"So, we've got a day to get ready, huh? Guess I'll be making sure my new hamr's sharp." Kravok said, his tone a bit nervous.
"You'll need more than just a sharp weapon for what's coming. It's going to be a full-on siege.
Not just against soldiers—we're going to face their defensive magic, traps, and whatever else they've got prepared."
Ilya shot Kravok a wry look as she spoke, and for a mont, Xaren wondered if the demons couldn't just drop them in like they did today and get them to open the gates.
'Well, it's a whole city so the scale is different. We'd need a bigger force...'
"What kind of resistance are we expecting?"
Xaren asked aloud and Ilya turned to him with a light frown, clearly recalling the details of the eting she just ca out of.
"They have a mix of a few human and predominantly elven forces. And giants...lots of giants.
The thought of fighting dozens of those building-sized creatures..."
The demoness pressed her head to her temple and the others couldn't help but relate to her as they all had apprehensive expressions.
Unlike today, they'd surely have a lot more numbers to deal with the giants so while Xaren expected the individual battles to be easier, things would quickly beco a hassle if the giants grouped up.
He felt it should be an order: 'Don't let the giants group up.'
"We'll be ready," Kravok said, his voice brimming with confidence, though his hand gripped the hilt of his new hamr a little too tightly.
"This bad boy's gonna bash in plenty of giant skulls—and the city gates first," he added with a strained grin.
"We don't have a choice. We either take the city, or we die trying."
Ilya reminded them of the cold reality of their situation and the demons all sighed softly.
The weight of the upcoming siege hung over them all, but for now, they pushed aside the dread, unwilling to let the night dissolve into gloom.
Eventually, their conversation drifted to lighter topics and the group settled into a comfortable lull, their initial energy giving way to quiet reflection as the night deepened.
Soti later, a demon from a different group wandered over to join them. Xaren recognized him as one of those who had been part of the ones his group left outside when they headed to the control room earlier.
The demon settled beside Kravok, dusting off the dirt from his cloak. He gave a weary sigh before speaking, his gravelly voice breaking the soft crackling of the fire.
"Long day, huh? You lot should've seen the chaos outside the control room earlier."
His eyes turned to Carack and Kravok as he chuckled, though it was more out of exhaustion than humour.
"We were out there holding off the elves—had to make sure they didn't break through before you guys cracked open the control room. We were completely outnumbered for most of the fight, but we managed to hold the line sohow."
He paused, his face darkening slightly. "Got hairy when the Giants showed up, though. One swipe from those things and... let's just say a few demons didn't make it."
While Xaren's group had gotten to deal with the strongest giant in the fortress, the others outside had to deal with multiple weaker giants.
Xaren could now understand why Ilya's face darkened at the thought of having to deal with more giants again.
"...and I'm sure it gets annoying when the elves join in..." Xaren muttered under his breath, but the newly arriving demon caught them and nodded.
"Exactly. While we had our hands full dealing with the giants, they hit us from multiple directions, sending squads to flank us."
The demon took a sip from a flask soone passed him, before raising the flask in Ilya's direction and continuing.
"But we got our great Captain here, moving faster than any of us could keep up. Saw her take out an entire group of soldiers before they even knew what hit 'em."
The ntion of Ilya's speed caught Xaren's attention. He'd seen her in action earlier, beheading elves faster than the eye could see, but sothing had puzzled him.
He glanced over at Ilya, who was quietly listening to the conversation, her arms resting on her knees as she stared into the fire.
After a montary hesitation, he shrugged and asked as casually as possible, "I noticed sothing strange when you were fighting earlier, Captain."
Ilya turned to him with a raised brow and Xaren took that as his cue to continue.
"You were moving fast, sure, but there were these... black things, like thin blades, slicing through the air with you."
His words caused a montary pause around the fire. The demons all turned toward him, confusion etched on their faces.
"What black things?" Kravok asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
"No idea what you're talking about, dude," another demon chid in, scratching his head.
But Xaren wasn't looking at the others. His gaze remained on Ilya, and her reaction told him everything he needed to know.
A flicker of surprise crossed her otherwise calm expression and though she quickly composed herself, Xaren could tell that she knew exactly what he was referring to.
Xaren rembered what he saw when they defeated the giant, and the door to the control room was blown open.
When Ilya approached, along with her sword, there was this thin, dark, blade-like mass. It cut through the air, and so of the elves were dead before she even moved.
Though he noticed this, the others, however, seed genuinely clueless, exchanging puzzled glances.
"Co on, you're telling there's sothing flying around Captain that none of us can see?"
Kravok asked, his tone skeptical, but Xaren didn't answer and that was pretty much an affirmation.
The reason why he'd noticed this thing despite no one else having seen it, was one even he didn't fully understand.
Being a 'High-Demon', one of the pluses of his superior race breed was an advanced kinetic vision.
Then his gravity powers enhanced them even further. It made him notice the pull of gravity on objects and bodies in motion. Due to the mass those thin 'Dark Blades' carried, he'd been able to notice that there was sothing there.
Ilya's expression remained tense as the seconds ticked by, but before she could respond, one of the demons called out.
"Hey, look over there!"
The loud voice broke the tension as its owner pointed to another group sitting by a separate bonfire further off in the camp. A small commotion had started up, and several demons were standing, their voices rising as they seed to argue over sothing.
The attention of the group imdiately shifted toward the disturbance.
"What's happening over there?" one demon asked, voicing the curiosity of the group.
A few of the others stood up, craning their necks to get a better view. A couple of them started to head over, curious about the sudden argunt.
The cause of the commotion beca clearer as they watched. Two demons were squaring off, their voices raised in challenge.
One of them, a burly bull demon, seed to be arguing about a piece of equipnt—a set of armour, maybe—that the other demon was holding onto.
Their shouts carried across the camp, and it looked like things were about to escalate into a full-blown fight.
Before the tension could boil over, a low-rank demon dropped in from the sky, landing between the two with a heavy thud.
He was tall and larger than the two, with wings that folded neatly behind him as he straightened up. His presence alone—that of a Master Realm existence— seed to calm the situation.
"Enough. Whatever this is about, it can wait until morning. You want to fight, take it outside here."
The low-rank demon's voice cut through the noise like a blade, and Xaren was a bit surprised he didn't stop them but simply told them to postpone their fight.
The two Unranked demons looked at each other, grumbling under their breath but clearly unwilling to go against the Low-Rank's words.
After a few tense monts, they reluctantly backed down, and the low-rank demon nodded, his wings flaring slightly as he turned to leave.
The group around Xaren relaxed, and the mont of tension diffused. But even as the others turned their attention back to the fire, Xaren could feel Ilya's gaze lingering on him for a mont longer.
Clearly, he'd touched upon a special topic.
'I was just curious. Maybe it had to do with her skill. Or it's a Unique Skill. If so, it makes sense she doesn't wanna talk about it.'
The demoness' eyes assessed him for so ti, but just as quickly, she turned her attention back to the group, her expression unreadable.
The fire crackled again, filling the quiet that followed the commotion.
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