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image [https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]
True to Julius’ guess, twenty-or-so minutes passed before we received notice that a pathway to the Renaultian palace had been secured.
The remnants of Renault’s forces had fortified their positions atop the palace ramparts and on the grounds below. To my dismay, we started getting reports of void-beasts appearing alongside them.
If what Ikuye mentioned before was true, those abominations were the twisted results of humans being subjected to a terrible void-based magick.
Both horrifying and formidable, they posed the biggest threat to our standard forces. The Renaultian gendarmerie were just fodder at this point—
I shook my head in an effort to dispel my idle thoughts.
Can’t let myself lose perspective. Each of our enemies poses a risk to my people, regardless of how they compare to Renault’s sick creations.
“Are we prepared?” I asked my retinue of knights and pair of misfit children.
Everyone remained silent. Though not quite a readied response, nobody in my party gave an objection.
“We’ll work out the nerves on the way, Your Eminence.” Flik eventually spoke up, leading to a wave of animated nods from the rest.
I grinned faintly, “Today’s assault is no different from every other push we’ve made into the city. Our enemy is on the back-step. Their underhanded tricks and pointless rhetoric haven’t achieved anything, so they’re growing evermore desperate with each hour. All that’s left is to crush them, right? No big deal. Let’s pay them back for all the suffering they inflicted.”
Aeko snapped into a salute and yelled, “Let’s get payback for Murph!”
Flik and Viktor both raised their arms in a cheer.
I sensed Hikita shift uncomfortably behind the group, but at least Aeko wasn’t directing her pain at the girl anymore. We didn’t have the time to heal those wounds properly, but it was better progress than laying the blame on another victim.
I met Hikita’s gaze and gave her a reassuring smile.
“Renault’s reckoning is overdue,” I affirmed.
On Julius’ broadcasted signal, we opened our assault just as he’d planned; with a ballistae volley.
The ground shook as plumes of debris shot into the sky. Officers nearby began confirming hits via communirune connections to Specter teams atop the city walls and marked the strikes on a crudely drawn battle-map.
Guess that’s our cue.
We advanced amidst the masses, winding through the marked paths that cut across the rough terrain.
Our raid divisions were more clearly defined the closer we got, with proper units forming together to push ahead.
With guardian roles maintaining a shield-line, spellcasters were raining fire down on approaching void-beasts.
We’d made adjustments to our battle strategy, enhancing our mainline tanker’s shields with strengthening enchants that could withstand the void-beast’s powerful claws.
Fighters in melee with the awful beasts would still have to engage them at a three-to-one to even stand a chance, but we wouldn’t suffer a high casualty rate right off the bat—unlike our first push on the city.
I charged magicka through my body and recited the spell incantation to cast my aura, buffing my own party as well as the nearby soldiers.
“Source of light that dwells among the veiled. Journey with us as we make our way in the darkness. Come forth and guide our way, Radiance!”
» YOU ARE AFFECTED BY AN AURA OF LIGHT [CHAOTIC AURA]
» YOU ARE AFFECTED BY PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENT
My attention was momentarily drawn away from the ensuing battle as my spells took effect—the typical, golden-light mixed with chaos-orange color of my aura was instead a shiny iridescent hue.
One more thing to worry about later.
I let the stray concern drift into the recesses of my mind and refocused on pressing dangers.
A wave of pressure rushed past me. I turned to see Akari standing with her hands out, ripples of chaotic energy running across her skin. Two giant pillars of flame swirled to life ahead of our defensive line, incinerating a large swath of the monstrous void-beasts.
I unsheathed my weapon, and Dáinsleif erupted in an inferno of multi-colored fire.
Okaaay… maybe I can’t worry about this later. Why are my spells and weapon acting up all of a sudden?
INSPECTION
ITEM
ATTRIBUTES
DETAILS
DÁINSLEIF
THE DIVINE BLADE
257-289 Damage
+10 Sanity
+12 Divinity
An exquisite blade of tempered demonic fire-imbued steel, purified by the Goddess of Vanixia’s divine flames.
When wielded, it ignites in AETHERIAL FIRE.
Bound. Chaotic. Divine.
» CLASS: ARTIFACT
» STATUS: DORMANT
» FANG OF AVER’TERIA
» MATERIAL: IMBUED STEEL [DEMONIC FANG]
» ATTUNEMENTS: CHAOTIC / DIVINE
SPELL
SCHOOL
DETAILS
AETHERIAL FIRE
Divine
Consumed by divine flames, attacks will deal splashing damage to nearby foes.
Critical strikes have a moderate chance to inflict a stigma which ignites the target's nerves; causing extreme damage.
SPELL
SCHOOL
DETAILS
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
FANG OF AVER’TERIA
Chaos
Souls purified by the flames of justice dwell deep within the blade called Dáinsleif.
Weapon becomes empowered when saturated in freshly drawn blood.
» SPELL STATUS: DORMANT
Oh… is this my fault?
I hadn't wielded Dáinsleif while trekking through the backstreets because I didn’t want to draw attention to us—since the ever-burning flames made it brighter than most torches in the dark.
Wait, if the curse effect on FANG OF AVER’TERIA is gone, does that mean I can use my weapon normally now? Nice!
I praised my luck and rescinded any lingering thoughts laying blame on my finicky divine powers.
My brief introspection was disrupted by a small pink-haired girl thrusting her face close to my weapon.
“Hey now! Whaddya think you’re doing, kiddo?”
I pulled the hazardous blade away on reflex, but it was for naught as Akari followed after it. Then she started sniffing at the flames.
Oh, by the…
“Stop that!” I scolded, “You could get hurt. This thing is unpredictable.”
“New smell.”
I continued trying to move the sword away from her face, but she followed after it, undeterred. Finally, I raised it into the air out of her reach and Akari relented, giving me her attention.
“Awh,” she whined, “but it has the same smell as you! It’s really strong.”
I patted her on the head with my free hand, “Well, that’s good to know, I guess. But it doesn’t make it any less dangerous. Also, kiddo, I’d really prefer you don’t say that me or my things smell… It just has a bad connotation in our language.”
She looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes, “Then what should I say?”
I hadn’t really given it any thought, as she hadn’t been sniffing at anything in a while.
“Uhm,” I started, “maybe say ‘scent’ instead? It’s less harsh and usually has a more positive meaning.”
Akari nodded enthusiastically, “Okay!”
A chorus of chuckles around us drew my attention, and I felt my face flush when I realized my guard knights had been watching the whole exchange.
Flik gave me a pitiable look, “Perhaps you could save the vocab lessons for a more appropriate place, Your Eminence?”
“Ahem,” I cleared my throat and straightened my posture, “Yes, of course. Let us focus on supporting the assault. We can delve into the mysteries of my changed sword some other time.”
----------------------------------------
Our offensive pressed ever closer to the palace proper with our units cycling squads in constantly, switching out injured and drained troops for fresh and rearmed soldiers courtesy of the Light teams on the back line.
The Renaultians had no such measures in place, and were noticeably weakening. Their morale had to be at an all-time low. Soon after each void-beast slain came the destruction or seizure of a defensive position, resulting in them being pushed up against the palace exterior.
Devastation occurred on their western front about an hour into our assault, when Ikuye and her small team joined the fray. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought the reports of her attack were exaggerated. However, I knew better, and hearing the results over the communirune had given me a moment of pause.
I kinda felt bad for the Renaultians.
But I was only addled for a few seconds.
Not my fault your “king” is a void-crazed lunatic hell-bent on committing every war crime possible. Should’ve stopped him if you didn’t wanna share responsibility.
“Hail, sword-sister!” A cheerful voice called out amidst the raging battlefield.
Speak of the…
Ikuye waved at me, weaving around obstacles—both static and living ones. Her red battle-dress was covered in mud and viscera.
Strea, Tomin, and… Joffrey? Shit, I still don’t remember this poor guy’s name.
“Heya, Ikuye.” I greeted the blood-drenched warrior, “You guys run out of enemies to cut down?”
“Bwah-ha!” She let out a boisterous laugh. Ikuye glanced back at her retinue and sneered, “Hardly. I was advised to disengage for the time being. My presence was causing some of your soldiers to falter.”
Tomin and the other guy’s condition didn’t look too great, the color in their face was drained and the light behind their eyes seemed faded.
Strea seemed okay outwardly, but from the way she was walking, I could tell she was physically exhausted. Even if she was fine from a ‘dealing with the aura of an angelic warrior of the gods’ perspective, she needed to rest along with the others.
I told Ikuye that she was free to continue along with my knights and I if she wanted, but that she ought to send her companions toward the rear to visit the field medics for a short rest, and quick clean up.
“Nah,” she waved me off, “As much fun as I’m having, I’ll not abandon my squadron! Not like a trip together to the healers is something terrible. Oh, I’ll say hi to your mate for you while I’m there!”
I choked on my own spit, “Gah! How many times do I have to tell you—”
“Onward, to my sister’s beloved! Forward march!”
Ikuye ignored my protests and rallied her exhausted troop, rushing out of sight.
An uncomfortable static feeling preceded a tired-sounding voice chiming in over my communirune.
“Assault-One to Regal-One.” Julius called for me directly.
“Go for Regal-One.” I replied in my best impression of him.
“The way is clear.” His tone shifted, changing to one with a hint of excitement, “We have need of your plus-one to push ahead.”
I paused, glancing at Hikita—who was oblivious to our conversation, unlike Flik or the other knights who shared my comms channel.
“Can you provide more details on what you mean?” I responded after trying to think of any reason he’d need her.
“The door is locked tight.” he said flatly.
“And what, you think she’s got a key?”
“I was hoping she could do one more voodoo void magick trick like she did at the big rock.”
“I can ask if she has any ideas to get us in, but is it necessary? After the mess we’ve made, why not just blow a hole through the door and keep moving?”
There was a tense silence as I waited for a response.
“Conventional attempts to make an opening failed, and the asset I’d planned to use is still en-route as our advance went better than anticipated.”
In other words, he already tried to blow it up.
“Haah.” I sighed, both relieved his personality in the middle of a war hadn’t changed and floored that he only called me after his plan derailed, “Standby, Assault-One.”
“Hey, Hikita.” I called the young girl over, “Our forces have reached the palace entrance, but it seems they can’t get inside and it’s resistant enough to magick that they can’t brute force a way inside. Got any ideas?”
“There is a pass-code.” She replied quietly, “And a magi-tool that scans hands. Only approved people can get inside on their own.”
“Would you happen to be one of those approved peoples?” I asked.
“Yes.” Hikita answered with a confident tone, then paused, “Unless they unregistered me in the short time I’ve been gone.”
“And the pass-code?”
“It changes weekly. I think I know the current one, though some of my memories are still a little hazy.”
I thanked Hikita and tuned back into the comms channel, “Regal-One to Assault-One.”
Julius replied right away.
“Go for Assault-One.”
“Sounds like we’ve got the key, no need for voodoo magick for this one.”
“No fucking way—Ahem, I mean that’s fantastic news, Regal-One. We’ll prepare for your arrival.”
Julius’ remark caught my attendants unaware, leading to a few of them to let a laugh slip. We confirmed a safe route and coordinated with a few other nearby teams to bolster our defense—as much confidence as I had in myself; it was just plain stupid to head into a viper pit without protection.
It seemed as if Julius had mobilized half our assault force into guiding me to the Renaultian palace. By the time we arrived, my retinue was up into the hundreds.
The sea of people parted so Hikita and I could approach. Julius was waiting for us, glaring angrily at the doors.
Scorch marks dotted the walls and marble-like walkway around the great double-door entrance.
A pair of knights were sitting on the ground nearby with broken swords lying in their laps, and one person wearing spell-caster garments was being nursed by a healer.
He really tried everything, huh.
“Julius.” I called out to him.
His fixation on the pristine doors wavered, and he turned around.
“Secure the perimeter! If it moves, restrain it.”
He shouted orders, and soldiers split off in every direction. A few familiar faces remained nearby. I caught sight of Alistaire and Soren with their assault team, checking their equipment.
“And the key?” He asked me, sounding impatient.
I presented Hikita in an exaggerated way, “In the flesh. Assuming she hasn’t been locked out of whatever aetherline device they’d got securing the door.”
“Of course it wasn’t an actual key…” he muttered quietly, “Whatever, it’s better than nothing. If she can’t get us in, we’ll have to wait another hour till the Aestori war-machine makes it through the mess.”
“Aestori war-machine…? Ya’ know what, nevermind.” I began to ask, then reconsidered, “Hikita, you’re up. No pressure.”
Hikita looked at me with pleading eyes, “Please don’t make this more stressful!”
I laughed and walked with her.
She waved her hand over an unassuming part of the door, and a panel pulled back to reveal a shiny screen. It lit up a bright blue as she placed her hand in the center.
“Les grands ténèbres qui voir tout.”
A solid 'CLICK' echoed through the center lock, then the doors swung open.
“Neat.” I said, quickly pulling Hikita away as Julius stormed through.
He wasted no time before giving more orders, “Assault-Three, take point. Teams Seven through Eleven clear the entryway and adjoining common areas. Assault-Twelve, remain with Regal-One. All other squads support Assault-Three in pushing ahead.”