Unsurprisingly, he fire burned, but Lance was quick to heal himself, shocking the demon as he continued his onslaught on it. It didn't take long before he had punched through its body in several places. As it would turn out, that demon wasn't much of a fighter, and instead relied on its flames. Slowly, Lance was shaping into a suicidal style fighter.
What should have been the sight of their strong being overpowered by the enemies, breaking the remaining demons' resolve, at least those around to witness it didn't happen in any way or form. The demons were like monsters incited to chaos by a primitive instinct, nothing could cause them to falter.
Now, the battlefield was a chaos of fire and blood, the air thick with ash and the thick unwelcoming stench of corrupted flesh burning, smoke rising continuously mostly from the burning trees. Rynne stood at the head of her unit, gripping her spear firmly.
"Hold steady!" she shouted, her voice cutting through. Her golden eyes blazed as she pointed her spear toward the advancing demon horde. "We don't let them through. Not a single one!"
Her warriors shouted their agreement, gripping their weapons tightly as the demons charged.
Following Aelyndra's attack with fire, burning a large portion of the enemy down, it gave the rest some time to breath before the gap was filled with even more demons.
Demons swarmed through the forest, their twisted forms shrieking as they flung themselves at the defenders.
Rynne was a whirlwind in the chaos, as her spear moved like the wind, skewering demons with every thrust and swing. She had grown stronger, much stronger than she was before. It was all thanks to the bit of training she did with Lance from time to time. In the end, it helped a lot. Now, when she fought and compared herself to Lance, she couldn't help but feel that she should have bit through the torment of the training and ensured. Now, Lance was far stronger than she was, and he had started out weaker. Thinking of it always gave her hope that she too could grow past what she had previously thought to be her limit.
Despite their efforts, the demons kept coming. For every one they cut down, two more took its place. The ground beneath them became slick with darkened and tainted blood, and exhaustion began to creep into the alliance warriors' movements.
A beastkin warrior stumbled back toward Rynne, his face pale. "We can't hold much longer, Commander. There's too many of them!" He complained, his chest heaving in and out as he struggled to stay on his feet.
Rynne grabbed his shoulder, her grip firm but not unkind. "Yes, we can! We have to! Trust your training, trust your comrades, and trust your superiors! We will hold."
Her words steadied the warrior, and he nodded, channeling as much willpower as he could before diving back into the fight.
Even though she had given such a firm assurance, Rynne knew the truth, they were running out of energy fast. Even then, just as she had said to the warrior, she trusted in her chief, her faith was in him completely.
Just when the beastkin warrior from earlier had charged forward, joining hands with others to strike down two demons, a guttural roar shook the place to reveal a massive demon, its hulking form covered in jagged, blackened armor, as it paced towards them, shoving them to the side with a violent slap with its arm, clearing the path. Its glowing red eyes locked onto Rynne, and it let out a snarl that sent a shiver down even her spine.
The demon raised a massive blade, its edge crackling with a murky energy as it charged.
Rynne planted her feet firmly into the ground, her spear steady as she prepared to meet the attack.
The demon's blade struck with the force of a thunderclap, sending shockwaves through her body. She barely managed to parry the blow, her arms trembling under the strain.
The demon's strength was overwhelming, but even then, Rynne refused to back down. She dodged its next attack, her spear flashing out to strike as soon as she saw an opening. Her spear bit deep, but the demon didn't even express much pain, instead, it only seemed to be enrage by the attack further.
The battle between the two was ferocious, leaving little room for others to intervene, that and the fact that they still had to kill the demons that never ceased.
Rynne was able to maintain her pace, moving fast like a blur, her spear striking with precision and speed, but the demon's power was immense, and each of its blows brought her closer to exhaustion.
Blood trickled down her arms and a few places where she had been injured, and her breaths came in ragged gasps as she was beginning to really feel everything now, despite the adrenaline… Even then, she refused to yield. She lunged forward, driving her spear through the demon's abdomen. The creature grunted in pain, but before she could pull back, it struck her with its massive fist, sending her flying into the rough bark of a tree, the impact leaving her dazed and bloodied.
As the demon raised its blade to deliver the final blow, it had no time to react, nor did it even see the incoming fist that connected squarely on his jaw, shattering and shifting several bones and joints on impact.
When Rynne's head cleared, she found Lance placing a hand on her, and a rejuvenating feeling spread through her body, healing her instantly.
As the demon rose back to its feet, its jaw hanging freely on its face, Lance left Rynne, seemingly disappearing and appearing before the demon, with a greatsword in hand. In one single and powerful upward swing, he split its head in half, the demon falling over forward, lifeless.
"Rynne…" he called to her as he went over.
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She smiled at him, marveling at his defeat of the demon than anything else, "I weakened it well, didn't I?" She joked, drawing a light chuckle from them both.
"Sure did."
"You saved us, that thing was trouble." she said.
Lance looked around, seeing the exhausted warriors moving their heavy bodies around. "I'll try to use my magic on as many as possible, that should help. The rest, Mira and the rest of the healers will help."
…
Despite Lance's faith in the healers, the infirmary on the battlefront was a grim place, filled with the groans of the wounded and the scent of blood and burnt flesh, and injuries of all sorts. The demons didn't have only physical fighters, they also had those who could use a few or more magic spells.
Though the healers weren't a big unit, especially those who could use healing magic, their role in such a battlefield was still divided. While some remained back like Mira, the others worked more like a mobile force to heal those that may not have made to the infirmary or those that needed some rejuvenation to rejoin the battle in full force.
Back at the infirmary, Mira moved between the rows of injured soldiers, her green eyes sharp with determination despite the chaos around her. Her robes, the one worn by the healers were stained with blood, her hands trembling faintly from exhaustion, but even then she pressed on, working tirelessly to save those she could. Her major weakness was her lack of magic energy, so she always seemed to run out faster than the rest.
"Mira," called one of her assistants, a young goblin trying to staunch the bleeding of a beastkin warrior. "We need you over here!"
"I'm coming," Mira replied, her voice steady despite the weight of the situation.
The battle outside raged on, the sounds of clashing steel and roaring demons reverberating through the infirmary. Wounded soldiers were brought in faster than the team of healers could handle.
The beastkin warrior grasped Mira's arm, his face pale and his breathing shallow. "Will… will I make it?" he rasped.
Mira knelt beside him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You will," she said softly, though the deep gash across his chest and the wound through his abdomen told a different story. She closed her eyes, focusing her magic on the wound.
As the hours dragged on, Mira felt her own strength waning. Her hands trembled more with each spell, her eyes growing unfocused, and the light of her magic grew dimmer. She glanced around the infirmary, her heart sinking at the sheer number of injured warriors.
The beastkin whispered weakly, "Don't… don't leave me," as he felt her healing light leaving him slowly.
"I won't," Mira said, her voice breaking slightly as she poured the last of her energy into healing his wounds.
She clenched her fists as her magic dried up, her heart pounding. As despair threatened to overwhelm her, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to stabilize herself. In that moment, images of Lance, her sisters, and the countless lives depending on her filled her mind.
"I can't fail them," she whispered a few times to the hearing of no one amidst the chaos.
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At that very moment, something within her stirred, an untapped well of magic she hadn't known even existed. A warmth spread through her very core to her chest, and when she opened her eyes, they glowed with a brilliant green light.
Mira stood up immediately, almost out of instincts, her entire body radiating with a soft, pulsating energy. As she moved through the infirmary, her magic flowed effortlessly, reaching multiple people at once. Wounds that had seemed fatal began to heal in seconds, the soldiers gasping as strength returned to their bodies.
"What… what's happening?" the other healers asked, their eyes wide as they watched what appeared to be a miracle before them.
"I don't know," one replied, her voice steady but filled with awe… "But I'm not questioning it, not one bit."