...Disaster Strikes...
Aristus wandered the streets of the capital, he was in the middle of performing his daily patrol. It was a part of his everyday routine to go out into the city to look for criminals to fight. Unlike other heroes he cared about the little guy and knew that while the Demon King and his army were a large threat, those who harassed the commoners, mostly those criminals and those small time thieves, were the real threat to the nation. It'd been clear to him that it was an issue the guards weren't able to solve alone, that's why he wasn't surprised when they essentially gave him free range to hunt through the city looking for them. With him was his trained wolf pack of six wolves: Lupus, Rex, Canis, Violet, Gabriel and Kent. All of them were loyal and smart, easily capable of picking out the intentions of any person they found in their way. They were able to pick up on distress and able to locate their enemies, meaning that it was possible for them to single out any person from a crowd of people.
He scratched Gabriel behind the ears. Personally he still wondered what had happened to that adventurer he'd taught his Subjugation skill to. He'd set off on a quest to subjugate a Griffin and a Manticore. One alone was a tough task, but both of them? It was practically impossible, not to mention dangerous to him and to anyone he brought with him. But who knows, maybe he succeeded. He'd be interested in seeing a Griffin up close so he could only hope that by some manner of effort he'd succeeded. But besides all of that he just hoped that he survived the encounter. That man was different from other heroes, certainly a lot more hard working than those that had actual cheat abilities. Seeing those people made him sick to his stomach. They were praised by other people because of what they did, but what effort did they really put in towards 'saving' them? All that they do is kill a few monsters when they show up, take everyone's tax money as a reward and laze around until the next ones come around.
Not to mention he had his own negative experiences with those "heroes" in the past. It was when he was still young and his village was under attack by the Demon King. One of those "heroes" came in and fought them, causing an ungodly amount of damage to the village in the process. Then, after that, he ended up extorting all of the villagers of all their money, only for them to later pay the same man a reward for the same act. Seeing that happen made him sick, just remembering it was awful. But he had one bright fact to hold on to. And what was that? The fact that that man was dead now, killed as a result of his own hubris. A fitting end. It's not like all of them were bad people though, it's just that there were certainly more bad ones than good. But one fact of the matter was that if they really were heroes on a quest to defeat the Demon King, then the Demon King would be dead by now. Unfortunately he isn't, which meant that people like him had to suffer because of it for years. Who knows, maybe that would change sometime soon. Gabriel lifted his head and pointed his nose forward, sniffing the air. "What is it boy? You smell something?" When he jumped up, barked and ran off. The other wolves barked and chased after him, Aristus did the same and followed them. They tore through alleyways, markets, public squares and landed in the middle of one of the main streets.
When he caught up to his wolves he found them surrounding a woman dressed with black hair and dressed in priestly attire."Hey, what are you guys doing? Knock it off." He shooed them away from the woman, how could they have messed up so badly? It was the first time they'd gone after a Priest, especially one so kind looking. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know why they chose to go after you. They usually don't go crazy like this."
"Oh it's fine, I like dogs anyway," she crouched down and put out a hand towards one of his wolves, they growled in response.
"Easy boy…" He shook his head, "Really, I don't know what's gotten into them."
"Don't worry, like I said it's fine." She tilted her head and stood up, "What's your name?"
"My name is Aristus, you?"
"Ah, no wonder you have these wolves! I've heard of you. My name is Serana." They shook hands, his wolves were still growling with their eyes focused on Serana. It really was strange, they only acted this kind of way when they picked up someone with a malevolent aura. But he didn't see anything wrong with her, she was just a simple Priest. "Why don't we walk together? We can talk as we go."
"Sure, I wouldn't mind," and she slipped her arm under his and they began to walk, his wolves following them and still cautiously watching the woman.
"It must be hard fighting the Demon King alone."
"I'm not alone, I have my pups," he motioned back to his wolves with his free hand, they were still following.
"Ah, you're right. But you don't have any party members or anyone like that, it's a big difference compared to the other heroes in this city."
"I'd rather not be compared to the 'heroes' here in the capital, a good portion of them make me sick."
"Oh?" She said curiously, "Why's that?"
"They don't really care about fighting the Demon King or the real threats that are posed against both the people of this country or even this city."
"Real threats? Don't you consider the Demon King to be the greatest threat there is?"
"The largest threat is all the petty criminals that are ignored because of the attacks and battles with the Demon King, they get away with everything and the people of it."
"I suppose you are right in a way," she was silent for a moment, "You know, I don't think what those 'heroes' do is right either, just for a different reason."
"What would that reason be?"
"The Demon King is not who many truly believe him to be."
"Oh?" Now he raised an eyebrow, curious. "And what might his true form be?"
"He is that of a young girl, cursed by others to become the monster she is now. However with time the curse will disappear, making it needless to throw lives into the wind in a fight that will ultimately end by itself. All the negative rumors spread about the Demon King are the influence of the Crimson Demons and the Axis Cult, two groups of crazies in this world. Were it not for their actions and words there would be no war to begin with."
"I can see why that might make you think heroes aren't right, but even with that wouldn't it still make sense to fight the attacks? Personally responsible or not, and being aware of his own actions or not, people will still die from the attacks. Someone has to defend against them."
"That might be true to someone like you, but not to me as a Priest. While I might carry a mace at my side I don't truly believe in violence as a means of solving an issue. I believe that it might be entirely possible to negotiate and peaceful end to the conflict, then allow her to simply become her true form once the curse runs out."
"I'm not so sure about that," she seemed confused, "Too many people peg their lives on the conflict, where it be fighting in it or producing for it. They wouldn't let it just end all of a sudden. And I doubt you could convince any of the 'heroes' to join any sort of negotiations, they believe they're on a quest set for them by the gods to take down the Demon King. Even if they laze around all day they still hold onto that idea and won't budge from it."
"That certainly is a negative way to look at it. Maybe if I talked to those heroes I could be able to convince them of otherwise, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try."
"It'd be a fruitless effort," his wolves kept growling. It was a low growl, something felt off. The few times they were wrong about something they usually changed their stance quickly, but they hadn't changed at all. They were still as aggressive in attempting to pursue this woman as earlier.
"Still, I would like to try. Could you guide me to the Hero Bar? I would like to speak with some of the people there."
"I suppose I could." He led her down the road towards the bar. An ever more anxious feeling was growing in his mind, he needed to test this woman. "Why don't we take a shortcut? We'll be able to get there faster."
"I wouldn't mind that at all." He wasn't planning to take a shortcut however, he was planning to corner her. He walked off of the main road with her and into an alleyway off to the side, "Why did you stop?"
"Who are you really?" He looked her dead in the eyes, their arms still interlocked. Because of the way they were positioned her mace was blocked by his body, meaning that her only means of fighting, if she truly was some sort of enemy, was cut off. But if she really was a Priest then she wouldn't fight.
"What do you mean? I'm just a Priest, I don't like-"
"If you're a Priest then what sect do you follow?"
"Oh my Goddess is an obscure one, I don't think you'd know who she is."
"I'm actually quite educated, even if I came from a family of commoners. You can test my knowledge."
"Really, this is too sudden and aggressive. Is it really right to treat a Priest like this? No less a female Priest?"
"That is if you're even a Priest, for all I know you could have killed one and stolen her clothes. I want to know who you really are."
"This is just-" He stepped on her foot, to pressure her into actually answering. That was when he felt a pain about twice as hard in his own foot, causing him to jolt back reflexively and let go of her. The kind look she had before was gone, replaced with a serious expression. "You shouldn't have done that."
Obscure Goddess? Priest? Damage reflection? "You're a worshipper of the Dark Goddess Regina. You're the General of the Demon King's army, the only human in it, Seresdina."
"You're a smart one, aren't you? Death!" She chanted a curse at him, but Rex leapt into the air and was struck by it. His pup fell to the stone ground dead.
"No!" He pulled out his halberd and prepared to fight, his wolves swarming around the woman. Each one attacked her but ended up falling back and whimpering in pain, any damage that they did to her was reflected back towards them. It would be the same for him. He just needed to do enough damage to render her unconcious, then have his pups go find someone that could keep her incapacitated until she was brought to a place where she could be dealt with.
She unslung her mace from her side, "I didn't lie about not enjoying fighting directly, I prefer to manipulate things in my favor."
"As expected of a follower of the Dark Goddess of Manipulation," he thrust forward with his halberd towards Seresdina. He first blows missed, but he managed to score a strike across her chest. He felt the pain reflected towards himself, a sharp pain shooting across his chest.
He fell to one knee holding the spot with the pain, "You may know what I am, but you certainly don't know how to fight me. Death!" She chanted the same curse again, this time Lupus jumped up to save him from his death.
"You bitch!" He swiped across her feet with his halberd, knocking her off of them and onto the cold ground. He fell too, completely losing his balance from the strike. This was absolutely not good. Because they were in an alleyway and not the main road there was very little room to work with and move around, one wrong step and he could easily end up straight in her line of sight and be provided an instant death because of her curse. He knocked over a stack of barrels to give himself some cover, at the same time seeing if he could try and get one to hit her. None of them hit her, but he was provided with a someway half-decent wall to block her from him.
Another one of his pups jumped over the barrels. "Death!" Canis fell.
He kicked a barrel with his legs, sending it to hit this woman. It rolled past her, but it distracted her enough to allow him to come closer. He attacked again with his halberd, cutting across her arms and legs with blood visibly coming out. The pain and damage again was reflecting towards himself. He was barely able to stand up, only able to do so because of the pain tolerance he'd built over the years. With a solid thrust me embedded his halberd into her right thigh, she let out a squeal as they both tumbled back. He pulled it out, "Death!" She cast her curse again, this time it was Violet. He only had two of his pups left, and he wouldn't let her kill them. He slashed at her, cutting her all over her body. The amount of pain he felt was absurd, but she slumped against the wall. She looked unconscious. He himself could barely stay conscious, but he had to get the message out. He motioned for Gabriel to come over towards him, but the wolf froze. "Death!" Kent fell.
"Gabriel, run! As quickly as you can, find Six!" His last pup sprinted off at top speeds, leaving the alleyway.
"Heal!" Seresdina healed all of the wounds on her body and stood up, "You know I didn't expect this to happen, but it'll work just as well."
"Just kill me already…"
"No no no, we're going to do the opposite. You're going to kill me."
"What…?"
"Because I follow the Dark Goddess Regina I have a death curse on me, a rather large one at that. So if I'm killed all of those around me will die too. And what better place to do it than in the capital? No less, right in the middle of all the cheat heroes?" No! How couldn't he have seen it?! She leaned over him and placed a hand on his face, caressing his cheek. "Don't worry, it'll all be over soon," she whispered words into his ear.
"You can speak wolf?" Aqua asked Everest.
"That's besides the point!" Aurdel shouted at her.
"Unfortunately the prediction relayed by this wolf is correct. The capital was wiped out in a single blow," Rain looked over towards the tear-eyed Darkness who was holding the crying Sylphina. "All the heroes in the city died. All the nobles were called to the city too, by a well crafted invitation, and those that showed up were also killed when the death curse was activated. That includes the head of the house of Dustiness and several of its members."
"How were you able to escape the range of the death curse?" He asked.
"I and Lady Claire were pursuing the Princess outside of its range, she'd broken out of the castle by herself to search for you. So in a way the boldness you taught her saved her life, so I must thank you for that."
"It's not something I should really take credit for. But where is she now?"
"Currently she's outside the capital with Claire and the Knights she's managed to gather, they're currently fighting off an army the Demon King sent right after to take the capital. Currently the battle is at a stalemate, even with the Princess' power as you know."
"Right…" Six was currently holding Gabriel in his hands, sitting on their couch. Next to him was Anatalia who gently stroked the wolf's pelt, Saria at her side. "When did this all happen?"
"About six days ago."
"Six days ago…?" Six days ago they were still in Siberas looking for Anatalia's sister. But that day specifically was the day he'd fallen unconscious. Was it a coincidence? Could he have blacked out because of it? It couldn't be, how could he feel the effects of a death curse a continent away?
"So currently I am at the behest of the Princess, she is requesting that you come to the capital to provide aid and support in turning the tide of the battle as it is." He shut his eyes, this was the tipping point over everything. That battle was where it all hinged. Either they would win and they would be able to drive back the Demon King, then from there they assault his castle and defeat him once and for all. Or there they would be defeated and the Demon King would have free reign to conquer everything as pleased. It wasn't a battle he could back down from. But it wasn't a battle he was prepared for either.
"I will help her, but I can't leave now. There are still things that I have to get ready if we're going to go and help turn this around."
"Then what should I tell the Princess?"
"That I will come, and I will make sure that the battle is won. But until I do she needs to stay alive and keep them at bay, at least for two days?"
"I'm not sure if we'll be able to hold them for two days, but we will try what we can."
"Thank you," with that Rain teleported away.
"Aurdel, what are we going to do?" Yunyun asked.
"We're going to fight, and we're going to take down the Demon King. No matter what it takes. But before we do that we need to prepare."
"We'll do anything Aurdel, anything," she said determined, coming close.
"Yunyun, I need you to go to the Crimson Demon village. I want you to go around and rally everyone, find those willing to participate in a fight in a head on assault against the Demon King's forces." She nodded, "Megumin, you can go with her. It's probably best to see everyone there before anything happens." She nodded to that too. He looked over towards Darkness who was still with Sylphina, he wouldn't bother them now. "Aqua, as much as I don't want to do this, I need you to go to Alcanretia and see if you can rally your Axis Cult into a fight against the Demon King. Even if they're all a bunch of weirdos they still have a bunch of priests."
"Don't call my children weirdos!" She shouted back, but she still got his point.
"Six, Anatalia, I want you to rally the adventurers here and prepare them for a fight. Make sure you get Dust specifically, he'll have an important piece to attacking the Demon King's castle." Once he was done doling out everyone's jobs they went on their way, every piece was important in what would happen. After that there were only a few of them left in the mansion.
"I… I can't believe all of this happened," Wiz said, sitting down on one of the chairs. "It's all so awful. For so many innocents to die so needlessly is just cruel the party of the Demon King."
"I suppose they call him the Demon King for a reason," he sat down next to her.
"I can't stand by anymore and allow this to continue. Aurdel, I"m going to help you fight the Demon King."
"But Wiz, aren't you a General?"
"I may be, but he told me that no innocents would die. That was clearly a lie to me, one that I won't forgive."
For the next two days, Aurdel worked tirelessly and without end. The work that he put in now was vital to the success of this next battle, one they could not be permitted to lose. The first thing that he did was mount the weapon that he'd taken from the Crimson Demon village and mount it onto the warthog he'd built from scratch. With the way it was mounted it could essentially be refilled with mana and used by even those not strong enough to lift it by themselves. He made sure to put extra plating on the vehicle and reinforced the glass, providing some extra cover for those driving and in the passenger seats. Unfortunately while he would have liked to essentially build a concealing box to fit around the weapon on the back, he didn't have the time to do so. He wouldn't bring the Warthog into this first battle, but when they fought at the castle then he would make sure to take it with them.
Next was their weapons. With more and better equipment available to him Aurdel was able to much better upgrade his sword, allowing it to become a truly honed high frequency blade that could cut through damn near anything. He would've done the same upgrades to Darkness' sword but knowing how well she hit she would probably end up killing herself and more allies than the enemies with it. But he also crafted a large amount of daggers, essentially providing Anatalia with a stockpile to use during the battle. Each one was carefully made to be as deadly as possible, with him even giving her a toxin he had to apply to the blades to more effectively kill with them. For Megumin and Yunyun's wand and staff, it took more time than the other weapons to upgrade. He didn't particularly understand how magic worked completely, but with a general few principles he learned through trial and error he was able to do it. He increased the effectiveness and efficiency of both their weapons, though really only Yunyun would see that as her magic didn't completely drain all of her mana with one use.
But it's not like he was only going to have them use their own weapons. No, he was coming fully prepared for this battle. After careful consideration he figured out what weapons he would be given them from his stockpile. For Anatalia he would be giving her an SRS, she was most likely to be the most effective at long range. For Yunyun he would be giving her a BR55, a well balanced rifle that could do an effective job at most ranges. Megumin would be getting an M319 Grenade Launcher for obvious reasons, though he would have to make sure she has enough mana to even stand up so she can use it after her Explosion. Darkness and Aqua wouldn't be getting anything for obvious reasons. He'd originally considered giving Darkness an M90 Shotgun, but gunning down allies en masse by accident wasn't on the top of his priority list. And Aqua? Well, Aqua was Aqua. She was an Archpriest and technically not supposed to fight, but it was more that he didn't trust her with anything more deadly than a pointy stick.
Besides that was their armor and clothing. With their measurements and spare sets of their gear, he was able to develop new gear for them. For starters, as much as Darkness prided herself on Adamantite being the toughest material around titanium was much stronger, so he'd essentially redone her armor with a titanium-ceramic composite that was typically used for the armor ODSTs wore. For Megumin, Yunyun and Wiz it was more of adding lightweight ballistic resistant materials to their clothes, making sure that it covered their body entirely and didn't leave any room for failure due to exposure. For Aqua he really wasn't able to do anything, as he found out that she somehow wore the same outfit every day and that was it. So because she wasn't there, and probably wouldn't be willing to take it off for him, he couldn't do anything. And for Anatalia added some armor to the areas of her outfit that covered her most vital areas, also making sure to provide some sort of camo to her gear for when she would begin to use the SRS.
But he also made what was essentially a battle harness for Everest, as she would be the toughest out of them all and bound to do the most damage but would be targeted by the most enemies as a result. Then there was the gear he'd made for himself. What he was going for was a specific kind of look, that of one similar to superheroes from the stories of old. It was a bold set of red, white and blue clothing with gold trim, layered on top of a set of the best armor he could make for himself. Looking in the mirror he found that he was missing something, something to complete the look. He draped a red cape around his shoulders, it was perfect now. While not exactly ideal for fighting in, he was using it for a greater purpose. Rain knocked on the door of the mansion, he opened it. From the entrance she was able to see them all geared up, ready for battle. She herself looked worried and unsure, probably because of how the battle itself was going. "Are you all ready?"
"We're ready," they responded. Sylphina and Saria would be staying with the guild administration while they were away, they didn't want to risk them on the battlefield.
"Teleport!"
...Beginning of the End...
With Rain's spell they appeared on the edge of the battlefield outside the capital. It was a horrific sight to behold. There was an untold amount of damage done due to all of the fighting, destruction existing all over. The sky was a fiery red and fires burned all over, the grass hills around the capital having mostly charred away since then and large craters dotting the area from the use of magic. The city itself has sustained some damage as well, as while everyone in it had died at once at the same time some fighting had occurred inside when the Demon King's army attempted to capture it. There were holes in the walls and smoke rising from several buildings inside it, from here he was even able to see the damage done to the royal palace. But most important was the army in front of them, the largest formation of troops assembled by the Demon King anyone had seen yet. Even without being up close he could tell the fighting was extremely fierce.
Judging from the lightning strikes he heard and saw off in the distance, deep in the enemy lines, he could tell where Iris was. She was more likely than not with Claire fighting against whoever was leading this army. Given the fact that Wiz was with them here and that they defeated every other Demon King general, that meant the one leading this army was the Demon King's daughter. She was said to be the strongest of all the Generals, which made him unsure as to how exactly that fight involving Iris would go. Regardless, he would win this battle. "Do all of you remember how to use the weapons I've given you?" They nodded. Megumin with one hand held her staff and the grenade launcher with her other, Yunyun slid her wand into the underbarrel position of her Battle Rifle and Anatalia pulled back the bolt on the Sniper Rifle. Meanwhile Wiz, Everest, Darkness, Aqua and Six stood ready. Since Rain would assist them in assaulting the lines that made ten one of them. Taking the fight to the Demon King would be no issue. "Then let's do this. Megumin, give them our opening gift!"
"You got it! Explosion!" Powered up by mana he'd given her she launched a powerful Explosion into the middle of the battlefield, obliterating a good amount of the enemy with a blast that rivaled a small nuclear weapon.
With that the fighting stopped, all looked up to face them. Aurdel transferred a small portion of mana to Megumin to make sure she could stand again. Then he stood tall, "Soldiers of humanity, the end of the Demon King and his army draws near! Today is the beginning of a new era! So attack your enemy and throw them back! Throw them into the depths of hell from which they came!" He thrust the sword he held in his right hand into the air, holding an M90 shotgun in his left hand. There was a thunderous cheer from the men on the field, the fighting began again. He charged straight down the hill with his party, the only person really able to keep up with him being Six. The troops at the bottom of the hill parted ways for them as they approached, allowing them to crash straight into and through the enemy lines. With his M90 Aurdel blew away easily over a dozen enemies with just a few rounds, Six taking down many with bursts of rounds from his MA37. When they ran out of ammo for their initial clips they switched to their close quarters weapons, Aurdel cleaving through groups of Undead and Demons as they charged through. Behind him he could hear the sounds of clashing steel, but over it the sound of gunfire from his comrades. Just as he expected they performed well. Anatalia picked her targets carefully and fired, making sure the round would overpenetrate the first target and hit whoever was behind them. She was a natural at it. Megumin seemed to be enjoying her grenade launcher too much, obliterating groups of enemies with 40mm grenades.
Yunyun cut through swathes of enemies, using Light of Saber while her want was still on the Battle Rifle and firing at the same time. Wiz froze large groups of enemies and dropped them into Bottomless Swamps, driving herself with the anger of all that had happened here at the capital. Darkness charged into the enemy lines and occupied the Demons and Undead that came her way, allowing Knights to attack them while they were preoccupied with her. Aqua purified all the Undead she could find, aside from Wiz due to specific instructions from with, and used God Blow on the Demons, there was a surprising amount of effort that she was putting in. But that effort was probably because her goal of going back to heaven was practically within sight and she didn't want to lose that. And finally, Everest tore through the lines. She stampeded through Demons and Undead more effectively than even he thought she would, crushing them beneath her talons and tearing them apart with her beak. Within a matter of moments they'd already turned the tide of this battle completely.
He and Six kept driving forward, the numbers of Demons and Undead unable to hold them back. "I'll go help the Princess, you go make sure the rest of these guys get dealt with."
"Got it sir," the two of them split up. Aurdel took a period of brevity to reload his shotgun, going back to blasting the Demons and Undead in front of him. No matter how powerful these enemies were or how strong magic was, nothing could stand up to a face full of buckshot. Eventually he closed in on Iris' and Claire's position, they now stood in the midst of a large amount of the Demon King's forces, going back and forth against the daughter of the Demon King.
"Sacred Lightning Blare!" Iris attempted to hit her with one of her skills, but it missed and instead wiped out a crowd of Demons and Undead that'd been behind her. Claire leapt towards the General and clashed blades, sparks flying between them and they fought one another.
"I heard you needed help, so I decided that I'd drop by."
"Aurdel!" Iris shouted, stopped to look at him. Claire looked at him at a moment before moving aside, allowing him to push his way forward into the fight against the Demon King's daughter. He towered over her and put pressure on her. While she was strong, she wasn't strong enough to hold him back. Her footing slipped and her sword began to crack, she attempted to recover by trying to hit him with a flurry of attacks. Each one came back into contact with his blade, being stopped by his completely rigid defense. Then with one solid and perfect strike he cut through her blade down the center, cutting all the way down to the handle. As she held the broken weapon dumbfounded he slapped her back with his left hand.
"Iris, hit me with your lightning!"
"Sacred Lightning Blare!" He used his sword to catch the lightning and arc'd it back towards the Demon King's daughter, getting a direct hit in and blowing her away through a crowd of her own forces.
"Protect the boss!" The enemies shouted, "The Demon King will have our head if she dies!" And they crowded around, creating a shield of bodies around her as she recovered from the strike. He, Iris and Claire charged forward and diced through the groups of enemies. But each time one fell about three more took their place in defending the Demon King's daughter. They had to have hacked through dozens of them by the time they finally managed to break through, but by the time they did she'd finished chanting a teleportation spell and left the battlefield. She was probably going back to Demon King's castle to gather another army. Fair enough, this one was about to be destroyed anyways.
"If only you'd shown up to the palace like this, then I wouldn't have wanted to throw you out," Claire said as she cut through another Demon.
"Things change. Besides, we can't always look one way," he pulled out a grenade pulled the pin using his teeth, tossing it into a group of Undead. They were blown apart in the ensuing blast. "So Princess, where is your father and brother?"
"They're alive and on their way back right now from another part of the frontlines. They're bringing all the troops they can with them here to reinforce the capital."
"I don't think that'll be enough," the two of them cut through a large beast together, toppling it to the ground below, "Do you think you can send someone that can get a message out to them?"
"Exertion!" She sliced straight through an armored enemy, "What kind of message?"
He blasted away another Demon with his shotgun, "One to all the other countries, to gather all of the forces they can muster. Tell them about what happened here and tell them about me. Tell them that I plan to attack the Demon King's castle."
"That's crazy!" She said, cutting down another enemy. "We might be winning now but that doesn't mean-"
"It's a do or die moment for both sides after what happened here. I've already enlisted the help of others, but the more that we can get the better it will be. "
Aurdel raised his sword, "Sacred Lightning Blare!" He caught the lightning and sent it down into a group of enemies, "I'll see about it, Claire?"
"Rain might be able to intercept the King and the Prince on the way back Your Highness, they might be able to get it done that way."
"Sounds like a good idea to me. Sacred Explode!" Another large group was destroyed. By now the Demon King's forces had thinned dramatically, they were on the retreat now. But one couldn't simply defeat the enemy, they had to crush them entirely. Ruthlessly they pursued the hostile forces. Aurdel, Iris and Claire cut down everything in their path. Eventually his party members caught up with him and took part in finishing off the enemy army. When the last one was killed there was a cheer across the battlefield. This war was one step closer to being over.
