Nightmare..4

The wave was reaching new heights, and we were slowly but surely losing. I couldn't see the end of these monsters, but it wasn't their numbers alone. Hope, this was that simple, but now I could say for sure that someone was controlling or ordering them. Looking at the stronger devils, I could tell it wasn't some absolute horror, probably a tyrant.

After recognizing that a tyrant was leading them here, I had to find the main body. Mind types are weak in combat, but I had to hold the wave, so it won't reach the village. My best bet was to leave all my summons to fight off and buy time, while I reached there alone. But it was too dangerous even to think about, as I had no idea if the tyrant was just awakened, corrupted, or higher. That would be my death sentence if that was the case. The more time I wasted on fighting the hoard of nightmares, the more I was digging my grave.

My army was too small to keep fighting until all of them die, and I personally couldn't fight all of them. It would be suicidal for me to do so. But I knew the tyrant won't be too far away, as they are not powerful enough to control the devils properly. So I had to somehow locate the direction of the tyrant. Mind types were some of the most deadly, but they can also be easy if you stumble upon their main body.

Finally, I had to get to work and go in there. My task was to find where the tyrant was most likely, and I would take Abyss watchers and a giant to become the shield and fight through the wave to reach somewhere near the tyrant. That was our best bet, or it would become impossible if these monsters had any direction in what they are doing. If they have no intelligence, then we will have a chance to steer away the wave from the village.

So, I jumped from the tall tree and ran to the front. With the help of a rock, I jumped high in the air and attacked the devil that was fighting the watchers. I killed it from above, with the spell telling me about my kill. Just like that, I was with Abyss watchers, moving from one place to another. As I was running around, I was reminded again it's not like a game. I have no stamina bar here. If I get too tired, it will be my death. I had to save my strength and be fast. These monsters were very vicious. If one of them bites, it won't let go until you cut it. They have no fear, as they have gone mad long ago.

As I and the watchers fought side by side, we formed a formation, working together to kill stronger devils and demons, ignoring the weaker of the bunch, and left them for the army and bears. The fight was brutal. I had many close calls from surprise attacks to back attacks; they were everywhere. So me and watcher were facing back to back. We won't be killed from either side. It was hard to fight like this, restricting my range of motions, but this felt like the safest way to survive this brutal war.

Just like that, it was almost night. The sun was about to set, and when night comes, it will be harder. So we were moving faster, even a little desperate. I finally had a clue, as one side of the army was too strong. That's our only clue to the tyrant. I called the giant to be our front, and we used him as a shield to cut through the wave of monsters. I had to brace myself as I and watchers marched ahead. It was so brutal and hard to cut through the wave, as they became more feral to us. This made me try harder, as I felt I was finally going to meet the tyrant. I kept my head down, and in a circle, slowly made our way in a line. My hands were getting tired; how many times I have to move them to perform a slash or a stab.

Finally, after what felt like a long time, we were at the end of the monster wave, and we were running away as fast as we can. Then I finally saw it, a monster different from others. It's protected by strong devils. It had so many eyeballs. I was sure from the mental pressure I felt just from looking at it. I closed my eyes because I felt something terrible will happen if I looked into them. Now great, it's a corrupted tyrant, not a dormant or even an awakened one that Sunny and Nep faced. While my eyes were closed, I ordered the giant, who looked like on his last leg, to cover me, and I sent the abyss watchers forward. I too went ahead. There is nothing I can do but fight.

As I looked at the reflection of my dagger, I first went to the devils and used my sword skill. I cut the insect-like legs of the devil, but it didn't matter; it was still dangerous. I left him behind and bent down on my knees. An abyss watcher took his jump with a flaming sword; he was going all out. The mental pressure I felt probably was a mind attack. I was already bleeding from my gums and eyes. I won't last long if the tyrant is not killed fast. The devil surrounded me and the giant. Even in pain, I let out a weak smile. I put my hand into the inventory and pulled out a sleep pot. It was a sleep pot; I had high hopes for it. I was hoping this will work. I didn't even know if this mad corrupted could even sleep or will they just shrug off sleep because of their madness. But I had to try. This pot is made of Trina lilies, and I threw it at the devil, breaking all over him.

First, nothing seemed to happen. But after just some seconds, the devil was swaying on his legs, and the huge devil the size of a house went down. His body was covered in hard bone armor, but there was just one gap in his armor, and I took the sword from the giant's corpse. He came a long way, but he did more than I expected, and I used the huge sword of the giant. I stabbed the giant devil and killed him from the gap in his armor.

And just like that, I used the sleep pots again and killed three other strong devils. It would have taken a long while, and I ran out of the pots. They are hard to make, as the Trina lilies are rare to find. So in the end, I looked back, and from what I could tell, the abyss watcher is not at all affected by the tyrant. But even though its powers mostly rely on its mind attacks, it's still a tyrant. It will not go down easily. I gritted my teeth together and tried my best to stay awake and not fall. My eyes were full of blood, but I did not care. It was normal for me to see the world in red. I have died so many times already. I was not afraid, and I slowly made my way to the watchers to help them kill it faster. I summoned my last remaining army of 50 people, and they will all serve as destruction to divide the powerful attack of the monster. Finally, I had enough power to gather my strength and go fight. I joined the watchers; they were doingamazingly. They had already destroyed many of its eyes; just a few hundred more to go. I used my weapon arts as many times as I could, and the watchers provided me openings. In the end, the tyrant was dead, with my sword finally in its head. It was a long fight, but even though I was badly injured, I was smiling. I also got a memory from the monster that I would check later. First, we had to make sure the monster wave would divert from the village.

As I was thinking that, I noticed something odd. It was too easy and did not make sense. I killed the tyrant that was controlling all the wave, but the odd thing was that there were too many, and they had so many devils. It did not make sense that such a big wave of monsters was controlled by just a single tyrant. Just like that, I looked into the distance and noticed something, filling me with complete dread.