As she watched him fight, she became jealous of how easily he could cut through their armor and weapons. If she could do that kind of damage with just one technique, she would become much more formidable in combat.
While she was being jealous Chronos had cut the limbs off of two more trolls. Unfortunately, their companions managed to pull them back before he could finish them.
He noticed that while their armor was standardized and they were strong it was just brute strength, they hadn't trained in any techniques, nor did they have any particular methods that matched each other. Even their formation seemed to be the most basic type; it wasn't hard to break, otherwise he couldn't have injured them so easily.
It was like someone had thrown gear on a bunch of children then tossed them into a war they weren't ready for, very big children but without training that brute strength didn't mean much.
If they hadn't led an army of monsters that vastly outnumbered the defenders or didn't possess high natural regeneration, they would have been defeated long ago.
He even doubted that they could pose a threat to the naga and lizardfolk.
Was this really the main force of their army?
Sathrya was a fiercely militaristic matriarch; she wouldn't have been defeated by these untrained fools, even if they had come with twenty thousand troops.
There had to be something that they were missing.
As they fought the trolls they slowly retreated to the walls where Gregory wrapped his threads around them and pulled them out of combat.
"Chronos, we need some more arrows towards the middle, their trying to push in again after the orcas forced them out. And as for you Lyla, go and rest, you need a break."
Lyla huffed, "I can still fight, just give me a bow and arrow."
"No, you are out of spirit and weaker than you should be. Focus on recovering or try learning some recovery magic if you want to keep fighting." Gregory shot down her response.
While he was taking aim Chronos said, "You should listen to the man he was always the one in charge of managing the youngsters on outings. He can tell when a person is about to collapse."
"I am not a child!" She protested as she made her way to the priest's tents.
Laughing he turned to Gregory.
"How are you and Sariah doing? We've been caught in non-stop battles for half the day now, you've got to be reaching the end of your rope."
Gregory threw several more weapons into the monsters before replying.
"I'm not too bad, this new fighting style is more spirit intensive then physical and makes it easy to fight for prolonged periods. Sariah is going to have to retreat in a few minutes though, even before we left the tear, she has been maintaining multiple curses. Casting spells for more than an hour can't have been easy on her."
Looking over the battlefield Chronos saw that the middle section of the wall had been hastily repaired using fallen logs, wooden piles, and the matriarch's vine spells to make a thorny barricade.
Even if the trolls could heal fast, it would just cause them more pain as the thorns would break off and become lodged under their skin until they had time to cut it out.
The northern section was still being avoided as there were multiple fourth rank lords fighting there but it looked like the trolls had lost several of their fighters leading to the others being suppressed by the combined army.
The southern section was actually having the easiest time despite facing the largest number of monsters.
Most monsters weren't smart enough to attack the wall as a single unit leading to them being cut down by small groups of soldiers working together. But the northern sections just forced more monsters to the south as fast as they could kill them.
At this rate the battle would be finished before dusk, but they had already missed dinner and Chronos was becoming hungry. A sure sign that he had been fighting too long and had taken too many injuries today.
He would need to eat a small feast to recover from the battles.
Over an hour later the battle was drawing to a close when the air trembled before an explosion resounded in everyone's ears.
Booom!
"What is going on here? Lucan Dreth, Malven Dreth explain this mess to me."
Above the battlefield stood a man wearing the clothes and finery of a high-ranking noble from the Vhalic Empire with several decorations for military achievements and carrying a sword at his waist.
He had graying brown hair and piercing green eyes, he was nearly 6 feet tall and carried himself like a man that had spent a lifetime in the military.
Worst of all, Chronos recognized him, though he looked much younger than the last time he had seen him.
He was Duke Darrius Korrin, a man famous in both the empire and the kingdom for defending the empire from multiple invasions from neighboring nations and had gained military achievements during beast tides that had nearly destroyed the northern areas of the empire in the 60 years ago.
Unfortunately, during the last beast tide he had lost one of his legs to a massive wolf with strange powers leading to his retirement and position as the Duke of the Vhalic Empire when the priests failed to heal it.
Now he flew above them using two bat-like wings that sprouted from his back and the leg that should have been missing was fully healed.
Duke Darrius seemed to become annoyed as he waited. Then he raised a fist and struck out at the waterspout in front of him, shattering the spout and releasing both the devils and the admiral before demanding to see them again.
"Lucan Dreth, Malven Dreth you have 5 seconds to report what this mess is?" He roared at them.
"Y-Yes sir!" They both shouted as they flew in front of him and saluted.
Chronos' ears flattened against his head as he realized that the duke was now a king rank devil and had the power to destroy their army within an hour.
Normally those at the fifth rank, also known as the king rank, wouldn't attack armies or battle against each other as they were too powerful and would cause a great deal of collateral damage to the surroundings, but devils never really played by the rules.
And they didn't have another king rank here to dissuade him.
Admiral Kealvar called for the orca guards to assemble on his location, preparing a formation that they hoped would buy enough time for their people to retreat if Duke Darrius chose to attack them.
After hearing Lucan and Malven's reports Duke Darrius began turning to the army but froze and looked towards the north.
Booom!
Another explosion rocked the battlefield as a dragonkin in the white armor of the dragon paladin order appeared.
He had large white wings with a body that was round as a barrel and scales lightly covering a human face that sported a fabulous mustache...!?
"Hold on! That's Commander Stan! I thought he was only at the lord rank. He must have used some method to suppress his strength so he could fight alongside his men without causing significant damage to the environment. Too bad he won't be allowed to do that anymore now that he's been revealed." Chronos thought as he watched the two king ranks meet each other.
Logically he should retreat for the sake of safety but learning about the king rank was a valuable experience that you could only rarely come across.
Watching them closely he could vaguely hear what they were saying as they faced each other.
"Duke Darrius, I never expected you of all people to become a devil!" Commander Stan spat in disgust.
"What can I say? They offered me a deal that I couldn't refuse. If you had been wasting away for years like I had, you might have accepted their deal as well." Duke Darrius replied.
"And what has happened to the royal family? Have you devils killed all of them or turned them into devils like you?"
"Who's to say? Perhaps they became a devil first and enticed me?"
Commander Stan's face darkened at that. If the entire royal family had turned into devils, then none of the nobility would be able to remain human either. If true, then the empire would be lost and would need to be destroyed before it could be rebuilt as a new kingdom.
Devils weren't just a race; they were the incarnation of evil. One could only become a devil when they acted on the wicked thoughts in their hearts which would cause their soul to twist and warp as they committed more vile actions.
Not all wicked actions would turn a person into a devil, if you stole out of necessity or harmed others but regretted it the part of you that was still human would smother and erase the wickedness that was just beginning to take root.