One hundred soldiers through the rift.

Two hundred.

Five hundred.

A thousand.

Fourteen hundred.

Fifteen hundred soldiers total.

Loki’s reinforcements. The army he’d been marching through the night to reach the settlement in time.

They’d arrived.

Lyra stared in shock. "You... you’re here. You’re actually here."

"Did you doubt?" Loki asked, his voice carrying warmth despite his demonic appearance.

"I thought... I thought you’d arrive too late. I thought we’d be dead before—"

"We would have been," Loki interrupted. "If we’d marched at normal pace. But we forced march—double speed, no rest, pushing through exhaustion. My soldiers are tired, but they’re here."

Through Seraphina’s network, the settlement defenders felt Loki’s presence.

And hope exploded through the telepathic connection like sunrise.

"REINFORCEMENTS!"

"LOKI’S HERE!"

"WE’RE SAVED!"

"THE ARMY ARRIVED!"

Voices cascading through the network—surviving goblins, orcs, serpentfolk, demons, humans—all feeling the same desperate relief.

They weren’t alone anymore.

They had support.

Lyra felt tears running down her face—not from despair anymore, but from overwhelming relief.

"We survived," she whispered. "We held long enough. We actually survived."

Loki put a massive clawed hand on her shoulder gently.

"You did more than survive. You held for five days against overwhelming odds. You organized brilliant defense. You made them pay four hundred twenty-one casualties for one hundred forty-six of yours. You performed tactical miracle."

He looked at the thirty-seven exhausted survivors.

"Now rest. Let my fresh troops handle this."

He turned to his fifteen hundred soldiers.

"FORWARD! DRIVE THE HUMANS BACK! RETAKE THE MIDDLE RING! MAKE THEM PAY FOR ATTACKING MY FRIEND SETTLEMENT!"

Fifteen hundred fresh soldiers surged forward with renewed fury.

—-----------------

The human army had been advancing on the inner ring, expecting to break thirty-seven exhausted defenders.

Instead, they suddenly faced fifteen hundred thirty-seven fighters (thirty-seven survivors plus fifteen hundred reinforcements).

The odds shifted catastrophically.

Before Loki: 1,402 humans vs 37 settlement = 38-to-1 advantage

After Loki: 1,402 humans vs 1,537 settlement = 1.09-to-1 disadvantage

The humans were now slightly outnumbered.

Loki’s demon warriors hit the human front ranks like tsunami.

These weren’t exhausted settlement defenders. These were fresh troops who’d been marching but not fighting, who had full supplies, who were eager to rescue their besieged comrades.

A demon warrior named Kael’thras cut through three human soldiers in five seconds—his blades moving with supernatural speed, his demonic strength allowing him to simply overpower human defenses.

Orc shock troops crashed into human formations with devastating force—their war axes cleaving through armor, their berserker fury amplified by knowledge they were saving settlement.

Goblin archers released coordinated volleys—two hundred arrows at once, striking human formations that had been advancing in open ground and were now caught exposed.

Human soldiers, who’d been winning decisively thirty seconds ago, suddenly found themselves in desperate defensive battle.

They tried to hold.

They tried to maintain formations.

But the psychological shock of reinforcements arriving—of victory being snatched away at the last moment—broke their morale.

"FALL BACK!" a human sergeant ordered. "RETREAT TO MIDDLE RING POSITIONS!"

"HOLD THE LINE!" a captain countermanded. "WE STILL OUTNUMBER THEM!"

Confusion spread as conflicting orders created chaos.

Loki’s forces pressed the advantage ruthlessly.

Ten Minutes After Loki’s Arrival:

The battle had shifted from human victory march to defensive struggle.

Settlement casualties (after Loki):

23 killed31 wounded1,483 effective fighters remaining

Human casualties (after Loki):

127 killed89 wounded1,186 effective soldiers remaining

The humans were now outnumbered—1,186 vs 1,483.

And Loki himself was on the battlefield, even if he isn’t as strong as seraphina ,the soldiers would be fodders to him.

Loki’s clawed hands tore through human soldiers like paper. His demonic magic manifested as orange-red flame that incinerated entire squads. His physical strength allowed him to grab soldiers and literally throw them into their own companions, bowling over formations.

He killed thirty soldiers in five minutes.

Not through sustained combat. Just through being overwhelming force that humans couldn’t effectively counter.

—---------------

Commander Elric watched the battle turn against him with growing horror.

His army had been minutes from victory. Thirty-seven defenders left. Inner ring about to fall.

Then Demon Lord Loki arrived with fifteen hundred reinforcements and turned the battle completely.

Now Elric was losing—his forces outnumbered, his soldiers demoralized, his tactical advantage evaporated.

He bit his fingers unconsciously—a nervous habit from his youth that resurfaced under extreme stress.

Where are my reinforcements? he thought desperately. The Cathedral forces should have arrived by now! Six hours preparation time—I sent the activation request at dawn five hours ago! They should be HERE!

But the sky showed no sign of divine intervention. No angels descending. No holy light manifesting. No Cathedral forces arriving.

His special preparation—the magic circle inscribed overnight by fifty spellcasters—sat inactive, waiting for his command to activate.

But activating it without Cathedral support would just create pretty lightshow with no actual power behind it.

He needed the Cathedral forces. Needed divine intervention. Needed SOMETHING to counter two demon lords and fifteen hundred fresh troops.

He looked toward the distant battle where Seraphina fought the Four Heroes.

Through his command crystal, he could monitor their status.

The four heroes were exhausted, wounded, struggling. Seraphina had killed fourteen of sixteen Fallen Heroes—only two abominations remained fighting.

She’s almost broken free, Elric realized. Once she kills the last Fallen Heroes and disables the Four Heroes, she’ll return to the main battle at full demon lord power. And then I’ll have TWO demon lords on the battlefield simultaneously.

His tactical mind calculated the results: catastrophic defeat. Two demon lords plus fifteen hundred soldiers versus his exhausted, demoralized troops? He’d lose another five hundred soldiers minimum before he could retreat.

Total casualties would exceed eighteen hundred. Unacceptable losses.

Should I order withdrawal now? Cut my losses? Retreat while I still have twelve hundred soldiers intact?

But retreating meant admitting defeat. Meant losing the siege after five days of brutal combat. Meant all those casualties—six hundred fifty soldiers dead—were for nothing.

He couldn’t accept that.

Come on, he thought, staring at the inactive magic circle. Come on, Cathedral forces. Where are you? I need you NOW.

And then, as if answering his desperation, the sky changed.

Author Note

:

The reason why loki wasn’t able to teleport all of his reinforcement to the settlement in an instance was because teleporting that much number of people consumes alot of mana and the distance also matters because the further the distance to where you want to teleport was , the greater the mana consumption