478. Pyrrhic Victory

It was a week of resounding victories for the United Coalition of the Human Lands. All throughout the Inoria Empire, large-scale battles had taken place in retaliation of the Demon invasion of the Mortal Realm. They hadn’t been easy. Each battle had been hard-fought. But ultimately, it was a massively successful pushback against the grand ritual that had seemed like the beginning of the end of Humankind.

Originally, there had been thirteen sub-ritual locations that exacerbated the grand ritual— that sped up the process of merging the Netherworld with the Mortal Realm. Now, there were only six left. In the span of under four weeks since the declaration of war was made at the conclusion of the Conference of Alyras, seven of the sub-ritual locations had been destroyed in one way or another.

The first had been sabotaged by a covert operation carried out by a group of Elite and Diamond Ranked adventurers. It had been led by Orgaf the Thief of the Golden Scales. And while the mission itself was successful on paper, it wasn’t wholly celebrated as one. After all, Lofus the Broken Berserker of Bherein, an Elite Ranked adventurer, died during the operation due to the sudden appearance of a Primeval Demon.

Then there was the siege of Licen by both Laux Lionfist and Peris Dolonia. Their armies had been one of the first to cross the borders of the Inoria Empire. Together, they quickly made progress into enemy territory, taking over multiple towns and cities without spilling a single drop of blood. They only met their first true resistance when they reached the site of the sub-ritual at Licen. The Inorian army resisted their takeover, forced to fight by a group of high-leveled Demons within the city. Fortunately, with Peris Dolonia’s Skills, he managed to draw out said Demons and liberate Licen before too many lives were lost.

After that, there had been the retaking of Ertos by the forces of Mori Gladius, Helena Warshade, and Daniel Song. It had been a bloody battle— one of the bloodiest in the entire war. Their army incurred grave losses, despite the presence of some of the most powerful individuals in the Human Lands. After all, they had faced an opposing Demon army as well as a wild Primeval Demon at the same time. It was a long, protracted battle that eventually resulted in victory after many losses.

At the same time, Kaitlin Darkhlem and the Swordsguard Forces of the Vaun Qieur Empire carried out a quick and vicious attack on Fort Nosus where another sub-ritual had been held and retook Shadowscar’s Pass. It was a decisive victory. The Swordsguard Forces had hardly suffered any losses, and they had slain hundreds of Demons with ease.

Shortly after that, the Eastern Kingdom Alliance and Remembered Order Company capitalized on the retaking of Shadowscar’s Pass to reach the site of the fifth sub-ritual. It was Windwraith the Dungeon City. And its inhabitants had been entirely sacrificed to the sub-ritual at the very heart of the Dungeon. Tyrian the Brightsbane Archer led a group of his adventurers down into the Dungeon, avoiding the outpouring of both Demons and monsters, before finally sabotaging the sub-ritual.

And this week, smaller armies from the Alterian League, the Sunmere Republic, and allied Cyclopes from Ajih took on the southern border of the Inoria Empire. Where the Elutra Kingdom had once been. They breezed through the region of Arbington before finally taking the city of Norwich where another sub-ritual was located without spilling a single drop of blood.

Then Peris Dolonia with the Helbir League— after splitting with Laux Lionfist and his troops— captured the northernmost city of the Inoria Empire. Lunaris. It was apparently another hard-fought battle which concluded after a day of battle. While the Crown Prince of Dolonia was unhappy about all the losses they suffered, a victory was a victory.

But the same couldn’t be said for what happened next. The next bit of news was heard by everyone from the United Coalition Army of the Human Lands. The news of defeat at the city of Wilford.

“Give it up.”

The voice was cruel and callous. A burning tone that somehow blazed hotter than the flames of the city. Laux Lionfist stumbled back, dropping to one knee, his right arm bleeding and broken. He looked up as the crimson figure strutted through the rubble of what had once been tall and glorious walls.

Ira tilted his head as he came to a halt. Behind him, a horde of wild Demons tore through the remains of what had once been an army of adventurers. A hundred thousand dead, just like that. Tens of thousands were fleeing. Laux Lionfist had only stayed behind to hold the Primeval Demon off. Ira spoke with an acerbic tone.

“You puny mortals do not stand a chance against our King. Your world is ours to take. So give it up.”

“Never.”

Laux Lionfist forced himself to his feet. He met the Primeval Demon’s gaze.

“We have driven you Demons back from the Mortal Realm once before. We will do it again.”

Ira sighed. A [Hellwolf] crept up behind him. Laux Lionfist saw the way the Demon was ready to pounce. He braced himself—

But the wild Demon leapt at Ira’s back. The Primeval Demon just raised a hand, flicking it back and killing it in an instant. Another group of [Hellwolves] howled, before charging around him. A few tried their chances at Ira, but the rest streamed after the running adventurers.

Laux Lionfist shook his head. He raised his one arm and glared at Ira.

“I will fight until I draw my last breath if I must.”

“Then show it to me.”

Ira grinned. He spread his arms wide, waiting expectantly.

“Prove it. Prove your resolve. Unleash your Grand Skill upon me!”

He yelled as he cackled wildly. Laux Lionfist gritted his teeth. The Elite Ranked adventurer remembered the report Helena Warshade had given him on Ira. Supposedly, Ira was able to reflect any Skill unleashed against him. And that was before Ira had become a Primeval Demon.

But would a Grand Skill be enough to break through whatever defense Ira had? Laux Lionfist didn’t know. But he hoped it would. He took on a wide stance as he took a step forward.

“Very well, Demon.”

Ira just bared his teeth savagely in return. Laux Lionfist’s muscles rippled as his eyes flickered.

“[My Body, My Blood—”

He started. And a blast of iridescent energy struck Ira. The Primeval Demon flew back with a loud yelp as the beam of rainbow energy continued to rake him across the ruins of the city. Laux Lionfist blinked, only to suddenly find himself flying, picked up by a cloud.

Looking up, the Elite Ranked adventurer spoke in shock.

“Helena…?”

And he paused. It wasn’t Helena Warshade who was carrying him. He didn’t see the Great Tempest Archmage of Mavos Academy standing there atop the white nimbus cloud. Instead, a wizened man stood atop a golden nimbus cloud with a sword raised and aimed at Ira.

“Headmaster Clayton Skyshredder?!”

Laux Lionfist exclaimed. Clayton just shook his head as his cloud circled over the ruins of Wilford. A crimson pillar tore through the city’s center as thousands of Demons continued to pour out in an unending wave. The Headmaster of Mavos Academy lowered his blade.

“This battle is lost. There is no changing that fact. We need to regroup with the other armies before attempting to destroy this sub-ritual once more.”

“R-right. But what are you—”

Before Laux Lionfist could finish, Ira leapt out of a crater and laughed wildly.

“Who knew that Clayton Skyshredder himself would finally leave his little hide-y hole! Come, Headmaster, I will fight you—”

Clayton Skyshredder interrupted him by sending another blast of iridescent energy his way. The Primeval Demon screamed in pain as the cloud zipped off, leaving the city behind.

“Hopefully the damage will not spread too far before we return.”

Beneath them, some twenty or thirty thousand adventurers continued fleeing. Laux Lionfist blinked, still staring at Clayton. Then he nodded slowly.

“Right. We must make haste.”

Any question could be saved for later. For now, it was best to focus on what could currently be done. The two Elites descended, rallying the remainder of the adventurer army to regroup far from the sub-ritual site.

Meanwhile, Ira watched them go. The Primeval Demon dusted himself off as blood trickled down his shoulder.

“The Headmaster of Mavos Academy joins the war, huh?”

He shook his head.

“This changes everything. Levithus must know of this.”

And he turned away.

After we had taken over the city of Ertos, we didn’t stay around for long, leaving to tackle yet another sub-ritual site. We did stay for a bit longer than we wanted because of Faith’s insistence, which eventually led to the Fallen Queen of Elutra taking her forces and leaving our army.

After finding some refugees hidden in Mount Soulcreep, she had decided she would continue liberating more of the Elutra Kingdom and regroup with the other forces from the Alterian League and the Sunmere Republic. It was her duty or something. I somewhat understood it, since I felt the same way with my companions.

“So where are we going now?”

I asked Daniel as I flew upside down beside him. He sat atop a horse awkwardly riding at the front of the army. He glanced up at me and shook his head.

“Weren’t you listening at all during the meeting?”

“What meeting?”

I blinked at him. He sighed.

“We’re going to meet up with Laux Lionfist’s forces towards the northwest. Then we will join Peris Dolonia’s army too before pressing further into the Inoria Empire.”

“Aren’t we going to target more of those sub-ritual sites?”

“We’re leaving those for the other armies to deal with. So far, we haven’t had too much trouble with destroying the sub-rituals. We may as well work efficiently and split responsibilities. We’ll target the true source of the Grand Ritual, while the rest of the coalition will bring down the remaining six sub-ritual.”

Daniel paused. He raised his head.

“Well, five after Laux Lionfist and his troops take back Wilford.”

“What is Wilford?”

I asked, peering at him. He just gave me a flat stare.

“I’m not going to answer that.”

“Aw.”

We continued riding for a few more minutes as I just flitted around like I was some kind of [Will O’ Wisp]. Truth be told, I was only bothering Daniel so I could escape the real [Will O’ Wisp]. Willy was harping after me for a lot of things. Three things in particular.

And I was trying to avoid responsibility. So I just glanced up at the sky, bored and bothering Daniel.

“Are we there yet?”

“Not for another day, probably. When we last heard from Laux Lionfist, his forces were facing quite a bit of resistance from Wilford. But I’m sure once he’s dealt with the sub-ritual, they’ll need to rest up and wait for us in the city.”

“And why do you think he’ll succeed?”

I asked casually.

“Couldn’t he have, y’know, failed?”

“I mean, it’s possible, but—”

Daniel started. Then he caught himself. He stared straight ahead as our army came to a halt right at the top of a hill. I looked up— or down, depending on how you looked at it— to see a vast desolate landscape. White rocks that spread far and wide, with no city or anything of the like in sight.

Crimson skies scarred the world ahead, only growing and spreading the Netherworld’s curse into the Mortal Realm. I saw wild Demons wandering the rocky plains. Entire forests burned to ash. And far beyond that was a crimson pillar, shooting to the sky. Still a day’s travel away. Where the vague outline of Wilford could be see in the distance.

Daniel scratched his cheeks.

“Uh, nevermind. Maybe you’re right.”

And I furrowed my brows, in thought.

“Huh.”