MLII C3, P4- "Strength Through Weakness"

"Strength Through Weakness" is the fourth Part of "Miracula Luxia II" 's third Chapter. It was released on 06.12.2020.

## Plot

Jared and John help the Duskwood soldiers defend the encampment from the invading Vahnatai who are trying to kill the rest of the survivors after their successful attack on the town of Duskwood.

It seems like their plan will not work this time.

## Story

Jared sleeps well for the whole night, but is awakened by screams in the morning.

He jumps up, grabs his sword and notices the Vahnatai attacking the encampment. He sees John fighting them nearby and rushes towards him.

"No, I don't need help!"- John yells when he sees him and points to the north- "The people over there are struggling against the aliens! Help them!"

Jared nods and runs to the north. He sees that the Vahnatai have managed to trap a few defenseless citizens and are slowly walking towards them. The people are completely terrified.

A few guards are trying to kill the Vahnatai, but their weapons are doing nothing more than aggravating them further, not hurting them.

"*Wait a minute!*"- Jared says to himself, remembering the time when he battled Dorikas and Lysstak the Beast- "*They have demon blood! They are impervious to almost anything else!*"

The boy charges and manages to stab three of the Vahnatai in the chest with only one hit. He throws them to the ground and faces the rest of the attackers.

The surviving Vahnatai are surprised that he has managed to find their weakness, their own strength- their demon blood. In a futile attempt to defend themselves, they attack Jared, only to be quickly slain by the young hero.

After dealing with the hostiles, Jared tends to the wounds of the citizens and helps the dazed guards regain their senses. Having done that, he notices another group of Vahnatai attacking the Commander and rushes to help him.

"Commander, wait!"- He says- "They are infused with demon blood! Leave them to me!"

The Commander is confused by this statement, but he has no choice other than stepping back and watching Jared defeat the hostiles.

Jared wastes no time to attack the enemies and manages to defeat most of them. Although the rest of the Vahnatai are not hard to kill, one particularly large and nasty specimen shows up and tries to kill our hero, managing to wound him and push him to the ground in the process.

Jared looks at his wound and shakes his head. He will deal with it later. For now, defeating this new and dangerous enemy is more important.

He jumps on top of the huge creature. As it tries to get him off of itself, he stabs it in the nape. Demonslayer speeds up the bleeding process for the half-demon and it dies almost immediately.

Having defeated all of the enemies in this area, he tends to his own wound and quickly heals it.

The Commander looks around, surprised.

"You say that they have demon blood within their veins."- He says to Jared- "Is this the reason why we can't hurt them?"

Jared nods.

"Somehow, Rentar-Ihrno has managed to make them just like her- half-demons who are almost unstoppable. This is the reason why the guards were unable to defend Duskwood."

The Commander clenches his fist.

"Curse that rogue mage! I knew that she was the reason behind this attack! We must deal with her as soon as possible, before she sends her vagabonds to attack and destroy other settlements."- He mutters- "But first, we must deal with this menace."

He points to the Vahnatai attacking the citizens to the west.

"As far as I know, there are no more Vahnatai in this area."- He says- "But I can see more of them that way. The people need your help, Jared. Don't let them down!"

Jared nods.

"I will not let them down."- He responds- "Take care, sir."

Having said that, he rushes towards the citizens to the west, intending to help them before they are slaughtered by the powerful Vahnatai.

He attacks the creatures, giving the citizens a chance to go somewhere else.

Meanwhile, our hero fights valiantly against ten Vahnatai all by himself as most of his allies watch from a distance. Only John rushes forward to assist his friend.

"That's a lot of aliens!"- John exclaims.

Jared smiles.

"Sure, there are a lot of them, but that does not mean that we cannot defeat them!"- He responds- "Kill the five to the right of us. I will take care of the rest."

With a plan in mind, our heroes charge at the Vahnatai, initiating a big battle.

Although the Vahnatai are infused with demon blood and are thus nearly impervious to any kind of attack, John manages to find another flaw in their build and that is their weakness to Light. He infuses his sword with Light magic and attacks them, easily dispatching those who were foolish enough to attack him.

Jared, on the other hand, does not need Light magic to defeat the other part of the enemy group. All that he need is Demonslayer and nothing else.

He swings his sword and takes out two of them. Two more charge at him, but he nimbly evades their attacks and manages to kill one of them.

Another Vahnatai tries to stab Jared from behind, but is quickly noticed by John and slain before it can hurt him.

And so, the last of the invaders dies. Jared and John sit on the grass, relieved that this madness is finally over and watch as the rest of the invaders are quickly slain by the archers, who have noticed the enemy's weakness to Light and infused their weapons with Light magic as well.

Soon, all the sounds that could be heard are the chirping of the birds and flowing of the wind.

"So, it's... it's over?"- The Commander asks the boys.

Jared nods.

"It was surprising, but not unexpected. We knew that they were going to attack."- He says- "Fortunately, the invaders are not going to bother us anymore... at least for the moment."

John shakes his head.

"The enemy might be gone, but their leader remains, stronger than ever."- He says- "We mustn't let our guard down."

Jared sighs.

"John is right."- He continues- "A moment of weakness is what forced us in this desperate situation, after all. We must not let them weaken us further than that."

Suddenly, one of the guards points at someone in the distance, alerting everyone in the encampment.

As the archers aim their weapons at the mysterious figure, it reveals itself. It is another Vahnatai, a male one from the looks of it.

"It's another enemy!"- One of the archers says- "Kill him!"

Jared looks closer and realizes who the Vahnatai is. He bolts to his feet and runs towards the archers.

"Stop! Don't attack him!"- He yells- "He is a friend!"

The archers look at him, surprised.

"What do you mean, Jared?"- The Commander asks him.

Jared takes a step forward, ignoring the man's question.

"Let me speak with him."

The Commander sighs and tells the archers to step aside.

"Be careful."- He says as he watches the boy approach the Vahnatai male.

The Vahnatai examines him and smiles. For some reason, he is happy to see him.

"Ghall-Ihrno?"- Jared says- "What in the world are you doing here?"

Everyone gasps.

"G-Ghall-Ihrno?"- The Commander says- "You mean... the friendly Vahnatai's messenger from Olgai?!"

Ghall-Ihrno smiles and lifts his hands in the air, a sign of peace.

"I was trying to tell you a few moments ago that I wouldn't hurt you, but you did not listen."- He says- "Thank God there was one person who managed to avert disaster, who recognized me in this state."

He looks at Jared and smiles again.

"Jared, I am glad that I finally found you."- He says- "Please allow me to enter so we can speak about the Vahnatai problem. It must be taken care of as soon as posisble and there is no time to waste."