V8: Epilogue

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Interlude: Riegert

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The creature was trapped.

The skies were filled with Familiars, Lady Celia's honorguard were closing in, and Morgan merely awaited the signal to strike. The northern portion of the town was being cleared by Lady Celia and the twin Vampire Knights she kept by her side. I ventured into battle with the two apprentices that Morgan took and trained to be Champions.

Despite their youth, I could tell by their gait and their alertness that they were not burdens to me in my current task.

And, what a task it was.

The slaying of an Ancient weapon once used by the Academy to maintain its edge over the rest of the continent.

Many suspected that such a being existed. It was not uncommon for Champions to perish if they were outside the Academy's sphere of influence. There were plans amongst small groups of confidants to lure it out, to gain knowledge of it, and perhaps even kill it, but nothing bore fruit. The conspirators often disappeared or perished or suddenly became wastrels under the Academy's payroll.

Thus the solution to survive was to simply abide by the Academy's will.

Now, though, the Academy was long gone and that terrible creature faced retribution.

Leonardo and Maryline, along with many other Champions now rising to power, were to never feel the invisible blade of the Academy at their neck.

I was almost jealous.

"Sir, I just felt a spike of power." Leonardo gained my attention with his words, but I did not turn his way. I focused my own senses. There, as he said, a spike of power common to the use of magic came from the northern sector. A moment passed and a great pillar of flame erupted. "Do we attack or should see if the beast can bring low one of the Guardians' assets?"

"We're pursuing a Champion. One created by the Ancients, but just another Champion. It can't kill three Champions by itself." Maryline spoke up from over my right shoulder. "Sir, I recommend that we move in as swiftly as possible. With some fortune, we can earn further favor from the Guardians by moving in quickly."

Both made proposals and wordlessly kept up with me as I sped up towards the fight, after firing a bolt of green flame in the air to signal Morgan to reveal herself and attack.

"Expand your senses, burnish your souls, and mantle your magics. Focus on finding traps and making sure the enemy cannot escape." I instructed them as we moved and I focused my gaze forward. Doing one of the things I asked of them should have been a challenge at their age. Instead, they did as I asked and enrobed themselves in magic, sent their senses ahead of us, and wreathed themselves in charms and enhancements without breaking stride. Either of these two would be scouted by the Academy for their prowess, if they attended the eponymous school. "Keep five paces away from me, and ready yourselves for battle!"

I charged forward, filling myself with power, and layering on immense protections on my person and activating all my armor's gifts. Sound became a keening constant din everywhere unless I focused upon it. My vision became so clear and sharp I could see dust falling from a hundred paces away. Beneath my skin, in my muscle, it felt like energy was coursing through my veins incessantly and begging to be released. My thoughts accelerated, as I needed a faster mind and reflexes to keep up with the enhancements of my body, and a savage thrill threated to rip a battle cry from my lips.

However, I held fast and charged forward to go to Lady Celia's aid wordlessly and as silently as possible.

Through streets, through allies, and over buildings, I charged forward, my surroundings no more than a blur of passing colors and light.

Then, I reached the edge of the battlefield and found Lady Celia and her Knights confronted a terrible creature.

It was like a mass of blood and flesh and magic. Parts and pieces of the creatures orbited the larger mass of tangled muscle and solid, flowing blood. It was less of a whole person and more parts and pieces suspended in a field of its own magic. The soul was nearly entirely separate from the body, the body itself more like limbs and parts of substance for it to interact with the world.

And, it was a horrific body.

Many bodies were missing, even after accounting for the Ghouls, and now we found them.

This creature took the bodies of mages and veterans who settled the frontier of the Guardians to empower itself, just as we'd suspected.

For a moment, I hesitated.

Should I give orders or attack with the element of surprise?

The two following me answered for me.

Maryline surged past me with bladed spear in hand and became a whirlwind of slashing strikes at the creature's 'back. ' It shrieked with disdain and refocused some of its body from facing the onslaught by Celia and her knights to defending against her. Maryline was wreathed in white flame that weakened and burned the arcane control the creature had over the flesh and blood it controlled. The creature recoiled at her presence, while she pressed onward, and forced it towards the onslaught of the Guardian's leader and her two knights.

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I reached her side, following her example, and brandishing my axe whilst covering myself in holy magic. The songs of choirs at the temple resounded in my mind. The tales of the Ancients, the magics they left us, and the gifts that lay hidden deep below and within our bodies echoed within my soul. Thus, my axe was wreathed with golden light, and the creature shrieked and turned to face me after a singular swing nearly parted its existence in twain.

Leonardo's attack came into being at that moment, heralded by a long spike with a two-pronged head that embedded itself into the ground at the creature's nexus.

A lightning prong.

There was a flash, then sound of thunder, and creature screamed in pain and agony while a wave of pressure and shards of road shot out from the point of impact. Leonardo was the more magically adept of the two, while Maryline the better fighting at the melee. However, as Champions, they were expected to be very capable at both and hold their ground against hundreds of common soldiers.

However, in this battle, they stuck to their strengths and I approved.

I charged through the shockwave, focusing on my magical senses, and looked for the true essence of the creature. The Wraith was more a spirit that took over a physical body, rather than a true Undead creature. The flesh that it had was more tools than anchoring points for its existence upon the mortal realm. Thus, it was imperative that it needed to be struck with magic and various forms of energy, as merely bludgeoning, cutting, or breaking apart the physical portions of its self would do little damage.

I found the creature in the corner of the battlefield, the center of all the limbs and stolen body parts was just a decoy, albeit still a part of the creature. It was allowing nonvital parts of its body to be attacked and to attack in turn, while keeping its true vital spots away from conflict.

However, I did not earn my title as the Holy Axe fighting tribal beasts and feral monsters.

The Undead in all their forms filled the dark depths of the ruins that I had delved into long ago, and I learned how to deal with everything from ghouls to phantoms.

This creature, as different as it was, remained Undead.

It noticed me making my way towards it and pulled itself back at breakneck speed. The amalgam of flesh and energy coalesced into a singular body. Now that it knew its ruse was seen through, it focused on amplifying its defenses and strength around its vitals instead of looking for a path to escape. Unfortunately for it, all the bodies it gathered, condensed, and reformed into a red construct of rippling muscle covered in wailing, gnashing mouths and hundreds of bloodshot eyes… it was still Undead.

My axe bit through its flesh and armor and tore through its protections with ease, and I felt it panic as it realized what was happening.

"No!" Its voice was slow, garbled, and through all the thousands of mouths that it had. The eyes all over its body glowed and flames washed over my armor, while the mouths grew fangs and surged upon me like innumerable tendrils and tried to find purchase on my flesh. My armor protected me from both the attacks, nothing reaching my flesh, and its weight allowed me to not be pushed back. My swing continued. "No! How dare you, mortal!"

Its death throes were much like any other mad immortal beast sitting upon the gifts of the Ancients.

Pathetic.

I completed my swing and the creature's front came apart with a deluge of blood and power.

The vital core of the creature, its metaphysical form condensed into a hardy sphere within its body, was revealed while all its flesh tried to enclose upon it again.

My allies for the battle pounced at the opening.

There was a resounding shot from a large revolver, and in the corner of my vision, a silver bullet covered in enchantments streaked by. It was wreathed by vengeful spirits bound to the leader of the Guardians of the Moon. The tip of the bullet collided with the strong shell protecting the creature's soil, and instead of bouncing off and being stopped, it kept speeding up, digging into the sphere like a drill, as the vengeful spirits inhabiting the bullets eagerly powered the enchantments upon it and urged it to find its mark and kill.

The two knights soon reached my flanks along with Maryline. They worked together seamlessly, hacking away at the Wraith's attempts to attack me, while I gathered power for another swing to keep it from hiding its true heart. The creature formed the limbs of monsters from the corpses it took over, immense limbs with claws and scales or thick bands of muscle and immense digits, to simply throw me aside. All of it was cut down by the flurry of blades presented by the vampiric knights and the melee-adroit Maryline.

As if on cue, on the moment I wondered where he was, Leonardo struck.

The lighting prong lifted into the air and changed shape, becoming a coiling drill. The large rod was compressed and compressed with magic, until it went from being a meter tall to just the size of a fist, and the moment it was formed it surged forward into the sphere and began to drill through the defenses of the Wraith. More and more joined the singular drill even as it wore itself out and broke, being made of normal steel instead of enchanted and specialized, replacing each drill as it broke and the scarlet shell of the creature began to wear down and break. At the same time, I felt wards settle upon myself and the others, making it so that the flames being cast by the innumerable eyes sputtering not against armor but against magical protection.

The Wraith screamed in agony and in hate at us, throwing out its magic with all the force and strength that it can muster, and shielding its core.

Maryline and the two knights were thrown black. They were not ready to experience such a last-ditch attack, nor were they heavily armored for the task due to inexperience. One day, they will be clad in heavy armor and such an assault will not even break their step, but it was not this day. With the great flood of magic came the drills created by Leonardo and the repelling of the haunted shell that Lady Celia sent forth. The spirits cried out in hate as their housing was repelled, and as their target began to be covered with flesh.

Leonardo and Celia were both quick to act, though, as they were at the fringes at the outburst of power.

Another bullet was fired and it connected with the previous one. Power was imparted into both, and they spun together in the air and barreled into the cracking sphere that held the creature's heart. Leonardo took the broken shards of metal that still held his power and had them embed and push against the flesh threatening to cover the sphere in a protective layer. Like a line of men-at-arms holding against an encroaching enemy, the shards of metal barely fond purchase against the reinforced flesh, but they did their duty and kept critical strike open.

Allowing me to finish gathering power.

The dust from the creature's last-ditch attack cleared as I sent forth a burst for wind, and I found my target with my eyes instead of my passive senses.

The glowing scarlet orb was swirling with power and screaming faces of the creature's victims… and I did not hesitate to put all that I could behind a simple, downward strike with my axe.

The sphere held against my strike, even with all my might behind it. Less like a glittering jewel, as it appeared to be, the final protection of the Wraith reminded me of the Citadel's materials when formed into a wall. It was easier to break through a Citadel Guardian's body than attack the sphere. However, I knew that I couldn't relent… and that I did not have to conserve my strength.

Though decades passed since I last used it, I roared and pushed my body past its limits. I felt my bones creak and groan and some break as my muscles engorged and threatened to rip through my skin. Conqueror blessings were no trifling matter. Too much of it killed even the hardiest of their Champions. However, there was no choice, I needed to at least carve through the shell, and so I did. I felt fractures form up my hands to my shoulders, and it felt as though my spine was going to burst through my spine… but before it did my axe went through the orb's protections.

There was a great cracking sound, thousands of shards of crimson material glittered in the air, and within the depths of the orb a yellow eye in darkness looked at me with fear.

No.

Not me.

At Morgan, who landed on the shaft of my axe the moment I completed my swing, and in two hands she wielded the now-blessed blade that the Academy used to corrupt the Conquerors.

It was almost poetic, as she threw the great, two-handed blade forwarded, and the creature wordlessly tried to intercept it. Every ounce of magic that it had, every bit of flesh it commanded, surged forward upon the speeding blade thrown like a knife… only for all its attacks to come undone in the presence of the reborn weapon it once used to corrupt Crusher.

The blade found its mark, entering the opening I created, and for a moment I thought that the blade did not find its mark.

Then, Morgan kicked the pommel of the blade and drove the whole blade through the creature, skewering the core, and sending both the weapon and the target into the building behind it.

It was good that Ilych had a strong rival to contend against.