Chapter 246: The Sentinels Power (1/2)
Lilith didn't know what to expect from fighting the Sentinel. Perhaps, in the back of her mind, she was aware that she didn't stand a chance. But when she saw those crimson bones 'sprouting' on the werewolf's face, she almost lost all hope.
This red mask, mirroring even the jaws and fangs of the Sentinel, was making her feel like a wolf had already wrapped her neck in its maw, ready to chew it out. It only took a millisecond of contact with the purple glow shining through the mask's eyes for her to feel defeated.
And it wasn't only just the werewolf's face. The bony material was spreading around the Sentinel's body, covering specific parts. A thin articulated bone appeared on each of his tails and some more around his claws; his hands and feet alike. His shoulders, his legs, his arms, and his elbows…
It was like an exoskeleton. But this wasn't meant to increase his physical strength. No, this skeletal armor was both releasing an aura of dread and feeding on the fear that it caused, channeling it to the Sentinel's convenience.
'Feeding…!' Lilith came back to her senses as she realized this. Her tunnel vision disappeared and she finally could see that thousands of her men had begun falling on the ground like puppets losing their strings. ”Don't look at his mask! If you can't resist his aura, then don't look at him at all! He's feeding on your fear!” She bellowed and directed her hand at the sky, summoning a magic circle that linked every demon together.
The moment she did that, her army regained their senses, but some still vomited.
”Rallying Magic… As expected of one of the strongest demon commanders,” Rakna commented as the army recovered from his mental attack, The Mask of Phobos moving with his mouth. ”It won't work as well for me now that you created a hive mind capable of sharing mental fortitude.”
Lilith stared at him who had yet to make a move. 'Is he showing mercy? Is he giving us a chance to resist?' The demoness couldn't help but think. 'No… not even a second passed since he donned this mask. It simply happened too fast. Before I could even react, a quarter of my legion fell.'
”Come, Lilith Yamul,” Rakna uttered and retracted Sonata behind his back and faced forward with his left palm.
The demoness inhaled and released her demonic aura, reinforcing herself. Her twin sabers shone and she disappeared from her spot in a blast of flames. She appeared in front of Rakna and brought down both of her blades.
Rakna blocked it with the shaft of his Guandao and the ground under him gave out. A short second passed without anything happening until the force behind the blow caught up to the speed it was dealt out, sending a shockwave that razed a large portion of the Red Forest.
Lilith's arms strained under the rebound and she grimaced; the Sentinel had barely moved from her attack. She pushed herself away with one saber and used the other to slash diagonally. Rakna responded with a smile and used one of his wings to block it.
The demoness' eyes widened and in the next moment, she was kicked in the stomach, the disparity in size and strength making her cough blood as she flew away. Right after she was pushed back, a hail of magic missiles whistled through the air toward Rakna.
He looked at them with a calm eye and intoned, ”[Wrath Demon.]” He activated the active skill of Ireful Descent and the magic landed on him, creating a chain explosion that stopped the rain from falling for a short moment.
Lilith recovered her balance at about the same time and looked back stunned as she felt demonic energy coming from within the detonations. For some reason, she also felt angrier and eager to attack the Sentinel. 'Is that a…?'
Just like she feared, the werewolf stepped out of the flames with barely a scratch on his fur. There was also a sort of transparent purple wraith floating above him; releasing waves of demonic aura. This was the aggro skill of Ireful Descent; a Demon of Wrath that attracts animosity unto its user in exchange for a 50% increase in Magic and Physical Defense.
Rakna waved Sonata and cleared the smoke of the magic as he beheld half of the army rushing at him; incapable of resisting the taunting force. He huffed and star-flashed in the middle of their lines and instantly bisected a dozen of demons with one swing.
He twisted his body to dodge a magic bolt passing by his ear and then deflected the sword of a large demon even bigger than him in size. He extended his claws and beheaded the large soldier with ease.
He conjured swords of star energy and stabbed them into the corpse before kicking it away into the crowd of demons where the swords exploded at his mental command. He continued to weave through magic and blades for half a minute before he stomped on the ground and lifted chunks of earth into the air.
He opened his palm and charged a sphere of energy circled by a ring. He jumped in the air and as he fell, he put his palm parallel to the ground. ”[Natcattira Kirīṭam.]” The spell was conjured and the halo of energy expanded outward and reaped the lives of every demon in the direct vicinity.
Rakna landed after the ring finished expanding and with minimal movement, he raised his weapon and parried a pitch-black sword that was aiming at his neck. He glanced at its wielder, a tall ebony knight, and grunted.
”The Knight of Sound. Ramil, was it?” Rakna uttered and pushed the sword away before extending his hand in the demon's direction. ”[Natcattiram Cataract,]” he intoned, his words being spoken in less than half a second, and a rotating amalgam of hoarfrost energy shot out of his hand.
Ramil grunted as he was carried away by the spell. The pressure from the mana contained inside alone was enough to make some of the demons it flew over falter. When it reached a certain height in the sky, it exploded and temporarily cleared away the thunderous clouds, showing the view of the distant Earth for a few seconds.
Rakna didn't even bother looking at it and instead spun around and once again blocked the sword of the same knight. The werewolf and the three-meter-tall black armor stared into each other's eyes before they jumped away from each other.
”A fitting title…” Rakna muttered as he casually batted two wings to the side where a new wave of magic spells was coming his way. At the same time, he positioned a third wing to shoot a volley of feathers that found their target in the hearts and heads of demons. ”You ride sound waves; you can lock onto a sound and appear anywhere it reaches. Efficient teleportation; albeit stuck at the speed of sound.”
Ramil didn't reply, the eyes sockets of his armor as empty as always.
”You just rode the explosion of my spell until here… An interesting Nirvana Skill you have. Almost makes me want to take it for myself,” Rakna said with a huff. ”Sadly, you don't have a heart for me to eat, do you? An empty armor that you are, after all…”
The knight bent forward and used his sword to scrape his armor. The screech resounded and in a split second, he was already behind Rakna, thrusting his sword. But when the tip was about to hit, it went through a hazy afterimage.
”Slow,” the werewolf uttered as he reappeared behind the living armor and threw a fist instead of using his weapon.
”[Rift Shuttle.]” The dimensions coalesced and collided with the demon, crushing its chest plate to reveal its insides, or lack thereof, and sent him hurling. Dimensions didn't make any sound and he was unable to catch himself until he crashed in the middle of the army's back lines.
”[Million Cries,]” an unknown voice echoed and Rakna hastily looked up to see a demon with scholar-like attire aiming his staff at him. Then, with a flash, a massive bolt of yellow lightning struck. Immediately after, a noise like a million birds chirping invaded the battlefield and melted the moon's surface for hundreds of meters in a linear path.
Rakna grunted and star-flashed out of the lightning's range. He took off to the skies with one of his wings fuming and a part of his skeletal mask cracked. 'The Mask almost shattered,' he thought and used Artzpul to dash at the newly arrived mage.
”Hah! Don't underestimate me, Sentinel!” The demon laughed and threw his staff into the air. He then extended both of his hands forward and condensed a sphere of lightning. At the same time, his staff began to float above him and created a second sphere.
”[Billion Cries!]” The two spheres then combined and launched a wave of lightning that traveled kilometers through the sky, swallowing the werewolf's figure. The mage then let himself fall to the ground where Ramil slowly stood up, his armor mending itself.