Chapter 15
It had been three days since we had started running the instance.
Almeria and I continued charging out to give the First Garden disciples the chance to pop out and back in before the demons could crush them.
On several instances, the number of demons waiting for us outside increased significantly.
More and more of them seemed to be appearing with each trip, though it remained just the mantas.
The bugs never returned, nor did any others join them.
I had a feeling we were causing the demons significant issues based on the growing population meant to destroy us and that other factions weren’t invited.
If these instances were intended for the Demon Lord's personal growth, then their failure to secure it would most certainly get them in hot water.
The Demon Lord wasn't the kind of being to allow failure, which is why I suspected he hadn't arrived himself.
The demons were going to do their best to resolve this without him, which suited my own plans perfectly.
If they were afraid of him enough not to enter the instance to chase after us, then they were afraid enough to make very dangerous mistakes.
Using that theory to my advantage, I ended up creating a number of inscriptions at the front of the portal each time we went in.
They were simple ones, since they were going to reset every time we re-entered, but they were enough to buy me a few much-needed seconds should the demons finally decide to rush the instance with overwhelming force.
Meanwhile, our group had run the instance six times, after which the broader group had needed a break to rest and recover.
Running an instance exhausted was never a good idea.
No one benefited if they died from being sloppy.
So they continued carefully, running and gaining levels across several instances.
They grew bolder about exiting and re-entering, some of them even beginning to take potshots at the demons before jumping back in.
I appreciated the change, though I didn't want any of their hubris to get one of them killed.
"It'll be fine," Almeria said, without prompting.
I looked up from my thoughts with a tilt of my head. "That obvious?" I asked, and she chuckled.
"Yes, you're about as easy to read as an open book."
"Sounds about right." I bent over and kissed her on the top of the head. "And how have you been?" I gave her a long look.
"Good." She paused. "Bored," she admitted, after being under my scrutiny for just a moment.
I understood that feeling well enough. "I'm just planning. Because that's all we can really do right now." I kissed the top of Almeria's head as she leaned against me.
She smiled, pulling out a table and a deck of cards. "Are things so serious that we can't pass the time a little more pleasantly?" She pinched her fingers together and scrunched up her face in an adorable way.
"I suppose there's no harm in that," I answered quickly. "Why don't you pick your poison?" I gestured at the cards.
"Simone taught me Go Fish," Almeria said, dealing out two hands, all smiles. "You do know how to play, right?”
"I do. I think everyone learns how to play Go Fish as a child." My words caused her to frown.
"Not everyone," she insisted.
I paused, kicking myself for that one. "Sorry, that was a little insensitive, wasn't it?"
"It's fine," she said.
I always worried when those words came out of one of my women’s mouths, so I gave a long pause to see if she would say more. Silence was the best way to draw words out of another.
Sure enough, she filled the gap. "You don't need to feel bad. My childhood was just fine, even if I didn't get this particular game. I'm sure the games I played as a child would be just as mysterious to you."
"How was your childhood? With your culture, it seems like you would have done a large number of training exercises disguised as games," I offered.
Almeria bobbed her head with enthusiasm. "Do you all whack each other with sticks to the first blood?"
I stared at her, aghast.
Only for her to start laughing at my expression, holding her stomach.
"We're warriors, not barbarians. Children are children!
No, we played lots of games, which did include some wooden swords and spears, but that's normal.
Everyone should play with weapons as a kid as long as they're not too sharp. Nobody wants a child to lose an eye."
I shook my head. "Yes, I do think some of the stories I've heard around the citadel paint humans as coddling their children too much."
"They're children, not glass dolls. A few small accidents are probably good for them anyway," she said.
I couldn't help but admit I agreed. But there were definitely some people in the world who would be appalled by such words. "Well, when you weren't blunting sticks so as not to poke each other's eyes out, what did you do? What was your favorite game?" I asked.
Almeria held her cards up, squinting at me over them. "I get the feeling you're stalling. Are you bad at Go Fish?"
"No one's bad at Go Fish," I answered, only for her to lift an eyebrow, challenging me.
I slapped down my cards. "You're going to regret that one. Let's play."
She snickered and hid behind her cards.
***
Never before had I considered that one could be good or bad at Go Fish.
After my game with Almeria, that idea had changed substantially.
Almeria was very good at Go Fish, going as far as to mislead me as to which cards she might have, wasting a number of my turns, and ultimately adding a layer of doubt to my own.
She eventually won four out of five games and left me shaking my head.
"You are a devious woman," I told her.
"Losing is not an option," she said with a grin. "This might be a kids' game to you, but I play all games as if one's life is on the line."
"It's a simple game, Almeria." I watched her.
"Simple in concept. But simple in execution? No. This is a war of the mind. There are more times than one can count in which simple guesses are needed. However, gathering the correct information for the guess is the challenge. This is a good game," she insisted.
"Somehow, I think you could find an angle for war training in any game," I said, staring at her and my most recent losing hand.
Thankfully, we were stopped from playing another game as the portal rippled, and then my talismans began to pop, scattering bright lights and focused sound waves at the demons coming through.
Manta demons trooped through the portal as they were stunned.
I was up before they got very far. My blade swept through them so quickly it was like I was harvesting wheat in a field. Although this wheat was rather juicy.
Almeria's rapier flicked back and forth, scoring through our opponents in short order.
"Careful," I warned her, as one she'd already sliced deep into wiggled out from under her and tried to get up.
She took my warning to heart, flipping her grip and, with a flourish, stabbing the demon in the head.
The number of demons pouring through didn't slow until three or four swings in, which then let them start coming through faster than I could eliminate.
I activated another talisman, this one shooting straight up into the air, illuminating a massive signal in the instance's sky.
That signal told the First Garden disciples to come back and join the fight.
I braced myself for this onslaught to be something much longer than the previous incursion.
After all, if they'd waited this long, that meant they'd taken their time preparing, and I could expect this to be their best effort.
It was going to be incredibly dangerous, but I'd simply have to handle it one demon at a time.
My blade raked through them one after the other, but it didn’t take long before they overwhelmed what I could handle and formed a beachhead as they pushed out, protecting those just coming through.
As I stepped back, I stomped my foot on the ground and activated another quick talisman scribbled around the instance portal.
My Bloodink ability that counted my blood as reagents was simply too good in this moment. The entire portal area exploded with spears of blood; the demons who had come through thus far were riddled with holes, their blood blossoming on the ground.
"We should have done more of those," Almeria studied the effects, her jaw set.
I shook my head. "We had no idea if they were coming through on this one or the next," I explained, but she remained unconvinced.
Her sword dove back through the macabre display to finish off any demon that had survived the spears. She was taking out her frustrations on them.
I couldn't help but chuckle when she switched her blade to the side, splattering demon blood in every direction. I knew that if I ever upset Almeria, it was going to be a very painful ordeal.
Even with the brief reprieve of the inscription, the demons didn't stop throwing themselves through the portal.
While Almeria finished off the injured demons, I continued sending Sanguine Slashes at the portal, wounding and killing more of the mantas, though they ultimately still managed to form a second beachhead.
It was becoming clear that they were decently organized and had been planning this onslaught.
Next up, larger demons began stomping their way through.
As soon as the next beachhead formed, I recognized the same demon that had originally stood outside entering. And the demon came through with three others of similar strength. He was clearly desperate to clear this instance.
"So you didn’t think you could handle me alone?" I asked with a chuckle, and he lifted his mace.
"I fought you outside several times. Don't think you can bluff your strength. You are not strong enough to take us, of that I assure you." With a roar, the four of them jumped forward.
I glanced down at Almeria. "There's a chance I'm going all out here. Save your strength."
She gave a quick nod of understanding, and I didn't hesitate a moment longer, throwing myself straight at the oncoming demons.
This time, I didn't hide an ounce of my strength; my veins and muscles bulged as my blood boiled, increasing my strength.
My eyes saw past any illusion with Soul Gaze, giving me a good understanding of their strength as well.
I had enough strength that when my Bloodiron Blade crashed against his mace, I was able to send him stumbling backwards and chipping off several of the spikes along the head of his mace.
The demon was stunned for a moment, until the pain of my blade caused him to jerk to attention. Pain was a heavy motivator for focus.
"Wh-what?" he stuttered at the sudden disparity in strength that had gone far outside his expectations.
I didn't answer and instead pressed him hard with several more heavy swings.
Sanguine Slashes rippled off the end of each, causing even those hits he managed to dodge to extend and clip him.
The other three demons tried to help; however, the first to get even remotely close to the action found himself stiffening up as Sanguine Locking curled around him, latching on like thorny vines, twisting around and pinning him in place.
The other two seemed far warier. The third, having seen Sanguine Locking, quickly realized it had come from my blood and began avoiding it as if it would mean certain death.
The demon circled around behind me and attempted to attack.
It raised its mace, bringing the weapon down onto the ground in a slam that summoned sand beneath my feet, erupting and attempting to swallow me up to my ankles.
I hobbled on my feet, trying to dance out of the way, but that was easier said than done as the sand twisted and coursed around me as if it had a mind of its own.
The distraction was enough for the three demons still able to move to descend on me together.
I could only block so many attacks at once. My Bloodiron Blade was kept busy, which meant I was going to take more than a few hits.
The demons all had massive grins on their faces as their maces pulped my shoulders, scoured my back, and left my arms a battered mess.
Almeria was too busy dealing with the other demons who had come through the portal to help me.
These four had well and truly managed to isolate me for this fight. I could only rely on myself, but I had lived through many such situations. I thrived in this type of fight.