Touch of Fate

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Glendel Hurinforth

Age: 657

Race: Elder Vampire

Title: Baron of Dust and Ruin

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[Judging based on his age, he looks like a high Tier 3 at most. A Summoning specialist then? I wonder how much effort you would need to put into it to summon kaiju sized creatures. Is that something I can do if I invest enough mana?]

Although he couldn't hear what the vampire was saying, his enhanced eyes were sharp enough to see the man point up in his direction and shout at the titan. After a brief pause the giant skeleton began ponderously raising one arm as if to swat him out of the air.

It was easy to simply fly laterally to avoid it, but he could tell that the blow was strong enough to do serious damage to him if it hit.

While he was considering how to respond, he noted that the giant was crushing houses and even stepping on a few milling combatants as it stepped forward to attack again.

[Anything I do is going to cause a lot of collateral damage, but if I let it rampage like this, the destruction is only going to get worse. What's the best way to handle this?]

"I don't suppose you know of any inherent weakness that thing might have?" He asked the being sharing his body, not really hoping for a serious answer.

The demon sneered. "Asking for my help already? Fool. Even if the summon is unbeatable, the summoner can usually be slain. Won't that solve the problem?"

[...That makes sense. Why didn't I think of that?]

Dodging a second swing from the giant, he fell into a steep dive while channeling his mana. Conjuring up a blade of intense fire, he blurred forward at a maximum speed until he was standing in front of the vampire called Glendel. The unfortunate noble had just enough time to look surprised before he was split from head to toe with Mike's blazing weapon.

As the two halves of the man fell apart, the skeletal giant disintegrated into motes of light.

[Alright then. Note to self, focus on the summoner first from now on.]

"So, I know you aren't obligated to help me in any capacity," he muttered in annoyance to the entity, "but could you at least move along with me. It feels like I am trying to fight with half of my body paralyzed."

"Heh...our deal never discussed such a clause. The only thing I am required to do is maintain control of my legion until the vampires have been driven back. Anything else would require a new contract."

"And I understand that, but there are some dangerous enemies here. If I am hampered by this kind of handicap, there is a very real chance of me losing to someone of a similar level of power."

"So much the better." The entity said with an audible smirk. "Should you fall, it would be my chance for resurrection."

Sensing an opening, Mike asked, "Are you so sure about that?"

"...Don't try to mislead me."

"I'm not. Do you really think that I only had one safeguard in place? Do you really think I would let you survive to possess my body if I died in this fight?."

The entity growled. "What did you do?"

"I have no reason to tell you in detail, but let me put it this way. I made sure that the second I died, everyone who had a part in it would suffer a similar fate."

"...Grahh! Fine! You win! I'll assist until my time is up, but I won't do anything more than help keep you alive."

[Whew. I wasn't sure if it was going to try and call my bluff. Anyway, we came to a resolution not a moment too soon.]

"I appreciate that. We'll need a little teamwork to handle our current situation." He replied cheerfully. In the time they'd been talking, several vampire nobles had surrounded them and were observing their exchange carefully.

The way they seemed to prowl around at the very edge of his awareness gave Mike the impression of predatory animals confronting something outside of their expectations, a scenario their instincts didn't quite account for.

They were likely a little confused and wary about him and his unusual appearance, but he knew that uncertainty would not last long. Sometime soon, things would change. They'd either get enough reinforcements to buff up their courage, or they would get tired of waiting and take matters into their own hands.

Before they could, however, Mike decided to go on the offensive. Throwing a fireball at the largest knot of them within line of sight, he dashed forward and began the slaughter.

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"So, what is supposed to be going on here?" Morris asked, sounding bewildered.

"According to my vision, Mike was supposed to be destroying the city." Sera replied in a similar tone.

While they watched, a trio of skinny, unarmed demons wrestled an armored man to the ground and began biting at its face and neck. This continued for a few seconds before the man melted into a swarm of bats that circled the area a few times before reassembling into a humanoid figure a few meters away. Rather than attempt to continue the fight, the vampire turned tail and ran as the demons continued to pursue him, close to a dozen more joining in the chase from the side streets.

The truly confusing part of all this was that this particular scene was far from unique, and if they looked around, they could see it repeating in several other parts of the city. After watching the chas for a few minutes, Morris commented. "I feel like things aren't going according to that vision of yours."

"No...really? I didn't catch that bit." The Oracle shot back sarcastically. "Let's just find Mike. He can probably tell us what's going on."

"Do you have any idea where he might be?"

"No," Sera started before a series of explosions from the city's third layer interrupted her. "But I bet we can find him if we follow the sounds of destruction."

"That's...probably right."

"Come on, I see a break in the fighting over there."

[They get along well.] Tal thought amusedly while they walked, listening to the two banter. It was clear they were trying to distract themselves from the weird situation, but she suspected that they had developed a closer relationship in the dungeon.

While she was still considering that, they had to move to one side of the street to avoid a troop of demons that were marching somewhere with some purpose. The creatures, who are often referred to as the enemies of all mortal life, simply glanced at them in a dismissive manner before moving on to their goal.

"Clearly someone has directed them to avoid harming us, although I have no idea how that would be possible." Morris began pondering out loud. "These kinds of lesser demons are notoriously difficult to control. As far as I've heard, they only act orderly when under direct command from the most powerful caste of demons. If that is the case here, then we could very well be witnessing the opening stages of some kind of demonic incursion."

"Are you sure about that?" Sera asked, indicating a pair of demons that were apparently escorting a small group of civilians. As they watched, the demons carefully directed the group towards the city gate, as if to evacuate them from danger.

"...Well, it was only a theory." He shot back defensively. "Nevertheless, there is clearly something unusual happening here."

"Brilliant deduction."

He glowered at her in response.

They lapsed into silence for several minutes while they navigated the strange battlefield. Tal was struck by how surreal the whole situation was. It would have been one thing if they had to fight their way through, but it was quite another to be effectively ignored by both sides. She wondered if this might be what it feels like to be a ghost.

Thanks in large part to the tendency of the demonic armies to simply slip around them at a safe distance, it did not take long for them to reach the third layer of the city. They could tell the difference almost immediately after exiting the staircase from the second level.

This section of the city had apparently become the central battlefield between the two forces, and the resulting destruction had left much of the district devastated. There were few buildings still standing, and those that did had suffered some rather extreme damage. Several fires had broken out, and were currently burning uncontrollably. Thankfully, the unusual layout of the city meant that the damage would be limited, even if they weren't dealt with.

More importantly, they began to notice more direct confrontation between the two armies, with formations of the armored vampires squaring off against foot soldier demons. This made forward progress a lot more difficult as they tried to avoid the swirling melees that blocked most of the major thoroughfares.

To make matters worse, they also began encountering more powerful members of both forces, to include mages that were throwing around wide-scale destruction magic.

After Morris and Sera managed to haul Lily back from an alley that was quickly filled with a cloud of dissolving acid, they began to question the wisdom of their approach.

"This is crazy!" Morris yelled over the shouts and growls from the nearby battle. "How are we going to find anyone in this mess?"

"Knowing Mike, he's probably in the middle of all this." Sera yelled back. "Whenever we had to find him in the past, it was usually a matter of going to where the fighting was the worst."

"That's all well and good, but we're kind of stuck here. How are we supposed to help him, if we can't even get to him?"

"We need to either clear the way or find some alternate route."

William, who'd been silently following them up to this point, chose this moment to chime in. "Perhaps we should look for surviving members of the city's defense forces. They may be able to assist us, or could at the very least provide us with possible paths to our goals."

"That's not a bad idea," Morris started, a bit uncertainly, "but we don't know where they might be, or if they would help us if we asked."

"Did you not notice? We passed several outposts that were still manned on our way here. Granted the soldiers in question appeared a bit demoralized, but it would simply be a matter of going back to ask them. If all we need is their knowledge, then I feel certain that all we need to do is mention the fact that our companion, a Tier 4 mage, is currently fighting somewhere and we are merely seeking to lend our aid."

While they were discussing this, they managed to find shelter within the entryway to some kind of guildhall. At some point in the last few hours, the heavy wooden doors to the building had been knocked off their hinges. Tal suspected that there might be hostile creatures somewhere deeper inside, but assumed that they would be fine so long as they didn't explore any further.

"That's an option, but the fighting has actually swept past us too. If we try to go back, we are going to run into the same problem. Not to mention the fact that I saw the soldiers you were talking about. Most of them looked like terrified recruits who survived mostly by chance. Even if we got to them, I'm not sure how much they could assist us." Sera commented while checking the string of her bow. The gesture was probably only meant to calm her nerves, since the Hero relic would still look brand new a hundred years from now.

Turning towards Morris, she asked, "Is there anything you can summon to help?"

"Considering that I only learned how to do it yesterday, I feel that asking me to confront an army of vampires is probably a little unreasonable."

"I'm just exploring our options. We'll need to make a path if we can't find one."

He sighed, "I get that, but even if I had more experience, I'm not sure if my affinity would really be applicable in this case."

The Oracle snorted. "I guess flying books wouldn't do much here."

Morris chuckled in reply before turning to Tal. "Do you know of anything that could help?"

She hesitated for a moment before finally shaking her head. "If just me. Possible."

"I was afraid of that, but at least we have a fallback option. In the very worst case we can send you on ahead while figuring out our own solution."

"Not necessary."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

Enjoying the look of confusion on his face, Tal pointed to the large woman behind him who they had been largely ignoring for the last few minutes.

They all turned just in time to see Lily step into the street while hefting one of the guildhall's doors, an expression of blank determination on her face.

"Lady Liliana! What are you doing?!" William shouted in obvious despair.

"Making a path." Was her simple response before she broke into a run.

Tal followed along in the wake of her friends as they futilely tried to catch up, feeling a small hint of pride as she watched the giant-blooded woman slam into the side of the vampire formation like a battering ram with the door leading the way.

Armored figures and demons went flying, and the already chaotic skirmish was completely disrupted. Sera and Morris moved quickly to follow, stepping over the fallen and groaning warriors who had the misfortune of being in Lily's way.

After a few seconds, the door wielding woman broke through to the other side of the fight, only stopping her charge once she noticed the lack of resistance. She glanced back in the direction of her comrades, who were still fighting through the aftermath of her advance.

A look of confusion passed across her face as she asked. "Are you coming? You'll need to move faster than that."