Chapter 179

Chapter 179

Icarus deflected Mercy with practiced ease. I kept up the momentum by turning the deflection into an arc that brought Mercy sailing back towards him, even as I deflected his saber with the shaft of my weapon.

A blast of fire and magic slammed into my barriers and most of the force was redirected. The dance continued. Mercy scored shallow wounds even as he continued to sneak magic through my defenses. Normally I was able to interpose Mercy or counter with a blast from my gauntlet, but occasionally they got through.

We broke apart. Though only seconds had passed in the fight, it felt like much longer. You are very good, I complimented. Mercy reformed, shifting from long and slender to short, wide, and curved on one side. The heavier blade would be much harder for him to deflect, and the longer handle would give me more defensive abilities. It is good you do not rely on class skills.

You are as well. Icarus saluted me and I returned the gesture. Only a fool relies on skills they do not understand. My dad was an Olympic fencer for France and taught me the art since I was a boy.

Icarus lunged and a stream of fire flew past me and scorched a zombie. My heavy blade only partially deflected, this time scoring a nasty cut into his leg. Death magic flooded the leg as the disease took hold.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

Icarus leapt back, swearing. Forgot I could use magic? I smiled.

His rapier finally made it through my defenses. I had seen the attack coming, but there was little I could do. Mercy had been extended and he had knocked it from my hands with a kinetic blast.

I already had my right hand stretched out to summon the blade back to me and his rapier snaked into the joint under my armpit, driving in deep. He twisted and ripped it free. I gasped in pain. I staggered even as Mercy hit my hand and I swung it down trying to catch him.

His blade had delivered a potent magical fire inside of my body. The power was continuing to tear at my insides far too near to my death core for me to be comfortable. I fell into a purely defensive posture, reshaping Mercy into a pure staff with only a small blade. The death energy was not overcoming the flames easily, so as I warded off blows and magical blasts, I channeled eldritch power through my body letting it break down the attack.

When the pain was gone, I glared at him. If thats not soul bound, Im taking it.

Like my blade? Icarus smiled. Unfortunately for you it is soul bound. It is a legendary weapon I won in a duel against a cocky fellow who didnt know what he had.

The single blow he landed with his rapier had done huge amounts of damage to me, more than the numerous smaller cuts I had landed on him that were not healing. The death magic in his leg was making it weak. He was favoring it and moving slower.

I could sense my army had gotten moving again, Abimelech having finally organized them. It was time for me to wrap this up or call for help. I didnt want to have Raven interfere, though I knew she would if she sensed I wanted her to. She lurked nearby, watching the fight.

Icarus seemed to sense the change as well. Deciding to go full offensive, I split Mercy in half, one side forming a sickle and the other a straight blade of eldritch plasma. I was willing to accept another blow if I could finish the fight. I would survive, I doubted he would.

As I faced off with Icarus, both of us ready for the final exchange, there was an explosion of white light that lit up the night. It was far more powerful than anything the priest had used so far. I turned towards it, still keeping a single eye on Icarus. I couldnt tell what was going on, but the back line of the NPC army was suddenly full of flashes of magic and explosions.

Merde, Icarus swore.

Then it hit me, the army Raven had seen mustve been from the friar. Who else would be wielding holy magic and attacking the army wed been engaged with?

I see. So is he becoming a new religion? Have you all lost your divine power?

No. Rhea shook her head, her normal personality shining through some. We expected to, but somehow, we still have divine power. Friar Brown has lost quite a bit. That was what made him become stuck in inaction. Something about that rattled him.

I have a hard time picturing him rattled, I said. Raven hopped off of Shadow and made her way over to Rhea, who began to pet her. Raven was careful to stay on the opposite side of Rhea from Tyler, glaring at him whenever she looked his direction. Should we still be calling him Friar Brown? It sounds like he is a new super priest in charge of everything.

Nonus laughed. No. We tried to convince him of that, but even though he has lost a lot of his divine power, that man is terrifying. When he said we keep calling him Friar Brown, we just kept on doing it.

Raven looked up at Nonus while getting pets from Rhea and hit him on the shin with a paw. The guide crouched down, starting to pet her as well.

I hope you dont mind, but Im claiming all of this. I gestured around the peninsula.

We dont mind, Tyler assured me, looking at the other two to make sure they said nothing. Well, those two do, but I figured you would need the stuff. The friar sent me with them because he realized I would have more understanding of what you would need to do to keep going. They may be here to help, but that doesnt mean that their soldiers like you.

Hopefully I win them over with my charms, I said. A snort came from Maxwell, and I looked over in surprise, he had been so quiet I had forgotten he was there. His eyes were closed, and I was pretty certain he was only barely awake, just listening enough to laugh at me.

Ezekiel, Tyler began, I have a request, I

The answer is no, I cut Tyler off with a serious tone. You cannot join me. I will work with you, but Raven will never be okay with it. And to be honest, you said and did some pretty fucked up stuff. From the perspective of knowing what you claimed to have known.

Tyler hung his head. Yea, I knew it was a long shot.

Well, I changed my tone, if you want to become a death paladin, I know a gal.

Maybe, Tyler said.

Shadehki? Rhea asked, standing up. Raven came back over to me, where she transformed into her human form and hopped up on Shadow.

I shook my head in answer to Rhea. Thiar. A priestess of his I knew from a long time ago found me. Her name is Freya, I gave her the main temple in Maltis. On that note one of you needs to go see Bishop Dolores. Im fairly certain she will join your side, though I dont think she likes me very much, not after what she saw me do.

With that in mind, I was planning on not casting any mass creation spells while the holy army was nearby. They might one day be okay with it, but not right away. I brought Rhea up to date with what I had been doing, the temples I had conquered, and who still held them.

The next morning, Rhea and Tyler, accompanied by a group of 500 mounted soldiers, headed for Maltis while Nonus moved their main force farther away. I sent a letter back with them to Freya, wanting to see if she could hire Icarus. I was pretty darn certain he was a mercenary.