As the Scalemen cleared the valleys leading them to a field surrounded by tall mountains, they detected a spike in temperature. Below the darkened clouds of ash filling the air, it was awfully bright. Light from the ground reached the clouds enough to see detailed strokes of their underside. Bubbling steam rose all over the charcoaled land illuminated by magma streams flowing downward.
And in the middle of a forming lava moat was the base of the Azure Tower left unguarded.
While the Scalemen bathed in the heat that assailed them, Kihet and the not so scaley others found themselves sweating profusely upon witnessing the scenery.
“This is a very different kind of heat. It’s not as baking as Pamalyra, but it’s not pleasant to be in either.” Kihet wiped his forehead. “Carmyn, how are you okay in that suit of armor?”
“I’m not,” Taking off her helmet, the Rozzalian fanned the opening around her collar. “I thought we would be fighting right away, but it doesn’t look like it. Where are the Tower monsters? Where are the Dragonkins?”
“No clue, but let’s wait for the Scalemen to set up barracks then proceed with caution.”
Surely, they wouldn’t find themselves ambushed in such a wide battlefield. Kihet sent Aten and a few scouts ahead to do reconnaissance to prevent the possibility in case he was wrong, but it had already been an hour.
Kihet concluded there was something strange in the works. The first piece of evidence was the absence of Tower Monsters supposedly guarding the Tower of any threat was alarming. The other was no sight of Aten and the scouts even when the land in front was wide open with only the Tower in view.
The air had a familiar heaviness he recognized from Vivrus. A few more steps in and evidence of miasma began to seep into his view.
Kihet quickly put a hand in front of Carmyn and stopped themselves from taking another step forward.
“You see something?” Carmyn asked.
“We need the chieftains to rally the army to move as soon as possible. This isn’t the battlefield.”
“Are you saying we marched to the wrong place?”
“You’ll see what I mean. It’s why we haven’t heard from Aten. He’s probably in trapped.”
----------------------------------------
Red skies. Crimson blood clouds that looked to be at the verge of raining. The familiar humidity rivaled of the cave that housed the dungeon from Vrurus. The choking air constricted his breathing vanished as he was the first to step through the wall of miasma.
He found himself teleported from Stusis into a realm that resembled the city Elenora created from the Hollow. Tall foreign buildings stuck out like sore thumbs behind the massive wall.
“Where are we?” Draigh was the second to enter. “I doubt this is Stusis anymore.”
“Everything’s so red.” Lily gasped. “It hurts my eyes a bit.”
“I can hear clashing behind that wall. The Dragonkins already started.” Carmyn made a fist.
“Let them fight. That means Nyie can go around and see what treasure I can paw up!” Tama rubbed her greedy paws mischievously.
One by one, the Scalemen army emerged from the wall of miasma behind him. They shared the same response as they did while observing the city standing in front of them.
“Change of plans. I’m bringing a small group to go retrieve the scouts. I need to know if they found any new information. Ainig, Lily, Draigh, you three stay here and help the Scalemen. Carmyn and Tama, with me.”
“Shouldn’t I be going with you?” Lily protested. “I can help track down Aten’s whereabouts!”
“We can’t leave the Scalemen to fend for themselves. What’s with you?
“Erm, Kihet.” Carmyn whispered to him. “I think she doesn’t want to be away from you.”
-So that’s what it was.- He thought. Looking back, Lily had been there for him at every chance there was danger. “Look, I won’t be gone for that long. Once I retrieve Aten, we can go confront the other Oracle together.”
“But what if you ran into the other Oracle?”
“That’s why I need Carmyn and Tama. At least the Hero and the Lycanthrope over there would notice. There’s a possible chance they can defect over to our side.” Kihet ruffled Lily’s hair and turned to Draigh. “We’re set. Do it.”
“Then I guess it’s show time!” A wide grin formed on Draigh’s face. He cracked his knuckles as he stomped up to the gates.
He tucked in his arm and tackled opened the gate using only raw strength. He pounded at the two doors keeping the intruders out until they swung inward and slammed against the backside of the wall.
“If we capture the Tower, Stusis will belong to the Scalemen! Charge!”
Thunderous battle cries echoed through the gates. Altogether, the Scalemen poured through the entrance with high morale and were instantly met with resistance. Shadowed beasts waited for them on the other side and rushed them the instant the first Scalemen charged out of the billowing dust.
Kihet thought it must be due to the Acolyte’s influence the Shadows took form of monsters instead of humanoids. Many prowled on all fours while some had wings. They ranged from winged beasts to large four legged prowlers.
Before the charge, their weapons were blessed by the Oracle’s flames. As long as their weapons proved effective to defeat their foes, they would fight. Their morale was strong as they were led by those who dulled their fear of the ferociousness the Shadowed Creatures acted.
To further solidify their footing, Kihet blasted silver flames in the area to allow the Scalemen army to move further into the city. He and his group then split, fighting through the horde, and disappeared behind an alleyway.
“Kihet, we got four big ones up ahead! Want to let me take care of em?” Carmyn asked.
Kihet drew his sword -enchanted with the Oracle’s flames-, and swiftly shredded the squad before they raised an alarm. “I got them, but can you give Tama a lift? I need eyes up on the roof to see what’s going on around us.”
“Sure thing.”
Carmyn stopped in front of a wall and cupped her hands. Tama was thrown up to the roof to get a full view of where they were as opposed to the Azure tower waiting for them in the center of the city.
“Any signs of Aten or the Dragonkins?”
“Nyi’m searching. Give me a minute.” Tama pulled out her compass. “It’s spinning like crazy! Useless piece of junk! I guess we’ll have to do it the ol’ fashioned way.”
She proceeded to reveal a telescopic scope from her bag and peeked through the hole.
Flashes of fire and light danced eastward from them. That confirmed the Dragonkins were present with the other Oracle, and they were closer to the Tower than the Scalemen were. Over at the west side, she spotted scattered javelins anchored to rooftops indicating Aten’s whereabouts.
“Nyaha! Found a clue!”
“Run along the edge. We can’t see you down here.”
“Aye sir, bossman!” Tama saluted. “Purrr contract, any treasures we stumble across are mine!” Tama prowled on all fours, leaping over the rooftops with a comically large bag swinging behind her back.
She kept Kihet updated on everything in her view. While she was undetected hiding above rooftops, Kihet and Carmyn battled through swarms of Shadowed monsters in their path.
The creatures crawled out of windows and doors of buildings. When they arrived by an intersection, Tama had warned them of the ambushes.
“Tama, some of them are climbing up! Be careful!”
“Aye sir~.” Two sharp blades ignited in silver flames extended from her sleeves. “Because money’s involved, I will dutifully perform my part.”
Like an acrobat, Tama flipped and somersaulted as her katars diced her foes. At first glance, it was as if Tama wildly flailed her arms around with uncontrolled movements. In actuality, her strikes carried a certain finesse that was much more stylish than any fighting forms Kihet witnessed.
Kihet heard screeching along with some slashing and stabbing. The monsters fell from above and were quickly finished off by Carmyn.
“The Mixrel can actually hold on her own. She insisted she was always just a peddler.” Carmyn said.
“You know what people say. Knowing a little bit of this and a bit of that wouldn’t hurt. Meowst times, a stray like me would be targeted by bandits. It’s nice to deceive people to think I can’t fight.”
“SKRAAAAWWWWWWK!”
“But I can’t fight something like that! It’s way out of my pay!” Tama panicked and leaped down.
An Immortal skipped down from building to building and landed in their path. It scattered jet black feathers as it beat its wings. Its serpent neck twisted and lunged at Kihet with its jaws wide open, fangs showing when suddenly its face was met with a weapon.
“There!” Carmyn flicked the greenish blood off her axe.
“Don’t forget we still have to destroy its core for it to die!”
While headless, the Immortal leaned in with its entire weight and crushed the cobblestone floor beneath it. Fragments shot up into the air and rained down.
A replacement head quickly regrew with hardened scales covering where it was struck.
“Carmyn, it’s going for a tail whip!”
“I see it!”
It shifted its body, its tail seemingly become weightless, floating in his view for a second before it snapped at Carmyn. The impact smacked her arm off to the side as she found the Immortal’s chest inflate for a breath attack.
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A steel chain and balls suddenly coiled around the monster’s neck and restricted the flow of poison gas it could breathe.
“Go gettem, grumpy one!” Tama twirled another bola.
Kihet held stredhime petals over his mouth and took a deep breath. He seized the opportunity with [Single Flash] to decapitate it from the bottom of the neck. He then carved into its stomach and thrust his entire arm in, groping for the eye. Once he felt something warm and wet, he crushed the eye with the Immortal’s core barehanded. As it was left off to the side to disintegrate slowly, Kihet found it ironic to be still calling the creature immortals -which they were not-.
“There’s another one!”
“Pass me a light!”
Kihet swapped to his firelance. Modified with a spike in a way it doesn’t interfere projectiles from coming out, he thrust at the Immortal whose talons reached for him. He twisted and turned. The agile and nimble footwork of [Crescent Moon Dance] closed the gap while he skillfully avoided being pinned.
Once he reached the belly of the beast, he jammed the stake and stuffed the burning matchstick into one of the firelance’s venting hole. The air cracked. Iron pellets punched holes into Immortal.
“Carmyn!” Tama tossed a spear out of her bag.
“My arm’s a bit numb, but I’ll try!”
Right before it regenerated the wound, the Rozzalian surgically thrust a spear at its glaring eye peeking from the wounds. Knowing it wasn’t deep enough, Kihet kicked the bottom to drive it through the core.
The Immortal let out a shriek before its body was taken by the silver flames.
“Nya! Careful that’s my merchandise! Carmyn was only borrowing it!”
“It’s secondhand.”
“What do you mean secondhand? A bit of polishing, a bit of touch up and no one will notice. Besides, it’s still in pristine condition!” She argued.
“Sure, whatever. Don’t drop your guard. We still have to find Aten.”
“There’s a set of stairs around this building. Kihet, let’s go up with Tama.”
Tama zoomed ahead to find plaza filled with Shadowed creatures bashing their claws against the front of a building barricaded by wooden planks. Spears slipped between the gaps and stabbed all those who got near, but without the Oracle’s flames, the creatures would revive.
She extended her telescope to try to verify those trapped in the building were allies. She saw some scaly hands. Beyond that, the dim lighting in the structure made it difficult to tell if it was the Scalemen or Dragonkins until he caught a glimpse of purplish tinted carapace surfaced from the dark.
“Bossman, there they are.”
“Good.”
Kihet swabbed the barrels of the firelance and loaded in paper cartridges Krullu made. It was a quicker process that took a quarter of the time if he were to reload it without them, but it still took a minute or two. It still wasn’t fast enough to reload in the middle of the fight.
“Once Carmyn and I clear the area, get ready to treat the injured. Carmyn, get your bow ready in case the Oracle’s companions are here.”
“Got it.”
“Aiyo, bossman!”
Carmyn anchored her great bow with a ballista arrow in hand while Kihet took a running leap and plunged into the crowd of enemies. Silver flames rippled outwards from the impact of his landing, vaporizing all Shadowed creatures touched.
A few Greater Shadows survived and rushed him when suddenly a kukri swept across their torsos, severing their upper half from their lower.
“How many are injured?” Kihet asked as he sheathed his knife.
“Oracle, we’re not the only ones here!” A scaleman hissed. “It’s a trap!”
“Sei, Maks, Exlas, Sik, Ashent, Bast!”
“Grumpy one, watch your right!”
A path of hot air rapidly rushed towards him from the building across the plaza. Anything the fire touched was instantly incinerated. The water in fountain that was in its way evaporated and ignited the buildings nearby.
Aten and the scouts were trapped within the burning building. If Kihet were to extinguish it and divert attention to them, the enemy wouldn’t hesitate to use them as hostages. The scouts held invaluable information Kihet like to know and thus, couldn’t afford to have them captured by the enemy. He could only buy time and prayed they evacuated safely.
“Get back!” Kihet shouted.
He threw Tama behind and raised a wall of silver flames to deter the hot winds assailing them. The next instant, his ambusher emerged.
“Found ya, fake!”
The voice belonged to a Pamalaryian, a Lycanthrope with a familiar accent. When he spotted Kihet through the wall of fire, a bloodthirsty grin was pasted on his face.
A shower of sparks flashed as Kihet swung his firelance like a bludgeoning weapon, catching the Lycanthrope’s attack in mid swipe. He saw the razor sharp claws making a dent onto the barrel and made a split second decision to slash his knife to push his attacker away.
“Kihet, he’s not alone!”
Upon Carmyn’s warning, an earthshaking clamor of the fiery path being shatter closed onto Kihet. A moving wall bulldozing directly at him, plowing a path in the road of flames.
Carmyn loosened a great bolt, but it bounced off like pebble hitting a wall.
The great shield abruptly stopped, sending forth a splash of dirt and debris at Kihet.
He retreated with his arm sheltering his eyes. From outside his range, the Lycanthrope dove down from the air and drew his greatsword.
“[Rolling Crown]!” At the same time, the Lycanthrope shouted what sounded like a skill, the blade of the greatsword shined brilliantly blue.
But why proclaim a move to telegraph your own attack to an enemy?
Before Kihet could dwell on that question, the Lycanthrope somersaulted with its large blade in tow, slamming the entire weight of its momentum and weapon into the ground. Thankfully Kihet unintentionally stepped diagonally away as the ground was riddled with cracks and potholes. If Kihet hadn’t, he wouldn’t have saw the ground split three meters from the tip of the Lycanthrope’s greatsword.
“Che. He dodged it, lucky bastard.” The Lycanthrope clicked its tongue.
“Grumpy one, that’s a named weapon he’s holding.”
“A named equipment?”
“Enchantments only reinforce or improve the quality of equipment. A named weapon also has that but also contain a magic skill the user can cast. They’re extremely rare to find.”
Judging how the Lycanthrope shouted the name of his greatsword, Kihet guessed it was how the spell embedded within it was activated.
“Hey Kihet, in front of you!”
Unbeknownst to him, another attack from the second ambusher interrupted his thinking. Kihet raised his weapon but was swept across the courtyard by an unstoppable force. He tumbled into Tama using her knapsack to cushion his landing. The handle of his firelance was slightly bent and would hinder his aim if he were to use it carelessly.
Hearing the cluttering of armor, Kihet looked up finding a fighter marching next to the Lycanthrope. It carried a large great shield and wielded a one handed crow’s beak mace. He had met the Ogre, the Alf, Lycanthrope, Elius and knew it was a Rozzalian at first glance.
Both he and Carmyn recognized who appeared before him.
“Salith!”
The fighter stopped after she heard her name as the realization of her enemies’ identity dawned onto her.
“Carmyn…?”
“Yes, it’s me, Carmyn! Thank the Creator you’re alive!”
Salith removed her helmet, letting her frisky red hair flop down. It looked like she done her own hair without any style, resulting in messy uneven cuts. She still had that slick of hair covering her right side of her face. Her almost forgotten face had small scars. One across her nose, and a few small ones on her cheek.
But before Carmyn could rush in and give her cousin a big hug, Salith lifted her weapon. “Stay back.”
“Salith? I’m here to bring you back-.”
“Get away from me! LEAVE!” Salith suddenly raised her weapon.
Kihet used his [Chain] to pull Carmyn away from a devastating smash that blew everyone away. He witnessed Salith’s strike had easily surpassed Rogus’ [Rolling Crown] in terms of power and the entire plaza they stood on dipped into the crater.
“Now we’re talking! The Fake is mine!” Rogus grinned.
“Nyot so fast!”
Tama rolled in front of Kihet with a selection of shields from her wares. The Werecat turtled up, showcasing its durability under a flurry of strikes at the cost of its surface getting worn.
“Move it, Werecat! I got no business with ya!”
“Sheesh. You’re as bad mannered as nyalways, Rogus. Don’t recognyize the face who help yer family out?”
Color drained from the Lycanthrope’s face as soon as he heard her mention his father. Though he wasn’t nearly as large, his fur was metallic silver like Douglas’.
“Tama…? Why are ya with the Fake?!”
Before Tama could answer, a finger snap interrupted their conversation. Knowing who these spells belonged to, Kihet threw himself to the front and held out his blazing left hand.
“Get down!”
Flaming spears homed on him and the scorching heat followed shortly. The shockwave shattered the windows of all buildings in a wide area.
Kihet managed to raise a curtain of the Oracle’s flame before impact.
“Kihet, the spellcaster’s controlling Salith! Go find him while I keep her occupied!”
“She’s being controlled? Got it.”
Carmyn raced ahead to clash weapons with Salith. “Urgh! Just hang on, Salith. We’ll find a way to get those shackles off you!”
Though Giants were innately powerful, Salith was more experienced in close combat than an archer like Carmyn.
It didn’t take long for Kihet to find where the spellcaster controlling Salith was.
“Elius.”
Adjusting his glasses as he emerged from the burning smoke, Elius shot an icy glare. He narrowed his piercing cyan blue eyes and clicked his tongue as he faced Kihet. His kicked aside the rubble in his path, his staff rang as the rings on it shifted ever so slightly.
The staff wasn’t of Enui culture and certainly wasn’t something Kihet saw Elius carry when the eight of them left the village. Its shape was like a sheathed sword. It was metallic gold, with depictions of scriptures of the Alven race engraved along its shaft. There was also an amethyst on a socket where the intersection of the guard and the handle was. It emitted a strong sense of magic.
Following Elius, ten ghastly swords orbited slowly around him all pointed downwards.
Now that the enemies revealed themselves, Kihet was troubled they were the three on his no kill list. If he knew he’d meet all three here, Kihet would’ve brought Draigh along to capture them.
“S’been a while, Elius. We finally get to meet after a decade and the first thing you do is try to kill me.”
“You’re just like that Goliath. I don’t know you, Fake.” Elius tapped the floor, commanding the flying swords to form a defensive arch hovering above him. “Now, hand over the book.”
“I guess that’s the only part I’d hear you say. You were obsessed with reading.”
“Silence.” Just as Elius lifted his hand to send them flying, he noticed a figure bolt towards him. The swords instantly crossed to catch the attacker almost piercing him.
A dragonfly insectoid with black tentacles growing out of the body wriggle disgustingly from the wounds. Aten put a claw onto one of the blades trying to pry his way through Elius’ magic swords blocking him.
The dreaded appearance was able to give Elius a small freight.
“The Vivirian…!” Rogus shouted. The Lycanthrope disengaged from Tama to help Elius when it was suddenly met with a flying knife being wielded by Kihet’s [Chain]. He saw a spear hurled at him and was driven back. “Hey, they’re after ya!”
“No matter. Rogus, leave me. I’ll end this foul creature.”
“But-!”
“It’s fine.”
Elius commanded flying swords to wildly spin, the blades cut and blended Aten in a tornado of slashes before leaping to the top of another building. He studied the reviving insectoid hovering in the air who in turn observed him with large compound eyes.
“I see. This is the reason why Haku and Lidian said this one’s dangerous.” Embers spat from the tip of Elius’ staff. “And Justiva has proven Alc’Bruk’s words true. The fake can dispel magic.”
“Aren’t we at a disadvantage? Did you make a mistake?”
Rogus’ instinct suddenly screamed at him as he saw Elius aim the tip of the staff at him. The Lycanthrope leaned as far right and as fast as he could, narrowly avoiding a burst of wind that toppled three buildings behind. His heart stopped beating for a second, hair all over his body stood stiff as he met Elius’ gaze by chance. He could sense the bloodlust aura overflowing from Elius that made him almost want to turn tail and flee.
“Let me remind you I don’t make mistakes, Rogus.” Elius’ face twisted with anger. “I never make mistakes!”
While the two bickered, Kihet silently gestured Tama to sneak into the building where the Scalemen hid to treat their wounds. They wouldn’t be able to be moved away from their ambushers undetected with the numbers they have.
As for Salith, Carmyn kept her occupied by pinning her down with swift strikes.
Kihet thoroughly observed Elius, moving as quietly as possible without alarming anyone. He suddenly darted towards Elius with silver flames ready to protect any spells thrown his way.
Unfortunately, Rogus’ keen hearing noticed his movement. “Dammit, fake! We’re still talking!”
The Lycanthrope rushed to meet Kihet head on. As he lunged forward with his claws, he noticed the insectoid dove towards his right. He held up the broad flat part of his blade and slammed his weight to hold his footing.
“Aten, don’t kill him! Don’t kill anyone! Try to capture him if you can!”
“Grr! Elius, the Fake’s after you!”
“Of course he is.” Elius shook his staff. “Gurd, Ulos, Exles, cirl, Ashent!”
A crack traced around Kihet. He suddenly found himself ejected into the air as the whole roof beneath him launched him up. Since the roof itself wasn’t formed by magic, but was thrown into the air by it, Kihet’s flames weren’t able to dispel the effect.
With his target helpless in the sky, Elius casted numerous magic and hurled his flying swords at the falling rock. His projectiles slowed as if missiles struck a pool of water when a strange dome of dull light veiled the rock. Everything Kihet’s [Quagmire Sphere] touched slowed, seemingly becoming weightless and floated around the rock in its space.
“I see. This is the unknown attribute Alc’Bruk claimed to have faced.”
The boulder slowly drifted out of the affected zone in Elius’ direction along with his countless spells following suit. When his spells exited the dull light, they flew erratically through the air and rain the surrounding buildings without aim.
Kihet saw Elius grab the handle of the staff and drew a hidden blade from it. It was a thin blade. Its thickness was as wide as a rapier and soon a fan of floating swords was summoned around him.
In preparation to clash against Elius, Kihet imbued his firelance with [Kerse Armament: Repulsion] as he dropped at him.
He then saw Elius flashed a grin. Light suddenly enveloped him as his shape grew and a tower shield emerged in his place.
“Salith?!” Kihet gasped seeing her swapped places with Elius.
He then heard a bloody cough and turned around.
A needle thin weapon pierced Carmyn’s abdomen. The flying swords rained down at her, but Aten quickly flew to the rescue as the Dragonfly sniped them with his javelins.
Elius withdrew his sword and mercilessly blasted Carmyn with a massive fire blast, throwing the Rozzalian into the building and Aten back into the sky.
“ELIUSSS!” The first to shout at him enraged was Salith.