[Chapter 4.1] - An Army

I cannot help but frown, mostly in annoyance. It would seem that things are progressing a little faster than I had imagined, which is annoying on several different levels. Especially the news of this ‘blood mage’.

The village guards and Lusia’s father are all but shaking in their boots, totally hectic. I have to take a moment to calm them down enough to get some concrete information from them. I need to know what and more importantly how such an army could get here so quickly.

Come to find out, both priests and blood mages have the ability to push back the Miasma enough to create passages between towns and villages and the like. They do so by using a big of blood stored in containers on their body, which they spread to create some sort of ward. I can tell that it is all bullshit, but I don’t say so out loud.

After that, I question the guard on how many people this mage has brought with him. Hmm. Roughly three hundred people, all armed and armored. Far more so than the village guards. There are even several horses, along with a banner carrier from one of the strongest nobles nearby.

Heh. Sounds like this could be fun. Still, I take a moment to think it over before nodding my head sharply. I have an idea that will be quite amusing.

“Very well. Go around and warn the villagers to stay indoors. No one is to come out. Then you two go and hide as well. I’ll handle this myself.” I instruct them, although I almost cannot hide my own amusement. My face keeps cracking up into a grin that I have to hide.

Sending them off, I turn and walk to the village square, and move up onto the stone podium. It is high enough that I can see over the village walls. I steal a glance at the mass of decently trained soldiers, before turning my attention to my fluttering banner. It stands higher now, nearly sixty feet tall and flutters in the breeze.

Okay, so first things first. I have to make a change. I clap my hands and bring forth my magic, before streaking it toward my banner. The magic is rapidly absorbed by the construct, and soon enough a square at the bottom right corner of my banner starts to burn, flickering out vivid blue and golden flames. Once that square turns to ash, a new weave sets into it, forming a shielding sigil.

Unlike the freeform magics I’d been using up until now, sigils are magical constructs that do specific things. The design of the sigil dictates the specific magical effect it creates when magic is poured through it. In this case, the swirling design of the sigil is for a very strong shielding.

Basically I’m constructing a dome shield to protect the village just in case something happens. I highly doubt that this so called ‘blood mage’ can do anything against it. After all, the magic he is using isn’t magic at all, and isn’t even his own.

The idiot won’t know what hit him when I get my hands around his neck. Hehehehe.

Still, producing a sigil takes longer than freeform magics, which is the only drawback of this sort of magic. On the other hand, it’ll last basically forever, so long as there is enough magic poured into it to power the effect. And being woven into my banner, it’ll be all but impossible to break.

In the meantime the army gets closer and closer, even as the villagers start locking themselves up in their homes. They want absolutely nothing to do with the invaders, and I don’t want them under my feet either. *Sighs* It is times like these that I wish I still had a couple of paladins.

Those guys could have run ramshod all over the army without breaking a sweat~ Oh well, something to work on later. I just don’t have the time to pick and train such disciples at the moment. I’ll save that for later.

Soon enough the sigil square on my banner is complete, and another chime sound echoes out from it. This time it isn’t accompanied by a wave of magical energy, but instead a flash of light as magic is channeled through the sigil, causing it to glow bright blue. At the same time, a semi-translucent dome forms overtop of the village, centered around my banner at the very center of the village.

The dome forms quickly, and extends all the way down to the earth about five hundred feet away from the short village walls. It is a swirling thing, rippling with power and colored a deeper blue than even the clear sky above. It is actually so heavy that it punches through nearly a foot of earth where it hits the land. More than enough to cut anything in half should they be stupid enough to be caught between the inside and out.

The sight of it seems to shock the army, which has come to a dead standstill. Hehehehe. Even from this distance I can see the looks on their faces. It’s fucking awesome. Still, now that my preparations are complete, I should go out and have some fun.

I don’t even bother walking, and instead I crouch down and gather the power of my legs and my magic before springing up in a high jump that crests overtop the village walls. Performing a very nice flip, I land on my own two feet just on the inside of the shield, facing the army. Except the impact of my landing blows a crater into the earth about six feet in diameter and nearly four feet thick.

Oops, a bit too much power there. He-he. I actually have to climb out of the hole I made. The soldiers all look stupefied though, some three hundred feet beyond the shield. I guess they would be, seeing a boy in his early teens make such a jump.

But damn, did that feel good!

“So which of you idiots is the blood mage? I have a woman waiting for me, so we might as well get this over with.” My voice cracks like a whip as I go for a full frontal assault with my interrogation, grinning ear from ear. The soldiers can only blink at me as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Idiots, one and all of them.

Still, once I step outside of the shield dome, passing through the curtain like it wasn’t even there, I catch sight of some flickers of annoyance and even fear on their helmeted faces. They obviously have no idea what is going on. The poor fools.

“Ahem… The gods have declared that the village of Zephyr Horn have turned to worshipping a false god. In the name of Lord Prestal Centiworth of Centiworth City, we have been sent to eradicate the heretics and cleanse the village from the face of the world. The false god shall therefore be drawn and quartered, with his body spread across the lands far and wide.” The banner carrier shouts out, even as he starts waving his flag like an idiot. The man is old and fat, and more than a little pompous.

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However, it is the man next to him, wearing a black robe trimmed in red that catches my attention. Tall, thin, pale and smirking. Yeah, just the kind of mortal I hate. Still, I let out a snort.

“Really? False god? That’s a bit harsh. Still, I guess I’ll play with you all for a little bit.” I reply with a smirk, only to dash at them before the soldiers would realize that I’m heading in to attack. The grin on my face though needs no translations, nor does the fact that I’m cackling with laughter.

The soldiers at the front barely have time to raise their shields and unsheathe their weapons before I’m amongst them. The first man I hit barely had time to wonder what fucking rock hit him before he’s down and out, nearly plastered into the ground due to a short jump that landed me straight into his chest.

The rest get even worse punishment. Amongst the masses, I kick and punch and slap, swirling around like a whirlwind. Several of the soldiers are knocked flat and even more are broken like wooden toys. I don’t even have to bother using magic on them. Their armor does protect them a bit from damage, but it slows them down too damned much to be of any use against me.

Only after about twenty of them are down do the rest finally get their act together and move to surround me. Spears, swords and even a guy with a set of flails come at me with sudden intent, hate and fear burning in their eyes.

Hehehehehe! Now it is getting good!

I up my speed, while summoning strength to my limbs. My hits start denting shields and bending weapons, even as I make a point by starting to break bones with each of my strikes. I am careful not to kill them, but at the same time those I knock down are in no condition to get back up either.

At least until the soldier with the flails arch them on their chains at me. I give a contemptuous laugh before grabbing the heavy spiked iron balls out of the air with my hands. With a twist I jerk the wooden handles from the man’s hands, before squeezing my hands. The scream of tortured metal shocks the soldiers into disbelief, even as the balls crumble into bits and pieces in my grip.

“Hahahaha! You think this so-called false god is afraid of little men with weapons? Please!” I yell at them, grinning widely before setting my shoulders down and bullrushing the rest of them. Just like that, the army crumbles, as I toss here and there and send them flying or flattened onto the earth. Many of them end up with footprints dented into chestplates or shattered chainmail. Their weapons mean nothing to me, even if they hit me. In fact, most of them shatter on impact with my body.

My trousers do end up worse for wear though, cut and ripped all over the damned place. I’ll really have to do something about that later. My bare upper body though is utterly unharmed regardless of how many strikes I take directly.

It isn’t until there’s only about two dozen soldiers remaining that I’m finally hit with something that stops me. It isn’t a weapon though, but instead a red and black streak of energy released from the blood mage. Similar to a magic bolt that a regular mage would use, it hits me straight in the chest with the force of a boulder launched from a catapult. Too bad all it does is stop me. I do have to dispel the tainted energy though, cause that shit is just foul and sticks of blood and offal.

“Oooh? Now you finally decide to do something, blood mage? Hahahaha! Come on then, I’ll even let you have the time to charge up as much power as you can. But if you cannot kill me, then I’ll crush you like a bug!” Okay, so yes, I’ve gone a bit battle crazy. Still, my words shock the remaining soldiers and they make a hasty retreat away from us. Even that standard bearer scampers the fuck away after throwing down the flag.

The blood mage though just smirks, and yet doesn’t say anything. Instead, he spreads out his hands and suddenly I can feel the power that flows from him. It isn’t aimed at me though, and instead all of the soldiers I’d already dealt with.

They start to scream, and even I grimace a little. I can feel that the blood mage is forcibly drawing out their blood and life energy, which causes the soldiers to shrivel up and age right in front of my eyes. Ugh. Utterly sick.

Still, I’m not about the stop the idiot, and instead cross my arms over my bare chest. It doesn’t take him long to get what he wants, either, as the energy starts to condense around his outstretched hands. The fool is sweating and panting though, which makes me roll my eyes. The fool doesn’t understand what he is doing, only that he can boost his power in this manner. Tsk. Asshole.

After about thirty seconds, he’s literally killed nearly three hundred people, just for the chance to strike me. The energy around him is dense and sharp, crackling with taint and a desire to be released. The blood mage cannot hold it all, so it floods his vicinity, and to me it sounds like the howls of the damned. The idiot has taken so much, in so little time, that I can see his own spirit being shredded by the negative energies he’d summoned.

The idiot is wasting his own life just for power. Like I said, I hate these types of mortals the most. I actually let out a sigh and decide to change the deal.

BAM!

I wave my hand, summoning my own magic before shooting it at the blood mage. It streaks out like a needle, thin and extremely sharp, which pierces through the shroud of rampant energy around the man. It isn’t even blunted, but the sound it makes is like a stone hurled at an iron wall, which means it is fucking loud.

At the same time, the blood mage has the look of utter astonishment on his pale face, even before he looks down at his chest which has a bloody hole blown through it. I didn’t hold back at all, and instead ended his foolish life with absolute certainty. The power he was holding shudders and shatters, dispelling into the air only to disappear within moments.

The blood mage deflates like a balloon in front of me, gasping for rapid breath as he sprawls out on the ground. I barely click my tongue before stepping toward him. I get to watch as the life in his eyes slowly disappears with only a gurgling sound rising from his throat.

“Idiot. That power you used was never your own. You weren’t worthy of being called a mage.”