Chapter 244: Wrath of the Righteous? (2/2)
Sighing, Aminatrea willed herself back to her room to resume her leisure time. While she did so, she couldn't quite dispel a nagging feeling that this might have been a mistake.
[Well, its not like I fully unsealed her power. She can't do that much damage with just the second stage, right?] She tried to convince herself while returning to her reading.
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”WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW? HAHAHAHAHAHA....hehem. I mean BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE SUN GODDESS! HAHAHA!” Cariel laughed maniacally as swung her gleaming golden sword in an arc, unleashing a wave of luminescence that seared its way across the plain, incinerating dozens of zombies in its wake.
Julia dove behind a smoldering pile of corpses, narrowly avoiding the intense beam of light. Grumbling she got back to her feet and yelled at the rampaging angel. ”Hey! Watch it!”
”HAHA...uh, oops.” She replied as shamefacedly as her glistening visage of divine power allowed her to, ”Sorry about that, I kinda forgot you were still here.”
”How could...never mind, I know the answer to that question. Anyway, it looks like the others have headed back, so lets get out of here.”
”Aww, do we have to? Do you know how long its been since I've been able to really cut loose like this?” Cariel asked while casually shield bashing one of the skeletal knights, causing it to explode in a momentary burst of light.
”If we take too long, the ships will leave without us.”
[The Lacotians seem to be falling back, anyway. They must not be interested in fighting an actual angel. Not that I can really blame them.] She thought while looking over the newly transformed Cariel. She was radiating a palpable aura of divine energy, which when combined with the golden suit of armor and gleaming sword, made it clear that she was not an earthly being.
”Finnneeee...” The angel replied reluctantly while fluttering over to Julia on a pair of white feathered wings that had manifested along with the rest of her raiment of power. Once she'd settled onto the ground, her aura dissipated and she returned to her usual self. ”You never let me have any fun.”
”What am I? Your mother? Now, while we are heading back to the ship, you are going to explain where all this angel of vengeance stuff came from, and why you didn't break it our any of the other times we nearly died.”
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”Do you think it will work?” Mike asked his teacher, as they were walking away from the command tent. They'd just finished the strategy meeting, and had finalized their plans for confronting the Lacotians once they'd arrived. Thankfully, the now dissipating storm seemed to have delayed them somewhat, so dawn had passed without any further undead sightings.
Emmanuel frowned, ”I'm not sure, to be honest. There are a lot of variables, but I think this is our best option at the moment. We can't win this fight by conventional means.”
”I know you explained it earlier, but are you really sure you don't want me in the strike force? Even with Miranda's fairy scouts, we still don't know what the enemy has in reserve.”
The old mage sighed, suddenly looking a few decades older. ”Truthfully? No, I'm not sure. There is a good chance that I'm sending some of our best and brightest into certain death, and dooming the entire continent in the process...”
Mike gave his teacher a moment. Emmanuel was under a massive amount of pressure, and there was nothing he could say to really alleviate it.
After a few seconds, the mage chuckled. ”On the other hand, maybe we'll get lucky, and the Lacotians will decide to give up and go home.”
”One can only hope.”
”Anyway, I've talked it over with the strategists. The enemy knows you are our trump card, and they will naturally respond in kind once you show up on the battlefield. Therefore, you can best help by drawing away the worst they have to offer, opening their defenses up for our strike force.”
Mike scratched the back of his head.”I know, but what if the Archlich is there? Won't you be over-matched?”
”Are you saying you'd be able to fight against a Tier 4 mage if you were there?” Emmanuel asked with a serious expression on his face.
[Probably not with Limit Break still on cooldown.]
”No, but if anyone could occupy him long enough for the rest of us to escape, it would be me.”
”Listen, Mike. I haven't known you that long, but I can already tell that you've been blessed by the System in some fundamental capacity. Anyone that could go from barely being able to cast a fireball spell, to summoning an actual hurricane in a matter of weeks is definitely out of the ordinary. However, no matter how accomplished you are, I can tell you from personal experience that Tier 4s are different. They operate under a different set of rules. Hells, they're practically a different kind of life form. The only thing we normal mortals can do, is stay out of their way and hope the destruction passes quickly.”
Mike thought back to the two Tier 4s he'd encountered so far. Both had been overwhelmingly powerful, but neither had appeared unbeatable. After all, he'd actually killed Brutus, albeit with a great deal of help. Likewise, Andromeda, the Crimson Disaster, had ended up needing his assistance to deal with the situation in Wyrport, so it wasn't like they were omnipotent. Nevertheless, he supposed that his teacher likely had a good reason for his feelings.
[Worst case scenario, I suppose I can always drop whatever I'm doing and jump in.]
Taking his silence as assent, Emmanuel continued. ”Trust me, there's no harm in knowing your limitations. Anyway, we're already relying on you far more than we should.” He grimaced. ”It's not easy for people my age to lean on an inexperienced youth, Dragonknight or not. Give the older folks a chance to carry their weight for a change, alright?”
”Alright.” Mike couldn't say no to that kind of plea. Although he still intended to act based on the situation, he would at least attempt to honor his teacher's sentiments.
”Good, now it seems like we have a bit of free time while everyone else is getting ready. Knowing you, I'm sure you have a skill you'd like to work on, right? Is there anything you'd like me to teach you? I think we could squeeze in a quick lesson.”
”Actually, I was hoping that you could teach me a bit about Space Magic.”
Emmanuel sighed. ”Well, I can't exactly say I'm surprised.”