The first major battle with the cultists begins and Iah's command is tested.

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Chapter 21

Iah woke up early in the morning. There was a lot to be done in preparation for the battle. And she wanted to have a private conversation with Vel. Or, at least, a semi-private conversation. They were sharing a tent with a few other members of her clan, but she did not need to keep what she had to say to him from the rest of them.

Usually, she had to wait for him to wake up, but he was up just as early as her that day. He probably had not been able to sleep well the previous night. His people were under threat of extermination. The few that her army and the other armies had been able to rescue so far were not a sustainable breeding population. They would need to save much more than that if they expected humanity to survive. Having them survive on the bare minimum was unacceptable. The humans were so tiny that one fireball attack could take out such a small population. And Iah had no doubt that a bunch of fanatical cultists would be able to pull off such an attack eventually, no matter how many failures they endured beforehand.

Everyone in Iah’s army was aware of that. Her clan started preparing for battle the second they awoke. However, Iah took the time to greet Vel, “Good morning.”

“Good morn…” Vel started before looking at Iah’s face, quickly noticing that she was not wearing her eyepatch. “You have both eyes! Then why the eyepatch? And why does your other eye look like it has stars in it?”

Iah smiled at him, standing in her belly fur as she reclined in her cot. Then she said, “I wanted to talk to you about this. Yes, I have both my eyes. Vel, healing magic may be expensive, but my…talent was acknowledged even from a young age. I don’t mean to brag, but it was clear I would become a matriarch very early on, and my clan would have paid to make sure I was whole if anything ever happened to me.”

“Then why the eyepatch?”

“Vel, the gifted aren’t gifted just because they can produce mana powder,” Iah explained, “Over time, the gifted start getting abilities, as long as the gift to produce powder was still strong enough in them. However, even after they lose the ability to produce mana powder, these abilities still remain. Since the elder races were all gifted, they all have these abilities. Not many of the younger races retained the gift long enough to develop these abilities, but we gnolls did. We’ve tried to keep it a secret, as I suspect some other races have.”

“So, you’re gifted like I am,” Vel asked, sounding somewhat amazed, “Does that mean I’m going to get some sort of ability? And what is yours?”

Iah smiled, “It could happen, Vel. Though I doubt it. How old is your race?”

Vel could only shrug his shoulders at that question, “I’ve never even thought to ask anyone that.”

“Well, let’s just say it takes longer for these abilities to show up than I think your race has been around. Give it another thousand or two years, and your people might start getting them,” Iah said.

Then Iah continued, “As for gnolls, we gained the ability to see magic with these special eyes.”

“But I can see magic too.”

Iah chuckled, “I’m not talking about things like lightning or fireballs, Vel. I can see things that should not been seen. When someone starts chanting a spell I can often make out what the spell will be even if I can’t hear what they are saying just by the way magical energies swirl around their bodies. You also leave a trail I can track for days after you’ve passed. And I can even see trails left behind by teleportation magic. How do you think we tracked you down quickly after Masumi stole you?”

Vel’s eyes widened in surprise as he said, “Ryrrg is such a good tracker that I assumed he was responsible. But now that you mention it, there should not have been a trail for him to track. And that would explain how you found me before anyone else. Well, glad you do have this ability. It’s saved me multiple times now. But why tell me about this now?”

“Most of the time, I try to keep my ability hidden, and I do plan to keep doing that,” Iah said, sounding more serious now, “However, I am going to be wearing a helmet that keeps my eyes hidden for this battle. So, I plan on using my eye during the coming fight. And the gold powder you have made has also boosted its strength far more than usual. This has opened up some possibilities for me, and I think you could be useful in exploiting those possibilities to the fullest.”

“Are you asking me to participate in today’s battle,” Vel asked doubtfully. Iah could tell he was not afraid of what she was asking, but more doubtful of his ability to be helpful.

Iah flashed him a predatory smile as she responded, “That I am. These leaf-eating cultists see you as vermin to be exterminated. But I’ve seen that you can bite, too, and it’s time we showed them this. I also want to prove to everyone else that you aren’t just helpless victims in need of protection, that you can have your uses in battle.”

Vel looked at Iah dubiously, “If you say so. What do you have planned? I’m curious to hear this one.”

Iah held out her hand to let Vel step into it so she could set him aside while she started dressing for battle. She talked about her plans with him while she did so, and he listened intently. What she had discussed might not be possible with every human, but Vel had proven himself competent in all the ways she needed. All she needed was to discuss a way for them to cooperate. Vel was very attentive to what she had to say, and though this would be new for both of them, she was confident that he would not disappoint her.

When Iah was ready, she placed Vel in her collar before putting on the rest of her armor. Then, it was on to a meeting with her commanders and advisors. Lanzui was one of the people she was most anxious to talk to. When she spotted the old azure dragon at the command tent, she was quick to ask, “Did you do as I asked?”

“Of course. Three of my dragons carried three others to the humans that fled the city. One of the volunteers for that was one of Oshiko’s people. I trust those foxes about as far as I can throw them, but he has eight of his tales and is one of the better swordsmen I’ve ever seen. The humans should be well protected.”

“Excellent,” Iah said. That was a relief. One of her bigger fears had been what would happen to all the humans that had not tried to make it to Iah’s camp. Losing that many good warriors was not an easy decision for Iah to make, but she was already outnumbered. She had worried about what would happen if the Djallowuo commander realized that they could afford to spare two or three of their numbers to go after the humans. They would have been able to catch up with them quickly enough to crush every last one of them. At least now, they would have some protection. Iah also doubted their commander would want to break off enough forces to overcome those numbers when they would soon be fighting the rest of Iah’s army.

Of course, if her army was defeated here, just six warriors could not hold off all those cultists. So, she had to see to their victory. As the rest of her commanders arrived, they discussed their strategy for the upcoming battle. With everything on the human world being scaled to their race, they had little cover. There were plenty of trees in the area, but they were so small to most of her forces that they were more of a tripping hazard than anything else. The city of Regulbium behind the cultists was technically on high ground, enough so that it would have affected human-sized forces trying to storm the city. That meant the cultists also had the high ground, but the terrain on this world was so flat to her people that it made little difference.

This was pretty much a fight on open terrain with a lot of overgrown brush to the two armies facing each other. If the Djallowuo commander had not thought to erect some barriers before this battle began, she could have just wiped out their forces from a distance and been done with it. That still might have been possible even now, but it would take too much time. There were so many other cultist armies devasting this world, and the forces the coalition put together to stop them were bound to lose at least a few battles. They were going to need to defeat the army facing them as quickly as possible and move on to help any other forces that might need reinforcements.

They discussed what they had to do with all those factors kept in mind, and then Iah dismissed all of them to get their troops organized for the coming battle. Her forces were quick to assemble into battle lines. She had an experienced, efficient group for her army. Hers mainly consisted of actual warriors. She did worry about some that were made up more of hunters. The way she saw the opposing force respond let her know they were an actual army, too, rather than some peasants the cultists had rounded up.

Vel seemed to notice that, too, and asked, “If herbivores are dominated by carnivores so much in combat, why do they look like they have such an experienced army.”

Iah had been anticipating a question along those lines and had an answer prepared for him, “I suppose your world is like most others before they converge with Patch. You have a single nation that lays claim to a plot of land and defends it from all others seeking to settle on it.”

“And the nations on Patch work differently?”

“Yes, remember that we eat the herbivores,” Iah said, “They are our food source. We would not want to keep them off our land. If anything, we welcome them onto our lands, even if they sometimes try to keep us off theirs, unsuccessfully, by the way. So, the same plot of land is normally controlled by two sets of nations, carnivores or omnivores and herbivores. While carnivores and herbivores don’t normally go to war with each other, carnivore and carnivore will go to war to change borders, as herbivores will also wage war against each other for land and resources.”

Vel thought about that and asked, “How do you decide on things like mining rights?”

Iah sighed, “Through very long and extremely drawn-out negotiations. I’ve only had to sit in on them once, but it was bad enough. It’s funny. I thought I never wanted to sit in on one of those again, but now the possibility of us all being alive for me to do so doesn’t look so bad anymore.”

“I wouldn’t mind things getting a little more boring again,” Vel said.

“Let’s hope you get your wish,” Iah said, “Now it’s probably time you tucked back down in your pocket. This battle is about to begin.”

Vel nodded in the affirmative and crawled down into his pocket. When she was certain he was safely tucked away, she surveyed her forces. They may have been civilized, but they were still predators with a herd of prey right in front of them. None of them looked nervous. They were all deathly still but looked tensed to explode in a burst of energy at any moment. Civilization could not beat the instinct to spring on their prey out of them.

The air was thick with the scent of their aggression. And it was blowing right in the direction of the cultists. It was normally a situation that hunters sought to avoid, but this was fine with Iah. The herbivores also had instincts, and those instincts had to be screaming at the cultists they needed to flee. Still, whoever was in command had their forces looked like they had good control of their troops. They held steady in the face of Iah’s army, making her grimace. It would have been much easier if this was a disorganized band of peasants, but they were still cultists and had their weaknesses.

It was clear that the herbivores would not charge out from behind their barriers. History had shown how bad an idea that could be. So, they waited for Iah’s army to come to them. Not wanting to waste any more time, Iah gave them what they wanted. She gave the signal to attack, and the front line of her forces began to sprint at the enemy. Iah immediately began bellowing that they should slow down and maintain order, but that went unheeded. They looked exactly like a group of predators anxious for a meal and were not to be denied.

Fortunately, it was the larger races that were in the lead. While the cultists had destroyed a large amount of the vegetation in the area on their way through, making sure they crushed any hidden humans on the way through, there was still some left. To someone like Iah, they were only large enough to trip over at worst, but some trees were around the height of the smaller races and could impede their movement. With the largest races in front, they were knocking over anything in their way and making a clear path for the other races.

They hit the barriers the cultists had erected hard enough that Iah could see their lines shudder, but they managed to absorb the impact. Even with Iah’s forces raining down powerful blows upon their barriers, their lines did not break. The cultists tried to counter by stabbing around those barriers with spears. That did make Iah’s forces back away a little bit.

Iah attempted to distract the defenders with arrow fire, having her archers aim high to get over the barriers. But, the cultists were prepared and had shields raised to fend off such an attack. Still, the odd arrow managed to get through here and there, and Iah heard the occasional scream as cultists went down. It was not enough damage to cause their lines to falter.

The carnivores battered at the barrier for a while longer, not doing much damage but avoiding having much damage done to them. There was only one notable exception when a lion managed to grab hold of a spear being thrust at him. He was so quick to tug on it that the wildebeest holding onto it did not manage to let go of it in time. He was pulled, stumbling out from behind the barriers and right into the midst of a group of enemies. One lone herbivore stood no chance when among a mass of carnivores and the wildebeest was quickly hacked to pieces. The cultists barely reacted to the scene, as they should have done. Opening up a hole to try and rescue their fellow would have been a disaster for them if Iah’s army forced their way into that opening.

After only a handful of casualties had been suffered on either side, Iah ordered her forces to return. The herbivores shouted and brayed in contempt as the carnivores withdrew. However, the instant that they returned, Iah sent another wave at the cultists. Like before, they sprinted at the cultists, eager for the kill. As before, the cultists’ line held with little damage done to either side.

The third wave was a little different. Iah’s forces had noticed a flaw in the formation of the herbivores. The ones handling the barrier were the larger races. All of the smaller races were a little further behind their lines. They probably believed the smaller races would get under hoof while the larger races were battling. That attitude of looking down on the smaller races would nearly prove to be disastrous for them.

A few of the smaller races were able to slip through a small gap in the cultists’ line. They may have only been knee height compared to the larger herbivores, but they were far stronger than they looked. While any blows that the cultists might have delivered to them could have been fatal just due to their mass, they would have needed to be paying enough attention to them to deliver those blows. It was not until the smaller races started slashing at gaps in their armor, severing calves and hamstrings, that they realized their mistake.

The attacks were not fatal, but herbivores suddenly found their legs to be utterly useless as they collapsed to the ground. Smaller herbivores tried to rush forward and provide their larger allies with some defense, but the damage had already been done. A weak point had been created in their defensive line, and the rest of the attackers forced their way into it.

That had to be a nightmare scenario for the cultists. Carnivores were pouring into the hole. Without the barriers to protect them, they were starting to suffer serious casualties for the first time that day. If they had a less skilled leader, it might have led to a complete disaster for them. However, it looked like this situation had been anticipated. They had reserves ready to reinforce the line, and they were eventually able to repulse the carnivores, but they suffered between 3 to 5 casualties per every carnivore killed to do it. They had the numbers to absorb those losses this time, but it was not something they could afford to keep doing.

Under normal circumstances, they probably would not have had to worry about that many more waves of attacks. Predators may have been stronger, but not many were built for endurance. Gnolls and their cousins were exceptions, but most of Iah’s army were not. The herbivores that comprised most of the opposing force could outlast Iah’s army. However, with various support spells being cast on Iah’s army, her forces could last longer, but she could not risk pushing them too hard. When the spell wore off, her forces would feel a good deal of the exhaustion the spells were warding off. If they did not break through the barriers when the spells wore off, her forces might be too tired to defend themselves if she pushed too hard now.

It was not quite time to give up, though. Even if Iah’s army was not being enhanced, she felt they would have had a few more waves in them. The day was early, and she planned to test these leafeaters. So, now that the first wave had been allowed to rest some, she ordered them to attack once more. Again, they charged with seemingly reckless abandon. Iah bellowed out complaints that went ignored, but when they hit the barriers of the cultists, there was something different this time.

The line wavered just a fraction. It probably would not have seemed like much to an inexperienced eye, but Iah could tell there was something to it. Iah smiled. Their morale had been damaged by the previous wave. Before, they had probably talked themselves up into thinking they were invincible. They were a bunch of zealots who believed they were on a righteous crusade. It gave them a sense that the gods were on their side, that they were invincible.

Now, they had taken a lot of casualties to repel one attack, and they had many more to look forward to. The smell of blood was fresh in the air, and not many herbivores could handle it well without some good training. Even then, it was never something they became comfortable with. The fact that their battleline had wavered at all was a clear indication that they were feeling their losses. Their commander would need to respond to this, and Iah waited to see how they would do that.

Eventually, Iah saw activity behind the lines she was sure no one else saw. She could see magical energies gathering. From the looks of it, she could tell four magic users were preparing separate attacks. She turned to some of her magic users gathered nearby and said, “Prepare to blunt the spells of our enemies. It looks like they will try to blind our forces with a flash spell and unbalance them with an earthquake. Then they will attack with wind scythes and ice lances.”

“I am curious how you can tell that from here,” Oshiko said with a sly smile, “But I’ll let that go for now. We have other matters to attend to.”

Iah was happy that her helmet was keeping her eye hidden. Without being able to see it, all that fox would be able to do was speculate about her abilities. She was not going to have much time to do that either. The type of spells being cast were on a completely different scale than those used during duels. Spells on a scale for a battle like this took time and concentration, which would distract Oshiko from Iah.

While the spells were being cast, Iah saw that the line of defenders was wavering more and more. Based on their numbers, it seemed like they should have been able to hold out for longer than that. The morale damage they had suffered really had affected them badly. Still, they managed to prevent any breakthroughs like had happened during the previous wave. Iah wondered if they could hold out against another wave, which the enemy commander must have also considered. That was why they were preparing the magic attack now.

When the attack finally came, Iah’s magic users managed to blunt the attack of their enemies, though the effects had not been totally dissipated. And it had not been targeting just the wave attacking the cultists. It had been aimed at her entire army. The flash was still enough to disorientate Iah’s forces and the following earthquake unbalanced them a bit. The attacks were barely sufficient to cause light cuts and bang-up armor. Even Iah was seeing spots in her vision. Nothing had managed to penetrate her through her armor, but she could feel that she had been hit at least three times.

This was not something that most of her soldiers were used to, however. Managlasses were such an expensive commodity that most people never even saw magic employed in battle, least of all at a scale where it could affect an entire army. When the wave attacking the cultists started to flee, it came as no surprise. When all but the elder races among Iah’s forces seemed to panic and join in the flight, it seemed like a total disaster. Iah attempted to restore order along with Lanzui and Oshiko while Masumi stared unemotionally. Unfortunately, it seemed like nothing could be done as Iah was forced to chase after her own army.

The disaster appeared to be complete when the cultists started chasing after Iah’s disorganized army. She could not blame them. This was their chance to wipe out Iah’s army after all. Any one carnivore might have been worth multiple herbivores in a battle, but that was mostly true when they were talking about one army versus another. When it was an army versus a disorganized mob, the herbivores could overwhelm carnivores. This would not be the first time an army of carnivores had been stampeded. Iah was not even sure their commander had issued the order to attack. With the way the cultists had looked just before this stampede, they might have committed to the attack out of a mixture of fear from their own losses, desperation in the knowledge that this was their only chance, the joy of this turn of events, and the hope that the gods had just delivered them a miracle.

Iah thought the cultists’ charge was indeed not authorized by their commander. When she took the time to look at them, they looked almost as disorganized as her own forces. That was a good thing. Their commander had been competent enough so far, which meant they might notice anything suspicious. That came as a relief to Iah because there were things that they could have noticed. They might have already noticed them if they had not been a disorganized mob charging after her forces.

For one thing, the waves she had sent against the cultists all day mainly consisted of the swifter races. She had mixed in a few heavy hitters, but even they were not exactly slow species. That had been done to prevent arousing too much suspicion, but she would have been surprised if that had gone entirely unnoticed by the enemy’s leader. Still, that had not seemed to help them based on how their army looked now. Iah had a very predatory smile on her at that thought.

Iah eventually stopped in her retreat, as did the rest of her forces, except for the wave that had initially retreated. The human world was tiny and did not provide much cover, but the wave that was still fleeing was acting as cover for what had happened with their bodies. They could not see that Iah’s forces had stopped in what was clearly a prepared position. Iah pulled out her axes and readied herself for battle along with the rest of her army. No signal was needed from her to do this. All of this had been planned beforehand. The only signal she did give was a little tap on her chest plate to let Vel know that things were about to get rough.

Once the wave Iah had sent to attack finally caught up to the rest of the army, they were allowed to retreat past the rest of them to get some rest. They had done well to stay ahead of the cultists and deserved the break. She was proud to see they had also controlled their pace quite well. The cultists were right on their heels. They were so close that she could see the confusion in their eyes with what was happening.

Just moments ago, they thought they were chasing down a frightened, demoralized foe. Now, a well-organized foe stood before them, ready to receive their charge. They barely had any time to react to the change in situation. Even worse, only the front lines of the charge could see what was going on. And no leaders appeared to be among them. Any attempts by the cultists in the lead to halt their charge went completely ignored by those behind who could not see what was happening. The sheer weight of the cultists in the rear forced those in front to continue onward.

Even worse, they were being forced much closer than they would have usually liked. The first thing almost every herbivore was taught when it came to fighting carnivores was to keep them at a distance. It was why it was practically unheard of for herbivores to face carnivores without spears when they came well-prepared. The cultists at the front of their charge were trying to follow that lesson, but any attempts to plant themselves in place only ended up in them nearly tripping and falling.

Those cultists were so busy trying to stop themselves that they neglected to bring their weapons to a ready position. By the time they realized their mistake, it was already too late. Iah’s army started swinging their weapons the moment the cultists came within reach. Cultists went down in mass, either dead or so severely injured that they no longer factored in this battle.

Unlike the cultists back in Cado, these were more properly trained and equipped. They were wearing the proper armor for battling carnivores, and it was being worn correctly, too. Still, armor did not make one invincible, especially when you were taking direct blows from up close without even trying to defend yourself. And that was when her soldiers were not aiming for gaps in their armor. With the cultists failing to protect themselves, Iah and her forces were able to aim for whatever target they wished. Iah was able to go right for above the gorget of the cultist facing her, his eyes wild with terror. There was only a small gap between it and the helmet, one not easy to reach in most circumstances, but this was not most circumstances. In an instant, his head was sent flying.

That scene was repeated at multiple points along the battle line. Sometimes it was an arm or leg that was severed instead, but the fact that it happened at so many separate places on the battle line was a testament to how panicked the cultists were. This was a feat that Iah was able to repeat three more times before the rest of the cultist army realized what was going on. They started to organize themselves from there. Iah heard commanders shouting orders, trying to salvage what was a major debacle for them. It spoke well for their training that they did start to form lines, but the damage had already been done.

After a quick glance around the battlefield, Iah estimated that the cultists had lost a quarter of their numbers in just a few short moments. While they were finally defending themselves, they were in a position that no herbivore wanted to find themselves in. They were entirely too close to their carnivore opponents on an open field. While they managed to slow down how many losses they were taking, they were still taking those losses and were not inflicting even close to enough to make up for it.

Iah could see the look in the eyes of her opponents. There was grim determination in the eyes of some of them as they tried to fight back. However, that look was in entirely too few of them. Most had the look of frightened beasts about them. Iah would have been surprised if they were not two steps away from bolting in fear as Iah’s forces had just feigned to do. This would be a complete rout if the enemy commander did not do something quickly. They were probably more painfully aware of that than Iah was, which was why she was not surprised when she noticed a mass of magical energies headed her way as someone prepared to assault her with magic.

The spell was a basic elemental attack spell, one which she could counter easily enough. Its purpose had not been to cause her harm, though. The attack was flashy enough to get the attention of everyone on the battlefield. It was sufficient to cause a momentary lull in the battle, and people moved away from both the casters to avoid getting in the middle of a magical duel. For the first time, Iah was sure she found herself face-to-face with the enemy commander.

Part of the show of bellowing at her soldiers earlier in the battle was to make sure the enemy would be able to identify her. And now that had paid off. It appeared the enemy commander wanted to change the course of the battle with a duel between the leaders of both forces. As expected, their leader was unicorn. He wore glimmering silver armor and was considerably bulkier than the average unicorn, who tended to lean more towards a lithe and nimble appearance. This one reminded Iah more of a draft horse.

“A mere gnoll leads this force,” the unicorn snorted in derision, “This will be quick.” He had to have known Iah was a gnoll for a while now, but he was putting on a show of confidence for his forces.

“Yes, I’m sure this will be quick,” Iah returned with an ominous growl.

The unicorn mirrored his confident words with an equally confident posture as he closed in on Iah, reciting another spell as he closed. He was quick with his words, a little faster than Iah was. She would have been on the defensive with spells in a duel against him. Her best option would have been to try and close with him and deliver a fatal physical blow while fending off his spells. And he did not look like a pushover when it came to physical combat.

The unicorn had not shown himself to be stupid so far, so she assumed he was aware of all those things. However, things were not going to go as he expected. Just before she began on a defensive counterspell, she spoke lowly enough that the unicorn probably would not overhear her, “Ice spear.”

As expected, the unicorn finished his spell first, and Iah managed to defend against it just in time. Just as he was about to start on another spell, a spear of ice appeared before Iah and launched itself at the unicorn. He was taken so off guard by this that he did not even think to dodge. It hit him right in the chest, the magic-enhanced ice piercing through his armor as if it were made of paper. The spear was as long as Iah’s arm and nearly as thick. All the unicorn could do was splutter in surprise as he fell over, the rest of his army also in utter shock.

Iah strolled up to the unicorn as he struggled to get his helmet off. He was gasping for breath. Taking the helmet off probably would not help, but he was probably working off instinct. His now hazy eyes locked with hers as he continued to bleed out on the ground. He eventually choked out, “How did a barbarian like you manage to cast another spell so quickly.”

“That was a gift from the humans,” Iah replied.

The unicorn tried to laugh before coughing up blood, “Don’t make such poor jokes now. It’s unbefitting both of us. Those creatures are less than the dirt beneath my hooves. The very purpose of their creation was to be exterminated.”

“And yet one reduced you to this sorry condition,” Iah said without the slightest hint of amusement, “I think it’s only fitting that you now get to experience what you’ve been putting those same humans through.” Iah was standing right next to the unicorn’s body now. He struggled to move, but he could do little more than swat at her ankles in his condition. Iah raised an armored paw in the air and brought it down with enough force to crush the unicorn’s head like a melon.

That was enough to break the cultists. They had just lost their commander, one of the elder races, in a duel that had only lasted seconds with nothing more than a gnoll. The cultists started to flee, many dropping their weapons as they did so. Iah signaled the pursuit, and her army began cutting everything in its path. She could see that the other magic users among the cultists were trying to cast teleportation spells, but Masumi had set up wards to prevent such spells in this area. They would have to run further than this before that would work.

Iah attempted to make sure her forces stayed organized during the pursuit. She did not want to fall for any similar traps like she had set. It was not long before they reached the fortified position that the cultists had originally held. A few did try to hold that position, but not enough of their comrades joined in the effort. They were quickly overwhelmed and butchered by Iah’s army.

Iah eventually noticed that the ground felt strange beneath her boots. With two armies on the run, the ground was pretty much a cloud of dust, but there were a few gaps in the dust. That was when Iah noticed that they were running through the city of Regulbium. Both armies were trampling the city into dust and Iah had barely noticed. She well and truly hoped that the entire populace had fled the city during the night. If they still remained, there was little hope for their survival now.

Once the cultists made it out of the city, they finally made it out of the range of Masumi’s wards. They began teleporting out of the area, which was fine with Iah. If they continued for much longer, they would likely catch up to the humans she knew had fled the city. She did not want to leave it up to the few soldiers she knew were there to stop the momentum of this herd. It would have been nice if she could have eliminated the entire army, but she thought their numbers had been reduced by more than half while she had only lost a handful of her own forces. All in all, it was a good day.