Single Point

“They survived that shit?!” shouted Seiji in equal shock to see demons appearing out of the pit.

“I guess it was too much to hope for,” Saki said, hiding her surprise, “We still did kill the majority of the demons though. The army’s been wiped out.” The original goal of Yuki’s plan had calculated that it would take out a large chunk of the army, though not the entirety of it. He expected some to be strong enough to survive the hellish onslaught by a volcanic eruption. It was always planned to be a violent and indiscriminate attack. An attack that would catch the demons off guard.

However, it also was part of the plan that they would charge in during the chaos to clean up the rest of the army while they were in disorder. Yet the strength of the eruption far exceeded their plans shelving any sort of attempt to do that. “They’re going to regroup!”

Landing on the ground, Hokuren looked about the hellscape with measured interest. “That was an entirely unexpected strategy.” Despite the intensity of the eruption, he had no signs of damage or even clothes singed by flames. He didn’t even sweat.

“Damn those humans,” Lord Guri complained with veins lining his muscles and neck in anger. He looked forward to the storming of the Capital, but with their army completely gone it was going to be difficult.

Analyzing the scene, Anumera finished taking in the whole environment. It played out about how she calculated from within the pit during the eruptions. “Our enemy commander is an unsettling individual willing to destroy their very land for an opportunity at victory.”

“Someone willing to go to that extreme for victory should be worthy,” Kokonemu commented.

“Yes, it seems in our slumber some bold humans were born. Lord Guri, the wall is down, their attack on our army looks to have taken a toll on them as well.”

“I understand, Lord Hokuren. I’ll make sure that I rout the Demon Hunters. They won’t be any challenge to us, they’re merely shadows.” He motioned to the remaining demons that stood around either protected by the Demon Lord’s presence or strong enough to survive lava. Few of the demons remained were ones that weren’t tied directly in loyalty to another Demon Lord. Only they were for him to command.

A few demons had some hesitation despite surviving the attack. They might have been the strongest that the army had to offer, but it still managed to shake him. All of the centuries they had never seen such tactics used against them. They didn’t know what further traps and strategies might be in mind.

Guri ground his teeth together, disappointed in the soldiers of their army. He grabbed up one of the demons by the neck and flung them to the ground completely ignoring their full demon state as though they were just a human. “Lord Hokuren gave you an order! Who do you fight for?”

“L-Lord Hokuren,” the demon muttered, having never directly faced a Demon Lord before. They served their master, but even being as strong as they were it did not make them the Commander.

The demon rose back to its feet to give a more hardened expression to Guri. Hammering in the discipline started to get back their fight. The five demons that Guri could command gathered up with renewed energy for the charge on the Capital. “For Lord Hokuren!”

“Now charge!”

Battle cries echoed through the still quaking earth as the demons started to march. However, the war cry came to a sudden cut off end as a lethal gust came through the demons in a flash of light. Before the demon even knew what happened it was missing its entire arm and wing with a large gaping hole in its chest with blood spraying into the air.

“Who did that?!” shouted Guri turning around to locate the enemy.

Clenching her bloody hand tightly, Yumi destroyed the demon before it had a chance. Yumi stared defiantly at the remaining demons commanding their complete attention. “Thought you said charge.”

Chapter 441 – Single Point

The long sleeves off the tightly fitted kimono blew around in the tumultuous air stirred up by the eruptions. A soft glow from the sweat covered Yumi marked by a fierce and deadly stare. She fearlessly stood amongst all of the demons despite the Demon Lords ranked among them.

Saki leaned forward grabbing the wall as it stopped her. “Dammit! She’s gone straight into the lion’s den!”

Jumping to the top of the wall, Seiji crossed his arms with a wide smirk on his face. The pleased look he bore didn’t give encouragement to Saki. “Yumi’s got the right idea! There’s only a few remaining. We finish the bastards off before they can strike!”

“That’s uncharacteristically unfair for you.”

“I know this isn’t a street fight. Nothing fair about a war.” He coiled his legs as he braced for a jump. “If we let them take advantage, more people could be harmed! This isn’t just about us.” Seiji launched from the wall with the power of his strength disappearing for a moment as his speed managed to break the sights of the watchers.

Yuki glanced over at Saki, who nodded back to him. “Yeah I know. Can’t believe the one talking the most sense would be him. Back us up down there!” Saki disappeared from Yuki’s sight.

“Kill her!” The remaining four demons charged obediently at Yumi out for revenge for her slaughter of the demon. She fixed her sights on them, their killing intent finely honed. Each in their demon form stood at least three times taller than her. By appearance alone, she looked frail compared to them.

It was so one sided.

‘They’re moving so slowly…’ Yumi didn’t even bother dodging, just walked around each of them. It left her in a bit of surprise and awe not expecting them to be so slow to her eyes. Her body moved so effortlessly that she barely had to even think about it. ‘I’m so used to straining to see even a blur of Saki…’ The experience left her with a strange feeling, she almost felt bad for them.

“Where’d she go?!” shouted one of the confused demons.

“She vanished!”

“She’s behind you, you blind bastards!”

They turned around completely at a loss. For veterans of many wars, it had been too long since they faced down a human with such power. A rare power as Yumi wasn’t something that they had to battle against. Only at a distance would they have seen them fight with the Lords. Never in a direct battle as now.

She slowly started to walk towards them, keeping to their speed. The initial display of her abilities made them pause to judge her next action. They waited for what she would do, yet she did nothing. Yumi passed between them without a change in pace. Each of them attempted to turn confused only for blood to spray up everywhere. The demons fell apart into sliced up sections with death taking them quickly.

Guri flared up in anger as he watched the remains of their army be completely and effortlessly handled by a single human woman. He was already wanting to charge in and cut the woman down before her arrogance could take another breath to disrespect them. “Damn you, don’t get cocky, woman!” A dark light started to glow in his hand warping the air around him as light bent around the developing energy.

“Lord Guri!” interrupted Hokuren, his voice halting the energy gathering together. He glared at the muscle bound demon effortlessly tempering his emotions with just his deep piercing eyes.

The energy disappeared quickly as Guri composed himself better. His body remained tense with veins bulging along his muscles. Even in his tempered state, he held a firm defensive status that might have looked normal to the untrained eye, but Yumi saw there were no openings available. His guard held up and demonstrated his vast years of experience. “Lord Hokuren, she’s already killed five of our soldiers and likely played a hand in the underhanded tactics.”

Hokuren measured Yumi. Her flashy appearance and lethal force made a strong impression in the opening minute. “White blades and a young woman…”

‘So he could see them in the briefest moments that I used them. Saki told me to hide my powers better, thought I had been fast enough that they wouldn’t see. But I guess there’s a reason he’s a Demon Lord.’ It immediately put Yumi on the defensive. While he stopped Guri from attacking, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t attack. Being the head of all of them, she almost felt that it made the most sense that he would want to fight her anyway.

However, attack didn’t seem to be on his mind. The staring became a little unnerving even though she knew exactly what he was doing. She tried to do the same thing. They knew more about her from her reputation than she did about him. A disadvantageous situation made wish she had better eyes for figuring people out. “Seems my reputation precedes me.”

“So you’re not the one we’re looking for.”

A twitch came across Yumi's face as though she was ready to click her tongue, but held back trying to keep her composure before them. ‘So they’re after that Masa woman like me. She did kill one of them, so I shouldn’t be surprised. After we were so worried about me triggering war, it ends up being her to do it.’ She corrected her expression quickly though not wanting to reveal it to them if possible. “Is that going to be a problem?”

“Not so much of one.”

“Is that so?” She didn’t like the dismissive tone that he had with her. While she could admit that killing a handful of their demons was hardly a high mark of proof that she could challenge them, she hoped for a little more respect. But she still had to be honest, she didn’t think she was anywhere in their range anyway. ‘I charged in ahead of everyone else, but I’ve still got the worst ones remaining…’ In the moment she completely forgot any of her fear.

Hokuren lifted a slightly thin and long index finger with a motion. It called forth three new demons that weren’t present before. Yumi didn’t know where they had been hiding before. She knew that they were at the very least equally as strong as the one she slew, since they survive the inferno. Unlike the previous set of demons, these were still in their human forms and not demons. They were like the Lords, keeping their powers in check. But they still had a presence that commanded attention.

Two men and a woman, they looked more normal than the Lords, who exceeded standard human physical attributes. It seemed that they had less flair for the dramatic than the Lords. Up against them, it made them seem weaker and no doubt were. It wasn’t like she was going to find any demon stronger than the Lords, she hoped anyway. All her training had been to fight a Lord, not something that went beyond that.

Weaker or not than the Lords didn’t matter much, she knew what was going on. It wasn’t too hard to guess for her. “I’m disappointed,” she complained, crossing her arms. Yumi hoped to get a better reaction from the old demon, but he seemed unimpressed by her bravado.

“Don’t let it bother you too much.”

She lowered her arms seeing the three demons sent after her start to make slow circular movements to flank her. “I’ll try.” The demons seemed to have less interest in managing their emotions as their faces showed to her how much they were bothered by her remarks. ‘Not the sort of way I wanted it, but I can work with it at least…’

With the numbers against her and these not like the normal demons, Yumi waited for them to make a move. She had no idea their strength, but she couldn’t really afford mistakes so early in the battle. Everything she could bring to the fight against the Lords would be needed.

A slight change in the pattern gave her the signal that they would be making an attack. The shift in the foot told her everything she needed to know. They charged in at the same time with a well coordinated strike, but still moved too slowly for her. She walked around the first one that came a half step ahead and redirected their momentum into the second that attempted to flank. Before the two collided, she countered the third with a reversal into a flip.

One second later everything played out. The two demons crashed into each other and the third landed on top of them completely putting them down for the moment. Yumi stared back defiantly at the Demon Lord. “I’m a little bothered.”