Chapter 22: The Tear Between Worlds

 

As I stood on top of the hill I watched as the wave of black smashed into the lines at the fort. The fort was quite faraway so I could barely hear anything. There were no offensive spells being fired; all the mages were with us. They stood no chance, the horde looked even bigger than the one the day before…

I turn away from the scene and mount my horse. I rode down the slopes and the rest of the mounted troops seeing this began to move. I slipped into the middle of the formation along with the rest of my party and we began to ride. Everyone here was mounted, we had taken all the horses from the camp. We even took the wagons to transport more soldiers per pair of horses. These wagons mostly seated the mages and priestesses as they were not as capable in horse riding. 

Our formation began to tear up the earth as we rushed in the direction where the Rift was said to be in. So this was it, the all or nothing gamble. The stakes? The world and all its inhabitants. No pressure…

As a wise man once said.

 

Fortune favours the bold…

 

It wasn't long before we ran into the first demons. It was a small group about three dozen hounds that were just patrolling the plains. So it seems I was right this army did have a commander, after all they sent out patrols. I watched as a group of the Grey Eagles knights detached from the formation and engaged the demons.

This was our overall plan, I based it on the strategy of mobile warfare that is used by modern armies in my old world. The formation will move in a tight column with interceptors making up at the edges of the formation. When an enemy is spotted before we reached the Rift units would break off to engage and delay. The column must not stop for anything, if a soldier falls behind he is left behind, we stop for nothing.

We have been told that there is this zone around the Rift that only the heroes and their attendants can enter. If too many people are inside the zone then the EXP we will receive when we seal the Rifts will be greatly reduced. Not only that a random eight will get the [Heroes Sworn] skill class. If the skill class is given to the wrong people then it would be very punishing in the long run. 

This zone will be denoted by a strange whispering in our heads once we enter the zone. That is how you will know where the border is. In order to seal the Rift it was simple, there was a powerful demon guarding the Rift. Destroy the demon and the Rift will slam shut, the thing is the demon grew stronger the longer the Rift was open just like the rest of the army. If I had to make a guess that the demon was the commander of the army. So the course of action is simple.

 

Cut off the head and the body dies…

 

I watch as group after group of cavalry break off to fight off the patrols. By now all the Grey Eagles were gone except for Jerome and his personal unit. They were all older knights and from what I heard, veterans from past wars on the border.

We rode on and on for almost an hour then I saw something green and glowing in the distance. That must be it, the Rift. Then I see the buildings, or should I say the ruins of the buildings. The Rift has said to have appeared right on top of a village. The demons have spread across the nearby area wiping out four villages. Judging by what I saw from the village near the capital it was easy enough to predict that the villagers stood no chance against the demons.

“Break off, form a perimeter!” I hear Davis shout.

“Good luck boy.” I heard Bovarian shout as he began to break off.

The column splits into two halves and the soldiers move to surround the Rift. We were only two hundred meters from the glow and I could see that the Rift was hidden behind the ruins of a house. We dismount and ready ourselves, we weren’t competent in cavalry warfare so it would be best if we approach on foot. That and I have no idea if the [Heroes Sworn] worked on animals. I don’t want a [Heroes Sworn] horse as one of my attendants… although I could just shoot it… they did say the death of one of my attendants opens up the slot for a replacement...

We advance quickly at jogging pace. Jacob and Ivan took the lead with Alfie and Volva at the flanks. I followed behind with Charlotte, Amethine and Momo as we approached the Rift. Then as we closed to about a hundred meters I heard it.

 

Katsuro…

 

I hear Shuji whisper in my right ear and I freeze. 

 

“James?” I hear Jacob ask in confusion.

“Mother?” Charlotte called out as if looking for someone.

“Naan?” Ivan asked, wheeling around.

“Mama?” I hear Amethine say as her head spun around as if looking for her.

“Who are you?” I hear Momo ask as her fox ears twitched as if she was listening out for something.

“What?” I hear Alfie and Volva both say at the same time as they both turned to look at each other.

 

All of this happened at the same time and as I scanned my party who were all looking around eyes wide in confusion. It’s the whispers…

These weren’t whispers in my head; they were like someone was talking into your ear. What’s worst the whispers were directional making them seem so much more real. If it was a strange voice in your head you could still try and block it out. This felt real...

 

Katsuro, why did you leave us?

 

I hear again, Shuji’s voice in my ear accusing me.

 

“I thought that brother would take care of the house…” I hear Charlotte say her voice trembling.

“James… I… I tried…” Jacob stammered.

“Naan… I didn’t know…” Ivan said, his voice shaking.

 

You abandoned us to play hero

You are deserter Katsuro...

 

I hear again and this time I feel my anger boil over.

 

SHUT UP

SHUJI IS DEAD

PICK SOMEONE BETTER IF YOU WANT TO FUCK WITH ME

 

I shout and that snaps my party out of it. They all looked around as if waking from a dream.

“It’s the damn whispers they told us about. Block it out, it isn’t real.” I say curtly.

“Right… damn that was… strange.” Jacob said as he blinked seemingly tried to blink the experience away.

“That was so real… it was like my mother was here…” Charlotte said shakily.

“It’s not real, focus. Every second we waste someone dies on the frontline or worse the demons get closer...” I say as I begin to walk forward.

We advance again and soon I spot a demon hound turn the corner of the house. It pauses as it spots us, then it lets out a howl that echoes out across the plains. 

“Shit…” I curse under my breath.

The demons would be coming now in force, we need to break through. Sure enough as I see a swarm of demon hounds run towards us. There weren’t that many of them thankfully, there were only about… forty of them…

Well to be fair I was worried about running into hundreds of them so this is definitely a win…

We can take these…

I draw my gun and fire off a few shots at the demons. My shots strike home and the hounds tumble into the dirt black blood spraying from the bullet holes. It’s a pity they were quadrupedal if they were running upright my bullets would have less flesh to go through meaning I might be able to down several with a single shot.

“Try not to use too many abilities, save them.” I say as I feel my gun click and the gun goes on cooldown. 

“Got it. Let’s go Ivan.” Jacob said as he raised his shield and charged forward.

“Right behind you.” Ivan said as he followed after him warpick raised.

“Give me a firing line!” I shout and I watch as Ivan and Volva take the left flank whie Jacob and Alfie take the right leaving an open corridor for me to fire.

I feel my gun click back and I raise it again firing into the mass of hounds. My shots leaving glowing trails as they slammed into the mass of hounds. For some reason they were bunched up together…

“Momo, thin them out with one spell.” I say.

[Searing Blade] Momo intoned as her spell flew towards the hounds. The hounds didn’t even dodge, they just charged forward mindlessly. The fire blade carved through them like a hot knife through butter killing at least ten of them.

[Lacerating Cleave] Volva said as she cleaved through four of the hounds before getting her sword stuck in the body of the fifth one. A nearby hound tried to pounce on her but Ivan smashed the hound back into the mass of hounds. The pack was now split about ten on each side facing the front liners and ten were now running straight at the back line. 

Looks like I’m up…

I draw my bayonet and rush to meet their charge. A hound jumps at me and I fire a shot right into its mouth. I know I’m not suited for killing large animals, daggers are mostly useful against humanoids as they can easily reach their vitals. Animals were alot trickier as most of their important bits were facing the ground only exposing their more well protected backs. Still I could always go for the head…

As another hound closes I jump back creating some distance and fire another shot at another hound closing from the side. My goal is to kite and kill targets of opportunity… like this hound in front of me that is charging ahead of the group. As it opens it’s black stinking maw I move towards it’s right and bring my bayonet right into the side of it’s skull. The dagger gets caught for a moment on the bone but I manage to pull it free thanks to the fact our two bodies are moving in opposite directions. 

I see the remaining hounds close in but this is good. As long as they focus on me they won’t threaten the mages which can only fight using spells. We need to conserve our resources as much as possible, who knows how tough that demon commander will be.

All I need to do is perform a fighting withdrawal, once the front liners clean up the hounds they’ll double back to finish these ones off. I fire off the last three rounds in my magazine and three more hounds drop. The last five hounds charge and then I see a spear fly in and skewer one of the hounds. I look to the left and saw Alfie had thrown it.

[Chain of Arms] I hear her say as a red chain appears between her and the spear. The chain then shot back and pulled the spear right back into Alifie’s waiting hand. Then I spot Volva charging towards the hounds from behind. I looked over at Jacob and Ivan, they were clearing up the last few hounds and they would be done soon.

Another hound pounces at me and I slash at it’s left front leg. It’s not lethal but the cut is deep and the hound stumbles as it lands back on the ground. I see the hound stagger as it struggles to rise, with it’s leg disabled it won’t be pouncing or running any time soon. 

It’s going well so far, for once nothing is going wro…

 

Katsu? 

 

I hear my mothers voice say in my right ear. I turn instinctively. I realise my mistake a second later but as I turn back to the front I see the black shape of the hound cover my vision. I feel it barrel right into me and I barely get my bayonet in front of my face in time to stab the hound in the roof of the mouth before it's jaws close around my head. The black blood dribbles down onto my mask I see my vision start to be obscured by the thick black blood.

I try to move my gun to fire at the hound but I feel a set of jaws close around my hand. I feel the teeth dig into my flesh and crush my bones to powder. Just when I think it’s going to tear my arm off I feel the jaws slacken and then I feel the hound thud onto the ground next to me.

I hear Vovla scream in pain, damnit the whisper must have distracted her too. I struggle against the hound on top of me barely able to keep the hound from biting my head off. Then I see a blade appear from the roof of the hounds mouth and it goes limp falling on me.

I feel someone shove the hound off me and I look up to see a pale faced Jacob looking down at me. 

“Jesus are you alright?” I hear him ask.

“Fine…” I say through gritted teeth as the pain in my maimed arm courses up to my shoulder.

Then I feel someone drag the hound on my right arm off and I hear Charlotte gasp from the side.

“THE HELL YOU ARE!” I hear Jacob shout as he looks over to my right arm.

[Isha’s Embrace] I hear Charlotte say and the pain lessens in my arm. I groan as I try to sit up but I feel someone push me back down. I look up and I see Charlotte looking down at me, her eyes coloured with worry.

“Don’t move yet.” I hear her say shakily.

[Isha’s Embrace] Charlotte intones again and I feel the pain in my arm vanish. I try to move my fingers and I find my arm back to normal. I sit up and survey the surroundings. In the distance I see Ivan and Amethine kneeling next to Volva who is sitting up but clutching a bloody patch on her belly.

“Here.” I hear Jacob say as he offers me his hand. I take it and he pulls me to my feet. 

I check everyone else. It looks like only me and Volva took damage. That whisper came at the perfect time. It isn’t just some random occurrence that pulses from the Rift…

“Did you hear a whisper?” I ask Jacob.

“Yeah lucky for me I had my shield up.” Jacob said as he showed me his shield which had three claws marks on it.

“Whatever is sending those whispers is intelligent. It stayed quiet until the right moment, just when we let our guard down…” I say with a grimace.

“Yeah no kidding, I thought we had this handled. Ivan was dealing with the last one and I was moving to help you when I heard it.” Jacob said.

“Did the voice change?” I ask.

“No mine was the same.” Jacob said. 

“Is your arm alright?” I heard Charlotte ask as she reached out and gently held my right arm, checking it for wounds.

“I’m fine, but we need to be careful. Whatever those whispers are, they know when to hit us with it. They managed to use these low tier demons to actually inflict significant damage. Normally these hounds would have been killed without any trouble. But a whisper at the right time and I almost lost my arm.” I say through gritted teeth.

“The voice changed for me. That’s why I was surprised. If the voices were always the same then it would be easy enough to resist…” I mutter.

“Then we need to be more careful. If that happens again during the fight we may not be as lucky.” Ivan said as he turned his head in the direction of the Rift.

“Alright, let’s go then.” Jacob said as he turned and faced the Rift.

As we entered the village we didn’t see any demons. It seems those hounds were the last of them… or they were setting an ambush…

I looked inside a house and saw the rotting body parts of a family lying in their living room. They had a son, probably eight, nine years old? I could tell the body was male judging by the clothes, even peasant girls wore skirts in this world.

We advanced slowly checking each corner before turning, I could hear the Rift crackling from behind the house we were next to. Jacob paused as we reached the corner of the house. Once we turn the corner we would be at the Rift. Jacob turned and looked at us, his face a little pale.

“We can do this.” I say with a nod.

“The other heroes managed, we will too.” Charlotte said, her voice shaking slightly.

“Keep your nerve, we’ll celebrate after all this is over. Who knows the king might even give us a parade.” I say with a smirk. I sensed the rest of them relax slightly at my joke. It’s an old morale boosting tactic as old as time, superiors often crack jokes to help diffuse the tension before battle.

“Come one let’s go close that door.” I say and Jacob nods as we begin to advance.

As I turn the corner I see the Rift for the first time. 

 

It looked like a tear in the fabric of reality, the tear was thin like a glowing hairline crack in the air. The area around the Rift was shrouded in this green mist. From the Rift crackled and weeped green gas that seemed to eventually form the mist around the area. This mist was thick hugging the ground around the Rift, it limited visibility which would make the coming fight more tricky.

Then I spot the demon commander. It is a tall black humanoid towering three meters tall. It is covered in black plate armor and I could see the same green glow emanating along the sides of it’s torso like ribs. Like the zombies I could see a pulsing glow where it’s heart should be under all that armor. It’s helm was large with a pair of large black horns sprouting upwards and it’s face was hidden behind slits. From within pulsed the same green glow that demons shared.

It was standing as still as a statue and within its hands it clutched a black serrated greatsword that was pointed straight down embedded in the earth. In truth it’s stance looked like those stereotypical knight statues that you see in fantasy games. 

 

Heroes…

 

I hear it say as the light within the helm glowed as it spoke.

“What did it say?” I hear Jacob ask as he raises his shield.

“It said hello.” I say with a grimace as I take aim at the demon.

 

You’ve come to die…

 

The demon said as it raised its sword and held it straight up with both hands. Then it swung the sword to the side and the word ignited with a glowing green fire. 

I fire a shot at the demon’s head and the bullet shatters on a green barrier around the demon.

 

A paltry strike...

 

The demon taunts as it moves the sword until it points diagonally downwards on it’s right. Then Rift crackled and a jet of green lightning struck the ground at where the sword was pointing. From the ground rose a demon with similar black plate armor and in its hands it held a black halberd. It was smaller than the demon commander but it still looked much stronger than the demons we faced so far.

Then the demon commander moves his sword to his left and the same thing happens as another demon appears.

 

Face me if you dare…

 

“What’s it saying?” I hear Ivan ask.

“It’s asking us to come fight him if we dare.” I reply.

“Alfie, Volva, each of you take one of the soldiers. Ivan, Jacob, we’ll take the big one. Everyone else support us accordingly.” I say as I draw my bayonet.

With that we engaged the demons, Jacob ran in first and I saw Volva and Alfie move in to engage the guards. 

I loosed a few shots at the demon commander again and it bounced off. That barrier shouldn’t be infinite, from what I understand about magic barriers there was a maximum amount of [Resistance Points] that it had. Damage to it will lower it until it collapses. However, some magic barriers only work on ranged attacks so we need to find out which it is. 

[Aria of Mercy] [Shaper of Life] Charlotte intoned as we were bathed in her buffs. Her barrier from [Aria of Mercy] was decent but it won’t hold up against any significant damage. Her [Lux Vitae] was much more powerful but it required timing and it was only effective for a short duration. Not only that Charlotte said it generated quite a bit of [Arcane Heat] due to the power of the barrier.

Jacob reached the demon first and he raised his sword. [Vanguard’s Verdict] he shouted as he brought his golden sword down at the demon. The demon easily parried the strike and knocked Jacob back with the force of the blow. Ivan followed up right after hoping to catch the demon in the opening after the parry. I fire another shot hoping to distract it again my bullet hits the barrier but this time I spot a small crack on the barrier. 

[Ferro Smash] Ivan shouted as he brought his red glowing warpick down onto the Demon’s arm right arm. A good tactic if you disable the arm the rest of the fight will be easy. Plus the arm was outstretched making it an easy target. The warpick strikes home and I see the armor crack but it doesn’t penetrate. That armor must be tough for a weapon like a warpick to only crack it. Ivan told me his skills favour area of effect damage because his weapon is designed for single target [Resistance Penetration] rounding out his build. 

So it looks like the barrier only works on ranged attacks which means we just need to hammer it with melee attacks. I look over to Volva and see her duelling the guard, Volva had higher damage output than Alife, which meant I have to free her up first. I shifted my aim to the demon guard that Volva was fighting and I fired. The bullet hit the demon in the chest and it staggered back but didn’t fall. Vovla seeing this shouted [Reave] and brought her sword down onto the demon’s shoulder blade. The sword carved down all the way down to the demon’s belly and she kicked the demon in the chest as she wrenched her sword free.

“Volva go for the demon commander, Momo fire a few shots at the demon commander, see if you can drop that barrier.” I shout as I turn my aim to Alfie’s opponent. 

Alfie is having a harder time with her opponent, the both of them have longer reach weapons. Their fight has devolved into the two of them just taking jabs at each other with no decisive strike on either side. I wait for the demon to bring it’s halberd down on Alfie’s ready shield and I put a bullet in it’s head.

Then I see a pair of [Searing Blades] smash into the barrier and I see they break on the barrier and cracks begin to show. I turn and empty my clip into the barrier, the barrier starts to give way bit by bit, the cracks spreading. The demon commander does a wide swing that knocks all of the front liners back.

 

Pitiful creatures…

 

The demon said as it raised it’s sword and plunged it into the ground. Immediately the Rift crackled as arcs of lightning struck the ground around us. From the ground emerged more of the demon guards this time there were six of them. 

I draw my gun and fire at one of the demon guards. The bullet punches through the head of the first demon guard but the rest immediately move to charge at the front liners. Then the two frontlines clash and the demon commander raises his sword up in the air.

 

[Whispers of the Beyond]

 

I hear it say and immediately I hear Shuji whispering in my ear. It’s distracting but I stamp it out. I turned around and saw everyone had a strained expression on their faces. I raise my gun and run off the side, I can’t get a good shot at the demon guards from my position. I fire at the demon commander hammering his shield as I run. 

Then I see the demon commander face me and he tenses his legs. I stop and as I expected he leaps at me with his sword raised. I dodge backwards and his sword slams down on the ground as a pillar of green fire emerges from the ground where his sword landed. 

 

Your fight is with me

Champion of the Dark God…

 

The demon commander said as it brandished it’s sword. How does this guy know my class? Something wasn’t right...

Then I see a pair of [Searing Blades] strike the barrier from the side, followed by a [Divine Spear] and a [Lightning Spear]. The barrier buckled and cracked further but it still held. I empty the rest of my clip as I retreat but I don’t have much room to maneuver. I can’t just keep running in a single direction. If I did that the demon commander would isolate me as I would have to retreat into the village. 

If I get separated then one mistake will be the end of me.  So I try my best to kite him in a circle as it relentlessly presses it’s advance. Some sword slashes miss me by centimeters as I feel the heat of those green flames lick at my body. All the while Momo hammers the demon commander but it doesn’t seem to care. Then finally the barrier shatters with one of Momo’s [Searing Blades] manages to punch through and it smashes into the demon’s back. The demon staggers and I let loose another few shots punching holes into the armor. 

It’s not that surprising that my shots penetrate, my abilities are strong against [Physical Resistance]. [Perfect Penetration] grants 40% [Physical Resistance Penetration], [Magic Barriers] utilise [Magic Resistance] which is only affected by my [Gunner] ability class that grants 30% [Global Resistance Penetration]. So as long as I can hit the armor I can get good hits on this guy. Though my bullets are small so the physical wounds aren’t as big as Ivan or Jacobs, but as long as I hit something vital then it would be a mortal blow. The demon commander however was moving too much and I couldn’t get a good hit on it’s glowing heart. 

Then suddenly the demon stopped and jumped back behind the line of demon guards. 

 

[Dusk Sacrament] 

 

The demon said as it held out it’s left arm. Then the demon clenched it’s fist and the demon guards all crumpled to the ground and black shades appeared flying towards the demon commander. Then the green barrier appeared again around the demon commander.

You’ve got to be kidding me… he can get the barrier back by consuming the demon guards? That’s why he sent the six of them to fight our four frontliners. If only melee attacks can damage it then they were the biggest threat. The ranged fighters like me and the mages are not effective against him. At least the guards are gone…

Then the demon commander plunged his sword into the ground again and the Rift crackled and the lightning struck the ground around him six times again. Once again six demon guards appeared.

“Fuck me…” I mutter as I stare at the demon commander.

This is a battle of attrition, if we go on like this we’ll collapse first. I don’t want to test if there is a limit to those demon guard summons. I looked over to the mages, Momo was sweating but Charlotte and Amethine were still doing fine. 

“We need to kill those guards first.” I say.

“Yeah, I don’t wanna bet on who can out last who in this fight.” Jacob replied. 

“We need to time it. Attack the commander until the barrier is close to breaking. Then finish off the guards and we turn on the commander. Once the barriers go down we need to press the attack, don’t let him put his sword into the ground or he will get those guards back.” I say.

“Alright, we do this carefully.” Ivan said as he hefted his warpick.

“Momo cooldown for a bit. You still got that cooling potion?” I ask as the demon guards begin to advance.

“Save it until the last moment.” I say as the demon commander faces me again and I take off running to the side so that he doesn’t land in the middle of the backline. 

So it began again,  me dodging the attacks of the demon commander while firing into his barrier whenever I got the chance. It was nerve racking and draining work, I was fighting on a razors edge, one mistake and I’m dead. That blade cut through the walls of the nearby buildings like a hot knife through butter. If that hit me I’ll be turned into a pair of burning chunks of meat.

Then I got an idea, what if I fired a bullet while I’m inside that dome barrier? It’s dangerous but if that worked it would open a new tactical option. Well nothing venture, nothing gained…

With that thought in mind I waited for the demon commander to commit to a downward diagonal slash. When it did I so dodged forward and went around the side of the demon, from this position the demon had two choices, it could attempt a backhand slash or turn its body to try and line up another slash. If it attempted a backhand slash all I had to do was circle around him while hugging close to the demon’s body. Due to how large the blade is, it’s not effective when I’m so close to the body. If it tried to turn, then I do the same thing, hug the body and as I do so let off a shot. 

There was a problem with this plan. I could only aim at the lower torso because of the height of the demon. My bullets were barely penetrating when I fired at an almost perpendicular angle to the armor. If I fired upwards at such a steep angle it would just deflect off. How do I know that the bullets were barely penetrating? Well I’ve hit him four times in the chest, if the bullet went deep enough I’m pretty sure at least one would have hit something important. Yes it is possible all four bounced off it’s ribs or something but that was unlikely. Occam’s Razor, the simplest answer is usually the most correct one. Besides, I’m not even sure if it had ribs…

So when the swing came down I followed a plan. I let off a shot into the demon’s waist and I saw black blood spurt from the hole I made. Firing at this distance also had the perk of increasing its power. I could use the [The Scarlet Harvest] but that would disable me for a second when it ends, so I can only use it as a finishing blow. 

The demon decided to go with the backhand slash, I dodge it easily since I saw it coming and I let off another shot into its waist wounding it further before I rolled away and got some distance.

[Gaia’s Fist] I hear Ivan shout and I turn to see him smash one of the demon guards into pieces with a well timed strike. The scattering rocks managed to take out another one as well. The shock of the attack gave the others the room they needed to press the attack. 

[Searing Blade] I hear Momo shout as a pair of the spells slammed into the barrier weakening it further. She didn’t fire any spells after that, trying to conserve her spells. Her spells did buy me more room to reposition so it was as good a shot as any.

[Throat Piercer] Alfie shouts as her spear drives right into the throat of a demon guard.

The demon guards are being overwhelmed, without the numbers advantage it’s only a matter of time before the frontliners turn and focus on the demon commander.

I see a [Divine Spear] slam into the demon commander’s barrier cracking it, it’s almost gone. I just need to time it well. I fire the last shots in my magazine and the barrier is left a cracked mess, a few hits left from being destroyed. 

“It’s done!” I hear Jacob say, I turn to see the last demon guard fall to its knees. Jacob’s sword buried in it’s chest. 

“Momo now!” I shout as I feel my gun recharge and we pour fire onto the demon commander. His shield shatters and our attacks strike home. 

The demon commander jumped back towards the Rift and raised its sword preparing to thrust it into the ground. 

[Chains of Conviction] Charlotte shouted and golden chains appeared from the ground. Binding the demon commander stopping it from plunging the sword back into the ground. The frontliners charged and their weapons smashed right into the body of the demon commander.

[The Scarlet Harvest] I say as my vision widens into 360 degrees and I lock all the shots onto the demon commander’s head. Then I released the spell, my gun’s roar and the demon commander's head exploded from all the shots. Charlotte’s chains timed out and the body crumpled into the ground.

We paused for a moment just looking at the corpse but nothing happened, the Rift didn’t close…

Then we heard an ethereal female voice emanate from the Rift.

 

Stalwart blade of the dark...

Rise if you would…

For that is our curse…

 

Then the Rift glowed and crackled, then an ethereal wail cried out from the Rift tearing at our ears. I winced as the scream threatened to burst my eardrums. Then as quickly as it began it ended. 

I spotted something in the distance and my blood went cold. It was the same black shades that came from the demon guards when the demon commander regenerated it’s barrier. I saw the shades flood in from three directions, south east, north east and north west… the direction of the fronts…

The shades descended on the corpse like black swarm and the head of the demon commander reformed. Then the glow within the body reignited once more, the body ignited with the same green flame that covered it’s sword. The demon commander raised itself using the sword as a crutch and stood back up and the barrier reappeared around it, this time glowing much more strongly than before.

Then I hear the demon commander speak,

 

Once Slain…

Twice Born…