Bloodfallen: Curse of The All Knowing

“What do you think of that strange magic the robed goblin was using, that certainly wasn’t normal magic like you and I use.” I asked Lyra who was watching the members of group one loot the corpses of the heavily armored goblins. She looked at me with a touch of surprise in her eyes before she took a moment to think and then speak.

“I am not sure. It certainly wasn’t normal magic, but it wasn’t any more powerful than an average apprentice mage. Its spells also reacted to being dispelled no different than any other spells I have tried it on. The only real danger I saw was that when I dispelled the more powerful spell it used it turned into a red smoke before completely disappearing.” I could tell by the tone of her voice she was interested by the way the spell reacted but wasn’t worried.

“Do you think this magic is the reason why this goblin became a warlord? I wouldn’t be surprised if the goblins all thought this one was some sort of chosen one of a god.” I said trying to steer the conversation back to how strange the magic was as I had a feeling the similarities between this magic here and the magic used by the dark mages was important.

“Perhaps, goblins are rather superstitious beings that sometimes see demons and their own magic users as gods or something along the same lines. That is part of the reason as to why goblins have not risen to the same heights in terms of civilization and technology, the other reason is because they are naturally traitorous and often kill each other for simple reasons.”

We didn’t wait for much longer as we saw the members of group one exiting the cave each carrying a raw gemstone. These gemstones all varied in color and size but everyone in group one ended up getting one, some were disappointed and looked at other more valuable gemstones with envy but nobody said anything more about it.

Soon we started the journey towards the second cave where the demon warlock was residing. While I kept myself looking calm and collected on the outside, on the inside I was worried about the approaching threat. I knew I was more powerful than the last time but I couldn’t shake the feeling that things would still get out of hand.

From a distance we saw the outside of the cave and all the armed goblins on the outside, like the previous cave there were more glowing blue crystals from Dom Badaher attached to the outside. The goblins themselves were just as carefree as we all expected them to be which eased my fears that they might have a way to contact each other through magic.

Like before group one took the left side with everyone else including myself took the right side and on the designated signal, which was Lyra’s own magical projectiles, everyone with magic or a bow unleashed their attack upon the unsuspecting goblins.

The goblins outside this cave were quite sloppy and undisciplined unlike the ones at the other cave and they immediately started panicking. Many were killed in the initial barrage and many more were killed when they tried to escape or fight back. I managed to pick off two that were running off to the right towards the goblin camp. Then when most of the outside goblins were dead the commander or the highest ranking goblin exited the cave with several of his subordinates in tow.

While these goblins were not as well equipped as the heavily armored goblins from the first cave they were definitely better off than the common grunts. They all quickly darted forwards with incredible speed that I didn’t really have an opportunity to see the last time, though they were quickly intercepted by the melee fighters of the second group. Several familiar faces including Saturio Quintilius and his subordinates were quick to jump into the fight head on.

With such strong foes and a strong formation that lacked openings preventing the goblins from exploiting and easily taking down their enemies, in reality they were getting pushed backwards and started to lose their numbers. The only hope for them was their leader who carried a spear made from raw unrefined iron. With a powerful thrust he forced Saturio back a step to avoid being stabbed, his subordinates quickly took notice of this sudden change and began to prioritize this stronger goblin.

Two spears belonging to those under Saturio command shot out from the side towards this goblin forcing it back as well, Saturio followed it up with a third thrust that landed on its shoulder drawing blood. The goblin took several steps back while it tried to stop the blood with its off hand staring at Saturio with annoyance.

“That is what I thought you little green bastard! You are an insignificant pebble on the road that is my victory and you will die!” Saturio shouted at the goblin for his subordinates to hear as he started to push forward to the wounded goblin leader while leaving the other goblin to his men. Saturio thrusted his spear forwards towards the chest of the goblin which it managed to block, with its own spear. The only problem was it needed both hands to do this and it only made its own wounds worse with more blood trickling out.

Saturio continued to taunt the goblin as it continued to force it well past its limits until it couldn’t react to the spear being swung like a club towards the side of his head. The goblin leader fell like a rock and went face first into the fungus-covered ground, the spear in its hands falling to the ground as this happened.

“Well well, look what we have here.” Saturio said to himself as he reached down to pick up the raw iron spear. The spear felt a little odd in Saturio’s hands given that it hadn't been refined into proper iron before being forged into its shape, but it was an interesting piece that he decided would look nice in his collection.

Without any further delays he took the goblins spear and stabbed it in the back with it, an ironic twist that someone should die by their own weapon. The goblin didn’t have the time or the mental capabilities to take in the irony as it soon drew its final breath.

The remaining goblins didn’t last much longer than their leader and decided to fight to the last man. Everyone had killed at least two goblins each with those like Saturio’s subordinates each killing around four on average. I myself managed to kill three, the two that were running off and another that was about to bash someone over the head with a club.

We didn’t wait long to regroup and take notice that nobody was exiting the cave before we decided to enter and kill anything that might be inside. Saturio and his subordinates who were all melee fighters were in the front while everyone else had to go second. I along with all the other ranged fighters were in the very back of the group along with Lyra.

Rounding the corners that were leading to the large chamber I could feel my heart beating in my chest, the gravity of the situation was digging into the deepest parts of my mind and I could feel the demon ahead of us. I could feel the magic in the air disrupted ever so slightly by its very own nature. ‘I didn’t recall anything like this last time, must be because I am actually a trained mage this time. But nobody else is reacting to the disruption of magic, not even Lyra. Is it because I’ve encountered this demon before?’

The possible reasons as to why I could feel the changes in the magic around us flew in and out of my mind at a rapid pace. But by the time we reached the demon's chamber I still hadn't come up with a good explanation. When we first entered the chamber it was shrouded by darkness like most of the cavern, but as everyone entered the room the blue crystals lining the room started up and slowly illuminated the chamber.

At the very end of the room the demon warlock was sitting, its cloak made from solidified earth layered like scales was just as impressive as the last time. Without the impending sense of doom I was feeling the last time I was able to take a greater notice of the demon's physical characteristics, it looked like a stag that was forced into a humanoid form and painted with tar and had its eye replaced by red gemstones.

For a moment it didn’t react to us, instead it looked in our general direction lazily like it was bored with something. After a few moments it reached forwards and the opening behind us closed up and trapped us inside. Most of the mercenaries started to panic at the sudden appearance of a demon, more so that it just displayed powerful magic abilities. But not Saturio or any of his subordinates, instead they quickly raised their weapons and ran towards the demon without any hesitation.

Almost everyone else was frozen for a moment aside from Lyra and myself, Lyra unlike Saturio quickly reached for the magic crystal she was carrying and crushed it with her hands to alert Citro of the situation. I on the other hand followed Saturio’s example and started casting spells towards the demon, specifically tier two spells with my aim at its head.

My first Earth Spike shot forwards with great power and precision directly towards the face of the demon warlock, but the demon wasn’t a fool and quickly reacted by conjuring up a shield of earth. The earth spike harmlessly shattered into many pieces and disappeared into nothingness as the demon stood up from its throne.

With a small wave of its hand it conjured up a large staff from earth and thrusted it forwards like a spear towards Saturio and his subordinates. They ducked out of the way of this sudden and powerful attack at the expense of their speed and momentum leaving them a good target for follow up attacks which the demon didn’t hesitate to do. The only thing keeping it from landing any serious blows against them was my spells forcing the demon to block and dodge.

By around this time most of the mercenaries under Lyra’s command had awoken from their stupor and rushed forwards to help fight the demon. Lyra however was focused on the exit which would need to be opened to allow for Citro and the rest of group one to get inside and help us. She placed her hands on the face of the stone and tried pushing her mana inside to take control of it, but to her surprise the stone was rejecting the mana like a living being.

Her eyes betrayed her feelings but nobody was paying her any attention at the moment, she tried to push her mana inside the stone once again to take control but like before it was rejected. ‘How is this possible? This is just a stone, it shouldn't be able to reject mana on its own unless it is enchanted. I certainly don’t see any materials or inscriptions on the surface of this stone for that to be the case.’

The demon took a wide swing at Saturio and his subordinates, knocking several off their feet while the rest managed to avoid the attack. The rest of the mercenaries finally reached the demon by this time and swung or thrusted their weapons towards it with as much might as they had. Like they were trained to, they aimed for the largest part of their target which was the torso, the only problem was the cloak it created from earth managed to block the attacks leaving no significant damage to the demon.

Seeing this failed attempt the demon laughed a terrible laugh, it reminded everyone of the deepest evil within their childhood dreams. The monsters and ghouls that we all dreamed up while young all came rushing back to everyone and forced them all to pause. Everyone aside from those with the strongest wills started to sweat and their bodies froze up.

Even though this wasn’t my first time encountering a demon I still felt a good portion of its effects, but it was drastically reduced. If I had to put a number on it I would say it was around fifty percent of its normal strength against me.

The few remaining Earth Spikes I conjured up were all released and fired towards the demon which all broke upon contact with the earth shield it conjured up.

I turned to Lyra who had both her hands on the stone that blocked our way out of the chamber and placed both my hands on her shoulders. She suddenly jumped and pushed away from me with a look of slight fear in her eyes before turning and relaxing when she saw it was me. “Lyra, we need you to use your magic against this thing!” I shouted while pointed towards the demon that looked to be having lots of fun while basically playing with the melee fighters of group two while the ranged fighters tried to hurt it. The only one who appeared to be doing anything against it was Saturio along with his subordinates.

Without saying anything to me or anyone else she stepped forwards and started chanting and performing the hand signs for a spell. I wasn’t familiar with the spell or the words she was using to cast, the duration of the casting was also rather long. Instead of interrupting her like I might have when I was less experienced I instead drew my sword and stepped forwards passing the other mercenaries in the process.

‘I'm not much of a leader, but it shouldn't be all that much of an issue to try and boost the morale of the mercenaries and help stall the demon until Lyra can finish her spell.’ I thought to myself as I reached closer and closer to the front where a small handful of mercenaries were already having a difficult time against the demon. A few had injuries that were already drawing blood, nothing dangerously so but enough to be noticed.