Fire burned in the dark pupils of my eyes in stark contrast to the chilling air that swirled around me. There in the center of my fist the vampire woman still struggled in vain against the overwhelming strength of my hand. She and whoever was directing her had already caused enough trouble in the world and threatened to cause widespread disaster with their undead armies. It was obvious Neske wasn't going to give up her collaborators willingly and thus I was forced to use my powers to invade her privacy.
After taking a deep breath and exhaling it as a deep sigh I closed my eyes. Once sufficiently calmed I focused my attention onto the tiny woman in the palm of my hand. With my power it was simple enough to force myself into her mind and read her thoughts. Like everyone else that I used this on before she was completely unaware of what I was doing, her anger still burning as she tried desperately to free herself. Thus I was able to glean the thoughts and memories closest to the surface of her mind.
It was difficult to see her mind clearly due to her searing hatred clouding her thoughts as in flames and smoke. However it was clear that the one she called master was the very Barthenor of ancient times: The Demon Mage of Henjuk. Her love and loyalty for him was fanatical and I didn't look any deeper into him, instead searching for where he might live. It was something she was thinking about herself and so was easily found. She really didn't want me to know that he lived in a castle in the southern end of the Henjuk Mountains.
A smirk came to my face as I came to realize my destination, the memories of my captive showing me the way to its location. Now all I'd have to do is secure her and travel there to confront this mage. Even though he was powerful he'd be no match for a goddess. He was also some kind of undead like Neske was according to her memories, likely a vampire as well. Vampires did enjoy making more of their kind so it only made sense.
With my free hand I reached to my hair and plucked a single strand free with a wince. I then opened my palm and quickly pinned the woman down with one of my fingers. My expression was one of smug satisfaction as I looked down at her.
“Looks like I'll be paying your master a visit in his castle.” I sneered. “And you'll be coming with!”
Neske howled in rage and began thrashing about as she glared up at my face with true hatred in her eyes.
“You'll never find him you piece of shit!” She screamed. “I'll never give you what you want!”
Quickly I brought my strand of hair to bear on the tiny woman and wrapped her up like a spider preparing its prey for mealtime. Due to my ultra magical nature the simple hair was enough to completely bind her in holy power. It didn't hurt her but it was clearly more effective than any magical rope or chain could ever hope to be. Once it was done I moved my other hand away and smiled down at her a bit more pleasantly.
“Oh but you've already told me everything I want to know!” I replied while pressing my finger to my chin. “Be a good girl and come along now.”
In but a single moment I shrunk myself down into my human size, my body reducing into place high up in the air. As this happened I simultaneously ignited the jets of flame on both my feet and right hand, leaving my left hand free to grasp at my own hair wrapped around Neske's wrists like handcuffs. With prisoner in hand I then blasted off into the sky and towards me destination.
At this point the vampiress was strangely silent, my flight trajectory clearly displaying to her that I did in fact know where I was going. Either she saw no point in trying to dissuade me due to a feeling of defeat or she had realized that the wind rushing past our heads would make it difficult for us to hear each other. She wouldn't have any idea just how good my hearing was a goddess and that I'd be able to hear her just fine.
This castle in the mountains was only over a dozen or so miles away from where we currently were and thus flying there at jet speeds took less than five minutes. Soon the view from the sky revealed that down there among the rocky wastes of mountain stone there was indeed an imposing castle nestled between stony cliffs. So down I swooped with my captive still dragged along behind me, my confrontation with the ancient mage awaiting.
The castle itself was quite towering and imposing, its stone spires reaching at least two-hundred feet into the air. This made it about as tall as I am in goddess form and quite the impressive feat of engineering. There were many walkways between these towers and two courtyards enclosed in strong stone walls. All around the battlements were various undead minions swarming like a nest of ants and out in front of the structure were more besides among the ruins of some kind of hamlet.
Much in tune with my expectations there was only one soul inside the entire castle. This would be the mage himself and it was located inside one of the ballrooms of the castle. None of the other undead would pose the slightest threat due to their lack of souls and wills and so I'd completely ignore them and go straight for my target. My plan was currently just to blast through the roof and go in guns blazing. After he was subdued I'd get to any questions I had.
Strangely however my prisoner was brimming with smug energy. What did she know that I didn't? Deciding to ask her out of curiosity and not expecting an answer I turned my head back to look at her, the wind whistling past my ears as we shot from the sky like a falling train. Just as I was opening my mouth to speak however I got my answer in sudden and surprising fashion.
The following events reminded me of seeing a bug splat onto the windshield of a moving car. It appeared there was some kind of protective magical barrier around the castle and I found out first hand by smashing face first into it. My impact was instant and painful as my entire body crumpled into the invisible barrier, my captive swinging past me and then around in a circle as she passed through it unharmed.
Now stopped with my body smashed into the barrier I let out a low cry of pain.
“Oooooww...”
Within a couple seconds Neske was dangling below me as I began sliding down the side of this bubble shaped shield. Thankfully my goddess nature was allowing me to recover quickly from this impact and I hadn't had any broken bones. Internally I was hating myself for not seeing something so simple coming. Of course they would have a protective barrier!
There was only one way though such things if pop culture had taught me anything. Smashing your way through! Quickly I recovered from my slide and righted myself, then I grew to full size and planted my feet on the rocky ground with the impact of a meteor. My presence was obvious to everyone now but it was unavoidable.
I stuck Neske in my pocket for safekeeping and lifted both my hands up into the air above my head in clenched fists. Then I brought them down in a double overhead crushing blow, a cry of exertion escaping from my lips.
“Haaaaarrrh!”
My fists impacted the barrier with a thundering boom, the magic shimmering into existence from the pure power of the blow. Because of my nature the attacks I dished out were probably considered magical in their own right, thus combined with the sheer might of my attack instantly caused cracks to form in the shield.
Like a growing spiderweb the cracks spread out across the entire barrier and as my hands continued pressing downwards the magic gave way. There was a sound not unlike shattering glass as the magical barrier burst apart and fell down to earth like flickering snowflakes. Within seconds the entire thing had dissipated.
With my presence already given up I moved into action as quickly as possible. The element of surprise was invaluable and without it this would surely get trickier. Luckily for me I had a hostage. I pulled Neske out of my pocket between my fingers and wondered if her master would actually care about her. There wasn't much time to think however and I changed back into human form and shot off towards the castle with my jets.
Inside the castle I could already see the soul was on the move. There was something not quite right about it the closer I got but there was no time for speculation. Within seconds my child body had reached the wall of the large ballroom and had impacted with the thick stone that made up its walls. My left fist had been extended however and allowed me to pass through the otherwise solid wall like a wrecking ball. Stone was sent everywhere in a shower of rubble as I blasted through and into the castle.
Using my superior goddess reflexes I was able to spin myself around in the air and use my jets to reverse my momentum and allowing a smooth landing on the floor of the ballroom. I landed directly in front of my fleeing target and made sure that Neske wasn't smashed to pieces with the momentum she shared with me. Both of us were unharmed despite coming to a halt on our knees.
I stood to my feet with my right hand still grasped around the hair shackles that bound my prisoner. The vampire remained on her knees however and I wasn't sure if it was out of fear of me or respect for her master. Ignoring her for the moment I lifted my face to gaze upon this legendary mage who now stood above me only feet away.
Barthenor was almost six feet tall and thus was quite the imposing man in stature. He was covered in bright white robes that draped about him and dragged slightly on the floor. The inside of the robes were covered in pockets, each filled with some manner of mystical item surely. Resting upon his shoulders were huge pauldrons of gleaming gold, each side dominated by a huge magic infused sphere of pure obsidian. Then up upon his head was a large round crown made of gold with another large obsidian orb placed inside it, all manner of strange runes etched around it. Everything about him was aglow with magic from the amulet around his neck to the many rings on his fingers. This guy was no pushover.
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This was when I realized something extremely disturbing, my shock coming like a slap across the face. The reason his soul looked so strange from a distance was because it was wholly contained inside the massive orb in his crown! My eyes went wide and my heart skipped a beat as my gaze darted down his body again. He was thin! So thin! Then I looked directly at his face for the first time and saw nothing but an exposed skull, the empty eye sockets all aglow with menacing yellow lights.
I took a step back in pure shock as my mouth hung open and I struggled to find words. After a couple seconds however my choking stutters formed into words.
“A lich!” I cried out in my surprise.
This changed everything! If Barthenor was a lich not only would it explain the reason undead were rising everywhere it would also explain his existence so long after his supposed disappearance. More importantly it meant that he had vast stores of knowledge that went back centuries at minimum and possibly even to the age of goddesses! Plus there was Miya! He has some manner of control over life and death and could likely even bring the dead back! This wasn't a mission to eliminate the threat anymore. No I'd have to catch him somehow and drill him for answers.
The undead creature opened its skinless mouth and words came out with the aid of magic. His voice was low and hallow as if in reflection of his abhorrent condition.
“So.” He said in eerie calm. “You've come young goddess.”
I was still frozen in place due to my mind processing all my thoughts, this habit locking up I had turning out to be quite the detriment in the current situation. Thus before I could properly react with an answer my opponent leapt back and lifted his hands in front of himself.
A blazing orb of flame appeared in front of Barthenor and shot out towards me like a bullet. It was a fireball! An extremely powerful spell to be sure, but what of his own servant Neske? She was kneeling right there behind me and would be caught in the blast! I suppose it made sense for a lich to care so little about his minions.
The underlying devotion to mercy and justice within me rose to the surface as Sub-chan urged me in what to do. It wasn't even something to be thought about and my body moved on its own accord through reflex. With a huge swing of my right arm I tossed Neske away like a rag doll, her still bound body bouncing along the ballroom floor and getting her out of harms way. At the same time I lifted my left arm in front of my face as the attack reached me.
Blazing flames engulfed my entire body as the fireball impacted my arm, my vision going red as the very air itself ignited. Much to my surprise and horror this fire actually hurt me. It burned! It hurt! Sure it wasn't any more painful than putting your hand on a hot stove, but the fact it hurt me at all meant this lich was on a whole other level than the mages I was used to dealing with.
Within only a couple seconds the explosion of fire had passed with only slight wisps of smoke trailing off my body proving it had even been there at all. I lowered my left arm from in front of my face and my eyes lit up with a glow of power. My face was twisted into an angry frown as I glared at the skeletal mage before me.
“That hurt!” I shouted.
Barthenor looked at me and his bare skull betrayed no emotions. It was clear from the lack of visible panic in his other body language however that this was an expected outcome. Obviously even a mage as powerful as him couldn't really hope to kill a goddess, especially not with a single fireball. He dropped his hands to his sides and jumped backwards. The cloak whipped around his bony frame as he took flight and flew off across the ballroom like a specter.
At this point I was well and truly pissed. Clearly he had cast fly on himself and was trying to escape. I wouldn't make it that easy and while I struggled to contain my rising fury I decided to give him back what he gave me.
“Get back here asshole!” I shouted after him.
I crouched down and flexed my powerful legs. Then I leapt into the air myself and shot off after him like a bullet, my body screaming through the air too fast for the human eye to follow. To him I suddenly appeared in front of him in the air with my left hand pressed into his chest. A smug smile came to my lips as I looked him in the eye sockets.
“Fireball.” I said calmly.
The air was filled with a sudden explosion as my own fireball went off, both me and my opponent being engulfed in the flames. I was protected of course and felt through the blinding fire as Barthenor was sent flying away from me by the force. I followed as well due to my momentum and within a split second the two of us were outside the fireball still expanding in the air behind us.
It was incredibly shocking for me when I saw one him completely unharmed and still in control of his flight. Then I noticed one of the rings on his left hand glowing brightly and it all made sense. Of course a lich would have protections on his magical items! This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.
As we both still flew through the air Barthenor turned himself so he faced forward, another one of his rings activating with a glow. The air was filled with the smell of plasma as a wicked looking lightning bolt shot out from the ring and towards me. However due to me being fully aware of it I simply lifted my left hand and summoned my own lightning bolt, aiming it at the incoming one. The two arcs of electricity collided and were sent ricocheting into the stone to leave scorch marks.
Now I was getting pissed and decided to bring out the big guns. If he was so loaded up on protections this would require overwhelming firepower. Still soaring through the air after him I summoned two of my books, the blue ribbons fluttering wildly in the wind as the two books flew alongside either side of my waist.
At inhuman speeds the two of us darted through doors and around corners, the hallways of the castle serving as our battleground as we began exchanging more attacks. All manner of elemental spells were thrown at me by my target but each one was dodged or deflected. For my own part the offensive I threw back at him was avoided or protected from. It was only a matter of time however as I ramped up my own magic's power to find his breaking point. My goal was to stop him not kill him, thus requiring this rising approach.
This castle was its own obstacle however as all manner of wards and glyphs adorned the stone. Not surprising considering the owner. Every time we entered a new room another blast of magic assaulted me from some exploding magic circle on the walls, floors, or ceiling. While they didn't do any damage it was hugely irritating and combined with Barthenor's own attacks it was a constant barrage. I couldn't avoid them all and was at times sent bouncing into the walls as the impacts knocked me out of my flight path. Like a swarm of buzzing flies the spells harried me.
All the flashing lights and rare stings of pain were absolutely wrecking my mental focus and I felt Sub-chan's burning rage rising with each annoying setback. It was taking a great deal of mental fortitude to hold back my growing anger in itself, much less everything else going on. Then there was the attention I had to give to my flight as we sped around the castle's interior like dog fighting jets. There were even undead minions we blasted through and I had to dodge like racetrack obstacles.
As we sped through another small room, one that appeared to be some kind of guard outpost, the doors themselves seemed magicked and slammed shut behind my fleeing target. I closed my eyes and lifted my arms in front of my face as I broke through them, the splinters of wood scattering everywhere as I flew on. I was beyond over this chase and both my books floated up beside me, their covers opening up as I prepared for one final attack.
“Enough!” I shouted.
Barthenor turned around at the sound of my infuriated voice. He was just in time to see my books both light up as huge glowing orbs of pure light grew between the pages. If he could show surprise he likely would have. With little other option he lifted both his hands in front of him and summoned a shield of some kind, its glowing blue light sparkling in the air as he braced for impact.
My attack released with a brilliant flash, the twin beams of light shooting straight at the lich and blasting into the summoned shield. His ward was no match for my goddess power however as I had put some actual effort into this attack. The blue light was blasted away and the beams hit him straight in the body. With a howl of pain he was shot even faster forward and through the very wall of the castle itself.
Without slowing down I followed after him, flying through the new hole in the wall and outside into a large open area behind the castle. This would have been a garden in the past but now it was just another stone yard devoid of life. I grimaced as I noticed one of Barthenor's rings shatter, it apparently taking my attack in his place. Did his bag of tricks ever run out?
Barthenor had taken some amount of damage it seemed as his frail looking body fell from the air and tumbled along the stone ground and came to a halt on the other side of a large stone circle. This area would surely be one of the places where dancing and other party activities would take place but now served as a place for the lord of the castle to meet his defeat.
I used my jets to slow myself down and hover over the center of the large circular area, both my books floating up beside me as I kept myself in the air using the flames. As I looked at the clearly wounded lich huddled on the ground before me I smiled with satisfaction, though the annoyance of this chase had stolen most of my feeling of accomplishment.
“No where else to run.” I said matter of factually. Then tauntingly I asked. “No more tricks up your sleeves?”
Barthenor pushed himself up into a sitting position, his bony body still curled up. He kept his head hung long to avoid eye contact with me. His voice was still haunting but there was a clear tone of bitterness mixed into it. He knew he was beat and he didn't like it.
“Damnable goddess.” He mumbled. “If only you had been a bit younger.”
I let out an actual genuine laugh as I lowered myself down to the ground for a landing.
“Hahaha! Good to know you know your place lich! Now if you'd-”
My sentence was abruptly cut off as my feet hit the cold stone ground. While I had been talking Barthenor had pulled a thin black wand out of his robes and pointed it at me while mumbling something under his breath.
Suddenly a massive magic circle appeared on the ground all around the edge of the stone patio. Then within only a couple seconds the entire area was filled with repeating smaller magic circles, each with its lines and symbols in a different color. They formed an entire rainbow of dazzling light and some even lifted up into the air like menacing rainbows overhead.
I took a step backwards in shock.
“What the?”
There was no time for speculation as my own bewilderment hampered my speed and by the time I was collected enough to move it was too late. Huge glowing chains of crimson and yellow burst forth from the circles coming in at me from all angles. They were clearly sized for a full sized goddess and thus were huge compared to my human form, each as wide a mattress as they swirled around me. The ground itself seemed magnetic and my feet were stuck by some unseen force.
I let out a yelp of surprise as the chains closed in around me and bound me up tight, the ribbons of my books tangled hopelessly in the links at my mobility was robbed from me. Then came the burning pain all over my body as the chains began draining my very mana from my body. This was clearly a trap designed specifically for a goddess and I had walked right into it like a fool. It seemed it wasn't powerful enough to kill me though and while attempting to collect my wits I watched through the twisting chains as my opponent stood up from the ground.