495. Final Piece

495. Final Piece

Faith El stumbled back as the [Hellhound] swiped its claws at her. Her Aura of Greater Protection flashed— the barrier of light protected her from the wild Demon’s attack. The Fallen Queen of Elutra scrambled for her rapier. The ornate weapon knocked to the ground from a previous blow, and now she was left with nothing to defend herself with against the snarling creature.

The [Hellhound] growled and leapt at her. She clicked her tongue, and a ring on her finger flashed.

Ring of Short Ranged Teleportation. Faith vanished, appearing just next to the rapier as the wild Demon turned to face her. It slowly circled around her as she gritted her teeth. It wasn’t high-leveled. It was only a Level 38 [Hellhound].

But Faith wasn’t a fighter. She was a [Duelist Mage]. A Level 45 [Duelist Mage], sure. She was higher-leveled than this Lesser Demon— however, being a [Duelist] meant she wasn’t quite suited for the battlefield since all her Skills related to taking on a single opponent, and duels didn’t quite last that long, so she couldn’t engage in combat for protracted fights like right now.

The Fallen Queen of Elutra swept her gaze over her surroundings. She was in the middle of a large encampment for refugees and injured soldiers, but all around her, there was only fighting. A large group of wild Demons had assailed this unexpecting camp when the main bulk of their forces had sallied forth to Luton’s Canyon.

The former Elutran Dungeon— turned into a vast prison for the Inoria Empire— was one of the remaining five sub-ritual sites that needed to be liberated. Gavyn, Zane, and most of Elutra’s Resistance had joined the Sunmere Republic, the Alterian League, and a small force of high-leveled Cyclopes from Ajih to liberate the sub-ritual. And, somehow, the moment they left, thousands of wild Demons swarmed the encampment.

Faith looked around and saw a massacre. A mindless slaughter. They were getting overwhelmed. None of the Fallen Queen’s bodyguards were here with her. Willow had stayed behind, but Faith hadn’t seen the [Archer] in the last half an hour.

“But I can’t fall here. Not to a mere Lesser Demon.”

Clenching a fist, Faith raised her rapier at the [Hellhound]. The Demon charged her again, and she sidestepped the attack. Most of her artifacts had been used at this point. All she could do now was rely on her few remaining Skills.

“[Precise Thrust]!”

She stabbed forward, striking the Lesser Demon’s neck. It yelped, rolling back as it turned to face her. But she was already on it in a moment.

“And— [Fatal Blow]!”

The Fallen Queen of Elutra impaled the [Hellhound] through the mouth with a burst of golden aura. It whimpered and fell limp as she drew back.

“I-I did it…”

Faith gasped out, before steeling herself. She shook her head and got back to her feet.

“No— this isn’t over.”

She saw the fighting all around her. Wild Demons poured in between the tents, targeting the weak and injured, which forced the only capable fighters to engage. This attack… it was too organized.

Wild Demons didn’t behave this way. At least, from what Faith had seen so far. She remembered the [Archarachne] and its swarm of [Aranea] in Ertos— how those wild Demons attacked everything and anything. Then Faith remembered fleeing Ertos. She recalled how Simag had commanded wild Demons to hunt her down.

And she knew what was going on.

“Someone is controlling them…”

She whispered, and a voice replied.

“Oh, so you noticed.”

The Fallen Queen of Elutra raised her head, caught off-guard by the sudden voice. She looked up as a shadow descended upon her. A winged figure floated a dozen feet in the air over the encampment.

[Fiend - Lvl. 105]

An Archdemon cast his gaze down on Faith. He had a pair of tusks protruding from his mouth, and bat-like wings beating at his back. He crossed four arms across his chest and sneered at her.

“I have been waiting for one of you foolish Humans to discern what is going on. These wild Demons are under my control!”

He cackled wildly as Faith pursed her lips. He could have killed her at any moment— he was over 70 levels above her, but he just floated there, mocking the former princess.

“The moment those little forces of soldiers left, I unleashed the hordes of the Netherworld upon your measly encampment! Once they realize what has happened, they will be forced to abandon their mission and come rushing back to your aid.”

The [Fiend] spread his arms wide, grinning savagely. Faith’s eyes grew wide.

“What…? Are you saying—”

She realized his plan. And his eyes flickered as he nodded.

“Yes.”

He uncrossed his arms and flew up. He laughed triumphantly as he left the Fallen Queen of Elutra behind with a taunting look on his face.

“This will happen again and again and again each time you—”

He started, only for a streak of gold-silver light to crash into him. The Archdemon exploded into black blood, and a burning figure came to a halt. Faith blinked.

“What?”

She stared at the familiar figure floating above the sky. For a moment, Faith tried to work her jaw, processing what just happened. Then her eyes narrowed.

“Is that… Salvos?”

The Salvos clone took notice of the former princess and flew down as another blazing figure shot past her. A second clone flew ahead, heading for Luton’s Canyon as the first clone landed just before Faith.

The Fallen Queen of Elutra just stared at the first Salvos clone. Her mind reeled. A storm of emotions— confusion and relief— washed over her. But most of all, she felt… suspicious. Dubious that this was real. It might have been an illusion— or even a fake.

Because Faith saw the dove-like wings. It was a foreign thing to see. It was made from flame, like the rest of the clone’s body, yet it seemed so naturally fit onto her blazing figure. And there were six of them emerging from her back. Her face, too. Somehow, even if this was a clone, Salvos seemed… different. Wizened. More ethereal. Like a perfect sculpture, cursed to enchant any beholder.

“Is that really you, Salvos?”

The former princess asked, mouth hanging agape. And the clone smiled as sparks flickered out of her body in a protective aura.

“It’s me.”

A simple response. But one that took Faith by surprise over all else. The Fallen Queen of Elutra’s eyes bulged.

“Wait, you can talk—”

But the Salvos clone took to the skies, sweeping across the encampment as flaming projectiles blinked into existence around her. Faith watched the scintillating light shine and form weapons of all kinds.

These weren’t made from either gold or silver flames like the clone’s being. For whatever reason, they burned a translucent gray. Their forms flickered with jagged motions. Almost like they were distorting rather than wisping like ordinary roiling fire. And it seemed mostly solid.

“[The Holy Flames].”

The hail of fiery projectiles shot through the encampment, targeting the wild Demons as the Salvos clone called out in a soft yet clear voice.

“Will end this!”

“What in the world is that?”

Revis Umontos, the Seer of the Cosmos, watched as the gold and silver figure zipped towards Luton’s Canyon. He had ordered his forces to return back to the encampment as soon as he got word that it was being ambushed. Most of the Human forces had tried to debate over it, but his band of Cyclopes were already on their way towards the camp with a few Human soldiers from the Elutra Kingdom when he received news that the attack was being lifted.

Moments later, he saw the apparition soar by them. Revis was considered an ‘Elite’ by Human standards. He was Level 165, and most of the men and women under him were above Level 100 as well. They had offered their aid to the Human lands when they caught wind of this crisis.

He would have rallied even more troops to fend off this terrible grand ritual, but it would have taken too long. So here he was, with the greatest men and women in all of Ajih. But even they were amazed by what they saw.

The gold and silver figure flew straight into Luton’s Canyon, uncaring of the army of Demons guarding the prison Dungeon.

“What is that?”

“Is she insane? She will get herself killed!”

“No— it is not a she, nor is it insane. It is an apparition!”

A susurration washed over the watching Cyclopes. Revis himself narrowed his eyes. He sensed something more to this figure.

[Vision Divination]. He cast the Skill, and he saw the figure like he was next to it. It was as if he was now flying next to this apparition as it unleashed a salvo of fiery attacks down into the prison Dungeon.

“But even for an apparition, this is too reckless.”

Even if Revis was confident in his strength, he wouldn’t have charged straight into the fray. Not by himself, and not with a clone conjuration Skill. After all, he didn’t know what waited down there in that canyon. And neither the apparition. She swooped down, laughing a high-pitched sound, only to pause when a blast of white light shot upwards.

A group of Archdemons huddled below atop the prison Dungeon, hands joined as they unleashed a golden ray at the apparition.

“Combination casting. Light magic. As I said, too reckless.”

Revis shook his head. In an instant, the apparition was obliterated. What could have been a useful ally in battle destroyed before much could have been achieved. He waited for is [Vision Divination] to fade, but nothing happened.

He paused, narrowing his single eye. He watched as the apparition emerged from the radiant attack, completely unharmed. Instead, an aura of crackling fire wreathed around it. One that completely protected it from the blast of attack— that made the apparition invincible.

The apparition smiled, and Revis finally recognized what he sensed.

Divine Essence. Even through an apparition, he sensed an abundance of it. One which rivaled even the divinity of the Servant Sage of Secely.

“But… how?”

He saw it all with his single eye. The apparition unleashed another volley of projectiles down into Luton’s Canyon, but the group of Archdemons created a powerful barrier. Its attack easily halted. And it sighed.

The apparition rose to the sky as it clapped its hands together. A sphere of black flames coalesced at her chest. Like a dark void that consumed everything it touched. But it burned. It grew in size until the apparition couldn’t hold it any longer.

Revis frowned, watching the apparition release the growing sphere into the air. The sphere ascended above the clouds as it grew to the size of a small building. And the apparition whispered.

“[The Call of Armageddon].”

All at once, the sphere burst open. Streaks of black flames fell from the heavens like burning black comets, crashing into Luton’s Canyon as if the stars themselves were falling from the sky. He watched the barrier flicker under the barrage of explosions, before falling as the attack didn’t stop.

This onslaught continued as the black sphere slowly shrank in size, ripping apart the canyon, and destroying the Dungeon prison. The gathered Demons tried to flee— wild Demons and slave Demons alike. But they were caught by the falling black flame.

Revis Umontos, the Seer of the Cosmos, just slowly pursed his lips as he watched this scene unfold.

“Why can’t we help at the front lines?”

Valda scowled as she crossed her arms as she watched the army converging on the ruins of Craydon. A crimson pillar rose to the sky as hordes of wild Demons poured out. Banners from all across the Human lands hung high— a coalition of smaller countries that banded together and reached the Inoria Empire at the very last moment.

The recruits of Mavos Academy had joined this army under the orders of Headmaster Clayton Skyshredder. And they were told to… do nothing.

They weren’t allowed to fight. And that annoyed Valda.

“Why are we even here if we’re not allowed to join the battle?”

Jonas shrugged next to her. He gestured at the small encampment set up around them.

“We’re supposed to guard the back in case anything happens to our supplies, you know? It’s an important job.”

“But that’s—”

Valda tried to protest, only for a flash of light overhead to draw her attention. She looked up with wide eyes as three flaming figures shot across the sky, flying straight for Craydon’s sub-ritual. The young girl’s eyes widened as she exchanged a glance with Jonas.

The two exclaimed at the same time.

“Salvos!”

All across the Inoria Empire, my clones lent their help to the fighting armies. They soared across the sky, going to where they were needed, and empowered by my two Grand Skills, they helped turn the tide of battle.

Lamarr the King of Traith had been fighting a losing battle at Fort Ironhaven. His coalition from the Eastern Kingdom Alliance had reached the site of the sub-ritual, only to be repelled by a wild Primeval Demon emerging from the Netherworld with a horde of wild Demons.

Even with a pair of Elite Ranked soldiers there— they wore emblazoned banners that clearly indicated they were from two different countries in the Eastern Kingdoms— they could barely halt the [Cerberus of Hell] from fully emerging from the portal. The giant wolf’s three heads loomed out of the crimson pillar, while the rest of its body was still trapped at the other side in the Netherworld.

A jungle of vines and thorns kept it in place, even as it snapped its vicious teeth and unleashed fire at the army. Lamarr flinched, but my clone landed before him in time.

“You’re— Salvos?”

He blinked. And I watched as my clone nodded. She spoke in an ethereal voice— just like a [Will O’ Wisp] would.

“Hi! Here help!”

And she shot through the air, passing by one of the Elites as he blinked.

“[Sacred Hellfire].”

My clone pointed at the massive dog-like beast, and it erupted into flame. A fire that burned gold at its core, but a dark crimson at the edges. A kind of gradient that turned utterly black at the flaking flames.

The [Cerberus of Hell] writhed in pain as the [Sacred Hellfire] rapidly spread throughout its body. It thrashed around, no longer trying to crawl out, but instead it pawed itself, snuffing out a bit of fire, only for the flames to quickly regrow and double in size. It howled as the fire Elite I had passed lowered his staff.

“Now, Hekhi!”

He screamed at the second Elite as the jungled receded just slightly, giving the wild Primeval Demon enough room to wriggle its being closer to the Mortal Realm. The second Elite— Hekhi— charged forward and leapt into the air, raising a hammer that grew ten times in size, until it was like he was holding a small building.

Hekhi swung down as he bellowed, and the sound of a bell tolled in the distance.

“[Furious Judgment of the Soul]!”

There was a flash of light. A powerful shockwave rippled across the battlefield. My clone narrowed her eyes as the wild Primeval Demon’s body flickered. For a moment, the [Cerberus of Hell] went limp, and its figure blurred.

It was almost like I could see an ethereal form of the giant dog splitting away from its real body. The wild Primeval Demon slipped through the portal, falling back into the Netherworld. And then the two bodies— the real body and the false body— rejoined as it snapped its three heads up.

Hekhi yelled out at the Elite with a staff.

“Close it, Ze-jai!”

Ze-jai dashed forward and began chanting quickly. The [Cerberus of Hell] began running through the air to get back through the portal, still burning from the [Sacred Hellfire]. It opened its three maws as fire, lightning, and ice wisped from each of its mouths. My clone readied herself to block the attack, but the sub-ritual dissipated.

“That was close.”

I murmured to myself. It was a good thing my clone arrived there in time. After all, if that wild Primeval Demon had got out, it would have been bad for pretty much everyone. I was pretty sure it had been just as dangerous— if not even more dangerous— than the [Hellabomination] I fought in the Motharis Mountain Range.

But not every battlefield needed the help of my clones. The remaining two sub-ritual sites had been completely eradicated from the face of the earth before a single one of my clones even got close.

Kaitlin Darkhelm, the Captain of the Vaun Qieur Empire’s Swordsguard Forces, stood over the captured city of Fallholt, the sub-ritual there having been dispelled hours before. She watched a pair of my clones fly by, not saying a word, but not keeping her gaze away from them either.

I could tell she sensed it— my Divine Essence. But she didn’t gape nor gawk at their sight like the rest of the watching soldiers.

More of my clones arrived at the slave city of Ayrith. But they arrived just too late as the crimson pillar in the distance vanished. A coalition of both one half of adventurers from the Remembered Order Company led by Tyrian the Brightsbane Archer as well as one half of adventurers from the Forsaken Company.

Alder Ashford, the Augur Elder, was there with his Grand Spirits. He stood alongside two distinct figures at the head of the Forsaken Company. One of them was an elderly woman with a monocle, dressed in regal robes of mismatched colors. The other was a younger man who had a single crooked dagger sheathed at his side.

I saw the armbands they wore— I recognized them as similar to what Laux Lionfist had. And I realized they were the other two triumvirate leaders of the Forsaken Company. They just eyed my clones as they continued flying over the Inoria Empire.

With that, I nodded to myself. My gaze focused back to where I was as I whispered.

“The last of the sub-ritual sites have been destroyed.”

I smiled to myself. Then I turned to Clayton Skyshredder standing behind me with his arms crossed. I cocked my head innocently.

“Now, um, what did you want to talk to me about again?”

He sighed.

“All thirteen sites have been destroyed.”

Levithus closed his eyes as he sensed the final sub-points in the grand ritual flicker out of existence. They were merely distractions. He never cared about them— he didn’t care about those he sacrificed to guard those diversions. All except for one.

“So Ira is dead.”

It was an unfortunate thing. After Ira had evolved into a [Hellprince], Levithus expected to get more use from the Primeval Demon of Wrath. But plans went awry. The Humans would be coming for the grand ritual itself soon.

Far sooner than anticipated.

“Every piece has played its part. And now… it is time for me to play mine.”

Levithus spoke into the darkness as he moved to make the final preparations to complete his King’s will.

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