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871. Stratagem of Phoebe
🕑 Added 2023-08-12 10:52:34 +0000 UTC<Maelstorm>
A column of wind turning at unfathomable speeds was cast. The drill made of air directly aimed at the priests and warriors of the church that were holding their position tenaciously against the flood of beasts. Even though they could manifest divine skills within the arena, they still had the edge over the skeletons and obesities.
“I told you not on my watch!” Bulko jumped in the way, wearing a silvery blue set of armor. With this armor, he had a 90% resistance to wind attacks in addition to high magic defense. The hit of the high-level magic still pressed the air out of his lungs and flung him away, the only consolation being that the magic was also stopped and the church staff unharmed.
“Bulko!” Lyxiss cried out, angry and worried.
“Haha, I knew you would do that!” their opponent announced and turned to the quarter-elf. He fired several wind blades at her, while Bulko was still blown away.
Seth had only brought Yulecat's Fur with him to Y-City. The pair of priests and Elementalist had stayed back to cover their retreat in case something went wrong like right now. Apart from them and Wolfram they were currently the only members of Minas Mar present at the church.
Seth had left the golem in case a powerful enemy they couldn't handle appeared. The gray knight was currently fighting a high-intensity battle with a swordsman the Scene had sent, leaving the storm mage to them. So far Bulko and Fin had been able to fight together to stall their opponent. However, now Lyxiss faced the sudden attack of the wind mage, without Bulko playing tank.
“<Elemental Barrier>!” Lyxiss had to interrupt the spell she had been preparing and used <Quick Cast> to hastily raise her shield. Her sloppily created barrier held for a moment, but didn't stand a chance against the win blades of a specialized professional.
She was hit by half a dozen wind blades, covering her face and upper body with her arms to at least escape a deadly blow. With Bulko's buff and the elemental affinity she had gained through her class, her resistance to wind magic was almost as high as Bulko's, however, her defense was lower overall.
“Maybe I should have listened to Seth...” she thought, as she felt the blades cut her flesh.
She had refused to have an Armor of Lunacy because she wished to keep her current robe. It was the golden robe Seth had given her and an elven master enchanter had blessed for her. It was a relic and she had wanted to try and raise it to a legendary item through her own efforts.
In the end, an item could not overcome its material limits. No matter how great the enchantment was, the rare threat the robe was made of was ripped to shreds when it faced the terrifying magic of the immortal.
The last act of her robe, before the durability hit zero, was blocking enough damage to allow her survival. Lyxiss stared in shock. The elementalist was left wearing bloody rags that barely covered her slender body, but she was alive, albeit heartbroken.
At first, she blushed, but she quickly forgot the shock and embarrassment. Her whole head became red and a different emotion swallowed all the others. It was a burning flame in her chest. Who cared if she was almost naked? Who cared that she had lost almost half her health?
“... Do you have any idea what I went through to make that robe?!” she screeched, spitting fire and brimstone.
How would anybody know the shame and embarrassment, the pride she had swallowed when she returned back to the village of her great-grandfather, despite swearing to never return there ever again? The humiliation she felt when she had to beg that old bastard to enchant the robe for her, the trauma she face when returning to that place where all eyes looked at her with disdain because of her origins.
She had faced her past to get her hands on this robe and now it was all for nothing. The enchantment was ruined and the robe was only a bunch of golden rags.
<Stratagem of Phoebe- Wrath of the Mountain King>!
In her anger, she cast the skill of her legendary ring. Phoebe was the Titan goddess of intellect and prophecy, her blessing granted the ring the skill <Stratagem of Phoebe> which allowed her to reverse the process of casting a spell. Any magic would be cast instantaneously at no cost, in exchange she had to chant the spell and pay half the mana cost at a later point, or face a penalty.
In her anger she cast Wrath of the Mountain King, one the highest possible spells for an Elementalist. Emanating from her, the surface of the street and all materials below it were pulverized, turning the whole area under the silvery dome into a scree field. To the point that even some of the buildings in the vicinity started crumbling.
“What is it now? Are you throwing a tantrum? Look, you only harmed your own people!” the wind mage scoffed. Many of the creatures and church staff lost their footing on the unstable ground. He used his exotic-looking staff and shot several dozen wind blades at the surprised church staff.
Too many for Bulko or any of them to stop it. However, like a living mass, the scree rose in waves and easily blocked the powerful spells. Lyxiss' eyes glowed with a manic light. Bulko started to doubt whether Lyxiss wasn't secretly wearing some lunacy equipment somewhere. Though she had not much on her body, where she could have hidden it anymore.
“Fuck him up! Fuck him up! I want him to suffer!” she raged as a massive hand made of scree rose up to catch the storm mage. However, her target nimbly evaded.
“Haha, I admit, it's not stupid to use earth to counter my wind, but what can you do? This “wrath of the mountain king" is much too sl-”
He was interrupted by a giant figure suddenly breaking out from the building behind him. It straight-up crushed the man's head with a giant elbow drop from above. His lifeless body shot down like a meteor and was lodged in the debris below.
“Don't underestimate the Mountain King, you bitch!” she cursed, spittle flying from her mouth.
The Mountain King was a Spirit King of the earth element, ruling over the stone that made up mountains and massifs that reached the heavens. He could take form from any non-metallic mineral and had not broken through the building, but shaped his body from the glass and concrete it was made of.
Clenching her fist, the immortal who was in the middle of regenerating his head was constrained by the rock he was lodged into, only leaving his regrowing head above ground. His limbs were crushed and his staff broken.
“Great King, please help the Gray Knight in his battle,” Lyxiss suddenly voiced her request with surprising humility. She realized how she acted before the king and tried to fix her image. The figure of a king created from concrete and glass debris nodded and turned in the direction of the other fight.
Wolfram was taking surprisingly long. The reason was the arena they were currently in and their opponent. Most of the golem's skills were a manifestation of divine power and were blocked by the arena. This left him to fight a physical combat with someone they suspected to be a cultivator. Otherwise, it would have been hard to believe, that one of the immortals had a body that could compare to the power of the golem.
Meanwhile, Lyxiss stepped up to the caught immortal magician, who had regrown his head but was still unable to get out of the constraint.
“You think you can just bury me? Even if you cut me apart and lock everything away, I will be back! Even if it's decades or centuries, I will get my revenge!” the man raved on crazily.
Lyxiss stared at him shocked. She was angry and wanted him dead, but stuff like that had not come to her mind. This guy really had dropped over the edge. Who in their right mind wouldn't fear eternal prison and boredom? Only an idiot.
“Don't worry, I won't give you the chance to enjoy such a cruel fate,” she answered feeling really merciful.
Before the man could say another word, the Elementalist shoved the hairpin-like device into his forehead. The scene was very similar to what happened to Mina's opponent. He shone in a bright light and when it dimmed, he was replaced with a different being.
It was a man wearing a loose robe. He had faceted black insect eyes and feeler giving his pale face a unique aura. Peaking out from the loose robe on his back were the wings of a dragonfly.
“I, Beball, a Follower of Paimon and Master of 10 Legions, have answered your call. What is it you wish, Summoner?”
Like Mina, everyone had been briefed on how these needles worked, although Bulko and Lyxiss were just as surprised as Mina when it really happened. The elf thought for a moment before she spoke.
“As your summoner, I wish for you to get rid of all signs of the Scene in the vicinity. This barrier, the skeletons, and fat monsters, as well as any members you find that are infected with the immortal serum.”
After a moment, Beball nodded. “I will do what is within my power.”
The next moment the demon jumped into the crowd smashing and ripping apart the grotesque monsters with his bare hands. In the process he absorbed their blood and flesh, only leaving dust behind.
“Lyxiss are you okay?” Bulko approached her, once he managed to look away from the demon that was saving the church staff. The priest quickly began casting his heals on the half-mangled and scantily clad Elementalist.
“D-Do you need something to wear?” Bulko asked a little embarrassed, when her wounds closed and revealed that she was almost naked. The lady in question also only realized this now, as her head was slowly cooling off.
“I have a spare robe,” she said with a blush and quickly equipped it from her inventory.
“Urgh!” when she tried to stand up, a sudden headache forced her back on the ground.
“Are you okay Lyxiss?” the priest asked worried. He was sure he had healed all her serious wounds.
“Just the backlash of my skill. Sorry, Bulko, can you put up a shield, I have to chant for the next few hours...”
On the other hand, crimson clouds collected around the demon, who was absorbing the eerie creatures he had massacred. When it seemed that he had accumulated enough, the cloud suddenly shot toward the arena boundaries. The waves crashed against the transparent wall and started corroding it away.
“Lyxiss! Bulko! Are you okay?!”
The moment the shield showed a gap. Fin rushed in to look for her comrades. The little fairy was covered in ..."stuff" after she started crushing monsters in frustration outside the arena.
“Lyxiss can't answer right now, but we are okay Fin. Don't worry.”
Fin let out a sigh of relief, but the very next moment something passed by close to her face. It was as if time was slowed, as a scream filled with anguish echoed in her ears and she watched Bulko's arm fall to the ground. The priest's whole shoulder was blown away, his armor pulverized.
“It's a little early to be relieved.”
“So this was why it took so long. They have quite the interesting items there,” a second voice pondered
“This ends here,” a third said grimly.
Atop the crumbling building opposite the church, four figures had appeared.
