Chapter 6: Aura Masters
The sound of clashing blades rang frequently throughout the village walls as the demon folks attempted to scale the walls. The foxmen were relieved because this was a small group compared to the main demon army. If the main army came to their doors, they would have come better equipped for a siege. They would have skilled wizards or magic cannons that could have blown the gate to smithereens in no time, rather than wasting time scaling the walls. The fox folks held out as much as they could, though their bows could only slow them down, as they did minor damage due to the debuff enchantment on the projectiles. Victor yelled orders on the walls to boost morale and told the injured soldiers to keep going and hold out.
"The demon army is preparing for a ram!" a fox soldier said as he pointed below the gates. Victor heard the commotion and looked below the gates, and what he saw made his brow furrow. A group of soldiers was holding a makeshift ram base out of a tree trunk, being carried by six soldiers on each side. However, that was not what made Victor's eyes furrow. It was the rows of demon soldiers in a phalanx formation, stacking their shields to cover the ram carriers. Victor knew that without any magic crossbows, they had no hope of stopping them from bringing down the village gates. Victor ordered the available soldiers to focus their fire on those ram carriers. He might not be able to stop them, but he could surely slow them down.
Just as the wall archers were about to focus fire on the soldiers holding the ram, the archers were suppressed by the demon archers, as if they knew what they were doing beforehand. An archer slid his back down the village wall, holding the shaft of an arrow lodged in his shoulder. The archer looked at Victor in dismay, as if saying it was useless. The demon soldiers arrived at the gates and proceeded to ram repeatedly against the village gates. The other archers tried to fire back but were not as lucky as the wounded archer and were turned into pincushions. Victor was not battling with skilled veterans from the war 300 years ago but with recruits and regular guards who had not experienced the cruelty and struggle of war. Victor surveyed the battlefield, and it was evident that his assumptions were correct, as some of the soldiers broke down, crouching into a fetal position and holding their heads, screaming for their loved ones and parents. Victor knew they would fail in the end, but he did not think it would end like this, with his men breaking in despair, their will broken, and their morale low. Just as he was pitying the situation, he heard footsteps behind him. As he turned, he saw a foxkin who was with the evacuation group running up and out of breath.
"The women, children, elderly, and disabled are safely evacuated to the forest and are currently heading to nearby villages to seek refuge. I have already sent men with them to talk with the leaders of the other villages to ask for reinforcements," the foxman said, out of breath as he quickly relayed the events. He leaned against one of the supporting walls to prevent himself from falling to the floor from exhaustion, as he had sprinted here in his full combat uniform.
Victor heard this news and was elated. This was a good opportunity to raise morale, as the goal they were fighting for had been achieved. Now they just needed to give it their all from here on forward.
"Men, the evacuation has been achieved! Fight for your mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, family, and friends! Fight for your home! Show these horned foes the true strength of the foxkin!" Victor shouted, and the wall guards cried out with a resounding, "AUOOOOOO," as they raised their weapons in the sky. Just as their hurrah was sounded, the gates were breached, and demon soldiers poured in like water from a broken dam, their weapons drawn and engaging with the closest foxkin as swords collided. The foxmen rushed down to engage with the demon folks, with Victor in tow. The foxkin always had the advantage of agility, speed, and dexterity as they bobbed and weaved through the demon soldiers' strikes and parried their attacks. However, they were facing skilled, battle-hardened demon soldiers who were experienced on the front lines.
Victor, with a loud roar, charged into the fray, targeting a demon soldier who was about to finish off a heavily injured foxkin. The demon soldier stumbled back but quickly got into his stance. Looking at Victor, he knew this was a skilled veteran. The demon soldier did not take Victor as an average soldier. The demon soldier did not like leaving loose ends and not finishing the job with the injured foxkin but was given no choice when a skilled swordsman was in front of him. With a loud war cry, the demon soldier charged at Victor with his sword held high, swinging it down towards Victor, hoping to cut him in half.
Victor lifted his sword at a 45-degree angle and parried the demon's sword, deflecting it away from its intended mark. Victor used the momentum of the collision, swinging the blade over his head and stepping forward to slash at the exposed area of the demon soldier's neck. The demon soldier took a step back and tried to deflect Victor's blade at an angle, but just as Victor's sword touched the demon's blade, Victor removed his left hand from the two-handed sword and shoved one of the demon soldier's arms to the side, breaking the soldier's stance and making him lean away from his center. Victor took this chance and used the momentum from the sword deflection earlier, countering by stepping to the side of the demon's blind spot. Using the momentum from the sword deflection earlier, Victor swung his blade in a 360-degree overhead motion and sliced down on the back of the demon soldier's neck. Victor flicked the blood off his cross sword and looked at the headless corpse. The injured soldier looked at the duel in awe. Though the exchange involved many counters, parries, and blocks, it took mere moments for Victor to finish his opponent.
"Are you okay, soldier?" Victor asked while helping the foxkin, who was still on the ground, regain his composure.
"Yes, sir. Thank you for saving me. I owe you my life," the foxkin said, getting ready to bow but was interrupted by Victor.
"Save it for later. We are still on the battlefield. Retreat back and receive treatment." The foxkin's face flushed red with embarrassment, as he had been about to kneel in thanksgiving in a chaotic area, which was the most inappropriate place for such gratitude. Victor, after finding some available soldiers who were not occupied with any combatants, handed him over to their care, and they proceeded to escort him from the battle.
Magnus Deus was making quick work of the foxkin who came his way. A foxkin charged at Magnus, only to be deflected, blocked, thrown, parried, and, in the end, slashed through their thin leather armor. It was as if he were cutting carrots, routinely chopping without any effort. Magnus felt frustrated. He wanted to use his skills but was given no challenge. As he flicked the blood off his 49th victim, he heard footsteps of an armored soldier approaching. Magnus did not need to turn around, as the only combatants with armor on this battlefield were the demon soldiers.
"Sir, we are
in dire need of help! A skilled fighter has appeared on the battlefield and is making quick work of our men. We have lost many soldiers to his blade. I implore you for your assistance!" The demon soldier kneeled in front of Magnus.
"Interesting," Magnus said as he looked in the direction of a soldier who had many demon soldiers surrounding him. Those who dared to get close and were not skilled enough were cut down by this particular foxkin. Magnus was looking in the direction of Victor, and with a satisfied smile, judging from Victor's form and fighting style, Magnus knew he was a veteran. Magnus Deus proceeded to make his way to Victor with long strides.
Victor was cutting, slashing, hacking, and killing any demon soldier who came near him. Just as Victor killed a demon soldier, he felt a sense of danger coming near him. With a burst of instinct, he reflexively swung and parried the incoming blade, enduring much force from the impact. Victor looked at the assailant and saw it was the knight captain who had first come to the village gates. Victor saw Magnus smirking at him. "Interesting," Victor heard Magnus say with satisfaction in his voice. Magnus Deus disengaged from Victor and stepped back, bowing.
"My name is Magnus Deus, knight captain of this demon army. I couldn't help but notice your skill, and I humbly ask to exchange blows, as my blade has grown rusty from the blood of your less skilled foxkin," Victor's face twitched at the last comment. As he could tell, this man here was a musclehead and only craved a worthy and exciting battle. Victor knew this was an invitation to a one-on-one duel.
"My name is Victor, Leader of the wall guard," Victor returned the greeting. Magnus beckoned Victor to follow, and with a small nod, Victor followed Magnus to a duel. The surrounding soldiers, understanding what was happening, backed away enough to give Victor and the demon soldier some room while still continuing their battles. Victor arrived at the designated space and got into a stance. Having not been in the field for a while, Victor was elated to have a worthy opponent for a duel. The demon soldier posed with his sword in the middle of his chest, with the blade sticking up to form a cross. Then he dug the tip of the blade into the ground and swept his blade across the ground in a half-circle around his body as he bowed to Victor. Victor did the same. With their formal greetings done, they both charged forward.
Victor swung his sword down at the demon soldier as the demon brought his sword up to catch Victor's blade between the space of the blade and the crossguard. The demon soldier quickly twisted his blade, locking Victor's sword into his. The demon soldier yanked up his sword handle, creating a pivot point with the sword lock, causing the other end of the pivot point, which was the blade, to swing down towards Victor's head. Victor, being quick-witted from his battlefield experience, stepped forward, using the momentum to send a side kick to Magnus's side. Magnus stumbled back a couple of steps, and Victor and Magnus's blades were unlinked. Victor used this chance to grab the bladed part of the sword with both hands and used the crossguard as a pommel to bash Magnus on his head. Just as Victor's crossguard almost smashed into Magnus's head, Victor saw something that made his pupils contract.
Magnus's body gave off a faint green glow, and Victor, with all his battlefield experience, knew what this glow meant. On the battlefield, there were soldiers and aura masters. Aura masters were feared combatants as they used the power of magical aura to enhance their physical capabilities. Victor did not have such aura capability and fought with his instincts and years of experience on the battlefield. Even then, Victor avoided the aura masters like the plague and left the job to his allies who were also aura masters. Much like magicians, aura masters used mana to supply their bodies. However, unlike magicians who used their mana for spell casting, aura masters used the mana around them to enhance themselves, granting them more speed, strength, agility, or stealth. Magicians had to cast a spell to enhance any of their capabilities, which could be a matter of life or death if they took too long to cast. Aura masters, on the other hand, just gathered the mana around them and turned it into an aura of what they wanted to enhance themselves with. There were many different variations of aura masters. Some were archers who used their auras to enhance their speed and perception, as well as their agility. Others were assassins who had all of the archer's abilities but with a greater focus on stealth. Then there were knights who used it to enhance their perception, strength, and defense. Victor was facing right now a Aura Knight.
With a loud roar, Magnus discharged a large amount of aura from his body, and it hit Victor, sending him flying.
"Ha ha ha, I am impressed. I feel exhilarated! I finally found someone who will not die too easily after a few exchanges of blades," Magnus smirked as his body glowed brighter green, and his eyes glowed a misty green. "Now I will get serious. On guard!" With that, Magnus charged at Victor. Victor tried to parry Magnus's blade strikes, but it felt as if a mountain were smashing into him every time he blocked. Victor kneeled with one knee on the ground as Magnus pressed down on Victor's sword.
"I enjoyed our bout; it made all this exercise worthwhile. However, it is sad I cannot play with you." Just as Magnus was about to charge his aura into his sword to break through Victor's sword and slice him in half, Magnus heard a horn in the distance.
"Urrrrrraaaaaaaaaah—aaa"
"Urrrrrraaaaaaaaaah—aaa"
Everyone on the battlefield stopped what they were doing after hearing the strange horn. Demon and foxkin ceased their life-and-death battles to look off in the distance where a lone figure in strange armor with horns and a demon-like mask stood. In his hands, he held a shell horn decorated with engravings. The figure kept blowing his horn as several other figures appeared behind him. They were all dressed in unique armor with colorful twine woven onto it.
Many wondered which side this new army was from, as their flags were not recognized from any known country or noble house. This army did not have the traditional flag that hung from the top part of a protruded pole; instead, their flags had a unique design. Just as the soldier with the horns stopped blowing, a large group of soldiers with Yari spears and katanas, decorated in red armor with red horns adorning their helmets, gave off an oppressive aura. The group charged directly at the flank of the demon army, which was at a standstill with the foxkin at their front. The demon soldiers, who had been in a daze from the sudden appearance of the new combatants, awoke from their stupor and braced for impact as the Red Horn Samurai soldiers rammed into their flanks.
Tomoe saw the struggle between the foxkin and demon soldiers and noticed that the defenders were obviously the foxkin, given their low-quality armor. She also saw that some of the foxkin were mounted on the wall, still shooting down at the demon soldiers.
Tomoe ordered a soldier to blow the horns of battle and ordered a group of Red Horns samurai to ram into the flanks of the grey skins (what Tomoe calls them cuz from her perspective she doesn't know the races of this world and to her the demon soldier just look humans with grey skin as she did not notice their pointy ears a the end of their ears which most of time were hidden underneath the demon soldier helmets).
"Anyone who earn large merit will be rewarded personally by Johnson-dono. I will personally speak on his behalf."- With this the soldier were hyped and their eye blazed with murderous spirits, on everyone minds "I need to get as many enemy heads as possible." With a loud roar a group of samurai soldier and foot soldier with the Red Horn Samurai at the front charged at the demon army.
The demon soldier took this group of combatant that were charging from their flanks as nothing special as they stacked their shield into a phalanx formation against the samurai but what they saw next made them sweat in dread. If it were any other soldier the demon soldier can handle them if they were "regular" soldier but why they saw as the Red Samurai got close were that their bodies all glowed green and gave off a more opressing aura that were not inferior to that of Magnus knight aura. The demon soldier had no time to react as their formation were cut through like a hot knife through butter as large group penitrated through the flanks the demon army.
The demon soldier and samurai soldier and ashiguru clashed fiercely. The demon soldier took the foxkin as a sort of drill excercise and always looked down on other species. However these soldier were facing a large group of aura masters which forced these skilled soldier to give their all- for their survival....
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone