The elf sat still behind me. She looked down to the clouds, but less as if she was looking at them, and more as though she was looking past them.
I sighed, but said nothing. An argument would be useless right now.
“Yeah,” Nyx said. “Just forget about it.”
But what does she mean I didn’t have to do that? I frowned. Do you really think it’d be a good idea to risk them attacking us with those things?
“Good job. I see you understood the phrase ‘forget about it’ perfectly.”
Shut up. I mean, I definitely did have to do what I just did. Acnologia, could you have dodged all those attacks?
“Do not drag me into this,” the Dragon chuckled. “However, I most certainly could have dodged maybe ten of those attacks consecutively. Any higher and it would be an issue.”
And if that attack landed? I clenched my fists. What happens then? Do we know how strong it is?
“We do not,” the Dragon said. “Diablo, I think you should calm down. I understand your annoyance, but now is not the time for this.”
I sighed. I know. I’m sorry.
“There is no need for apologies.”
“That place you just attacked meant something to Freya, Diablo,” Nyx said. “It is understandable she would be emotional that you attacked it. It is understandable for her to think you have no good reason for doing so either. Do not dwell on it too much. It is a simple case of emotions speaking over rationality.”
I nodded.
“Uhh, Zoran?” The elf tapped my shoulder.
I put on my best ‘normal’ face and turned. “Yeah?”
“I just got a message from Ijyela. And she says the signature we’re headed to just disappeared.”
My eyes widened. “What?!”
“I’m not sure what happened. Neither is she. But we can confirm the signature is gone. Her contacts all seem to have reported the same thing just a few minutes ago.”
“How the heck does the signature for an Eternal disappear like that?! Was it phony to begin with?”
The elf bit her lip. “I’m not sure. It’s perplexing.”
“I’ll say,” I muttered. “Where’s the next nearest signature.”
“A day away from the capital.”
“A day even on Acnologia?”
She nodded.
“Damn, that’s unfortunate,” I said. “A day is a ton of time to waste on a situation like this.”
“I know,” she said. “Also, what do we do about the Alliance of Light then?”
I ran my hands along the Dragon’s scales. “We’re going anyway,” I said. “I don’t care if the signature is gone. We can go find out what that’s about when we get there.”
“Eh?” the elf blinked. “You don’t mean…”
I grinned. “It’s time to see how cooperative the Alliance of Light can be with us.”
“You can’t be serious,” she said. “You really think they’ll help us?”
“Well, with some coercion.”
She sighed. “I don’t know how much on board I am with this but go ahead.”
I nodded. “It’s not like we have much else of a choice,” I said. “Ijyela’s resources can’t tell us much about what is going on. And the signature we were trying to investigate just disappeared. We could travel a day to get to the next nearest signature, but the capital is still only a short while from here. Talking to the Alliance of Light isn’t going to be a waste of our time in any way, so why not just do it?”
“This is the first time I’ve see you so nonchalant about meeting up with an enemy Alliance,” she said. “Should I be concerned?” She smiled.
“Maybe,” I grinned.
A gentle breeze flowed through the sky, weaving in and out of the clouds. Wisps of mist floated from the holes the gust bored into the fluffy existences, and sifted up to our level. I dropped my hand down into the puffy white, feeling the chill on my skin once again.
Clouds of lone gray floated over us, just four or five small ones, and rose above the rest. The bright sunlight filtered through them, and fell onto me as a mellow warmth.
We flew through the air for another hour or so, and it was an hour of silence. No one spoke a word, not even Nyx, which was saying a lot. Ijyela didn’t hand us any further updates, and Freya didn’t question what it was that we were doing here.
Soon, the Dragon changed his course, and started his glide downwards toward the ground.
“Are we here?” I asked.
“Indeed,” the beast looked back at me, and nodded.
“How long?”
“Ten minutes.”
I my grip of the scales around his neck, and glanced down. The clouds still occupied the lower skies, so I couldn’t see much, but that was only true for a few more seconds. Acnologia quickly descended, passing through the mist and down to the surface once again.
A massive enclosure stood before us, with the walls rising up to nearly the height we were flying at.
“That does not look welcoming.”
I could tell with one glance that the stone structure was very sturdy, and probably not something I should attempt to break through. I felt traces of strong magic resonate from within it, and the dull tinge around it told me more than enough to keep away from breaking the walls down.
“Plus, I don’t think storming into the Alliance of Light’s headquarters is the nicest way to go about talking to them,” Nyx said.
Yeah. I scanned the stone walls.
“So, what do we do now?” Freya asked.
“I guess we just head in through the entrance?”
“Eh?”
“This whole place is the Alliance of Light’s headquarters, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So that guard station down there is probably the defense mechanism for this place.” I pointed down.
A large section of silver and white stood right outside one part of the circular walls. I couldn’t tell exactly how many soldiers were there, but it was definitely more than a hundred.
“So, we’re going to be civil to them?” she asked.
“Well. Yeah,” I said. “Why, does that surprise you?”
“No, no,” she shook her head. “I just thought we’d end up battering them as usual and forcing our way inside.”
I grinned. “Gotta say, that does sound enticing.”
“Diablo, they seem to have noticed us,” Acnologia said.
I glanced down. The soldiers were scattering around, with a few of them running back into the enclosure.
Drop down quick. I stared at the people on the ground. We’ve got to cull this before it becomes a fight.
The Dragon nodded and pulled in his wings, descending to the ground. We thudded into the surface, sending mud and grass flying everywhere. I jumped off the beast, and Freya followed me down.
Men of the Alliance of Light stood before us, guarding the entrance into the enclosure. About two hundred of them stood there, which was a hundred off from what I’d assumed before. Swords and spears sat in their hands, with the occasional bow as well.
I put my hands up in the air. “I come in peace,” I said. “All I wish is to seek counsel with Sage Gorias.”
Clinks of armor sounded, and the men got into their positions, forming a tighter rank between me and the wall.
Freya stepped forward. “We don’t wish to harm anyone,” she said. “This is simply a diplomatic visit.”
“Sure, like we’d believe that.” A man at the front yelled, but his voice still tremored. “Everyone knows who you are, Phantom Lord. You can’t fool us.”
“Diplomatic visit?” Another muttered. “We don’t buy that for a single second.”
“Listen.” Freya said, with more honey in her voice. “This is the best way for both sides to prevent violence. We could have forced our way into the enclosures, but we didn’t. Because we wanted this to be a diplomatic visit, not an invasion.”
The men hesitated, and the feeling was clear on almost all of their face
s.
I smiled. So easy to read.
“You can’t fool us, elf.” A man from before yelled. “We’re not stupid enough to assume you’re actually here to just play nice. And don’t think about fighting us off. Even the Phantom Lord can’t face off against the whole force of the Alliance of Light.”
I rolled my eyes. So much drama.
A plethora of arrows rained down from the back, whistling as they sunk down to us.
“IKTA!” Freya yelled, and a shield of hemispherical light formed around us, blocking most of the projectiles. Many arrows cracked the surface, but stuck into the shield, instead of dropping down onto us.
The men yelled out victory cries, and their ranks moved forward.
I clenched my fists. “Alright, that’s enough.” I said. “Drop the shield, Freya.”
The elf looked at me, her eyes wide. “But—”
“Just do it,” I said, and then a smile curled onto my face. “This is going to be fun.”
“Not for them.” Her voice was quiet.
I stared at her. “We’re not in a situation where we can sympathize with an enemy. I gave them a chance. Now drop the shield.”
The elf hesitated for many seconds but finally dropped it. I stepped forward, putting myself between her and the Knights. The men all tensed, and a few of them actually dropped their weapons in the sudden fright.
“So, you think this isn’t a diplomatic mission?” I asked.
“Y-you can’t threaten us.” A man at the front said. “W-we’re not afraid of you.”
“I’m sure your voice agrees.” I chuckled, taking a step forward. “You see, you’ve attacked us now, so everything else will be self-defense, correct?”
“What the heck?” The man next to him yelled. “You’re here to play tricks on us?”
I sighed. “Let’s do it this way. Let us talk to Gorias, and everyone goes away happy.”
“Never!” the man yelled. He and his men charged out, ready to strike into me.
My fists clenched. They’ll never learn.
I gripped the two swords at my side and I lifted them into the air. “Good luck,” I whispered. I surged to the enemy and slashed, cutting through the wave of men that attacked me. Not a single one got past the line I was on, not a single one made their way to Freya or Acnologia.
I cut through bone and meat, dropping the men to the ground like flies in the heat. Red poured from their bodies, soaking the brown ground beneath me. A hundred more men charged out the enclosure, these ones stronger than the others, but I didn’t pay them much concern.
They were still less than two-thirds my own level.
Easy pickings.
Freya for her own part, didn’t go into her Demon mode, and stood still behind me. Must have realized I’m soloing this. I slashed through about ten Knights ahead of me and impaled the one rushing from my side. I hunched down and shot forward, sinking my blade into the Knights all around me, letting the streams of red run from their bodies.
About thirty seconds later, a plethora of bodies laid on the ground, with streaks and pools of red connecting them all. I slid my swords back into their sheaths and put my hands in the air, stretching out.
“Ahhhh.” I exhaled.
Three hundred soldiers had collapsed before the entrance, all clustered in a pile of broken, mutilated bodies.
I smiled. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”
***
CHAPTER FIVE
I strode into the Alliance of Light’s headquarters, with an elf and a Dragon on either side. Towers of white stood all around us, rising high alongside the stone-tiled streets. The scent of blood wafted through the air, and attracted more Knights toward the entrance.
Fighters with silver and white armor stepped into the streets, opposing us. The clink of metal echoed through the air, and in just a few seconds, about fifty Knights had lined up against me.
I used my Analyze skill on them and determined they were all around Level 500 at the very most. I sighed. “Listen.” I stepped closer to them. “I really don’t want to take you guys on.”
A man thumped the butt of his spear against the ground. “We won’t surrender to you, fiend!”
I sighed once again. “Okay look.” I stepped to the side, giving them full view of the pile of bodies at the entrance. “Let’s not have that happen again okay? I just finished doing that and it’d be a drag to do it one more time.”
The Knights yelled and charged at me.
“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Magical Arts?” Nyx asked.
Nah. I’d rather be more hands on.
I turned to the Dragon and the elf. “I’ll be back.” I shot forward, taking the enemy forces head on.
I leapt into the air and slid Dawnbreaker and Dearthsoul out of their sheaths in a flash. I twisted my body, creating a blade storm as I dropped down to the ground. Knights flew back and blood splashed out, creating a small clearing of red within their ranks.
The Knights all quickly turned, ignoring Freya and Acnologia and all heading right at me. “Well then.” I grinned and shot through their forces, my blades wreaking havoc against their bodies. I impaled solid metal and cut through warm skin, sending a rain of red amongst the Knights.
“Red on you looks worse than I’d expected.” I surged through their ranks, taking down another twenty men with my series of strikes.
“Ten left,” Nyx said.
I back-flipped over the remaining Knights and surged forward, slashing through their necks before they could even turn.
“What ten?” I grinned.
I looked through the streets, but didn’t see anyone but for a few lone heads rolling down. “I’m done.” I turned around.
Freya’s hand trembled, but she clenched her fists, calming herself down, and looked at me. “Where do we go?”
She’s not happy.
“You shouldn’t be surprised by that,” Nyx said. “Just focus on what we came here for.”
Towers stood all around us, each one as similar as the other. There didn’t seem to be any clear distinctions as to what was what.
“We saw a much larger tower from above though,” Acnologia said.
Oh yeah, I thought. “Head forward.”
“Through the streets?” Freya asked.
I shook my head. My knees buckled and I hunched to the floor. My muscles pumped a second later and I shot up, pulling myself up onto the tower closest to me.
“This isn’t the tower Acnologia was talking about you know.”
I’m aware.
Freya on the other hand simply got onto Acnologia and rose to the level I was at. “We have a Dragon you know,” she said.
“This is more fun. Anyway,” I pointed, “that’s where we need to go.”
From the high vantage point I could now see a tall tower about a mile away. It rose up to the clouds, standing at thrice the height of the next largest tower.
“Come on.” I leapt through the tower tops around me, pushing towards it. Stone and wood broke from the force of my leaps, as I pushed myself higher and higher up.
People roamed the streets beneath me, a few of them civilians, most of them Knights. They all looked up to the skies, turning around every second, whenever my feet cracked against the tower roofs.
Why can’t my footsteps be softer?
“I’m not sure they count as footsteps when each one is on a different tower,” Nyx said.
Screams sounded behind us, and a chain of the same sounds followed.
Ah, I guess they’ve seen Acnologia.
“Well, it was bound to happen,” Nyx said. “I’d honestly be worried if a place like this didn’t notice the presence of a Dragon.”
Do they have any measures against a Dragon? I half-slipped on a tower, but used sheer force to push myself off cleanly.
“I’m not sure. Nice save by the way.”
I grinned, landing on the next tower and launching myself from it half a second later. “Hopefully
they don’t get caught.”
“Zoran.”
A whoosh of air splashed beside me. The Dragon was at my side, gliding through the air as he kept up with my leaps. Freya, sitting atop him, looked at me. “Do you want us to go in first?”
I shook my head. “Follow me in.”
The massive tower was now only a hundred yards away from us, and stood silently. There were no sounds that came from inside it, and there were no magical shields protecting it from the outside.
“That definitely isn’t creepy.” I chuckled, leaping forward. “Think I can break through it?”
“Probably,” Nyx said.
“Good.”
I stepped on the closest tower to my target, and took an extra second to jump, putting all my strength could into my legs. I surged into the air, rising up the tower walls. When I was close to the top, I retracted my hand.
“Meteor Fist!” I slammed into the wall.
My arm went straight through the rock, creating an opening. A wild tremor ran through the tower, and the whole thing shook for a split second. I grabbed onto the inner side of the opening and hoisted myself through, breaking through the bricks around it and expanding the gap before stepping in.
Six seats of silver stood inside a well-lit chamber, and were arranged in a circle. Six men, dressed in robes, sat in them, and their faces were all turned to me, with their eyes wide.
“Sorry about that,” I said, dusting my elbows. “I had to find a way to let my Dragon inside.”
A boom sounded, and I glanced back, out the opening. A blast shot up from below, and a white beam of light surged up, smacking into Acnologia. The Dragon winced but glided through the opening anyway. I snapped my fingers, whispering silently. A blast of darkness now shot up, from exactly where the white light had, and a chain of screams rang through.
“Better.” I turned around, facing the council of men. I stepped to the middle as I eyed them all carefully, and then found the one I wanted — an old man desperately avoiding eye contact with me.
“Gorias!” I grinned. “Nice to see you again. How have you been?”
The Eternal: Hellbringer - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 5) Page 4
