79 Final Battle Part 2

The green forest turned orange and red as the trees caught fire. Screams rang out around them. Turning around, the five saw two squads of mages, one from the Acrin Kingdom and the other from the Vilbarian Kingdom, with their hands raised in the air. Magic circles launched every sort of element at the soldiers, mowing them down like a farmer would do to stalks of wheat.

In front of them was Ashtehar, already in prayer. "Lich!" he roared as he equipped his gauntlets. "I, as a war monk and servant of the goddess, shall not forgive your sins. Your very existence is a bane to this world. It is my sworn duty to eradicate you."

"Master," Oliver said. "What you're doing is wrong. Doevm isn't evil like you think he is. The sect is manipulating us. Give him a chance."

The war monk responded by flinging his robe off, covering himself in magic circles, and brining out his red life essence. Doevm, Frey, Wade, Hopi, and Oliver got into a stance. As the rest of the army battled against the rest of the mages, these five stood their ground against the war monk.

Ashtehar shook his head: "Foolish disciple, you have fallen for evil. I must save you the only way I know how." He raised his hands and another icicle shot forth only to be deflected by Frey's shield. "All of you will stand in my way and defy the goddess?"

"Yes," everyone responded.

Ashtehar's eye twitched around as his hands opened and closed. His mouth hung open as he took a step back. "Then this is a joyous occasion," he mumbled. "You sinners have made yourselves known so I may serve our goddess even more!" As if responding to his words, the forest fires grew around them.

He took a step and launched straight into Frey's shield. Frey flew back but managed to stabilize himself and land on his feet. As Ashtehar pulled his fist back, a throwing knife embedded itself into his shoulder. After pulling it out, a flash of light made his wound disappear. "His mana is limited," Doevm said. "He can heal himself, but only as long as he still has mana. Our objective is to wear him out."

"Got it," Hopi rushed forward and engaged with Ashtehar as Wade and Doevm made their way around his sides. While Ashtehar had a body even larger than Frey's, he could move faster than Doevm. He weaved in between the spears and fought. Frey had recovered by this point and joined in, blocking the occasional punch thrown. Oliver stood in the back, having expected a signal of attack, yet the four just ran forward without him all at once.

The Elf bounced off the dirt into Oliver's arms, who set Hopi down and placed his hands over the broken ribcage. "It's going to take a while," Oliver yelled. "Just keep him busy." A bead of sweat fell down his cheek as his mana flooded through his hands. 'He's in a state of near death. With the little mana I have left from the battle, I can heal him and a couple other heavy wounds.' He cursed.

"Easier said than done," Wade said as Ashtehar rushed past him. As the war monk bolted towards the injured Hopi, surprising the rest of the group. He lept over Frey, letting the air flutter his clothes as he aimed his body at Oliver, who stood up with magic circles around his limbs. The two collided. Shockwaves flung the unconscious Elf away.

"Master, I knew you would attack me," Oliver said as he pushed Hopi's spear into Ashtehar's stomach. "You've trained me for years; I know your strategies."

"But did you know," Ashtehar coughed as he reached for Oliver. "I can heal my stomach," His two hands wrapped around Oliver's head. Doevm's spear crashed through Ashtehar's spine but the war monk didn't flinch. "You can't heal your brain." He clapped his hands together, nearly smashing Oliver's head into paste, or at least, that's what should have happened.

Oliver twisted his body around, breaking dozens of bones as he managed to turn himself malleable enough to escape his former master's grip. He lept under Ashtehar's legs and reformed in front of the others.

"Get him while he's distracted." Frey threw his own spear, just barely missing Ashtehar's heart. The war monk pulled the spears out of his body and his body flashed, however only two of the three wounds were healed. The hole in his chest bleed everywhere.

"It's the Bloodwood, some of it must have chipped off and is inside of him," Doevm said. "He can't heal because his blood is getting sucked away faster than he can regenerate it." He and the rest grouped together. He glanced over at Hopi's unconscious figure lying at the sidelines. 'He's not going to make it if this battle takes too long. I can't tell Oliver to go heal him because Ashtehar will go after him. I have to leave him for now.' As he thought, something inside of him ripped open, like he had been stabbed by an invisible sword. He ignored it and focused on the battle.

Ashtehar glared at the survivors, barley a bead of sweat on his face. The others were breathing harder, but still stood strong. "You think this can stop me?" A magic circle appeared inside Ashtehar's chest. A small fire quickly cauterized the wound. "I am a servant of the goddess. I cannot fail. You are disarmed while I." He lept out of sight. "I only need my fists."

"Formation one," Wade said as the party got into a circle with Oliver at the center, quickly healing all scrapes and wounds. Doevm knew exactly where Ashtehar was because of his mana sense, but the war monk would leap around to fast. If he pointed to the opponent's location, Ashtehar would be gone before the words left his mouth.

"We need my spear. It's the only thing that can hurt him," Frey said as he left the formation and sprinted towards the trap. Before Doevm had time to stop him, Ashtehar crashed into Frey's back with a loud thud. When he stepped off, Frey didn't move.

"Three left," Ashtehar wiped off his bloody shoes on the soil. Frey's backplate could deflect swords just like his shield. It had been forged by the master blacksmith Kilot. It now had the imprint of Ashtehar's feet. Blood trickled out of Frey's bent body as he twitched around. There was no screaming or words. He was just lying there, bordering between life and death.

Doevm looked at it and lurched forward along with his heart, even falling to a knee. 'What,' he clutched at his head. 'What is this? I've seen thousands of dead bodies. Frey isn't special. He's not even dead yet, but why is it when I look at him…' he glanced up again to see Frey's crippled state and had to look away only to lock eyes with Ashtehar.

His breathing quickened twice as bad as before no matter how much he tried to slow it. His heartbeat increased with it as his face flushed with hot air. 'What's happening to me?' he thought as his body violently shook. 'I-I want to hurt him. I want…'

'Kill them,' The Lich appeared and lifted Doevm to his feet. 'Kill them all. This feeling is rage. You're no longer an Undead. You're feeling this for the first time in its purest state. Slaughter them. That fucking monk, he and the rest of humans need to be exterminated.' As the Lich talked, Doevm's mana flooded out of his body in an amount he never thought his body could handle.

Doevm clutched his head, trying to resist the urges. While he didn't want to kill everyone, he wanted to kill everyone. His mana gathered around him turning different colors as he imagined every slow and painful method, he could end Ashtehar with.

Hands shook him around, trying to get him back to his senses. He ignored them. He ignored the tears streaming down his cheeks. He ignored everything but the splitting ache in his heart. 'Why does it hurt so much?'

'Kill him,' the Lich insisted. 'And you'll feel so much better. I guarantee it.' Doevm's magic manifested into thousands of magic circles leading from the sun directly to Ashtehar. The war monk as too busy fighting Wade and Oliver to notice. 'Just finish the last magic circle to beat him. You may have accepted using magic, but you need to act like a Lich. You need to hate humans like me. Finish it!'

Doevm looked at the formation of the magic circles. Deep down, he knew Ashtehar would dodge it and that it was a waste of mana. Rage replaced his reasoning as he pulled on his mana. Arthur's face flashed in his mind. 'I'm sorry, I'm going to have to break our promise. As much as I've tried, I'm still a Lich. I'm sure you would understand. This is for what he did to Frey and Hopi.'

He clutched at his heart and felt something foreign. He took it out of his shirt only to realize it was his necklace. It lit up brighter than the fires around him. His eyes went wide as he stood up, still staring at Frey. He took a deep shaky breath: "You're right." The entire forest faded into darkness as his mind separated from his body. "Time to end this little feud of ours."