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. The the soul energies covered the ground. As one Xelur died, dozens of others would collect their soul energy, making it their own as their bodies grew with their abilities.
Gurren ignited the runes on his armor, increasing his abilities and how much the Devastator armor increased his own abilities. It consumed more power faster 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 unless 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 attack
s 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 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 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 grew 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.
Anna reached into the air, grabbing the falling Suzy and Induca. Lu Lu had turned into a raging demon as she tore through the sky, unleashing the most powerful attacks on those below.
The Xelur tried to hit her with their ranged attacks but her flying skills were no less than that of a dragon’s. Now she wasn’t resting on Suzy or Induca’s shoulders; her size expanded from a housecat to that of a four-door car.
Each of her attacks was more powerful than the last. As she killed or assisted others, her experience constantly rose, giving her more levels. Unlike the players or people of Emerilia, she couldn’t assign her increase in stat points; they were automatically updated—meaning Suzy didn’t need to go into her stats and increase them.
“Lu Lu!” Anna’s yell cut through the sky.
Lu Lu let out an angered call but seeing Anna carrying her mom, the fight went out of her. She turned, displaying her greatest speed as she followed Anna, Induca, and Suzy back toward the castle.
Lox didn’t have time to look anymore as he, Gurren, and Steve all stepped up to take the damage, fulfilling their role as tanks. They could barely keep the Grand Demon Lord pinned. They needed someone to get in heavy hits to start pulling the Grand Demon Lord’s Health down.
“We need mage support and DPS! We can hold the Demon Lord but we can’t kill him as he burns so much soul energy!” Lox cried out on the command channel.
“Lord Indas! We need your scouts!” Esa yelled out.
“They’re on their way!” Lord Indas yelled.
Gurren, Lox, and Steve continued their attacks, tirelessly attacking the Grand Demon Lord.
Gurren, in his frustration, went for a risky attack, finding the handle of the Grand Demon Lord’s war hammer coming for his head. It smashed into his helmet, but being within the separate space of the bag of holding, he swung his shield up and pressed forward with an attack.
The Grand Demon Lord, surprised that Gurren wasn’t at least stunned, had to sidestep Gurren’s second attack, his own follow-up going wide.
Steve and Lox both attacked at the same time. Steve’s blow was deflected but Lox’s hit cutting into the Xelur’s side.
The wound started healing as soon as Lox’s attack had passed. Steam rose off it as the soul aura around it burned fiercely to defeat the attacking gray Mana that worked its way into the Grand Demon Lord’s body.
They moved around the crater. The sound of their weapons rang out with each crushing hit that broke the ground or made the ears of those nearby ring.
With a flickering movement, Indas and six of his people appeared. All of them wore loose and baggy clothing, as well as veils that covered their faces. Weapons were held in their hands and there was not an inch of armor on their bodies.
By looking at these people, one might think them as weak, but their movement speed was incredibly high!
Blades on chains moved like live snakes, moving between the three tanks and striking the Grand Demon Lord.
Unable to fight off all of the attacks, the Grand Demon Lord was hit by the blades, cutting down on his Health. Still, he defended against Lox, Gurren, and Steve. If one of their attacks hit, then it would severely impact his Health, more so than the attacks by Indas’s people.
The Grand Demon Lord cried out in anger and frustr
ation as the attacks kept on whittling down its Health.
“It’s nearing seventy-five percent!” Gurren yelled out.
“Be ready for a Legendary ability!” Lox said.
The Grand Demon Lord fell to seventy percent and still there was no sign of the Legendary ability.
Steve hit the Grand Demon Lord’s war hammer wide. Gurren’s sword jabbed out low, cutting deep into the Grand Demon Lord’s thigh and making him stumble.
Even at that, his wounds were healing but thankfully it wasn’t instantaneous.
Indas’s people used the time to their advantage, dropping his Health more than fifteen percent.
“Coming up on fifty percent. Maybe he’s not got a Legendary ability?” Gurren said, sounding unsure.
Fifty percent hit and the Grand Demon Lord’s soul aura climbed to new heights as his Health bar started to quickly refill.
A magical formation appeared around the Grand Demon Lord. Gurren, Lox, and Steve were unaffected but Malsour and Indas’s people were.
“It’s a soul attack,” Malsour ground out, fighting the attack with all of his Willpower. Indas’s people were brought to the ground, crying out in pain within the area of effect.
“Pull back and use your ranged!” Lox yelled.
Steve and Gurren jumped back five meters. Steve dropped his axe; the head embedded itself into the ground as his wrists glowed. Gurren and Lox’s weapons fell away, dissipating into fog as they activated their wristbands, pushing them to full power.
The Grand Demon Lord was still in the air. Soul energy from all around rushed toward him, filling his Health and also returning some of his lost power.
The trio didn’t hesitate. From their hands, gray Mana bolts appeared. The smoky balls came out so fast that they looked like solid streams.
These attacks impacted the Grand Demon Lord as he tried to regenerate his abilities and reserves. The rate of his Health returning decreased as their damaging attacks were faster than his regeneration.
The Grand Demon Lord whirled out his war hammer. It glowed white with soul energy. His movement ended his Legendary ability of regeneration as the other Legendary ability of soul domain continued to affect all of those within the area of effect.
Of Myths and Legends (Emerilia Book 9) Page 9