Chapter 47: 7-Star Lightning Rods Formation.
Location: Hert Factory on the outskirts of Sangfroid
Blood dripped from the missing part of Ianthe’s abdomen as if something had taken a bite out of it.
She was not the only one in this condition. Knight’s company that came with her were in far worse shape. Some were torn limb from limb, while others were chewed and spat. A pool of blood with flesh floating on it. In it lay Iantha, staring at the ceiling as her vision darkened.
Jasper was not in the pool but hung in the air, two slender crimson spikes impaling his chest and abdomen. He was gasping for breath, but alive. Not for long, Ianthe thought. It was a race between him and her for death, and she was losing.
The commander, Jeremiah, in charge of the operation, was still on his feet. Barely so. Covered in blood and wounds, missing his left eye along with the skin on that side of his face.
“HAHAHAHA! Is this all you’re capable of, General Jeremiah?” Shadow gleefully drawled and dashed forth. His limb turned into a sharpened claw, and he deflected Jeremiah’s sword with it.
Jeremiah could not spare focus on chatter. He spent all his effort holding onto his position. One more misstep, and it’s over.
“Level 6 knights truly are tenacious. If it were any other class, they would be dead. Tell me, how the fuck do you have such poise? Isn’t it boring?” Shadow’s form elongated, twisted, and circled Jeremiah from behind.
Jeremiah attempted again, a parry, and a miscalculation. A spike came from behind. He turned to guard, and he did, stumbled, and his poise broke. Claw lurched into his chest—he coughed blood. Shadow’s glee widened. “AH! Finally, this is what revenge feels like… I crave to see our little lord’s face when she knows it was her overbearing that brought this carnage.”
Shadow lifted Jeremiah as his right hand turned into a claw, “Painful… or quick?” Shadow drawled.
ZAP!!!
Iris stood next to Ianthe, sparks rising from her form. The crude, purple bracelet on Ianthe's wrist glowed. “Hold on a little longer—Ilona is coming with Healer. I rushed in first.”
Her attention shifted, and she stared at the shadow who stared back, a broad, toothy smile on his face.
“Tormenting weak after screaming like a pitiful goblin, why am I not even surprised? Yet, applause is in order for courage; unfortunately, I can only clap with lightning, so try not to cry,” Iris said as she observed the place. Most people were dead. Jasper, Ianthe, the hung guy, and a few more were alive. “I feel ashamed,” Iris concluded as she freed Weaver’s orb from Iantha’s wrist.
“Of their weakness?” Shadow asked. He let go of Jeremiah. He could kill him, but that would shorten the torment. A level 6 Knight Vessel, he had eyes on him for months.
“No, of your cowardice. Knowing my location, you still chose a weaker opponent—the fact that I need to fight a worthless, weak shadow fills me with enough disgust that I can puke,” Six more weaver’s orbs formed behind her. The eighth one was on Diantha’s finger.
“Ahahaha, Is that what you think this is?” Shadow asked, “Of course, your cruelty is part of the reason, but this place holds value—I would always defend it.”
Hert was a component of inert Viel. Iris concluded. Fool. Iris smiled, “Then, you can put your hand on your head and sit in a corner while we clear out this place.”
“Ohh… you think you can destroy this place?”
“You’ve no clue. I need less than a second. I’m lightning.”
“And in less time, I will rip you apart; here, in this place, you’re at even more disadvantage than in the Alley.”
Iris tapped her sword on the bloody ground. Weaver’s orb shot into six corners of the dome. And the seventh orb shot high on the level of the factory’s roof. Purple thread connected them to each other, like a web in the shape of a star. “Co-Equal Spell: Seven Star Lightning Rods Formation.” Iris cringed. She hated using this spell; for some reason, It would not take effect unless she said it out loud.
Strings vanished, leaving only the seven rods. Six rods on the ground and one high in the air. Iris dissipated as the shadow lunged at her. Shadow looked up. Iris stood perfectly still on the rod. “Do you want to try negotiation?” Iris asked. She could not go all out, lest she kill Ianthe and Jasper in the aftermath.
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Shadow leapt above. Iris sighed.
Zap!!
Shadow tried to follow her trajectory. It was futile; his eyes barely noticed a flicker before Iris returned to her initial spot.
“If we are going to fight, at least—I shall place a barrier on injured.”
A magic circle formed above every human alive. When circles lit up, a thunder barrier wrapped around the injured. It was tier-one magic incapable of protecting them from the shadow. But it would absorb all her spells and lightning discharges.
“Heh. Look at the kind-hearted you, taking the unnecessary burden.”
She had just witnessed the strongest spell of her life, and it did no destruction to the city. She was not as good as Ilona, but being so incapable as to hurt others with her spell would be shameful.
“You yapp and bark far more than you fight,” She tapped her sword again. The dome became suffocating. A purple circle with a tint of crimson formed at the ceiling. “Are you prepared for the heavenly judgment?" Iris asked.
Shadow was about to lunge when he froze, turned, and saw Ilona walking in. Healers followed her. They were running, yet Ilona was gliding in.
“You should focus on me—”
The circle lit up and shot a lightning strike at the factory. Shadow hesitated between attacking her and saving the factory, but made the smart choice.
Shadow’s form flickered; he appeared above the factory, claws extended, covered in a green layer of mana. He caught the lightning and threw it back into the circle.
Boom!!
Iris whistled as she saw heavenly judgment crumble. “You can grab element. Noted. What else can you do?” Iris asked. She stood on the rod, hanging in the air.
“KIll YOU!!” He summoned five daggers and pitched them at her head. His eyes trained, prepared to catch her the moment she moved.
Iris moved, and he saw the purple flicker. He summoned a green dagger and hurled it onto the rod where Iris should’ve appeared. Except she did not. She was standing at the same height again.
“WHAT!!” Shadow gasped.
A chuckle escaped her, “It would be the most useless co-equal in my arsenal if I could only travel from point A to point B. I can change direction anytime. Look down.”
Shadow did, a moment too late. Six circles, three counterclockwise, and three clockwise. Spun once. Lightning spasmed through his body. “ARGH!!” He screamed. He tried to move away.
His body was stiff.
Second tick.
“ARGHH!!” Another lightning strike tore through his body.
“You were too focused on where I would be and overlooked why I was babbling with you, a worthless shadow.”
Shadow’s hand was enveloped in green mana again as it extended to the size of a sword. He grabbed the circle and crushed it like glass.
“Your coequal spell is absurd.”
“It is one of a kind,” Iris watched Ilona break her spell, “Offer still stands; I’ll leave the factory intact, and you let us leave.”
“Doubtful, you’ll survive?” Shadow asked. His smile was all the indication she needed to know—he was holding back. Either for the fear of Factory or because he did not wish to let Ilona know of his power.
“Yes, if I have to look at your abhorrent appearance for a moment longer, I might die of disgust,” Iris spat. It did not reach Shadow as she had imagined but fell on the passed-out Jeremiah. Her expression tightened. She hoped he was embraced by slumber. She cannot fathom the humiliation he would feel if she, his savior, spat on him.
Her idiotic actions almost cost her life. His claw was on her face, anticipating to crush it.
ZAP!!
Iris appeared beside Iantha, where a healer was healing her. “Phew, I was almost dead.”
“You ARE!” Shadow screamed. Greed Dagger burst, and thousands of piercing shadows spiked out from all sides.
ZAP!!
Iris leapt to another orb adjacent to her left. Her sword turned purple, and sparks lingered on the blade.
[Moonlight Rend]
Iris swung her blade, sending an arc. It rend through the daggers slithering at her and continued at the factory. Of course, she cared little about her fight with Shadow. This body was not original. The only thing that mattered was spitting on him. That was her battle—to get her spit on him.
Shadow appeared in front of the arc, flung it back, and continued to her left. Expecting her next stop.
Arc vanished before it could reach her. Iris tapped the sword on the ground.
ZAP!!!
The floor inside the hall sparked and turned a purple hue.
“STOP!!” Shadow screamed. He was mocking her for her burdens while having a giant factory on his back. Iris laughed.
“Suddenly interested in negotiation?” Iris asked without looking at him.
Zap!!
Iris appeared on the left poll and spat.
Zap!!
“And I won,” Iris said. The factory was a distraction. When Shadow realized Iris planned to blow up the whole floor, he began to prepare a counter to suppress her blast. Of course, he had already leapt onto the next rod by then.
The ground turned back to normal. “Hey, I’ll call you Slithery—how does it feel to be tortured and then spat on by someone below your level?” Iris asked, her voice filled with childlike innocence.
“I’ll rip you to shreds,” Slithery said coldly.
“That’s enough playing,” Ilona whispered. And Iris returned to her side. She was regretful of this situation. This was all that could be salvaged from this situation.
Shadow slithered away in a blink. He would not directly engage with Ilona. That would be the most courageous and foolish thing Shadow could’ve done.
“How are they?” Iris asked. She looked at the now covered-up and collected knights. Iantha was sitting on the edge; her abdomen looked raw. She looked around and didn’t see Jasper.
“What happened to Jasper?”
“My familiar took both Jasper and Jeremiah to the city with healers who are trying to keep them alive,” Ilona replied, “It was a blunder.”
Iris did not comment; she did not know enough about the operation to know how likely this outcome was. “We should return.”
This incident would be hidden from the world. By Lancaster for the stability of her realm and by Laurent, for she had no incentive to announce her drug factory.
The death count went up to 143 knights, which included 9 level 4 knights.