The Daughter of Cursed Steel Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Into the Battlefield

Read chapter 10 of The Daughter of Cursed Steel by Ashfell on NovelPedia.

Chapter 10: Into the Battlefield As Rachel ran farther from the protection of the castle, the sounds of explosions, fighting, and armor clanking grew louder and louder. The deeper she went into the forest, the more the air itself seemed to shake from the distant battle. Soon, she came to a burnt clearing that had once been a dense forest. Because of all the clashing and magical spells, a massive opening had been blown straight through the woods, leaving behind scorched earth, charred grass, and blackened tree stumps still faintly smoking beneath the night sky. The smell of ash and burning wood filled the air. As Rachel carefully moved closer and peeked out from behind one of the remaining trees near the edge of the clearing, she hid there and watched the battle rage on. For the first time in her life, she was getting the chance to see her aunts, uncle, and mother in action instead of only hearing about it through the countless stories they had told her. Out in the middle of the battlefield, Rina, Sophie, Lyssara, Elyndra, and Durog, along with countless demon soldiers, battled head-on against a heavily armed group of angels. Explosions of magic continuously detonated across the clearing. Various forms of magic violently crashed together, sending shockwaves ripping through the ruined battlefield. The sounds of blades clashing mixed together with the dying screams of soldiers. At the center of the chaos was a hero wielding 12 swords that floated around him in the air. The man did not even look human. He stood far taller than everyone else on the battlefield, his body lean and unnaturally agile, with long digitigrade legs that kept him balanced on the sharp tips of his clawed feet. His brown skin was covered in strange aqua-colored markings that spread across his body like glowing patterns beneath his flesh. A long appendage extended from the back of his head, swaying behind him almost like a tail as he moved. His face was horrifying. Wide aqua-blue eyes stared out from a skull-like face stretched into a massive grin filled with razor-sharp teeth. Even from a distance, Rachel could see the terrifying smile spread across his face as he fought. Floating around him were his swords. The blades orbited around his body like a storm of steel controlled entirely by his will. Every flick of his fingers caused another sword to violently launch across the battlefield. One demon soldier tried charging him, only for three blades to instantly shoot forward and tear straight through the soldier's body, causing the soldier to fall to the ground in pieces. The alien-looking hero laughed wildly as the floating blades continued to spin around him. The hero then raised one of his hands toward the battlefield and shouted loudly, "Men, charge forward! Leave none alive!" The angels behind the hero immediately roared in response. "For the hero Zarek!" "For the goddess!" "Purge this filth from the land!" "Charge!" The massive group of angels surged forward across the battlefield. But before they could even fully close the distance, half of their formation suddenly exploded apart. Rina had charged straight into them. Demonic energy violently erupted around her fist as she punched forward. The sheer force of the attack obliterated the front half of the charging army. Bodies exploded into pieces. Shattered armor, limbs, flesh, and blood blasted outward in every direction. A massive shockwave burst across the battlefield while dirt, ash, and smoke exploded upward into the air, creating a giant cloud around the impact. The remaining angels staggered backward in horror. Then slowly, the cloud began to settle. Rina stood there at the center of the destruction directly in front of the hero. The surviving angels quickly stood back up after regaining their composure from the devastating attack that destroyed half of their charging force and turned their weapons toward Rina before charging forward again. But then out of nowhere, razor-sharp feathers suddenly rained