Chapter 398 Arch-Devil

Peace!

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/CLANG!/

/SWING!/

/SPLATTER!/

Screams and swords, shields and arrows… A combination is as old as humanity itself.

Rights, wrongs, and beliefs… When all meet, conflict is born.

War in its purest form. A place where two met, but three fall…

War is all about interest, and rarely did it not affect those unaffiliated with it.

It’s all-encompassing, with the only thing that matters is the side you choose… However, at the end of the day, Humans suffer the same way.

Wherever the winds of destruction pass, people fall like weeds.

Lives are lost, loved ones perish, their dignity violated, and their futures are robbed of them.

/CLANG!/

Dale’s second memory, the Memory of an Ancient Warrior was all about this…

The story of a man being thrown into War, of someone who fought for the sake of his family, friends, ideals, and more, only to fall amidst the words of history as a nameless nobody.

The great curse of time to man is to become a statistic, their achievements meaningless, their efforts reduced to speckles of duts. Their highs and lows, unknown to any… To disappear forever and ever.

That is true death…

But what wrong was there, as that was life for mankind, the beings who view their lives as greater than anybody’s.

To make someone care, you must show them you are worth remembering, so that your name may be sung for generations.

Time and time again until the end of time.

/SLASH!/

At the edge of a mountain, facing a massive fort built at the mountain foot, two armies clashed for ideals long lost, their names and reasons forgotten and only remembered by the Gods above…

Now, there would be another man to remember them by.

/SLASH!/

“Huff…”

‘It’s as hard as I remember.’

Dale was currently within one of the frontline flanks, holding a spear in hand and slightly armored as he cut his way through a horde of ‘barbarians’.

He didn’t know much about this place, but he managed to gather some information based on his past experiences with this place.

This was a War of attrition between the Fortress behind them and the Invading Barbarians before them.

Behind the fortress was a path that led directly to the plains where many of the soldier’s families stood, they could not let them pass, even if it cost them their lives.

Unfortunately, Dale already knew that winning was impossible, the fortress would fall to the endless wave of Barbarians.

There would be three waves across three days… On the third day, after fighting with everything he had, Dale fell inside the Fortress, killed by a group of three Barbarian Champions.

He still remembered that experience, it was the first time he experienced death itself… It changed him a little and made him understand true despair.

After fighting for three days straight, he lost his sense of self, that was why he felt fear and anger at his defeat… Only to be relaxed upon waking up in his bed, as if everything before was just a bad dream…

Of course, it may as well be, but the lesson to learn remained. To cherish life as death is something all fear, some more than others…

/PIERCE!/

He swung his spear with great precision, killing another Barbarian with a strike directly at their throat, it was his 8th kill in this forsaken land.

8 strikes and 8 kills, he hadn’t missed a single attack yet, but neither was he looking for opponents to fight.

He was precise and efficient, to live, he had to maintain his energy.

Even if he killed 80, 800, 8000, becoming a true relentless killing machine… That still wouldn’t win the War.

This was but the first wave, composed of slaves and mindless people the Barbarian had tortured to a breaking point, once it ended, the second wave, composed of Mercenaries and other Armed troops would come to claim some territories around the area and prepare for their final push.

Finally, the third wave would hit, their entire army, their champions, and the remnants of the other waves would march onwards and conquer the fortress from the tired and broken soldiers.

Following that would be the cries of defeat as the men were slaughtered and the women were captured, war at its finest, nothing new here…

To win this War, Dale had to do much more than just take care of his quota, he had to take care of others too.

But how?…

/PIERCE!/

“Huff… This isn’t going to work.” Dale said amidst gasps as he slashed the throat of another barbarian

“Roger that… Hm?”

As she walked past the Commander, she saw Testros look at her with his “innocent gaze”.

To her, he was nothing but a teen, a child fighting to prove himself and survive.

To her, how could that not be cute?

/Pat/

With a small smile, she patted his head before taking to the skies like a comet as she charged at another powerful Demon.

“…”

Testros didn’t know what to say or do now… For once, he wished to return to his post, but another part of him refused to leave…

/Sheen…/

In the end, he took his blade, standing next to the Commander as he gazed at the army fast approaching.

“…”

The Commander saw his actions but did not stop him, instead, he raised his left hand as a Devil swooped from the skies, trying to claw at him.

/GRAB!/

He grabbed the Devil, ripping it apart with his fingers!

/SLASH!/

Meanwhile, Testros slashed twice with his sword, cutting the heads of two fast-approaching Devils cleanly.

“… You have a good form recruit, text-book form.” The Commander praised with his usual dark and heavy expression as he gave Testros a side glance

“!… Thank you sir!”

What a strange feeling it was… Even if it was an illusion… To be praised for his efforts like this…

It was almost kind of… Freeing.

He had never felt so light.

/ROAAARRR!/

“”!!””

At that moment, from the depths of the Monster army, a roar echoed throughout the entire Southern Wall.

/Tremble…/

“… It’s coming.” The Commander said out loud as he tightened his grip over his blade

He quickly turned around, screaming a series of orders to be relayed and executed as fast as possible, but Testros paid it no attention.

/Baddum…/

Instead, his heart beat furiously… Fear.

He was frightened, deeply frightened…

Because the creature that was approaching was the very being he feared the most in the world, the creature that ripped apart dozens of his companions, the being that made him tremble at night as he fled from the Wall…

/TREMBLE…/

On the horizon, a gigantic beast made of shadows slowly approached the Wall.

The reason the Commander got injured… The reason why everything went down the drain…

Even though they were overwhelmed, as long as they were given enough time, they would’ve been able to persevere and regroup… Even if at heavy losses…

Given the period of “peace” they had in the last 100 years, the Southern Corps may have been given some time to relax and grow again to its former glory…

But such dreams were as stable as a candle in the wind…As when it appeared, they began to fall like flies…

/TREMBLE!/

This creature was…

“Arch-Devil…” Testros said in a low tone, his voice trembling

A monster even a Demon fears… In terms of power, a monster that would thwart a Great Devil without much effort…

An abomination of nature, no, the epitome of its corruption.

The Great Ent, an Ancient monster from beyond their world.

That was what happened when a Great Tree lost its caretaker. When those of impure thoughts and goals were given free reign over it…

The mark of a dead Empire.

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Notes