The armies who received the go-ahead started to teleport in, and the moment they set foot on to the battlefield, they were greeted by the haze of yellow smoke. After taking their first breath, they irked from the smell and immediately started to cough from it.
Within the next five seconds, their eyes got irritated, and they felt like someone had set their throats on fire. The more they desperately gasped for air, the more their situation worsened.
Some ignored the previous orders of staying in formation and rushed forth in the hopes of leaving this highly hazardous zone. Alas, they did not know there was a 10-metre wide and 30-metres deep ditch surrounding the entire safe zone awaiting these stragglers.
A number inadvertently fell to their death and the reinforcements none the wiser continued to act the same way, also craving the sweet release of death to alleviate the severe burning of their throats. As for the rest who managed to tolerate the burning sensations, the side effects develop further until they felt like their whole skin was on fire.
The Tiefling Mages, on the other hand, were somewhat prepared for this sort of situation. In their repertoire, they had spells which could grant themselves and others magic resistance against all types of poisons.
They began to cast a wind gust spell first to move the gas away, yet soon after they began chanting, they were taken down by the Royal Snake Snipers without any prejudice or mercy. Those not finding a bullet going through their brain who tried to continue chanting the spell were met with even more bullet holes that rendered them to the ground.
Back at the Mages Communication Centre, Duke Crocell sighed at the loss of soldiers. They had severely underestimated the viciousness of this yellow gas their enemy had deployed. Earl Furfur who previously passed the order to press for the attack, knew it was ‘partially’ his mistake to push forward. But his pride as a Demon Lord prevented him from apologising.
“His Majesty has arrived!”
An imp servant shouted to inform the rest of his presence, and Duke Crocell immediately moved away from his seat to allow King Baal to take over his rightful position as the Supreme Commander over the army. It became deadly silent in the room as all eyes were on the King of Hell.
Without being briefed or questioning the progress of their campaign, he merely uttered two words after he had enjoyed the stifled down panic in the room.
“Send more.”
It made sense to the demon mage communication operators and the rest of the lords in the room even though it sounded ruthless. Currently, they were being pinned down at the safe zone, but surely the concentration of gas would decrease once they managed to leave the area.
It was plainly obvious that some sacrifices were needed to push on the attack. If they backed out now with King Baal present, it would be a major disgrace.
“Looks like Lord Moloch is suited for more than just dressing up his underlings. We never expected the old cow to use actual tactics fighting against us.” Earl Furfur tried to redeem himself in the situation by implying that it was basically Moloch’s fault that this happened. However, King Baal did not care much for these kinds of excuses.
“Gather all my children, the Dukes, Counts and Marquis and get them to contribute. If Moloch wants to play a game of wits, we will show him that no matter what he may have come up with, all trickery shall fail in the face of overwhelming power.”
King Baal ordered, stood up and left the area. The instruction was vague but demanding, making Earl Furfur regret ever opening his damn mouth in the first place. All the Serpent Demon could say in response was a weak Yes.
Reluctantly he headed out to search for the forty odds Sirs and Ladies to present them with the news, something the King could have done with but a single thought in his mind. It was evident that this was meant as a punishment for Earl Furfur, and he hated it. Not only was it a tedious task, but the more dire consequence was that this also meant King Baal’s impression of him had worsened.
“I told you earlier not to be in a rush.” Duke Crocell reminded him before the other set off. Furfur was clearly not taking it well. Nevertheless, he decided to swallow any complaints.
This was neither the time nor the place to argue, not to mention that Crocell outranked him as a Duke.
“Finding all the Sirs and Ladies sounds like a pain. If you can get ten of them, it could be a miracle, much less all of them.” Crocell said solemnly.
He was stating the fact, despite clearly being unwilling to aid his companion and Vepar laughed at the sight of the slithering snake.
“He can be glad this was all. At least he didn’t have to also gather all the princes and princesses of Hell even though King Baal only mentions his ‘children’. They would have given him a piece of their mind for disturbing them.”
“I think it is implied that he wants all of his children to be in the war. Heh, good luck on him for they will either kick him out of their premises or kill him depending on their mood before he would even have the chance to say that he bore the orders of their father.” Duke Crocell gloated at Furfur’s situation.
Truly, misery loves company as Vepar agreed heartily with Crocell’s comment to get his mind off losing his Armoured Knights. Seeing the Earl being punished had been indeed a welcomed medicine.
“What do you suggest? We know that there is that ditch there. Should we send in our aerial units to eliminate the archers firing the gas into the area?” Duke Crocell asked Vepar who had given the go-ahead to the mages to send the mobilising message to his army.
“Do what you need, I already transferred command over my army to you. All I have left are my personal guards.” Vepar shrugged as he decided to return to his quarters. Those Horned Armoured Knights had a track record to uphold and Moloch would have to pay for breaking it just like that.
The One-Winged Armoured Angel was not going to give it up lying down. He went to equip himself properly and move into the fray to collect his due.
“Very well, I shall gladly take charge.” Duke Crocell replied with a smile. For Vepar to throw his army away for a petty vengeance was unlike the usually stoic him, but Crocell was going to use it to his advantage. Why bring his troops to the fray when others could take the brunt of it first? Fortunately, Furfur had left his army here for him to command, too, so how could he say no?
Thus, he decided to send the entirety of Vepar’s Armoured Gargoyles and Furfur’s Winged Hydras first. It may be glorious to die in the midst of battle, yet there was more glory to be earned in surviving the campaign, therefore Crocell planned to bring out his Flying Tigers to dish out the last strike.
In the meantime, he shared the information about the yellow gas with remaining Horned Armoured Knights as well as the armies going in. He also ordered them to do their best in trying to ensure the mages would be able to cast their spells.
They were going to break through this haze of death with numbers and send Moloch and his army into the abyss.
