Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty Five - 235

Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty Five - 235

"Seven Tribulations!"

A storm of air Mana threw the Ghostfire Simians back, shredding through ten of them. Yet the ones behind them simply clawed their way forward, into the bursting spears and suffering lacerations that cut them to the bone. They did not stop.

You Have Killed A Ghostfire Simian (x11)!

XP Earned!

They have gone insane. Vess stepped frantically, pushing her Agility to its limits as the monsters came at her without regard for their own safety. Their eyes were wide and glowed faintly with the same bloodred illumination as the moon above. A Status Condition?The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.

"Vessilia!" Atar cried out, moments before Imbued Sparkbolts burst to either side of her. It was enough of a warning, letting her flip backward and out of the line of fire. "They're enraged!"

"So I see!" Vess leaped up and over a Lesser Wretch that took a swipe at her, flipping just over it's iridescent carapace. Her remaining two spears stabbed down and pierced it with a violent report.

You Have Killed A Lesser Wretch!

XP Earned!

"The Mark! It's burning up!" Vess' Elemental Eye spotted the Marks along the monsters various torsos, and each one pulsed with a sickening yellow-red illumination. She could almost hear a discordant squeal in the distance, but no, that was only the maddened roars of over a thousand insane beasts. "Whoever is controlling them just cut them loose!"

"And pissed them off!" Alister added, using his own Grand Impetus to shove himself out of the way of a soaring white fireball. The pillar of force had the added effect of dispersing the explosion entirely. "Oh, that worked nicely!"

"We're close! Get to the shield wall before the signal!" Vess said, before leaping far above the assembled horde.

Pierce the Sky!

The rain and darkness limited visibility, but Vess could still see a mass of ravenous monsters, all of them burning with that same sickly light. The Archon's light. Beyond the limits of her Perception, it was a sea of yellow-red embers that were looking to crash against them all.

"Lass! This way!"

The voice broke through the roars and screeches of the monsters; a tone she recognized. "Rory!"

From above, she could see the Dwarf's double-headed axe cut through the few monsters ahead of them before he beckoned with his free hand. Vess landed, her spears skewering still more enemies as Atar and Alister caught up. They were ushered beyond the shield wall while the horde slammed against the flickering flames and ice the Tin and Iron Ranks conjured.

"We've been waitin' for ye!" Rory shouted while shouldering his axe. "Thaddeus! How goes it?"

Thangle was atop a pile of masonry, weaving together strands of wisping violet energy. His face was screwed up in concentration, his white beard all but quivering. "Almost...finished..."

"Roridan, we cannot last much longer," Aenea said. "I am nearly out of Mana Potions and the Gnome is at the end of his ability." She approached from Thangle's side, and her bandolier was almost empty of vials. She stabbed a hand at the monsters assaulting their shield wall. "And they're all under a new Status Condition. Berserk Blood."

"It is transmitting along their Spirit Mark," Vess added and the Alchemist's nostrils flared.

"Someone is controlling all of them?" she whispered. Horror trembled her Spirit before an impressive Will steadied it. "I'd say that is impossible, but we are well out of my depth here."

"I've almost got them...connected. Hold them off...give me...I need more time," Thangle gasped, his fingers flicking ceaselessly. Whatever he was doing, it was more complex than Vess understood. She was no mage.

A chorus of bellowing cries shook out as nearly a hundred ice-armored Reforged charged their line. They towered over the others and even trampled many of the monsters underfoot in their rampage. All of them bore a Mark atop their chest, burning like the sun.

"Bodie!" Vess shouted, and the big man bounded in their direction. He was covered in offal, but his mace was strangely clean. "Carry Thangle! We retreat!"

"Aye, Lady Dayne. Sound the retreat!" Bodie hollered, his Tempered voice louder than the thunder above them. "Fall back!" With a single, fluid motion he lifted the almost catatonic Gnome onto his shoulder. Thangle kept weaving his spell form, thankfully uninterrupted.

"Those abominations will hit our lines before they can disengage," Aenea pointed out to Vess. "We can't leave them to die."

"We won't," Vess assured her, before quaffing a Mana Potion. Her last. "We'll give you all enough time to breathe. Make the most of it."

"You heard the Lady," Atar said before a crown of flames manifested above his head. The fire mage's entire aura suffused with flames and streaming orange Mana. "Let's give them some time."

A glowing, narrow orichalcum wall rose from the earth, blocking both his acid and Evie's chain. Cal's daggers ricocheted and clattered to either side of it. The wall was just big enough to hide DuFont entirely from view.

"You've no idea the power Authority grants me!" Dufont raged. The wall shifted, speeding toward them faster than even Felix could perceive it. It slammed into him, and all he could do was put his shoulders down and take the hit. The impact drove him back into and through the half-melted fountain. Evie and Cal were thrown from their feet as Felix plowed deep into the flagstones, only barely able to bring it to a trembling halt.

"I could tear all of this city to pieces, and turn you into quivering wrecks! With a single note of a symphony of power!" DuFont kept shouting, but with the structure so close he couldn't see her. Evie and Cal climbed to their feet behind him though. He met Cal's eye and she nodded and signed at him.

Got it, he mouthed. "Then why don't you," Felix grunted. "You've had Authority for less than a day and this city is a warzone! Why not stop the monsters?"

"And let you band together and take this from me? I've tried too long to rise to greater places, Felix. This is my right! And you will never, ever, take it away from me!"

"Switch Reversal!" Cal shouted, and DuFont suddenly gasped in obvious pain. The wall slackened against Felix's Strength, though he didn't realize it until he'd nearly pushed it over. He could see DuFont clearly now, from her charred armor to the hanging sleeve that had once held her left arm. She writhed on the ground, two foot long blades sunk hilt-deep in her shoulder and back.

"Now that you're holding still," Cal said, removing two new daggers from her belt and stepping around the dimming orichalcum wall. She met Felix's eyes and he nodded in agreement. "I Challenge you, Eliza DuFont."

A rapid melody played at the edge of Felix's hearing, and lightning crashed above them, loud enough to shake the earth.

"I have come to claim your Authority."

Authority Contested!

Reminder! You May Not Use Your Authority Directly On Any Challengers!

Light swelled in DuFont's vision, even as blackness edged her sight. The blades Boscal had ambushed her with had sunk deep in her shoulder and back, piercing most of what she needed to live. Eliza knew it, with a clear, cold certainty.

She was going to die.

Challenge Issued!

Challenge Automatically Accepted!

Terms: Surrender or Death!

You have Chosen this Path of Kings, Now You Must Defend Your Reign.

Walk Onward, Ascendant.

Ascendant?

Then Cal was on her, fast and furious and entirely too skilled. Too fast. DuFont had to throw herself wildly back to her feet, and even then she just barely evaded the treasure hunter's Skills. Eliza's heat magic blunted the edges of Boscal's attacks, forcing the woman to withdraw as her power swept outward in small bursts. But it wasn't enough.

Insistent strains of music called to her as she fought for her life, and DuFont refused to accept its siren call. It was the greatest and most terrifying of Authority's Songs. To Sing it, she would put her entire foundation at risk. Her Temper would suffer; she could even lose entire Tiers. All of this she knew intrinsically. In her bones.

I...I can't...!

It would risk everything she had built. Yet Boscal was not toying with her; she fully intended to kill her. Eliza managed to parry the woman's dizzying display of dagger work with her own hooked blade, even cancelled out a Skill or two the woman tried to send her way.

Strike after strike, they came too fast for Eliza to track. Her Skills were great, but her Body was not her greatest Aspect. She stumbled beyond the edge of the courtyard, the blades already within her grinding against everything vital.

"Lady DuFont!" a familiar voice screamed, and Eliza grabbed at the white-armored figure in anguish. He grunted in surprise as her superior Strength dragged him close.

"Fatal Flurry!"

Seven attacks blurred forward from Boscal's refined Body, and Klark served his last, most honorable purpose. He jerked in her arms as the blades carved him apart.

I'llI'll remember you, boy. Eliza gasped and fell away from his corpse.

Authority! Sing the Song of Fury!

Authority Accessed.