Chương 55: [BL] 54. Sky Battle [6]

A set of hands caught her in a princess carry, saving her from plummeting to the ground. The same could not be said for the Sunheart Griffin, which slammed right into the charred ground; its disappearing fiery tornado burned out. Willow steadied herself on the [Royal Guard]'s chest and winced when the heated armor burned her finger. He let her down, unsheathed his half-moon axe, and roared as he charged into the fallen Sunheart.

Her Sun Thread snapped, and the Sunheart unfurled its wings, shaking its head only to find multiple Tier-three closing in on it. With a loud screech, it flapped its wings, sending a trailing fiery wind right at three royal guards. The Princess's guards stood their ground and trudged across the blast. Willow herself tried to stand, but the afterwind hit her, sending her rolling backward. Unconsciously, she spread her six-fold wings to protect herself from the gust.

On her back was the body of a dead horse, with its armor melted and charred skin sending a sharp, acrid smell that stung Willow's nose. Had it not been for the rain, she probably would've puked. Surrounded, the Sunheart could not afford to focus on the three Tier-threes as another two, with surviving horses, charged at it. It sent another fiery wind with its left wing to delay the inevitable. That move rendered its flying capability useless, so instead it decided to go all out with its magic.

A blanket of fiery cape swirled into existence behind the Griffin, and the fire spread across its body, engulfing it like a vibrant stream. Flames spiraled around it in a raging firestorm that twisted all the way to the rainy sky above, twisting the clouds as sunlight filtered through like a shaft of radiance. Willow gritted her teeth at such a display of power. They had to kill this one. She had already used her Mark on the other Sunheart, but the upgrade allowed her to have up to three.

"Mark!" Earlier, she avoided using it so the Griffin's senses were not enhanced. She had been trying to sneak behind it after all. Willow ran forward into the battle. Her Swift Step, an upgrade from Quick Feet, enhanced her running. When the Griffin began to hover upward, Willow thought all hope was lost until the royal guards and Drey, who had just arrived, each braved the firestorm with their shields and armor.

The power of the Might Rune was on full display as the Tier-three with smoldering fire eating at them reached inward like a plated zombie. Becks sliced his axe upward, sending out a cleave of wind right at the Griffin, who blocked with its heated talons. Willow, staying two meters away from the firestorm, could only watch with the others as they tried to help somehow. By then, Shera had arrived and pointed right at the Griffin.

"I can't hex it," Hag-Shera said.

"That Firestorm, and its spells spread warmth through its body, literally countering me." Willow chewed her lip. If Kross were here, he could have boosted her with his banner like when they dealt damage to the Lich Queen, but apparently this Lord Castle cost too many of his Banner Runes if he just let it go. Then, a stupid idea crossed her mind. Should I do it?

"My Lady! It's coming!" One legionary pointed far behind the firestorm where the other marked Sunheart was flying toward them. One was bad enough, and now… She had no choice. Willow exploded into light, switching her class to the [Ravenous Anatomist]. The Anatomist Shroud billowed over her shoulder as the fiery wind now bore down on her since her heat resistance had significantly lowered.

"Can you delay that one?" Willow asked Shera.

"Just a bit; I can still summon mist." Shera floated up, then looked at Willow with a scrunched brow.

"Be careful, yeah?" Can't promise that, Willow thought. She pointed right at the Sunheart Griffin, which glided upward and was injured as the tier-threes threw their mighty weapons up. The Sunheart's flight grew weaker as a throwing axe lodged in its belly. However, if nothing changed, the Sunheart would grind them down, forcing the Tier-threes to brave the firestorm again.

"Theatre!" A dark shift blurred around the Sunheart, but then the brilliant light spreading around its body banished the building darkness. The surrounding firestorm also sent a scorch of flames to dampen the darkness somehow. [The Sunheart Griffin's Sun Heart blocked the Anatomist Theatre from forming!] What a colossal waste of runes. Willow clicked her tongue. Time for Plan B.

"My lady!" Evan said again.

"We really need to get you into the fortress!"

"Lass!" Erick gripped Willow's shoulder when she was about to step forward. He twisted his grip, so she looked straight at him.

"Look, I saw you fight with this class of yours. It's not a good idea. Let's just go back and—" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His words stopped as his mouth was left gaping open. From the hips down, Willow's body turned into a swaying feather of crows; then, with a sharp breath, she activated Carrion Drift. Her vision split into hundreds of small sights, and she could not control them.

All she knew was that each vision had one objective: to find the best position to attack her target, the Sunheart Griffin. Like a hungry flock, they charged at the Firestorm, which had been slightly weakened by her attempt to use Anatomist Theatre. One identified an opening, and they swarmed it. In an instant, half the flock burned away in the overwhelming heat; another portion suffered intense burns as their heads and wings caught fire.

The survivors carved through the storm and flew upward to reach the Griffin, which barely noticed them. The surviving crows gathered right behind the still-hovering Griffin. Willow's body was whole again, and in her hand she summoned her Anatomist Staff. Dark Wind gathered and formed into a dark, shining staff, each end brimming with its own small cyclone of cutting winds. Using it like a spear, Willow thrust downward.

When the spiral met the back of the Griffin, it cut in, carving relentlessly, though the tier-three body was far tougher and prevented the Dark Wind from cutting deeper. Willow rammed the staff downward, slamming it and sending another series of cuts. The pain did not make the Griffin panic, but the sudden weight certainly did; as Willow's body crashed onto it, it let out a loud, sudden cry and lost its flight. Willow let go of her staff and gripped the Griffin's fur as they plummeted again.

With the wind tossing her legs upward, Willow screamed:"Rupture!" Dark Wind recognized the body she was gripping as their target as they descended like starving birds, each cutting right into the falling Griffin. Each cut was shallow. The tier-three body's strength was too much for the Dark Wind, but with each cut, more and more of the Griffin's heat magic bled out of it, and when Willow forced her eyes open and saw the ground approaching, she let go.

Willow reached inside herself and exploded into brilliant light once again. The Six-fold wings were born and unfurled behind her. The Ivory Assassin's Veil manifested around her. She flapped her wings, battling the draft. Her body whirled around until she found balance and let out a big huff. The Firestorms began to disappear in motes of swirling embers around her, but Willow did not let her guard down as she lowered her hand to summon her Auric Bow.

She aimed an Auric Arrow downward and was about to release it when she noticed something was missing. The mark was gone. Below, the Corpse of Griffin lay brutally spread open into six parts as a giant two-handed sword and axe butchered it apart. Its head even rolled off and touched one royal guard's boots. The Tier-three sure did not waste time. Normally Willow would not complain, but screw that.

Even her Instinct of heroes recognized that if she killed the marked Tier-three or at least got a portion of the experience it gave, then she would level up. And now she got nothing. She hid her scowl as she hovered downward, her feet touching the ground. Unlike her, the Tier-three instantly adopted a battle stance and looked toward the thick mist Shera had summoned. The hag flew backward, and another Sunheart Griffin followed with its gleaming red wings. The Griffin did not give Shera a chase.

It stopped and stared at its fellow dead tier-three. Anger immediately took over the bird. It spread its wings, sending another circle of flames, and positioned its beak behind it. Earlier, Josha had been the one who took care of that, costing them Nora's flight. For the dead Sunheart, it cost them the Olympyan Magus's life, and Willow had to risk sneaking behind it. Now, the Sunheart's eyes narrowed on her, and there was no way it would let her sneak again. Should she use Carrion Drift again?

But this one was not injured, and it could easily burn every crow. What would happen if all the crows were dead? Willow certainly did not want to find out. She flew upward to meet Shera, ignoring the cries of the royal guards below who told her to retreat.

"I got a plan," Willow said beside the hag-Shera.

"Separate and attack it from its flank?" Willow nodded.

"Sure. Not sure what else we could do."

"You got an offence spell?"

"Just an ice crystal shot. Its wings are too strong for me to smash it down with Mist Hand."

"It will have to do." As they were about to separate, cries billowed throughout the skies, and both Willow and Shera froze as the last Sunheart Griffin made its way from fighting the human army toward its brethren, accompanied by its own flock. Willow could only watch helplessly as they flew and rejoined the flock.

"Run?" Shera flew beside her, took her shoulder, and tried to drag Willow away.

"Run," She nodded eagerly. In a sharp spiral, Willow spread her six-fold wings. She noticed Shera was slower, so she wrapped the Hag with her Sun Thread and was about to burst into acceleration when, out of the corner of her eyes, above the ground, and beneath the flocks of the Griffin that chose to hover instead of attacking, an army marched.

Her breath stilled when a host of Ember blades—the Tier-twos with their carapace lamellar armor like a sea of polished stones matching, their topknot hair billowed with the rain. Their number? She couldn't be sure. All she knew was that they marched in columns of three. One column stopped and aimed something at the Griffins. In an instant, the skies split with liquefied arrows that streaked upward for the Griffins' flocks, but they were ready as they turned and flew out of the battlefield.

"Apocalypse Cycle," Shera laughed, shaking her head. Willow stayed silent as she flew with Shera after letting go of her Sun Thread. The deaths below were few, mostly only Kroos's golden soldiers. Willow's Olympya and her party made it safely to the fortress gate where a drawbridge appeared, built to cross the ten-meter moat which surrounded the castle. That was a good sign. Kroos must have learned about the invading army somehow and further upgraded the castle.

"Look! Leynah!" Shera pointed. Atop the tower, Leynah stood with her armor now gleaming in the sunlight. The rain had given way, and the sun blanketed everything in its radiance. Willow flew toward Leynah, and the woman offered her a hand, pulling her close. She stared at Shera, tilting her head and raising her eyebrow in amusement.

"A curious upgrade," she remarked.

"Can I hug you? I need a hug. These two call me ugly and tried to kill me," Shera said, opening her arms. Leynah clearly didn't want the hug, but the silver-haired woman put on a brave, albeit scrunched, face and gave the hag-Shera an embrace.

"Well, what the hell is happening…" Willow trailed off. She rushed toward the tower's end and let out a small chuckle. Beyond the fortress, two other armies were marching. Leynah held up three fingers to Willow as Shera still hugged her.

"Three Riftborn armies. The Embers, Devils, and Centaurs. This is a good thing, Willow. We held three Riftborns from the main army; now all we have to do is hold them here." Good thing, huh?

"Please tell me Kroos has a plan."