Somehow the shield Aki had up hadn't broken from the blow and her body looked and felt fine.
On the surface at least.
Her gaze flickers to her status for the first time in awhile.
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Aki Title: Witch
LE: 72 HP: 170/290
MP: 389/390
SP: 49/50
More: ⟲
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"That sounded way worse than it actually was." She gasps.
"Still conscious, are you?" Larx catches Aki's face in his hand before she can react and slams her through the wall.
The impact craters the wall blossoming from her head in a wide arc.
Aki's head rings and the unknown glow from the invisible, intangible crown flickers.
"Minor Illusion."
"Ugh, Dispel."
Before Aki can even get distance, Larx cancels the spell with a despondent tone.
"I was hoping for more after you dodged a silent spell but what's this?" His left arm flicks back and Winter's pain yelp comes from the darkness. Larx pulls him into the light, his clawed hands piercing Winter's stomach. "Oh? Using Shadow magic to reattach your hand? Creative. But dull."
"Winter!" Aki catches him after Larx tosses his cringing body at her. "Skies, Minor Heal."
Blood collects and the wounds close up quickly, though Winter still looks in pain.
Aki's gaze flicks to Larx who is yawning. Magic pools alongside the blood. Her pendulum pulses from the consecutive spells.
"Bloodbolt."
The pendulum alights with fiery red light and the pooled blood fires at Larx.
He hesitates, drawn by the mana enriched blood by instinct, causing it to blast off his left ear before his reason returns.
Larx cries out, distracted. Aki takes advantage and leaps forward, punching his chest like a rocket being fired.
Aki follows with a series of witchbolts and bloodbolts firing in rapid succession as she spins her pendulum.
Behind her, Winter has disappeared.
"Couldn't we just not fight?" Aki's words don't match the tone of her voice. "How about working together to get to the Space Gate? Then we can both go to Deika City where you can turn yourself in and end the Underworld Auction. Everyone's happy."
Larx barks out a laugh and sideswipes her, flowing into the kick with a counter kick and juggle Aki into the air.
"Heca-prism." Aki barely manages the honeycomb shield after Larx kicks her into the ceiling dozens of metres above.
She feels the intricate stonework crack against her back. Painful as it is, she gets a good view of the altar where two cloaked figures pace the lit area and place what appear to be candles around the fuming Pelgaius.
A desperation for violence taints her tongue just looking at the umibozu.
Its gaze suddenly appears laser focused on her. Then, a white, thin, curved slit appears beneath the eyes.
Winter appears next to one of the placed candles, losing the illusion Aki cast on him just as he touches the altar.
Malevolent mana surges forth, shattering an ancient spell placed on the structure, shattering the massive windows and ripping the stone doors from their spot.
The galeforce shakes her body free from the crumbling stone and she freefalls.
"Eh! Shockwave!" Aki closed her body into a ball and swung the pendulum in an arc.
Magical force swirls and cushions her fall.
She hears Larx and his thralls arguing, though their words are lost beneath the raging wails.
Pelgaius of the Deep is a veritable storm of power now that one foot is clear of the altar. Darkness waxes and wanes as its misty body convulses. Huge white spots resembling its eyes appear and vanish at high speed all over the growing mass.
Larx and his two thralls turn their full attention to it, completely ignoring Aki and Winter.
"Capture it now! Before we lose the initiative!"
"Aki." Winter's small hand grabs Aki by the shoulder and pulls her down.
"Winter, your hand, how is it -"
"My Shadow magic is stitching it together and it's dark enough that it should heal if I don't lose it."
He points at the temple doorway.
Dent, Demelkas, and several of the ship's crew fight defensively before the temple against what look to be more of Larx's thralls.
Based on the furious fighting happening, the slave traders outside are a weaker variety of vampire. Likely under Larx's control.
On the outside, Demelkas turns, wand raised and instantly zeroes in on Larx. He steps across the threshold into the temple and fires a jet of magical power at the enemy vampire leader.
At the same time he crosses over, the temple shudders and the altar cracks. Pelgaius, who had only been partially freed, is now without restraint and turns the shadows into massive spikes that stab and retract as if they were matching some rapid unknown tempo.
Without Winter's Shadow magic, Aki and he would have been pierced dozens of times over.
Even in the chaos, Larx responds, grabbing his nearest subordinate and using him as a meat shield.
His shield melts as if by highly volatile acid, quickly dripping apart and getting pulled into the power vortex that is Pelgaius and making it grow even bigger than it already is.
"That's not good." Aki and Winter say in unison.
Sharpened darkness roars in a vicious spiral, attempting a different tactic to cut its foes. Yet the vampiric enemies dodge gracefully, shielding themselves only the bare minimum as they try to subdue the umibozu.
On the other hand, Winter struggles to maintain the small sanctuary around just himself and Aki.
"Isn't Carnia Love a dating sim?" Aki has her pendulum to Winter's neck as she restores his stamina. "Why is love so intense!?"
"Pelgaius wasn't as strong in the game! Damnit! If this was just the game world, there wouldn't be so many variables." Sweat beads along his brow and his expression grows dimmer even with Aki's magic.
Utter malignance permeates the space immediately in front of Aki. Winter's shadow wriggles and shudders then solidifies.
Cloaked and hooded, it rises protectively around Winter and takes control of the shadows immediately around them.
["Such a predicament. Would it not be alright to rely on me this much, my master?"] A multitude of voices speak as one.
"That's –"
["Shush shush. I know what you'll ask. Slaughter everything. I'll be happy too!"]
Necra rises, growing larger to match Pelgaius with the mass of darkness all around, brightening the environment. At least if seeing outlines in white while the rest remains black counts as brightening.
["You have the honour of being an offering to I; the King of Shadows, Empress of Darkness, and Ruler of the River."] Necra's voices boom with the presence of thousands. ["Die screaming."]
Umibozu and owrou clash overhead with Larx and his subordinate caught in the middle. Their power rips apart the temple interior and opens the underground passage beneath the altar.
Unlike the dim rest, the passage glows brightly.
"So it's there."
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[Gift Activated: Precognition]
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Aki rotates and quickly raises a shield, blocking Larx from severing both her and Winter's head. His vampiric beauty lacerated yet not detracting at all from his face appeal.
"You really wanna fight in the middle of this?? Are you crazy!?" Aki deflects another barrage of slashes and tries to counter his Blood shot with her own Bloodbolt.
Her arm surges with pain as it gets yanked forward. Looking down, she sees her forearm suddenly turned purple and swollen.
Larx mockingly laughs, flashing a conceited grin.
"An amateur?! Oh stars, which fool did a slave like you escape from!?" He swerves out of the way of a wild swing from the clashing titans, never once dropping his expression frozen in a look that said he is looking at nothing more than interesting rubbish. "You can't use Blood magic unless it's your blood or you spilled it yourself!"
"Thanks for the lesson. Still kicking your ass and turning you in." Aki stomps her foot, redirecting the hexagonal shield in front of Winter to stop Larx's thrall's attacks. "All of you. Dent! The Space Gate!"
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Dent swaying unsteadily as the last standing member facing off against a group of Larx's thralls.
He glances back, understanding the situation.
Dent swings forcefully, pushing the thralls back just enough to have a brief reprieve. Then, he turns, assuming a power stance. A deadly serious expression crosses his face as Dent holds his sword like a javelin.
"I shall clear a path!"
A vortex carves the sword's path as it zooms down into the passage. The darkness of the temple distorted by ominous dim light so solid it would be a wall, was ripped asunder by a single throw. The bodies of the roughly thirty of the Grand Volume's crew, whether dead or alive, are pulled along the expressway into safety in a moment's notice.
Now unarmed and tired, Dent is on the back foot. Something Larx and his lackeys realise too.
With a wicked grin, Larx abandons the fight with Aki and beelines for the defenceless Dent.
"Necra!"