'Can't do anything about those,' he lamented as he turned his head away from the imps.
It was his job to hold the line here. The other Mages throughout the city would have to deal with the imps.
He cut down the few that crossed his path before joining the encirclement around the first aesh.
This aesh had a broad, semi-circular scar across his right shoulder, and was the only aesh besides the female that didn't have a goatee.
In a battle against demons, Skills of the Physical (Self) and Physical (World) Orders were the game changers.
This was on display now, as an Earth Mage and a Water Mage manipulated their respective Elements to attack the demon.
Since they were manipulating already present rain and stone, very little Mana was within their attacks, so the aesh couldn't just burn the attacks away.
At the same time, three Masters with strength- or speed-enhancing Skills dodged and stepped around the aesh's swing, piling attacks onto him.
The other Mages were out of luck when it came to Skills, so they focused on stopping the imps pouring through. The Guards among them had bows within their storage rings, using these on aesh and imps alike.
Fate knew he wouldn't survive a swing of that gigantic sword, and neither would his weapon. He also lacked the speed necessary to kite around the aesh's swings, but he did have one thing.
Solid Surfing.
Sinking into the ground with his sword, he played whack-a-mole with the aesh, popping up behind or to the side of him when he was distracted or attacking to slice into the demon's ankles.
His sword couldn't go that deep with its Grade and the strength of the demon's flesh, but it was enough to draw blood.
The aesh caught on quickly to Fate's tactic, however, and started paying closer attention to the ground.
Unluckily for the aesh, the Mages caught on as well, and redoubled their efforts.
The Earth Mage and Water Mage didn't hold back, throwing sharp discs and pebbles of stone or globs of bloody rain at the aesh with the speed of an arrow, the former aiming for vitals and the latter for the demon's eyes.
At the same time, the strong and fast Mages close to the aesh risked getting closer, ducking under the clumsy swings of his sword as he struggled to keep his eyes open through the stinging water.
Ten minutes in, the Mages were growing tired, but the aesh seemed to have limitless stamina, continuing to swing his sword as fat red drops leaked from his injuries.
As Fate heaved a breath, he realized that he'd have to do something, or else they'd lose by attrition.
His thoughts raced with potential actions, but one seemed to call out to him the most: Break.
If he could Imprint the ground with Break, he could create a sinkhole to swallow up the aesh by weakening the soil. Such a thing wouldn't kill it, but it'd make it vulnerable.
The only problem was the concrete above the soil.
It was only three inches thick, but it held Sapling Grade Imprints to strengthen it. He wouldn't be able to break it with his Imprints as he was limited to the Seed Grade.
But then he grinned.
Didn't he have a Tier III demon above with absurd physical strength?
The aesh had craters around its feet even now from its attempts to stomp Fate's head. All Fate would have to do is incite it some more.
He stored his sword and breathed deeply as he got to work. He didn't know how much longer the Mages above could last, so he had to do this quickly.
It was here that Old Man Travis' training showed through.
Fate finished the first Imprint in two minutes, the jagged lines and sharp curves of his professor's Pride Imprint impressed upon the soil.
Fate took a look at his handiwork. He couldn't see through the dirt around him with his eyes, but he could still sense with his aura, and sensing his own Mana was an easy task.
'Will this be enough?' he wondered.
In the end, this was still a Seed Grade Imprint, and it was only the size of his head. He had doubts as to whether such a tiny enchantment could achieve the desired result, what with the Sapling Grade concrete above him.
Then a jolt ran through his mind, and he laughed at his stupidity.
So what if it was small? He had the entire expanse of dirt to work on. He could just make more Break Imprints until he was confident it would be enough.
And who said he was limited in the size he could create it in? Wasn't the hardest part of enchanting making an Imprint small enough to fit into rings and wands?
With that in mind, he got to work once more, only this time he deliberately made the Imprint as large as possible.
As he was working, the aesh above was effortlessly fending off his attackers, though the constant rain of arrows, stone, dirt, and swords meant he was stuck where he stood, forced to defend against some of the stronger attacks.
But the aesh were feared for a reason.
The demon roared, disregarding the next volley of projectiles as he gripped his sword with both of his large hands and spun in a circle with a speed no one would expect from a creature of his size.
In one fell swoop, the three Physical Skill Mages were sliced in half at the waist, their expressions that of utter shock as their two halves fell to the ground, dead.
The aesh didn't stop there, stepping forward as several arrows and stone discs embedded themselves in his back and chest. He swung his massive sword again with another roar, cleaving the Water Mage's head from her body.
The Mage's head flew through the air, her determined gaze dimming as it plopped to the floor.
Fate cursed when the aesh moved and canceled his current Imprint. He didn't have time to keep going. He would have to hope that this would be enough.
With gritted teeth, he poured his Mana into the ten Imprints around him, nine of them as large as he was, and used Solid Surfing to shoot out of the ground.
'Let's hope this works.'