Chapter 90: At the Dawn 5
Elania panted, her chest heaving as she hovered in the air, watching the last Monevoian ship of the squadron crash and burn.
Flames licked at the wooden hull, consuming it like a ravenous beast.
A dozen Contian airships were crashing as well, their crews abandoning ship and filling the sky with parachuting men and women seeking escape.
She turned, spotting the Heart through the chaos.
It was smoking, the once pristine balloons marred by scorch marks, though it still flew along with the rest of the fleet. It moved away from the battle, lowering its altitude.
They would circle around in a wide arc to allow for damage control and repairs so they could come in at an even elevation. The sunward dive had turned out to be a costly mistake.
Elania folded her wings and dove toward the city, the wind whipping her hair back.
She had spent too much time helping the airship squadron. Now, the enemy armada was fully engaged with the city.
A constant stream of arcane cannon fire—fire, ice, lightning, and every other color of magic Elania could think of—painted great swaths of clouds on the city’s various defensive barriers. Contia was firing back just as fiercely.
One of the Monevoian barges crashed into a city district, and Elania realized they had done it on purpose to land soldiers.
Black dots began to swarm out of the wrecked ship like ants from a kicked nest. Flashes of gold filled the air as the smaller flyers passed through the arcane barriers without hindrance, landing across the city.
In the distance, she spotted a blue and gray figure locked in aerial combat—a battle between two demi-divines.
Elania bit her lip as she continued her dive. Should she help Lyra against that enemy demi-divine? Or should she address the landing barge and the soldiers pouring out of it? Maybe she should target the gold-armored figures scattered throughout the city?
Another barge came into view, angling for a crash landing like the first.
Elania adjusted her trajectory, aiming straight for it. She would stop as many of these troop deployments as she could.
Elania picked up speed as she dove. She forced her [Demonic Aura] to expand until it was a sizable bubble around her and pulsed [Power] into her wings to increase her velocity.
The scenes of the battle faded as the air around her shimmered with heat before a shockwave cone appeared. She cleaved the distance between her and the bow of the invading barge into non-existence.
Just before impact, Elania expanded her [Demonic Aura] and smashed into the airship’s deck. Instead of shooting straight through like a bullet, the increased surface area of her aura caused her to apply more force.
Enough to change the vessel’s trajectory.
The ship screeched, lurching like a noodle as riveted and welded plates broke at their seams. The entire section around her exploded, allowing Elania to see the ship hurtling toward the rocky bottom of the island it had once aimed for.
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She shot back up into the air as the invading airship slammed into Contia’s underside, flattening the barge to its middle before it bounced off to crash to the ground in a burning wreck.
Metal and men spewed into the air, resembling a broken piñata.
Elania steeled herself and flew back up to the city, looking for another target.
She landed in front of one of the Golds on a rooftop. He had a massive sword that reminded her of the blue blades the Lightbringer paladins used.
There was no hesitation when he saw her; his rush was wildly fast for his size and bulk.
Elania braced herself as his raised golden sword glinted in the sunlight.
As he reached her and swung the weapon, she dropped a golden orb bomb that blasted the sword away.
Grabbing his upper arm, her fingers screeched as they dug into the metal of his armor and it gave way to her grasp.
With a powerful yank, she ripped his arm out of its socket, the metal tearing and stretching before shattering.
She hit him with the severed arm hard enough to send him flying off the island.
She let out a tight breath.
He was probably about as strong as a paladin, but that was essentially nothing to her now—about the same as dealing with an arcane creature at worst. The bigger issue was how many and how spread out they were.
Elania looked below and spotted two Golds moving through the city streets. Militia with muskets engaged them but were being smashed to pieces—literally. A third Gold was caught in a deadlock with a Silver.
Elania jumped off the roof of the building, generating two light spears, one in each hand.
She rushed at the backs of the two Golds. They sensed her just as she arrived, turning around in time for Elania to plant her light spears in their faces simultaneously.
The energy exploded, ripping their helmets and heads off. Blood sprayed, covering the injured and retreating Contian militiamen.
The Silver gained the advantage on the Gold as Elania approached.
With a swift strike, the Silver took off the Gold’s head with his own sword, although his armor was bent and caved in where he had taken multiple blows.
The Silver turned to Elania. “My lady—”
He was cut off as a black-feathered demi-divine landed behind him, bisecting him from head to groin.
Elania took up a guarded stance as the Silver’s body slid apart, revealing the enemy demi-divine.
“Didn’t I kill one of you before?” she asked.
The demi-divine hissed angrily and charged at her.
Elania threw a light spear, but he swung his fist. A black-purple energy lashed out, swatting her attack away.
She jumped backwards and into the air, and he followed her.
She switched to her Regalia, loading a brace of regular bullets. The demi-divine closed the distance, swinging a black energy whip at her. She blocked with a wing, then fired at him. He slid out of the way with super speed, and the bullet exploded a building behind him.
“Damn it,” Elania cursed, dancing out of his next attack of black needles spraying wildly into the air after her.
She switched to her [Regalia] bracer and darted in, the dagger Yolani gave her sliding into her hand from her belt.
He swung at her with black energy claws, but she blocked his swing with her forearm and punched him.
His face expanded into a massive set of jaws formed from black energy and chomped down on her shoulder.
Elania screeched in pain as their wings battered at each other. She dropped her weapon, grabbed his arms, and grappled him tightly.
She could feel him trying to drain her energy through his bite. It was a painful tug of war, and his teeth had given him a purchase just under her body’s barrier, giving him access to her essence.
A brief second of panic surged through her until she realized just how little he was hurting her, despite the pain.
He was so small.
Elania focused on her [Demonic Aura] and tightly folded the space around them while linking her hands and squeezing.
She felt his body squirm, then crack.
His bite went weak, then limp, and he started to scream.
She could feel his bones cracking.
Elania stretched her wings, then pointed them toward Contia. They picked up speed, and at the last second, she let go and slammed him into the rock, her foot caving in his chest.
Her revolver flowed into her hand, and she blew away his head.
[You have slain Demi-Divine - Carrion Crow - Lvl 234]
[You have gained 1,675 Karma.]
[You have gained a level!]
[Absorb the lingering power from Fledgling Demi-Divine - Carrion Crow - Lvl 234?]
Why not? Maybe she’d get a skill.
She didn’t, but she did gain a rank in one of hers.
[You have gained a rank in Presence Concealment!]
The Sun Emperor sure seemed to have a lot of shadowy-stealth-type followers.
Elania looked around at the battle and gained altitude to survey. How many of these things were there?
Quickly, she spotted another.
And he was headed straight for the Neftasu District.