"Didn't understand?" asked Vallynor, puzzled, looking at Caesar, expecting an explanation.
"For the next 6 hours, you'll be fighting the fallen. Fernando, Ashley, and Riku will take turns watching over you for two hours each, teaching you how to fight. At the same time, you need to get used to battles. Go and change into light armor; it's already by your bed. Go now," explained Caesar.
Deep in thought, Vallynor headed to his room, where a new set of armor lay on the bed. The armor was made of black leather. Touching it, I felt a faint flow of magic running through the entire armor. After looking at it for a while, I began to change and then returned to Caesar.
He nodded at me and placed his hand on my shoulder. After that, we both disappeared from the room, leaving it empty.
***
A moment of darkness, and before my eyes, a vast army of black creatures appeared, like hungry beasts pouncing on warriors. They screamed and laughed, engaging in battle. Along the walls, men and women sat, chanting various spells. Each of these spells was a thousand times more terrifying than any I had ever created.
Fernando approached me with a violin, dried blood on his cheek. Together with his smile, it looked somewhat eerie. The smile sent shivers down my spine.
"Let's go; today, I'll teach you how to attack mages and support your comrades," said Fernando, taking me by the hand. He led me to the edge of the wall and began enthusiastically explaining how to attack using a musical instrument.
My first instrument was a flute. Following Fernando's instructions, I began to play the instrument, tapping into its magic. Before me, small needles appeared, flying towards the army of the fallen.
Although I couldn't aim precisely and make attacks strong enough, a few of them hit the fallen, and two were even killed. From the slain fallen emerged a black soul that flew straight into the city and entered a massive sphere surrounded by several mages.
"Good, good. Now, repeat after me," said Fernando.
Listening to all of Fernando's instructions, I began to put them into practice and turned to him for help when needed.
***
The little eye flew back and forth, carrying out Baba Yaga's task and pursuing one of her husbands who was running away from her. She would have gladly left him alone, but she needed one thing from him.
She gazed at the old man, dressed in tattered underwear. He tried to escape or cast a spell, but nothing worked, and he looked in horror at the hovering eye before him.
"I came by the order of my former mistress, Baba Yaga. She ordered you to give up what is dearest to you," said the little eye.
"What? Does she want my last treasure? But why?" Fear disappeared from the man's eyes, and he stood up, angrily glaring at the floating eye.
"She's dead," the little eye replied.
"Then why does she need my things? The dead can't use them. So why do you need them?" the man asked, skeptically looking at the little eye. He pondered what to do. It was his last precious possession, hidden from everyone. This needle made him immortal in other worlds, but few knew that its piercing into the soul could amplify it and impart some humanity. It was something even the gods desired to improve themselves and expand their talents.
"She asked me to tell you that she always remembered her blood," the little eye said.
"This?... LIES! Both she and you are lying. After my blood, my daughter disappeared during the war. She... she did nothing. HEY, IT WAS ALL THE SAME! How can she say she remembers her daughter? Our child vanished during the war. And she did nothing, she..."
"She knows what happened to the young mistress," the little eye interrupted.
"Knows? But how?... No, it's deception? No, definitely a lie!" The old man couldn't believe the words of the floating eye. But inside, hope was budding, hoping that it might be true after all.
"The young mistress is in an outer world. During the war, she was captured by the enemy, making her former mistress unable to find her. But recently, she managed to locate her through divination on her own bones and a curse on blood and soul. But even so, she wouldn't have known the truth if Vallynor, the current master, hadn't come through his threads of fate. Baba Yaga learned that the young mistress managed to escape the visitor and is now living in one of the worlds," the little eye explained.
The old man, learning that his daughter was alive and managed to escape the enemy, felt a partial relief from the millennia-old stone of guilt that had pressed on him, though not completely. Throughout this time, he had spent everything he had just to find a trace of his daughter, and it turned out that she wasn't even in this accursed world.
Happiness filled him, realizing that his daughter was well. And the long-standing resentment against his ex-wife disappeared. But still, he blamed her for silence, and guilt enveloped him. All this time, he cursed and avoided her, and now it was too late to fix anything. She was no more.
"Why does my immortality needle matter to this boy?" Recovering after some time, the old man rose and asked the little eye.
"Vallynor's soul is full of wounds, and he has lost part of his humanity. Fortunately, it hasn't affected his ability to learn much, but in talent, it's a different story. Maybe he won't notice, but his spell is weaker by several times than it should be. Many keep silent about it to avoid demoralizing him," explained the little eye.
"Why do I need to help him?"
"Because he will meet the young mistress one day."
A cane appeared out of nowhere. Taking the cane, the old man struck it on the ground, after which the holey underwear, which was his only clothing, quickly changed and elongated to become an unusual garment made of black fabric. The skin began to wrinkle and adhere to the bones, as if all the flesh had been sucked out, leaving only bones and skin. And perhaps a little, but some flesh remained. After his transformation, he looked at the little eye and said:
"For her, I will do anything, even give my life," after which he struck the ground with his staff, and the earth began to wildly stir under their feet. After a few seconds, the earth swallowed both of them, and the ground returned to its place.
***
"So, a bit higher. There you go... excellent... Oh, that's enough for today. It was a pleasure watching you play, and those unusual tunes got me thinking. Even your off-key notes made me laugh," Fernando bid farewell to Vallynor with a smile. After that, he vanished and reappeared on another part of the battlefield.
Approaching Vallynor with a smile, Caesar said, "Now you'll go to the battlefield with Ashley. There, you'll practice a bit in combat, using magic. And I'll be on the wall observing and creating an illusion to prevent Vinson from trying to catch her."
"Vinson? Who's that?" Vallynor asked, hearing the name for the first time.
"That's the Black Tooth's name. His full name is Vinson Galstone. He's a former sailor and adventurer. Now, just a soul with a heavy burden that broke him."
"Hello, Vallynor, Caesar," Ashley appeared next to them, wearing lightweight armor. Seeing Vallynor, she joyfully approached him.
"Alright, head to the battlefield," Caesar raised his hand, teleporting both of them onto the battlefield. Then he began casting spells, thinking about how Gabriel would angrily shout at him and fry anyone who looked lustfully at Ashley.
Waking up on the battlefield, I carefully looked around and immediately summoned my sword. Severing one fallen creature, its soul exited the body and turned into mist, disappearing into the distance. At that moment, Ashley approached us, having hidden after the teleportation until Caesar created the illusion to prevent Black Tooth from noticing her. However, even after the illusion was created, he still approached Vallynor.
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"Let's start with something easy. Create a few fireballs and throw them at the enemies," Ashley said, giving instructions to Vallynor.
"Alright," I replied, creating fire and instantly hurling it at the enemies. Then I heard Ashley's voice commanding me to speed up.
***
On a distant mountain stood a man in a black suit, holding binoculars. He observed the battlefield and noticed Vallynor. His face lit up with a faint smile, and he lazily raised his left hand, snapping his fingers.
"At last, you've appeared. Show me what you're capable of," he said.
***
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Start song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X7WME84NZo
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"Create your undead and try to control them remotely while I..." - Ashley was giving instructions to Vallynor when suddenly a powerful earthquake shook the entire area. Huge creatures, fallen warriors, emerged from cracks formed in the ground. Following them, a roar echoed from the crack, and before us appeared a massive black giant, approximately 15-18 meters tall.
The giant began attacking everything in its path, its head constantly moving as if searching for something. At some point, it stopped and looked fiercely at Vallynor. Then it roared again and swung its massive hand towards me and Ashley.
"We need to run!" Ashley exclaimed fearfully, realizing that someone had blocked teleportation magic. She grabbed my hand and ran, using magic to drag me along. I was too stunned to resist.
At the city walls, Caesar opened his eyes, shock reflected on his face. Everything was not going as he predicted. Someone interfered and disrupted or concealed this part of events. Several beings could have done this, but now was not the time for speculation. He quickly began creating teleportation magic but failed, realizing someone had blocked the movement. Caesar gave orders to help Vallynor while he attempted to attack the giant himself.
Using magic that enhanced her speed and strength, Ashley managed to evade the giant's attacks along with me, and I regained my abilities. I turned and gratefully looked at my savior.
"Thanks for saving me. But even if we get killed, we won't die..." I didn't finish my thought as Ashley struck me.
"Never think about such things unless you want to become fallen quickly," she said, lifting her head and looking at the giant. It raised its hand and turned, not seeing us, then roared malevolently. Afterward, it looked at its prey, which was nearby. - "We must survive until help arrives. We have to distract its attention... Run."
I didn't know how, but I was lifted and carried as if a princess. But now was not the time for complaints. I thought we needed to create undead and direct them towards the giant. Luckily, there was a sea of corpses nearby.
Ashley dodged every attack from fallen creatures trying to assault her and the giant's strikes, which were aimed at me. I summoned undead and commanded them to attack the giant, but it didn't bring much success. The giant needed only a few stomps on the ground for the fallen and undead to turn into a bloody mess.
Seeing that the undead didn't provide a significant advantage, I decided to use a curse. I gathered the necessary ingredients and caught a small fallen creature using the undead. I began crafting a curse of weakness, blindness, and withering, knowing that the small creature would be its target. Meanwhile, the giant furiously attempted to destroy me.
The fallen giant lunged at Vallynor and Ashley. Each of its strikes destroyed the ground, forming cracks that headed straight towards the city. Caesar was forced to stop and defend the barrier.
The giant raised its head and roared, clenching both fists, then furiously began smashing everything around, lifting tons of soil and sand. Then it plunged its arm into the ground and forcefully pulled out a massive mace.
"Ashley, why do I feel like we're not moving away but getting closer to the giant?" Vallynor, finishing his cursed spells, noticed that they were slowly but surely approaching the giant.
"We are its target, and we cannot allow this giant to get close to the city. Keep casting and cursing these fallen," Ashley said, continuing to jump and accelerate to avoid each of the giant's attacks and the other fallen.
"Fire," Ashley uttered, and hundreds of spells flew directly at the giant.
Black Tooth watched from the side, then turned his head towards the man in the suit, awaiting the next command. The man looked at him, the filthy man, weakly smiled, and said:
"You can take the souls and go. I don't need you anymore..." Afterward, he said to himself. - "For now." He watched as Black Tooth happily took a soul-filled ball that appeared out of nowhere and ran with his ships.
The roar of the giant echoed as it lowered the mace straight to the ground, causing cracks from which light emerged, intensifying and exploding, lifting Ashley and Vallynor into the air. The giant saw Vallynor flying, raised the mace to strike, but lost the ability to see. The mace fell next to Vallynor, but the blow hit Ashley, eliciting a cry of pain.
Vallynor quickly got up and approached Ashley, who was trying to rise, but one leg had turned into mush. Vallynor surveyed the giant, which was turning its head back and forth, then closed his eyes and calmed down.
Quickly devising a plan, I created undead and commanded them to protect me and Ashley. While the undead surrounded us, I began cursing myself to increase strength and speed since I didn't know a spell that would help enhance theirs. I needed to become stronger.
A chill ran down his spine, and lifting my head, I saw the giant with closed eyes turning its head towards me.
It raised its mace to strike, but where to run? I was about to give up, but Ashley's cry, "Don't give up!" made me grab Ashley and run under the giant's feet. Ashley finally managed to regain her composure as the pain subsided. She cast a spell on herself to block the pain. Pain hadn't caused her suffering for a long time, and she became more sensitive.
Raising her head and seeing Vallynor's determined face trying to save both of them, she sighed and composed herself, starting to cast various spells on him.
Feeling lighter, stronger, and faster, as well as more sensitive, I accidentally glanced at Ashley, who was sadly smiling, and then looked at the approaching mace.
Ashley saw Vallynor not stopping cursing both himself and the giant, as well as creating undead. She felt that he wouldn't be able to continue this for long, and the attacks aimed at the giant didn't bother him much. No matter how many spells flew at him, they seemed to weaken upon impact. She was about to close her eyes when she noticed a huge dust cloud rapidly approaching the giant.
A few meters above the ground was the mace. I nodded, giving Ashley a few more seconds. And here, a dome made of light appeared in front of Vallynor, managing to block the giant's blow. Sensing that it couldn't hit, the giant roared and turned to the new prey approaching from the dust cloud. A massive black serpent, Heishe, emerged from the dust cloud, opening its mouth, it bit the giant.
"Heishe?" Vallynor asked in surprise, trying to understand if this huge snake was the same Heishe he had met when he and Alexander arrived in the city.
"Heishe?... Is this Heishe? Where are its beautiful feathers? It has changed so much," Ashley didn't immediately realize that the snake before them was Heishe.
Heishe attacked the giant and bit its arm. The giant screamed and grabbed Heishe's head with its other hand. It quickly lowered the club, and Heishe began hitting its arm with its tail. When the giant freed its arm, it attempted to grab Heishe's body.
Numerous different spells flew towards the giant, each several times stronger than the previous ones. The first warriors who managed to break through the army of fallen appeared. But something mystical, like an invisible hand, pulled them back, and the ground beneath them exploded.
Vallynor conveniently took Ashley in his arms and quickly approached the giant. Observing how it tried to grab Heishe, but the spells helped the snake survive. The curse of his weakness was gradually gaining strength. The visible curse, intended to drain the life force of the target, quickly aged and turned it into a corpse, and then into ashes.
Heishe, attacking the giant, tried to entangle it in its coils. Whenever possible, it wrapped itself around the giant, aiming to destroy it, not just to stop it. Every flying spell made the giant slow down for a moment.
"How can he attack if he can't see anymore?" Ashley confirmed that the blindness curse was effective, and the giant attacked with closed eyes.
"When someone becomes fallen, they gain a new sense that helps them detect pure souls. Even if the fallen loses all senses, they will still know where their prey is," Ashley quickly answered.
Vallynor sighed and continued to create undead. Inside him, he felt his own energy depleting. He tried once again to draw strength from the Necronomicon. The resurrected undead attacked the fallen, but at the same time, they sought to approach the giant.
"What do we do when we find ourselves under the giant's feet?" Vallynor asked, pondering what he should do if he ends up under the giant's feet, besides preventing it from getting closer to the city.
"When we find ourselves under its feet, I will cast a spell that will freeze time and trap the giant in a temporal loop. We will remain frozen for some time, but fortunately, we have Caesar and Father who can unlock the spell," Ashley explained.
"Alright," nodded Vallynor.
The giant, sensing Vallynor, began to ignore Heishe and attacked, holding the mace in its hands. It raised the mace high to allow Heishe to fully entwine it. As a result, the giant roared and fell to the ground.
Heishe, like an anaconda, tried to squeeze it. The giant kept roaring and trying to break free, but it couldn't do anything.
***
Watching as the giant approached its demise, the man in the suit snapped his fingers and said:
"Too soon. He hasn't shown all he's capable of yet... This poor giant needs a little help, doesn't it?... Caesar!"
***
"Cursed!," Caesar tried to break the barrier hindering teleportation magic. In the process, he found the source, thus confirming its guilt. However, his attempt to destroy this obstacle failed.
Warriors on the battlefield tried to approach and help Vallynor, but something prevented them from getting closer. They seemed to be circling in one place. However, some managed to reach the giant only to be annihilated. To prevent such incidents from recurring, Caesar created soul traps, capturing all the heroes who were supposed to explode, and pulled them towards the city. Then Caesar began to cast spells, and the others repeated his incantation.