God of Nothing

A red blade emerged from the sea of flames, sending an entire battalion of harbingers to their doom. It was no small feat, but Aleph just stared sullenly, thinking about how terribly the battle was going.

"There's too little of us to be expending our strength willy nilly like that." Iona said from beside him.

Aleph only nodded as he looked on. He had been watching the fight from above as he focused on his recovery. Thanks to the efforts of his disciples, they've cleared through a multitude of harbingers in the past couple hours, and earned themselves a bit of a reprieve. 

"They're running us dry," Aleph agreed as he called his disciples back, sending a mental transmission their way. "But there's simply too many to contend with for this long. If we let off for even a second, we're finished."

It wasn't apparent right now, but they were slowly being choked. The squad had collectively killed more than a thousand harbingers at this point, but the stream of blue was neverending. Most of the squad had resorted to his disciples' tricks to keep their mana replenished, but Aleph felt it wouldn't be enough. Once the mental and physical fatigue has built up, even a company of elites would start to see some losses. Aleph only hoped that Iona knew what to do when it came to that.

"How's our next ploy for time coming along?" He asked her, knowing she had prepared such tactics as he delayed the enemy in the afternoon.

"We need the enemy to come closer." Iona answered, but he could see from her face that she too wasn't satisfied with the way things were going. Aleph left her to beckon his disciples closer, to give them a look over as they left the battlefield.

"Master! Look!" Rayse said proudly, handing him a crystal. Aleph looked at it for a bit before adding it to the pile.

If there was one thing going well, it was this: They've dispatched dozens of emissaries right now, giving them a sizable bounty of crystals. Even after giving some to the squad and rearming his gear, Aleph still had quite a few left over. 

"Are you feeling better, master?" Brandon worriedly asked. Aleph smiled in what he hoped was an encouraging way, inwardly chastising himself for letting his misgivings show.

"I am, child, worry not."

"Are you still thinking about Oblivion? Don't worry, we'll take care of him if he comes back!" Rayse said cheerfully.

Another blunder, Aleph thought. It was bad enough that he didn't defeat the herald when he could, but he also left behind a ton of resources so he could flee. Brig managed to retrieve his gauntlets as they fled, but they had to leave the corpses of Oblivion's children behind. That many crystals could have turned the war around, but now the enemy could just as easily create new warriors from them, effectively making his efforts in vain.

Iona called them over afterwards, commanding the squad to return to the town as they recovered their strength.

"Don't worry about the enemy, just focus on recovering." She reassured them.

And so Aleph returned to camp with the rest of them, being greeted by a warm meal and refreshments. He was still ill at ease, so he chose to have his meal atop the wall, observing the happenings below. 

He caught Lacey moving up and down the walls and looking down to the ground. It seemed to him like she was checking something below, but he couldn't see what it was.

Suddenly curious, Aleph made his way towards her.

"Master! Hello!" She waved enthusiastically when he approached.

"Hello, child. Tell me, what has Iona planned for the enemy"

"Uhmmm, well… It's this." She showed him a jug that looked like a transparent liquid. Aleph took it from her, inspecting the liquid for himself.

"Ethanol?" he muttered. Seeing the confused look on her face, Aleph just shook his head.

"Nevermind. So, Iona wishes to burn the lot?"

"Uhh, yes. Sonia and I were just down below, putting barrels of this stuff on the path between both walls. We're just waiting for enough brutes to enter through the path before we start."

Aleph nodded as he munched through the bread he was dining on. It was a good Idea. Such fuels are a byproduct processing certain crops, and would be in high supply in an agricultural town such as this. Their finicky storage requirements seemed to have saved them from the enemies' first raid, too.

He thanked Lacey for her efforts, leaving her to do her job to return downstairs. Seeing the ethanol gave him an idea.

"Andrew." He called out to one of the militia men-turned-mage. He clumsily saluted, but Aleph was quick to dismiss it.

"Enough of that. Now, my disciple tells me you made some sort of flammable liquid?"

"Uhh, yes Lord Aleph. That stuff is left over from when we make sugar. We have barrels of the stuff, stored deep underground away from any sort of heat."

"Lady Iona requested some of them for an operation of sorts. Do you have some left over?"

"Yes, my lord. We have plenty, in fact. They're all down below though. Some of us took all afternoon just to pull out what was absolutely needed."

Aleph nodded, thinking even more deeply. An idea was trying to form, one that could help turn the tide.

"How is everyone doing? With the battle, I mean."

The young man stood up straighter, eyes gaining a familiar glow.

"We are ready to lay our lives for this, Lord Aleph. Just tell us what to do."

"An admirable attitude. But child, do not be so eager to throw your life away. If the worst comes to pass, I vow to let you all survive."

Andrew looked at him, his expression finally showing the fear that was hidden. "My lord, I've seen you fighting out there, the flashes of light you gave off in between shooting my bowgun. Forgive me for saying this, but your life is far more precious than us mere farmers…"

"Your life is barely lived, my child. Mine has come to fruition twice over, and thus has lost its value. Me and my disciples are agree on this: the Abyss shall take from you no longer."

It was quiet now. it seems that everyone had stopped to listen. Aleph heard muffled cries, some sniffles here and there, but still, he kept going.

Remember this night, Andrew. Whatever happens, you all shall live. I promise you."

"...Y-yes, sir!" The young man, tears flowing freely now, his resolve felt tangible in his voice. Aleph only hoped that his will was to survive and not to fight to the death.

"Now then." He urged, "Point me to the cellars."

__________________________________

"Now!" Iona signaled, as both she and Lacey began to set fire to the barrels below.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A series of explosions sounded below, as a sea of flame emerged between the two walls. The gates were covered with layers upon layers of earth, reinforced by Luna and Polo to prevent the door from burning down.

Everyone looked on, faces lit up by the yellow flames down below. The fumes were starting to form, meaning they would soon have to take refuge below.

They didn't scream in agony, or beg for their lives. The harbingers just kept trying to attack, spreading the flames all over as they're roasted. Looking from here, they looked even more like the depicted demons from hell, come to punish the sinners and torture the wicked.

The heat was intense even this high up, but that only made Rayse even more at ease. It was hotter than some of Lacey's spells, so it was bound to be effective.

"Now, then." Iona clapped, bringing everyone's attention over to her. "Let us retire for now. I will have my men tend to the fire for now, so we should all take this time to get some rest.

"Keep everyone who's not a mage away from the walls for the time being. You lot especially–" She pointed to the conscripted farmers, "I admire your bravery, but I can also see you are exhausted. Go get some rest. My men will watch over you."

The group dispersed, and so Rayse tried to look for his friends. Lacey was still staring intensely at the flames, occasionally hurling a few fireballs at certain places to help it along.

Rayse decided not to distract her from the time being, looking for Andrew instead. He heard about the incident a while ago, about how Aleph had basically declared he would lay down his life for them. It was like him to do so, even after looking visibly upset at not killing the heralds.

Still, he gave the slightly older man some encouragement, before spotting Eric over by the gate. He was chatting with the twins. Well, Polo was talking and he was just meekly smiling along. Luna was just silently staring from the side, but the uptightness Rayse associated with her was gone, replaced by a reserved, even shy air.

"Hey, man!" Brandon caught up to him then, playfully putting his arms around Rayse.

"Whatcha looking at?" He made a show of following Rayse's gaze, which landed on the twins.

"Ohh, admiring miss Luna eh? Can't say I blame you, but don't you already have Lacey?"

Rayse pulled himself out of his grip and punched him in the arm. Brandon nimbly dodged, but in doing so he accidentally knocked a kid over. The things that the  boy was carrying all spilled out, sending repaired bolts spilling to the floor.

"Oh, sorry about that, Lake. Here, let me help you with that."

The kid stayed silent, picking up the bolts on his own. Rayse only just noticed that the boy was Lake, the kid who kept sneaking food over to them. He hastened to help him as he chatted.

"Hey kiddo. Are you being good and helping everyone?"

The boy looked a bit tired, even listless. He simply nodded and went right back to picking up the bolts.

"Here ya go. Don't worry about your brother, okay? He's gotten over his jitters now, and his aim's actually getting bet– Hey, where ya goin?" The kid picked up the trayful of crossbow ammo, and made his way up the stairs. He looked like he was hurrying.

"He looked like he's sick or something, wouldn't you say?"

The pair watched him go, but Rayse remembered something. Panic sank to the bottom of his stomach as he raced towards the wall.

"Uh oh. Iona said not to let people up the wall yet!"

"Arghhh! Stupid kid, he'll fry himself to death!" Brandon said, joining Rayse as he swiftly climbed, hoping to catch up to the boy.

It wall itself was beginning to grow hot. Rayse could feel it through his soles. He sped up, worried for Lake's safety.

He was fast. It was close to the top that they managed to catch up to him. The heat didn't even seem to bother the kid, who they saw walking right up to Iona. She hadn't noticed him, hunched over the wall. She was scrutinizing it just as Lacey was, and was so focused she hardly noticed the boy coming up behind her. Her visor was down, helping her deal with the glare, but it probably hindered her field of view just as much.

The glow from the fire below coated everything a sheen of bright orange. Rayse was about to call out to the boy, when he noticed something wrong. The child's skin looked absolutely wilted. Like he was parched from not drinking enough water, or–

Oh no. Rayse held up his hand preparing to cast a spell, but Lake was faster. He dropped the tray to reveal a shiv that he gripped tightly, and with a single move, he aimed it directly at Iona's back.