The gold radiance of the Light Spirit's barrier glimmered faintly above the treeline, a vast dome of one of the oldest and most powerful magics stretching into the distance.

Even from here, Roland could feel the strain in its pulse, the subtle warping in its form where enemy blows had landed again and again.

The air carried the acrid stench of demon corruption, and the distinct sound of battle rang out as the boy got closer to the edge of the barrier.

There, Renar's forces stood in ragged lines before the barrier, shields locked, spears raised, while fighting with a discipline that barely masked their exhaustion.

Each and every one of them was counting the minutes they had until the new wave of demons managed to pierce through the barrier.

They had already dealt with dozens of them, but the horde gathering beyond it was relentless.

A ripple of light announced Roland's arrival as Lucien's teleportation magic faded behind him.

Before joining the fight, he took a few moments to recall what had happened before arriving and to organize his thoughts so he could focus completely on the battle ahead.

After successfully taming the vampire Azumorak, he returned to Stella as quickly as possible, leaving her with three of Azumorak's strongest vampire knights.

Stella, his wife, remained at the west fort, which was likely the safest location.

Her task was to intercept the new demon reinforcements marching toward the first fort and to maintain her position in case any further surprises emerged.

As for Azumorak, the vampire general had been sent east toward the second fort.

Bound to Roland's will, his fangs and blades now turned against the demons he once called allies.

The hundreds of vampires under his command followed without hesitation, their movements precise, cutting through the enemy ranks like a tide of red-eyed shadows. With them, Azumorak was to hold the line until the central column Norelli had dispatched could arrive.

Between those two flanks, the central force Norelli had dispatched marched hard toward Azumorak's position.

With the siege weapons and Zavar's knowledge of each race, the battle ended almost instantly.

The prisoners were quickly gathered and released, the operation so successful that Roland briefly felt the war might already be over until Stella contacted him with urgent news from her brother.

Lucien, urged by the Light Spirits, and Renar both pressed Roland to hurry to the Light Spirits' barrier.

So, he had come.

Roland's concern now lay here, at the rearmost defense of the Light Spirit's barrier. Renar was already in motion, barking orders as he deflected a demon's clawed strike with his shield.

His commanding voice cut through the din of battle.

"Form tighter ranks! Don't give them a gap to exploit!"

Roland stepped forward, both swords sliding free into the air beside him, their points turning toward the advancing tide. "Renar!" he called, catching the commander's attention for the briefest instant.

"You came," Renar replied, a grim smile breaking through the strain. "Good. We'll need everything you have."

Roland's gaze shifted past him to the swarm beyond the barrier: horned brutes, shadow-clad assassins, and massive winged beasts, all pressing forward with murderous intent.

The barrier's light rippled again like a drum being hit.

Roland knew they had little time as the demons began to get reckless.

"Keep giving orders, don't mind me, now tell me where I should go?" Roland asked, knowing his friend has the brightest ideas, "Oh, and take into consideration that I got my darkness elemental powers back, I can somehow make a few of these bastards my minions, so tell me which of them should I start with?"

Renar's eyes narrowed at the mention of darkness powers, but there was no time for questions. He pointed toward the far right flank, where the barrier bulged and shuddered under a concentrated assault.

"There. That's where their elites are hitting the hardest. See the ones with the bone crests on their skulls? They're leading the charge. If you can turn even one of them, the rest will lose formation."

Roland's lips curved into a faint smile. "Got it. Anything else?"

Renar's shield caught another strike as he shoved an armored brute back into the fray. "Yes don't die. If you go down here, the whole rear collapses."

The barrier pulsed again, the golden light warping where claw and blade struck in unison. Demonic roars rose above the din as the first cracks began to spiderweb through the magical surface.

"Let the rear collapse… You sure know how to tell jokes, Renar."

With a flick of his wrists, Roland planted his duel blades on the ground before using his storage device to pull out the black sword taken from one of the demon generals just a few days ago.

The weapon slid into the air before him, its blade drinking in the light, a cold mist curling along its edge. The barrier's golden glow bent strangely around it, as if repelled.

Renar's gaze lingered on the weapon for half a heartbeat. "The demon made sword huh… I guess you can use it now..."

"Yes… and it feels like I need to tame it as well…" Roland said flatly, his eyes locked on the enemy elites. "They seemed to know it, though… just look at their reaction."

The black sword hummed with a low, hungry resonance, answering the darkness energy that now coursed inside him. His light-forged blades on the ground seemed to clash with his new sword as if asking Roland to get it away from them.

Roland only smirked as he went forward. The barrier pulsed again, and the cracks deepened.

Demonic roars rose in unison as demons began to gather in front of him.

"Then let's get to work," Roland said, stepping toward the swelling bulge of the barrier, ready to cut his way through the strongest of the enemy.

The golden dome shuddered under another coordinated strike, and the air beyond it seemed ready to just explode with all the mana being released in one point.

Roland raised his hand, and the black sword drifted higher, its edge drinking in the light until the glow around it faded into shadow.

With a surge of aether, he willed the barrier to part just enough for him to slip through. The moment the gap opened, the enemy charged, a wall of snarling brutes and clawed assassins rushing to crush the intruder.

Roland's light-forged blades shot forward first, cutting the air as if creating a void through the air that wanted to swallow anyone around it inside.

As for the blade, it seemed to have just vanished. One instant it was in front of him, the next it reappeared buried in the chest of a horned elite, the wound around it rotting into blackened ash as the creature collapsed.

The others hesitated for only a few seconds, sensing something unnatural, but hesitation in the battlefield was equal to death.

They had only two choices advance or flee and fleeing was not an option. Countless demons stood behind them, ready to strike down any who showed fear.

Roland, on the other hand, pounced forward. In moments, he was among them, one blade intercepting a winged demon's strike while the black sword vanished, only to reappear as it carved cleanly through another's spine.

Each kill made the weapon's resonance deepen, feeding on the darkness it consumed, while making the bond between sword and wielder grow stronger.

Somewhere behind Roland, Renar shouted for his troops to press forward. The opening Roland carved was widening, and the bone-crested elites were faltering.

It was then that Roland's eyes locked onto one of the bone-crested elites, the strongest one he could find.

He was a towering brute wielding a serrated glaive, its every swing trailing a haze of corrosive smoke.

This particular demon was giving orders between strikes, driving the lesser demons forward.

He was the perfect one to tame to cause greater chaos in this battlefield.

Roland then broke from the immediate melee, putting away his dark sword and picking his light-forged blades back up to hold back the nearest attackers.

The elite roared, thinking he was giving up by putting away the dark sword, but they were wrong.

Roland was merely using this chance to recover some mana before he would use his taming skill.

Roland finished all those near him with a burst of speed that let him cut countless heads with his two swords with ease.

He then charged at the demon he had marked in his mind earlier, preparing a few drops of his own blood to bind it as he had done with the vampire.

It took only that small amount before the demon realized something was wrong. Its body no longer obeyed as it should, its movements growing sluggish and unsteady.

Within seconds, it collapsed to its knees, bowing before its new master, then turned without hesitation toward the comrades it had fought beside moments ago.

One moment, it was snarling in defiance, and the next, its glaive swept out in a wide, merciless arc, severing the limbs of a demon too slow to retreat. The creatures nearby froze, caught between rage and disbelief, but hesitation on the battlefield was fatal.

Roland didn't waste the opening. "Clear them out," he ordered, his voice low but edged with command.

The demon obeyed instantly, charging into its former ranks with terrifying force. Each strike of its glaive tore gaps in the enemy line, the impact sending shockwaves through the mass of bodies pressing toward the barrier.

Behind him, Renar's forces surged forward, shields slamming into weakened foes as spears and blades struck with renewed vigor. The right flank, once on the verge of collapse, now pushed outward, widening the breach Roland had carved.

But even as the tide began to shift, Roland's gaze swept the battlefield.

Several more bone-crested elites were still standing, rallying their troops further down the line.

If they weren't dealt with quickly, the demons' sheer numbers would once again tip the scales of this battle.

He flexed his grip on the dark sword, feeling its hunger pulse through the bond. "Alright," he murmured, eyes narrowing. "Let's see how many of you I can add to my new collection."