The False Hero, Volume 12, Chapter 20

[Hello, I'm still alive xD. I forgot to mention that I was going to Otakon this past weekend, so that's where I've been. But I'm back now with an all new TFH chappy~]

Chapter 20

----- Laya -----

A small pair of feet lands on undisturbed grass, the first time they’ve touched ground in over a quarter hour.

Laya has her back to the army of fiends, but they’re so distant that nobody would say that she’s letting her guard down. Ahead of her is another army, but it’s one she’s happy to see.

“Greetings, Prime Elder Laya.” Grand Elder Rena gives her a respectful nod.

“Welcome.”

“I see the enemy has been cornered already.” Rena looks out over the battlefield, specifically the devastation left by Lyle’s [Plasma Nova].

“The battle is far from over.”

“As expected.”

Rena has been listening through Lutz’s Party Chat skill, but seeing the results of the sixth-tier spell can still come as a shock.

The elves have only just arrived themselves, so the troops are still forming ranks. Unlike the humans and beastkin, the elves were teleported in with the help of their protector, the Astral Dryad.

Even though the Immortal Beings have taken a neutral stance to the war, they still help in secret when possible. Normally, that comes in the form of information or personal favors, such as when the Astral Dryad taught Lutz how to cure Alisha’s curse.

But this time is different. There’s no way for the Astral Dryad to pretend that she’s still neutral after teleporting an entire army to the battlefield. If we lose the war, then she will have to answer to that Mad God for her actions here today.

When asked why she would go so far, she said she was simply betting on the future she desired.

“We’re ready.” Rena stands at the head of a formation of powerful elven warriors.

Laya’s feet leave the ground again, landing atop another [Air Step]. “The war ends here.”

She turns, facing the army of fiends. “Forward.”

With that, the elves move. The other four armies that arrived with them begin their march at the same time.

Conventional tactics say that a human army should outnumber the fiends four-to-one. Any less, and the battle is considered risky. With the decimation of a quarter of the enemy army and the addition of all the reinforcements, the four races now outnumber the fiends at nearly ten-to-one, over twice that which is considered acceptable.

There’s only one problem.

They’re getting stronger…?

The fiends’ mana presences grow with each step I take, a mysterious power filling them. A quick [Scry] reveals a nearby Berserker’s level rising at an alarming rate. It ends in just a few steps, but their strength doesn’t return to normal.

It received 18 levels…

“Laya.” Rena matches her pace in the air. “The enemy’s new strength complicates our strategy.”

“Emergency measures.” The two girls both hear Prince Rhys’ voice. “The enemy has unleashed an unknown magic that has increased the strength of each fiend on the field. All soldiers below level 30 are to be dismissed from battle and placed in reserve. Proceed with previous plans, but maintain caution.”

“A necessary decision,” Rena said. “And one that doesn’t heavily affect us.”

“Mmm.”

Among the four races, humans and beastkin are far more numerous. But what elves and vampires lack in numbers, they make up for in individual strength. Of all the low level soldiers being dismissed, the vast majority will be humans and beastkin.

Even with the fiends’ increased levels, there are five new armies flanking them. Victory on the field is still possible, so nothing has changed for Laya and the elves.

However, something has certainly changed for the enemy.

New tactics?

The fiends have always employed a standard battle formation, favoring straight lines of troops when terrain allowed it. But the sixth-tier spell evaporated nearly every fiend in the center of their army, leaving the two flanks vulnerable to be surrounded and cut off from each other.

When the strength began pouring into the fiends, they also began to move with a speed and coordination that couldn’t be matched by friendly soldiers. In the amount of time that it would take an average army to even dispense the order to change formation, the fiends have already completed theirs.

The two flanks have come together, forming a circle. Compared to the eight armies the four races have surrounding them, the fiends’ circular formation seems like a desperate attempt to survive a battle that has clearly been lost.

But Laya feels differently.

This battle has only gotten more dangerous.

Laya is the first to reach the fiends’ new formation, but she’s not the first to draw blood. An arrow passes by her, charged with crackling energy. Rena’s [Energy Arrow] engulfs an Imp, leaving nothing but its ashes behind.

“We fight for our people!” Rena encourages the elven warriors. “To honor our ancestors and provide a future for our descendants! Do not relent until we claim victory!”

After her short speech, a ripple of mana flows from Rena. Her Unique Skill, [Angel of the Battlefield], has activated, enhancing the strength and morale of those around her. The elite elven warriors she brought with her hit the line of fiends with a ferocity that most would never believe possible for her people.

But if there’s one thing elves take seriously, it’s the protection of their people and home. Any vampire can easily dispel the myth that elves are always gentle and understanding.

After an explosive entry, Laya falls into a consistent attack pattern to conserve her strength. The smaller of her two sickles zips toward a Berserker, pivoting on the chain held in her hand. Even with their additional levels, a couple direct hits is all it takes to bring one down.

The first lands cleanly, sinking all the way to the handle and leaving a gash nearly the entire length of its monstrous body. Her larger sickle is already on the way, an even more devastating blow to finish the fiend.

But rather than sinking into the Berserker’s leathery flesh, the sickle only finds a billowing puff of steam. It fades quickly, revealing the fiend once again. But what stands in front of Laya isn’t the same low-class fiend from before. It’s a mid-class Blighted, fully regenerated and already preparing to cast a spell.

Laya’s sickle slices into the Blighted’s cloak as it leaps away, turning its tattered clothing into a scythe that ends in a blade similar to her own, only larger.

The timing on the evolutions has gotten better. They’re even using them to avoid attacks, then countering before the soldiers can adjust.

The Blighted’s [Acid Splash] hits right where Laya was standing. She’s not there anymore, as such a simple counter isn’t enough to confuse her.

“[Dominion].” Laya speaks the name of her first-tier weapon skill.

Her sickles speed up, leaving a trail of red light as they pass. The Blighted receives several grave injuries in a blink, unable to stand up to the raw power that fuels Laya’s attack.

“Again?” A puff of smoke expands into a massive cloud, her sickle now making a metallic sound as it passes through the smoke.

A warhammer falls just as the evolution finishes, the Abyss Knight seeking to strike while he has an opening. The weapon’s head smashes into the ground, leaving a hole large enough to swallow a horse.

“Annoying.” Laya recalls her sickles.

Being level 90, Laya is still a full 18 levels above the Abyss Knight. In most cases, that’s far too much of a gap for a monster to stand a chance. But Lutz says fiends are closer to a ‘mid-boss’, making them tougher than a normal enemy their level.

Although the Abyss Knight is still too far below Laya to be a real threat, each one of the high-class fiends takes far more time to defeat than the low or mid-class varieties. It takes focus, dedication. She can’t just casually deal with it in a few attacks.

If each remaining Berserker ends up turning into an Abyss Knight, this battle will never end.

Now faced with an opponent she has to face with dedication, Laya sends her sickle flying. It vanishes into a ripple, the chain suddenly ending as if it had been severed.

The vanished sickle appears beside the Abyss Knight’s helmeted head, hitting it with a force that belies the weapon’s small size. It disappears again, reemerging behind the fiend’s knee and striking the back of the joint.

Even the mighty, high-class Abyss Knight stumbles–right into Laya’s sickle.

While Laya’s [Dimension Cutter] keeps her opponent busy, she finishes channeling her spell. Recalling her chain sickle, she stands atop her [Air Step] right in front of the terrifying Abyss Knight.

“[Windstorm].”

Tornados touch ground immediately. Real tornados, not the small dustdevils that usually accompany the fourth-tier Wind Magic when used by a typical mage.

Laya has the spell maxed out at rank 5, and her [Child of Magic] increases its rank by 1, further powering the tornados. For Wind Mages who may be watching, they likely think she used an entirely different spell simply due to the intensity of its effects.

As Laya watches the Abyss Knight struggle in the gale, she prepares a final spell to finish it off. Despite being hit by a third-tier Weapon Skill and a fourth-tier Wind Spell, the fiend refuses to fall.

As I thought. If it takes me this long to finish a single Berseker that keeps evolving, the regular soldiers will find it hard to make progress in this battle.

With her spell complete, Laya launches her [Waterblade]. It’s a third-tier spell that, by her estimates, should be powerful enough to finish the Abyss Knight. The blade flies out at incredible speed, its edge sharp enough to cut adamantium and long enough to cut down an entire group of fiends at once.

It reaches the Abyss Knight. Or where the Abyss Knight once stood. Now…

Smoke!? But Abyss Knights are the highest class of fiends other than…!

The smoke clears. In the place where there was once a massive Abyss Knight, a much smaller figure now stands, shrugging off the lingering effects of Laya’s [Windstorm].

So this is another of their hidden aces.

Laya stares at her new opponent.

The fiend that began as a Berserker now stands proudly on the bloody ground shredded by countless spells. His red skin and protruding horns resemble that of the demons in the Forsaken Wastelands that border the elven lands.

They can evolve into Archfiends.