-15-

[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]

Amelia began to tell us her story.

The day after Julius and I had left their village, a large heavily armed group set up camp just outside its limits.

Cahir was just a small farming village that, like many other outcrops, had sprung up in the last decade. Expansion efforts to reclaim territory in the Commonlands had escalated, and with the support of the divisional armies in Axio many villages had been fortified to withstand weak monster attacks.

The hub of the village was atop a hill that was protected by a paltry mix of stone and wooden walls, sheer rock cliffs, and before the turmoil in Axio; regular patrols of divisional soldiers.

Most of the villagers were wary of such a militarized group appearing unexpectedly, especially since the remnants of the Vanixian Divisional Army had just passed through days before.

Worried that the group may have been sent from Axio to pursue our army, and would be unforgiving if they found out the village had welcomed them, the magistrate went to speak with them that night.

He didn’t return. And in fear, some villagers armed themselves.

They formed a small militia under the command of a prominent village head, who was an Imperial veteran of the Apocalypse.

In the early morning, before the sun had risen, and without warning… the bandits attacked.

It was immediately obvious that the militia stood no chance of winning. Knowing that Axio wasn’t safe and that the forces there couldn’t be trusted, the villagers grabbed whatever they could and fled south after our army.

Practically everyone who had arrived here at Tolin was a non-combatant. And nobody had any useful information about what we were going up against.

Great. An unknown force that chased fleeing farmers all the way here… Who in the Aether are these jerks?

Whoever they were, they would be arriving in the next few minutes. Julius had whipped up the supporting soldiers into a defensive formation, and was holding position behind the protection of the city walls.

At his and Hailey's insistence, I was atop the gatehouse, along with four Waystriders. According to Julius, I wasn’t ready to fight face-to-face with real people just yet.

And I think Hailey was just worried I wasn’t back to full strength, so she sided with him.

I didn’t disagree with them.

Monsters and beasts are pretty predictable when it comes to how they’ll react to things.

People on the other hand, didn’t always act according to instinct—not to mention the fact all of my equipment was stashed away in the manor—but I still didn’t feel comfortable sitting out on the action.

The high-ranked rangers who had been assigned to my guard were flanking me, two per side.

They’re giving me plenty of space… at least I’m not being handled like a child.

A horn sounded just past the gates.

I crept forward to get a better view. My guards moved with me. The aggressors had stopped a few hundred yards away, out of range of arrows and most spells.

Something moved in my periphery, jarring my attention away from them and towards the stone battlement.

Sitting atop the parapet walls was Meko, the tavern cat. He stared out intently at the massed army.

One of the rangers laughed lightly to himself after being startled by the cat.

How did Meko get up here? Ah, well it’s probably as safe as anywhere else to be.

I reached out to gently pat his head—A voice echoed in my ears. It sounded like a man whispering, low and gravelly.

“Do not bother me right now, Empress. You have more important things to worry about.”

Dumbstruck, I stood there with my hand hovering just above Meko’s soft fur. His face turned around just for a moment, his eyes narrowed.

Did a cat just talk to me telepathically?

“My sister can appear to you as a fox, and you accept it. But I take the form of a cat and it is beyond your comprehension? Unbelievable.”

Meko shook his head in disbelief.

“…”

You’re not Capricorn. Judging by your voice, I assume you’re not Virgo either. So who does that make you?

“Their beloved brother. Did they not mention me? What wonderful sisters I have… truly. I have taken quite a liking to living as Meko. A peaceful life in a small village in the grasslands. Apt I would say, for one such as I. For I am the Celestial God of Nature, Taurus.”

I shook my own head in disbelief this time.

Am I destined to run into a new Celestial deity every day now…?

“You should focus on the danger lurking under the disguise of those brigands.”

What do you mean?

“A practitioner of the Void accompanies them. Under the guise of a bandit. But they are an assassin, come for you.”

I sighed heavily, drawing the attention of my guards. Quickly, I waved my arm.

“Sorry, just thinking to myself.”

“Of course, Commander. I’m sure we all have the same thought.”

“Oh? And what thought would that be?”

“That if it’s not one thing, it’s another.”

I chuckled, “Absolutely.”

We sure can’t seen to catch a break. From Archdemons to string pulling Celestials—which speaking of, what sort of crazy nonsense am I going to get into by accepting your assistance here?

Meko hopped down off the wall.

“No nonsense. I am upset that abomination destroyed my peaceful home. I can’t intervene, not without causing issues with the others. But you can. If the opportunity presents itself, kill the mage for me.”

And with that final whisper, the God disappeared down the stairwell.

I scratched at my head.

Wasn’t telling me about the mage… intervening?

In the time spent going back and forth in my head with the Celestial sneaking around as Meko the cat, a small contingent of the bandit army was making its way down the road towards us.

The night air howled as a gale of wind rushed through the flat plains just north of us. A cold chill ran down my spine as the wild draft picked up.

“Fourteen riders approaching. Less than five minutes out.”

One of the rangers atop the gate startled me, shouting down to one of the runners in place to relay critical information to the main force.

Quickly snapping the rest of my mind back to reality I called back, my voice raised high.

“There is also a powerful magickal caster among them. All caution should be exercised.”

After a brief puzzled look, the ranger called down my added information and jogged over to my position.

“Sense something, Commander?”

“Yeah. You could call it a disturbance of sorts.”

“Got it. Well, whatever they bring to bear we’ll face it with you.”

“…”

I retook my position on the battlement and watched uneasily as the two-party strong advance came within attacking distance.

“What’s your name?”

“I am Waystrider Aleksi Tomin, Third Divisionals. Please, call me Tomin. I’m at your service, Commander.”

“Well, Tomin, stick close. We’re in for a rough night.”

“Which one of you red-clads is in charge?”

A brutish voice called out against the raging winds. His voice was being projected loudly with the assistance of an action class sonic spell, called AMPLIFY.

This guy was obviously some kind of mage. But if he was the void practitioner mentioned by Taurus remained unclear.

Doubtful someone hiding their magickal abilities would be the one mouthing off and show casing their powers right away.

Julius’ voice rang out in response from underneath the cover of the gatehouse.

“You’re trespassing in Divisional territory. Turn back or we will take force against you.”

That’s my cool and collected vice-commander for you. Straight to the point with threatening violence. Way to go Julius, no doubt we’ll be able to talks things over now.

The angry man spat on the ground, making no effort to hide his true feelings.

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s be reasonable shall we?”

I clenched my fists tightly. Something about his demeanor seemed familiar… And it pissed me off immensely.

Peering over the battlements to get a better look at the ring-leader, I was hit with a rush of shock.

The man stood a few feet ahead of the small group, outfitted in a crimson set of plate-armor that looks too close in appearance to the set Julius was currently wearing.

Judging by his towering presence over his fellow party members he was definitely over seven feet. Paired with the long white hair that came tumbling down as he removed his helmet…

It couldn’t be. This man should be dead.

There was no doubt that this was the noblebourne bandit Julius and I fought and killed after leaving Cahir.

That or this was a doppelganger.

Performing a quick review with OMNISIGHT revealed it was the latter.

TARGET

STATISTICS

[HIDDEN]

HEALTH: [110] / [110]

STAMINA: [112] / [150]

MAGICKA: [605] / [615]

»NOTICE: DETAILED APPRAISAL BLOCKED BY RUNIC INTERFERENCE.

The same damnable runic magick as before.

And what the heck does this message mean by ‘detailed appraisal’?

But it was obvious that this wasn’t the same man. His stats were radically different.

Tomin must have sensed something was off and gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Commander, is that man the disturbance you felt?”

“Ah, no. But he is certainly a threat.”

“Understood.”

Julius and his troop moved forwards into view.

They stepped slowly in a tight semi-circle formation with guardians at the front forming a shieldwall.

His guard was already up, no doubt thinking the same thoughts of our aggressor as I. From his point of view he would be able to see the man much clearer than I could.

“We’ll not tolerate brigands in our lands. Leave now or prepare to be put down.”

“Big talk from a bunch of runaways”

The noblebourne sneered at Julius, and the others behind him laughed as well.

As Julius and his forces approached closer he drew his weapon. Bright silver light pulsed outwards around him as he activated his SILVER BULWARK ability, granting a protective barrier to those around him.

“Huuuh? What’s this then?” The bandit leader takes a step forward and points squarely at Julius, “You in the front, casting that silvery magick. Where in the blazes did you get that armor?”

“Pried it from the body of another idiot too stupid to know not to cross me.”

Chill. What’s your deal today, Julius?

Whatever had gotten Julius all fired up, palled in comparison to the level of rage now coming off the bandit guy in front of us.

“You bastard! I’ll carve that ugly smirk from your face!”

A blast of fire flew through the air at Julius.

With his shield raised, he planted his feet and braced himself.

The impact from the spell drove him back, pushing him against the shields of the guardian wall, but dissipated rather harmlessly under the effects of his barrier.

Wind rushed past my face as four charged arrow shots were loosened from Tomin and his fellow waystriders.

Three of shots hit true. The fourth was deflected by its target skillfully with a pair of blades.

All of the targets were robed figures, likely spell casters.

Great intuition from the rangers with me. And impressive that they designated unique targets of their own with no verbal communication.

The dual-wielding enemy was an anomaly. She had been wearing a caster’s robe but it fell loose as she defended against the ranged attack, revealing a strange outfit.

Tight fitted ebony-black plate armor covered her from head-to-toe. Though, at her waist it broke out into an elegant ruffle-layered dress of blue and black cloth. A sharp angled metal face-plate adorned her head, covering her ears from view.

Alarm bells sounded in my head as my instincts screamed that this person was a threat.

Before I had a chance to try and appraise her, she flipped behind the remaining bandit group in a dazzling display of aerobatics. As she landed a pink glowing crystal left her hands, flung high into the air.

A crackle of energy discharged from the crystal and a moment later beams of pinkish light rose into the sky in the distance.

At the location of the main bandit force.

In the span of a blink, one-hundred more worked-up bandits had been beamed down onto the battle field, thanks to that woman’s warp crystal.

I now understood why Taurus had taken his time to warn me about this disguised spell-caster.

Warp crystals were powerful magi-tools that allowed the user to activate teleportation spells without the lengthy incantations and sigil work.

Now the guarding force Julius was commanding was outnumbered, almost four-to-one.

“Crush these red-clad bastards!”

At the call of their leader, the bandit army swarmed the shieldwall.

My focus was directed to finding the woman in black.

As soon as the teleportation spell had finished activating she vanished out of view.

Without turning my attention away from the battlefield, I called out to Tomin.

“That woman who activated the warp crystal is the priority target. She is the most dangerous thing in this fight. Keep your guard up and try to find her.”

“Aye, Commander—”

“Someone is coming up the stairwell!”

One of the rangers called out a warning.

“Halt! You can’t be up here—Gah! Stop I said!”

At the sounds of the scuffle behind me I turned around to find my sister pushing her way past the dissenting ranger.

Her breath was heavy and she was practically doubled over to catch it. One arm clutched a bundle of clothing and armor plates.

She looked up at me and held out her free hand. She tried to say something, but it just came out as a wheeze.

In her palm was a small coin-sized stone.

A runestone of her own design that allowed short-range communication between other wearers.

You dummy! Rushing into a battlefield to bring me a communirune.

Scolding her in my head, I grabbed the rune and placed it against my head, below my ear, and activated it.

A light jolt ran through my body and the crackle of magick filled my ears as it came to life.

“Hey-hey, Commander. Looks like we’re back in action, eh?”

Luke’s voice flooded into my head.

“Luke, I’m glad you’re here. But I’m going to give you a walloping for sending my sister into harms way.”

“Whoa! That was not my call. She stubbornly raced ahead of us and wouldn’t give up your rune. Mei tried to keep her back, but Rias wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

I sighed and looked down at my sister who was gasping for life in front of me.

“Thanks for bringing this to me, sis. But you can’t stay here.”

If looks could kill, Rias would have slain me.

“Yeah. No.”

“What do you mean, yeah no? This area is too dangerous for civilians—”

Her arm came up to stop me.

“Not… leaving.”

“Like hell you’re not. Hey! Take my sister down to that temp checkpoint place away from the gate.”

I waved down the ranger that she had blitzed past.

He stared at her, hesitating.

“Carry her if you need to. Just get her out of danger.”

“You got it, Commander.”

“Huh!? Hey—”

With a bewildered look my sister was scooped up and carried down the stairwell.

I shook my head.

Back to business.

Concentrating on opening a channel over the rune I reached out to another of my companions.

“Mei, are you here too?”

“Yep. I’m climbing up the tower to your west right now. I’ll be at the top in thirty seconds.”

“Fantastic. Keep your eyes out for a woman in black plate armor, fancy blueish dress. She’s your main target. Find her and take her out of the fight.”

“Acknowledged. What kind of threat is she?”

“Well, she’s the one who just warped in over a hundred more bandits to come play. And I have it on good authority that she’s a void magick user.”

“…”

Silence crackled over the runic pathways.

“Understood.”

Mei finally responds and a faint pop in my ear indicates she terminated the connection.

“Luke.”

“I’m here.”

“I need you to get to Julius. His position is not good. They’re surrounded by a lot of enemies.”

“Way ahead of you, Commander. I’ll be with the Vice-Commander in five seconds.”

I rushed back over to overlook the battle just in time to see Luke running through the gatehouse.

His body shimmered in the torchlight and faded from view. A loud burst raced from where he was, and a small shock-wave followed behind.

A second later and he reappeared in the middle of the fight. His blades dance as arcs of blood spray from the necks of multiple bandit fighters.

A powerful new ability he’d learned, FLICKER STRIKE.

A mix of sonic magick and physical skill, it’s a combat class ability that allowed him to jump into battle and attack a number of foes before they’d even realize he’s there.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

His sudden appearance in combat had a noticeable effect of the enemy forces. They were forced to retreat back from Julius’ main force and regrouped into two wedge groups.

A bright glint of green energy on my left tells me that Mei made it atop the tower, and was preparing some sort of ranged attack.

Hopefully she had better luck than my four guardsmen.

After the main enemy force was ported in a number of spell casters started deflecting their shots with a magickal barrier.

The crackle of a communirune line establishing zipped in my ear, followed by the, very pleased with herself, voice of Mei.

“Reduction in enemy forces in three… two… one!”

A streak of green shot over top the battlefield bursting into a dozen shards at the center of our troops.

Those shards made their way towards the ground at tremendous speeds impaling the brigands below.

What seemed like it might be overkill, turned out to be somewhat less effective as the enemy force’s casters seemed to have a few that specialized in healing magick.

Nearly half of those affected by Mei’s volley were hit in critical spots and went down faster than they could be saved, but the other half managed to clutch onto life with the help of some area of effect healing.

Still an impressive counterattack from those two.

I was hoping the area damage from Mei’s attack would flush out the woman in black.

But I had no such luck.

I strained my sight darting my eyes back and forth trying to catch a glimpse of her in the battle below.

When that didn’t work I turned my focus inwards, trying to sense her aura.

If she was as powerful as Taurus made it seem, then maybe I could find her by trying to find a large disturbance in the area around us.

With my eyes shut I steadied myself.

Just gotta focus on sensing large quantities of Aethermist. Block out the interference from the sounds of battle.

I let out a slow, paced breath of air.

Focus, Airis. Focus.

A sharp jolt zipped through my head and I was able to create a mental heat-map of the pockets of magicka nearby.

With me at the center there were five other quite large clusters.

I ruled the one closest to me out as likely being Hailey, stationed below in a support unit providing backup to the main unit.

Of the remaining four, three of them were in the enemy lines.

One belonged to the Noblebourne prick-head shooting flames at Julius.

The other two seemed to be the casters in each enemy wedge formation. Those responsible for the barriers and large-scale healing.

The last one radiated an expected level of intensity. This belonged to the mystery woman for sure.

The only problem… was that it was behind me.

And to make things worse. She must have sensed that I found her, because the energy readings started to head directly to me.

I cut off the mental link I made and snapped myself back to normal space, turning towards the city.

While channeling the same thought to Mei, I addressed my would-be guards.

“Get ready for anything. She’s heading our way.”

Tomin turned his head to me with a flustered look. But nodded his head and readied an arrow, preparing to draw it back.

A thick mist started to form around the gatehouse.

The woman was casting some sort of powerful spell close by.

With a small part of my mind I attempted to reach out and pinpoint the source of the magick, but I was met with nothing but empty static.

The mists grew and twisted into dark shadows.

“Hey, Commander. I’ve lost visual on you. I’m heading back down the tower to your position.”

“Thanks, Mei. Whatever spell this is, it doesn’t look dangerous in itself. But my vision is down to about twenty feet—”

“Ghaaa!?”

One of the rangers ahead of me fell back into my visual range.

A red stream of blood sprayed out from his arm and he frantically grabbed at the wound.

“Shit!”

I took a step towards the injured man, but a blade came up to stop me.

Tomin blocked my way forward. A short sword in his hand, his bow left to wait on the stone floor.

In shadows, a figure moved towards us. The silhouette of the woman in black. Her blades held low, the sound of them scraping against the stone stings my ears.

Another ranger rushed to intercept her, but she moved like a flash of lightning.

He doesn’t even get close.

The woman spun gracefully to her left, drawing both blades in line and slashed him, one blade hit the chest and the other sliced cleanly across his neck.

Through the mists a soft and melodic voice touches me, almost as if making its way to my very soul.

“Darkness creeps ever closer, tearful weeps betray expose her.”

A shiver runs down my spine as the woman speaks in verse.

Was she casting some sort of curse?

If it was a kind of dark magick, nothing seemed to have happened.

Other than creeping me out to the max.

“Stop where you are, banshee. I’ll not let you come any closer.”

Tomin was now blocking me entirely, his blade at the ready.

The ranger I sent with Rias was unaccounted for.

I hoped that he was safe.

I reached out to Mei with a warning.

“Lady in black is on me. Not sure what her deal is, but she’s got a real witch-of-the-woods kind of vibe. At least two of the waystriders are severely wounded.”

“Ah, by the stars… I’m almost to you. Don’t get yourself killed, Airis!”

“I don’t plan on it.”

The woman was now close enough that she was almost clearly visible through the mist. I was able to make out the finer details of our attacker.

Short gold-blonde hair waved wildly in the wind. Her eyes had an abnormal glow to them, a piercing blue—like the sky on a clear day.

Now that I had an unimpeded view of the warrior, I activated a quick appraisal to determine just how much of a threat she was actually.

Taurus wasn’t very specific other than being a “danger” and an assassin.

A window formed into view on my left, just within my periphery.

TARGET

STATISTICS

HIKITA

The Azure Rose

HEALTH: [140] / [140]

STAMINA: [200] / [210]

MAGICKA: [700] / [755]

» TARGET SUFFERS FROM A NEGATIVE EFFECT: CURSE OF THE FALLEN

» ACTIVE EFFECT: AURA OF SHADOWS

What in the Aether is that under her name—Is that a title? ‘The Azure Rose’!? Curse of the Fallen? Just who is this woman and why is she here harassing us?

It was clear she was no ordinary bandit. The level of magickal power she was displaying should be proof enough.

Take into account that she had used a warp crystal to teleport in a hundred or so people, and her MAGICKA was already close to replenished meant she either had some great potions with her, or her stats were insanely high.

“Tomin, do you have an extra blade?”

The ranger hesitated for a moment but drew a dagger from his waist and handed it back to me slowly, never taking his eyes off Hikita.

I tucked the small blade away behind my back along my waistband.

Drawing a sigil through the air, I channeled magicka through my palms and prepared a HOLY BOLT.

“In the light of divinity, be judged. Righteous Fire!”

The fiery ball of holy energy flew straight towards the swordswoman.

Annnd she cut it in half. Wait—she cut it in half!?

The woman’s swords slashed my spell in two.

Each half becoming unstable and flying off in different directions, exploding wildly.

What kind of sword can cut through a holy spell?

“What was that noise? I’m on the last flight of stairs now—Hahhh!”

The sound of a door being kicked open echoed up from the southern stairwell. Followed by the hurried footsteps of a certain elf.

Mei came into view as she quickly traversed the gatehouse roof.

A barrage of arrows leapt from her bowstrings as she closed the distance.

The woman knocked each from their path effortlessly, eliciting audible displeasure from my companion.

Mei stopped next to Tomin in an awkward, but controlled slide.

“Tch.”

Mei clicked her tongue, shouldering her bow as she stood.

A mild reddened glow surrounded our attacker. The trademark ability of Mei’s Ebonfeather Eagle, Valiance, MARK TARGET.

Normally when the ability lights up a target there are a few bright spots indicating weak points.

Hikita, the wonder woman that she apparently is, has none.

“Damnable Ixians. You dark elves should just stay holed up in your ebony forests.”

Mei holds her short-blade out threateningly.

The woman stopped and tilted her head slightly in response.

Her questioning look is the most emotion she’s displayed this entire time. Even when swinging her swords her face had been blank.

But at the mention of the dark elves her interest seemed to be garnered, at least in some small amount.

I was going to ask Mei if she was sure this lady wasn’t human, but with her curious look and obvious shadow magick. It made sense that she wasn’t.

Her stature and appearance betray that conclusion.

She didn’t look like anything other than a human, save the strange glowing eyes.

The weird metal plate covering the sides of her face had struck me as odd. It must had to be designed to hide elongated ears, rather than be defensive.

Mei gave some sort of hand signal to Tomin, and they both leapt forward at the paused void-caster.

Her blades came up to meet theirs in perfect timing.

The form of her parry was without a single flaw, turning both attacks away.

“A task unfinished, her will diminished. Prepare to slay her, the world betrayer.”

More creepy verse-like words from the crazy woman.

“You’re not slaying anyone else, you witch!”

Mei sneered, leaping forwards in another coordinated attack with Tomin.

The four blades flashed and sang out in a chorus of steel.

Using their engagement as cover I dashed around to the other side of the rooftop.

Carefully placing my hand over the ranger whose neck had been slashed at, I checked to see if he was still alive.

Barely.

He groaned in pain as I moved my hands over the wounds at his neck and chest.

Arterial blood still seeped from the deep cut near his throat, though weakly. He didn’t have much time until he bled out.

I channeled energy through my palms.

“Blessed and divine light, I pray to you. Grant me the power of your golden flame. Bestow your warmth unto me and save this one from harm. Heal!”

Magickal power surged through me into the damaged tissues.

His cry of pain burst as one last yelp, and then the man passed out from the stress.

Such a deep wound being healed in a tender spot probably felt like tiny daggers to his nerves as the tissues were magickally forced to knit back together.

With a weak pulse and even weaker breaths, I left the ranger and moved to his companion who I thought hadn’t been slashed as badly.

The ringing of crossed swords continued as I slid into place to find the man had passed out already.

A deep gash ran from his chest across his right arm. With his left arm, he was loosely holding a balled up mess of bloody cloth.

The entire right side of his body is soaked in blood.

No pulse.

I pulled the small blade I’d stashed away earlier and cut away at the soldier's frayed uniform.

With the full wound now exposed I poured energy through my hands and recited a major healing incantation.

The wound stitched itself back together quickly.

Okay, Goddesses. Please let this work!

With an internal prayer, I focused on that aetherial connection deep within me.

“Your soul hasn’t completed its journey, Soldier of the Light. With this pathway I bid you to seek me beyond the veil and return, revival!”

The flow of magicka coursed through me into the slain ranger—And then rushed back into me all at once.

» RESURRECTION FAILS [NULLIFIED], SOUL IRRETRIEVABLE.

Dammit. Dammit!

I sank down low on the floor.

My fists were clenched so tight that I ended drawing blood with one of my nails.

Mei’s guttural screams behind me raged as their fight with the dual-wielder continued.

“Com—der. Are—kay?”

Luke’s voice fizzled over the communirune. Parts of his speech cut in and out.

I spun around looking for him.

Could he see me in this sad state?

“Luke? I can barely understand you.”

“Airi— Hello? —iris!?”

“Can you hear me? Luke?”

What was going on with these things?

I tapped the runestone, switching it off and back on.

“Hey, Luke, can you hear me now?”

“—is go—on up th—”

Something was interfering with our ability to talk over the runes. Surely it had to do with one black-clad swordswoman in close proximity.

I glanced at the display showing her basic stats.

Her MAGICKA levels had dropped pretty dramatically, and were still draining even though she wasn’t actively casting any spells.

So this shadowy mist had to be some kind of passive spell that needed magicka to sustain itself.

The shadows had receded noticeably as well.

Fighting two experienced waystriders had to take an extreme level of focus on her part. Perhaps the structure of the spell was degrading in her mind.

Wait… can I appraise the mist?

INSPECTION

SPELL

SCHOOL

DETAILS

SUPPRESSING SHADOWS

Void

Thick fog and mist surround a large area, dampening the effects of other magicks.

Requires the caster to maintain a low level mental sigil.

» SPELL STATUS: DISSIPATING

If we keep pushing on the caster, we could break out of this mess.

Dampening magick… What a cheap trick.

Now I understood why my attack had been able to be split by her weapons.

But now with the power of that area effect being reduced I had a chance to assist in the fight.

Two streaks of golden flame scorched the stones of the gatehouse rooftop—Hikita had managed to cleave my bolt of magick by striking with both of her swords braced together.

Taking advantage of the minor distraction, both rangers jumped at our attacker. She managed to fend them off, though only just barely. As Mei and Tomin disengaged, the swordswoman’s last vestiges of strength waned and she buckled to her knee.

Mei flanked me on the left. Wildly trying to catch her breath after the multi-swing combination strike she had just unleashed with Tomin—who had fallen back to my right.

The overtaxed ranger looked much worse off when compared to Mei. His status bar flashed frantically in the corner of my vision, his once mighty stamina bar now down to double digits.

“Give it… up… you bitch.”

Mei’s voice weakly cursed the woman in between gasps.

“I see through… your heart… conceited, pursue not… a foe… far retreated…”

Hikita’s words were just as strained as Mei’s.

If we could manage to bring one more strong offensive attack to bear, we may be able to take her down.

Before I had the chance to do anything the mists began to coalesce towards the void-caster.

Her otherworldly blue eyes faded away, obscured by the haze.

“You’re not… getting away!”

Mei threw her short blade at where the woman had just been, followed by the clatter of steel hitting stone.

The dense mists dispersed—the fight was over.

“Paaah!”

I reached out to Mei, grabbing her shoulder.

“She’s gone. Take a moment to rest. We need to find out what’s going on down below.”

With her nod as acknowledgment I started to reach out to Luke, but was interrupted.

The splintering noise of a door being force open was followed by a party of divisionals clamoring their way up the stairwell.

Their leader motioned a halt once they saw us.

“You just missed the fight.”

“Our apologies, Commander. There was some sort of spell sealing the door closed.”

“…”

That woman pulled all the stops, huh.

“Please assist the waystriders. The man across the way was severely injured, and Tomin needs to recuperate.”

“I’m staying… right here.”

Mei’s voice wheezed through a strained breath.

“You need to rest. Our reinforcements can guard me while you regain your stamina.”

She sighed and relaxed onto her back.

“Fiiine. Still not leaving though.”

With a light chuckle I left them to their efforts.

I attempted to open the channel with Luke once more.

“Luke, can you hear me?”

“Airis!? Why in the Aether weren’t you responding?”

“Oh bless the Light! Airis, we feared the worst.”

Hailey’s frantic panic, followed by Luke’s cry of relief jumbled together in my ears.

“We’re fine up here. There was some sort of interference from the void-mage, but she has been pushed back for now. What’s your status? This fog hasn’t fully cleared yet, I can’t see you.”

“Hard pressed. Julius is struggling to maintain his barrier. We may be overrun in the next few minutes.”

“The cavalry charge is almost ready!”

Hanna’s voice chirped in over the rune waves.

The battle ahead of the gates had devolved into quite the situation.

Hailey was leading a small group of healers to keep our force in the fight, but they were starting to succumb to feedback and magicka drain.

Hanna rounded up a contingent of knights with riding training to form a cavalry unit and was preparing to counterattack.

Her intent was to force distance between the bandits and Julius’ group and allow them to fall back to the city.

All the while, Mei and I had been out of communication due to the effect of SUPPRESSING SHADOWS.

The party that had broken down the door had been sent up once Rias and her escort had made it to the checkpoint building. Hanna tried to contact me over communirune but couldn’t get through.

Hikita must have placed the seal on the door after Mei had burst her way through and disrupted the fight.

“Keep the enemy busy while I prepare something. If the knights can interrupt the defensive casters that would be even better.”

“You got it, Commander!”

Hanna’s voice trailed off from the runic connection, but I could still make her yelling out as it was carried up from the gatehouse by the winds.

With an unparalleled ferocity she riled up the unit, that their High-Commander needed them to be the lynch pin in our counteroffensive.

I zoned out their loud cheers and cries; taking myself down a pathway to gnosis.

My only attack magick was a simple holy spell. Reliable in battle against a single enemy, it hadn’t caused any issues for me in the past.

But it was that single target limitation that tethered my offensive capabilities down.

The core sigil for HOLY BOLT was illuminated in front of me. It was a very simple spell, so much so that drawing the sigil out while casting to act as an anchor was hardly necessary unless you were using incredibly complex incantations.

That was about to change for my version.

Three new patterns flickered in addition to the core.

Unbound, Devastation, and Retribution.

I drew on my own rage and frustrations of the last month, pushing all of those volatile emotions into the formation of this spell.

The saintly gold, the hallmark of a Holy-class spell was now besmirched a sickly blood-orange.

Another orange glow had sprang to life as well. My wrist-bound rune flashed wildly with excitement to share its news.

» HOLY BOLT HAS BEEN MODIFIED, AND IS NOW AVAILABLE AS AN UNINCORPORATED SPELL, CHAOS BOLT

» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOU HAVE LEARNED A NEW SPELL:

» NEW OPERATION CLASS SPELL, CHAOS BOLT

» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOUR ATTRIBUTES HAVE INCREASED:

» CHAOS HAS INCREASED TO 38

» WILLPOWER HAS INCREASED TO 21

» DIVINITY HAS INCREASED TO 26

My new offensive spell was an operation-class attack, ranking two classes higher than its origin magick. In terms of power that meant it would far exceed my hopes of being able to counter multiple targets.

With my construction completed I turned my attention to the battle raging below.

Alright Goddess, let’s see if my foes can stand against our power.

“Divine power which pulses with me, unleash my wrath to cull those who would align with the dark, Reckoning!"

The flood-gate to the well of power that bound Capricorn and I together rushed open.

The battlefield below was illuminated as if the morning sun had risen. Both forces hesitated in their battle to look at the source of such an oddity.

All along the battlements of Tolin’s main gate, orbs of radiant crimson had manifested. Hidden beneath the shining light were jagged semi-solid crystalline projectiles of chaotic magicka.

Their blinding intensity made it impossible for anyone below to count the true number of readied missiles.

I had no way of knowing if anyone fighting could hear me but I spat the bitterness that had built up in me anyway.

“You now face the price of judgment for conflict against the Empire. May your Gods have mercy on your souls in the planes beyond the veil!”

[https://i.imgur.com/35oJTxf.png]

Unbridled energy rained down upon the enemy forces. The crimson shards exploded after making contact with their targets, leaving them and their nearby allies with gaping wounds.

One of the enemy mages came to their senses in time to project a magickal barrier around a small unit of brigands.

But the first projectile to contact the barrier broke it, resulting in an ear-shattering shock wave. The force knocked the caster and everyone nearby to the ground.

A second and third shard that had been following close behind split into a hellish rain of fragmentation, inflicting hundreds of piercing wounds.

In a matter of seconds the bandit army that was threatening Tolin was reduced to a mess of bloody pin cushions.

Julius and his small force of defenders emerged from their bunker of shields, surrounded by crimson splinters and shards.

Most of the mounted knights had been jostled from their saddles. Even combat trained mounts had been spooked by the sudden catastrophic effects of the spell.

As I had expected, the wave of spell feedback crashed over me. But since I was prepared for it this time, I narrowly managed to avoid blacking out.

A guard caught me as I stumbled backwards.

Mei rushed over to support me, and with her help we slowly descended the stairwell.

----------------------------------------

We left the Watch-Captain to handle the clean-up at the gate.

Hanna and Luke stayed with the refugees, including Nyle and Amelia, to finalize any administrative details and find them temporary lodging.

Mei continued on towards the Citadel; leaving Julius, Hailey, Rias, and I in the residential district.

We walked through the winding streets up to the larger manors in relative silence. The guards standing sentry greeted us as we finally reached our destination.

Julius set a pack he had been lugging around down close to the kitchen and about-faced to head up the stairs.

He paused mid-way up.

“Hey, Airis.”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

I returned a quick smile and a nod, and he continued up to his room.

The clunk of his shield and weapon being placed down on a table echoed through the house. It was followed by the thud of him falling into bed.

Still in a daze, I stared at the bed centered in the main room that I had woken up in this morning.

“Do I have a bedroom, or do I have to sleep out in the open?”

Hailey chuckled and gently placed her hands on my back. She steered me down a hall, towards a room in the western wing that had three much nicer beds positioned along the far wall.

“You have a bed in the back, since you’re finally out of your coma and don’t need the guards to continue keeping tabs, you can sleep with me.”

She giggled at her obvious playful phrasing, but I was too exhausted to react.

Rias tossed a pair of smallclothes at me, and showed me to the washroom so I could change and scrub myself quickly before bed.

I acknowledged the incessant blinking along my wrist and quickly reviewed before dismissing the notifications.

» YOU HAVE GAINED IN POWER, YOUR ATTRIBUTES HAVE INCREASED:

» AETHER HAS INCREASED TO 48

» WISDOM HAS INCREASED TO 35

» DEXTERITY REMAINS AT 41

» INGENUITY HAS INCREASED TO 46

» CHAOS HAS INCREASED TO 39

» WILLPOWER HAS INCREASED TO 24

» DIVINITY HAS INCREASED TO 28