Demon Continent Alsace in the year 291 after the shattering of the empire

 

In the following days, more attempts were made to condition everyone in a dream world so that they became obedient and fearful.

 

He had changed his approach, to be able to help effectively, he had to start accumulating arcane energy. What he did in every free minute of the day. Since he couldn't do anything else, it was time well spent that way. However, out of a sense of personal security, he tried not to cause a stir in the process.

 

The arcane energy he could accumulate here was of a special wildness and purity. Not like in the city of Vanadium, where it had been colored by the demons present and had lost its purity. To some degree, that happened out here as well through the demons that were present.

 

This could be a method to track someone in the future.

 

Despite his help with the dreams, most of the demons were in a tense state. They all seemed to be waiting for something to happen and for the accumulated tension to be released.

 

One thing he started to do again was to be active in his dreams so he could react better and follow possible leads. This was something he had not done the first few times. He had just let the dreams collapse into themselves and he had thought that would be enough. But he seemed to have been wrong because the attacks on the dreams of all the demons in the group continued.

 

The attacks did not change as a result of his interference, they always remained the same. Always the same dream, in which the demons did the same activity. With the same message, which was supposed to bore into the subconscious and change it from there. Dis allowed the conclusion that it was an object, which produced these dreams and no living being. A living being should have noticed after the second time that it does not work and that the dream always collapses in the same way.

 

Today would become generally an unpleasant night, Sappho and Sia had mentioned it, and also other demons had mentioned it, it would thunder today. A real summer thunderstorm.

 

Which was an interesting fact, since it had been summer in the Empire as well. Of course, that alone didn't help, but should he learn how long a pregnancy lasted, he could work out the year.

 

Over the rest of the day, it became more and more humid and the heat increased. The speed with which they progressed almost came to a standstill because the animals also began to feel it. What caused the wagon drivers to spare the animals.

 

Then, accompanied by thunder and lightning, the summer thunderstorm came upon them.

 

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The rain pelted down on him in thick drops, in just a few moments he was soaked to the bone. Although he and his men had taken cover, they all got wet.

 

The branches of the trees around them were whipped around by the winds of the thunderstorm. Isolated flashes of lightning illuminated the darkness created by the storm clouds. The sun was already not even visible, which only made the column of wagons with their lanterns more conspicuous.

 

His scouts had not been spotted but had kept an eye on the group of Cikarti while he and most of his troop had tried to get in front of them. They had only managed this, of course, thanks to nocturnal forced marches.

 

But these would be a thing of the past once they were done with this group. They would be able to take their wagons and would no longer have to run all. After that, they would not be far from Dikili Tash. Their next destination.

 

He had used a gift from Meinoume to make the Cikarti docile for what was to come. There was to be no fighting. They were to receive them with open arms and let him mark them all at once. He did not expect much resistance, after all, he had used the gift every night.

 

With a hand signal, he gave to understand that they would go. Immediately all his men started to move. His group was about thirty strong. Another twenty would come from the other side so that if there was any resistance, they would have an easier time. Not that he thought there would be any kind of opposition.

 

So his group came at the Cikarti group from both sides through the increasing darkness. It seemed that there would be no problems, the darkness is dispelled by a flash of lightning every now and then. What the Cikarti would have noticed if they had looked into the forest were figures in torn clothes with blank stares. Covered with wounds, from small scratches to broken arms or even legs approached them.

 

This was the fate that awaited a lowly believer of Meinoume. Deprived of his own free will, this one walks only as a will of Meinoume on Arkan. Similar to a will-less drone or a golem, only following the wishes of Meinoume.

 

The Cikarti had prepared for the night's rest, only the lights of the individual guard troops could be seen. How they wandered through the camp, between wagons and tents.

 

The wind carried scattered snatches of conversation from the guards to Daemon and his part of the group. Nothing that could be understood, not that he or his companions cared. He could conclude that they did not suspect anything and that everything was going according to his plan.

 

As previously agreed, his men drew their weapons before entering the part of the forest illuminated by the camp. The guards he had just seen had disappeared behind a large wagon, and he could not see the other guards.

 

The camp lay still and quiet before him. Only the thunderstorm was making noise. All the inhabitants of the camp had retreated into their wagons or tents for protection from the storm.

 

He gave his men another sign, which they answered with a grunt. He would make his way to the priest, whom this group was to guard. He would see how the priest was doing and would have to go from there. Whether he could work alone or with the priest's help. He had not seen him during his surveillance and his scouts had not been able to tell him anything about him either.

 

Which suggested that he was still in his wagon, unconscious. They would have disposed of a body, also he or his scouts would have seen this, but since they had not observed anything of the sort, he had to still be in his wagons.

 

He could only shake his head as he paced the camp, thinking about the priest. He had let himself be taken by surprise by a few Cikarti.

What a shame for a priest of Meinoume.

 

The rain had become heavier and the lights in the small lanterns were whipped back and forth more and more by the winds. So that the shadows began to dance, accompanied by the tent canvas rattling in the wind. They were joined by the sound of metal on metal, almost drowned out by the storm.

 

It took him a few moments before he reacted to the latter and hurried off in the direction of the sound.

 

But he didn't get very far before two Cikarti approached him. The sound of approaching heavy feet behind him told him that opponents were coming from there as well. A quick glance over his shoulder only confirmed this. Now it was necessary to act quickly, as usual for a skilled fighter, he directed all arcane energy into his limbs. With this, he strengthened his skin, so that it became as strong as steel, and his already increased strength was momentarily strengthened.

 

He could not classify the level of his opponents, however, he had made the experience that very few Cikarti came higher than level three. With what he had a certain self-assurance that he could win this fight.

 

Already his opponents were approaching him. All of them had drawn their curved sabers, with which they tried to keep him at bay. One of the opponents in front leaped forward, while he just looked back once again to see what the opponents were doing there. He dodged the blow by spinning backward, with a fluid following motion along the outstretched blade. With that, he was only a few centimeters away from his opponent. The latter had recognized his mistake and tried to get his saber closer to his body again. What he knew to prevent and with this momentum him into his comrades behind him propelled.

 

The other opponent from the front had tried to help his partner, but could not do anything because of the closeness between them. Now that his partner was down in a heap with his other allies, this one attacked him with a little more deliberation than the first.

 

He had to intercept a succession of quick blows with his forearms, causing him to screw up his face. His opponent was also a user of the body's Arcane Energy and had specialized in the use of weapons, as he realized rather quickly during the fight. This is why in a few moments they had already exchanged close to thirty blows that made the air vibrate. With each successive blow, he noticed how his defenses were weakening. He had forearm splints on, but they wouldn't last long under that kind of stress.

 

Also, behind him, the other three opponents were getting back to their feet and would soon be able to help their allies. He had to prevent that, during the short exchange of blows he had gotten a feeling for his opponent and what level he had reached. Which was one level below his own.

 

At the right moment, he struck with both hands and hit the sword in different places. This was rewarded with a loud clang as parts of the saber hit the ground. Without a moment had passed, he had approached his opponent and gave them a series of well-aimed blows. Which this time was rewarded with the sounds of breaking bones.

 

This time, as the other three attacked him altogether in a coordinated attack, their ally just slumped to the ground, eliciting a sound similar to a rattle before blood spurted from his mouth. But he could not pay attention to that, even if he was one step higher than his three opponents, they were still three. In the meantime, more fighting noise reached his ears and he was sure that his men would not stand up to the Cikarti as well as he did.

 

His group was not as equipped as the Cikarti, so he had used the gift of Meinoume to weaken them. Even though his people were natural-born demons with a level three core, they were not fighters, but only peasants, poor people, and small-time hoodlums.

 

But even about this, he could not worry at the moment, because he was still trying to avoid all three opponents.

 

It would be time for another gift from Meinoume. Who was truly no god of justice.

 

With a quick grab, he had a vial in his hand and with a quick move, it was already open. Before his three opponents could even notice, he had already spread its contents, a black oily mass, over his opponents.

 

It was troll blood and troll blood and organic did not mix well. Troll blood always tended to turn everything around it into stone. If it was already stone then everything was fine, but if it was not, it would turn it into stone.

 

With arcane users, it always took something to overcome the natural resistance, but if the troll was of a higher level than the one who came into contact with its blood, this resistance was invalid. Of course, it took a few moments before it took effect. A nice side effect, however, was that fighting troll blood drained the arcane reserves of the person affected.

 

So the movements of his opponents became slower and slower, which made it easier for him to dodge. Finally, he was able to go on the attack and send them to the ground with a few blows to the head.

 

The whole fight had lasted less than a minute, but he was still out of breath. Rushed, he looked around and listened for any telltale sound. He could still hear battle noise, so all was not lost. The question of why the Cikarti were not trembling in fear and reverence before him could be answered later. Now, this battle had to be won.

 

He ran toward the sounds of battle heard closest to him.

 

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She dodged another blow from her opponent, after which Sia rammed into him like a bull shortly after and threw him to the ground. Where she hit him until he didn't move anymore.

 

Meanwhile, she had to see to it that she defended herself and her small group of fellow fighters against a new onslaught of enemies. Which, as an Arcane User of Will, was not so easy. She had always been better at ranged combat than melee. It didn't matter, though, and the opponents wouldn't line up within acceptable distance either, so she could bombard them with magical spells.

 

What she could do, however, was direct the onslaught of enemies, blocking them with barriers or trapping them. So that she and her comrades-in-arms could take care of other enemies first.

 

Another group of four enemies approached them. With a routine that could only come from long experience, she went through the necessary gestures and incantations. Already a storm of fire was making its way toward the opponents.

 

One of them with a shield kept running towards her, holding it protectively in front of him. She could see it beginning to burn, yet the enemy continued to run toward her. The other two had been showered with a hail of stones by well-aimed spells from her. Unfortunately, these enemies had come out of the camp this time, so she couldn't cast spells at full power. She wanted to prevent unnecessary damage to wagons and tents.

 

With another quick gesture, she created a pit in front of the approaching opponent. He was prepared for this, so he simply jumped over it and landed in front of her. With his shield, he blocked a sword blow from one of her comrades. She backed away from him, aware that the cart with the children was behind her and she couldn't back away any further. That's why she cast another spell, with which she wanted to entwine the opponent with roots.

 

She saw that she would not be able to finish, her comrades were busy with other opponents and she could not allow this one to advance into her midst, from where he could stab the others in the back.

 

She, therefore, drew her sword and went into a defensive stance. She would not be able to muster the same strength as her opponent, but she was still a pretty good swordswoman. Her opponent, of whose face only the eyes and mouth were visible, smiled. Which revealed crooked black and brown teeth, as well as what was left of them.

 

But this was not her first fight, certainly not her first fight against other demons. She preferred to fight monsters or animals rather than demons, but she had no time to think about it. Her opponent was already pouncing on her.

 

His weapon was only a beating, but still, she did not want to be hit by them.

 

Since her opponent has greater physical strength since he was a user of the arcane energies of the body. She did not even try to block his attacks an endeavor in which she would only injure herself.

 

So she deflected his blows, in good moments to his own allies.

 

Despite being a user of the body's arcane energies, she could keep up with his speed.

 

Behind her opponent, she could see her own reinforcements, led by Naima. She must have been ready and wanted to protect her son and the other children.

 

She shouted something that could not be heard over the storm and the general noise of the battle.

 

The next moment the world froze, illuminated by a flash of lightning. The drops of rain hung in the air and there was no more wind. She also noticed how she could no longer move. The same was true for her opponent. She could do nothing but look straight into the eyes of her opponent. Which reflected her own confusion.

 

Then those eyes grew wide with wonder, followed by fear. Behind her, she could hear the bursting of stone, followed by chunks of stone of various sizes rolling past her.

Then she saw her counterpart begin to turn to stone. As fast as it happened, she could observe everything and it seemed so miserably long. Until in front of her stood only a Statue of a man with weapons drawn. Then movement returned and the Statue was knocked over by the wind.

She stepped around where a similar sight awaited her. Except that a part of the earth was covered by a scorched circle. With the smell of ionized air, which suggested a teleport.

Hastily ignoring the strange circumstances, she set out to check on Cali and the other children. She had never noticed that enemies had come behind her.

Inside the wagon, however, there was silence; none of the children seemed to be hurt. The older ones had placed themselves protectively in front of the younger and very young ones. Agenor, too, was likely to surprise Sia positively.

"What happened?" She asked into the round of children. They only shrugged their shoulders. Then slowly one by one told what had happened.

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She listened as the demon children described the events, but had to stifle a hiss when the children spoke of providence by the gods when they told what they thought had happened.

She, of course, knew better than these worshippers. She had seen how the Young Titan Child had used his abilities.

With a satisfied, serpentine smile, she looked down at a child who was looking at her with the same slitted pupils. Before a yawn urged them to close and the young Titan had fallen asleep.