“So, a Dark Mage, huh?”
“And you’re a Paladin?” Brian asked as he nodded.
“Yeah,” Dylan replied.
“Guess that makes us mortal enemies, then,” the older man laughed as the table stared at him.
“What do you mean?” Dylan asked, slightly confused.
“Well, Paladin’s are classically known for being able to cure things like Status effects or even Curses with just a touch,” Brian explained, “And I use those as my primary form of attack.”
“Oh,” Dylan nodded, “Yeah, I have an Ability that does something like that. Though it’s only Level five right now, so it can only heal and remove stuff like poison and disease.”
“Lay on hands, then,” Brian nodded, “A classic.”
“So, why did you want to pick up the sword?” Samantha hummed as the conversation died down a bit, “I mean, it’s pretty weird to see a Mage with a sword, after all?”
“I wanted something I could defend myself with if I ever got ambushed or ran out of mana,” Brian shrugged, looking down at the rapier still at his hip, “I mean, that’s unlikely, thanks to my staff, but I wanted to be sure, just in case.”
“Your staff?” Gregory chimed in again, looking at the long piece of blackened wood, his eyes lingering on the large purple gem clutched by the hand at the top, “What does it do?”
“It’s basically a mana battery,” Brian explained, “I can channel mana into it, and then draw it out again as I need it. It’s pretty convenient.”
“I’ll say, all the staffs we were given just improved the efficiency or power of our Spell Abilities,” Mary nodded, “Something like yours would actually be more useful, I think. It is kind of creepy looking though.”
“Thanks, I got it from a guy up north in Blackleaf,” Brian chuckled, leaning back as he thought fondly of the town, “In fact, I got most of my gear from him. I think the creepy thing was just his aesthetic, most of the stuff in his shop was like that.”
“Still, pretty cool, how much can it store?” Gregory nodded.
“Well, without numbers to give an exact amount,” Brian hummed, “About ten times my maximum capacity at the moment, but that was only after it was improved.”
“Ten times?!” all the casters at the table shouted, staring at the staff in jealousy all of a sudden.
“Yeah?” Brian chuckled nervously, “Uhm…Yeah.”
The table blinked as the sounds of bells suddenly filled the air, looking around in confusion for a moment before Dylan jumped to his feet.
“Those are the warning bells!” he shouted, “They shouldn’t be testing them this late at night! That means-!”
“Attack!” Sir Darrinwood shouted as he burst into the room, “All Heroes, ready yourselves, the armies of the Demon Lord stand at our gates!”
“What?!” the room clamoured, everyone scrambling to get to their rooms and gather their equipment, quickly leaving Brian sitting alone.
“Uhm…” he said as the last of the students hurried from the room, Sir Darrinwood already starting to close the door as he looked at the Mage in surprise, “Can I be of help?”
------
The walls of the capital were in chaos, Amelia growling under her breath as she led her squad of Valkyries up onto the battlements. They were, of course, perfectly calm, but the rest of the soldiers were desperately scrambling to get ready for the inevitable assault by the massive hoard of dark shapes on the horizon. It had been a lucky thing that they’d spotted the army as soon as they had, the hoard approaching from the east, hiding in the shadows of the setting sun. But something was off, Amelia wasn’t sure what, but she knew that this was going to be a hard-won fight.
“Ready the ballistae!” someone shouted, that massive contraptions aiming towards the hoard, prepared to fire as soon as they came in range, each loaded with special explosive bolts that would hopefully decimate the front lines of the ever-approaching army.
“Thinking about your boyfriend?” Cynthia asked under her breath as Amelia felt her cheeks burn, her mind immediately going to the handsome older Mage they had been escorting just the day before.
“No!” She huffed, “Why would I be thinking about hi-, I mean anyone other than the enemy right now?”
“So, you do like that Mage, then?” the other woman chuckled, “A pity he turned you down, even after a night in bed.”
“Nothing happened,” Amelia growled, “We both just…slept beside each other. Nothing happened.”
“So, our beloved captain is still a virgin?” another of the women asked, making Amelia blush even harder, “That’s good. I’m sure if you do well in this battle, the Mage may take notice of you.”
“I don’t need that!” Amelia shouted, startling some of the soldiers around them, before she scowled at the rest of her squad, “Enough chatter, this is serious!”
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“More serious than your future?” Cynthia asked, “I don’t think so.”
“Mages at the ready! Prepare to deploy the barrier!” another shout went up, the army in the distance now far closer than they should have been able to be in that short of a time, “Deploy!”
The air in front of the wall shimmered as the magical barrier appeared, casting a pale blue light onto the battlements and the rushing soldiers. Turning to her squad, Amelia just nodded, each woman nodding back as they readied themselves for the coming battle. Still, the captain could not shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.
------
At the back of the charging army floated the dark figure, their feminine form wrapped in a dress of the purest and most malicious darkness. They looked out over their army, moving swiftly forwards through the air, easily able to keep up, the city in the distance lit from behind by the setting sun. She smiled under her veil, a wicked smile that twisted her beautiful face into a grotesque image.
Yes, this was the current Demon Lord, the vessel they possessed having powerful Abilities, and, most importantly, a weak enough will that they could easily control it. Now, it was time for them to meet the new Heroes for the first time, feeling their magic thrum in the minds of all of their puppets, watching gleefully as the first of them threw themselves against the magical barrier the city’s pathetic Mages had erected.
This would be it. They would kill the Heroes and leave the frontline of defence against their armies in ruins. This time they would win.
------
Brian walked slowly through the city as he watched the soldiers and residents rush around, the Dark Mage heading to the walls where the Knight from before had ordered him to go. He squeezed past a group of children being corralled deeper into the city by a few women in nun’s habits, smiling kindly at them as they looked at him with frightened faces. To be honest, Brian was nervous. More nervous than he’d ever been in his life, and for someone who had severe anxiety, that was saying something.
He paused for a moment as he thought about that, realising he hadn’t actually felt any of the usual symptoms of his gaggle of mental illnesses since coming to Marl, despite not having taken any of his medication in over a month. Did that mean that when Fiore had constructed his new body, she had somehow “fixed” the chemical imbalances in his brain that caused them? Was this what it was like for a mentally healthy person? Maybe that was why he’d been able to be so productive in such a short time.
“God gave me mental illnesses because she knew I would reach up into heaven and strangle her otherwise,” he chuckled quietly to himself, remembering a meme from his old world, “Well, let’s see if that’s true, shall we?”
Brian picked up his pace, hurrying towards the wall now as he heard the first sounds of fighting starting to come from it. A loud twang rang through the air as he arrived, shortly followed by an explosion in the distance, the man looking up to see the ballistae being reloaded. Nodding, he hurried up the nearby stairs, joining a group of Mages as they held their hands out to a shimmering wall in front of them, sweat pouring down their faces as the mass of dark bodies below pressed against the barrier.
Brian just closed his eyes, sweeping his mana sense out over the crowd of humanoids, opening them again as he felt something strange. He leaned over the wall slightly, staring down at the mob below him, arrows, crossbow bolts, and hot oil decimating the hoard as it continued to press forward, none of the Demons seeming to care about their fallen comrades. Shaking his head as the latest Demon he’d tried to lock onto was killed, he focussed further out, feeling the strange flow of magic in the soldiers below.
“What the fuck?” he muttered, “There’s no way…That’s pure evil!”
“Quit gawking and charge the barrier, Mage!” someone shouted from behind Brian, the man turning to see a furious looking man in very fancy armour glaring at him.
“Can’t, I’m not that kind of Mage,” Brian quickly explained, “But I Need you to listen to me for a second-.”
“Shut up and do your job!” the man shouted back.
“They’re all Cursed!” Brian shouted, grabbing the man by the shoulder as he tried to turn away, “All those Demons down there? They have some sort of Curse controlling them!”
“What?” the man blinked, “Who cares about that! They’re attacking now, so charge the Barrier!”
“For fuck’s sake,” Brian growled as the man pulled himself free, hurrying off to shout at someone else, “This is ridiculous. I have to find the source of the Curse. Maybe then this will end?”
“Heroes!” the voice boomed over the battlefield, shaking the stones of the wall, and instantly shattering the magical barrier, sending most of the Mages charging it falling to their knees as they screamed in pain, “Come out, little Heroes! Come out and face me!”
“What?” Brian said as everyone turned their gaze towards the speaker, a woman in what looked like a pitch-black wedding dress hovering at least a mile above the ground, a dark veil covering her face.
Brian immediately extended his mana sense towards her, feeling the same curse as what was controlling the other Demons in her head, but far stronger. Suddenly, the curse seemed to shift, a pale, pupilless eye staring right back at Brian as he yanked his senses back into his body, his breath coming in shuddering gasps. Shivering, he looked back that the woman, her face hidden behind the veil as she lowered to the floor, the hoard parting to allow her to walk slowly towards the city gates.
“Found you.”
------
“Let us go!”
“NO!” Sir Darrinwood roared at the crowd of teens, silencing them as he glared, “No. You must wait here until the Demon Lord has entered the city. Then we have a chance of trapping and separating it from its army.”
“But what about the soldiers on the walls?” Samantha shouted, clamping her mouth shut as the armoured man turned on her.
“They will die for their country, their kingdom, and their people,” he hissed, “Just like they should. Now, enough chatter, the Demon Lord could reach the gates at any moment.”
His words were met with a massive explosion, the sound of tearing wood and rending metal filling the air alongside screams and cries of pain. The Heroes all froze as they looked down from their position at the edge of the palace walls, each somehow able to clearly see the impossibly dark speck that had just strolled past the obliterated gates like they had never even been there. Behind it, a dark hoard poured into the city, flooding the streets, and tearing into soldiers and civilians alike.
“No,” Dylan gasped, “We…we can’t let this go on! How many people will die?!”
“More, if you do not listen to me and follow the plan!” Sir Darrinwood shouted, “We have the best Mages in the city laying a trap for the Demon Lord as we speak! So, stay where you are!”
“Is that so?” the voice that was simultaneously silky smooth and like breaking bones asked, Sir Darrinwood spinning around to stare at the dress wearing figure as she landed softly on the edge of the wall, “Pity, maybe I shall go spring it once I am done here. Out of my way, worm.”
“DIE!” Sir Darrinwood howled as he raised his sword and shield, barely able to take a step forward before he burst into a cloud of red mist, his armour falling empty and blood soaked to the floor.
“So rude,” the figure hummed, looking over the now terrified Heroes as she gave a deep curtsy, “Didn’t even introduce himself. Greetings, young Heroes. I am the Demon Lord, and I am here to kill you all.”
------
Miles away, the dark figure sniffed the air, looking south as they huffed in annoyance.
“What is that pathetic creature doing now?”