But Baramos was not going to stand around and let that happen. With Ron on the ground following his dive, Baramos kept him on the ground by aiming a strike at his midsection. Ron surprised the Archfiend by defending with the Thunder Sword instead of his shield. Although Ron was unable to connect with flesh he was able to cut off one of Baramos's claws. However, the attack fulfilled its intended purpose of stopping Ron from getting up.
Once again showcasing its ability to multi-task, the Archfiend unleashed another blast of flames from its mouth. Fortunately, the soft light that Thomas had cast upon the team was meant to help counteract such an attack. Although all four still suffered burns, it was not anywhere near as bad as the first time Baramos had used its breath weapon. Thomas brought Ron to full strength while Alice healed herself.
Finally, Suzanne was able to join Ron in fighting Baramos up close. The Archfiend growled as it knew it would have to allow Ron to stand up or else be run through by Suzanne's blade. Once again, the Archfiend surprised Suzanne with its dexterity. It backhanded the flat of Suzanne's sword, knocking it away harmlessly. Ron had some more success as he buried his blade in Baramos's other hand.
This time, the Archfiend used its mouth to chant a spell instead of breathing fire. The room was once again filled with a huge explosion. Realizing the bad position it was in fighting two magically enhanced warriors; Baramos then tried a risky maneuver. Flanked by Suzanne and Ron, it spun around to face Suzanne. Instead of trying to claw her, the Archfiend used its strength and weight to push Suzanne off the altar. It then used its speed to spin back around to defend itself against Ron.
At the start of the fight Ron might have been surprised by Baramos's speed. But now Ron had seen enough of the Archfiend to know not to go for the knockout blow despite the supposed advantage he had. Ron took a quick sidestep to avoid Baramos's wild spinning hand and then finally drove the Thunder Sword into the Archfiend's torso, dealing a serious wound to its right shoulder.
The Archfiend put its full attention on Ron. Ignoring the wound in its shoulder, it brought its left hand around and managed to land a strong blow on one of Ron's shoulders. It used its other hand to cast a spell at the same time. Yellow waves spun around Ron's head. Instead of launching another attack at the Archfiend, Ron looked around confused and then charged at Thomas.
The other three quickly realized that Baramos's spell had affected Ron's mind. Unfortunately, none of them knew of a spell that could counteract the Archfiend's. The only cure they knew of was to give a good knock to Ron's head which would be easier said than done. Even worse, Alice's enhancement of him would now be turned against them.
"Alice!" called out Suzanne. Alice knew what that meant; the team had practiced this scenario. Suzanne ran and cut off Ron before he reached Thomas. Alice had her own sword out and began to circle around the two as they began a quick duel. Suzanne knew they had to settle this quickly as the Archfiend would begin picking them apart with its magic with nobody on the altar to stop it. She launched a couple of high attacks at Ron, knowing she was leaving herself open as she did so. As expected, Ron took a shot at her midsection. His attack cleaved through Suzanne's armor and deep into her flesh. The might of Ron's strike caused Suzanne to fall backward.
Baramos cackled and took advantage of the mayhem Ron was causing. It cast two spells: a fireball that scored a direct hit on Suzanne and a huge explosion. Suzanne was left with horrendous burns and bleeding out on the ground. Thomas knew he would not be able to heal her with the spell he had been using throughout the fight. He would have to cast his more powerful, but less reliable spell. He did his best to maintain his focus as he cast the difficult spell. He was rewarded when a beam of light dropped from the ceiling and reached Suzanne's body. Suzanne was then able to get back up on her feet.
Meanwhile, Suzanne's risky maneuver had paid off. Having put all his strength into his strike and then further distracted by the explosion Baramos had conjured, he was caught unawares by Alice. Fighting through that same explosion, she brought the flat of her blade down at Ron's head with all her might, desperately hoping she would hit him hard enough to break the spell but not hard enough to knock him out. Like Thomas, she was rewarded as Ron ceased attacking his comrades. He took a brief look at the situation and, realizing that nobody was attacking the Archfiend, ran at the altar.
Baramos did not want Ron to rejoin it on the altar. It launched another fireball-explosion combo. This time, the fireball was aimed at Ron. Ron stumbled as the fireball exploded and was forced to slow down his charge to get back on his feet. Thomas and Alice were left in bad shape by the explosion as they had not healed themselves in a while. While the two of them healed themselves Suzanne healed Ron hoping that he could make it to the altar soon enough to stop another magical assault.
The Archfiend took a risk by repeating its fireball-explosion maneuver. Ron was left in horrible shape but fought through the agony to the top of the altar. The pain kept Ron from dealing a mortal blow but he nevertheless dug the Thunder Sword into Baramos's chest. Thomas eliminated all of Ron's wounds while Suzanne healed herself. Suzanne took a risk by having Alice re-enhance Suzanne's strength instead of healing.
Suzanne's risk turned out to be a safe one as Ron's melee assault proved too much for the Archfiend to ignore. Ron fought aggressively, allowing Baramos to land some claw strikes on him in exchange for dealing harsher blows to the Archfiend. Ron was well aware that his friends were still hurting and he needed to buy time for Suzanne to join him. Ron worked his way inside the Archfiend's defenses, forcing the monster to devote its hands and even its head to dodging and blocking blows.
Although Baramos landed some terrible blows on Ron it turned out to be for naught as long as the healers could undo Ron's wounds. Baramos tried to push Ron off the altar but was only partially successful; Ron maintained his balance and only gave up a couple steps while he left a gash in one of Baramos's arms in return. However, that amount of room allowed Baramos to turn its body so it could better defend itself with only one of its arms. It immediately cast a spell with its other.
Ron's head was once again surrounded by wavy, yellow lines of energy. Ron was befuddled for a moment but was able to fight off the spell this time. This proved to be costly for the Archfiend. The lack of another explosion allowed Thomas and Alice to catch up on the healing and Suzanne to finally join Ron on the altar. The two fighters were once again flanking the Archfiend.
The battle went downhill for Baramos from there. Suzanne and Ron were now getting used to the Archfiends' speed, strength and movements. They also realized that they had to fight with little regard for their own well-being, trusting in their friends to keep them alive. The Archfiend ran Suzanne through with its claws, taking advantage of the opening in her armor that Ron had created. Thomas and Alice patched her up. Baramos dealt a crushing blow to Ron's head that send him falling down the altar. The attack left it wide open for Suzanne's attack and she delivered by severing its other arm. The severed arm began regrowing itself but it would take some time for it to grow back to the point of being useful.
As Ron got back to his feet, the Archfiend tried to push Suzanne off the altar again. Suzanne was ready for the move and sidestepped, leaving Baramos severely off balance. The Archfiend did a controlled tumble off the altar to get back into a combat stance without leaving itself open to Suzanne and Ron. It was another impressive move but this one would turn out to be a mistake.
The Archfiend took advantage of the space it created to unleash an explosion and a blast of fiery breath at its enemies. But Thomas's soft light spell continued to protect the four and now Baramos was no longer on the top of the altar. Suzanne quickly moved to cut Baramos off from the top of the altar. She launched a complicated series of sword strikes at the Archfiend. Baramos barely managed to defend each one, even using the stump that was its regrowing arm.
However, Suzanne's attacks were meant to keep Baramos occupied. Ron ran to the top of the altar and made a leap at the Archfiend. He
brought his blade into Baramos's head with the force of his strength, his weight, and Alice's enhancement combined. Ron and Baramos fell backwards off the side of the altar. The weight of the monster nearly crushed Ron and kept him from taking advantage of his enemy's fall. But there was nothing stopping Suzanne.
She fell upon Baramos with a flurry of blows. Desperate, the Archfiend clawed her across the face and managed to send a fireball at her. It wasn't enough. Thomas and Alice were still healing wounds with impunity. Ron got out from under Baramos and joined the assault. Their blades cut and sliced through the Archfiend's skin.
Their assault became so relentless that the Archfiend was no longer able to counterattack. Thomas ran forward and joined the attack. Alice began casting her most powerful magic on the fallen Baramos until she could no longer cast any magic. Baramos screamed in agony and rage as it was literally cut into pieces.
As the Archfiend let out its death scream a warm light suddenly engulfed the area. Though the four should have felt exhausted after the battle they suddenly felt invigorated. The three spellcasters could feel magic flowing back into their bodies. Although their bodies were brought back to full strength, their minds struggled to comprehend what just happened.
"Is…is it over?" asked Alice.
"I think so," said Ron. As though to test his point, he cut a few more pieces out of the Archfiend's body. Baramos did not move.
"It might not be over," said Suzanne suddenly. "There's still a war going on. Let's get out of here. I don't want to risk that that thing can regenerate from pieces. Let's take its head with to ensure that nothing grows out of it."
The four left the Archfiend's chamber with its head in their possession. They were able to quickly exit Venorl Castle. Not a single monster lingered in its walls. Even the humans that had attacked Ramia appeared to have left.
From the cliffs near the castle the group could see a good portion of the battlefield. The monster army was much smaller. The monsters that remained were busy destroying each other. The four could see that the human army was withdrawing and that a negligible number of monsters were pursuing them.
Thomas was the first to speak, "It is over. The monster army is devouring itself. The threat is over!"
"It's over!" echoed Alice. "The Archfiend Baramos is dead!"
"This is a battle that'll go down in story!" said Ron with a huge grin. "Can't wait to hear how they describe me!"
"As the boisterous loudmouth who kept getting the group in trouble?" asked Alice slyly.
"Look who's talking!" retorted Ron. Instead of getting into an argument the two burst out laughing.
Thomas walked over to Suzanne. "You're oddly quiet," he observed. "Anything wrong?"
Suzanne paused before answering. "No," she said at last. "I just still can't believe it. We won. We won!"
Chapter 31: The Celebration
The four teleported back to the camp. Upon arrival they were met with thunderous cheers and applause. The other soldiers in the army crowded around them, all anxious to hear of the battle that had occurred in Venorl Castle. After some time, the army's officers began calling for order and summoned the four into one of the tents. There they were able to give their report.
Cautious of being tricked, the officers ordered the army to stay battle ready should the monsters reorganize and strike. Fortunately, their caution was unnecessary. The majority of the monsters that had made up the enemy army fled from the Necrogond. For most of them, the Necrogond was not their native habitat. Of those that remained, more decided to fight each other than try to challenge the human army. There was no monster army anymore; the monsters had returned to their natural instincts.
The next day, Ramia returned to the camp with only Captain Gileen on her back. Her return elicited another round of cheers from the alliance. She still bore some wounds but was clearly well enough to fly. She offered to give the army's commanders an aerial view of the battlefield. After a brief trip, the phoenix returned and the commanders declared that the battle had officially been won. The rest of the day was spent in celebration. The four went to talk with Ramia on their first opportunity.
"I am glad to see you alive," said Suzanne. "I feared that I had gotten you killed."
Thank you for your concern, replied Ramia. But you only did what you thought was necessary. And in the end, thanks to your efforts, the Archfiend was slain. You humans truly are amazing.
"I saw that only Gileen returned with you," said Suzanne. "What happened to Glennard, Wilnoc, and Moonarrow?"
I am afraid that Glennard and Wilnoc fell in battle, answered Ramia solemnly. I was unable to evade my attackers for long. Glennard's group found me and put their lives on the line to defend me. Their sacrifice allowed me to escape and live. Of Moonarrow, I do not know what happened. Gileen says that when the fight turned against them that Moonarrow was suddenly nowhere to be seen. He suspects that Moonarrow fled.
"I am sorry to hear that," said Suzanne. "We had an argument before he left. It would seem that Glennard did his duty to the very end."
"I'm sorry I called that man a coward," said Ron.
"At least Ramia and Gileen were able to survive," said Alice.
"Now that the battle is over, what will you do Ramia?" asked Suzanne.
I owe a great debt to both the elves and the humans, replied Ramia. It pains me that the two races have not been able to live in peace. But there is some hope. Though they did not join us in battle, the elves contributed some magical items to our cause. Gileen told me that Wilnoc gave you a Wizard's Ring. That ring was one of the items the elves gave to the army. It is my wish that elves and humans no longer despise each other. I plan to serve as an ambassador between elves and humans.
"You are held in high regard by both groups," said Suzanne. "If anyone can foster peace between the two, it's you, Ramia."
And what of the four of you? asked Ramia. Now that you have completed your quest and saved the world what awaits you?
Suzanne looked at the other three and was met with shrugs. "I guess we haven't given it a lot of thought," she replied. "We've always just stayed focused on the task at hand."
"We've visited waypoints all over the world," said Alice. "With our teleportation magic, we can go almost anywhere we want!"
"And we're bound to get some respect for killing Baramos," said Ron. "Wherever we go, people are going to know who we are! This is going to be great!"
"Don't get too cocky," cautioned Thomas. "We'll need to settle down and find some work eventually. Whatever fame we have gained will only get us so far."
Ramia smiled at the four. Whatever you end up doing I am sure the world will be better for it.
The four continued to talk with Ramia a while longer before returning to where the majority of the camp was celebrating. They continued to receive praise and congratulations from all the people they saw. The various kings and queen present also came to offer their gratitude. Even King Saldor came over to thank the heroes though he seemed to be in a foul mood as usual. After Saldor left Emperor Vilisik came over to speak to the group.
"Well done!" he said, clapping as he walked. "Well done, indeed! To think that when we met about a year and a half ago that I was meeting those that would slay an Archfiend!"
"You are too kind, Your Majesty," answered Suzanne politely.
"Nonsense!" laughed the emperor. "When you returned from thwarting Kandar's rebellion I believe I offered Ron my crown. At the time, I did not think the empire would be ready for a female ruler. But after all this, I think the people will make an exception. And so, Suzanne of Aliahan, I give to you the crown of the Romalian Empire along with the position of Emperor. Do you accept this great honor and responsibility?"
"No, no! That will not be necessary, Your Majesty," said Suzanne hastily.
The emperor laughed again. "I didn't think you'd take it! Alas, I suppose it is my duty to wear this thing until the day I die."
Alice breathed a sigh of relief. "Geez, this guy gives his nation a
way without a single thought," she muttered.
"Well, I don't blame him," answered Ron in a whisper. "I was emperor for only a few days before I couldn't take it anymore."
"It is a burden, I assure you," cut in Vilisik, surprising Ron and Alice. "But I think it will be a bit easier from here on out."
"It must have been rough for all of you these past few months," said Suzanne. "I can only imagine what it would be like to have the lives of an entire nation on my shoulders."
"Yes, well, it's time to forget that for the moment," said Vilisik. "Thanks to the four of you, my people are safe. And I hope they won't be seriously threatened like this again while I still live!"
The celebration extended into the early hours of the next morning. After that, it was time to get to business again. Short lived as it was, the alliance began to disband. The camp was packed up and the soldiers began teleporting back to their homelands. Efforts were made to gather and bury the dead but it was an impossible task. Many had fallen in the battle against Baramos and with monsters still roaming the Necrogond it was perilous to those still living. A day of mourning was held to honor the fallen. The heroes did their part in packing up the camp.
"So guys, I've been thinking," said Ron one day. "What do you think we should do now?"
"Well for me, I'm ready for a nice, long vacation," replied Alice. "I'd say we've more than earned it. We traveled all over the world but we always were in such a rush. We weren't ever able to just take in the sights. I'd like to travel around to all the places we've been to and just relax, take in some sights, and learn about all the different cultures out there."
"Yeah, a vacation would be great," said Ron. "But what about after that? Like Tom said, we're going to have to find some work eventually."
"Do you have any ideas, Ron?" asked Suzanne.
"Yeah, I guess so," answered Ron, his voice much quieter than normal. "There are still monsters out there, as well as evil humans. I can still do some good with this sword of mine. And I've been thinking that I don't want to stay in Aliahan. I don't think there's much there for me anymore."
Dragon Quest Novel Page 48