A wave of pressure passed across me, and I froze. My eyes darted to the sky. What was that?
Dark clouds collected over the enemy, and swirled in an odd pattern, like a spiral, but a chaotic one.
I frowned. A Weather Spell?
A bolt of black lightning struck down, and right into the fissure I’d made. The flames within the crevice all turned black, and rose high into the air, spilling onto the ground. A screeching noise sounded and the fissure closed itself, long before it was supposed to, and long before I had wanted.
“What the hell?” I whispered.
“Well, well,” a voice chuckled.
A bolt of lightning struck again, right in front of the entire enemy force, and a black flame emerged from the impact point, rising high into the air. It molded itself, and slowly formed a humanoid shape.
“Hello, Diablo,” he laughed.
“You.” My voice shook, and I stepped back. “You’re not supposed to be here. How…”
“It’s wonderful to see you too. Did you miss me?”
Panic flowed through me as my mind processed what I was seeing. This wasn’t just any annoying flame of darkness. It was the most annoying flame of darkness.
The Dark Lord had returned.
***
CHAPTER TWO
The dark flame morphed before my eyes, and molded itself into humanoid form. Gauntlets of pure gold emerged around its hands, and its form turned clearer, as if the objects had solidified his presence. Eyes of navy blue emerged on his head, and glanced at me.
I froze. He’s not supposed to be here, I said. He’s not supposed to be alive.
The Dark Lord let out a chuckle. “You seem perplexed, Diablo,” he said. “Are you so surprised to see an old friend once again?”
This isn’t supposed to happen
“Zoran, what do we do?” Nyx asked.
I don’t know. I looked at the Dark Lord using my Analyze skill.
DING!
Name
Azmuth Razugan
Race
Eternal
Level
936
Health
13790
Mana
14510
Stamina
13370
Uh oh. I blinked.
“That’s a lot stronger than you are,” Nyx said. “And we don’t even have Acnologia here to pump up your strength.”
I looked at the enemy ranks before me. They all stood their ground, with the Dark Lord leading them. His eyes of blue still looked right at me, and there was no emotion within them.
Then why did I feel unease just from that gaze?
“Zoran!” An elf leapt up to the rooftop, this one with black skin and eyes that glowed an emerald green. Her white hair flowed in the air as she landed on the tiles.
“Ijyela,” I said. “What happened?”
“The Dark Lord.” She breathed heavily. “I sensed his presence. He’s—”
“Right there,” I pointed.
She froze. Her eyes followed my finger and widened at the sight before us. “Oh dear.”
“This is not going to be an easy fight,” I said. “He’s a good hundred and fifty levels above me. Get everyone else to safety. Even Freya. Let the Knights stay and man the village defenses.”
The elf nodded. “Where is Acnologia?”
“Haven’t heard from him yet.”
“Stay strong, Zoran.”
And with that she was gone, hopefully running off to tell everyone to get to safety. If I and the Dark Lord were about to dash it out here then there was a good chance people from my side would get caught up in the crossfire, and that would not end up well for them.
I jumped off the roof, and landed on the ground outside the village boundary, with the hot sands flying away just from the force of my drop. The Dark Lord stood fifty yards from me now. His facial features were still underdeveloped—just two eyes and no mouth—but he looked ready to clock me in the neck if the chance arose.
I took a single step closer to him, with my hand hovering over Dawnbreaker. “What do you want, Azmuth?”
The man grunted. “I’ve told you multiple times,” he muttered. “Do not call me that name.” A wave of darkness surged out of him, but harmlessly passed through me.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Nyx sighed.
Gets better every time, I chuckled.
I slid out my sword, and held it to my side, with the tip pointed to the ground. “What do you want?”
The Dark Lord snapped his fingers, and a massive mental pressure exploded into my mind. I dropped onto my knees, clutching my head, and a scream echoed from my lips. I gasped as I tried to concentrate, pushing out whatever this mental attack on me was.
With the ounce of focus I had left I pushed my energy into my mind, buffing up my mental strength, and resisted the force the Dark Lord had sent. In seconds the pain eased up, but a gentle throbbing still pulsed through my brain.
DING!
Congratulations! You have learnt a new Mind Arts spell ‘Hyliora: Mind Guard’! Push and resist any mental attacks launched at you. Mana Cost: 350. Duration: 30 seconds. Range: N/A. Cast time: 2 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.
I glanced at the new spell name and closed the screen, taking note of nothing else. I turned my attention back to the Dark Lord.
“So,” he grunted. “You’ve learnt the Mind Arts now, have you?”
“Have a problem with that?” I gripped Dawnbreaker tight. “Why are you here anyway?”
The men behind him seemed restless. An attack wasn’t that far off now, and I could tell my men had probably not set up all the defense mechanisms yet.
“I wonder why I’m here.” The Dark Lord held up his hand, and a blast of darkness shot out. I used all my strength to hold myself in position. If I avoided this attack, the village was the one that’d have to take it. And it was obvious that anything that beam touched would get completely wrecked.
Anything but another Eternal.
I stood my ground, and raised Dawnbreaker into the air, holding the flat of the blade against him. The blast struck the weapon, and sent a tremendous force into me. I quickly shifted my body weight, resisting the push, but I still slid back many a foot, unable to stand the attack.
“You need to hit back,” Nyx said.
I nodded, and thrust my hand out. “Vapireo Giola!”
A blast of water surged out from the ground behind the Dark Lord, and a twister of blue—bigger than anything I had ever created—rose off the ground. It surged high into the sky and trapped many enemy Knights within its waters.
Azmuth cut off his blast of darkness and turned around. Black haze rose from the ground, as if it had been floating underneath it all along, and floated into the sky, wrapping around my attack. In seconds, the water flow cut off, and the Knights fell back to the ground. Most of them were dead from suffocation, but a good number still breathed. There were still more than two thousand men left, and that was a large number to take on.
“You have learned the Water Arts too,” Azmuth said, turning to me. “You’ve been keeping busy while I was gone.”
I grit my teeth. “I’m much stronger than you think.”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “That is…questionable.”
I shot forward, with Dawnbreaker in my hand. In half a second I was a yard before the Dark Lord and swung into him. The man threw up his arms, and I struck his golden gauntlets. A loud clang resonated into the air—the sound of metal on metal. The Dark Lord pushed back, and I let him do so, using his force to move away from him and sliding myself to a stop about thirty yards away.
“That was a good strike, Diablo,” he chuckled. “It was almost as though—”
His form destabilized, and he dropped to the floor, breathing heavily as the dark haze started flowing away from him.
I stood there blinking. What’s going on?
His hazy form vanished. Multiple streams of dark smoke flowed from him, all the way to the back of the Dark Allia
nce’s army, and conjoined once again. The Dark Lord reappeared at the very end of his ranks, but I didn’t push up to him. It was clear that he had been compromised in some way, and right now it was best to take down these Knights, since their numbers were a potentially bigger threat to us all.
A series of explosions sounded behind me. My eyes lit up. Yes! I turned and ran. I caught sight of the line of massive boulders flying to the enemy, and each projectile was laced with a white aura. I grinned and launched myself into the air, landing onto the closest roof back within the village boundaries.
I looked on either side of me and saw large stone cannons, much bigger than the previous ones, posted on small collapsible towers of wood. The cannons themselves had streaks of bright purple on them, with the color pulsating every second. A knight sat behind each weapon, manning it as we took the attack to the enemy, sending boulder after boulder at them.
The Dark Alliance pressed forward, with the Dark Lord standing his ground at their rear. The man looked up, glancing at me, and I could tell, even from this far away, that he was smiling inside.
“Why don’t you use Darkness Divine?” Nyx asked.
“I can’t use something like that now.”
“Why not?”
“Azmuth has got to have something special up his sleeve,” I said. “I sense a trick that we’re completely oblivious to. It’ll be safer to save the stronger spells for later. If I use Darkness Divine now the cooldown time will mean I can’t use it again for the duration of this battle.”
“Ah,” Nyx said. “What do you think Azmuth has planned?”
I looked at the Knights charging up to us. I looked at the boulders running through them, and pushing them back. I looked at the Dark Lord, who still stood his ground at the flank of his army, and didn’t move a step.
I just don’t know. I thrust my palm into the air. “Beltair, Uher!”
The sky darkened, and a large phoenix rose from the ground, empowered by the darkness. The form charged through the enemy and struck the knights, killing them all on impact.
I kept my hands in the air, and summoned the Dark Phoenix over and over again. The birds rose out of the ground constantly, and barely struck a couple of Knights before another one emerged.
In moments, I’d taken out about five hundred men, but now the enemy forces had reached the village borders.
“Zoran, Viola just sent you a message,” Nyx said.
“Eh?”
“It says she, Ijyela, and Krof can take care of the streets. She also adds not to worry and that they can take care of this on their own.”
“What do you mean not worry?” I stepped back. “Those three aren’t enough to defend the entire village.”
The Knights broke into the streets on either side of me, and I jumped off, dropping onto the path to my right first. I slammed down onto the street, sending dust and broken stone into the air. The men ahead of me froze, and clutched their weapons tight.
“Erkiela, Asgionis, Peliosia!” I yelled, using my Chain Casting skill. A ring of fire surged out of me, seeping into the Knights all around. Their burning bodies dropped to the floor, just as my Agility buffs activated, increasing my speed.
I lifted Dawnbreaker, and surged out, as a lone flame travelling the streets. My blade cut into the men still standing, slicing them into dead bodies before they even had the chance to scream. Battle cries came from further ahead, and more men ran into the village, pushing toward me.
Flying boulders whooshed through the air periodically, and the projectiles struck the remaining men trying to make their way into the village.
I put my hand up, facing the incoming Knights. “Tritus Oceanus, Iglacier!” I yelled.
A massive blast of water shot out, surging through the men and capturing them within. In an instant, my second spell activated and the section of water froze, trapping them all. The mile-long pillar of ice stood still, with the enemy Knights acting as inanimate dolls within it.
I looked at the empty street entrance before me. Okay, this place is clear. I jumped into the air, and sailed over the house to my left. The Knights in the adjacent street there had already pushed far ahead, with no one left to stop them.
I landed on the ground, in between their ranks, and began my assault. “Bladestorm!” I lifted Dawnbreaker and surged out, striking every Knight in my vision in less than ten seconds, killing them cold.
Bodies dropped like flies on a hot day, and in moments I’d taken down the two hundred or so Knights that had entered the streets. Battle cries came from the other streets, but they were all eclipsed when a loud roar echoed through the lands.
I grinned and charged ahead, heading right towards the squadron of men making their way towards the village, close to a thousand of them left. The thunderous roar exploded once again into the sky, and a Dragon of midnight-black descended down to the ground. He skirted over the Knight army, and sent flames of red right into their bones. The Knights screamed and scattered, for they were mere insects before a massive Dragon.
You’re back, I grinned.
“Indeed,” the Dragon said.
“Sure, took your time,” Nyx chuckled. “We could use some help about now.”
A form jumped out from the back of the ranks, and I leapt up as well, rising high into the sky and meeting with it. I swung at the shadowy figure with Dawnbreaker, but my strike was blocked mid-air. A sword held against mine, and behind it was a red-haired, red-eyed man.
“Jelal,” I muttered.
We both dropped to the floor, still mid-strike, with my sword still pressed against his. Only five hundred men were left before us, with the rest completely taken out by the Dragon.
Acnologia. Fall back.
“I see the Dark Lord here,” the Dragon said. “He seems to be struggling. And there is a ring of Knights around him.”
“What?” Nyx said. “Zoran, we have to attack him now!”
I shot forward.
Or at least tried to.
Jelal blocked my path as I stepped in, and with his sword held before him. “I’m sorry, but the Dark Lord isn’t seeing any visitors right now.”
“Don’t worry, I made an appointment.” I thrust my palm out. “Oskis!”
A beam of burning fire shot at him, but he dodged, letting a line of enemy Knights take the attack instead.
I quickly used my Analyze skill on him.
DING!
Name
Jelal Orsen
Race
Human Dark Sorcerer
Level
692
Health
11090
Mana
10710
Stamina
10320
He’s grown much stronger, I mumbled.
“But his stats are still lackluster,” Nyx said. “We can take him out.”
I nodded and pushed forward. “Heavy Swing!” I slashed my sword against his. In an instant, his weapon cracked, but still managed to hold together. I swirled around, and threw my free fist at it. “Meteor fist!” I yelled, and my strike went crashing through the sword and right into his chest.
Jelal went flying into the air, and all the way to the back of the Dark Alliance ranks. I looked at my fist. Wow, that was a stronger punch than I’d expected.
I turned to the men before me, the men separating me from Azmuth. I waved my hand in the air. “Au Ferah!” I said, casting my Mask Hypnosis spell. The clear bell sound rung through the air and the Knights turned against each other, with all five hundred quickly battling it out amongst themselves.
I jumped into the air, avoiding the fight, and landing at the very end of the army. A wide circle of Knights stood there, shielding someone deeper within. The Dark Lord sat in the center, hunched on his knees, breathing heavy.
What the hell happened to him? I blinked.
The Dark Lord looked up at me, and a faint word echoed in my ears.
A blast of darkness surged out of him, expanding in a hemisphere. A shockwave blasted out as wel
l, and smacked into me. I went flying into the air, and crashed down onto one of the outermost buildings in the village.
“Uhhh.” I muttered and sat up, brushing the dust off my limbs. What the hell was that?
The entire Knight army laid dead over the ground, but I couldn’t see Jelal or the Dark Lord in there. The presence of power I’d felt before was gone now. The gentle throbbing I’d felt in my head had disappeared as well.
“He’s gone, Diablo.” Acnologia sailed in from the ends of the battle field. “He must have used that attack as a distraction and left.”
DING!
Congratulations! Your Mind Arts spell ‘Au Ferah: Mask Hypnosis’ has increased to Level 3! You will now be able to influence 300 beings at a max of Lv. 450. If you try to take control of enemies at a level higher than this, then the total number of enemies you can influence will fall.
DING!
Congratulations! You have fended off Dark Knight Army (Lv 450)! Rewards: Sword of the Dark Alliance Knight (x24). Reward: Spear of the Dark Alliance Knight (x41). Reward: Warrior’s Restoration Potion (x145). Reward: Arrows of the Dark Alliance Archer (x652).
DING!
Ikarius has fended off an army from its borders. You have won this battle against the Dark Alliance. Congratulations, village master!
I closed the screen, with a more solemn expression on my face. In that last moment, before I’d been pushed back, I had used my Analyze skill on the Dark Lord. And I wasn’t pleased.
Level 1050. That’s what I had seen. He’d grown more than a hundred levels between the start of the battle and the end. Whatever it was he was doing, his growth was accelerating like crazy. That wasn’t normal.
That wasn’t okay.
I hadn’t forced the Dark Lord to leave us alone. That wasn’t what had happened here. He’d left of his own accord. If he’d actually taken me one-on-one, I wasn’t sure I could beat him. In fact, I would have probably lost.
The Eternal: Infinity - A LitRPG Saga (The World of Ga'em Book 4) Page 2
