140 Battle of the Wild Mountains : Part 8

TCHIK

The path of the sharp sword was deviated at the last moment by a metallic arrow, pushing it away from the head of the succubus. However, as strong as the strength behind the projectile was, it was still not enough to completely save the female demon. As she was weakly holding her two daggers in front of her, they offered no resistance when the weapon of the Hero hit them, making them fly away from the hands of Meridiana. As her right arm did.

She could not see clearly, but she was still capable of feeling the intense joy that the human in front of her was feeling. Frantically using her last remaining arm to help her escape, she felt the grip of death coming from behind. Fortunately, Kardel had decided to save her and was constantly firing at the Hero, giving her a way to escape. However, she was still not safe, and some humans were on her path.

Not caring anymore about the weapons that were either destroying slowly her armor or even pierce her skin, she just violently pushed everyone. The fire inside her was now completely extinguished, everything she had gone. Contrarily to Kardel or even Davion, she was the one that received the least amount of energy, and she began to regret not eating more humans while she was in Archet. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been reduced to this state, with a missing limb.

Mindlessly, she stumbled upon another warrior, pushing him away before he hurt her even more. Knocking the enemy down with her shoulder, she only noticed how cold he was afterward. Purple blood was tainting her former beautiful silver armor, and half of her body had been exposed by now. Looking at the trace of blood on the bones in front of her, she realized she had made it. Relieved by that, she fell unconscious in the lifeless arms of that undead.

Even if she was now safe, it was not the case for the one that first tried to save her. Moving his shield to dispel the blue flames that were covering him, Davion looked at his surrounding and the fallen hand that was easily visible. Like Kardel had done it previously, the magus of the humans had focused all their efforts on him, preventing him from reaching Meridiana before the Hero. Fortunately, the duvodiad stalled for the few seconds he needed, allowing him to catch up before the death of the succubus.

Disengaging quickly before Davion could be at arm range, Ferrod picked up his trophy that was laying on the ground. Raising it, he looked at the dark armor that was targetted by the magicians supporting him. "THE HAND OF A DARK GOD! THEY ARE NOT INVINCIBLE!" Even as he was saying this, countless soldiers were losing their lives to just deal with undead. The skeleton archers seemed to have an infinite amount of ammunition, and each time they pulled their string, another life was claimed.

Easily deflecting the incoming metallic arrows that were coming at him, Ferrod was smiling even more. If before, he received three or four of those in a matter of seconds. Now, it was only one in the same period. He was no stranger to the fact that nothing in this word was permanent, and from what he could see, those deadly projectiles were clearly not meant to be wasted. Approaching the tall foe surrounded by magic, he was ready to attack when he noticed something unusual.

"Stop." The voice resonated in the head of every living being, but was also followed by the undead. The latter froze and then began to slightly retreat and reorganize the lines, ready for the following battle. Dumbfounded, a few humans that were on the ground shouted in joy when they saw the blades that were next to them silently withdrawing. No one that was fighting attacked the immobile skeleton, not daring to seal their fate by doing something stupid.

Floating in the middle of the room, a blackened lich was haughtily starring at the Hero from above. His dark hands finishing in claws were something they had never seen, even when the rest of the body clearly looked like a lich, except for the head. Not relaxing the slightest, Ferrod and the disciples of the Archmage were ready for anything. Finally able to stand up correctly, Davion was also starring at Malakov.

"Return the hand to us." Extending his hand, the Envoy of Leilade looked at his target that was hanging on the waist of that human. Meridiana had succeeded at perturbing the reinforcements, but the equipment of the Hero was clearly beyond their expectations. Also, Kardel had confirmed he did try to shoot the energy rifle, but it didn't even produce an explosion. It was still time to save the missing limb of the succubus and Davion from unnecessary injuries.

"What if I don't? You're going to kill me?" Patting the bloodied object, projecting even more purple blood on his armor, Ferrod was not backing down. Whatever was that new monster, its presence only meant that they were winning. But contrary to what he expected, the lich only levitated the severed limb toward him, not caring about what he said. Angered by this, the Hero drew his sword and began to jump toward the floating undead.

"Know your place worm!" Lifting his hand, Malakov projected the human directly to the ceiling, nearly knocking him down. Seeing Ferrod plummet to the ground after that, the disciples of the Archmage only protected him with magic shields, not daring to face this new foe directly. Seeing the prince of Massalia having a hard time standing on his legs, they began to order the retreat.

Only when the last humans were out of sight did Davion sighed, a bit tired from his fighting. In a single day, he had met two different Heroes, and even if he could suppress Avirus, he was on the losing side against that new human. Grabbing a body that hadn't been burned, he began to methodically cut his head open. Looking at the lich that was just staring at him, he waited patiently what will follow.

"The Empress is beginning to feel that your last line of defenses won't be enough to defeat that army, with the arrival of this new Hero. If you have anything left, I suggest you begin to use it." Hearing a human that was having a hard time breathing nearby, Malakov signaled a nearby undead to grab it for the succubus. All around them, every corpse was beginning to be carried away, to serve as nourishment.

"There is still one room left after this one, but I can assure you that it was better than having all our forces in one place. Also, it will be time for them to walk through that part. Pull everyone out of this, the skeletons are not enough to hold any longer." With the battle earlier this day and the intense offensive later, the ranks of the undead had been almost decimated. Only the liches were still unscathed, but without anything to be between them and their targets, it would be futile to let them die.

Following Malakov as he exited the battlefield, Davion could see the sleeping succubus behind Leilade. She was laying on the couch, completely naked and her two arms lethargically hanging on her sides. Only a small wound was still marking where her limb had been severed. Softly knocking her forehead with his fingers, he pointed to the sleepy beauty the few half-dead humans. Letting her to her meal, he approached the little girl that was visibly in a bad mood.

A few drops of dark blood could be seen near where Meridiana was sleeping, and he could see the wound on the hand of Leilade that was closing under his eyes. "Davion, I trusted you to hold your ground against the Heroes. But, you are clearly not up to the task, making me wonder how we are supposed to defend ourselves? We have killed only a quarter of their army."

The screens could display all the troops that were still available outside. Even if they had killed dozens and dozens of thousands of humans, it was still not enough. And right now, they only kept half of the undead they first had at their disposal. The ratio was definitively not in their favor, making Leilade unhappy. "Empress, we don't need to kill everyone that is outside. If we manage to slaughter more than 75% of them, we will win. Unlike the undead, the living beings are scared of death, and will rather escape than face you."

Nodding at this, the little girl awaited the next part. "In addition, what Kardel described as the fun part will soon begin. The distance between the battlefront where the Hero will be and the rest of the army is getting longer. As long as we hold for a few more days, their losses on the way of attacking us will become too severe for them."

In the outside, the sun was getting smaller and smaller, and it won't be long before it completely disappears. As such, even if the Hero was no longer just a normal human, he was not something too different either.And with the recent events in the day, he was getting incredibly tired barely walking straight outside of the tomb. Hearing this from Malakov, Davion also felt the strain on his body. Bowing one last time to Leilade, he left the room.

Slightly disturbed by the dying rale of the humans that were close to the succubus, Leilade only noticed a fraction of a second later than the lich what was happening outside, making her extremely angered. "Malakov, can you make them understand once and for all that it is no longer their planet anymore."

"Absolutely, Empress."

Stiffening once more, the lich began to receive the dark energy of Leilade as he was repulsing the godly energy outside. The warm and calming light that pierced the darkness that was covering the sky did not last long when Malakov entered the fray. Whatever was the action of that god, it did not manage to even touch the ground before being dispersed.

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Pieces of bones began to fall on the ground, as the lich was feeling that his body was getting weaker and weaker. Clutching his hands, he regretted that decision when he saw one of his fingers being crumbling into dust. "Empress, I don't think I can do it again. This body is not adapted to this type of magic. I need ... to heal."Leaving by walking carefully, while making sure that he did not lose any other part of his body, only two people were still present in the room.

Sneaking a peek at the succubus being slowly surrounded by mummies, Leilade was watching the scenery outside of the base. The once calm and beautiful forest had been burned to the ground by her first. And now, one couldn't even notice a standing tree, all being destroyed to let place to the numerous tents. After the gods had tried to barge in, the sky had been cleared of all the clouds, allowing the two moons to shine.

Both were almost full, making the outside shining in their beautiful silver lights. Noticing a place where there was a distortion under those lights, she saw the familiar armor of that little princess. Like her, she was staring at the sky, all alone and without her helmet. Outside of her field of sight, an older man that had visibly drunk too much was approaching, with evil intention. The burly man was walking weirdly toward the princess, starring at the blond hair floating in the air.

Watching this happening, Leilade turned to see Meridiana sleeping once more. Acting as a spy, she could see the princess stiffening when she heard the loud and unsteady footsteps behind her. The little girl could not hear clearly what they were saying, but Muirnë was visibly not scared facing taller than her in the night. But when the drunk soldier touched the top of his sword, the armored woman moved instantly.

In a blink of an eye, she had already inserted her teeth on the throat of the man, silencing him. The last thing he probably saw was his thorax being eaten in front of him. Carrying the body a little farther away, she let loose of her instincts the moment she was no longer visible from anyone. Without knowing that a spirit was right above her, displaying fully the gruesome spectacle that was happening.

"Too bad you are not as important as I thought you were. Even using you would be a waste. But at least, you contribute by killing a few soldiers." If Muirnë could have heard those words, she would have tried even harder to resist the hunger she was feeling. She was still desperately trying to not kill any innocents, even as she had less and less guilt when eating a human. However, anyone seeing her calmly and orderly cleaning the place where she murdered that soldier would have been frightened by such heartless actions.