Reinforcements

While the knights and heroes were either mourning their losses or crying out of joy for their own survival, there was a meeting going on away from prying eyes. Standing across from each other were the armored demon and the Demon Lieutenant Tilch.

“Why did you interrupt? The mage survived.”

“There’s no time to talk, human reinforcements are minutes away.”

Under the helmet, the armored demon frowned. He brought his hand up and placed it on the sigil etched into the breastplate. The next moment, standing in the spot was Mateo, holding a black stone with a purple sigil etched on it. He held out his hand with the stone to Tilch.

“Keep it, you’ll need it.”

Rather than taking the stone, Tilch instead handed over the bow that Mateo had left in his care.

“How were things on the other side of the wall? Is Anthony dead?”

Tilch frowned at the question.

“Unfortunately, the Knight Captain still lives.”

“Did we gain anything out of this ambush then?”

“While the Captain might still be kicking, the injuries he was left with won’t let him return to the battle anytime soon. At least for our upcoming plans, he will not be a problem. As for the hero mage, his wound is plagued with demonic energy. He too will be out of commission. Time’s up, I must leave now.”

Mateo gave the demon a nod. The Demon Lieutenant broke off in a sprint, not bothering to look back. Mateo in turn also started to make his way back to his party. However, after the first step he paused. He looked down and studied his condition: he was perfectly healthy. Not even a scratch.

He frowned and the next moment he made his decision. He grabbed a thick enough stick on the ground before biting down on it. He tightly shut his eyes, dreading the pain that he was about to suffer through.

He cast a spell, directing the mana through the sigil on his hand, transforming the mana into demonic energy. This was a little trick he picked up during his personal magic training. Once the spell was complete he found his left foot encased by the earth beneath him. Knowing he didn’t have the time to waste, he initiated the next step in the spell.

The earth that surrounded his foot and calf suddenly tightened and crushed his leg. He let loose a scream that was muffled by the stick in his mouth. However, he was not yet done. He cast another spell as multiple spears of earth shot up and nicked his body all over.

He spat out the stick in his mouth and forced himself not to collapse. He started to limp towards the location of the previous battle. The speed of his travel was so slow that by the time he reached it, the reinforcements that Tilch had been talking about had already arrived.

The moment he appeared all eyes darted his way. The reactions were a mixture of worry, shock, and curiosity. The knights who were in pristine condition, showing that they had just arrived, looked towards the group of exhausted knights.

Before anything could be conveyed, several people ran his way to provide him with support. His party, minus Glenn, looked over him with worry. They walked him over and let him sit down next to the injured Mage, who actually conveyed a look of concern towards his leader. Mateo gave them a reassuring smile.

“Thankfully, you're all alive.”

“How about you, what happened?”

Noah was the first one to speak up.

“When I was dragged away by the earth prison I found myself suddenly face to face with a Demon Lieutenant and that Armored Demon you all saw. Fortunately, he just crushed my leg before leaving.”

The group winced at that particular detail. They also felt fortunate that they had been fighting against that same Armored Demon on top of Noah’s barrier.

“Afterwards, it was pretty much a stalemate between me and the other demon. Honestly, the demon wasn’t that much of an issue. The only problem was that his purpose seemed to just be to keep me away from the battle. If it weren’t for my leg, even if I couldn’t kill it I definitely would have been able to break away and return.”

“Don’t blame yourself, you’re lucky to be alive. If the two had decided to just attack you together, just thinking about it makes me afraid.”

Kyle, the ever-kind one of the group, did not miss a beat in making sure his leader did not feel guilty about the situation. The others quickly followed suit, even Glenn, the one who had been the worst off of the group.

“Thanks. I just don’t know if the dead would feel the same.”

Mateo looked over to where the knights were gathering the corpses of their dead comrades. Apparently some knights that had come with the reinforcements had returned to the city to retrieve some carts to carry the dead back.

The others also fell silent as they looked at both the growing line of bodies along with the somber expressions of those who had survived. They couldn’t help but feel guilty, what kind of heroes were they? While their motivations were more selfish in nature, they still felt a sense of responsibility from the hope that the people of this kingdom had placed upon them.

“Hey, cut that out. All of us have been ready to give our lives for this kingdom since we decided to become knights.”

The group of classmates were snapped out of their misery at the sudden remark. With surprise they looked over and saw Knight Captain Anthony make his way over along with another person walking next to him. Most shocking of all, Anthony was missing an arm.

“Your arm.”

While the Knight Captain didn’t let his smile fall, they could still see a flash of sadness in his eyes at their words. Most likely the man’s future as an active Knight Captain was over. Sure he was still an Intermediate level Knight, but losing his dominant hand was not something easy to overcome.

“Don’t worry about a small thing like that. We’re alive, and that’s all that matters. Here, let me introduce you, this woman next to me is Knight Captain Delphine. She serves the Count just like myself.”

“Greetings Heroes.”

“Don’t mind her, she’s just a little too serious.”

“Knight Captain Anthony, I believe this situation needs a certain level of prudence. Both you and the Heroes were ambushed by what appears to be three Demon Lieutenants so close to the city.”

Finally the man’s smile did drop. He knew full well the weight behind this statement. This was the first time demons had gotten so close to the city before. Even before this batch of demons had made their way past the frontlines, the city of Defy had only clashed with small groups of demons that had attacked the nearby villages, much like the current situation that called for the aid of the heroes.

“The demons have become bold, and they may very well have the strength to back up these actions of theirs. Who’s to say that these three Demon Lieutenants make up the full force of their intermediate-level combatants near the city.”

“It’s not just the demons either.”

“Your recent orders have concerned the increase in bandit activity. Is the situation that serious?”

“Very much so. The chaos left behind by the demon attacks has spurred the bandits into action. The only good news is that we’ve been able to wipe out several bandit hideouts due to their newfound carelessness.”

“The Serpent’s Blade has always prioritized caution above all else. Even if the Count has to direct his forces towards the threat of the demons, I still can’t imagine them being so bold.”

“The only guess I have is that they have some plan in the works, but the amount of people in the know seems to be very limited. None of the normal bandits are in the know, and even the majority of Branch Leaders seem to be clueless. The only ones who seem to be in the know are the Branch Leaders who fled at the first signs of danger. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to capture any of them so far.”

“This is very concerning. The Serpent’s Blade always seemed to be content with the small gains they could get their hands on before with their hit and runs of caravans. They wouldn’t even dare to target the villages.”

“Um, if you’re talking about the bandits, before we reached the region surrounding Defy, we were ambushed by them. This was when all the parties were still traveling together too.”

The gazes of the Knight Captains both fell upon the smallest of the heroes.