From my raised position above the main battlefield, I could easily watch everything happen at once, keeping an eye on the overall situation and ready to send in more of my Knights to cover any situation that might require them.
The battlefield was a busy place, filled with chaos, and that was before you made one side a host of chaotic demons.
This was by far the most chaotic battlefield I had ever seen, but even then, it wasn't too difficult to keep track of the more important fronts.
The minor demons could be mostly ignored; while far stronger than a normal human, they were no match for my Enforcement Knights, and the lesser demons, one step above the lowest, were also unable to break through the lines.
All in all, as long as nothing major happened, the Enforcement Knights would be able to hold for a long time still.
Which meant I only had to pay attention to the greater demons, or really, the demon lords themselves.
Thog was not a full demon lord, but he was still just one step under that, someone that could indeed cause problems if not handled, but in the big picture, he was but a small rock among mountains.
D'Spayre was far more important, the second lord to have taken to the field, and personally at that.
For all his bluster, I could easily see the greed in his actions; he hungered deeply for Earth, wanting nothing more than to descend and bring about an age of pure despair.
To consume misery until he was full, or gorge himself on suffering until he grew stronger.
The pure hunger he gave off was nearly enough to manifest.
Nightmare hadn't shown the same desire, he still hadn't reappeared after I sent him flying, and my Knights went in to keep him busy, not a single demon had come out since then.
And while I had full confidence in those three, if Nightmare had wanted to, he could at least send waves of demons out, even if the three truly pinned him down.
The fact that he didn't, that was telling. He had fully understood the assignment, to put in enough effort that if their scheme succeeded, he would be able to get his fair share of the spoils, but not more than what was required of him under whatever agreement he had reached with Mephisto.
Satannish was also not putting in much effort, having only sent Thog so far, well that and the massive army of his demons and demonic followers clashing with my army, but he himself was waiting.
Taking this all as little more than a game.
Mephisto might have been able to gather them all together, getting five great Dimensional Lords to join forces, but to make them take this seriously beyond that? That was clearly beyond his ability.
To these timeless and nearly unkillable beings, the so-called threat I represented wasn't real enough to get them to take this seriously; it wasn't yet a life-and-death matter.
Only Mephisto had felt the sting of my blade, and the fact that the blast I used on Nightmare, while strong, wasn't enough to do any real harm, only made them take Mephisto's warnings less seriously.
A war to decide the fate of all life on Earth was little more than a game to these beings.
Only the foolish or desperate would show as much eagerness as D'Spayre.
As long as Galahad and those three could last, that was one down, which meant that this all came down to just three fights.
D'Spayre.
Satannish.
And Mephisto.
"Sir Lionel," I commanded, "Go assist Mordred, finish off that demon and take the fight to your real opponent, lest he act before Thog falls."
Sir Lionel was one of my stronger knights, and while Mordred could likely handle the demon on her own, she had been fighting for a while already, and the demon was still on its feet. Having Lionel join would help to speed things up.
Mordred might be reckless, but she wasn't foolish enough to challenge a Hell Lord on her own, at least, I hoped she wouldn't.
But Lionel, he had a level head, and he was one of the few who could keep Mordred's more reckless impulses in check. He was a good choice.
"As you command, my King," Lionel said, a grim determination on his face.
He turned and ran, his movements a blur of motion as he made his way towards the raging duel between Mordred and the demon lord, Thog.
I had already seen the path to victory.
Hold back the others, ensure that they couldn't take this chance and invade Earth, and while my knights kept everyone busy, I would deal with Mephisto; he was the key holding everything together, and for causing this trouble, he would suffer.
But not yet.
It wasn't time just yet.
For now, I waited for Mordred and Lionel to finish their fight first, and so, I turned my attention to them.
-----
Mordred had no idea how to use magic, in that she was very much like her father and king, both had plenty of mana, yet neither knew how to use it.
So they both just used it in the simplest, most brutal way.
Mana Burst.
Red lightning crackled around her armor as she slammed Clarent into Thog's guard. Steel clashed with claws, and with a roar, she pushed, her entire body leaning into the swing, causing her body to rotate around as Thog was thrown back.
It was almost comical to see. Mordred was tiny compared to Thog, yet this tiny being still sent the far bigger being flying like he was nothing.
It was pure strength.
"Stand still, you big oaf!" she roared as she lunged forward, her sword a blur of motion.
Thog roared in fury, his massive body shaking with rage. He was a demon of immense power, a being who had devoured suns and laid waste to entire civilizations. To be treated with such disrespect by a mortal was a humiliation he would not endure.
"You will pay for your insolence, whelp!" he bellowed, his voice like a volcano erupting. He swung a massive fist, a blur of molten rock and pure rage, a punch that could shatter mountains.
Mordred sidestepped the attack, the wind from the demon's fist whipping past her, yet for as graceful as she was on the defense, she matched his brutality when it came to offense.
No grace, just raw mana-boosted strength.
No skill, just brute force.
She was a brute, and this was her fight.
She lunged, her sword a silver streak in the inferno, aiming for the demon's heart.
Thog met the attack with a clawed hand, the two forces colliding with a blinding flash of light and a shockwave that sent demons and knights alike flying.
While others might fear a stalemate such as this, since Mordred was forced to use Mana Burst to match his baseline strength, Mordred didn't fear running out of mana; she didn't fear tiring out. She was at no real disadvantage here.
Thog might be larger, but her being smaller only made it easier for her to avoid his attacks, making the fight little more than a battle of endurance, and Mordred had a dragon core inside her, which gave her an endurance that far outstripped most.
But this also meant her attacks lacked the punch to put the demon down quickly. While her sword could cut and wound him, she lacked the ability to finish him.
At least easily, one must not forget the advantages that could also come with size; it might make one slower, yes, it might make stealth difficult or impossible, but it also means that the length of a sword, even if inserted to the hilt, might fail to pierce the heart.
That was the true cause of this stalemate. Mordred might be able to move around him easily, avoid all his attacks while letting her own fall at him, but the wounds she caused were minor, painful, yes, but deadly?
Far from it.
Only a Noble Phantasm could bring this demon down, but those couldn't easily be fired, at least not at full power, not without a moment to gather enough power. And Thog, while a brute, knew very well not to give his enemy the time and space to do a big attack like that.
That was why Lionel had been sent.
"Getting tired yet?" Lionel's voice cut through the din, a calm, steady presence amidst the chaos.
Mordred didn't even turn to look at him. "Took you long enough," she grunted, parrying a vicious swipe from the demon's remaining leg. "I was starting to think you got lost."
"I had to make sure the King was secure," Lionel replied, his movements fluid and economical as he closed the distance. He was a stark contrast to Mordred's berserker rage. Where she was a storm of chaotic energy, he was a river, deep and powerful, flowing with a purpose that was both deadly and serene.
He moved to the demon's flank, his sword a glint of silver as he probed for an opening. "Try to keep him distracted. I'll see if I can find a weak spot."
"Whatever," Mordred shot back, her focus entirely on the demon before her. "Just don't get in my way."
Thog roared, a sound of pure, unadulterated fury. He was being harassed, a gnat on one side and a persistent fly on the other. It was insulting. It was infuriating.
He swung a massive arm, not at Mordred, but at Lionel, trying to crush the annoying newcomer. But Lionel was already gone, his movements a blur as he dodged the attack with a dancer's grace.
Mordred seized the opportunity, her sword a blur of motion as she aimed for the demon's back. But Thog was faster than he looked. He twisted, a movement that should have been impossible for a creature of his size, and barely managed to block the blade with his massive hand, accepting another cut before he attempted to smash his hand into Mordred.
Wanting to crush that annoying ant once and for all.
Yet Mordred just put her armored boot against his claws and kicked off, jumping away from his hand with a casual grace. Completely ignoring the demon's fury.
Lionel took advantage of Thog turning away from him and lunged, not at the demon's body, but at the wounded leg, the one that Mordred had mangled earlier. His sword, a plain but well-made blade, bit deep, slicing through tendons and muscle, causing the demon to bellow in pain.
Thog stumbled, his balance compromised, his leg now barely able to support his immense weight.
"Nice one," Mordred said, a grudging respect in her voice.
Lionel didn't respond, his focus entirely on the fight. He moved with a precision that was almost surgical, his every strike a carefully calculated move, a perfect blend of offense and defense. He was the strategist, the tactician, the calm center of the storm.
Mordred, on the other hand, was the storm itself, a whirlwind of destruction that left chaos in her wake. Together, they were a formidable team, a perfect balance of brute force and finesse.
The demon lord, for all his power, was being slowly but surely worn down. His wounds were accumulating, and his majestic visage was slowly being defiled by those two, slowly carving him up.
And yet, he would not fall.
He refused.
He had faced down armies, he had crushed empires, he had bathed in the blood of worlds. He would not be defeated by two mortals, no matter how skilled they were.
"You fight well, mortals," the demon said, his voice a low growl, the pain clearly audible in his tone. "But you are still just mortals. And mortals break. They bleed. They die."
He raised his hands, and the very air around them began to shimmer, the heat growing to an almost unbearable intensity. The ground beneath their feet began to melt, forming a pool of molten rock.
"I will show you the true meaning of power. I will show you the fires of my home, the very flames that forged me!" he roared, a vortex of fire erupting from his hands, a swirling inferno that threatened to consume them both.
Mordred and Lionel leaped back, the heat from the inferno washing over them, their armor glowing cherry-red from the sheer intensity.
"Is that the best you can do, you overgrown furnace?" Mordred taunted, a defiant grin on her face. "I've faced hotter baths!"
Lionel, however, was more cautious. He lacked Mordred's endless mana, and he didn't have the luxury of having armor made by Morgan herself, armor that was in and of itself a defensive Noble Phantasm.
He knew he couldn't just tank the hit; he needed to avoid it.
But the inferno was vast, a swirling vortex of fire that seemed to cover the entire battlefield. There was no escaping it.
Which meant the best-case scenario would be the one where the attack never finished. "Mordred, now!" Lionel yelled, already sprinting.
Mordred didn't need to be told twice. She jumped backwards a little, not enough to escape the range of his attack, but enough to give herself room to act.
The great horned helm on her head disappeared, revealing her grin to the world. Clarent raised high above her head as her body was wreathed in an aura of pure destruction.
"I am no king, but I follow the King's path,
I will destroy all that I must to bring the King peace!
Clarent Blood Arthur!" she yelled, unleashing the full power of her Noble Phantasm.
(End of chapter)
Support me at patreon.com/unknownfate - for the opportunity to read up to 30 chapters ahead.