Chapter 20

An army marched through the forest of Jura trampling the grass and other small vegetation on its path. A lone dryad covertly observed them from a safe distance.

The trajectory of the army was unmistakable, they were heading for the dwelling of the treants. Trya considered using hit-and-run tactics to start culling their numbers, but considering that there were at least a dozen named ogres present, there was a chance of her demise and that would leave the rest of her kind to fend off the army unprepared.

By her count, the army consisted of, at least a hundred ogres, close to a thousand lizardmen, and about ten thousand orcs, all fully armed.

'I must return and warn others.' Trya decided. She had learned all that she could and the faster she would warn her brothers and sisters the faster a proper defense could be mustered.

Treyni, the now official leader of dryads, was, as usual, attending to her duties and taking care of the garden. She was happily gathering the falling leaves when she noticed Trya teleport in. Seeing her sister with a distressed expression she stopped and waited for her to speak.

"An army is marching towards our home!" Trya said with a frantic voice.

"An army?" Treyni asked with a hint of worry in her tone.

"They are coming from the north, at least ten thousand strong, orcs, lizardmen and ogres." Trya rapidly dropped the most important details.

"Nothing we can't deal with. Prepare the rest of our sisters."

"Treyni, there were at least a dozen named ogres among them and many others stronger than the usual monsters."

Treyni fell silent for a moment. 'We can still stop them on our own, but losses would be inevitable. I guess it is time to see if our new lord would help us in need.'

"I will contact lord Mare and ask for help." She finally said. Her sister's shy smile was all the proof she needed to know about how much the rest of the dryads wanted to meet their new master again.

{ Lord Mare, I apologize for disturbing you but we are in need of your aid. } She messaged with a polite tone.

{ What happened? } Mare asked in a tone that betrayed a slight annoyance.

{ An army is marching towards our dwelling. We could stop it ourselves but losses on our side would be inevitable. If you are willing to help us we would appreciate your help in stopping them. }

There was silence. Treyni already knew that the decision to either help or not, would not fall on Mare's shoulders, but would be made by Lord Momonga, the ruler of Tempest and Nazarick.

She waited for a minute and then another, a much more sinister presence, sent a message { Mare and the protection force will arrive within an hour. Rest assured we always take care of our own. }

Treyni gulped but managed to keep her tone polite. { Thank you, Lord Demiurge. We will prepare for our Lord's arrival. }

With little time to spare, she quickly informed the rest of her kind about the incoming help and went to prepare the clearing at the entrance of the treant forest.

All the bugs and animals needed to be removed from the path of the incoming army. The grass and trees needed to be buffed, so they do not suffer too much in the upcoming conflict. The more they prepared the less nature would suffer.

Also, she and her sisters all lined up ready to participate in the battle. They were not defenseless damsels after all, but the fierce protectors of the forest. Each one of them was more capable than even the strongest enemy units. Unfortunately, there were forty of them and no matter how powerful, they could not stand against an army of ten thousand.

Mare was first to arrive followed by two kijin and the Sprite Queen. The dryads all knelt with Treyni speaking for them. "We welcome you, Lord Mare, to our dwelling once again."

"Thank you. Um, Benimaru will lead the defense and we will watch, ok?" Mare said timidly.

"We appreciate the help, but we can fight as well." Treyni said with determination as she lifted her head to face Mare.

"Lord Momonga ordered Benimaru to handle things. We can only interfere if the army reaches the grove." Mare said and then taped his staff against the ground. A faint translucent green shield appeared over the entire treant forest.

"As you command Lord Mare." She would have wanted to show her battle prowess as well, but disobeying Lord Momonga's order would not benefit her kind in any way.

"Rest assured. We can handle them easily." Benimaru said to Treyni with a confident smile.

A moment later the gate spell opened and an army of kijin, dragonewts, and high orcs marched through followed by a group of sprites. Treyni tensed up reacting to the forest's unease at what was about to come.

"Souei, take your group and capture some of their leaders for questioning and deliver them to Lord Demiurge." he said to the kijin standing beside him, then turned to the sprite and addressed her. "Yoseijoo, cause panic in their ranks and drive them towards us. Prioritize the safety of your troops."

"As you command, general." Yoseijoo responded and took to the air. Souei just said "It will be done" and nodded for his agents to follow him as he disappeared in his shadow.

Benimaru smirked at his friend's dramatic exit. Souei, same as him, was able to use |Spatial Movement|, which was a much faster mode of travel but |Shadow Movement| looked way more dramatic and cool. He couldn't exactly blame him for showing off, as it seemed to be a trait shared by all of the intelligence department.

"The rest of you, establish a defensive line, do not let anyone pass. Wait for my command to engage. I will strike first!" Benimaru shouted, with his army quickly obeying the order.

Trya looked at the army of the allies and then whispered to Treyni. "I think our Lord's army is at least ten times as powerful as the one that is approaching."

"Are you sure?" Treyni whispered back with her eyes widening.

"Yes. Most of the named ones barely compare to the weakest soldiers Benimaru is commanding."

"Looks like Lord Momonga considers our safety important." Treyni said. Even though the words 'We take care of our own.' came from a demon it was clear that the message was genuine.

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With the first battle under Gelmud's rule commencing soon, and him being the one in charge, Gurda felt both anticipation and anxiety. Facing dryads would not be easy, and a large part of the army he commanded would likely be slaughtered before they could overwhelm the forest guardians with sheer numbers.

Of course, the main plan was to force the dryads into the service of the great lord Gelmud but if they refused none of them would be left alive.

He, and his five closest lieutenants, were all dressed in the common uniforms and doing their best to hide their auras, so as to not become the first targets for the dryads, who would clearly go for the leaders first, to disorganize the whole force.

An ogre named Gatra was placed as the dummy leader. Gelmud deemed the prideful fool as the perfect distraction and used much less energy when naming him compared to Gudra and his lieutenants.

His anticipation grew as they reached a clearing where the main battle would likely happen. Suddenly, a figure that looked like a rather small-statured ogre appeared in front of Gatra, stabbed him, and disappeared with the fake leader of the army.

'What happened? That looked like an ogre…no he was too small but… Was that a kijin? We had none born this generation. Where did he come from? Why did he attack?' A thousand questions whirled in his mind. A moment later, shouts from all sides made him realize that the kijin was not the sole attacker.

Before he could mount a reasonable resistance, a shower of arrows rained from the sky. On instinct, he shielded his face as one arrow stuck in his shoulder plate. He carefully looked up, only to see another volley incoming and some of the soldiers' beings picked up by the flyers.

"Run! We need to warm up before we consume you all." A cruel, feminine voice shouted from the sky with a mocking laugh, as the next set of arrows and the falling soldiers hit the ground forces.

{ Keep lines! Archers, shoot back at the creatures! March forward! } he quickly sent out orders. The last thing he needed now was the army falling into disarray.

Once his army started to shoot back, the flying creatures backed off and flew up above the reach of arrows, but it was clear that if anyone ran, they would either be killed with arrows or picked up and dropped from the sky. 'A trap.'

Gudra looked towards the treant forest and saw the waiting army. It was much smaller than his, but he held no illusions that it would not be easy to defeat it. The Dryads had gotten help and powerful ones at that.

There could be more than one likely culprit, but demon lords had no real reason to defend the dryads as they stayed out of the forest, not wanting to face the wrath of the Storm Dragon Veldora. That left only one strong option; Tempest.

The situation had become unfavorable. Forward stood a small but likely well-prepared force and on their back was an army of flyers who would kill everyone who flees. In short, they were stuck.

{ March forward! Glory or Death! } It was either fight and die a noble death, or run and be slaughtered as a prey, and he sure as hell wasn't a prey.

Benimaru practically shook in anticipation. Outwardly he still remained stoic and in control, but from the inside, he couldn't wait to test his new powers. Sure, there were his former friends and allies among the ranks of the enemy but the glory of his new master trumped it all.

He casually lifted his hand and created an intense black flame that started to burn in his palm with the grass around him losing its lush, green color. The spell was an evolved form of his |Ogre Flame| infused with his master's power, Benimaru had changed it to a |Death Flame|. "Be ready, defenders, hold the line. Assault troop, charge after I cast my spell."

The moment the incoming army was within the reach of the spell, he shot the black flame in the middle of the first row causing an explosion heat of which was felt even from the spot he was standing.

Gudra felt his stomach turn inside out. The gut instinct was clear as day; run. 'I can't abandon my troops, that Majin can not kill us all. It must have been some all-out blast!'

He quickly glanced around to figure out what orders to give as the horrific screams filled the air. If anything the heat had gotten much more intense, too intense in fact. He felt his eyebrows burning off and his eyes getting damaged.

Gudra shielded his face to not suffer burns while his soldiers were burning alive covered in intense black flames. Mercifully, the screams soon ended. Despite the heat, he lowered his hand to observe the carnage. A single spell had killed hundreds, if not thousands.

'They are still burning!' Gudra remarked as he watched the field of corpses. A mere moment later he gasped at a sight he didn't want to believe. The lifeless burning bodies stood up and with raspy screams, tore into the nearest living targets.

This was a nightmare. What sort of monster could do something so horrific? There was no honor to be had anymore, only to be butchered like an animal by the undead monstrosities. Gudra tried to run, but one of the burning zombies jumped at him a few seconds later and pushed him to the ground. The heat fused his armor to his skin. He screamed and tried to get out of the monster's grasp but the pain was too intense.

Everything faded into black. Then he opened his eyes once again and stood up. There was no more pain, just burning warmth filling his charred body. He looked around. Master had given him a clear order; kill the enemy. He found what he searched for as the smell of the living guided him to his first target.

One of his old lieutenants ran alone in the forest. Gudra's now dead body proved to be faster and stronger than his living one. Within a minute, he reached his target while burning the forest around him. The ogre screamed as he tried to fend him off to no avail. Gudra grabbed his prey and pushed them to the ground, engulfing the screaming ogre in the flames. He too would soon serve the master.

The screams of the dying ogre filled him with a sense of joy he had not felt before. Once the life was snuffed out, his comrade stood up, and together they went for the next targets.

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The battle was an absolute success. Every last one of the enemy forces were either captured or killed. The ever-burning deadmen formed orderly rows and awaited orders. Three thousand new soldiers in his master's armies. The Only concern was the charred ground under them as merely being in proximity of them was enough for any greenery to burn into ashes.

{ Lord Demiurge, the battle is over, we eliminated the enemy's forces. } Benimaru proudly reported to his superior.

{ Excellent work. I see my trust in you was not misplaced. Send the everburning ones through the gate. We will keep them in Nazarick to avoid damaging the environment. }

{ As you command. Should we leave a small force behind to guard the dryads? }

{ Not for now. Long-term plans are made to defend the area but there is no need to leave a garrison for now. }

{ May I ask… }

{ A fortress will be built in the clearing. You will receive the plan once it is finalized. }

{ Understood my lord. }

Beniumaru then put on a professional smile and walked up to Mare and Treyni. "The enemy forces are completely eliminated. We will take our leave now."

"Ok." Mare said with a nod of his head.

Treyni looked at the battlefield. Such terrible damage was done to the forest. It would take time for it to recover. 'Maybe we should have dealt with attackers on our own?' She mussed. Maybe a few lives of her sisters would have been a lesser loss than the decimated forest.

While Treyni stood and contemplated the consequences of her decision, Mare walked towards the damaged area.

"Lord?" She shouted after him.

"Something wrong?" Mare asked as he turned his head to look at her.

"My Lord, where are you going? The forest needs to be repaired. We need to formulate a plan for restoration. You cannot just leave now!" She said with a raised voice. Even if she swore loyalty to Lord mare and Tempest it didn't mean the servitude would stand above her prime duties.

"I know. Give me a moment." Mare said in a timid tone and continued walking.

Treyni just tilted her head in confusion, following Mare. "I could have made a wrong judgment on his intentions. Maybe he wants to fully inspect the damage before the healing can start?'

Mare, meanwhile, quickly reached the spot where the burned area started and hit the ground with his staff. Almost instantly the charred area regrew with grass and the burned trees regrow bark and sprouted out a fresh set of leaves. Treyni watched in silence, overwhelmed with what could only be described as religious ecstasy. What could have taken all of the dryads at least several weeks was done in a heartbeat.

'Lord's power is…' She couldn't put it into words. Mare had just repaired the entire patch of the burned forest within seconds.

"Done." Mare said with a satisfied expression and then turned to Treyni once again. "I have to go, mom is waiting."

Treyni dropped to one knee and lowered her head. "I am sorry, Lord, for doubting your abilities. We will eagerly await your next visit."

"Sure. I think I can come to visit in the next few days. Mom wants to see the treant forest too."

"We will eagerly await you and your mother's visit."

"Ok. Bye for now." Mare said and teleported away.

She knew what needed to be done. Centuries ago they had made a living shrine for Lord Veldora, now was time to make one for Lord Mare. With determination, she returned to her tree and cut off one of the thicker living branches, wincing at the painful sensation of cutting into her own tree. This would serve as the base for the statue and her sisters and brothers will contribute the rest from their wooden bodies.

They had only a few days before Mare's return and she could not waste a single moment if she wanted to finish the shrine in time.

Proofreading by placid_void, I AM THE STRING CUTTER, kamijazz and Somnium Hypnos.