Over a couple of cold winter weeks, the Tri-pact army was able to solidify its position and land around its territory with the help of Kodria and the [Full Moon] guild.
It was at this time that they had begun receiving grim news from near the northern border of the Tri-pact dukedom.
When several wounded and shabby refugees managed to escape disaster with only the clothes they wore on their bodies, they told horror stories of what happened to them, their villages, and what they had to endure just to escape into the tri-pact dukedom.
From their words, Kodria and the tri-pact learned that the demigods were now attacking every nomadic village and town of both humans and the rare northern demon races that they came upon. If the humans did not surrender or were too slow with their reply they were exterminated and their territory taken over. This was done so that there was no chance of the populace uprising. As for the demon race towns and villages… they were exterminated with no offer to surrender being given out.
This was happening on both the west and eastern front of the Tri-pact dukedom’s border causing the allied army to stay separated so that it could deal with the threat.
***
Boom! Thud! Clang!
A fierce battle raged on in a now abandoned village at the North-west border of Tri-pact dukedom.
Akira danced around the burning debris of a fallen house outside the town walls as he traded blows with a Psychotic female demigod named Psyla.
He had only met her a week ago when the two opposing forces met near the abandoned village that had only recently been evacuated.
When he first saw her and found out that she was the leader of this group of raiding demigods. He felt that she looked out of place from the rumors of bloody conquest he had heard due to the shy smile she gave him along with her rosy blushing face as she bashfully fidgeted in place glancing at Akira before looking away like a young maiden.
It had been enough to stunned everyone, causing them to wonder if she was actually a captive.
Akira’s expression had quickly soured when he saw the shy girl’s face turn into a creepy wide open grin showing unusually sharp teeth for demigods. Her large eyes which were full of madness stared daggers at him as she let out a loud maniacal laughter and ordered her minions to attack.
This was now their third battle in which they clashed against each other and although the demigods were outnumbered they did not flinch from the fight.
Psyla continued to charge Akira and swing her two swords trying to cut, stab, and sever his body parts. All while her face switched in and out of her shy bashful expression and psychotic craze.
“Be careful! She got her eye on you!” shouted Dolph who was blocking a demigod on Akira’s right.
“Aren’t you lucky,” said Vilkas as he sliced off the arm of a demigod on Akira’s left.
They were doing their best to keep Akira safe by limiting those who could reach him. Several of the attackers had just reappeared from inside the town and were now pressuring them.
Unfortunately for the demigods, they were quickly surrounded by the allied forces and engaged in battle.
“Not lucky! I’m already married! She is just planning on how to kill me painfully!” said Akira as he parried Psyla’s attacks.
“Yap!” said Fluffball accusingly, but Akira ignored him.
“Kyahahaha!” laughed Psyla as she launched a colorful skill attack that swept out from her sword and formed a red crescent that was aimed at Akira’s neck.
“You crazy woman!” shouted Akira as he raised his curved triangle shield to block the attack. “What are you guys doing massacring innocent civilians?”
“Why do you keep on nagging me about this? Isn’t it hypocritical of you to ask such things since you attacked the weakling demigods? Why is it you start to cry only now after we, the [Demon Hunters] guild, have decided to join the fight?” asked the cackling Psyla.
“We are fighting against your brutality to save the civilians and their families that you have captured and are being used as blackmail,” said Akira, as he launched a counterattack with his sword sending a [Sword Slash] flying out causing her to jump back. In doing so she knocked over several demigods that were behind her.
“Don’t fool yourself! You like killing us to grow stronger just like we like killing you to grow stronger, a dog-eat-dog world! Now enough whining! I want to see how you take my special skill, the [Ultimate Supreme Powerful Swiftly Hard Hitting Mega Punch]!”
“What sort of name is that?” asked Akira as he grew cautious of Psyla and hid behind his shield.
The oddly named attack that came towards Akira was…
…just a normal punch that was easily knocked away by Akira using his shield. His sword slashed out and sliced into her left arm which had been knocked away.
Ding!
-
Passive skill [Bisect] has been activated!
Psyla’s left arm continued to fly through the air away from her body as the blood pumped out and splattered on the trodden snow.
“Ku ku ku, you have done well to block that special skill but can you block this? I call it the [Scorned lover] skill!” shouted Psyla as she jumped forward at a high speed using a skill to boost her movement.
Akira activated the skill [Shield Bash] and slammed his shield into her face creating a loud ‘Crack!’.
She did not show any sign of feeling pain from her broken nose that was now leaking blood or her severed arm, instead, she latched onto Akira’s shield with her right arm and her legs as she tried to embrace Akira like a clingy lover.
Her body immediately started to glow brightly as Akira tried to shake her off.
“Let’s go out together with a bang!” said Psyla as she started to glow even brighter.
Akira slammed his sharp armored elbow into Psyla’s head piercing through her flimsy helmet but she did not let go of the shield even with a fatal attack.
“Everyone get back!” shouted Akira as he let go of his shield and kicked it, knocking Psyla back into the surviving demigods.
KABOOM!
“AHHH!”
Cries of pain from both the demigods and soldiers of the Tri-pact army cried out as the explosion slammed into those who were unlucky or unable to escape in time.
The shock-wave from the explosion hit Akira as he placed his armored arms in front of him blocking the brunt of the explosion which sent him flying backward creating a large skid mark in the snowy battlefield.
With the suicide attack of Psyla, most of the demigods around her were killed causing the area to be lit up by the light fragments as their bodies disappeared. Those that somehow managed to survive were quickly finished off and also turned into light fragments.
“Yap?” asked Fluffball as he pawed at Akira who was half covered in a mixture of frozen dirt and snow.
“I’m fine,” said Akira as he accepted Dolph’s hand to help him stand up.
“How bad is it this time?” asked Akira.
“Most of the casualties are just minor wounds, only a few died… and those were from her blowing up at the end.”
Akira let out a deep sigh. This was a hellish battle they had been forced into and it was not even over a major city. It had lasted several days due to the constant flow of demigods showing up allowing others to reappear inside the city and continue the fight.
With this victory, they had finally halted the advance of the [Demon Hunters] and the other large guilds, at least for now.
Akira looked at the ruined town that they had fought so hard over. Only a few sections of the town wall were left standing, everything else inside and outside the town was nothing more than rubble or ashes all caused by the several days of battle.
Anything that may have been standing before was blown to bits by the explosion.
Ding!
-
You have gained a new title!
Spawn camper: You like easy kills so you just sit around the spawn point and smack down weaklings that appear in front of you.
Before Akira could think too deeply about the new title a messenger ran over to him.
“Duke! Bad news just came in! While we were fighting several other villages and towns were taken over! They have gained a foothold behind our current position!”
Akira cursed under his breath. If this was true then their supplies and reinforcements were now cut off if they wanted to hold this position.
With a grim face, he looked at the tired and battered soldiers who were worn out from the intense multi-day battle.
“We can’t stay here any longer!” said Akira in a booming voice gathering everyone’s attention. “We have to link up with the reinforcements and knock down the demigod’s other bases that are threatening us in the rear! Let’s move out!”
***
The battles continued day after day. The once inexperienced civilians who joined the fight and were able to survive their first few battles were now battle-hardened fighters even if their training was not up to par with Kodria or Jerora’s soldiers. But for every person who made it out unscathed, there were even more inexperienced fighters who died or were severely maimed in battle.
There was little to no good news as the weeks went on. For every battle the allied army won, it seemed the enemy managed to win two others.
The allied armies were being slowly pushed back step by step.
The wild and outlandish attacks and plots from the crazy Psyla continued to hurt the allied army since each time she was on the verge of dying she instead exploded her body and always managed to wound or kill several people.
The only victory the allied army could cheer for, if you could call it that, was the fact that most of the villages and towns in the path of the demigods had all learned of the massacring campaign and had all migrated even farther south into the Tri-pact dukedom further strengthening their forces.
Even several groups of humans in the far north who were under the firm control of the demigods managed to escape to the south. The horror stories some of them told let them know that there were far more groups that set out wanting to escape and were never heard of again. Some died from wild monster attacks, but most were exterminated by the demigods that hunted them down for fun.
With each Pyrrhic victory that the allied armies won, there was little to cheer for as more and more defeats were suffered while they were occupied in other places causing the Tri-pacts territory to slowly be swallowed up by the demigod guilds.
It was not long before the only territory left to them was Trine, Jerora, and the two new towns had been built and were now crowded with villagers who had escaped the north.
…and things were not looking good as the demigods continued their march farther south.
“Scouting reports have come in! The demigod’s main force is gathering in the north. Their next target looks to be Jerora!”
