City of Sin

Book 2, 114

Escorted Into Battle(2)

Decades of experience allowed Marquess Riain to pick up an unusual scent. Gaton wasn’t supposed to appear on this battlefield. Even if he was in his territory at the moment, he would be busy planning planar invasions. As the premier powerhouse of the Archerons and an exceptional commander, his use was on the planar battlefields, not here. Something as simple as an invasion from hell could be taken care of by three or four of his thirteen knights.

It wasn’t just Gaton; the most terrifying of his thirteen knights, Mordred, was present behind him as well. And behind that fiend were seven more of the thirteen knights!

And in a line behind them were fifty other rune knights. The rest of the troops were made of elite soldiers, with none that weren’t adept at sudden attacks. Given the Archerons’ military prowess, there was no need for heavy troops. A sudden assault by Gaton would breach even the strongest of armies.

In front of the Archerons, Marquess Riain felt like his own army was as fragile as a crystal. An absurd thought suddenly entered his mind: could it be that Gaton was going to help the invaders from hell take his army out?

However, something entirely unfathomable followed. Just as the portal from hell was starting to form, spacetime started to distort in an empty space a few kilometres away. Another portal was taking shape as well!

At the same point in time, with almost overlapping coordinates, two invasions were actually occurring at the same time? And this was happening at the border of the family’s most important territory? A rough estimate with the size and intensity of this new portal indicated that the invasion was about the same size as the one from hell. Riain could hardly believe his eyes, a chill penetrating his bones as he felt the weight of his sword increase tenfold. He felt like he would lose his grip any moment.

The marquess suddenly felt the immeasurable warmth of the Archeron troops, and was grateful for the fact that they neighboured the Archeron lands. His only concern right now was whether the Archerons possessed the legendary military might they were known for, and whether it would be enough to defeat the invaders.

The two portals stabilised at the same time, and large numbers of devils and demons poured forth. The frontlines were less than two kilometres apart; they were about to clash in a melee.

Riain suddenly felt very lucky. It was unexpected for devils and demons to appear at the same time. This was no simple matter, as one these two groups met they would erupt into a vicious battle. Perhaps this invasion could be resolved without much effort.

He lifted his sword up, ordering, “Everyone stay where you are! Remain on the defensive, none of you is to initiate an attack without permission. Mages, you are not to cast spells!”

Everyone understood the reasoning behind Riain’s orders. With a chance that the devils and demons would take each other down, it would be extremely silly to do anything to provoke them.

The two invasions had clearly spotted each other. The devil troops immediately got into battle formation, while the demons started roaring in a display of might. They did spot the humans around, but at that moment their innate hostilities erupted to blind them to everything else. A battle was about to ensue.

The last to step out of the portals were two greater devils and a lesser demon lord. Then, the strangest thing happened in front of everyone’s eyes.

Seeing the demons, the two greater devils started emitting a strong aura. However, they merely stared menacingly at the demons before waving the weapons in their hands, giving out multiple orders. The organised devils then turned to the right, marching forward.

The greater devils had been ordered to turn right the moment they left the portal. They weren’t daring enough to ignore their lord’s orders, so even though there were demons right up ahead, they resolutely followed their orders.

The demon lord, for his part, was startled. However, seeing the devils’ actions calmed him down, Bermond’s order ringing clearly in his mind.

This was an order that could not be disobeyed. Even though his innate nature egged him on to rush forward and kill, there were two greater devils in front of him. Starting a fight with them would not result in anything good. He unwillingly looked towards the right, and the unmoving Archeron men made him feel nervous. Eventually, he realised there was no other choice but to abide by Bermond’s orders; that would be the only way to keep his life once he returned.

Sharon was also apparently towards the right; that fact alone was sufficient to leave him trembling with fear. Even though he didn’t see her, this demon lord firmly believed that the lady who instilled so much fear in his kind was definitely hiding somewhere.

He eventually let out a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the battlefield. The demons hesitantly changed direction one by one, but a few of the fiercer ones couldn’t hold back their urge to advance towards the devils. This agitated the demon lord, and he leapt on top of a few of them. Two of them were crushed under his feet, while another was torn to shreds. He then grabbed three more and threw them towards the left, in the direction of Marquess Riain.

Out the portal and to the left, never look back. This was the order Bermond had given him on his life.

The ground started to shake as black mist and raging flames mixed to form dark clouds that pressured over the Schumpeter territory. The demons’ roars were akin to a sudden clap of thunders, while the devils’ solemn silence was suffocating.

With a clang, the magic sword fell from Riain’s hand. The marquess was completely unaware of that, his mind completely blanked out. He had completely forgotten to pass down any orders, stunned by the inconceivable sight in front of him.

Nobody could have imagined that the demons and devils would charge at them, side by side.

If one looked from above, the two armies would look like two rushing streams of the same colour. This pair of adversaries who’d been evenly matched in the endless war took the chance to showcase their military strength.

The demons didn’t have formations or strategy. They just rushed forth towards every obstacle they saw, until every living being in the region was torn to shreds. Conversely, the devils were a neatly organised army. The two greater devils were capable and qualified commanders, fiercely leading their troops’ assault.

In the coming days, the armies from the abyss and hell would forge ahead side by side, none faster than the other. They occasionally dispersed and gathered back together, although they never came within a kilometre of each other. No conflicts of any kind occurred between them, creating the false impression that the endless war was but a myth.

This strange event caused a huge blow to the Schumpeters. They quickly organised four lines of defense, but each was made short work of. When more than a thousand soldiers had been slain, they had no choice but to give up on reinforcing the Fjord of Longing. They reluctantly gave up a significant plot of fertile land and a few valuable ore mines, gathering over 3000 soldiers at the core of their lands. They spent all the magic crystals they had in stock, building two portals that pulled their elites back from planar wars. This was the only way they managed to put up a fight.

All this time, the Archeron troops followed the invaders while maintaining a comfortable distance between them. They didn’t stray too far away, but they didn’t take part in the battle either. The demons and devils turned a blind eye to this, remaining fixated on a ferocious charge towards the Schumpeter troops.