“Understood.” Malsour’s voice was deep and powerful, like the ancient, powerful, and wise beast that he was.
“Let’s show these Xelur Demons what we’re made of! With me!” Lox yelled, jogging toward the gate tunnel to the east.
Malsour unleashed his terrifying breath over them all, scouring the ground clear of Xelur and anything that was in their way.
A few of the Demon Lords that were within their ranks were able to resist, only to find themselves alive but without support of their weaker soldiers and facing the forces that Lox was able to rally.
“Leave none standing!” Lox yelled as he clashed with a Xelur Demon Lord, their power easily matched as they fought each other.
Battle was once again joined. The others cleared the path for Malsour, who was breathing down the gate tunnel, killing those in his way.
Chapter 7: Live or Die
Anna caught Induca and Suzy as they fell, she could tell they were both badly injured as she used healing spells on them both. She didn’t have time to look backward.
“Lu Lu!” Anna yelled out.
The lightning phoenix, hearing the familiar name, turned and rushed toward Anna, who was already entering the castle, holding both Suzy and Induca and covering the trio in air.
Anna continued to use healing spells, not having enough time to pull a potion from her bag of holding as she rushed through the halls into the main area of the castle. She followed the stream of wounded passing through the ono.
As soldiers and forces moved in through one side of the teleport pad in Terra, on the other side people were rushed through the intake area, which doubled as a triage area.
Anna raced in, putting Suzy and Induca on two different beds. Anna pulled out Health potions, pouring them on Induca’s wounds and pouring it down Suzy’s throat.
Suzy only had blood on her mouth but Anna could tell that her Vitality was weak. Knowing that Suzy could re-spawn Anna focused her efforts on Induca. Her armor was in tatters; her body was cut up from the ravaging energies of the attacking soul energy.
A healer came past and put his hands on Induca.
Healing light came from his hands even as he talked. “She needs to get to intake right away! Priority one!” the healer said to the bearers behind them. Without hesitating, they picked up Induca and moved for the underground tunnels that would take them and Induca right to the Stone Raiders’ tower and the hospital that lay within.
“Odd—looks like a soul attack to me. Take her to the shamans,” the healer said after touching Suzy’s head.
Another set of bearers whisked her away as well.
Anna followed Induca. Suzy would win her fight or come back again. She would lose some levels but that would be it. If something happened to Induca, she could truly die. Anna followed the bearers to the underground stations; her identity was confirmed before she was allowed to pass.
When they found out that Emerilia was real, Dwayne and Jules had enforced rules on the activities within Terra. This was to make sure that no one from the Jukal or from groups that wanted to attack the Terra Alliance or the Stone Raiders would ever be given the chance. Such as allowing wounded into the hospital but keeping them in secured zones compared to the Stone Raiders and vetted personnel.
They stepped onto a platform, all around there was nonstop movement, with capsules constantly on the move, some arriving while others were leaving.
Seeing it, Anna was surprised with just how modern-looking it was. She followed the bearers onto a capsule.
A Mana barrier formed over the entrance as they shot off. Gravity and inertia magic kept them in place and not feeling anything while also accelerating them at incredible speeds to the towers.
They reached the towers. Underneath the towers there was another platform; this one was not laid out simply like the first but had defenses in place, as well as automatons.
They were checked once more as they reached an elevator on the capsule.
Other elevators shot capsules upward or brought them back down before sending them on their way through Terra.
The capsule they were on finally reached an elevator that shot upward.
They came to a stop. The capsule’s barrier disappeared as the bearers walked out. A door opened beside the capsule, as they walked out of the capsule and into the hospital.
“Stage one! Soul energy attack!” One of the bearers yelled out at the waiting people facing the doors.
“Room E-73!” One called out.
The bearers rushed down the halls with Induca. The stretcher underneath her had magical coding that was constantly healing her and trying to keep her stable in transport.
They passed wards filled with all manner of wounded. People from castles all over Emerilia were transported to this hospital.
The bearers entered the ward for E-73. As a healer nearby rushed over; a team followed them.
“Stage one, Xelur soul energy attack,” the bearer repeated.
“What kind of Xelur was it?” the healer asked.
“Grand Demon Lord. His spell was too powerful, broke through hers and hit her,” Anna said.
“Looks like she was able to blunt the power of the spell. Instead of hitting her right in the chest, she broke the beam and it hit most of her body. Thankfully, she directed it downward,” the healer said grimly.
Anna felt lost as she looked at her friend barely holding on to life.
“Immediately start healing. Focus on the head. Be ready with ventilation. We’re going to need a grand healing potion bath!” the healer called out. One of the group ran away to carry out their orders while the healer placed his hands on Induca’s head, another healer in the group moved to the other side. Golden light fell down on Induca as her face started to return to its original shape.
“Let’s make sure she stays unconscious. We don’t want her waking up to all of this,” the healer said.
Induca was put down on a cart, next to what looked like a large bathtub made from straight lines. Along the sides of the bathtub and inside it there were runic lines. The base of the bathtub was made of soul gem connected directly into the floor.
The bearers looked at Induca, unsure how to get her from the cart they’d put her on to the bathtub.
The healers moved out of the way, moving to the bathtub to receive her.
Most of Induca’s legs were gone and from below the neck, she was in a terrible state.
With a wave of her hand, Anna lifted Induca off the stretcher and cart, over the healer and into the bathtub.
Immediately, the lines around the bathtub came on. Induca let out a rasping and terrible breath.
The healers placed their hands on Induca’s head.
“Set her bones and have her prepped for healing!” the lead healer said, still concentrating on Induca’s head.
The bearers left to help move more people as the group of healers examined Induca’s body, putting her bones back in place and healing them enough to hold their position. Their focus then moved on to her vital organs.
The person who had been sent off to the side of the room was now carrying massive potion jugs.
“Stamina potion, good idea,” the lead healer said. “How are we with the lower body wounds?”
“There are a lot of them but we need to get those organs healed fast,” one of the healers working on the lower body said.
“Do it,” the lead healer said.
The one with the jugs poured the Stamina potion into the bathtub.
A vitality started to spread through Induca’s body as she took in this Stamina potion throughout her body.
The person with the healing potion handed out cups of the potion to the healers, who guided it into different areas for the maximum effect.
Anna could only stand there and watch, helpless, as the healers worked tirelessly to bring Induca back from the edge.
***
Deia, Dave, and Jung Lee saw Induca in the sky as she had been fighting the Grand Demon Lord but they shot over th
e outer walls, unable to see her anymore as they locked onto their own target: the Grand Demon Lord who had first attacked their castle.
Jung Lee called upon his Free Affinity spirits. As he descended toward the ground, a gray ethereal smoke formed around him. Jekoni appeared next to his shoulder. Instead of his normal sitting, now Jekoni stood; his hat, instead of dropping, was upright and ready, as if becoming serious. Across Jekoni’s body, power fluctuated as Jung Lee felt the spirits imbued within the sword where Jekoni resided stirred.
The Grand Demon Lord, upon seeing them, charged forward, his body covered in the white flames of soul energy.
Jung Lee Walked ahead of them, his pace quickly closing the gap as he pulled his sword from the sheath, a grey light shining in front of him.
The Grand Demon Lord’s forward momentum was halted as he was smacked with the sword light formed of gray Mana. It left a deep cut in his body, his soul aura trembled.
“Looks like I’ve found a great harvest in your souls!” The Grand Demon Lord laughed and rushed forward at Jung Lee. His hands grew talons made out of soul energy that whistled through the air.
Fast and in control of his soul energy. Jung Lee’s sword snaked out, directing the blow to the side. A fifteen-meter-long line was cut into the ground where the blow passed over. The Grand Demon Lord didn’t slow his pace, advancing as he clawed at him. Jung Lee deflected the attacks, his movements nimble and agile as the terrifying force rushed past him.
With each blow, the ground was torn apart. The remaining dirt and grass turned to a shredded mess, creating dust and debris in the air.
“I can hold back the Xelur. Deia—help Lee,” Dave said.
Lee caught Dave out the side of his eye. Dave was now on the ground, armed with twin axes. Down his arms, runic lines formed, directing and enhancing his power. The twin axes gave off a gray smoke similar to Jung Lee’s own attacks and spells.
Dave pushed off the ground, shooting forward to meet the Xelur. As his axes shot out, Mana grenades flew from his bags of holding, shooting outward to meet the surrounding Xelur and keeping them back.
Disks and other orbs were also unleashed, creating magical formations and traps that activated nearly immediately and killed any Xelur within their area of effect.
Jung Lee continued to dodge blows from the Grand Demon Lord, moving side to side and using his blade sparingly as he got a better idea of the Grand Demon Lord’s abilities.
As he moved to the side, he felt a rush of air from behind him as a blue arrow passed in front of his face. So fast and precise. Deia must have read my very movements so as to not hit me.
The arrow passed Jung Lee, the Grand Demon Lord, seeing it, was able to increase their soul aura to try to defend themselves better. He rushed forward so instead of the arrow hitting him in the head, it struck his shoulder.
The aura blunted the attack but a big chunk of the Grand Demon Lord’s shoulder was turned into a bloody mess. In front of Jung Lee’s eyes, it started to recover.
Jung Lee pressed forward. He changed his grip on his sword, moving from defending to attacking. With the recent attack, the Grand Demon Lord was in close with Jung Lee, whose power was ignited.
Around him, gray smoke seemed to form and trailed his movements as his sword struck out. The Grand Demon Lord parried the attack, a look of utmost confusion on its face. The Grand Demon Lord was one of the most powerful beings within the Xelur realm, yet these insects could actually hurt him.
There were few people who would anger a Grand Demon Lord and few who would openly challenge them.
Even Grand Demon Lords challenging each other was a rare occurrence. Not because they didn’t want to fight, but that fighting between Grand Demon Lords could exhaust the soul energy that they had built up over decades, if not centuries. Losing that power would reduce their rank and also open them up to attacks by those they stepped on in the past.
The Grand Demon Lord’s face turned from confusion into open joy as he met Jung Lee’s blade with his claws.
“Try to get his back facing me so I can hit him,” Deia said over the party chat.
“Okay.” Jung Lee changed up his movements and put pressure on the Grand Demon Lord to try to give Deia a shot.
The Grand Demon Lord, wary of Deia and her attacks, continued to place Jung Lee between them, going so far as to take light wounds.
“Why are you not doing anything?” Jung Lee asked Jekoni.
“Lee, you’re a lot more powerful than you were before but you’ve yet to display it. Here and now, you can put your strength to use and temper your abilities that you’ve just touched on. Dave needs my help in order to keep back the Xelur around you. Do not let this opportunity go to waste.” Jekoni floated away from Jung Lee.
“It’s been some time since I played with Mana.” Jekoni laughed. His body became more physical and detailed as Jung Lee felt Jekoni pull from the sword as well as from the link he shared with Jung Lee. “Dave, you deal with the northern side—I can deal with the south!”
“Thanks, Jekoni!” Dave said.
Jung Lee was stunned by Dave’s fighting style. Myriad different weapons and movements seemed to form into one terrifying whole. Dave’s weapons changed nearly instantly, going from axe to sword, to shield, to spear to war hammer, and back to axe or any combination in between.
The Xelur were constantly kept off-balance as he continued to change up his fighting style. As the Xelur died, instead of their power being dispersed, it was pulled into Dave’s armor, growing stronger each time.
Even if the Xelur hit Dave, they would instead find a Mana barrier in their way, deflecting their attack as a weapon whistled through the air to finish them off.
Jung Lee felt a smile rise to his lips. He had felt distant for quite some time. He was attached to the people of Party Zero but Emerilia—although he had been born here— it didn’t feel like his home anymore. Jekoni was one of the only people he had known while he had been free within Emerilia who was still alive.
His friends, family—all of that was taken from him by time, leaving him trapped within the Six Affinities Temple. He had suffered loneliness, loneliness so terrifying that he had thought about letting go, of releasing his bond to Emerilia.
But he hadn’t. When he was released, he was filled with excitement and joy. He could do everything that he had dreamed of! Now, these creatures and this event wanted to once again seal him up, to take away that freedom.
A fire that Jung Lee had not felt for a long time built in his stomach. It turned and shook the very fiber of his being. It was anger; it was fear; it was all the emotions that came with fighting. He could die at any moment and all of his dreams would be left unrealized, unattained. His freedom would count for nothing.
Jekoni had been right: Jung Lee had come to know of the six Affinity spirits within his body, but he hadn’t come to understand or use them in any manner.
Jung Lee saw the Grand Demon Lord in front of him and the aura that surrounded him—the aura of soul energy from all the Affinities, just out of equilibrium by the smallest amount. Jung Lee had an idea.
He called upon the Affinity spirits under his command. They swirled and moved from their slumber, eager to let their energies loose upon the world. They stepped out of Jung Lee and formed human-looking shapes.
The Grand Demon Lord looked at them as they continued to trade blows, wary of these smoky apparitions of Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Light, and Dark.
The apparitions turned formless, once again returning to Jung Lee. But instead of returning to their rest, they entered Jung Lee’s body.
Behind him an ethereal looking Jekoni floated in the air, he raised his head, hat moving out of his way as his eyes glowed with arcane light. This was the imprint Jekoni had left on the weapon of power, this was his might. The affinity spirits moved to enhance Jung Lee under Jekoni’s guidance.
Lee let out a satisfied noise as he felt their power enhance his own. His senses grew sharper and his mind clearer as his body
felt as light as a feather but as strong as a pillar of metal.
Jung Lee’s speed increased as he hit harder. His mind moved at a speed that allowed him to look upon his techniques, critiquing and improving upon them. With the six Affinity spirits improving the power of his own body, he came to understand them more, to know the effects of their enhancement, as well as their weaknesses and strengths, forcing him to adapt and understand how to use them to his advantage.
The Grand Demon Lord, sensing Jung Lee’s power rising, combusted more of his soul energy. From a bag of holding, he crushed a soul gem. Power filled the air and centered on the Grand Demon Lord, increasing his power to its peak as his aura increased in power.
“Yes! Yes!” The Grand Demon Lord seemed like a battle fanatic as they exchanged blows. Jung Lee’s sword was covered in gray Mana while the Xelur Grand Demon Lord’s was covered in the chaotic and powerful soul energy.
The area around Jekoni seemed to turn into a desert as all of the moisture was pulled from it. A number of the weaker Xelur were drained as their bodies weren’t strong enough to resist that pull.
“Oh no you don’t!” Jekoni pulled the power from the souls toward himself instead of allowing the other Xelur to power up from it.
Deia, seeing that the Xelur Grand Demon wasn’t going to let her hit him, turned her attention toward the breach in the wall. She fired her bow as fast as a repeater could fire. The runes that she had picked made the arrows faster and made them multiply in a horizontal line instead of creating an area of falling arrows. A half-dozen arrows took the Xelur down. Deia seemed to rotate back and forth. In front of her bow, the weaker Xelur were just wheat to be harvested.
She dodged from side to side with an almost ethereal grace, not even needing to pause as she fired a seemingly continuous stream of arrows at the Xelur. She advanced without pause or fear. The Xelur rushed her and her team to concentrate their attacks and tear Party Zero apart.
Jung Lee pushed that from his mind as he fought against the Grand Demon Lord.
“Come out!” Jung Lee yelled. Six humanoid shapes made of colored mist shot out from his body, and stood around the Grand Demon Lord.
Emerilia Series Box Set 4 Page 50
