Deep within the City Lord's Castle, in a dark stone room riddled with enchantments meant to prevent spying, infiltration, and even requiring a six step process to even enter, the most important people in Onigas were meeting.

They stood around a large table that had been modeled after Onigas and its surroundings. There were chairs, but they had been pushed aside as the meeting progressed.

The model was modular, allowing any change, such as enemy positions, terrain changes, any damage to the city, and even defender positions. Stacks of papers were piled on the edges of the map detailing the various numbers within the city as well as any reports from outside the city.

Lord Siphas pointed to the figure depicting the estimated direction the Demons would likely arrive from.

"When they come, this is the most direct route. All reports we have received from other battles have indicated that they don't bother to scout out the enemy fortifications to better plan their assaults. They merely go the most direct route and attack."

The Minister of Industry scoffed, "Foolish."

"Maybe, if it didn't work so well for them. In the short time they arrived in this world, they have already destroyed the Lissurian Kingdom, the literal center piece of Humanity. The Lissurian King is missing, though our agents have reported hearing rumors of his presence in Taria. His people are scattered and fleeing for their lives, most of whom fail to do so.

And despite their simplistic siege tactics, so far at least, they are no simpletons. They have shown great tactics and planning. They are not to be underestimated in any capacity."

One of the Generals spoke up grimly, "Least of all their Mages. Not only are all of their soldiers capable of using skilled Magic, but the large ones with staffs and robes, their Mages, are somehow able to disable the System in a large radius around them.

My men are skilled soldiers, but never before in history has such a thing happened. It has never even been considered. The Officers are running all their men through training to prepare them for when their Systems might be disabled, but we do not have nearly enough time.

It has taken years for them to train to be capable soldiers. Without the System, they have to relearn almost all of it, and our scouts report that we have days."

The City Lord stepped forward, "Reports shared from Zalar has informed us that the System disabling effects only effect us. They do not appear to effect any preexisting Magic."

"Lucky them." The General grumbled, "Their Military might is based on their Golems and Cannons. Ours is not. Our Military is based on the blood and sweet of our people."

"Yes, it is unfortunate, but we must move on. Draft everyone in the city capable of even the most basic Enchantments. Have them around the clock. I want stockpiles of Enchanted arrows as it is unsure if our archers will be able to use Magic on their arrows. I want stronger Enchantments on Siege Ammunition."

Lord Siphas interrupted, "Their radius isn't so great, so only the Healers on the frontlines should be affected, so their priority should getting the injured away from the enemy Mages so they can heal them. So they should be equipped with more bandages to keep the injured alive until then."

The City Lord nodded, "Any Mages capable of long ranged Magic must be prioritized. They should be stationed here, here, here, and maybe here if they aren't in range of the enemy Mages."

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Everyone looked down at the map, examining each position the City Lord pointed at, making sure they were not vulnerable in any obvious way.

"Minions are unaffected by the enemy Mages so anyone who can summon them should be kept away from direct combat."

The Ministers and Generals jumped back from the map, hands reaching for weapons, but the City Lord and Lord Siphas did not flinch. They continued to study the map, unfazed.

"Alaster, how great of you to join us." Lord Siphas droned.

"Perhaps next time you could do so in the normal way?" The City Lord sighed.

"Meh. The Demons are still coming out of the portal in Lissura. If they attack, our priority should be delay tactics while the citizens are evacuated through the Tunnels. How are the Tunnels working out anyway?" Alaster asked, not bothering with his appearing act.

"Hold on, what do you mean about the portal?" Lord Siphas asked.

"The portal in Zolis is still open and the Demons have continued to funnel through every second since it first opened." Alaster said it so casually that it stunned the room.

"H-How many?" The Minister of Trade asked.

"I stopped bothering to count when the number surpassed a million."

"How long ago was that?"

Alaster shrugged, "The second day."

The room fell silent and even the City Lord looked up from the map.

"Its been weeks since."

"Do we even stand a chance?" The General muttered.

"Unlikely."

The mood in the room shifted. They had just heard the strongest person in the entire city say they would lose. A person that despite being the youngest person in the room by decades was their best hope.

Lord Siphas face palmed, "Alaster, please don't say stuff like that so casually. Would you mind explaining?"

Alaster looked up from the map with a surprised expression, "Oh, right. Sorry everyone. I did not mean it like that. Kinda."

Alaster stood straight, "Look, as with any enemy, you need to understand them before you can truly defeat them. Through special circumstances, I know this enemy more than any other Human on this continent.

I know better than any one their capabilities, and through my own experience and study, I know the Human Race's capabilities.

They do not match.

You have to understand, this war, despite only coming to this world recently, has been waging since the very beginning of our history on this world.

Our Gods have since been doing all the fighting, but as the centuries passed, the Demons only grew stronger and stronger. Over the eons, they have slowly pushed the Gods back until eventually, they were able to attack us, here. Our Gods are still fighting, holding back the vast majority of the enemy, but they knew that we would not be able to survive even a single percent of the enemy.

We have no chance of winning this war, not in any reality. Luckily, the Devils and Argalon are naturally peaceful. They will fight to protect and reclaim that which is theirs, but they don't want to. That is what we are seeing.

Even now, with millions of Demons storming around, a sizeable portion of their population are arguing for peace. For coexistence.

Regardless of the result of this war, the Demons are retaking their Home World. But our actions in this war will decide just how much of this world we can keep for ourselves."

"What do you mean?" The General asked.

"I mean, that we are going to make it as costly a victory as we can, without becoming animals. If we torture and execute prisoners, defile the dead, or similar depravities, the Demons will see us as rabid animals, and they will deal with us as such.

They know we are desperate, they know we will use underhanded tactics. But there is a line that we must not cross.

The more costly their victory, the more territory we might be able to negotiate. But the more they look down at us, the less likely there will be negotiations.

As such, in any conflict regarding the Demons, we will treat them respectfully. Kill them any way we can during the battle, but once the battle is done, we will treat their injured just as we do our own. We will respectfully handle their dead and if possible, even do the last rites according to their customs.

Let the other Kingdoms do what they want, they will be crushed under the righteous fury of millions. But here, and in Zalar, we will fight honorably."

The City Lord backed up before sitting down in one of the discarded chairs, his chin resting in his palm, "So we have lost. The moment that portal opened, we lost. Now, we are only fighting for crumbs."

Alaster nodded, "We should consider ourselves lucky."

One of the Ministers glared, "And why is that?"

"Because if this was the other way around, we would hunt them down to extinction."

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