A war usually comes down to one of three things.

Quantity of troops. If you can absolutely overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers they will not have enough composure or space to fight back. All around them, in every which direction, there are foes. Hopelessness sets in, no matter how low-quality these troops may be. Just the fact that you are surrounded can damage a person’s mentality. This is the tactic employed by Creatures with high fertility like Goblins, or by Necromancers who can resurrect the dead.

Quality of troops. You do not need thousands of troops if you have those capable of slaughtering armies by themselves. Those that hold the power to create natural disasters wherever they tread. Tornadoes follow their sprints and earthquakes erupt where they swing their weapons. Beings that can be counted as armies themselves. This is less of a tactic, and more like the power itself: A Calamity that happens. The Twelve will one day fall into this category and they will reign at its peak.

Superior tactics. You can also choose to utterly outmanoeuvre your enemy. Catch every single weakness in the opponent’s formation, hooking into it with incredible precision, ordering troop movement without a second’s hesitation or an ounce of fault. Whether you are the kind of person to play a lute atop open city gates, use your opponent’s divine animal against them or hold off thousands of troops with mere hundreds at the perfect chokepoint.

Such are the ways to win a war.

And what was happening right here in this very town could only be called a war.

The Demon employed the first tactic, the bread-and-butter of any necromancer. Waves and waves of Zombies and Skeletons surged forth, rushing towards their demise at the command of their cruel lord. They merely broke against the stalwart wall that the seven warriors were upholding, but that is simply how a Necromancer fights. Exhaust the enemies’ stamina with unending numbers of slaves and disposables.

On the other side of this was Kuna, busily constructing spells as she supported the ten that chose to follow her. Their abilities were strengthened and their Mana refilled as she even gave commands and helped all of them with their own spell craft. She was embodying her own future concept even now. To hold power that no amount of numbers could breach.

Her soldiers all did their best to live up to her own skill. The three Mages cast their own buff spells while throwing spells aimed at the largest swathes of foes. The option to let the others surround had long been cut off by gigantic ice walls that created a valley through which the Undead horde had to travel. Ghosts and other spectres could ignore those, but they were instead picked off with single spells as they showed themselves. So far, not a single enemy had passed their eyes.

And the seven Warriors that upheld the front-line hacked and slashed away, building a floor of corpses that were regularly burned away or left to fall into a pit by the Mages whenever they found a moment. With each swing several of the enemies died and even though more came to replace them, they were making progress. Slow, but steady. Each of the warriors held their own, but Kid performed a cut above the rest, literally. With Mana imbued into each strike, dozens were felled each time her sword moved.

All of the tactics to win a war were being employed.

Numbers, Skill, Tactics.

And in the end, the side that employed two of them won out. By now, as they carried their momentum, Kuna’s side was only a few meters away from the Demon. At this point AOE spells had already begun hitting it and disrupting its concentration, further lowering the amount of Undead it could summon from its Realm. It realized that it was only a matter of time until the most dangerous Knight among them would swing their sword at it.

And so the sickly dark light forming the circle on the floor around it was sucked back into its body and surrounding it. A pure black armour was formed around its body in an instant, the qualities of the light still there as it seemed to move on its own in places, swelling up at times. A disgusting sight, but one that did not bother Kuna at this time. Her focus had reached a different level as she cast several spells at once.

The tide of Undead had stopped with this event, allowing Kid and her fellow Warriors to engage the Demon into melee at last. And yet, no weapon appeared in its hand. It retained only its body and the black armour-like formation of Mana surrounding its body.

Instead, it began engaging in conversation for the first time ever since the war began in earnest.

“I was thinking the Twelve were a bit lacking to be fighting our Ruler, but I suppose you aren’t too bad after all. At the very least you’re acceptable. After all, had you not even reached me You would never make it through our armies.”

The melee had begun, but no urgency was felt from the Demon. It was assured that no matter what would happen it wouldn’t lose. Even that ‘dangerous Knight’ was only a touch of an issue, no real threat. The weapons of the other six bounced off, while it blocked Kid’s attacks with its hands. Spells that flew towards it only shattered against a barrier without leaving a mark.

“I am not the only Necromancer we have in the end. I am not even the best at that. But still, you are impressive in your own right. You haven’t even reacted to a word I said so far! Unbreakable will, truly commendable.”

Stoically Kuna and her group only continued their assault, dealing no proper damage, but not willing to give up. After all, while they hadn’t dealt any damage, neither had the Demon. It was only a stalemate so far. And a stalemate could only be beneficial for her at this point.

The combat did begin turning, however. And the catalyst was a single, slightly off-balance strike from Kid. A strike that resulted in her sword being caught in a grip.

The shattering of metal rang out in the area, loud, too loud to be entirely natural. The Demon had amplified the sound itself, only to make sure all the Humans knew that their hope was about to be shattered, just like that sword.

Disarmed, Kid went on the defensive and the others ramped up the aggression to allow her a moment to regain her footing. But it didn’t matter as their attacks couldn’t even distract the Demon, laser-focused on following Kid.

The initiative was now on its side and it didn’t waste it. The reason for its lack of weapon was now explained, as the armour on its hands expanded, forming long, almost shadowy claws. A torrent of attacks followed and Kid had divert all her attention to barely blocking them.

The Mages and Kuna all began supporting her defense instead, trying to make the claws bounce to once again shift the flow in the same way, but with less attacks coming its way, it ended up with more leeway to focus on aggression. A vicious cycle.

The methods to win this war had shifted.

And the Demon’s might was greater than their own.

“Well, your will is the only commendable thing. Your skills are lacking to fight me! Although I must thank you! Killing eleven of the Twelve will serve to greatly improve my standing!”

Its assault continued, growing faster by the second. The barriers already couldn’t fully contain the attacks, but now the claws hit Kid’s armour, for now only resulting in scratches, but it was only a matter of time until gashes appeared.

And they could not let that happen.

Efforts to improve her defences were doubled down on and once again the Demon’s claws stopped hitting her armour. The group of people that had stayed behind, Adventurers that were largely uninjured in the previous engagement began supporting in their own way, firing bows and spells. They could tell that things weren’t going well. Before they didn’t dare interfere in case they could mess up the Saintess’ plans, but now they did whatever they could to help.

And yet, it didn’t help. Arrows were fully ignored, while Spells once again scattered against the Demon’s barrier. Only its mocking words pierced without fail.

“Well, now even the insects are helping you. To think that the Twelve would be pushed this far. I guess the Goddess has lost her touch. Although it is infuriating to think that you are wasting my time like this… JUST DIE OBEDIENTLY!”

For the first time an emotion was felt from the Demon.

And it was Wrath.

All who had been helping out shrunk back for a single moment as the intense aura hit them, letting up for that single moment with their attacks. Kuna and her group were unfazed, but the lack of extra support returned the melee to its previous situation.

No, with the Demon cutting loose in anger, it became even worse.

It broke past barriers with ease now, the only thing keeping it from tearing up Kid’s armour being her evasiveness. But that too, did not last much longer.

A miss-step. No, not even that. The Demon was simply too fast at this time. Kid could no longer evade. And if she couldn’t evade, nobody else present could have done so. She moved perfectly, her dodges were precise and timely. The Demon was just too fast.

She narrowly avoided death by jumping back, but it was too late.

The number one objective that they all had when they moved out for this mission.

They had now failed, simply because that Demon was too quick.

The sound had already passed, once again amplified by the Demon. The fragments were hitting the ground and with a loud thud the remains of her helmet followed suit.

The blue fire in her eye sockets, burning with rage and her pure-white skull were fully exposed now. Her rage was clear, even though there was no face to express her emotions.

“A Skeleton? A Skeleton! To think that the Goddess would go as far as to summon the Dead for her ends! One of the Twelve, an Undead!” The Demon laughed to itself, dumbfounded at this revelation. It forgot to keep up the attack at this moment, fully self-absorbed as its arrogance manifested.

A moment that Kuna had already taken advantage of. All of them recomposed themselves at this time, their telepathic conversation in full swing as orders were issued and plans were formed.

A minute passed before the Demon’s laughter slowly died down, only for it to stand across from a line of seven Skeletons, the Warriors that had been in melee with it, now all without their helmets. In the far back was Kuna, surrounded by the three Mages, the flames in their shining in unique colours, but also obviously Undead.

This only served to once again make it laugh.

“Even more! To think that so many of the Twelve are Undead! Wait, don’t tell me that girl is the only Human among you! Oh, how fun that would be! Truly, to think that…”

Its sentence could not be finished. Kuna had already finished her preparations and a blinding light lit up the field, so strong that not even the Demon was unaffected. It lasted for only a few dozen seconds.

And yet, as had already been shown, a few dozen seconds were more than enough to turn the favour of combat.

When the light receded and everyone looked at the field, the situation had shifted entirely.

The methods to win this war had shifted.

Almost reversed, save for one exception. Tactics had always been on Kuna’s side.

The ten people that stood on her side previously seemed to have multiplied. Now there weren’t just ten skeletons, but more than a hundred. Some of them stood upright at menacing height, taller even than the Demon, while others had the same multi-coloured flames burning in their skulls as the Mages.

And they were all armed with pure-white weapons shining a bright light of their own. Made out of a bone expertly prepared by Kal and Noelle, one that regrows when used and has wonderful weapon properties. Imbued with Mana thanks to the combined efforts of Kuna and Kid fully assimilating into their network, each of these weapons became one capable of hurting the Demon.

After all, what originally made Kid slightly dangerous was her mastery of Mana inlaid on her sword, not her sword play. Now with Kuna’s own expertise added, all of them could easily leave fatal wounds.

It left them vulnerable to concentrate on this, but the Demon no longer had the leeway it had previously. Several times the spells from before flew at it, while the Skeletons surrounded it on all sides, swinging with somewhat clumsy movements, but with a volume that could be incredibly dangerous. And their movements were improving by the second.

The Demon couldn’t even escape by flying as its wings were being targeted. It could not concentrate on any spell because of this unending wave of strikes. It could only stay there and hope for a windfall, a miracle.

This was now a war of attrition. And Skeletons would never lost a war of attrition.

This was no longer a war that a single movement could decide.

It could barely even be called war. It was only the last minutes before Death ticking down. The Demon felt it. This being before him was the true ruler of Death, one that could decide when you die and when you live. The only thing it could do was follow its instincts to struggle in face of something that cannot be escaped.

After minutes that felt like hours, the Demon fell down, dead. It had tried one last hurrah, breaking through the front towards Kuna, but its injuries weakened it enough for Kid to finally strike it down. It had shattered several Skeletons, but their spirits remained intact with Kuna’s timely intervention.

It left only one thing to do.

“I… We are not the Twelve. I am one of, but these people at my side are not. They are… They are my creations, my children and my friends. They are my Skeletons. Those that follow my will, although these do so by their own, even if you might not believe me.”

She scanned the audience, fully stunned by what had transpired. Even the amiable Guildmaster that called her Saintess before had his jaw wide open, no words escaping.

“I told you. I am no Saintess, and I can revive the dead. That is not because of my connection with the Goddess, but because of my own ability. I…

“Everyone, I am Kuna, of the Twelve. And I… am a Necromancer.”

***

Combat between two people usually comes down to one of three things.

Equipment. No matter what anyone may say, the quality of the items you carry have an incredible effect on how well you can showcase your skills. Even though a skilled swordsman can still be dangerous even with just a stick, if you give them a masterpiece of a sword they will become that much more of a threat.

Individual skill. An obvious point. To be so skilled that no attack of the opponent will land, while none of yours miss their mark. To be so much stronger than them that their attacks will tickle, while yours obliterate. To be so much faster that they can only strike at the gusts of wind your movements leave behind.

Adaptability. A strong suit of Humans, adapting to the situation at hand will massively influence combat. Be that changing to suit the environment and using trees as footholds to help your momentum or leading your opponent toward cracks in the earth to make them lose their footing. Even changing your weapon to suit the situation falls under this category.

Such are the ways to win a fight.

And what was happening right here in the middle of this city was… somewhere between a war and a duel.

It was a mystifying sight to see a high-paced duel taking place right in the middle of the ocean of Undead rushing towards a single point, a girl holding a sword and shield that was doing her best to cut down on their numbers.

With the absorption of the Necromancer the growth of Undead had stopped, but the initial burst of extra summons served to almost restore the army to its original size. With Ray fighting against the Demon, the speed of slaughter had also drastically decreased.

She could hold her own for now, but she knew that that wouldn’t last for much longer. She didn’t have the power to blow them all away in a few strikes, but she also wouldn’t fall in just one or two attacks. It was a war of attrition, the thing that Undead were arguably best at when supplied with a constant source of Mana.

She could only hold out as long as possible while Ray dealt with the Demon.

Unfortunately for her, he had no intentions of ending it quickly. He could feel it. With each movement, each passing second his senses grew sharper. His strikes grew heavier and his attacks more precise. When before he needed to carefully judge his speed to jump off of a tree, now he subconsciously reinforced it just enough to act as a foothold. When before he would have to defend attacks in mid-air with his halberd, now barriers formed before the Demon got any wind-up.

His Mana Flow became more violent at the same as it extended his circuits. The Flow stabilized itself and used that stability to violently expand once more. Each application of it became stronger, faster and more precise as a result. He got stronger and faster, his brain processed more information and his eyes took in more.

The Demon had not yet landed a single proper strike on Ray, while its own body was riddled with wounds. The only things it had hit so far were the Trees that Ray jumped off of. The clearing had expanded almost fourfold since this fight began, and trees were still falling as he continued evading and stabbing.

It was a one-sided beating.

Ray had an incredibly amount of leeway, and so he decided to experiment a little. The usefulness of footholds was fully demonstrated here, but he couldn’t always fight in such an environment. If he wanted to make a fight three-dimensional he had to start creating his own.

And so, instead of using a tree for the next jump, he tried forming a barrier like the ones he just did to block two claw strikes from below. The shimmering blue that filled his vision coalesced at the point where he wanted and his feet found ground. A moment passed and he pushed off, carrying all the speed from before. Flying through the air again, he once again cut the Demon in passing, before doing the whole thing again.

It worked.

He had found a way to jump in the air.

His feet hadn’t touched the ground in almost ten minutes, since the battle began. Now, they wouldn’t even be touching solid matter.

But the tides turned for only a single blink. The technique he was using once again required an absurd amount of control, especially as he went about improving his precision with each moment. From platforms tens of centimetres across, to ten, with the end goal of only forming it where his foot would touch.

He misjudged his speed once. Not enough Mana went in to the formation.

The sound of shattering glass rang out as the barrier absorbed his momentum and shattered before it could give it back.

With his speed gone, a straight punch that he didn’t bother dealing with as he would have dodged it instead connected with his chest. The metal of his breastplate was crushed loudly as the might of the Demon was layered behind this punch, filled with the frustration that Ray had been inflicting.

With nothing to block him, he flew across the clearing. Even as he hit the trees, they simply broke under the speed with which he was flung away. Even as he disappeared from direct sight into a dense formation, the sounds of wood breaking did not stop.

Now, only the forces of the Demon and the girl were left.

No words were said by anyone. The Demon was filled with anger and frustration at being made a fool by a being that he could squash with a single strike like that. The girl was filled with fear as the Demon turned its gaze towards her. With Ray out of the way, there was nothing stopping it from killing her with ease. She knew that she could not match this thing.

It savoured the fear it felt. The emotion strengthened it and it moved more slowly towards her to feel it for longer. The fear it could feel from the distance, the bugs that chose to observe this battle added to it. Before, the fear that they felt was directed at the insect that dared to face it, but now that it properly showcased the might that Demons held, it returned to being the one true object of terror.

It was so absorbed in this blissful feeling of superiority that it scarcely noticed how the fear only shifted for a moment. Rather, it noticed too late. Almost like a wave, as they noticed one by one, the object of their feelings shifted away from the Demon.

And just as it noticed that shift, it noticed another shift.

“YOU BASTARD!”

It’s body shifting away from the gravity of Earth, that is.

Its eyes couldn’t keep up with what was happening as it felt its flesh and Mana being rend asunder at a speed a magnitude higher than before. Within seconds, the proud blackness, twice as tall as the average Human was reduced to the size of a child, the darkness losing its lustre.

It fell from its position several metres up in the air back to the ground. Or rather, it was allowed to do so.

What now lay there was a puddle of black ooze, nowhere close to the terrible form that could inflict horror at a glance, now only retaining its disgusting nature as tendrils flopped out of it and attempted to grasp at anything.

Ray lightly landed next to it, no sound was heard from the movement. He took a single look at the slime-like being that he reduced the Demon to and with a dismissive shake of his head he squashed it with his hammer. Now a splatter, all Mana within it escaped, only for Ray to trap it in the area. Within seconds the black flow coalesced into a stone, similar to the Mana Stones he had been picking up, but shining with the proud dark light that the Demon had when it first appeared.

The girl, now freed from fighting as the Undead collapsed from the defeat of the being upholding them, could not say anything at this sight. Even as Ray picked up the remains and put them into a bag, she was entirely speechless.

Not only had he survived a full-force attack from a Demon with a physical body, he looked unharmed at that. Never mind that, he just went on to cut it into pieces immediately afterwards. A strength to do such a thing was only held by the most capable and shouldn’t rest with a month-old newbie.

He noticed her gaze and only shrugged at her with a few words.

“What? Don’t just sit there gawking at me, recover quicker. I have a lot of questions to ask you. And don’t you think the Hero that saved the city deserves some answers?”