CH124 Thera’s Perspective

“HEY DEMONS, HOPE YOU’RE READY TO BE EXTERMINATED!” She heard being yelled into the cave from a voice she knew well.

Ben?

<It seems your friend has begun, now we simply need to wait for the results,> Her god said, worry filling her voice.

The talking demon, who Anailia had explained was an invader, had returned by this point and was sitting amongst the other demons, and upon hearing the yell sent the majority out to hunt Ben down, leaving only five in the cave with it.

Thera couldn’t help but be terrified for her friend. There was only him and Will, how would he manage against all of that?

How am I supposed to do that though? She was pretending to be asleep, her eyes open only a crack to watch the room, but the invader seemed to be able to sense that she still had abundant mana and was keeping a close eye on her to be safe. She wouldn’t be able to fight it, let alone the other five demons in the cave.

She waited patiently, hoping that an opening would come where they could escape, but the advantage she got was far smaller than she’d hoped. As the time passed, the invader began seeming more and more agitated until it left the cave, but the demons remained.

Still, it was the best she could hope for, the only question was what to do about it? She supposedly had a staff waiting for her outside, but she wouldn’t be able to get it. That meant that if she wanted to do anything it would have to be with whatever power she could muster herself, but would she be able to control it without bringing the entire cave down?

She could always wait and hope that Ben would succeed, but she couldn’t be so optimistic. If he failed then she would never have a better chance than this to do anything, she couldn’t let it go to waste.

She looked to the ceiling of the cave above where four of the demons laid, thick stalactites hanging from it. She and the other two were far enough away that they would likely be fine, but the biggest issue was the last demon laying by her feet. Whatever amount of charm it was under had made it want to cling to her, only moving when it went to replace the mana vipers, which meant that was when it was time to strike.

Luckily she didn’t have to wait long. The demon walked up to her and took hold of the mana vipers biting into her arm. Their teeth were thin and small, but the experience of having so many bite into her repeatedly like that was still unpleasant and having them removed was a relief.

As the demon walked over to drop off the ones that had been feeding off her where the other demons lay, she took her chance to strike. Raising her hand, she reached out with her mana towards the stalactites, trying to bring them down. She needed to be delicate. More careful than she’d ever been before. If she messed up the risk of all of them dying was too great. All she wanted to do was bring down the stone spikes onto the demons below, and with an effort of will she exerted her mana.

Unfortunately, her control was still lacking, and she pulled the entire ceiling above the demons down instead, thoroughly crushing them all.

Um, oops. A small part of her was horrified at killing them, but she was able to recognise it as a result of the sorrow. Knowing she was feeling the final effects of a creature’s skill made it easier to deal with, but the worry about what came next had an even greater effect.

<…I suggest you grab the others and get out of here as fast as you can,> Anailia advised. <There’s no guarantee major structural damage hasn’t happened within the cave.>

Will do. She thought to her god awkwardly, rushing over to Steph and Wedrow to rip the mana vipers from their flesh before struggling to carry them out. While her previous dancer job gave some bonuses to strength, it was still her lowest attribute by far, and she had to treat Wedrows long wormlike body as she would a scarf just to be able to quickly pull Steph out in her arms.

Leaving the cave was exhilarating. Being trapped there amongst the greatest threat to her planet had been a terrifying experience, made worse during the walk out as rocks occasionally came loose from the ceiling, but breathing the fresh air was something she wouldn’t be taking for granted again.

She put the other two down as she went to look for her staff, Anailia directing her to where it was hidden while Steph and Wedrow they slowly woke up after being freed from the vipers.

“Ah, what happened?” Steph asked, recovering from the effects of constant mana exhaustion quicker than Thera expected considering how Ben usually handled it, but then again, Steph and Wedrow were proper mages. They likely had more experience dealing with it and training to react quicker after it, passing out in a fight was deadly after all, if you did end up mana exhausted then the correct move would be to get up and away as soon as possible.

Wedrow was looking for answers too so Thera explained as well as she could what had happened to all of them, and what Ben and Will were in the middle of doing as a result.

“Then we have to help them!” Steph yelled after learning everything that had gone down. “We can’t just leave them to die!”

Wedrow however, was less willing to rush to their side. “If we don’t let our mana regenerate more we’ll be nothing but potential hostages, it would be safer for all of us to wait.”

Thera was torn. She wanted to rush to Ben’s side to help him, but she was the only one with any mana, if she ran off they would be defenseless.

<You’re friends managed to kill all of the demons,> Anailia spoke in her mind, breaking her train of thought. <All that remains is the invader.>

Then that makes the choice significantly easier, doesn’t it?

“All but one of the demons is dead. Unfortunately, it’s the most dangerous one by far, but we’ll be better off regrouping with the others than just staying here and hoping it doesn’t catch us while we’re defenseless.”

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“And how could you possibly know that?” The worm asked curiously.

“My god told me,” A statement that could end any argument on the matter.

They rushed through the woods, but the emotional payoff was immense when they saw Ben and Will off in the distance waving to them. Thera let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding and felt her entire body relax. They were all together again, and as soon as Wedrow and Steph had enough mana they could get home.

Seeing her friend made her renew her energy as she and the others picked up their pace to meet them as her worst nightmares came true before her eyes. The ground beneath Ben erupted and Will was thrown to the side as the invader tore through the earth and impaled Ben on its arm.

She thought she heard Steph scream, maybe she had herself, it was impossible to tell. Her breath caught in her throat and time felt like it slowed down. She could see the monster saying something to him but couldn’t tell what and she knew the shock was impacting her actions. It wasn’t until it stretched out a clawed hand towards them that she acted, raising her staff and pouring all of her rage into a single earth spear.

In the back of her mind, she knew she wasn’t quick enough to attack something like that, but the invader hadn’t made its move. Ben was surely buying time and she couldn’t let it go to waste.

More mana went into that one spell than she’d ever forced into such a controlled attack before and let it loose with all of the emotion she couldn’t contain watching her friend slowly die. Her staff turned to dust in her hand as the speed of the spell firing created a powerful gust of wind around them.

Her aim was true and the demon didn’t have time to react to it, nothing could. Its head was destroyed in an instant as her spear continued to tear through the forest but she ignored everything else as she ran towards it as it crumpled to the ground, taking Ben with it.

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