Reborn: War's Nightmare (11 page)

Having went around the town before with Henry, Ash knew a little about the layout and he knew that Fay was right. The center of the enemy forces was located at the back of the large open area of the market district. He had learned from Henry that the commanders had taken over the trading pavilion to use as their headquarters. It was only a few streets away and even walking slowly, they would reach it within five minutes.

12-14

Ash couldn’t help but feel his heartbeat increase once the large merchant square came into view. On the far side, he could see the enemy army formed up and could even hear where they were engaging in small isolated battles.  Ash had expected that the main field would already be awash in a large battle, but it seemed that the enemy had adjusted to the loss of their illusion trap faster than expected.

Fay grabbed Ash’s arm and pulled him back. “We need to wait,” she said in a berating tone. “If we stick our heads out now, then a large portion of the enemy forces might turn our way. That might create a bit of chaos and allow our main forces easier access to the square, but it will all come to naught if we are overrun in the meantime.”

Ash nodded his head in understanding, though it was hard for him to fight the urge to go take another look.  While he was fighting his urges, Fay was using her communication rings to talk with the different sub-commanders to check on their status. After she was finished, Fay turned back to Ash with an odd look on her face that appeared to be a mix of a smirk and a smile. “Within fifteen minutes, we should have our chance.”

Almost as soon as Fay’s words were out of her mouth, Ash heard a loud roar rise from the distance. Suddenly the sounds of battle increased. Though a quarter of an hour was not long, it was an antagonizing amount of time to Ash. He could almost hear the sound of everyone’s breath and heartbeats until he heard Fay signal everyone to advance.

Though there were near a thousand demon soldiers, they only made the faintest sound as they moved across the cobbled stone street. It wasn’t until they were halfway across the field that one of the enemy soldiers cried out in alarm. With the large army pushing through from the front, the majority of the enemy army couldn’t afford to pull back and engage Ash and the others but their cries of alarm did warn the commanders waiting in the pavilion of the impending attack.

Hearing the noise, the commanders’ personal soldiers checked on the situation only to have their faces turn white as they ran to warn the others. It was a step too late. The enemy only started to emerge just as Ash and the others reached the pavilion entrance. Ash led the charge alongside his wives and Fay who once again looked like a child going out to play. After her long story about her life and her statement about hating war, Ash couldn’t believe the natural look she had once a battle started. It was almost as if the woman beside him now and the one from earlier were two different people.

Shaking the unnecessary thoughts from his mind, Ash focused on the soldiers who were moving to intercept him. The first one who came in was nothing but a guard so Ash deftly dodged the man’s strike, moving past him and leaving him to the ones behind. Ash met three more guards as he pushed forward. Two of which he was able to dodge, the third was more skilled and refused to let him pass. The guard had an odd skill that while not helping him in attacking, it allowed him to shadow Ash’s movements flawlessly. By the time Ash was able to deal with the soldier, two more had appeared. Cursing, Ash thought about using some of his skills but he suddenly remembered Fay’s warning about the abilities of the upper echelon of the kingdom warriors. These guards might only be hard to fight, but the ones he would be forced to fight later would be very difficult and if he ran out of SP or MP, his life would surely be in danger. Grunting, Ash moved quickly to the right to dodge the first attack while using his sword to knock away the second and easily passed the two guards before entering the pavilion. Ash was not the first inside. It seemed that Fay had beat him by no more than a few seconds, but she was already surrounded, fighting more than twenty soldiers. With a quick look around, Ash quickly lost count of the numbers in front of him but he guessed that it was more than a hundred but less than a hundred and a half.

Acting quickly, Ash activated “Sticky Thread,” at the legs of the enemies surrounding Fay before throwing five leather bags into the air and activating “Wind Slash.” The blade made of air tore through the bags that were flying through the air over a large group of enemies. Ash couldn’t help but smirk as the powered sealing poison fell upon the enemies.

“Don’t let it touch you,” one of the enemy soldier leaders yelled. The enemies became slightly frantic not knowing what had alarmed their leaders. Seeing the chaos, Fay gave Ash a wink from the side as she increased the ferocity of her attacks. Retuning the wink, Ash rushed into the panicking soldiers and within moments four had already fallen to his blade.

Though he was confident in his abilities, Ash kept a calm mind as he continued to fight. Not allowing too many soldiers to circle around him while at the same time, refraining from using too many abilities. Each moment that passed, more and more of the demon soldiers stated to make their way into the pavilion.

Surprisingly, the first one to make it next to Ash was not Tolarea but was Tina. Ash had not seen Tina fight much but he found himself surprised when she seemed to suddenly appear beside him, blocking a sword blow that, should his shield not activated, would have taken him in the side. With a quick blow to the neck with her rapier, she killed the offending soldier then gave Ash a slightly angry glare. In the back of his mind, Ash knew that once he pulled away from his guards/wives that he would hear about it later, but it had only been a passing thought. Now he couldn’t help but flinch at that angry look.

Ash’s eyes passed over the soldiers until they locked onto the eyes of the commander he had met a few days beforehand. The man was casually walking in Ash’s direction, dragging a two handed sword that was nearly as tall and wide as the man himself, which was saying something. “I’ll take care of him, the rest of you work to hold off the others,” the commander said as his foot kicked the tip of his sword, causing it to swing into the air and land deftly on his shoulder.

Ash knew that he couldn’t skip the fight, but it was not one he wanted to fight. After skimming the soldiers in the pavilion, he caught sight of four that had the reaper’s mark hanging over their heads. The main commander was not one of them which surprised Ash. Ash had learned that most common soldiers didn’t earn the mark even when they committed horrendous acts. The only person who earned the mark were those who ordered the actions. That was why Ash was surprised. He didn’t know if the commander had left his orders vague so those below him gained the goddess’s wrath or if he was naturally innocent.

“Nice to see you again young lord,” the commander said with a weak smile. Ash could tell from the look on the man’s face that he knew that even if he won the fight, he knew that he couldn’t win the larger battle.

“If your men surrender now then I can let them live,” Ash said as he began to formulate an attack plan.

“That is very tempting, but that choice has already been taken from me,” the man said in a lamenting tone. “The King sent specific orders that we were not to surrender and to do everything in our powers, including using the blood of the lowest of civilians, to keep you occupied as long as possible.”

“Why listen to such an order?” Ash asked more than a little confused. “It will not be long before the King will be taking his own eternal rest.”

The commander let out a long loud laugh. “Do you think the King would allow the nobles or soldiers any real choice. We are all bound by soul chains. If we disobey a direct order, it would mean our death. We are not all as lucky as your little duchess who was spared such a fate due to her families’ long standing agreement with the crown…Enough banter, I think it is time we started the real show.” Without another word, the commander lunged at Ash at such a speed that one would think he had teleported had it not been for the afterimage he left behind.

Ash was so surprised by the commanders quick speed he was unable to get his sword all the way up in time, but at the last moment he was able to shift his body slightly and the massive sword passed by him by only a hair. It hit the ground so hard that the wooden floor of the pavilion splintered and broke apart as if it was made of paper. The commander didn’t even flinch before he pivoted his body and shifted his grip while kicking the blade of the sword with the back of his right foot and taking a second strike. This time Ash was ready. Activating “Flash Step,” Ash moved to the side of the commander, striking hard with his word. He had thought with one strike he would win since the commander was not wearing any visible armor but the second his blade struck the man’s side, it was as if he was hitting solid stone.  Using “Flash Step,” again, Ash pulled back and found that his sword has cut through the commander’s uniform, but there was a light silver shine coming from behind the torn clothing.

Before he could collect himself, the enemy commander once again attacked giving Ash little time to make his next strike. Ash dodged two attacks, but a third came in and Ash moved his own sword to deflect it. As soon as the enemy commander’s sword came into contact with his, Ash felt as if it had been hit by a giant. His feet were lifted off the ground and he flew backward, hitting on of the wooden pylons that supported the pavilion. Ash heard a cracking noise as pain spread throughout his back. Checking his status, Ash noticed that he had lost over 500 HP from the single strike. Slightly amazed, he tried to look at the enemy commander’s status but found that everything was hidden from him. Moments before, Ash was certain that he could win easily but now he started to fear that things were not going to be as easy as he thought. If he couldn’t win one on one, Ash’s only choice was to survive until the others could give him a hand. Though he hoped that it didn’t come to that. The last thing that Ash wanted to see were those he had come to care about dying at the hands of others right in front of him.  Fearing this outcome, Ash tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword and strengthened his resolve.

With little choice, Ash was forced to put everything he had into this battle. Using “Flash Step,” “Over Boost,” and “Break Guard,” Ash jumped forward letting his body move freely. His sword dropped down and came up swiftly, the pommel of the sword hitting the area of the enemy’s sword just above its hilt just as the enemy commander was about to release his strike forcing the sword up and knocking the commander off balance. With the large opening, Ash jumped back, the tip of his sword hitting the middle of the enemy’s chest. The sword didn’t sink into the man’s flesh, but he was forced back three steps. With a worn look on his face, the man let out a single cough as a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. Seeing that his strike had done some damage, Ash didn’t let up and continued his attack. Ash used every ability he had as quickly as he could. Though between each strike, he was forced to use “Flash Step” to avoid being hit. He didn’t know how long his attacks continued, but both his SP and MP were disappearing at an astonishing rate.

Breathing hard, Ash pulled back and noticed that the sounds of battle had ended around him. With a quick look, he noticed that his wives and Fay were watching the fight from the side. Some of them looked concerned, but Fay was holding them back from helping him. Her face was stern but it gave Ash some confidence. He knew that she wouldn’t allow him to die if it was within her power. With a few moments to spare, Ash checked his status. His HP had recovered slightly from the one strike he had taken and was now back up to 1040/1400. His SP on the other hand was dangerously low at only 42/267. His MP wasn’t doing much better at 460/1320.

Once his breath had returned, Ash looked over to where the enemy commander was still kneeling on the ground. His head was hung down and Ash could hear him wheezing. Below him lay a small pool of blood that was quickly spreading. The man’s sword lay on the ground a few feet away as it had been lost when one of Ash’s strikes hit his hand causing it to fly out of his grasp.

“Well done,” the enemy commander said with a pained look on his face.

Ash was slightly surprised as not one of his blows had been able to break through the man’s armor. He had even struck the man’s neck but it seemed that he wasn’t wearing external armor, but instead it was some sort of skill that hardened the skin to an amazing degree.

The soldier’s breath became more ragged as he tried to stand and he collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. A horse and gurgling laugh filled the air as the man feebly tried to rise. When he failed, another laugh filled the air. Ash couldn’t think of what to do and in the end he could only watch as the man started to mumble until his breath slowed and his body stopped moving. Turning toward Fay, the puzzled look on his face said everything.

“You must have broken a few ribs and one of them most likely entered his lung,” Fay said answering the unasked question that was hovering on Ash’s mind. “He most likely drowned in his own blood…A very painful way to go.” The look on Fay’s face was solemn as if she had just watched a close friend or relative die. After a deep sigh, Fay turned her look back toward Ash. “The battles should be dying down soon. For now, let us wait until everything is finished. Your part in the battles has been finished.”

After the long drawn out battle, Ash couldn’t think of anything to say but he had much to think on. Without trying to seem regal, Ash sat on the ground hard. He didn’t know what would have happened if he had to fight two people with the same battle ability as the commander. If the human aristocracy didn’t try to hold a monopoly on the better abilities and skills then it would be much harder to win this war. In truth, it would be possible for them to lose even with the higher skilled demon army behind them. 

“Are you ok my lord?” Li’s face came softly from his side as he felt his head lifted off the ground the placed on something soft. Turning his head he noticed that his head had been softly laid on Li’s thighs as she started to heal the wounds on his back which were just now starting to cause him real pain.