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/Boom.../
/Shatter.../
/Screams.../
The siege raged on for the rest of the day, and as the sun vanished on the horizon, the War slowly cooled down as the soldiers pushed back against their near-endless assault.
The battlefield was a chaotic symphony of destruction. Like fiery teors, Siege machines rained down on the Devils, their magical fire engulfing the enemy.
Skyships dominated the skies, pinnacles of engineering, with their enemies all slain, and nothing could halt their advance.
Even then, thousands groaned on d bays, clinging tightly to life, on the edge between reality and the afterlife.
All signs pointed towards a hard-won victory, but there was still one matter to tend to... The clash between the Commanders and the Demon.
It dragged on for an eternity, the outco hanging in the balance, the tension palpable.
The ground shook at their might as their weapons clashed with the Demon's hardened body, and all the soldiers could do was watch and pray they returned safely and victorious.
This was the reenactnt of an ancient fable, the tales of the glorious past when the Star-Reflecting sword shone atop the Southern Walls...
Those were the tis when beasts like these were encountered frequently and slain, an ancient purge to turn the past uninhabitable South bearable.
Would they make their Ancestors proud? Or would they join them in the beyond?...
"..."
It had been hours since Testros began observing them, never leaving his post.
He tried to absorb as much of it as possible, and by now, he began praying, his sense of reality winning as he began to believe he was back in the past, forgetting the future, living in the mont...
Praying for their safety and victory... And for the quick return of the Infantry...
They would soon return, they only needed to last a little longer...
It was such a sha that out of the strongest three of the Corps, two of them weren't present... Sarferato and Qrubin.
The Berserker of the Battlefield and the Artificer of Legend, if both were present, this battle would've taken a complete turn, going from a stalemate to a one-sided beatdown.
Of course, Testros couldn't opine much on the details as he could barely even witness their movents...
But he was confident in their odds; they were within ho ground.
By being in its re vicinity, the Demon faced the entire might of the Southern Wall's intrinsic defensive systems.
And with each slain Devil, the pressure it endured was enhanced; soon enough, it wouldn't be able to bear it.
/BOOOOOOOOOM!/
"?!"
Suddenly, the world shook as a flaming teor manifested in the skies; like a Cot that lost its way in heaven, it crashed down with the might of a thousand-morning suns!
It crashed atop the battlefield, creating a mushroom cloud that went hundreds of ters high, illuminating the night sky!
There, soaring through the air with an air of authority, was a middle-aged man wielding a cane, unmistakably the Mage among the Commanders, one of the revered Artificers of the Empire, Elriharad Qrubin!
And if asked, clearly the best amidst them all...
/SLASH!/
Following the catastrophic explosion, a red flash of light covered the battlefield, and a monstrously powerful strike was hurdled toward the center of the blast.
Holding one axe and clenching his fist, it was a burly man with a sharp gaze.
The Commander of the Infantry, Sarferato Feltrix!
Testros couldn't see what was going on well, but he was glad they had finally arrived!
And due to that excitent... He did sothing rather... Reckless...
/Jump.../
He jumped off the wall, eager to take a closer glance at the fight!
...
/anwhile.../
"Phew... We aren't late are we?" A younger Sarferato asked the Corp's Commander as he approached on the side, taking heavy steps as he pulled down his ragged bracers off his shoulders
"Just a little, enough to get you a disciplinary outing... Also, where's your shield?" The Commander replied in his usual cynical tone, but it was clear he was happy for their arrival
"Heh... It broke down, and I threw it away... We can fetch it if we have the chance."
"... Marvelous... Just what I wanted to hear."
"That's great then; let's talk once we're done here."
/Land!/
Several people landed around them as they talked, and they all rely nodded at each other, no extra words needed.
"I apologize for the delay, Commander; I ran back as soon as I heard of the situation."
"I helped stabilize Communications before running to bring back the Infantry to the Wall, and it lasted a little longer than I expected." The younger Qrubin added as he slamd his staff on the ground
"I see, no wonder Comms returned smoothly... Next ti, do report your presence to , I got worried for nothing." The Commander grunted as he turned to face the explosion blast
"... Sure thing." Qrubin replied as he smiled slightly before getting serious again
"Let's talk more later, the sealing spell I cast should be breaking about..."
/DASH!/
"... Now..."
Before Qrubin could finish his words, a gigantic fist broke through space, aiming for his face!
/CLANG!/
But it ca to a sudden halt re centiters before his face.
Even then, Qrubin's expression was icy cold as he calculated everything perfectly.
This Demon was so predictable...
/Flash!/
/Slash!/
/CHAINS!/
Dozens of magical chains manifested on the ground surrounding the Demon, locking it in place once more for a split second, enough ti for the Commander and Sarferato to strike!
Sarferato's axe condensed with massive waves of power, a surge of Vitality so imnse it would've drowned the Great Devil that once terrorized the forest.
That was his style, no need for complex energies, no need for complex techniques, with re manipulation and understanding of his own body, he would trample everything!
anwhile, the Commander's sword, Promised Dusk, shone with weak golden light... Feeble and fleeting, it held a strange power within...
/ROAAAARRRR!/
The Demon roared desperately, but Qrubin wouldn't let it escape that easily.
The chains were undone, and three other spells were cast.
Dark nails rained down atop the Demon, limiting its movents!
anwhile, a powerful force pushed it forward toward the Commander's strikes.
Lastly, another spell was cast, teleporting all of the weakened division commanders to the safety of the wall so they could be healed and treated.
Initially, there were 7 Commanders out of the 12 functioning ones, not counting the Corp's Head of course.
Now, only four were in fighting condition, and even that was optimistic.
Out of the remaining three, two of them weren't even moving, and one wasn't breathing...
However, as cold as calculative as he was, Qrubin knew better than to give up a conrad like that, especially given he had witnessed them being brought back to life on more than one occasion.
You wouldn't be a proper mber of the Southern Corps if you hadn't died once!
/BOOOOOOOOOOM!/
The strikes connected, and the Demon was injured, their weapons carving deep wounds onto its flesh, breaking through its carapace.
Even if this Demon was a transcendental existence that defied logic, before their might, it would fall to its knees, and from its fleshly body, they would create weapons to face others of its kind.
That was how they operated and will continue for centuries and beyond!
/SLAM!/
Being the brute head he was, the young Sarferato ran after the Demon, a crazed smile on his face as hisaxebrimd with Vitality.
"Huff..."
Behind him, the veiled Commander finally revealed his gender as his hoodie fell due to its tattered state, displaying his... Her true appearance.
A dozen runes scribbled onto her flesh and skin, glowing with a faint red light...
A Witch, the very sa one who lived for almost a century alongside Sarferato after theWallfell.
She survived that encounter but failed to find a proper inheritor for her art, and with it, the last of the Witches died... Or so everyone thought.
Few knew that back in the remote Village of Resko, a relative of hers still lived, having abandoned her inheritance, only to look back at it as a necessity ca knocking.
"I hope you're not too tired." She said as a strange rune appeared on her palm
/STAB!/
She stabbed her left hand, and her blood flowed upward, taking the shape of a mystical, ancient word.
Its aning forgotten in ti, and it brimd with lost lights.
/Baddum.../
Sarferato felt his heart implode... Before surging with unending power!
/DASH!/
He imdiately increased his speed, slamming down hisaxeon the Demon.
/CLANG!/
The beast tried to block his attack, but within a split second, Sarferato struck twice more!
/CLANG CLANG!/
/Crack!/
One of the Demon's nails broke, shattering under theAxe'smight!
/SLASH!/
The Demon sacrificed one of its fingers, striking against Sarferato's unprotected stomach.
If he had armor or not, it wouldn't matter, for the Demon, either was the sa. re trash to be broken appart!
/SLAM!/
But then, even as his stomach opened and his blood poured out, Sarferato exploded with power, hisaxeglistering with his entire essence.
He sacrificed his blood for this chance.
/CUT!/
/BOOOOOOOOOM!/
A teoric slash fell on the world, cutting straight through the Demon's arm, leaving a clean cut behind!
/ROAARR!/
For a mont, both the Demon and Sarferato roared as they clawed out at each other, and it even seed as if they were matched, making the others wonder who the real Demon was here.
/SLASH!/
But the othersweren'tdecorations to watch on the side and do nothing.
The Commander was the first to arrive, delivering a blow against the beast's spine, leaving a searing hole that burned with holy light, as he would make the Demon rember the na of his blade, for it burned after dawn.
/SHINE!/
anwhile, the skies lit up with holy insignias as the Priests atop the wall finished their multiple-hour-long chant, manifesting a portion of their God's Divinity onto the land!
/PRESSURE!/
Gargantuan pressure descended upon the Demon, pressing it onto the ground as it felt the might of the God of Order and Prosperity.
Demons weren't beings who could be exorcized by the powers of the Church, as so dia may convey, but it didn't an they had any resistance to it either.
Under the might of the divine, all were equivalent... To suffer and bow equally.
/Chant.../
Qrubin began to chant in a low tone, and if there was a spell he had to prepare like this, then it would be a strong one.
anwhile, taking the chance from the Demon's lack of movent, the four remaining Commanders all struck down at the Demon, delivering their own strikes and pushing it down even further.
/Crack!.../
"!"
/ROAAARRR!!/
The Demon exclaid in pain and anger as its body flared with mist and devilish runes; it was about to let out its final struggle!
But this wasn't that type of storyandthese soldiers weren't your typical Heroes... This was the Southern Wall.
/BOOOOOOOOM!/
Before it even had the chance to react, a thousand artillery cannonsallfired in its directionat the sa ti, blowing it away and montarily knocking it out.
/Knock!/
At the sa ti, Qrubin finished hisspell, and a crack in space ford!
"..."
As he looked at the void beyond thecrack, Testro's blood ran cold...
He felt as if sothing was looking at him from beyond it... Stirring sothing deep within him.
/FLASH!/
""?!""
Butjustas he waited for theSpellto take its effects and end the fight, Testros saw red cover his whole body.
Sohow, the Demon was now before him!
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