Chapter 1152: Chapter 1151: All Out Attack (8)
Chapter 1152: Chapter 1151: All Out Attack (8)
Jahi Pov
It was beyond euphoric to feel the momentum begin to shift when those winds kicked up, that deep chill in the air dropping even more as Kat made her appearance on this grand stage of ours; her magic always acted against her usual somewhat collected and reserved composure, announcing her arrival even if she herself rarely did.
The Dogkin always tried to carry herself as this mature, put together and calm woman who was as stable as a mountain, and I appreciated her immensely for that fact, so seeing and feeling her arrive in this sort of way was always welcome.
I had a feeling this was what she wanted to be like most of the time; untethered and a force of nature that no one could control, and yet she controlled herself as best she could, even if that mask slipped whenever she got that first taste of blood.
And out here, against this overly arrogant bastard wielding axes like cudgels, she was even more welcome to make this sort of appearance as the desert around us began to frost over as snowflakes drifted down from the cyan Ritual Circle above us.
The glow of the moon bounced between the flakes and illuminated the battlefield even more, and my golden shell became even more brilliant as I launched myself forwards and slammed into the chest of the Fiend in front of me, my great sword plunging into it's ribcage and scraping along the dense bones.
It let out a grunt as it crossed its arms, trying to catch me in it's embrace as my blade found one of its organs, but the difference in size and the experience I had with this sort of hit and run fighting style meant I could avoid the clumsy grab rather easily.
This Fiend was all strength and little forte, which made me somewhat proud of myself since it was a show of how I wasn't that; Kat and the others all loved to say that Mom and I were meatheads who only knew how to utilize our strength, but this Fiend here truly had no idea what style meant.
Kicking off of its sternum and skidding across the sand a few feet away, I let its blood drip off of my blade and trickle onto the sands below as I stared up at its confused expression, watching as it shifted from confusion to rage as it let out a slightly strained bellow.
It tried to shout out something, but I wasn't listening to it as I charged forwards again and avoided the two gigantic axes that crashed into the sand, leaping into the air before the tremors could rattle my movement and landing on it's forearm as I used it as a springboard to leap upwards again.
Pointing the blade forwards, I pierced it's neck and swung myself over its shoulder, tearing through its flesh with ease as the stacking frost hindered its reaction speed while the terrible technique it possessed made this fight far easier than it had been earlier.
This was something that I had noticed amongst the Fiends, and it was something that I wanted to ask anyone who had experience with them or perhaps even a Fiend themself if my observation was just pure coincidence or if I was correct.
Were Fiends really this... perhaps not 'weak', but definitely this varied in terms of power from one another, to the point that some of them simply felt like strong mortals and nothing more?
Was I just that superior, was my gear that strong, or was my mana really giving me an edge that I wasn't really able to comprehend right now?
This just felt rather easy sometimes, and then other times it definitely felt like there was a chasm between the Fiend and I when we fought; that Tza Fiend I had faced before was definitely amongst the ones that I felt inferior to, at least for now.
That red blood filled with flakes of gold splashed across my back as I tumbled to the ground behind the Fiend, and as soon as I was able I got to my feet and flourished my blade, preparing to head in for another attack should it have some impeccable healing factor that was capable of curing a case of 'severed head'.
And yet the only thing I witnessed was a head almost as large as my torso slamming into the sand and sinking into it as the body stumbled around before dropping as well; despite being so big - and clearly so strong - this Fiend was felled rather easily, though even then I still cleaved through the skull and studied the body as I searched for any sign that it might be coming back.
With the wind whipping my hair around and the chill permeating my bones, I stood above the corpse of a Fiend yet again, and that thrill of coming out on top against something that was beyond mortal was addicting; a rush that filled me with joy and superiority as I remained standing while this Fiend died.
There wasn't time to bask in my accomplishment though, and that was made apparent as a cluster of cultists let out war cries and rushed me, their expressions twisted with a reluctant finality as they brandished their weapons.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
They knew they stood no chance, but that didn't stop them from slinging spells and approaching me in a formation that would have been favorable if they had been stronger; a shielder rushed at me from the front and swung a heavy mace towards my skull, while the two behind the shielder leapt at me from the sides.
One of them lunged for the space behind me predicting me to step back and force them all to whiff their attacks, but sadly for them I had a far simpler solution to this problem; twisting my body to the left and leading with a lowered shoulder, I bashed the shielder down and trampled them as I simply moved through them, making the other two widen their eyes in shock before they accepted their fate as my blade sliced through their armor and flesh.
The mages behind them tried to take that opportunity to break my Mana Cloak with strong spell, casting as quickly as they could and layering attacks that fed off of one another; explosions fueled by a spiraling orb of wind, compressed blasts of air that tried to attack my senses alongside my body, a coiling snake of fire that curled around my legs...
They tried everything, but the more mana I poured into the brilliant gold cloak the less their attacks did, and I only needed a handful of seconds to finish what I was doing with these three before I blitzed them next, which just led me to the next engagement.
Now that all of the Fiends were seemingly counted for - the reluctant frustration and signs I could catch from Kat were very telling - there was no need to hold back and bunker down inside of Anput's fortress, so instead we found ourselves down on the sands below and fighting tooth and nail against these cultists.
Their deaths came rather swiftly, and the deaths of the remaining two Fiends were just as swift as the previous one as they succumbed to targeted attacks from multiple people; Kat worked with Leone to blast the Nua Fiend in the back, those explosions illuminating the night sky once more, while Anput came out to help against the monstrous Fiend, trapping it beneath those metal gates and hacking away at it's body.
Rounding up the rest of the cultists only took us a minute or so as Kat made use of her wide area spell to target them efficiently while the rest of us just picked a target within view and struck them down without any worry.
Hundreds died in a crossfire of spells and blades, and it was interesting to see how easily a cluster of elite soldiers could dismantle what was technically a small army of rather decently equipped fighters.
I wasn't under the delusion that we had killed all of them, nor was I thinking that these were the strongest the Fingers had to offer, but either way the many that died here were definitely a wrench thrown into their plans, and that was a win I was more than willing to take, especially since it had taken less time than I had thought it would have.
With everything taken care of out here, we were heading into the city to round up the remaining members of the Fingers, restore order to the city and then get to work rebuilding the damage to the wall we had inflicted, and during that time we would also rest and prepare to return to the capital to further aid the rest of the Sultanate in this war it had become
ensnared in.
That was fine with me though, since these skirmishes we were going to find ourselves in would be both informational on what I needed to improve on as well as rewarding if we encountered some more Fiends like these ones.
I couldn't wait to see what Anput could whip up with another set of Fiend bones, and the idea
of new armor was getting me rather excited... so I suppose I need to be gentle with her for the next few days then...