Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 119

Unfortunately, I’m Not A Hero: 119

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Commissioned by Shaderic

Wordcount: 2500

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Going forth to save my soldiers brought a lot of memories I didn’t like.

Back in Ylstu, I had to husband assets carefully and I often used people to slow down the enemy or weaken them so that I didn’t have to risk losing my stronger warriors. I did my best to help them do their job, so that I could do mine. Terrain, traps, and tactics all amplified their strengths, but in the end, they had to fight against superior enemies in large numbers. Formations, traps, and terrain advantage, and even the fact that they’d die if they ran away, all only meant that my relief force would find three-fourths of the people I sent to hold a position alive and accounted for.

At best.

Usually, before they were relieved, they’d be whittled down to just below half.

So, going after Ashe and her few Kunoichi as they faced off against a superior force elicited a lot of terrible memories in the back of my head. All my prior experiences told me that I should be grateful if any of them survived the ordeal that they were going through. They didn’t have any advantages, it was likely that the enemy knew that they were there, and that the enemy outnumbered them. No matter how strong Ashe was, my brain informed me, she was going to die because I let my guard down and didn’t send a proper reconnaissance force through the tunnel.

Thankfully, unlike myself in the past, I had a key advantage that I didn’t have before, in the form of A’Bel.

A’Bel was covered from head to toe in bone-white armor with a flaming sword in one hand. There was no sign of the teasing, excitable Demon that I normally contended with. Her wings were tucked close to her back, lacking any grandeur, and her normally welcoming presence was stifled all others in my vicinity. No Amazon, no Kunoichi, and even Dragon dared breathe in her presence as she listened to my commands like a statue of war ready to burst into motion with a word.

Or, to be more specific, my words.

“Rescue Ashe and the Kunoichi with her. Cripple anyone who looks important. Kill the rest.” I gestured down the tunnel, from which the Kunoichi messenger had come from, and which my present troops were ready to run headlong into. We were going to do that, but I was going to lead with my most devastating attack first. “Go. Now!”

A’Bel’s response was an affirmative in my mind and a second later she launched herself down the tunnel. The span of her wings was too wide to permit her flight down its length, but she was plenty strong and fast. With my commands heard, she made use of the length of her legs and her supernatural strength to rapidly gain speed and surge towards the end of the tunnel.

With that settled, I turned to the rest of my troops and pointed at the wagon meant to convey the packaged slaves and smuggle them out.

“Pick that up. I saw powerful magics getting thrown around. We’re using that as cover.” I did a headcount. Kunoichi, Amazons, and Dragon-san were present. Ashe and a few Kunoichi went forward to scout while Ur went to save the endangered slaves as my lieutenant with my reputation backing her up. She took half of her Amazons with her to swiftly carry the slaves out, and my Hellhound had been followed by half of the Kunoichi present. That left me with six Amazons, four Kunoichi, and a Dragon to help take on the force at the end of the tunnel. “Amazons take up the position beneath. Kunoichi on top and be ready to jump off and start killing. Dragon, you’re going to protect me and carry me there.”

My soldiers complied with my commands instantly, but the former pirate blinked at my words, as if she couldn’t believe it.

I explained with as few words as possible.

“My lieutenant isn’t here. You’re strong and you can protect me. So, I need you to pick me up, carry me to the battle, and held me when I get there.” This wasn’t the time for me to be ashamed by what I lacked, even if the Dragon looked at me like I was telling her that I was the weakest thing that could possibly exist. “Do you get it?”

Repeating my words, along with the wheels of the wagon being torn off, brought the Dragon back to reality.

“I want your acknowledgement and a meeting with the Demon Lord herself.” The former pirate was working for herself and wanted a reputation. That was fine with me, since she couldn’t get any of what she asked for if she let me die. “I’ll follow your orders only if you give me that—

“Done. You’ll get it. Now let’s go.” I walked towards her and lowered my guard. The Dragon blinked at my acceptance, while I waited and observed the situation. Flashes of battle came through my link with A’Bel. She was fighting, but she was having trouble achieving my orders. If I told her to kill and not just cripple the possible sources of information, and not protect Ashe and the Kunoichi I sent ahead, she would have already won. But the caveats to her mission made matters far more difficult. Their opponents wanted them all dead first and focus on A’Bel later. “Well, what are you waiting for!?”

My words managed to get through her surprise quickly enough and the Dragon’s eyes shone with greed as she saw me as a way to gain reputation.

“Very well, but you better keep your word!”

I was taken up in the Dragon’s arms. She was shorter than me, but after a bit of shifting, she was able to move quickly while the others followed behind us.

As we bounded through the tunnels, my teeth grit into a combination of a smile and a snarl.

A’Bel was forced to erect a barrier, but she managed to save everyone else.

Two Kunoichi were dead, but we were going to make sure that those who killed them were wiped out.

…

The smell of battle hit us before we reached the end. The scent of blood, burnt bodies, and magic filled the air and sent my hair on the edge and pushed my soldiers forward. The Amazons carrying the wheel-less, uncovered wagon grunted and hastened forward with the wagon tilted forward as an ablative, after the Kunoichi leapt from its top. They were ready to break through and start killing the moment they exited the tunnel, and finish the enemy off with a counterattack.

My Dragon bodyguard almost sped up, eager to get glory, until I gave her a glare.

She fumed, but remembered the promise I made, and quieted down.

We were noticed quickly and fired upon by the Kindred without a word. The wagon worked well as a shield backed by six Amazon warriors and we escaped the chokepoint instead of getting trapped in a narrow channel.

The Amazons surged forward. Their armor was specialized to allow them to resist magic and protect their limbs against debilitating attacks. They trained at Roseanne’s dime a long time ago to become powerful warriors who knew how to utilize magic internally to empower themselves, which they used to their advantage every since then. As close-quarters combatants, the Amazons were unparalleled and if they were with Ashe instead of the Kunoichi, this could’ve been solved without any dead or injured on my side.

But I could revise protocols tomorrow.

For now, I had to take command.

The long tunnel led into a clearing in the middle of the royal hunting grounds of the Demon Lord. Roseanne had little time to indulge in the sport, and there was little need for game in the Capital, so it was hardly used. The noble house took advantage of this to use it as cover, presumably exercising their right to hunt in the area, but in truth smuggling people to sell off to the Empire. The clearing showed signs of long-term use, with a few trees cut down and some new growths in several locations to have its location hidden from anyone peering at its vicinity.

The advantages of the place were obvious.

“Kunoichi take to the trees! Amazons give them openings to attack!” The surrounding trees were prime spots for the Kunoichi to rain attacks down from. My Amazons were used to the tactic and could fight with it in mind, since it had been one of our more favored tactics against Kindred. Hold them down with strong close-quarters fighters and fill them with arrows, bolts, stones, and whatever else we could carry. “Dragon, engage! I’ll stay close!”

I disembarked from my carrier and gave a grunt, as I unsheathed the sword I’d stolen so long ago. The clothes I wore was Drider’s silk, meaning that it was plenty tough, while I had a few artifacts on my person that could mitigate both physical and ranged attacks. My training with Ur allowed me to protect myself. However, in the end, I was going into battle so that the Dragon at my disposal could attack the enemy alongside my other forces.

My command took the former pirate off guard, but she soon recovered and gave a vicious smile, and without a word bared her teeth and fangs before charging forward as I tried to stay close.

I strained myself to follow her, to protect myself in the melee that I found myself in, but in the end, it was like every other battle I’d experienced. The moment I stepped into it, all I could practically think about was keeping myself and others alive, while I ignored my body’s cries of stress and exhaustion. The enchanted sword I used, the artifacts that I had, and the clothes I wore were all enough for Reiser to take on this battle with ease alongside the Amazons and Kunoichi, but that wasn’t the case for me.

It was all I could do to survive and watch out for problems that needed solving, while everyone else inflicted violence.

Against the Amazons and the Kunoichi, the attackers were forced into the defensive immediately. The heavy, strong weapons of the Amazons, from large war axes, to clubs, and large anti-cavalry swords cleaved through the Kindred retainers present with ease. They didn’t fight fair, engaging enemies on the battlefield as a team of six whenever possible, and never engaged one-on-one. Coupled with the Kunoichi throwing poisoned weapons from the shadows with impeccable accuracy, the Amazons and Kunoichi were quick to dispatch the foot soldiers in the clearing with ease.

The foot soldiers, who already had lost a few of their own given the amount of bodies scattered in the clearing, fell apart against their combined strength.

They were cleaved in half, crushed into a paste, found their throats slit by perfectly thrown projectiles, or chocking and dying as a needle of poison pierced their necks.

Still, against the foot soldiers dying in droves, I could barely defend myself without my temporary bodyguard.

To her credit, the former pirate attacked while keeping me within easy reach.

Her claws easily tore through anyone who came after her or me. Even a Lamia covered in thick armor and wielding a spear with deadly precision, barely managed to give her pause as she burned the woman with her breath. Foot soldiers were tossed aside and her touch left them broken like puppets flying apart in air. She fought with deadly efficiency against people who could barely pose a challenge against her, and she was rapidly focused by the magical elements the enemy brought to the battle that was pinning A’Bel behind a shield as she protected the wounded.

A Kunoichi was quick to pluck me out of the way when the Dragon was struck with spells normally utilized s artillery, but the Dragon simply endured the hit and went after the Witches and other magic users a moment later as I followed alongside my Amazons and Kunoichi.

The magic user of the attacking force tried to attack by using close-range spells, but once we closed in the battle was over. Their bodies were frail and their stronger spells would get them killed due to range, so they tried to run away while fighting against us. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t hope to escape, and they were run down by my force as their spells were either ignored or dodged by superior melee fighters.

With the foot soldiers and users of magic dead, A’Bel was free to lower her protections over Ashe and the remaining Kunoichi, and my Demon came to my side as I reached my stopped Dragon’s side and confronted the perpetrator of the entire affair.

She was saying a lot of things, offering me anything that I wanted, but I didn’t bother to listen to her.

I vaguely remembered that the armored, surrendering Kindred before me was someone I saw before. She was a Satyr with goats legs and cloven hooves as legs. Her hair was russet in color, which was normally lustrous, but was now matted against her face as she looked up at me with fear with golden eyes. She held her family crest in her hand, and she took off her armor to show the fineries that she wore beneath: a tailored waistcoat over a revealing, silk corset over a body that could drive men mad.

A’Bel was at my side, Ashe limping close behind her, while the Kunoichi and Amazons were at my back.

My temporary bodyguard moved forward to seize her probably remembering how I ordered A’Bel to cripple the noble in charge but not kill them.

The Dragon probably thought that I wanted her captured for interrogation or incarceration with that order.

But that wasn’t the case, because we already had plenty of witnesses and evidence.

I just wanted to kill her myself.

With one step forward and a flick of my wrist, the enchanted blade I stole from the man who sent me off to day cut through the Satyr’s neck, stopping her meaningless, unheard pleading in an instant.

The Dragon stared at the dead Kindred’s body, while I took her crest of office and pocketed it for later.

I’ll make sure to crush her household completely.

But for now I had dead soldiers to take care of.