by L Travern
Multiple big earth spikes appeared beside the first ones and soon, beneath and around each Eminence, there was at least eight big spikes, each one of them serving as the base from which the smaller, more precise spikes were created.
The lightning Eminence's armor was the worst. Its mana shield was easily burst by the spikes, which then found an opening on the armor itself, shooting directly at the man's groin. Once the spikes tasted flesh, they kept increasing and reproducing inside the man's armor and body! The soul mana of the spell also started attacking his soul, while the metal mana used the very metal of his blood to attack his arteries and destroy him from the inside!
Strictly speaking, Matthew shouldn't be able to attack an Eminence from the inside due to their soul resistance but there was always an exception, else mages would be nigh unbeatable even by others at the same level.
When casting a spell, mages drew the signature inside their soul. As soon as the spell flared to light, it naturally required the soul to resist its power until the spell was released. It usually wasn't an issue because the spell wasn't targeted at the mages' own souls and so they weren't that damaging. Even Matthew's most self-damaging level 7 spell would only use about eighty or so percent of a grade 7 soul resistance.
However, it still used some of the soul's resistance capabilities and, more importantly, it made the soul slower to resist attacks. The stronger the spell the mage was casting, the more vulnerable he became.
Not only that, but Matthew was also using a dual attack, targeting both body and soul, to further overwhelm the man's soul and make it slower to resist.
It started a snowball effect and if by the time the man tried to use a spell to actively resist those attacks, it was too late. He died just like that.
Matthew considered the armor of the lightning Eminence the worst because it still had defensive capabilities. However, unbelievably, the armor wore by the one responsible for attacking the spatial barrier was literally just for show.
Except for the mana shield it created, which was a level 3 formation and easily overcome, it had no magical formations at all! It was there for intimidation purposes only. Matthew's earth spikes directly pierced the armor like paper, going all the way through the man, coming out from his head.
The Eminence responsible for the fire attack had the best armor and its mana shield resisted without a scratch.
As for the Eminence responsible for the ice wall, his armor had one of the stupidest designs Matthew had ever seen.
Magical armors were usually linked to the mage's mana pool and it was obvious that safeguards had to be put in place to avoid it taking too much mana from the mage. The man's armor, however, had no such safeguard and the magical formations in it consumed so much mana that he soon found his mana pool emptying at a ridiculously fast pace.
Mere seconds after the spikes assaulted his mana shield, he found himself with less than half his mana! He wisely stopped concentrating on the ice wall, focusing instead on the spikes, using ice to freeze them in place.
The Crusader Eminence felt the ice wall weakening at the same time the lightning stopped coming, even though she couldn't see why. She immediately shot her two already formed ice spikes at the wall, which broke in smithereens; since the wall wasn't being actively kept by a mage, it had become just common ice, which was easily destroyed by the mana infused ice spikes shot by the Crusader.
Seeing the ice wall breaking, she started shooting more ice spikes while keeping some mana going into the mana shield around her, but just barely enough that it could hold against the fire cone when merged with the Champions' mana.
The fire Eminence stopped using his cone and created a fire wall to protect himself and his companions instead. That's when he suddenly realized that two of them were already dead and the remaining one... Where had all his mana gone to?!
Indeed, the ice wall Eminence had already lost most of his mana. The earth spikes attacking him were easily frozen, but more spikes simply came from the ground around the frozen ones. In the end, he decided to freeze the entire area, but due to his lack of experience, he simply forgot to step up as he did it.
Due to that, he failed to create an ice barrier between his armored feet and the ground. He didn't even think about floating! As such, the earth directly below his feet kept attacking his mana shield and consuming his mana.
Not sure of what was happening or what he should do, he started taking out mana crystals to refill his lost mana, but the rate of absorption from the crystal wasn't near enough to make up for the rate of consumption of his mana pool. Without any choice, he took out his last resort, a formation plate. It was a small metal disk with an inscribed formation that could be easily activated by inserting mana.
He used what mana he had to activate the formation. It formed a strong mana shield around him, then his body shot away from there at a fast speed, almost as fast as lightning.
Magical formations were the best way to bypass the level requirements for spells. As long as mana was provided, the formation would activate, regardless of the mage's level. The formation he had just activated contained a grade 9 spell, something only an Ascender should be able to use!
Indeed, he managed to shoot through the spatial barrier as if it wasn't there but after mere fifty meters or so, his body dropped unconscious on the ground, completely devoid of mana. He had been too green behind the ears and too slow to use the plate.
Finally, the fire Eminence found himself alone, fighting against another Eminence and four Champions. He didn't even consider surrendering, for once the Immortal Crusade called upon someone's execution, that person would be killed on sight!
He, too, took out a formation plate and activated it. He was much more successful though, as his body shot away at fast speed, disappearing from everyone's sight in a few moments.
Although intense, the entire fight had taken less than a minute.
And then, came the silence.
Seeing there was easy loot to be had, Matthew acted quickly. His earth spikes moved inside the armors and took away the three Eminence's spatial rings. He discretely moved them underground and took them without anyone noticing.
He would love to also take their orbs and armors but when the Immortal Crusade marked someone, all their belongings were supposed to be turned to the Immortal Crusade. He wouldn't push his luck even though they were technically his kills.
Suddenly, Helina seemed to awake from her daze. She had never imagined the Temple of Time would attack the Immortal Crusade like that! And then, when she saw the first Eminence die, she had lost herself.
Now though, seeing the three dead Eminences, she screamed. "No!" She put her hands to her head. "No, no, no!" She crossed her arms, hugging herself. "Nooo!" She crouched in a fetal position.
Matthew looked at her with pity. Her whole life had been controlled by the Temple. Now, people from that organization had branded her traitor, had come to kill her, then died like that.
Worse still, they were in the wrong for attacking Lamia's troops without warning, then resisting the order to surrender when it was revealed that the woman was a Crusader, and even going as far as attacking the Immortal Crusade after that!
There was no doubt about the Temple of Time being the bad guys in this instance, which was a heavy blow for her.
"Well," he said to Mark and Sara. "That was a nice lesson for you. During your battles, be completely aware of your surroundings, since you never know where an attack is coming from. Let's go. Helina, come, too."
He called her out of pity. She should be given at least a night to recover before having to fight the Temple of Time again.
Matthew turned to leave. Sara and Mark, as bewildered as they seemed to always be around Matthew, followed him in deep thought.
The Immortal Crusade's Eminence seemed torn between following Matthew, stopping Matthew, hunting the fugitive mages, or dealing with the warriors who had surrendered. In the end, she ordered her subordinates to imprison the warriors and await
reinforcements while she accompanied Matthew.
"Don't you have to wait for reinforcements or something?" Matthew asked with a light tone.
Her helmet opened by itself to reveal her face. It was disrespectful to hide one's face during a talk if there was no enmity between the parties. "I respectfully remind you that you have no business in telling the Immortal Crusade how to deal with its own matters."
"Sweet words," he replied sarcastically. "You know my name, what's yours?"
"You may call me Shadow One," she said.
"Sweet name, too," he said with a laugh. "So, tell me, Miss Shadow One. Are you going to attack me, or not?"
Chapter 26 - Phantom Realm
Chapter 26 - Phantom Realm
The Crusader Eminence had a dissatisfied expression on her face. "Most people treat the Immortal Crusade with more respect."
"It's not my problem what everyone else does," Matthew replied. "Are you attacking, or are you not?"
She looked ahead and didn't reply, but her firmly set jaws said enough. She was downright pissed with Matthew's attitude, but he still hadn't broken any law and she wouldn't do it either.
That was answer enough for him. She was just as bound by the rules as he had hoped; just like everyone else was forbidden from killing him while he was under investigation, so was she.
Of course, he wouldn't bet his life on that; that's why he had bought enough counter-measures before allowing himself to be found by the Crusade. If she attacked him head-on, he had confidence that he had at least eighty percent chance of killing her and a hundred percent chance of fleeing.
And he had no doubt an attack would come. He had learned in the memories he had watched, that the Crusade liked to use mind-reading to assert whether someone was a demon or not. He had a grade 12 soul resistance though and whatever spell she tried on him was bound to fail unless he allowed them to work.
There was no way he would allow her to read his memories though. His value as an encyclopedia couldn't be resisted by anyone and if his secrets were exposed, the entire world would compete for a piece of him.
As for only showing her part of his memories, it was pointless, since she wouldn't be able to determine if those memories held the secret of him being a demon.
He was actually anticipating the battle, but first, he would try to lure her into a trap, which was difficult to set up without her noticing due to her being by his side. Especially since it wasn't a simple trap, but one that could determine if she was friend or foe and force her to become a friend if it came to it or kill her if needed.
As for the reason the Crusader wasn't trying to read his mind yet, it was probably because protocol dictated that she tried a plethora of other spells first. As they walked, he could feel her casting the spells in a way that she thought was stealthy.
Whatever the future held, he was prepared. For now, though, he kept moving toward the city gates.
* * *
Helina Chosen had no idea why she was following the boy.
Maybe it was the way he spoke, maybe it was the fear that had rooted into her heart when he effortlessly killed the two Eminences from the Temple of Time, or maybe it was simply that she had nowhere else to go.
She felt dazed, as if she was living a dream, or maybe a nightmare. Her body moved, but her mind kept replaying the scenes from a few moments ago.
* * *
Sara felt herself getting numbed to surprises the more she followed Matthew.
He had an Eminence Prophetess whose destiny was protecting him? Nothing much.
He, a Champion, had killed two fully armored Eminences and knocked out another one with a single spell? That was just natural.
He, a twelve-year-old, talked to a Crusader Eminence without a care? There was no other way for him to talk to Crusaders.
She couldn't deny that a small part of her still whispered that these things could only be accomplished by a demon, even though she was free from the Ancestors influence. But Matthew's had called her narrow-minded before as if whatever he was could be explained in other ways.
If only he would explain it to her...
* * *
Mark couldn't stop thinking about the Herald's words about honor and survival in battle.
He had often wondered why he should care so much about the pride of his officers when his life was on the line. Why should he care for the shame of the mages to whom his life was worthless anyway?
Now, the Herald had revealed how such thoughts only led to death and had also wondered out loud who benefited from it.
If it had been a few weeks ago, Mark wouldn't have cared about such thoughts. After all, it was just mage politics, nothing he should worry about, even though he had committed the stupidity of touching politics before.
But now that the Herald had shown just how a bit of tactic could change a battle so much, Mark couldn't stop himself from thinking that, indeed, maybe the mages weren't as evil as he thought.
Oh, they were evil enough, they cared nothing for the warriors. But they, too, were being used by powers greater than them.
Mark had never even considered such a thing. In his heart, mages had always been almighty existences standing at the peak of the word.
But the Herald was expanding Mark's horizons. He kept changing the warrior with simple words.
He was, indeed, the Herald of Change.
* * *
The Queen was sitting on her throne, reading a few relatively unimportant reports just to make sure they were indeed unimportant; one had to make sure their subordinates were doing their jobs properly.
A shadow materialized on the room, in kneeling position.
"Yes?" She asked, without raising her eyes.
"Shadow One found the boy," the shadow said with its genderless voice.
"Oh." This time she did raise her eyes. "Elaborate."
"Shadow One was in Lamia, running the information network to find him when he appeared in the city. He sold and bought many things, here's the complete list." The shadow waved its hand and an envelope materialized on the ground.
The envelope looked inconspicuous but had been enchanted to only accept the Queen's touch. Not even the shadow could touch it anymore, even though it had been the one who put the paper sheets inside.
The shadow also didn't dare use a spell to send the envelope to the Queen, as doing so was an offense punishable by death. Only the spells that made the shadows appear and disappear were allowed in the Throne Room.
The Queen, who was obviously exempt from her own rules, used a spell to make the envelope float to her and started reading its contents.
The shadow continued with her report. "His butler's martial foundation is gone, and the boy is now also harboring a traitor Prophetess for unknown reasons. It led to a... Situation."
Again, the Queen raised her eyes with interest, and now they were shining. It was rare for her darlings to hesitate when giving a report. Speaking about 'a situation' was an obvious way of stalling for time.
"Explain," the Queen demanded.
"Shadow One was disguised as a local Champion Mage from Lamia and promised to protect the boy on his way to the Three Towers, when a group from the Temple of Time appeared, intent on capturing the Prophetess.
"Shadow One chose to act on behalf of the boy, since he is under investigation and thus under the Crusade's protection. The Temple's group attacked Shadow One without forewarning and resisted imprisonment when they failed. There was even a battle, which revealed Shadow One's status as a Crusader. She's now overtly following the boy for investigation, only hiding her true level. Overlord Azure Silver is very upset, I heard that he might push for war against the Temple of Time in the next seating of the Immortal Council."
The Queen put a hand to her chin. "Interesting. Not the war; such a minor offense like this cannot escalate that much. At most, the Temple of West Valdian will be eradicated, nothing much, but it's only proper for Overlord Azure Silver to verbally announce adequate fury when being humiliat
ed like this in his own city. Where was him at the time of the battle?"
"In a pleasure house."
"I imagined as much. His life is coming to an end and he just wants to be left alone. If he doesn't push for war after such offense, he won't find the peace he so desires since everyone will think they can play with him. Now, about the traitor..." She closed her eyes, getting in deep thought for a long time, then opened them. "Kill her. Overlord Azure Silver is old, but he still has connections that might benefit me. I want to present the traitor's head to him as a gift."
"The traitor is an Eminence, the only way to swiftly kill her is for Shadow One to show her true power as an Ascender," the shadow said.
"An Eminence?" The Queen asked in surprise. "Wait for the investigation to complete first, then kill her."
"What if the boy is found innocent but tries to protect her?"
The Queen smiled in a malicious way. "We can't touch him while he's under investigation, not with the Warden of the East watching us so closely, but if he dares to stand against the Immortal Crusade after such protection is removed, only death awaits him."
"Doesn't it mean he'll die either way?" The shadow asked with an approving tone.
"Probably," the Queen said, "but the rules set by the Immortals are not to be questioned, only obeyed. Anything else?"
"The purge of the capital of the West Dukedom has been completed. Shadow Two has the Valdian Kingdom in lockdown. Quasi-Overlord Firestar is cooperating fully."
"Unfortunate," the Queen said, the meaning obvious for the shadow.
A Quasi-Overlord was only one step away from joining the upper echelons of the Immortal Crusade. The Queen wanted nothing more than for him to do something stupid like resisting the Crusade and getting himself killed before he could become a political opponent.
