Jerora, the east city of the Tri-pact Dukedom.
“Have the civilians been evacuated?” asked Akira as he looked at the gathering winter storm in the north.
“The last group was escorted by the remaining wounded soldiers yesterday,” said Jerora’s governor Scoit.
“I sure wish we had Balue here to help,” said Zundar.
“He’s offered to help protect Trine. With his help, we don’t need to worry about the civilians there.”
“Their lives are more important than ours! I’m just worried about losing so much ground. If we keep going on like this there won’t be any land or cities left to defend,” said Scoit.
Akira looked around at Jerora’s quiet city. For the longest time, it was the oldest human-controlled ‘city’ in the southern tip of the north. And by the looks, it showed its age.
However, in the past years, it had several face-lifts to its old walls and large expansions to accommodate the inflow of new civilians and businesses. It was unable to be compared with Trine which was a young city that had a better foundation, more defensible walls, and was easier to expand on. With the dwarves helping solidify Trine’s defenses and housing situation, there was not too much to complain about other than the worrying low food stockpile and other basic resources.
This was one of the reasons why they had decided to send the civilians and wounded to Trine and have Balue protect them and the city along with the Tri-pact dukedom’s west army.
Jerora was now little more than a fortress that held the east army and city guards of Jerora. Zundar, Klyn, and the [Full Moon] guild had joined Akira to help hold off the coming demigod attacks that were aimed at Jerora.
“I am grateful for your help but I have no grand delusions that we will be able to get out of this unscathed, it will not be an easy fight,” said Scoit as he looked at the distant small demigod camp that had just been set up in the early morning. There were only a few groups of demigods that had arrived so far, but from the reports, there were far more swarming south.
Akira, with his keen eyesight, watched as a demigod with what looked like a cone walked to the edge of their camp and spoke into it. Despite being so far away his voice sounded as if he was right next to them. It must have been a skill he had.
“Occupants of the former trade city Jerora! Put down your weapons!”
Many of the soldiers on the wall were startled to hear the voice in their ears and were looking around trying to find the person who spoke.
“Settle down!” ordered Akira as he held up his hand to calm everyone down.
The demigod seeing his first attempt to force them to surrender did not work and spoke again trying one more time. “You have no chance against us. Surrender or we will attack!”
With no visible action being taken to follow his command the demigod went back into the enemy camp.
Akira did not fear such a small group, what he was concerned about was when the multiple guilds would arrive and combine their forces to attack.
As he watched the demigod camp he was surprised to see that they were actually going to attack with only a dozen or so fighters. Either they were extremely confident in their power and were trying to rush the attack before others came or they were misjudging their power based on the easy battles they had with other villages and towns in the north. If it was the latter they would learn a hard lesson today.
“Duke Akira. You should allow our guild to take care of this group for you,” said sister Teresa.
Akira nodded his head agreeing with her offer.
Klyn chanted off a few buffs for the [Full Moon] guild members who were all looking out at the fast-approaching enemy guild.
“Let’s do this!” said Beater as he hit himself a few times in the face to pump himself up.
Led by Crowbahr, they jumped off the wall, some landed nicely while others fell flat on their face in the snow. When they were all back on their feet they did not bother with any formation and charged forward.
The enemy demigods seeing the [Full moon] guild approaching them, started casting several colorful ranged skill attacks in their direction. Not to be outdone by the enemy the [Full moon] guild members returned the favor with their own skills as they dodged the incoming ranged attacks.
Bam!
The two sides clashed near the center of the battlefield. Their swords slicing at each other, spears stabbing at weak points, and hammers bashing the heads in of the enemy all the while several skills were shot off at point blank range.
Although the [Full Moon] guild members had a number advantage, the enemy looked to have high levels that allowed them to take several more hits. This added to their constant use of potions prolonged the fight longer than expected.
Everyone on Jerora’s walls watched the battle with great interest. For some, it was the first battle they had seen of the demigods fighting each other. To see such a show put on by two demigod groups was a wild sight. Everyone tried to soak in everything they saw hoping to catch a secret on how to defeat the demigods or if they had any weaknesses that they could use against the enemy demigods in future fights.
In all the confusion one of the enemy ranged demigods mistook one of their own members and bombarded him with a fireball in the back knocking him off balance. This mistake ended the man’s life when a bruised and bloody Beater used his hammer, which was glowing gray from his active skill, and smashed the man’s head cleanly off of his shoulders.
The enemy number was slowly dwindling and with each mistake they made they were rewarded with death.
Despite their great strength, the enemy demigods were wiped out one by one as multiple [Full moon] guild members targeted them until there were no enemies left on the battlefield.
The [Full moon] guild was not unscathed from the battle as there were a few of the newer guild members who had disappeared into light fragments after taking multiple heavy blows by the opposing forces.
They did not cheer at their victory or stoop down to pick up the gold, potions, armor, and weapons that had dropped from the dead foes.
“Our task is not done yet!” shouted Crowbahr as she waved the others forward.
Instead with well-practiced motions they formed up and marched toward the enemy camp to clear it of any hiding demigods. This task was easily accomplished and only took them a few minutes.
“Tear it all down!” ordered Crowbahr.
The tents were all uprooted from the snowy ground and the supplies and other items that had been left behind at the campsite were gathered up and taken back to Jerora. Along the way back they picked up the loot that was dropped by the enemy demigods. Overall what they had gathered was not a lot but any amount was a welcome site to add to the Jerora’s stockpile of food, weapons, and armor.
Each day that passed new groups of demigods arrived ready to attack Jerora and they were all repelled either by the [Fullmoon] guild or the combined force of the Western army that was inside the city walls.
With battles happening every day the fortress city was starting to show signs of the damage which was slowly growing worse. With the daily battles, there was little time or energy to repair the damage and many of the tired soldiers spent the night hurriedly repairing the worst parts of the wall before the next day’s attacks would start.
After a week of non-stop fighting everyone in Jerora was suspicious when two days passed with no sight of demigods. Still, they used that time to shore up the fortress city’s defenses and managed to bring it back to an acceptable almost new state.
Their suspicious minds were proven right on the third day when Klyn received a message from one of the messenger shamen.
“Trine was attacked! Do we need to send reinforcements?” asked a haggard and worried Akira who was looking over the death and wounded reports as well as the reports on the wall repairs and the needed materials to further strengthen them.
“There is no need to do that. Balue was able to repel them. There were only a few deaths from the demigod’s sneak attack thanks to his actions. If we were to send away forces from here, we would only be weakening ourselves making a ripe target,” said Klyn.
Akira nodded his head. They were having a hard time as it was, and it would be foolhardy to weaken themselves even more. Luckily they were able to have more time to rest over the last few days.
“There were also reports of demigods trying to bypass both Jerora and Trine after their continued losses at both the cities, but the border fort and the soldiers stationed there were able to fend them off. A few of the newer [Full moon] demigods have joined Varbu and the other orcs to defend the fort that has been receiving a large influx of soldiers to both guard the fort.”
“Are our supply lines safe?” asked a worried Scoit upon hearing this. “We can not hold Jerora for long if we are not supplied with food, medical supplies, and other necessary items to keep fighting.”
“There should be no need to worry. The merchants that have taken up the call to transport the supplies from Kodria to the Border fort have all been escorted by skilled soldiers as well as their usual guards. Those with boats have been given escorts by our own patrolling naval ships,” said Akira.
“That’s a relief,” said Scoit wiping his forehead of sweat.
“How are the upgrades to the small blacksmith shops going along?” asked Akira.
“With the help of the dwarves, Jerora’s forges have all been expanded ahead of schedule. In a day or two they will be able to start work after the dwarves inspect everything,” said Klyn as he looked at a few reports.
“We can’t always rely on Kodria for repairs and new weapon and armor shipments. The sooner we get the forges up and working the faster we can repair our gear and craft whatever tools we need to keep the fortress city from crumbling underneath our feet.”
***
The battles outside Jerora become an every-other-day thing.
The strength of Kodria soldiers, the [Full moon] guild members, and the Tri-pact army continued to grow from surviving the constant attacks. Most if not all soldiers and guards that had survived this long now had many scars from healed wounds from their valiant defense of the fortress city.
Jerora continued to be damaged in battle and had now become a shabby fortress that had many broken areas that had been fixed with quick patchwork.
There was no longer any semblance of the once great city. Now the land all around it was torn up and had an aura of death to it.
Jerora had become a deadly fortress that was a great thorn in the demigod’s sides. The soldiers inside the fortress were all hardened killers.
Along with Jerora holding back the demigod’s push south, Trine in the west was also blocking the demigod’s advance along with its new fort, which was originally created by the demigods, now being used as a rear territory defense. Kodria’s border fortress was constantly being reinforced with both soldiers and builders to add to its defense. It was positioned south of and in between Jerora and Trine. Combined together the three acted as a wall that was able to stop the demigods from pushing any farther south.
This wall had been given the name the [Tri-pact wall].
Although the allied forces were unable to stop the demigod from launching their attacks, they were able to hold them back, and so a stalemate started to set in with neither side gaining much of an advantage.
The demigods wasted several tens of thousands of gold trying to take the three strong points of the wall that blocked them. But all they received in return was debt, when they continued to lose equipment and other items after being killed.
The items they dropped were all collected by the defenders and put to good use in arming those who were defending the [Tri-pact wall].
In a way, the demigods were partly to thank for allowing them to stay in the fight so long with them supplying the tri-pact with a constant inflow of gold, potions, armor, and weapons.
The allied forces were really just happy that the push south had been halted.
***
5 years of bitter stalemate has passed.
Many skirmishes and hard-fought battles have erupted at each of the strongholds of the [Tri-pact wall] as well as in the surrounding areas where demigods unsuccessfully tried to push through.
In these five years, Kodria’s Rank had increased to another tier higher! They were now a tier-one dukedom! Kodria was the first dukedom to reach the rank.
Its population and army were able to grow even larger than in the past, even with the constant fighting in the north. Kodria’s economy was even stronger as the booming trade with the northern tri-pact cities and southern demon races grew more and more along with the constant new roads being built.
Bent-gii, once a small village fort, was now far larger with its own multi-layered walled city and was home to thousands of people.
The core members of the [Full moon] guild that had proven themselves over and over again in the battles to hold the [Tri-pact wall] were now allowed to reside in the capital of Kodria.
It had grown to be a large guild that was based in Bent-gii.
With the help of the [Full moon] guild smoothing out talks, there was much more interaction with lone demigods and small groups that had heard of the famous guild. They had all traveled to the continent to join them wanting to become a part of the demon race.
To everyone’s surprise, there were even a few who managed to unlock a secret path to become part of the demon races not by becoming a minor lycan, but by talking to either Captain Pegleg or Balue!
There were now several skeleton demigods under Captain Pegleg’s command and they all enjoyed sailing and raiding the other demigod ships and settlements.
The handful that had managed to get Balue’s approval had changed into scaly Draconians and became part of his fighting force stationed at Trine which he had taken a liking to.
With such an influx of demigods, Kodria had formed the first and only Adventurers guild on the continent which was based in the outer city. It was only for the demigod allies who transformed into one of the demon races. At the Adventurer Guild, they could receive requests from the city or civilians.
***
Akira, Mileena, and their two children who were now nearing 6 years old were enjoying some free time near the lake. Right now because of the warm months, there was a lull in action near the border.
Although Akira personally trained the children in several things, Zundar had taken on the main role as weapons training teacher for both the children. However, Silvy was not interested in such things, unlike her brother who even at such a young age followed Zundar’s harsh training using his small training weapons. Along with being their teacher, he was also their main protector.
“How long are you going to be staying?” asked Mileena as she watched the two children playing near the shore of the lake.
Silvy was making a sand castle in the mud not paying attention to her brother who was sneaking through the reeds and recently cut tall grass.
Zundar was nearby watching over Silvy making sure nothing happened to her.
“I don’t know. That is all up to the demigods. If they decide to end the stalemate then I will have to leave,” said Akira as he watched his son’s slow crawl.
Wyt was slowly creeping up behind Zundar with his small training sword. When he felt he was close enough he jumped from reeds and launched himself at Zundar who was yawning with one hand covering his mouth.
Without looking Zundar used his other hand to grab Wyt’s head and held him back at arm’s length stopping the flailing young pup from being able to reach him with his arms or training sword.
“Failed again! Is this the 300th time?” asked Zundar.
“No! That was only 288!” said a defiant young Wyt who was still trying to struggle out of Zundar’s grasp.
Both Akira and Mileena had a smile watching all this happen.
“You know being gone is hard on them, especially Silvy. She always cries for a long time when you have to leave, only stooping when you hold her. I am glad that the last major battle was some time ago.”
As if hearing her name from far away Silvy looked up from the crude wet sandcastle and saw her father and mother looking toward her. She waved a sandy hand toward them and shouted, “Come look at my sandcastle!”
With a smile, Akira and Mileena both walked down the sandy hill to the beach and crouched down to listen to Silvy explain to them how to properly build a sandcastle.
Wyt came over and crouched down next to Akira, sulking from his failure to surprise Zundar once again.
Akira patted him on the back and said, “If you can’t do something right now, then you can either focus on what you can do, or you can keep training until you can do it!”
“I want to be a warrior like you!” said Wyt as he poked the wet sand with a stick.
“A warrior proves his honor when he protects his friends, allies, and those precious to him,” said the old man sage Akira.
“Like mom and Silvy?” asked Wyt.
“Yes,” said Akira, nodding as he rubbed the head of the proud Wyt. “My little man is growing strong. In the future, you will be exploding with power!”
“Stop talking about your little man,” said Maya from behind them. “People might think you’re a pervert.”
She and Azura had both finished their work and had come to join them in the fun outing.
Akira was unsure how to reply to his odd sister-in-law and just decided to ignore her words.
Now was the time to relax and enjoy this moment with his family.
