By the time our column reached the sector, the fighting around the attacked facility had already changed in nature.
The eight hundred men under Rask who had believed they could cross our territory before the Dominion had time to react had discovered their mistake far more quickly than their commander had probably imagined.
The reinforcements dispatched at the first shots had joined the garrison, driven the attackers out of the facility, and begun pursuing them westward, where their retreat was taking them directly back toward their Overlord’s main forces.
I stepped out of the vehicle in the middle of a forward command post established several kilometers from the front line.
The rumble of heavy weapons reached us from the distance, accompanied by columns of smoke thick enough to obscure some of the buildings farther away.
All around me, my soldiers were disembarking from transports, joining their units, and moving out without waiting for anyone to repeat orders they had already received during the journey.
My lieutenant followed me to the tactical table, where several officers had begun gathering the latest information.
“The garrison regained full control of the facility twelve minutes ago,” one of them announced.
“Enemy forces are retreating toward their main line.
The first regiment is maintaining pressure without attempting to overtake them for now.
The second is approaching from the north and should cut two of the three retreat routes in less than twenty minutes.”
I quickly checked the displayed positions.
Everything was unfolding close enough to the original plan that I had no reason to interfere with the regiments’ movements.
To the south, our final units were also taking position between the battlefield and the coalition’s forces, whose observers seemed to have perfectly understood that it would be preferable to watch the Dominion work rather than come participate.
“Rask?”
The officer enlarged the central section of the map.
“Still in the metallurgical complex.
Our scouts have observed several movements around the building since our arrival, but there’s no indication that he’s trying to evacuate.
On the contrary, his forces are regrouping around the fortified positions in the industrial sector.”
I let my eyes move across the estimates.
Despite the losses already sustained, Rask could still field several thousand fighters, heavy vehicles, and enough artillery to put up serious resistance against a conventional army.
So he’d decided to stay.
I was almost grateful.
“Very well.
Continue according to plan.
The first regiment maintains pressure and pushes the retreating units toward their main formation.
Once the second has closed the north, we’ll begin the general assault.
Nobody pursues beyond the established limits without confirmation, especially in the south.
I have no desire to see a group of scavengers slip in behind us under the excuse that we’ve cleared the way for them.”
The officers confirmed and immediately returned to their communications.
My lieutenant remained beside me as I left the tactical table and stepped outside the command post.
The industrial district stretched into the distance between columns of smoke.
Even without using magic, I could distinguish the regular flashes of heavy fire between the buildings.
When I activated my detection, the situation became much clearer.
Thousands of presences appeared in my perception.
Most were individually unremarkable, but their concentration clearly revealed Rask’s defensive positions.
Several large groups occupied the main avenues and industrial buildings, while others moved rapidly to reinforce the points threatened by our advance.
In the middle of all of it, one signature stood far above the rest.
I turned my head slightly toward the metallurgical complex.
“I found him.”
My lieutenant didn’t need to ask who I meant.
“Would you like me to prepare a unit to accompany you?”
I continued observing the enemy lines for several seconds.
A methodical attack would have been simple: preparatory artillery, infantry advance, successive reduction of fortified positions, then commitment of the reserves when Rask attempted to fill the gaps.
I had conducted enough operations like that to know the procedure.
But I hadn’t come all this way to stare at a map from another building.
“No.
You take overall coordination once the assault begins.
I’m going to open the way for the first regiment.”
My lieutenant turned his face toward me, composed entirely of shadow except for the wide mouth filled with teeth that betrayed his amusement.
“I assume trying to remind you that you have several thousand soldiers would be a waste of time.”
“Completely.”
I checked the position of our front lines one last time before beginning to concentrate my magic.
“And make sure they don’t follow me too closely.
I don’t know yet how far I feel like going.”
His smile widened.
“That’s a particularly reassuring sentence.”
I laughed before leaving the ground.
It had been a long time since I’d felt acceleration like that simply for the pleasure of it.
My barrier formed around me as I rapidly gained altitude, high enough to clear the buildings before diving toward the first enemy line.
The wind whistled against my uniform and my cape was violently thrown behind me, but I kept accelerating until the resistance of the air became genuine pressure against my magical protection.
The first shots came almost immediately.
Rask had at least possessed the intelligence to warn his men that I might intervene personally.
Several positions opened fire as soon as I entered their range, filling the sky with enough projectiles to make the approach decidedly unpleasant for anyone without a magical barrier.
The first impacts burst around me.
I continued my descent.
A heavy machine gun installed on the roof of a warehouse quickly corrected its aim and concentrated a burst directly along my trajectory.
My barrier absorbed the rounds as I materialized a rifle in my hands.
I fired without slowing.
The infernal round tore through the position and exploded in the middle of the emplacement, ripping away part of the roof along with the crew manning it.
I barely had time to appreciate the result before a second position entered my field of vision.
I altered my trajectory and passed between two buildings at a speed that would probably have made any reasonable pilot scream.
Several enemies appeared on the walkways connecting the old factories and began firing in my direction.
My rifle vanished, replaced by a more suitable automatic weapon, whose first burst tore through the railings and sent two demons falling into the void.
The new ammunition worked wonderfully.
The amount of infernal energy condensed into each projectile transformed ordinary calibers into something far more violent.
Impacts tore apart concrete, deformed metal structures, and left behind residual energy that briefly continued eating into demonic flesh before dissipating.
They were still inferior to angelic steel.
I couldn’t have cared less.
Against opponents like these, they were already magnificent.
I climbed sharply when an armored vehicle appeared in the avenue below me.
Its turret tried to follow my movement, but I passed overhead before it could correct its angle.
I dismissed my weapon, pivoted in midair, and materialized a rocket launcher against my shoulder.
The vehicle had just enough time to begin reversing.
“Too late.”
The projectile struck the top of the turret.
The explosion ripped open the armor and sent a spray of metal across the avenue.
I passed through the smoke before the vehicle had even finished burning, a laugh escaping me when several demons who had taken cover behind it realized that their protection had just become their main problem.
Damn.
I’d genuinely forgotten how good this felt.
Not victory itself.
I’d been winning victories for decades without needing to leave my office.
It was everything else I’d missed: the speed, the danger, the necessity of making a decision in a fraction of a second, and that wonderful sensation of watching an opponent prepare something while still believing they had the initiative when I’d already decided how I was going to kill them.
A massive shape burst through a window to my right.
The demon had to be nearly three meters tall and possessed enough strength to tear away part of the wall as he jumped.
He reached toward me with a triumphant grin, apparently convinced that the distance was too short for me to use a weapon.
I dismissed the rocket launcher and manifested a shotgun directly between us.
His smile disappeared.
“Hello.”
I fired.
The blast hurled him back through the façade with enough force to carry him into the next room.
This time, I laughed openly.
Several shots struck my barrier as I regained altitude.
I could have remained at a distance and methodically eliminated the positions one after another, but that idea now seemed terribly boring.
Every time an opening appeared, I wanted to rush through it before the enemy could close it.
So I did.
On the ground, my soldiers had no difficulty understanding what I expected from them.
Rask’s first line had been organized to slow a conventional advance along the major avenues.
My attacks quickly turned that plan into an unsolvable problem.
The moment a heavy position stopped firing, Dominion units advanced before the defenders could replace it.
Whenever a building was cleared of its occupants, my soldiers occupied it, secured the approaches, and continued without wasting time admiring the work.
They knew the way I fought.
Some had known it since their creation.
I therefore had no need to explain that a breach left behind me was an invitation to advance.
My lieutenant’s voice came through my communicator just as I passed through the third floor of a building to avoid a rocket salvo.
“The first regiment has passed the initial line.
Resistance is now concentrating around the old foundry, approximately eight hundred meters ahead of you.”
I exited through a window on the opposite side and regained altitude.
“I see it.”
The foundry occupied nearly an entire block and had been transformed into a genuine fortress.
Metal plates reinforced the entrances, several heavy weapons occupied the upper floors, and barricades completely blocked the surrounding streets.
The signatures I detected inside indicated a concentration large enough to seriously slow the regiment.
“Our units are preparing a northern bypass,” my lieutenant continued.
“They should be able to isolate the position in about fifteen minutes.”
Fifteen minutes.
I looked at the foundry.
Then at the dozens of guns aimed in our direction.
A smile naturally appeared on my face.
“Cancel the bypass.”
There was a brief hesitation before my lieutenant understood.
“You’re obviously going to tell me that fifteen minutes is too long.”
“Now that you mention it, yes.”
I dove before he could answer.
The defenders saw me coming.
This time, they were ready.
The amount of fire filling the space in front of me was significant enough that my barrier genuinely began vibrating under the impacts.
I sharply altered my trajectory, passed beneath a walkway, and climbed along the façade while firing at the most exposed positions.
One heavy weapon exploded.
A second vanished behind a wall when I changed angles.
The third was luckier.
I detected the attack a fraction of a second before impact.
Something far more powerful than an ordinary round struck my barrier from the side and deformed it enough for part of the energy to penetrate my protection.
The impact threw me off course, and I crashed through a window before slamming violently into an interior wall.
The entire building seemed to shake.
For several seconds, I didn’t move.
My shoulder hurt, and the metallic taste of blood appeared in my mouth.
When I ran my tongue across my lip, I felt a small cut.
My lieutenant’s voice immediately sounded through the communicator.
“Commander?”
I pushed myself upright amid the rubble.
The attack had been good.
Really good.
I looked at the hole I’d entered through, then toward the position on the other side of the avenue.
Someone had finally managed to hit me properly.
My smile returned so easily that my cheeks almost hurt.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“You went through a building.”
“I noticed.”
I left the debris and resumed flight.
The crew of the heavy weapon saw me emerge.
Even at that distance, I could clearly distinguish their hesitation when they realized their best shot had only succeeded in putting me in a better mood.
I climbed above the rooftops.
“Well…
my turn.”
My magic unfolded behind me.
The first portal appeared in the sky with a deep distortion, followed by the massive end of an artillery barrel slowly emerging from it.
A second portal opened beside it, quickly followed by several others whose silhouettes eventually covered part of the sky above the district.
I didn’t stop at four or five.
It had been far too long.
The openings continued multiplying until several dozen pieces were aimed toward the enemy positions.
The cannons never left their portals; only their ends appeared in infernal space, suspended behind me like an impossible artillery battery.
I felt several enemy positions momentarily stop firing.
The sight must indeed have been rather impressive from the ground.
I raised my hand and pointed toward the foundry.
The first salvo turned the world into thunder.
The impacts struck the upper floors almost simultaneously.
Part of the façade vanished in the explosions while the fortifications installed on the roof were hurled into the air along with tons of debris.
I immediately corrected the coordinates.
A second salvo struck the barricades and heavy positions around the building, opening several breaches wide enough for our vehicles to pass through.
I could have stopped.
The position was already doomed.
I watched the defenders attempt to scatter among the structures still standing.
Then I ordered a third salvo.
Because I wanted to.
The guns roared again.
The central section of the foundry collapsed into an enormous cloud that swallowed several streets and hurled pieces of metal far enough to rain down behind the Dominion’s leading units.
My lieutenant came back over the communicator.
“I assume the bypass is no longer necessary.”
I contemplated the building as it finished collapsing.
“You see?
We just saved fourteen minutes.”
“And lost the main road.”
I looked down.
Part of the avenue had indeed disappeared beneath several meters of debris.
“Use the next street.”
“It’s also under the debris.”
I looked a little farther.
He had a point.
“Then find a third street.
Surely I don’t have to drive the vehicles for you.”
His laughter briefly came through the communicator before he cut the connection.
I headed west again.
From that moment on, Rask’s front truly began to collapse.
My artillery portals remained open above the sector while I advanced alongside the leading units.
I didn’t use the guns continuously; my own soldiers were now advancing fast enough that firing without considering their positions would have been stupid.
But every time an enemy concentration managed to stabilize a street or a heavy weapon appeared in my detection range, several barrels rotated in its direction.
The result was rarely subtle.
Buildings lost entire floors, barricades vanished beneath explosions, and several vehicles were overturned by the shockwaves before our soldiers could even reach them.
I would have been lying if I’d claimed to systematically use the minimum amount of power necessary.
I knew perfectly well that some of those positions could have been neutralized with far less.
I also knew none of my men were close enough to be hit.
The conclusion therefore came naturally.
Might as well enjoy it.
The industrial district had begun the day in relatively poor condition.
It was going to end it in urgent need of reconstruction.
That wasn’t my problem.
Rask’s forces, however, were beginning to understand that their problem had my name.
Some units abandoned their positions before we even reached them.
Others tried to reach the central complex, which mainly had the effect of concentrating more targets in the same place.
Several groups also attempted to flee south before discovering the lines of the third regiment.
The neighboring coalition didn’t move.
They had probably decided that the best way to survive the day was to make absolutely certain they didn’t attract my attention.
Remarkable decision.
I almost wanted to congratulate someone.
I had just destroyed another position when my magical detection warned me of a far more significant change.
The presence I’d identified inside the metallurgical complex had moved.
Finally.
I turned west.
A mass of energy tore across the sky before I could even precisely identify its origin.
I reinforced my barrier a little too late.
The impact was monstrous.
My protection absorbed most of the attack, but several layers gave way under the force, and the shock threw me backward hard enough to send me through the façade of a building.
I struck something inside, tore through a partition, and ended my flight against a pillar that cracked behind me.
This time, the pain was considerably more serious.
I remained seated amid the debris for several seconds, long enough to verify that my limbs still worked properly.
Part of my sleeve had been torn away, and several cuts were already bleeding along my arm.
My barrier was reforming, but the attack had consumed a respectable amount of energy.
I touched my mouth.
Blood covered my fingers.
Something stirred deep in my chest.
Not fear.
Not anger.
An excitement so violent that a laugh escaped me before I’d even stood up.
There.
That was what I’d been waiting for.
I launched myself out of the ruins with a sudden acceleration and returned to the sky.
Rask was waiting for me.
He was difficult to miss.
His demonic form stood well over three meters tall and seemed almost entirely covered in irregular metal plates, as though his body had fused with the industry he controlled.
Glowing cracks ran across his torso and arms, while fragments of metal torn from the surrounding buildings floated around him under the influence of his magic.
He watched me return.
His expression changed when he saw my smile.
“Degurechaff!”
His voice carried far enough to rise above some of the fighting below.
I slowed a few hundred meters away.
“Rask.
I was beginning to think you’d stay hidden until the end.”
Several pieces of metal revolved around him before deforming into long spikes.
“Get your army out of my territory!”
I genuinely needed a second to appreciate the irony.
“Your territory?
You sent your men into mine, they fired on my soldiers, and now you’re complaining because I crossed the street?”
“My commander exceeded his orders!”
That was new.
I raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Then you should have chosen your commander better.”
The metal projectiles launched.
I dove.
They passed through the space I’d occupied a fraction of a second earlier and immediately changed direction to pursue me.
I accelerated between two buildings, materialized an automatic weapon, and fired at the nearest spikes.
Several were deflected, but the others continued chasing me until I climbed sharply and made them slam into a façade.
Rask came down above me far faster than his size suggested.
His fist struck my barrier.
The impact pushed me back several meters.
I immediately answered by materializing a shotgun and firing almost point-blank into his face.
His own protection absorbed most of the blast, but his head snapped backward.
I laughed.
“Ah!
Now this is getting interesting!”
He roared, and a mass of metal erupted from the building below us.
I narrowly avoided it.
The duel truly began.
Rask was powerful.
Far more powerful than the demons I’d torn through since the beginning of the assault, and experienced enough not to repeat the same attack twice once he realized it didn’t work.
That suited me perfectly.
He used the metal present throughout the sector to constantly reshape the terrain.
Beams tore through façades, entire plates ripped themselves from buildings to form shields, and dozens of projectiles appeared around him before rushing toward me from multiple directions.
I actually had to pay attention.
And the more the fight forced me to concentrate, the more I felt something returning that decades spent commanding had almost made disappear.
I no longer needed to think about what I was supposed to feel.
I was simply happy.
I dove beneath a metal blade large enough to cut a vehicle in half, dismissed my weapon, and materialized two pistols during the movement.
The shots struck Rask several times before he could raise his protection, then I passed above him and immediately replaced one weapon with a heavier rifle.
He turned.
I fired.
The infernal explosion tore away part of his armor.
Rask screamed and launched another wave of projectiles.
I avoided several.
Two struck my barrier.
A third passed through an already weakened layer and cut into my side.
The pain made me grimace.
My smile returned almost immediately.
“Again!”
Rask hesitated.
It was very brief.
But I saw it.
He was beginning to understand.
I didn’t want this fight to end quickly.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!”
The question made me burst out laughing.
“You’re really choosing now to worry about that?”
I attacked again.
The fight lasted long enough for Rask’s lines to almost completely collapse around us.
When I gained altitude for several seconds, I saw Dominion units advancing through the ruins and gradually surrounding the metallurgical complex.
The enemy’s last organized positions were disappearing one after another, while survivors either dropped their weapons or attempted to flee.
Rask saw it too.
His aggression changed.
He began taking greater risks, using increasing amounts of energy in an attempt to reach me before his army was completely destroyed.
An enormous metal structure formed around his arm and crashed down toward me.
I reinforced my barrier at the moment of impact.
This time, I held.
Then I climbed along his weapon before he could pull it away, materialized a rifle against his shoulder, and fired several times.
His armor shattered.
Rask retreated.
I followed.
He created a wall between us.
I went straight through it with my barrier reinforced.
When he saw me emerge through the fragments, his expression finally shifted from anger to something far more interesting.
Fear.
He backed away farther.
“Wait!”
I slowed.
Not because I intended to stop.
I was curious.
“Now you want to talk?”
He quickly looked toward the battlefield below us before turning back to me.
“The incursion was never supposed to happen.
I can compensate your losses.
Souls, territory, facilities.
You’ve already fucking won!”
He wasn’t wrong.
Militarily, the battle was over.
His army no longer represented a serious threat, and the Dominion had made a clear enough demonstration to discourage any reasonable neighbor from repeating his mistake.
A few days earlier, I might have considered his offer.
The thought made me smile.
“You should have offered me that before giving me an excellent reason to come all the way out here.”
His face tightened.
“You’re going to destroy all of this over a fucking road?!”
I briefly looked at the ruins surrounding us.
“At this point, the road is probably one of the few things still relatively intact.”
He didn’t appreciate that.
Rask concentrated all the energy he had left.
I immediately felt the power building.
Very well.
If he wanted to end it like this, I could respect the effort.
I gained altitude while he prepared his attack.
Several portals appeared around me.
Rask saw them.
His energy faltered.
He finally understood what I was preparing.
The ends of the artillery pieces emerged into the air, but this time they weren’t aimed at a building or a fortified line.
Every single one converged on him.
Rask tried to move away.
I opened more portals along his path.
He changed direction.
Two new guns were waiting.
The fear crossing his face was almost disappointing after the fight he’d given me.
“Degurechaff, wait—”
“No.”
I closed my hand.
The cannons fired.
The explosion swallowed Rask before he could release his attack.
The first salvo shattered his protection.
The next tore apart his armor and hurled him toward the ground, where several new shots struck almost the exact same point.
I maintained the bombardment long enough to make certain he wouldn’t get back up.
When the smoke finally began to clear, very little remained of his demonic form at the bottom of the crater.
He would probably return eventually.
That was the occasionally irritating advantage sinners possessed when you didn’t bother using angelic steel.
For today, it was enough.
I closed my portals and let my arms fall.
The relative silence that followed felt almost strange.
Then my communicator activated.
“Commander, the last organized units have just surrendered.”
My lieutenant’s voice had returned to its usual calm.
I watched Dominion soldiers take possession of the final positions.
“Losses?”
“Below estimates.
We’ll have the full figures later.
The coalition withdrew from several streets in the south without us asking them to do anything.”
I smiled.
“They learn quickly.”
“The educational example was rather convincing.”
I looked over the ruins.
It was difficult to disagree.
By the time I finally returned to the ground, the battle was over.
My soldiers were securing the buildings that remained usable, gathering prisoners, and checking sectors where a few isolated fighters might still be hiding.
The officers had already begun reorganizing the units to hold the approaches until we decided what to do with Rask’s territory.
My lieutenant found me near what had once been a major avenue.
I do mean once.
Between the bombardments, collapses, and craters, it now required remarkable imagination to distinguish its original route.
He looked at my damaged uniform, the blood on my arm, and the dust that probably covered most of my face.
“You look satisfied.”
“I am.”
He then looked over the district.
“The infrastructure department will be less so.”
I followed his gaze.
Several buildings were still burning, and part of the foundry continued slowly collapsing.
“This isn’t our sector.”
“Part of the road was.”
I looked at the crater he was referring to.
“It needed renovating.”
His smile told me he wasn’t remotely convinced.
I made no attempt to convince him further.
I was tired, several parts of my body hurt, and my magic had been used heavily enough that I could already feel a much quieter evening coming after my afternoon.
But I felt wonderful.
The mask wasn’t here.
No celestial energy had disturbed my mind, and nobody could accuse a failed experiment of influencing my reactions.
I’d simply stopped restraining something I’d never truly lost.
I didn’t regret the result in the slightest.
The battle obviously made the evening news on 666 News.
I’d been back at the manor for several hours, long enough to shower, replace my ruined uniform, and let my regeneration deal with the less significant injuries.
My arm still hurt slightly, but nothing that justified a doctor’s intervention.
I’d settled down with a drink when my lieutenant entered the room at the exact moment Katie Killjoy’s face appeared on the screen.
Behind her, an aerial image of the industrial sector showed an impressive amount of smoke.
“If you’re wondering why part of the western sector now looks like a fucking war zone, don’t worry: that’s because it was one!”
Tom Trench stood beside her with several sheets of paper in his hands.
“The fighting reportedly began after a force belonging to Overlord Rask entered Dominion territory despite several warnings and opened fire on—”
Katie nearly ripped a page from his hands.
“Yes, thank you, Tom, nobody gives a shit about the road!
What we care about is what happened AFTER!”
The image behind them changed.
I saw myself appear in the sky above the district.
Someone had managed to film the moment when several dozen of my artillery portals opened behind me.
I had to admit it was an excellent shot.
Katie seemed to agree, even if her reasons were probably different.
“Tanya Degurechaff, because apparently sending an entire army wasn’t excessive enough, decided to personally join the fighting.
The result?
An army in pieces, several industrial blocks turned into rubble, and Rask himself currently spread across an area our crews are refusing to measure.”
Tom tried to speak again.
“Technically, Rask should be able to regenerate since no angelic weapon was used to—”
“Fantastic!
He can watch the footage once he’s grown his eyes back!”
I nearly choked on my drink.
My lieutenant sat down nearby while the report continued.
The images now showed several destroyed positions, columns of Dominion soldiers moving through the streets, and farther away, what remained of the metallurgical complex.
Tom explained that several groups belonging to the opposing coalition had already evacuated the areas closest to our new positions, and that several local organizations had announced their intention to avoid any armed movement near Dominion routes.
Katie summarized the information far more efficiently.
“Translation: everybody suddenly discovered they fucking love respecting borders.”
I raised my glass slightly toward the screen.
“She’s learning.”
My lieutenant didn’t answer immediately.
I noticed him looking back and forth between the screen and me with an expression that was far too amused.
“What?”
“I was simply considering the relationship between the original problem and the solution.”
“You’ll have to be more specific.”
He gestured toward the screen just as 666 News broadcast another aerial view of the damage.
“Eight hundred men attempted to cross one of our roads.
A few hours later, their Overlord’s army practically no longer exists, his industrial district looks like that, and he himself will probably spend some time putting himself back together.”
I took a sip.
“The way you’re presenting it, one might think you disapprove.”
“Absolutely not.
I was merely wondering whether your personal involvement, along with the amount of artillery employed, was truly necessary.”
I turned my eyes toward the screen.
The channel was once again showing footage from my bombardment.
Amid the smoke and explosions, my silhouette could be seen in front of the portals, wearing a smile wide enough to make any attempt to claim I’d had a bad time completely pointless.
A few days earlier, an Exorcist’s mask had forced me to look at something I’d allowed to become buried beneath decades of control and responsibility.
Today, I hadn’t needed any of that.
Only a battlefield.
I smiled again.
“Necessary?
Probably not.
But fuck, I missed that.”