Chapter 196: The Emperor
Chapter 196: The Emperor
"What the hell was that Nevus! It looked like a meteor falling down on to Aznur!" Regis exclaimed, a hint of nervousness in his voice. The falling star was most likely an attack from an Advanced Rank enemy, but Regis was not eager to admit it, since admitting so would involve accepting that the invaders were truly powerful, and the Empire was really at risk
"Come on Regis, don't play dumb. We both know that it's likely an attack from one of the invaders. Of course they'd at least have one fighter at the Advanced Rank." Nevus' spear was already in his hand, it was almost two meters in length, the blade itself almost a good quarter of its length. The blade was a deep turquoise color., with streaks of green and blue throughout.
"You're right, we'll go all out from the beginning. They won't even know what hit them." Regis gave Nevus a fierce grin as they galloped onward, Reis also swinging his weapon off of his back and into his hand, an enormous broadsword, rivaling Nevus' spear in size.
The blade was thick, and the metal had a purplish hue to it, which upon closer inspection, was actually many tiny flecks of red and blue within the metal.
"No! We have to fly now! Come, Regis, the Emperor needs us!" Nevus yelled out, Regis' was initially confused as Nevus' sight was far better than his, but as Nevus spoke Regis' face turned to concern and anger.
Nevus became surrounded by a glowing turquoise aura, leaping up into the air from the back of his horse and taking flight, as a pair of glowing turquoise wings formed.at his back.
Regis turned to the thousands of soldiers riding behind them.
"Duran! Hubar! You two are in charge, we must fly ahead!" Regis also leaped into the air from his horse, as a deep purple colored aura formed around him and he took flight, lagging slightly behind Nevus,
-----
Only a few minutes before the Storm Generals began flying toward Aznur, within the breach of the great wall of Aznur, the Emperor had arrived to battle the invading forces.
As soon as the Emperor had taken flight, both Tam and Anteris had flown into the air to match him, otherwise he would have free rein to attack the many Ursten soldiers below.
Without giving him even the slightest moment to prepare, Tam and Anteris began an onslaught of attacks against the Emperor.
Anteris initiated it, sending a pillar of flame stabbing toward the Emperor, who quickly dodged it with a flap of his wings, but then found a furious Tam waiting for him, slashing out at him with his curved sword.
Facing two opponents, the Emperor had no time to defend himself, and Tam's first attack made contact, tearing through his aura and into the breastplate of the Emperor's armor, leaving a bleeding gash in the Emperor's chest.
The slash sent the Emperor hurtling through the air, and his face turned pale beneath his lion head helm, but he didn't even have the slightest moment to recover, before an enormous spear of flame came lancing toward him, slamming following his every move.
The Emperor blocked the fiery spear with a barrier of light, but once again, Tam was waiting, this time slicing out toward the Emperor's right arm, which he held his sword in.
Tam's sword sliced deep into the Emperor's shoulder, cutting deep into the joint, half severing the arm.
Blood poured out from the wound, adding to the blood and gore that was already splattered all over the Emperor's armor.
Anteris and Tam continued their barrage of attacks against the Emperor, Anteris attacking from afar and Tam using his superior speed to dart in and out of the Emperor's range, leaving a wound behind with every slash and stab, reducing the shining armor the Emperor wore to a damaged wreck.
The people of Anzur watched in horror as their ruler was reduced to a practice dummy for the invaders, rag dolling through the air as he was struck by attack after attack, gradually being covered in more and more burns and wounds.
But even though he was taking such an enormous amount of damage and was constantly losing blood, the resilience of an individual at the Advanced Rank was to such a degree that the emperor remained conscious, minimizing the damage by shifting his body at the last moment before the attacks struck.
The sound of a horn resounded all across Aznur, cutting through the explosions, clashing of blades and screams of the wounded.
Serena had spotted the thunderclouds rolling into the city, as well as the enormous column of men riding beneath them, and had sounded the alarm.
The three winged combatants looked over to the source of the sound, and as Anteris' and Tam's faces fell, the Emperor began to smile, as he looked up and saw the cloud rolling in.
"Nevus, Regis, you did not disappoint me." He whispered, a tired smile on his face, wheezing slightly due to his cracked ribs.
"Finish him off, Anteris! Destroy their morale before they get here!" Tam roared, his voice hoarse, he knew that if they didn't seize this opportunity to slay the Emperor, then the Imperials would rally around him.
"*******This man's like a cockroach! Look at the state of him, I've been hitting him with attack after attack, but he keeps flying!" Anteris yelled back, even as he sent a twisting tornado of flame whipping toward the Emperor.
Tam sent a flurry of slashes at the Emperor as he was surrounded by the twisting column of flame, the fire burning away at his aura and the slashes slamming into his armor, one after the other,
"Aargh!" The Emperor let out a strangled yell, he had taken the attacks so far without even the slightest sigh, but this flurry of slashes had cut deep.
Tam continued to send out attack after attack, guided by his sense of the Emperor's mana alone, as the flames continued to spin, obscuring him from sight.