"Catapults," cried out a Goblin who wore tattered leathers about its body, as a pair of such contraptions arose around the battlements by way of my magicks. For such artilleries of war would become necessary if we desired to see the army before us end. However, only two were able to be formed, as such conjurations did require substances with which they can become corporeal. Of which was wood and stone, and such items were more abundant in the other areas of the newly formed city.

For now, though, these tools of war were swarmed by the creatures for a time, as they slowly prepared and loading the bowl at the end with soiled rocks. Such ammunitions, by the by, were coated with feces, whilst the rocks themselves were jagged and broken. It was as though these were made for throwing by way of a hand or sling.

The army, on the other hand, consisted of feline and canine Beastfolk of varying species along with a small handful of Humans. These were at the forefront, by the by, and wore extravagant armours that appeared a little too large for themselves, especially the pauldrons. For such armours were, at times, three to five times larger than their own skulls. Yes. They were rather silly, but they still wore such a thing.

As to the whole of their outerwears, the Beastfolk were in chain and leathers, whereas the Humans had plate. The ones which approached, however, were all following a blonde haired, blue-eyed male in golden platemail. Such a thing was far too gaudy and impractical, as was the horse it sat upon. For the beast was rather large and full of muscle, which was a must by the by, as without it, the poor animal would have collapsed under the strain of the gold.

Those behind such an annoying Human were a ragtag group wearing chainshirts and heavy leathers. Yes. A few were wearing platemail as well, but those were of a quality of iron I have not seen before. For it shined greatly under the day-star which shone above us, almost in a blinding method.

Of course I desired it, and would gift such an odd substance to Rojaahn, but that was neither here nor there.

In any case, once the army was within five hundred metres of the wall, they did halt themselves with varying expressions of perplexity. For they were no doubt desiring to know as to the reason for such a wall to be in place of the gate, but upon noting my person and the presences of Amira and the Goblins, did they each turn towards the Humans for some semblance of guidance. It was believed, right then and there, that such an insufferable race were their leaders in this, and now it was up to them to find out why we were within the city.

To which the one in gold then trotted his horse forward with an air of extreme import, and I even noted the length of his nose becoming longer the more everyone looked upon his person. This, I did comment to Amira, who snickered as she leaned against her scythe.

"Can I have that one's head, my Lord?" she inquired, loud enough for the approaching Human to hear. Of whom became startled and glared upon our persons whilst continuing his approach.

Once the male was within a few dozen metres of the wall, he did cause his golden horse to halt, then took in a great amount of air in order to shout in a deep, rich and commanding voice, "I am Sir Richard of Highwater. I demand you to remove yourselves from the city of Arthrik, or you will be purged from the premises."

"How about no, and we say we did?" called out Melephas, who leaned over the battlements to my and Amira's left. He even beamed a smile down upon the annoying pest, and waved his left hand.

"You," shouted the other, "You are Human. Are you captive of these creatures?"

"Uh," the Mage stammered, unable to respond and turned to us with a look inquiring whether or not the one below them was an idiot.

Whereas I shook my head slowly, then turned back towards the pest below in order to address his person with, "I am Devil King Karastak, and have claimed this land as my own. You," my right primary clawed hands extended their forefingers towards the golden beacon, "dare to provoke I who is akin to a God?" The world around our persons darkened for a time, then receded until only I and the armoured being stood across from one another in a different plane of existence.

Here, there was only the pair of us. Not the horse, the battlements, Amira, or anyone else, as all others had inexplicably vanished. Such a place, by the by, was created when one intones the spell "Duel of Compulsion", and yes, I was quite familiar with its properties. However, I was not the one who cast it.

"I've killed Demon Lords who claimed to be the Devil King of their world," spoke the Golden Fool before my person, "but each only turned out to be a normal Demon Lord who clung to the fantasy that they were a God among men." Slowly, he withdrew a greatsword from behind his person, one that was not there beforehand. This was then brought up and into a stance with the pommel and grasped hit held below the waist with the blade pointing towards my person.

"I doubt you will be the same," he continued, then attacked my person with a great leap into the air, and slashed the space where I was currently not within. For I had vanished and reappeared behind his person. There, I used one of my foreclaws to prick the back of his neck, upon the spine. Whereupon he did roll away whilst sweeping the blade behind his person, of which went through the open air.

Yes. I did disappear, and would continue to perform thusly, but once I reappeared within a few metres of his person, he did notice one of my clawed hands pointing upwards. Believing such a thing was a spell which called down something from above, he replaced his sword with a tower shield in order to protect his person.

However, when nothing came down from the endarkened heavens above, did he peer out from behind his cover with curious eyes. Whereupon he did spy the digit being brought up towards the area where a mouth should be, but instead noted two extra pairs of eyes slowly parting open from below my primaries. Of which I did hear a gasp from the Human as they each burned with a crimson fire as I stared upon a droplet of blood which I had pricked from the fool.

"You have an interesting history," rumbled my voice which shook the entirety of the space around us, "but I am not one of those who proclaim themselves something they are not." In so saying, four pairs of wings stretched themselves from my back, each as dark as pitch which caused even the darkness around my person to become brighter.

Now, the reason why I spoke of his history was due to my ability to discern one's past history. This came from an ability I had inherited long ago, and proved vital in my journey forwards. As such a thing allowed my person to become successful in a world where only a few select families ruled the world's commerce.

In any case, the Human, noting I had yet to move, cast aside his shield in order to dash towards my person with a much slimmer sword in his right hand, and a kite shield strapped to his left. Whereas the tower shield, once it was no longer near the fool's person, vanished into a golden mist. Yes. I did take note of it, as my eyes did follow his ever approaching figure.

However, upon reached two metres from my person, I did call upon the energies of those within my person to draw a wave of vertical energy upwards. This did appear before my eyes, and once my digit reached above my head, was such a thing released. Of which immediately sped off towards the other with a deadly speed.

The Human, on the other hand, rose up his shield as he continued onward with the firm belief that his armament will protect his person from harm. Unfortunately for himself, once the line of energy struck the shield, he cried out greatly whilst being flung towards the point where he began. There, he landed upon his back, clutching his now limp and bleeding left arm whilst I calmly stalked forwards, my wings stretching themselves as my body moved. For it was some time since they were called into being, and I desired to remove any and all stiffness contained within before putting them to use once more.