Chương 100: 1-99 Unrepenting

Josef swayed as his consciousness emerged into a world of pain and confusion. He knew where he was, technically speaking, as well as what he was doing. Or rather, what he should be doing now that Lapis had buggered off to where she had come from. The entire sequence had been a series of jarring jumps in perspective for him, making him feel like half his brain was on the fritz. The remainder turned to mush when he momentarily experienced the dragoness piloting his own body while watching as a passenger.

If not for Zippa's intervention covering his weakness, he would have been done before remembering how to move his limbs. Not that things got any easier once his brain started up again, since everything was still terribly numb and stiff, while painfully throbbing at the same time. At least he had regained a trickle of freedom in the mana department, likely a result of his earlier chaos-fueled rampage. That's what Josef had concluded, considering the freeing of Lapis hadn't only happened in his head.

The elf turned Swiss cheese in front of him was a testament to her presence. What he wouldn't give for that to have been enough. Unfortunately, Thaladur didn't have the good sense to keel over just because magic had ripped away half his body mass. Josef blamed the glittering strings of light which were visible through those very holes. It was a wild theory, but maybe an affinity capable of shutting down even dragons could somehow forcefully lock this elf's body in a living state?

Cracking his knuckles, literally, he began to gather his magic to help change that. With most of his insides clogged up by the Stillness, all he managed was one meager stream of mana, colored pitch black by his chaos affinity. It was the only useful spell he could still muster, considering his limited throughput. Unlike Lapis, he simply lacked the skill to turn a handful of droplets into a deadly assault. Fortunately, he wasn't alone in this endeavor, knowing he could rely on Zippa.

Him, and their surprising additional helper, who had just casually strolled onto the battlefield. Onyx had somehow managed to get his understandably depressed ass into gear and joined them. The wyrm might have been unfashionably late, but he had arrived just in time to save Zippa from another magical blast.

"So, does the wise Drake have a plan on how to finish the fight he started?" The reptile drawled as he closed in. Josef nodded with a grim expression.

"Keep hitting him until he dies." That made Onix freeze for a second before looking over with a deadpan expression. Zippa, though, had heard enough to let out a dry, choking rasp right as he finished a second round of spitting fire. Clearly, his friend didn't need a working throat to laugh.

"Insolent creature!" Thaladur spat, leveling a glare at the newest arrival.

"Have you forgotten your purpose? What possessed you to abandon the light?" Onyx's face turned ugly at that.

"I'm gonna take that light and shove it so far down your throat you can light the way with your asshole." He didn't even need to raise his voice, as the snarling tone crossed the room just fine on its own.

"Does your darkness know no bounds, fiend?" The bishop turned to Josef, eyes filled with indignation.

"You have escaped judgement for too long. As penance, I shall correct that-" The elf's preaching died right there, as a melon-sized stone rose from the ground and shot right at the bishop. Sidestepping the projectile with a grace that belied his broken body, he frowned at Onyx.

"You always talked too much. Let me fix that for you." His next stone acted like a signal, ending the verbal exchange in favor of a one-sided siege. Fire and earth rained down on Thaladur, pushing him back through the intensity of their combined assault. He still wasn't taking direct hits, but he was literally sweating in the face of their spells, desperately pulling out more light to protect himself. Josef too did his part, even though his mana didn't allow for much.

As he didn't have to be overly concerned about missing, he kept harassing the elf deliberately, trying to get in the way of his movements, forcing hasty dodges. After all, since order and chaos were incompatible, touching the black mana would likely do bad things to the bishop, who had his body full of light. Just like that, the three of them pushed their assault. Onyx created constant pressure, giving no quarter for any counterattacks.

Josef corralled him away from the remaining victims on the slabs while driving him towards the greatest danger in the room. Zippa was that very threat, looming over Thaladur with a promise of immediate incineration should he misstep only a single time. Behind them, both Bezzo and Sprout worked to carry unmoving bodies further away from the danger zone. One wanted nothing more than to prevent the grief his brother would suffer should he accidentally kill one of those innocents.

The other followed the silent urging of her summoner, growing vine after vine from nothing but her own reserve of mana. It was this separation of forces that gave Thaladur the opening to strike back. Just once, he took a direct hit from Zippa's fire, disappearing into the sea of roaring flames. But what had almost been a cause for celebration turned to terror when his still-standing form was revealed with a sizable amount of gathered light.

Allowing his body to be scorched, the elf took the opportunity to unleash a powerful blast right at their weakest point. The distracted Bezzo, who barely had time to look up before light filled his vision. Josef noted how Sprout's vines surged to pull on the reptile, and even the very ground shifted under Onyx's command. However, the final result, covered in blinding light, left the fate of the youngest reptile unknown.

"No!" It was more than enough to draw Zippa's entire attention, putting his fire-breathing to rest. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Thaladur exploited the opening by rushing straight at the wyrm, who looked lost in concentration as he assumedly controlled his magic.

"Be redeemed once more!" the bishop's verdict rang out, and in his hand a thin, sharp fragment of light formed. A spell that immediately put a grimace of complete terror on Onyx's face, leaving little doubt of his familiarity with it. Josef didn't like the look of that in the slightest. Twisting his mana, he tried to intercept the elf, but with no other interruptions, that single stream of energy was no worthwhile hurdle.

The distance between elf and lizard shrank within seconds, and soon, Thaladur was only a few steps away from his target. That was as far as he made it before halting so abruptly that he almost fell forward. What interrupted him was no clever use of chaos, though, nor was it earth or fire. Instead, his rush had been stopped by the unyielding grip of a single hand that had wrapped around his ankle.

In that one moment of utter surprise, the blond head of a certain noble lady lifted itself from the rubble right by the bishop. With no hesitation, Linda bit down on the restrained limb, drawing an indignant shriek from the old elf. Had she been buried there ever since Thaladur had sent her flying, Josef wondered? Whether it was luck or calculation on her part, he wouldn't waste the opening she created.

With his mana stream already on a course to intercept the old elf, it took barely a moment to adjust his aim, making it collide right with the concentrated light. The first thing he felt was his own spell shuddering, before it straight up disintegrated along its entire length, carrying a blinding streak of light right back to him. His gluttonous heart immediately welcomed the concentrated order mana, swallowing the small but potent spark of energy whole.

Josef knew it was a rotten meal when his heartburn increased to even more agonizing levels, and his trickle of mana turned even more unresponsive. Still, he remained on his feet, squeezing every drop of energy within his body to try to reform his spell. Thaladur, meanwhile, could only stare futilely at the stump of his arm. The violent reaction had apparently caused a massive backlash, spiking into his limb, which turned as white as salt before crumbling away.

Linda may have drawn the first blood from among their group, dragon-intervention not included, but he had just taken a limb from the elf, which had become something of a hallmark of their battles. He wanted to ask Thaladur mockingly how the light tasted to him now, but the bishop had bigger problems to concern himself with. Namely, a large black menace, who rushed up with both fists balled up for action, a deafening roar tearing from his throat.

Onyx twin strike landed on his chest before the elf could gather himself, folding him in half as the impact sent him flying. The force of it had almost pulled Linda along, but she thankfully dislodged her teeth before that could happen. Thaladur's body crashed down not with the reverberating thud Josef had come to know personally after his own fight with Onyx, but with a sickening squelch. While his body probably carried part of the blame for that, most of it likely stemmed from the liquefied stone he landed on.

Barely a step away from a seething hot lizard, whose blue fire licked angrily at the elf's robe. At once, Thaladur's remaining composure shattered, as impossible temperatures charred his body down to the bones, which also cracked and blackened under the heat. His scream of pain was as loud as it was short-lived, abruptly cutting off as his body no longer supported the organs necessary to do so. Even so, the haze of light filling out the shape of his catastrophically diminished body didn't let them rest easily.

Fortunately, Zippa was not content to stop until nothing remained, and he mercilessly opened his jaws, flames dancing across his maw to herald the coming eruption. Then, a sheer endless stream of blue fire consumed the bishop, washing along the ground until it completely blanketed the entire altar area of the room. Seconds passed, and Josef waited anxiously for the fire to abate, revealing the outcome. But the sea of flames continued on for far too many breaths, raising his concerns for his friend.

It was hard to see against the incandescent flames, but Zippa didn't look well. Besides the bleached appearance of his body, the scales around his face had begun to darken as the heat charred them. Had he gone beyond the limit of his own resistance, or run out of mana to protect himself, as Bezzo once warned him? Both were equally bad, and so Josef cared only for one thing.

"Zip, you need to stop!" he shouted at his friend, but he didn't react.

"Zip!" Desperation filled his voice as he saw his friend continue to burn under his own heat. Josef stared at the melting stone surrounding Zippa, dreading that he had to once again step up to wake him. Even if he had his full mana available, that would look like an impossible task. He would seriously melt if he tried that! But what could he do?

"Such an idiot," Onyx suddenly huffed beside him, having walked up while he was staring anxiously.

"Losing his mind to the fire like that." Josef immediately had several questions about that, but he asked the only one that mattered.

"Can we help him?" The lizard huffed.

"I could. Easily."

"Then please save him." If Josef looked up at the reptile. If he could still feel his face, he would have made his best puppy eyes.

"Is that an order?" Onyx asked, leadingly. In that moment, there was something predatory in those eyes, looking down at Josef with a sharpness he hadn't even shown in battle. He shook his head.

"No." Even now he wasn't willing to exploit that power imbalance they had been unwittingly put into.

"If you want me to beg on my knees, just say so. I don't mind, as long as you can save him." If the wyrm wanted to push him down to make himself feel better, he wouldn't care. He could understand feeling the need after what he had gone through. Besides, what was pride except an extra health pool to take hits for him? Onyx merely clicked his tongue in annoyance before breaking eye contact, sharply lifting a claw towards Zippa.

Then, a rock the size of a baseball shot out, striking the scorched reptile right on the head, making him slump down. Then, with a heave of effort, he brought up his other arm, and the molten stone underneath his friend bucked, chucking him most of the way towards them, out of the disaster zone. It looked like the reptile was about to say more, but ultimately decided to walk off before Josef could even utter a word of thanks.

He really wanted to go over and check on his friend, but he could not approach with the remainder of the heat still radiating off of him. The same went for Bezzo, who paced anxiously, his scales a little scuffed but thankfully with no extra bleaching from the earlier attack. Josef tiredly sat down next to a nearby slab, leaning his back against it. There was no reason to stay on his legs, with the sight sprawling out in front of him.

The devastation caused by Zippa's meltdown had left no doubt about the bishop's end. Where the altar area had once commanded the room, nothing remained. An entire chunk of the chapel had simply melted away, dripping into the abyss below. All that remained was a gleaming red edge, and the memory of the absolute bastard who had forced them all to come here. Tilting his head to look at the occupant of his chosen resting spot, Josef smiled wryly.

"I have been looking all over for you, you know?" he asked the lycan rhetorically. Naturally, Cana couldn't answer him. With a sigh, he closed his eyes, hoping he would get to rest for a little while.