Lilith's Stand

-----Mai's POV

Once it seemed like the humans have been fully assembled, they still decided to push Lilith towards the front. "Unbelievable..." While still invisible, I float down towards the front before gently placing my hand on Lilith's shoulder.

Lilith: "!!!"

I wasn't surprised that the sudden touch spooked her, but I immediately try to calm her down by speaking through her mind.

Mai: "Don't worry, it's just me. Kaede's familiar."

Lilith: "Huh?"

Mai: "You will not die here today, I can promise you that."

I proceed to shroud her with the same invisibility magic I'm using, which also acts as a barrier against both physical and magical attacks. The people that were around her looked to be in a state of shock at Lilith's sudden disappearance.

Mai: "You can no longer be seen Lilith. Remain calm, and cut down anything in your path. If something happens I'll be right here next to you."

Lilith: "O-okay."

I say right next to her, but in reality I'll just be floating a bit above her. I'm not a fan of how crowded this is already. At least when I'm up here I can breathe in the fresh air.

Not longer after my little conversation with Lilith, the undead army began to charge. My eyes were naturally drawn to the horned devil, as he's still showing no signs of moving himself. He might just be saving himself for when Kaede shows up, that would make the most sense.

Soldier: "Charge!"

But to my surprise, the humans advanced as well. I would've thought they would stay close to the wall for a little bit of cover, especially since they're outnumbered by such a considerable amount.

With the two armies getting closer to one another, I can properly make out more of the undead army. It looks like a mixture of reanimated goblins, orcs, humans, and kobolds, along with the undead trolls and ogres scattered amongst the rest.

Soon enough, the armies finally clash as my focus was immediately drawn to what Lilith is doing. Thankfully, the undead don't seem to notice her as she easily slices into an undead human, but she seems to be having trouble pulling her blade out. If she didn't have my barrier she would've been killed right then and there, but after a few desperate attempts, she finally pulls her sword free from the corpse with a heavy breath before going after her next target.

Taking a quick glance at the others, the humans do seem to have the upper hand individually. But from the looks of things, there seems to be 1 human death for every 5 or so undead. At this rate, they won't have the strength to hold back against the entire army of undead, and that's not even taking the trolls and ogres into account. Looking back at Lilith, her sword was once again stuck, this time in the skull of undead goblin. Why isn't she using magic? Aren't human females generally more focused with magic? There must be a reason why she isn't using anything. And just by looking at her, I can sense that she does hold a decent amount of mana, so why is that?

At least the spell casters from the humans are focusing on the higher threats, but even after 20 minutes of fighting, things still aren't looking good for the humans. Lilith has killed about 9 undead creatures, which is pretty impressive with such a cheap, basic sword. The horned devil still remained behind, letting his forces wipe out the humans. Should I step in now before things get out of hand? It's not like Lilith could kill every single one of them when the rest if the humans are dead.

Mai: "Hah~"

I sigh in disappointment, flourishing my arm towards the ground, creating a massive shockwave. The earth crumbles in it's path, trapping the majority of the human sized undead under it as the ripples of the shockwave continue deeper into the army.

Not a moment later, the horned devil finally took action, heading straight to the front. In fact, he's heading straight for my direction, to Lilith. I doubt he wouldn't be able to see Lilith since he seems well versed in stealth magic, so maybe I should go out and greet him myself.

With my mind made up, I float up to the very front, revealing myself to the horned devil. Surprisingly, it looked like he hadn't noticed me until I had done so.

Mai: "Hey."

Horned Devil: "What? Where did you-"

Mai: "Nevermind that. Can you just stop with the attacks?"

Horned Devil: "And leave that abomination to do as she please?"

I notice his gaze leave mine for a second, looking behind me as the humans started to catch up, along with Lilith. I erect a barrier, splitting the humans and the undead in two, making sure this conflict is paused, at least for now. The humans shouldn't be able to see me on the other side, but since I've shrouded Lilith in my own barrier, she should be able to see me.

Horned Devil: "What did you-"

Mai: "I don't want the humans to get in our way."

Horned Devil: "...What do you want."

His demeanor changed from an aggressive stance, looking like he's about to cut me down to a more calmer demeanor. Most likely due to the barrier I just created.

Mai: "Forget about Kaede."

Horned Devil: "Who? That abomination? That monster?"

Mai: "Correct."

Horned Devil: "..."

I can feel just how much he hates Kaede just by looking at him. I don't blame him since it did seem that he worked for Oboris who looked to be the next king or something.

Mai: "Why are you so afraid of her?"

Horned Devil: "It's common knowledge that half vampires are to be eradicated."

Mai: "Then why not eradicate other half breeds in your forces? Other lords seem to have minotaur and other hybrid creatures, even chimeras. So why specifically Kaede?"

Kaede seemed to want to learn more about herself when we talked earlier, so I'm hoping this guy can at least give me something to bring back to her.

Horned Devil: "...Their blood."

Yeah yeah, I already figured that out.

Mai: "Yeah, I know that they can bleed unlike regular vampires."

Horned Devil: "That's not all. Their blood, it's like a plague. Anyone who get's it inside them, they'll die. That's what happened to hundreds of our kind when they killed the last one... Including Lord Oboris."

Mai: "Then just don't kill her. She won't bleed if you don't."

Horned Devil: "You didn't see their fight then. She used her own blood for her magic, even drinking my lord's blood right in front of my eyes! A monster who feeds on anything is a threat to us and also you humans. So why are you-"

Mai: "Hah~ Don't lump me in with those monkeys. I understand why you're scared, but I won't let you harm Kaede. She's under my protection."

Horned Devil: "Have it your way."

Suddenly, he warps to my side, clearly making swing at me, however I simply stop his blade, catching the edge in between my fingers as I hold it in place.

Horned Devil: "!!!"

He probably thought I wouldn't be able to track his movements as easily as I did, and with my free hand, I bring his body closer to me using force magic until his neck is firmly in my grasp. I could feel him trying to warp away but it's futile. The magic barrier that was surrounding me has now connected to the devil, which in turn has now engulfed him as well. As long as I have in my my grasp, he cannot escape. Desperately, he tried to free himself with his only free hand, but his attacks to my arm were trivial at best. Instead, I decide to forcibly extract his mana, draining him completely as his body remained elevated in my grasp before I bring him closer to my face.

Mai: "Have it your way."

Repeating the same words back to him, I shroud both of us in invisibility magic. I also collapse the barrier I put up between the humans and the undead as they immediately resumed their combat. Lilith also began charging forward, but I have other plans. Just when I see her sword being raised to slice at an orc trapped under the earth, I throw the horned devil into her swing, intercepting it as the sword wedges itself cleanly into the devil's neck, in turn saving the orc's life. Not that there's any more life in that orc to begin with.

Lilith: "!!!"

Quickly, I place my hands on her shoulder.

Mai: "Don't worry. It's me again. I sapped him of all his mana, he shouldn't be able to survive that attack. Good swing."

I'm hoping with this feat, Lilith could potentially be free having defeated the leader of the undead army. Looking around, I could see many soldiers and adventures all witness it as her sword was still imbedded into the devil's neck. Lilith seems to have gotten better at freeing her sword as she makes another slice at the devil's neck for good measure, causing the black blood to splatter up her arm and some onto her face. Maybe if he had mana he could survive her attack, maybe even a hundred of her attacks, but mana is just another form of life. Without it, you're essentially nothing. Which makes Yui that more interesting, being able to live off of constantly intaking mana from the outside. "Quite a specimen indeed."

With the army of undead still trapped in the earth from my previous shockwave, the humans had now got the upper hand as the undead were slowly being defeated with barely an more casualties from the human's side. Mission accomplished it seems. Now all that's left is to see the results.