Chapter 32

  Reinos walked through the small door and stepped onto a narrow stairway going down into an even narrower tunnel under the walls of Garoshek. His two scouts — now captains — followed him as he squeezed past a couple of guards who rushed up to re-seal the hidden entrance. The hours long crawl to the city wall had left his limbs numb and aching — unlike Zag and Iska who seemed to have enjoyed the whole thing to an unhealthy degree — but it was a minor inconvenience compared to something else that had been weighing on his mind: how in the name of all that was cursed had he ended up becoming a general of the new lord of the Fourth Ring? And Reinos the Vengeful Flame? Well, the epithet the Hellguide had bestowed upon him was reasonable, so he couldn’t complain about that at least. The rest, though?

  While he had often played with the idea of becoming a general, of leading an army and bringing devastation to his foes, he had been content being a captain, serving Tarashak the Smoldering Storm. He didn’t think he was ready for this. Level 35 was nothing to sneeze at; even Tarashak had been under level 40 before the invasion, but how and why this Hellfire Lord Hyde concluded he was the demon for the job and to take on something like this? And what even was the Lord to begin with? He wasn’t a fire or ice demon, that he was sure of. The new lord was small, but he wasn’t a youngling. And what level was he? He gave off the feel of a level 40-ish demon, but his speed and his strength suggested a much higher level. And his weapons: he had a bonded item set. A whole set. Even Ugrathar the Great Brainlessness didn’t have a set. And the way he had appeared out of nowhere right at the Lost Pillars at the gate to the Fifth, well, that didn’t bode well. Was he one of the unspeakable horrors of the Fifth Ring? Surely, that couldn’t be the case; the stories spoke of immaterial wraiths, coiling tentacles, hundred-headed monsters and an all-consuming madness that accompanied them wherever they went. It had been a thousand years since anyone had the misfortune to lay eyes on any of the creatures from that realm, and Hellfire Lord Hyde did not fit the age-old descriptions. Perhaps the appearance of his heir was a clue, but he wasn’t sure. The runt was definitely a demon of some kind, but likely not native to the Fourth Ring. And the way the Lord could use healing spells — something that was only possible for the Blessed — led his thoughts back to the location of their appearance, and to the Fifth again. The Fifth had claimed all of Hell and ventured into the surface world once, so who could say with any certainty that they hadn’t stolen some healing skills from the Blessed. Ah, maybe it was better to not know, and to focus on his task instead of wasting his time trying to figure out something that wouldn’t change anything anyway; Hellfire Lord Hyde was the ruling demon lord of this Ring, and if nothing else, he seemed intent on fighting and killing the invaders, and that was good enough for now.

  Reinos looked around as he and his two captains exited the stone hut the tunnel terminated in on the inside of the defensive walls. They were in the city at last. Demons peered down at them from the ramparts of the tall walls, and a small crowd gathered in the street between ragged, worn-down buildings with their facades of crudely carved columns, collapsed domes and arches — signs of the minotaur mages’ earth spells landing with some regularity over the past weeks.

  An ice-demon walked forward from the armed and armoured crowd — a captain with at least 25 levels to his name, judging by the feel of him. The blue skinned soldier radiated cold as he approached; as a mage with some experience behind him, Reinos could vaguely sense how the soul of the ice-demon was producing the cold, icy variety of Hell Mana, which most fire-demons found revolting. Luckily, the ice-captain didn’t seem to be a mage; he had three, short spears on his back in some sort of harness, the metal tips glowing blue. Whatever skills he had for them were advanced enough to incorporate Hell Mana into his chosen weapons, which was something one could only ignore at his own peril, fire or ice, mage or not.

  ‘Greetings, General. I am Altar-Nordok, a captain of the garrison.’ The demon bowed slightly as he arrived in front of Reinos. ‘We’ve been waiting for our chance to wet our blades with minotaur blood, with at least some of us staying alive to witness victory. I hope you and the new lord can give us that chance.’

  ‘The chance is here and now, captain,’ Reinos said to him. It was time to find his inner Tarashak, the powerful and confident general. ‘I am Reinos the Vengeful Flame, a general appointed by Hellfire Lord Hyde, the ruling demon lord of the Fourth Ring. You know what this means?’

  ‘You’ll be forming a new army here in Garoshek.’ The demon nodded.

  ‘That I will. A plan and a campaign are already in place, and preparations are being made outside the walls.’

  ‘Hm. “Death to the Third Ringers”. If nothing else, the new lord knows how to name a campaign.’ The ice-demon commented.

  Reinos agreed; he was sure no-one would miss Ugrathar’s naming conventions.

  ‘Take me to the garrison commander and the overseer. We have much to do,’ he ordered the captain.

  ‘This way.’ The ice-demon turned around and led the way through the streets of the city.

  ***

  Reinos followed the captain through the streets, some packed with demons, some deserted, all filled with rubble from damaged buildings. A brisk, ten-minute walk later the street widened into a large, circular area — the centre of the city — where the water source lay, surrounded by a carefully maintained ring where the Wilds was allowed to grow its black trees and spawn its animals to provide food and a little EXP for the residents. Altar-Nordok led him onto a narrow path cutting through the small forest — a short walk, not even a hundred metres — and on the other side, Reinos found himself standing on the shore of a lake, face to face with two important looking demons and their retinues. So, these were the leaders of Garoshek, the two highest level demons in the city who held the place together in a semblance of order and cohesion, enforcing the few rules that typically existed in a city such as this. Reinos looked them up and down. The one that felt slightly lower level must have been Terolast, the garrison commander at level 29, the other Krasharak the overseer at level 30, both fire-demons. Reinos knew he and his two captains, Zag and Iska, had an indisputable advantage in levels, which meant he could challenge their rule and win, but since he was now a general under the ruling demon lord, that would not be necessary; the hatred of the common foe, and the fact that Hellfire Lord Hyde had made the city an objective of his campaign, would be more than enough. Reinos knew the garrison commander as well as the overseer had been given some knowledge of the campaign by the Hellguide, along with a slight compulsion to accept it. That’s just how things worked between a ruling demon lord and demons with lesser authority: the Hellguide that governed levels, skills and EXP, gave authority to certain — sometimes even deserving — individuals, otherwise demonic nature would quickly overpower any structure or hierarchy, and the entire Ring would descend into a chaotic and never ending brawl just to see who’d come out on top. Planning anything would be impossible. Maintaining a city or an army would be impossible. Huh, Ugrathar had almost managed to thrust the realm into that kind of nightmare through sheer greed and stupidity alone; quite the achievement. Perhaps Hyde would turn out to be a better ruling demon lord, regardless of what he was. Time would tell.

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  ‘I am Reinos the Vengeful Flame.’ He gave his name to the assembled demons. ‘I serve as a general of the new ruling demon lord of the Fourth Ring.’

  The two demons who effectively ruled the city bowed their heads before Reinos the Vengeful Flame.

  ‘General, I am Krasharak, the overseer of Garoshek. This is Terolast, commander of the garrison.’ Krasharak got the introduction out of the way. ‘We understand the new ruling demon lord wants to establish a new army here under your command.’

  ‘Yes.’ Reinos nodded. ‘There is a plan and a campaign in place, and it calls on the city to provide the demons to fill up the ranks. The two of you, as the highest-level demons in Garoshek, will be made captains in my new army.’

  ‘We understand and accept,’ Krasharak said, bowing his head again, then added, ‘Death to the Third Ringers!’

  ‘Death to the Third Ringers!’ Terolast repeated.

  ‘Death to the Third Ringers!’ Reinos joined in.

  This could become a popular campaign after all, it seemed.

  ‘What’s the plan? Krasharak asked.

  ‘The lord sent a champion,’ he began to explain, remembering his instructions to not let anyone know the ruler of the Ring was here in person. ‘He is a powerful demon who had faced the king of the Third Ring scum once. Unfortunately, at that time that cursed minotaur got away. The champion is outside the city, near the gate to the south-west. He’ll attack the enemy in that area while a part of the new army will go outside on the northside and attack the camps there. These are diversions to divide the enemy forces, giving an opportunity to the main body of our army to break out on the southside, and to fight and destroy the enemy camps one at a time without being overwhelmed.’

  ‘A champion? What level is he?’ Terolast inquired.

  ‘Hard to say,’ Reinos said, shaking his head. ‘My senses tell me he’s around level 40, but having seen what I’ve seen of him, I’d say he’s closer to 50.’

  ‘That … is as high a level as Ugrathar was.’ Krasharak nodded approvingly. ‘And the new Lord? Who is he?’

  ‘Hellfire Lord Hyde,’ he answered.

  ‘And?’ the two demons asked at the same time.

  ‘And … that’s it.’ Reinos stated. ‘We have work to do. You’ll meet the new Lord soon and you’ll see for yourselves.’

  ‘Good enough. As long as we get to bathe in minotaur blood, we’re at your disposal, general,’ Krasharak said.

  ‘I like the plan.’ Terolast nodded. ‘I take it the garrison will be dissolved?’

  ‘Yes. It is an army we need, and I’ll have the aura effects to make it as powerful as it can be. And so will you.’ Reinos smiled at the two city leaders. ‘Now, let’s start with you two, and then I want everyone in the city over level 15 to gather and join. Is that understood?’

  ‘Yes, general!’ the two demons chorused, the grin on their faces growing in anticipation of the coming fight, and hopefully victory.

  Reinos’ mood lifted considerably as the two leaders of the city gave the orders to their underlings to gather everyone for him to inspect and recruit; before the end of this day, he’d have an army at his command, and he suddenly felt very good about it. Perhaps this was the way things should be after all.

  As a long serving captain, he had seen and knew most of how an army should be organised, but it couldn’t hurt to get some additional advice from someone who had actually done it before.

  ‘General Tarashak,’ he called out, whispering, and he felt it as his thoughts and words left his mind and soul to reach the general by the Hellguide’s will.

  Ah, General Reinos, how goes your new army? Don’t disappoint me by cutting corners, you hear? You’re a general now. Tarashak’s words echoed in his mind, not much different from how it worked between a captain and his general. Being addressed as general, by Tarashak no less, whom he had served for decades … well, it felt good.

  ‘I’m just starting to recruit,’ he said. ‘I was hoping you’d have some advice for me about which aura skills I should choose when they’re offered.’

  I see. Right. You’ll be offered aura skills after you recruit the first thousand. Those won’t do, don’t pick any. You’ll be offered better ones at two thousand, three thousand and so on. Wait until you have your army ready. The skills you’ll get after five thousand troops are the ones you want. Then consider the ratio of warriors and mages and choose the skills that will benefit the largest number of your troops first, the rest second. Only let your captains choose their own aura skills after they’ve been assigned their soldiers, know what they are and what their role will be.

  ‘Right. Good advice, General, thank you.’ Reinos said. ‘I won’t disappoint. Not you, not the new lord.’

  Ah, the new lord. About that. Since you’re a general now, I think you should know something about him. Tarashak said.

  ‘What is it, general?’ Reinos asked, worried by the sudden change in the tone of his former commander.

  He’s not a demon. Tarashak stated, and Reinos listened, his demonic heart beating faster and faster as the story of how the general had met Hellfire Lord Hyde unfolded.