Heretic Spellblade - Ch16

Note: There's been a slight change to Chapter 15 in the final version. Seraph and Fei have switched places, so Fei goes with Fyre and Seraph is in the portal. This is reflected in this chapter.

Chapter 16

Layers of walls and towers lay in ruin, with only a single one remaining. Catapults hurled boulder after boulder into a ceaseless horde of red that stretched as far as the eye could see. Archers fired volleys from the walls alongside summons that hurled spears the size of ballista bolts. The sound of vicious battle echoed off the valley walls.

Nathan knew Deverese had a detachment of the Inquisitorial Corps, Trafaumh’s elite soldiers and demon slayers. They must be giving their all—including their lives—on the other side of the walls.

If Deverese had any special lines of defense, much as he had in Nathan’s old world, they’d long since been expended or destroyed. All that remained was the raw spirit and manpower of his soldiers, and the magic of him and his Champions. Nathan felt their magic in the distance.

But his eyes remained glued to the floating Messenger, high above them all. Demons continued to appear in endless numbers beneath her.

This wasn’t too new. While ordinary invasions came in waves, Messengers often made use of horde tactics. A Bastion needed to vanquish the Messenger in order to claim victory.

But usually the Messenger attacked directly. Instead, this angelic looking one kept her distance. Perhaps she felt utterly confident in her numbers?

Abruptly, her inky bubble deepened its darkness, shrouding the woman from view completely. The rate of appearance of the demons slowed greatly, which caused Nathan to notice something interesting.

But before he could comment on that, the Messenger’s bubble exploded with darkness. The inky darkness burst. From it came several smaller bubbles, which coalesced into black spears.

Even from a glance, Nathan knew those weapons were trouble. Something about them made his skin crawl.

They reminded him of relics, somehow.

Then the spears shot toward the wall, carving a path across the sky as if hurled by a behemoth.

“Stop those spears,” Nathan snapped, drawing his sword as he summoned ascended magic as rapidly as possible.

No time to cast a spell frame. By the time he summoned one for a fifth rank spatial slash, those spears would have struck their targets. Nathan didn’t want to find out what would happen.

He sincerely doubted Deverese had the power to stop them. Deverese’s best diamond Champion was Ester, who had become a duogem in recent months, but she focused on personal durability, not on battlefield-wide defensive abilities like Ciana.

Drawing on every ounce of power and skill, Nathan projected a spatial slash across the sky. He felt the power ripple from his sword, almost as strong as when he channeled it through a spell frame.

Two of the spears exploded into inky black shards. In the distance, he saw the Messenger’s wings unravel, as if in shock.

While his other Champions joined in, not all of them could help at this distance, or fast enough.

Tarako’s three gems glowed as her Nine Tail Slash vaporized another spear, but she grimaced. She appeared incapable of repeating the technique in quick succession. Although one of the staircases collapsed, slaying thousands of demons. Her slashes vastly outclassed Nathan’s, including over long distance.

Sunstorm repeated the same trick as Nathan and Tarako, as all three of them could use spatial slashes.

That left just one spear. Narime’s hands glowed, but she likely couldn’t cast fast enough to catch it. In this one case, her old trigem ability might have proved superior to her new one.

Then a torrent of purple crossbow bolts soared through the air, so dense that Nathan wondered if they might overlap each other. They vaporized the last of the spears. Nurevia’s gems glowed as she twirled her handheld repeaters on her fingers.

Cheers rose from the defenders, and many of the catapult crews and archers turned to see their reinforcements. Upon seeing a veritable army of trigems, their cheers only doubled in ferocity.

The Messenger seemed upset. She stared at them from where she hovered.

And the flow of demons regained its old pace.

Finally, Nathan noted how odd it was.

Most of the demons seemed to congeal into existence from a small ball of flesh, growing into their full form in a matter of seconds. Then their weapons and armor would appear.

This stood in vast contrast to what usually happened. Usually, they teleported in, much like Nathan’s ascended magic. These demons seemed to be crafted in place. Although some were still teleporting in.

“Is this Messenger creating her own demons?” he asked aloud, looking at the Twins.

Both of them had grimaces on their faces. They’d ignored the spears, but seemed frustrated at the sight of the new Messenger.

“Good eye,” Tarako said, but her expression was a cloud of darkness. “I haven’t seen a dominion since the fall of the Elven Khanates. She shouldn’t be here.”

“A dominion?” he asked.

“That’s her race,” Maura said. “We’re succubi. The angelic bitches are called dominions. They’re not that special, honestly.”

“Oh? I’d say the opposite. I’ve only ever seen them during the fall of a civilization. Hence why she shouldn’t be here. This is wrong,” Tarako insisted.

“You’re used to the happy path, foxy. Our old boss wants to win, so he’s sending in his little cult to kick Nathan’s teeth in. I think he’s pissed. This entire onslaught is a huge temper tantrum intended to end this cycle before it really gets going.”

“You said that before,” Nathan said slowly. “About his tantrum.”

“Yeah, and it’s happening in front of our eyes. The goat always said that the dominions were used as pruners for worlds on dying cycles. Once the real Messengers do our jobs”—Maura jabbed a thumb into her chest, causing it to bounce—“there’s still an infinite number of worlds to be cleaned up. So the fox is right.”

“Which means—” Tarako tried to say.

“Nothing.” Laura rolled her eyes. “Other than that the boss is trying to kill us all and erase us from existence. The idea is to not die, you know?”

Nathan knew they’d argue until a horde of demons overran them. “Enough. And stop reacting to my mental magic like that.”

“I can’t help it if you’re going to mindfuck me,” Maura crooned, wiggling her body erotically.

Sighing, he continued, “Look, let’s debate the dominions later. Tell me what she’s capable of so that we can kill her. I’m guessing she won’t hover up there forever now that she knows we’re here.”

“Maybe she—”

Laura interrupted her sister, “Dominions are, like, the opposite of succubi. We excel at manipulating stuff, but they create it. Life magic, reality shaping, crafting magical artifacts on the fly—that sort of shit. But they’re not going to fuck with your mind or teleport around.”

“That sounds like Thanatos,” Nurevia noted, eyes narrowing.

“Ol’ salaryman was more specialized. And better. He was like a master blacksmith, whereas these bitches are mass production factories. They’ll have the same shit—mental magic resisting jewelry and anti-spatial magic bands. But way weaker. Break them and you’ll break the slut,” Maura said. “Or you can just cave their faces in directly.”

Nathan took a step back. “They create. So they’re creating the demon horde?”

“Yup.” Laura nodded with her whole body. “They can also mess with the portal world. Think of them like mini-bosses.”

“In all senses of the word,” Maura chirped. “As in, miniature versions of our boss. Really mini, given how shitty they are.”

One didn’t need to have much emotional intelligence to understand that the Twins disliked the dominions.

Which likely meant they were underestimating them. The succubi tended to insult and demean everyone, but Nathan had learned that when they were particularly mean, it almost always meant they were the inferior in the relationship. Kadria and Tarako were noteworthy examples.

Then again, they also acted like this to Thanatos, and Nathan was now strong enough to handle that Messenger.

“What’s our plan?” Sunstorm asked.

“A simple one. Keep the walls intact, protect Deverese, and then take the fight to the Messenger,” he said.

Looking at his assembled Champions, he formed a plan of attack within seconds. While they’d been talking, battle continued. Time meant lives.

“Narime, you’ll do best on the walls. If anything gets to them or the Messenger launches an attack, you can hopefully stop it with your magic and counter ability,” he said. “Everyone else will be with me until we find Deverese and clear the demons out.”

“And who goes with you to fight the Messenger?” Tarako asked, hand on her sword.

Ciana’s face hardened, as if entirely aware that he might leave her behind. Nobody else seemed as worried.

“That depends on how well Deverese can handle the wall with Narime’s help,” Nathan admitted. “But my gut feeling is to leave you behind, Seraph.”

Nobody seemed all that surprised, least of all Seraph. She merely nodded.

“I’d wondered if you’d still make the same decision you did when we fought Siv,” Seraph said.

“It’s for a different reason this time.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You can handle the demons, but also adapt to any tricks the Messenger throws at you. At the same time, I don’t think you’ll make Deverese look completely useless.”

Giggles rippled through his Champions. Even the Twins smirked.

“She might not be as blazing hot as your titty kitty, but she can definitely show up baldy. You sure she won’t make him mad?” Maura asked.

“That’s a risk I’ll take,” Nathan said.

No matter what he did, Deverese would throw a tantrum. But Seraph could likely handle the entire portal by herself if the Messenger wasn’t here. The only reason he wanted to leave Narime behind was because he didn’t know what might be thrown at them.

“Any objections?” he asked.

None were raised.

They dashed through the ranks of Trafaumh’s defenders and ascended the walls. The soldiers made way for them without complaint, despite their uniforms. Despite the chaos, they understood.

Or perhaps it was because of the chaos. With the apocalypse staring them in the face, even the Inquisition’s zealots threw aside nationalism.

Once atop the walls, Nathan took in the true state of the battlefield.

Rows of collapsed spike pits, burning sand traps, and other attempts to destroy entire hordes of demons lay between him and a ruined layer of walls. A solid wall of soldiers in full plate held the line against the sea of seething monsters trying to tear them apart. Their tabards had long since been torn to pieces, and blood covered most of them. Nathan struggled to tell whose blood it might be.

Not every soldier was from the Inquisitorial Corps. Telling them apart was difficult, which was the point. Trafaumh’s elites wore functional equipment, even if it was enchanted. Without their insignia, Nathan just saw a mass of soldiers.

Yet not a single beastkin among them. Even in crisis, Trafaumh only allowed humans to fight and die for their country, save for as Champions.

And die they did. The soldiers fought atop rock and corpse alike, as there wasn’t time to pull the wounded back or clear the battlefield as comrades fell in the onslaught.

Deverese and three of his Champions held the entire center, carving a bloody swathe through the approaching monsters. While the Bastion was no sorcerer, he wielded the power of his binding stones with greater expertise than his youth suggested and his relic broadsword gleamed with blood. His scarred face and bald head gave him a truly ferocious appearance.

Unfortunately, the horde simply washed around them like a river did around a rock.

Nathan recognized all three Champions, although one was currently seriously wounded. Her amethyst gems wouldn’t be of further use, even if she was still strong enough to cut down any demons that got close enough with her halberd.

The remaining Champions excelled at horde fighting. Ester stood firm and lithe, even in her heavy armor that hid her beauty while her brown pigtails bounced with each movement. Her comrade, Ysabelle, dominated the battlefield with her flashy, dyed silver hair and ostentatious, frilly uniform that emphasized her bust even in such a grim situation.

Ester’s diamonds never stopped glowing, as was always the case when she fought, and she carved apart demons with her longsword with reckless abandon. Against demons like this, she was effectively immortal. For that matter, her duogem ability ensured those near her were as well. She should be standing with the regular soldiers, in Nathan’s opinion.

Lightning rippled from Ysabelle’s rapier as she danced from demon to demon. Each stab disabled a demon, her rubies flashed, and magic arced through dozens more beasts, felling them in turn. Her monogem ability allowed her to store multiple fourth-rank spells, which she used to enhance her capabilities as a battlemage, but had almost certainly run dry by now.

“They seem to be doing fine,” Seraph noted.

“Ester’s doing the heavy lifting,” Nathan said. “Her duogem ability is similar to Ciana’s monogem, but entirely focused on defense. She takes the pain and damage inflicted on those near her, but it’s reduced by her endurance enhancement and monogem ability. So she’s keeping everyone alive.”

“Except the amethyst.”

“She probably got out of range.”

Maybe Nathan was being mean. But he liked Ester a lot more than most of the Champions in Deverese’s stable. Ester held nothing but loyalty and goodwill toward her Bastion and country, despite her treatment as a child soldier. While he’d taken in a fair number other than Fei, the one he’d always regretted being unable to save from the ruins of Trafaumh had been her.

But she’d died along with Deverese while battling Thanatos.

One more person he could save in this world.

“Keep Ester safe,” he told Seraph quietly.

She gave him an inscrutable look, but nodded.

“I take it we’re not merely jumping down there?” Narime asked.

“No. But—”

“Incoming,” Nurevia called out, pointing up at the Messenger.

He felt the dominion’s magic surge at the same time Nurevia spoke and looked up at his true foe.

Once again, that inky bubble began to solidify. He glared at it. Somehow, he knew it would do more than just spew spears at him this time.

Tarako’s hand blurred and he saw her gems glow. The bubble shimmered, yet nothing happened. The fox clicked her tongue.

“As always, seems they’re immune to my technique,” she murmured. “Somebody needs to shatter the bubble first, then I can turn them into sashimi.”

“That’s sliced fish, right?” Nathan asked idly as he saw the bubble pop again.

The blackness warped and vanished.

“Indeed. Above, by the way.”

He looked up. Comically, a huge form appeared above them.

“Bastion Deverese, she’s trying it again!” one of the soldiers called out below them.

“Ysabelle!” Deverese shouted, spinning.

But Ysabelle simply stared up at the congealing darkness. She clasped her hands together as despair filled her eyes, as the Messenger’s attack turned into some sort of massive object large enough to crush all of the soldiers at once.

Once again, that strange feeling of a relic filled the entire object. Ordinarily, Nathan questioned whether a mere physical object could overwhelm a duogem Champion like Ester, but these relics…

“Allow me,” Seraph said.

She blurred into the sky. All eyes caught her red and gold phoenix cheongsam glittering beneath certain death. Her tonfas stretched toward the strange object.

Then her sapphire glowed and it vanished.

With a triple somersault, she landed deftly on the ground between the wall of soldiers and Deverese. Her presence distracted the Bastion long enough for some demons to get the drop on him.

A volley of crossbow bolts vaporized them. Deverese looked up at the wall to see Nathan and his assembled trigems.

Right as they unleashed hell on the demons.

A supercharged fifth rank spell burst from Narime’s hands. Torrents of wind reduced hundreds of demons to ribbons of flesh, right before their bodies vanished as their kind always did. Sunstorm’s spatial slash tore through an entire line of charging demons, and Tarako joined in with some sort of lightning slash from a new sword of hers that skewered dozens of foes at once.

Nathan finished up with a simple wind blast that blew apart what few demons remained in close proximity.

Even without Fei’s help, they’d turned every demon between this wall and the next two ruined layers into piles of gore within seconds. Not that they’d even tried very hard.

Any of them could have cast vastly more powerful spells, or lined up better uses of their attacks. This had been a rather lazy use of their abilities. Even Nurevia appeared frustrated, likely because she’d yet to find a good use for her new trigem ability.

The Messenger seemed to be glaring at the Twins, who had both produced toothpicks from somewhere and were pretending to use them.

“Narime, you have your orders,” Nathan said. “Everyone else, let’s go.”

He signaled Seraph, who gave him an “OK” signal back. Deverese appeared red-faced, while Ester waved and Ysabelle bowed. The amethyst appeared utterly lost. More demons would arrive within moments.

Nathan decided he’d deal with his rival later.

Right now, he had a Messenger to slay. His hands glowed with a teleportation spell.

Tarako grimaced. Before he could finish casting it, she vanished. Then he followed her.

They all appeared on top of the ivory staircase. Congealing balls of flesh surrounded them, rapidly turning into demons. The portal strained their minds and eyes above them, and everyone tried not to look directly into it.

Except Nathan, who stared directly up at the dominion floating in a bubble above him. She looked back at him. Like every Messenger, she seemed human—save for her wings.

He saw fear in those eyes.

“You’re going to die like the rest,” he told her, then pointed his sword at her.

- - - - -

Commentary: I'll probably be posting this battle a couple of chapters at a time. In fact, posting in general will likely speed up out of necessity.

There's not too much to talk about. Abilities are being shown off, but the dominions are an interesting breed of Messenger. You'll understand over the next couple of chapters. I'd describe them as extremely threatening to ordinary Bastions and nation, but less so to current Nathan compared to ordinary ones.

I'm poking at a few things I probably shouldn't be. Despite some of my very mixed feelings toward the genre in general right now, I'm still writing Spellblade as if it will have a very big eighth book to close everything out. This means there are some key aspects, including some relationships and long-term arcs, that I'm setting up here for eventual payoff.