Chapter 878

The fight between Peggy Carter’s forces and Lord Kazzak’s lieutenant was already raging when Sif finally reached the enemy’s approach route.

They had barely left the first level of the Felfire Rift when they encountered the reinforcements Agatha had promised.

Their leader was a female satyr named Lotti, accompanied by a large group of female demons. She was roughly the same size as Agatha, but her skin was a deep violet. Unlike Agatha, she wore no veil or elaborate dress. Instead, she had opted for armor that looked considerably more concerned with looking impressive than actually stopping a blade.

With Lotti’s assistance, Sif chose a defensible position overlooking the approach.

There was only one problem.

The Felfire Rift was a maze of interconnected roads. Although the paths gradually merged as they climbed toward the upper levels, there was still another route farther away that could circle around and attack them from behind.

They had driven straight into the heart of enemy territory and awakened the garrison in the process. The demons knew this place far better than they did. If the enemy split their forces and attacked from both directions, Sif’s three hundred warriors would be trapped between them.

They would be annihilated.

Sif was still considering the problem when Lotti casually dismissed her concern.

"Don’t worry. They’ll only come this way."

Sif glanced at her. "You’re certain?"

"Of course."

Lotti pointed down the road.

"Because it’s the shortest route."

The second-in-command of the Felheart Warriors, Cross, stared at her.

"That’s it? They’ll surrender an enormous tactical advantage just to avoid taking the long way around?"

He paused.

"If only taxi drivers were this committed to taking the shortest route."

Sif ignored him.

From their elevated position, she could already see movement in the distance.

An enormous army of demons was charging toward them.

There were so many that the ground seemed to tremble beneath their feet. Their howls rolled across the Rift like thunder.

Sif couldn’t help smiling.

"They really are coming this way."

And, just as Lotti had predicted, there appeared to be only one column.

Then Lotti narrowed her eyes.

"Not one."

Sif looked back.

Lotti gestured toward the distant army.

"Agatha scattered the garrison throughout the Rift. Judging by the numbers coming this way, there must be at least ten separate garrisons converging on this position."

Mass concentration.

Straight through the center.

It was simple, fast, and brutally effective.

Except...

Sif watched the approaching horde for another few seconds.

There was no formation.

No vanguard.

No rear guard.

No proper flanks.

The demons were simply pouring down the road in one enormous, disorganized mass.

Some tripped beneath the feet of those behind them and disappeared beneath the stampede. Others somehow survived, crawled back to their feet, grabbed whoever had stepped on them, and immediately started beating each other senseless.

Sif frowned.

"Do they even have a commander?"

"Even if they did, they’d probably look exactly like this."

Lotti glanced at the approaching army with open contempt before adding, "But don’t underestimate them."

She pointed toward the horde.

"The Burning Legion didn’t conquer worlds because of brilliant tactics. Tactics account for about three percent of their success. The other ninety-seven percent is just charging straight ahead."

Sif stared at her.

Lotti shrugged.

"Fel Guards and Wrathguards only display anything resembling military discipline when an Eredar or Nathrezim is directing them. Otherwise, their strategy is simple."

She raised one finger.

"Charge."

A second finger.

"Keep charging."

A third.

"Charge harder."

Enemy fortress too well defended? Charge.

Enemy formation impossible to break? Charge.

A hundred thousand casualties? Keep charging.

Eventually there would be enough corpses to climb the wall.

That was the Legion’s preferred solution to most military problems.

And it worked.

Demons were monstrously strong by mortal standards. They didn’t fear pain, and injury often made them more violent rather than less. A conventional army could begin losing cohesion after ten percent casualties. Thirty percent might be enough to break it completely.

A demon army could fight until the last creature was standing.

If you wanted to fight a large-scale demon army in open terrain, you either brought ten times their numbers...

Or you lived on Azeroth.

"I have no intention of underestimating them," Sif said.

She knew exactly how dangerous the army approaching them was. Her force was simply too small to defeat it outright.

Fortunately, she didn’t need to.

She only needed to delay it.

"Valkyries!" Sif shouted. "The terrain favors us. Defensive formation!"

The Valkyries moved instantly.

Green flames erupted around their armored bodies.

One after another, they expanded into their half-giant forms, the result of Frigga’s blessing. These were among Asgard’s elite warriors, and they had no intention of holding anything back.

They advanced in perfect formation.

Towering shields locked together from thigh to chest. Spears extended through the gaps, their points forming a forest of steel. Warriors behind them braced their shields against the backs of those in front.

Within seconds, the road had become a wall of shields and spearheads.

Sif surveyed the battlefield.

The road ahead was not especially narrow, but it was only wide enough for roughly thirty warriors to advance abreast.

Perfect.

She lowered her helmet over her head.

The anticipation of battle stirred something ancient in her blood.

"Brothers and sisters!" she shouted. "Tonight, we die in Hell!"

The demons were getting closer.

Their war cries shook the air.

Sif could see their grotesque faces.

She could smell them.

She could feel the ground trembling beneath their feet.

Then the ground trembled a little harder.

And collapsed.

A massive pit suddenly opened directly beneath the leading demons.

The first ranks vanished into it.

Those behind them tried to stop.

They couldn’t.

Thousands of demons slammed into one another from behind, pushing the front ranks straight into the pit.

The screams continued until the hole had been filled with bodies and the stampede finally stopped.

Sif stared.

Lotti stood behind the formation, casually picking at one of her fingernails.

"I knew they’d come this way. It would’ve been rude not to prepare something."

Sif blinked.

"Right."

The Valkyries recovered immediately.

Shields locked.

Spears lowered.

"Brothers and sisters!"

Sif drew a breath.

"Tonight, we die in Hell!"

"Calling all units! Calling all units!"

Cross suddenly vaulted over the Valkyrie formation, landing on the shoulders of one warrior before leaping again.

He held a massive radio in one hand.

"Coordinates zero-nine-three, seven-seven-seven! Standard Legion humanitarian assistance! CSC, move!"

He dropped back behind the formation.

A heartbeat later, the entire Rift erupted.

Thunderous explosions rolled across the cavern.

The dark sky suddenly lit up.

Sif looked upward.

Dozens...

Hundreds...

Thousands of glowing green projectiles screamed through the air from every direction.

Then they descended upon the demon army.

Inside the Soul Engine, Gennos was practically dancing.

He clutched a radio in one hand and laughed like a madman.

"I never thought I’d get to say this again!"

He threw his arms wide.

"All guns, full fire! Don’t worry about ammunition!"

Across the Felfire Rift, forty-eight thousand fel cannons opened fire.

The barrage drowned the battlefield in green flame.

Demons vanished beneath explosions. Limbs and chunks of flesh were hurled through the air.

Evenson had spent a long time planning for the capture of the Felfire Rift.

That included mapping the terrain and establishing a precise coordinate system.

He had also known exactly why he’d given the Sargeras Sanctum pact to Gennos and ordered the Soul Engines restarted.

If the situation demanded overwhelming firepower, he intended to have overwhelming firepower.

Unfortunately, there was one problem.

This was the first time Gennos and his Gan’arg had operated the artillery in thousands of years.

They had never trained together.

They had never conducted a live-fire exercise.

And nobody knew whether their aim had deteriorated after ten thousand years without firing a cannon.

More importantly, everyone knew what demonic artillery support tended to look like.

It wasn’t exactly selective.

It was less "precision strike" and more "make the entire neighborhood disappear."

So Evenson had deliberately ordered the initial barrage to land behind the demon vanguard rather than directly on top of it.

Better to be safe.

A normal army caught beneath such an artillery barrage would have broken formation and fled.

These demons did not.

They didn’t even look back.

They simply kept charging.

Demons blasted apart by artillery were replaced by others rushing forward through the flames.

Sif watched them come.

Her expression hardened.

"Valkyries! Hold!"

The demon vanguard was less than two hundred paces away.

Every Valkyrie tightened her grip.

Then the Felheart Warriors suddenly leaped out of formation.

Sif’s eyes widened.

"What are they doing?"

She watched in disbelief as the demon hunters charged directly toward the oncoming horde.

The demons saw them too.

They recognized the weapons.

The transformation.

The unmistakable silhouette.

"Illidari!"

The demons roared with excitement.

Rather than fear their supposed demon-hunter enemies, they became even more enthusiastic.

They raised enormous weapons and charged.

Their weapons swung wildly, uncaring of whether they struck enemies or their own comrades.

They wanted blood.

The Felheart Warriors raised their blades.

For one glorious moment, it looked as though an epic melee was about to begin.

Then the front rank of demons came within range.

And stopped.

Because instead of glaives, the warriors were holding guns.

Dozens of oversized pistols snapped upward.

The Felheart Warriors smoothly turned sideways, stowed their fel blades, and drew their weapons.

Fifteen rounds per pistol.

Fel-inscribed ammunition.

Automatic fire.

The first wave of demons dropped almost instantly.

The demons were stunned.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

They had come for a glorious melee.

Instead, they had been shot.

By the time the first magazines were empty, the Felheart Warriors were already moving.

No reload.

No hesitation.

They rushed forward, fired a focused beam of fel energy from their eyes into the nearest demons, then unleashed a fel charge and vanished back toward the Valkyrie line.

Cross flew past Sif’s head.

"Your turn! We’ll reload and provide covering fire from behind!"

Sif stared after him.

Then she looked toward the demons.

Then back toward Cross.

Apparently, that was their idea of warfare.

Hit the enemy.

Run away.

Shoot them again.

Evenson’s influence was obvious.

The demons finally reached the Valkyrie line.

Sif raised her spear.

"Brothers and sisters, tonight we die in Hell—"

Boom.

A fel grenade landed among the demons.

Then another.

And another.

Sif slowly turned her head.

Behind the formation, Cross and the Felheart Warriors were casually throwing grenades over the heads of the Valkyries.

Cross noticed her staring.

He froze.

"Uh..."

He scratched his head.

"Don’t mind us. Is the artillery support a little early?"

Sif stared at him for several seconds.

Then sighed.

"Brothers and sisters..."

She turned back toward the battlefield.

"Forget it. Prepare for contact."