**Kuro, in one of the breastworks barricading the entrance to the Federal Demon Republic from the Desolate Wastelands…**
It was always easy to panic when the odds went against you.
"…"
There were a lot of instances throughout history that panic was the ultimate weapon of an attacking force. The Korean War of Earth's 1950-1953 saw the Chinese Volunteer army units deploying trumpets and drums to intimidate their foes from the Korean army and their U.N. allies. The American 'shock-and-awe' tactic of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq saw the use of heavy and spectacular bombing runs meant to demoralize the Iraqi army. And the Mongolians sowed panic in the cities they besieged by catapulting corpses infected with plague; a sort of a biological weapon, though it had its unintended result of scaring the population and demoralizing them in the futility of their resistance. It also contributed to the spread of the Bubonic plague from China to medieval Europe—the so-called 'Black Death.'
Of course, it would be prudent to assume that the Seductress had a similar goal. After all, panic generated 'negativity' which strengthens her. It also stretched our forces; while we hurriedly send units to 'plug' breaches in other worlds, she would just keep on pumping her minions to attack us. A weak and disunited response would work in her favor. The Seductress would never lose anything, as she could always rely on her 'shadow children,' while we would be grinded in a protracted conflict, with her destroying us piecemeal.
The repeated defeats would surely undermine my authority as god, which would lead to the people's loss of faith. Such tragedy would leave Chersea and the Other Realms without a deity, and vulnerable to the Void's power and influence.
"…"
And so, after learning the attacks on Chersea, Cherwind, and Cherwoods, we opted for a more cautious response. Thanks to the support of the saints, as well as the people's faith in me, I decided to 'dig in' and weigh on my possible actions. And of course, I needed information first.
The idea of triage made it possible for me to determine which world needed the most urgent help. Our resources and manpower—though came from the five races—were still limited relative to the scope of the Seductress' abilities. Besides, we were fighting a 'modern' army and navy, based on the stories we heard. Our military equipment was hopelessly obsolete against such foes. While we could invent newer weapons to supply our forces, they would still have to 'unlearn' everything; from the muscle memory of using such weapons, down to their tactics and strategy.
For short, it will take time. And time…it's something we don't have.
So, using the saints' power of teleportation, I gathered intelligence by observing these enemies from afar. Honestly, it was hard to watch your allies getting killed and butchered before your eyes. But, for the purpose of watching the enemy behavior, I had to do it. Their deaths would never be in vain…
Look, while I do have Seirna's god-power of resurrection, I have no idea how to use it. And I'm afraid to experiment; the memories of people turning into zombies is still fresh in my mind.
In the end, Chersea had the most urgent breach. Cherwind's monster hordes were just made of groundworms and leviathans rampaging under the influence of the Seductress' power (Gaius told me so). And while it was a cause for concern, the rampaging hordes had been a problem the humans and beastfolk had dealt with since time immemorial. Their only problem was the numbers of these monsters that already overwhelmed and destroyed the nascent republican army of the beastfolk.
Still, we shouldn't be so overconfident to lower our guards. Yes, the hordes were quite easy to deal with, but with all of them rampaging, it was only a matter of time before the armies of Royal Cherwind get exhausted to resist. So, I asked the Lady Helgath to send a few of her dwarves to help Ursura in their defense, until we free up more people for them.
For Cherwoods, it was to my great relief that the modern warships attacking from the coast off the city of the Saint's Tree palace were of World War 2 vintage. Those were just armed with big naval guns, organized into several batteries, instead of the more accurate, and lethal, missile-armed ships. Nevertheless, we were still hopelessly outgunned and outranged, so the Lady Hinwe's court was moved inland. No one ran after her, and there was no landing force that came to occupy the city of the Saint's Tree. The ships continued shelling the entire coast of Cherwoods, though.
I must say, judging on the enemy's equipment, the Seductress is knowledgeable of modern jets, and tanks, but her idea of naval ships extended only up to the Second World War.
"…"
And it is good for us that she doesn't even know how to use those in effective tactics to defeat our forces. I guess the Seductress' only goal is to wreak havoc as much as she can before she attempts to return.
So, taking the advantage of the enemy's reluctance to follow up on their element of surprise, the elves planned to attack and try to push them off the waters nearby their lands. Well, I was doubtful they could force those ships away, but I think it would be good to encourage the elves' initiative and keep that fleet where they appeared. After our issues at Chersea, I could then bring the full force of our armies bearing against these vessels and clear Cherwoods of the Seductress' influence.
As such, I asked the Lady Margarette Jeanne, former First Admiral of Cherwind and ambassador to Cherwoods, to support the elves in their planning. And we also requested support from the Pilots' Club of Montserrant; they agreed to send in several squadrons of fighter planes.
----------
And really, I think the Seductress' forces were just using the modern equipment for intimidation than actually trying to defeat us. For one, we all noticed that, while their 'otherworldly' armies and navies appeared and attacked us, there was no effort to really push us back to corners. The 'human' army at the borders of the Federal Demon Republic and Kingdom of Nerfes destroyed some nearby settlements, but never occupied those places…even when they were supported by fighter jets and modern battle tanks. The enemy just consolidated their hold around the dark portal from where they came. The fleet off Cherwoods displayed similar behavior; ships just sailed around and bombarded the coast from afar.
It was odd for any mortal fleet or army to remain in a hostile spot for too long, unless they intend to bait their foes to attacking them, or was protecting something. But even then, such tactic was too dangerous, as displayed by the Battle of Dien Bien Phu where the French baited the Viet Mihn and got defeated by the latter instead. My conclusion was that, we were dealing with something else instead of actual humans. My first hunch was these were 'manned' by the shadow children, which was a common tactic of the Seductress.
With that taken into consideration, I remembered the Black God. He did plan to 'restrain' the Seductress with his powers, as he himself couldn't deal the 'killing blow' to her. So, if the creature from the Void intended to invade Chersea, Cherwind and Cherwoods at the same time and stretch us thin, she had already failed, and if the Black God was to see this, I guess he would be happy to learn that his sacrifices were not in vain.
So, while Cherwind and Cherwoods held off the incursions of the Seductress in their respective territories, we focused our resources and manpower on dealing with Chersea's enemies first. Never mind the infantry; our formidable challenge were the jets and tanks on the other army. Instead of attacking those head-on—which would surely destroy us—we employed the best tactic for off-setting the qualitative advantage of our foes: guerilla warfare.
While it was a tactic that was well-used by any sensible military commander throughout my world's history, guerilla warfare was a term that made it to mainstream English language after the Spanish coined it to describe their determined resistance to Napoleon's armies at the height of the French Occupation of Spain. In the modern sense, guerilla warfare could be synonymous to asymmetrical warfare, though the latter could take on many forms nowadays…like drone, or online warfare.
The human and demon armies of Chersea and the Demon Republic were well-equipped, and trained well. Their command staff was organized in a way that catered to the demands of the military in this world. However, to defend their land from an encroaching Void monster, they had to hide, and attack when the enemy least expected it. A death of one mortal was a win for the Seductress, as the loss would produce negative feelings that would help her gain strength.
So yes, we have to finish this war as soon as possible, and with the lowest deaths.
As the minions of the Seductress burned and pillaged border settlements near them, we had the human and demon armies carry out their own hit-and-run attacks. Ashren's band of mercenaries—formerly the thugs of Lady Martelle—proved useful in this aspect. Some of their forces would follow their foes on the road, strike and retreat before the tanks and jets arrive. The main demon and human armies would rain artillery and mortar at the main 'base' of the invaders, right outside the dark circle that served as their portal. After that, they would scoot away before the enemy responded.
I know it won't do much, as the shadow children are technically not even alive. But, these 'guerilla operations' buoyed the sagging morale of our forces, recovering from their initial shock, days ago.
Another benefit of such things was that, the soldiers gained experience on how to fight the Seductress' minions. As I said, the shadow children were 'not alive,' thus, the sense of preservation was missing. How would you fight an enemy who was not afraid to die? Well, the answer could be found on the battlefield, where our forces could solve that problem themselves. The shadow children would try to overwhelm and tear their victims apart; their weakness, however, was that they were easily killed, dissipating as a dark smoke before vanishing in the air. So, the soldiers would just shoot or lob grenades from afar, taking a bunch of the Seductress' minions before they go to melee with the Orc knights and the Paladin Corps.
To counter against the jets and tanks, we built trenches that surrounded our enemies. It also served as 'hidden' launch points for our raids into the other camp, as well as shooting platforms for our snipers. That way, the constant harassment would eventually sap the Seductress' strength, and either 'weaken' her, or keep her forces corralled in their spots.
"…"
But of course, like many conflicts, this had to come to an end. And fast. So, once we transferred the bulk of the armies to the northern borders, we immediately planned a major push that would end the Seductress' incursion into Chersea, helping me closer in my goal of freeing Cherflammen from her clutches.
----------
"Attack!"
"!!!" The shrill sounds of the whistles echoed throughout the air as we sprung from our 'launch' points and attacked the Seductress' forces from all sides. Our target was the dark portal, as Natasha said the saints could close that. And this offensive of our really did confirm my suspicions that we were dealing with the shadow children, as the bullets we fired 'disintegrated' the 'human' soldiers into black miasma, instead of bodies falling dead on the ground.
"…"
It was fortunate for us that these shadow children relied on their mistress to make their next moves, and not independently taking on the initiatives to conduct offensives. It greatly helped us to contain the incursions. Of course, the enemy would also try to break out at our gradual encirclement, but their push was not that determined, and so they would retreat with heavy losses.
Though I doubt it really affected their power to wage war, since the shadow children can just be made out of the miasma of that Void creature.
Nevertheless, it was not our real goal, for attrition warfare was useless against an enemy with no sense of preservation. More than eliminating their numbers, our target was that dark thing they protected.
I'm sure it is the portal to Cherflammen, and directly to the Seductress.
"…"
The enemy tanks immediately fired towards us while our forces closed the gap. Cavalry from the demon armies rushed to places where feet couldn't reach on time. As the forces I led surrounded the shadow children, we had to keep distance and pace, to avoid incurring casualties. As such, there was a considerable space to traverse when we turned our march inward to get to them. Good thing that it was then Natasha teleported in our own tanks to support our attack. Made of iron-mithril alloys, these armored behemoths proved their mettle against the supposedly 'modern' tanks of the enemy.
Well, mithril is considered the strongest metal, after all, even in fantasy stories.
Good thing the golden plains of the Desolate Wastelands fit the armored warfare and maneuvers. Because of that, we could send our tanks on flanking movements to ease pressure on one side, as the fighter jets began to make their entrance on the battlefield. Bombs were dropped on us in one fell swoop, yet our attacks carried on. Our advances were protected by the mage units casting magic barriers to fend even the heaviest armaments of the enemy.
Nevertheless, what made our attack easy was also giving us difficulties. The plains had no natural defense, save for the knee-high golden grass blades to which we could duck into to hide. While the magicians did their best to keep up their barriers, it couldn't remain up for too long because of the incessant aerial bombardments, and we also had to fire back. The shields prevented bullets from crossing to the other side, and it didn't discriminate from friend and foe. We had to lift up the barriers to return fire, and we were caught, the enemy jets would bomb us.
"Milord," one of my commanders this time, Ashren, pulled me into one of the destroyed tanks they used as makeshift cover. "The Griffin Knights and the Red Feathers contingent signaled they are ready to attack."
"They can't," I replied, though I admire Sir Bellingstein's courage even after his contingent already saw how fast a modern jet fighter was. "They would be butchered."
"But milord! We have to destroy those flying machines so we can advance!"
"I know!" I channeled the mana to my hands, revealing a gold-yellow glow. "And we'll use cheats this time!"
"Huh?" the mercenary was bewildered by my words. Yet, he said nothing; he knew I had a plan in mind. Then, Ashren signaled to the other units to raise their magic barriers as the skies above the Desolate Wastelands rapidly darkened. Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder came, followed by a heavy downpour that forced the advancing army to stop and take cover. Finally, the first of the hailstones began falling from the sky.
"Milord, I guess the other guys already had their barriers up," Ashren told me. "Keep those hailstones coming! Destroy these fuckers, Your Most Holy Majesty!"
Following the mercenary's request, I intensified the god-power I activated. The hailstones destroyed the jets, causing them to explode in fiery balls that became a spectacle to everyone. The enemy tanks were also crushed by the falling projectiles, and the enemy soldiers were killed by the barrage. However, the fight wasn't over.
"!!!"
The use of the god-powers made me the prime target for the shadow children. While we destroyed many of them from the initial attack and the subsequent hailstorm, they still kept coming, hitting the magic barriers with everything they got as the magicians struggled to maintain it. As long as the dark portal was there, the Seductress would just send hordes after hordes of her minions in an attempt to overwhelm us. While I had no qualms of keeping up the god-powers (my mana seemed to never deplete), the hailstorm would exhaust the mages on our side, and dispel the barriers, leading to casualties.
"They're still flooding out of that damn portal!" someone shouted. This was also why I used the god-power only at this moment, to avoid tiring our magicians fending off the shadow children's' attacks in their effort to kill me. The original plan was we would come up to just a few distance away from that portal; cast the god-powers to secure the area, and I would come inside before Natasha sealed up the portal.
I mean, it is risky on my part, but I want to ensure the safety of Chersea and the Other Realms as I confront the Seductress for the final time.
With the god-power of the Beastman Saint still activated, I pulled out my sword. Turning to everyone, I encouraged them, "Come on! A few steps from here! I will be with you! Charge!"
Following my cue, the human and demon soldiers emerged from their hiding spots and charged once more. The magicians never lifted the barriers this time, advancing with us and bearing the brunt of the range attacks of the shadow children. While it was a 'charge,' it really was a 'paced walk' than a run, as we had to keep with our tanks' speed and avoid exhausting the soldiers with their heavy packs. The hailstorm was intense, as I wanted to thoroughly destroy the shadow children as soon as they emerged from the portal. If we let them pour in, they would re-consolidate their forces and present another danger to us.
"Milord, we're about to reach the portal!" were Ashren's words amid the deafening screams of the gale I summoned.
At once, I turned off the god-powers, and the weather returned to normal immediately. As we were right beside the dark portal, the shadow children that emerged from that were quickly 'killed,' with some of our soldiers began shooting into the circle itself, followed by the tanks.
----------
Meanwhile, while the rest poured deadly volleys into the shadow children, I sent a signal to Natasha that she could now approach the dark portal. The Demon Saint teleported in a few minutes later, having brought her magic circles drawn by Maddie. Saying nothing, not even a greeting, the holy demon lady set about slapping her magic circles around the dark portal. The soldiers helped her by 'killing' the shadow children attacking her, so that Natasha could focus on her work.
"…"
Soon, the dark portal was covered by the magic circles.
"!!!"
Using her blood, the Demon Saint activated her spells. It glowed with such intensity, the rest of us had to turn our eyes away to avoid being blinded.
"Sir G!" I heard her call out to me. It was our sign that I needed to step into the portal before it was completely sealed. With my eyes closed, I stepped forward, and let myself fall into the dark abyss to confront the Void monster.
The ritual took a few moments before it was done. And Natasha made sure that the portal wouldn't open again by burning the papers that bore the magic circles. And yes, the bright skies of Chersea now disappeared and was replaced by the cold, and dead, darkness of Cherflammen.
"Whew! That is quite the work, Sir G!" she commented when we determined that Chersea was relatively safe, for now, at least.
"Yeah, but our job's not yet done," I replied, referring to the horde of shadow children that was waiting for us on this side of the portal. They surrounded us, making sure that there was no escape or breakthrough routes. Naturally, I put myself between them and my former student.
"Sir G," Natasha pushed me away a little. "While I do appreciate you moving to shield me, I'd like you to trust us. I came with you in this place not to be protected; I'll fight with you." The sword she pulled out began to emit dark flames.
"Natasha—no, Alexa—if something happens to you, your parents will kill me," I jested.
"Don't be absurd!" she chuckled, and followed it up with a huge slashing movement against our enemies. The swing she did caused the entire group of shadow children before us to erupt in flames, which immediately destroyed them.
Not wishing to be outdone by my student, I attacked on my own. The shadow children surged to overwhelm us, but a slash with my sword, a shot from my gun, and kick to the enemy, and we began to work our way to clear the place where we 'landed.' Of course, the shadow children's tactic was to exhaust us, and to counter this, we would cast spells that dealt area-of-effect damage, obliterating large groups of the Void creatures in one attack.
Alexa, making use of her footwork during her days as a Chersean hero, hacked her way into the thick of battle, never leaving my side. As she was the superior swordswoman, I watched her back. The student cut a wide swath of 'death' and 'destruction,' while the mentor cleared the 'survivors' and kept the 'pursuers' from a comfortable distance. While I could use the god-powers to annihilate our foes, we'd like to avoid attracting hordes of shadow children until we determined the place where the Seductress was.
"!!!"
The sword that was given to the Black God, and was said to be the 'bane' of the Void creatures came in handy. Unlike the others, this blade could literally dissipate the shadow children, with no hope of returning to the one who created them, as was the case of the common, 'non-holy' weapons we had. The saints could destroy these monsters because of their god-powers, often extended to their weapon, and the deities, their divine magic. For mortals, their only hope of truly destroying the Void creatures was to get hold of this, or something similar, like the bolt-heater revolver on my other hand.
In that way, we slowly whittled the power of the Seductress…until, finally, we noticed the numbers of the shadow children getting smaller. Soon, we were just dealing with stragglers, trying to escape, perhaps to warn their mistress of our presence.
Once the desert we stood upon was devoid of our enemies, Natasha and I fell to the sand, exhausted, but satisfied at the outcome of the fight.
"I'd always prefer having tea in Maddie's place than doing this," the Demon Saint commented as she leaned on my back. "Let's have it again sometime, Sir G, when everything's back to normal."
"Yeah," I replied, giving her a towel for her face. "I did tell you to remain in Chersea to help Maddie and the others."
"Are you stupid, Sir?" she laughed. "We have forgotten you before, but this time, you'll defeat that creature from the Void and return to us. And I'll be the insurance that you will come back to Chersea in one piece."
I said nothing, smiling back at her. Then, when we finally caught our breaths, I stood up and continued walking through the dead desert. However, the Demon Saint wasn't finished just yet, "Ah! Please wait, Sir G!"
"Hm?"
The Demon Saint brought out four more pieces of paper, each one with a different set of magic circles drawn on it. Then, with her wounded finger (the one she used in her earlier ritual), she activated it. The magic circles glowed with different colors, as I looked on with horror and the realization of what was about to happen.
"!!!" Finally, out of the magic circles, came the four other holy saints. Madelaine Ann Rubinforth in her Paladin armor. Ruro of the Wolf and her beastman stone dagger. The Lady Hinwe Tal-Inwir, donned in an elvish armor and armed with her people's sword. And the Lady Helgath, dressed like a dwarf warrior, and carried a steam-powered battle axe.
"Hey!" I protested. "I thought we had made it clear that you will remain with your respective races in case something happens to me?"
"Pfft!" Maddie smirked. "I'm sorry, Kuro, but you see, you won't take the burden of fighting the Seductress this time."
"And please don't underestimate us, Master," Ruro added. "You'll need all the help you can get."
"Well, it's true, but…"
"No buts," the Lady Hinwe chuckled. "Even the others will like to fight at your side."
"Others?"
The Lady Helgath then clapped her hands. A small light then appeared amidst the dark desert, which then slowly multiplied, until the sandy hills that surrounded us—and even the skies—were illuminated. And then, I realized; those lights were from the soldiers of the armies of the five races, teleported here by the saints…
…and ready to square it out with the Seductress and her minions.
From within my mind, I heard Gaius' voice…
'Take heart, Kuro. You're the only one who united the five races of Chersea and the Other Realms. Now, you'll be the god that leads them to battle. Go and be victorious!'
Well, seeing that everyone got my back, it surely boosted my confidence. "Wipe your sweat; we got lots of work to do, guys. We still have to find Seirna and bring her home."