"What a pain, to think it would be this difficult to kill you," the Demon Queen grumbled.
The Demon Queen regrew her wings that I sliced off earlier when she tried to attack Rose. These demons really do have amazing regenerative powers. I certainly do envy them that they don't need to care about their wellbeing and just carry on fighting. Only their brain is their weak-point that they need to protect. Imagine if they were to use it for good instead.
The Demon Queen fired thorns from both her arms at me which I blocked with Inazuma. As I was getting pushed back, she summoned pillar of thorns to squash me. I swapped Inazuma to my right hand and readied my left hand to summon my beloved spectral cloak. Rend is my best choice of defence to protect me now. The Demon Queen slammed her pillar of thorns at me and it broke apart. I landed on the floor with a smirk on my face.
The Demon Queen was pissed at my expression. She slashed her wrists and threw her blue blood all over the floor. The blood started to form into many sort of blades and daggers which she launched all of them at me. I crouched low, making sure my spectral cloak covered me from all possible angles as much as possible. All the blades and daggers made impact but bounced off my cloak. I exhaled a soft "phew" beneath my breath. Thank goodness I've learned Rend, otherwise I would've been a pincushion by now. It would had been even tougher to fight this Queen without Rend and Sunder at my disposal.
I stood up after making sure she was done. Her facial expression started to grow even more pissed off. "Persistent little insect!" she spat. I took a short opportunity to shift my focus to the throne's window behind her. Nightfall is finally here. The interior of the throne room were brightly lit due to the many torches and braziers around. I thought of destroying them but I remembered that the Paladin Lord is fighting here with us. I suppose I won't be using darkness to my advantage for this fight. No matter, the weather is still on my side today.
Loud rumbles could be heard approaching closer. The Demon Queen turned her head slightly as though she was afraid of the sound of thunder. I raised my arm and she immediately guarded herself with her wings. I started chuckling as I had managed to trick her. Her face contorted with anger as it turned dark blue.
I lifted my left arm once again and this time, called forth a bolt of lightning. Play time is over, I must lob off her head and end this war.
***
We just can't take this brute down! No amount of punishments was able to injure the Dragon Lord long enough for us to bring him down. We directed the army to handle the minor demons that kept coming to attack us. We had to move them as far away as possible from the Dragon Lord to avoid further unnecessary casualties. Only the cannon bearers remained but there were just too few of them now. The Dragon Lord's rampage had destroyed most of our cannons. Who would had thought that it'll be this difficult to eliminate this brute.
We were running out of options. The Dragon Lord had been steadily trying to heal himself from all the damages he received thus far. While I'm tempted to keep him alive just to study his blood, it's just not worth the risk if more casualties arises due to that idea. The thing is, how are we even gonna bring him down in the first place?
"Fire!" shouted the Elementalist.
We had resorted to using cannons exclusively to slow him down. There was one more trick up my sleeves, but it's gonna take a toll on my body, even with Combat Fury active. I guess we don't really have much of a choice now as we are running out of ideas. I casted Combat Fury once again and approached the Dragon Lord calmly. The Elementalist noticed me and thought of stopping me but he understood my intention after I gave him a small nod.
I focused all my power onto my axe and enlarged it to its maximum size, causing me to drag it along the floor. Swinging this once or twice is fine for me, but subsequent swings will definitely be pushing my muscles to the limits. Imagine the idea of continuously holding a heavy weighted barbell and swinging it around.
The Dragon Lord noticed my presence approaching him and he readied himself to slam his enormous arm on me. But I was already done with my preparation. I gripped my axe three times my size and swung it at the Dragon Lord. I got a direct hit on him that made him flinched. But that's not gonna be enough. I need to bring him down!
I strained my muscles and went for another swing, and then a third and fourth. All of my attacks were connecting with him, but I just felt impossible to bring him down permanently. Even with my enormous axe, all it did was cause flesh wounds and flinched him aside at the most. None of my swings were capable of dismembering or even doing any heavy damage to him. My biceps were literally screaming as I continued to roar and swung my axe. I kept telling myself "Just one more and I'll bring him down", but sadly that did not happened.
My muscles failed me. I lost grip of my axe and it flew backwards which landed with a loud thud. I had no control over my arms and fingers as they were shaking horribly and felt like its on fire. The Elementalist took over after he realised that I had strained myself by asking the cannons to be fired once more. After seeing that the Dragon Lord was still unfazed by the cannons, he jumped up high and somehow managed to stabbed his dagger into the neck of the Dragon Lord. He tried to cut through but the Dragon Lord grabbed him and tossed him onto a building. Shit! Is he still alive?!
As I was staring at the location where the Elementalist landed, the Dragon Lord grabbed me from behind and slammed me onto the ground. Ugh! Blood gushed out of my mouth as the impact was horrendous. The ground caved in from the impact and I was in a daze. The Dragon Lord slammed me on the ground once again and I felt something snapped. I guess I'm gonna be a cripple for the rest of my life. My beloved, I'm so sorry.
Shouts of people screaming "Stop!" can be heard all around me but I was slipping in and out of consciousness. The Dragon Lord released me and got ready to pound me with his fist. I guess this is the end of the line for me. His fist came close to my vision as I resigned to my death. Without warning, the Dragon Lord disappeared from my vision completely as it looked as though he was sent flying. W— what the hell just happened?
I tried to gain some semblance on what just happened but— there was nothing but silence. Did the Dragon Lord destroyed my eardrums or something? I thought I was deaf until someone wearing a brown hooded cloak came upon my vision to check on me. Who is this person?
"Seems like you broke your right arm. Well done, your instinct had protected you from certain death," he said.
"W— what?" was all I was able to muttered out to this person.
I was still in a daze and felt no pain whatsoever. I tried to lift my right hand but it was not responding. I lifted my other hand instead to rub my forehead. Strange, my arms were supposed to be burning yet I can't feel anything at all. That is not a good sign for me. I lifted myself to stand with the help of my left hand. Oh, thank Odin that I'm not actually crippled. I had to stop myself from falling unsteadily by gripping onto something. Finally gaining some semblance, the sound of fighting was getting louder above me. I had to climb out of the small crater that the Dragon Lord had slammed me into.
Upon reaching the surface, I saw someone fighting the Dragon Lord alone. He was nimble as he avoided all the attacks and fought with his fist. He was even capable of bringing down the Dragon Lord with just a palm strike. Is this— who I think it is?
A hooded figure came up to me and asked whether I was alright. Her voice sounded young. I told her that I'll live and that she should check on the Elementalist instead. She informed me that someone was already tending to him. He's unconscious but alive. Now that's a good news I'm willing to take.
The brown hooded figure was already done fighting with the Dragon Lord. I thought the Dragon Lord was dead but I saw him shaking a little on the ground. The brown hooded figure came up to me and said "It's done. He won't be able to move for some time. Be sure to use lots of tear-resistant ropes to tie him down".
"Are you— Peter Borage?" I asked him.
"The one and only. I was not supposed to be involved in this war but circumstances had changed drastically. I believe the city is currently being invaded by demons, am I right?" he asked me and I quickly nodded.
"Just as I feared. I will need to close the summoning circles around the city. It would seemed that the Queen is no ordinary demon, seeing that she's able to use such powerful spells," he sighed.
"My lord, as much as I wished to help you, I have not the slightest idea of where the summoning circles are. I'm sorry to disappoint you," I said to him honestly.
"Please, just call me Peter. And I can find the summoning circles on my own. I trust that you can handle the situation from here, John? Make it the utmost priority to tie up that brute. His paralysis won't last forever due to his sheer size," he explained. H— how did he know my name?
He called over one of his hooded henchman and whispered something to him. The henchman was shocked and replied him with a "What?! No!". Peter then gave him a simple "There is no time!" and the henchman resigned himself to Peter's request, whatever it may be.
Peter rushed ahead leaving the henchman with me. He came up to me and asked for my orders. I was stunned by his sudden request about asking me when I was unsure on the situation myself. I thought he knew what he needed to do. I told him that we needed high tensile ropes to tie down the Dragon Lord and medical care for those wounded. He nodded and called someone over to look at my wounds. I told him to focus on those that is on the brink of death first as those should have higher priorities over the others.
I sighed loudly. My pain receptors were coming back to me and my body was being overwhelmed with them. I'm so sorry, Zen. I can't come over to help you. Both the Elementalist and I are down for the count. I hope Rose and Lily are helping you out in the castle with whoever you are fighting against.
***
Rose had closed about three circles now. It would seemed that she's getting the hang of casting the spell as her chanting speed was getting quicker each time. The adventurers were running all around looking for the location of the next summoning circle as many of them were hidden in places that were least expected. If any of them found one, either they shout as loud as they could or find Rose who is waiting for them in one agreed location. It's not the best solution but we don't have flares with us to make things easier. I stayed with Rose as I was in no condition to be running around with my injured foot. What I can do is to help Rose pinpoint anyone shouting on whether they found a summoning circle and lead her to where they are.
Both of us sat on the floor as we were tired from everything that has happened until now. How I wished the war would just end. It had been nighttime for quite awhile and I'm craving for a soft comfy bed and some good food. While I can see better in the dark compared to humans, I was still too tired and weak to be on full alert. Just when I thought of this, a hooded figure ran towards our direction. Is it an adventurer? He stopped himself after noticing us.
"Is there a reason for two lovely ladies to be sitting on the floor at this hour?" he asked calmly.
"We are waiting for someone," answered Rose.
"A bit odd to be waiting for someone outside in the middle of war. There are demons all around us. Seek shelter immediately. I can clearly see that one of you is injured while the other is on the brink of collapse," he tried to shoo us somewhere else.
"Please don't disturb us! We are waiting for adventurers to find the summoning circles so we can close them!" I shouted. I am so tired and in a lot of pain. I don't have the mood nor do I wished to be disturbed by this stranger right now.
"Oh, why didn't you say so? I'm on my way to close it myself. Do follow me if you wish. I'll point one to you where you can close it while I close another. Two will be quicker than one," he explained.
"Y— you know how to close a summoning circle?" asked Rose as she grew suspicious.
"Of course. I was the one who invented the spell in the first place. Come, follow me quickly," ordered the stranger.
"Wait, who are you? For all we know, you might be some demon in disguised. Identify yourself, please," I asked him more politely now as I was starting to feel that this person is giving off a peaceful aura.
"Ah right, where are my manners? I am Peter Borage. Founder of the City of Heliotrope Ixia. And I don't believe I can be a demon in disguised when someone had casted Revelation some time ago. The spell last for a good 24 hours and you can't wear any mask to hide your face. If I'm not mistaken, even beauty mask are affected too," he answered as he put on a thinking face.
"EHHHHHH??!!" both Rose and I shouted.
"Y— you're Peter Borage? Zen's teacher?" gasped Rose.
"Hmm? For you to know about me and Zen. Ah, hang on, let me take a guess. Ah, you must be Rose. I take it that you're the one who casted the Revelation spell earlier? Then I supposed you must be Lily then," he replied as he stared at both of us.
"Zen told you about us? What makes you think that I was the one who casted Revelation?" asked Rose curiously.
"He said that you were special. That you were capable of doing things beyond his understanding. And that you were destined for greatness. Based on that, and that fact that he told me that you were under the Light Guild, I took a guess and would appear to be correct. Not many people are capable of casting intermediate spells in the first place," he explained with a smile.
Rose started blushing. Zen didn't tell her about that before? To have one of the Great Powers inform her about this, I am certainly jealous. Zen had never thought of me that way before sadly. He must think that I'm the weakest in the group. I sighed without even realising it.
"Enough chit-chat for now, we have an important mission. The fate of the city depends on us. Let's go," said Peter as he headed towards a direction.
"How do you know where to go? We had been looking for more of them for the past few hours but we can't seems to find them, even though we tried our best to trail the demon's footsteps," asked Rose.
"Ah you see, I have a— special condition that allows me to see concentrations of magic. It sort of highlight an accumulation of magic in my vision. Even from afar, I can see multiple circles around the city and two powerful beings inside the castle," he explained.
The both of us followed behind him. I asked him on why he wasn't heading towards the castle to help Zen and the two guildmasters when he knew that there were two powerful beings there? He told us to have faith in them. He had taught Zen all that he needed to know about fighting strong opponents. He will come out on top, on that he had his utmost faith.