CHAPTER 17 - "A Former Knight"
This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki
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-Siegfried and Azure had just arrived in the outskirts of Oakheart, and were greeted by Rigel, one of the Void Stars of the Dark Mage's Cult. Rigel offered to break Siegfried's curse, as long as he agreed to join their agenda. Siegfried declined his offer, and Rigel summoned ten of his dark mages to help aid in the upcoming battle between the two. Things are looking grim for Siegfried, however, he has a trump card up his sleeve.
Rigel: "As you can see, Siegfried, I came prepared. As it sits, my party is nearly 100x stronger than yours. I see no possible way you could win against me."
Siegfried: "100x stronger? Where'd you come up with that number? Or did you just pull it out of your ass, Rigel?"
Rigel: "Shut up Siegfried! It's a figure of speech! You're screwed is what I'm saying! I gave you all the chances in the world to join me, and you've flushed every single one of them down the toilet!"
Siegfried: "I simply do not have the time, or want, to join whatever it is that you're about, Rigel. I have an agenda of my own, and I want to focus on that."
Rigel: "Your agenda is destined to fail, Siegfried. I'm going to put a stop to it, right here, right now. Enough stalling, it's time for us to do battle. Although, I don't see this as much of a fair fight. Regardless, orders are orders, bring it on!"
Siegfried: "Wait, did you say orders-"
-Rigel then lowered his hood and removed his mask. He had short white hair and brown eyes. He looked at Siegfried and smiled. He then drew his Akuma-horn wand-
Rigel: "OL-CAECUS!"
-Suddenly, Rigel cast a blinding spell at Siegfried, Siegfried slid to the ground and dodged it, the spell hit a tree and pierced through it-
Siegfried: "Whoa, that's a powerful spell, it practically pierced that tree over there... perhaps I should try a spell of my own, let's see if this even does anything anymore..."
Siegfried: "Sphaera!"
-Siegfried's aura changed to match that of Rigel's, the aura of a ghost flying about. Rigel looked at Siegfried, confused, and began to laugh.
Rigel to himself: "He knows magic? Perhaps he's more dangerous than I thought."
Rigel aloud: "Hah, I can see right through your aura shifting spell, Siegfried. To be honest, I had no idea you were even capable of performing magic! I was told you were a brand new adventurer."
Siegfried: "Well, whoever told you about me told you wrong. I happen to know a few spells other than sphaera, too, Rigel."
Rigel: "We'll see, Siegfried, let's see if you can dodge this! RI-FERRUM!"
-Rigel cast a spell toward Azure, the black blade spun through the air as it made its way toward her-
Azure: "WHOA, THAT'S FAST!"
Siegfried: "Watch out Azure-san!"
-Azure, dodging out of the way of Rigel's spell, looked at Siegfried, confused-
Azure: "Seigi-kun!? What do you mean you know more spells? You were only taught sphaera... did you happen to pick up another spell at the campsite or something?"
Siegfried: "I'll show you soon, Azure-san."
-The ten dark mages then suddenly collected their power and cast one large-scale spell at the party-
Dark Mages: "NUBES!"
-A dark cloud began to make its way toward Siegfried, this was a suffocation spell. If the party was caught in the cloud, the air would be sucked from their lungs! Azure stepped in front of Siegfried, and cast an advanced air spell to clear the cloud.
Azure: "Watch out Siegfried!"
Azure: "RI-VENTUS!"
-Azure cast a gust spell, which sends a large wall of wind toward your opponent. The cloud was dissipated, and Rigel fell over. Azure then ran toward Rigel, and cast another spell-
Azure: "VOLVUN!"
-Volvun is a spell that wraps your opponent's body in a whirlwind and throws them. Rigel was lifted off of his feet and thrown across the grass.
Rigel: "OOF!"
Rigel: "Ah, damn, that's a pretty powerful spell now that I think about it. Man, I should ask Deneb what he's capable of."
-Rigel stood up and waved the dark mages over to where Azure was standing-
Azure: "Ummm, Siegfried, these mages are giving me weird looks, think you could demonstrate one of those spells right about now?? Sirgfrieddd?"
Siegfried to himself: "Shit, Rigel's playing it safe, trying to apprehend Azure before damaging me in any way... I can only call upon Camriel when my life is in danger, so saying the words now would do nothing for me... what do I do?"
Siegfried: "Hang on Azure-san!"
-Siegfried had no wand with him, so he couldn't cast any combative spells, only neutral spells. To make matters worse, he truly only knew how to cast Sphaera! For now, he would have to distract the mages-
Siegfried: "Hey, you lot of hooded bums, look this way!"
-The ten dark mages turned their attention to Siegfried, and aimed their wands at him. Siegfried glanced at Azure and nodded to her, she looked at Siegfried, and pulled her wand out-
Azure: "EX-VENTUS!"
-Azure cast an even more powerful wind spell, the most powerful one available to her. The wall of wind barreled through the dark mages, sending them flying across the grasslands. Rigel was then overcome by the strong gusts of wind that soon followed, and fell to the ground again-
Dark Mages: "WAAAAAA!"
Rigel: "ARGH! *boom*"
Siegfried: "Holy shit, Azure, you're strong!"
Azure: "I know! Siegfried, do you have any weapons at all that you could use against Rigel? You said you were skilled with the sword, right?"
-Siegfried pondered his options. He had no access to a sword, however, they were close enough to Oakheart, perhaps there could be a weapon in there for Siegfried to use. Siegfried looked at Azure and said-
Siegfried: "Azure-san! While your wind spell dissipates, follow me! Rigel is down and overcome by the gusts, let's make a run for it to Oakheart and find a sword for me to use! I'm sure they'll have one!"
Azure: "But your curse clock! You're running low on time! THE SUN IS RISING!"
Siegfried: "Just follow me, Azure-san!"
Azure: "Woa! Wo-OKAY SIEGFRIED!"
-Rigel noticed the party making a run for Oakheart. He knew that if they managed to get in, that the battle would become much more challenging for him, as surely there would be a weapon for Siegfried to use in there. The time was approaching 5:00 AM, the sun was beginning to rise.
Rigel: "GET YOUR ASSES UP YOU FAILURES, GO GET THEM BEFORE THEY GET TO OAKHEART!"
Dark Mages: "YES SIR!"
Rigel to himself: "She's stronger than I imagined, I'm going to have to take her down ASAP."
Siegfried: "Azure-san, AZURE, RIGEL IS BEHIND US!"
Azure: "Hang on, Siegfried!"
Azure: "VASTI!"
-Azure turned around and cast a spell at Rigel. Vasti is a spell that causes a slight headwind to affect your opponent, slowing their movement until it dissipates.
Rigel: "Ah, more wind spells? Is that all this damn girl knows? I thought she was a water mage! What gives?"
Azure: "OL-AMNIS!"
-Suddenly, Azure cast another spell. Amnis is a water spell that causes a stream of water to expel itself from your wand, hitting your opponent and dealing damage. Venium is a similar spell, causing a stream of poison to expel itself from your wand.
Rigel: "-- --"
Rigel: "Well, there's the water spell I asked for. Damnit, they're getting away! MAGES, AFTER THEM!"
Dark Mages: "Ri-Blink!"
-The dark mages teleported themselves in front of the entrance to Oakheart-
Siegfried: "Azure-san! The mages teleported! We're going to have to barrel through them again! Do you have one more wind spell in you? We're almost to the entrance!"
Azure: "Yes, Siegfried! Allow me!"
Azure: "OL-VENTUS!"
-Azure cast one more wind spell toward the dark mages, and they were flung over the city's walls!
People inside Oakheart: "AHHH! WHAT'S GOING ON, WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!"
Siegfried: "Let's go, Azure! The entrance is right here!"
Azure: "I'm right behind you, Seigi-kun!"
-The pair made their way into the town of Oakheart. It was a small town, but it was bustling with merchants and adventurers from all over the province. Rigel stopped at the gate, and walked in.
Rigel: "MAGES, please, get up. Follow me, we're going to blend in until Siegfried and Azure return. OL-SPHAERA!"
-Rigel shifted his aura to that of a brown bear, and the mages soon followed suit. They entered the town-
Siegfried: "Azure-san! There's a weapons shop right over there! Let's find a sword, and fast!"
Azure: "Okay, Siegfried!"
-Siegfried and Azure ran into a weapons shop and were greeted by a tall burly man with reddish-gray hair, wearing chainmail armor. He had the aura of a master swordsman slashing through the woods. He looked at them, concerned, and asked-
???: "What brings you two into my shop so erratically? How can I help?"
Siegfried: "There's no time to explain, sir! There's a dark mage cultist in your town, and I need a sword, any sword, to take him down! Please!"
-The man looked Siegfried in his eyes, his aura became stronger-
???: "A cultist? Boy, you should just let me handle this, I've fought off many dark mages in my prime days as an adventurer, I can take him on for ya! Lead me to him!"
Siegfried: "No, you don't understand! This cultist is POWERFUL, his clothes are different than the rest of the mages he brought along with him."
???: "My boy, did you say he brought more dark mages with him?"
Siegfried: "YES, HE HAS TEN OF THEM."
???: "-- --"
???: "ten... boy, do you realize who I am?"
-The burly man looked at the pair and gave a hearty laugh. He then picked up a large claymore off of the wall, its blade shined brilliantly. He turned to them, and said-
???: "My name is Jurgen. I am a retired knight of the League of Knights. Although I may be getting old, my heart still burns with the passion for the League! I was a high-ranking member of the league, with over 700 confirmed kills. I should have no issue..."
Siegfried: "It's nice to meet you Jurgen, I'm Siegfried, and this is my party member Azure-san. It's a bit more reassuring to know your past, however, if you can, try and keep him alive. I need him to break my curse! He's a shaman, and cursed me 21 hours ago, in three hours, I'll die!"
Jurgen: "Now, my boy, THAT is concerning to me. I'll apprehend the shaman, and make sure he breaks your curse. I'll threaten his life if he doesn't."
-Siegfried looked at Jurgen with a look of defeat, and said-
Siegfried: "Thing is, I'm sure he'd rather die than break my curse. He seems to have been sent by someone to kill me, I heard him talking about "orders", so he probably has a contract on my life!"
Jurgen: "Nobody will value anything above their own life, except for the ones they love. He will break your curse. Now, let's get going my boy! Here, take this smaller sword, it's very sharp, so be careful with it!"
-Jurgen handed Siegfried a shortsword, and together, they left the weapon shop. Rigel was outside waiting for them...
Rigel: "I've been waiting patiently for you, Siegfried. I see you found some reinforcements of your own. However, your party is still only 3 members big, which is nothing compared to my eleven. Prepare yourself, Siegfried, your time is up."
Siegfried: "That's what you think, Rigel, I'd be careful with what you say..."
Rigel: "Eh? What are you talking about, Siegfried?"
Siegfried: "...this..."
-Suddenly, Jurgen, with the speed of a cheetah, lunged toward one of the ten dark mages. He pulled his claymore out and slashed the air. The sound that the blade made when it sliced the air was crisp. The dark mage stood there for a good 3 seconds before the left half of his body slid down and hit the ground. The dark mage had been completely cut down the middle!
Rigel "WHAT!? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"
Siegfried: "Turn around and find out for yourself."
-Rigel turned around and noticed the burly man, standing behind him. His eyes were glowing menacingly. He drew his claymore and said these words-
Jurgen: "My name is Jurgen Lamberdt, retired leader of the League of Knights, and father of the current highest-ranking knight in the League of Knights, Klaus Lamberdt. I will not allow you to step any further into my town..."
-Siegfried wore an expression of shock-
Siegfried to himself: "wait... did he say, father of the highest-ranking knight?"
Rigel: "Hmmm, the lord of the sword's father has come to fight me? Interesting. Were it to be Klaus himself, I might have just retreated! But you're getting old, so I think I can handle you..."
Siegfried: "...lord of the sword?"
-Siegfried thought back to when he first entered the Guild House back in Formai. He thought about the scarlet-haired knight that resided there. Could Jurgen be his father? They both had red hair...
-Jurgen looked at Siegfried and said-
Jurgen: "Siegfried-dono, do you know how to use a sword?"
Sirgfried: "Yes sir! I am quite proficient with the sword."
Jurgen: "Splendid, now then, shall we begin, cultist?"
Rigel: "The name's Rigel, and yes, let us re-begin this battle, from scratch, Siegfried and Jurgen..."
-Rigel and the 9 other dark mages drew their wands. As they did so, the inhabitants of the town retreated to their homes, shut their windows, and barricaded their doors. They had seen many dark mage raids before and had a protocol in place for each battle.
Azure: "Siegfried, is there anything you need me to do?"
Siegfried: "Azure-san, for now, if either of us is injured, provide healing spells. If you can, try to also apply status effects to Rigel with your magic, Jurgen and I will take care of dealing the heavy damage."
Azure: "Sounds good, Seigi-kun. Be careful, okay?"
Siegfried: "Of course, Azure-san. We aren't trying to kill him, only injure him. He needs to be alive to remove my curse..."
-Thinking about his new reinforcement, Jurgen, and his background, Siegfried felt more confident in his chances of success. Perhaps he wouldn't have to call upon Camriel after all. But just in case, she was still an option...
Rigel: "EX-ANGUIS!"
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