Thanatos must have given them orders to attack Nathan’s army.
“Bastion, you can run, but you cannot flee doom,” Thanatos shouted, his voice echoing around them. “Not this time.”
“I think he remembers us,” Sen said.
She quickly cast a spell that coated her sword with a white-hot glow, and sparks shot out from it occasionally. Then she began to cast a fifth rank spell, knowing how long it took to cast it.
From the walkway, a figure charged at them. Thanatos held his arms at this sides, his sword sheathed and wings fanned out above him. Nathan felt that stance was horrendously inefficient.
Unfortunately, Thanatos was a Messenger. He moved as fast as Astra. Within seconds, he stood before them. His silver sword gleamed in the air.
Astra swung at him. This time, the blows slammed into an invisible barrier. Thanatos smirked and held his sword aloft.
The entire world thrummed with magic. Nathan felt the surge in his bones. His binding stones reacted sympathetically in his head.
Instinctively, he looked at the gateway in fear.
It remained in place, but had shrunk significantly. The Twins were nowhere to be seen.
“Strange,” Thanatos said, his voice normal suddenly. “That should have worked. Why can’t I reopen the portal?”
“You can do that?” Nathan asked.
“I am the apostle of doom. I am inevitable. Your struggle only forestalls me.” Thanatos maintained his pose, with his sword pointed to the sky. “Even without the portal, I will crush you and undo the shame of losing to you before. Not that you remember.”
Oh, Nathan remembered. No wonder he had forgotten so much about this obnoxious bastard. Nathan had repressed these memories.
Thanatos was incorrigible.
Were all Messengers this annoying? Nathan remembered a couple being normal warriors.
“Well then, back to the show,” Thanatos said, his voice returning to his usual deafening volume.
Magic swelled around the Messenger. The blue sheen of his sword consumed it, then erupted into flames. Soon, the entire man was a vortex of fire.
“Sen, Fei, I need you to support me,” he snapped.
Narime would have been useful as well—she had countered this in his old world. But the bulk of the demonic army continued to target them. The pressure had lessened on the dark elves, but they weren’t helping Nathan. What was the dark elf Bastion doing?
Sen snapped off her fifth rank spell that she had prepared earlier. Fei’s flames erupted toward Thanatos. Nathan planted his sword in the ground, then cast a supercharged fourth rank spell. Astra and Ciana stood next to him, both of them gripping his sides.
With a sweep of his sword, Thanatos sent his flames hurtling toward them. The vortex transformed into a solid wall of fire.
The moment it struck Sen’s spell, it consumed it. She squealed in shock. Nathan’s spell was eaten in the same instant, and he cursed. Immediately, he reached for the binding stones in a panic. This spell had been countered by Narime.
Then Fei’s flames met Thanatos’s. Both flames held the same shade of blue. They curled around each other in the air and seemed to dance around one another.
Thanatos stared at the dancing flames, confused. Then he snapped his sword back, and his vanished. Fei did the same.
“What sorcery is this?” the Messenger said, staring at the catgirl. “Why do you have sapphires? Aren’t you a swordswoman? I remember you cutting my arm off, not using my all-consuming flame.”
Nathan didn’t waste time listening to his confusion. Instead, he used the binding stone power he had drawn upon to prepare his own spatial spell.
Astra got the point. She leaped at Thanatos, her arms blurring. His barrier snapped up, protecting him.
She kept at it, running right for him. Fei joined her, her flames surging at the Messenger. Crossbow bolts slammed into his side a moment later, as Nurevia provided long-range support.
“Enough of this,” Thanatos boomed.
He blinked forward, disappearing and reappearing in an instant. Fei screamed, but the breath was knocked out of her as he slapped her away.
She went flying. Right over the void surrounding the battlefield.
“Fei!” Nathan roared.
Before he moved, Astra snatched the catgirl from the air and hurled her back.
Thanatos blinked again. But his attack slammed into Astra ineffectually.
He froze. “Oh. It’s you. Why are you still alive?”
Astra responded by compressing his face with her fist.
Thanatos stepped backward and slashed with his sword. Space ruptured.
Impossibly, Astra’s clothes tore open. She looked down and patted her skin. A thin line had appeared over her stomach. The skin hadn’t torn, but Nathan saw the impression of a cut on her skin. Even after several seconds, her body and clothes didn’t repair themselves.
“Damn. I thought that would work,” the Messenger grunted, his voice normal. “No, seriously. You’re usually dead by now. I’ve fought you literally once.”
The next second, Sen’s lance soared toward him. His wings snapped shut. The lance dug deep into them. Lava burst out from it, and Thanatos screamed. He blinked again.
This time, Nathan was ready. When Thanatos reappeared, Nathan’s sword was there.
Again, the Messenger blurred, but only to spin around and block Nathan’s attack. Both of them unleashed spatial spells at once.
In an instant, both swords ceased to exist above their hilts. The blades simply vanished.
Thanatos let out an inhuman scream and slapped Nathan away. The blow hurt, but he felt his connection to Ciana soften the impact. A barrier of light sprung up in existence between the Messenger and Sen, as Ciana activated her gem.
“Enough. I’ve had enough!” Thanatos screamed. “I’ve had that sword for… I don’t know how long. Forever! I’m killing you all now.”
Nathan felt the entire portal shudder. The ground rumbled. The sky changed color, transforming from a hazy red to bright gold. The magic around Nathan became stifling. The closest comparison was when the Twins had channeled the cascade through him.
Sen and the other Champions collapsed, struggling to breathe. Only Astra remained standing, but she couldn’t move. Her opals shined brightly. For whatever reason, she had been frozen in place.
“Hey, no breaking the rules!” a familiar voice screamed.
Maura crashed into Thanatos foot-first like a comet. The moment she hit him, the world returned to normal.
Thanatos tumbled across the ground, cursing as he went.
The succubus rushed over to Nathan and pulled him to his feet. “Quick question: do you hear any voices in your head?”
“Does yours count?” he asked, still feeling groggy.
“Save the sweet talk for later,” Maura said, but she pecked him on the cheek. “Stopped him in time, at least. I knew this guy was an ass, but if he nukes a portal he’ll fuck everything.”
“What happened to the gateway?” Nathan croaked out. He nearly toppled over.
Maura propped him up by sliding her arm around him. “Laura’s taking care of it. We’ve got your binding stone, big boy. Don’t worry about this asshole.”
Around Nathan, his Champions rose to their feet. Astra pressed a hand to her opals, visibly shaking.
“Astra, you’re fine,” he called out.
“I…” she looked up at him. “Nathan…”
Then she spoke in absolute gibberish. He vaguely recognized the words as something in dark elvish, but the structure and words sounded archaic. Nathan barely understood modern dark elf, let alone the ancient versions.
“Uh, what?” Sen said. “Ifrit understood that, but I didn’t. Something about seeing the past?”
Astra looked at Sen, her head snapping around fast enough to make Nathan worry about her health.
A moment later, the dark elf spoke normally, “Fine. I’m fine.”
Ciana rushed up to Nathan and pre
ssed against his side, glaring at the succubus.
“Now isn’t the time,” he growled, shaking both women off. “Thanatos isn’t dead.”
“Don’t call him that,” Maura groaned. “I think his name is Tarou or something?”
“It is not!” Thanatos roared as he appeared in front of them.
“Yamada?” the succubus suggested.
“Why do you do this to me?”
Thanatos summoned his blue flames again. Without Fei to handle them, Nathan drew on his binding stone power. Maura simply raised an eyebrow.
A moment later, the flames fizzled out and died.
“Oh, I didn’t even do anything that time,” Maura said.
Narime and Nurevia approached them. The fox’s gems glowed, a sign that she had dispelled Thanatos’s spell.
“The fox is here?” Thanatos said. He looked between Fei, Narime, and then at Nathan. “This almost is a rematch. Save for you.” He curled a finger at Maura. “Do not interfere in my business. I will not disrupt our master’s business again. Now begone.”
Before Maura said anything more, Nathan seized the opportunity to ask something, “You seem confused by all of this. Why do you think Astra should be dead?”
“And now the Bastion is talking to me? Last time you spent all your time distraught over all the people I slew.” Thanatos laughed. “Whatever. None of this makes sense. I’ve invaded thousands of worlds. Even more if I include all the ones I don’t remember. I am an apostle of doom. When I invade, this world is on its last legs. The legends have fallen, and everyone is desperate. But these dark elves barely know how to fight back. It’s as though I’m the first Messenger they’ve seen in their lifetimes.”
“You are, dumbass,” Maura spat.
“How would you…” he trailed as he noticed the arm she had looped around Nathan. “What.”
“Oh. Meet my new master. His cock is huge. Totally ruins me every night,” Maura said, flapping a hand in the air. “So, like, fuck off now. You’re not needed here.”
For several long seconds, Thanatos simply stared at the succubus. Nathan wondered if his mind had broken down from Maura’s words. He appeared to be struggling with something.
“So, you’re a prize now?” Thanatos said, his voice oddly hollow. “Then I guess I’ll kill all of them and claim you and your sister. It’s only fitting.”
Then he flexed his bone wings and blinked in front of Nathan, arm outstretched and ready to strike.
Chapter 39
A wall of light appeared between Nathan and Thanatos’s hand. The Messenger crashed into it, and it cracked.
Maura threw Nathan backward. One of her arms shrouded with darkness and she slashed at her enemy.
A barrier shimmered around Thanatos, clinging to his body. Maura’s attack went right through him. Instead, it vaporized a two-hundred-foot stretch of ground below him. The void glowed beneath him.
His wings snapped out and Thanatos shot into the air. He began to tilt to the side, as one half of his wings sagged.
Astra’s opals glowed as she mimed pulling a rope, as if she were reeling Thanatos in like a fish. The Messenger growled. He tried to break free, swing his arm through the air several times. A scream escaped him as Astra ripped out one of the bones in his back, and gore sprayed everywhere. He continued flying away, however.
“His sword,” Nathan said. “He relied on it for spatial attacks.”
“Yeah, he’s more of a magic guy,” Maura said. “Fucks with the raw fabric of stuff. He can create things that replicate other tricks, but his actual ascended magic is limited to actually manipulating magic itself.”
“How does he teleport?” Nathan asked.
“The robe, I think. I think he uses a tattoo or something to protect himself from mental magic.” Maura swung her arms at Thanatos, but his barrier shrugged off her attack. “Guess the robe protects him from spatial attacks, too? Fuck, I dunno. How does the dumb goat work this shit out?”
To one side, Sen attempted to cast a sixth rank spell. Thanatos spotted her and blinked in front of her.
When he swung at her, she deflected the blow with her blade. It glowed white hot from her enchantment spell.
The moment her blade touched his arm, Thanatos recoiled. He blinked away, but his flicker was disrupted. Flames and crossbow bolts followed the Messenger. Sen stumbled during her swing, trying to recover her footing after her target vanished.
The arm of Thanatos’s robe fluttered to the ground beside her. His barrier shattered in the air around him after being broken by Sen’s spell.
“Let’s try that again,” Nathan said. “Everyone—”
His attempt to call attention to Thanatos’s clothing was interrupted by a surge of power. Every gem ability and spell was snuffed out in an instant. Fei’s flames vanished and Nurevia’s bolts lost their glow. Even Astra lost her long-distance attacks, her opals sputtering uselessly.
Thanatos immediately pressed his advantage. He blinked in front of Astra, his arms wreathed in flames.
“All immortals must accept the inevitable!” he boomed, as he consumed the dark elf in fire.
A second later, Astra stepped out from the fire and clocked him in the face. Her opals glowed. Thanatos stumbled backward, cursing loudly. The blow couldn’t have been strong, however.
He grabbed Astra’s arms and threw her into the dirt. “So weak.”
Nathan reached for his magic, only to find it impossibly difficult. To his magical senses, the world appeared to be smothered in magic. He choked in the stuff, and focusing his spells became impossible.
Even Maura struggled, as the darkness over her arms appeared to be thinner than usual. She still had access to some of her magic, it seemed, just less. She bit her lip and moved in front of Nathan. Beside him, Ciana stared in shock. She touched her gem.
Nathan saw the other Champions do the same. He still felt the link to them, but had they lost it? Or were they confused by the loss of their gem abilities?
A lance slammed into Thanatos’s back and he roared. Once again, lava spewed all over him, but he quickly consumed them with blue flames. Without his barrier, he was in genuine danger.
Thanatos breathed heavily, glaring at Sen. Parts of his robe were badly burned, and he looked hurt.
Nathan stared at Sen, who prepared another spell. She was the only person here still capable of using magic.
Then he realized what was going on. Everyone else relied on the binding stone or used ascended magic. Only Sen used the natural elements. Thanatos hadn’t blocked all magic—he had countered ascended magic.
It occurred to Nathan that Sen wasn’t the only person still capable of using magic.
He stopped trying to use his binding stones, and instead drew on his normal magic reserves.
Then he stepped past Maura, pointed his sword at Thanatos and cast one of his favorite wind spells.
A scything blast of wind slammed into the Messenger. Thanatos laughed in response.
“Is that your best? Without ascended magic, this is all you can muster?” Thanatos boomed. He flexed his bare muscles.
Then the Messenger stared at his bare skin, as the ribbons of his robe fluttered to the ground.
“Yeah, I think I’m happier with you, Nathan,” Maura said, sneering at Thanatos’s naked body.
She raised her arms and made a severing motion across his body. A second later, Thanatos collapsed into three pieces.
Silence fell over the battlefield. Over the coming seconds, almost everyone collapsed. Ciana wrapped her arms around Nathan and pressed her face into his chest. Her horn scraped against his breastplate, so he gently shifted her head to a more comfortable position.
“Could you or Laura have done that to me?” he asked Maura.
“When we attacked? Totally. I tried it on that old bastard. He had something in his armor that prevented me from cutting him in half, and I triggered some sort of trap that nearly fried me. Nasty stuff.” The succubus grimaced. “But Laura could have killed
you whenever she wanted, it sounds like. She just got too horny. Can’t blame her, really.”
Nathan raised his head and looked at the red sky above him.
So, he had beaten the Twins because Laura never took him seriously. He had known that. His entire last ditch plan had relied on Laura not ripping him apart when he kept her busy. And he had seen her obliterate a huge slice of the wall and everyone inside it. He didn’t like thinking about that, because she had killed a lot of people in the process.
But outright seeing the truth hurt. He could win now, he felt. His spatial wards had improved.
“I’m going to make some better armor when we get back. Start putting wards into it,” Nathan said.
“Yeah, that’s smart.” Maura patted him on the back. “Think about body modification while you’re at it. We can teach you. Laura’s better at it than I am. Probably the only thing she’s good at.”
They stood there for almost a minute.
Suddenly, Nathan remembered where they were. “Fuck, the demons.”
“Nathan!” Narime reached him.
“Narime, the invasion—”
“It’s gone,” she said. “When the whole portal shook and I collapsed, they all vanished. Are you alright? I missed a lot of that.”
“He’s great,” Maura said.
The fox glared at her.
“I’m fine. Really,” Nathan said. He patted Narime on the head. “Thanks for dealing with the demons.”
“I don’t think they mattered much. What happened? It felt like the portal was about to collapse?” Narime asked.
“It nearly did,” Maura said. “Crazy asshole tried to fuck up everything. If he’d taken down the whole portal, the boss would have intervened himself. Nobody wants that.”
Nathan stared. “Why?”
“Err, ask the dumb goat.” Maura scratched her head. “I only felt the consequences once. These things are the boss’s tendrils. He uses them to, like, mess with your world given he can’t enter it. If they go pop, they’ll overflow into the world. Stuff goes wrong, and that means your goddess goes nuts. The one time it happened while I was around, the boss just yanked us all out. Blew his fucking top.”
Heretic Spellblade 3 Page 43