Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

92. The Road to New Trier

So begins another long march to the north; four days into the campaign, we've found nothing.  With Remi, Joe, and Agatha leading the vanguard, I gather Lita, Aelita, and John. "Okay, so this is the plan. The Empire's concentrating their forces in the Central Confederacy. Lord Luke has separated his army to several different armies in order to hasten up their march. We will hit him from the rear and pick them off one by one."

"This is crazy. This whole plan is madness! He outnumbers us four to one! And he's Lord Luke!" Aelita protests. 

"Lord Luke ... he's not very flashy, but he did marry Lady Jessica le Fay," Lita mutters. "We have to pursue them extremely carefully."

"Why is him marrying Lady Jessica important?" John asks.

"In order to marry a member of the le Fay family, you have to beat them in combat. Granted, Lady Jessica probably held back slightly, but still."

The Thirteenth Imperial Guard returns. "Vio! You wouldn't believe what we found!" Remi squeals. "In the fields nearby there are many dead bodies!"

"Dead bodies?" I wonder. "Fresh?"

"Fresh. No decomposing at all. Strangely, all of them are of the Empire's soldiers," Joe adds.

"And there are no wounds whatsoever," Agatha says.

"Okay. Aelita, we'll go check. Remi, lead us."

We traverse through the vast plains of eastern Irvine with our wings and steeds. Soon enough, we spot a sea of corpses nearby the eastern coast. "There!" Remi points out. Aelita, Remi, and I descend to the battlefield. 

I immediately inspect one of the nearby corpses: a woman Sentinel. "Yeah. This is strange," I say. "There isn't even one wound on her body. Maybe poison?"

"Eagle Eye!" Aelita's eyes glow green. She analyzes the Sentinel from head to toe. "I'm not finding any trace of poison."

Remi knelt in front of the corpse. "I smell alcohol, though," Remi says.

"Alcohol poisoning, perhaps?" Aelita asks.

"I don't think that's possible, given that she's a Sentinel," I say. 

Something killed all of them without leaving any marks ... but who? Who could do this? It doesn't need simple power, but also great grace. Who?

"The Princess of Terror," Remi says. 

"What?" Aelita and I ask simultaneously.

"Don't you remember when we were in prison and she took my mana? She boasted that she could also steal souls with her Third Eye."

"Could she really do that?" Aelita asks. "Soul magic has been forbidden for thousands of years."

Out of nowhere, Prince Pierre arrives with a few dwarves. "Prince Pierre?" I ask.

"Who is that?" Aelita whispers.

"An Elaisian prince," I reply hastily.

Prince Pierre approaches us. We exchange pleasantries. "Did you do that?" I ask, pointing at the battlefield, strewn with corpses.

"No," he replies. "In fact, we have just arrived."

He checks one of the corpses. His aides carry a few of them. "Weird," he comments. "We'll conduct an autopsy. We'll let you know if we find something."

"Agreed."

We leave to our respective armies. It is another three days before my spies report an isolated part of Lord Luke's army. "It's almost two hundred thousand strong." My spies point to a large lake, nearby which our prey is resting.

"Time to hunt," I declare. "We'll launch an all-out attack from the south. Contact Prince Pierre and ask his army to close the trap from the north."

"Roger."

Suddenly, Remi barges into my room just as I send my spies away. "Vio, call off that attack."

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's a trap. I'm sure of it. There's no way such a large army would be that isolated."

"Exactly my point. It's an opportunity of a lifetime," I say. "We wouldn't catch an enemy making such a mistake twice."

Remi shakes her head. "We must regroup with Elaise's army, Vio."

"Trust me, Remi, I know what I am doing."

"And trust me, Vio, I also know what I am saying."

We stare at each other for a minute before Remi finally backs down. "At least make sure to open a retreat path." She sighs.

"I know."

She leaves. Lita, now essentially my aide, enters. "All preparations are ready," she says with her thumbs up. 

"Lita. Take a hundred thousand men and maintain a retreat route. Split the remaining into two: one under my command and one under Remi's."

"Understood."

We set out. Remi and her squad advance rapidly from the left flank, scaling the hills. My army, much heavier, march through the plains. The artillery is set and the enemy spotted.

"Fire!" I order. Cannons pour fire to the enemy ranks. Peculiarly enough, all is silent on the left flank. Remi's small guns are supposed to provide supporting fire.

"Remi, why are you not following the attack?" I ask through a communication orb. 

Silence. No answer. 

"Vio!" Aelita suddenly shrieks. Her Eagle Eye is active. "Remi's ambushed!"

So it's really a trap! Damn it!

Out of nowhere, a swarm of demons arrive, charging at my formation. I break free from my trance. "Order the forefront divisions to hold the line while the others retreat. Keep on contacting Remi!"

I place myself at the front, drawing my curved sword. "Blood Flood!" I scream, unleashing a wave of impeccable blood.

"Water Wave!" 

A tall, blonde man arrives on the battlefield, wearing a set of grey armor. Lord Luke brandishes a poleaxe. He charges at me. 

"Blood Shockwave!" I scream, launching a powerful burst of energy. He conjures a shield of wind, brushing off my assault. 

"Flame Breath!" Lord Luke unleashes a torrent of flames, burning the grass thriving on the plains.

"Multi-Layered Divine Nature Defense!" White vines engulf my nearby area, parrying the raging fires.

"Divine Judgement!" John rains down his spell, yet Lord Luke agilely dodge it.

"Stone Cabin: Offensive Technique!" Aelita hurls an assortment of rocks and trees from above, only for Lord Luke to dodge once more.

"Aelita, John, go away," I say. "This is my screw-up. I'll hold him off."

"Don't be stupid, Vio," John says. "We're in this together."