Millions More
"We're supposed to fight that?" the Master said with an audible gulp, echoing what everyone felt.
"No," the Guard Adept replied, shaking his head.
He tried to put on a brave front, but the undiluted terror in his eyes spoke volumes even as it slowly faded. He sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than the Master.
"We don't have to fight that… thing," he continued. "The Arch-Mage does. We just have to clean up the scraps, and that demon just made our jobs easier. Let's kill that vredgnat with the sword and leave the Arch-Mage to his task."
"But how did the demons get ahold of a Berserk weapon?" the Master asked frantically. "They should be completely unable to enchant! And it's obviously made for the aesh to use only, how else could it affect her? We must have a traitor somewhere!"
"That isn't our responsibility to worry about," replied the Guard firmly, having removed the fear from his eyes, unlike the Master who was letting it leak like a punctured balloon. "Just be glad her ire is set on the Arch-Mage and not us, or we would've been toast right there."
A Tier IV aesh with a Berserk enchantment? Fate shuddered inwardly at the thought.
Berserk enchantments, by design, drastically increased the physical might of the wielder while simultaneously driving them into a blind rage from the violent Mana that coursed through their veins.
He had no idea how an aesh could even use a Berserk Imprint with their Mana burning abilities, but powering it with Mana wouldn't be a problem, since every aesh generated their own.
"Come on," the Guard ordered. "We just need to hope the Arch-Mage can hold her off long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
"The other Arch-Mages were placed throughout the city in case a Tier IV slipped through the cracks, but those fights should be wrapped up soon enough unless there's another one of those Berserk freaks out there.
"Unfortunately, we aren't the priority as all of the civilians are taking refuge deeper in the city, but thanks to our armor's surveillance they should be aware of it.
"Let's make sure they don't have more cleanup when they get here," he said, referring to the aesh.
He strode toward the aesh, Fate and Cait hurrying after him a few seconds later.
The Master turned his head to the new hole in the wall, the image of the demoness burned into his mind. Squaring his shoulders, he tore his eyes away.
He had lived for over two thousand years. This fearful display was pitiful for one as powerful as he.
The humans had won before. They would win again. And if these heathens decided to show their faces again thousands of years down the line, the humans would be there to bury them.
They had been on this planet for millions of years, and they would be here for millions more. There was no demon, dragon, goblin, or other Magical Beast in this world that could stop the Empress' prosperous reign.
The new additions were welcome ones. The other aesh and his combatants hadn't been close enough to peer through the hole and see the Berserk aesh woman, and they had chalked the sonic booms up to the warring Ascended in the sky.
The aesh had taken out three more Mages before Fate and the others joined the fight, bringing the total to seven. The Guards on the rooftops pulled their bows back repeatedly, constantly peppering the aesh with attacks from above.
Venden and Samantha were alive but were both bleeding heavily from a cut the size of Fate's fist, levied by the aesh's large sword.
Everyone was bleeding, including the Master Guard and the aesh, but only the aesh was grinning like a child in a toy store.
"Is this all you have, humans?" he boomed. "Seven against one, and you're doing so poorly! How did my ancestors ever lose to you?"
The humans didn't make some shoddy one-liner as Fate and the others joined in, making it eleven against one. They only redoubled their efforts.
The second the others joined, the aesh grinned wildly and gripped his large sword with two hands.
With a low shout, he swung the weapon horizontally so fast that Fate only saw a blur, the weapon leaving the aesh's hands and becoming a pinwheel that cut down four Mages before dutifully returning to his hand.
Fate recognized the Imprint as the same one the sword in his own hands held.
The demon's hand curled around his weapon as he parried an attack from the Master Guard, placing a strong step forward as arrows pierced his back before gripping his sword like a baseball bat and swatting toward the light Pospo was generating.
Venden threw his wooden shield up as he hurriedly stepped back, only for the sword to slice through it in a rain of splinters and shear off his left hand.
He cried out in pain as his shield clattered to the ground, looking up to find the greatsword barreling toward his face with enough power behind the swing to blow his hair back.
The two Masters stepped in, the Guard planting his feet firmly in front of Venden and placing his sword in the greatsword's path.
At the same time, the civilian Master stepped behind the Guard's back, his shoulders widening and his frame filling out as he placed his hands on the Guard's back for support.
The Adept Guard went straight for the vitals, stabbing for the aesh's heart.
Pospo and Cait jumped onto the demon from behind, the latter yanking at his horns as the former scratched and clawed at his face.
Gevum threw all the power he could into slowing the demon's sword. Kravoss blasted the aesh's elbows as Samantha and Fate buried their weapons up to their hilts in the aesh's hips.
But even with six Mages and two Familiars giving their all to stop or hinder the sword…
The Guard's sword snapped.
A gurgle bubbled up from the Masters' throat as blood poured from their lips.
The sword had stopped halfway through their necks, held back by the Master Guard's Skill.
The Guard snarled up at the aesh, who smiled malevolently down as crimson blood flowed from his new wounds.