Chương 54: Under The Auspices of The Realmslayer

General Waxton, downing his mug of beer in one go: Towerfield is ours! Firth, Sixth Army Aide de Camp: This makes it our thirteenth territory in eighteen years, sir. Waxton: Androvia was already the largest nation on Vyrd last decade. Now, thanks to us, we're bigger than half of Vyrd combined! Waxton, laughing uproariously: Next round is on me too. Sixth Army's Ninth regiment cheers. Firth: All thanks to the Realmslayer showing up just in time for the last campaign of the season.

Waxton, shaking his head disparagingly: All he does is open the damn rifts. We're the real battlemages! We're the real victors. Isn't that right, soldiers? Now tipsy, Sixth Army's Ninth regiment vociferously agrees. Firth, taking advantage of his indispensable position: I don't know, sir. House Faldor gave him one of their greatest treasures recently. They don't hand those out every day. Come to think of it, they've never handed them out before… Waxton grunts unconvinced…

Excerpt from unedited, unfinished manuscript for a war play, "Soils of Blood" Kirien T.

"To the Knight!" Alendra shouted. Their team was the closest, so they rushed over. The Living Mana had swarmed the spot where Mage Knight Ophelia had fallen, and Viren's heart had quailed at seeing her go down. It wasn't just because she was undoubtedly the strongest person present in the vicinity. With the other Mage Knights busy, Ophelia was the one leading the charge and standing tall as their primary bulwark against the growing ferocity of the Living Mana. Without her… Viren calmed his quavering heart.

No, he was not letting dismay get the better of him. No thinking. Only acting. Acrypha was the first to rush over. Her cloak seemed to boost her speed as much as it protected her. The longsword caught the last remnants of the Knight's power, turning the shade of burning sunlight, cleaving into the Living Mana that had gathered on and around where Ophelia had fallen. Viren's eyes widened as he reached the same location where Acrypha had come to a stop.

Her furious slash had torn through the malformed monsters of flesh, but that wasn't what made him pause. Ophelia was standing within the curtain of fleshy monstrosities. Except… it wasn't her. Somehow, the Living Mana had taken something akin to the Mage Knight's form. A misshapen torso had imbalanced limbs, with only Ophelia's head having been properly copied. Though, it was recreating her sword out of bone and her shield out of blood as well.

"What is that?" Alendra asked as she quickly hurried in to join them. Viren didn't have a clue. He was well aware the Living Mana was growing more powerful, but that was a separate issue from it trying to outright copy them.

"Whatever it is," shouted another graduate student tackling a different gang of fleshy horrors with his squad.

"You need to kill it!" As soon as his words were uttered, the fake Mage Knight attacked." [Thunderstorm]," Alendra said. Other students joined her as her bolts flashed out, though their magic targeted the other Living Mana around them. Viren, Acrypha, and Alendra appeared to be the only ones free enough to deal with fake Ophelia. The Living Mana copycat shielded itself against Alendra's thunderbolts with the bloody shield, then slashed in with the bone sword.

Acrypha got in between the fake and Alendra, trying to deflect with her longsword. The exchange just sent her flying backwards instead. All that stopped the fake Mage Knight from rushing in for the kill was Viren's magic bursting out with terrific heat." [Overburn]!" Viren shouted. An unearthly, liquid screech gurgled out of the fake's gullet as he set it on fire. He didn't pay it any further attention. The real Mage Knight was lying unconscious on the street.

They needed to pull her to safety before the Living Mana took advantage of her incapacitated state. Viren quickly reached her and began pulling her back. Acrypha was gripping her blade tightly as she got back to her feet.

"This is stronger than Exalted-ranked at this point. We can't keep this up." As if to prove her words, the fake Knight threw off Viren's fire. It screeched at them again, this time filled with furious hate, intent on making him pay for daring to set it aflame. Viren just kept casting. His mana was definitely depleting fast. Acrypha was absolutely right. They were going to exhaust themselves if the Living Mana's strength remained endless, especially if it kept growing more and more powerful.

But what was the alternative? Stopping and running? No chance of that. Heroes didn't run. The fake Knight thrust at them with far too much power. Acrypha barely managed to stop it from skewering through Viren's guts. And even then, the clang of that bone blade against her sword definitely left a mark on his ears. Acrypha was sent flying too. They weren't able to do a thing against that monster. It was learning too.

The next time they tried attacking, both [Overburn] and [Thunderstorm] failed to reach the actual target past its shield of blood. The creature didn't even attack them directly, afterwards. Just fired several fleshy tendrils and monstrous appendages from all around. Viren and Alendra barely managed to dodge or block, with Acrypha rising and backing them as fast as she could.

"Retreat!" Alendra called without hesitation." Now." You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Viren couldn't blame her for the order. They were definitely outmatched against that thing. He recalled the Mage Knight was at least Exalted-ranked. Was the Incursion already that strong? Was it even stronger? He found that hard to fathom, but it wasn't an impossibility. And if it was that powerful, then they had no business taking it on.

At their measly ranks, it was fortunate they hadn't been wiped out already.

Something that the monstrosity clearly wished to rectify, going by its horrific screech. Magic gathered with frightful ferocity at the fake Mage Knight's location. It really was preparing for a strong push. Viren's ears threatened to pop as he felt like he was now under a deep, deep lake, the pressure making it difficult to breathe. This wasn't good. He and Alendra both threw out spells in desperation." [Pressure Front]!"" [Fire Wall]!" Air turned solid in the fake Knight's path.

Then it went up in flames as Viren and Alendra combined powers. The fake Knight crashed right through it all like it was mere paper. Even the lingering traces of fire from Viren's addition left no mark at all on it. They were entirely screw— Something flashed past. Viren's breath caught in his throat. Was that…? Acrypha and the monstrous version of the Mage Knight clashed with a crack that made the hair on his arms stand up. Just the shockwave from their blades meeting had him stumbling backwards by several steps.

Viren gritted his teeth. How in all the Realms was Acrypha standing toe to toe against an Exalted-ranked—if not stronger—monster? Even if she wasn't merely Iron-ranked like him, at her age, she couldn't have been higher than Silver-ranked. It was unthinkable that she could possess enough strength to rival Living Mana this strong. He hadn't even heard or seen her cast her magic. It had probably been covered up by the furious exchange of spells earlier, but still. Viren took a few seconds to actually observe Acrypha.

Mana waved off her body in streams of whitish blue power, like her cloak had transformed into some sort of ethereal aura. He could feel its intensity even where he stood over ten handspans away, firmly pushing him back. For a time, Acrypha met the fake Mage Knight blow for blow. Every strike from their blades clanged with frightful clamour, making the air ripple painfully. Viren could hardly believe it. She was doing it. She was standing toe to toe against an Exalted-ranked foe.

The fake Knight screeched out yet again. Blood-red power exploded around the being, this time throwing even Acrypha back so strongly, her whitish blue aura faltered as she stumbled. Right. The difference in strength between them was going to come into play sooner or later.

"Get back, Acrypha!" Alendra shouted. The fake was charging at them yet again, the ground shattering at its every rapid step in their direction. Acrypha hadn't even recovered from where she had fallen. Viren's heart was in his throat. He didn't even get the time to cast a spell to stop that thing, couldn't even begin to wonder if any help was coming because the Living Mana was already upon a wide-eyed Acrypha. And then it froze. They all did.

Viren, Acrypha, and Alendra simply stared as the fake Mage Knight simply petrified in place like some impossibly powerful spell had caught it. But Viren hadn't heard any incantations, hadn't felt any swirling of impossibly potent and dense mana nearby. Everyone else was too busy tackling all the other monstrosities of the Living Mana. A moment later, the fake Knight began dissolving on its own. All the flesh, blood, and bones making it up just tore apart. And began ascending.

Viren wasn't the only one following the trail of gore heading skyward. The bits and pieces of Living Mana were rising straight for that gigantic cloud covering the entirety of Arcoryx City—and even further beyond, if Viren's prediction was true. Then his eyes were drawn to that enormous cloud itself. There was something strange going on in there. The whole cloud was twisting, writhing, growing denser somehow. And stronger too, of course.

Viren was minutely awed at seeing gargantuan limbs rising out of that mass of rotting half-living detritus, only to smash back inside the cloud itself. An inside that was glowing and pulsing with power. What was going on? Why was the cloud attempting to destroy itself? Unless there was something—or someone —inside that it was trying to attack?

"Focus," Alendra said, snapping Viren back to the present.

"We've got a bit of reprieve we need to make use of. The others need our help." Right. Viren looked around, spotted the rest of the defenders still embroiled in a desperate battle. The cloud might have recalled the fake Mage Knight, as well as the smaller cloud that the other Mage Knight had risen to destroy, but the rest of the Living Mana on the ground still posed a dire threat. Acrypha forced herself to her feet. She was wobbling a little, though she was clearly pretending not to.

"Let's go."

"Are you…?" Viren asked. She shook her head. He got the message. Now wasn't the time.

"We'll take the Mage Knight and retreat." Alendra was looking around at the rest of the Living Mana.

"We can use a new Glyph I've learned. Viren, can you burn the monsters?"

"I can't burn them all." He hated to admit it, but lying would get them killed faster.

"What Glyph are you using?"

"Resonance." Viren's eyes widened.

"I can't burn them all… but you can." They got to work. The whiplash of facing imminent death at the hands of Living Mana to planning to resume their destructive efforts against it now that the fake Mage Knight was gone was leaving his brain in something akin to a weird fugue state. He was moving robotically, dragging away the Mage Knight with the help of Acrypha, rejoining the other squads and getting into position. Alendra's words sounded like they were coming up at him from underwater.

"Are you ready, Viren?" she asked. He nodded, forcing himself to get back into the present." [Fuel Soul]." His spell was targeted at the nearest fleshy mass that had been lopped off its parent tendril. Just as his spell took effect, Alendra's Glyph of Resonance imprinted on the monstrous bit. That's when Viren cast another [Immolation]. He had only targeted the first monster. But every single other flesh-crafted horror went up in flames, screeching out as they flailed and died.

Alendra's Glyph of Resonance burned right alongside the flames. Despite the fire, the monsters still tried to shamble at them.

Viren and Alendra were both prepared, ready to fight back the horrors. After the fake Knight, these mindlessly powerful mobs were just that. Powerful, but devoid of thought. They had glaring weaknesses that could be taken advantage of. None of which mattered when Acrypha arrived, flashing in with her shiny cloak and slashing the first monsters in half. And every single other horror got dissected the next second. Viren noted that it was just her sword wrapped in that ethereal white-blue aura.

A blade that rippled in and out of existence yet never losing the sense of power it pulsed out. There was no time to revel in the fact that their little plan had succeeded. They were already picking up the unconscious Mage Knight and hauling themselves back, warning the rest of the Excursion Club as well as the Academs and the Wardens about their retreat. Viren did his best not to cringe as he ran. Reality was fully re-impressing itself upon him, and with it came a healthy dose of shame.

Every step felt like a spike was being driven up his shin. Retreating? Heroes weren't supposed to fall back. Heroes weren't supposed to give ground for their enemies to conquer. But he wasn't stupid. Move, move, he had to move. So he could keep fighting where it mattered. He stared up. The other two Mage Knights were finishing up dealing with the smaller cloud that had shot off the main mass, but only because it was disintegrating back into the ginormous gathering above them.

Which was now falling towards Arcoryx City. Viren's heart threatened to burst with how rapidly it was thumping. Was that the real reason Alendra was hurrying them along? The cloud that was the source of the endless rain was descending upon them. Viren's breath fell short of his lungs. It was like an entire landmass of detritus seeking to slam down and eradicate all of Arcoryx City in one blow. Possibly the entire southeastern portion of Androvia. How in all the Realms had that thing gotten so huge?

That's when the cracks began flashing across. The gargantuan cloud of frothing, fleshy detritus froze. Black lightning flashed across the cloud's surface. Wait. No. Not cracks. Those were— Viren laughed. This felt so… so cliché. It couldn't be him again, could it? But then, who else would those dark rents belong to save for Ryland?