That’s one barrier cleared...
I’d killed what appeared to be two commanders of the vanguard.
Cere’zhula had taught me war tactics—crushing leaders disrupted formations and kept units from being at full power. But this was only a sound strategy when reinforcements were on the way; fighting alone invariably had limits. I was merely buying time, but still, I had my reasons.
I’m sorry, Elena.
When we were young, I’d promised her I would kill the demon king himself if she asked me to. And now here I was, risking my life when she’d begged me not to.
I slipped past the scores of confused soldiers around the dead commanders and kept racing forward toward the main forces.
▼ Alia (Alicia)
Species: Human♀ (Rank 4)
Aether Points: 178/330
Health Points: 195/260
Overall Combat Power: 1,497 (Uniquely Boosted: 2,797)
Combat Technique: Iron Rose / 154 seconds
I had about 150 seconds left. My target was the demon general’s head.
“Ah re!”
Further enhancing the speed of my legs, I kicked up sand clouds as I ran, the scenery blurring past me, remnants of light trailing behind me like comet tails.
Dozens of arrows came flying toward me from the main army when they noticed my approach. I wasn’t worried about projectiles from this distance, though, and dodged them easily. Again I evaded the wall of spearmen and the thrusts they made from behind the safety of their shields by twisting my body and leaping straight into their formation.
“What is this thing?!”
“Kill it!”
“Wait, you’ll hit each other!”
The confused soldiers carelessly swung at me with their spears and blades. Though they grazed me, the wounds weren’t serious enough to warrant stopping. I deflected a thrust, redirecting it at another soldier, then spun as I jumped closer and cut down the foes in my path.
This wasn’t enough. I could move faster. Time seemed to crawl as I slipped through the enemy lines, deflecting even spatters of blood with my palms as I raced forward at such astounding speeds that my enemies’ eyes couldn’t keep up.
Finally, I jumped straight at a man who seemed to be their commander. He was staring at me, bewildered, as my dagger found its way into his forehead.
Two barriers down.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What is that...?”
The demon army was confused. A girl had appeared out of nowhere, raced across the battlefield at abnormal speeds, and, in a few dozen seconds, killed commanders of multiple units.
Of course, they hadn’t just watched. They’d changed formations, switched weapons, and sometimes even struck their own allies with spells. Still, the girl hadn’t stopped. She was bleeding from several wounds and her burnished-iron hair was stained red, but she continued to swing her equally bloodied black blades.
“Stop her!!!”
After her blades had reaped the lives of more than five commanders, despite the many arrows embedded in her body, the girl—Alia—had finally cut into the main force, where General Aishe was.
“You little rat,” Aishe spat from the giant armored dragon’s back, drawing her sword. “Who are you?!”
From Aishe’s voice and figure, Alia could tell immediately she was the general. She used her weighted pendulum to crush the skull of a guard who tried to stop her, then glared sharply at Aishe.
“I’m going to need you to keep me company,” Alia said.
“What?!”
Guards instantly surrounded Alia. What options were left to her? As the guards all pointed blades at the seemingly foolish girl who had jumped straight into a death trap, Alia took a ceramic bottle out of Shadow Storage and threw it.
“Watch out!”
“Don’t let that land!”
The trained guards reacted immediately, throwing daggers to shatter the airborne bottle. But it hadn’t been aimed at Aishe. Instead—
“Graaaaaaaaah!”
A terrible stench rose as the broken bottle’s contents—likely some type of nerve agent that caused intense pain—hit the armored dragon’s snout. Lost in its own agony and the foul smell, the armored dragon began to flail, and Aishe, who had been standing, was forced to kneel.
That created a brief opening, and in that instant, Alia broke through the guards and grabbed at the armored dragon. Losing her balance, Aishe threw a dagger at the girl, who then kicked off the creature’s hide to dodge the blade. Then, with all her strength, the girl pulled at the rampaging armored dragon’s reins to show it an escape route.
“You!” Aishe yelled, eyes wide at Alia’s display of acrobatics.
She slashed at the bloodied Alia from atop the flailing armored dragon, and her magic steel blade clashed with Alia’s magic steel dagger, sending sparks flying.
“Why do you interfere, human girl?!”
“I have something to protect.”
Alia’s health points were at their limit from the spells and blades that had hit her. But Aishe’s sword still couldn’t find its mark.
Aishe was Rank 5, superior in terms of pure technique. But with Alia’s stats enhanced by Iron Rose and on a battlefield with unstable footing, the long-lived general, unused to the terrain, found herself evenly matched against a human girl barely over a decade old.
“So this was your plan!”
Alia had separated Aishe from her men and lured her toward advantageous terrain. Both the girl’s acrobatics and fighting style were reminiscent of the infamous Fiend.
“You’re wasting your time!” Aishe spat. “Trickery won’t help you win!”
Still, Aishe had techniques refined over decades as a demon warrior. No matter how abnormal Alia’s stats were, she couldn’t defeat Aishe.
“I said I needed you to keep me company,” Alia said.
Only then did the girl’s true objective dawn on Aishe. The armored dragon had run off toward the rear—where the earth dragon had been preparing to fire its next attack at the balloon.
“Graaaaah!”
The bewitched earth dragon was distracted by the rampaging mount charging at it. Although the taming performed on the true dragon wasn’t perfect, it would’ve still held even if puny humans had tried to attack it. But an armored dragon? The incomplete mind control meant the earth dragon’s defensive instincts came alight at such a massive creature barreling toward it.
“...Roar...!!!”
A massive fireball that should’ve been aimed at the hot-air balloon was instead directed at the armored dragon.
Aishe clicked her tongue harshly and leaped backward. “Tch!”
Alia, too, jumped back in time to avoid the earth dragon’s breath. The armored dragon had no such reflexes and kept charging straight into the flames until its ashes scattered across the desert.
Though the massive creature had acted as a shield, Alia was nevertheless blown away by the shock wave, and Iron Rose’s light vanished from her hair. Aishe saw the opportunity and raised her blade. Alia’s gaze remained fixed on the enemy general, and she, too, swung her blade.
“Vorpal Blade!!!”
“Critical Edge!!!”
The two techniques, unleashed simultaneously, clashed in the air. Aishe’s sword pierced Alia’s abdomen, and Alia’s blade slashed Aishe’s side. Both women’s bodies went flying, spraying massive amounts of blood into the air before falling to the ground.
Several seconds later, one of them unsteadily pushed herself to her feet.
Holding her bleeding side, Aishe stared at the unconscious pink-haired girl and asked one of her many questions. “Who in blazes is this...?!”
Why would she go this far?
Was she not afraid of death?
How could she possibly know that move?
The move that had allowed her to dodge Aishe’s technique and evade certain death. Her move.
And what was this hair color? Aishe recalled something similar. Not quite exactly the same shade of pink.
“It doesn’t matter,” she murmured.
This girl was dangerous. This Aishe knew. She still had mountains of questions, but as the general of the demonic army, she couldn’t leave alive someone who had interfered with their invasion and killed several of their commanders.
Despite her severe wound, Aishe raised her sword. “Die.”
“Wait!!!”
But someone stopped her before she could swing.
Aishe’s eyes widened at the youth before her. “You...!”
A prince of the demonic nation, who had been missing for many years, here, now? How?
“Lower your blade, General Aishe,” he said. “I am taking custody of this girl.”
Her breaths ragged, Aishe glared silently at the prince—who sat atop a mount and had two attendants with him, a young girl and a middle-aged man—but grudgingly complied, lowering her weapon as she spat out a wad of bloody saliva.
“Do whatever you want with that half-dead thing,” she said. “But if she lives, I have questions for her about why she moves like my sister.”