Chapter 145: Horde mode is exhausting (1/2)

The crystal mage was a little confused when her savior and the others suddenly left but her indecisiveness cost her the opportunity to continue with the group as she moved back and forth until they were too far away.

Ilea had Weavy on her back as the three rushed towards the elevator too fast for the demon to keep up otherwise. “Are you getting more bulky Weavy?” Ilea asked, feeling his arms as she held him on her back. The demon shifted a little and didn’t initially respond which got a chuckle out of her.

“You know it’s not a shame to invest in Strength, I did it too...” she said, Trian looking at her a little perplexed. Speaking of, Ilea thought and invested her remaining fifteen stat points into Endurance, brining it to 335 and a respective 3350 points of Stamina. ‘That’s enough to masturbate for three days straight...’ she thought and smiled, maybe a bit of a vacation was in order soon. Then again why should she rest when so many meaty sacks of skill and class levels were waiting outside?

The three reached the top of Viscera and the exit of the Hand’s Stronghold a minute later, Trian already frying demons as soon as they stepped outside. “Save your spells and follow me.” Ilea said and flew off towards the defensive line of the Hand.

The demon hordes were flowing just as they did before. Looking into the overfilled northern part of the city where demons were already fighting each other, she realized the flow would continue for more than just a couple hours. At least the Hand was already taking turns in fighting to keep it going. Worst case they could retreat but that would create a whole lot of new problems when the demons dispersed, at least until now they had been held back by the mind weavers in the city.

One lost demon at level eighty could perhaps take out a whole human settlement. Ilea was certainly not in the business of saving everyone but if she could protect kids and elderly just wanting to live out their lives on a farm while she could rake in experience for herself, then that was a win win situation to her. She remembered the old man who gave her a lift to Riverwatch. Maybe he was still alive after all the elves and demons, though she doubted any demons had made it that far through the human kingdoms.

“Now Weavy I want you to hold tight and stay calm, we’ll let everybody know you’re not part of the enemy. I’m sure your control over the demons will win over some hearts rather quickly. Hopefully nobody cares enough to kill you instantly.” Ilea said to the demon on her back as they approached the front lines, streams of running demons below them, screaming at the enemy in the sky as they were scattered and destroyed by the many spells and obstacles on their way.

The three reached Sulivhaan a couple minutes later, none of the long ranged mages had attacked them on the way.

“You found them and the demon. Good. I informed everyone beforehand just in case he’d show up again on the front lines. You two are long ranged mages right?” the commander asked as a couple people around them gave Weavy and their group weird looks, one of them was smiling at least.

“Yea, well Kyrian, Trian go have some fun and take care of the demon. I’ll be down in the slaughter. Cheers.” Ilea said and let go of Weavy before she waved to Sulivhaan and let herself fall downwards.

The snow had melted around them, too many hot spells had taken the life out of the element. Ilea landed in the mud and looked around, in front of her a group of around forty people were fighting against the oncoming horde, each person occupying a rather large space for themselves while some people grouped up with two to four others to more effectively use their skills.

She was certainly interested in seeing them all fight but seeing the sheer overwhelming enemy numbers she’d probably get enough time to do so. It was good training for all of them and somewhat easy and safe experience from the many kills. Although most of the remaining monsters would likely be below level one hundred, only a trickle to their levels.

‘Good way to test my new skill...’ Ilea thought as she breathed out, her breath not visible as fires burned in close proximity. The power of State of Azarinth flowed through her as it did for the past fifteen minutes, no glow was visible and no mana was removed from her store. Form of Ember joined the skill as small lines of red formed on her body, only visible where no armor covered her. A moment later she equipped her gloves as well, the dim color of fire only shining lightly through the holes in front of her eyes.

The horns on her helmet reflected the different colors of spells unleashed in front of her as she slowly walked to the front line. There was plenty of space in between the different warriors, the demons attracted to the humans like moths to light. A Veil of Ash shrouded her quickly as she prepared for battle, breathing in and out steadily as ash started to form around her, the world perceived through a Sphere of around twenty four meters around her.

The warriors on her left and right ignored her as the blade and axes flashed, the sound of metal cutting flesh a constant grind in her ears. A band to play some metal would be a welcome addition but then again the thrill of fighting for your life was more than enough to keep the blood pumping. Ilea moved the ash in front of her to the side, alarming a couple running demons of her presence in the middle of it all.

She continued to move the ash around in more and more intricate forms and motions to boost the skill as much as she could while she prepared all the others. The first demon arrived, a level ninety monster of claws and teeth, pure muscle covering its legs and arms as it screamed towards the human prey in front of it.

Ilea stepped up, dodging the clawed hand by a couple centimeters before her fist landed in the demon’s abdomen, her skills sending mana through the beast combined with the kinetic force of her heavy and enhanced body and bones. The monster was stopped in its run immediately, the woman standing like a rock against the sea as the enemy’s limbs moved around her before they fell onto her Veil and dropped down a moment later, the corpse of the demon following a second later.

Ilea breathed in and closed her eyes, concentrating on the Sphere of perception and the ash around her as it twirled and moved, allowing the enemy to see her as she prepared the next strike. Perfectly timed, her kick came to a close on the demon’s head, cracking the skull in a satisfying crunch before it was sent to the side, Ilea recovering from the motion almost immediately before the next demon was upon her.

‘Ten.’ Ilea thought as a flash of pain and wrongness went through her, her health reduced by the though of amount as a light red light joined the fiery color on her skin, runes and lines of molten fire branching into each other as newfound power flowed through her. The next monster was hit in its chest, its ribs breaking as its thorax was pushed inwards and back out of its back, its spine broken just the same.

Ilea breathed out again as she stopped the motion, ripping her hand out of the beast’s corpse again as the power of her 3rd tier State of Azarinth left her again. ‘Only three seconds...’ she thought, analyzing the time the spell had held. The power chosen was neither the lowest nor the highest she could go at the moment. A middle ground.

For the next enemy she chose one hundred health again. Hissing in pain, she felt the power rush through her as her healing skill exchanged her mana for health again. The spell didn’t hold for thirty seconds as assumed previously. Ilea’s fists destroyed four demons with two expertly placed attacks each before the power vanished again.

‘Diminishing returns...’ she thought, looking at her hand as she sacrificed two hundred health. The pain was stronger this time, so much as to distract her from her surroundings. A claw hit her Veil, not managing to break through before she grabbed the hand and kicked the body, ripping off the clawed limb in the process. She chucked it away as she counted the seconds, realizing when the skill lost its power that the time was even lower compared to the three second usage.