Hell

"What the hell am I watching?"

A man's voice muttered in the cacophony of the battlefield.

Around him, death was all that was present. Whether it was the dreamer army or the nightmare creatures. Blood, bones, and corpses littered the crimson coral ground. Painting it an almost black shade of red. 

'Is this what real war is? No theatrics, just death.'

The man thought. 

The screams.

He could hear screams and wails of agony. Some people begging for help. Others crying for their mothers in their last moments. 

In the front lines, where space was a luxury, he noticed a large clearing to his left.

All he could see was a large circle of red mist. Two black figures darting around in pure speed, culling everything that they saw. It was horrific to watch. 

"Is that really Aldric?"

The man's voice spoke.

This person did not know Aldric personally but who didn't know his name. Argued to be just as strong as Nephis, his fame was second only to Lady Changing Star herself. His darkness to her light.

Especially after he ended the civil war. 

That split second was all that he could afford before a nightmare creature attempted to attack him from behind. 

----------

Effie was in a world of pain. 

She did not know how long she had been fighting for. Exhausted, her shield was too heavy for her to wield, and so she returned it to her soul sea. With her spear and battered cloak, her fight continued. Even in the safety of the nexus that she created, she could see that the sleepers beside her were still getting overwhelmed. One by one, they were dropping like flies. 

She did not know how long she could last. Her limbs felt like lead, and her heart felt like it was set on fire. 

But there was no room for doubts.

"Come at me, you bastards!"

----------

The third division was in dissaray. 

With their focus mainly being on the airborne nightmare creatures, each kill would have dropped a corpse accelerated by gravity on to their allies. Luckily, they had devised a net made up of durable wire from the iron spiders that infested the Dark City. This net acted as a ceiling to hold back the airborne corpses, connected to the large spires of coral around the land. However, litres of blood dropped down on the battlefield in a shower of gore. Turning the field into a hellish nightmare.

They had long lost their finite supply of projectiles. Arrows, bolts, stones, and the like. Even the siege machines had run out of ammo. The sleepers were now using their melee weapons to defend themselves. 

They were dropping like flies. The horde had long broken past the second division, whose primary purpose was to protect the third division. Not being proficient in melee weapons worked to their detriment, so they could not hope to fight against the nightmare creatures as proficiently as the first and second divisions did. 

Given Kai's position in the battle, he had the best view to notice if anything was going wrong. So when the indestructible net began to sag onto the battlefield, from the combined weight of hundreds of nightmare creatures, he had to do something. 

Utilising his aspect ability, Kai began to fly towards the net above. With his entire body screaming at him to stop, he continued. Even with the extreme fatigue he felt in his drawing arm and shoulder, stopping was not an option. 

Grabbing an awakened ranked blade from his hip, combined with the boost from the Dawn Shard and his own strength, he cut a hole into the net far away from anyone still fighting. Planning to drain out all the corpses through this gap.

However, he was not the only one flying in these skies. 

Five Spire Messengers met him in the air. Having found their next prey.

The chase was on.

----------

All it took was a single moment. 

It wasn't her fault, really. Effie was trying her best. All it took was a single half-step mistake born from a subconscious tensing of her injured leg. Like a moth to a flame, the horde took advantage.

A bite on her calf, a pull on her left arm, a cut on her back. A wave of pain entered her body. 

With the light of day being blotted out by the cloud of corpses atop the net, darkness rang true on the battlefield. The little light that she could see in front of her was now covered by the bodies of nightmare creatures that began to topple her. Her only saving grace was her robust body and durability. However, even that had its limits. 

'Fuck! What can I even do from here?'

Effie's exhausted brain was racing at a mile a minute to find out what she could do to get herself out of this situation. That was until a figure came into view above her through the gaps in her vision. 

She heard a soft and calm voice whisper in the air. 

"Death thrust: Tenfold"

In that exact instance, she could feel the combined weight of the creatures covering her seemingly disappear. Seeing her chance, she stressed her body to escape the burial.

Finally stood up; she went to see her saviour, but he was already gone. 

"You bastards! I'm not dead yet!"

Having lost her spear, she slammed her fists together and dashed to the nearest beast. 

----------

Nephis, Cassie, and Sunny all stood beside each other further beyond the last division. 

"I'm going to head out now."

Sunny spoke. Not sure what to say during such a moment, he finished off before leaving.

"Good luck."

With that, he blended into the shadows. Committing to completing his mission.

Cassie had a visage of forlorn sadness. Seeing something that most couldn't.

Nephis herself began to get ready to join the fray. Holding out to protect herself, the holder of the Dawn Shard. She deemed that it was enough. 

"I'll go as well."

Nephis spoke.

Placing a hand on Cassie's shoulder, she said.

"I'll see you when this is all done."

With that, she was gone. 

Leaving Cassie alone with her thoughts and worries.

----------

The addition of Lady Changing Star onto the battlefield bolstered the morale of most present. A lot of the sleepers found strength in her presence, while others didn't. Some did not have the leisure to even notice her. 

However, the light that she brought into such a darkness-filled battlefield was undeniable.

Healing those that she thought needed it, Effie was the first that she healed. With that done, she began to scorch the nightmare creatures surrounding her to a crisp. Like a star of ruin, not even her allies could come near and support her.

Feeling his darkness begin to weaken, Aldric fell out of his lucid trance and took note of exactly where he was. Ending a swing of his blade, he noticed the bright star that birthed to his right. 

Now that he had progressed the amount of Dark Sprites that he accumulated, his weakness to light was not as terrible as it was when he first hunted with Nephis. He theorised that it scaled with the strength of his own darkness and the strength of the light inhibiting him. However, Nephis had also gotten much stronger. Most likely progressing her cores much further than himself. 

Calling his apostle, he ordered.

"Bael, go support the healers and the archers. I'm sure they are struggling."

He injected a burst of darkness into his apostle, who couldn't produce it himself. 

Taking note of his reserves, he noticed he had 40 percent remaining. Luckily, he would not have to supplement his reserves with soul shards anytime soon. 

"I need a memory that restores stamina; this is not a joke."

Aldric's body felt like an anchor. His entire body was sore. It was the kind of sore after a long day of work; you could technically do more, but each step felt as if you were walking through concrete. 

All of a sudden, he felt a familiar ancient darkness. Looking below him, the Black Sea surrounding the island that the Crimson Spire rested on began to overflow. Filling the battlefield with layers of dark water. The already destroyed battlefield became slick and wet, working against the dreamer army. 

While Aldric wished that he could have manipulated the true darkness resting within the sea, a darkness that ancient would have never folded under his control. 

Knowing of the only way to stop this overflow. He looked back at the spire.

"How long is that rat going to take to open the damn gate?"

He looked around and noticed that the nexus that he had formed became a mountain of corpses. Including many of the sleepers that were battling near him. He could still see many of them fighting; however, exhaustion was catching up to them all, if not already.

With no other option, it was back to the battle.

*********

Thanks for reading. 

I hope you enjoyed it. Hard to write out such a large battle without slowing down the pacing.

Anyone read Blue Lock 282? Isagi moving like mahoragga.

skya7a3: Soon come. Soon come.

That's all. Till the next one.