Chapter 495 - Dark Horde

"We must return to them, they need our assistance," he told her. 

Though Elena was staring right past him with widened eyes, tapping his shoulder, "Urr, hey, big guy…I think we have our own problems right now."

"What…?" He asked, slowly turning around. 

Entering through an alternate corridor from the direction he arrived, a gargantuan lacyrie entered, having to duck through the tunnel's edge to enter the cavity of the mountain. 

Though even its appearance was the first aspect of it that met him; the smell it exuded filled the domain with a potent abhorrence. 

Its skin, clammy and covered in scarring, was slick in a sooty substance, dripping from its chin as it carried a shoddily-made, gargantuan axe fit for its size. 

"A champion of their hive?" Akanni muttered, readying himself for a fight. 

"I don't care what it's called, it wants to fight!" Elena called as she unsheathed her shortsword, wielding it with a reverse grip. 

As it stomped its mud-slick feet against the stone, blocking their path to the tunnels, the hill-sized lacyrie let out a deep, bellowing roar that shook the entire cavern. 

Chains hung from its form, wrapped around its arms, legs, and upper-body as chain links carried flesh bits in a manner natural to the abhorrent creatures. 

"I will handle its focus," Akanni told her, stepping forward, "you can take care of the rest, right?"

Elena stood silent for a moment before nodding, holding her short-blade, "Not a problem."

The moment that understanding was made, the draconic man launched forward just as the enormous lacyrie brought its pillar-sized axe down towards them. 

Using his scale-clad forearms, he crossed them over his head as the giant axe crashed down against his arms. 

"Big guy–!" Elena yelled out worriedly. 

Though to her surprise, the gargantuan weapon fitting for the giant hunchback didn't penetrate the sable scales of the demi-human. 

After such a feat, the immaculate, black scales that reinforced his arms seemed practically invulnerable. 

"I am fine! Go!" Akanni called out, grunting as the weight of the giant axe pressed down against him, cracking the rock beneath his feet. 

She wavered for a moment, but her doubts were swept away by the sheer strength and durability of the draconic demi-human, not wasting the opportunity. 

"Luft: Blessing of the Skies," Elena muttered the incantation. 

Surrounding her, a barely-seen wind enchanted her movements, amplifying her step with a graceful speed that allowed her to swiftly rend the ankles of the giant lacyrie. 

As its achilles' heels were rent by her wind-guided blade, the lacyrie's strength faltered as it stumbled, allowing Akanni to repel its axe. 

With it falling to its knees as it could no longer support its own body, the lacyrie was mounted by the girl who traversed its body like a mountain being surmounted as she left a trail of eviscerations over its form. 

"Hyaah–!"

Elena finished with a spinning slice across its back, leaving the overgrown lacyrie reeling in pain as she noticed the draconic man inhaling a large breath of air into his lungs, prompting her to leap away from the giant orc's form. 

"He's all yours, big guy!" Elena called out. 

Just as she was clear of the path of destruction, Akanni roared out with an onslaught of golden flames that exhaled from his mouth, quickly enveloping the entirety of the lacyrie giant in the iridescent fire. 

It propelled through the air, rapidly expanding through the cold, damp atmosphere of the cavern with a shock wave of heat that turned nearby pebbles to dust. 

As she watched the golden flames consume the lacyrie giant, the wind blessing that Elena possessed caused the heat to curve around her, though it was still strong enough to be felt as a sudden warmth. 

It didn't take but a minute for the gilded inferno to leave the hill-size lacyrie to a crisp as it fell face forward without an echoing thud that trembled through the cavern. 

Elena returned by him, looking at the burnt body of the giant orc with a bit of surprise on her expression, "...Nice work, big guy. You know, I don't think he's getting back up from that one."

The draconic man regained his breath, panting as the flame release expelled every ounce of air from his lungs as he wiped the residual embers from the corners of his lips. 

"It is not over yet," Akanni told her as his jet-black fringes hung close to his eyes, "The others…need us." 

"Well," Elena placed her hands at her sides, looking at him, "I think you can save it for after you catch your breath, big guy."

--

"How many are there?!" 

Felix moved back, but his back was met against a wall while an aggressive, hammer-wielding lacyrie approached him while salivating. 

Just as he ducked beneath its wild, formless swing of its hammer, he retaliated with his own hammerstrike, bringing the flat-side against the back of the lacyrie's skull as he painted its brains against the cavern stone. 

"...I'm starting to wonder about that myself," Iris replied. 

Through wordless incantations, she used her staff to aim arrows of light towards the droves of subterranean orcs, though the light-formed projectiles that didn't hit their head only momentarily slowed the aggressive brutes. 

…It feels like they are endless. Not only that, they're aggressive…even if they aren't individually much trouble, they're going to wear us down eventually…Felix is already slowing down a bit. This could be bad, she thought. 

"Felix, get close!" She yelled out. 

"Huh?...Alright!" 

Felix pushed through the horde, using his hammer to make room as he regrouped with her, watching her back as she raised her staff. 

"Brigid: Sundance!" 

Around the perimeter they stood, fiery hieroglyphs etched into the stone in a circular formation, causing any lacyrie that passed over the enchanted area to burst into flames immediately. 

"Rreegh–!"

The first lacyrie that attempted to step over the enchanted barrier had its leg be swallowed by sudden flames, causing it to fall over and squeal in pain. 

"...Nice, this can keep them off!" Felix said, relieved. 

She shook her head softly, "No…it's only a temporary stopgap."

"What do you mean?" He asked, gathering his lost breath as he kept his eyes on the horde that surrounded the barrier.

After the first of the subterranean orcs was burned by trying to trespass the circle, the lacyrie stood at the edge, waiting and watching cautiously as saliva dripped from their tusk-bearing maws. 

"...'Sundance' relies on tricking the enemy. Each time one tries to cross and is burned, my mana is spent that way–not by keeping the barrier itself summoned," she explained in a whisper. 

"So you're saying that if enough of them try to cross, the barrier will fall…?" He asked. 

She nodded, "We have to rely on them fearing the idea of crossing the barrier…but, if they get confident, it'll fall." 

Felix didn't seem very relieved anymore as he held a nervous smile, tightly wielding his warhammer, "Crap…it's never good news, is it?" 

Even the brutish lacyrie seemed aware of the threat of crossing the burning, hieroglyphic barrier, though that caution only lasted a minute before another attempted to rush through it, only to be repelled by a burst of flames that overtook its body. 

"Any other tricks up your sleeve? I think now would be a good time!" Felix asked worriedly. 

"I do, but…I'm afraid most of my spells would result in myself being the only one left standing," she told him. 

"Oh, great, yeah, please don't use those!" Felix wryly said.