Winter's Crown: Act 6, Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“What…what is that thing?”

“I cannot distinguish its details from here, but–”

One of the strange, flying Fiends darted towards them, slashing at Ludmila with its scythe-like arms. A Shadow Demon materialized in front of them and tore their attacker apart.

“Cast Fly on me,” Ludmila shouted as its pieces disintegrated around them, “the Shadow Demons can escort me – go out and help clear all of these flying Fiends.”

“「Fly」.”

Ludmila rose from Nonna’s shoulders, and she tested drawing her bow in midair. It worked – though she couldn’t figure out how, exactly – and she tracked one of the Scythe-armed Fiends as it flew by not far away. She released a broadhead arrow, and her attack tore off half of a wing. It spiralled awkwardly to the ground where a Death Knight finished it off, and Ludmila looked away to take an inventory of her surroundings.

With the arrival of the powerful Fiend at the top of the ancient pass, the Demihumans were overwhelmed. More Fiends – the size of bulky, winged Ogres – fell upon them with massive mauls, indiscriminately scattering their victims left and right. They registered to her senses to be about as strong as Nonna, and dozens of them had landed along the length of the trail.

Did she have enough Death Knights to hold them? No, beyond that, the best course would be to take the offensive and eliminate as many as possible while they were preoccupied. She was fast running out of Demihumans – they needed to act right away before the scaled Fiends flew off again.

『Forward! The Demihumans do not matter – focus on those large Fiends!』

The tread of metallic boots filled the air as the Death Knight line advanced. Demihumans howled in despair, finding themselves caught between Fiends and the Undead. Some struck out against the Death Knights and were added to the growing number of Squire Zombies. Others broke entirely and fled, and Fiends dropped down out of the sky to pounce upon their backs.

Though Ludmila’s forces maintained their rough formation, it was still a mess. Each side was attacking everyone else. It took all of her focus to pay attention to her surroundings, fend off the occasional Fiend and coordinate the efforts of the Undead forces below. The Ogre-sized Fiends were stronger than anything her forces faced before, taking up each Death Knight’s attention for an inordinate amount of time.

One slashed the nearest Fiend with its flamberge, drawing a wicked gash across its chest. The azure flames of the Fiend’s eyes blazed in fury, and it roared as it brought its colossal maul down in retaliation. The attack struck the Death Knight’s raised shield, filling the air with the dull ring of metal. Despite the tremendous force of the blow, the Death Knight stood unmoved. Elsewhere, more of the black-scaled Fiends drove into the Death Knight line, knocking aside Squire Zombies like twigs.

Above, Shadow Demons and Bone Vultures roamed, pouncing on the Fiends that flitted through the darkness. The Elder Liches had summoned Wraiths to escort them as they fought their battle in the sky. Brilliant bolts of arcane energy and rays of blazing flame traced through the darkness between the Undead casters and their targets as they ducked and weaved against a backdrop of stars.

Ludmila was fairly certain she had never heard of any battle like this before. She didn’t think anyone would believe her if she told them about it, either. The Death Knights and Death Warriors; the Elder Liches, Shadow Demons and the scaled Fiends – all were beings that existed at or beyond the Realm of Heroes, yet they were merely foot soldiers in this conflict. The army of the Sorcerous Kingdom against the forces of the evil that was rising in the west. It was a battlefield where the strength of the average Human was as insignificant as a dried leaf on the forest floor; a place where only Legends would dare tread.

Up the trail, more and more of the scaled Fiends were making their way downhill. She couldn’t lose her advantage.

『Death Warriors, flank the Fiends engaged by the Death Knights – team up and work your way from enemy to enemy. Death Knights, continue your advance once you have been freed from combat. We have to keep these Fiends’ attention on us!』

Her line would fall into disorder with those commands, but she couldn’t allow the Fiends to leave. If they flew off, they could probably cross the border in under an hour. She doubted that the security forces at each village could stop such powerful aerial attackers before they inflicted considerable damage.

Below, the Death Warriors were making short work of the scaled Fiends that were tied up by the Death Knights. Limbs were removed in clean strokes, and each Fiend could not stand against their assaults for long. She had a rough sense that they would be able to do well in an offensive role, but their relative vulnerability against opponents nearer to their level of strength made it a substantial risk to field them without first having the Death Knights engage. They charged from group to group, dispatching Fiends as they went, and Ludmila’s forces steadily made their way up the pass.

“Nonna,” she approached the Elder Lich during a lull in combat, “What is the condition of our forces?”

This was something that was beginning to bother her. The Sorcerer King’s servants all had some mysterious method of communication between one another at short ranges, but they were not very communicative with others. Unlike living beings, Undead tended to not show the effects of accumulated damage unless it was in the form of a catastrophic injury, making it difficult to gauge how they were doing. Since she was commanding singularly powerful Undead servitors, they each counted for a significant portion of her fielded combat strength. Not knowing how injured they were was a worrisome thing.

“Most of the Death Knights have taken some damage so far,” Nonna told her. “They are far from being in dire condition, however.”

“Is there some way for me to tell at a glance?” Ludmila asked.

“Divine casters have abilities and spells that can do so,” Nonna answered, “as can Arcane casters who have access to those same spells. As far as I know, items that do so have not been catalogued in this region.”

“Then…do you or any of the commanders have this spell?”

Nonna raised a hand towards her.

“「Life Essence」.”

“「Mana Essence」.”

“You know,” Ludmila said, “this would have been quite handy all this time.”

“You never asked.”

Ludmila studied the Elder Lich. Twin auras overlapped her figure, yet did not obscure her or each other at the same time, somehow. Her Truesight decided to inform her that the auras didn’t exist. How useful. She blinked several times as she adjusted to the new information being presented.

The first thing she noted was that Nonna was slightly injured, though no visible sign of it showed on her form. Her Wraiths were a bit tattered as well. The Elder Lich’s mana pool was down to half.

“I should fight on the ground so you can regenerate mana again,” Ludmila said. “Release the enchantment after I get down.”

She took one last glance from the air as she descended. The Undead contingents had made their way halfway up the pass, approaching the treeline. At least she wouldn’t have any problems with vegetation blocking her visibility. All of her Death Knights – and even the Death Warriors, somehow – had taken various degrees of damage. She wasn’t even sure how the Death Warriors could have taken damage with their orders.

Above, the scythe-armed Fiends had been thinned out considerably. As far as she could see, roughly three dozen scaled Fiends remained. At the crest of the pass, the evil star had its back turned to them: something was drawing its attention, by the looks of it.

Ludmila silently urged her forces on, attempting to rotate them so that their condition remained relatively even compared to one another. Retrieving a broadhead arrow, she tried to help speed up the fight above. Though they weren’t at great risk yet, her ground forces were slowly being worn down. She needed her Elder Liches free to regenerate mana and work to restore their fighting strength.

Once again, she regretted the fact that she had neglected her archery. She had no ranged Martial Arts and none of the archery Skills that other Rangers near her Adventurer rank possessed. Due to this, and the erratic speed and manoeuvring of her targets, she was only landing one out of every three of her attacks. It felt like it was only through the sheer power of the Rune Bow Ultuwah that she was able to accomplish anything at all.

Over the next few minutes, the skies were cleared and she called her Elder Liches down so they could dispel their flight magic and regenerate mana.

“Do any of you know what in the world these Fiends are?” Ludmila asked.

“Scale Demons,” the Elder Liches answered in unison.

Was she the only one that didn’t know that? Maybe she was studying the wrong things.

“Then what about that thing at the top of the pass?” She pointed up at the blazing Fiend, “I can’t even sense how strong it is. Is there any way we could at least chase it off?”

“No,” they answered in unison again.

“We should send a message to Lady Shalltear, then,” Ludmila said. “The rest of you: return to supporting your formations. We will hold out for as long as we can. Ah – those enchantments are fading as well, but contact Lady Shalltear first.”

The Elder Liches returned to their commands, and Ludmila anxiously waited for Nonna to receive a response. Thirty seconds later, she seemed to be finished with her Message.

“Were you able to reach her?” Ludmila asked.

“Yes.”

“…what did she say? Is she on her way?”

“Lady Shalltear is currently indisposed,” Nonna told her. “She is in the middle of getting a facial.”

“A what?”

“A faci–”

“I know what it is!” Ludmila snapped, “But why is it more important than this?”

Nonna offered nothing in response, and Ludmila repressed a sigh.

“Then send a message to E-Rant–”

A blast of wind threw Ludmila into the air, sending her tumbling down the trail. She rolled back up to her feet, bow raised. Nonna was nowhere to be seen. Up the slope a ways, her Undead contingent was scattered about. The powerful Fiend had landed before them without warning.

“Well, well, well…” Its deep voice rumbled over them, “It appears that there are still fools who would dare defy me in this cesspit they call a wilderness.”

Ludmila issued a command to her forces, and the Undead scrambled to their feet. Death Knights and Death Warriors brandished their blades, roaring as they charged. With a seemingly casual flap of its blazing wings, the Fiend blasted them away. Further back, Ludmila was thrown once again into the air and into a set of bushes near the trail.

Before she could even finish rising back up to her feet, heavy steps sounded nearby. She looked up to find the Fiend before her. Though roughly humanoid in form, it stood more than twice her height. Flames licked out from the glowing cracks in its massive obsidian musculature, and the stones at its feet turned molten red. Its blazing eyes peered down at Ludmila from beneath the ridges of four horns that swept out past its temples.

“And what do we have here?” It boomed, “You are a bit mismatched for your company, are you not, mortal?”

Ludmila glanced around. None of her Undead could be seen in the vicinity. She hopped back to make some distance between them, reaching for an arrow. The Fiend snorted.

“Does your puny mind even comprehend the situation you are in, pitiful wretch? You are not even fit to lick the boots of those that I just cast away with a mere flick of my wings! You have no chance, mortal – no hope. Weep tears of despair at the coming of your doom!”

The Fiend loomed nearer, leaning forward to reach towards her with a wickedly clawed hand. Their surroundings were cast in a hellish glow, distorted through shimmering waves of heat. Ludmila didn’t want to know what would happen if it got too close. She leapt back again, steadying her arm and releasing an arrow. Trepidation would gain her nothing here – she could only fight.

There was a short distance between them, and the power of the Rune Bow launched the arrow at incredible speeds, but her attack was still somehow snatched out of the air with a twist of its wrist. Raising the arrow to its face, the Fiend peered at it curiously. The volatile liquid within exploded, releasing a blast that echoed off of the mountaintops. Two frost arrows struck it in the torso as the Fiend flinched away from the blast. An arm swept out to deflect her fourth arrow, but it shattered from the impact and covered its skin in freezing elemental solution.

“Grah!” The Fiend cried out, “What…what is this? What are you doing to me!”

Ludmila wasn’t sure at first if it would do anything at all, and she didn’t bother to stop and answer now that she knew. The Fiend danced backwards, trying to dodge her stream of arrows. Those that would have missed, however, ruptured from the extreme heat that roiled over its form, spraying their contents over her adversary.

“ENOUGH!”

Ludmila was sent flying backwards again with another flap of its wings.

“What is that weapon?” The demand rolled over her prone form, “TELL ME!”

You should let many people see it.

She hadn’t had the chance to do so, but she now commanded the attention of an audience of one. Did this Fiend count as a person? Well, if she was going to die anyways…

“It is the Rune Bow Ultuwah,” she said as she rose to her feet and nocked another arrow. “Fashioned using the ancient art of Runecraft™!”

“No…” The Fiend’s roar was half a moan, “No! You LIE! Runecraft™ has been lost to the ages! You…you must have scrounged it up in some dusty Dwarven tomb! It is no more than a coincidence that you possess such a mighty weapon!”

Ludmila slowly shifted away as the Fiend went on, but then it stopped and grinned at her.

“What’s the matter, puny mortal?” Its insidious tone drew its claws against her resolve, “I’m right, aren’t I? All I need to do is kill you and take that weapon. After that, nothing will stand in my–”

Its head jerked to the side as an arrow whizzed by its head and exploded.

“You’re wrong!” Ludmila said, “Weapons forged with Runecraft™ are produced to this day in my nation! I have personally seen quite a number of them. After this, I am definitely going to go out and order a few.”

“After this?” The Fiend’s features twisted in derision, “Has fear driven reason from your senses? You’ll be dead.”

“I might be, but not for long. I will probably be quite angry when I get up again, too.”

Actually, if this Fiend killed her and ran off with her equipment, Lady Nigredo would be able to divine its location. Then Lady Shalltear would obliterate it. After her facial.

Ludmila resumed loosing her arrows, and the Fiend danced backwards again.

“Spare me the inconvenience and just die, please,” she said.

“Madness!” The Fiend said as it continued to backpedal away from her assault, “You dare–ow! Damn you! You are no mere mortal! What manner of being are you?!”

Ludmila advanced grimly, and the Fiend fell back before her.

“I am a noble of the Sorcerous Kingdom,” Ludmila’s voice echoed from the bloodstained cliffs above. “By the Will of His Majesty, Ainz Ooal Gown, you shall not pass.”