Chương 61: [BL] 60. Cost of Failure [2]

At first, a vibration came, a gradual cracking of the stone courtyard, then an implosion of rock blasted upward, making a woman cry out. Legionaries snapped to attention, but what could they do against such a disaster? They were especially helpless when the stone shifted, sending a deep pressure across the barn first and shuddering the structure. Woods collapsed into the ever-widening chasm. Willow knelt, gripping the stone surface for balance. She reached for Josha and donned her [Auric Huntress] Assassin's cloak.

She rose into the air, hands clutching Josha's back collar. Her friend's attention was entirely on the barn and the fate of the new [Rider]s. Since the barn had split right down the middle, its walls still stood awkwardly, with bits of roof about to collapse in. Just as he opened his mouth, perhaps about to ask Willow to fly closer, three Griffin Riders burst out from the crumbling building before the wall collapsed into the chasm.

Around the fortress, a cacophony of cries rose, followed by feet rushing, pounding across the stone courtyard. People ran toward the gates, where legionaries kept them from the fissure, but they were unsure whether to let anyone out. Some people still made it out despite the soldiers' hesitation. What about the army outside? What even is happening? Shera probably would be fine. Leynah too. But the others? Through the enlarging fissure wall, rocks cracked, and gnarly tendrils shot up.

They punched through the ground and rose to the sky, splitting into five tendrils, each formed like a spear. That… That looks familiar. Those are the Treants spell!

"Willow!" She tucked her wings, letting her and Josha drop in time to dodge darts, or perhaps seeds; it was some kind of little green bullets that shot from the flowers that grew across the thin vines. So small, that's troublesome. She flapped her wings to get a burst of power and veered down to the ground, crashing behind a shield wall formed by the legionaries.

She and Josha rolled across the ground, but since they were both tier-two and Josha was already putting on his [Lancer] armor, they quickly recovered and took cover behind the line of legionaries. The green seeds rattled against the soldiers' shields; Willow leaned against a man's shoulder and braved a peek, her cheek almost pushed to the man's pauldron to watch out for the small projectile. While the flowers were still shooting, the vines were not idle.

Its spear-end head lunged like a harpoon fired straight to the legionaries' formation.

"Marks." Willow commanded Marks, but nothing appeared for a brief moment until she sensed it. Her attention shifted toward the direction where she remembered the Princess had run to warn the Duke's army. The mark was there. So far away, yet she could feel it. She snapped to attention, nocked an arrow to her Auric bow, and shot. That was an arrow of pure mana that her class had wrought, and yet when it met the vine's head, they broke apart together.

The Auric Arrow ate away the vines' top, searing it with brilliant light as the arrow shaft broke away like a spiderweb crack running through its body. A small gust explosion followed the exchange, and both died out. This worked; she could just keep shooting, but there were simply too many. The other legionaries managed to defend, pushing against the vines with their shields, but when they tried to cut them, the vines proved far stronger. Willow let loose another arrow.

The Mark still bothered her, but she tried to ignore it as best as she could and summoned another Auric Arrow. As she prepared to fire, a new thin figure made her hand stiffen. Willow's arrow went streaking through the sky, past the vines, and whistled past the new, lanky figure with elongated limbs. The Hunch Devil's colorful, patterned bodies were too eccentric to ignore, especially when a dozen of them climbed… Not climb.

They were being freaking dropped by a group of Devils that looked like they were using gliders made of bat wings high above. Willow could imagine it was grinning as it looked down upon its prey. The Hunch Devils arched their bodies, and with a powerful grip upon the fortress's wall edge, they threw themselves like a streaking dark meteor.

"Devil! Watch out!" Willow cried, but too late. They descended on a far legionary group, penetrating deep into the soldiers' flanks. Some turned in time, but most got speared with the devil's claw.

"We should go," Josha said beside her. She hadn't realized that he had gone away and brought Nora with him. The Pegasus shot a lightning bolt and fried the vines, only for more of it to grow again. Willow watched the twisting vines; some came close and wrapped around the legionaries, tearing their shields away. The Griffin Riders gathered around Josha, but they looked at Willow instead. We'll just get crushed by the vines.

She was about to suggest they go around, to circle the fortress, when suddenly an overwhelming white light erupted through the fissure. A pulse of white brilliance flared up like its own fortress. She could see a castle wall, or a blueprint of one hung in the air. It turned to reality, filling through the crack and smashing into the vines. The rest of the outstretched vines craned upward like they were gasping as their bodies smashed in and were finally cut down by the legionaries.

"Let's go!" Willow shouted her order and took to the sky. She soared upward, floating so she could comfortably see beyond the white wall. She expected a slaughter; instead, Kroos' golden soldiers encircled the Devils with their long spears, stabbing through the creatures. But the Devils were tier-two, and they merely took the stabs and, like feral dogs, pounced at the golden soldiers. The human tier-threes and tier-twos were not here. She took a quick look around and chewed her cheek.

Multiple battles were being fought against the Devils. Not to mention another two Riftborn hosts could burst in at any moment through the gate that was still letting people out. She had to deal as much damage as she could now. Willow snapped an arrow loose—a weak one. It landed right behind a devil without taking the creature's body.

"Starfall." Specks of light flitted toward her, and they brimmed around her like an eager ball of energy. They grew and multiplied, becoming arrows of gold. Willow let them go, and a hail of golden arrows showered over the trapped group of devils, taking them by surprise and piercing their lanky bodies.

Most still stood straight because of their tier-two strength, but that didn't save them from follow-up spears thrust by the golden soldiers and a surge by legionaries who bashed their shields and lunged with their glowing short swords to cut apart the demon. Willow spun around. Josha and the Griffin Riders took it upon themselves to guard her, and she was fine with that. She saw a blob of Devils fighting against a group of legionaries mixed with some veterans this time.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She drew another arrow, about to release it, when the Guidance Spirit blared across her vision. [The Jester Devil chose you as his audience!] She didn't think about why the Hunch Devil could seemingly land on the entire line of the fortress' wall unhampered. The reason showed itself. A devil wearing an elaborate doublet split between red and blue stood upon the wall.

The Devil's collar was an elaborate gilded filigree styled after a flower. Because the collar looked so elaborate, Willow was unsurprised to see the Devil wearing a porcelain jester mask with two horns jutting from the top. A forever grin was etched into the mask, and its jester's point clinked. The Devil had been spectating the battlefield; now it looked at Willow. Despite it just standing still, Willow found herself captivated.

Her Six-fold wings flapped, keeping her hovering so she wouldn't miss any single show the Devil was about to show her. Then she grew excited. Who cares about the battle below? What right did she have to care for people dying below? There was no such right. For who would dare to turn their back on the most precious relationship in this world? No, in this universe. The relationship between the performer and the audience. Such a bond was the ultimate bond that existed for every creature that had drawn breath.

For what else is the purpose of living if one could not enjoy a grand performance?

"Willow?" A voice. Was that a voice? She was not sure. Her brain automatically turned it off. The jester held her attention—the grandmaster. The Jester unfurled its hands and raised them so the evening light hit them. Willow clapped. What a genius. It even chose the green tree rising far behind it as a background. The colossal trunk shadowed even the mountain—branches sprouted from its ancient body, twisting and curling around, shooting off tendrils of thick vines to connect to one another.

As the branches kept stretching, new trees were born atop it; they reached skyward, connecting to the grand canopy above that opened like an immense umbrella as the trunk rose higher and higher. The Jester summoned six cards between its fingers. Why was she so happy? Willow clapped like a seal, tears running down her face; she tasted them, and they did not taste bad.

"Mind attack!" Josha snarled. Nora the Pegasus sent a lightning bolt straight at the Jester.

"No!" Willow screamed. Her heart almost stopped, but then the spell stopped, and one of the Jesters' cards captured the lightning. It shuffled it with all of its cards. The magic now coursed through every single card. With a deep flourish, the Jester swept his hand through the sky. Willow didn't even pay attention; she drew her Auric Bow and aimed her Auric Arrow, charged with her Sunpiercer, at the pegasus. A heat mirage glowed around her. Steam rose from her golden arrow shaft.

Around her, the Griffins chirped as they beat their wings, avoiding the heat, while the Pegasus's rider—what was his name again? He gripped his lance and foolishly hesitated. He instead switched to his shield and braced himself. Fool. She released her arrow. The Auric Arrow, boosted with Sunpiercer draw, streaked through and was about to hit the [Rider]'s shield, but he suddenly got encased in ice.

That, however, was nowhere near enough, as her Auric Arrow carved inward, melting apart the pathetic spell, and drilled into the shield. Willow was about to cry with joy, as this would no doubt earn her an even more amazing performance. Her hope vanished when a golden banner appeared atop the Rider, and his body briefly gleamed gold. That damn shield somehow stopped her arrow, although the middle part pulverized inward, and all it took was one more shot.

The ice around the [Rider] broke apart, and the pegasus pointed its horn at Willow, charging its thunderbolt.

"Don't!" the [Rider] cried out. The young man leaned forward, reaching the pegasus's horn. Electricity ran through his body, and he battled it out, unwilling to let go. Willow had no idea what this was about, so she drew another arrow until… someone punched her. The impact sent her flying, and she crashed right into the castle's third roof. Her head went spinning as she went tumbling right into a wall, smashing the back of her head, and barely kept her eyes open as reality bled into her. What did I just—"Josha!"

"He will be fine." Willow blinked away her haziness to see Leynah. Her rabbit's ears craned halfway upward, and she inspected her fist.

"I did not punch you too hard, did I?" Spitting out a blob of blood, she still tried to find Josha. She leaned down and saw Josha had landed in the courtyard with a group of legionaries around him. They were still facing the Hunch Devils, fighting around Kroos' newly summoned wall. She didn't let herself feel relief as she locked her eyes on the damn Jester, preparing to fly away from another mind attack.

The Jester swept both hands down, and all six of his cards exploded into surging electricity that reached toward her like an instant translucent tree zap that cracked across the skies. Willow shielded her blinded vision while Leynah moved in front of her. She heard a sword swishing through the wind and the crackle of electricity. She blinked twice before her vision settled. Leynah, with her Rabbit Sword unsheathed, had just batted away the lightning, letting it zap to the left onto the castle's wall.

"Get ready, Willow, you're going to..."

"What?" Willow asked loudly. Her hearing was still—"I said get ready—" The world shifted. One moment, she dreaded the sight of the green tree; the next, she found herself inside a familiar throne room. Willow paused. This was too much to take. [The Bannerlord teleported you to his side]"I hate this spell since it's so costly," Kroos yawned atop his throne, right beside Willow. Taking a deep breath in, she exhaled, letting tension surge out of her.

"Thank you for saving me, but Leynah already did—" She paused, as horror dawned on her.

"Saving you?" he smirked.

"I'm investing in the future you, lass." Across the throne room's grand red carpet, below the small stairs that separated the dais, the Jester Devil stood, admiring the room. It locked eyes with the [Bannerlord], then courteously unfurled an arm. [The Divine Hunt has been invoked!] [Target: Devil Depth Spawn] […] [Jester Devil—Level 52]"A two-horn and a Level fifty-two this early in the Cycle? Well, this certainly shouldn't have happened," Kroos snapped his fingers.

Dozens of trapdoors opened above through the throne room's top, and a hail of arrows rained down upon the devil, drenching it in darkness. As the arrows kept piercing into it, a metallic clinking followed, and one by one they fell away. An iron maiden appeared in place of the Jester. When its door opened, the Devil emerged and lunged forward, a single glowing card tucked between its fingers.

It was on Kroos, about to swipe its card down, before Willow got in its way—putting her body between the [BannerLord] and the Jester, knowing she still had some tricks up her sleeve. Olympya Executioner emerged in brilliant light and swung its massive axe at the Jester, who nimbly dodged. It had to retreat when golden arrows from the also-summoned Olympya Archer flew at it. It backflipped, its card following the acrobatic motion and absorbing one of the golden arrows.

The Jester threw the card, and it split into ten small arrows at Willow, but this time, its spell got reversed. Olympya Magus materialized right in front of her and absorbed every arrow, returning it in a single arrow of light. The Jester summoned its iron maiden again, and an explosion of light colored the throne room, forcing Willow to tug her Ivory Assassin's Cloak Hood down.

"My lady, it's best to assume its power is on par with a tier-four," Kroos said, a bit too relaxed for Willow's liking.

"Now, imagine if you take it down by yourself. Why don't you try it?"