Chapter 101: None May Pass

Chapter 101: None May Pass

“Badass?” Aila repeated, looking up at Syd.

Jadis had almost forgotten that she still held Aila in her arms. Apparently, the term “badass” wasn’t a commonly used one on Oros, if at all. Though linguistic differences between Imperial and English was not something she needed to be bothered with at the moment.

“Yeah, badass. Should we get involved with all that?” Syd brushed past Aila’s question and motioned towards the battle happening further down the valley.

Aila frowned at the sight, her answer coming slowly.

“I’m not sure we’re needed,” she stated hesitantly. “Those are the Flame Wolves. They’re one of the most elite mercenary companies in Weigrun. I doubt they need the help.”

Jadis hadn’t heard of the “Flame Wolves” before or of their prowess, but she had to agree with Aila’s assessment. The mercenaries did not look like they needed help, despite fighting off a force many times larger than those Jadis had seen while roaming the Broken Hills so far. Despite being outnumbered, it didn’t look like the Flame Wolves were taking any casualties. Or if they were taking injuries, they were being healed almost immediately by a figure Jadis spotted in the back lines.

Also dressed in black and red robes like the wizard but sporting a metal chest plate, a man was holding his hands out before him, both palms sporting golden glows that were obvious even from a great distance. Whether he was buffing the fighters or constantly healing any injuries taken, Jadis couldn’t say, but it was clear the man was some kind of cleric casting divine magic.

No, the Flame Wolves had the battle well in hand. Her and Aila’s abilities were not needed.

As if to punctuate Jadis’ thoughts, the floating wizard finished channeling his spell and an orb of fire the size of a beachball flashed forward from him, striking the unknown giant spider demon that was still limping towards the battleline. Another massive explosion shook the air as it impacted the spider, the shockwave powerful enough that many of the bone thieves fighting the mercs stumbled, if they weren’t knocked off their feet outright. The bramble fiends caught in the blast were scattered like tumbleweeds, their weight nowhere near enough to resist the effects of the blast.

Strangely, the Flame Wolves were unaffected by the shockwave from the explosion or were at least prepared for it. They immediately took advantage of the disruption it caused their enemies and hacked away at any downed demons, slaughtering them wholesale.

As the smoke and dust cleared, Jadis could see that this second magical blast had been enough to bring the ten-legged spider demon to a crispy end. Its body had been shattered by the spell, cracks in the charred shell letting out smoke from the boiled flesh within. She couldn’t smell it yet, but she was certain that the flash-fried monster was going to smell like burnt earwax just from the look of its still-burning body.

Jadis had paused watching the fight long enough that her escort had enough time to catch up, their horses drawing up next to her three selves and Aila as they continued to watch the battle. It didn’t look like it was going to last much longer, not with how quickly the Flame Wolves were dispatching their numerous foes, but the two grundwyrms were still putting up a fight despite the powerful blows being leveled against them.

“By the gods! Where did so many come from?”

“Trap it up!” Jay shouted as she took up positions in front of the entrance.

Jay and Dys took the left and right sides while Syd, wielding the weapon with the greatest reach, took up the middle. Standing behind them, Aila immediately began casting spike trap after spike trap, their glowing rune circles appears all across the curved floor of the tunnel entryway. She spread the softly glowing traps out so they blocked off a full third of the way up either side of the tunnel walls and, with her greatly expanded magic pool, it wasn’t long before she had thirty of the trap spells in place.

“Eighty magic points left!” Aila called out, keeping Jadis aware of how much magical gas she had left in her tank for more spells.

As she finished calling out her update, the sounds of hoofbeats drowned out anything else she might have had to say as the guard escort arrived. Leaping down from their horses, they all took up a defensive line directly behind Jadis’ three selves, their shields creating a curved wall that left Jadis room to move.

“Sorry ma’am, but this doesn’t look like a situation we can allow you three to handle alone,” Ealdread called out to Jay from his position standing at the far left of formation.

Jay huffed out a sigh but didn’t bother arguing. The guardsman was right. This wasn’t just about her hunting for demons to gain levels. This was a far more serious situation. The tunnel before her was without a doubt the way the demons were sneaking such large numbers into the lands surrounding Far Felsen unnoticed. That made this about the safety of the city, not just her personal experience gain.

The sounds echoing within the demon tunnel grew closer, focusing Jadis’ mind on the task at hand.

From the shadows came a familiar shape. A bone thief ran forward on two legs, an odd assortment of arms flailing wildly from its bulbous hard core while four animal skulls of different shapes and sizes clattered together threateningly. The silent abomination rushed towards her, just as intent on stripping the flesh from her skeleton as every other bone thief Jadis had met and slain. As it got within a few dozen feet of Jadis, its bony foot stepped on one of the ghostly rune circles Aila had cast.

In an instant the bone thief’s leg was shattered by a three-foot spike of ghostly force magic and, as it tumbled forward and hit the ground, another force spike trap was triggered, splitting its core in half, killing the demon instantly.

“Where the hell were spells like that when these fuckers were all around trying to kill me,” Dys murmured, marveling to see a demon that had once been a serious threat slain with hardly any effort expended at all.

Seconds later and more of the demons were appearing from the shadows, but they weren’t just bone thieves. Bramble fiends and twisted wretches charged up the tunnel as well. First there were only a few, then more, then dozens of corrupted monstrosities came out of the dark.

As soon as they got within range Aila’s traps began going off, killing and maiming more than a dozen of the demons in a matter of moments. Despite the devastating passive attack, there were still more of the demons coming behind those that had fallen. A surge of adrenaline rushed through Jadis’ bodies as the first of the demons, a twisted wretch, came close enough for her to attack. With a forward thrust of her massive steel lance, Syd piercing the corrupted boar-like form of the wretch through the chest and, with a flick of her wrists, tossed the demon to the side where it landed on another of Aila’s traps that was placed partially up the curved wall, killing it in a gory spray of guts and blood.

“Alright you ugly-ass shit-eaters!” Jadis shouted in a synchronized war cry. “Fucking bring it on!”