Chapter 25 The Storm Breaks Iron

Two weeks into the campaign of endless marching, fighting off hordes of mutated monsters, navigating cursed terrain, they stood before their first true objective — a demon stronghold embedded into the cliffside.

Rein stood at the front, armor faintly scorched from their last skirmish, blade humming with his elemental energy. The gates ahead pulsed with defensive wards. Rein raised his sword.

“How about we knock before we take this place! Tier 3 Magic: STATIC FIREBOLT!”

With a surge of magic, he called forth a fusion spell — a blazing Firebolt, laced with crackling arcs of lightning. The spell burst from his sword like a roaring comet, slamming into the gate in a brilliant explosion. Fire danced across the stone as splinters and smoke rose into the air.

“Charge!” shouted Commander Kael from behind, blade drawn.

Rein surged forward as knights poured in beside him, and Liora, calm as ever, led her own battalion. But his eyes were on the one figure already descending from the ramparts — the general.

She landed gracefully ahead of her demon warriors, floating slightly above the ground, her cloak snapping behind her in the magical wind. A woman with sleek black hair, glowing silver eyes, and pale blue skin. Her elegance almost didn’t belong on a battlefield — until the magic began to gather in her palms.

“My! My! What a lovely magic! You must be the new Hero!” 

Rein didn’t answer. He lunged.

Steel clashed against her conjured barriers. She danced around his strikes, hurling wide area effect magic spells that lit up the battlefield in waves of blue fire and pressure bursts. A whirlwind of magic explosions scattered the knights. Blinding lights, deafening cracks — they couldn’t advance. That was the point.

“Knights! Don’t charge in,” Liora commanded behind him, “You will get in the way! Fall back and regroup—!”

Rein tried to close the distance again, his blade sparking with fury.

"Aw! What an angry man! Not here to talk? Then I'm out of here!"

  In a blink, a teleportation circle lit beneath the general’s feet — and she was gone.

And with her, the demon warriors vanished too.

Silence followed. Rein stood in the center of scorched earth and fading magic, breathing hard, sword still raised. The fortress was empty now — abandoned, as if they’d only been delaying.

Mari stomped her foot into the dirt, sparks of leftover flame still licking at her fingertips.

“Are you kidding me?! We just fought through a mountain of freaks for a fortress that’s… empty! She was just playing with us! Ugh, I swear, I’m going to punch the next smug demon in the teeth myself.”

Selene twirled her spear once, planting it firmly into the ground. Her eyes locked on the fading afterglow of the teleportation circle.

“That wasn’t a retreat. That was a message. She wanted us to know she could stall the Hero and walk away untouched.”

Kaia clutched her short swords tightly against her chest, shoulders trembling. 

“Then… this means they’re waiting for us, doesn’t it? They wanted us here. Every step… we’re just moving deeper into their trap.”

Commander Kael approached, sheathing his sword.

 “Yes, this is strange. They could’ve held the stronghold longer. Why retreat so early?”

Liora didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes lingered on the spot where the general had disappeared. Then, finally, she said with a faint smile, “They weren’t trying to win. They were playing with us. Look at this place. It’s falling apart. One more blast like Rein's Firebolt, and the whole stronghold would've come down. No wonder they bailed so quickly — probably didn’t want to get buried under the rubble. But a victory is still a victory. Whether they intended to hold this place or not doesn’t change the fact that it’s ours now. And we’ll get it back up and running.”

She turned, looking toward the ruined watchtower in the distance.

“First stronghold reclaimed. We’ll need supply lines set up and mages to stabilize the structure. We’ll move out again once this base is usable.”

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A month later, they stood before the second stronghold — and this one wasn’t going to fall easily.

The gates were tall, reinforced with thick steel and glowing with barrier magic. Demon soldiers stood alert on the walls. Archers rained arrows from above while demon mages shot fireballs and icy spikes.

“Mages on me! Magic shields up!” Liora shouted.

She and her mage squad raised their hands, casting a wide protective barrier above the army. Arrows and spells slammed into it, bursting into sparks and frost, but the shield held.

Rein stood at the front lines, magic already building in his hands.

“Alright… let’s knock! Take this! Tier 3 Magic: Static Firebolt!”

He launched the spell forward — a roaring bolt of flame wrapped in crackling electricity. It smashed into the gate with a sonic boom. The explosion rocked the walls. Nearby demons were thrown from their posts, and even the front-line knights stumbled from the shockwave.

When the smoke cleared… the gate still stood. Cracks spread across the barrier magic, glowing veins of blue light, but it was holding — just barely.

Mari whistled low, flames dancing on her fingertips as she hurled fireballs at demon warriors.

“Phew, flashy entrance, Rein! I’d give it a nine outta ten — points lost for not blowing the whole thing open. Guess we’ll need my fire next time, huh?” 

Selene stepped up beside him as she examined the glowing fractures across the barrier.

“It’s weakened. One more concentrated strike should finish it. Keep your focus, Rein — don’t waste strength trying to brute force it alone.”

Kaia flinched at the ringing boom, clutching her short swords close to her ample chest before glancing worriedly at Rein.

“Th-that was incredible… but if it’s holding even after that much power, what kind of spells did the demons layer into this fortress? Rein… please don’t overdo it, you’ve been burning mana nonstop these past weeks.”

“Oh, you don't have to worry about that, Kaia. I have more than enough mana left. I'm going ahead, see you later.”

He clenched his sword tighter, aura crackling like thunder.

“So, they think they tough, huh?! Well, I got more where that came from! It's time to show them what tough really look like! Take this! Tier 4 Magic: Lightning Bunker Buster!”

Electricity surged over his body in violent arcs. In a flash, Rein vanished — only a streak of blue light remained — a flash of raw energy surging across the battlefield, faster than the eye could follow. A blink later, a deafening blast echoed through the valley.

Mari shaded her eyes, trying to follow the streak of light across the battlefield.

“Woah—! Well, he's gone! He’s not even human when he does that! Hey, Rein, mind slowing down just once so the rest of us can see the show?”

Selene's eyes narrowed as she tracked the point of impact.

“His acceleration… it’s even faster than before. But if he keeps throwing himself at that speed, we won’t be able to support him. He’s outpacing the entire unit.”

Kaia stumbled back from the shockwave, the sound still ringing in her ears.

“H-he’s going to tear himself apart moving like that… Rein, please… don’t push past your limits again.”

 Rein smashed into the gate like a living lightning spear. The spell compressed into his body detonated on impact — the runes shattered, the metal buckled and tore inward, and the entire gateway exploded inwards like it had been rammed by a bolt from heaven.

Dust and chunks of stone rained down, and a stunned silence fell over the battlefield.

Then—

“The gate is down! Advance! Secure the entrance!” a knight shouted.

Liora lowered the shield and gave the signal. The knights charged, weapons ready, surging into the stronghold.

The broken gate still smoked behind him as Rein stepped into the ruined courtyard of the stronghold.

He didn’t have to wait long.

A soft sound — leather boots crunching rubble — echoed from the far stairwell. She stepped into view like a shadow made flesh. A tall demoness, her grey skin sleek as steel under the light, golden eyes glow like molten metal. Twin scimitars were sheathed across her back, and her dark cloak barely stirred as she stopped ten paces away.

“So, this is the King’s new toy I heard about from Thessaria? Well then, welcome to my stronghold, I am one of Demon Lord's generals. You can call me, Silvia.”

Her gaze flicked up and down his body, unimpressed.

“Hmmm... You’re younger than I expected. And thinner. Tell me, are you the latest fool that old man sent to get rid of us? The so-called Hero? The last one was a fool too. Strong, though. I’ll give her that.”

Rein said nothing.

She gave a mock sigh. 

“Will you at least tell me your name before you die, stranger? Or would you rather fall as an unknown warrior? Don't know which to write on your grave. Stranger... or a fool?”

He stepped forward, raising his sword. Lightning sparked at his fingertips, his eyes locked on hers.

“Surrender, fiend! Or die by my hand.”

“Oh, he finally talks. Would you look at that. And here I thought Arthur got your tongue. Oh, you’re going to be fun, Hero!”

In a blur, her scimitars were out, blades glowing with enchantment. One crackled with a faint red glow, the other shimmered with cold silver light. Her stance was low, graceful.

Rein charged.

Their blades met with a clash of magic and steel. Sparks burst with each strike — Rein’s sword glowing blue with crackling energy, Silvia’s twin blades a dance of heat and shadow. She was fast, faster than he expected. Her attacks weren’t brute force — they were precision, testing, searching for weaknesses.

“You’re quicker than you look,” she said, twisting around his guard and flicking the flat of a blade against his shoulder.

He growled, spun, and unleashed a shockwave of static — Forced Pulse! — flinging her back. She landed lightly, a gash on her arm steaming.

“And stronger. Maybe not just a fool after all.”

“You haven’t seen strong yet,” Rein shot back.

"Oh, he can talk back, and here I though you got nothing but water in that mouth. How about we have a little talk—"

But he vanished — Lightning Step. A flash of blue light and he was behind her. She turned just in time to parry his overhead slash. The impact cracked the stones beneath their feet.

Their blades blurred again.

Steel on steel, magic on magic — the clash echoed across the battlefield as the rest of the army flooded in. But here, in this ruined hall, it was just the two of them.

Silvia smirked as they locked blades once more.

 “Okay, seems like you're not the talking type of Hero. I was hoping to get some information from you, but I was wrong. In that case, see you later! Let’s see if you live long enough for a rematch, little Hero.”

And with a sudden burst of smoke and light, she vanished — a teleportation rune pulsing faintly where she once stood.