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Minutes passed, we continued moving forward with the help of the healed knights and soldiers. However, my father had been sent back to the backlines and probably he was in the village by now, healing with the rest of the surviving but heavily wounded soldiers. The demons had been mostly fend off in the backlines and there were little possibilities of them getting into the village, perhaps smaller groups, but there were knights and soldiers stationed there, as I was looking at things through a Fenrir I snuck into the woods near the village.
Meanwhile, as we delved deep into the fourth layer of the forest, the Imps began to die in masse thanks to our coordinated attacks. The priests, with their stamina and mana back to full, combined their magic and conjured wide-range holy light spells, blasting dozens of demons, including the strong Onis. Giant Demons were gone, there weren’t that many to begin with, all while the rest of the demons were being slain to the point their numbers were now less than a hundred. We were managing after so many hardships, almost 40% of our troops were dead as well, the casualties were severe, but each death motivated the soldiers to move forward with greater might and will.
I had never thought of humans as anything other than a weak race of short-lived creatures, lacking the ability to see into the big picture, but as I experienced the life of a human, I’ve come to understand and comprehend them better, they’re an interesting race, perhaps slightly admirable. They persevere through many hardships despite being so weak, even with the spirits of this world… I suppose I am rather okay with being a human myself. Although through this battle, I’ve also shown my darkest side, even my friends saw how I delighted myself bathing in blood, controlling it, and slaughtering the demons. But it wasn’t as if pointing it out would help at all, and they simply concentrated into what they had to do right now.
“W-We are somehow pulling through!” Celebrated Lukas with a smile, his entire armor scratched and damaged as he sighed in relief. He was right behind me with the rest of the army, he had decided to join the army instead of staying with the survivors in the village. I never thought the young knight I helped back then would become an important leader of the soldiers and knights gathered here..
“There’s probably less than a hundred…! I can’t believe how many blessings of the holy spirits I’ve received!” Said Gradus, the hunter I once accompanied to hunt giant wild boars with the other hunters. He knew me rather well, and since he got here with Lukas that the two had been covering my back when Erika was too busy dealing with demons herself. The hunter, who had retired, still had it on him, especially after leveling up in here for a while.
While those that perished won’t be able to return home, the survivors will come back home even stronger than ever due to the massive quantities of EXP we are earning, war is indeed a feast of EXP. In a world like this, I can imagine whole countries waging war against one another just to strengthen their troops through leveling up. Although I am not sure if humans can level up by killing one another. Cassandra was a special case as she was more of a demon than a human, but what about pure humans? …Well, that question is better left for another case.
As the demons were cornered and pushed back, Ellergest reached my side, while conjuring low-cost magic to slay the annoying Imps. He was rather filled with vitality, so even old men can feel rejuvenated after leveling up, huh.
“Blank- I mean, Blake! That’s enough, you don’t have to continue staying in the frontlines, it is too dangerous, you’ve been fighting too much, you’re a child!” The annoying old man, concerned about my health, tried to stop me.
“What are you even talking about? The main dish has yet to arrive…” I said with a smirk, as my face, covered in wounds and blood seemed slightly terrifying to him.
“Main dish? …Your body is covered in wounds, boy, you’re going to die if you continue fighting!” He said angrily.
“Stand aside.” I said to him, without any other word, I walked forward. My followers by my side. I might be acting immature on his eyes, but for me, he was the immature one. But I cannot blame him, he had no idea of who I truly was.
“F-Foolish kid… I will at least stand by your side to protect you!” He sighed, running behind me as Jack, Seth, and Elizabeth also walked to his side, the entire party of Priests was here.
“That’s Blake?! He’s covered by blood…!” Jack said.
“He’s quite the barbarian.” Sighed Seth.
“Blake…” Sighed Elizabeth.
“To think he can keep fighting for so long… I have yet to reach his realm at all…!” Said Erdrich.
[0)ᴠʟ The priests were good at fighting, and their battle capabilities improved as they leveled up in the middle of the war and attained new Skills, getting used to slaying the weaker Imps and crushing them like Ants, they immediately moved forward to slay bigger prey, as the last Onis, mostly Red Onis and a few Blue Ones were struggling to maintain a formation. But I knew that this wasn’t the end yet, after all, and as I said earlier, the main dish had yet to arrive.
Indeed, the main dish, him.
TRUUUMMM…!
A sudden presence made everyone felt a chill run down their spines, many of the soldiers, even the demons stopped fighting, looking behind into the being that had emerged. His mere presence generated an enormous Aura, his very soul had a shape.
It was the Demon General, of course. A gray-skinned Oni with long golden horns, sharp red eyes, and black scales growing over his body, alongiside a long, draconic tail. His entire body was wounded, he was missing an arm, surprisingly, and the rest of his body had burnt wounds, with one of his horns shattered. Great work, Eleanora.
“You damn humans…!” He muttered in rage, gritting his teeth.
“Finally, the star of the show is here.” I proclaimed with arms wide open. “Come!”
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