Chương 1120: 1150 - Early Clash

Terris didn't charge alone, and neither did Leon; from behind both of them came their strongest warriors. Two Strategoi followed Terris, as did dozens of other strong mages. Behind them, in turn, came a dozen of Terris' whale-shaped arks, pushing into the tunnel of cleared air that Terris had created. On Leon's side, Valeria, Maia, and Cassandra were already at his side, as were several Tempest Knights and Alcander.

The rest of Leon's people were spread throughout the valley, but in the wake of the alarms and the shattering of the shield, were now scrambling to reach the frontline. None of them moved swifter than Anastasios, Eva, and Clear Day, however. Maintaining the shield hadn't done wonders for any of them, but Leon was grateful to see them rushing to reinforce him, pale as they were. They wouldn't arrive before Terris did—at least, not unless Leon did something to blunt his charge.

So, as Terris bellowed his war cry, Leon drew back on his bow and, after allowing the Stormborn wood to drink a tremendous amount of his magic power, loosed the blacker-than-black arrow. It moved faster than even his eyes could track, and Terris was barely able to dodge out of the way to avoid Leon's perfect aim; the arrow sailed over his shoulder and slammed into a light cruiser leading the rest of the arks' charge into the clear tunnel.

Cracks were made in space itself, lasting just long enough to be seen, before vanishing. The light cruiser promptly shattered, falling apart for a split second before the ruptured lines of magic erupted into flame, consuming the broken war machine utterly. Lances then began to fire their deadly bolts as the Diluvian arks further back pressed on, heedless of their casualties. Ice and iron flitted past each other in the air, and the southern Talon and three more arks were peppered with shots.

The heavily fortified Talon fortress withstood the bombardment well, though losing one of its towers and the Aurichalcum Lance atop it. The arks, however, were battered and damaged, though not so much as to knock them completely out. They pressed on, and Mir decided to finish the job, striking these damaged arks despite the hole cut through the misty veil.

Leon could sense a loss in power as a result of whatever Terris had done, but with the damage those arks had already sustained, it was enough; all three were slagged under the heat of Mir's lightning, falling to the earth in a rapidly cooling rain of ash and molten metal. Terris shot forward, determined to clash with Leon.

Lightning bolts rained down upon his people, but his prodigious power then extended upward, forming an ice shield that encompassed the entire tunnel, protecting him and his forces from Mir's strikes. Dozens of bolts rained down upon it, shaking it heavily, but leaving not so much as a scratch upon its surface. Leon scowled and drew his bow one more time—his last time given Terris' proximity, and loosed it.

He didn't target any other arks or Terris himself, however, choosing instead to loose the arrow at the freshly-made tunnel. The arrow struck the thick ice, and the spatial rupture shattered the tunnel. Ice fell like snow as the entire upper half of the tunnel plummeted. Lightning from Mir shot through this snow, targeting the arks mostly, though a few bolts struck some of Terris' weaker mages. Leon did his best to monitor everything, but he was forced to refocus on Terris.

He stowed his new bow and drew Iron Pride, then shot out to meet Terris in the final moments of the Despot's charge, intent on meeting him head-on, as his fighting style demanded. Iron Pride met the man's black ice mace, and the air shook with their clash. Shockwaves spread over the battlefield, and no one anywhere around the Artor Valley could miss what was happening. Lightning blazed across Leon's blade, resisting the dreadful chill seeping off the black ice mace.

To be hit with any shards of that weapon was to invite defeat, and Leon kept their clashes short before moving into another attack. His lightning flashed around him as the rest of their respective followers separated into fights of their own.

"You'll fall here, monster!" Terris roared as he brought the mace down hard onto Iron Pride.

"By the teachings of the Great Lord Khosrow, this is your end!" Leon didn't dignify that roar with a response, save for more lightning. He easily slid beneath Terris' follow-up, his speed letting him rake Iron Pride against Terris' armor. As before, his silver-blue lightning wasn't doing much, but his power still held Terris back somewhat. The man was stronger, and his riposte hurled Leon back in an explosion of steam.

Leon felt his flesh sear from the heat, but the burning sensation didn't last long as he felt light magic from nearby reach him—Clear Day, while not fighting directly, was lending his magic to the battle by healing him and his people. Leon wasn't able to spare the tau even a single glance of gratitude as Terris was on him again, pressing his advantage while Leon was off-balance.

The mace came crashing down upon him, and Leon brought Iron Pride back up as he switched from lightning to fire, hoping to catch Terris off-guard and leave him once again burned. However, as black fire met black ice, a small pendant around Terris' neck flashed blue, and Leon's black fire was pushed back.

"It is Doomfire!" Terris exclaimed.

"You will die here, monster!" Leon shot back and up, exploiting the magical spillover from the clash between Anastasios and one of Terris' Strategoi to create a bit of distance. As he did, his concerned eyes swept over Terris again, his gaze lingering on that pendant. It was a small thing, hardly worth noting on the extravagantly armored Despot. It was little more than a gold chain, with a pendant consisting of nothing more than a curious blue scale about the size of Leon's fingertip.

But for its small size, the aura the pendant had emanated when Leon called upon his black fire had been powerful and overpowered his fire. Leon scowled and changed his strategy once again. He'd been intending to practice with black lightning during the next few days, but the unexpected shattering of the shield ruined those plans. Now, he'd have to pay the expected price for calling upon the Iron Needle's power. Black lightning flickered across Iron Pride's blade, and all the violence around Leon seemed to dim.

The sounds of clashing steel and explosive power faded away, the flashing of arcane light dulled, and the auras of all the mages around save for Terris' faded into the background. Black lightning overpowered Leon's senses, leaving all the world around him practically still. He felt the Iron Needle drawing much of his power, while black lightning occasionally flickered from the blade to his hand. Leon ignored the pain, focusing on the task at hand. Terris shot after him, his black ice mace extended forward.

A manic look had overtaken the man, and streaming off the mace came black fog. That fog spread behind him, engulfing the battlefield as far as Leon could see. A dreadful aura filled the sky, and Leon, remembering the effect the black ice had on him, charged again. If this fog was similar, then everyone fighting in the tunnel, including three of his wives, would be affected. Again, black ice met Iron Pride, and black lightning exploded around Leon as black fog burst around Terris.

Both were completely obscured, but the pressure around their weapons remained, telling each that the other was still there. Blowback caused black lightning to ripple across Leon's body almost as thickly as it reached for Terris. Clear's magic couldn't reach him amidst such terrible power, so Leon felt his flesh sizzle as black lightning raced across his barely-protected body.

Faintly, he could hear a roar of pain from Terris over the earth-shaking din of their engagement, and he pushed harder, putting all of the power he had in his body into Iron Pride. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The weapon drank greedily, absorbing every aetos of power that Leon let flow into it. He sensed Terris doing likewise, and all the world seemed to go black as their respective weapons' powers surrounded them entirely.

Their grapple intensified, the weight of their clash more than Leon had ever had to bear. His arms were practically locked in place as black lightning flashed over his body, not just burning his flesh but also warding off the black fog. His eardrums felt like they were on the verge of tearing, so loud was his fight. And then everything went silent and dark, though not in the way they were in the midst of his clash with Terris.

All the auras around him, all the violence, seemed to just melt away into the darkness, and Leon felt his body run out of energy. He collapsed to his knees, not even questioning how a dark, indistinct floor had appeared beneath him. His arms fell to his sides, his fingers bereft of Iron Pride. His mind, meanwhile, lost itself to this darkness, and his awareness of anything around him fell to nothing. He existed, but no thoughts existed in his mind other than an awareness of himself.

There he remained for what felt simultaneously like mere seconds and several lifetimes of the universe. All of existence was dead to him, all was dark, all was silent. He felt weightless, powerless, utterly lost in this dark space. He couldn't feel his body, nor was even aware enough to realize what that meant. He simply was, and no more. Until his fingers flexed slightly, reminding him of their presence. His mind slowly started moving again, and by pure instinct, he called upon silver-blue lightning.

Light filled the black space he found himself in, and with every bolt that flickered across his body, he gained more awareness. The battle. Terris. Panic seized him, and he flexed his fingers again. In response to his wordless call, Iron Pride appeared, and Leon's eyes snapped open. He tried to sit up, but pain wracked his body, and he wasn't able to do much more than groan. But a quick glance showed him that Iron Pride was in his hand, which had been blackened by lightning.

Widening his awareness, he found himself lying on what felt like the ground beneath the fabric of a tent, and several figures were nearby, quietly whispering. Clear Day, Valeria, and Cassandra. Almost as soon as he noticed them, he felt relief flood through his connection with Maia, and the river nymph herself appeared by his side, grave concern and utter relief warring for dominance on her face. [You're alive!] she exclaimed. [You're back!] Leon tried to speak, but his lips felt stuck together and his throat seized up, leading to a minor bout of coughing.

"Leon!" Valeria shouted as she and Cassandra rushed to him.

"Don't try to move!" Leon tried to sarcastically agree, but his body was motionless, unresponsive to his brain's demands to move. Clear Day then kneeled beside him, such concern on his aged face that he looked afraid.

"Leon," the tau whispered, "you've suffered severe injuries. It's best if you remain where you are. We'll do what we can to fix you right up, but… it's been difficult."

"We haven't even been able to touch you," Cassandra stated as she lightly brushed her fingers against the skin of his forehead. Though Leon was still groggy and his sense of touch hadn't quite caught up to his state of consciousness, he could tell that her finger had run across roughness that shouldn't have been there…

"That sword hasn't allowed it," she finished. Leon did his best to sigh, though so pained was he that it only induced more agonized coughing. The more he became aware of his own body, the more pain he felt. Still, he was able to summon some scraps of power and pull Iron Pride back into his soul realm, though it cost him just about all the magic in his blood that existed. [The… fight?] he silently asked Maia. [We… won…] Maia said as she exchanged meaningful looks with the others.

"The enemy suffered casualties," Valeria hurried to explain.

"After you and Terris were knocked out, they retreated." Leon did his best to ask with his eyes for more information. His heart was starting to accelerate as best as it could in his injured state at the thought of the war not being over, yet he'd been so injured that he couldn't even move.

"Relax," Cassandra sternly said as she lightly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"The fighting is over. For now, anyway. We're still here. Artorion is still here."

"This may sting a bit," Clear Day said as his hands became enveloped in golden light. That light then flowed like a river from his hands and into Leon's body, and he instantly felt his pain recede. However, he also felt his bones crack and snap from Clear's power, and he was able to emit a single pulse of magic senses to figure out what had happened to his body. In short, he looked like little more than charred meat. His flesh had been burned and mangled, leaving him almost unrecognizable.

His body was twisted by heat, many of his bones fused together. He was in a horrific state. How he was even still alive he chalked up merely to the fact that he was an eleventh-tier mage, and his connection to his soul realm still seemed relatively intact. So long as that was the case, he couldn't die.

"Terris had to be dragged off the field," Valeria stated. She allowed herself a moment to smile before her expression turned grim again.

"Many of our other warriors also left the battle in similar states."

"Grandmother…" Cassandra quietly whispered.

"Lord Protector Anastasios. Alcander."

"Second Warden Carver was killed," Valeria continued as Cassandra trailed off.

"Casualty reports are still trickling in. Red had a wing torn off. Marcus is missing. Heavy damage to our defenses, and we lost our remaining carrier."

"Enough!" Clear Day interjected.

"We need him to heal!" The tau's prodigious power continued spreading throughout Leon's body as his wives looked relatively chastened. His bones were broken and snapped back into place and his flesh was freed from pain. However, the burns didn't brighten that much, and when Clear's power moved on, pain returned. Leon couldn't do much more than lay there and let Clear work, however, so he instead cast his mind inward. He closed his physical eyes and opened his magic body's eyes on the throne in his Mind Palace.

There, he found his Ancestor waiting for him, looking both worried and stern.

"You're here," she said, her human face momentarily turning up in a shallow smile.

"I'd almost thought you'd ended my bloodline."

"Not quite yet, it seems," Leon said.

"What in the hells happened?"

"The power you called upon, and what Terris channeled, rendered you both insensate," the Thunderbird explained.

"Though, I'd say you came off worse. You're still learning to channel the Iron Needle's power, and in your inexperience, nearly killed yourself." Leon finally let out his sigh as he slid from the throne to the marble steps below.

"At least the fighting is over. We fought them off." The Thunderbird looked ready to argue for a moment, but she then closed her mouth and sat down next to him.

"I will tell you this, my boy. I'm impressed and furious. Before I indulge either of those, however, come with me." She rose to her feet and walked over to the plinth where Leon typically stored Iron Pride, leaving Leon with no other option than to struggle to his feet and follow her.

"The Iron Needle is the master of all lightning," she explained.

"It taught me how to use the lightning that I passed on to my descendants. It seems to be willing to teach you, too, if you're willing to listen."

"Always," Leon stated, some measure of excitement flaring up within him despite his exhaustion and the situation.

"Good. Then let's start simply: the power that nearly broke you can also fix you. Do you know what that means?" Leon nodded briefly, then took ahold of Iron Pride.

"There should be some kind of lightning that can reverse what that black lightning did?"

"Yes," his ancestor confirmed.

"The Iron Needle may not be willing to show you that lightning, but there's no harm in asking, is there?" Leon let himself smile before focusing on the weapon in his hand. He let the pain of his body fill his mind, then his desire to heal, to rise. He needed to get back on his feet, to inspect his city and see what had become of it while he'd been out. Iron Pride resonated with his desires. The weapon was made of his blood and was, in no small way, an extension of his body.

The Iron Needle was coyer, but after a moment, the purest bolt of white lightning flashed across the blade, bringing more relief than Clear had thus far managed.

"Yes…" Leon whispered.

"More, please… I need your help to stand…" The Iron Needle warbled slightly, as if reluctant, but after a moment, more white lightning poured from the blade. This gentle lightning spread throughout Leon's soul realm with a speed that didn't quite seem to fit with the peace it brought, but Leon wasn't going to complain when it soothed the pain he'd brought onto himself by channeling so much black lightning.

"And hardly any complaint from it," the Thunderbird whispered.

"I'm envious, Leon. It was never this cooperative with me." Leon snorted in amusement as he focused only on his recovery. He sat back down on the steps to his throne, Iron Pride in hand as white lightning continued to stream from the blade. Hopefully, he'd be back on his feet soon, and then he could see what the situation was with his own eyes now that the fighting seemed to be over.