Chapter 304 - Vol. 5 -

Ash

The next day, preparations for the proper battle began to be finalized. 

"With the level of the enemies being determined, I believe the best course of action for our first steps would be to create a diversion," the general said, as Ash sat down nearby, waiting for the meeting to be over. 

Whatever plan they decided on, at the end of the day, her role would be the same. That fact made it so that she was currently struggling to stay awake. 

Especially after the late-night excursion she'd gone on with Keiko, but the constant yawning and heavy eyelids were both worth it, in her opinion. She'd have to check with Keiko to see if she disagreed, but she was somewhere else right now. No, the only other person here with Ash was Satsuhiro, who was listening to the meeting intently. 

As Ash dozed off, the man tapped her shoulder. 

"Pay attention," he said. 

"Why? It's not like any of this changes anything." 

"You'll want to know what the others are doing so you can help them. Remember, you're the main reason this is even possible. But, it can't happen if every single soldier dies cause you're too busy killing enemies a hundred meters away." 

Ash rolled her eyes but went silent. 

As if I've ever been good at protecting things,  she thought, and for a second, what happened to Arianna floated through her mind. What she'd done at Amber helped her move on from that, but that wound was, unfortunately, still fresh. 

"... mindless," a soldier replied, as Ash's eyes went back to the conversation unfolding in front of her. "These creatures will take any bait as long as it is tempting enough. With that in mind, we might not be able to empty the entire city, but we can at least get some of these demons to vacate it, making entering Pearl slightly easier, as we'll be met with less resistance." 

"As soon as we're settled into the city, we'll be reliving the Battle of Pearl if measures aren't taken to fortify our defenses the moment we arrive." 

"Measures that simply cannot be taken with this amount of soldiers," the general replied to his commander. "Relative to the number of enemies, anyway." 

"Exactly." 

"Ah... Which means we arrive at the same conclusion as we did previously." 

"And what's that?" Satsuhiro asked from the side. The general and his commander looked at each other, nodding, before responding to the Savior. 

"We need the portal to be closed before anything can truly be done," he declared. "Any and all reinforcements we receive will arrive from Jade in days. Niven can use his portal to call for reinforcements in hours. As long as he maintains this advantage, we cannot win." 

"So, you want me to go in and close it before we kick things off?" Ash asked, her eyes narrowed. 

"Yes, if that is a possibility," he added. "It is the best option available to us at the moment." 

Ash, however, quickly narrowed her eyes when she heard that. 

The immediate issue she took with this was simple. She didn't want the number of demons to be finite. The entire reason she was here was to hunt down as many of them as was possible. 

At the same time, though, one thought snuck in. 

The more of these things there are, and the longer this goes on for, the higher the chances are that something will happen to Keiko, or anyone else in our group. 

It was a realization that made her pause as she opened her mouth to respond. 

"Well, Savior?" He asked. "Are you able to close the portal?" 

As Ash heard that and raised her eyes up to meet the general's, she nodded. 

"Yeah, I'll do it." 

The meeting concluded shortly after that. The general tried to suggest to her that a few more soldiers come with her, but Ash rejected the idea. She wanted to do this alone. The last thing she needed was more people to protect. As long as she could focus on just killing her enemies, that was what she would do. So, it was settled. 

As soon as Ash indicated that she'd do it, Kasumi and some of the other mages would set up a distraction to pull away some of the demonic forces from the portal. Then, Ash would go down there and do what she'd done a few times before. 

They'd suggested waiting till nightfall, but, honestly, Ash just wanted to get it over with. So, with Kasumi, Satsuhiro, and a couple of other Fire mages behind her, Ash began the walk down the hill, for the second day in a row. 

"Don't let your guard down," Satsuhiro advised her. "Remember, just a single moment of carelessness can mean your death. Don't let that happen." 

"Yeah, I know," Ash replied. "So, what now? Do I just wait here till you guys do what you're going to do?" 

"Yes. The other mages and I will pull them away and once we do, you sneak in from behind them. Are you ready?"  Satsuhiro asked the others. Each one nodded, as Kasumi put her hands behind her head. 

"Sooner we get this done, the sooner I can go back to sleep," Kasumi replied. "I'm ready." 

"Well, alright then. Ash, head down to those trees over there and keep an eye out. As soon as you see them move, you rush in." 

"Got it." 

"Good luck," Satsuhiro added at the end, and both parties split. Ash, on her own, made her way to the east, where the buff soon made itself known. 

Status Effect Gained: Niven's Blessing

The power that began flowing through her veins was nostalgic. It reminded her of a time when she didn't have things quite as figured out as she did today. Granted, the number of things she truly understood had not grown too substantially, but she knew she'd progressed far beyond what she had been before. 

Now, if only she could figure out a way to ask Kasumi to let her grab her tits for just a couple of seconds next time they-

"No," she muttered, "get that shit out of your head. Focus." 

Soon, Ash was crouched down behind the treeline, her eyes set on the demons in the distance, mindlessly patrolling the area surrounding the portal. It took a while, but after some minutes a giant sphere of flames was sent out into the air. A sphere that came crashing down onto a few demons, searing their flesh, and prompting some confused sounds that Ash could hear from where she was. This, of course, made the demons run straight toward the direction where the sphere had come from, and as Ash saw that the way to the portal was mostly clear, she began walking toward it. 

As she did, the imposing rift felt like it was growing. However, that phenomenon ceased when Ash arrived at the base of it. Once here, she quickly went inside the structure and came out into a forest, just like the one she'd just been in. 

Well,  she thought. Violet sky, terrible smell, heavy air.  Yeah, I definitely didn't miss being inside these things.

In the distance, she could see three violet beams piercing the sky, and of course, that meant she had her target. 

"Bow," she muttered, transforming her  Lust just in case any stray demons appeared in front of her. 

And, of course, a few did eventually. 

To her left, she heard some ripping and tearing sounds, and when she went to investigate, she found a pair of Wrath demons ripping apart a Gluttony demon that they'd seemingly killed. 

Automatically, Ash nocked two arrows as she watched. 

I guess that's probably one of the downsides of having a demon army,  she thought. If nothing happens for long enough, then they just start killing each other. 

"Indeed, which is why I am glad you're here," a voice responded to her thoughts, and Ash sighed. 

Get out of my head. 

"Why would I do that?"  Niven asked.  "We haven't seen each other in quite some time. Don't you want to catch up?" 

No.

The half-demon hurried a little. The last thing she wanted was to hear the ramblings of this genocidal deity, but Niven apparently didn't quite catch that. 

"You have grown in power quite a bit since last we fought. I congratulate you." 

Really? Oh, thanks. You just made my day,  Ash replied as she tried to keep her eyes on her surroundings. 

"Of course. I can feel the chances of my victory slipping away even now. How will I ever hold you back? I am done!" 

Look, can you-

Before she could finish that thought, an arrow flew straight over her head. Some of her white hair came falling to the dirt as a result. 

It had come just a couple of centimeters away from ending her life then and there. 

Ash instantly looked toward the direction the arrow had come from and sent out three of her own toward it. Her arrows passed through a bush, and the body of a Wrath demon fell through it. 

You were trying to distract me,  Ash thought. 

"Hmph,"  Niven scoffed.  "And it nearly worked. That's rather disappointing. I thought you'd be more of an adversary than that." 

Biting down on the insides of her cheeks, Ash kept her mind quiet as she continued down toward the beams of light in the air.