Harbingers of Change

This is a double update, so don't forget to read ch 3 first.

Chapter 4

They faced virtually no real resistance as they crossed the borders of the monster nation. The few undead patrols that they encountered failed to live up to their expectations in terms of power, as even regular templars were able to dispatch them. At most, there were a few mercenaries and scouts injured, but nothing that couldn't be handled with a casual Holy Heal.

This rapidly improved morale among the soldiers of the Western Nations and the less-experienced crusaders, skeleton after skeleton falling before their blades, spears, and shields and mindless monsters even becoming unexpected profits to the cause, but the veterans and more experienced crusaders and their commanders knew otherwise.

They warned for constant vigilance and preparation, attempting to keep the legions of men and women together. They barely held together, slashing and trampling through swathes of land as they made tremendous progress for their time. Besides the usual discontent for being away from home, the army as a whole was vigilant yet jubilant.

Through their limited espionage and even more limited direct observation, they knew Tempest's leaders knew about their invasion and were prepared to defend their land and their citizens, something which set every officer on edge as the enemies only seemed to remain easy. The most experienced warriors warned of traps, ambushes, hit-and-run tactics, and other nasty surprises the monster nation could toss at them, further reinforced by repeated orders from the leadership.

They knew some limited movement of Tempest's militaries and Tempest's leaders, judging by sheer magicule concentration and their limited adventurer contacts. They knew the entire nation was prepared for rapid evacuation - although to where no one knew - the only border town they encountered so far, had already been cleaned of everyone besides undead monsters. Not a single cowdeer in a pen or fish in a river was left, the only traces of life being the structures left behind, which they more than gladly repurposed.

Hinata rode her horse, appearance stony cold, as she preferred to appear to be in control to the casual soldier. Her two blades all but glowed through their sheathes, her eyes flaring as she remained ever-vigilant for their safety. Or at least, so they said.

For the past week or so, as they had trekked through the plains of Falmuth and now in the forests of Jura, commanders of every level and their associated messengers of the army steered clear of her at every opportunity, Captain Folgen of Falmuth's Royal Knight's Corp being the only one remaining besides her. They feared the monstrously powerful Supreme Commander of the Holy Crusade, who spoke of dangerous shadows and endless ambushes when there were none.

Folgen, a man who held Hinata's interest only because he remained beside her as the mediator between her and the constant flow of the messengers from other field commanders. An otherworlder summoned by Razen in the past, he had willingly submitted to his new circumstances despite the illegality of it and had earned the trust of the magician, hence why his soul was free of constraints compared to the others. Currently Razen's closest friend and ally, they were the King's most trusted subordinates, staunchest supporters of the throne, and held enough political power to rival dukes underfoot.

It mattered little, very little in the grand scheme of things, as Hinata's initial interest in Folgen, and the army in general, decayed over the days. So long as she held her trusted friend and ally who had brought her through dozens of battles, Kingslayer, she alone was enough to destroy the monster nation and cleanse the world of all that was evil. Even now, she worked with it to end tens of demons every week as she patrolled the army.

Truth be told, she was unhappy and annoyed with riding her designated horse, preferring to either power walk with Body Strengthening or teleport with the church's Spatial Motion network since either would have been faster. But as the de-facto leader of the crusade, neither was an option as symbolic - and sometimes literal - protection had to be given. Even if she was enough, she still had a hundred thousand strong army to lead.

'Soon. You can sense that they are watching. They will come to strike you down and we will crush them all.' The sword whispered in her mind as it had many times before.

"Let them come. We will kill them all." Hinata whispered back, fingering its hilt once more.

Folgen glanced at the muttering saint and resisted the urge to shift further away as his peers had done. It was clear to anyone that Hinata's grip on reality was slipping, and whatever that so-called powerful weapon of hers was doing, its sapping was plain to see. The saint was turning into a monster. Her distinct violet eyes had turned blood red from permanent rage and awakeness, patterns reminiscent of dried tears permanently decorating her once beautiful face. Her words were becoming illegible, her muttering louder.

Her near-constant snarl showed her teeth, which were growing sharper and more animal-like, while her once delicate fingernails were growing longer and claw-like. Worst of all, she seemed to be unaware of the changes as they traveled onward.

'Best case scenario, she dies with that accursed dragon and the rest of us go home safely, or else we might have to fight her as well. Who truly knows how close she is to becoming a Demon Lord herself, she's already half-majin.' Folgen grimly mused as he glanced away from his barriers, needing a mental respite.

Everyone of even remote importance knew of the saint's fanaticism, so perhaps she was preparing herself to die for her greatest cause, this war her final swan song, choosing to perform the noblest of sacrifices and completely eliminate all monsters with her. Something even Folgen had to respect despite his waning trust in her these days.

Folgen's musings were interrupted by an explosion in the distance, followed by shocked screams and horrendous hollers.

The army tensed and shuffled, quickly assuming defensive positions. Save for that one blast there were seemingly no follow-up attacks, but everyone was on edge.

About two minutes later one of the army scouts ran up to them with a report. By the face of the messenger, it wasn't good.

"Lady Hinata, Captain Flogen, one of the soldiers stepped on some sort of explosive device and got his legs blown off. Mages couldn't detect anything magical about the attack, and only metal shrapnels remained stuck in the armor of nearby soldiers." The man hurriedly spoke while saluting, nervousness eminent all over.

"Landmines?!" Folgen choked out in surprise. As an otherworlder, he instantly understood the type of trap Tempest was employing, plans flying through his mind.

"Clever. Spread out all the field healers among the front lines. If someone steps on mine, heal them immediately. We march through the minefield." Hinata barked orders, leaping off her horse.

"Is this wise? We should find a way to detect the mines before moving forward to preserve more lives. We of all people should know how dangerous modern warfare is to the common man." Folgen addressed his superior.

"We don't have the time to devise strategies that would prevent minor injuries! This is a war, not a walk in the park. We march forward and heal those who step on the mines! Are my orders clear, Captain?" Hinata's expression grew even more demonic than before as she barked and snarled.

'She is willing to drive men through obvious traps without a second thought.' The saint was so fixated on her extermination goal that she didn't care about the men. "Perfectly clear. Relay Lady Hinata's order to all commanders." Folgen addressed the scout.

Obviously, none would have expected that the monsters would employ what amounted to modern weaponry. The implications were rather clear; Tempest had otherworlders at their disposal, and either super-intelligent or weapon-oriented - likely through Unique skills - ones at that.

Even for a hardened war veteran like Folgen, it was by no means easy or relaxing to enjoy the ambient music of cacophonous explosions wrought every so often and horrendous wails of those injured in the process. The army morale, less trained and less hardened, collapsed within hours as tension rose every step forward, even with commanders specifically ordering the hunts of more mindless monsters and sending promises of sentient monster slaves among the ranks.

But fate was to them that day, ever-crueler. Mere hours later, bamboo pits laced with poison led to soul-wrenching howls as dozens had to be healed even further while still being hit with landmines. More traps were being discovered by the hour, the resolve of even the most battle-hungry warriors plummeted by the minute, and the healers were being overworked by the second as deadlier and deadlier traps reminiscent of World War 1 and World War 2 - according to Folgen and other otherworlders present in the army.

'Tempest be damned. They were ready for us. They will slowly crush our morale as we march and hit us at the lowest point. Our healers are low on magicules, and our spirit wielders dismissed their spirits already,' Folgen swore, now walking on foot, as his horse dropped him and ran a while ago.

The whole cavalry part of the force was rendered useless as the animals couldn't take the sounds of explosions for long. Even within their supply chain, missed traps scared away huge portions of their transportation, resulting in a decreased marching pace to accommodate their ever-dwindling resources.

Unfortunately for the crusade, it was only downhill from there. And morale dropped off a cliff.

As they crawled forward at a snail's pace, with some units already threatening mutiny due to unbearable circumstances and shattered determinations, they stumbled upon a field of large crosses.

'T-they're still alive!' Folgen gasped at the cruel sight. Nailed to the crosses were men and women, dressed in the church of Luminism priest robes, as scavenger birds were eating them alive. Any otherworlder worth their salt knew of Christianity's most iconic symbol, and the monsters had crucified hundreds, if not thousands, of believers in front of their eyes. Some were fresh and some were days old, judging by the blood remains and the lights of their eyes, terrorizing Folgen even further.

They recognized priests and priestesses from all statuses, from lowly maids with devout religious faith to the highest-ranking bishops. All, equal before them in near-death, too weak to even eke out a groan.

In the exact center of the grotesque field stood a sign stating, 'What becomes of them becomes of you. There will be no mercy towards those who disturb our peace. You will die a pointless death in the name of your fake God.'

"Lady Hinata-"

"They will pay for this! I will ensure they suffer before dying!" Hinata growled back at Folgen.

"But-"

"Take them down and heal them, Now!" Hinata roared her order so loudly Folgen feared his enhanced eardrums would burst. He quickly motioned for a messenger as Hinata flipped around and continued to scream.

"These monsters resort to such despicable tactics only because they fear us, and only want to fight us at our lowest or even scare us away! If we turn back now, it will be your mothers and fathers, your husbands and wives, your children and friends on those crosses, across every Western Nation for the rest of eternity!"

While many kneeled under her intimidation, they understood her point. If they retreated back to Falmuth now, the retaliation from the monster nation would be inevitable, and it would strike hard. One simply couldn't just start a war and then retreat without its consequences. Just as they came to kill citizens and soldiers alike, so would they.

These priests and priestesses had already paid the ultimate price for it, and the war hadn't even truly started in earnest. The people were alive, but only barely in vegetative states at best. Magicule poisoning, intense torture, and ice magic were evident, extending their suffering even further.

It sent a very clear message; Tempest would show no mercy to its enemies. But as the people returned from their stupor, the upper management reeled in horror.

What the victims reported was incredibly hard to believe, particularly for those more devout in their faith. The Tempest Hegemony, upon acquiring Blumund, had purged the land of all of its church personnel at every possible level and particularly devout believers involved in supporting the church; these unfortunate people were an offering to "return those who belong."

As a human, his first instinct was to fall into blind hatred, to crush the miserable monsters for their atrocities. But the truth was, they were marching to do the same thing to the monsters, and that wasn't a hidden fact. They had done similar to majins, elves, and dwarves in the past, but it was one thing to be the abuser and another thing to be the abusee.

'It's rather ironic when I think about it. We thought of them as lesser than us, beasts needing to be slain, and yet they are outsmarting us.'

With the soldiers losing what little morale they had as they continued to rescue the wounded and heal the injured, Folgen felt the army was a half-step away from dissolving into mutiny, falling apart even if their fanatical foreman was determined to march forward no matter the obstacle.

'Maybe that is their goal? If Hinata faced their defenses alone, she would be far easier to defeat, and once she was defeated they could rampage as they wished. Perhaps only then could her God Luminous save them all.'

Whatever the monsters' plan was, he couldn't dwell on it too long, as the army marched on after a small detachment returned home with the rescued survivors. They had to continue, even as the situation worsened.

At this point, it came as no surprise to anyone that they hadn't seen the worst the Tempest could offer. Their morale had already hit rock bottom, there was no lower it could go.

As they reached the forested areas, skeletons charged out toward their flanks, detonating themselves in violent explosions upon becoming close enough.

"Deploy shields." That was all that Hinata had to say on the matter before marching onward.

'It's almost like one monster is driving us towards another.'

How far Hinata's humanity had fallen, Folgen couldn't tell. She clearly wasn't the compassionate, if somewhat reserved, saint as she had been before the trip. The one who wouldn't only give harsh lessons, but also kind words too, and help others without hesitation, was gone. Only a cold, monstrous machine was left.

The shields did help against the suicidal skeletons by blocking shockwaves and frags, but they did little to stop the non-magical traps continually plaguing the army. In fact, putting up the shields even slowed down their marching pace, the wizards continually exhausted and dragged the rest of the legions down with them.

In the end, after a full day's march, they had only traveled about forty kilometers into the forest of Jura. At such a pace, they would have to march for a month to reach the Tempest's capital. There was also no guarantee that the monsters would even engage them over there when they could continue to make tactical retreats, using all the land they could to chip away at their forces before the final showdown.

The longer Tempest delays and turn this into a war of attritions, the more it would turn in their favor. After all, Humans had none of the inherent stamina or strength of ogres and kijins, the raw intelligence of dwarves and kobolds, or the magical prowess and experience of majins and elves.

Everyone knew this as they made camp for the night.

The hastily formed camp did little to protect against the constant undead ambushes. The occasional explosion rocked the flimsy tents and shoddy fortifications. Yet, the physically and mentally exhausted soldiers required their much-needed respite. Even Hinata agreed to stop the march, in favor of training with her blade.

Resting upon his sleeping bag in one of the officers' tents, Folgen recalled the day's events, trying to remember details of his Earth's past in hopes of coming up with ways to deal with the traps. When he did, he communicated with his peers to attempt countermeasures, the little good it did.

Razen sat beside him, looking on in frustration as he attempted, and failed at, new magic at the suggestion of his friend. He prided himself in his knowledge and his ingenuity, but even he was at a loss on how to develop countermeasures. Every spell or barrier was either too costly, too useless, or both. To think that they were the two greatest magical minds that Falmuth could think of.

There wasn't an earth, wind, space, or water spell that could easily locate the ceramic contraptions packed with chemical explosive material due to a distinct lack of magicules and their planned similarities with the surrounding soil. The only way to locate such detestable traps was to inspect any sort of unusual ground, but that would delay the march by dozens of times as their march would crawl to a near standstill thanks to their sheer numbers.

"Where did the monsters get such an idea?!" Razen exclaimed, slumping down in defeat.

"Earth. I told you already. We've used this type of warfare for over a century, honestly, I should have expected this." Folgen retorted, just as frustrated with the situation at hand.

"Their plan is ingenious! Why face the enemy directly with long-range weaponry when you can wear them down without even needing to be nearby? To think they can even interfere with our spatial magic, making it difficult to safely detect and remove them," Razen slumped in his blanket, "Should our forces be routed, I won't be able to teleport us out."

"I must admit, the whole situation has made me uneasy." Folgen laid down with a grunt. His body was not as durable as it was in his youth, and the long day's march had taken its toll.

"Don't worry about it too much. Even if I can't figure out how to locate these mines, I'll find a way to bypass their barrier." Razen resolutely announced, leaning back

"That would help. We must return to His Majesty's side, should the invasion fail. I have no doubt you-"

Loud screaming exploded near the tent, interrupting Folgen. Together with his old friend, they rushed outside.

"What the hell is going on!?" Razen was the one to holler.

Since the officers' tent was set up on a small hill, they had a vantage point to watch the chaos unfold. Dark holes were opening up in the sky, one by one, as massive containers fell through them. They burst into a torrent of flames upon smashing the ground or intercepted with quick magic bullets and shields, setting soldiers and tents alike ablaze.

As Folgen stared at the sky, dumbfounded, Razen leaped into action and hurled most of his frost- and water-related spells to cull the flames, commanding other mages to do the same.

The new type of attack wasn't a long one, the undead suicide bombers could go on for hours at a time, but it turned out to be the most devastating of them all. After the flames had been doused and losses had been accounted for, the situation had turned from grim to devastating.

Over one and a half thousand soldiers had perished in the flames alone, thousands more had been injured. But that was the least of it, the main losses were the tents and the food supplies. This one attack had pretty much wiped out their chances of reaching the capital city of Tempest, having decimated morale one final time and eradicated their supply lines.

It took the monsters and demihumans a single day to grind the invasion to a halt, and they didn't even need to field their armies. Their constant hit-and-run tactics, booby-trapping of every square meter traversed, and the bombing of their camp had at most involved one or two higher-tier majins, if Hinata's mutterings and the worries of Saints were anything to go with.

This, in turn, meant that their logistics and command structures were in such an abysmal state that the continuation of the campaign seemed impossible. Inadvertently, several officers had been found dead around the supplies, either burgling for themselves or properly distributing resources as the time got tough, and this only brought about even more chaos.

X

Mere minutes before sunset, an emergency officers' meeting was held at the central tent to smooth out issues, verify and spread information, and address the dire situation. Persons from every segment gathered after placing dozens of barriers and wards above, fearing another bombing attack when all the higher-ups were located in one position.

Folgen and Razen represented the Royal knights and the magicians respectively, nervously shifting in their seats as attendants brought them water. Razen was still experimenting with magic, and Folgen was attempting to write things down in cooperation with Razen.

A very young-looking man with rather boyish looks - Saare the Blue Sky - was the vice commander of the Ten Great Saints and Hinata's second in command when it came to all church forces. In truth, he was one of the oldest men present and only appeared so young due to his partial elven ancestry. His luscious white hair and short stature didn't help counter that image either.

Besides them, there stood two of the Seven Day Luminaries; masked mysterious figures who apparently only took orders from the holy imperator and had indirect communions with the Goddess Luminous herself. As ageless skilled mages, they were instrumental in stopping the exploding barrel attack and had been invited for their reports.

One of the archbishops from Ruberios, the healer coordinator, was also attending the meeting to represent the ever-necessary healers. Visibly exhausted from his work in the field, even the attendants gave him glances of pity before continuing their deliveries.

Finally, there were multiple mercenary commanders, generals in charge of the regular army, and the head quartermaster in charge of managing the supplies to represent the common man. They were the most nervous out of everyone.

Hinata was also present, but at this point, Folgen wished she wasn't despite her position and history of smoothing arguments out. Yesterday's events had only accelerated her deteriorating mental health, and he could swear on his Otherworlder status he saw dark feathered wings sprout out of her back and disappear just as quickly.

She was standing in the corner of the tent, having a muffled one-way conversation with her sword despite the stares shot her way.

With everyone present, the quartermaster took the spot in the middle of the tent and started his report.

"As of now, the army can be fed for five days, assuming we cut down on rations to the absolute minimum. About ninety-five percent of the food supplies and the carts utilized to transport said supplies were destroyed. Twenty-five percent of stored drinking water and eighty-five percent of the remaining animals were damaged, with half of said water rendered completely unusable. Forty-seven percent of soldiers were left without sleeping bags and only seventy-two percent of the army can currently sleep in tents. The alcohol reserves were completely destroyed, along with sixty-five percent of the surrounding long-range munitions and forty percent of the surrounding melee equipment."

"We cannot continue any further under such circumstances since the main vanguard has been crippled beyond our defensive capabilities. Sir Razen, can the mages establish the transportation network posthaste?" One of the generals turned to the older mage.

"I'm afraid not. The monsters are employing some sort of barrier that prevents spatial magic from being used. I have yet to find a workaround." Razen replied apologetically, much to the surprise of the others. They could tell the renowned mage was exhausted, the bags under his eyes and barely stable experimental magic circles a testament to how long he had been working to save them.

"In that case, Lady Hinata, we insist that we stop the march and establish a direct supply line with Falmuth. These unforeseen circumstances are forcing us to change our attack plan." The general turned to the supreme commander of the crusading army.

"If you plan to meander around, the monsters will win. We are moving forward." Hinata retorted, shooting the man with a murderous glare.

"Hinata, if we force the army to march, it will only end with mutiny." Saare voiced his concern as well.

"Then stay back and babysit this worthless, weak bunch calling themselves an army. I will defeat monsters on my own." Hinata growled as she marched to exit the tent.

"Goddess Luminous would be very disappointed with your behavior." One of two Luminaries cautioned her, moving in between her and the tent flaps.

With them wearing flowy robes while completely covering their heads and faces, it was hard to tell the two apart as both sounded like old men, which only led to them sounding even more mysterious.

"Luminous herself gave me the mission to kill that accursed dragon and everyone else serving the usurper. Get in my way and I will send your heads to the emperor for disobeying our Goddess." Hinata snarled, unsheathing her blades and holding the two at neck point.

As she did so, an aura befitting that of a Demon Lord began to pour out of her, suffocating everyone present. The messengers and attendants fled, nearby surviving pack animals shrieking in fear.

Saare stared at her with a shocked expression but somehow managed to blurt out, "In that case, with your permission, I will take over as the supreme commander of the crusade."

"Permission granted." Hinata declared and left the tent, her aura still washing over the tent as they attempted to continue debates.

'She has turned into a monster.' Folgen had to admit this fact. There was no difference between the former saint and the monsters she wanted to kill anymore, except that the former was temporarily allied with them.

X

Ramiris had designed this room for use by the Lords of Nazarick and Tempest, and boy did she do it right. Soft hellmoth silk chairs lined with magisteel to handle erratic or excited auras, durable tables made of enchanted marble to handle nervous claws, and thousands of locations for scrying mirrors with handy levitating platforms for viewing.

Ever since the moment the crusade's invading forces had crossed the border early on in the morning, Momonga hadn't left military HQ. The regular tapping of skeletal fingers on enchanted marble tables provided a backdrop to the other guild members and floor guardians paying their visits, watching Demiurge's work unfold.

He was nervous, paranoid even, that things could go wrong. The archdemon masterfully executed his plans and the enemies were beaten black and blue. It was impossible to directly conduct espionage on Hinata or those near her since she could detect specters while holding the sword, meaning they had no hard information about the most dangerous hostile force they'd ever encountered. In fact, a group of shadow demons perished by her hand while testing a safe distance, eradicated by Holy Cannons or just outright stabs and slashes.

That couldn't deter Demiurge from working within the limitations he had been given, and he deftly guided the shadow agents around and through the enemy, gathering secondhand information with little difficulty. He knew the rumors flying through the camps better than the gossipers themselves, his Thought Acceleration flying thousands of times faster than human thought.

He rapidly swapped back and forth between numerous mirrors of remote viewing, sending entire lists of orders every second through Thought Communication and physical papers. When performing espionage on an army hundreds of thousands large, updates from hundreds of sources had to be accounted for and responded to.

Currently, besides the ever-present Momonga staring at the screens, Pero and Buku sat on cushioned chairs and watched the events unfold from their respective seats while simultaneously monitoring the situation in the major settlements through their own channels, leading to even more papers flying in and out of the room at the hands of maids.

Obviously, Pero had thousands of managerial kobolds and other business owners under his semi-direct employment, and he had his accounting/spying liches connected everywhere within Tempest and with their closest partner - Mjollmile. When it came to analyzing the economic flow of goods within Tempest and gaining the knowledge of merchants, even Demiurge had to hand his hat to Pero during the current situation.

Buku, on the other hand, wasn't quite as powerful as either the bird-like majin or the conniving archdemon, but she still held a fair share of surveillance over foreign politics and governments. Souei, her lover, and his dragonnewt - and some new ambitious direwolves and hobgoblins - subordinates had been effectively transferred to her permanent command for monitoring foreign relations, meaning she knew exactly what the King of Falmuth and other important entities did almost all the time.

{ I must admit, Demi is outright scary when given free rein. } Buku sent messages to Momonga and Pero as she watched the replay of the most intense moments from the remote viewing mirror in her hands, snacking on fried potato chips recommended to her by the dryads.

The new modified models came with a record function and could store up to fifty hours of videos, retrievable at any time thanks to backing up their recordings into Nazarick and lasting so long as Nazarick was alive. Pandora had spent a full day working on the modifications, and it worked seamlessly.

{ But you also have to admit that he's good at what he's doing. } Momonga defended the floor guardian who, lately, had earned a rather fearsome reputation due to the unhinged methods he happily employed when dealing with the defense of Tempest. Even Pero's wives, save for Lupus, scattered from the room whenever the demon appeared in Pero's office.

{ I'm not arguing that. If anything, it's good he can treat our enemies without mercy. } She agreed as she rewatched the scene of Demiurge opening gate spells to rain non-magical napalm upon tightly packed food storages.

{ Hey, it looks like something piqued Demi's interest. We'd better pay attention. } Pero pointed at one of the mirrors.

"Lord Momonga, Hinata has left the encampment." The demon reported.

"Wait until it is safe, then proceed with the next step of the plan," Momonga ordered and then turned to his friends. "Looks like it is almost time to do our part."

Editing by aidan_lo

Proofread by Cakeeight, FantasyTroll, aidan_lo and Working_Stiff

AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).