My thought process was interrupted by a sudden lurch that ripped me right out of the opened portal. For a moment, my mind went blank as I tried to react to this sudden change. With a dulled sense of urgency, I noticed that Emeri had been pulled back with me, leaving us both sprawled across the church’s small courtyard.
I tried to bring myself to stand, tried to will my body to react, but stopped when I realised that I… didn’t care? Why? Wasn’t I supposed to escape? How come I didn’t want to-
Like a hammer hitting an anvil, my mind broke free of whatever ailment it had been inflicted with and my thoughts were returned to me. My renewed clarity came accompanied by the realisation that Emeri and I were in danger, a lot of it.
I looked over and noticed the fogginess of her eyes, no recognition being visible within their depths.
I sprung to my feet and dashed over, picking her listless body up by the hip and making for the portal as quickly as my skills and stats could take me.
Unfortunately, the origin of the mind-numbing effect decided to show herself at that very moment. Blessed singing given voice by a young woman filled the area, spreading a golden sheen wherever the sound travelled. As this sheen made contact with the portal, it closed abruptly and created a violent ripple in space that tore through the remainder of the small church, the corrupting purple cracks spreading across the stone as if they were veins before pulverising the majority of it into dust.
As the singing became louder, that low hum from earlier returned, slowing my thoughts considerably. Emeri was having a worse time of it, however. Recognition seemed to be returning to her by the second, but the two clashing energies were creating an internal war that distracted her.
I reached out with my mana sense, getting a feel for the lone newcomer, but was filled with a sense of dread as I realised that we were dealing with a tier 5. Right. The bishop.
So this was it, then. The end. I couldn’t overcome a tier 5. Not even with my new class and skill… it was simply impossible… but I would have to try.
Dalius’ men had fallen victim to the ethereal chanting as well, but the tier 4 leaders were starting to come back to their senses.
The young woman that floated in the air above the island had noticed, though. A fiendish smirk spread on her face as her song became chaotic, causing her still-ensnared victims to spasm before bursting into fountains of blood unprompted.
Emeri, too, was starting to shake. Her throes intensified as the bishop continued to escalate her song. It wouldn’t be long before Emeri, too, succumbed.
In a fit of rage, I apparated. The bishop seemed to notice my disappearance and reacted to my presence by releasing a shrill screech in my direction when I reappeared above her.
The screech passed through my body but somehow still managed to affect my mana, making it boil and destroy my insides.
[Dark embodiment] repaired me enough to use a breaking swipe, though. The bishop huffed and seemingly casually lifted a hand to block it within milliseconds. That was fine. All I needed was a distraction- my sword made contact and I felt [Unstable breaking swipe] pull more mana into itself, before creating a large explosion which threw me into the air.
The resulting blast blinded the bishop, but she seemed unfazed otherwise. I took that opportunity to retreat back to Emeri’s side and try to make another run for it, but was stopped as a new song began.
This time, the sound created a barrier that trapped us within a certain distance of the bishop.
Thankfully, Emeri had made it through the mind flaying with her life. She was starting to lift herself back up and gave me a guilty glance, as if she was responsible for what had happened to her.
By now, Dalius’ men had recovered as well and were quick to launch a counteroffensive by attempting every single one of their ranged skills. Unfortunately, they were completely ineffective at their goal as a barrier had been erected around the bishop as well.
To make matters worse, I realised only now that the larger barrier that kept us trapped was slowly shrinking, pulling the earth that it had enveloped as well.
The sanguine battlefield was slowly being ground into dust, with us still in it. All of us realised that we needed to do something-fast. Some continued attacking the bishop, but I had a different idea.
I slowly began to charge a sword laser, confident that it would be enough to create a gap, at the very least.
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Dark mana began to swarm me, flowing seamlessly into the tier 3 sword that I held in my hands. The weapon began to shiver and crack as the mana within it began to overflow, but it held on just long enough to complete the skill.
As I swung the sword at the outer barrier, the resulting wave of overloaded mana crashed into it at full force. I sustained the attack for as long as I could, grinning when the golden shield began to crack bit by bit…
I ran out of mana before I pierced through, but Emeri chose that moment to follow my attack up with one of her own. A giant golden, illusory spear mimicked her thrust, shattering the cracked barrier and allowing me to pick up Emeri and fly into the sky in an attempt to escape. To do so, I headed for the edge of the golden sheen, where a portal would open up the moment I gave the signal.
The bishop, realising that we were about to get away, abandoned her barrier and let it collapse.
Instead, she began a new song that filled the air with… silence. Pure and utter silence. The singing had stopped, the screams and shouts had ceased… I couldn’t even hear the waves crash into the rocks anymore.
Below me, Emeri mouther something at me but… I didn’t hear it. I couldn’t.
Suddenly, a small whisper broke the silence.
Why don’t you return? You could. With us, you would feel safe. No need for battle, for work, for death. You know we can give you a goal, a reason to exist and- with it- a life. All you need to do is give. In.
You know you can do that… Just return to our embrace, to your family… We offer you guidance.
I couldn’t help but think that guidance sounded… nice. I decided that it sounded nice. Looking back at Emeri, her frustration was apparent. She was screaming and shouting, though I couldn’t hear her. Why? Did she not want to return home? Unlike me, she had grown up with the holy church? Why abandon it now? Couldn’t she see how important and comforting guidance was?
I noticed that I had changed course at some point, returning back to the island. We were about to arrive when Emeri rebelled and socked me in the eye with a vicious right hook, throwing me off course and making me drop her. I crash-landed behind some rubble, leaving a groove at the point of impact.
Sound returned to me and with it, my freedom. I began to see what had happened. The bishop had taken my mind and twisted it into something different. Why had Emeri not been affected by the bishop’s chant?
I peeked over the rubble to see what was going on and saw Emeri being held suspended in the air by a golden bubble, at the bishop’s mercy.
The tier 5 classer was saying something, no doubt a monologue of some kind.
My mind ran at a thousand thoughts a minute, trying to come up with a plan to escape. I wasn’t fast enough to escape, wasn’t powerful enough to harm the tier 5. I numbly realised that I had managed to land a curse mark on the bishop with my breaking swipe, which guaranteed one even without an open wound, but it didn’t seem to be doing much. Hells, even my essence couldn’t block sound, only light.
That left me with few options, of which one seemed the riskiest but also the most effective.
I looked over again and saw that Dalius’ goons were all ensnared. They began to search the place and stood guard near Emeri, who could be taken away at any moment.
I need to act, and fast. But would I be given enough time to put my plan into action? What if they interrupted-
Suddenly, a loud bang resounded. After a quick glance, I saw that Emeri had broken out of the bubble, leaving her captor wide-eyed, shocked by her accomplishment.
Seeing this as the only chance I was going to get, I began to activate [Dark pursuer], keeping one skill in mind.
A black line was drawn in the air before me, which was then torn into a larger hole. A single arm spilled out, grasping the edge of the portal and pulling it back to widen the gaping maw. The arm was followed by the rest of the body in a few violent motions, revealing my summoned elemental in all its glory.
The dark pursuer stood there, aimlessly, before I gave it my order.
“Distract that lady there long enough for us to escape!” I shouted, simultaneously feeling my body being weakened as one of my core skills was absorbed into the armoured titan.
Upon hearing its order, the dark pursuer shot into action and sprinted at the bishop, its sword making the air around howl as the winds parted before it.
Of the bishop was wide-eyed before, she now became slack-jawed by the sudden turning of the tides. From her face, I could tell that she was disgusted by my elemental. It wasn’t just dislike… No, this was hate… Nonetheless, she seemed confident that this interloper would only be a temporary distraction and swatted at the air as if to kill a bug.
Another shrill scream, more intense than any other that I had yet seen, appeared out of nowhere and crashed into the pursuer with physical force, shredding half of its upper body instantly. The waves around the bay shook with the sound.
Then, a single second later, the pursuer’s body reformed, leaving it without a scratch. [Dark embodiment] would keep the elemental alive long enough for us to escape.
Emeri took the opportunity to duck between the dark pursuer’s legs as the bishop continued its assault with renewed rage. As she saw Emeri run, she attempted to set up another barrier but was interrupted by the pursuer, who punted her into the sky.
Dalius’ men attempted to destroy the pursuer and capture Emeri, but were ineffective at both as I, too, had entered the fray, riding on top of Revan.
I pulled Emeri up by the wrist and launched myself into the sky, leaving Revan to distract the remainder of Dalius’ men.
As we made some distance, the battle between the pursuer and the bishop raged on.
Mind skills were ineffective against it, as it lacked any free will, while it quickly recovered from any wound with [Dark embodiment]. The beast kept on fighting and repeatedly charged at the bishop each time she attempted to attack us instead, using its speed and power to lay waste to what remained of the small island.
Eventually, the landmass began to sink into the sea, pulling the pursuer into the waves with it.
Thankfully, we escaped to the edge of the golden sheen right at that moment and called for a portal, which appeared with eagerness.
Neither of us said a word as we headed through and watched it close behind us.
Dalius’ men were dead. Half of our force had been swallowed by the waves. What made it worth it for Dalius to go this far?