Rose was panting after she had finished casting her spell. Guessing that took a toll on her, but she insisted it was due to all the running and climbing that she had to do. Having said that, we're on our way to the castle now. John assured me that he'll be fine as the Elementalist is there to help him out. Both of them seems to know who that impostor is though. Was I wrong in assuming that it was a demon?
As we headed closer to castle, I grew more worried about Zen. He's fighting all alone in the castle and who knows what powerful soldiers are there protecting the Queen. Rose was certainly getting anxious about her brother as she kept increasing her running speed. Zen will be fine, he's strong. Have faith in that, Lily. But why can't I shake away this bad premonition that I kept feeling in my heart?
We crossed the bridge and is near the castle now. No time to waste fighting any soldiers. We'll need to charge through them instead.
BOOOOMM!!
W— what the hell was that?! Did something exploded at the top of the castle?! Something flew in the opposite direction but it was too fast for me to catch what it was. Was someone screaming loudly earlier? That place looked like the balcony where the Queen usually gives her speeches.
Rose looked as though she saw a ghost. Her face went pale and she quickly rushed into the castle. Did she saw something that I missed?
As we ran up to the throne room, we noticed there were barely any soldiers within the castle. Some adventurers were here and we told them to stop any soldiers from coming through. We rushed through and headed upstairs to the throne room. Any unlucky soldiers that appeared in front of Rose were met with the hilt of her rapier to their skull. Hopefully they didn't die from that as it didn't sounded like she was holding back at all. I can tell she's not thinking straight now as she was stumbling and panting as she rushed her way up the stairs. It didn't take us long before we reached the door to the throne room.
I told Rose to stand back as I got ready my stance. I punched the door with such force that it ripped apart from its frame. Inside, we saw a demon sitting on the throne. A demon— woman? I never knew they actually existed. Do demons procreate between both genders? I never knew how they multiplied in the first place when no one ever saw demon babies before. Where is Zen though? I don't see him anywhere.
Rose approached the throne and unsheathed her rapier. I stayed close behind her in case of an ambush.
"Where. Is. Zen?!" she demanded as she pointed her rapier towards the female demon.
The demon remained seated while crossing her legs, resting her face on her hand with her eyes closed. She seemed amused at the situation as she only smirked but didn't respond to Rose's question.
"I said, where is—" but she was interrupted with "He's dead" by the Queen.
Both of us gasped simultaneously. How— is it possible for Zen to be dead? He's strong. There's no way this demon is capable of killing him that easily.
"Y— you lie!" I gritted my teeth.
"You saw him flying earlier, didn't you? I was certain that commotion was loud enough for your pointy ears to catch it," she jested.
Rose immediately sped towards the Queen but was intercepted by a fully armoured soldier who appeared out of nowhere. I helped her in blocking the attack from the soldier who was wielding a greatsword. Rose took advantage of that moment and struck out.
"OUT OF MY WAY!!" she shouted and used triple stab on the soldier.
The soldier pushed me back with his immerse strength, skilfully blocked all of Rose's attack and even managed to counter her. This soldier is an extremely formidable opponent. I doubt any of us can handle him alone.
"Bow to your Queen if you wish to speak with her. Otherwise, my captain will punish those that disobey," demanded the Queen.
"You are not a Queen!" I shouted as I blocked the captain's precision strikes.
"I am a Queen! Feast your eyes upon the Demon Queen, the rightful ruler of humanity," she sneered.
"So, you gave up in ruling your kind and decided to rule over humans instead? Such low faith you have with your own kind to choose humans instead," mocked Rose.
"We demons are the rightful rulers of this world. The Demon King sought to rule all with an iron-fist through his demon lackeys. But look where that brought him? The God he served demanded only death and destruction. I, on the other hand, rule through deception and intelligence, just like my God demanded. And I intend to do his bidding," she grinned.
"Your real identity has been exposed. You think humans will continue to serve you? You're delusional in thinking we're that foolish," said Rose.
"A minor set-back in the grand scheme of my plans. After I kill you both, it's only a matter of time before I restore this city to a much higher degree when all the traitors are dead and their head hung for the whole world to see," she laughed demonically.
This captain wasn't budging from his position. He's like a solid rock, preventing us from getting closer to the Queen. Even with both of us attacking him simultaneously, he was able to block all of them and occasional countering us two. Rose tapped my shoulder to signal me. Time to take this into high gear. I activated imperfect Concentration and casted Lightning Fortification on my gauntlets. I took point and attacked first, giving Rose the time she needed to prepare herself.
This captain is strong and his armour— felt unreal. Even with the weight of his greatsword and heavy armours, he was still able to move nimbly and block all of my attacks. My flurry of punches connects with his sword and armour but he remained stable and planted himself firmly. Other opponents would be sent flying about now.
PING!!
I managed to block his counter even though I was sending him a flurry of constant punches. So this is his fighting tactics, making full use of his heavy armour and greatsword to absorb damage while looking for opportunities to counter or aim for the opponent's weak-points. Is this soldier even human? Doubt it. No human alive can take my punches head-on without moving so much as an inch.
The captain started attacking more offensively. Is he changing tactics? Flurry of swipes were swung at demonic speed towards me. I was using all my strength and speed just to block or dodge his attacks. An attack went for my stomach. Alright, I get it. My stomach is one of my weak spot.
I blocked the attack with my gauntlets and guided the spikes to secure the greatsword from moving around as it had some holes. Zen told me that my gauntlets reminded him of a superhero that he once remembered. Something about a guy dressing up as a bat. If that was real, then that superhero clearly have issues. I secured the sword holding it in place, preventing the captain from swinging it any further. The captain was pulling back his sword but I held on as long as I can. I wanted to pull the blade out of his grip but that seems to be an impossible task with his strength, and he was just holding it single-handedly. If the blade was smaller, I could had tried to break it apart, but a greatsword was just too big for me snap it in half.
I charged up my Lightning Fortification and electrocuted the captain. Normal beings would be roasted and slumping to their knees, but this captain stood firm. Does my spell not effect him, like at all? His metal armour and sword are excellent conductors which is perfect for my lightning spell. However, despite all the punches and a direct lightning blast at point black range, he still looked unfazed.
The captain's eyes started glowing all of a sudden and he stomped his feet hard. He gripped his greatsword two-handed and pulled extremely hard which dragged me off my feet. I was sent flying towards him and he took the advantage with a swing of his greatsword. I managed to block his strike but the impact hurt my arm as it sent me flying backwards. I gripped my injured arm as I landed gracefully which was spasming in pain. I glared at the captain. How insanely strong is this captain to break through my guard?
"Any particular reason for you to be fighting alone, missy? To gauge your strength, or just plain foolishness in the name of honour?" asked the Queen.
"I'm not human to follow the honour code in fighting a solo battle. I was merely a distraction, to allow her to ready herself," I smirked.
"W— what is she?" the Queen moved her gaze upwards as she finally noticed what I was talking about.
Rose was floating above gracefully behind me with her spectral golden wings. She called it Sacred Wings which not only buffs all her stats and spells, it also gives her extra mobility even that exceeds Zen's obnoxious Agility stats. Sadly, this spell only affects herself.
Rose opened her pink eyes, flew straight at the captain and performed a quintuple stab on the captain. Heavy armour meant nothing to her, as her weapon was buffed by a spell called Fa Jin Zhòu that completely ignores armour and impacts the inner body directly. These two spells was the reason why Zen was knocked unconscious even with his spectral cloak. It is certainly a formidable combination that completely defies what normal adventurers are capable off.
The captain was knocked backwards from her stabs. Rose obviously took advantage of her spell and pushed the attack. The captain reacted quickly and swung his greatsword downwards to strike her but was completely no match for her speed. Rose dodged the swing by sliding through and performed a stab in the gap between the armour. She looked as though she was gliding around with her wings. It was a direct hit and Rose twisted her rapier for good measure. Blood spewed from the captain's helmet and his wound.
The captain retaliated by swinging his arm towards Rose with ferocity but Rose had already leapt backwards before it even touches her. We can win this. I should join Rose in bringing down this captain so that we can actually proceed to killing the Demon Queen. More blood flowed from the captain's wound. We should be able to kill him after this. Aim for his helmet and destroy his brain. Let's end this.
Rose gave a small nod as she was at the opposite end of me with the captain in between us. I re-activated Concentration once more and fortified my gauntlets with lightning. We pincered the captain on both sides. There is no way he is able to block all of our attacks from two directions!
Shhhhhrrrrrr!!
Both Rose and I skidded to a halt before our attacks touches him. Something sharp stopped us on our tracks. Bright red spikes and thorns protruded from his armour. Rose and I managed to stopped ourselves before we ended piercing ourselves against those thorns but we still had some minor cuts as it literally appeared out of nowhere. What— is this? Where did it even come from?
The thorns started to liquify and wrap around him. Wait— those thorns, were made from his blood? Who's controlling it? It doesn't seemed as though he's the one controlling his own blood.
I took a quick glance at the Demon Queen. Bastard, she's definitely the one controlling the movement of the blood. Her hand movements were clearly showing that she's the one in control of the captain's blood. Is that her spell? Things are gonna get harder from here on out.
Blood started to flow up the captain's left arm, forming to what looked like a bloody shield with spikes. Oh boy, a fully armoured soldier with a giant sword and shield. What is this? Some kind of crucible knight or something?!
Rose seemed to realised that the Demon Queen was controlling the blood without even so much as turning her head. She did the unthinkable and rushed towards the Queen but the captain somehow matched her speed and stopped Rose from getting closer. The captain's speed increased? How? Rose's speed by now should be close to the speed of light, yet the captain was able to match hers? I quickly stood by her side. Not sure how much longer her spell is gonna last but we need to end this captain quickly. I get the feeling that none of us are gonna get out of this unscathed. That bloody spiked shield is definitely gonna cause a lot of trouble for both of us.
***
"How interesting, when did you realised it was me?" asked the impostor.
"We were looking for you. We knew you're working for the Queen and gathering information was one of your expertise. We were certain that you'll be out in the field to gather specifics that even the Queen doesn't know. And that's how you fell for our trap," I smirked.
"How does telling Rick factor into a trap? From what I recall, there was nothing suspicious with the message given to him," he asked.
"We know you'll do whatever it takes to gather more information. What better way than to follow the man who instigated the war himself? But, in order to do that, you'll need to get close to him. So we knew you were gonna aim for one of Zen's close ones. So we spread out a message to all of his close ones without his knowledge. We were expecting you to not get the memo. I'll admit, you sure spooked him out good," I jested at him.
"What do you mean? There was nothing of value in the message," he demanded.
"I believe you remembered what the Dark Lord told you, right? 'Zen will be appearing at this location after he escaped from the castle. If you know what's best for him, I'll be counting on you'," I laughed at him.
"How is that a code? That message doesn't even tell us anything, aside from the location where he'll emerge," he sneered.
"That's because you never actually knew him. If you were one of his close ones, you know full well that the best thing to do for him was to fulfil your duty assigned to you and not meeting up with him. That's the memo that the real Rick would had gotten but not you," I smirked at him.
All he replied was a "tsk". Pretty sure he was annoyed at the fact that he was trapped by such a simple petty code.
"You were willing to gamble that I would not kill Zen before he even started the war? How absurd for the guildmasters to gamble on his life," he spat.
"Knowing you, wouldn't you rather gather information instead of outright killing him. You are a tactician, after all. Obtaining a bargaining chip had always been your forte. And besides, if you were planning to kill Zen in the first place, he's not gonna just roll over and die so easily. I made sure to train him so that he can take on a guildmaster should he need to," I explained.
"Now, what's your end goal? Why work for the Queen out of nowhere? I don't believe that you would be voluntarily become her henchmen just to gather information for her. You were even willing to sacrifice your entire guild just to serve under her. I doubt many guild members of the Dragon guild were willing to accept your decision," I continued.
"Hahaha! None of you are aware on what the Queen is capable of. You don't even know the things she did for all of us. I was there when she saved me. And now, I'm just returning the favour. I do like to thank Pietro for finding out Zen's identity. It was the right decision to send him on that secret quest together with the three of you," chuckled the Dragon Lord.
"Where— is he? Did you kill him? What the hell did the Queen even do for you that you were willing to sacrifice Pietro?! He— had a pregnant wife waiting for him when he went missing. His wife came to find me, begging me to find where he went as he often mentioned my name to her. And I intend on finding out what happened to him!" I shouted.
"On the grand scheme of things, his death served a course. My obedience is to the Queen and only her alone. And her orders are absolute," he answered.
"Why? What the fuck did the Queen even saved you from that warrants you to do such despicable things? You are the guildmaster and your guild members follow your every orders. And they trust you to do the right thing. But for you to kill them just to obtain information? Just how low will you fall before you realised it?" I gave him a disappointed look.
"Enough talk. Let's kill each other," he smirked as he summoned his halberd to his side.
It would seems that he knows how to use Sunder. Can he use Rend too, I wonder? That's certainly going to be troublesome. The Elementalist tapped on my shoulder and shook his head. Guess even he realised that it's just not possible to save the Dragon Lord and change his mind. While the both of us wanted to bring him to justice, we were hoping for imprisonment rather than direct execution.
The Dragon Lord leapt at us. The Elementalist was quiet throughout the whole conversation exchange but he stood ready. His halberd gives him an advantage over range which the both of us do not have. The Elementalist uses two daggers as his main weapons. I threw my axe at the Dragon Lord and he deflected it away. I teleported to my axe and now we pincer him from both sides. Both the Elementalist and I attacked him furiously from both sides, but he was able to fend off our attacks by using both ends of his halberd. His strength, movement and speed does not match a human. Something's wrong here.
He managed to slice the Elementalist with the bladed tip of his halberd and struck me on my stomach with his hilt. Even with all my muscles, his insane strength hurts me when it seemed like just a gentle poke. Bloody hell, just what in the world is he?
The Elementalist stared at his wound and shrugged it off. It was then he started using his spells. He coated one dagger with fire while the other with— ice? Wait, what? I thought the only elemental spells were fire and lightning?! It would seemed that he's using Concentration too.
I followed suit and started using Bloodlust. I withheld from using other spells in the meantime and the frenzy effect. I felt it was quite pointless as I'm certain that the Dragon Lord is capable of blocking the effects.
The Elementalist took point. His dual daggers struck quick but the Dragon Lord was capable of matching his speed. I joined the fray and poured in some of my attacks from the other end. The Dragon Lord was certainly being pushed back from the barrage of strikes we were inflicting. I reduced the size of my axe to that of a hand axe for faster attack speed. We were making wounds on the Dragon Lord.
The Dragon Lord were bleeding in several places now. But— so were we, although we had less than him. He actually managed to injured the both of us despite getting pincered. But his wounds were strangely bleeding even more so than usual. Those wounds were from the daggers of the Elementalist. Is it because of his spells? What's more baffling were the blood spilling out of the Dragon Lord. Why does it looked almost bluish?
"Hurts, doesn't it? How does it feel to be burned, frosted and bled at the same time? You do well to remember that you should never betray the adventurer's guild ever again," warned the Elementalist.
"To waste the blood given by the Queen, how can I face her after this? To be injured to this state just from fighting against two guildmasters, I should be punished!" he roared.
He activated his own Bloodlust. Is the Elementalist capable of using Higher State of Mind? He charged at the Elementalist and used Fury Strikes. I can barely even see those attacks being struck out. Such were the speed of those strikes. The Elementalist somehow managed to block them but for subsequent attacks, he was not so lucky. I rushed in to help him. I increased the size of my axe as large as I could and slammed it hard on the Dragon Lord.
It left a large sliced crater but the Dragon Lord was able to dodged it. Things are not looking good now. Since when did the Dragon Lord became this powerful? And what did he meant by blood given by the Queen? I don't like where this battle is going and the outcome.