Reincarnated as a Familiar Volume 3 (Light Novel)

by D. S. Craig

  Finally, Lord Gambriel finished the long set of instructions for his spell. A moment later, a loud explosion sent dust and debris flying everywhere as the wall in front of him was blasted open. Pebbles pelted Rose’s arms as she covered her head. Thankfully, none were particularly large or had enough speed to do any real damage.

  When the dust cleared, she looked up to find Lord Gambriel standing over them with a slightly annoyed look on his face. “I forgot to give the force proper direction. It looks like you’re not injured, but you still have my apologies.”

  “Ah, no. It’s fine, my lord.” Rose looked at him, utterly bewildered. He had just done something as dangerous as crafting an instruction-based spell on the fly and made a mistake while doing so. But he was acting like it was no big deal. Was he out of his mind?

  “Come on, the exit’s open.” Lord Gambriel picked up the injured Elliot once more, and they headed out into the night. Once outside, Rose immediately recognized that they were in the same place where she had entered the tunnels with Elliot and Lesti. Looking around, she couldn’t see the giant demon, but could hear fighting in the distance.

  They quickly made their way through the garden, heading away from the sounds. That alone should have helped Rose feel more at ease, but with every step, she felt a tightness growing in her chest. Slowly, fear and anxiety she didn’t understand began to build up inside her.

  “Rose, are you okay?” Elliot called out to her from his father’s back as they walked along.

  Rose’s head snapped up, and she was surprised to find herself slowly falling behind Lord Gambriel. It wasn’t that he was walking too quickly for her. Instead, she had slowed down. Unable to sort out the feelings in her heart on her own, she decided to try and voice them out loud.

  “It’s strange. I should be relieved, getting away from that horrible monster.” Rose’s feet came to a complete stop as she started to talk. “Yet, the further away we get, the more scared I feel. It doesn’t make any sense, right?”

  “I don’t think it’s strange at all,” Elliot replied without a moment’s hesitation.

  His straightforward answer completely caught Rose off guard. She started to ask him what he meant, but before she could, Lord Gambriel turned and glared at her. “Enough chatter, you two. I don’t have time for your nonsense. I have to get reinforcements as quickly as possible, or your friend and her familiar are gonna wind up dead. Do your soul searching while we walk!”

  Rose knew that she couldn’t argue with him, so she swallowed her words and followed after him quietly. Yet, the storm of emotions raging inside her didn’t cease. In fact, she was so focused on her own thoughts that she didn’t notice the path that Lord Gambriel took, one that very intentionally brought them into view of the battle.

  They rounded the corner and Rose froze, attention firmly on the chaos in the distance. The massive demon was surrounded by tornadoes, rocks, and lightning that lashed out at the much smaller figure darting around it. It was this figure that Rose’s gaze was firmly locked onto.

  Astria ran through the storm so fast she could barely keep up. But despite her speed and powerful magic, she was walking a fine line. One that, if she stepped over it for even a moment, then her life would be forfeit. Even so, she didn’t back down or hesitate. She threw everything she had at the creature, all to protect her friends and buy time.

  For a long moment, Rose stood there, gaze fixed on the battle, until Lord Gambriel’s voice called out to her from behind. “Are you coming?”

  Unlike before, his voice didn’t carry any anger. Instead, it felt like it was pushing her forward, encouraging her to go to her friends. Rose knew that was crazy, though. There was nothing she could do. She had been too scared to master the magic Lesti had taught her, and she wasn’t any good at hand to hand combat. If she went, then not only would she have to face down those terrifying demons, but she would most likely be in the way.

  Despite all that, she found herself taking a step toward the battle on shaky legs. Memories of the last few weeks flashed through her mind. Ever since she was separated from her family, she had been alone without an ally or friend in the world, but they had come crashing into her life to change all that. They had filled her days with fun and laughter. For the first time in years, she had been happy, even if it was only for a little bit.

  The fear of losing all that again moved her feet forward. It drew her towards that battlefield where terrible monsters, misery, and pain awaited her. Whenever she hesitated, memories of the days she had spent alone and scared, worrying about her family, pushed her forward. She was still frightened. Maybe she always would be, but doing nothing and losing her friends scared her more than anything else.

  “I’m going.” Without realizing it, the words slipped from her mouth, and she broke into a jog that quickly turned into a full-on sprint. Lord Gambriel made no move to stop her. Even if he had, she wouldn’t have listened. Rose had found her determination and was taking the first step toward a new future for herself.

  Decisive Battle

  The entire space around us was completely decimated. Not only was the room leveled, but the whole manor in front of it was flattened. The massive demon had apparently crushed it as it passed through into the garden. For some reason, it hadn’t headed over toward the party. Instead, it seemed to be wandering aimlessly, destroying everything in its path.

  “If it keeps going that way, it’s going to end up wandering out into the city.” Lesti pointed out to the glowing lights beyond the demon’s massive form. “We need to get its attention and keep it here until reinforcements arrive.”

  “Alright, I’ll see what I can do. Hang on tight.”

  I took off, leaping over the rubble of the manor as I headed for the demon. As I drew near, I took to the air using Air Walk, jumping higher and higher as I went. Soon, we found ourselves in the air directly behind the demon’s head. “Hit him with everything you’ve got!”

  “You’ve got it! Fireball, repeat twenty!”

  Twenty massive fireballs flared to life in front of us and launched themselves at the demon. On impact, they exploded across its body, causing a deafening roar. However, the damage appeared to be minimal. The tough leathery skin was barely burnt at the point of impact, much less the surrounding areas. Still, Lesti’s attack seemed to do the trick. The massive creature turned to face us, eyes filled with rage.

  Raising its massive, deformed arms overhead, it swung them down toward us with a frightening amount of speed for a creature so large. But it wasn’t nearly as fast as the demon that had been with Ulrich. Using Air Walk, I changed the direction of our descent, easily avoiding the blow. The demon’s arms smashed into the ground with a massive bang, creating a small crater on impact and sending dirt and debris flying.

  “Well, it looks like we’ve got its attention at least,” I shouted as I dodged another swipe of its arm. “Now, we just have to keep it busy.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that.” Lesti fired off another round of fireballs, pummeling the demon’s thick skin. “You just keep us from getting hit.”

  As quickly as I could, I moved us back down to the ground. I didn’t know how long it would take for help to arrive, and my magical energy wasn’t infinite. If I used Air Walk the whole time, there was a chance I’d run out. So, I raced around on the debris-filled ground, dodging the demon’s blows while Lesti continued to nail him with spells. It looked like we’d be able to hold the line, then things took a turn for the worse.

  After I dodged the creature’s strike for what felt like the hundredth time, it let out a frustrated roar. As soon as that happened, I felt a spell forming at lightning speed. A massive amount of magical energy began to swirl about the area, and the wind picked up. I tried my best to use spell jamming to stop the casting, but the sheer amount of magical energy at play made it impossible.

  Soon, small tornadoes began to form, and the debris littered around the area lifted into the air, floating around the creature. On top of that
, lightning arced through the night sky, striking the area around it at random. It was a terrifying display of power, but it didn’t seem to have any direction. Almost as if this monster were nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum.

  I continued to dodge around the area, using my ability to sense magical energy to predict where the lightning would land. Just as I felt I was starting to adjust, the demon began to mix debris into its attacks. Massive slabs of stone and earth came flying out of the storm that circled the creature, peppering the ground around us. Worried I would throw Lesti off my back if I moved any faster, I took some distance from the creature, retreating to the roof of the ballroom where the party had been held.

  “This is bad. I won’t be able to keep dodging this thing forever. It’s burning through my magical energy too fast.” I turned and looked at Lesti as she crawled off my back. “I think we need to try and take that thing down. Got any ideas?”

  “Maybe.” She glanced over at the demon nervously. “It’s going to take some time, though. I’ll need to build the circles on the fly, and there’s quite a few of them.”

  “You’re not thinking of using your blood to draw them again, are you?” I glared at her, remembering what she had done when we fought Fang.

  She smiled mischievously back at me. “No. I have a better idea this time. I’ll need to be on ground level, though.”

  “Alright, I can set you down over there.” I gestured toward the garden in front of the ballroom. “I’ll try and draw the demon’s fire, but I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep it busy, so work fast.”

  “I will.”

  Lesti hopped up on my back again. Then, we leapt down to the garden below, which she immediately began destroying by uprooting all the plants with magic.

  “What in the world are you doing?”

  “Don’t worry about it. I don’t have time to explain.” She pointed back toward the demon. “Just make sure that thing doesn’t toss any of its spells over here.”

  “Alright, be careful.”

  I jumped over a nearby hedge and ran toward the demon. As I ran, I thought over how I could try and land a blow on it with all the attacks it was throwing around randomly. Based on what I had seen from Lesti’s attacks, regular spells weren’t going to do anything. I’d need something with quite a bit of power behind it.

  With that in mind, I transformed back into my standard form and stopped my Power Cat spell to save on magical energy. I would focus entirely on Speed Boost for the time being, then ramp up my power whenever I got a chance to land a blow. It was a similar strategy to the one I had tried to use in my training against Skell. This time, though, the ending would be different. I had way more magical energy at my disposal than I did back then. If I managed everything correctly, I didn’t have to worry about running out at the last second.

  With my plan set, I accelerated and charged at the demon like a bolt of silver lightning. Soon large slabs of stone from the manor and bolts of lightning began to slam into the terrain around me, forcing me to zigzag to avoid them. The wind whistled past my ears as I drew closer to the magic-fueled tornadoes swirling around the demon. They weren’t enough to slow me down. I aimed for the middle of the gap between them, where the wind was the weakest, and charged through.

  I leapt up using Air Walk, bounding higher and higher until I was far over the creature’s head. Then, I created a foothold for myself and cast a spell as I transformed into my tiger form. “Stone Armor!”

  All around me, giant pieces of stone came flying in my direction, shaping and molding themselves as they did. Soon, I was coated in a layer of stone armor that protected my chest, head, and legs. Once it was complete, I launched myself downward like a bullet. The demon, seeming to have sensed my spell, looked up as I came rocketing down towards its head.

  Debris glanced off my freshly-made stone armor as I descended. At the last moment, I activated Power Cat and twisted in the air, using the motion to add extra force to my blow. At the same time, I shifted the shape of the armor protecting my leg, turning it into large stone claws. With all the power I could muster, I slammed them into the demon’s head.

  My body was jarred by the impact, causing me to wince. Rather than skin and flesh, it felt like I was driving the claws through concrete. Still, my attack managed to break through, and purple blood flew from the demon’s skull, causing it to let out a pained roar. It wasn’t nearly enough to finish it, but at least it proved that we could injure it. Leaving the stone claws behind, I leapt away, barely dodging the lightning bolt that passed through the air where I had just been.

  Well, that seems to have made it mad. I was forced to evade a lot more as the stone and lightning that were being randomly thrown about before became focused on me. As I dodged, I gathered more stone, replacing the bit I had left behind in the demon’s skull. If that’s the case, then let’s do it again!

  Over and over, I repeated the pattern, slowly turning the demon into a pincushion full of stone. With each blow, the demon’s attacks became more focused on me. It was getting to the point where I could barely keep up the attack, so much of my time was spent dodging. That was fine, though—as long as I kept it from attacking Lesti, I didn’t need to do any real damage.

  Just as I thought that, the battlefield shifted. I felt a small flux of energy coming from Lesti’s direction that quickly exploded in scale. In an instant, it ballooned into something that rivaled the magic flowing around our opponent. I started to panic, thinking maybe Ulrich had summoned another demon of some sort, but my fears were quickly laid to rest.

  Looking toward the source of the magic as I continued to dodge about, I found Lesti at its core. She was standing in the center of a large magic circle that had been carved into the earth. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before—a single massive spell comprised of a dozen smaller magic circles, chained together by connecting runes.

  One of those circles glowed with intense light and pulled in the foul magical energy the demon had been filling the air with. As that energy entered the circle, it flowed through the ground, filling the rest of the spell with power. It began to gather any metal it could find nearby, molding into something larger.

  I stared in shock as the spell continued to work. The sheer scale was astounding. Due to that, it was going to take quite a bit of time to complete. Even worse, I wasn’t the only one who had noticed what was happening. Suddenly, the attacks that had been pushing me back came to a complete halt, and the demon turned its gaze to Lesti.

  The stone swirling around the beast began to gather, forming into a large ball. At the same time, I sensed the flow of magical energy change, collecting at the same spot. I immediately set to work, trying to slow it down with spell jamming. At the same time, I gathered my own energy, desperate to do anything I could to stop it.

  Racing toward the growing projectile, I gathered all the stone I had used for my armor and transformed it into a miniature wrecking ball. Packing it as tightly as I could, I slammed it into the giant ball of stone, shattering it to pieces. But that didn’t end the spell. Instead, it shifted, transforming into something new. The shattered stone fragments formed into a barrage of spears that launched themselves at Lesti.

  “Oh no, you don’t!”

  With Lesti unable to defend herself, I dashed in front of the barrage, blocking the first round and causing my magical energy to plummet. Shifting tactics, I began to divert the projectiles, changing their course just enough to avoid hitting us. Even with that adjustment, I could tell it would be tough to hold out against such an attack long enough for Lesti’s spell to finish. Still, I dug my heels in and hardened my focus. I would hold out, no matter what it took.

  For several seconds, I continued desperately swatting aside projectiles while Lesti’s spell continued to form behind me. Then, the demon let out a screeching high pitch roar that didn’t match its massive body. Simultaneously, the demon’s magic surged, using the enormous amount of energy it was generating for the first time since
the fight had started.

  Rather than attacking, it did something I didn’t understand. The magical energy I could see reached out and seemed to writhe in mid-air without doing anything. For a moment, I could only watch, confused—until I saw the first signs of change as the air began to warp. A moment later, the first rift was torn open, followed by a dozen others.

  I stared in horror as swarms of demons poured out of the rifts with an increased amount of corrupted magic. I panicked for a moment, worried the overwhelming amounts of magic would stop me in my tracks. Thankfully, between Lesti’s spell absorbing large amounts of magic from the air and the immunity I had built up, I was able to hold out.

  While I battled back the roiling feeling in my stomach, the demons hung in the air, seemingly disoriented. That didn’t last long, and they quickly locked onto Lesti as their target. Dread washed over me as they raced toward us.

  I was still pinned down, batting projectiles out of the air, but I couldn’t let that stop me. In my mind, I formed the image of a magic circle that Lesti taught me. Fireballs sprang into life in the air around me and launched themselves at the demons. I wasn’t nearly as practiced at this spell as Lesti, and I couldn’t afford to pump tons of magical energy into it, either. So, instead of trying to take out the creatures, I used the spell as a deterrent to force them back.

  For a moment, it seemed like it would work. The first members of the swarm eyed me cautiously and were careful to avoid my attacks. But it all fell apart when the first fireball landed. It collided with a mid-sized demon, causing a powerful explosion. I carefully watched the spot out of the corner of my eye, praying it would fall from the sky, but when the smoke cleared, it was floating there, a wicked grin on its face.

  “Kyihihi! Weak! So weak!”

  I grit my teeth as I saw the realization that I couldn’t hurt them spread through the swarm. Their familiar high-pitched cackles swelled as they accelerated toward us. Knowing I wouldn’t be able to buy Lesti any more time, I gathered my magic for a desperate counter-attack. We’d have to abandon defeating the demon, but I could at least make sure we escaped with our lives.