"What now?" Maeve asked.
Taka looked to Bick, but the orc's face was blank. Bick wasn't a knight, but a healer who was stationed around the training grounds during the daytime, so maybe he'd know what to do in a crisis. If he did, Taka couldn't tell.
Let's make our way to the throne room. See if anyone's still there, Taka sent to his companions, the more formal tone he typically used slipping under the pressure.
Maeve looked to Bick, and he nodded. Maeve stepped in front of Taka and began to make her way toward the throne room at a brisk pace. Bick grabbed the plate Taka and the Lily Minion were floating on out of the air and followed Maeve.
Safer. faster, Bick sent to Taka.
The emptiness of the halls was eerie, and Taka found it strange that even though a bird murdered a lizard man in the mess hall, there were no remnants of a fight in the rest of the castle thus far, whether that be in the form of splats of blood or other signs of struggle. Where did they all go? Did whoever planned this attack use that shadow teleportation magic to abduct them all? Or are all they all already... Taka shuddered at the thought as Maeve rounded the final corner leading to the throne room. She crouched before the massive wooden doors and waited for Bick. Maeve's ears twitched as Bick joined her.
"I hear something," Maeve whispered. "Fighting."
Taka closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then focused on the magical energy around him. He could feel the fox girl's soft but fiery aura, a pure light sensation radiating from Bick, and inside... he recognized the overwhelming presence of the retired Demon Lord, the fading aura of one of the lizard men who was likely one of Vanz'goran's guards, and the now familiar strength of Deon, the only other being Taka had met who could use raw magic. Taka could also sense the presence of the shadow magic he'd felt all around the castle, and someone else he hadn't met before. Their aura felt like it was bubbling, boiling over itself, unstable. He felt the same unfiltered rage in the new being as he felt in his bird attacker. It made Taka shiver.
His Majesty is in there with Deon, Taka sent to Maeve and Bick. They're fighting something.
Maeve nodded and readied her flail as Bick took a step back. Taka focused his mind on Deon's presence and used TELEPATHY, and opened a link.
Deon, Taka sent, the strain of three separate connections open at once causing a pang in his mind. I am outside the doors with Bick and a guard named Maeve. What should we do?
Come in here and hit Yrrgrod with an earth conjuration from behind on my mark then run with the others, don't try to do it through the wall, you're not ready to cast without sight --
The connection with Deon broke.
Open the door! Taka frantically sent to Maeve.
Maeve gave him a bewildered look for a moment, then obliged. Taka flew in and channeled earth energy in front of the Lily Minion, who began to run around in circles. He shaped it into as best a spike as he could and hurled it toward the unfamiliar energy source. The earth spike whooshed through the air and shot directly into the back of a figure in a purple cloak, the spike piercing through the cloak into the figure's back. The figure let out a hiss as Taka looked closer, and saw that his spike hadn't pierced the figure's back, but its folded butterfly-like wings. The figure was a fae, the first proper fae Taka had seen.
Taka looked around the room: Vanz'goran stood near the throne, blood dripping down his face, the bodies of 4 lizard men guards lay across the room, 2 of them lay dead with their faces ripped off, 1 lay on the floor barely breathing, and the remaining lizard man sat slumped up against the stairs leading up to the throne. Deon. A few meters away from the older lizard man stood the figure in the purple cloak, who still faced Vanz'goran despite being hit in the back.
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"All the other pests should've been accounted for," the fae croaked, the sound coming through Maeve's ears. "Go crawl back to your hole."
Vanz'goran looked toward Taka with a disturbed expression; Taka didn't think the retired Demon Lord was capable of making such a face.
"Sir Filo, run," commanded Vanz'goran. Taka stayed still, frozen in place on the plate.
The fae laughed, "Run where? I'll find the insect as soon as we're done here. His friends, too."
Vanz'goran spat a mouthful of blood on the ground, then wiped his lips with the palm of his hands. Taka used his TELEPATHY skill to open a link with the retired Demon Lord.
It's about time, Vanz'goran sent, stay back.
But I can-- Taka began.
No. You will only get in the way, and you will die, Vanz'goran interrupted.
Taka started to fly backward to the door, but not before Vanz'goran unleashed his full aura. Taka's concentration broke and the plate fell to the ground under the immense pressure that felt like it was about to crush him. The Lily Minion dove through the air and tackled Taka to the side, rolling forward to shield Taka from the impact. Taka's links to Bick and Maeve were broken, but his connection with Vanz'goran remained as if the Demon was holding Taka in his grip.
Vanz'goran lurched toward the fae, who stood still. Just as Vanz'goran was about to wrap his hands around the fae's neck, he disappeared. Vanz'goran roared as he crouched down like a tiger hunting his prey, but the fae rose from his own shadow and blasted him with a beam of energy. Vanz'goran dove out of the way, but the fae began an onslaught of beam attacks, chasing Vanz'goran around the room. The demon raised his right hand as he ran and a dark tendril appeared behind him from the ground, whipping back at the fae. The fae ducked beneath the tendrils lashed and slid, continuing to close in on Vanz'goran. The demon darted to the side and swiped his hand in a fist toward the fae, summoning a blade of powerful energy that Taka had assumed was demon magic. The blade slithered in the demon's hand, the hilt of dark red energy snaking itself around Vanz'goran's arm. The fae stopped in his tracks and began to cackle.
"You're that desperate?" The fae screamed as it began to charge toward Vanz'goran, gathering mana in both of its hands.
The fae shot another slew of magical beams out of its hands, the room filling with bright light. Taka tried to avert his eyes but was still momentarily blinded by the flash, even though the Lily Minion trying to shield him. The beams of light didn't immediately dissipate on impact this time, though, and arced around the room like shooting stars, or falling debris from the atmosphere. Taka looked up and it seemed like time began to move in slow-motion as he saw a beam of light headed directly toward him. Everything around him became slow, his own body included, but his thoughts were moving at normal speed. He could see Vanz'goran charging toward the fae with the blade of demon magic, as the fae stood its ground with its hands out readying another shot whilst the magical beams it had just shot looped around to hit Vanz'goran from every direction.
The beam of energy headed toward Taka continued to move, inching closer and closer, having gone from at least 10 meters to almost half of that in just a few seconds of this slow-motion time Taka was stuck in.
"You couldn't even handle this guy with the help of the Demon Lord," A feminine voice said, coming from nowhere, or everywhere, maybe inside his head?
Taka heard the voice, even without ears.
"You've been doing fine so far, so I think it's time to give you a helping hand... just know that you'll pay the price later, kay?"
The voice giggled.
"Make me a shrine, too. Unless you'd rather be smited. Smote? Smited sounds better."
A series of notification bells and whistles blared inside Taka's head all at once.
Update: Conditions have been met for available class specialization: SUBCLASS available is VEIL OBSERVER. Specialization will now be available in menu.
WARNING: SPECIALIZATION CANNOT BE UNDONE. PLEASE CHOOSE SUBCLASS WISELY, AS MORE OPTIONS MAY BECOME AVAILABLE WITH THE ADVANCEMENT OF YOUR #!ERROR###
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Update: Specialization has been chosen by #####: SUBCLASS is now VEIL OBSERVER.
VEIL OBSERVER: You have been gifted the highest honor, permission to study the boundary itself. The Worm Mother smiles down upon you and blesses your soul.
Update: Magic: ë̶͙͈́̋̽̃̽̆v̵̨̡̯̭̭̮̼́ͅi̸̟͓͈̲͋̒͆̐̎̅̇͆l̶̩͉͙͉͕̓̉̓̈́͌ has been awakened. Base ë̶͙͈́̋̽̃̽̆v̵̨̡̯̭̭̮̼́ͅi̸̟͓͈̲͋̒͆̐̎̅̇͆l̶̩͉͙͉͕̓̉̓̈́͌ magic skills now available.
Update: Skill: LIFE STEAL acquired.