The Demon Against the Heavens 210 Taking Command

"The Undead territory, as a whole, is divided into three parts: one is inhabited by the Ghouls, one by the Lichs and the last by the Soldiers. Among these, the most dangerous are the Ghouls, because they are the ones furthest from civilization and often also escape the control of their own masters, the Lichs, and often move skirmishes against the Trolls, who are close to them. The territory of the Ghouls is divided from that of Soldiers and Lichs by several rivers, which act as a natural barrier because, as you remember, the Ghouls hate water."

The words of the young disciple of Iblis intrigued the Witch and the black armour, who knew some details of the enemy territories, but were not aware of the exact geography and behaviour of their inhabitants.

"Hardened by countless battles with their Troll neighbours, the Ghouls are fierce, mindless beasts, born of bestiality, and are among the most gruesome creatures resurrected by Lichs. Their body is tremendously resistant to any type of magic and weapon, making them formidable adversaries."

Their feeding on the flesh of living beings instilled pure terror in the hearts of those who saw them.

The Soldiers, unlike the Ghouls, who had completely lost their mind, retained their intellect in part or, in some cases, entirely. They were the main weapon of the Lichs. Thanks to their intelligence, they were able to use abilities requiring Mana, but they had less control over it than the Lichs.

The only Immortal among the Undead was a Lich.

"Lichs are lords of summoning and the way the Undead use to increase their ranks. The scariest thing about facing the Undead in battle is that being in attack formation could prove to be a problem. Even if you managed to kill half of the Undead at the cost of one third of your troops, the fallen would return as Undead because of the Skills of the Lichs' Black Magic. Lichs are certainly among the most terrifying Classes on an open battlefield, despite their weakness in one on one battles."

Until then, the Lichs had never dared to attack Orma because their only Immortal was unable to sustain a direct fight against Cesar or Aure. Now, however, thanks to the new alliance signed with the Trolls, the second Immortal in the enemy deployment was specialized in defense and stamina.

"The Trolls' regenerative abilities and brute force are the reason why they have always fought for their territory with the Ghouls. If the Ghouls are able bite an arm off in an instant, the Trolls are often able to tear the bodies of Humans in two with bare hands, let alone the Goblins who generally also have a leaner build."

Among the Soldiers there were many and different ranks, starting from simple Skeleton Soldiers, up to the Death Knights.

"The complexity of the Undead ranks is one of their strengths. Only by organizing our troops' deployment in the best possible way we will be able to defeat their forces and tear them to pieces," Helial finished his explanation during that pre-war summit.

"If we were to fight on the front line, the soldiers between First and Third Phase will surely the battle," said Pseudonym hoarsely.

"Surely we would be able to win the battle," said Helial, "but if you were to enter the battlefield and face them in this way, how many Undead do you think we would be able to kill, before they retreat in their camp? A tenth of them, a fifteenth?"

"And what do you suggest you do?" asked Circe, staring straight at Helial's ocean-blue eyes.

"Leave me in charge of this battle and I'll show you what I learned from one of the greatest leaders in the entire history of this universe," said Helial, laughing.

The other two did not understand his words, but decided anyway to leave him the command of that war operation. Neither of them was an expert on full-scale military conflict and Helial appeared to be the best suited for the task. Until then, his confidence in his actions had never degenerated into pride and had led him to achieve all the goals he had set himself.

Circe and Pseudonym, undisputed talents of the present generation in Orma, were sure they could trust Helial, a boy who had barely reached the Second Phase.

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Not many hours had passed since their meeting, and the three warriors were already standing on the battlefield. In front of them was an infinite number of Goblins waiting to be deployed and receive their orders.

Everyone thought that it would be Pseudonym, the Champion of Orma, the first to talk, so they looked amazed when, instead, Helial took a step forward and examined the troops.

Skill Activated:

Perception

"You, in the rear. You, in the group of those who have throwing weapons. You, you and you, first line. You on the right, in Pseudonym and Circe's group... "

The voice of the young Human was serious and concentrated, almost snapping. Still giving orders, Helial heard a voice enter his mind, bringing him back to his training in the Time Block.

You are a leader, not a soldier. Each leader has unique Skills and characteristics that can make his army more powerful. Make the most of them and you will be invincible.

Alexander once explained to him that the most important thing for a leader is to know what he is capable of.

And Helial understood that, at that moment, he could develop Perception, thanks to which he managed to have a very precise idea of the soldiers' level. In this way he would have be able to sort them in the most suitable position for them, even if he did not possess Divine Sense.

Perception was an ability underestimated by everyone, because it was tremendously boring to level up and once reached the Third Phase, it would have been practically replaced by Divine Sense.

However, Helial, thanks to his stubbornness, had developed Ranks of Knowledge that had given incredible power to that Skill.

Once the sorting was over, Helial and his troops were ready to fight.

In front of them were the Ghouls who, as Helial had predicted, constituted the first line of the enemy deployment.

The Ghouls had a human-like appearance, but this did not reassure the Goblins, already in combat position. Their skin was purplish, their eyes protruded dangerously from their sockets, their mouths released sticky and foul-smelling salivary secretions and, at the end of their disproportionate arms, there were huge hands with exceptionally long fingers, which rasped the ground with sharp claws. With those claws, the Goblins thought, the Ghouls could have torn their limbs in an instant.

An unnatural chill lay on the fighters' heads, a deadly chill. It was as if the world of the living had turned into the Underworld.

The Ghouls' diaphanous and translucent skin, rotting in several places, showed their steel-hard muscles.

"One of the big problems, facing enemies like that, is morale. If the plan does not work and the formation collapses too early, then we would risk devastating losses," explained Helial to Snowflake.

For some strange reason, the cat seemed to know as much as he did about military strategies. Even though Snowflake wanted to forget it, his father had always forced him to study that shit and simulate one war after another, in anticipation of when he would become an adult. The cat would never have imagined that all those crappy stuff would serve him so soon.

"Morale can be influenced by enemies as well as by the army's leader," said Snowflake, who was strangely serious this time.

Behind Helial there were all the members of Circe's team, each leading a legion of 5.000 Goblins. Francesca was there, too. In Orma, being a daughter of the King did not mean avoided war, on the contrary; it meant making people understand that the royal family was close to them especially in the hardest moments: even the King fought alongside his subjects and accompanied them during the battle. Orma had been able to thrive as one of the largest city-states thanks these principles, and thus had become one of the most formidable threats to Fiercelake

Zion, Lev and Sidra looked around, wondering what the exact plan of Helial, Pseudonym and Circe was. They had received no indication other than to follow Helial's every order without complaining, under penalty of death. Other than that, they didn't know anything.

They knew that Circe's words, in hard times, certainly did not contain any empty threats, but at the same they could not understand how they could exterminate that mass of bones and rotting flesh that was standing before them.

And even though they had an endless feeling of esteem and trust towards Circe, their hearts trembled with anxiety and fear.

Zion squeezed the hilt of his sword and gritted his teeth, waiting. When Lev patted his shoulder to reassure him, the boy stiffened and turned to his companion, glancing at him fiercely from behind his binoculars.

Sidra, in an attempt to ward off that bitter feeling that clenched her stomach, had started to braid her long white hair.

Everyone, in their own way, was trying not to think about death.

Helial mounted the Demon Horse he had borrowed from the royal stables and waved his hand to the troops behind him. 

Chapter end