Cease attacking you fools!" He roared out, slamming the end of his sword onto the ground as his aura encompassed his soldiers.
The scope of his vision, thankfully, narrowed as hundreds of split screens diminished down one by one in his divine sight- The effects of the illusion that encompassed the men around the target the only ones holding. Three hundred differing screens filled his view, each of them showing something slightly altered, something slightly different- The most constant change was that each one of his effected men saw Karma before them.
It had been a mere few seconds into the battle before it had started, as his vision cut in half showing two different views- His own and the first soldier to be affected. And then the number doubled, and then doubled again-
Before long, he was staring at a cluster filled with tens of thousands of different sights, and a tenth of his army had suddenly found itself taken out of commission.
At the very least half of that number were dead soldiers.
He let out a breath as his resolve turned strong again and spread through his men, his gaze focused on the center view that held the swirling shadow of darkness that covered Karma's form in its entirety- For whatever reason, the demon had cloaked himself in it.
Perhaps it was to take his attention away from the settlement further ahead- Not that he ever truly had any intention of harming those caught between his kin and the demon. Though the two resurrected would need to be returned to where they belong if only to keep the natural order of life stable.
Perhaps it was to take his attention away from the amalgamation of blood magic that swept around the Cannibal dragon currently put to sleep by the demon himself based on the black tendrils that swept from it to the demon. Hints of such an arc that swept towards the settlement itself- The demon likely thinking he could simply transfer himself to his lackwit assassin once his main body was struck down.
Fool that he was, once the main body was struck down, there would be no such time for him to pull off R'hllor's trick. The trick that had guaranteed his ascension when he'd doomed his own home.
Or the worst reason... Perhaps the demon knew of his own ability to see through such lies- And so sought to hide his body in darkness. Yet, thankfully, the odds of it being the case were low... There was no reason to attempt such a thing, for the demon would then know he could see such darkness too.
His gaze locked onto the view as he took in a deep breath and ordered the men surrounding it, and those that blocked his mortal sight of eyes to move out of the way.
It was concerning that they didn't immediately obey. Their fear, unsurprisingly, had somewhat dimmed their belief and trust in him.
Still, they eventually obeyed, the three hundred views dimming down the slightest bit more with every second- Even as eagerness and determination swept through them as their illusions were dispelled and allowed them to see their true enemy.
Right on the edge of his ruptured vanguard, amidst a mountain of corpses, stood the smiling demon before his mortal eyes.
His irritation and anger grew as he watched the demon put a hand to his chest.
"You know, I've heard of hating your neighbors but, by the Warriors stupidity, to kill them in a battle as allies!? Think of the families! The children!" The demon raised his head and laughed out loud.
It took him using his divine powers to hold his men from attacking- Hints of his divine view scattering for a brief moment as fear and anger raged through his men.
Thankfully he held them at bay, and with a deep breath, he raised his sword towards the demon and made to reveal what the demon had only kept for his divine eyes.
There would be no mistaking their target for another once the darkness he could see was shared between them all.
And yet, just before he could finish his curse- In the briefest window where his powers had focused on it away from everything else, he watched as the blasted demon, to his horror as another startling reason arose for hiding himself, took advantage of it.
Within a second ninety-three thousand different visuals appeared to his divine eye.
And not a single one held the darkness in it.
The demon could see through his powers.
The demon had covered himself in darkness on purpose to bait him. To give him a false solution for the illusions themselves!
He was reading him.
He was controlling the flow of battle.
By all of his divine rights and blessings as the Warrior that shouldn't have been possible!
He blinked a few times as he considered his options. As he grit his teeth. As he silently ordered all of his men to ignore their instincts and slowly look around themselves.
It took even longer for them to obey.
He held in the blossoming panic that filled him as every visual-split moved.
All except the one provided by his mortal eyes.
Every single view, barring his mortal one, could see a Karma in them.
There was no singular concentration of darkness anymore- It had spread around equally all across the battlefield.
The demon could not truly hide his presence, at the very least- And yet his solution instead was to scatter it all around him.
He ordered his men to continue looking, even as doubt and fear filled them. He ordered them to face the skies as well, even as the dragon that would've provided such a positioning lay asleep still.
Nothing at all.
His hand minutely shook as his eyes turned the slightest bit narrower- As he felt the darkness encroach on him- As he saw the edges of every visual screen, all ninety thousand of them darken.
Even those currently on the floor, injured beyond healing, had not been spared.
He had no doubt the damned fuck was likely altering the view of those that had died, if only out of spite.
The edge of every single visual, the view of every one of his soldiers was slowly- including his own- covered in the growing darkness.
...What had he sought to fight? Sought to triumph against?
He did not come here to protect the cycle his family was so heavily focused on.
He did not come here because he truly cared about the threat of the Other side.
Whether humanity continued on or found itself starting over at the hands of that 'balancing' evil did not matter to him at all.
In the end, he was the Warrior- All he cared about was battle.
He had come here to battle a mythical being. To prove himself superior once again.
...And yet, he was not fighting a soldier.
He was not fighting a god.
He was not even fighting a sorcerer.
He, simply put, was not fighting at all.
He was losing.
He could feel the encroaching end.
He could taste death's frigid air as the darkness spread more and more-
He was the Warrior... How could he...
He blinked his mortal eyes a few times, and dispelled the divine gift, focusing on the here and now.
He let out an instinctual roar as his mind caught up to his body.
As he understood that the feeling of loss had come from the demon.
As he realized that the demon had used the deaths of his own soldiers to try and break him.
Cleansing his mind- He willed his power to flow through once again and searched- His glee and triumph rising with every second before... Nothing.
Nothing had appeared.
Nothing had changed.
The demon was still not in sight!
His disappearance wasn't a mind trick. It wasn't an illusion. The demon had truly disappeared.
"...Impossible..." He muttered, his word causing mounds of fear and self-doubt to fill his soldiers, for those very same illusions had still held a hold over them. The men twitched with anticipation, wariness, and a sense of survival as they eyed the false Karma they could see.
"Tell me Warrior."
He stiffened at the voice, his gaze, and the hundred with his divinity around him, quickly looked around. For the source of the voice had been eerily close-
"Do you fear death? The unknown? The cycle your own family created, used against you?" Every word stoked the burning anger he felt. "Do you fear regret?"
"Coward..." He instantly remarked. "You speak of fear while hiding?" He raised his sword. You're naught but an upjumped human! You have no right to question me at all and yet you dare!?" He roared out, swinging his sword to the side. "I am a king! I am a hero! I am the Warrior!"
His words strengthened his men's resolve.
"And I will be victorious!"
The fear and panic they felt disappeared. The wariness and trepidation were swept away as they stoppedfocusing on their false Karma's and instead turned their attention to him, to await his command!
...One he didn't technically have.
For all his words, he could still not see the damn craven demon.
"Hm. In my defense, this upjumped hooman has massacred men with much bigger balls than you." A single beat passed as he twitched, his irritation sweeping through and filling all of his men- Men whose drive and anger to win rose once again.
Thankfully, however, the stupid demon hadn't made his false illusions speak when he did- Elsewise he would have more dead soldiers on his hands.
For all his power, he clearly did not know how to use it effectively.
"For that matter, aren't you technically an upjumped hooman yourself?"
His anger skyrocketed, to the point even his own men had been dangerously close to gutting the illusions.
He reigned in his temper.
Perhaps the demon wasn't as stupid as he thought.
In one fell swoop, he'd been an emotional trigger away from having his army gut itself once again.
"Show yourself... And I'll show you how upjumped I can be..." He remarked through grit teeth, his words sending a tad hint of amusement throughout his men- Which in itself was worrisome given it meant his control over them was wavering.
"Besides everyone knows a true king despises his crown."
He quite frankly disagreed.
"A true hero despises his destiny."
Destiny was all that one had, all that drove them- What stunted fool would follow something that he despised!? What mockery did this fool speak off!?
"And a true Warrior-" He stiffened, swiveling on his feet, his mortal eyes taking in the darkness covered form that erupted out of the ground beneath him, the pointed end of the demon's sword coming at him directly- In the same instant, every single mind under illusion had watched their false Karma charge at them, a survivors instinct falsely planted in their mind- "-fights his own battles!"
He wasn't sure how many men fell.
He didn't really care.
The sword had cut through his mortal form's neck.
The Warrior held in the urge to scream in triumph as he watched the closest twenty of the hundred of his divine guard- Those blessed with his own divinity- Descend on the fool, their swords cutting through and pinning him to the ground.
His power, to Karma's surprised expression, prevented him from jumping to his failsafe.
His power prevented him from dying and held his main body prisoner.
As a reward to the mortal form that had given him a hundred thousand swords, he idly covered the gaping wound on its neck as he removed the blade.
He would live.
Even if it meant he could never fight again.
For though he could heal it, Mace Tyrell was a fool- And for that, he would not be allowed to shame the very meaning of battle ever again.
It was only then he took in the losses he'd suffered under Karma's last attack- He held in the urge to grimace at the number.
Barely over a quarter of his army had been killed- The knights blessed with his skills had cut through their illusions with ease.
Another third had been injured- Injuries that less than half of which would not be able to live through, at least under any other circumstances. Once he had dealt with the Demon, he would certainly reward some of them by allowing them to live.
He was quite frankly certain the rest of those that lived without injury were very likely to be scarred for life.
Once the mortal form of the fool had healed enough, he calmly started clapping at the demon.
"A good attempt- But much like those that face me in battle, it was not enough."
And with that, he gathered up as much divine power as he could- With enough left to deal with the slowly waking Cannibal- into his blessed blade, and pointed it at Karma's heart, the swirling darkness receding with every passing moment to show him the man's form.
He ignored the smile on the demon's face, for he would let nothing ruin this moment.
Though he could certainly understand why the demon was not yet scared of him- For, in the end, he was only kicking him out of their world. He knew enough that Karma' could not truly die. Cursed at his very concept, that he was.
"Any last words for those watching?" He questioned out of simple interest. "Perhaps you'd like to offer them all more meaningless promises?"
Perhaps he would insult him? Perhaps he would admit defeat?
It did not truly matter.
What did matter was the effect the demon had had on the continent- It would not be wise to let such influence fester without any form of closure.
The demon snorted at him and strained to shake his head.
He simply shrugged at him and stuck his sword through the demon's heart.
He could feel his divine power plummet immediately as he focused all of it on the singular cut. As he forced the demon's concept out of their world-
"...Man is pleased...In the end..." He ignored the urge to frown, his blessed father had told him this removal would be instant. "...To have fooled the Warrior."
He stiffened as his hold over his army disappeared.
As his divine reserves drained enough to require rest.
Resignation filled him as he watched Karma's face change.
"Translation..." The fog lifted from his mind as the swirling darkness disappeared entirely, his gaze turning back towards the settlement.
Fear filled him as he understood the true reason Karma had covered that body in so much darkness.
His sight landed on what he had thought to be the man's lackwit assassin and found a smiling Karma standing there, with a single sword held over his shoulder.
The demon hadn't left the settlement.
The demon had orchestrated everything atop that wall.
The demon hadn't moved at all.
And it had cost him his army and his divine reserves, to figure that out.
For all that his hold over his men had disappeared- They still felt his fear.
"Since when were you under the impression you were fighting me?"
...