Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Seth! It's that one! Stop him! He's killing my babies!" Ellie suddenly tucked his sleeve and screamed over the noise of the battle.

With tears and vengeance in her eyes, she pointed down in the moat. In the moat below, was another war raging, slimes frantically trying to envelop and digest the still living beasts that had entered their wet territory.

Most of the beasts were simply too clumsy in the water, to offer any significant resistance to the gooey undertakers.

Seth immediately recognized which one she meant. The Amalgamation was small, just around four meters, but had a terrifying aura. As he looked, it ripped apart one of the slims, as if it was made of paper mâché.

<Carbonized Amalgamation lv.87>

It looked slender and humanoid, with its body burned black like charcoal. This had to be the thing that destroyed the secondary barrier, under the cover of the other, bigger Amalgamations!

They had to stop it from reaching the city barrier and the wall. Seth nocked an arrow and lit the tip with his pale spirit flame. He aimed and shot at the monster, as it was occupied with ripping apart the slime.

The arrow left the string and led by the bow's malicious will, it directly aimed for the Carbonized Amalgamation's raised head.

In the last possible moment, the beast threw its head back, causing the arrow to penetrate its collar. It let out a high-pitched scream that penetrated into the onlooker's soul as the blueish flame started burning its shoulder and neck.

Still, the beast seemed to have a high resistance to fire, as expected of something "blessed" by the Sun God.

Using <Voice of Seth>, the blacksmith's voice penetrated the battle noise.

"Harker, it's that one burning in the moat! Don't let it reach the wall!" he screamed for the hero to hear. If someone had the power to kill the beast in time, it was that guy.

Of course, the hero was not the only one who hard him, and many people aimed their ranged attacks against the carbonized creature. Seth's guess quickly proved to be true, as their attacks only slowed it down, but couldn't end its life.

Could another team member, do it? Maybe, but the hero had already shown his power on stream. It was best to throw him out there.

Harker had been at another part of the wall when he heard the bard's call. He did come rushing over and it seemed that he immediately understood the situation, when he saw what everyone was aiming for.

He climbed on the battlements, took a stance, and readied his sword. Seth made sure that the recorders he could influence got that scene. Harker's sword started glowing in a bright, holy light. Looking like a white laser, he swung it and sent off a blade of light.

This was no fancy skill. Anyone who learned <Energy Circulation> could send off energy blades. Even Seth. But this was the energy blade of a hero, and its power was hard to fathom to the onlooker. At least until it hit the amalgamation.

The blade was so fast, that it almost looked like a beam, and the creature, no other attack had been able to stop, was cut apart at the waist. Then the profoundness of the skill showed in its effect. It was not only cut at the waist but also along the body, in several diagonals.

The outcome was that the deep black, carbonized amalgamation was cut into several dozens, still falling part, pieces, by the one energy blade he shot. Seth was sure, this was what a serious attack from the hero looked like. Even Harker had been holding back until now!

The death of the Carbonized Amalgamation was the beginning of the end, for this first wave. None of the Amalgamations below could break the city barrier. They were stuck in the moat and ground down between the onslaught of slimes and the attacks from the wall.

Seeing the slime rancher stare into the moat, he patted her shoulder.

"Ellie, I'm sorry that so many of your slimes died."

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry, look, they are already recovering their numbers."

Looking at the moat, Seth could see the slimes making quick work of the bodies floating below. The monsters had grown and proceeded to split. More and more slimes split into two, doubling their numbers. Now there were even more slimes than before!

~ What a waste! How can you do this to the great me?! Making this me watch such delicious food being wasted on slimes! ~ the Ivicer whined.

~Let me join, too! ~

~Okay, okay, how about on the next wave or something? ~

After this first wave calmed down, the drawbridge was lowered. Teams of soldiers and mages left the city to reinstall the secondary barriers. Nobody actually knew how many waves there would be, or the intervals.

Seth had heard from the acting commander that the highest number of waves during a blood sun was seven, which was the last time. It had been the last of those waves that had almost torn down the city walls.

They knew only one thing for sure, the waves would grow incrementally stronger. Losing the first two barriers this early was a bad omen for the rest of the day.

Using the break, Seth visited the field kitchen, where the soldier could come to get food, water, and rest. Sitting on the benches he found Pheles and who he presumed to be Lord Culus. They didn't look good.

"Is Everything okay?" he asked and stepped up to the duo.

"Oh, Seth. Lord Culus, this is Seth, our bard. Don't worry, we just overexerted ourselves a little."

"Hello, young one. I heard you were a demon bard. Why didn't you sing during the wave?"

"I heard this is just the beginning. I wanted to keep some cards up my sleeve. I don't think I am the only one." Seth answered, hinting at others holding back, too. The hero for example.

Over the past months, Seth had learned quite a few more stable songs from Oz. They were more in line with the bardic element of his job than with the crafting part. Demonic Smithing Ballads heavily relied on calling upon the blessing of specific high-ranking demons and devils.

However, the more bardic songs relied on the skill as a musician and less on channeling the whimsical power of a demonic sugar daddy. They were a lot more stable in their performance, especially together with <Orpheus' Voice> and <Voice of Seth>. However, they also cost more mana and mental energy in general.

Some even drew their power from those listening, but those were few and not in line with strengthening others. Because of that, Seth made sure to pace himself.

"Haha, well said. I like your way of thinking. If I could, I would have done the same." the old demon chuckled.

They started a conversation while eating. According to the old demon, this first wave had been the strongest he had seen. Despite holding back nothing, he had not managed to save the outer and secondary barrier.

"But you are a demon, couldn't you just leave if things got dicey?" Seth asked when their conversation turned to the reason why the demon was trying so hard.

"I signed a contract." the old man sighed.

"Demons always fulfill their contracts," Misto interjected.

"It's just that I underestimated the work I had to put in," Culus said helplessly.

"We can only hope the next waves don't get worse." Misto lamented.

After finishing his meal, Seth god up to look for the three stooges, Marcel, Elza, and Brock. Seeing the demons in charge of thinning the herd already tired, didn't give him a lot of confidence for the day. The three were strong, but they were not as over-the-top as the others. It would be better he had them by his side if things went haywire.

On the way, he ran into Rich, who was talking to a bunch of soldiers. The slavemancer was at a different part of the wall to space out their supporters. Even his powers as the "most powerful supporter" had their limits and couldn't support all warriors on the wall.

The blacksmith thought for a moment before deciding to give the slavemancer a warning.

"Rich."

The slavemancer twitched in shock before he slowly turned around. Although they had gotten along well when Rich bought equipment and spent months to pay it off, he knew very well, that he messed up when he followed the dumb hero in ambushing Seth's friends at the banquet.

"Y-Yes, Seth?"

It was true, Seth didn't have the best opinion of him, but it didn't mean he would withhold a warning that could save his life.

"Don't worry. I just came to caution you. It looks like this time's blood sun might be worse than what we heard about. The demons might reach their limit at some point. Just... stay vigilant and don't hold back when stuff is going down."

Rich blinked while processing what he just heard.

"Ah, yes. Okay. Thank you?" said confused, but Seth already continued looking for the three. They were not part of Minas Mar, but because of his previous experience, Seth considered them reliable. Even trustworthy. He wouldn't want them to be swept up in something.

He found the three sitting at another field kitchen at a different part of the city wall.

"Seth! What brings you here?" Marcel greeted him after swallowing a mouth of soup.

"You three, follow me to my part of the wall."

"What about our stationing? Didn't we plan it out with the lord? " Brock argued but Seth interrupted him.

"Listen, I have a bad feeling about this. I want you three in a place I can have an eye on."

"Look here, just because you have a hunch, we-"

"Drop it, Brock. We are coming." Marcel stopped him. He and Elza had already stood up to follow the blacksmith.

"What are you doing? Are you really going just because..."

"Brock, I will give you a piece of good advice. Listen to this man's hunches. We are going."

The monk hesitated for a moment before he also stood up to follow Seth to his part of the wall.

They reached the wall just in time. The alarm for the second wave was ringing and the teams that had reinstated the secondary barrier rushed back into the city.