CHAPTER 473: WAR OF IRON - PART 3 - A WALL OF BLOOD

Malzkael did her best to shield the defenders as a retreat was called. A group of shield-bearing warriors with spears covered her and the retreating warriors as the latter made for the city. Enemies fought them for every measure as they slowly worked their way back.

Such was the pressure of their rush that some of the enemy soldiers accidentally fell or were pushed into the hole Ferro left behind.

Anko blazed through the common soldiers with her flamethrower, covering the blasted-through mountainside as she fought off any mages trying to cool the lava.

Ferro iced the pass as much as he could, delaying enemy soldiers by sheeting the ground with ice and firing spears of ice against any enemy mage that presented themselves. He noticed a substantial increase in how much mana he could put out as he kept up a continuous fight. And while his spells still weren’t terribly strong, he could feel the difference in how mana flowed through his body.

Kir seemed entirely confused by what was happening. So it was up to Malz to keep guiding him back as her companions fought. Halfway back to the city, however, a dark figure rose, pulling himself into the air before he landed. Lanoch, covered in some black-brown substance, glared forward with crazed eyes that locked onto Malz.

With a snarl, he charged, his footfalls growing harder and harder until he collided with the retreating warriors. Two crumpled, his clawed feet stomping through them with magic-enhanced weight as he grabbed another by the helmet and squeezed until a red-pink mess flooded down onto the man’s corpse.

Though he said nothing, Malz realized that he was beyond enraged, so much so that she guessed he meant to kill her to get to Ferro. A warrior tried to stab him with a spear, only to be yanked forward as Lanoch batted his head with the stub of his arm, sending the man’s head flying with a shocked look on his face.

As Lanoch stomped towards Malz, however, Kir stepped in his path, a dark look on his face.

Lanoch growled his rage as he swung his claws, but Kir punched far faster. Lanoch flew back, driving through the approaching soldiers until he skidded and rolled along the iced ground, finally stopping as his back impacted the wall, crumbling the magic-wrought stone as he cratered it. He fell on his hand and knees, gasping from having the wind knocked out of him.

The rage in his eyes turned to pain as the iridescent flame that clung to his chest began to burn, wrapping his body in flames as they spread. Lanoch screamed, a cry of rage and pain that momentarily halted the movement of the troops around him. And then he fled, and Ferro stared after him as he realized Lanoch had survived.

Against the flood of soldiers, Lanoch was a crazed blaze of light until he collapsed, his mana and body burned out as the flames finally faded.

At that point, Malz was trying to pull Kir away from the battle, and while the soldiers who witnessed his defeat of Lanoch hesitated, one mage stepped forward.

*

Bailey Black contemplated the strange, demon mage before him, covered in iridescent flames that made his eyes hurt in manasight. The demonkin looked familiar, somehow, but what mattered at this point was that he was the enemy.

He inhaled as he extended his senses, harvesting the death of one soldier, and then another, and then a small group as the flying demon girl burned an entire squad. They weren’t near enough for him to use their blood, but he’d more than reinforced his shields with the blood of others before arriving. He poured his mana into the cut he’d made in the palm of his hand, raising it as a red crystal spike swirled into existence before shooting forward.

The spell broke the moment it contacted the rainbow flames sheathing the demonkin’s body, but a small iron spike drawn from the blood continued forward, impaling the demonkin’s chest where his heart was.

The demonkin reached up and pulled it out, lacing a scream with so much mana it toppled the soldiers behind Bailey as his shields flared but held. There was a flash of light, and suddenly the demonkin was in front of Bailey, who barely managed to parry the coming strike with a shield made of blood as he leaped backward.

Bailey watched the unrelenting, monstrous demonkin as he continued forward, destroying any soldier that tried to stop him with a single punch each. The blood leaking from his regenerating wound became a beacon in Bailey’s mind. He pulled on it, pouring it into his shield and feeling an intoxicating shudder crawl down his spine. The strange sense of familiarity redoubled, but he shoved it aside as the demonkin strode through the soldiers Bailey was putting between himself and his opponent, killing each with a single punch or kick.

As the wounds accumulated on his opponent, Bailey pulled every drop of that intoxicating blood towards himself as he transformed it into a sword, using his own blood to form a handle after realizing the demon’s blood burned him if handled directly.

When there were no opponents between him and the strange demonkin, Bailey batted his shield with his new sword and screamed a challenge.

*

"Kir!" Malz shouted, trying desperately to get his attention. The surviving soldiers, figuring out that Kir only fought back when attacked, gave him a wide berth as they circled around his fight with what looked like a blood mage. Malz knew how potent blood magic could be, but Kir didn’t look particularly hurt even as he fought the mage with his bare fists.

She couldn’t help anyone if she were dead, and so Malz turned and ran, casting small spells behind her back at the chasing soldiers whenever she turned. She regretted not loading her own flight spell, but found herself fortunate as a soldier leaped down to grab her, before jumping back onto the wall.

As she caught her breath, thanking the elf, she looked out to find that the angels had joined the fray once more, driving Ferro and Anko into a retreat as the two made for the wall as well. From the city, only a few mages and mavens rose into the air to intercept, and the exchanges of spells quickly told Malz that the angels had far more power at their disposal.

The defenders fired spells and arrows, but the angels shielded themselves effectively, flying higher as they began to attack the city. On the ground, the enemy mages were unimpeded as they cooled the molten rock of the trench with magic, and more soldiers followed behind them.

Malz turned and saw that the hole in the city wall had been hastily filled in with a rocky barricade, atop which Chainsfreers worked furiously to stabilize the makeshift wall.

"I’m glad you’ve returned to us," Councilman Bardoulf greeted her as he approached from behind. The wolfkin was sporting a wound along his clavicle but was otherwise healthy-looking. "I am sorry to ask you this, but can you advise us on how to fight your own kind?"

*

Rage.

Rainier felt it as he saw angels fighting the defenders of whatever city he’d wound up in. Leaping into the air, he spread his wings, their leathery feathers black and streaked with gold just like his body.

He approached one who was fighting an older-looking human, spells flaring before the angel disengaged. As Rain neared, the human’s eyes widened as he realized he could not cast a spell in time, but Rain ignored him and chased down the angel, striking down with Kangetsu as he cleaved the sword through the angel’s back.

Then he dove after him, striking to kill as he felt the crunch of the angel’s ribs beneath his knee while driving the sword through her eye.

Ripping Kangetsu free, he turned as motion drew his gaze-

"Kir..."

His lover smiled, stepping forward to hug Rain. For a moment, Rain felt warmth as Kir whispered, "Please. Come find me..." Rain tried to embrace him, only for him to to pass through like a ghost.

I’m going mad, Rainier thought. He turned about, noticing a red-tan tail disappearing around a corner.

Rain followed it, praying against the surge of doubt that Kir really was there, but when he turned the corner, all he saw was a street full of chaos as a pair of angels rained down fire against anything that would burn.

A citizen nearly collided with Rain, and he pushed the dwarf aside before rising into the air, taking a page from his old teammate’s book as he sent a burst of light into their faces before cutting them down as they tried to recover from being blinded.

As he severed the spine of the second, he felt something roll against his finger and suddenly Kangetsu’s weight multiplied enough to drop the sword from his hand. Rain landed only to find the blade had buried itself up to the hilt, and it took all his strength to pull it from the ground as he wondered what the Hell had happened.

A moment was all it took for him to find a little dial, which he’d pushed forward by a quarter without realizing it, the long haft being unfamiliar to him despite his knowing what that meant for its versatility. He turned the dial to the left, and the sword grew lighter until it felt close to weightless, the moment the dial refused to turn further.

That was when someone shot him with an arrow.