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The seeming stalemate between the different forces lasted for a breath until the battle cries of the Demons were met with the roars of Dragons, and the sounds of various of spells. The mages Teclis had brought along, as well as the Asha'man, rained death from above, staying in the protection of the Draenei fortress, while several Dragons, along with their riders swooped down to meet the Greater Demons in glorious combat. Draenei forces came through portals to help defend the remaining Elves, as well as to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Tyrion and Teclis. Several Shinigami took to the field as well, three Captains among them. While the normal rank-and-file Shinigami might not be able to fight Greater Demons, the captains certainly could. Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Byakuya were just three people, but their presence alone could shift the entire battle, especially with Yoruichi along as well.
Seraphiel's allies appeared next to her, Wrex wasting no time biotically charging at the demons with red hides. The Krogan knew Khornate Demons would offer the most fun fight. Kaede dashed off to help with the mortal champions of Chaos, while Tatsumiya focused her fire on the Demons, proving just how effective she could be at defeating her favorite prey. Seraphiel also made sure to pick her target with care. Even if she could punch far above her weight, she was much lower in level than most of the big hitters in this battle. Thus, she had to pick an enemy she was well suited to fight.
Her target was one of the strongest Greater Demons present, Kairos Fateweaver. The Lord of Change was a large bird-like magician, with large multicolored wings, and two heads. One of the heads could see the future, while the other could see the past. The only thing they could not see was the present, which made the Demon somewhat easier to deal with. Although, that said, he was still the most powerful magic user among the Greater Demons, by a long shot. As she walked towards the Lord of Change, the air around her turned extremely serious. More serious than she'd been since arriving in this universe. This enemy was the most dangerous she'd faced so far, and she'd need all her focus to just survive the fight with the Demon.
A battle between two people that could glimpse the future was more a game of deception and strategy than a fight where two beings just bashed at each other. Even on the chaotic battlefield where futures were constantly shifting and in flux, both of them tried to read the skeins of fate, trying to anticipate the other one's actions. Kairos had a more accurate view of the future due to his special ability, but he also relied on it more. Seraphiel had long since learned that you didn't need to just accept what the future was predicting. You could actively alter it to fight someone trying to use future sight against you. So, instead of trying to outplay Kairos by being better at reading the future, she instead put her efforts into feeding him false information by creating false futures, combined with her ability to create illusions.
Several illusionary copies of her moved towards the Demon, some moving in directly, while others took cover among the Demons around them. Kairos reacted by sending in a burst of chaotic flames at certain copies, perceiving them to potentially be the real ones. The Flames created by Kairos held the essence of chaos and change and completely annihilated anything they came into contact with, including the Demons her illusions had taken cover with. Except some of the Demons were not burned and instead were mutated, twisting into horrific masses of flesh and teeth.
None of the attacking figures was real though. Kairos suddenly twisted reality to move himself away from another illusion that appeared right next to him, having seen this to be the real one, and leaving behind another explosion of flames. This was another illusion though, as Seraphiel's blade bit into his thick hide, leaving behind a wound filled with the power of Light. Seraphiel had predicted where he would move and had been there waiting, hiding that future from Kairos' sight.
Even with all her Strength, and the empowering buffs and Skills, she only barely managed to pierce the hide of the Demon. While she could punch above her weight and the Demon was far from a physically focused one, Kairos was more than four times her level, and that showed. Still, she had more experience fighting demons like Kairos than almost anyone, and she knew where to strike. Once she did manage to overcome the Demon's Vitality, damage could be done. Not a lot of damage, but damage, nonetheless.
Usually, when a warrior type managed to get their hands on a mage, the fight was all but over. The Greater Demon wasn't so simple though, and neither was this fight. Flames burst out from him, surrounding the Greater Demon entirely, and forcing Seraphiel away. She could also see the wound already healing, as Kairos was a proficient enough magician to heal his own wounds. This was going to be a long fight, considering the effort it had taken to cause a single wound that took little more than a second to heal. Or so she had assumed.
"It issss, a shame we have to fight like thissss. My ordersssss...well, no matter. My part in thissss sssscharade is already played. The massster would like a word with you in the future, Changebringer. You have been marked." The Greater Demon stated, before disappearing, even as Seraphiel felt some sort of power settle over her. The power was heavy enough to ignore her resistances for now, and she’d have to deal with it later.
As the Greater Demon just vanished in a burst of blue flames, he didn’t go alone. Around her, it seemed most of the Tzeentchian Demons did the same, leaving her standing alone with a handful of Draenei who’d been fighting nearby, looking just as confused as she felt. She'd managed to hurt the Demon, but not badly enough to force him to retreat. She certainly didn't have the power to scare him. She might have been able to banish the Demon by basically wearing him down, but it would not have been quick or risk-free. It seemed Tzeentch was up to some games again. The Changer of Ways was the most difficult of the Chaos gods to figure out, and even trying to do so was an exercise in futility. Politics between the Chaos gods were also common, and this stunk of Chaos politics. The fact that the Demons had managed to disappear despite the inhibition against teleportation spoke volumes of his power as well. Tzeentch had sent them here with the intention of leaving early, apparently their job done.
The presence of the Tzeentchian forces had served a purpose. It had drawn some of the defending forces out of position and served as a distraction. The battle was still balancing on a knife's edge, the resolution mostly coming down to clashes between powerful individuals. The sudden retreat of the Tzeentchian forces had relieved some of that pressure, but truthfully, they had been the smallest part since the beginning.
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The fortunes of war shifted again when sudden loud booms could be heard from the shore, while a sudden rain of arrows and bursts of magic fell on the Demons. Seraphiel could see the arrival of several large naval vessels from a thick bank of fog, firing their weapons into the ranks of the Demons, while smaller vessels were disgorging the specialist marines of the Elven capital, Lothern Sea Guard. Naval weapons were one of the areas where the High Elves had vastly improved thanks to contact with other worlds, and the simple bolt throwers had been replaced with magi-cannons that proved to be quite effective against their target. The numbers of the reinforcements were not large, but they were enough to shift things in the Elves’ favor, and it seems they weren't done. Seraphiel could hear the cries of Griffons and Dragons, as more reinforcements came flying over the mountains, and from the city they were supposed to be reinforcing.
It seems Tyrion had been holding out on them. A trap, within a trap, within a trap. These were also likely the forces the new King trusted the most, likely one of the main reasons they hadn't been discovered by Chaos. Supposedly. Fooling your enemy started by fooling your allies.
That didn't mean the battle was over. Kaede and Yoruichi had mostly occupied the mortal champions, while the rest were doing their best to deal with the Demons, but the Elven forces in particular were getting pushed back, and the Asha'man were having trouble dealing with the sheer strength of the more powerful Demons. it seemed Logain was the only one of their number capable of dealing with the Greater Demons and Demon Princes effectively, even if the others were effective against the masses of weaker Demons. On the other hand, the Draenei seemed to be cleaving through all of the enemies with ruthless efficiency, which wasn't a huge surprise considering their kind had been dealing with Demons since they were called Draenei.
Even if the Elven forces were still outnumbered, the presence of the naval reinforcements and Dragons was pushing things in their favor. Even if these were not among the most powerful of Dragons, they were still a match to almost anything else. They were not invulnerable though, and she could see several of the large beasts brought down by the claws of the massive Greater Demons. Another one fell from the sky as a particularly nasty Demon Prince used some dark artifact to damage its wings, before that same Demon Prince got its head blown off by Tatsumiya.
The most important fight was taking place with three mortals standing against N’kari. It was perhaps fate that Tyrion and Teclis were to stand against their old foe, but General Kuren was supporting the two Elves with his glowing golden hammer, and it seemed obvious that the brothers would’ve been overwhelmed if not for his support.
Seraphiel found herself standing alone at the relatively silent flank of the conflict that had been abandoned with the Tzeentch forces gone, which provided her with an opportunity. She didn’t currently possess the power to swing the entire battle in their favor, but she might be able to affect the important fight with correct timing.
She used her weapon to make a wound on her palm and the blood flew out to form a ritual circle around her. This time it wasn't quite as elaborate as when she'd dealt with the Tyranids. Part of that was because she didn't have all the people feeding her power, while another part was that she was going back to the basics of ritual blood magic. Sacrifice. Blood magic had always revolved around sacrifice, either your own or others. Blood, life, power, all things could be sacrificed. It was a simple form of exchange, and that made it alluring to many. You didn't need a thousand levels or a thousand years of study to make a difference. You just had to pay a price. And luckily for her, there were a lot of prices being paid all around her. A lot of power that was just floating there, going untapped.
Still, she was going back to the first principles. A personal sacrifice made these kinds of spells more effective. Less likely to go horribly wrong. That was always one of the dangers of blood magic. You could pay the price and achieve nothing if the ritual was not conducted properly, or if you got too greedy. Her target was also likely to possess a degree of defense against such things. That's why the power around her would only be used to overcome that defense and to amplify the effect slightly.
She created a dagger made of pure light and waited for the right moment. Just when General Kuren was about to attack, and N’kari was about to parry the blow, she chanted the ritual words and plunged the dagger into her own abdomen. The Greater Demon roared in surprise and pain, as a large wound suddenly appeared in the same spot on his body. Not only did the wound mirror the one on Seraphiel, but it also glowed with the retributive power of her Skills. The System was being generous and calculating the damage done to her as an attack by N’kari as they were both affected, despite the wound being self-inflicted. Her aura and [Sanctuary] both returned a portion of the damage she suffered as completely unavoidable retributive Holy damage to the Demon, amplifying the damage further.
The main purpose of the ritual was a distraction though, and it was extremely effective, not only because of the pain, but also because N’kari was a Demon of Slaanesh, and thus pain also meant pleasure. Considering that, she’d just given the magical pain equivalent of a handjob to the Demon in the middle of the battle, which understandably could be quite distracting when it hit so unexpectedly.
General Kuren’s weapon smashed home, striking the Demon directly on the chest, further unbalancing the Demon. Neither Tyrion nor Teclis would miss an opportunity like this. A flaming projectile in the form of a Phoenix crashed into the Demon, while Tyrion managed to cut off the hand holding N’kari’s magical blade, sending the demonic weapon spinning away. The fight wasn’t over yet, but it was now only a matter of time.
Seraphiel quickly canceled the ritual, before healing herself, not wanting to accidentally heal the Demon as well. As expected, a self-inflicted wound gained from a blood magic ritual was not easy to heal, taking all her focus and power for a short time. Her healing was also the general type that didn't fare so well with such particular injuries. She would likely have to get the wound looked at after the battle.
As the reinforcement fully hit the Demon’s ranks, the effect was immediate. The Demons were surrounded, and that had an interesting effect on them. Since the Demons were mostly manifested Warp energy, morale affected them in a slightly different way. Once they perceived they were losing, their cohesion started to break down, and their numbers started to disappear and return to the Warp to rebuild their forms. However, Demons were vicious by nature, and they lashed out almost suicidally, wanting to take their enemies with them. The saying about cornered animals being the most dangerous definitely applied.
Despite the fortunes of battle slowly turning in their favor, the Elves had not yet achieved the goal they had set out to do. It wasn’t enough to defeat the Demons, as they would just come back. The fight was all about N’kari. It wasn’t enough to just kill him, they needed to kill him in a way that ensured he would not return right away.
To that end Logain dropped down from the Draenei fortress, spewing balefire at any demons nearby, before making his way towards N’kari. A thick column of white, almost liquid fire crashed against one of N'kari's arms, the appendage completely disappearing. The Demon was not yet beaten though, as he cast a spell of some sort, which seemed to cloud the minds of those attacking him. Logain and Tyrion launched their attacks at empty air while Tyrion seemed to be grabbed by some kind of nightmare.
General Kuren stood unaffected though, and loudly summoned the Light. Instead of attacking, he instead seemed to be calling on something, and the Light answered eagerly, sensing one of its enemies nearby. A large figure of Light made manifest appeared above the General. The Naaru were a race of living, sentient beings made of pure scintillating holy energies, appearing foreign to most eyes, yet soothing at the same time. They had no set shape, looking as if beings made of floating pieces of solidified light or crystal. This particular one burned with a righteous golden and red vengeance and turned all of its light on N'kari, burning the Greater Demon with all its might, leaving behind nothing but ash, before vanishing as well.
"Damn," Seraphiel muttered. "I might've underestimated the good General a bit."
With their leader gone, the Demons started to lose their cohesion faster, and the mortal champions were yanked away by their gods. There were still lives lost, but the battle did not last very long. As always, the aftermath of a battle would last multiple times longer than the battle itself, as all the casualties were counted, wounded treated, and damages assessed. It was going to be a long night for Seraphiel as one of the healers.