Of Myths and Legends (Emerilia Book 9)

by Michael Chatfield

  The tower dropped onto a section of the castle, breaking apart and crushing that section of the castle. Dust spread out from where it landed, making it hard to see on the battlefield.

  A cheer rose up from the drop forces as the shield completely collapsed. The flying citadel’s fire was now unimpeded as it smashed apart the castle. The forces that had been on the walls firing their energy beams down onto the advancing drop forces were now laid bare before the flying citadel’s guns.

  The five Xelur that had attacked the dragons now dropped down into the cloud of dust, hidden from view.

  Rounds were changed from the purely destructive rounds to the various summoning rounds.

  Domes of darkness started to cover the castle. Xelur yelled out as grand soul gem rounds smashed upon the ground, releasing energy pools from which different Affinity spirits and energy constructs were called from, attacking the Xelur with abandon.

  The battlefield became even more chaotic, neither side willing to back down, knowing that to pause was to invite death in.

  Jung Lee and Anna focused on the Grand Demon Lord ahead. It didn’t have time to turn from the DCA it was fighting when Jung Lee rushed forward. His sword cut the Grand Demon Lord’s back. Jekoni, who had been within the blade, managing its strength, surged outward, killing off the Grand Demon Lord and making him his own.

  Blood gathered around him, creating a whirlwind of blades that shot out at the Xelur, killing dozens as they looked in shock at their Grand Demon Lord that had turned on them.

  Jung Lee’s power could be rated near the top of Emerilia; when combining his strength with the Affinity spirits, he was a force to be reckoned with.

  Jekoni wasn’t as strong as Jung Lee, but his knowledge of the arcane, magic, and Mana was much more deep and profound. A creature like the Xelur, which were filled with raw energy that could be converted into Mana, were just asking to be dominated and their power used by Jekoni.

  The Stone Raiders gave their lives in order to buy the strongest among them and the people of Emerilia time to react. They, they sold their lives dearly, using all the tricks that they knew in order to delay the Xelur Grand Demon Lords.

  Those with Weapons of Power moved in groups, engaging the Xelur Grand Demon Lords, wearing them down before landing the final blow that felled the Grand Demon Lords to their knees.

  The drop forces roared with anger and power, unleashing their rage as they fought forward. In groups here and there and lines in other places, the Xelur citadel was truly a place of chaos.

  Explosions illuminated the sky as beings of energy moved like a swarm, clearing out the area around where their grand working rounds had struck and carved through the Xelur, unfeeling and unflinching as they were attacked again and again by the panicked Xelur.

  Jung Lee spared a glance for Dave and Anna. Anna fought like a demoness, her armor covered in blood as air moved around her with deadly grace unleashed upon the Xelur that came within her reach.

  Dave was like a war god overlooking the battlefield. With a flick of his fingers, grenades or pins flew out; with a gesture, a shield would snap into existence, covering their allies and stopping a soul energy-powered beam that was coming at them. Attacks flashed at him but he didn’t seem to pay them heed.

  Xelur rushed toward him in a group. He pulled out a sword but Jung Lee rushed forward, his sword dancing among them.

  Dave was good with the sword, but he couldn’t approach Jung Lee’s mastery, nor did his strengths lie there.

  He returned to being the omnipotent war god. While Jung Lee could kill dozens in as many seconds, Dave could kill ten times that number as he used not only his own skills but enhanced them with his creations.

  Jung Lee moved forward and called upon his Affinity spirits. They rushed out from Jung Lee and appeared in the air around Dave.

  He might be powerful offensively but his defense was lacking as with each attack his shields would have that much less power to draw from.

  Jung Lee knew that Dave had pushed his boundaries again and again.

  “Time to see what I’m capable of.” Jung Lee felt a calmness settle over him. His movements increased in speed but to Jung Lee, it felt as if he was in harmony with the world. His sword moved as if it were no longer a part of his body but a divine beast that he was merely attached to.

  To those watching, they would have seen Jung Lee’s movements seem blurred as he walked forward with steady steps, their scalps tingling at the slight smile on his lips as Xelur were cut away.

  No one, not even Deia, had the ability to fight in this manner. Even with her two swords unleashed, she was only barely stronger than Anna, but Jung Lee’s power was in a whole other realm compared to them.

  There was always someone stronger, and always someone to look up to.

  ***

  Dwayne looked at the reports coming from the Xelur portal in the Densaou Ring of Fire. He then looked out of his citadel and at the growing earth works that the Jakan had laid down. His expression became dark. With every day, there were more Jakan and they were dug in like a tick.

  “Hey, Dwayne, I thought that you might want a hand in negotiations,” Josh said over a party chat.

  “What are you up to?” Dwayne asked, a smile unconsciously forming on his face.

  “Well, I was thinking that eight flying citadels might be a way to get the Jakan to rethink their strategies and see if we might be able to turn them into mercenaries,” Josh said.

  “Mercenaries?” Dwayne asked.

  “We give them the opportunity to fight others that are looking to take this place. We give them transportation and supplies; they go off and destroy them. We reward them with land—kind of how the Nalheim were dealt with,” Josh said.

  “They fight for honor—what makes you think that they’re willing to fight beside us?” Dwayne asked.

  “We’re fighting on multiple sides. How can we be the stronger force? Also, there are people saying that they are gods and are trying to control Emerilia—it defames their god. We get them to get engaged with the Earth and the Dark Lord— paint Water, Fire, and Air as defenders and fighting avatars. I’d bet that they’d go for it. Also, I have been told that we might not need to deal with these negotiations—we might have some help,” Josh said mysteriously.

  “Who?” Dwayne frowned, unsure of who might be able to sway the Jakan’s hearts.

  “Well, warrior avatars, of course,” Josh said lightly, leaving Dwayne all the more confused.

  Chapter 21: Clan Leader Ish’tal Che

  Esa watched the battle that was going on at the western and two southern Xelur-controlled citadels. The fighting was fierce and the lines that the different sides had started out with had dissolved into a wild melee.

  The Terra Alliance had the upper hand now as the last soul energy shield at the western citadel collapsed. The other citadels had been using weaker soul arrays in order to keep up their soul energy shield.

  The citadels concentrated their fire on the towers and the castle, large grand workings at work as they suppressed the Xelur in those strongholds and toppled the towers onto the castles below.

  Esa’s eyes flickered to the western citadel’s view. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a blur reach out and grab the falling soul shield array from the rubble and pull it into the depths of the citadel. “What the hell are they doing?” Esa pondered.

  A new flash filled her vision on a different screen. This one was watching the area between Dwayne’s controlled citadels at the Jakan portal.

  Flames and water seemed to come together right beside each other before revealing two people: one woman in her prime as well as an elderly and sage-looking man with a long beard. They wore red and blue clothes.

  Esa’s eyes went wide as she looked upon the Lady of Fire and the Lord of Water.

  Silence fell over the command center as all eyes were fixated on two of the Affinities Pantheon members.

  They were the undoubted strongest existences on Emerilia and here they wer
e, standing in midair and looking down upon the Jakan, their expressions unreadable.

  They glided down toward the Jakan as if not worried in the least by the weapons that the Jakan raised in their direction nor the rushed movements as the Jakan came to full readiness.

  Josh said that he had a trump card when talking to the Jakan but Esa had never thought that he would call on two gods to negotiate with the Jakan.

  This was well beyond her expectations.

  ***

  Deia paused in her movements; the three Xelur she had sliced through fell to the ground. She had been fighting with her ranged attacks and her bow for so long, keeping back from the battle in order to better command Party Zero or to protect herself when she had been pregnant. She’d been assured that she could escape no matter what but still she stayed in a support role, protected by the others, not willing to risk Koi.

  Now Koi was safely in Ice City and there was little use in trying to coordinate Party Zero and the forces within the western Xelur citadel.

  She’d pulled out her blades and freely joined the melee; she’d cut through a swathe of Xelur. Now she felt a great energy coming from within the ruins of the citadel’s castle.

  The rest of Party Zero and the stronger members of the drop forces all looked at the center of the castle, confusion in their eyes.

  Whatever it was, it felt as if it were dangerous.

  “Party Zero on me!” Deia yelled and moved forward. Her blades, wreathed in blue sheets, cut through a Xelur’s sword and then cut them in two. The blue flames condensed around her blades to create physical sheets of flame.

  They easily cut through everything in her path. As she moved, flames appeared behind her, looking like dragons. Their bodies were attached to Deia by a thread of fire but they attacked as if they had their own intelligence, killing any that came near Deia as she forged ahead.

  The rest of Party Zero carved a path toward her and the castle that was still being hammered by the flying citadel’s grand workings, turning into energy pools for energy-based beings to attack the Xelur and boost the drop forces’ combat strength or smashing into the castle, destroying entire sections of the castle and turning them into rubble.

  Around the castle, there was an open area where the Xelur had been killed already.

  Deia led Party Zero forward.

  “I’ll clear us a path.” Anna rose upward into the sky, a goddess ascending as her eyes flashed with cold white light. Air currents built around her, forming into her Air titan. It was much faster than when she had used this form before and also stronger.

  She turned and slashed at the castle. A blade of wind five meters tall and one across slashed into the castle, blowing away walls, debris, Xelur, and anything that lay in its path. It extended through the castle and into the main area that had been underneath the main tower.

  Anna unleashed three more attacks. Her attacks left deep grooves in the ground and opened up a path to the center of the castle.

  “One battering ram coming up!” Steve charged down the path that Anna had created. Rocks hit him as he charged forward, putting his axe on his back and summoning a shield on his arms. He smashed through everything that lay in his way, making the gap big enough for others to follow.

  Gurren, Lox, Jung Lee, and Jekoni in his massive Xelur Grand Demon Lord body all charged forward. Deia followed them, with Suzy right behind her and Anna condensing her Air titan so that it only doubled her size. The circulating air was powerful enough to tear apart anything that came near Anna as she rushed forward.

  Steve smashed through the damaged walls and into the central area that had been under the main tower.

  “Such impudence!” A voice that made Deia’s eyes widen and her body feel as if it had been dunked in cold water reached her ears.

  An old multicolored soul energy beam lit up ahead of Steve. It easily pierced Steve’s shield, and pierced his chest, a hole right through him.

  Gurren and Lox raised their shields and their barriers to full strength. They were right behind Steve and even as they stopped the beam that had gone through Steve, their summoned shields were destroyed and their Mana barriers fluctuated wildly as they were tossed in opposite directions from the strength of the single attack.

  The rest of Party Zero rushed into the open area and Deia could finally see their opponents.

  There were four Xelur Grand Demon Lords standing in front of a Grand Demon Lord with a raised hand. Their auras and the power rolling off them couldn’t be compared to the strength of the Xelur Grand Demon Lords that were fighting outside the castle.

  The Grand Demon Lord that had shot Steve, Lox, and Gurren looked over them all with clear disgust in his eyes. “Kill them,” he said flippantly before he turned back toward the main soul array that controlled the soul energy shield that had covered the western citadel.

  “Yes, Clan Leader!” the other four replied, their eyes focused on Party Zero.

  Debris fell from the castle above and rocks had formed a small hill in the center of the area where the tower had been located. The remains of the tower had served to create a blockage that they couldn’t see the sky through.

  The soul energy shield array lit up the room, as did a few torches that were strewn around the room. The only other light was provided by Party Zero’s Mana, weaponry, and the Xelur Grand Demon Lord’s runes that had been carved into their bodies.

  They rushed forward; their muscles rippled, supplied with powerful soul energy.

  Jung Lee’s six Affinity spirits rushed outward, condensing into one creature and then imposing themselves on Jung Lee as his aura surged wildly. He let out a cry and charged forward.

  Lox and Gurren picked themselves up and rushed ahead, roaring with anger. Their armor’s runes turned a glowing gray, almost silver, as gray vapor trails were left behind by these glowing runes and their summoned weapons.

  Dave rose up into the air. Pins and grenades appeared around him as gray streams reached out from his body to the others in Party Zero, strength filling them.

  He let out a yell as the Xelur Grand Demon Lords unleashed their soul energy beams. Within his domain, Dave was like a god, as he distorted and broke the Grand Demon Lords’ soul beams. He sank slightly, his body being taxed to the limit even as he threw out grenades and pins that rushed at the Grand Demon Lords.

  Suzy summoned her six Affinity creations that rose up into the air and unleashed attacks from every Affinity upon the Grand Demon Lords, smashing against their shields, adding to Dave’s own attacks and suppressing them. The core of her staff floated above the staff as she used her powerful Summoner’s Bastille in order to call upon more summoned creatures.

  From around Jekoni, blood rivers split into four streams. Each hammered the Xelur Grand Demon Lords’ shields with deep and powerful impacts.

  Anna’s titan exploded outward, expanding to its normal size. She rushed forward; with each attack, her sword left behind white sword lights that hit the Grand Demon Lords’ shields. One-meter long grooves were left where their shields hadn’t blocked the attacks that came in a blur.

  Deia pulled from her deep reserves. Her armor became thicker and a deeper red color. She looked to the Grand Demon Lords, her eyes alight with power. Her body tensed and then exploded forward as she ignited the air underneath her feet.

  She used a movement technique she had come up with herself. Using her own flames to explode around her, it allowed her a greater movement ability which she could move in any direction without needing to push off with her hands or feet.

  From behind her, a dozen flame-formed dragons appeared, their roars reaching the heavens.

  Lu Lu added in her own screeches. Her lightning bolts came from the sky and hit a Xelur Grand Demon Lord’s shield.

  Deia was reminded of that time so long ago at Boran-al’s Citadel when she’d gone up against the undead Xelur Demon Lord. The same fear and uncertainty filled her, as did the knowledge that she had to fight.

  The Xelur Grand Demon Lor
ds erupted with power, pushing off the attacks for but a moment before they charged forward. Weapons appeared in their hands as they rushed to meet their attackers. Jung Lee, Deia, Anna, Gurren, and Lox directly clashed with them, their movements becoming blurry to others as the sound of weapons smashing against one another filled the room.

  Jung Lee was able to suppress the Grand Demon Lord, making Deia look at him in alarm as she and Anna were only able to bring their opponents to a standstill. Attacks smashed back and forth; the air around them turned into a series of shock waves each time their weapons met.

  Gurren and Lox worked together, as if they were one body with two heads. The Grand Demon Lord they were fighting reeled from the attacks, unable to fight both of them at the same time. Their combat ability was less than Deia’s and Anna’s but not by much; combined together, they surpassed both of them and were able to wound the Grand Demon Lord.

  Suzy’s creations rushed forward to help Gurren, Lox, and Jung Lee. If these Grand Demon Lords could be defeated, then Deia and Anna could get the support that they needed to defeat their opponents.

  Dave stood on the ground. The runes across his armor and his body were faded compared to before. Each of his actions was carefully thought- out as pins rotated around him, with spell formations circling them. They were ready to be shot out at any time to deter the Grand Demon Lords and take pressure off Party Zero.

  There was no support coming from the outside world as all of the drop forces were engaged with the Xelur in a vicious life-or-death battle.

  Deia could feel the aura from the clan leader and the soul array in front of him changing as he continued to move his hands and chant out something. The central totem of the soul shield array fluctuated.

  Jung Lee let out a shout, disappearing from where he stood and appearing on the other side of the Xelur Demon he was fighting. Dave’s pins had opened up the Xelur; before the Xelur had time to react, Jung Lee was on the other side of him, with blood on his blade.

  The Xelur Grand Demon Lord let out a cry as he bled from his thigh. The Xelur's burned soul energy as the vicious wound repaired itself quickly.