Chapter 49
Even from where we made a human wall around the city, I could see the effect of Simone's destruction in the far distance.
Pink light splayed across the horizon in dozens of flashes.
There was absolutely no way the demons in the city weren't aware of the attacks.
However, more than likely they were far more concerned with the armies that had arrived on their doorstep.
At least, if I were them, that would become my primary concern. And we were anything but hidden.
Our forces circled the city. We were a total force of well over several thousand, circling the city in groups of fifty, close enough together that each group could see the team on either side of them.
I stood with Winnie and Ozzy, overlooking the groups to try to give the best coverage possible.
"Any movement?" I turned to Ozzy in question. "Still nothing?"
"If I didn't know better, I'd say we've scared them enough that they're hiding, but I didn't think demons got scared," Ozzy told me. His dark eyes were conflicted as he gazed over the city.
"Oh, they can be scared," I promised him. "Their fear just looks a little different, since they hide it under even more bravado than most humans."
Ozzy snorted a laugh. "Yeah, I can see that."
The rockie-talkie clicked, and I held it up.
"One town down," Simone cooed. "I'll destroy the next one if you promise to give me a reward. Pretty, please."
I could envision the face she was making already. It was guaranteed to be far too cutesy for the situation, and most likely a little lewd. I’d bet she was playing with her lip and batting her lashes. Then again, the blonde saintess was very free with her attempts to tempt me.
"She's fine," I said, speaking to Ozzy before clicking the rockie-talkie to reply to Simone. "You only get a reward if you come back with everyone unharmed," I told her. "As for the reward itself, I'll choose it. But I guarantee you'll love it."
“Beach trip!” Simone squealed in delight through the rockie-talkie.
"You live such a rough life," Ozzy joked as I stood staring at the rockie-talkie and questioning multiple life decisions.
Ultimately, though, I put all that aside and looked out over the city before us.
"Let's focus on the task at hand," I said, enjoying the banter but knowing this situation was going to grow more serious as the demons determined their strategy and made a move.
Demons were prone to even more bluster when they were afraid, which meant the demons here were likely going to start acting up soon, if they hadn't already.
I pulled out my binoculars and gazed over the rooftops, trying to get any hint of what might be waiting for us below.
It was quiet, but that didn't mean it was entirely silent.
There were clearly forces moving about inside the city, though they were doing so quietly.
They seemed like mice skittering in the pantry, which only made me grin further.
It was comforting to find the demons on the back foot and wary of our reactions, rather than the other way around.
"Movement," Ozzy stated.
I glanced up to see what he had spotted and evaluate the threat.
The second town began lighting up on the skyline with Simone’s next bombardment as I followed Ozzy's eyes deep within the city, where thousands of demons were gathering in a single spot. Though it seemed many of them had rushed there like children seeking their parents' protection.
"There's something there," I told Ozzy.
"I'd bet my freedom from that tomb that we have whoever's in charge of the area right there." Ozzy nodded.
I turned to Winnie. "Put whoever you trust in charge of your forces. Standing orders are to not let any demon out. Move in and start sweeping the city. However, if they collapse on a single point, protecting our people is more important. We’ll hunt down stragglers later." I laid out quick orders.
Winnie shot me a quick salute, then rushed off, her white hair swishing behind her.
Somewhere in this whole affair, she'd become far more obedient than the woman I'd known in my past life. I probably had Simone to thank or blame for that. I wasn't quite sure which applied just yet.
But the end result seemed to be a Winnie who could take orders far better than I expected, and someone who fought with a certainty I didn't expect her to possess at this point after the rapture.
Perhaps it was the freedom from the Demon Lord's curse that helped brush away her normal prickly demeanor.
Either way, I was glad to have her with us.
When Winnie returned, I locked eyes with Ozzy, who nodded, confirming he was ready.
With that, the three of us headed straight into the city, toward where the demons had chosen to gather.
The rest of my harem was spread out amongst our forces to ensure any pockets of heavy resistance could be dealt with.
I didn't recognize this city at all. Country borders had long since ceased existing, but it was big enough to have a dozen ten-story buildings.
We found ourselves moving toward a central area of the city, what would have been a busy street corner a decade ago, judging by the tall buildings all around it.
But instead, it now sat eerily quiet. The city itself was little more than a graveyard of people's past aspirations.
We moved closer, and the demons parted before us rather than fight, opening a channel to a squat, stately building.
The front had been ripped out, allowing us to peer straight inside to a massive potbellied demon, who picked at his teeth with a bone and looked at us as if already bored of our visit.
He had to be a dozen feet tall, with armor a few sizes too small strapped onto him and his body pushing out around the pieces.
His skin was a dark purple with twisting horns like an impala coming from his head.
His eyes trailed me up and down before dismissing me, then landing on Ozzy with a sudden look of understanding.
"Oh, the Ennead Clan. Here I was under the impression that you'd all gone to sleep." He barked a laugh.
"Gone to sleep?" Ozzy asked, with a lifted eyebrow, turning to the rest of us.
"Don't look at me," I said with a shrug.
"Well, yes, your people just tucked their tails and ran away," the massive demon said, picking at his ear and pulling out a piece of wax that he flicked off his fingertip.
"I suppose we should have expected you to come out and play, but I'm afraid to inform you that we have already amassed an army the size of which you can't contend with.
I know you have plenty outside," the big demon said with a grin.
"But I am a demon general, Gluglue the Insatiable.
" He pronounced his name with no small amount of pride.
"Never heard of him. Have you?" Ozzy asked me, ignoring the demon general.
"I don't usually learn the names of the demon generals. I usually just swing my sword. It's a waste of brain space to think about them too much," I replied, holding back a smirk.
"I see." The demon general bellowed a laugh and shook his massive gut. "You have not met a true demon general," he boomed and picked up a mace the size of an oak tree before hefting it over his shoulder.
He held it high over his head and roared.
The demons all around the building matched his roar as he leapt up from his seat with far more agility than I would have expected given his size, his mace crashing down on me as I held a single hand up, catching the massive club with little more than a grunt for my effort.
He bellowed a laugh and stuck his chin high in the air. "See? What is a Bran Heros before me?" He nearly slapped me with his jiggling gut.
"Uh… boss," one of the grunts said and pointed urgently at me.
Gluglue peered around his own mace and girth to see me alive, well, and holding the other end of his mace aloft. The demon general's jaw dropped. He paused, then lifted his mace as if to check it and make sure it had not somehow become defective.
I gave him the chance to swing it once or twice, to confirm it was his mace and as heavy as he believed it to be.
"I don't suppose we could work this out," he said.
A gentle smile I didn't expect his face to be able to make crossed his features as he held the mace in both hands.
He did his best to look innocent, though I was afraid to say someone with his features was unlikely to ever accomplish that expression.
"I don't think that's going to be possible," I said, only for him to roar and swing again.
This time, his body inflated like a balloon, puffing up to strike me, only for me to catch the mace a second time.
This time, I wrenched it out of his hands and turned it back on him with a heavy enough swing that he was lifted, massive gut and all, off the ground. He crashed back through the hollowed-out building he'd been using as a throne.
The demons all around me roared.
Ozzy glanced at me. "I don't suppose you'd let the two of us have a little fun?" Coffins hit the ground around him, and the lids slid open as skeletal soldiers poured forth.
I laughed and strolled forward. "Go right ahead." I waved a hand.
The massive oak-sized club fit nicely on my shoulder as I began strolling after the boss.
He burst back out of the building, sending stones flying as he charged.
I met his charge much the way a batter would a pitch, swinging the club back with a small wiggle of my hips before slamming it forward, doing my best impression of trying to hit a home run.
His charge stopped dead against my swing, and there was a brief moment where his momentum and mine canceled each other out.
But then I flexed my arms, my muscles bulged, and I powered right through him, squishing his face as I launched him back the way he came.
He bounced through the stately building, crashing into a tall apartment building behind it that already had enough decay and disrepair that he was the final straw that sent it crumbling to the ground, all six stories of concrete collapsing down on top of him.
I felt like I absolutely brimmed with strength after the most recent stat increases, and it was intoxicating to let this fight linger for the moment. I wanted the demons to understand that they were not the apex race on this planet.
Meanwhile, I caught glances of Winnie and Ozzy tearing through demons on either side of me.
Winnie had her icy scythe out, turning demons to red slush or simply splitting them clean in half.
Ozzy's work was far more disconcerting, as bones shot from his hand landed in demons, killing them, only for their bodies to rise up immediately.
The longer he fought, the stronger he became, simply because his forces never stopped growing.
The massive demon pulled himself from the wrecked apartment, coughing up construction dust and looking far worse for wear, limping while one of his arms hung loose, and dark demonic blood dribbled down his head.
"You know, I did wonder if you were just going to stay buried under there," I commented as he came back out. He wasn’t particularly strong; instead, he’d gone straight for numbers possessing the whole region.
"Would you have let me?" he asked.
"No, I suppose not." I grinned, still holding his club on my shoulder as he watched it warily.
"I suppose you've given me very few options." He puffed himself up before a purple mark blossomed on his forehead, veins ran throughout his body, and for the first time, the demon general gave me an actual sense of danger.
Even with my eyes still trained on him, he disappeared before me, reappearing at my side with a fist heavy enough to crack my jaw and send me flying through a building before I even realized what had happened.
I flipped, managing to land on my feet as I dug deep furrows through the already cracked and ruined streets. I climbed out before the demon reappeared beside me, his eyes looking far more intelligent this time than before.
“Camden," I said, in recognition.
"Demon Lord is preferred." He paused, standing nearby. "Though I am curious… was it you in the Amazon?" he asked. The purple, glowing veins that had begun at the demon general's eyes were growing deeper, like cracks in his skin, spreading throughout him.
Whatever he’d done was taking hold.
"And if it was?" I asked.
The Demon Lord only smirked. "I'm just curious what manner of tricks you used. It may have been a fragment, but you were not its match," he said, and the demon general darted forward.
"And why can't I be?" I chuckled. "As far as I'm concerned, these generals aren't up to the challenge of stopping me."
The Demon Lord shook his head. "Fine. Keep your secrets. I will uncover them as I squash you like a bug."