The morning of the second demon wave arrival we stood outside and waited; Bethany, Nicole and Rebekah now on our side. The air was dense with fog, thick enough to smother the rising sun, which came over the horizon with an unearthly glow. Its light caused the air to sparkle, no doubt a result of the insane morning humidity. I didn’t doubt if I ran through it I would be thick with moisture before I came out the other side.

  Now eleven strong, we were as formidable as we had ever been. The timer in my menu slowly ticked down, registering just under ten minutes until arrival. The first wave had simply appeared near the horizon and spent several minutes approaching our base, so I waited for the same, eyes glued to the spot without flinching.

  No one knew what to expect, at least in the amount of enemies we would be facing. With only the first wave as a reference, how hard was it supposed to be? Was this really meant to be a base for humanity to survive inside, was it really something that important? It was still hard to fathom, and I hadn’t fully accepted that reality yet.

  “Can you explain what the demon was like one more time…” Bethany asked, breaking the silence. Despite her strong appearance, there was a bit of nervousness in her voice. Since their arrival, the three had made no progress on gear or levels. With the next wave having been due so soon, they had decided that resting and recuperating was the best course of action, and we had all agreed.

  Alan started to describe the previous demon once again, explaining in careful detail the few tactics it had used, its strength, and how they should best fight it. We now had four tanks, and since Alan was able to fell one solo last time, if he put effort into defense, I had no doubt he could tank multiple at a time.

  Our firepower was nothing to scoff at, and even a dozen demons would not stop us with our extra healer and two more tanks. “Just focus on staying alive.” I looked at Nicole and Bethany. “There’s no need to be a hero, we will handle most of it. Use this as a learning experience.”

  This was what teammates were good for. Someone to rely on so they could grow into their full potential, we were committed to that role. Risking their deaths might allow them to impact the coming battle in a more meaningful way but there was probably no need and it was much more important to think long term.

  Alan’s explanation did a lot less for their confidence than my simple reminder. They were no longer alone, and could depend on us to share the burden.

  “Thirty-seconds,” said Lucas. All distracting thoughts disappeared as I looked towards the rising sun.

  Similar to before, a mass of darkness spawned on the horizon: a tiny blip in the distance barely visible through the fog due to it obscuring the rising sun. It took several minutes for that black blob to enter Jessica’s range.

  “Five demons,” she said. Which got worried looks from our new comrades. We had been steeled in battle before, I wasn’t concerned in the slightest about this coming battle. What this meant for the rate at which the challenges scaled was another matter. With everything on the line, it would take two dozen demons—maybe more even, to send us running. Even then I think we would have the strength to make it out alive, and mostly in one piece.

  “How fast do they expect us to accumulate allies?” Lucas said aloud a thought that had occurred to me. In one week the number of demons had increased 5 times, or maybe it had simply added 4 demons. I knew which I preferred, but it was still too early to tell where this was going.

  “I’m looking forward to the EXP,” I confessed. For myself, and for Humble Abode. There were just too many grayed out icons waiting to be learned, all locked behind pre-requisites and levels. With great risk came great reward, or something like that…

  I turned to Bethany and Nicole, “You two can work together to tank one demon and then assist us with what remains.” Their power level, judging by how Alan felled one just a week ago, should have been somewhere around a low 20’s elite. With two tanks and one healer, even if they couldn’t dispatch it fast, they’d be in no danger.

  “We’ll take the one on the far left,” Bethany said before positioning herself off to the side, waiting to intercept her enemy. I was excited to see them fight. It would be a good reference point, for their strength, and for our own.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  After what felt like an eternity, the demons were here, just across the intersection looking at us. They halted in their approach, and then rushed forward with reckless abandon. It was only now for the rest of us, without super-human sight, that we could see them clearly.

  It hadn’t been said by Jessica, but maybe she had not considered it—they were the same as last week. That gave me a sense of relief, that there was no new demon among them. In my mind, these early waves were merely fodder, and stronger, more intelligent demons would be coming. I had expected a commander, or something to appear. The system was gracious…

  Alan and Richard didn’t wait to meet them in the road. A charge followed by a swift Battle Shout had all five demons on Alan. Richard appeared by his side a moment later, and quickly pulled away two. Bethany managed to charge her single opponent, quickly grabbing aggro and expertly moving it to the side and away from our clump of enemies.

  “Hold nothing back!” Lucas said. This had been agreed before, but was a good reminder. We wanted to know just how durable these were, and how quickly we could dispatch of them if needed.

  Alan and Richard backpedaled side by side, keeping the four demons tight-knit and kiting them into Jessica’s Quagmire Trap. Once there, Maria sent out an Ensaring Arrow, and Blizzard rained down from above. My undead troops rushed forward and attacked from the back while my casters sent bolts hurdling over Alan and Richard’s head. Our enemies were large, and there was no shortage of space to attack them from.

  The multitude of debuffs quickly stacked, leaving our foes standing in a mire, while a torrential downpour of sharp hail assaulted them from above. Frost immediately condensed on their bulky bodies, the humidity playing a massive role in helping to hinder their mobility and keep them in place.

  It was impossible to not compare what I was seeing to the action of a blender. Our enemies were trapped within a wall of icy hell. The sharp shards slicing across their skin like metal blades. Still, their skin was like a shell, no doubt as sturdy as a metal breastplate. Some of the ice literally shattered on impact, only adding more projectiles to the whirling storm.

  Still, their sturdy bodies were no match for our overpowering offense. Lucas had been attacking like an assassin, and he was the first to draw blood. His Wind Slash traveling upwards through the underarm of a demon, and coming out the side of its neck. A clean cut that left it all falling off in one chunk.

  Black blood mixed into the swirling air as the body toppled over in two pieces. The frozen droplets added to the deadly projectiles that continued to pelt our enemies and accumulate constant damage.

  No one held back, and it was Maria who drew blood next. Her arrows didn’t do much on their own due to the high defenses of the demon, but a skillfully placed explosive arrow could do wonders. A gaping neck wound caused by my skeletal general provided the perfect entry point, and a moment later an explosion sent a head flying out of the storm and into the distance. Another demon toppled over just like that.

  My smaller skeletal warriors didn’t quite have the strength to do more than leave gashes on the skin. Their damage was useful in drawn out fights, but this was a show of overwhelming force. My generals though—Spikey 1 and Spikey 2—were doing fantastic work.

  Spikey 1, my favorite of the two, wielded a zweihander and had assisted Maria greatly with dispatching the second demon. His domineering blade left a gaping gash in the crevice of its neck, large enough to fit a hand inside—large enough for Maria to easily snipe it from a dozen feet and send its head flying.

  Spikey 2, whom wielded a butcher’s cleaver, managed to slice the leg off a demon from behind. Before it toppled to the floor, Anna sent a pulse of ice across its chest, which surprisingly bisected it cleanly in two. Just like that, in under thirty seconds, three out of our four opponents were dead.

  Alan jumped like a maniac onto the chest of the final demon, his feet firmly planted on the muscular shoulder blades. He grasped his sword with both hands in a downward stab and sent it straight through the neck of the demon before falling with all of his weight. The gash was so wide we could see the light from the sun through its chest cavity when he kicked backwards and off. Not even a minute had passed when we finished.

  We all looked to the newcomers, the three of them still in battle. They were uninjured, and not even winded. We watched for a few moments, and their movements and coordination together was good. They just lacked a strong firepower to break through the demon’s sturdy defense. Understandable given their composition of two tanks and one healer.

  Jessica knocked a Godless Arrow and popped the head of the demon like a balloon, something she couldn’t do before, but now could do more easily on account of Maria. Once she could imagine something, visualize it, the hindrances of Godless Arrow mostly disappeared.

  This gave the three a shock, but they immediately relaxed, realizing the fight was over. Rebekah was showing much more amazement than Bethany and Nicole, the two hadn’t managed to take their attention off their foe. Rebekah however, she had seen it all.

  I took that short reprieve to summon two demons as my reincarnations. These things, for their level, were definitely overpowered. They rose from the ground like new, gaining a more undead look. Their reddish brown skin now fully gray, their eyes hollow and white, instead of the pitch black it once was.

  “No wonder you guys are so high level.” Rebekah got out through the incredulity of having witnessed our skills.