61 Her True Form (1/2)
Even if the door appeared to be made out of wood, identical to the one located in the entrance of every room in this building, it was just an appearance. They truly asked the Archmage, a decade or so ago, to try and destroy it with one of his mighty spells. He did manage to make a dent in all the protections, but based on his knowledge, he would take at least a day to truly overcome everything. But in barely a few seconds, they saw one of their greatest pride being destroyed from the inside, prompting everyone to be on their guard.
Instead of seeing an opening, they were blocked by dark magic, some shadows were moving and twirling, blocking their sight. Sarah Meridil looked around here one last time, to see what was the reaction of everyone. The two centenary elders, that managed to achieve the 6th Circle of Magic, had already lost their usual calm. The hidden experts that were only slightly below them and the official magus were all ready. The two twins, Arthar and Artour were still missing, because they were ordered to search for the main artifact of power.
Suddenly, there was a slight movement from the darkness, and a body appeared. ”STOP, STOP, DAMN IT! IT'S ALEXANDER!” Sarah quickly prevented any spells to harm their colleague. He was hanging in a precarious position, a tentacle ensnaring his neck and he was extremely pale. The man was visibly panicked but he didn't even dare to move a finger.
”Please, elders, everyone, just go! There is nothing to gain at fighting her, please. Not because I am her hostage, but, the reports were wrong. She already recovered too much power, it is useless. Whoever, will defy her will suffer a terrible fate, much worse than just death.” The longer he was talking, the more expressive his fear became. If it had been in another situation, people could have listened to him, but because of the dark monster grabbing him by the neck, his words sounded as empty.
”I am disappointed by you Alexander, but I can understand. Who wouldn't try to save his life, but to betray your nation, your friends, just for your survival is pitiful. Sigh. She will be taken down today before she can provoke more casualties with or without your help.”
One magus of the 6th Circle expressed his sentiments, those were shared by the rest of the group. They were assembled here today for one single thing, to kill a dark god. It had been a long time since this planet had one alive, and the progress in magic during that time was so important that they thought they could take on of those monsters by themselves. Seeing the pride and confidence in their abilities glowing in their eyes, the father of Leodagan realized it was over for his precious Academy.
”You just condemned us all. Please, don't kill my so…”
SPLASH
A geyser of blood happened when the tentacle violently threw back the body of the magus into the mass of shadows. Sarah that was in front even received some of it on her face, and she blanked out for a second. Everyone that had daily interactions with him was throw in the same state, having a hard time understanding that someone could die so quickly, especially someone as strong as Alexander Arastil.
Slooosh Slaaash
Two large tentacles tried to grab two additional victims while they were perturbed, but they ended up crashing on the magical shield prepared beforehand. The violent sound woke up those that were still confused, making them remember that the threat was still here. But to their despair, instead of just being repulsed, the unknown forms implanted themselves on the shields, sucking it dry of any mana.
Because they were always on the defensive, the two elders began to counter-attack. ”[Arc Lightning].” A spell harnessing the power of thunder, extremely effective against living beings. They still didn't really understand what they were facing, so they were ready to unleash everything they knew. The potent electricity spread among the two tentacles and nearly reached the darkness still blocking the door. But right before it, it met its end, knocking on an invisible wall.
”Damn, a shield. TAKE THIS! [Burning Hand]!” ”[Blizzard]!” They threw another type of spells, while the rest of the group transformed the magic shield to let it pass. That was one of the recent discovery of the Archmage, a magic shield capable of letting more than one type of magic be effectively used by the caster.
To protect against a specific element, one could just use an improved version of [Wind Shield] and such, but to truly protect something, one had to expand a massive amount of mana to create a complete shield, blocking anything from arrows to spells. But now, they were capable of creating a small opening in such protection, to allow a specific spell, like [Burning Hand], to still be casted. Both spells were of the 5th Circle, and already, the surrounding walls were being destroyed, letting the sun and air enter the battlefield.
Two tornadoes, one made of fire, the other made of ice, crashed once again on the invisible membrane surrounding the darkness. Even if it was not enough to truly make it break, it was still sufficient at harming the two tentacles. They retracted slowly their attack and just stood in the air, at a safe distance of the group of humans. Bolstered by that, the previously pale magus renewed their efforts and solidified entirely the magic shield.
”Akku” A weird sound was heard, and one of the two elders that were beginning to show a small smile suddenly had his entire head exploded. Following it, the tentacles profited of the small hole in the only wall between them and the humans to close the gap. No one managed to close it in time before two of their friends were taken and absorbed by the darkness. Because of this, they had to retreat and reform their defenses, but who would let them do that.