ALL NOVEL 81 - The Third Scion
The spearmen were amassing below, eager to end Drayya’s life. Once they were gathered in the most opportune spot, Lieze summoned a globule of Mercuria from her Bag of Holding, sending a command for her Flesh Elemental to attack the glass ceiling of the arcade. As its half-liquid body of whirling sinew slammed against the roof, an enormous crack splintered from its point of impact, alerting the inhabitants of the street below.
“Hm?” Furainé raised her head, “Is that-”
There was less than half a second for Lieze to accomplish her goal when the Flesh Elemental finally broke through the glass. Using the Mercuria, she performed an enhancement of her [Corpse Explosion] spell, ballooning the minion’s level value from [21] to [105]. Previously, the thralls she’d used for the spell had been low-level Gravewalkers, and those were powerful enough to near-obliterate any enemies standing too close.
“With a level as high as [105]... the explosion should be-”
The rest of her statement was drowned out by a thundercrack which struck her with a sudden deafness. The cracked glass she was bracing against disintegrated into glimmering sand, and the girl found herself in freefall.
She held out an arm which threatened to tear off as it caught the railing of the arcade’s second-storey walkway. The ringing in her ears ceased, replaced with an echoing chorus of screams.
Secret Quest ‘Flesh Bomb’ Complete!
Description - Kill at least 40 enemies with a single use of [Corpse Explosion]
Reward - 4,000xp
Level Up!
You are now level [29]
HP + 0 MP + 55
MIND + 1
She ran her eyes over the notifications as 2 cultists yanked her up from the walkway. After standing to her feet, Lieze was able to see the level of destruction caused by her [Corpse Explosion]
Stringy tendrils of flesh littered the arcade, spreading out from a single point like the vines of some wicked, carnivorous plant. Any spearmen who were unlucky enough to be standing within a few feet of the Flesh Elemental had all but vanished, with only clouds of iron-scented crimson in their place. Considering the state of their surviving comrades, it may have been more accurate to call them ‘lucky’ rather than ‘unlucky’.
Missing limbs, exposed entrails, and stripped flesh painted only the simplest picture of the maladies suffered by Furainé’s troops. To call the occasion a ‘bloodbath’ would have been a cruel understatement. Not one of the soldiers commanded to approach Drayya’s group had survived the surprise attack.
“...Find a way down.” Coming to her senses, Lieze returned to commanding her allies, “Support Drayya’s squad, but don’t waste mana on complex spellcraft - Furainé’s abjuration will only make it a wasted effort.”
“What will you do, my lady?” One of them asked.
“We need to take advantage of this confusion… I’ll be moving forward with another Flesh Elemental. With her skirmishers decimated, you can afford to push towards Furainé and grant me some cover. Go now!”
Marché had trained the young necromancers well. They knew not to disobey their masters. A few headstrong cultists leapt from the balcony to deal with the crossbow bolt lodged in Drayya’s ankle, whereas the others gathered up the thralls on the walkway (those that hadn’t dropped clean into the arcade) before retreating to look for a safer way down.
“...Hm!?”
Lieze ducked behind the railing to avoid a bolt aimed at her head.
“Lieze Sokalar…” She could barely hear her own name being spoken over the ringing in her ears, “I do wish we could have met on friendlier terms, but you can’t expect me to busy myself with formalities when you drop an exploding corpse onto my men.”
“Furainé…” Lieze knew better than to expose herself, remaining behind the safety of the railing, “The curse of Alistair’s reign runs deeper than mere longing for power. Tonberg is condemned, and yet you persist in its stubborn defence - but for what reason? I know well of who you are - who the 3 of us are; myself, Alistair, and Furainé - individuals chosen to serve a greater purpose. I don’t plan on being a piece in some celestial game, but you seem content with such a fate.”
“Oh, Lieze…” She could tell without looking that the woman was smiling, “A thirst for knowledge is commendable, but please don’t embarrass yourself. All you should be interested in is propagating the ideals of your beloved Order, not sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“So there is something deeper to all of this…” Lieze thought, “Why did you burn the Library of Uke, Morgan? Why have you refrained from seeking my life until this night? What life-cursed secrets do you intend to plunder from this cursed world?”
“Oh, dear. I’m afraid I have no idea of what you’re going on about.” Furainé shook her head, “I simply wish to excise the tumour plaguing my people. His Majesty has tolerated your meddling up to this point, but the people of Tonberg demand blood, and your death is the only sacrifice which will sate that craving - quite the honour for a necromancer, I would assume.”
“Oi!” From the far end of the arcade, Drayya interrupted their conversation, “If you have time to spare, then fill it with the screams of royalists rather than idle chatter! You lot - move those thralls forward! I want that woman’s head on a spike!”
“How troublesome…” Furainé muttered, “It seems this meeting of minds must continue another day, Lieze Sokalar.”
“I’m afraid not.” She replied, “You won’t be leaving this arcade alive, Morgan.”
“Hmhm…” A loathsome chuckle escaped from the abjurator’s throat, “A splendid answer… very well, then. May the Lord forgive me…”
Lieze only had a single Flesh Elemental to defend her from close-range combatants. As long as she remained on the walkway, there was nothing Furainé’s soldiers could do to reach her without taking the long way around to one of the stairways.
Runes continued to flow along the ground, stifling magic wherever they went. Lieze had timed her [Corpse Explosion] near the ‘end’ of one such pulse, but she wouldn’t have enough time to conjure a [Blood Spike] large enough to deal any damage to Furainé’s soldiers. Her crossbowmen had turned their shared attention to the threat of Drayya’s reinforced squad, giving Lieze the opportunity she needed to sneak across the walkway behind the enemy’s ranks.
“Don’t think for a moment that I’m not aware of your plans.” Furainé’s voice was crushed beneath the snapping of bolts, “If you could just stay still for a moment…”
Technique Observed (+10%)
A self-contained maelstrom of fog appeared above Lieze’s head. She heard the clinking of chain-links before she could see them, which flew from the portal towards her position. As one collided with her ankle, a metallic cuff materialised around it before retracting at speed, stringing Lieze upside-down in plain view of the royalists.
“Crossbows.” Furainé waved a hand, “Kindly put this pitiable girl out of her misery.”
“Shit! What kind of spell is this!?” Lieze’s eyes darted to the Flesh Elemental, “I need to free myself!”
There was nothing else for it. Before Furainé’s crossbowmen could fill her with holes, Lieze commanded her Flesh Elemental to perform an unthinkable act: attacking its own master. With no consciousness with which to weigh morals, the creature’s answer to her demand was swift and brutal - lashing out with its amorphous form and slicing straight through her ankle, severing flesh and bone as Lieze’s body slammed against the walkway, safe once more behind the balcony.
Lieze’s HP - 82 / 245
Secret Quest ‘Blood for Blood’ Complete!
Description - Intentionally harm yourself on 3 separate occasions
Reward - 2,000xp
“I hope this isn’t going to become a habit of mine…” She winced as bolts of agony shot from the stump.
[Supreme Regeneration] Activated
Remaining Heavenly Favours - 0
Once more, a limb of hers was replaced with a dark reflection as tendrils of black bark sprouted from the wound. But she had no time to question the ethics of replacing her body with the flesh of the God she had spent her youth worshipping - not when Furainé could catch her with the same spell once more.
“S-She’s only gone and cut her own foot off…” A crossbowman muttered, “What breed of madness is this?”
“Not a bad gamble, but one will have trouble walking about without two feet. Wouldn’t you agree, Lieze?” Furainé projected her voice towards the walkway, “To say nothing of the blood loss…”
“Lady Furainé! The undead are approaching!” One of the soldiers yelled.
“Do not allow fear to take hold of you!” She declared, “Keep the monstrosities at bay with spears and continue to thin their ranks with ranged attacks! We have the advantage in numbers!”
“Numbers, perhaps… but not strength.” Lieze thought, “It’s just a matter of closing the gap until our Briarknights can leap into the fray… I just hope Drayya understands that.”
More importantly, Furainé wasn’t aware of her [Heavenly Favours] despite being a Scion herself, giving her the advantage of stealth. Her original plan was now more than realistic. Using the railing as cover, she creeped over the walkway until she was positioned directly above Furainé.
“I still have enough Mercuria for two more enhancements…” She considered her options, “I just need to time this correctly.”
Another [Corpse Explosion] was in order. The Flesh Elemental accompanying her across that elevated position had a level rating of [75] - not as dangerous as the one she’d used to make her entrance, but certainly enough to kill Furainé before she would have time to react.
“Leap over the railing right after I begin channelling mana into you.” For the first time, Lieze spoke her command aloud, as if afraid the thrall wouldn’t hear her otherwise, “Before the next wave of that abjuration spell, at the precise moment when my spellcasting returns…”
Drayya’s squad was drawing near, braving the hail of bolts to provide her with enough cover. Seconds before Furainé’s body emitted another wave of magic-choking runes, Lieze began channelling necromantic energy into the Flesh Elemental as it clambered over the railing.
Lieze’s MP - 1,150 / 1,195
“What!?” As the thrall’s body began to inflate with a chorus of gruesome gurgles, Furainé darted her eyes towards the railing, “Get down! All of you!”
-But as always, there was no time to react. With enough force to blow a hole in the walls of Tonberg’s castle, the Flesh Elemental was reduced to a bloody paste coating the arcade floor, fragments of bone ricocheting from the walls impaling soldiers left and right, or simply turning those close enough into grotesque puzzles of flesh as their bodies were blown apart by the explosion.
“Briar’s thorns… where did she learn to do that?” Drayya covered her eyes as a blast of hot air passed her by, “...Well, I’m not complaining. As long as it gets results.”
Lieze had the sense to cover her ears that time - not that it helped much, but she was at least able to regain her senses fast enough to peek her head over the railing, squinting her eyes to see the writhing silhouettes through a haze of crimson fog.
“...Did I get her?” She wondered, “No… I have a quest to kill her, so I should have received a notification…”
Sure enough, as the fog cleared, there stood a single woman. Her body was surrounded by a cracked, spheroid membrane of magenta. Her eyes locked with Lieze’s - fearsome and defiant. It was the first time Furainé’s motherly guise had ever faltered.
“That spell… a novice like yourself could never command such power.” She spoke, “-And I see you’re back on your feet, despite losing a foot not mere moments ago…”
“With a bit of creativity, it’s extraordinary what you can accomplish with spellcraft.” Lieze smirked, “So? What will you do now, Morgan? I can count… oh, perhaps 30 of your men who aren’t on the brink of death? Do you really believe you have a chance of victory now?”
As if to accentuate the hopelessness of her situation, the 3 Briarknights from Drayya’s group wasted no time in closing the gap between the two armies.
“Hm…” Furainé closed her eyes in thought, “Yes… I suppose I’ve been beaten, haven’t I?”
“Be careful!” Lieze yelled over the balcony, “Don’t get too close! She might still have something up her sleeve!”