Transcendence?

***Norfolk, Northern Ocean***

***Ascathon***

“They intend to ram us! Dive! Dive! Now!”

Our ship starts to tilt slightly, but there is no chance that the huge mass of the carrier can change its momentum in time. Everyone on deck runs for his life as the silver ship, which was coming from slightly above, starts to saw into the upper decks of my flagship as it passes by.

“My flagship!” Rage consumes me as I witness my beautiful work of art being messed up! I pour mana into my feet and leap. The jump carries me up to the hull of the enemy ship and I propel myself farther upward.

A guy in a robe and a forming fireball welcomes me as I arrive at the railing of the enemy ship. My sword flashes forward and claims his hand. The fireball is sucked into my blade and I grin as I continue hacking away bits and pieces of the enemy.

The weapon is absorbing the mana of my enemies as intended. Then I realize that there are more people on deck and turn my attention towards them. Just in time because there is a fireball coming my way.

I raise my hand and counter the spell with a bubble of water. Then I swing my sword and release the absorbed power in an arc towards the group of enemies. Two guys are blown overboard despite their barrier spells and a third is cleanly cleaved in half.

Several others are able to evade the attack and I quickly probe with my mind for their mental defences. One of them seems weaker than the rest and I assault his mind with all my will. I change his perception of his comrades into foes and he starts to attack the people at his side in a mad frenzy.

Attack spells of various kinds are coming my way and I erect a barrier to block them. I turn my blade downwards and ram it into the metal floor. Magical circles appear under me as I concentrate to change the nature of my barrier spell to redirect the onslaught of magical power into the hull of the ship under my feet.

Fire starts spew out of a portal which leads into the ship and the whole vessel tilts. People fall and start sliding over the deck to go overboard. I hold firmly to my sword until the onslaught stops because the attackers have other problems to deal with.

Then I jump while casting a levitation spell and the enemy ship topples over and starts to fall. I orient myself and find my flagship with an ugly wound in its upper hull. The enemy ship continued in its path after scraping the armour off my ship.

My attention wanders to another silver ship on collision course with me while it's heading towards my flagship. It's a bigger construction than the other ships I've seen so far. A command ship?

I head for the vessel and the people on its deck start attacking me with spells and mind magic. I feel the powerful onslaught as several minds try to overpower me at the same time. So I steel myself and start to pull mana from my mana crystal while punching through the shield of the enemy vessel.

While I land on the deck and start to hack at my closest opponent to refill my mana reserves, something impacts between the rows of defenders. People start flying left and right as Celestial creates a path of carnage through the enemy.

I grin and follow her when our path is suddenly stopped by a bandaged figure with two swords of light in his hands. He blocks Celestial's attack and breaks our momentum.

Another guy in full silver plate armour enters the scene. “So you must be Ascathon. You fit the descriptions. How about giving up now?”

Three familiar people with masks join the two men and Celestial retreats to my side. I frown and grip my sword tighter. “I think that's a little more than we can handle. The suckers from the Council are bad enough, but the other two seem to be strong too.”

A ray of light swings over the deck and I am just in time to recognize Jazira's spell and raise a barrier which envelops Celestial and me. The spell leaves a charred and smouldering deck behind. The enemy soldiers turned to ash in the blink of an eye. Just the five figures are unharmed, encircled by a barrier of their own.

“~Nyahaha. Why? I think three on five are still favourable odds if you count me in~” Jazira descends on a disk of light beside us.

“I think you shouldn't underestimate them.” I raise my sword to a defensive position. “And what are you thinking!? Firing a spell like that at your allies?”

“I trust in you. Something of that scale wouldn't harm someone whom I call an ally.” She answers cheerfully.

So in other words if we were turned into dust, we wouldn't be worth your time?

Jazira pulls on her lower lip and looks at the opposing party. “I will take the armour as an opponent. He looks like someone I can go all out against without breaking him too fast.”

“Then I'll take on the three elders. This time they won't stand up again several times!” Celestial and Jazira dash towards the enemy.

“What!?” What's wrong in their heads? Those guys are strong! It's not like massacring some weaklings.

Suddenly the bandage guy materializes in front of me and I am just in time to parry his left sword slashing down on me. His right sword stabs forward and I step backwards to get out of reach, but his sword still manages a nasty cut over my chest.

“And now I'll find out which curse you placed on me you sick bastard! I'll take my time with you to enjoy this!” He screams with glee.

I stare at the blood on my chest. “He cut me!? Through my armour!?” I immediately activate my battle aura and cast a regeneration spell.

The bandaged guy jumps forward and I parry left, turning my blade to divert his attack from the right. My barriers are cut by the light swords like paper. Just the mana crystal on my sword is able to withstand the strange weapons.

His right stabs my left thigh before he retreats to evade my sword which is coming up from the earlier parade. He starts to circle around me while I take a proper stance again. “And that's why dual wielding is superior to two handed swords! What do you even intend to do with a big slow weapon like that!?”

He taunts me, but I only have eyes for my bleeding thigh. “That's two pieces of armour! AARRRGH!” I step forward and stab at him, offering an opening. He parries and immediately tries to close in like he did before, stabbing at me with his second sword.

I grab the blade of my longsword and bash his second weapon away with both hands. Then I close myself and bring the tip of my sword up, slashing at his left shoulder in the process. The tip of my blade is now inside his defence and I start stabbing downwards at him, using my longsword like a dagger for close combat. He tries to get away from me, but I follow and change the grip on my sword again.

Holding the sword with both hands at the blade, I bring it down like a hammer for a murder strike. He evades to the left and the crossguard of my sword impacts his shoulder, breaking something. He drops his weapon and the sword of light disappears.

I change to a normal grip again and start a series of swings which he parries with his remaining sword. His expression turns strained and then fearful as the continued exchange tires his remaining hand. Then our swords lock with each other and I catch his blade with my crossguard. I change my grip again to use the blade as a leverage to twist his weapon. But he is strong and stops my blade with pure force.

Having the movement of the dangerous weapon restricted I knee him in the side and hit him in the face while holding my sword with one hand. We separate and he tumbles backwards. I hack at his remaining sword hand. The other blade disappears too. “Pure swordsmanship doesn't help you in a fight with no rules!” I scream and hit him with the crossguard of my sword into the face. Then I use the pommel to hit him repeatedly as he goes down and blood splatters around. I turn the sword and stab the blade like an icepick with both hands into his belly.

I twist the blade to finish him off while he screams and an unbelievable stream of mana flows out of him. He goes silent and the flow stops. There is no more power left inside him. So I bend down and grab his clothes to pull him to the nearby railing.

I heave him with his upper body over the railing, but just a second before I let go, I stop. It isn't funny if they are unconscious! So I drop my sword and slap his face to wake him up.

He opens his eyes with a dazed expression and I shake him. He realizes his position and focuses on me. “Wait! I can help you! Do you know who I am?” He reaches with a pleading hand for me and I open my grip on his clothes. His body silently tilts over the railing and he is gone.

“AAAIIEEEEIEIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!”

Without mana there shouldn't be any chance that he survives a fall from that height. The water is as hard as stone at that speed. I correct my arm-guard, which slipped out of place during the fight. “Who cares who or what you are. Just another poor nameless bastard who died during a pointless war. Aw! He damaged two pieces of my armour!” I check the damage on my chest plate and wince as I realize that the gravure is destroyed.

I turn and find Jazira sitting on an empty breastplate with pieces of the silver plate armour all around her. She puffs her cheeks. “It was just a stupid doll!”

Celestial has the pieces of the elders neatly sorted after body parts at her feet. I guess cutting off their limbs is a possibility to render them harmless. Celestial doesn't look pleased either. “They were just fakes again! Like I thought. You were the only one who got a real enemy!”

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