2-53 Descent III

“Welcome back...” Erin uttered silently to herself. Those words were meant for her mastery of swords. Although just a small portion, she could jump in glee at the return of her former prowess. 

Erin sheathed her iron sword and brandished her sabre at the Ashen Knight. Beyond the ability to open and close her hand, her left arm could barely do anything else. The sheer strength of the Ashen Knight was capable of incapacitating her arm even without a direct blow. The stakes had been raised. If she hoped to advance, she would need to be on the offensive but with only a single arm, the task was simply nigh impossible.

The silver lining of the situation was that her opponent, the Ashen Knight shared her circumstance. It was also left with only a single arm to utilize but unlike Erin, it wasn’t the slightest bit perturbed by the loss of its arm.

The second course of the battle began without a warning neither did Erin expect one. The Ashen Knight struck first but Erin had already anticipated the course of its strike. She dodged the strike without room for error and kicked the blade away as soon as it missed. With its front open, Erin moved in with a wide slash. The Ashen Knight did not move away and let the saber draw a cut across its chest plate. The cut was deep enough to send blood spurting out had it been a flesh body but all that oozed out were smoke and flames. The Ashen Knight did not utter a cry or curse and simply retaliated with a swing. 

“Bollocks,” it was Erin who cursed. She flipped over the swing and stabbed her saber into the unmoving Ashen Knight’s neck. “Checkmate— eh?” She thought the Ashen Knight would at least make some attempt to resist but it didn’t. It only stared right into her eyes, motionless.

Before Erin could twist her sword and sever its head, javelins of darkness rained on her. She flung herself away by using the Ashen Knight large frame as a foothold and kicked off. Needless to say, the attack came from the Lich. She knew it would be wise to dedicate some of her attention to the Lich at all times no matter how passive it had been.

From that exchange, Erin figured out a correlation between the Ashen Knight and the Lich. When the Ashen Knight attacked, the Lich never attacked with it. Whenever the Lich attacked, the Ashen Knight just stood still in its place.

“Hmm… does this mean Necromancer cannot control the two perfectly at the same time?” Erin surmised. The more she thought about it, the more she was convinced of it. In addition to these two, the Necromancer still had a lot of thralls under his control. It wouldn’t be strange to think that he would not have the ability to control all of them to their full capacity. There must be some compromise to his control. Arriving at this conclusion, Erin allowed herself a grin. 

“What are you acting all smug about!?” the Lich bellowed.

“Why don’t you find out yourself?” Erin retorted and threw an Aura Shot at the Lich.

Shock painted the Lich’s expression and the Ashen Knight who was in the middle of swinging its sword just stopped all of a sudden. The Lich raised a wall of darkness to defend itself against the Aura Shot.

“Damn fox…!” the Lich cursed. If it had flesh, its forehead veins would be twitching. 

Erin hopped over the Ashen Knight like some mere obstacle and dashed straight towards the Lich.

“You underestimated me!” the Lich roared and raised its arms.

The ground beneath Erin shook. Without stopping to ponder, Erin leapt away from her intended path, and spikes of darkness erupted from the ground. Although her left arm was still unable to hold a sword, it was still able to cast spells. All she needed to do was to raise her hand. She launched spells of her own to counter the incoming spells from the Lich. The two threw spells at each other but the speed of Erin’s casting and conjuration outmatched the Lich’s. A being of magic and miasma and it was losing in a battle of spells. It had no choice but to admit its inferiority.

The Lich pointed at Erin with a trembling finger. “Kill her!” it commanded with a shout.

Before Erin could fire the decisive blow, the Ashen Knight closed its distance in a short instance and unleashed a thrust that was capable of destroying the things outside of the blade’s reach. Erin evaded the thrust easily but the power made her wary. She could not suffer even a single blow from her opponents. The Ashen Knight closed in on her and brought its sword around a wide arc. Erin did not move her feet but merely bent her body out of the way. The air stroke her skin harshly but she was otherwise unharmed. She moved in and aimed for its left arm.

—but her slash met the empty air. The Ashen Knight had leapt backwards, away from the range of Erin’s sabre.

“I see… So you’re not completely fearless.” A grin, wider than the previous one, appeared on Erin’s face. The gap the Ashen Knight created itself gave Erin the opportunity she was looking for. Her eyes turned to the Lich. She let go of her sabre and conjured lightning into her hands. A spear of lightning materialized in between her palms. “Let’s see what you will choose,” she said and threw the Lightning Spear at the Lich. 

“Damn it all...” the Lich cursed with its teeth gritted. “Since it has come to this…”

Before the lightning spear could hit, the Lich faded out of existence and the lightning spear crashed into the wall behind it. The room trembled from the destruction and dust fell from the ceiling.

“I hope this room holds,” Erin muttered to herself. It wasn’t just some random muttering. It was a genuine concern. Even if she was in her prime, she doubted she could survive an underground collapse. Even if she did survive, she would be buried under tons of dirt and rocks. She would starve to death before she could dig herself out.

As grave of a concern that was, Erin had a more corporeal concern at present. The Lich had suddenly vanished and Erin didn’t think she should be celebrating. If the Lich was truly gone, that could only mean the Necromancer’s hold over the Ashen Knight would be stronger. “Maybe that’s why the Lich vanished...” she mused.

The Ashen Knight suddenly appeared right in front of Erin. She didn’t even have time to show her surprise and her Sixth Sense’s warning came only after the Ashen Knight was in front of her. The flames among the smoke within its body seemed to burn ever brighter and fiercer. Its visor let out a larger trail of smoke like the exhaust of a train. 

Erin eyed the arm wielding the greatsword but she should have eyed the other arm. When she realized it, her whole life flashed before her eyes… but she did not meet her end. She dodged the fist that came like the wind but even though it missed, the force sent her stumbling back. 

Erin couldn’t believe her eyes. She even blinked a few times. The Ashen Knight had regained its right arm. 

An unsightly groan escaped her lips. “Why do none of you play fair...” Of course, she didn’t say those words out loud. She was self-conscious enough to be aware of how fortunate she had been. Though she was weaker than her past self, she was still relatively stronger than a good amount of people that she had met. But she couldn’t help but feel indignant.

The Ashen Knight’s sword began to burn with flames that bore the essence of the flames that burned within it. The Ashen Knight cracked its neck and stretched its shoulders.

Erin raised an eyebrow. Those actions were unbefitting of the Ashen Knight that she was fighting until now. It had felt like she was fighting a puppet without a will of its own but now, even she could feel the gaze of the Ashen Knight had changed.

“What is your name, Fox-kin?” the Ashen Knight asked. Its voice was soother than one would expect but just as ominous.

“You can speak?”

The Ashen Knight chortled at Erin’s question, raising the Fox-kin’s brow. “My summoner took great precautions. Everything that he could to ensure I stay loyal to its commands.”

“What changed?”

“He realized that I could not triumph over you with the restraints it had put on me. You forced his hands. As a result, I have regained my freedom.”

A drip of sweat rolled down from her forehead. “So, you’re no longer under its control.”

“I am not but I am obligated to fulfil my summoner’s will.”

“How chivalrous of a Demon.”

“Of course, I shall fulfil it the way I see fit.” The Ashen Knight chuckled. “I will not kill you, Fox-kin.”

“Let me guess, you want to use me as a meat suit.”

“...You’re no fool, Fox-kin. You are… peculiar. The harmony between your soul and body isn’t… complete. So vulnerable...”

Erin felt the Demon took a whiff. 

“And I know you’re of the Nine-tail Fox bloodline. How fortunate I am. And there are no Spirits here to deter me. I must have your body and once I have it,” it laughed, “I will be the first Demon to be impervious against Spirits. What a splendid development that shall be.”

“No thanks.”

The Ashen Knight snickered. “I don’t believe you have a choice in this matter. May I know the name of the one that shall be my new body?”

“Fuck you.”

“You have spite. I don’t dislike it.”

A shiver went down Erin’s spine. 

“If you surrender, I promise to make it as painless as I am capable of making.” 

Erin could swear that the Ashen Knight licked its lips if it even had a tongue or lips.

“After all, I don’t want to damage my new body too much.”

“Shame.” Erin sighed. “I thought you could be reasoned with but you’re just as terrible as before when you’re enthralled.”

“Hundred times worse, Fox-kin,” the Ashen Knight said and swung its greatsword, throwing the flames burning on the blade.

Erin’s eyes widened. The range of the flames was too wide for her to dodge. She cast every defensive spell she knew and braced for the impact. Her vision went wide from the flames that collided into her defense. She closed her eyes. The intense tremor was felt through every fiber of her body. She couldn’t hold against the attack. She loosened her guard and let the force carry her away. If she stayed adamant and confronted the force, she doubted her body could withstand it. 

Thrown into the air, Erin used her tails to swing her around and repositioned herself just in time as fell back to the ground. She swallowed a gulp at the sight of the large shallow crater in front of her, still smoking from the flames.

“Good, good. It would be a shame if you turned to ashes from that attack.”

Erin grimaced. “You have become quite chatty, Ashen Knight.”

“Ashen Knight… Is that what I’m called?”

“You don’t have a name?”

“I do but I don’t believe mortals could comprehend it. How about this, you can call me Ash. Easy, isn’t it?”

“I prefer ass. Maybe a “hole” as your last name.”

The Ashen Knight, Ash, laughed. “Your humour… I hope I inherit it after I have taken your body.”

“Are all Demons these chatty or just you?”

“I wouldn’t know. We don’t communicate in the same manner as mortals. It’s hard to explain but don’t worry. No explanation is needed. We will be one and the same in a while.” With a kick that sent the ground raising, Ash flew at Erin with a speed that drew a sweat down her forehead.

“You’re more irritating than Aedan,” she muttered and leapt out of the way. The charge from the Demon razed the ground it trod on.

“Aedan?” Ash canted its head. “Now that’s a name that I didn’t expect to hear.”

Erin froze. “You… You know of him?”

“Perhaps. You, mortals, tend to share the same name on certain occasions. The Aedan that I know of is to be the most suitable vessel for the Sovereign of Demons. But too bad, he disappeared. We couldn’t find him. He either died or went into hiding. It’s a pity it only took that much to placate our Sovereign. But such is our Sovereign.”

Erin shuddered. She tried to hide it but it was too late.

“Oh?” Ash noticed. “It seems he’s a mutual acquaintance.”

“Fuck me.”

“Looks like your value as a vessel has just gone up. You know where he is. Oh dear me… Your majesty, luck has descended for our kind. Revelation has come and a new dawn is at its brink.”

Erin bit down her lips and wielded her sabre with both of her hands. Her left arm was still mildly shaking but she couldn’t afford not to fight with both of her hands. “You know, I have intended to forfeit this fight if I have to but… I should have known when I realized you’re a Demon. My mistake.”

“I agree, Fox-kin.” Ash’s greatsword once again burned in ashen flames.

[Experience gained +10% - Level Progression: 60%]

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Five-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 27 | Status: Mild Exhaustion

Might: 22 | Arcane: 35 | Finesse: 30

Magic Arts

Spirit Magic Lv. 8 | Arcane Edge Lv. 5 | Arcane Armor Lv. 10 | Lightning Magic Lv. 10 | Arcane Aegis Lv. 3 | Mystic Tail Arts Lv 1

Combat Arts

Sword Art Lv. 8 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 5

Innate Skills

Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 8 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex | Mana Harvest Lv. 1 | Lightning Resistance Lv. 1

Unique Talent

Mystic Blade Lv. Ex | Revenant Lv. Ex

Level Progression: 60%

Remaining Skill Points: 0

Remaining Ability Points: 4