Soran and the zealots soon discovered that the dusk night had concealed some treacherous terrain. The ground was soaked, perhaps by some workings of water magic, and as one approached the village the shard earth underfoot soon turned into a muddy bog. Their dense formation and the darkness itself worked to hinder their progress across the treacherous terrain. Their boots sinking into the mud and their formation unable to stay cohesive at even a slow march, the zealots had two options. They could break formation and simply charge the javelin-throwers as an unorganized mob. The Klug would no doubt be taken off guard and scared by the unnatural speed and strength that the zealots could summon once out of formation, but they would still claim many lives before being routed, assuming the zealots could even break them.

The other option, and the only one that made sense, was for them to maintain the testudo formation and hold put. Their shieldwall was strong. In the dark and from a distance, the Klug were unable to reliably throw their javelins into the impossibly small target that was the miniscule spaces where the shields did not overlap. What few lucky attacks did make it through either missed or were largely stopped by the infantry's heavy armor. As such, the zealots were in no need to hurry. They could conceivably stay put and absorb the suppressive fire until the Klug ran out of spears.

Of course, they would not have to. A javelin, even when thrown with an atlatl, could not hope to match the range of a longbow. By moving close enough to engage the zealots, the Klug had put themselves into range of the Mutig druids and archers that had behind. Granted, the lightly armored rangers maintained a safe distance so that no javelins could be thrown over the zealots and into their ranks, so their aim would be compromised to some extent. The night's darkness and the bog beneath their feet did not help in this regard, either. Still, with a hundred and thirty druids and archers, some projectiles were bound to hit their mark.

Soran was somewhat irked by the Klug not taking the bait and responding as expected, but it was looking like they would soon have to retreat. With these javelins unable to do anything save pin down the zealots, and the bowmen beginning to claim the lives of those who advanced to throw their javelins, the demonic general saw little options that the Klug had left. The very bog that they had created as a defense would prevent them from moving around the zealots to attack the Mutig tribesmen. Bearing a sadistic smile now that victory was within sight, the construct summoned a great fireball and lobbed it across the battlefield, into the midst of the javelineers' ranks.

===---_---===

The pain elementals were unsurprisingly seen the moment they emerged from the treeline, but that hardly compromised their surprise attack. Flying, they were able to rapidly descend upon the village unhindered by the muddy ground and barricades. Of course, the warriors by the temple did not sit idly by; many of the burning javelins found their targets, yet many also missed. It was difficult to hit a quick moving, flying target. Still, it mattered little, for this temple had not been the pain elementals' target. The vast majority of the screaming ghosts flew right around the temple, over the terraced path full of men trying to stop Shaige, and into the village. There, they emerged from behind the homes and assailed the scattered reserve force that was trying to slay Ifrit. Several of the spirits had turned their attention to the temple, though.

With reckless abandon, for their agony had already driven many insane and the dead needn't fear death in any case, they descended upon the defenders. Up close, almost all of the pain elementals were simply skewered in melee by the blessed javelins. However, there were two or three that closed in without being hit, and a few that survived glancing blows from the weapons. Those few pain elementals would likely be all it would take to throw the warriors outside the temple into a scared and disorganized mob. Each of the pain elementals exuded an aura of crippling torment, which briefly stunned their prey and allowed them the time to maneuver themselves right into the enemy's midst. Then, as the pain elementals were wont to do, they exploded. In great blasts of fire and agony, the few suicidal spirits that made it into the midst of the javelin throwers would each fell no fewer than five or six men.

===---_---===

Now that night had fallen, Shaige and the shadow beasts were in their element. The former was filled with a dark and insidious strength, while the latter merged with the darkness itself and became nearly invisible. When Shaige's march was stymied by a horde of warriors guarding the path upwards, the shadow beasts scattered. Moving unseen, they continued up the path some ways before suddenly appearing in the torchlight to brutally assault one or two men, before making a quick retreat out of the light. Then, some time later, they inevitably emerged in a different spot. In this way they sought to wreak havoc and distract the defenders from Shaige.

The Keeper, meanwhile, had no need to hide. The shadowy apparition that was the wraith was visible only because of the glow of his amethyst eyes, and of the absolute black of his body. Beneath the stars, his body was a blob of pure, jet black, amidst a sea of grey. Still, he was only more terrifying for his inability to be seen. With a mere thought, Shaige ripped the nearby shadows from the objects that they had always been affixed to. The things crawled across the ground like some sort of unnatural, black oil. When they reached the Keeper, they leapt up into the air and began flying in circles around him. The shields of pure shadow were able to buffet and deflect the pathetic javelins.

Seeing that his efforts were futile, one of the warriors decided to set one final spear alight rather than flee. Foolish to a fault, he charged the Keeper. Ducking a shadow that flew to intercept him, the man impaled the shadowy monstrosity that was invading his home. Then, he drove the thing deeper with all his strength. The burning wooden haft went through Shaige's torso. For a moment, nothing happened. The Keeper simply stared in disbelief. Then, the writhing shadows that cloaked the wraith melted away. The blazing javelin sputtered and died from the sheer malevolence of the wraith it had buried itself into.

Shaige was a pure embodiment of the four black magics: darkness, smoke, blood, and soul. With the shadows gone, the glow of his amaranth eyes illuminated the horror that had hid within the mantle of darkness. Shaige was a floating skeleton, drenched in blood, with dozens of wailing souls trapped within his ribcage. A red smoke hazed the air around. The vapor had the horrific odor of burned flesh, yet it looked like some sort of gaseous blood. But the warrior did not have time to ponder whatever the vile substance might have been. The flying shadow that he had dodged now caught him. The gloom itself wrapped around the man's body, pulled him to the ground, and smothered the man to death. However, it did nothing to silence his screams.

Now was the time. Shaige's thoughts resonated through his dungeon heart and were relayed to the Destruction Catalyst. The awaiting Ripper heard the plea, and channeled its strength into the Keeper. At first, Shaige felt nothing. But then a surge of unadulterated destruction magic filled his body. Had he been more substantial, this very well might have inflicted physical harm, but the magical simply coalesced into a new cloak around Shaige's skeletal form. Rather than a dark shadow of a cloaked man, Shaige now glowed like the crimson sun. The area around Shaige began to rapidly weather from the sheer aura of ruination. Seeing some amount of success from the sacrifice of that one warrior, another five or six of the temple guardians charged Shaige. The Keeper waved a hand, and a wall of carmine met the men. Upon coming into contact with the pure destruction magic, their bodies were obliterated. Not even skeletons remained.

[hider=Attacking Army]
[u]Forces:[/u] 100 Mutig tribesmen (bowmen), 30 Mutig druids, 275 pain elementals, 100 zealots (5 suffered minor injuries), 12 shadow beasts (1 remained in forest, 11 covering Shaige's advance), Fangir the archdruid, Soran the imp construct (and his 9 imps), Ifrit the rogue being, and Shaige.
[u]Casualties Sustained:[/u] 75 pain elementals, 3 shadow beasts[/hider]