TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE AGAINST MAMONOS.
Monstrous Strength.
The Zweihander came crashing to the side, cleaving off the head and part of the Minotaurus’ shoulder. Her blood sprayed out coating her opponent with it, who merely wiped away the blood from his face with his right gauntleted hand. A grin broke out on his face as he stared at the remaining monsters.
It was a monster camp, one that had caused Order too much trouble. Conventional attacks only resulted in losing men. So they decided to send in the Juggernaut forces. One that Balthair had joined once he proved himself.
Bodies of numerous monsters littered the battlefield, Minotauri, Orgres, Goblins, monsters that you would expect to have immense physical prowess. Of course while they relied on their instinct and brute strength, the Juggernauts were more than simple strong men with heavy weapons. Not they weren’t simply trained to destroyed everything in their path. They were trained to treat the destruction as their playthings, to prove the strength of Order men and women, would triumph over monsters.
A loud crash from one of Balthair’s comrade, followed by the pained screaming of Wurm caused them to grin, an axe lodged firmly in its scaled appendage. The woman grinned and yanked out the weapon as hard as she could, before raising it above her head and practically threw it inside the dragon’s head. Splattering blood over the ground and the Juggernaut’s armour, the cheery laughter made the gruesome act even more terrifying.
“Hahaha, That's th' spirit lassie. Send thae demons tae hell” The shouted frightened the monsters, causing them to back away. One of them steeled her courage, a Minotaurus, and charged roaring in anger.
Balthair grinned, his left hand gripped the blade of his great sword. The monster brought down her axe with an almost guttural roar, intent on driving the magical silver into his skull.
If he hadn’t held his sword up to catch the strike, resulting in a deafening clang.
Shock was evident in the Minotaurus’ face, to see her power so easily block. Balthair grinned “That th' best ye kin dae, ye bovine?”
Seething with anger, from the loss of her comrades and the insult, she pushed her axe down harder using all of her strength. But the Juggernaut refused to budge, he even began chuckling at her attempt. Seeing red, the monster lifted up her axe, this time using both of her hands, used all her might to bring the weapon down.
A simple push with his left hand caused the overpowered swing to bounce off the sword’s edge to the right, forcing it owner to follow its momentum and leave her shoulder exposed. Immediately, Balthair pulled the great sword to his side and quickly thrust the weapon into her shoulder, pushing it deeply inside her.
A pained gasp from the monster spurred him forward. He pulled his right hand and pushed with his left. The sword messily cut through the skin, spraying more blood onto the grinning Juggernaut. Pained screams turned into a garbled mess when the great sword exited through her chests, caked in her blood as well as a chunk of white.
Stumbling from pain, a quick but powerful swing of the half-handled great sword to her neck finished her off.
That was the cue for the others to leave. Screw the orders, screw the chance of getting a husband or a sister. They wanted to live.
A Juggernaut chuckled as he pulled his Glaive from the remains of a Jinko “Look at they run, we win this war easy” he laughed out. Balthair simply smirked as he hefted his great sword and gently rested it on his shoulder, before he pointed his blade to the sky, followed by the others.
“Long live Order!!” They cheered at their victory.
One step ahead.
The Demon army smiled as they tore through the guards at the entrance. Months of planning to take down the troublesome fort was finally going to be put into play. The Harpies distracted the archers that would stay at look out. Giving more than enough time for Kunoichis to sneak into the guarded stronghold.
Afterwards it was a simple grab as much monsters as they could to overwhelm them. Some of them drooled as they picked their husbands, screaming with glee as they mounted them in the open. Others were happily converting the woman into their beautiful forms, ecstatic to receive a sister to help him fight against the oppressive Order.
The Succubus that was leading let out a hearty laugh, for how long did she examine the fort, counting the numbers of troops that It held. Cutting off any reinforcements to them was easy as a simple forged letter. She somehow felt bringing Three thousand monsters to take down a fort of One thousand and two hundred was too much, but she didn’t care.
All she cared about was taking the man who was sending out those troops and riding him until he belonged to her.
The succubus along with her squad was surprised to find the man behind all the soldiers in an open field. He was as expected surrounded by other soldiers. If it wasn’t for the fact that he wasn’t wearing his helmet, revealing a man with obvious Zipangu features, she wouldn’t have known, which was which.
The soldiers around him drew their swords. She couldn’t help but laugh, her squad alone outnumbered his guards 9 to 1. She didn’t see the small smirk on his face. Charging, the sounds of steel and silver clashing was almost deafening to the ears, the soldiers obviously fought with desperation hoping that a miracle would happen and they would be save.
In less than two minutes all except for the captain were held down. He didn’t even seem to flinch as she walked towards him with a sexy sway. Deliberately taking as slow as she could, so that she can savour the moment.
“How does it feel to have everything you worked for fall right before you?” She taunted seductively, ending her sentence with a wink. His smirk grew wider “Tell me, should I write you as foolish or idiotic in your eulogy?” He said suddenly. The succubus and her squad blinked in confusion.
His sudden laughter only added more fuel to their confusion “Did you ever questioned, how a measly number of One thousand and two hundred could ever pose a threat?” He asked, sarcasm dripped off every word. She then noticed that in his scabbard wasn’t a sword, it looked to be the handle of a pistol.
Her eyes widened in realization.
Smirking as her discovering he fixed his black eyes into her purple ones “One more question, how does it feel like to have everything you work for fall right in front of you?” He echoed, before he grabbed the handle from the scabbard to reveal the flare gun. He held it to sky and pulled the trigger, releasing a large ball of fire with an ear-drum shattering boom.
Once their ears stopped ringing from the gun, they heard the sounds of screaming. This time it belonged to her monsters.
Harpies started falling from the skies as they were pelted with arrows. The screams of Centaurs that were guarding the gates were barely audible over the heavy hoof steps of Order cavalry. A sudden number of soldiers appeared from the forest to take out the monsters that surrounded the fort. The same happened inside when more soldiers appeared from their hiding place to slay the intruders.
Fifty of them had even sneaked up on her squad, dispatching them with ease.
Everything happened so fast, that the succubus couldn’t even respond when a steel sword pierced through her chest. She gave him a panicked look as he withdrew the blade from her torso. She fell to the ground, and began to bleed out. The last she saw was the man mouthing the word ‘Zephyr’ before everything went black.
Uncivilised rescue.
Lazy black eyes glanced at the sloppy formation of the soldiers, many were standing there slouched, some were even squatting on the floor. Any other commander or at least even a squad leader would’ve already berated them, followed with an appropriate punishment. ‘Of course, most commanders have regular fight and kill jobs’ he noted in his head.
Crossing his arms he stood up straight from his leaning position and cleared his throat to catch their attention. “All right assholes, listen up!” He shouted uncaringly, gaining sideway glances from each of them. “Okay intel suggest that the unit of squad leader Fiore, who were captured at 0600 hours, is currently being held at Fort Sungard.”
He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth as well as ignoring the raised eyebrows of his soldiers, before he continued “Y’know the fort that we had zero success in taking back” The remark made some smirk in amusement. “And as part of our job, we need to rescue as much as we can. You should be able to sense who’s salvageable and who’s already too far gone. Any questions?”
One raised his hand with a bored smiled “What’s the meaning of life Captain?”
“Fuck you Gomez, okay let’s move out”
[Scene]
The group of Sixty stopped just as the sight of a stone fort came into view. The captain raised his hand twirled his index finger, the group broke into three. The first moved around to get behind the fort, the second split into two to cover the sides. The group with the captain moved to the main path.
“Weapons ready?” He asked the soldiers in is group. They readied their broadswords and nodded. He turned to the opening with a sigh, clutching his sword tighter in his grip. “Nervous Olive?” One asked mockingly. The captain scoffed “Shut it Gomez.”
Without any prompting the group charged, running straight towards the fort recklessly.
The Elf who was on watch, looked with shock at the sudden appearance of Order soldiers. She quickly snapped out of it, twirling around while simultaneously nocking an arrow, and fired it at the fort’s bell. The resulting clang was enough to warn the other monsters in fort. Just in time as one of Order soldiers got inside and ran a Succubus through with his weapon.
Chaos erupted, the monsters immediately took action. Drawing their weapons and combating the intruders. Sounds of metal against silver, metal against wood and even metal against the crackling of spells resonated in the fort.
The group fought different than what the monsters expected, only taking one at a time before withdrawing without finishing them off. Only once or twice would they actually kill their opponent, but mostly they avoided any killing. Some of those who had experience in the war noticed this, most noticeably were the Dullahans who observed how they fought. Some even saw that weren’t advancing forward, sticking closely to the gates as they could.
Then it clicked to them, there were simply a distraction. Immediately they retreating back into their base, ignoring the angry insults that were thrown at them.
Oliver noticed this and cursed under his breath “Dammit, is it so hard for them to just fall for a trick?” He sighed ‘Well dad never said warfare was easy.’ He turned to a soldier who was unoccupied and mouth some words to her. Nodded she broke from the group and headed forward.
The captain then grinned, he held his sword up to the sky. Catching the attention of both his soldiers and the monsters “All right guys, when we finish here, I’m going to treat us at Cazzo Persone Ubriache” he shouted, earning surprised looks from each of them. “And the one who kills the most, I’m going to buy them the Fegato Rovina” grins broke out in the group at their captain’s claim.
Without hesitation they resumed their fighting, with vigour. The monsters were forced to do the same. Making it possible for the soldier to move past them.
The woman moved quickly, her goal was the bell. She smirked as she leapt up and grabbed a rock jutting out. A hearty laugh escaped her mouth as she climbed the wall to the bell. Grabbing onto the final ledge, she lifted herself up and smiled at the sight of the bell. Drawing her sword, she gripped the blade and proceeded to bang it with the cross-guard, ‘Ringing’ the bell.
The two groups outside heard the bell. One sighed and place his cards down onto the forest floor, before standing up. The ones inside turned to the bell tower in confusion, before panic overtook them when soldiers suddenly climbed over the walls.
“Woo, I love these enchantments!!” One shouted, she then proceeded to leap from the wall and drive her sword into an Ogre. The sudden appearance took them by surprise, while some turned their focus to the newcomers, they ignored the ones in front of them resulting in more deaths.
Things went downhill even more when the door to the fort’s prison suddenly exploded outwards, a scorched Dullahan accompanied it. Even more soldiers poured out, carrying one, some were even holding two, soldiers on their back.
“Beep, beep. Coming THROUGH” One shouted, he was one of the few who weren’t carrying any soldiers. Instead he was holding two glowing shields in front of him, which he used to ram the monsters in his path, creating an opening for the others to carry away their husbands and sisters. The fact that he was running non-stop despite the monsters attempting to interrupt them , raised their panic levels sky-high.
Eventually the group that appeared from the prison escaped, the second group that had climbed the wall, followed by the first one that assaulted the fort. Leaving behind a fort with corpses, and confused as well as distraught monsters.
The soldiers however, were relieved that they managed to save their comrades without any losses. Oliver, looked over the men and women. His soldiers were relatively unharmed, largely due to the monster using their ‘Demon Realm Silver’ and those that were freed still had their sanity in check.
‘Whelp, looks like I have to waste my savings for my promise then’ He chuckled.
Leading Heroine.
“Come on, give me a challenge!” Shouted the green haired woman. The only response she got from the monsters were them backing away terrified, muttering to themselves. She laughed mockingly, resting her sword on her shoulder. Her foot nudged one of the many bodies that practically surrounded her.
Silence stretched out between the smirking woman and the cowering group of monsters. Her smile then dropped, as she lowered her blade to the ground. Holding out her other hand, she motion her fingers in a come hither motion. A salamander swallowed her fear and stepped forward, paying no heed to the distressed cries of her friends.
The woman grinned and spread out her arms, welcoming the challenge. To the Salamander though, it looked like she was gesturing to all of the corpses around her. The monster walked closer to the woman before stopping, she took her stance and gripped the handle of her Falchion tightly.
‘Amateur’ To those who didn’t knew, while the Lizardmen family were proficient in the art of battle, they were still self-taught like any other monster, and a well-trained knight can easily take down a hot-shot thug anytime.
Steeling her nerves, the Salamander charged forward. She cocked her right arm back, ‘Too far back’ the woman observed. It was easy to parry the blow, her sword caught the telegraphed attack easily. As quickly as when she parried, she swung her blade to the side, releasing it like a spring, cutting her from the right cheekbone until her ear.
The Salamander hissed in pain, but ignored the cut. Backing away she held her sword at ready, gritting her teeth in anticipation. Normally a battle like this would’ve made her fire burn bright blue, but seeing the woman take down so many monsters nonchalantly before. She gulped an hoped she would make it out of this alive.
This time the woman made the first move. Sliding forward, she made quick overhead strike. The Salamander was ready to met the swing, holding her blade horizontally. The woman smirked again, stopping her sword centimetres from the Salamander’s. She jabbed the sword forward, clipping the monster’s left shoulder, and pulled back cutting the side of her neck.
This time the Salamander stumbled back, one of her clawed hand covered the wound on her neck. She made a panicked swing, and screamed when the woman stepped to the side and sliced her arm clean off with a simple downward swing. Her eyes widened when she saw the golden glow of the runes on her sword. The woman then twisted her wrist and swung upwards, this time severing her forearm, practically ignoring the armour. She then pulled the sword back and thrust the blade, right into her chest.
A quiet pained scream was all the Salamander could do. The woman leaned closer to her ear and whispered “Try again” and pushed the monster off her sword. Though instead of the Salamander standing defiantly, she allowed her herself to fall on her back. A sighed escaped the woman’s mouth as she stepped forward and quickly cut her head off.
Turning her blue eyes from her dead opponent to the monsters she smiled again “Anymore?”
They were silent however as they stared behind her. Curiously she turned around, and to her surprise found a group of soldiers running towards her, leading them was a familiar face.
“Captain Minerva, we’ve come to ass- oh never mind” The soldier interrupted himself when he saw the multitude of bodies around the woman. Said woman allowed a grin to grow on her face at the sight of the soldier, whilst the monster grew even more horrified at the appearance of reinforcement.
“R-retreat” A monster shouted in panic. The others said nothing as they turned and ran with their tails between their legs.
At the sight of the monsters withdrawal the soldier and his reinforcements sheathed their sword,no use chasing after them. The leading soldier smiled and folded his arms “Guess worrying about you was just a wasted effort huh?” he said casually.
Minerva grinned and returned her sword to her scabbard “Yeah, as if those wild beast could even pose a threat. Still though it was sweet of my recruit to still care for me” She ended the sentence with a mocking ‘Dawwwww’.
He scoffed “I’m a squad leader now you know” He stated firmly. Though her response was to drape an arm over his shoulder “Yeah, but little Hans will always be my recruit, no matter what” She heard him mutter something under his breath but she ignored it.
Pushing him off, her smile disappeared and her voice took a more serious tone “By the way, the ambush. How many casualties?” She asked. Hans looked straight into her eyes “Minimal casualties captain. Injuries are minor at best and we’ve lost two soldiers, though they were abducted rather than turned” He informed.
A glint of worry appeared in Minerva’s eyes before it disappeared “Who were the two that were taken soldier?”
“Sean and Bean, captain”
Minerva sighed, slightly relieved. ‘Those two never seem to stop getting into trouble’ She nodded “Very well, Let’s hope to the Chief God the Retrievers are able to rescue them.”
Hans nodded. Both of them returned to camp with Hans’ reinforcement.
A/N I'm followinf both a head cannon and the very vague example for Order here. Also characterisation.