"What we learned over the centuries was that by the usage of the right amounts of Ki and Mana, a mortal can if they are so inclined, break through the barrier in place to keep their powers in check and ascend to godhood, now for users of just one facet of power it gets hard but in this presentation, I will explain..."
4th Divine Council, its theme being the making of demi-gods.
Andromeda stared down the Arch-Mage from her armor, feeling the power surge from deep within and around the mechanical and crystal parts of the suit.
With a mental command, the armor roared and the Arch-Mage was stunned, another order and a lance of blue crystal were made manifest and she charged forward, the Arch-Mage barely finding time to dodge.
The sound barrier broke as both women locked themselves in a high-speed battle, Andromeda roared together with the machine as she ditched the lance and summoned a cannon, charging a blast towards the enemy, the Arch-Mage on the other hand began flying away her voice echoing in the winds.
There was no fear in her mind, for once in her entire life Andromeda found a reason to live, to exist in this mortal coil where family and friends couldn't care less about her, in these precious seconds she was whole.
And it felt something great.
The charge went off, tracking the woman in the skies with sickening precision slamming through her many shield spells, the woman laughed in the skies and warped the stream of magic towards Andromeda via some arcane trickery, the ZENOS dodged with the grace of a master swordsman and once again both machine and pilot went on the offensive, taking to the skies.
Andromeda couldn't hear the insults that foul-mouthed woman was throwing at her, her entire being focused on the operating of the armor, with calculated clicks she launched anti-magic missiles towards the mage, whose face morphed from smug to terrified and warped away, the cloud spread as she warped back right next to Andromeda and slammed the ZENOS with a ghostly Warhammer.
Andromeda leaped back, grabbing the weapon in a single smooth movement only for the Warhammer to vanish and the Arch-Mage to charge in with a ghost blade and slam into the belly of the armor.
Golden Light shone in the wound, the sigil of Ra'Tyrius manifesting itself, Andromeda got bailed by him in the last second and wasn't about to let the opening he created go to waste, with both arms she grabbed the Arch-Mage and fired the last payload of Anti-Magic missiles, as the cloud enveloped them Andromeda began to crush the Arch-Mage's ribcage.
"...Got you little slut..." The Arch-Mage spoke as blood came out of her blood and a great white flash blinded Andromeda.
She felt the machine trying to protect her but it was too late.
The voice of Ra'Tyrius spoke to her as the explosion went off "You have done enough, rest now" and so she did, arriving at the place above the fields and seeing friend and foe separate themselves as they watched the battle unfold below, her eyes went over to a secluded part of the woods in the Fields, where Lady Castra-Cam was fighting.
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Castra cursed inwards as she dodged a rain of obsidian bones, sharp as a blade and with anti-undead solutions in their tips, a nasty spell used against high-level rogue necromancers being turned against her was dark irony she thought, with a leap, she hid in the trees and waited for the magic to finish, yet she was not spared from the relentless attacks from her foe.
"Hiding is an unbecoming thing to do my friend," They said as a burst of shrill laughter escaped from their lips, Castra didn't bite the bait as she kept changing positions while under a camouflage spell, her form a shifting mass very few would be able to detect.
Baswiar pursued and for a few minutes, they were embroiled in a tense game of peek-a-boo, with Castra slicing off more than a few scraps of cloth from Baswiar and even an arm, only to see the thing crawl back to its owner as nothing had happened.
A click in the back of Castra's head told her the spell weaved in her armor was ready, Lucrezia ever the paranoid made doubly sure an absolute mess of enchantments was placed in Castra's gear, one of them allowing her increased speed.
With a flash of sound and debris, Castra leaped behind Baswiar and slammed her palm into his back, a spell formation showed up and the ancient necromancer was grounded for a tense few seconds.
A hand rose from the grounds, pale and full of red veins along it as Baswiar smiled through the spell "Interesting, to think he would favor you" and the hand swallowed Baswiar whole, his form turning into nothing as the spell ended and Castra took a breath of relief.
"You better make good on your promise my lord, cause I have a distinct feeling I will need it sooner rather than later" Castra spoke as a hole in space-time was torn in the skies, she rushed to the fields but was too late, as 2 abominations of gargantuan size crashed towards Lucrezia's last known position.
"Castra?!? Do you read me?!?" Richard blared into her radio "We are detecting massive energy spikes along your position ah!" his voice was cut short by the swoosh of a sword, he was in trouble.
"Time to bail him out I guess" Castra sighed as the voice of her patron deity came booming in her ears "Well done, now that you have proved yourself the real fight may begin, save your friends Castra, you will need them soon"
"...Terminus Level entities...seems your lady was hiding a big card up her sleeves, but mind not the unholy sounds Richard, your enemy is the first step towards the victory of this...once in a lifetime battle" The voice of the Goddess spoke to Richard as he and Veronica circled around the Royal Knight-Commander who smiled at him.
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"It is time son, prove yourself worthy" Richard's eyes went wide in shock but Thadeus didn't stop talking "Aye son, you and your little elven friend there, one versus two, more than fair don't you think?"
With a nod to Veronica, he leaped into combat again, his Magi-Tech gear shining in the sun as he faced off against one of the strongest in the entire Kingdom.
Up in the stands where at this point many had come to watch the war that was unfolding sat Richard's mom and father, Catarina Silverbrand walking around, biting her nails worried sick for her kid.
No parent should watch their children suffer, and when she saw his ribs breaking she held a scream and nearly drew blood from her husband's hand, the man was quiet as the grave and she got even madder.
"Heartless cur! don't you worry about our son?! he nearly died!" Amadeus took a sharp intake of breath and said his voice deep with worried pain "My love if we both lose it I am afraid the Academy's enforces will escort us off the premises"
Catarina went for a rebuke but the air around them grew still for a second, then an ancient-looking orc appeared from thin air. he said not a word to the pair as he sat down near Amadeus.
Catarina's mind took a solid minute to process the information, worried sick as she was for her son when she saw him squaring off against the Knight-Commander she nearly wanted to grab a sword and shield and leap into the battle, looking at her husband she could see the man was as worried as her, only trying his best to keep his shit together, for both of them.
Richard screamed as the blade of the Knight-Commander nearly chopped his left arm, Catarina's blood grew cold as her blessing flared up something fierce, for the first time in a very long while she saw red and it took her husband hugging her to stop her from leaping into the fields, he knew her blessing would grant her some power but not enough to actually fight a Knight.
Catarina had dealt with petty thieves and bandits before, but this fight? she and Amadeus knew was beyond them.
"...One hell of a thing, watching your own flesh and blood suffer, and yet there is honor in the field of combat, he faces off against the mightiest of the land who fight not in rage or pride, but with duty" the ancient orc spoke "Blessed by the divine in a fight that is by all rights beyond his capabilities still he stands, leading his men, at the tip of the spear"
There was a realization when he finished, Catarina's eyes widened, and Vermilion, be it a young child to millennial vampire knew the words this man was speaking, and those ancient vampires would also know who was speaking them.
"Have faith Silverbrand, your clan stood with the 5 when the enemy from beyond the seas came, and now your son stands again against the enemy from beyond the cosmos" He smiled a warm caring smile "Once again the child of man has the right to prove their worth to the Goddess, and once again we might see the pact that ended that miserable war be enacted in such pristine conditions, for a field of war where death has no power is perfect for it"
The Lady of Rage, Matron of all Orcs and ancient ally of the first Imperium nobles who came to this land in search of a better life free from the clutches of the corrupt empire, she believed in the first king to deliver her people from an oppressive regime enacted by the sea elven menace, the reason every orc and the other races that came with those people share a bond as strong as steel.
Kaal'Duvat, Goddess of the Orcs would bless Richard like she did the First King of Vermilion!
"I am sorry to spoil the surprise, but I was once a parent, and I saw my own children being cut down in front of me, I couldn't help myself you see, especially when this time, the blessing will come from a far more caring place than last time"
Catarina watched stunned as her son, the timid but caring boy with a heart of gold and the mind of a great merchant led nobles would-be knights, and fellow merchant scions into an awe-inspiring charge against the Royal Knights.
He also led the others, Imperium Legionnaires, Grannarius elite troops, Lucrezia's own Knights, and Soldiers of Wulfgrem, even the Arch-Duke's men!
Catarina sat down beside her husband who was in prayer "...All-Father please watch over him and grant him glory in this hallowed field of battle..." Amadeus's voice betrayed deep conviction in his son, which made her smile.
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Knight-Commander Thadeus Senior smiled through his helmet as the words of King Jason echoed in his mind, the good king knew this would happen but to see it happening before his very eyes were nothing short of amazing.
That a merchant son would become the next Avatar for the Goddess of the Orcs, but then again the first King was a low noble, with barely anything to his name in the Imperial court.
"ROYAL KNIGHTS!" Thadeus barked and his remaining men formed up, as the Reclaimers poured toward them, war screams and grunts echoed in the entrance to the Castle, a new generation of warriors was being born at this exact moment with a great leader to guide them to the true enemy hidden beneath the waves...
"LEGIONNAIRES!" He barked again and his formation split to fend off the Imperium forces coming from the left side, the men and women of the Imperium clad in obsidian steel and with the banners of the Silent Soldier held high came with their own war cries in that sing-song language of theirs, when was the last time the Vermilion forces had a proper square off with the cousins Thadeus wondered in the middle of combat, his smile grew as the sounds from the air told him the next opposition to come.
"GRIFFON RIDERS!" The final bark as the remaining Royal Knights formed into a triangle, Thadeus's blessing burned bright as it told him this was the end, more troops were coming and his men now had to die a warrior's death.
As the Arch-Duke's men broke through the formation, his Knights stood fast and true to their training and experience, a great melee ensured as Silverbrand and the Windreaver appeared and cornered him, there were no words only the fight, spells, and blades singing their deadly tune of steel and blood.
Thadeus saw the Gods descending as the Reclaimers tore through the final line of Knights, among them the ones who had blessed Lucrezia and he smiled once again, only feeling the cold bite of steel in his heart a second too late.
"Illusions, as expected of Granarius" He spoke as the magic faded falling to his knees, the elven woman didn't even smirk as she chopped his head off.
"...we won..." Richard spoke softly as the last Royal Knight was cut down "Gods above we won!"
His cheer was cut off when an unholy scream echoed throughout the entire city, Malphas's voice coming shortly after "YOU ARE FREE O RAGE, DESTROY MY ENEMY AND THE WORLD"
There was a pause as the wind grew still, and then everyone saw what the queen had called down to the material plane. Something that made even the Gods themselves quake in fear, Richard heard the voice of the Goddess inside his head "In her fury, she managed to make a physical avatar for the Rage, foolish woman, had this not been a protected location and had Lucrezia not called down those monsters of her we would be in deep trouble"
"Richard, one more charge waits for you, against the remaining forces loyal to the Queen, they will bar your way to the fight against the Avatar and Malphas herself, and that fight will be yours, should you survive of course" the Goddess spoke with conviction that he would do it so. as Richard ate his complaint away, seeing the monsters Lucrezia had called down raining spells at the Avatar.
"I am impressed the field's protective barrier is holding up," Veronica said her voice deadly serious "Richard we may be good fighters, leading a half-decent army but that...that we can not defeat"
"It won't be our fight, we aim for the Queen" Richard spoke and the others around him nodded "Hope and the rest will deal with the Avatar"
"Smart, for a second I thought you meant us to charge it, but who better than the one blessed by Faal to fight that thing" Veronica smiled "Forward then, for we have a date with the Fair Queen"
"Forward" Richard repeated and the rest followed.