Shadowbane

The Tengu leaps backward toward the goblins and slams one end of its staff down on top of them. The goblins had seemingly evaded the strike, but moments after the staff pierced the ground an explosion from below launched them in a myriad of different directions. Some were launched far enough to even land near me, while a few others had crashed mere feet before the knights. The knights completely ignored the goblins, keeping their focus entirely on the Tengu.

Damn am I glad to see that. If they're not going to attack the goblins, then they're definitely not going to attack me. Not yet anyway, but that's fine. I'm just happy to see that their commander knows when to pick his battles, and he obviously knows who the true threat here is. It was unlikely that trained warriors like them would do something as stupid as fighting the goblins right now, but I don't know how deep their hatred of each other is.

Albel stands up from his meditation and proceeds to bombard the Tengu again. Glancing back, I see that Seifer is keeping the caravan safe while Keith knocks out all the villagers trying to attack Cera.

Excellent... Thanks to Keith she'll be able to attack the Tengu again.

The goblins on the ground near me stand back up and begin shooting arrows at the Tengu. As they hit his barrier they erupt into an explosion of electricity.

Interesting... That's not what they were using against the knights earlier. Considering they came here to fight the monster from earlier, they must have grabbed their best ammo designed for taking down powerful targets.

The Tengu's wings light up.

Ahh shit here we go... With Ishar down for the count, there's really no way of stopping him from relocating anytime he wants. Unless one of the new arrivals can?

The Tengu begins flying towards the knights but the goblin mages all point their staffs directly at him, causing him to lose speed tremendously. The Tengu raises his staff at the goblins and is immediately smashed by something powerful from the knight's direction, propelling him back to where he was before. Before he hits the ground he tries steadying himself with his staff, but another loud bang rings out as a large orb of energy strikes his back, causing him to topple forward into the goblins.

All the large goblins quickly run to the front of the pack and punch the Tengu right in his face, cranking his head all the way back, making him fly backward toward the ground instead. Right before the Tengu's head smashes into the ground, he drops the staff and stretches his arms out in front of him and promptly swings them toward the ground. It sounded like a massive explosion rang out as both his fists slammed into the ground, propelling himself back onto his feet, where he quickly picked up his staff and dashed towards the knights again.

Having just repelled him moments ago, they weren't prepared for another assault so quickly. But the goblin mages were continuing to slow the Tengu down so he was unable to reach the knights before they could break out of their mass channeling pose. Scattering, most of them were able to dodge the overhead strike with his staff. However, instead of the ground erupting like before, this time a large wave of fire blasted out in all directions. The knight's barriers blocked it, but from the looks of things, nearly all of them had shattered just for that attack alone.

{Why did he attack the knights instead of the goblins who were close by?}

"Probably because the knights are channeling as one. The goblins are a threat no doubt, I'd even say they're a bigger one considering their numbers and those arrows they are using, but by attacking the knights he's able to break them up, preventing them from pouring their mana into a single spell. Also, the knights and Cera are the only ones who can stop the Tengu from channeling another spell like that fiery disc from earlier."

And Cera just used her ability so she's going to need time to charge another. The knights were also just broken up, which probably means...

The Tengu raises his staff into the air again, except this time it's sideways instead of pointing up toward the sky.

Yep, here it comes... God damnit, there's nothing I have that can stop this.

The Tengu begins twirling the staff, but before he can ramp up whatever spell he's casting, a massive gust of wind sweeps his feet out from underneath him, causing him to topple to the ground. One of the skeletons near him just so happened to run out of ammo as the Tengu came crashing down, so it began beating him with the gun in its hands.

Ugh... Sometimes they're not the brightest.

Reaching out, I tell that skeleton to come get more ammo as it's supposed to. It immediately turns around and sprints in my direction. The Lich(who is still hiding with Nisha) speed-boosted the skeleton the moment it began running, so it was back here reloading in no time at all.

{Is that Tyra's ability? Wind?}

"Yeah, but when we were in the mountains she ran out of mana fast using wind that powerful. I didn't see her till now so she must have been meditating to get her mana back from the initial attack."

Mere moments ago I told Aresa that the knights and Cera were the only ones who could prevent him from channeling, because I figured that wind attack only worked since it caught the Tengu off guard, but it looks like that's not the case. He's going to have to deal with her as well if he wants to cast another spell that requires channeling.

As soon as the Tengu hit the ground everyone but the knights attacked it. The knights ran into a huddle and began channeling something again while the goblin mages cast some kind of spell that sped up everyone around them. The goblins over there began shooting at twice the speed the goblins near me were, while the large goblins pummeled into the Tengu's barrier. It was then that I started to notice little cracks forming along his barrier. Whether the others noticed it I don't know, but I know the Tengu noticed it because he began wildly thrashing around like an animal, crushing all those engaging him up close(mostly the large goblins).

The Tengu suddenly stopped moving, looking right at the knights as he dug his fingers deep into the ground. He switched from thrashing around to launching himself at the knights so quickly that the goblin mages had no time to swap from their haste spell to the slow debuff they were using before. It took maybe one second for him to reach the knights who had already realized they weren't going to dodge in time, so instead they chose to fire off another powerful beam attack, hitting the Tengu right in his face, causing even larger cracks to form along his barrier.

That was their last contribution to this fight sadly. The Tengu punched them so hard with a left hook that they went flying into the mountains like Ishar did earlier, except they hit it at an angle. I could see a line of snow falling off the mountain as they skimmed across it until they were completely out of view.

Shockingly they're alive. I can tell they survived because they were all casting something along the mountain as they slid, some kind of light spell. Something that can slow them down I assume, but there is no way in hell they have much mana left after taking a blow like that while they were enhanced. And the impact alone, my god... I can only imagine how many bones they broke. Some of them are going to need emergency aid as well if any of their organs were ruptured or pierced by bones.

The Tengu whipped his head back and forth looking for someone else, but there was no one around.

He's obviously looking for Tyra, but he can't find her? I can still see Tyra. She's buried herself in a small pile of snow about fifty feet from him, but it seems that he can't see her... Very interesting indeed. His eyesight must be rather basic. As a result, he probably relies on his soul sense to find people, and that's not doing him any good right now since she's currently meditating, which masques your presence by default.

Standing up, the Tengu leaps backward toward his staff, but the goblins are slowing him again so he barely makes it halfway there before landing. I couldn't help but laugh a little when I saw the look of pure annoyance on his face as he glared at the mages.

{You're laughing in this situation...?}

Yes, because it is funny. It reminded me of that one knight dying while saying 'Fucking... Goblins...' and it made the situation even more hilarious. They do seem really annoying to fight after all. Speaking of which, those large goblins that died earlier are really tempting me, I wonder if they'll uh...

"Hey, goblin archers! Would your people care if I used the corpses of those large goblins to create more skeletons?" I yelled at the two archers in front of me.

They merely glanced at me before looking at each other and shrugging.

Err, I guess that's an okay then? I know that Teifa girl said something about saving their souls, so I'll toss those to the side and not absorb them.

Reaching out, I tell the two skeletons closest to the corpses to carry them back to the Lich. Tossing their guns to the side, they run over and pick the corpses up with ease thanks to the Lich's buffs. The Tengu looked at them for only a second before picking up his staff and focusing his attention back on the goblins. That was unfortunately the moment that all the skeletons finally ran out of ammo.

"Aresa, how much longer can you keep going? The bullets are exhausted, so I can either make them some basic melee weapons or bows and arrows from blood, but the ranged version will consume a lot more mana, while the melee version honestly makes them not all that useful in this battle. The last option is to make them blow up on the Tengu but that'll cost even more since if we want to replace them."

{Fifteen minutes. Those large goblins your Lich just touched drained a lot out of me.}

And if I make a bunch of ranged weapons it'll probably cut that in half too, and it might even be pointless. If the Tengu destroys the skeletons and the arrows, then it was all for nothing... Screw it, I'll just make them blow up. His barrier is failing, so we're nearing the end anyway.

The Tengu pulled his staff back over his right shoulder, but instead of swinging it at the goblins, he turned to the left and released a solidified blade of air that glided over the knight's previous location, causing all of the snow around it to blow away. Having been revealed, Tyra jumped up and prepared herself for whatever came next.

This is when I told my skeletons to blow up on the Tengu. With their speed buffed, they sprinted towards him while the cores in their chest lit up a bright orange. Without sparing them a glance, the Tengu pointed his staff at Tyra as a bright green light wrapped around the end of it. The skeletons began blowing up on his legs before he could finish casting the spell, which he continued to ignore until his barrier shattered around him. Now that nothing was stopping them, the goblin's lightning arrows landed all over him.

The two goblins near me laughed while tossing aside their main quill which was nearly empty. In its place, they began using their other quill, which only had ten or so arrows in it. The first volley landed on the Tengu, but I couldn't see any elemental effects flare up anywhere.

{I feel something weird from those arrows, but I can't quite tell what it is.}

I don't sense anything. If Aresa feels something is off though, then there must be special about those arrows. They were laughing too just like when that knight was poisoned, so maybe it's poison again? But the Tengu is massive... You'd need a hell of a lot of poison to affect him, and that's assuming it even can affect him.

Aresa winced behind me as the Lich created a new army of skeletons.

Whether he was bothered by his barrier breaking is unknown, because the Tengu took everything that was hitting him without flinching even a little, continuing to cast his spell aimed at Tyra. The next thing I knew she was falling down onto the snow while a large amount of blood gushed out of the right side of her stomach. I could see a very small green spear expanding out of the Tengu's staff. Apparently he had pierced her stomach and was currently in the process of whipping it to the left. It was all moving in slow motion for me as the barely perceptible spear whipped past me about ten feet above my head, going straight through Albel's torso.

"S-Shit..." I barely heard Albel say, as both him and the tree split in two, falling right onto the ground.

I could feel Aresa's grip around my neck tighten.

{R-Rei, Albel is...}

... I know. Neither he nor Nisha could respond to that, as he was cut in half almost instantly. Yet another person they'll have to revive, but I imagine this death is still going to hurt Nisha quite a bit.

From behind I could hear Keith curse as he ran up to Albel, bending down near the top half of his friend and saying something I couldn't hear. After burying his face into his hands for a moment, Keith walks over to me as a new wave of skeletons runs past us toward the Tengu.

"... Cera is fine, she dodged it somehow despite being at the same height Albel was." After saying his peace, he turns and follows behind the skeletons.

I nodded before he left, unsure of what to say. Not that there was time to chat anyway, which is why he left his friend's corpse as it was. There's still a battle to be won after all.

{Rei, why is he relocating?}

Looking at the Tengu, I see his wings are lit up again as he flies far off to the right(where Ishar was earlier).

That is rather strange... He was in range to take the goblins out, and it's not like this distance is preventing them from shooting him. I still see arrows sticking deep into his feathers and limbs.

The Tengu then began twirling his staff above his head again. Another shot rang out, but this time the Tengu dropped down and dodged it, quickly bouncing back onto his feet to continue twirling his staff. Slowly but surely, I could feel something akin to a vortex pulling me towards him, and it was ramping up fast. The smaller goblins near me had already lost their footing and began sliding towards the Tengu. They tried to stop themselves but couldn't get a grip on anything. Keith stabbed his sword into the ground, biding his time, while the goblin group off to the left all began sliding along the ground as well.

{Rei! What are you going to do?!}

"Nothing."

{Nothing?!}

"That's right, we're not here to personally engage it. Now lend me some mana when you feel me enhance myself."

Enhancing my right foot I smash it into the ground and then proceed to the same with my left foot.

The pull continues to get stronger and stronger, to the point the goblins are moving at probably thirty miles an hour towards the Tengu, but he's also pulling in things that he probably shouldn't be bringing to himself. The skeletons willingly go along with the flow, running along the ground as both the Lich and Tengu increase their speed. Right before they reach him they all leap into the air directly at his torso, and the Tengu responds by raising his left hand at them, palm out, but before I can see what he has planned, a loud shout sounds out behind him, freezing the Tengu completely.

{Ishar!}

How in the hell is he still moving after that hit from earlier? The bastard must be built like a rock.

Thanks to the Tengu freezing up, his vortex stopped as well, making the skeletons drop lower than they intended. One by one they latched onto his right leg and exploded together all at once just as Ishar's stun wears off. The Tengu roared in pain as he dropped to one knee, but he kept his focus and immediately slammed his staff into the ground. No explosion rang out this time, instead something else began pulsing through the dirt. I could feel a strange wavy aura ripple out underneath me. And at the same time as the pulses began, a blizzard appeared around the Tengu in the form of a sphere, spinning faster and faster as it ramped up in speed.

{Rei, you need to stop that! My soul is rattling every time that pulse hits me!}

So she says, but all I have left are the large goblin skeletons that are running towards him now. I also see a few of Shana's clones running along them, so it looks like she was finally able to produce a few more.

All of the goblin's arrows were being swept up in the storm, unable to pierce its strong winds. Meanwhile, Keith was still standing stoic in the same spot with his sword pierced into the dirt. After concentrating on him a little I'm able to see an extremely condensed aura donning his body with little blue streaks going through it.

{Rei, please keep an eye on Shana's clones, she's going to start soon. Once she opens up a hole, move your goblins through.}

Near the blizzard, I can see Shana's clones press themselves up against each other. With one hand they're holding each other, while their other hand is pushed together palm out towards the Tengu, much in the way he was aiming at my skeletons earlier. I can barely see it, but the hands they're interlocking are doing some kind of sign motions. Soon after, a small green ball flies out of their palms right into the blizzard.

{Here it comes!}

I tell the Goblin skeletons to enter a sprinting pose like the one I saw back during the battle in the cavern. Seeing this, the goblin mages nearby cast several different buffs on them as the Lich gives them my usual speed and strength buff. With little fanfare, a massive hole expands out from where the green orb pierced the storm. The over-buffed large goblins quite literally disappeared as they sprinted forward. A loud banging sound rang out as the blizzard disappeared and the Tengu came toppling down sideways. His right leg is still mangled from when my skeletons blew it up, but now his left foot has been completely snapped to the right as well.

The Tengu tries raising his right arm at the goblins but it is visibly shaking. He barely managed to raise it up about ten feet when his arm suddenly went slack. He stared at his palm, watching it shake uncontrollably. The snickering from the goblins made it painfully obvious who was responsible for the Tengu losing control of his body.

{Poison?}

"Yeah... Most likely."

The Tengu whips his head toward the sky. Moments later he tries to raise his arms in a futile attempt to block something, but it was far too slow. Keith dropped down from directly above the Tengu, piercing him right through his skull. The Tengu Lord's arms dropped to his side, as he finally went silent for good.