.
"Frozen World!!"
"Thousand Thunderbolts!!"
In the distance, two Grand Magi cast their spells in unison.
A cold snap froze the earth instantly, turning even the clouds into ice. Violent lightning fell from the sky, each bolt as thick as a water barrel, like the wrath of heaven punishing the world.
"Curtain of Death!"
Facing this combined assault, Clyris unleashed her full power. She abandoned her horse and flew into the air.
Demonic energy surged to the heavens, swallowing the stars. Endless darkness merged with the power of death, forming a massive curtain that blotted out the sky. It pressed down like a collapsing firmament, swallowing all light and killing all vitality.
RUMBLE...
The ice shattered. The lightning was annihilated. The earth turned grey and lifeless.
"Demon Lord! Die!!"
At the critical moment, two more Ninth-Rank Knights charged out, joining the previous two to attack her from four directions.
"STILL NOT ENOUGH!!"
Clyris roared. She swung her sword in an impenetrable defense. Every flash of her blade brought a spray of blood from her attackers.
"Everyone together! Stop her!!"
A Grand Magus shouted, charging forward with his staff raised.
"Hahahaha... Just you few? You think you can stop me?!" Clyris hovered arrogantly in the air, laughing with utter disdain.
"Demon Lord! Don't be too rampant!!"
A knight shouted, raising his sword in anger.
"Then try me!"
Before her voice faded, she vanished.
She reappeared in the middle of the Alliance formation on the ground.
Against Ninth-Rankers, Clyris could dominate but not instantly kill. But against Seventh and Eighth-Rankers? One strike was all she needed.
Better to cut off one finger than hurt all ten. The Demon Race's most urgent need was to cull the Alliance's high-level officer corps.
"Ah!"
"Guh!"
"No..."
In the blink of an eye, several High-Rank Knights and Mages fell to her blade, drinking hatred in their final moments.
The six Ninth-Rankers realized her plan immediately. One Grand Magus shouted:
"No! Her target is the other High-Ranks!! She wants to cripple our command structure!!"
"Stop her!!"
"Hahaha! Too late!!"
The six Ninth-Rankers dove down, combining their strength to block Clyris, but the damage was done.
The Alliance formation, thrown into chaos by her rampage, was in disarray. Some tried to retreat, some tried to fight back, and many were simply confused by the conflicting orders.
Terrified by her slaughter, the soldiers began to flee to the sides, desperate to put distance between themselves and the Demon Lord.
This played right into her hands.
From the flanks, Gina and Lucas led their shock troops into the fray!
"KILL!!"
Without the Ninth-Rankers to hold the line, the disorganized Alliance troops crumbled before the charge of two Seventh-Rank Demon Commanders.
The demonic drill formations tore through the crowd repeatedly. Every pass brought a storm of blood. The earth trembled under iron hooves; lives vanished in the flare of mana.
"Stop it!!"
A Dwarven Ninth-Rank Knight, eyes splitting with rage, raised his war hammer to intercept the charge and save his men.
"Don't even think about it!"
Clyris intercepted him instantly. With a single overhead slash, she smashed him into the ground, burying him in a crater.
"Before you worry about them... worry about how you're going to survive me!"
One woman. One sword.
She stood on the earth, blocking the path, and looked down at the five remaining Ninth-Rankers with contempt.
Comments (1)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.