Struggle

Ilmar's ears perked as he vaguely heard sounds of eating, which confused him. At this point of time, the rations still hadn't been distributed since they were saving up so that the food can last at least a week. Walking towards where the sound is coming from, Ilmar arrived in front of the storage building.

Opening the door, his complexion paled, and his face was filled with the expression of terror and wrath. "Bastards!"

Inside, ten people wearing knight's armor were seated, surrounding the ration boxes, stuffing their mouths full of food. Seeing him, those ten shuddered in fear as the food in their possessions fell to the ground.

In a fit, Ilmar charged at them, slapping their faces across so strong that they all fell unconscious. Ilmar's chest was heaving in anger while looking at the men on the ground.

The other reserve knights who have noticed the ruckus walked closer, and seeing the mess inside, their body shook, "Our food…"

Just behind the Northern frontlines, Eilmad, who had been busy on formalizing a series of plans to counteract the enemy forces and lessen the casualties on their side, was suddenly interrupted by one of his knights who came rushing at his position.

"Lord!" The knight called out while walking towards him. "What is it?" He asked without lifting his head.

Leaning down near his ear, the knight whispered something. A while later, Eilmad's eyes shook, gazing at the knight with shock in his face.

Similarly, at the other fronts, multiple problems started arising, unbeknownst to each other's knowledges. Without being able to vacate their positions due to the relentless assault of the demons, the problems kept on coming, without anyone to solve them.

When the dawn arrived, it was awfully dark. Because of the dark aura that was being emanated by the numerous enemies, darkness had encapsulated the entire perimeter of the city. The battles were continuously fought, with just a few hours serving as rest for the men within the city. Some knights even had their final breaths in their sleep, achieving a peaceful return to His embrace. The soldiers who were left, on the other hand, had it worse, dying by the demons' fangs and claws, tainted by their evil.

After a lot of pondering, Elric arrived at a decision. Sending his knights to the four generals, he awaits as his commands reach their destination.

"Retreat to the inner wall?" On the eastern frontline, Ilmar clenched his fist, hopelessness flashed for a moment in his eyes.

Eilmad of The House of Reino, whilst gripping the paper, sighed at their current predicament, same as the others.

Currently, little to no reports from the other lines had been arriving to their lines. No one knows the status of each other's battlefields. By retreating to the inner walls, they would have a more united force.

With that said, everyone prepared their retreat. Eilmad, a person who dislikes retreating without achieving something, then thought of an idea. Relaying the plan to his men, he sent them to Elric with haste.

After reviewing the plan, Elric found it feasible and approved, relaying Eilmad's plan to the others. When they heard it, they smirked at Eilmad's deviousness, yet sighed at their fate.

Soon, the plan was put into motion. Hundreds of reserves were sent to complete it while the rest continued to plan their path of retreat.

A little more than an hour later, the men that were sent to accomplish the mission returned. "It's complete, Lord Elric." They reported.

Now with all preparations finished, Elric lifted his hand to the sky. Slowly, a huge mass of energy started accumulating within his palm. The Demon Emperor, devoid of fear, looked at the man in the sky with indifference.

Suuu!

When the ball became ten times the size of a huge watermelon, Elric pushed it up with his hand, sending it to the sky, visible to the entire army. Boom!

As soon as the light reached a certain amount of height from the ground, it exploded, sending a strong shockwave past the walls, sending the demons meters away from it. The barrier that was put up with the statue at its center was also retracted to the inner walls, making the divine energy denser than ever before.

As soon as the ball was seen flying up the sky, the four-direction generals simultaneously gave the order to immediately retreat. The demons, seeing that their preys were running away, madly rushed back to the city walls to chase them. Fortunately, before the demons could once more climb the walls, the knights had already formed their array for retreat.

When the demons did begin occupying the walls and gain the advantage of having the high ground, they had already accrued their distance from them. Still, with the demons now within the city, they need to be careful not to let them ascend the buildings or overtake them, lest risking them or the other fronts of being cornered without even being able to reach the city.

Their situation is also ever riskier than before as Elric was now recuperating the energy that he lost. Although it would only take quite a few hours for him to fully regain it, it still means that the knights would need to survive those hours without him. That is why they need to hope and have faith that that person could regain his sanity before they were overrun by the enemy.

If not, then they are doomed.

As they approach closer and closer to the inner wall, Eilmad looked at the soldier standing atop the walls before nodding. The soldier bowed before a small ember appeared on the tip of his fingers and striking at the ground below him. A faint sound of sparks could be heard snaking below their feet, accompanied by the smell of sulfur. Sensing those, the retreating knights hurried their withdrawal from the field.

A few seconds later…

Boom!

A huge shockwave blasted everyone back as a huge wall of fire rose up and devoured the demons and Nephilim that unluckily stood above it.

When the explosion settled down, a huge crater was left in its place, surrounding the land beyond the inner wall. Buildings were pulverized, reducing the once beautiful city into a scrap of its past. Now, the Knights have a much better advantage than the demons with their high position over them, but this meant that they are now isolated from the outside, with those that have no power of flight having no means of getting out except by charging at the hordes of demons.

This time, their prayers for that person to come back intensified.