A barren wasteland, vast in size, and currently where a large-scale battle took place between the Guild forces and the Bandit Coalition. The sounds of clashing steel and war cries filled the air, the collective sounds being able to be heard even a great distance away. Guild Faction mercenaries engaged their enemies giving it they're all in a clash of swords both large and small, Pikes, Axes, Bows, and much more diverse weaponry. Many brave mercenaries stepped into and fell in this battle, giving their hearts and strength for varying reasons. Some for the thrill of battle, others for the sake of the people at risk, yet most for money, power, and glory. Beginning the mission with high hopes, their seemingly simple task quickly fell to ruin, the enemy setting up multiple ambushes on the allied forces. The Bandit Coalition was formed of individual thieves and murderers, some even belonging to larger groups made of former mercenaries blacklisted by Master Guild.
At the center of the large-scale clash, one particular mercenary weaved his enemy's strikes confidently before attempting to thrust his blade through the bandit's chest. Seeing the opening he needed the mercenary lunged forward, only his strike to come up shortstop, his foot being stuck, something preventing him from moving forward. With a distraught expression on his face, he quickly looked down to his stuck foot only to be mortified by what he saw. He began a yell of terror, seeing a small clawed hand protruding from the ground and having a powerful grip on his foot. Sadly the mercenary's cries were quickly silenced as his opponent saw the opportunity to swiftly cleave his head with his large ax, splattering a mass of blood onto the ground and everyone nearby.
The bandit grinned excitedly and confidently claiming his kill but his smile immediately warped his expression to horrific pain. Looking down, multiple green-clawed hands rose through the surface of the ground, several already having his legs in their grasps, literally clawing at his boot. More around him were dragged to the ground, having their flesh bitten and torn by a large number of goblins attacking any living being they saw. It was then the soldier realized the shin-high creatures were already mixed heavily into the massive crowd with their makeshift knives and daggers. East and West of the Guild forces, a goblin swarm engaged the humans in a pincer attack. The common smaller goblins weaved between human legs, finding a target to pierce with their frail wooden spears. Towering greatly over the humans a massive was a Hobgoblin clutching large club weapons in hand. Each swing crushed the skulls and bones of their victims proving even heavy armor futile to the great force behind their swings, clearing out multiple humans in single swings.
An older man watched horrifically as the sudden goblin attack took everyone off their guard, seeing his allies being crushed one after another by a hobgoblin. Enough was enough, seeing the creature had turned its back to him, the old mercenary steeled himself and charged for the large demon with his two-handed large sword in hand. Unseen to the naked eye of both lifeforms on the battlefield, a dark mist was siphoned from their corpses merging into the air above. North beyond enemy forces, the same dark energy soaked the dark halls of the massive ruins of a castle. The center of what remained of a small town a long time ago.
Inside the Castle Catacombs...Inside, the goblin shaman stood at a broken balcony's edge overseeing twelve cloaked men standing in a circle. Those present could be heard chanting an indistinguishable language, a symbolic formula formed the dark circle at their feet. A dark and ominous energy continued to draw into the circle's focal point. Focusing on a single man sitting there, the energy flowing into his body. Throughout the large room underground, dozens were chained. Humans and Deimos sat chained at the neck, wrists, and ankles. All visually having been weakened. Starved of food and necessities for an extraordinary amount of time.
"It took decades for him to materialize and be born into this world through a host. This one will be the end of humanity. Their walled city holds a page of inscription, with it, our lord will be resurrected."The goblin Shaman spoke in his demon tongue. The black mist filled the room and spread through the air, inhaled by each of the enslaved sacrifices, the air acting quickly like a toxin to their lungs. The crowd clenching at their bodies in pain. Many fell to the floor in crippling pain, gasping desperately for air.
"??? ?????? ????!!"
The shaman yelled out in an unintelligible language to humans that immediately triggered a reaction to the mist. Their harmonized agony-filled cries reached the epitome of their pain tolerance prompting a black liquid to seep from their eyes, ears, and lips. The black blood made its way dashing into the cultist's body sitting center of the circle. His body shook and convulsed. His muscle mass steadily increased in size, the skin stretching until it was stretched beyond its limits making the skin and muscle explode into a bloody mess surrounding him. Through the gaps of torn skin and flesh, a dark entity could be seen as if being born inside of the human cultist. A large splatter of flesh and blood-drenched the now corpses surrounding it as the dark entity's form visually could not be contained by the human's flesh.
"Hmm. It was only enough souls to make a partial connection to this side, the body and souls were far too weak to be a catalyst. This is fine, I've already made preparations, soon, many deaths will provide enough souls for it to overpower such barriers."
20 Minutes Prior To Battle...Aisellia and Elanor could be seen led by Shingen back in the direction of Orion.
"Hey...do you think they'll be alright?"Aisellia asked the two hunters. Elanor looked over to her left side, seeing the extremely concerned expression on Aisellia's face while thinking about the safety of her friend and their ally.
"The captain said she had a bad feeling which...isn't good. She's quite powerful. She's actually already becoming a legend in the guild and has taken down plenty of demons on her own."Elanor began to say.
"She saw how useless I was even against a goblin. I'm just a medic of the medical corps but still, even that must have been shameful to see. No wonder with a new mercenary and myself she saw it better for Shingen to lead us back to safety."Elanor attempted to raise Aisellia's spirits but it only sent her down her mental spiral. Elanor sighed at the revelation of how bad her phobia must have looked to someone of her captain's position.
"Hmm, she did choose to take Miyaura with her. Despite her confidence in her abilities and her subordinates. Isn't that odd?" Aisellia questioned the hunters."It really is...at the moment's notice, she had Shingen take us back instead of Miyaura."Elanor responded. A short silence remained between them for a few seconds. Aisellia's eyes wandered towards Shingen, seeing him clutching his fist with great intensity. Aisellia nudged Elanor to witness it for herself before Shingen's voice broke the silence on his own.
"It seems I've underestimated Miyaura, The captain knows her skill must greatly exceed mine. I'm still too weak to make a difference where they are going.""Huh? Please elaborate." Elanor said. Both the young man's fists were clenched tightly, attempting to avoid looking at the two girls as he spoke again.
"It's just confusing. I train every day yet after watching Miyaura fight once, she deemed Miyaura's fighting alone was more capable."
"Miyaura is just different, I've seen you take quite a bit of damage in our days but she possibly has incredible endurance as a Deimos," Elanor answered in response to Shingen.
"Aisellia..." Shingen began to say.
"If you don't mind...how would you gauge Miyaura's abilities? Please I seek your honest opinion...""Shingen...it's simply impressive. As a young girl, she apparently had an affinity for martial artes. Our ally from the guild hall has taught her to use that power efficiently to fight. She fights her own way. Whatever he taught her, it's made her fighting overall stronger. Even holding back, she has substantially greater endurance, stamina, speed, and strength than a normal person.""What?" Elanor questioned. A sudden expression of shock overcame Shingen.
"Someone skilled like the captain...potential can be gauged by heightened sense for energy. She can sense energy so precisely, that she can discern the difference between Human, Deimos, and Demon without a need for physical sight. Not even the best-disguised demon can hide from a captain. Not only them but the lieutenants and a few others are that skilled ."Without hesitation, Elanor brought a question to Aisellia.
"So Miyaura uses practical Artes then?""Arte?"Aisellia questioned, looking rather confused by Elanor's terminology.
"Hm, So no one in your group knows then? Since you are unaware I assume it hasn't come up in conversation?""No, not at all. I'd be displeased to look idiotic but-""Oh no, it's fine! Most people don't know but as Hunters, that information is given to us during training. I'd be happy to share this information with you Aisellia, honestly, I couldn't do anything before...so I can at least do this."Elanor said as she folded her arms and returned her gaze forward.
"Artes are created, fueled, and utilized by the human soul. A long time ago, there was nothing a simple human could do against the demons. We were simply their buffet. Until a man and a woman discovered the power of the human soul within, learning how to use that power to harm the demons. Legends suggest that the Angels blessed mankind with powerful spirits of fire, wind, water, and earth to defend themselves. From a couple of actual historical documents, they traveled across Reia, teaching different cultures, families, and so forth that they had grown to trust. Over time these people learned unique ways to channel that spirit energy, creating new techniques which to this day we refer to as Arte. There are common artes we learn at the academy. These are Basic Artes, such as focusing your spirit to temporarily increase a physical attribute such as your strength or speed for an edge in battle.""That might explain what the captain saw in Miyaura, I would have taken her over myself as well El.""Hm? You think she could tell Miyaura had to be using artes?"
"I'm not only sure of that, but after watching her fight and this conversation, I'm sure now. Even though she just became a mercenary, she's already at such a level of Absolute Breathe Arte.""Absolute...breathing?"Aisellia asked, interjecting herself into their conversation. With a smile, Eleanor turned, facing Aisellia with a smile as she responded.
"A very high-classed Arte. it's quite rare for anyone to be capable of it. it's an ability each captain of the Demon Hunters has mastered to perfection. To be more specific, a perfected version is one of the requirements to become a captain. You wouldn't even be considered for Lieutenant if you can't perform it. by controlling one's spiritual energy they can channel that energy through the body all at once, controlling its flow through, synchronized breathing. Total Breathing temporarily enhances all physical abilities and also the power of their artes around twofold.""Total Breathing Huh?" Aisellia said, raising her hand, and rubbing the bottom of her chin while she was in thought.
"Unfortunately the power comes with a painful cost on the body. Drawing physical and spiritual energy into one. Absolute breathing is its advanced form of the arte. The captains however are able to hold the state for days or weeks. It becomes as natural as they breathe in everyday life. With absolute, their natural ability increases four times over with minimal physical and spiritual drawbacks.""Sacred Artes. If anything in this world was enough for me to believe there is a god, Sacred Artes are the proof to the world. Clerics, Priests, Paladins, and anyone not simply a follower of The Temple, can perform these Artes of Light. Healing, curse removal, Evil spirit purging, barriers, and more. Artes only members of The Temple can use or more like permitted to learn. In short, they are like small Miracles in our world and although most Sacred Artes are supportive or defensive, they do massive damage to demons from simply coming into contact with the light. Normally a Captain focuses on mastering one type of Arte to its extreme limits, Captain Leiliana wasn't trained by the guild nor The Temple yet she's a Master of both Martial Artes and Sacred Artes. The thing is...sacred artes are powerful but they are forbidden for public learning for good reason. They are extremely draining on the spirit to use, so much so, that people can die from using a Sacred Arte without the proper spiritual training. According to the Temple, they are blessings that shouldn't be taken lightly. Even to learn healing Artes you have to undergo cleric training..."
The ongoing battle, West Wing...
Mercenaries and bandits clashed and also against the goblin forces surrounding them. Panic raced through their minds, hearts beating strongly within their chests as they began fighting anyone and anything to survive the battle they were trapped in, being attacked from any direction they could possibly expect. A large shadow of a Hobgoblin towered over a small human group, his large shadow darkening the area enough, to get their attention. Unfortunately not quick enough to save one from the demon grabbing a bandit's arm, crushing his bones audibly to those around them with its forceful grip. It raised the man into the air and repeatedly slammed his body onto the ground before using it to swing at and clear many mercenaries and bandits from around itself. Presenting the smaller goblins the opportunity to swarm the fallen men and women on both factions of the battle.
Suddenly a spear sped through the air at an incredible velocity, its bladed tip finding its way and piercing through the Hobgoblin's head causing it to release the now mangled corpse and stumble on its large feet. From above, Leiliana descended, her feet vertical to each other as she gracefully landed on the polearm, opposite side of its blade. The sudden drop in weight led the blade to tear upward breaking free forcefully from the beast's skull. The spear rapidly rotated high into the air as Leiliana landed, swiftly spinning in a circle and raising her hands to defend herself. A man came charging at her swinging his sword in hand. Leiliana dodged the blade allowing its strike to pass just past her head, simultaneously her hands lifted, her right hand gripping onto the man's wrist pulling him forward off balance. Leiliana quickly released his wrist and then immediately used the same hand to deliver a punch to the man's face ultimately jerking his entire body back into the chaotic crowd. At different angles, goblins leaped into the air aiming to catch Leiliana from several directions. Sensing their distance from her just as she knocked back the bandit. Hastily raising her hand to the air, catching her spear, The Captain performed a rapid series of swift rotating swings of her weapon faster than the creatures or those around her could see, slicing the goblins to chunks of flesh where they stood and mid-air.
(They're already slaughtering everyone, crushing anyone their way. I and Miyaura could sense the demon's locations so we could read the pincer attack as we got closer. They're pushing towards the center from the sides instead of an all-out attack.)Leiliana began a dash toward the collective goblin forces.
"EVERY HUMAN STILL ALIVE!" She yelled loudly rushing towards the enemy lines and passing mercenaries in combat.
"Retreat before it's too late! Or Fight back! Die fighting alongside me protecting your home and loved ones!"She yelled once again, swinging her spear around herself slicing goblins and saving those on her allied side from the demon's attacks.
The East Wing of the battle...
Miyaura could be seen mid-air delivering a spinning kick to a Hobgoblins head, crucially dis-forming its skull resulting in a powerful killing blow knocking it off its feet and sideways a short distance away. She kept the flow of motion as her feet touched down on the ground. Miyaura used her previous airborne attack to spin on her toes, turning to face what was behind her with her fist already pulled back to strike, delivering a powerful punch to a goblin attempting to attack her back. Once again delivering a killing blow on impact as its body was sent into the crowd of goblins, fighting and fleeing people filling the area. She appeared in the eyes of the battle-hardened to dance on the battlefield, keeping her flow-motion of rotation continuing a chain of killing blows one after another yet from the crowd one had leaped into the air and was descending to attack. To the creature's surprise Miyaura quickly reached upward grabbing onto its head then pulled its body at a spinning downward angle, viciously plunging the creature into the ground and ending its life in a splatter of blood.
'Graghaaauu!"Miyaura heard a voice yell behind her before looking over her shoulder to see a large Hobgoblin, its arm already horizontally swinging its massive club aiming to end Miyaura with a single blow. Lightly jumping off of her toes she spun around lunging for the demon's head simultaneously dodging its attack. Suddenly a smaller goblin came between her and her target, quickly having Miyaura deliver a sudden sky-bound kick to the torso of the small goblin sending it and her leg soaring skyward. Still, in mid-air, her eyes widened, catching sight of the large Hobgoblin attempting to catch her on a backswing after its initial miss. Just as the attack grew incredibly close, Miyaura swung her elevated leg down with enough force to cause her body to flip forward, just barely being missed by the oversized club passing right under her head once she was upside down.
"Aaagh!"Miyaura screamed with intensity as her body continued its momentum from her flip. However, she would use that momentum to deliver a powerful heel drop atop the large demon's head, shattering its skull and neck. its head sinks into his body between its clavicle. The downward force of the attack caused the creature's feet to break through the ground and released a burst of wind outward to their surroundings. The wind pressure blew away smaller goblins who stood nearby.
(I can barely see any people left on this side, they must've been slaughtered. I just have to not let any of these things reach the center of this battle.) Miyaura thought to herself as she continued to dodge, punch, and kick the demons around her.
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