Second Wind

The magic bolts plummeted into Kies and sent him flying into the air several meters high before he came crashing back into the ground.

"I hope that wasn't an overkill."

Kies could barely hear the voice over the sound of his head ringing. He couldn't feel his body either. He was in pain all over and couldn't move. He let out a wheeze and gasped for air.

"Huh? That's amazing, he's still alive!"

"Fool, do your job right."

Kies was losing consciousness. He wasn't sure how he initially survived the attack but he felt like he was going to die at any moment now.

"Hmm, I'm sure he'll die soon. No need to blast him with more magic."

Kies's vision was blurry and he saw something hovering in front of him. 'Is this the afterlife?' He couldn't make out what the thing floating in front of him was and the demons didn't seem to notice it. It murmured something to Kies.

'What?' Kies could hear the voice perfectly in his head but he didn't understand a single word. It was in a language that he was not familiar with.

The ghostly entity then said something else. This time Kies understood it.

Do you wish to live?

Kies hesitated for a moment, unsure of what the thing was before he steeled himself. He didn't know what the thing was. He could be selling his soul to the devil but he didn't want to die just yet. He tried saying yes but all that came out was a wheeze. But it was enough. The entity howled and then flew into Kies.

"What was that?" the male demon asked.

"What are you doing!? Shoot him down already!" The female demon yelled. "Don't tell me you're blind, can't you see that!" She pointed at Kies who was levitating.

"Woah..." The male stared at Kies in awe as he was lifted up from the ground. The female demon continued to yell at him to stop acting like an imbecile and to do something but he just ignored her.

Kies suddenly felt refreshed. All the pain had gone away and he was filled with power. However, for some strange reason, even though he could feel his body, he couldn't control it. He tried to move his hand but it didn't respond. He opened his mouth and tried saying something and succeeded. But what came out wasn't his own voice or his words.

"How long has it been... since I had a body..." the voice was deep and raspy.

"And who might you be?" the male demon asked.

"Haaaaaaaaa..." The thing possessing Kies let out a deep breath and shot the demons a cold glare. The two demons shivered at the fierceness in Kies' eyes. The male demon panicked and shot magic out of the circles again at Kies but they were easily repelled. The devil possessing Kies smiled wickedly.

"I'm your demise."

***

"Ha!" Siegfried cut down an enemy soldier and raised his greatsword to get ready to cut down another.

"Watch out!" shouted a knight.

Crunch!

"Neighhhh!"

The ground shifted, disturbing the balance of the knights' horses, causing some of them to fall over, throwing the knight onto the breaking ground.

"Ahhh!"

The enemy fired arrows and magic at the fallen knights. Siegfried quickly got off his horse and yelled, "Everyone, off your horses now!" The knights that were still on their horses struggling to keep balance instantly hopped off of them at Siegfreid's command. Most of them hit the ground with their bodies but there were a few that managed to land on their feet.

"Formation!" Seigfried yelled. The knights immediately started to get into formation, but with the ground shaking and projectiles being shot at them, it was quite difficult.

"S-sir- GAK!" Siegfried caught the knight that had been struck by an arrow. Siegfried looked around. Yelps of pain and curses could be heard from the knights whenever they were hit by an arrow or magic. Siegfried clenched his teeth in anger and raised his free out up and shouted, "Barrier!"

A barrier of light formed around Siegfried, keeping out the arrows and magic. The knights quickly scrambled into the barrier and took a moment to catch their breath. Its radius was only a few feet wide but it was more than enough to shelter all the knights.

One of the knights stumbled into the barrier and asked in bewilderment, "How did Otanian soldiers make it into the city?!"

"Save the questions for later, we need to hold out till reinforcements arrive." Siegfried swiftly observed the situation. Including himself, there were seven knights. Most of them only had light injuries. There was only one with a major injury and despite all the chaos, only two had fallen.

The enemy numbered around fifty, and for whatever reason, they were all very lightly equipped. They only had a thin layer of armor with the Otanian empire's symbol stitched onto them and short blades. However, they were not weak. They had many archers and an unknown number of mages in their ranks. From what they had seen so far, Siegfried can confirm that the enemy had at least one earth and several fire mages hiding in the group.

"There might be no reinforcements." Everyone turned to the knight on the ground next to Siegfried who was hit by an arrow.

"What do you mean? We sent someone to command, did we not?" another knight asked.

"The rest of the city may be under attack as well. We can't expect help to come," the injured knight explained. The knights' faces suddenly turned grim.

"Get yourselves together! How can you call yourselves knights?" Siegfried shouted. He was the only one who was still standing strong. He was disappointed in the other knights for losing hope. The knights changed their expressions after hearing Siegfried's words. They were the kingdom's last line of defense. They were the select pick out of thousands of soldiers in the army and numbered less than a hundred. How can they call themselves knights if they gave up here?

Crack!

The barrier was slowly breaking under the enemy's onslaught. The knights picked up their weapons and steeled themselves for when the barrier fell.

"HA!" The knight on the ground pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and got up. Siegfried healed his injury with his free hand.

"Thanks."

Woosh! Boom! Woosh!

Arrows and magic continued to siege the barrier, now on the verge of breaking. Siegfried placed his free hand on his greatsword. The enemy frontline was a few feet from the barrier, ready to charge in once the barrier broke. The knights too, got into formation, ready to intercept them.

As the barrier started to shatter, the ground started to shake again, and suddenly a massive wave of wind blew from down the streets. The enemy archers and mages in the back were sent flying. They crashed into their frontline and everything was chaotic.

The knights shielded themselves with their arms and swords and were barely able to keep themselves from being swept away as well. Luckily the enemy absorbed most of it or else they would have been sent flying too. After the wind stopped, the knights saw that the enemy was in complete disarray.

"What in the world..."

"Don't give them a second!" Siegfried shouted. He charged towards the enemy with his sword raised. Though he didn't know what happened, they couldn't let this opportunity slide by. They were greatly outnumbered and the shockwave had given them an opening. They couldn't waste this chance. The rest of the knights raised their weapons and charged as well.

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Thanks!