The human army rode tirelessly for several days.
Led by three wyvern riders, the 5,000 men and women all adorned in gleaming silver armor seemed to have finally reached the source of the beacon of miraculous light they had seen only a week ago.
When the sky finally changed from a bright morning blue to a mystifying myriad, the army slowed their advance.
The three commanders at the front were the first to feel it.
“What the hell..?”
“What is this?’
“Is this some kind of test?!”
Immediately after entering the area, every single human without exception was suddenly plagued with terrible weakness.
It was as if the very air around them was sapping over half of their strength and abilities.
The army immediately came to a screeching halt.
When the three wyvern riders landed at the head of the army, they immediately began a discussion.
“What should we do? I’ve never experienced anything like this.”
“This is unbelievable! How can we fight like this?”
“We have to make do. The kingdom has placed their trust in us already and we cannot go back without even trying.”
The first two commanders didn’t seem to like it, but they had no choice to the words of the third.
If they returned to their kingdom with nothing to show for it but a little sweat, they would be facing possible demotion.
None of them were willing to go from being the kingdom’s heroes to it’s laughingstocks.
With renewed determination, the commander’s all nodded at each other in agreement before turning around to face the weary soldiers behind them.
“Soldiers! I know you feel weak right now, we do as well! But this too is no more than a test given to us by the mother goddess! Surely as her most favored children, we will not disappoint her, will we?”
“NO, COMMANDER!”
“That’s what I like to hear! March forward with us into our most glorious battle yet!”
“YES SIR!”
The roar of 5,000 men in clanking metal army was really quite something.
With one rousing speech, the soldiers seemed to be immune to the weakness they were all feeling as the marched forward with renewed vigor in their steps.
It wasn’t long before the army arrived at what appeared to be a bone graveyard outside of a city.
“Those are…phoenix corpses?”
“They look like they’ve been picked clean…”
“What kind of dungeon is this?”𝑜𝗏𝐞xt.𝒞𝑜𝓜
The commanders were all suddenly alarmed when the sensed demonic auras coming from inside the city.
They were only able to take comfort in the fact that the number of demons inside seemed to be inferior to their own.
“Soldiers! The demons have arrived first! Mother Ashram has blessed us with yet another opportunity to prove our superiority over that of our hated foe!”
“KILL THE DEMONS!!”
“That’s the spirit, men! Follow us forward for the glory of the mother goddess!”
“RAAAA!!”
The army prepared to move forward, but surprisingly it was the commanders themselves who had come to a standstill.
Commander 1: “What the hell is the matter with you, Murakan?”
Commander 2: ” Gothi is acting strange as well!”
Commander 3 : “Jogi won’t stop shaking!”
The commanders couldn’t figure it out.
All three of their wyvern’s were shaking terribly, as if they were enveloped in the most bitter cold.
Wyverns are normally extremely obedient, yet now they were refusing to budge even an inch forward.
It was as if they were afraid of something unknown in the city ahead.
“The enemy is moving!” One soldier suddenly said.
At first, no one saw what he was talking about.
And then the human army noticed movement on top of the city walls.
Demons of various shapes and sizes were standing right on top of the massive stone wall, but they weren’t moving to attack.
Instead they were… sitting down and… eating?
“They…aren’t attacking?” One commander noted.
“What in the world is going on here?”
“It doesn’t matter, if they will not attack we’ll bring them down first! Mages and archers! Prepare to fire!” One commander ordered.
The human army obliged and prepared to unleash their volley of attacks when there was a sudden change.
The massive gate to the city suddenly cranked open and a single man walked out.
Upon seeing him, the men immediately knew this man possessed the prize that they had come for.
The extremely tall and powerful looking man was wearing bright, blood red armor that appeared to be reminiscent of scales. Around his waist was a silver chain that hung down the middle along with a piece of black cloth.
Parts of the man’s midsection were revealed, allowing onlookers to get a brief look at the tattoos on his side.
The rest of his upper body was covered with red and silver armor with the same scaled pattern. Around his neck there was a collar made of black fur.
Without a doubt, the man wore the finest armor they had ever seen.
When the man walked out, the demons sitting on the edge of the wall erupted into furious cheers.
Though the loudest group weren’t actually composed of demons.
Five women and two little girls were also sitting on the ledge with the best view possible and they were cheering the loudest out of everyone.
Sitting next to them was a large red skinned demon who was making an annoyed expression. The cause of his irritability was the much smaller black skinned demon who was sitting on top of his shoulders laughing gleefully.
“Hahaha! Do you see how much my son’s people adore him, brother? Such a thing is truly a sight to see!” Asmodeus laughed.
Mammon had to admit it, his nephew seemed to be almost worshipped by his people.
A few hours ago word spread around the city that Abaddon was going to be fighting personally and somehow it turned into one big festival!
The sex demons were especially excited and they immediately stopped having sex with the guests and began to prepare all kinds of street food.
Because the soldiers of greed had been satisfied so thoroughly, they didn’t even complain when their wild time was unexpectedly interrupted.
‘I’ve only ever seen Satan inspire this level of loyalty.. this is unthinkable.’ Mammon thought. ‘But still…’
“Will you get off of me, Asmodeus?!!”
“Nope!”
“Son of a bitch!!”
When Abaddon came within 70 yards of the enemy army, one of the commanders finally decided to speak.
“You there, demon scum! Hand over that armor you’re wearing and we shall give you a quick death!”
Abbadon did not flinch at their provocation.
Why would he?
He was much too excited.
It was taking everything he possessed to suppress the smile that was lurking behind his lips.
‘Hearts.. so many hearts!’
These humans did not understand how great a gift they had brought to his doorstep.
After so many trials and challenges, today was the day he would finally evolve.
Seeing that they weren’t getting any sort of response, the commanders face turned beet red with anger.
“Mages! Open fire!”
Immediately, a volley of over 1,000 spells shot toward the demon king.
Because the humans were currently under a massive 80% debut from the demonic qlipoth, Abaddon actually didn’t even need to avoid this attack.
Even if he took it head on, the most it would do was probably dirty his armor and burn his hair.
But because Mammon and his army were here, Abaddon needed to send a message.
He needed to show his fellow king that his power was worthy of respect and feared.
But most importantly, he needed to prove to his uncle that he had the power to protect what was his.
There was a particular skill that Abaddon created on his own.
One that was perfect for spreading fear in his enemies and awe in potential allies.
[ Skill activated : Vovin’s War Cry.
A bleak and suffocating pressure began to flow off Abaddon’s body.
Finally after so long the demon king lost the fight against his inner joy and revealed a smile filled with razor sharp teeth.
“GUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!”
Abaddon let loose a roar that was unlike anything anyone had ever heard.
His roar sent forth a shockwave that met the volley of magic in midair and instantly dispersed it.
The shockwave continued to travel until it hit the human army and they fell into a panic.
Some wet themselves, some fainted outright and others simply trembled as they desperately tried to hang onto their will to fight.
The commanders maintained a bit more of their composure but they were still unsettled.
“M-Mages! Fire again!”
The few evolved mages who could hang on to their sanity shakily raised their hands to heed their commanders orders.
“S-Sir! Sir it’s not working!’
“I-I can’t feel my mana!”
“M-My spells aren’t working!”
[ Skill : Vovin’s War Cry
– Description : Imbuing your natural chaotic mana into your roar causes any who hear it to lose their ability to use magic for a period of time.
– Effect duration is dependent upon evolved level of the targets.
The commanders realized that their soldiers were not alone, they couldn’t feel their magic either.
They all stared at the strange demon in front of them whose power seemed to be more horrifying than they ever could’ve imagined.