NOVEL NEXT 3.53: Ambush – Part IV
Blood dripped from the forehead of Gehenna’s daughter, and as she looked at the sheer annihilation of the archangels surrounding her, she let out a cry of fury. The rest of my clan members that had arrived were now working together to take down large groups of enemies, but I knew this was far from over. Emelia’s attack had wiped out nearly a hundred enemies at once, but as I looked around the giant room, I could still see what appeared to be at least 300 more, most of whom were quickly closing in on the three of us.
“Gehenna, Allie, grab my hand.”
Both of us moved in sync to take one of Emelia’s hands. The moment we did, I felt that same disorienting sensation as before when Gehenna and I were first connected. It took a few seconds for my mind to adjust, but after I opened my eyes I could feel Emily’s thoughts alongside Gehenna’s and my own.
*Hana says she’s eager to hear how well her spell worked after you’re done kicking the ass of every archangel here.*
As she started to speak she quickly closed her mouth when she realized that she didn’t have to talk aloud for us to hear her.
*Anyone care to fill me in on who the blonde archangel who looks remarkably similar to Gehenna is?*
Memories of the conversation we had had earlier replayed in my mind, and Em nodded her head and placed a hand on Gehenna’s shoulder.
*I’m sorry, Gehenna. I know this can’t be easy for you. If it helps, Allie and I can be the ones to fight her so you do not have to.*
Gratitude flowed from the demon empress, and even though we both knew she wanted to argue, she merely nodded her head. As the enemies drew closer to us, I grinned widely at how much power I was receiving just from simply holding onto my icy wife’s hand. My regeneration went into overdrive, and my MP quickly refilled as she held onto me tightly. I flexed the muscles of my new left arm as I looked around for Gehenna’s daughter. A sudden blast of pain overwhelmed my senses as I felt through my connection a huge blade of white fire pierce through Gehenna’s chest. Darkness threatened to overtake me as my link to her was suddenly severed, and I turned around slowly to face the one who had attacked her.
Gehenna’s limp body was impaled through her chest and out the back of her armor. Blood poured liberally from the wound, and sizzled along the edge of the fiery blade. My heart started hammering in my chest and the edges of my vision began to turn red as I let loose a growl of primal rage. I could feel Emelia’s panic as my demonic fury built to a crescendo, and despite her mental urgings, I allowed the demon to take full control.
I blinked across the small distance between me and my target, and moved my head to the side to avoid a mote of fire she threw in reaction. I began to swing my sword savagely at the woman, pounding the blade against the magical shield she threw up again and again. I held my other hand out and summoned a warhammer, and began to bash both weapons against the barrier. Each time they struck, I could tell the woman was having more difficulty maintaining the spell. Finally, with a loud shattering sound, I broke her feeble defenses. Emelia had summoned a pair of shortswords made of ice and was twirling and dancing from enemy to enemy, slicing open veins and severing arteries. As the enemies surrounding her began to bleed, their blood began to freeze and they all looked down in horror as their limbs were turning to ice. I pivoted on my heel just long enough to throw the hammer in my left hand at an enemy that was in Emelia’s blindspot, and after it struck him in the side she used the distraction to slit his throat. I turned back towards the woman just in time to dodge a stab from her fiery sword. She used her momentum to swing downwards, and instead of moving out of the way I allowed the attack to strike me as I stepped closer to her. Pain bloomed on my left side as the attack cut through the muscles of my shoulder, down to sever my arm yet again. As her strike continued downwards, I released my grip on my sword and reached up to grab her wrist before her sword could cut into my side. I used every ounce of demonic strength I could summon as I squeezed down on her arm, and she let out a scream of pain as I completely crushed the bones in her arm.
The blade made of white fire disappeared as her hand went limp, and I released my hold on her wrist and swiped my claws downward and raked them down her face. After I felt the tips of my claws strike her jawbone, I reached forward and wrapped my hand around her slender neck. I let out a bestial roar as I lifted the woman up and swung her at an archangel who was rushing at me from the side. Her head smashed into his armor and I growled in satisfaction as I heard the crunch of bone. I pulled back my arm in an attempt to use my improvised weapon to bash him in the face, but I quickly dodged to the side as a trio of ice spikes impaled his head, neck, and chest. I summoned up my demonic strength again and slammed the woman’s body into the ground, breaking the stone floor as she struck it. I lifted her up and slammed her down again and again and again until I felt her body erupt into an inferno of white fire. As I leapt backwards, I quickly cast my [Coldfire] spell to put out the flames covering my hand and stared at the form of the woman as she slowly rose to her feet.
Despite the fact that her entire body was now made of white fire, I could tell that the woman was glaring at me as she took a single step backwards. She held up a single hand and pointed it at me before a swirling yellow portal appeared beside her. Before I could move to intercept the woman, she hurled a fireball directly at me and I had to throw myself down to the ground to avoid getting hit in the chest. When I jumped back up to my feet, the woman and the portal were gone.
I roared in anger and frustration, before turning my head towards a nearby archangel and blinking next to him. I tore the spear he had been holding out of his hand, spun it around with a flick of my wrist, and drove the point through his shield up into his neck. After tearing the weapon free, I hurled it at a heavily armored enemy carrying two double-bladed axes. Despite blocking it with his weapons, the force of my throw pushed him back several feet and caused him to stagger backwards slightly. Emelia stepped within his guard and stabbed and slashed him again and again in a flurry of strikes all over his body. He took a single step towards the much smaller ice mage when his wounds began to freeze. He was just about to bring one of his axes down onto the top of her head when her entire body erupted into jagged spikes of ice. The large archangel let out a small whimper as he was impaled a half-dozen times and he slowly sank to the ground as the spikes retracted back into Em’s body. I was moving as quickly as I could towards Gehenna when I heard the sound of wings behind me. I was about to reach out and grab my sword when a male voice spoke softly.
“Give her to me, Allie. I will bring her to Jade.”
I turned around as I lifted Gehenna’s body up and held it against me tightly. I flashed my fangs at the bare-chested man holding a massive glowing scythe and let out a low growl of warning as he took a step towards me. His eyes narrowed at me and I could see a blue energy surrounding him.
“Allie. She’s still alive… but won’t be for much longer. Please… Let me help her.”
Something about his tone broke through the fog of rage and anger, and I let out a gasp of pain as my emotions poured back into me. I staggered and almost fell forward with Gehenna cradled in my arms, but Scythe closed the distance between us in a fraction of a second and caught both of us in his muscular embrace. Tears began to stream down my face as I looked up at him with a pleading expression.
“Please. Please don’t let her die.”
“I won’t Allie. I promise. Now… Em needs your help to finish slaughtering everyone of the assholes who attacked the clan. Make them pay in blood for this transgression, Overlord of Corruption.”
I grinned at him widely, showing my fangs, and nodded. I gently released my grip on Gehenna and he took her from me and held her tightly against his chest. Bones pushed from his shoulder blades and quickly formed into wings as he stood up and jumped into the air. I allowed my mind to calm for a few seconds before I wrapped my hand around the grip of my nearby sword, slowly rose to my feet, and turned to face the nearest archangel.
After Emelia and I had killed nearly 80 more enemies, we watched in confusion as the rest of the archangels surrounding us began to back up slowly. A massive swirling white portal at least 100 feet tall appeared a short distance away from us, and we watched as the hulking form of a giant 75 foot armored being stepped out of it. Ethereal white light shone from underneath the creature’s armor, and the eye slits in its full helmet glowed so intensely it hurt to look at them.
*Well… Shit.*
*Yeah.”
*Suggestions?*
*Aren’t you the tactician?*
*Uhhhh I’m rethinking that title right about now.*
*You know…*
As an idea flashed in her mind I couldn’t help but grin.
*That could work.*
*Yeah… but it’s risky. We don’t know what kind of attacks this thing has.*
*Fuck it! Let’s Leroy Jenkins this shit!*
*Wait! What?! Allie, hold on!*
Instead of replying I spread my wings and blasted off the ground. I flew rapidly towards the armored figure who was still standing motionless.
“Hey! Big ugly! I’m over here, you overgrown pile of tin!”
As the creature slowly turned its armored head towards me, I quickly charged up a [Corrupting Fire] spell and tossed it at the thing’s head. The resulting explosion briefly obscured the creature’s top half from view, but as it cleared I saw that my attack had done little but leave a black scorch mark on the shiny silver surface. I watched as its eyes began to radiate light and thrum with power as it drew in energy. Two beams of blinding light shot out of the creature’s helmet and I had to fold my wings and plummet downwards to avoid being struck. As both beams struck the wall, they burned through the stone like a hot knife through butter. Before I could spread my wings to stop my descent, two more beams lanced towards me. Suddenly, a dozen walls of thick ice rose up from the ground in an effort to shield me from the attack. I watched through Emelia’s eyes as the beams of pure white light melted through one wall after another, hardly seeming to weaken or diminish in the slightest. As a last ditch effort I used Spoken Word to cast [Demonic Chains] in the hopes I could hit something and use the chain like a grappling hook to pull myself out of the way. As the beams burned through the last of the ice walls I realized that I had done something else Gehenna would have scolded me for. Time seemed to slow as I watched the blinding lances of white arcane energy streak towards me.
The last thought I had was wondering just how badly this was going to hurt.