Chapter 305: Power Cleaning Montage

The sword was still stuck in her chest, ash growing around the wound before she grabbed the handle and ripped it out, a spray of blood coloring the ground. Actually did manage to pierce my heart. Fascinating. What the knight didn’t know of course, was that such an injury was a nuisance at best for the healer. Her heart was rebuilt, as was the armor the knight had pierced before. Now about you.

Lances of ash formed around her, five of them in total as she walked slowly towards the halberd wielding member of the Kingsguard. The weapon held in his hands was steady as he too slowly advanced. Ilea shot her spears at him and he swung his weapon. Starting to run right before the two attacks collided, Ilea blinked to the side and kept her focus on the knight, watching her lances stopped in the air and flung aside.

She reached him, her fist crashing into his back. Another hit landed when the butt of his weapon hit the ground, releasing a spherical force attack. Ilea could blink but saved it up, knowing it wasn’t life threatening. She braced herself and was pushed back, her armor slowly stripped away millimeter by millimeter before her leather armor was ripped apart. And then it ended, a couple meters pushed back, she reformed her armor, a little annoyed at the destroyed leather one. Her skin hadn’t been pierced at least.

He swung his halberd, releasing another attack from point-blank range. This time she blinked, behind him before she started charging up her destruction. Ashen limbs delivered their Storm of Cinders, focused on his smaller back to strip away whatever mana intrusion defenses his armor held. Right before he repeated the spherical attack, Ilea’s fist crashed into him, sending around three hundred mana of her own through his system. Blinking right after let her avoid the sphere that expanded right after. The ground shook, cracking and splitting in parts.

Her own area attack had reached the safe limits again as she rushed back at him, “Let’s see how you brush it off.” Blinking past his attack directed at her, she released Heart of Cinder. Fire rushed over him, powerful enough to turn the very stone below her to ash. He was pushed forward and stumbled, Ilea closing the distance in an instant. Ashen limbs again focused on the spot on his back, Ilea surprised when they pierced, pushing the knight down into the ground. Before she could press on, a noise resounded in her mind, letting her know she had won.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Kingsguard – lvl 500] – For defeating an enemy two hundred levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Kingsguard – lvl 503] – For defeating an enemy two hundred or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

‘ding’ ‘The Azarinth Sentinel has reached lvl 301 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Fighting reaches 3rd lvl 7’

‘ding’ ‘Keeper of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 4’

“There you go.” Ilea whispered, storing the knights in her necklace. Don’t know why Maro thinks leveling up after three hundred is difficult. She meditated to recover her mana. Absolute Destruction was a ridiculous drain at 100 per strike. Even Storm of Cinders with eight limbs only used forty if all connected. At least her regeneration was great but with this newfound power she couldn’t fight at her strongest for unlimited time periods anymore. Seventy hits with Absolute Destruction at full power alone would nearly drain her.

Then again how many people have regeneration I have to overcome? How many monsters don’t feel pain and are uncaring about injuries? The undead were a near perfect counter to her abilities and still, she killed those two hundred levels higher. They didn’t have good ways to injure her, that much was true. A Blue Reaper at five hundred might still pose a threat. Or a Regenerator with a better healing skill. Her damage was high but she couldn’t overcome everything.

Ilea still wasn’t sure how monsters worked exactly. A level one hundred wolf should be about as strong as a level one hundred human, both classes at that level at least. Knowing that, there were still plenty of irregularities. Even just being able to match the strength of the knights was unthinkable. With her stats so evenly distributed. Of course she had her auras but monsters must have skills like that as well. Maybe my classes are just ridiculously good for my level. Should I ask Maro about specific numbers? She wasn’t sure. He would surely want to know about hers too and Ilea would rather have them both unknowing.

Could squeeze Terok. The dude owes me his life after all. I could compare Azarinth First Hunter to whatever he got at two hundred. There was of course so much more to a fight than levels and Ilea wouldn’t shy away from facing even a level one thousand creature as she was now. The chance of getting such an achievement would convince her to at least try, if nothing else. She had her perception boost if something was close to one hitting her plus her regular gauge of damage dealt to her. Little could truly surprise her. At least knowing how her evolution stacked up to others would be interesting.

Could just take Maro on in that bout. Maybe ask Catelyn if she’s up for something like that. Cracking her neck, she moved on. Two Kingsguard were down and a bunch more waited for her inside.

The second set of patrolling knights were easier to deal with, another halberd and time magic duo. Fighting especially the halberd one in an enclosed space would be a nightmare but being able to lure them out made it a simple encounter. Simple as in, she lost both her eyes to the time warrior as well as a bunch of fingers to be able to pin him down long enough to kill him. All injuries she could easily heal, the temporary loss of her sight not an issue with her sphere.

The halberd knight put up a better fight than the first one she had faced, only using his attacks to react, focusing on the area attack around himself after she had hit him a couple times. Ilea was forced to take a couple of his attacks point-blank but other than damaged skin and muscles below, her body held up pretty well. Level five hundred. She mused, knowing she could take quite a bit more damage until it would become really dangerous. Neither was she averse to a more defensive approach. A tactic that likely wouldn’t work against the regenerating knights, quick overwhelming damage necessary to take them down.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Kingsguard – lvl 505] – For defeating an enemy two hundred or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Kingsguard – lvl 510] – For defeating an enemy two hundred or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

‘ding’ ‘Kin of Ash has reached lvl 301 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Absolute Destruction reaches 3rd lvl 11’

‘ding’ ‘Blast Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 5’

‘ding’ ‘Time Magic Resistance reaches lvl 4’

The ten stat points Ilea distributed among Vitality, Wisdom and Intelligence. She had planned to focus on the first two but the new nearly ten fold boost she received for her Intelligence damn near forced her to level it alongside the rest. She put six into Int and two each into the others. While Strength had similar bonuses, she saw fewer reasons to focus on it at the moment.

Nearly at the throne room already. Ilea remembered her first venture into the palace, seeing the kingsguard as this at the time insurmountable barrier. “Come on lassie… just a couple more.” She said to herself as she entered through the destroyed wall the first halberd carrier had produced, emulating her inner Terok.

“Now let’s see what the shield guys can do.” She said as she turned the corner, immediately focusing on the two Kingsguard standing next to the throne room gates. She waved and walked closer but they didn’t show a reaction. Are they just statues? The question was answered when they turned their heads a little towards her. Still they didn’t do anything, just watching her movements. “Guard the throne room, that’s all you do?”

Ilea decided to initiate, forming an ashen projectile and sending it towards one of the two. Shield raised, the ash was stopped without leaving more than a scratch. Sword at the ready, it seemed the knights were finally ready to engage. Ilea saw the magic in her sphere when their shields started to emanate mana. The spells taking effect, Ilea felt herself being dragged towards them. Wind magic… no, gravity? Ashen limbs spread behind her but Ilea didn’t stop her movement. On the contrary, she welcomed this approach.

Getting in close, their swords slashed at her, Ilea blinking to avoid the two strikes before she unleashed her attacks on one of the two. Fist crashing into his back, her ashen limbs weakening his plate as they delivered Storm of Cinders. The knight turned with a shield bash that Ilea didn’t avoid, instead getting in more strikes with her ash. Unsurprisingly the bash was enhanced by magic, sending her into the opposite wall with enough force to crack the marble and get slightly stuck. The other knight helpfully provided some gravity magic to pry her out again, towards his blade.

She simply smashed the weapon away when she was close enough, the steel scratching past her armor before she landed on his shield with her feet forward. Ashen limbs attacked as they rushed around the defensive measures before she was pulled away again by the other foe. Trying to disorient me with all that spinning? Due to her sphere it had little impact on her, blinking again to deliver the same attacks as she had before. This time she avoided the shield bash with an upwards jump, her Heart of Cinders reaching noticeable power. I don’t want to have the one from the throne room coming in too. The thought flashed by before she blinked further out.

The two knights followed her this time, already engaged in battle it seemed their proximity rules didn’t apply. Ilea’s ashen limbs smashed into the ground to stop them from moving her with gravity magic, her body in the air other than the ash. Adding her wings to counter the force of both knights, she managed to stay still. Their battle moved out into the hallway and then into the courtyard.

More space would mean more maneuverability for her. With her limbs and wings able to counteract the gravity magic, Ilea had little to fear even without walls and other rooms to flee to. Blinking back towards the knight she had damaged more heavily, she was hit by the blade coming in horizontally. It cut into the armor on her arm, biting through and stopped by her skin. Blinking again when the weapon was removed, she appeared behind him and unleashed her area attack as well as a simultaneous punch and Storm of Cindersfrom all her ashen limbs.

The knight was staggered, moving a step forward as she followed up, unrelenting. Another three punches and a continuous assault through her ashen limbs, one connected to deliver her reversed healing smashed into him. The mana flowedin more freely now that her third tier Storm of cinders had weakened the metal and possible enchantments that had been placed on it. For that her new Sentinel Sphere was certainly nice to have. At least she wouldn’t waste too much mana anymore if the enemy could resist her mana intrusion too well.

Ilea was pulled away again but simply blinked back to the injured knight, using the pulling force to deliver a flying kick straight at his face. His head cracked to the side and she watched the body collapse behind her as she approached the second knight. Checking her mana, she was confident to be able to finish him without bigger time outs due to Meditation. Come on. His sword slashed at her but now that the second one was out, she simply stopped it with her armored arm. Ilea felt no pain, just like the undead.

She created ash around herself and simply pumped mana into him while her limbs tried to distract him, forcing the shield and sword to move anywhere but her actual body. The remaining slashes that actually came through, she dodged or deflected. Even those that were simply too fast, she simply let through. Whatever damage was done to her was healed quickly thereafter. Not so scary once you can tank them and realize they’re fucking stupid.

With this she could even Meditate in between, even though her ashen limbs were definitely moving too fast to allow for the second tier of the skill to apply. A couple minutes later, helped by some punches of Absolute Destruction and her new Heart of Cinder, the knight collapsed.

Ilea didn’t waste any time, moving on to the knight in the throne room. Apparently the body of Maro’s son. Using the same tactics she had applied from her previous fights, she took care of him, at least trying not to damage his head any further. The last three remaining Kingsguard were down below and taken care of in the next half hour. Most of the time had been spend by Ilea meditating back her used mana. Her theory that the two standing near Maro’s entrance would react similarly to the ones in front of the throne room was correct, meaning she could deal with the one in the side hall first before giving them her full attention.

The last hit sent the knight’s corpse straight through the small hallway and into Maro’s little vault.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Kingsguard – lvl 510] – For defeating an enemy two hundred or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

...

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Kingsguard – lvl 505] – For defeating an enemy two hundred or more levels above your own, bonus experience is granted’

‘ding’ ‘The Azarinth Sentinel has reached lvl 302 – Five stat points awarded’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Awakening reaches 3rd lvl 11’

‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Fighting reaches 3rd lvl 8’

‘ding’ ‘Storm of Cinders reaches 3rd lvl 2’

‘ding’ ‘Ash and Ember Unity reaches 3rd lvl 6’

‘ding’ ‘You have learned the General skill: Gravity Magic Resistance – lvl 1

A force of nature, bound and warped my magic itself. Perhaps not noticing the damage dealt to your body, you have developed a way to resist this magic.’

‘ding’ ‘Gravity Magic Resistance reaches lvl 2’

Meditation started flowing through her, increasing her mana regeneration considerably as she made her way inside. Maro was staring at the body when she entered. “Last one of them.” She said, appearing next to the king.

“Good work.” He said and nodded, “Now it’s only a matter of time until Terok and the elves clear out the rest.”

“I’ll go help. Shouldn’t be many of them left.”

Ilea found the four quickly upon reaching the surface, Heranuur’s explosions audible from quite a distance. I wonder how they don’t attract dozens of them with all that noise. The answer was that they did. Not a dozen perhaps but when she landed near the street they were fighting in, Ilea spotted at least six knights. Either they want a challenge or they’re idiots. She thought, blinking down and catching a knight’s sword mid swing. A punch to his chest sent him flying, the noise in her mind informing her about the damage she had dealt. She shook off the steel stuck on her hand and moved on to the next one.

Neiphato was doing a good job at defending when Ilea appeared, a kick breaking the undead’s leg before her ashen limbs smashed into his neck. The body flopped to the ground, head rolling off before she winked at the elf.

Creating several ashen lances, Ilea sent them flying through the small alley, piercing three of the knights to create openings for the others as well as simply damaging them. Terok immediately finished his off and the others seemed in the process as well so she decided to move on instead, rushing through the streets with her sphere active to find any remaining undead. The crew had continued her work of cleaning out the knights but Ilea had already taken care of a big part of the city.

Blinking through a house, Ilea surprised two knights patrolling their designated area. She appeared between them, Heard of Cinder exploding to envelop them as well as the houses around her. Each was pierced by a couple ashen limbs to finish the job, the corpses still in the process of falling when she had already vanished, her legs taking her through the streets with increasing speed.

Heart of Cinder turned out to be a pretty good skill to clear out the knights in the coming hours, not needing a ton of mana to keep up but delivering a massive blow whenever she did find enemies. The stunning power it had, even against undead provided her with whatever opening she needed to finish the job. It saved a lot of time and by nightfall she they had progressed considerably, the others meticulously searching wherever she had rushed through to finish off one or the other knight Ilea had missed.

Neither Ilea nor the group of Terok and the elves stopped for the night. She assumed by daybreak, the last of the knights of the rose would be taken care of. The dungeon cleared out except for the Soul Rippers that Ilea was absolutely not in the mood to meet at the moment. Perhaps the undead knights would resurrect but at least they wouldn’t be powered by Maro and his magic device, the only thing really that kept her in Tremor. Until the Soul Rippers become the only thing to advance my levels. She grinned, quite happy that for quite a while that wouldn’t be necessary. There were plenty of less nightmare inducing monsters out there. She didn’t even feel like testing herself against one with her newfound power.