- UNDERGROUND BURIAL CRYPT -
A shimmering white light filled the chamber before sending the creature flying backward.
The enchantments that had strengthened Vedial's gear had already dissipated when he entered the previous chamber. This had not only made him vulnerable to higher forms of physical and magic attacks, but it had also severely reduced the durability of his armour.
Pieces of Vedial's shattered gauntlet made resounding clinks as they fell to the hard floor.
"Well, this is a surprise!"
The creature stated in a melancholy tone as it got up from the ground.
Vedial clenched his wounded arm to mitigate the bleeding. The creature's red eyes keenly glared at the blood dripping from Vedial's arm.
'Nearly took my arm off...'
Since his ascension, Vedial has known Holy Knights to be the pinnacle of strength in Morland. He had traveled most of the continent quelling one threat after another, but never in all his endeavors had he been damaged by his foe.
'Perhaps that's why I awakened a new boon...'
A moment earlier.
Vedial recalled the moment when the creature had his fangs around his arm, something in him suddenly woke and gave him the power to break free from the creature's hold. Vedial then looked down at his injured arm, and a white aura began to envelop his arm.
"[Equéstria - Holy Pressure]" The aura thickened and immediately covered Vedial's entire body.
The latter was immediately pushed back several feet from [Moria's Light] radius. At first, Vedial thought it was a new skill, but as the feeling persisted in his body he realized it may have been something he had long forgotten.
'My self-defense ability, triggered by my distress.'
Since Holy Knights were bound by oath to refrain from using the full extent of their power, this has never affected any of them in their endeavors.
Vedial used to think it was due to their favorable numbers, enhanced armor, and weaponry, but even when they went to solo battles, he rarely ever used his full strength to defeat the enemy.
'But they were times like these...'
Vedial's focus returned back to the creature, its body was slowly regenerating from his previous attack, and various degradations it had before were also being repaired.
"Your blood runs strong mortal." The creature stated surprised by its sudden recovery.
Vedial's ability had triggered slightly slower and allowed the creature to covet a few drops of blood from him.
'Blasted leech!'
Regardless of the current outcome, Vedial was glad that most of his strength had returned and he could now fight back.
"You are an emoiran, aren't you?" Vedial asked the creature.
The creature stopped in its tracks for a moment, it appeared as though it was meditating on the question Vedial had asked. The creature was standing within [Moria's Light] and as its flesh burned from the light, it responded to him.
"Once upon a time we were numerous on the surface, but we were not referred to as Emoirans..."
The burns on the creature suddenly stopped and they immediately began to recede. The creature was out healing the damage from [Moria's Light] now.
Vedial immediately recalled ancient texts from a bestiary he found in Tazur's great library, it was a record made by a lone adventurer who encountered a similar creature.
'No. This was no mere creature. This is a fiend.'
Masquerading as mortals, these fiends would live off the flesh of mortals, taking and wearing their skin as one would wear a garment.
These monsters were known to possess a colorful array of abilities which they used to carry out various atrocities towards mortal kind.
'There was no mistake...'
Vedial realized that everything that had happened since they entered this mysterious tomb had not been a coincidence, it had all already been calculated by unknown forces. From the collapse of the floor, the separation with Reginald, and the enchantments on their armors disabling.
"A'eria..."
The emoiran blurted as it gazed at [Moria's Light] hanging right above Vedial's head.
"[Haém Grudge - Blood Burden]!" The emoiran raised one of its slim hands above its head and then proceeded to form a fist which it slammed into the ground.
A dark red magic circle appeared beneath Vedial and instantly lit up with a dreary glow. But before he could react, Vedial suddenly felt his body become heavy, his mind started to get clouded as his breathing grew faint.
A dark crimson aura began to eat at his bright white aura as Vedial's body continued to grow weak.
'Gravity magic? No, it has to be something worse...'
Vedial took out his sword and drove it into the ground to keep himself steady. At that moment, he realized that if he were to lose his balance and fall now, it would be the end for him.
"You won't get me that easily."
Like a reverberating chant in his mind, Vedial heard words similar to the ones he had heard earlier when he unleashed his aura.
"[Equéstria - Flouris Expiria]!"
All of a sudden Vedial feels a deep desire to free his body from this temporary imprisonment begin to grow inside him. This feeling is immediately followed by a burst of light that expands from his body.
This light is similar to [Moria's Light] and as it expands it burns through the dark red aura that was afflicting Vedial with weakness, then it shatters the magic circle that was causing the negative effects.
"It happened again..." Vedial murmured with relief.
Vedial looked down at his sword hand and wondered if this was the saving grace from Moria.
'Does the lady know of my trouble? That she empowers me to quell this threat?'
This was a sign.
Vedial could no longer stand in his doubt, if this was not certain confirmation of Moria's will, then what could it be?
Concentrate.
Vedial quickly took a comfortable stance and called forth the power that was brewing within his body.
"This light... it's similar to A'eria!"
'A'eria, he keeps repeating that...'
"Where did you get this light mortal? Where is A'eria?"
Unsure of who the emoiran meant Vedial remained silent not sure how to answer, this triggered the emoiran to respond with a degraded smirk. Vedial could only imagine what was on the fiend's mind.
"I will bury you emoiran!" Vedial exclaimed and then grit his teeth.
The holy light that was hovering above his head was starting to fade, Vedial would have to make this quick and end the emoiran before the light dissipated. Vedial tightened the grip on his sword and immediately charged the fiend.
"[Equéstria - Effulgent Eminence]!" With a lunging strike, Vedial threw himself and his sword at the emoiran as his body took on a luminance appearance like the sun. "I will send you back to the depths from whence you came!"
With a glimmering flick of his sword, one of the emoiran's ears fell off and was burnt up in the air before touching the ground.
"Gah! I will have your blood for this!" The emoiran screeched as it had barely evaded Vedial's first strike.
Vedial knew the emoiran had not taken enough blood from him to pose as a threat, but he had to be careful not to let it grab him again. He quickly struck at the emoiran a few more times before landing a shallow slash on its abdomen.
The emoiran screeches in pain before transforming into a shadow and retreating to the darker parts of the cave.
"You won't get away!" Vedial exclaims furiously.
Vedial rushes toward the emoiran, but before he could land a definite strike, the light from the ability [Moria's Light] dissipates. Having already used this ability, Vedial would not be able to activate it again today.
"Your protection has vanished mortal!" The fiend sneered at Vedial as its physical form reappeared from the shadows.
"That holy light did nothing but light my path in the dark." Vedial started. "[Moria's Light] might not be here anymore, but my faith in her remains bright as the morning star!"
Vedial's movements escalated instantly that in the blink of an eye, he immediately traversed the distance between the two and was now standing right in front of the emoiran. By the time the emoiran could trace his movements, it was already too late.
"Gaah! How?!"
Vedial's sword had plunged through the creature's chest and impaled its withered body to the wall of the tomb.
"You won't be coming back this time!" Vedial twisted the sword and slashed sideways ripping through the emoiran's ribcage.
Spurts of muddy blood came spilling out of the emoiran's chest, the creature tried to stretch its arm toward Vedial but its dying body would not let it. Vedial could breathe easy now that the emoiran's lifeless body had ceased to move.
"A'eria..." The emoiran whispered.
Vedial could feel his aura leave his body, it appeared that after that last-ditch attack, Vedial noticed his sudden loss of breath. This was another unfamiliar feeling he had experienced today, it felt strange for him to actually strain himself.
Falling pebbles on the stairs signaled Reginald's arrival. He appeared with a light from his own [Moria's Light], in his hands was his scabbard, dirt-ridden from his efforts at digging through the ceiling collapse.
Vedial wanted to let his guard down for a moment, however, he could not bring himself to relax after what he had faced in this tomb.
"Lieutenant!"
Reginald suddenly stopped in his tracks, Vedial could only assume that he must have been stunned at the sight of his Sire looking battered. However, Reginald immediately rushed to Vedial's side and began using healing magic on him.
"I heard the sound of a battle! What happened here?" Reginald finally asked.
Vedial sat down on a rock and let Reginald's healing magic restore his vitality, he could feel it had been slowly draining away since the bite from the emoiran.
'So that's how he was regenerating...'
"What happened Lieutenant?" Reginald asked after he was done healing Vedial.
"Tell me, have you ever heard the word A'eria?" Vedial ignored Reginald's concerns and replied with a query of his own.
"A'eria?" Reginald paused. "You mean that ancient kingdom. What of it?"
"Is that where the emoirans came from? The creature that I battled seemed to know of it." Vedial explained briefly.
"But the Emoirans and the A'erians were..."
Vedial glanced at Reginald indicating to him that he already knew what he was about to say.
Vedial pondered.
The A'erians were an older race of mortals, his great-grandfather Emperor Gherial encountered them shortly after he had made the first settlements in Tazur and Mayur.
Their primitive nature had made them aggressive to all outsiders, however, what made them even truly dangerous was the various types of magic that they were capable of using.
Sadly for them, Emperor Gherial was on a quest to create a new home for his people, so not even savages wielding ancient magic would not stand in his way.
Especially not with Moria by his side.
"Lieutenant I wanted to show you something." Reginald's gaze turned to the stairs. "I managed to translate more of the text on the walls."
"Perfect, maybe we can figure out why these emoirans are here."
With Reginald's healing magic, Vedial's vitality had been restored. However, it would take a while longer for his stamina to return. The two Holy Knights went up the stairs of the entrance to the tomb where the ancient texts had been inscribed.
"Over here!" Reginald picked up a chunk of the broken door. "Here it says... Alas our ancient arts could not match our invaders. Their might prevailed against our magicks, their numbers engulf us like fog."
"That's it?"
"No. Here it says... The elders ask the druids for assistance, for more potent magicks not to save our people, but to preserve what is left." Reginald fumbled around in the semi-darkness and finds another piece of the broken door and proceeds to read on. "Unfortunately, the texts continue a few events during the war."
"Let's hear it."
"The birth of this warrior is our last salvation, fifty warriors in one, with the lack of mortals we can only have so many. However, their taste for our enemy's blood is enough to bring us some hope. Though others have found this frightening." Reginald explained.
Vedial was now starting to piece the events of what had occurred together, the war had raged for months, and the invaders, his great-grandfather were starting to get repelled by the new breed of warriors. However, as their enemies grew keener on the new threat, new heroes rose among them.
"Hanvial the Fangbreaker." Vedial stated.
"Exactly, the one that slew ten emoirans in one battle." Reginald agreed weakly.
"In the end, the very heroes we praised were no more than villains on the other side." Vedial voiced his squire's thoughts. "So what happened to the emoirans?"
"The last text I deciphered said they were consumed by their own power." Reginald concluded.
There was no denying what the ancient texts said, even the ones in Tazur held true to a similar story. Vedial's ancestors invaded the mortals that once occupied this continent, subjugated its inhabitants, and took the land for themselves.
"We need to contact the Empire..."
Thud**
A loud thud indicated the falling of a large object in the burial crypt, this was followed by another, and another, and another.