III
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Arc III Chapter 13
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“Michael, dammit, what are you waiting for? I can't hold him any longer.“ Pressure increased and Lambert was pushed backwards, slowly but gradually losing ground.
Lambert gritted his teeth. “Kill him! Kill him now!“
Michael gripped his sword and acted, capitalising on the opportunity of the moment. He slipped past the demon's claws, beneath his massive torso, ramming his sword into the demon's soft underbelly. Exposed, unprotected, vulnerable, steel met flesh. Steel prevailed.
Kakos roared, overtaken by fury and fire, as pain numbed his senses. “Grgrgrgrgrgrgrghrmgmgmgrmrm.“
“Iris! Now!“ Lambert shouted across the hall. This was their chance! The demon stumbled, neglecting his defence.
Iris channelled her magic, mobilisng her mana “Ignis, heed my call. Bright flame in the dark. May your blazing glory shine upon me.“
Numerous circles adorned her silhouette as potent magic gathered.
“Incendium!“
The circles unleashed fury and destruction. A barrage of spells covered the demon in fire until subsiding.
Ther bombardment completely exhausted Iris. Her breath grew heavy, and her shoulders slumped.
Lambert sighed in relief. It was over. “Iris, ... good work ...“ “
“Grmhrmrrhrrmrmmr.“ An inhuman roar shattered Lambert's short-lived illusions.
Kakos' blood was boiling stronger than ever. Endless mana accelerated his metabolism. “You insignificant creatures, you are trying my patience. You will pay for your impertinence.“
Kakos attacked, his towering bulk crushing everything in his way, heavy feet stomped across the brittle stone floor.
Lambert sensed the danger. “Disperse!“
Lambert started running, but Iris was slow to react, still exhausted from her spell.
... she wouldn't make it.
Lambert grabbed Iris by her shoulders and dragged her behind the safety of cover. An arcade, a single pillar shielded them in the nick of time, blocking the demon's crazed stampede and his sharp claws.
The pillar withstood the initial assault, but the demon's raw strength proved too much and the entire arcade began collapsing under the onslaught, with the likely prospect of burying two unlucky adventurers below a mountain of rubble.
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Lambert bit his lips. “Fuck!“ There was no escape. A demon before him. A collapsing wall behind him. A shaken Iris right in his arms. Falling boulders above him.
A demon, or being buried a live. Lambert started praying and chose the latter with nowhere to run. The odds were about the same. He thought before before his eyelids closed, before everything went dark beneath an avalanche of stone and rock. They were done for, weren't they?
Michael witnessed Lambert's demise. “Lamb ...“
Kakos's tail hit Michael out of nowhere, quick and merciless like a whip, hurling across the hall for good. “Who says you are allowed to talk, measly human. Know your place ...“
A barrage of icicles cut Kakos short.
“We are not finished yet, fiend.“ Nelaeryn readied his tome, calling forth more circles, more icicles, more projectiles. His tome served Nelaeryn well throughout the years. Now it would serve him into death.
Kakos roared in anger. “You are still standing, elf? Haven't you learned your lesson?
Nelaeryn narrowed his eyes. “As long as we draw breath, a proud elf will never submit to your vile kin, fiend.“
“That remains to be seen! I will break you!“ Kakos smirked and charged his breath to deliver another cataclysm of fire and fury.
Fire and Ice. Ignis. Glacies. Their attacks clashed for the final time and Kakos triumphed. In the end, overwhelming brute strength obliterated skill and technique. Nelaeryn never stood a chance. Nor did Arwing, nor Iris, nor Lambert, nor Michael.
Kakos's breath simply evaporated all of Nelaeryn's innocuous attacks with ease.
Having depleted his last remaining mana, Nelaeryn broke down . His body ultimately paid the price for his flagrant use of higher magic. So this was the end.
Kakos celebrated his victory, a premature victory in Aurora's humble opinion. It was hubris that spelled the downfall of even the mightiest foes. “Hahahaha, I told you, whether humans or elves, you feeble creatures are nothing before my might. Be prepared to meet your maker.“
“...“ Nelearyn continued struggling in vain. His weakened body refused ... to move.
Kakos licked his fangs. The soft tender of human flesh already tickled his palate. “Stop resisting the inevitable, elf. All your souls will be mine! Mine! MINE!! ...“
A pebble, a mere pebble, hit Kakos right in the face with uncanny precision and accuracy, barely missing his eye before ricocheting and falling to the floor.
A pebble ... A pebble! A PEBBLE!!!
Kakos roared, his raging bloodshot eyes searching for the perpetrator. “Who dares to disturb my feast?! Show yourself!“
Nelaeryn followed the demon's gaze down the vast, empty hallway, down the cold stone floor, past all the destruction, past all the rubble, past all the debris, past collapsing pillars, past crumbling walls.
Their eyes spotted a lone figure, the figure of a single girl tightly hugging her doll, armed with another mighty pebble.
The girl grinned, visibly amused. Her grin displayed a sense of Arctic cold. “Preying on my defenceless companions ... I am dismayed. That's not the proper way to behave, my friend.“
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