Chapter 7: 7 Day War: Day 1: Clamoris

The rain was heavy and a strange effect that day, it was the final day of peace that the nation was going to experience yet the rain seemed to calm everyone down despite their tension flaring up in a frenzy. Those at the forts stood in large anxiety of what was going to be done, weapons were prepared, shields set up, barriers made. The preparations were finished however that didn’t change their perception about this war. For the first time it was the demons who declared war onto mankind, cursing them into annihilation, the hearts of the men stationed at the forts were in subtle fear that was carefully hidden under the sleeve of bravery, this was the same everywhere. High Knight Paul Stone was quietly watching the men training their skills within the afternoon inside of the intense rain, they were dedicated and wanted to protect the lives that they had before the declaration of war. Things were different now, the heroes had disbanded and the one who could defeat the new Demon King was dead, buried in some abyss somewhere, lost to the very waves of time. Unlike the general public that didn’t know the circumstances that led to the Hero’s death Paul knew, he was in on it and had cooperated that the Hero would never find out about the nation’s honest ploy. And now after two years of peace that decision had come to haunt them, it wasn’t exactly reassuring that the ones left behind were the traitors who killed that insanely strong Hero.

“…….sigh I shouldn’t be even doing this”

Paul was a rather dashing man, he was in the prime of his youth and enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh. However as of now he looked twenty years older, his brown hair looked like grey within the dim light of the lamp, his great blue eyes seemed to be taking the light of the lamp as its own shade as they too were just as dim, on his face were wrinkles that were very uncommon to find on a young man such as himself however they were evidence to the stress he had been enduring for the last 7 days. So what was he doing?He, the leader of a knight squadron and the well respected knight of the fort, was drinking himself down and whilst looking at the men inside of a hidden part of the fort with a window. If one was to find him in this state they would lose all hope and decide to surrender to the Demon King, he was pathetic to the lowest degree. He had magic that would make him sober but he had to spend this moment wallowing in his scummy pitiful state. 

Soon right after he made the necessary preparations to get up and go, the door was kicked down in an intense manner. He was rather shocked at such violence, at the same time he was quite unsurprised by who came through it. She wore a light teal blue armor, her blonde hair was cut short which gave off a certain tomboyish feel to her, her green eyes were powerful and stern. If she smiled one would say she is the most beautiful woman they have laid their eyes on, she had a rough personality that was filled with self justice and was loved by mostly unwitting people and perverts who loved being insulted by her. Paul groaned upon seeing it was her coming through that door.

“Sir Paul Maywerk Stone!What are you doing at this time of the day!And at this time of war!”

“I-I was relaxing you see!I wanted to ease the nerves so I could do my duties better!”

“That is a lie and you know it!What is this I see”

“fuck”

Paul whispered as she picked up one of the beer bottles that had laid on the ground.

“Wasting yourself away on booze and what is this?”

She sniffed the contents of the small bag that had fallen at the side of his bed.

“Drugs as well?!If you weren’t the High Knight of Valor I would have slain you right here!”

“Oh c’mon Sheryl don’t be such a square, a man’s gotta take his mind out of things.”

“You were lacking women to get your knighthood fully relinquished.”

“So what do you want?”

“I came to pick you up, the hour is nearing the night soon and we must be extra vigilant for the demons”

“I told you that was a bluff didn’t I?”

He picked up another bottle but it was immediately smashed to bits with one of the daggers that Sheryl had on her person, holding only a handle he let it drop to the ground and stood up.

“I do not know where your parents raised you so wrong. You used to be such a bashful cute lil girl when you were younger”

“My past has nothing to do with my present”

Sheryl Silvorwillow was the daughter of a lower noble who ruled some of these lands, just as Paul had stated she used to be a very nice girl but it seemed she tensed up when she entered the Knight’s Academy. She didn’t take time to make herself attractive in the slightest, of course there were perverts who enjoyed that kind of woman as well but they were mostly in the minority. Paul heads towards the small fountain located within the room and washes his face, within an instant he changes from looking like a useless drunk to being a responsible and duty filled man. He takes the comb which is laying on the floor and combs his hair, Paul finishes up by taking a towel and wiping his face with his aura being that of a serious knight who could cut even an ogre in half. 

“Even a man like you can make a random transformation into a reasonable being”

“I could say the same for you”

The rain was still pouring down from the sky making Paul sigh as he locked his door and threw the key into a hidden compartment. He walked down with Sheryl with a new face and demeanor, his shift of being a responsible knight had begun. 

☆

At the height of the night the rain had suddenly stopped with Paul looking outwards to the great plain before them, beyond this point was the Demon Continent where that new Demon King was recently born and had declared war using one of his messengers. Kidnapping the princesses and the Queen in a strategy effort that they would not immediately attack the demons before they mobilized their forces and used them to break through the border and enter a different world. The demon who formed this plan knew how the armies of Astraea operated. Paul could feel himself become just as tense as Sheryl as the final day was beginning to fade away, the hours were now counting down to their last moments. The moon was oddly gibbous tonight, it made him feel uneasy and there was an unsettling air that floated about in the land. The strange mist was anomalously lapping up at their feet, curling over the legs and lower regions like invisible arms. 

“Sheryl”

“Yes Sir Paul?”

“What time is it?”

“It is close to midnight Sir Paul”

“I want you to order the archers to stay vigilant at their towers, one mage should tell us what is going on from a distance I want him stationed just above the fort with the usage of the Magnify Eyesight spell active. Tell the earth mages to build a wall made out of stone around the gate.”

“As you will”

Sheryl left immediately to give out those orders, the moon was at its greatest height and was just above the fort. And then the crickets, the owls and anything that can be associated with forest sound went dead. The scenery was terrifyingly eerie as the silence had created an atmosphere one could see within a nightmare, the archers saw it as well as the mage who had flown up to the sky. The land had become a surreal landscape within an instant and everyone became tense, the orders were carried out perfectly all were waiting for what was to come. Paul had held the hilt of his sword in anticipation of what was to come out of that forest. A slouching sound was made and soon it made its appearance. The archers all shot at it within a single breath.

“HALT!!HALT I SAID STOP GODDAMMIT!!!”

The archers stopped as Paul noticed it was just a lone goblin that had came out of the forest, their tension was wasted on such a creature. But they would remain the way they were for some time, Paul breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to Sheryl who had returned to his side.

“See, nothing to worry about. I’ll make some reports to send to the other forts”

That in Paul’s language meant I am going to bed and forgetting I was ever tense the moment before. He went down the stairs with his mind at peace and heart feeling like it had a large rock lifted from it. Then he heard loud resounding stomping that was rapidly getting closer as time passed. Paul’s heart sank as he ran back up the stairs to see an unseen figure in a charging pose heading towards the fort at a pace that was hard to follow and with such a huge body that was hard to believe that it was that fast. The mage who was just above the fort began to recite a spell to make its next step its last. He wanted to make a pitfall that would make it disappear from their sight but then just as he was about to do so the mage was shot from the sky through the use of the rare lightning spell that struck him, letting him fall to the ground.

“ARCHERS DO NOT ALLOW THAT THING TO ENTER THE FOR-?!”

It was too late the monster with immense strength had broken through the newly made stone wall and iron gate that was behind it. The soldiers situated near the gate were thrown several meters from the ground as the remaining soldiers were granted full sight of the monster that did this to their gate. It was huge, just as large as the iron gate, its skin was blood red, its eyes were an abyss black with small points of red within. Its face was a mixture between a minotaur and the grimace of an angry ogre, it had great horns with a smile on its face it roared in ecstasy. Paul was the first to witness it, the blood red moon that had risen above their heads with a sudden shift in tone and atmosphere, the immediate roar of a single Demon Minotaur had introduced the first act of madness as a horde of demons poured out of the forest. Their numbers making them look like a flood, the Demon Minotaur that had entered the gates got out as quickly as it came heading to meet its comrades that stood across the plain at a stand still.

“MEN NOW IS THE TIME TO SHINE!!PREPARE TO SEND THESE DEMONS BACK TO HELL!!”

Paul screamed out as the soldiers and knights went out by foot to go fight their enemies. He soon ran out to go on his horse, climbing on it quickly leaving behind a few men who could protect the fort should they fail to stop the demons here. 

☆

The scene Paul arrived to was a horrifying hellscape as the demons had already began to fight with the soldiers, they tore at their flesh without mercy as their weapons could do little to no damage to them. Even the ones who were equipped with holy attribute weapons could do nothing to the demons who came in like an immense wave of hatred and evil.

“T-They’re protecting themselves from our holy a-attribute swords by using anti-holy spells on their bodies!”

“Fuck!No, stay away!STOP NOOOO!!”

“A demon being able to use magic sword arts?!Wai-”

The land was originally a plain before the demons and the rain had come. It had turned into a blood swamp upon the mindless slaughter of the soldiers who were now facing a one sided massacre, Paul was killing some but their ingenuity of spells and how to cast them as well as advanced military skills was scaring him. Even Sheryl who was proficient at the sword was struggling with them as well, he had to search for the leader Demon Minotaur that had attacked their fort’s gate and kill it but he was finding more difficulty in doing that than he was supposed to. More humans were dying to the demons than demons to humans, a fact that was shocking to him. They were supposed to have the edge against them but someone had taught these demons some classes in advanced human warfare, someone had given them the techniques they would use against them and cleverly make anti-spells which would take time to figure out. And time wasn’t exactly on their hands. Paul’s horse had its legs cut off by another minotaur that found pleasure hearing its cry, he was sent flying but managed to kill another demon in doing so. 

“Dammit!Where is the motherfucker!”

“Sir Paul there!”

“But Andrew is already heading towards it!”

Andrew who was Paul’s squire had made a beeline towards the Demon Minotaur that did this and swung his sword at it however it seemed to have disappeared instantly replacing it in its place as a boy with dark brown skin, white hair and bull horns and red eyes wearing a black colored armor holding an eastern long sword in his right hand. Before Andrew could do anything the boy merely smiled before a boot had implanted itself into his face shattering his skull and sending him flying. His devilish smile was accompanied by a loud shout.

“REMEMBER THE ANGER AND DESPAIR OF YOUR LOVED ONES!!REMEMBER WHAT THEY HAVE TAKEN FROM YOU!!!MAKE THEM FEEL YOUR WRATH!!”

This was the moment where the battle had turned from being a massacre to being a killing floor where all the demons suddenly changed from just using their weapons to using raw methods of attacking, growing in size. Werewolves’ fur had turned black within an instant with clean claw swiped attacks ripping into the chests, faces and arms of the knights, imps had began to throw fireballs at the soldiers who went up in flames screaming loudly as they did so, the kobolds went on all fours attacking like wild dogs using claw and fang to swarm the soldiers, the minotaurs used their fists to render the armor of the soldiers useless tearing them apart, the goblins had returned to their horde tactics. The boy was the source of all of this death, Paul could very well see that, he solidified their anger and burning hatred towards humans into a form that would slaughter all of the men here.

“Sir Paul let us make our escape here!”

“Inde-“

Paul turned to the fort which was in flames as loud screams could be heard from there too. The demons had used this mindless horde to be the decoy so they could destroy the fort and head over the border with a force that would attack the fort whilst another force would happily slaughter the idiots who would come to attack them. 

“…..I am so sorry Sheryl”

“It was foreseeable, the fort was -”

“No its okay let us run away here so we could-“

“That’s not what I meant”

Paul took out a dagger and stabbed Sheryl’s right thigh making her scream in pain as he used his sword to slice her neck open. This was a sacrifice he had to do, she looked at his eyes with a stare of pure hatred, Paul runs away after taking Sheryl’s horse which had survived this ordeal. 

“I am still so sorry but I must live. I hope you forgive me in the afterlife.”

☆

Paul knew of a passage that was located near the wall. He had to tell the other forts of what had happened otherwise it would be all in vain as the kingdom would fall in a fell swoop of darkness. This passage was a forest that had Ents inside of it, most of the Ents were dead mainly because their cores had been ripped from their core before they could become mature Ents, a procedure that would serve to make those who wanted to use this passage have a easy time. Paul looked back and he could see the smoke of the fort rise high, in his thoughts he had to give a silent prayer to the ones who had died during that butcher house of a battlefield. He left behind the horse and set it free, it was the best he could do. Paul entered the forest alone, it was dark with the light of the moon being the only thing illuminating the scenery before him. He was alone and could feel the pangs of loneliness and depression, Paul alone was the survivor of that horrid nightmare ,to be exact they could have stood a chance had that monster in the shape of a boy with horns hadn’t given that command that turned his coordinated army into a frenzied hell mass. He blamed himself for letting blood get to his head and going out instead of running away at first sight, he had to thank Sheryl for being a sacrifice for him to escape. 

Once again he touched a marking in the trees that would guide him out of the forest and continued to move forward, the closest fort was a 3 day trip from Fort Servone. If he used teleportation magic he could get there after two or three leaps, the forest had a mind numbing effect to it hence he couldn’t use it here, neither could he carry Sheryl along because that would require large amounts of mana to spend and he wasn’t a hero to do that. But even so this would very likely haunt him for the next couple of days or years if he had that long enough to live, he killed the daughter of a friend, what would that friend say if he discovered he discarded her when the time called for it, he didn’t want to imagine it so he would come up with an excuse that could explain why he left her behind. She told him to leave her behind and carry on with her in mind, that many may be saved from her sacrifice. It was very much inside of her character to say such. He touched the last marking and slowly made his way into the light. 

“Finally I am out. Now I can tell the other forts what happened to Fort Servone”

“Where do you think you’re going Sir Paul Maywerk Stone?”

His blood froze upon hearing the voice of the person he was thinking about so close to him. He trembled uncontrollably at the mere thought she could have survived. Paul turned around with his sword in his hand and found no one within the dark ent forest. 

“Over here Sir Paul”

He slowly turned his head towards the meadow that he was supposed to see. Inside of it was Sheryl whose armor had turned into a light red from the blood of the demons, the wound on her thigh was healed and her slit throat was back to normal as if he never cut it in the first place. Her skin had become a tad paler than before, and her green eyes had started to glow giving him goosebumps that lasted as long as he stared into her eyes.

“S-Shouldn’t y-you be-”

“Dead?I am dead.”

“……What?”

“It is as I have said, I am dead. Technically dead, I live solely because of the blessing I have received from the Demon King. I swore on my blood that I would kill you and here I am.”

“But you knew this was for the greater good of the kingdom!”

“That’s a lie, I was a liability. Evidence of your bad decision making, and I would definitely bring you down for every single stupid deed you have done so far. I know you were a scumbag but to willingly injure a comrade and leave her for dead so you could save your own skin, that’s a new low”

She stepped forward with him stepping backwards as a reaction. He was honestly afraid of her and what she had become.

“W-We can escape together to the other fort!We can tell them about the Demon King’s army!”

“Didn’t you hear me from before?I live solely because of the Demon King’s blessing and to think he was just as betrayed as me, he deserved better. Scumbags like you deserve to die a horrible death and be brought back to experience a hell like pain for all eternity”

“I WILL NOT DIE HERE!!”

“Too late”

Sheryl had thrown daggers at his thighs causing Paul to scream and fall to the ground, he stared at her. The roles of that time had immediately reversed, Sheryl was now in his position and he was in her’s. 

“Sheryl w-we can talk this out”

“That ended when you slit my throat several hours ago. All your glory filled stories of rising from the slums to knighthood will end now. You will now return to being the scum of the earth, no one will remember your name Paul, no one will even know you existed. You will be forgotten in time and everything you did will be meaningless.”

“nooooo…..I don’t want to die”

“I didn’t too but you still killed me anyway. I was thinking of a method of killing and I finally found one”

“PLEASE SPARE ME FROM SUCH, I STILL HAVE A LOT OF THINGS TO DO!!I HAVE SO MUCH T-”

He gave out a large shriek as the spell she used in question was a largely common one for female soldiers, knights and adventurers and was used to make sure such maidens were not desecrated in their dead states by monsters or perverts. Acid was poured all over his body with his armor and skin melted to add insult to injury she casted a spell that would envelop him in flames that reacted to the acid and burned him slowly melding his armor with his skin. His beautiful face is dissolved into a fleshy mess and his screaming becomes more hoarse because of the acid flame. He drops to the ground staring at Sheryl who smiles before going into a mad sadistic laugh covering her face with her right hand as she did so. His vision blurs as a demon is born right before his eyes.

Paul wakes up in an unfamiliar landscape, it’s all burnt with the night time still high in the sky. He was sure that he had died under Sheryl’s hand, maybe it was an illusion born from his guilt. He extends his hand to his sword but notices something strange. His hand, no, his entire arm and beyond is burnt to crisp and his limbs are greatly atrophied. He is literally skin and bones at this point. He sees a fountain with clear water and walks towards it, he meets the face of a monster that has a bloodied burnt fleshy skull with blue eyes that he recognizes as his own and gives out a scream in pure fear. 

“Ah you’re awake. I never thought you would never wake up. Alright it’s time for you to start a very long walk to Fort Bruxley which is in the hills if I remember well.”

He heard a voice that spoke to him, a demon wolf stared at him and laughed at his state. He was compelled to move out of the burnt place he was in and walked out to see thousands of beings similar to him mindlessly moving back and forth without order. 

“Since you were the leader of this fort you are going to be the first to receive this painful curse developed by Lady Byleth.”

An insignia of a skull with a sword pierced through its head is engraved in his flesh causing his hoarse voice to cry out in pain. His was amongst the many that would soon be birthed from such. Similar fates happened to the leaders and the men stationed at the frontier forts. As a burning hell was born from all this, the first attack had been launched on all of them with an army of dead walking towards more fortified cities. 

“Lord Satan”

“Yes?”

“We have located a person who is similar to Baal, what are your orders?”

“We show them our horrid vileness. There are still some of the survivors who fled to nearby villages right?”

“Yes.”

“Go to those villages and make them either rat out the survivors or burn just like the forts. Alastor mentioned humans are treacherous beings who will betray people who effectively helped them. Once they do that destroy the village anyway. And if there are no such villages then give them the promise of not being destroyed should they bow to the Demon King, if they refuse destroy them.”

“Understood. He was right, there are many Baals in this world and it is my duty to rid the world of them. I have enough power to play with him”

Satan smiled as he spoke with a tinge of joy in his voice.