I landed hard in front of the stronghold. I knew what I was doing was immature. I knew that it was childish. But, I wanted my presence to be felt. I wanted Herzblatt’s followers to lose their footing and watch me with wary eyes.

  Their fear replenished me; gave me back the authority I felt I lost in the face of Ecstasy’s little test. I am strong. I am someone that is to be feared. But, at the same time, it disappointed me. At least one of you needed to have a backbone. One of you needed to have the spirit to stand up to me so that I could obliterate them on the spot.

  I could have looked for an excuse, but that would have made me feel too similar to the prison guards I used to loathe. I marched into the castle, finally allowing those around me to breathe a little easier.

  I kicked open the door to the throne room to little fanfare. The demons there to support the leaders had a small jump of fear and took some steps away from me. I had already seen that outside. I wanted more. But, other than that small reaction, there was very little reaction on the faces of Charles, Herzblatt, or Mutya.

  “You seem to be distressed,” Charles commented with a mockingly concerned tone but a piercing look. “Did something happen?”

  “Nothing happened,” I insisted, shutting the door on that line of questioning. “Just a disappointing Dungeon.”

  “Even a failure has something to learn from,” Herzblatt replied with a sage nod.

  I wanted to choke the dog to death on the spot for trying to share his stupid ramblings with me. But, that was only because he was right. I had gained something valuable in exchange. It was just how it came to me that I couldn’t stand.

  “Is it time to start our invasion?” I asked Charles, starving for a distraction.

  “It is.”

  “Good, I’ve been looking for something to annihilate,” I said, cracking my fingers. “Who’s our first target?"

  I started tracing my shattered nails over the map. I moved from cluster to cluster, finally resting on one of the larger ones in the region.

  “Did you already forget everything we’ve discussed?” Charles asked with a disappointed voice. “We need to give the newest soldiers opportunities to fight without you taking all the best targets. You are just here for insurance.”

  “Charles,” I replied with all the composure contained within my body. It trembled, eager to let more violent emotions slip out. “I will remind you who defeated who. I have the final say in what we do and I am telling you that I need to do something productive before I just start inflicting this on all of you at random.”

  “Yes,” Charles conceded through clenched teeth before he took a breath. “However, you already agreed to this strategy. At least give me a good reason. Not just this unexplained tantrum.”

  “Oh, I have a good reason,” I countered, tapping the spot with my finger. “Think of it this way. If we destroy the largest power in the area first, then there will be no one else left to stop us. Herzblatt can manage the rest on his own and I will go fuck off somewhere until it’s time to move on.”

  Charles tilted his head at my words, seeing the true meaning of my offer. He sighed and looked at the map again.

  “What are our numbers?” Charles asked.

  “One thousand, four hundred nineteen and counting,” Herzblatt said proudly. “When you’re the only faction left standing, there aren’t many options left.”

  “A good start,” Charles admitted. “Though it’s under a quarter of what this faction is supposed to have and a far cry from some of the most powerful factions. There are millions of demons fighting under their banner on the Northern side of the mountain.”

  “Four to one is fine,” I concluded. “The more difficult the fight, the more skilled the regular troops will become. Just look at Herzblatt. He was weak and pathetic until he fought that hopelessly outnumbered fight against the Grigori. Now look at him, he’s a Pope.”

  “That’s true,” Herzblatt agreed with a nod. “You can’t make diamonds without pressure.”

  “Besides,” I continued. “We have a very easy way to make numbers mean nothing in a drawn out fight. This is a good time to see just how expansive my new ability really is.”

  “Fine,” Charles assented. “There shouldn’t be much of an issue about what order we do things in. As long as we have some time afterwards to slow down and establish our position of power, the plan will not be affected.”

  “Then let’s get moving,” I said with a grin.

  I led the way out of the stronghold. A loud whistle blared out of Herzblatt’s mouth that sent every demon sprinting to our position.

  “Everyone, our leader has something to announce,” Herzblatt informed, ensuring that the eyes of his followers rested squarely on me.

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  “There is only one purpose to being here. To win. It is time to make our presence felt. Do what you’ve been trained to do and we will win.”

  A unified shout echoed around me. The four of us walked through the crowd and the demons dutifully formed a column behind me, marching mindlessly wherever I directed them.

  There is something about being part of a war host that is different than a solo attack on a place. Even though the armed demons that surrounded me were not even close in equivalence to myself, there is inherent power in a large group. The way that the numerous footsteps rock the land. The way that there are fighters everywhere I look. The thoughts of mass combat filled my brain and excited me deeply.

  A horn blared out in the distance. Finally, we had been seen.

  Their castle sat on a craggy cliff that oversaw a massive basin at the southern side of the mountain. Numerous black specks bolted out of the rocky structure and moved directly at us. Our fliers took to the skies to meet them in a dogfight that scrambled over our head.

  At the same time, the large doors of the castle opened and a large black column of bodies filed out like a regiment of ants. Quickly, they scurried towards us to swarm us and kill us and leave the rocks painted with our blood.

  “Charge!” Herzblatt ordered.

  “Charge!” I heard a voice call out in response.

  Demons rushed by me on their collision course with our enemies. Our troops looked so inferior on the open battlefield like they were about to be swallowed whole. I spread my arms out wide, inviting any demon that reached me to take a bite out of me. That was their reward as one of the strong. Until then, weakling should handle weaklings.

  Even amongst the weaklings, there were specific standouts. Herzblatt and Mutya did not need explanation. Mutya, especially, was useful for these kinds of fights. The coordination between her and her clones was an immaculate dance, an example that all other squads should aspire to follow.

  A spray of webbing shot into the sky, catching in the wings of a demon and bringing them crashing hard into the rocks. A spear was jabbed repeatedly into the body until the demon was more hole than body.

  The spider centaur surveyed the battlefield, looking for more susceptible targets to inflict death upon. I smirked at Pylicles, the demon would be cautious until the end of time.

  There were more worthy of my observation, however, my attention turned towards the leaders of my enemies. After all, these were the ones I would get to kill.

  Overall, Herzblatt’s forces had far better discipline. Their constant practice taking on the remnant outposts on the Third Rung and Herzblatt’s drilling made the formations tight and deadly, despite the significant numerical disadvantage. The opposing demons worthy of attention were those able to withstand the coordinated onslaught and return damage of their own.

  But, none of them were of my caliber. My own strongest demons matched up with them as if by gravitational pull. Herzblatt faced down a demon with six arms, each holding a different weapon. Mutya was up against a pair of chimp-like demons that moved in perfect tandem. Even Pylicles was now swarmed with flying demons who were desperate to get rid of his pesky webs.

  I waited patiently for the true leader to show themselves. They were intelligent. They must have come to the same conclusion I did. Eventually, we would be forced to make our move and reveal ourselves. It was just a matter of if quantity or quality would win the day. Who was willing to lose more before stepping in?

  The answer was obvious to me.

  The fervor of war masked a crucial wrinkle in our approach. Within the shadows and out of sight, mouths were appeared from the ground and swallowing the fallen. It was a reduced bounty and I felt a pang of frustration that I couldn’t be the one to kill them myself. But, free stats were free stats and it was one less demon that the enemy could rely upon popping back up. In about ten minutes or so, I would see the face of the one I was looking for.

  The early dead began to rise from the ground and confused shouts began to pass over the other army.

  “What’s going on?” I heard a bellow. “What happened to our soldiers?”

  Finally, Mutya had managed to take out the chimp twins at the same time. Wishing to have a little fun, I made no effort in hiding my devouring ability. The spectral mouth opened wide and swallowed the corpses.

  “A deathloop!” The nearest demon shouted, sending chaos throughout the enemy army.

  They started to notice all the ones that were missing. Their dead comrades were no longer lying at their feet. The numbers advantage was almost completely nullified.

  An earth shaking stomp sent never demons airborne. A gray-skinned elephant demon wielding a massive hammer split the crowd and marched into our army.

  Mutya moved to intercept him. Her swords dug partway into his thick hide. He swung down his hammer, turning two of the clones into paste. Before she could go further, I stepped with maximum speed to stand in between them.

  “I’ll handle this one,” I told her. “Go kill the rest.”

  “Are you the one that ate my men?” The elephant trumpeted in indignation.

  “And what if I am?” I asked with a grin.

  “I’ll make you spit them all back out!”

  Before he could pull his hammer over his head, I had already delivered three punches directly to his abdomen. Shockwaves rippled across his fatty stomach as he was sent flying backwards. He dug his feet into the ground, trampling any demon that wasn’t able to get out of the way.

  “You neglected your speed too much,” I criticized.

  I appeared in front of him to deal another punch. My fist collided with his face. I cracked a tusk, but he managed to stay on his feet. His trunk reached out to grab my wrist and he lifted his hammer again.

  “You are weak.”

  My hand gripped around the trunk and I pulled the elephant forward. I struck them dead between the eyes like a cow in the slaughterhouse. I could see the lights turn off inside their head and I unleashed a few more punches until his skull split open and his blood coated my hands.

  I let go, allowing the spectral mouth to swallow him whole.

  The battle still continued around me. Though the enemy looked surprised that the elephant died, they did not look despondent. They did not rout like I expected if this was the leader.

  They hadn’t yet stepped forward.

  A burst of light appeared overhead. A fireball crashed into the combat like a falling sun right on top of me. I stepped out of the way as the ball collided with the ground in a great explosion. All those who were hit directly were turned to ash on the spot. It killed without prejudice, leaving a thick black scar across the battlefield.

  Much of my right flank was totally gone. Only the sturdiest demons and a handful of Mutya’s clones was all that I had left to rely on.

  The enemy army charged despite the losses that they took as well. That was the hope of the army. They did not fear dying to friendly fire as long as they won.

  Another fireball smashed down, killing a few of my hardy demons and scores of my enemy. I followed the path of the fireball and saw that a raging fire now engulfed the entire upper portion of the castle. From that inferno, more fireball were birthed. The hummed with energy, floating across the sky to rain hell upon all who stood below.

  “Ah, there you are.”