143 The Archmage 2 in 1 (1/2)
”Empress, he ...” The feeble lich was reduced to half of its original size, and his head was barely above the one of Leilade. In addition to his legs and the lower part of his body, his left arm was slowly crumbling as well. If someone was to take a look at Malakov right now, nowhere could be found his previous arrogance. Putting her hand on his shoulder, something she couldn't do before because he was too tall, Leilade was looking at the magical screens.
”Yes, indeed. Call everyone here, we can't defend this anymore.” Nothing unusual was shown, the humans were as dejected as they should be. In fact, they were very close to completely give up, for some. All she could say was that they were good at hiding his arrival. Turning her head toward the three newcomers, she could only see them in a state not any different than they were at their arrival.
The body of Meridiana was once more covered in wounds, only far smaller ones. But in many areas, a purple liquid was covering her tender skin. As for Kardel, he was having a slightly hard time moving his right arm. When his insectoid limb had been cut, that had provoked a reaction that broke all the bones in his arms when he returned to his duvodiad form. The only one that was more or less in a good shape was Davion. After those days resting, he could be considered the only one reliable of the bunch.
”Empress.” The three bowed slightly, not without looking at the empty shell that became Malakov. Seeing the undead reduced to that state was not appeasing them at all. ”The Archmage has arrived. Unfortunately, he is as strong as we expected in the worst case scenario. Meaning that we need to get rid of him, or destroy the army. Prepare yourselves to kill as many humans as you can before we run out of undead.”
”Yes, Empress.” They all understood the goal here. If they wanted to reach Ymir in Archer and be safe over there, they needed to get rid of all the threats. More Heroes could still arrive, but without an army to protect them, they would be at the mercy of Kardel. Even the gods wouldn't be able to protect a lonely Hero from the clutch of a duvodiad. Fortunately, they had already damaged their main enemies quite heavily.
Calling the darkness within her body, she left an entire tentacle inside the body of the lich. ”Use it when the gods will try once more to bless someone and sacrifice this body if you have to. After that, you can go to Ymir without waiting for us.” Malakov nodded weakly, beginning to absorb the dark energy. Without this additional mana, even if he sacrificed himself, he wouldn't have been able to prevent those spatial leeches to do as they wanted. But now, he had a chance to even preserve a part of this body.
Looking at the three living beings that were in front of her, she wondered if having Meridiana was truly useful or not. Sensing the glacial gaze on her, the succubus understood that it was a very severe situation. ”I will do my utmost to please you, Empress of the Underworld.” Seeing the little girl waving her hand, she inwardly sighed in relief. However, as soon as she was out of the room, she rested a bit in the tunnel.
”Stay behind me outside. Do as much as you can.” The orodil briefly passed without stopping, only giving her small advice. It was not necessarily out of goodwill, or even feelings like sympathy or love. Just that, if there was one less demon to help them later, it could become tricky in some situations. However, as long as the succubus did not become a burden, he will try to keep her life intact.
A few minutes later, everyone was prepared to fight. The armors of both Davion and Meridiana were shattered in multiple parts, with their weapons strangely not crumbling yet. Only the duvodiad was not in that case since he was completely naked. Walking in front, the small child was followed by the thousands of undead that were still standing. All the remaining humans had already left, or were all killed. Her white slippers were unfortunately dyed red by the time she reached the completely exposed entrance.
Breathing the fresh air devoid of mana, she could already hear the screams of the soldiers. Letting go free her undead minions, the skeleton warriors rushed forward, their sword raised. Slightly caught by surprise, the army of the coalition suffered many losses, especially now that they were on the receiving end. Even if some troops were already in battle formations beforehand, they were quickly destroyed by the liches, letting the skeletons slaughtered the survivors.
”TO ME, MEN OF MASSALIA!” Noticing the brilliant Hero in his shining armor, the duvodiad that had already turned into something else rushed toward him. Disregarding quietness and discretion for sheer strength, the nearly six meters tall monster slammed his head against the Ferrod, projecting him in the air. As impressive as it sounded, the former members of the Demonic Army knew that it was nothing compared to the real creature.
The entire head of Kardel was covered with spikes, and a huge protuberance, sturdier than diamonds, reinforced the ramming potential. In fact, Leilade could hardly find any creature better at destroying things head-on. The thick leather was maybe less resistant than its head, but nothing weaker than an energy weapon could pierce it. Right now, only the Archmage could probably make a dent in what Kardel had become. But, for now, the duvodiad was free to run into the humans and either trampled them to death or broke all their bones by sending them in the air.
”YOU MONSTER! COME BACK HERE!” Ferrod was visibly angered by what he just experienced, as he was completely covered in dirt and blood. The very armor that was strong enough to resist the weapons of Master Agnil was slightly deformed in certain areas. Not by much, but even at this distance, it could be seen. Hearing that shout, Kardel did not wait before running a complete circle into the enemy lines, killing hundreds in the process.
However, the reality was more brutal than expectation. Right before getting hit by the gigantic creature, the Hero managed to jump on his back, his sword pointed downward to pierce its skin. What the human only managed to do was bouncing off Kardel, not even inserting his sword at all. Crashing his head first into the dirt, he did not notice quickly enough that Kardel had stopped right away. Looking above, he saw a huge foot blocking the sun, only dodging it at the last second.
Letting Kardel to his own battle, Leilade could only regret that he used this form. It will hardly be possible for him to kill the Hero, but it was also true that nothing in her memory was better at dealing with a large army. A bit farther away, the orodil and the succubus were happily fighting. Or at least, that was what she hoped for. Noticing that she was all alone, easily recognizable and without anyone to protect her, she wondered how much time did she had to wait.
Only staring at the ongoing battles between her forces and the humans, she was patient. There were only a few things that will force her to participate, and she intended to reveal them all. But when she felt something dangerous heading her way, she did nothing besides smiling.
ka-pow
Hundreds of meters away, the sound of a rifle resonated.And as powerful as she was, Leilade could not hear it, and even if she did, it would have been too late. Similar to how Kardel attacked Avirus, she was under the vision of a hidden sniper. But unlike a human Hero, those kind of threats were not enough to do anything to her. The deadly projectile was stopped by some shadows before touching her skin, only for her to see a white light exploding inside the darkness, only to be repressed seconds after.
”Mana bullets. Did they not understood how am I?” Almost thanking the shooter for the free energy given to her, she extended her finger to point where the bullet had come from. The white bone that was produced cut open the path on its way, causing many branches and even some trunks to fall. Knowing she did not hit whoever attacked her, she was in no hurry to do so. Someone that only hit from far away wouldn't have the guts to do so if he was feeling threatened.
And she was right, shaking in his very bones, a dwarf was tightly hugging his weapon, a mere meter away from a cleanly cut trunk. The tallest tree around had lost its head, and the dwarf almost had the same fate. Under him, silhouettes covered in dark were not feeling any better. The only thing they could hear was the shooter mumbling that he failed. Under the stupefied stares of the people of the Black Gauntlet, the dwarf hid the artifact he was carrying and left without any other words.
TCHLANK TCHLONK
The sounds of a string being released cut her thoughts. The humans had not been idled after encircling her underground base. Even without the presence of mages, they could still rely on the human minds for their terrible inventions. To create weapons capable of destroying a wall, piercing numerous bodies in one shot and such. Their only default was who they chose to target with those. Instead of dealing with the undead or even the rest, they aimed at the only one that was immobile.
”How long will it take for them to understand the simple truth? That's they can't deal with me by only those crude ways?”
(Not long, I am afraid. Another minute, at worst.)
Discussing with the Viscount while all the projectiles either vanished into nothingness or simply missed her, the little girl was completely unharmed. By now, she was no longer visible to the human eyes, the unknown thing that was residing in her body fully displayed to the outside world. The very soldiers that were shooting at her began to stop one by one, terrified by what they were seeing. Especially when that thing began to move toward them.
”Let's see if you can stay hidden any longer.” It did not take long for an answer to appear. A man in his forties caught her eyes, as he was the only one impassive and walking toward her. Calling back Davion, Meridiana, and Kardel, she couldn't help but feel that he was familiar to her. In all honesty, that Archmage could be described as handsome and knew it. He was unlike the usual mages, that were reluctant to move their bodies. No, his muscles could be seen behind the simple robe he was wearing.
”That's it. I knew it reminds me of someone.” The three demonic commandants behind her, but not too close of the moving tentacles, she waited for his spell. Maybe a bit too overconfident, she did not even care about the nearly ten other magus that was behind the Archmage. Seeing him extend his hand slowly, she was stunned when she heard the words that leaked from his mouth. Something that shouldn't be possible, something only one man had ever say to her.
”ZA WARUDO! TOKI WO TOMARE ! ”
Feeling the clutch of time surrounding her, she saw the equally baffled face of the ones behind her. As Kardel was beginning to open his monstrous maw, she saw him froze. Davion and Merdiana that had been slightly injured in the fight suffered the same fate, turning into statues before they could convey their thoughts.
(I am afraid it is time, Outlander. I wish you good luck in the future.)
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Hearing the impassive voice of the Viscount, she knew he was right. No one could escape this spell, besides her. Retracting the darkness in her body as soon as she could, she saw some tentacles that were already not responding. Trying to move forward, she felt like an entire planet was on her shoulders. Each step was harder than the previous one, but she could see the pale face of those magus looking at her like she was a monster.
”A monster I am. YOU THINK YOU CAN HOLD ME DOWN WITH THIS!” Shouting at those weak humans, she tried to raise her legs, only to find it stuck. When they saw the little girl having a hard time moving her limbs, everyone outside of the spell sighed in relief. For them, that last shout was just the final struggle of a trapped beast. Sensing that even her mouth was beginning to be insensible, she stared at the Archmage, that fit mage, before murmuring an ”incantation”.
”I call the darkness into me
To break the chains of my body
What's meant to move can't be stopped
Split my soul to turn it naught.”
”OUCH, my head! Wait, what?” Opening his eyes, the man saw that he was seated in his favorite chair, inside his very room. Looking around, he could see the exquisite windows with careful inscriptions, his comfy bed and everything he interacted those past years. Approaching slowly from the door, he couldn't help but feel surprised when it appeared to be locked. Still perplexed, he reached one window, but this time, it opened.
Gazing at the familiar streets bustling with people, the hot climate and the numerous merchants haggling ferociously, he calmed himself. After all, he was in his own home, there was nothing wrong with that. However, he had this feeling, that he shouldn't be here right now. Picking the book he left on his desk, he stared at the empty pages. Checking them one by one, his new project about space magic had completely been erased.