Part 1, Chapter 7: Light

"Those last few demon waves were really intense. Way too close for comfort, at least for me."

Jake began a conversation as they walked back to the support line in a defensive formation. Alfred and Jake were out front. Next came Barker behind them followed by Katrina and Kalelor in the middle. Tomas brought up the rear.

"Agreed, I do believe that this has been the most monsters we've ever fought at one time. Those demons were absolutely terrifying. It's the first time we've fought demons too."

"Your first time? We've come across them before, but never so many or so powerful." Tomas added, relieved to break the silence and his spiral into despair.

While they talked everyone was still on high alert, scanning the streets in front of them for hidden dangers.

"It's strange, even though the battles have left me mentally fatigued and drained of mana, I still feel oddly invigorated. As if my equipment is lighter, my mind sharper and my connection to the Gods strengthened." Alfred looked puzzled at his mace as he lifted it up and down a few times.

"I know what you mean," said Kalelor. "I've used up most of my mana yet I also strangely feel as if my mind has expanded. I feel certain that if I was to rest I would have a greater mana capacity than before. It feels like new spell pathways have also opened up to me."

"That's a sign that you have gotten more powerful." Tomas answered the unspoken question. "Difficult battles are one of the fastest ways that humans can improve themselves. Doing so repeatedly will break the limits of one's own subconscious. Continuously breaking those limits is how adventurers get so much more powerful than regular humans. There is a limit though. The limit of humanity. Only a few highly talented individuals have ever broken through this and ascended into the realm of heroes"

As a platinum-ranked Adventurer, Tomas had spoken often with higher-ranked adventurers who had more understanding of this process. As such he had developed a good understanding of the phenomenon of breaking through the limits of one's subconscious.

"Is that so.." Kalelor looked pensive. "I've felt this way before, but only after long hours of magical research and study. I had just assumed I was having a moment of enlightenment, like I had finally comprehended the research I had been doing. This ability of humans to improve themselves is intriguing.."

"I don't feel any different though." Jake interrupted looking anxious.

"You must be the only one then." Barker replied with a smug smile.

"It's a mysterious phenomenon this ability to break through your limit. It doesn't occur often and it might not happen at the same time for everyone in a group." Tomas responded.

"Oh.." Jake looked glum.

"Quiet!" Barker suddenly said and held up his right hand to stop the group.

They stopped where they were and listened intently, trying to hear what had caused Barker to react this way. It wasn't long before they heard footsteps and a strange scraping noise heading in their direction.

Kalelor looked around for a place to hide. They were in the middle of a wide street surrounded by tall buildings with shear walls. The nearest alley was 50 meters in front of them in the direction of the approaching footsteps.

"Shit. Looks like we have to take them on." Kalelor stated. "Get ready. Alfred, Tomas, you go to the front and confront the enemy head on."

They quickly checked their equipment and waited in a ready stance for the enemy to come around the corner.

"Shit! I'm out of healing potions. Kalelor do you have any left?" Alfred frantically whispered.

Kalelor had naturally been careful in the previous fights and still had one of the original three lesser healing potions left. Still, he was hesitant to hand over such a precious life-saving resource in such a critical situation. After a moment of thought Kalelor decided that his odds were better if Alfred could survive longer and continue to take beatings.

"You better not let them past you." he whispered as he reluctantly handed his final potion over to Alfred.

Not long after, they caught sight of the demons as they entered the main street. When they did they cursed their luck. A hulking bipedal demon that had arms as thick as Kalelor's waist and was about eight feet tall came around the corner with 5 Hellhounds.

The large demon had massive claws at the end of its arms and a lizard-like head. It's skin was green and ridged and looked as tough as thick leather. There appeared to be a hazy mist that was discharged from boils that continuously popped along its back.

"What type of demon is that?" Kalelor questioned. The demons had not noticed them yet.

"It looks like a Hezrou demon. They are a high B-class monster. It will be very difficult but it isn't impossible for us to kill it with this composition." Tomas answered his face grim. "We should try to escape if we can."

At Tomas' mention of the Hezrou demon, Alfred gave Kalelor a sharp look. Kalelor nodded. This was the demon that Momon had given them advise about!

Suddenly one of the Hellhounds let out a warning bark and the other demons all turned to face them.

"Looks like escape is no longer an option." Kalelor said urgently. "Katrina do you have a magic spell that enables one to hold their breath for a long time?"

"Yes. Why's that?"

"Quickly cast it on everyone. We need to take down those Hellhounds quickly and then focus on the big one."

As Katrina started casting the tier-1 spell [Unending Breath] on the members of the group, the Hellhounds started to run towards them. The Hezrou demon also began to slowly pick up speed as its run turned into an unstoppable charge.

"[Fury of the Winds]" Barker activated his martial art and started to shoot arrows rapidly at the approaching Hellhounds. He was able to take 3 down before they reached them.

Kalelor conserved his mana and didn't bother to cast any [Magic Arrow] spells.

The two remaining Hellhounds reached Alfred and Tomas 30 meters in front of the Hezrou demon and were quickly dispatched by them.

"[Mud Trap]!" Kalelor used his remaining mana to cast a spell that turned the area in front of Alfred and Tomas into wet loose mud. The Hezrou demon was at its maximum velocity when it saw the muddy bog appear and could do nothing to avoid it.

The Hezrou demon slipped in the mud and landed on its face as its momentum kept it sliding forward at high speed. The adventurers parted forming a channel as the demon's slide turned into a roll as it hit the regular pavement of the street and launched it past the adventurers.

Having lost the advantage of its charge the Hezrou demon roared, releasing a sprout of hazy mist as it recovered quickly.


"[Judgement of the Righteous]!" Alfred used his stun spell but the demon only grunted momentarily before shrugging it off. Alfred followed up with a swing of his mace aiming for its nose, however, the demon blocked it easily with the back of one monstrous hand.

The demon became enraged at Alfred and lashed out in a vicious swipe. The power behind the demon's claws was enough to easily rend steel, however, due to the [Holy Barrier] spell, Alfred's shield held up and only resulted in half the force of the blow being transmitted to Alfred. It still blew him back several steps however.

"Fucking demons! [Penetration]!" Tomas roared and activated his martial arts, preventing the demon from following up on Alfred as he let loose a flurry of attacks with his sword. Each cut leaving inch-deep slices in the demon's heavily muscled chest.

In response the Hezrou demon punched out a mighty fist towards Tomas.

"[Fortress]!"

Using martial arts, Tomas easily blocked the punch with his shield before following up with a piercing stab of his sword.

The demon grunted and lashed out with both claws. While Tomas was able to block one attack with his shield, he was unable to mitigate the other and took it on his armoured shoulder. The demon's claws easily pierced his armour, crippled his sword arm and sent him flying.

"[Furious Charge]!"

Alfred shoulder charged the demon knocking it back a step and away from Tomas, preventing its deadly following up. Alfred took up the attack while Katrina healed Tomas.

Alfred dodged most of the demon's swipes, parrying the others with his mace and shield. He was able to take a few hits directly on his shield when he got in trouble but doing so would bruise his shoulder and cause him to grunt in pain.

The demon was very quick though and some of its attacks got through. Alfred was a skilled defender, however, and was able to use his armour to mitigate most of the force. Yet the fact remained, Alfred was taking on damage too fast.

Alfred could hear Jake on the other side of the demon, attacking its flank. Feeling that the demon was about to turn and deal with Jake, Alfred released a barrage of attacks, aiming indiscriminately. He let the spell enchantment on his mace provoke the demon to focus its attacks on him.


Barker had fired several arrows at the Hezrou demon but they had all harmlessly bounced off its thick hide.

"Goddammit!"

Barker swore as he frantically tried to think of a method of harming the demon. His equipment wasn't of high enough quality to hurt it. He could use the martial art [Piercing Flight], but he was already greatly fatigued and didn't have enough concentration to use it. Poison then? Barker had many poisons on hand that could affect strong enemies. They were quite potent against humans and similar sized monsters but they would be ineffective against the hulking demon. They were also very expensive and Barker hesitated to use them here.

Bah! I'll have to use Winter's Embrace! Barker considered an expensive but powerful paralysis poison that would render a normal human completely paralysed in seconds. Against such a large demon, the most that he could hope for was to slow it down and make it sluggish.

"Kalelor! I'm going to use paralysis poison on my next arrow. But I need you to enchant it so that it will pierce the demon's flesh."

Kalelor looked away from the desperate struggle with the demon that Jake and Alfred were engaged in. He looked exhausted and wasn't doing much at the moment, except meditating to try and recover some MP.

"Hmm? A piercing enchantment? Let me try, I might just have enough mana left." Kalelor replied tiredly.

Barker handed him the sharpest arrow he had left and watched as Kalelor began casting the enchantment. Kalelor covered the arrow with his hand and began an incantation; intricate glowing circles appeared above his hand that caused the arrowhead to softly glow with pale blue light.

Kalelor stumbled back and dropped to one knee.

"It's done. Good luck!" Kalelor said as he passed the arrow back to Barker.

"Alright, thank you!"

Barker quickly put on some soft leather gloves and carefully applied Winter's Embrace liberally to the enchanted arrowhead with a small brush. Afterwards he put the poison and gloves back into his pouch and notched the arrow.

"Tomas! I need an open shot to its chest." Barker called out to Tomas as Katrina finished healing him.

Tomas rolled his shoulder, testing its movement as he looked over wearily, before nodding.

"I'll get that opening for you. Just don't miss!"

Glaring at the demon and aiming just below its left shoulder Barker waited for Tomas. Using a martial art that caused a yellow glow to appear around his shield, Tomas charged the demon and managed to shield bash it in the side of the head temporarily stunning it. With the demon protecting his head with both arms, Barker used the opportunity given to him by Tomas to fire his arrow.

*Thunk!*

"Yes!"

Barker exclaimed after watching the arrow slightly pierce the demon's flesh. The demon, however, simply brushed it away with its hand and seemed unaffected. Kalelor shot Barker a glare.

"Arr.. Well hopefully the poison takes effect." Barker rubbed the back of his head as he stood back. There was nothing more he could do in this fight. It was up to the others now.


Jake slashed at the demon's legs from behind trying to cripple its movement. Despite his efforts he had been unable to inflict serious damage on the demon up till now. The demon's skin was too thick and tough and his sword had been too blunted in the previous battles.

The demon had recently started to slow down and its movements became sluggish. Although Jake could land more attacks, they were still ineffective. Alfred and Tomas were nearing their limit and wouldn't last much longer. Katrina and Kalelor were completely out of mana. The adventurers could't fight for much longer, the demon had them beat in terms of endurance. This fight had to end now and it looked like he was the only one in a position to impact this fight. He had to step up.

Jake gritted his teeth and activated several martial arts in a row.

"[Evasion], [Agility Boost], [Focus Battle Aura]!"

Jake used all three of the martial arts that he knew. He had originally focussed on martial arts like Evasion and Agility Boost which increased his muscles' power and response time. With extended practice he could use them easily without experiencing too much mental fatigue.

The latest martial art he had learned was Focus Battle Aura. It enabled him to focus killing intent around his sword, greatly increasing its sharpness and damage, becoming equivalent to a magic attacks. This martial art was his trump card and he would only use it in emergencies because it consumed a large amount of concentration and greatly fatigued him, even giving him an intense migraine after using it.

Knowing that this was one such emergency, Jake didn't hesitate to use it now. Feeling himself become slightly woozy after using his martial arts, Jake slashed again at the demon's leg. This time the demon's flesh parted easily and the red aura that surrounded Jake's longsword cut deeply into the demon's leg.

As Jake crippled the demon, it howled and fell to one knee. In a spur of the moment decision, Jake used all of his enhanced agility and power to do a running leap, jumping towards the Hezrou demon's back. Avoiding the protruding spikes, Jake managed to kick off the demon's back and launch himself further up onto its shoulders.

Standing on the demon's massive hunched shoulders with a leg on either side of its head, Jake fought to balance himself. The demon thrashed wildly trying to dislodge him.

Both Alfred and Tomas reacted desperately as they saw Jake appear on the demon's back, quickly grabbing onto one of the demons arms each. They then put all of their effort into trying to hold it down, however, they wouldn't be able to do so for long, at most a few seconds.

Jake had to be quick. He reversed the grip on his longsword and using both hands lifted it high above his head before bringing it down with all of his power. Aiming for the nape of the demon's neck, Jake plunged his sword deep into the demon, severing its spinal cord.

Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, the demon collapsed.


Kalelor sighed in relief as the demon fell. He hadn't been able to do much in the battle due to his low MP. Magic casters were much more powerful than melee fighters in general but relied heavily on their mana. Once it was gone they were pretty much useless.

"Jake, well done for landing the killing blow!" Kalelor praised.

"Thanks," huffed Jake, finally able to breathe. After taking a few breaths he vomited and looking pale put several meters between him and the Hezrou demon's stench. "I think I felt that limit thing break after I killed it too!" Jake panted, holding his forehead in his hand and appearing like he was in pain.

"Fuck that was close. You guys work well together." Tomas said tiredly.

"You fight well yourself, Tomas. And we wouldn't have survived without Katrina's healing." Alfred added.

"Thank you for your kind words Alfred, but I didn't do much." Katrina said, bowing to him.

"Now is not the time for ass kissing." Barker interrupted which caused Alfred to frown and Katrina to blush. "We don't know if there are more of these demons around. We should leave as soon as possible."

"Before that, Barker can I borrow your sword?" Jake pointed behind him to his longsword that was still embedded in the fallen Hezrou demon. "Mine's useless now."

Barker didn't move and just glared at Jake silently.

"Barker give Jake your sword. He'll make better use of it then you will."

Barker turned and gave a long look at Kalelor before averting his eyes and handing Jake his longsword reluctantly. Barker seemed to mutter something under his breath but no one heard it.

"Okay.." Kalelor continued, trying to dispel the tension. "Let's head out quickly. I don't want to be ambu.. Wait.. Do you hear that?"

A loud rhythmic beating noise was coming towards them.

"It sounds like.. Marching?" Barker said puzzled, quickly losing his previous sullenness.

"More demons?" Jake screwed up his face and said.

"No.. I don't think so. I think that's people moving in plate armour. Could they be knights?" Alfred suggested.

"What would knights be doing here?" questioned Jake.

His question went unanswered as they waited a good distance away from the fallen demon.

They eventually saw the glow from many torches approaching. A line of hundreds of armoured knights came into sight, marching with halberds bristling outwards. In the centre was a group of powerful looking warriors.

Morning Star and the remaining members of Snake Suits stood by as the knights smoothly made a gap in their line and marched past them. A powerful looking armoured man stepped out from the center and approached them. He screwed up his nose as he came closer to the foul smelling carcass of the defeated demon.

"Congratulations on defeating that demon. I'm the Warrior Captain of the Kingdom, Gazeff Stronoff. Can you tell me anything about the situation at the frontline?"

The exhausted adventurers looked at each other before Kalelor stepped forward.

"It's good to see you Warrior Captain. The situation is dire. The group we left are severely pressed at the frontline and won't be able to continue for long. The fighting is so intense we had to retreat. We ran into this demon on the way back."

"I see. The king will not sit idly while his Capital is attacked. We march to confront this demon menace and to assist the adventurers on the frontline. I know you were retreating but will you lend us your strength one last time?"

Kalelor looked behind him, meeting the eyes of each of the adventurers in his group and took a silent vote. Jake looked excited by the Warrior Captain's appearance and nodded tiredly. Alfred gave a firm nod. Barker shook his head and scrowled. Tomas looked determined and nodded as well. Katrina was indecisive and shrugged.

"Aye." Kalelor said with a look of resignation. "We'll follow behind and help out where we can. But my team is exhausted, so don't expect too much."

Gazeff smiled and gave a nod. "Whatever you can manage is fine. Don't worry, we will defeat this demon threat!"

With that Gazeff turned around and resumed his place at the head of the group leading the line of knights.

"Into the fire once again." sighed Kalelor. Still.. At least now we can get that bonus 50 gold coins! Kalelor gave a slight smile as he and his group started to follow behind the knights.


It took a further 15 minutes for the knights to slowly march their way to the front line. During that time Kalelor and Katrina remained silent as they focussed on recovering their mana.

The 4 prongs of the adventurers' line had converged onto a large plaza at the center of the warehouse district and were currently battling a huge demon army. Each of the 4 prongs stood alone, small islands of light surrounded by a dark demon horde. Seeing this, Kalelor was filled with despair.

The knights too were also shocked at the number of demons, however, Gazeff gave a battlecry and they immediately charged forward with great vigour. The impact of a charge of hundreds of armoured knights could not be understated. They bulldozed their way through the first 20 meters of the demon horde. They used their halberds to hack and stab at the remained demons separating them from the adventurer teams. Hundreds of lesser demons fell quickly to their relentless onslaught.

The adventurers cheered as the knights secured their flanks and with renewed hope faced the demons in front, no longer so heavily outnumbered.

With the Kingdom's knights filling in the gaps between the 4 adventurer' prongs, the humans started to push back against the demon army and slowly advanced.

With the numbers from the knights, the battle was much easier for the members of Morning Star and Snake Suits. They only had to take on a few of the lesser demons at a time and defend against some of the more powerful demons while the knights would overwhelm them.

There were plenty of powerful demons left, however, and as they pushed forward the knights and adventurers encountered ever more of them which stalled their advance. One particularly powerful demon appeared at the center of the demon army and confronted the Warrior Captain and the members of Blue Rose.

Other weaker, yet still powerful demons began to smash apart the knights battle line with contemptuous ease. It wasn't long before the adventurers had spread out along the whole width of the battle line and helped the knights confront these powerful threats.

Even with the individual power of the adventurers and the numbers of the knights, the humans still fought a pitched, desperate battle with the two sides locked in an intense melee. The outcome of which, hinged on a knife's edge.

And despite the fierce battle, where many adventurers and knights gave there life, everyone knew that it was only a distraction. The outcome of this battle would hold no significance if Momon the black, failed to defeat the demon lord, Jaldabaoth.


Kalelor was exhausted.

He had been fighting for the last 20 minutes and could do little more than stand and lean on his staff as he watched the battle continue in front of him. He had retreated to safety behind the knight's thinning line. I've got to get myself a magic staff if I survive this battle! Kalelor thought to himself.

Magic staves were incredibly expensive but they allowed the magic caster to channel their magical power through their staff and use one spell at a significantly reduced mana cost. They were perfect for long battles. There were even some rumours that certain staves could amplify the power of all spells channelled through them.

Kalelor looked up at the sky and noticed that it was beginning to lighten. He sighed and wondered how much longer this could go on.

Suddenly, he saw two distant figures clash in the sky at ultra high speed. After exchanging a flurry of blows that appeared like an indistinct blur to Kalelor, the smaller of the two figures was knocked from the sky. Kalelor tried to follow its descent but even from this distance the speed was too great. He felt a tremor through the ground at about the time the figure would have landed and was dumbstruck by the power of the battle he had just caught a glimpse of. That must be Momon and Jaldabaoth!

Several more tremors and loud crashes occurred in the direction of the colossal battle. The surrounding knights and adventurers were all amazed as they felt tremors through the ground that coincided with dull thumps in the distance. It could only be from the fierce battle between the adamantite-ranked adventurer, Momon, and the demon, Jaldabaoth.

After a time the tremors stopped. Soon after Kalelor noticed that the more powerful demons were all retreating rapidly to one of the warehouses in the distance. With the retreat of the powerful demons the lesser demons could not stand up to the combined might of the knights and adventurers and were quickly scythed apart. Noticing this turn in the flow of battle the adventurers and knights gave a tired cheer and renewed their efforts for one more burst.

Kalelor walked forward eagerly with the surviving knights and adventurers as they converged towards the back end of the huge central plaza.

In front of him was a battlefield that looked absolutely devastated. The flagstones were scorched and cracked where they were still intact. There were several deep impact craters and long lines of crushed stone. There was even a large pit of sand. The buildings on either side of the plaza had either collapsed outright or were pitted with spell damage, scorch marks and even large impact holes.

Standing majestically in the middle of all this with his dark armour badly damaged and a woman on either side, was Momon, the dark hero.

The air was charged with tension as Kalelor and the others approached him and waited expectantly for Momon to lead the victory cheer.

Why is he waiting? Kalelor thought to himself puzzled, as the moment dragged on.

Suddenly, as the morning sun rose over the horizon and bathed everything in a red golden glow, Momon thrust his sword towards the sky and let out a mighty victory cry.

Kalelor was absolutely overwhelmed by Momon's poetic gesture and shed a tear as he too shouted in celebration, chanting Momon's name. Kalelor was not just happy to be alive, but also to be a part of such a lucrative, historic moment.


A/N: That's the end of Part 1! Thank you to everyone who's read this with special thanks to those who reviewed, your feedback is always welcome.