CHAPTER 44:Bittersweet

"Dwarves! Redneck roared, banging his axe against a dwarvenstone shield. "Show him what hell really is!

And so the dwarves charged forth leaving the mage behind them as they closed the distance at a speed that would seem impossible for creatures of their height.

The devil however remained standing even as multitude of axes and arrows flew his way, the only movement one could trace would be the subtle hand signs that only him could understand.

"Boring"

A crimson outstretched hand waved outwards and with a loud bang, all the projectiles flew back bouncing off the many magic shields that the mages had just set up.

"Surely, this should have been enough" Redneck frowned. "And yet there doesn't seems to be any sign of that wily mage.

The demon seeing that no one attacked and instead stared at him behind transparent mana shields, smiled.

"Hand over the sword and I promise to let you go".

"Or you can all just die here and die, any way's I still get the sword. A win, win right? the demon snickered.

"Over our dead bodies! Roared a mage and just like that the shields came off in order to give rise to the spells and casters that went ahead of the dwarves to face the malevolent devil.

"Are your lazy bones waiting for an invitation? Redneck smiled, leading the charge as dwarves ran into the fray; each supporting any mage they could find.

Jumping some meters to dodge an incoming axe, the demon eventually cursed when a yellow ball of light crashed into him.

"Light mages?

"Great" the demon sighed.

Seeing the apparent effectiveness of the light element, all light specialist mages moved into action, throwing every light spell that they could muster.

The demon, their target got tired of the futility of his ground attacks and took to the skies in one massive leap.

"Much better"

"Dwarves protect the mages! Redneck hollered out, raising his shield above a crouching mage as bright mauve flames plummeted into the formation, incinerating a good number of mages and dwarves before they came to a stop.

But sadly the flames hadn't stopped because the demon was tired, far from it. And there was little any one could do to protect themselves from the next attack and the corresponding bloodshed that followed.

Descending in a whirlwind of serrated teeth and claws; the demon made crimson drops to fly everywhere as he tore through dwarves and mage alike , killing and maiming everything in his path.

"This is so much better than sneaking" the demon grinned just as his clawed hand ripped through the belly of a female mage while a brutal kick destroyed the shield protecting her.

Gritting his teeth when the mage he was protecting suddenly died, Redneck roared in anger and hurled with rage, an axe at the red silhouette that just passed by.

"Nice souvenir" the demon commended, swooping in with tensed arms as he aimed to decapitate Redneck with his very own axe.

"At least the sword remained protected" Redneck sighed in dejection as he hung his head down, ready for the slash that never came.

Instead a warm torrent of black blood bathed his downed head and upon looking up, Redneck saw a headless demon that still stood in one place like though it hadn't come to terms with its decapitation.

"Told you the plan would work" a voice beamed from behind him.

Redneck turned with fury and spat directly onto the foot of the human mage; an act done by dwarves to show great disrespect.

"What's with the long face? Clyde asked failing to see what caused the sudden hatred.

Redneck didn't reply and continued walking while he used an outstretched middle finger to point at Clyde before it turned around to point at the headless demon.

Walking forward, Clyde only smiled "Still alive?

"That only tickled bastard" the demon retorted from a massive maw that formed on his chest. "You are just lucky".

Clyde raised an eyebrow while he stretched out his right index finger.

"That it's well past dawn" The demon smiled.

"Not this time" Clyde frowned as a golden light formed on the finger seconds before it shot forward.

"Until next time" smiled the fading demon and with a finishing cackle the body disappeared in a mist, just as the golden beam of light passed through its center.

"You all should rest well for we have won" Clyde said out loud. Angered spitting sounds followed his voice and upon turning around to face the valley, he finally found out the cause of the dwarves' anger.

Hundreds of dwarves and mages laid on the ground dead, leaving behind saddened survivors that unlike Clyde didn't see any of this as a victory.

"But this couldn't have been a better outcome" Clyde mused.

After all everything had gone according to plan: the dwarves and most of the mages were to distract the intruder while the rest who hadn't gone to fight were to man the dwarven catapults in order to help the main forces contain the intruder long enough for Clyde to seal him.

"Sure the sealing spell hadn't worked" Clyde shrugged. "But Redneck does owe me one after all if I hadn't come to his aid he probably would be dead by now.

The dwarves didn't share the same sentiment for to them it looked like Clyde had decided to use them not as a distraction but rather as bait; a decision that had ended up in the loss of many lives.

Clyde couldn't care less after all the battle had been won and the 'Demon Slayer' sword protected.