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Demoness 2 - Chapter 67 - Conviction of Steel
🕑 Added 2024-03-13 11:46:59 +0000 UTCElania leaped from the crumbling fortress wall, her wings carrying her to the lower rampart captured by the Lightbringers.
The ramp behind her leading up lay in ruins, destroyed by the Guard to prevent entry to the inner citadel of the headquarters. Behind her, the City Watch Guards opened fire with their muskets, a thunderous volley echoing through the air.
Further back, they worked frantically to prepare a new metal ramp, desperate to regain the lost ground.
But first, Elania had to deal with the enemy before her.
The Lightbringers had erected a makeshift barricade of corpses, scraps, and debris, using it as cover to return fire and rain down arrows and spells upon the defenders.
Elania’s eyes narrowed divine [Power] surging through her veins. There was no need to draw from a mana shard; she’d filled them with the remains of the enemy attempting to breach the gate.
With a grunt of effort, she hefted the massive metal ram on her shoulder, its weight nothing to her enhanced strength. It dwarfed her in size and weight, but she took aim anyway.
A Lightbringer who had popped up to look at her stared, his eyes widening in terror as he realized what was coming.
Elania let loose, hurling the ram with all her might.
It plowed through the barricade like a ballista bolt, sending a spray of men into the air. Bones crunched and armor crumpled as the ram pulverized everything in its path, leaving a trail of broken bodies in its wake.
The attack didn’t go unanswered. Conclave monks stood behind the Lightbringers and began to chant and prepare their offensive spells.
Elania flashed forward and spiraled through the air, bells and crossbow bolts flying past her. Gunfire from the wall called out in an attempt to silence the spells.
She was caught in a crossfire. A bullet hit her from behind, cracking and deflecting off her reinforced leather. The bones underneath re-knit themselves efficiently under the heat of her [Power]-fed [Regeneration].
She saw frustration appear on the monk’s faces. That suited her well.
Before she reached the barricade, she formed a massive spear of pure light. It crackled and hummed with barely contained [Power].
With a roll, she landed right in front of the barricade. Half the Lightbringers scrambled away for cover, while the other half climbed up to try to point their weapons at her.
None of it mattered.
She raised her light spear and swung it horizontally at the barricade. Half of it exploded in a flash of light, the explosion angled perfectly to send everything up into the air and away, while sparing the stonework.
Then she swung her weapon the other way, and the other half disappeared as well.
Almost all the Lightbringers were dead, except for a few who had run away early. She jumped forward into a sprint, attacking the monks before they could respond.
They raised staves, bells, and chants against her.
But she was a seraph. And a demon. They lost their heads and then she took their power.
She was just getting started.
* * *
Elania surged forward, her wings propelling her through the air as she pursued another group of fleeing monks and Lightbringers. Her hands cracked with divine energy as she summoned another wave of light spears.
A popcorn of explosions ran down the length of the wall, each blast carefully measured for maximum slaughter and minimum damage to the stonework. She had to leave a path for the Guard to follow her, after all.
[You have gained 3 levels!]
Elania checked her level.
[Level 188 Lesser Demon (Ascendant)]
She’d gained a lot of levels, and only twelve more were needed to get her next perk point. She hadn’t been able to call up the list of available ones again after spending her last point, but somehow, she was sure that she would get something good.
And her [Power] capacity had skyrocketed during the fighting; she wasn’t sure how it had jumped so drastically. She glanced at her HUD.
[Power: 2532/1926]
The only thing she could think of was when she had wiped out Elder Gant and the Paladin.
She’d temporarily held the power of all six mana shards at once, instead of releasing it in one go. Compressed it into a laser. In the act, it had made her feel wonderful.
Maybe she should try it again?
The battlefield fell silent, a rare lull in the thunder of weapons that had turned into a pervasive orchestra. She hovered above the carnage, her wings pulsing with energy.
She shook away the murderous thought.
She had a mission, to clear a path through the enemy for the Guard to follow. Glancing over her shoulder, there was already a thick line of men on the move. Some moved to the wall to fire crossbows on both sides of the wall. Others carried stretchers.
They were right behind her. She needed to continue on.
As she turned, a figure emerged from smoke and dust, blocking her path.
A massive man, clad in shining armor, a blue glow emanating from the great sword in his hand. A Paladin, one of their champions.
He strode forward, his steps heavy and purposeful, without hesitation. Golden lights blared out from the slits in his horned great helm. He locked her gaze in a challenge.
Something possessed her, and she floated down gently to land, drawing her own enchanted sword. Golden crackles filled the air around her as her [Demonic Aura] flexed with her [Divinity] essence.
The Paladin raised his sword, gripping it with both hands. The blue glow intensified. “Demon,” he growled, his voice deep and resonant. “Your reign of terror ends here.”
Elania laughed, the sound echoing across the battlefield. “Terror?” she asked, her voice dripping with amusement. “This is just the beginning.”
They both moved forward at the same time.
This one she could respect, for not giving her the standard monologue drivel.
When they reached each other, the Paladin swung his blade in a powerful horizontal arc. She leaped over it and it sundered the air with an electric crackle.
With a fierce cry, she brought her own blade down on his helmet; the impact shattering one of the horns before slamming into the solid metal. Her sword shattered, and she kicked off of his chest plate to create distance.
He staggered, but somehow, he didn’t go flying, despite the force she had used. He reached out and grabbed her ankle and then spun to fling her into a crenulation.
It shattered into rubble, and she found herself in the air, falling toward the streets below before flaring her wings and regaining altitude. A predatory grin appeared on her face. This was the challenge a seraph craved.
She flashed back toward her opponent, a streak of divine light. He raised his sword and swung it downward, an executioner’s blade hungry for blood. She rolled at the last second, avoiding the strike by a hair’s breadth. She felt the wind of its passage, the power behind the blow.
As she came up from her roll, her hand darted out, leaving a pulsing orb of divine energy against the Paladin’s stomach.
The light bomb detonated, a starburst of blinding radiance. The Paladin was lifted off his feet, his armor rattling from the concussive force. Instead of falling, he somehow tightened himself and bounced, then regained a defensive posture.
He spun toward her as she skidded to a halt, then charged. A great circular arc of his weapon had her jump backwards to avoid the first blow.
Despite the distance, it came for a second, and this one sent an arc of razor-sharp wind straight for her.
Elania dumped a mana shard into her [Demonic Aura] and she folded her wings into a shield. It slammed into her, her barrier stopping it.
The square tower behind her wasn’t so lucky, the edge of it sliced cleanly. On both sides, stonework fell into heaps on the streets below, turning the bastion into an unsteady, narrow rectangle.
While she was recovering, he cleared the distance and swung down on her again. This time, she didn’t have time to move out of the way. Instead, she raised her arms to block.
The blow sent her slamming into the stone floor with enough for that her body dug into the ground several inches, sending spiderwebs across the entire section.
Then he hit her again.
Pain lanced through her body, but she pushed it aside. Pain was nothing. Pain was fuel.
He raised his sword to strike her a third time, this time taking time to channel a blue power that was sure to cleave her in half.
He didn’t get the chance to use it; she punched him in the ankle, the [Power] enhanced blow enough to shatter the metal armor. Her fingers and [Divinity] laced [Power] claws dug into flesh and her fingers tore his foot free.
He staggered, and she rolled free.
He swung at her even as she made distance again. The bloody stub she’d left behind bled freely out of the Paladin’s armor, but he stood on the stump. Reaching down, he gripped the metal in his massive gauntlet and squeezed.
She couldn’t feel anything but shock as the blood flow stopped and he stood, lopsided, on the metal appendage.
What the absolute fuck. He was almost as terrifying as she was.
Almost.
She launched forward again. He swung his great sword to meet her, a gleaming arc of righteous steel. But she was ready for it.
She flared her [Power], compressing her [Demonic Aura] around her hand. As the blade struck her palm, it stopped dead, held fast by her will.
She didn’t hesitate to consume another mana shard, dumping all its power into her free hand, turning it into a yellow blur.
It connected with the Paladin’s forearm, the force of the blow shattering his vambrace like glass. His arm was left bent at an unnatural angle.
He tried to lift the great sword out of her grip with his remaining hand, but she held it firm.
Elania dumped another mana shard’s [Power] into herself. Then she kicked him in the knee.
The joint caved backward with a sickening crunch of metal. He fell to the side, his leg no longer able to support his weight.
The Paladin was undeterred.
His fist, heavy with the weight of conviction, slammed into her head. Her neck snapped to the side, spine shattering and sending her spinning.
He lifted his sword, but she kept her fingers clenched onto the blade with force of will and her [Demonic Aura] more than any strength in her fingers. Two more mana shards drained instantly, forced directly into [Regeneration].
Her head twisted back into place, [Power] enforcing its position.
There was a second where their eyes locked, neither of them giving an inch.
Then she smashed her free hand into his helmet’s jaw, part of his helmet shattered, fragments of metal scattering into the air. He bent back, almost falling from his position on his knees, but he reached out and grabbed her shoulder.
His fingers dug in, trying to crush her with his grip. She reached up, seizing his wrist. She squeezed her fingers like a vise. Armor and bone shattered under the grasp.
He reared back, then slammed his shattered helmet forward toward her face. She was faster. Her leg shot up, foot slamming into his chest. He flew backwards; the fall turned into a spin as he refused to release his great sword.
He couldn’t stand any more, though.
Elania got up and then placed her foot on his good arm’s elbow joint and ripped the sword away. His grasp around the hilt remained even as his forearm ripped off.
She was forced to pry the gauntleted fingers from the blade herself.
Behind her, the City Watch Guards erupted in cheers. The Lightbringer soldiers, who had been approaching, broke and ran, their courage shattered like the Paladin’s armor.
Elania raised the great sword into the air. She could feel the enchantments running through it, some strange mix of artifice and magic.
Encased in the thick steel, she could feel a mana shard. She pushed into it and the blade ignited in blue flame.
She stood over the Paladin and flipped the blade around to point at his heart.
With a final, decisive thrust, she ended it.
Comments
Sondrex76
While mostly true, it is also true that the elites on their side are the leaders, and with their deaths, the city would still be lost. He wants to survive (presumably), and has a somewhat reasonable excuse, so I can see how it would go that way.
Mark
So the Lightbringers are 2 Paladins and an Elder down. Good. I repeat myself, but these top level fighters are really the only thing that matters in this war. The decision of the author to make Bannon hole up in the Watch Fortress and the other Elder (can't remember her name, Kedwig?) in the Citadel might make the so far disastrous course of the war more plausible, but it's so moronic on their part that it borders on breakting the suspension of disbelief neccesary for the storyline to work for the reader.
Jonathan Wint
She should scream "Flawless Victory! Your Soul Is Mine!"
