While I had a lot of arcane knowledge, death magic was not something I had contemplated that much. My own spells were mostly elemental. In the game, some spells could instantly kill you. But those did not work so well against high level enemies. Death magic was great at killing weak opponents, debuffing and raising an army. I had never played a character like that.

Also, death elementals did not exist in the game. So I was unsure what the powers of my opponent were.

The enraged elemental charged me. I parried her overhead swing with my sword. A little bit of black smoke lingered on my blade but it had no noticeable effect. Maybe a weaker sword would have been damaged. Now that I knew my blade was going to work I attacked.

We exchanged a few blows and I drove her backwards. Then I had to dodge a black bolt coming from behind. The mage had not fled but was helping his elemental. Lucy was still busy with the fighters and the undead.

While I was exchanging blows with my weapon, I concentrated on a spell, and unleashed a tier three lightning bolt into the elemental. It shrieked. While I did hurt it, it was still in fighting shape.

“I SHALL CONSUME YOU! I WILL FEAST ON YOUR BONES!” The mad creature surrounded itself with an aura of black mist and charged.

I could feel my skin itching as I made contact with the cloud. The magic tried to wither my body but it could not defeat my regeneration. I responded with more lightning, forcing the elemental to fall back.

It was hard to evaluate the state of a creature made from smoke but it seemed damaged. The finely crafted body it had originally, was now distorted.

Meanwhile, Lucy had reached the mage and kept him busy. Soon he would either flee, or be defeated. There was no way he could survive a kitsune in close combat for long.

It was time to finish my own fight. As the elemental charged once more I prepared a lighting sphere in front of me. The creature screeched and tried to retreat, but I grabbed her. Lightning surrounded us both, but I was immune.

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“I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE! I WILL BE BACK!”

The elemental disappeared as its body was torn apart by electricity. Holding onto the creature had been unpleasant. Having my skin constantly die and regenerate had hurt. But my plan had worked.

I looked towards Lucy. The mage had been crushed by her paw.

“Is he dead? Like really dead, not undead dead.” I asked.

“Seems like it.” She responded. “But I am no expert on undead.”

“Me neither.” I admitted. “Well, I will store the body in my storage. If he is not really dead it should fail.” We both watched the corpse as I tried storing it. It disappeared into my inventory.

“Guess he was truly defeated, let’s get Iris.”

“YOU HAVE CHALLENGED THE STORM! NOW MEET HER WRATH!”

I looked upwards as I heard Shani’s voice. She descended through the ceiling surrounded by lightning. A mad glee was in her eyes. Then she blinked.

“Uh… Am I too late for the slaughter?” Shani asked.

“We still have to find the hostages. There could be guards. But Iris is awake, she might have resolved that issue.” I said. “We need to go this way.” I pointed towards a hallway.

“NOOOOOO! I need more slaughter!” Shani complained and charged into the direction I had pointed.

Lily jumped through the hole and bowed to us. “My ladies, I apologise for being late. I failed to apprehend Sergeant Rudolph.”

“Not your fault. We were all a bit late. Let’s get Iris.” I said.

The three of us followed Shani towards the prisoners.

“Too late! I am too late!” We heard Shani complain as we entered the cell block. Iris was there, wounded, but alive. She had broken the bars on her cell and taken down the guards, unarmed. Dalroc and Loriel were still asleep in different cells.

“Iris, you are ok!” I said, relieved.

“My lady, I thank you for your help. Your aura has given me the power I needed.”

“What happened?” Lucy asked.

“As the negotiations continued the duke called for some food and drink. It seemed fine. We had already decided to work together. Loriel even used a spell to check her wine. Somehow…” Iris shrugged. “I just felt really sleepy. I remember trying to stand up, then nothing. I awoke in this cell, power raging through me. I felt your aura. I felt the storm and I embraced it. I managed to break through the cell. It was not easy fighting the guards unarmed but at least I still had my armour. And after the first went down I used his weapon.”

The guards had the same grey skin. Certainly something to investigate.

“Where is the duke?” Lucy asked.

“I do not know.” Iris said.

There should have been more people. Dalroc and Loriel had their own guards at the meeting.

“Maybe there are more cells. Or a lab. Maybe they have started the process of mind controlling the duke? We should look around.” I said.

“Do you think the Inquisition has found a way to make the runes work on dwarves and elves? Why else would they abduct them, instead of killing them?” Lucy asked.

“Maybe. It is a concerning thought.” I replied.