The third day of battle began in a strange way.
As soon as I stepped out of the tent before dawn, I felt an unsettling sensation run through my body. The air felt heavier than usual. It wasn't exhaustion. Nor was it fear. It was something different.
Something was wrong.
I raised my eyes to the sky.
Dark clouds covered almost the entire horizon.
They were not ordinary clouds.
Even from that distance, I could feel the enormous amount of demonic mana gathered within them.
I stood there watching them for a few seconds.
The more I analyzed them, the less I liked what I was seeing.
The camp was already beginning to wake up. Soldiers emerged from their tents. Healers organized supplies. Adventurers checked their weapons and armor.
I walked toward the area where the girls were gathered.
Lyannis was carefully observing the sky.
Liriel looked worried.
Scarlett stood with her arms crossed.
Vespera was checking her arrows.
Elara held her staff while studying the clouds.
Rai'kanna was also staring at the horizon.
"You noticed it too?"
Lyannis nodded.
"Yes."
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I."
Liriel tightened her grip on her staff.
"That mana is extremely dense."
"Do you know what it is?"
"Not exactly. But it's definitely not something natural."
Before the conversation could continue, the sound of war horns echoed throughout the camp.
The lookouts had spotted enemy movement.
Once again.
The demons were advancing.
Soldiers rushed to their positions.
Commanders began issuing orders.
The adventurers prepared for battle.
A few minutes later, I was already observing the enemy lines.
The demons were advancing in great numbers.
But something seemed different.
They weren't charging.
Nor were they attacking immediately.
They moved in an organized manner.
As if they were waiting for something.
Then the sky began to change.
The black clouds slowly started to rotate.
The wind intensified.
A crushing pressure descended upon the battlefield.
Many soldiers looked up.
Some adventurers did the same.
Then the first drops began to fall.
Small dark droplets descended from the clouds.
At first, they looked like ordinary raindrops.
But it only took one of them hitting the ground for us to realize it was something far worse.
The earth began to hiss.
A nearby stone was slowly corroded.
My expression hardened.
"Everyone, stay alert!"
The drops kept falling.
More and more.
Soon the rain spread across the entire battlefield.
It wasn't water.
It was condensed demonic mana.
A nearby soldier was struck on the arm.
He let out a cry of pain.
His skin began to darken.
Another soldier dropped to his knees.
Several others began showing signs of weakness.
Chaos spread rapidly.
Then the demons advanced.
This was exactly what they had been waiting for.
Weaken our troops first.
Then attack.
"Damn it..."
Scarlett unleashed a fiery explosion against a group of enemies.
The flames destroyed several of them.
Even so, the rain continued.
Without stopping.
Vespera fired arrows continuously.
Rai'kanna led the nearby soldiers.
Elara used powerful winds to push part of the rain away from certain areas.
But it wasn't enough.
The storm was enormous.
Liriel stepped forward.
Her expression became serious.
"I'm going to try to purify it."
I looked at her.
"Can you?"
"Not completely."
She took a deep breath.
"But I can reduce its effects."
Without wasting a second, she began channeling mana.
An intense golden light emerged around her.
Brilliant runes appeared beneath her feet.
Holy energy began spreading outward.
The nearby soldiers watched in amazement.
Liriel raised her staff.
"Divine Purification."
The light burst in every direction.
A golden wave swept across part of the battlefield.
The black raindrops that touched that energy vanished instantly.
The demonic pressure weakened.
The nearby soldiers began recovering.
Some were able to return to battle.
Others simply breathed in relief.
But the storm was far too vast.
The purification helped.
Yet it couldn't reach the entire battlefield.
That was when Lyannis acted.
She opened several magical scrolls.
Symbols began appearing around her.
Magic circles formed at different points along the defensive line.
"I'm going to create protected zones."
Her mana spread rapidly.
Translucent barriers began to appear.
One.
Two.
Five.
Ten.
Soon, multiple areas across the battlefield were protected.
The black rain struck those barriers and lost its power.
Soldiers and adventurers began using those locations as temporary shelters.
The situation improved.
But it was still far from good.
The demons continued advancing.
Taking advantage of the chaos created by the storm.
I gripped my sword.
"We're not letting them break through the line!"
The girls nodded.
Then we charged.
I ran straight toward the first demons.
My golden sword cut through one.
Then another.
Then two more.
I continued advancing without stopping.
Around me, the entire battlefield had become a scene of utter chaos.
Magic exploded.
Soldiers fought desperately.
The black rain continued falling.
Cries echoed from every direction.
Scarlett unleashed lightning that destroyed an entire formation.
Vespera eliminated enemy commanders from a distance.
Rai'kanna led assaults against larger enemy groups.
Elara created powerful wind currents to shield the soldiers.
Liriel maintained the purification.
Lyannis continuously reinforced the barriers.
Even so, the demons kept pressing forward.
The fighting intensified.
Hours passed.
The sky remained completely dark.
It was as though the entire world had been covered by that demonic storm.
At one point, an explosion erupted near our position.
I quickly turned.
One of Lyannis's barriers had been destroyed.
Several demons immediately charged through.
"They're breaking through on the left!"
I ran toward that direction.
Rai'kanna was already fighting several of them.
Even for her, the situation seemed difficult.
The number of enemies was overwhelming.
I joined the battle.
Together, our weapons carved a path through the demons.
The nearby soldiers took advantage of the opening to reorganize the defense.
For a few minutes, we managed to stabilize that area.
But then another problem arose.
An enormous concentration of demonic mana began forming in the sky.
Liriel noticed it first.
Her face turned pale.
"Takumi!"
I looked at her.
"What is it?"
She pointed toward the clouds.
"Something is coming."
I looked up.
At the center of the storm, an enormous dark mass was taking shape.
The amount of mana was overwhelming.
Far greater than anything we had seen before.
Even Scarlett became serious.
"That doesn't look good."
"It definitely doesn't."
The mass slowly descended.
Slowly.
But steadily.
It looked like a gigantic sphere made of pure corruption.
If it struck the battlefield...
Thousands would die.
Lyannis's expression hardened.
"I can't block that by myself."
Liriel tightened her grip on her staff.
"Neither can I."
For a few seconds, no one knew what to do.
Then Elara stepped forward.
"Then we'll do it together."
The others looked at her.
Elara continued.
"If we combine our magic, we might be able to stop it."
Lyannis immediately nodded.
"It's worth trying."
Liriel agreed.
So did Scarlett.
The girls quickly began channeling mana.
An enormous amount of energy surged around them.
Rai'kanna and I remained in front of them, protecting the group while they worked.
The sphere kept descending.
Getting closer and closer.
The pressure was suffocating.
The soldiers watched in fear.
The adventurers stopped fighting for a few moments.
Everyone understood the danger.
Then the girls released their magic simultaneously.
Liriel's golden light.
Lyannis's barriers.
Elara's winds.
Scarlett's lightning.
Everything merged together.
A colossal pillar of energy shot into the sky.
The collision came seconds later.
A tremendous explosion illuminated the entire battlefield.
The impact was so powerful that I had to shield my eyes.
The shockwave spread in every direction.
Soldiers were thrown to the ground.
Demons as well.
For several seconds, no one could see anything.
Only dust.
Light.
And mana filling the air.
When I finally opened my eyes again, I looked toward the sky.
The sphere had disappeared.
The clouds slowly began to break apart.
The black rain weakened.
Little by little.
Until it finally stopped.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
The soldiers slowly realized what had happened.
Then cheers erupted.
They had survived.
Barely.
Very barely.
I looked at the girls.
All of them were completely exhausted.
Especially Liriel and Lyannis.
Their faces clearly showed just how much they had pushed themselves.
Even so, they were still standing.
I smiled faintly.
"Good work."
Scarlett let out a sigh.
"We almost died."
"But we didn't."
Rai'kanna gave a tired laugh.
"That's already a victory."
No one disagreed.
As the rest of the troops began reorganizing, I looked up at the sky, finally free of the storm.
The demons had retreated once again.
But that battle had made one thing perfectly clear.
The enemy was changing its strategies.
And they were becoming more dangerous with each passing day.
As night fell, we slowly returned to the camp.
Everyone was exhausted.
Everyone was wounded.
But we were still alive.
And that day, surviving had already been a victory in itself.
Thus ended the third day of the campaign.
The day the soldiers would come to call The Black Rain.