Within Elris, a large army had formed.
They had long seen the enemy approaching and had prepared for this moment well in advance.
The demons had invaded once before and had claimed victory by spilling the blood of two heroes.
This time, Brian would avenge them, the two close friends who had always followed him.
Their deaths would not go unanswered, and this battle would be only the beginning.
He had gathered enough men to push beyond this confrontation and into the empire.
The King of Elris had requested that he assist his son, who was fighting on the front lines, and Brian had obliged.
Now, he stood as the commander, leading a part of the army himself.
Rows of soldiers stood behind him, stretching outwards by the hundreds, if not thousands, of meters on each side.
Brian stood alone at the front, tens of meters ahead of the formation, blazing brightly.
The only garment on him was a robe, crafted from phoenix hide, feathers, and dragon scales.
He no longer favored armor; as a champion and martial artist, he didn't need anything to restrict his movements or hinder him in combat.
He moved forward, his flames burning at full strength. He could now maintain them much longer than before.
The sound of drums echoed with each of his steps, underscoring the strength of the army.
Beside him, three other heroes had joined.
They weren't under his command, nor did they speak to him, and he didn't speak to them.
Owen the Sharpshooter, Kiel the Gladiator, and Carla the Hydromancer had come only to support the kingdom.
Each was responsible for their own platoon in a different section of the battlefield. All three had completed their hero quests and surpassed level eighty.
Brian looked ahead and spotted the gathering enemy, a horde of demons and monstrous that reminded him of wolf-like creatures.
They didn't resemble the noble werewolves he had once imagined. These things were grotesque, warped in shape, and brimming with menace.
Their horrifying appearances didn't deter him; they only made him want to destroy them more. Their twisted faces would burn.
But Brian didn't charge in recklessly.
The deaths of his two friends had forced him to confront the truth: this wasn't a game.
Heroes could bleed. They could also die.
The army began its march forward, undeterred even by the sight of the monsters waiting for them ahead.
Soon, the two sides met, and it was the moment when they would assess each other, to see if they had enough power to stand a chance in the battle ahead.
"Brian only made his flames stronger, which caused the wolf in front of them to howl as if he was directly provoking them.
It was also the signal for the archers and mages to shoot. No one was calling the shots here; everyone would attack as they saw fit, they did not know the capabilities of the new enemy, and no one dared to order the heroes.
The heroes, on the other hand, were doing their best to cut and blast their way into the shields of the demons; they were stronger than before somehow.
Owen, who had evolved, did not find a fault in the wards; he even hit the same spot ten times before giving up.
He was not going to waste skills doing the same thing, he worked together with Carla who had blasted through a portion of the field with raw power, the Hydromancer created a dragon of water that was being fed by the mages around her, it was not going to hold up for too long but it did break through the shield in her end.
Owen used his power to send a volley through that section; his guided arrows were imprinted with explosive energy, which would cause explosions that would cause havoc.
His intention was simple: he was in the center, able to help one of the three, Brian, Carla, or Kiel.
If one side triumphed, then the other could get support after.
Carla's large dragon, which had successfully opened the defensive array, rushed in and drowned countless demons.
The girl moaned in delight.
She was one of the creeps who still loved the feeling of leveling up.
Owen ignored her and kept firing. He could see that more than a hundred creatures were killed during that first volley, and countless more by the dragon.
But he also noticed that no other arrow or magic made a dent on the heroes.
The army that surrounded them could have been better used as a portable fence, because their attacks were not doing anything.
That is when he noticed that Brian rushed into combat, he still seemed scared, but his fists were the real deal, one bash with his fist and the wards broke apart.
The only reason Carla's dragon hadn't been destroyed yet was that the enemy was focusing their reinforcements on the center.
On the opposite flank, Kiel was holding his ground. He was keeping the werewolf-like creatures at bay, directing his troops to use long-range attacks to wear them down.
And it was working, at least in part.
As an all-around fighter, Kiel, whose base class was Gladiator, constantly switched between swords and other equipment to suit the situation. The only gear he never replaced was his spiked armor.
Those large, jagged spikes did their job well; more than a few of the creatures hesitated to attack him after one glance.
Owen sent three arrows to support the now larger man. Each arrow struck with power, pushing back and killing one of the so-called werewolves.
"Keep Carla safe! Don't worry about me!" Kiel shouted.
Keil called out, Owen knew there was something going on there, so he did not say anything more but did as the boy wanted.
Carla, being a spellcaster, needed far more support. The cannon fodder assigned to protect her was already being overwhelmed by the wolves and demons. Limbs flew. Bodies burned. Some soldiers were even launched like projectiles from a single punch.