The Fiend's Creation System

Humans vs. Fiends

Without Julius and the elves being aware that they were being led into a trap, they marched onwards to meet the humans.

On the way to meet up with the elves, Julius and his homunculi found the river Arlayna was referring to. Since they were to meet up in the northeast before crossing the river, Julius just followed it, moving in the direction where the river was flowing from.

The river ended somewhere just before the Shifting Hallows. He thought of finding the end or the part of the river that was closest to the Shifting Hallows and make a small outpost there for his Fiends.

They needed more sources of water other than just the underground reservoir. That could wait until later since right now, they had more important matters to attend to.

As they continued traveling upriver, Julius and his Fiends soon found a shoddy wooden bridge. He reckoned that this bridge was the thing the humans created to invade deeper into the elven forest.

Unlike the elves, they wouldn’t be able to easily cross the powerful flowing river with ease. Of course, Julius didn’t know how the elves would be able to cross this river but it probably had something to do with their nature magic.

As for his forces, he and his homunculi thrived in water. There was no need for him to worry about them not being able to cross the river even if it was flowing rather fast. They could just move along the riverbed and get across.

Julius had his homunculi lie in wait, camouflaged beyond the forest line. Only he and Eisha revealed themselves and waited for the elves to come. Julius knew that the elves were lagging behind because he had taken out the leaf Arlayna had given to him and checked where the other half was located.

He felt the other half was still deep in the forest behind them meaning that was where the elves were at. It couldn’t be helped because the elves were moving in greater numbers than them.

Julius’s group of 35 all had great mobility and since they were of one mind and fewer numbers, they didn’t need to worry about waiting for anyone. 

With the homunculi all laying low in the shrubbery of the forest or hiding up high in the treetops, the elven army that had finally arrived was made unaware of their presence.

When the elven army commander, one of the elders, elder Vysin, saw Julius and Eisha near the bridge, he had his army halt before sending out Arlayna. Arlayna quickly broke formation and rushed over to Julius.

“You sure got here fast!” Arlayna greeted. Julius only replied with a nod.

“Mhm.”

She turned towards the beautiful lady standing closely next to Julius and asked, “Is this your wife?”

“Yes.”

“I see! So she’s also participating in the battle?”

“Of course.”

Julius curtly responded to her every question and Arlayna frowned after receiving the answer to the last one. Eisha wasn’t wearing any battle armor, just a plain white one-piece dress. 

Her large breasts were spilling out and with her delicate frame, Arlayna thought that she was more of a seductress than a fighter. If she was forced onto the battlefield, she'd only be there to act as a distraction for the humans. 

She didn’t think that women didn’t belong to the battlefield or anything. Arlayna herself was a weapon and she was able to become a squad captain. However, she just didn’t believe Eisha should belong on the battlefield. If anything, she was better off staying home than going out to war with Julius.

Seeing the perplexed look on Arlayna's face, Julius quickly spoke up, “Don’t worry. My wife can handle herself. Let’s get moving?”

“O-okay...well, if you say so.”

Arlayna was about to return but quickly stopped and asked, “Is it just you two? Where are the rest of your people?”

“...Don’t be alarmed.”

Julius ordered his homunculi to step out and when they did, the elven army immediately reacted defensively.

“STOP! Don’t attack! They’re our allies!”

Arlayna quickly yelled after seeing her people’s actions. Elder Vysin wasn’t any different than the rest of the elves. He already had his elven broadsword pulled out along with his shield taking a defensive stance. 

The frontline soldiers had already moved up to form a phalanx and even after Arlayna told them to stop, they remained in position and wary against the faceless...humans…

“Well, it’s not a surprise…”

“Just stay put! I’ll go back to convince them that there’s nothing wrong!”

Julius nodded and had his homunculi step back, but not into hiding. They only remained silent but this eerie silence coming from them made the elves even more guarded against them. It felt like if they had a small gap in their concentration, the faceless monsters would immediately pounce on them.

Of course, this wouldn’t happen unless Julius ordered them too. They just remained stationary and harmless as Arlayna went back to convince her commander as well as her fellow elves.

After a few minutes, the elves broke their phalanx and returned to their positions. Arlayna gave Julius a thumbs up to which he only replied with a nod. His homunculi began revealing themselves as they went to form up ranks behind Julius and Eisha.

Elder Vysin and a few of his aides went along with Arlayna to Julius and Eisha. When they approached, Elder Vysin was the first to greet Julius,

“Vandë omentaina.”

Julius and Eisha naturally replied to his greeting.

“Vandë omentaina.”

The two said this together and as for why Eisha already knew the language, that was because Julius shared the skill with her through their connection with the collective consciousness.

“You and your people...are rather frightening. I’m sorry for the earlier rudeness,” Vysin apologized.

“That’s alright. It’s understandable considering how my people look. If it were the humans, they’d immediately attack without question,” Julius answered.

“...I can see why you and your people were banished from your previous home.”

“I’m not here for revenge against the humans. I’ve just come to offer my services to you elves in return for your understanding and grace.”

“It’s a give-and-take relationship, you help us and we’ll accept you. Since we’ve all gathered, we should get moving. If we tarry, I’m not sure what the humans could do to Elder Dain’s daughter.”

Julius could feel the urgency in the elder’s words so he quickly agreed. However, before they set out, Julius wanted to clarify something with them.

“If you don’t mind. Can you leave the corpses of the humans to my people?”

“...Alright, but for their equipment, can we split it?”

“70/30. You, 70 and us, 30 since we only have roughly 30% of your numbers. It should be fair, yes?” Julius quickly proposed.

Vysin didn’t want to debate on this any further and since their percentage was higher he immediately agreed. After establishing the deal, Julius quickly led his people to cross the river.

He didn’t move through the bridge since he was afraid that it was booby-trapped or something and he shared this concern with the elves. He quickly had his Fiends move through the river and the elves did the same. 

Unlike them, they didn’t swim under the water but instead, the mages used their nature magic to create a bridge for their army. They made sure to stay away from the bridge. 

On the other side of the riverbank behind the treeline, the humans that were waiting for the elves to move onto the bridge were immediately startled that the forest began moving to create a bridge over the water. 

When City Lord Viktor saw this, he clicked his tongue in annoyance and said, “Well, I knew that the first trap would be obvious but I was hoping these stupid and prideful elves would fall for it. I guess it’s just my wishful thinking. Prepare to spring the real trap and ambush them!”

He relayed his orders using magic and his soldiers that were lying in wait for the elves to get closer began to get ready.

Viktor had noticed Julius and Eisha who were waiting across the river from a while ago and he was immediately entranced with Eisha’s beauty and her sexy body.

He was wondering why a human woman and man were talking with the elves but he surmised that they were part of the anti-faction that was against him. 

“I’d love to have that body under me…” Viktor had perverted thoughts as he looked through the magical scope in his hand. 

He continued staring at Eisha but was alarmed when he noticed some freakish monsters suddenly emerged from the forest and jumped into the river. The seductress also jumped into the water along with the man that had his hands all over her earlier.

“What the hell?”

“Sir, the elves have crossed the river.”

Before Viktor could even think about the scene from earlier, his advisor quickly reported to him about the elves’ situation.

“Alright, tell the men to get ready. I’ll let them have a little elven ass later tonight once we’ve finished our campaign!”

“...Yes sir.”

The advisor’s face wasn’t all that happy after hearing the reward. He wasn’t even glad to be under his perverted boss. However, he did have to acknowledge his boss’s insight and scheming.

They had concocted this plan for a few months and were only testing the waters at first, but now they were at the stage where they had decided to completely fall out with the elves.

“Once a majority of the elves have stepped into firing range, spread the black tar and have the mages quickly light them on fire.”

Julius and his homunculi emerged from the river and immediately, his minimap began picking up red indicators past the treeline ahead of him. The elves were already moving forward and he quickly roared, “GET BACK! IT’S AN AMBUSH!”

“!”

Vysin didn’t even wait to confirm Julius’s words. Right when they had stepped onto the other side of the river, he had a suspicious feeling already when he detected that there were no humans nearby.

Naturally, he had used a detecting spell earlier but found nothing so it made him suspicious. Now that Julius had confidently yelled that there was an ambush, he didn’t even think twice to order his men to move back.

“Retreat to the bridge!”

“Sir?”

The elves under his command were perplexed when they heard his command. They had scouted earlier with their magic and found nothing but now, after a single word from their newfound ally, their commander didn’t even think twice when he issued the retreat.

A few lagged in following the command and this proved fatal. When Julius had roared out the warning earlier, the humans were also caught off guard but unlike the elves who hesitated, the humans immediately executed their plan.

Black liquid was suddenly fired from behind the treeline and the elves who were already on the shore were drenched in it. It smelled horrible but they didn’t have enough time to even think about the smell when it was suddenly lit on fire.

“AHHH!!”

“Help! Put it out! Put it out!”

“Arrrrghhhh…”

Vysin quickly chanted something before roots from the earth burst out from under the ground to form a canopy over the elves at the front.

“Quickly take the injured to the back and heal them!”

The canopy created by the roots was burning fast thanks to the tar the humans had launched earlier. It wouldn’t last so Vysin ordered his elves to make haste. They took the injured while leaving behind the ones who were dead and beyond saving.

It was a cruel decision but the black tar was still being launched from behind the treeline on intervals and it only spread the fire and made it larger. 

The elves were naturally able to dispel the fire if it was created through magic, but not something like this. Julius did his part and had Eisha bring a few of their homunculi over to help them.

Julius, however, had set his sights on the enemies hiding behind the trees. Thanks to the minimap, he knew of their exact positions and immediately made his move. He didn’t charge head-on. Instead, he had his homunculi dive back into the water so they could move downstream.

Once they reached an area where there were only a few red indicators, Julius had his homunculi emerge from the waters before rushing into the treeline.

“Leave none alive!”