ALL NOVEL Chapter 187 – Siege (3)
The battle was raging on in earnest, and the cannons were constantly echoing their thunderous roars while a dozen or so Grand Elders from the Soulbound Sect were protecting the line of their weapon-grade Undeads. With a thunderous explosion, a bright light whizzed through the air before hitting one of the Undead up in the air. It resulted in such a violent explosion that it immediately incinerated the body, leaving an ash cloud behind. A sea of crimson fire spread around them the next moment, setting many others on fire.
While their defense was disturbed and weakened, more explosions echoed throughout the city as a volley of similarly powerful cannonballs arrived, cracking the shield of miasma. With their minds and attention focused on resisting the fire and putting it out, most of them missed the rising airship on the horizon.
"Are they trying to run?" Yuya asked herself, standing amongst the crowd of basic Undead bodies, looking at the sky, seeing it leave towards Io's end. "Oh!" An idea came to mind immediately, and she hurriedly teleported to the other end of the battlefield.
"Escaping?" Io thought at first, seeing the ship appear above the city and speeding up, heading towards his side.
He had no thought about it being a weapon or an attack. He wholly envisioned that they would try and escape. Fleshbound people were always so narrow-sighted. The moment death was near, the end of their physical existence was closing in; it frightened them. They would do anything to preserve it and try to survive… it was like this in the first harvest, too.
"Predictable… they changed nothing. Bring it down!"
He was waiting for something like this. His own modified bodies of beasts, capable of flying, were ready and eager to join in the battle. He simply held them back so the humans would try and escape via ships when they saw the sky being free of Undead. A horde of flying monsters rose to the sky, ready to swarm the lone ship, but a surprise awaited them. From its deck, blue fire appeared, sweeping through the first wave, turning them into ice, killing not just the body but the souls occupying them. It was a fast and clean kill, shocking Io with how efficient it was.
"A mixed element?! Is it a Claw disciple?!"
He didn't have time to think as he rushed towards the reserves. By now, he also knew that what was happening was not an attempt at fleeing but an attack that could be devastating. No wonder the ship was moving so slowly… it wasn't filled with people! Seeing how wave after wave appeared from it, creating a secondary sea above him made out of ice and sailing atop it, filled him with dread. Whoever was present from the Golden Claw had to be an experienced elder, as he could sense a third element being in play, carrying the ship forward with a robust and magical wind. No regular disciples in that sect could combine three of the eight elements… at least, that was what he believed.
When the warship was in position, Lia activated its war horn, blaring it in full force, something she had always wanted to do. Setting the ship itself aflame, she hurriedly teleported as it started its nosedive, heading straight to the back of the Undead army, right where the most Grand Elders were and where many of the immobile, weapon-grade Undead were being kept.
"No, you won't!" Io arrived, powering up his soul, ready to release his full strength to catch the ship before it could blow up, but a soft, popping noise disrupted him, appearing right behind his body. "You-!"
There was Yuya, her hands going deep into his body, grabbing straight onto his soul. She was siphoning off his power without saying a word, draining him like a hungry whale. It was an open betrayal, but was she mad? Both of them were vulnerable because of it, and a burning ship was heading straight towards them! With her gobbling up his soul, all her defenses were down, same with him… they were going to die!
"Only you…" Yuya whispered as if reading his thoughts, and at the last moment, she let go, disappearing once again and watching the explosion from afar.
When it finally detonated, the hundreds upon hundreds of combustible barrels inside caught on fire, going up in flames, resulting in a miniature mushroom cloud rising to the skies. What was really destructive were the chemicals inside, splashing in all directions, making the fire burn even more intensely and spread far and wide. It was something that the Undead army felt in their core and disturbed their ranks while scrambling to contain it.
At the epicenter of the impact, a mix of Lia's blue flames was burning intensely, gobbling up at least fifty unused beast bodies along with the wrecked body and soul of Io. Despite everything, he was not yet dead. His physical vessel was gone, but his soul was still resisting, breaking free of the freezing effect of Lia's fire and resisting the other, magical and ordinary fire, clinging to life...
"You traitorous bitch… you won't get away with this!" He huffed, ready to open a slit and slip into No-Space, running straight to the Sect Master. He still had enough energy to get back home, but he would have to work for the following millennia to regain his powers, if not longer.
"No, I won't." Yuya giggled, coming out from the slit he just opened, knowing exactly how Io would react.
She asked nothing but opened her mouth wide like a snake, gulping the remains of Io down, assimilating him at once. What she didn't expect was that Io's consciousness was connected to his subordinates, and the moment he died, the backlash damaged many of them, making them fall prey to the burning fires, losing a good amount of Grand Elders in the process. Not that it bothered her… she felt unimaginable powers inside of her that rose beyond her wildest dreams. Io himself was ancient, and the sudden influx of another Supreme Elder's essence was too much for Yuya to properly digest. She needed to vent and was at the perfect place for it.
…
….
……
On the walls, cheers broke out when the ship exploded, wiping out a good chunk of the enemy, lessening the pressure on the southern portion of it, and letting mages reinforce those points where the enemy pressured them the most.
"That was some fireworks!" Ayashi laughed when Lia reappeared, but she was not as happy as everybody else.
"Start retreating! Back to the secondary walls! Rinzen, go and prepare to erect the defenses!"
"What happened?!" She asked, her heart jumping into her throat, hearing the panic in Lia's voice.
"I sensed the enemy leader… that Undead is at my Mother's level! We fall back, NOW!"
Sounding the horns for retreat surprised many of the army, not to mention the other Misfits, placed on different parts of the wall. They were still fighting and confident they could hold on longer than expected. But it was no time to ask questions as they started to move, slowly pulling back while the Three Ri experts stepped forth, now enduring the bulk of the horde. They had to hold them back while the army retreated, doing alone what hundreds of mages did only a moment ago.
"Too late!" Boomed a jeering, mocking voice as a green flash blasted a hole in the southern wall near where Lia and the others were staying. It obliterated dozens, not even leaving their ashes behind, while Ayashi, Rinzen, and Lia were also thrown into the air before being buried under the rubble. "Come, my new little body! Be a good girl and give me what is yours!" Yuya's green eyes were fixated on Lia alone. She no longer cared about the battle plans, about success; she was lost in the fact she had the perfect host before her, one she wanted to gobble up NOW.
"Eat this!"
It was Koadriana who appeared, turning most of the ice and snow around them liquid once again, trying to wash away Yuya, who only snorted, erecting a green bubble around herself, resisting it with ease.
"Trash!"
Waving one hand, summoning a giant energy claw, she slapped Koa away like a ragdoll, sending her flying, caught by Raufon, who was also sent rolling backward from the impact. From four different directions, Sion, Aurora, Keily, and Ceiline attacked at once, all of them using their strongest spells to get rid of her, but none of them could break through her body that seemed impenetrable.
"I am at my pinnacle, you lowly beings! None of you can hurt me!" She laughed like a maniac, and the next moment, she was before Keily, stabbing through his chest, splattering blood everywhere. Then she simply grabbed him by the rabbit ears and used his body like a weapon, smashing him against Ceiline, who in turn halted her attacks. "You can have him!" Yuya cackled, letting go and forcing Ceiline to abandon her assault, catching him trying to stop Keily from bleeding out as he was still breathing…. Albeit extremely weakly.
With loud thuds, multiple light-based attacks landed on her body, coming from Sion's pistols, followed by a black glint that almost cut through her eyes. Still, she managed to lean back enough for Aurora's sword to only leave a cut across the bridge of her nose.
"Useless! Useless! Useless!" She repeated healing up at once, and with a teleport, she was before Aurora the next moment, clawing down like a tiger, breaking apart her swords and leaving deep lacerations across her chest. "Die, die, die!" Yuya heaved like a maniac, wanting to tear her apart, but Sion was faster than ever before, lassoing Aurora's body and bringing her away before the rabid Undead could tear her apart.
"Leave!" Lia shouted, getting out from under the rubble and seeing the unconscious Rinzen being lifted out by Simbad, along with her mother. "Go, you idiots!"
"No… you aren't going anywhere!" Yuya interrupted her with a sneer, but before she could finish them off, the Three Ri experts arrived, attacking her at once. They already gave up on holding the walls and instead began focusing on battling Yuya.
With them here, she was no longer laughing but focusing on their battle, and although it was a stalemate, she was slowly gaining the upper hand. Her Undead body looked too sturdy, brimming with energy, and none of the experts' spells could damage it. Worse, now the horde was getting over the walls and flooding in, raising Yuya's mood and increasing her battle frenzy. She felt she was in control, her brother's plan was working, and they will win! When she finally got her hands on one of the Berisons' experts, she simply tore him to pieces and before the others' eyes ate his soul like a snack, bathing in his innards and blood.
"Move! What are you waiting for?!" Roared Lia, ushering everyone to rush back while Rinzen finally woke up in Simbad's arms as they ran towards the secondary walls.
"The… shield!" She groaned, not really knowing where she was but knowing what must be done.
"Ahahaha! Where are you, little baby?!" Echoed Yuya's laugh far and wide, making Lia slowly fall behind, lagging in running while the rest of the misfits withdrew, along with the remains of the army.
Looking around, she saw that the giant peashooters on the walls were finally toppled over, torn apart as thousands of Undead flooded in. The towers were tumbling over with the cannons on them while the surviving soldiers were rushing inside the secondary walls into the part of the city where the civilians were also huddling up in their makeshift shelters. Everything turned around with the snap of a finger… Looking over her shoulder, she saw another Three Ri expert die, being torn to pieces by a literal beast wearing the face of Yuya. Yet none of them even thought about running. They sacrificed themselves to give everyone time to retreat and erect their protective barrier.
"I'm coming for you!" Giggled Yuya, catching a glimpse of Lia, ignoring her enemies, focusing only on her, wanting to occupy her new favorite puppet at once.
"Go… I will buy time…" She exhaled, telling it mainly to the surviving Three Ri mages. After stealing her resolve and before anything could be said in response, she teleported right to the left of Yuya, waving her swords, burning with blue flames, trying to decapitate Yuya in a surprise attack.
"Oh! Great!" She laughed, dodging, yet her skin still opened up as the wind from Lia's sword was enough to hurt her and let blue fire sneak under her skin at once. "...!" It was the first time she showed concern, also teleporting, gaining distance. She was holding her neck, using the overbearing energy raging in her soul to expel Lia's fire and heal herself. "Dangerous… But now I want you even more!"
"Then come and catch me!" Lia spat back before teleporting and appearing at the wall, hundreds of meters away, amongst the horde. She exploded with a bubble of blue fire, freezing hundreds of them dead in a flash and moving on, starting to cut them down like nothing. This time, her fire wasn't subsiding but starting to spread, fed by strong winds coming from everywhere, freezing the bodies and burning the Undead souls inside them.
"You are not the only one!" Yuya laughed, but to her horror, she could not teleport to her prey. It was such a surprise she almost didn't believe it. There was no explanation for why that would happen… her connection to No-Space was cut! Which should be impossible! "That can't be!" She snapped her eyes towards Lia, wanting to do what she did just to realize she had a strange ring on her finger. She saw something like that before… and she knew where. On her Sect Master's fingers! "Sorry Big Brother…" Yuya thought, her excitement overriding her remaining sane thoughts, "I think I will be the next Sect Master after taking over my new body…!"
"Come!" Bellowed Lia, teleporting once again as Yuya rushed after her on foot. "Try and catch me, bitch!" She had a straightforward goal. Let her chase after her as long as possible before everyone fell back and they could erect their last defense. She just hoped that Rinzen could recover quickly enough and she wasn't injured in a way she could no longer tap into the power of the glacier below their feet.
