“Ah, the old goat livessss… No matter… I look forward to ssssnapping your bonesss one at a time as I sssqueeze the life from your little ssscity. ” the serpent exclaimed in a voice that permeated the capital and all its inhabitants.
“Enough of your incessant hissing. Are you going to attack, or will you let all my people slip away?” The emperor provoked waving magnanimously in the direction of the Hub. His motions were a poetry of empowered potential and Tilly could almost feel the pressure of his movements from where he stood. Although he did wish that those movements weren't drawing attention to over one hundred thousand fleeing refugees.
“The Imperial War Array!” Linus grunted, showing an uncharacteristic amount of awe. Tilly looked around and saw new hope blooming all over the platform.
The Snake God began to coil in the air around itself, rearing back its head.
“Will this ‘Array’ thing be enough to fight a Snake God?” Tilly asked.
“It is not a ‘thing’. It is an Epic legacy Skill that allows the Emperor to empower himself at the cost of the lives of his willing subjects. It is rarely seen in our history and many thought it was lost.” He said, almost breathless at the sight of his emperor returned in glory.
“What are you, compared to a God? Your time is finished, lay down and die, PREY!” The snake hissed before opening its mouth wide and releasing a jet of green-tinted liquid at the palace.
The emperor raised his scepter and bellowed out in defiance. The walls of the city burst with silvery radiance and shot out a dome of silver energy that covered the whole city just in time to catch the serpent's venom attack. The toxic stream dispersed violently on the barrier, spreading the intensity of the attack over the whole skyline.
“It will take more than a little spit to reach me, Nehebkau. If you want this city you will have to come and take it.” The man said through gritted teeth. Tilly could tell he was bluffing but wondered if the Snake God would let the insult stand. He also wondered why the snake god continued to attack from a distance with what was clearly only part of his strength. Both seemed to be planning on more than just a frontal assault, the snake god seeming content to stay back and drain the emperor’s strength, while the emperor seemed to want to goad him into a charge.
“Ah, my friends! It is very good to see you!” A familiar voice shouted from the rear of the still-fleeing lapin contingent. Tilly had almost forgot about Shuji in the craziness. Almost all of the lapins had made it through the linked portal and Tilly saw several familiar figures bring up the rear of the first wave of retreating citizens. First was a hurrying group of children made up of many races that were being herded toward the portal by Amelia and her assistant Heras. Behind them was Shuji, supporting the weight of a nearly unconscious Mochizuki.
“Shuji, Report!” Hiro commanded, showing obvious concern over the semi-conscious body of Mochizuki that the Librarian was practically dragging along.
“Yes Lord-” He said huffing as he approached. Tilly jumped down and moved through the stream of fleeing lapins, to arrive at Shuji’s side and help him carry his burden the rest of the way to the platform.
“I found her making her way here with all possible speed, she is combating several high-level poisons at the moment, but I hope she will be fine with some rest,” Shuji said, gesturing towards the heavily injured Ninja. She was covered in lacerations and several of them were oozing unpleasant dark liquids. Tilly kindled his power painfully and breathed out Purifying Flame, watching as she shivered unconsciously in response.
“She discovered a Marcellus unit of private guards moving to the east entrance to meet a group of the Cult’s highest elites. The other three Cult generals are coming this way now under the distraction of the summoning, and they plan to flank us here. She retreated as soon as she saw them, but still, they managed to injure her before she broke away. I found her moving down this street only moments ago.”
“Tsht.” Hiro snarled in frustration, looking up at the two beings still testing each other above the city, and then back down the street from which Shuji had come.
“Thus is the way of battle… Kihei, our agreement has been upheld, passage and haven will be offered to all who make it through the portal. I go to meet this new threat.” Lord Hiro decided, leaping from the platform.
“I'm with you,” Linus said, tearing away his gaze from the image of his emperor shining like a silver beacon as he held back the attack of a god.
“Heras, make sure the children get settled on the other side. I’m afraid I will be staying for a little longer as well. ” Amelia said, catching the situation as she ushered her charges up the steps. The assistant took one look at her master's face, and nodded, seeing the grave expression she wore at the sight of all those who had yet to escape.
“Hope is not yet lost… Franklin… Go with them… We only need… a little more time. ” Kihei spoke quietly, still effortlessly empowering and augmenting the barriers but watching the conflict unfolding in the heavens with a critical eye. The layers of this battle were unfolding and Tilly could see just enough to know that as crazy powerful as some of these beings were, they still needed to carefully avoid wasting their strength without knowing what their opponent had in reserve. He couldn’t imagine how complicated battle strategy could get when you lived in a place with magical bullshit around every corner.
“I’m not in that great of shape, but I'm coming too. Whatever this poison is, I think you guys will need my help.” Tilly sighed, laying a shivering Mochizuki down on the platform nearest to the portal, and then nodding to Shuji in appreciation.
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“Of that, human, I have no doubt,” Hiro said, turning to address the ones who would stay.
“Shuji, assist the rest of the evacuation as best you can, but make sure you and Mochizuki are gone before I get back.”
“As you will, Lord.” He said with a deep bow.
Hiro turned and started jogging, the rest of the group following after. Franklin seemed to be uncomfortable with the speed, but kept up, while Linus caught up with Hiro and led the way. As they ran Tilly shot a glance over at Amelia who was easily keeping pace wearing a serious but distant expression on her face.
“Do you know anything about who these elites are?” Tilly called over, trying for a professional icebreaker, while he warred with himself internally about whether or not to bring up his liability to the team.
“No, Mr. Tillman, I do not. I saw Shuji pass by only a little while before you did. I imagine they had planned to bring the rest of our hidden defenses to the fore with the emergence of their god. Then while we are all occupied, they would send in a flanking strike with their best fighters, snuffing out our escape.” She answered, her explanation coming fast and clipped. She kept her eyes forward, and Tilly saw her pulling things out of her pockets in preparation.
“They are sending in their other three generals, each on par with what you and Hiro faced two nights ago. They wish to cut us off, while the main force takes a frontal attack,” -Linus added to Amelia’s- “Hiro eliminated Apepi, so that leaves Ladon, Kaliya, and Jormun. They are extremely dangerous, and there is a serious possibility that some of us will not--”
He jerked to the side, attempting to dodge something that was moving too fast for Tilly to see. As Tilly attempted to register what had just happened, Linus stumbled to the side, an arrow having sprouted from his shoulder.
“COVER!” Shouted Hiro as his sword lashed out of its sheath intercepting another of the arrows. His eyes flashed in anger at having missed the initial attack. Linus stumbled to the side of the street and crashed through a barred door, Tilly following immediately after to administer whatever aid he could.
The inside was dark with all the windows still boarded but Tilly quickly found Linus slumped against a wall breathing fast shallow breaths. His eyes were already unfocused and Tilly called to him to try and get his attention, “Linus, how you doing buddy?”
No response, just the continued blank stare, and rapid breathing. Tilly moved forward and unclasped the cuirass from Linus’ shoulder before carefully ripping away the clothes underneath to get a better look at the wound. The place where the arrow had punctured was red and puffy with a black veiny spiderweb of Corruption spreading out from the wound at an alarming rate.
“Oh no you fucking don’t,” Tilly growled, stoking the fire in his center again, and breathing out with a small cry of pain at the broken glass sensation of using his recently pieced-together mana pathways. For a moment of panic, he thought his Ability wouldn’t be able to push through the damaged pathways… but it did. He was reminded of the time he worked on the scene of an apartment fire for twelve hours, his muscles obeying his commands despite having been broken down into numb facsimiles of their former structures.
Nonetheless, his ability had an immediate effect on the wounded Commander. His breaths came even faster, and the tendrils of darkness spreading from what was probably high-level Corrupted poison started to creep back slowly. Having addressed the first problem, Tilly tipped the altered conscious Satyr forward in his sitting position and found the wickedly barbed arrow tip on the other side. He grimaced thinking about what would have happened if Linus had tried to pull this out on his own.
“Hopefully, you are too out of it to feel this one.” He said grimacing as he wrapped his hand around the tip of the arrow and thrust it away from him, pulling the arrow out of Linus’ back, through his shoulder.
“GGGAAAHH” The satyr screamed, feeling the pain, even in his muddled state. This poison was way too potent... It must be another of the Cult’s trump cards. If the poison could do this to Linus and Mochizuki, who undoubtedly each had a powerful defense against such things, then Tilly could only imagine what it would do to anyone else.
Seeing the wound now free-flowing with blood and dark wriggling black forms, Tilly riffled around in Linus' tunic and found the magical cloth he had been showing off earlier. Tilly unceremoniously stuffed it into the exit wound and then leaned him back against the wall, allowing the satyr's own body to apply pressure to the dressing.
The spidering network of infection had stopped spreading and had even reduced a small amount, but still hadn't been expelled.
'This poison has to be insane, Linus is still altered and nonresponsive... and we can't lose him for the rest of this fight...'
Monstrous clanging began to ring out from the street as metal impacted metal in furious combat.
“Come here, you annoying plant Bitch!” Came another shout from outside the door.
Tilly mentally reviewed his Ability, trying to figure out why it wasn't as effective as it had been in the past. Purifying Flame greatly augmented the target's resistances, but that didn't automatically mean whatever they were trying to beat back was expelled. That had been the case for the much weaker grade infection in the city and with Mochizuki's shallow wounds, she probably had received a much smaller dose. But with the malignancy of this substance and its root in the satyr's brachial artery, Tilly realized he was going to have to be more invasive if he wanted to clear it altogether.
What else could he do? He doubted his purifying Ability stacked. He looked again at the entry wound, which had already started to dribble blood and black-tinged puss.
The sound of a hissing scream of pain broke Tilly’s thought process for a moment, and he looked outside to see the area surrounding the door they had crashed through was choked with writhing thorny vines.
“You can't hide forever behind these little vines!” The disturbing voice howled outside the door, accompanied by the thwacking sound of a blade chopping through plant matter.
'Thanks, Amelia.'
Tilly looked back down at his patient, noting that his recovery was still stalled.
“I’ve got one more idea man, but you are not going to like it,” Tilly muttered looking down at his right hand for a second before holding out one finger. He focused in on it intensely and channeled his blue flame strike in a much more narrow manner. His mana pathways screamed in protest but Tilly pushed through the shattered areas and inflamed his index finger successfully. An intense blue flame blazed to life, dancing up and down his index finger.
“You are running out of room little Hum-AAHHHHH” The voice screamed from right outside the door, cut off violently by a meaty thunk.
“You know, it is very hard to find a poison that works against that disturbingly polluted body of yours. But I think you will enjoy this. ” Amelia called from farther beyond the door, having sprung some trap.
Before he could think about it any further, Tilly shoved his burning finger into the bleeding hole left by the Corrupted arrow.