Dave’s hands moved as he worked to break apart the spell formation but being a Legendary ability, it was a complicated and powerful spell.
“Get away from that sword!” Dave yelled out.
The players started to move, not all that fast, thinking that Dave was overreacting.
A massive area around the sword seemed to come alive with runes made from blood. Anyone who was within this one hundred-meter-wide circle let out cries of agony as the circle pulled at the nanites within their bodies that supported their consciousness and their bodies.
Those with a higher Willpower were able to resist, becoming slower in many cases as they had to force their way out of the area of effect spell, pulling others with them where they could.
All of this power shot through the wall where the sword had been launched, tearing through it and opening up another breach as it rushed into the Grand Demon Lord’s body.
Bloody runes were illuminated across his body as he drank in that overwhelming power.
At the same time, the Xelur Grand Demon Lord that had been rushing over to the eastern gate finally reached his destination. Soul energy covered his body and his massive war hammer. Its war hammer seemed unstoppable as it slammed into the gate. Waves of power tore apart the wooden gate and the intervening barrier that had been formed in the tunnel behind the gate.
Rocks and debris flew out of the gate’s tunnel, killing and injuring those on the other side. The Dark mages who had been working to reinforce the gate were the worst affected.
There was no time to look to the wounded as the Xelur took this opportunity to rush through the rubble- and dust-filled tunnel, around the war hammer-wielding Grand Demon Lord and into the castle.
“Dave, Jung Lee, and Anna—on me. We’ll deal with that Grand Demon Lord absorbing the soul energy. The rest of you—get to that gate, stop the Xelur and kill that Grand Demon Lord,” Deia yelled.
“Let’s go!” Lox led his group toward the breached gate where the Xelur were pouring out.
In Dave’s hands, a sword and shield formed, he stood there looking to Deia, Jung lee and Anna who were also waiting for Deia’s directions.
“Jung Lee, Anna—up front. Dave—mid-range support. I’ll be long-range support and overwatch,” Deia said. The others nodded.
“Let’s go.” Flames sprang into life around Deia as she flew into the sky. A gray light covered Jung Lee as he followed. Anna swept up into the air while Dave floated with them with apparently no support.
Chapter 6: To Glory or Defeat
Lox twirled the sword that had formed in his fingers, getting a feel for its balance and keeping his hand limber.
“Hah! Seems like someone’s excited!” Gurren said as they rushed toward the tunnel. Steve was at the front, followed by Gurren and Lox on either side of him and back a bit. Behind them was Anna; Suzy, Induca, Malsour, and Lu Lu followed as well, using their various methods to fly through the air.
“Been some time since we got into a fight like this,” Lox said, a smile on his face. He had been a warrior since a young age, taking his training and his position seriously as he looked to improve his skills constantly. He had followed the dwarven War Clans and then struck out to join the Stone Raiders, finally attaining his position within Party Zero. He hadn’t felt deserving of the position at first, thinking of himself as too weak compared to the others.
He wasn’t able to throw back powerful creatures with a wave of his hands; he fought with his fists, sword, feet, and shield. His actions were more savage than the mages’ and seemed to be born through desperation instead of thought-out and choreographed movements.
While fighting was a mad melee, Lox had learned to fight and to fight well. His power had increased in leaps and bounds so that he would no longer think of himself as a hindrance to Party Zero. It had driven him to become the warrior he was now. He didn’t wish to fight, but he would do it—for himself, for those beside him and for his beliefs.
“Malsour, as soon as we get there, make up a defensive wall. We’ve got a lot of ranged people—let’s see if we can’t get them some cover so that they can put their skills to use! Anna, you’ve got the best eyesight out of all of us. Call out when you see anything happening. Induca, Suzy—support us as best as possible and let us know when you’re going for a large attack. Induca, I want a wall of fire down the center of that tunnel and a plasma cannon round down there to give us some space! Steve, don’t Steve up too much!”
“How is that a saying?” Steve asked.
“’Cause you do dumb shit, you crystal blockhead,” Gurren said.
“Hey, it’s fun for the entire family!”
“I rest my case,” Gurren said.
“Ready yourselves!” Lox said as they reached the first of the Xelur soldiers.
From behind, a blade of Air curved over the three at the front. Anna’s Air blade cut through a number of the weaker Xelur, opening up the Xelur’s haphazard formation as they swarmed out.
Lox lowered his shield and slammed into a large Xelur, tossing them backward with his enhanced strength. His sword shot out, opening a nearby Xelur’s neck before it sliced down, taking out a knee as a war hammer clanged on his shield. He shifted his stance thrusting his sword out and upwards through the side of the war hammer attacker.
Lox turned. His sword grew longer as he dodged a spear. His sword edge struck the side of the attacker.
Steve’s fist smashed into their face, propelling them backward as Steve stepped forward with a grunt. His axe slammed through three Xelur as it started to build up momentum.
Lox and Gurren looked to each other, turning back and defending Steve’s sides as his axe gained more and more momentum. Steve twisted and turned his body; the axe rotated and moved at greater speeds as he cleaved through those in front of him.
“Advance!” Lox called out. They had the initiative. As they moved forward, the Xelur were being pushed from behind, making it harder for them to fight effectively in the tight quarters while Party Zero, who had fought and trained together for years now, moved like a single organism. They rotated and moved seemingly out of place but always giving the rest of the party room as they continued forward.
“I’m laying down a soul drain formation! It might take some time but it will pull the power to the citadels and tear it away from the Xelur so the survivors don’t gain power every time they kill or someone near them is killed,” Malsour said over the half party chat.
Lu Lu unleashed her lightning attack overhead. Thick lightning ran through the Xelur ranks, killing a few and stunning others.
Steve, Gurren, and Lox didn’t hesitate and pushed forward.
Anna lay behind them, plugging any gaps and helping them out where needed. She was stronger individually than them but unless they came up against an opponent that they couldn’t take on, she had the reaction speed and powerful attacks to help out the three up front.
Suzy’s creations added flank security, helping to push back the other Xelur around them and making sure that they didn’t hit them in the sides and rear.
They had been the first to react but other groups were now coming to the gate’s aid.
Induca unleashed fireballs from one hand as she placed down a thick fire wall at the tunnel entrance into the courtyard of the castle to halt the Xelur advance.
“They’re attacking the spell with their own magic. The wall will only hold for about five minutes.” Induca lay down Fire tornadoes among the largest pockets of Xelur and blocked them from advancing on the walls that lay to either side of the gate.
Induca and Suzy were on crowd control and limiting the Xelur movement as they pushed forward into the Xelur.
The farther they went, the stronger the Xelur became, soul energies covered the ground. As one died on either side, dozens of Xelur would collect their soul energy, making it their own as their bodies grew with their abilities.
Gurren ignited the runes on his armor, increasing how much the Devastator armor increased his own abilit
ies. It consumed more power faster and wouldn’t last as long, but right now he needed that edge in order to keep up their forward momentum and make it to that tunnel.
A massive magical formation appeared in the air before passing through people without affecting them and slamming into the ground.
“Done!” Malsour said. The runes carved themselves into the ground as the soul energy that was being released started to be pulled into this magical formation instead of being reclaimed by surviving Xelur.
“I hate necros and I hate Xelur!” Steve grunted. His axe moved so fast it was hard to follow. His movements were erratic; he looked as if he were trying to dance, awkwardly crossing his arms over to always keep his axe moving. The power it unleashed was enough to kill anything that was in its way.
Steve was barely adding strength to the axe’s rotation. With its momentum, he only had to alter its direction to tear through those near him, or cut down attacks aimed his way.
“Aren’t you and Jake good friends?” Gurren asked.
“Yeah, but he’s our necro—it’s different. I came in like a wreeecking axe!” Steve slammed his axe into a shield-holding Xelur and tossed them to the side. Steve laughed. “Gets me every time!”
Anna let out a pained sigh as Lox focused on fighting.
Soon, there was no time for talking as they advanced.
“I have the ground in the tunnel ready to close it up, but we need to take out that Grand Demon Lord or else he’s just going to smash through it all over again,” Malsour said, blessing the front line fighters with necrotic damage to their weapons.
Even if their attacks were stopped, then they’d melt through the weapons and armor in their way, or upon touching the skin, it would then start to decay and inflict damage onto the one hit for a period of time.
“Seems like he’s coming to us!” Induca cast down repeated fire walls over the tunnel entrance. “I can feel them breaking up my spells by attacking them within the tunnel.”
The ground shook as the fire wall Induca had been making, exploded. Induca stumbled her face pale from the failed casting and rebounding power that raged through her body.
Standing at the entrance of the destroyed tunnel was the war hammer-wielding Grand Demon Lord. It surveyed the battlefield, looking over the defenders as one might look over prey, his eyes filled with bloodlust.
Lu Lu unleashed a powerful lightning attack from her beak, sensing that this creature had hurt Induca.
The Grand Demon Lord raised his war hammer to hit back the attack but it instead traveled down the war hammer and into the Demon Lord’s body, making him twitch slightly.
The amused look on the Grand Demon Lord’s face turned to one of anger at having such a weak creature inflicting pain on him. With a roar, the Grand Demon Lord shot forward, pushing the Xelur out of his way as he raced toward Party Zero.
“Plasma cannon!” Suzy called out. Her Air creations moved into a special formation in front of Induca.
Induca had mostly recovered after downing a Health potion.
Red sheets formed, as did magical formations, lining up perfectly with Suzy’s creations.
Additional white magical formations by Anna appeared in front of the barrel that formed in front of Induca, integrating perfectly with the other spell formations.
The Xelur, with fear in their eyes, looked up at Induca, who was wreathed in these multiple spell formations as well as supported by Suzy’s creations.
The Xelur Grand Demon Lord swiped his war hammer up at Induca. A white beam of light cut through the sky at her.
Induca’s eyes changed to red as her skin became scaled. Her power increased as she allowed herself to change slightly into her Dragon form.
Power surged through the massive conglomeration of items. The plasma cannon unleashed a cyan stream of light that was twisted, fueled, and compressed to a terrifying degree by Anna and then directed with incredible precision by Suzy’s creations.
A plasma cannon spell usually just fired one spell. This was a continuous spell, much like the flamethrower spell that one might use, burning through Mana continuously for a longer time of effect.
This cyan light smashed into the soul-powered beam that seemed to pierce up through the heavens.
The impact from the two magical powers sent out a shock wave over the castle, clearing away any dust and debris and shaking the people below.
A crater appeared underneath the Grand Demon Lord’s feet. He was nearly thrown off-balance but he shifted his weight and stomped his foot down, grounding himself as he faced off against Induca, who had been pushed back ten meters in the sky.
The flames that surrounded Induca grew stronger, turning from red to blue as she held her position in the sky.
The Grand Demon Lord’s aura increased in power as his body grew smaller, increasing the power in his magical attack. He could only direct his power against Induca, unable to move or he’d be thrown off-balance and destroyed.
“I can hold him for a while. I’m stronger than him but if he ignites all of his soul energy at once, then I don’t think I can keep him suppressed,” Induca said through gritted teeth.
“Forward while she has the Grand Demon Lord suppressed!” Lox yelled. They advanced—Suzy and Lu Lu with Induca in the air, defending her from attacks and letting her concentrate.
Malsour unleashed a fog from himself that decreased the reaction time of the Xelur within fifteen meters of him. This allowed those at the front to easily kill of anyone who lay in their path.
They cut a path through the Xelur. The other parties lent their help, watching the flanks of Party Zero, holding their ground so that they could advance without care of the Xelur that they left alive.
“Shoot the mage!” the Grand Demon Lord yelled out.
The Xelur on the ground that were in life-or-death fights directed their power into beams, aiming at Induca.
Suzy held her staff outward. Waves of power distorted the air around her as the gem in her staff was released, starting to rotate and move higher into the sky.
From Suzy’s belt and her bag, creations started to appear.
“Creations of Gray!” Suzy yelled. These creations came together. Instead of being limited to their own singular Affinities, these creations were made from all of the Affinities. They carried within them seven cores: one for each of the different Affinities and another to send out orders and regulate the other six.
Ten of them formed, all taking on a similar appearance to Suzy. These creations didn’t have any emotion on their faces as they looked at the incoming attacks. Gray light formed from their hands as they erected a Mana barrier around Suzy and Induca, only allowing the beam of Induca’s attack to continue.
“I can’t keep this up for long!” Suzy said. The attacks were blunted but the power necessary for these creations were on another level compared to the regular creations she had.
She sent out three of the creations. They dove toward the ground, brimming with energy. They fired simple Mana beams, like the Xelur utilizing Mana barriers.
They moved, dancing around like the wind, hitting as fast as light and as hard as earth and metal, flowing through the Xelur’s defense like water. They weren’t as powerful or fast as Lox and Gurren, but because they were inanimate, they didn’t have to care about wounds that would have killed others. As long as their cores were unaffected, they could continue to fight.
Lox let out a roar, his movements picked up in speed as he pushed forward, not worrying about the consumption from his soul gem reserves any more.
More and more of the Xelur now unleashed their ranged attacks on Induca and Suzy.
Steve, Lox, and Gurren broke through the Xelur lines and appeared at the edge of the thirty-meter-wide crater around the Grand Demon Lord.
Lox shot forward. His armor glowed white as he flew toward the Grand Demon Lord.
It instantly combusted its soul reserves as Gurren, Steve, Malsour, and Anna followed behind Lox’s wild charge. Its ranged attack gr
ew in power, forcing back Induca, who didn’t have time to change her Dragon form as the new power output from the Xelur Grand Demon overpowered her own attack.
She was hit straight on, crying out as her Health dropped to just ten percent.
“No!” Suzy yelled. The Air creation on her back allowed her to shoot across the sky and grab Induca, who was falling from the sky. The different components of her attack came apart without her there to ground it all.
The Grand Demon let out a terrifying roar, a ghost-like apparition formed in front of it. The ghost paused in the air for a moment before taking off like a dart and entering the opening within Suzy’s defenses.
Her great creations moved to try to intercept but they weren’t quick enough. The attack smashed into Suzy, making her cough blood. Three of her gray creations fell apart as she could no longer control them.
Lox’s sword smashed down at the Grand Demon Lord.
The Grand Demon Lord moved its war hammer across to block the attack. It made to counterattack as Steve reacted. Lox, attacking the Grand Demon Lord’s side, forced him to defend instead of continue his attack.
“Anna, go get them!” Lox barked as Gurren added himself to the fray. His sword lashed out like a viper, the Grand Demon Lord again forced to defend.
Steve, Gurren, and Lox fought on the ground or in the air, attacking anywhere they saw a weakness, working together unconsciously so that they would open up the Grand Demon Lord for another one to hit them.
“Got it!” Anna yelled. An explosion ripped through the area around her, blowing away any who were close enough and not stable on their feet. The Grand Demon Lord and the rest of Party Zero around him didn’t even regard the shock wave as they fought with everything they had.
Malsour protected their backs, using his spells to kill as many Xelur as possible.
Lox knew that Suzy and Induca’s fall from the sky was pulling at his very heart but the rest of the party needed him where he was or else this could all come apart.
Emerilia Series Box Set 4 Page 48
