Discipline, weakness and spies? (Final)

A/N: Sorry for the late update, I have no valid excuse, I hope this chapter makes up for it. Feel free to tell me your thoughts in the comments.

The night sky lacked the moon and the land was shrouded with darkness. The soldiers unaffectedly marched the open plains that were spread across the barracks to the Holy Kingdom.

They had one goal in their mind and that goal was the destruction of the holy kingdom's capital.

Yesterday an envoy came to visit Lucifer into the barracks and according to that envoy, Rava's soldiers had attacked the Demon army's camp located in the capital.

After confirming the envoy's news with his personal scouts Lucifer decided to launch a surprise attack at the dawn.

While Lucifer and Surge marched their army towards the capital, Bollock was given the task of searching Minister Morge and other survivors of the camp.

The effects of Bollock being absent can be seen from the fact that the army was marching at a slower pace and the fact they lacked proper marching route. Given the current situation, it would be rude to criticize Surge for his conducts but Lucifer was sure Bollock could have done a better job.

The soldiers produced sighs and moans when they stopped and it was announced that they will be staying there till the sunrise. Bags were unpacked and people started to prepare for a battle.

Even with darkness around them, they did not start a fire and nor did it matter. It was still summer night and there wasn't any need for them to warm themselves.

Considering that their plan was to launch a discreet attack, starting a fire would only hinder their plan, and being scouted at this point would be detrimental for them.

The element of surprise is always an advantage and for an army of the size of 3000, it was an essential advantage.

...

Lucifer stood before a group of scouts while they addressed him with the information they gathered from the holy kingdom capital.

"How is it?" Lucifer inquired.

"Not great My lord." the leading scout replied. "It seems like they are well prepared for an attack and their defense is stronger than ever. With that many soldiers defending, our chances of victory are very slim."

Lucifer stepped back to think, he did not doubt the scout but he was also paranoid with his answer. A demon is rarely ever cautious of humans and for him to say this meant that there was something very wrong.

"How many soldiers are we talking about?" He asked.

"Around 7,000." the scout answered.

Surge raised his brows and gave a doubtful stare.

"That many?" Surge voiced his surprise, "How did they manage to gather them in such a short time?"

"Most of the army consists of humans and the number of demons soldiers is only 2500 an..." The scout hesitated to complete his sentence which was noticed by Lucifer.

"Did you find something that might be considered weird?" Lucifer asked.

Understanding that Lucifer had noticed his hesitation the scout continued.

"Yes My Lord," ... "There seem to be other armed units roaming around the capital. From their appearances, I can tell you that they are not from around here."

"Other armed Units?"

"Yes my lord," The scout explained, "These soldiers are covered in armor from the head to toe and they wield high-quality weapons in their hands. They also wore a scapular over their armor with symbols that are unknown to us."

"Some kind of religious group." Lucifer placed his hands under his chin and mumbled to himself. "Were these armored units humans?" He asked.

"Their whole body was covered and did not show any skin but I assume they were either human, elves, or some other humanoid race."

"Are you sure?" Asked Surge.

"They did not have any demonic aura around them and their physique resembled closer to humans which led us to that conclusion."

"That Imbecile Rava," Surge roared. "To think that he would ally with our enemies how low has he fallen."

Surge released a threatening aura which forced the scout to step back. Lucifer noticed the trembling scouts.

"Control your emotions Surge." He ordered. "We need a composed mind to understand the current situation, don't cloud your mind with anger," he advised.

"Forgive me, my lord." Surged bowed sincerely and regained his composed posture.

Lucifer forgave him with a wave of his hand and directed himself towards the scouts, "Is there anything else you want to add or else you can leave, make sure to keep an eye on the movement of the capital and report back anything unusual."

"Yes my lord." The scouts bowed before leaving Lucifer and Surge.

After the scouts left, Lucifer turned to Surge and asked, "Is there any news from Bollock?"

"None, My lord." Surge denied.

"Keep me updated."

"Yes My Lord."

He stared at the sky and wondered for a while before speaking, "We should prepare a plan for our attack, I don't think we can mindlessly attack them and hope for victory."

"Is there a reason for that." On his question, Lucifer glared at him.

Commander Surge had proposed an all-out attack on the capital until it became a pile of stone and dust. Under normal circumstances, he would have allowed it but after listening to the scouts he knew he had to change his previous decisions.

"Forgive my rudeness, my Lord." ... "What I meant was that there shouldn't be any problem with our numbers. Even though they exceed us with 4000 soldiers our soldiers are far superior to them in combat capabilities."

"That is indeed true that our soldiers can win against them in a head-on fight but what makes me wary is those armored individuals that the scouts spoke of."

"What is there to be cautious about them, they are just some humans with better equipment. My soldiers can easily defeat them." Surge announced with a clear confidence in his men.

"I don't think your soldiers can." Lucifer's words made Surge give him a questionable look, "The people that those scouts described closely resembled the description of paladins and I am not sure which religious group do they belong to."

"That can't be true right?" He questioned, "Paladins are extinct, we made sure that none of those religious bastards survive the previous war."

"It looks like we missed many of them and if they really are paladins then they must desire to avenge us for the holy kingdom's demise."

Surge dismissed his speculation and added, "I think My Lord is overthinking it."

"I hope you are correct but it won't hurt us to be prepared," ... "Call in the captains I have a battle plan which I need to discuss with you and them."

"Yes, My Lord."

...

...

...

Humans are always at their laziest at the break of the dawn and considering the fact that they were not expecting an attack, their first line of defense fell as soon as the attack happened.

Lucifer sat on a horse and stared at the battle from a distance. The capital was burning and a tower of smoke raised towards the sky.

The demons clearly overpowered Rava's forces mowing down rows upon rows of humans soldiers. Most of these humans lacked proper armor and were equipped with standard iron swords and spears. It was clear that they lacked military training but their numbers created an obstacle for them to move forward.

There were few demons mixed with the humans and Lucifer cannot help but feel unease about their appearance. He can't put his finger on it but he was sure that these demons weren't regular demons.

Lucifer blamed the cause of his unease to be the absence of Bollock but once he started to analyze he can clearly see it or it could also be said that he can't see it.

The armored units that he was informed about weren't available in the battle. He didn't doubt that the scouts have misinformed him.

His only guess would be that they are reserved as an Elite force however, Rava's army also consisted of 2500 demons but he can hardly see more than 300 demons on the current field.

'Where are the paladins and Demons?' Lucifer asked himself, 'Are they planning to appear after our forces are tired?'

His queries cannot be answered which only forced him to make speculations.

His eyes traveled down the battlefield where he saw soldiers engaging on either side.

Lucifer was sure that his army was the one winning but he cannot enjoy their victory with the sense of anxiety on his mind.

The pace at which his army was moving forward was far too quick. Under normal conditions, he would have preferred it but now, he was concerned about falling into enemies trap.

"This feels weird," A voice approached behind him, Lucifer turned to see Surge closing him on his horse.

"You noticed too." He said moving his eyes back to the battle.

"At this rate, our army will be far ahead and won't be able to back out in case of emergency."

Lucifer was impressed that Surge was able to judge his concerns.

"I fear that our enemy wants to tire us out before they attack us with their elite units."

"Elite units?" Surge raised his brow. "The paladins?"

Lucifer nodded and blankly stared at the army. Surge also inspected the battle with him.

"It looks like my assistance is needed again." Surge said when he noticed soldiers on the left side started to fall behind.

"Be careful and make sure that the army doesn't move out too quickly. We don't want them to go far ahead and get trapped between an ambush."

"Please don't worry about it I will make sure to win this battle for you." He confidently announced while charging his horse toward the left flank.

"Good luck on your attack," Lucifer mumbled between his lips.

...

Surge raised his spear and charged straight towards the enemy. He was followed by many horseback soldiers and they headed towards the left side of the demon's army.

With a loud courageous cheer and they thrust the enemy from the sidelines and impaled many of Rava's soldiers. The cavalry pushed forwards and skewered as many humans with their spears.

They lifted the skewered humans and dropped them outside the battle and after disrupting the enemy line they retreated themselves to a safe distance.

The foot soldiers will then secure the finishing blow and march over the pile of dead bodies.

Human screams could be heard all over the battlefield which was silenced upon their death.

The air reeked with the foul stench of blood and the land was stained in red with few patches blue.

Blood flowed through the land like a freshly watered garden and the bright sun decided to dry the spilled blood into clots of sticky slimes. It looked as if paints have been spilled all over the floor.

The hooves of the horses were stained in the bloody slime which painted them red and blue, where the reds and blues refused to mix.

Whenever a side started to fall behind Surge led his cavalry into the weak points of the enemy's army and after disrupting their formation retreated themselves into a safe place.

This tactic was efficient and the results were visible.

Even with so many advantages, Lucifer was still cautious. Without Bollock Lucifer cannot think a way for victory if something unexpected occurred.

Lucifer was an expert in many forms of martial arts but he lacked raw muscle power, In terms of strength he was the weakest in the demon army.

Lucifer wasn't a great warrior but he was a great strategist which had led him to victory many times in the past but today he was unsure of his capabilities.

He can win as many wars as you send at him but all his wars were won when Bollock was close to him. Bollock would adjust himself to any change and would always manage to secure a comfortable stand and Lucifer would take advantage of this. In a way, Surge was still an amateur compared to him.

He was able to keep up with the pace of the soldiers but Lucifer knew that it could have been done better.

The battle was coming to an end when the enemy forces were reduced to less than that of Lucifer's army.

Lucifer wanted to take a sigh of relief but he refrained himself. He feared that him doing that would make things go horribly wrong.

"It seems the battle is nearly over." Lucifer heard Surge closing in his horse.

"It seems," Lucifer replied.

"It still feels wrong."

"I know, if I were the enemy this would be my best chance for a surprise attack."

"There won't be any problem, our soldiers can still go for many rounds." Surge announced proudly.

"You did a great job." Lucifer praised him, "The army did not lose any impactful number of soldiers and they aren't tired either."

"Thank you," Surge bowed, "It was only because you warned me that the enemy has some hidden motives."

"This was your victory."

They watched as the soldiers killed the remaining human army who for some reason refused to surrender.

While Watching the battle Lucifer noticed few flickering lights on his prereferral. He squinted his eyes to focus on that object.

"Is there something wrong my lord?" Surge asked when he saw Lucifer making a weird face but Lucifer didn't answer him.

Lucifer stared at the horizon and focused his vision until he saw a clear image of a man in shining armor. The man had a scroll in his hand and to him, it seems like the person in armor was reading it.

He diverted his eyes towards other shiny objects and saw that they were exactly the same as the first. He stared at them for a while and saw that the scroll stated glowing in bright white light. Soon Surge and others were also able to see it.

"What are those?" Surge asked as he squinted his eyes.

Lucifer watched it for a while and then his hands started to shook, "Run." He mindlessly spoke.

"My Lord?" Surge confused.

"RUN!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Everyone retreat, Retreat as fast as you can, do not stop."

Horns were blown indicating everyone to retreat. People at the fronts were confused at first but when they saw that the people on the back were retreating they also mindlessly started retreating.

The sound of hurried footsteps filled the land and a cloud of dust covered their feet.

Surge kicked his horse and rode it closer to Lucifer and asked, "What is it, my lord? Why are we running?"

"We are doomed." Lucifer replied in terror, "I should have known, How can I be so stupid?" He cursed himself.

"Please calm yourself my Lord, Please explain to us what is wrong."

"It's a demon cleanser."

His mind went blank and a heavyweight befell his heart, it took him some time to process his thoughts after which Surge turned to his subordinate, "Order everyone to run faster if someone is left behind do not try to help them just move forward. We will have to make sure as many of us can survive."

"Yes sir," On his order, the soldiers slowed their horses and started shouting his commands.

They must have moved only a few hundred meters when the ground below them started glowing. The light glowed brighter and brighter until a pillar of bright light appeared above them.

In a moment the pillar of light disappeared and it left a huge bald spot on the battlefield. Everything that was inside the light just vanished.

No scream, no struggle, no stain, they just vanished.

Lights did not only glowed over the demon army but also covered the humans but when it settled Humans still stood on their legs, unharmed, rubbing their eyes to fix their vision but for demons, it was the end of their lifecycle. Nothing resembling a demon could be found after the light faded.

"Those mother fucking humans." Surge cursed as he increased his speed.

He turned back to look at the army but saw many pillars of light which created a hole in the formation after it disappeared. "fuck" he cursed again and again while increasing his speed.

Surge looked forward and saw the light engulfing Lucifer. His mind went blank he then kicked his horse and mindlessly charged into the pillar of light.

The moment he entered the light his eyes stopped working. He could not see anything in front of him but he had already calculated lucifers position. He jumped off his horse and tackled someone who he was sure was Lucifer.

They both landed outside the light and Surge saw a clean white light before him.

"Surge," he heard Lucifer calling for him but he can't see anything, "Surge," Lucifer shouted but Surge did not react.

He felt a hand over his hips which lifted him up, "I am glad that you are alright."

Lucifer turned Surge and saw his face. Surge's pupil was completely turned white and his body stopped moving.

Lucifer did not want to admit it but he was sure it was true, Surge was paralyzed.

His eyes started to tear up and he began panting. He made a fist out of his hands and punched the ground while shouting at the top of his Lungs, "FUUUCK!!!"

Surge lied lifelessly like a doll, the only movement that his body produced was when his chest moved up and down when he breathed.

Lucifer lifted Surge over his shoulders and started walking towards the direction of barracks.

"Stop right there." A man showed up before Lucifer covered in armor. He wore a scapular over his armor which had a symbol unknown to him.

"Who are you?" Lucifer glared at the man with malice and anger reeking from his eyes.

"We are the paladins of 7 light." The idiot answered who failed to notice the bloodlust in Lucifer's eyes. "In the name of or our Lord, Jean the light bringer, we command you to surrender and receive justice against your crimes."

"I don't think I have to listen to you," Lucifer spoke while gently placing Surge by his side and drew his sword.

"That won't be a wise decision," A voice came from behind, Lucifer turned and saw several men on horseback holding a flag that the same unknown symbol on it.

The group was led by a man in golden armor with a blue cape, who spoke, "There is nothing left for you here but defeat, just surrender and we will take you as prisoners."

Lucifer looks around him and saw 15 more men who had their weapons ready for an attack. He tightened his grip on his sword at which the man in golden armor to shake his head, "You won't make it easy for us, will you?"

The man in the golden armor then got down his horse, another person handed him a spear with a long-bladed tip which he pointed towards Lucifer.

He then turned to his associates and said, "Order everyone to kill anyone that retaliates and those who surrender take them in as prisoners."

"Yes sir."