"Looks like it's already begun," Remarked Aster, as The Irregulars teleported to a spot just outside the Capital, right in time to see a large swarm of undead creatures swooping into the city.
"Fuck...we're all gonna die, aren't we?" Sighed Lexia, staring at the undead creatures as the tail end of the swarm entered the Capital, a look of dread on her face.
"It wouldn't kill you to be just a little more optimistic, you know," Responded Raven dryly.
"No, but those things probably will."
"If you're about to die, then just teleport back to the hideout. There, happy now? Now, then, let's head in. We'll stick to the plan we discussed...we'll split up into the usual pairs, with Ravella joining Raven and Celia, and we'll look for the Undead King. Whichever pair finds him first, set off a signal flare as soon as you do, and the rest of us will head over. Killing him is our priority, and we can't afford to fail. Any questions?" Inquired Aster as he finished recapping the plan, looking around at the others.
"Not a question, but I'm still not sure we should split up...my flames are the only thing that can wipe out the Miasma produced by the undead, so shouldn't we stick together?" Spoke up Raven with a frown.
"I did think about that, but considering how big the Capital is, we stand a much better chance of finding the Undead King as quickly as possible if we split up," Replied Aster with a shake of his head.
"Plus, I made a bunch of Antidote and Healing Spell Cards, enough for one of both for each of us. Using both nullifies the effects of the Miasma...but don't forget, make sure you're in a spot clear of Miasma before bringing out those Spells, otherwise they'll get damaged and cease functioning," Tacitus reminded them.
"Oh, shit...uh, Aster, we might've messed up. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we told the Knight Commander that Miasma wrecks Spell Cards," Realized Raven in alarm.
"...fuck. Yeah, you're right, I totally forgot to mention that particular detail. Well, that's not good...okay, we have a secondary objective now. If you come across the Commander or any of the other high ranked Knights in her squad, inform them about the effect of Miasma on Spells."
"Come on, guys, you had one job; to tell her everything relevant about the Undead King, and you forgot to mention one of the most significant and important details?" Frowned Lexia incredulously.
"Yeah, I've got no excuses...," Muttered Raven as he averted his gaze.
"There's no point in dwelling on it, let's get going already...the longer we wait, the worse the situation will get," Spoke up Tacitus.
"Hold on...I get that time is of the essence, but we need to clarify any doubts or issues we have first. I think we've covered everything, but I might have missed something...so if anyone's got any other questions, now's the time to ask," Remarked Aster, as he glanced around at the others.
"Oh, I've got one...about the flares, are you sure we'll be able to spot them? Since we're splitting up, each of our groups will be a good distance away from each other," Pointed out Celia.
"Don't worry about that, I made them as bright as possible. Just point the flare Spell Cards straight up and activate it...and again, make sure there's no Miasma around you when you bring it out of your Storage Ring," Stated Tacitus pointedly.
"From what we've seen, Miasma tends to settle low, it doesn't billow out and rise like smoke...so if we get up high enough, we should be able to avoid the stuff," Added Colt thoughtfully.
"The problem is the flying undead creatures...while the Miasma they produce does flow down, we could end up getting blanketed by their Miasma from above, so we should make sure to keep an eye up as well," Remarked Lexia objectively.
"Make sure to keep all this in mind, we can't afford to make any careless mistakes here, especially with the odds stacked against us. Any more questions? No? Alright, then...let's move in, everyone. We can do this...no, we have to do this," Stated Aster, as the others nodded and steeled themselves.
Meanwhile, inside the city...
"[Grand Flame Breath]!" Exclaimed Jules, unleashing a scorching wave of flames from her mouth and engulfing several undead creatures, setting them ablaze before she shot forward and slashed off their heads, before turning her gaze forward as a loud crash rang out, a large undead creature landing a few meters ahead of her.
It was an undead Fire Dragon, it had a hole in the middle of its chest, with wisps of Miasma flowing around its body. It narrowed its lifeless eyes at Jules before letting out a fierce roar and charging towards her, swiping its claws at her as it closed in.
She swiftly zipped across and unfurled a powerful swing of her blade, slicing right through the middle of its arm and severing it, before she raised her right arm towards it and unleashed a blast of flames at it, hitting the side of its head, but it didn't have much of an effect.
She then raced across as it spun around and whipped its tail towards her, narrowly evading it before getting some distance and regaining her bearings, letting out a slow exhale to compose herself.
"Strange, it isn't using any flames...is it not able to? Come to think of it, the undead humans who attacked the city last time didn't use any Magic...do they lose those abilities after getting turned undead?" Wondered Jules, before she shot towards the Monster.
It let out a vicious snarl and drove its claws towards her as she closed in, before she swiftly leapt up and landed on its forearm, sprinting up along it before springing forward and whipping her blade across, slicing through the left half of its neck, before grimacing as a cloud of Miasma burst out, the undead Monster letting out a roar.
As she came to a halt on its back, she swiftly spun around and zipped forward, slicing her blade through the right side of its neck, decapitating it as it began to try and claw her off its back, before its arm went limp as its body collapsed onto the ground with a thudding crash.
She then hopped off the large creature's body, before her eyes widened in alarm as a large chunk of concrete came flying towards her from the left.
She quickly raced forward as fast as she could, a deafening crash ringing out behind her as it slammed onto the ground and shattered to pieces, cracks spreading out across the ground as a cloud of dust rose up behind her.
She then turned her gaze in the direction the chunk of rubble came from, grimacing as a figure cloaked in Miasma entered her line of sight, intense flames erupting around the blade of her sword...
"How fortunate...to think you'd come right to me. Now I don't have to waste time looking for you," She declared as she brandished her sword.
"Why, are you that eager to die? Also, it's no coincidence that I'm here...I saw you through my forces that you fought and headed right this way," Smirked the Undead King, as he cracked his neck with a tilt of his head.
"How awfully kind of you. All I need to do is kill you, and this will all be over."
"Hm? Defeat me? Hahaha...HAHAHAHAHA!!! You can't be serious! Have you already forgotten how this went last time!? You couldn't defeat me even with several others fighting alongside you! Thinking you stand a chance against me all by yourself is nothing short of delusional...allow me to show you!" He exclaimed, before he shot towards her rapidly.
As he began to close in on her, she drove her sword forward, concentrating and compressing the flames wrapped around the blade into the tip, before letting the flames erupt forward, scorching the front of the Undead King's body and sending him stumbling back, before she shot forward and unleashed a fierce slash of her blade, slicing off his right arm and inflicting a deep cut across the right side of his torso, before she spun around as she shot past him and whipped her blade diagonally across at his back, unleashing a burst of flames from the edge of the blade upon impact.
He then swung his left arm back towards her as his right arm rapidly grew back, before she ducked under the swing of his arm and swung her blade up, slicing off his left arm before she took her right hand off the handle of her blade and whipped her arm across, firing out a slashing wave of flames at the back of his heels, searing through them with a sharp sizzle and causing him to overbalance.
As he fell forward and collapsed onto his hands, she quickly ran her Mana through her Storage Ring, manifesting a Spell Card with a small crystal ball attached to the top of it, before she pressed the crystal onto his back and began to run her Mana into the Spell Card-...
"What!?" She blurted out as the crystal shattered, before quickly backing away as he regenerated and got back onto his feet, dusting himself off and turning around with a quizzical look on his face.
"I'm not sure what you just tried, but the shoddy, simplistic Spells of this era won't work on me...you see, my Miasma wrecks those Spells as soon as they come into contact with it, they're useless against me," He smirked tauntingly.
"...would've been nice if those two had thought to mention that little detail to me. There's almost no way they didn't know about it, considering how often they use Teleport Spells...don't tell me, did they seriously forget to bring it up!?" Jules thought to herself in disbelief, her eyebrow twitching in irritation before she composed herself, "Okay, just calm down. I still have one more Sealing Spell left, and it looks like his Miasma doesn't affect Storage Rings, so the Spell Card should be fine so long as I keep it in there. That said...how the hell am I supposed to use it if his Miasma will wreck it immediately upon contact!?"