Chapter 920: The Faceless Army

Chapter 920: The Faceless Army

Spells flickered in the distance like fireworks as Pan and Eury kept hundreds of metalins at bay. Initially, there had been a few waves of new age battle mages involved as well, but most of them had been quickly petrified, falling to the ground like solid statues. The sad truth was that despite all their training, few of those present amounted to much. All the capable ones were on cloud forts on the empires borders fighting the nymphs. What was left behind were the recently graduated and those with connections to stay where it was safe.

A series of rocket bolts shot up into the air, leaving trails of purple fire behind them. Explosions followed.

REALM DAMAGED

Shell integrity 72%

Obviously, it was going to take a bit more to create an opening.

Dallion struck forward with a point attack, aiming for Duchess Elazni. Before it could reach her, a web of music threads formed, distorting her surroundings. The strike curved slightly to the side, hitting a building behind her. Just as before, the remnants of the destroyed structures quickly returned to their previous state.

Music threads, Dallion said, noting the composition of the robe the woman was wearing. It seemed that magic wasnt the only thing integrated. It must have taken a true master to create such an item, possibly even an otherworlder.

A gift to the second empress by the emperor himself, the woman said.

The duchess was far below Dallions level, but it hardly showed. The family heirlooms she was wearing helped her hold her own. It also helped that despite the stakes, Dallion couldnt make himself go a hundred percent all out. Not only was she family, but deep inside Dallion agreed with her reasoning. Days ago, he was of the same opinion, wanting to take the emperor down. Even now he wasnt particularly enamored with the prospect of allying with him. Sadly, the alternatives were worse.

What about Tors? Dallion let out a music attack, probing the strength of the robe. The strands were instantly caught in the mesh of music threads and snapped before they could achieve anything. Did you order him to kill me or did he decide that on his own?

Tors has always been too spoiled for his own good. There was a note of regret along with the music attacks aimed at Dallion.

Unlike her, he used his aura sword to slash them up before they could become a threat.

His skills made his parents pamper him, just as I did. The duchess launched a new wave of attacks. This time, they were targeting the environment around him, as well. The buildings on both sides of him collapsed, tilting in his direction. More strands of music attached to chunks of debris, dragging them towards him.

The whip blade hovering around Dallion extended quickly, severing their connections, causing them to fall to the ground. To be on the safe side, Dallion cast a spell to repel any remaining object. Before that could happen, the chunks flew back up, recreating the buildings yet again.

Im to blame, the Duchess sighed, for the first time skipping an attack. I never told him that he didnt have the hardness to be an archduke. I expected hed eventually grove over it. There was no way the emperor would have chosen him, even if he had selected our House to get the post. Hes there right now. The woman combat split, glancing over her shoulder in one instance.

The entire sky above the coliseum kept on flickering in orange and purple lights. Watching Pan, one couldnt doubt that at one point he had tried to take over the world. Strangely enough, it was only constructs that were engaging him. A substantial number of golems had rushed into the fray along with the waves of metalins and bladerers, yet no people.

REALM DAMAGED

Shell integrity 44%

Another wave of explosions blossomed.

Hes there right now, eagerly awaiting to get his title.

You didnt warn him? Dallion asked.

An instance of the Duchess shook her head.

There comes a time when indulgences must end.

Dallion burst into instances, expecting her to charge forward with an attack he hadnt seen. The woman did no such thing. Remaining in her spot with enough dignity that would make kingdoms envious, she summoned a lyra.

The instrument was made entirely of sun gold, with strings of Moon platinum. One look was enough to tell that it was an heirloom of the second empress. Dallion recognized the pitch of the laugher coming from withinthe guardian that had entered into the lyres realm the moment of its creation was a copyette.

Strings of music burst forward as the duchess played a chord. All of them were simultaneously mixed with spark and magic, twisted in such fashion that neither touched the other.

Damn it! Dallion thrust his harsisword forward, combining a spiral attack with music and spark.

Two extreme forces clashed in one another, causing a thread of destruction to appear perpendicular to them, slicing miles of the city on either side. Each attack was capable of leveling mountains, even if they were of a completely different nature. Duchess Elaznis music was a soft force that could entangle and smother everything it targeted. Dallions was an example of hard, raw power.

Directed by Gleam, the whip blade danced in the air, slicing as many music threads as it could manage, but it wasnt close to enough. For every hundred it would snap, thousands more emerged as the woman continued to play.

Dallion took a step back, doing a multi-attack with his aura sword. Spell circles formed, shooting out chards of aether at the woman. The projectiles were caught by the music strands of her robe long before they could reach their target.

I could have told you that, Pan remarked. The shell drains magic. Direct aether spells make it stronger. I used something similar at the time.

Any reason you didnt share that sooner?

Moon vows, the copyette replied. At least now you know.

Yeah. Now I know.

Another volley of bolts shot up. The explosion was twice as powerful as before, setting the entire sky ablaze.

REALM DAMAGED

Shell destroyed!

That was it. Now the city stood a chance. All that remained was to make sure that the emperor did.

Lux! Dallion summoned the bladebow. Take the crates and follow Eury.

Sure thing, boss!

Gem, he summoned the atherfish as well. Take Eury up there.

Okay, boss

Will you be alright? Dallion asked.

Yeah, his wife replied. You just make sure nothing hits us.

Count on it.

Slashing the air, Dallion sent a line attack above the arena building. A majority of the golems managed to avoid the attack, their speed and magic skills better than many of the new battle mages he had seen.

The thought posed an interesting question. With everything going on, there were three things that were supposed to be happening, yet they werent. The Shimmering Circle had to be present at an event of this magnitudeif nothing else, Alien should have been. The overseers were also suspiciously quiet. There had been too few of them so far, and none had taken any action since the group had neared the arena. Strangest of all, other than a few minor tricks, the emperor hadnt used his full domain ruler powers. After the initial city spell, Dallion expected buildings to fly at him like bullets, massive spires to emerge from the ground. If he were in Tamins shows, hed have every pool of water turn into a water sprout, while every creature and insect filled the space between.

A thin layer of magic covered the top of the arena, making it impossible to see through.

Ready, Pan? Dallion kept on moving through the air faster than a hummingbird. Blades and spells flew everywhere around him, none able to hit its target.

What about them? Three bolts of purple lightning emerged from the copyettes humanoid body, striking a large metalin in three spots along the torso.

Ignore them. Dallion flew forward.

There was no telling what additional effects the spell could have, that was why Dallion wasnt the first one to go through. Instead, he summoned Nox.

Thirty cublings emerged all over his body. Several of them leaped forward, claws extended. Cracks formed along the reflective surface, spreading like spiderwebs. Then, to Dallions great surprise, the spell collapsed, revealing hundreds of thousands of people beneath.

More nobles than people had seen in their lifetimes were all in one place, sitting with blank expressions on their faces. The spell that had been created by the city seemed to be draining their magic then Dallion rememberedthe shell needed magic to function. It would probably get rebuilt within minutes. Thankfully, Eury would already be on the outside by then.

In the center of the arena, surrounded by a dozen legion generals, stood the emperor. Despite the bright glow, Dallion could still see a confident smile on the rulers face. A dozen steps away, Abla stood, kneeling down. Beyond him were two circles of guards and beyond them, close to fifty overseers.

We didnt think you'd make it here, Emperor Tamin said. Seems well have our duel, after all.

Is it the generals? Dallion asked, still covered in a pack of cracklings.

No Pan replied. Its the overseers.

Which ones?

All of them