B2 Chapter 8: The call (Interlude)

Rosh’lin had long since known this campaign would be the death of her, but she had hoped for a few more years. She knew it was a selfish wish, but why couldn’t she have her own dreams?

Out of her original party, only three survived. herself, the silver elf Se’lim, and of course, the Savior.

Lendis, their gnome alchemist, had died two years after the dwarf mage had created the huge spell matrix that she made in the wastelands. The gnome died like all of her other species, gasping for breath as her internals gave out. It was a horrible way to go out, but Rosh’lin believed Lendis had been waiting. After all, all of her loved ones had also died because of the Vexus, and despite her best potions and research, she found no cure.

The dwarf shuddered at that, somewhat thankful that its effects were slightly different from her own species. Irrational anger and violence were certainly not good, but better than straight-up death. It gave the scholars time to hopefully find a method of purging the Vexus from people’s organs.

She had held that hope up till last year. Yes, it was severe, but it was an unthinking force, a virus that wiped through vegetation and people alike, something solvable. Yet, when the stars flickered for the second time, the Vexus had changed.

Se’lim noticed it first, as her innate connection to the world spirit warned her of a great danger.

Within mere days, the enemy seemed to change, the disease taking on a life of its own, hunting and chasing down the living and searching for their next meal.

Worse, a new form of monster arrived, taking the form of grotesque humanoids, rivaling the strongest of warriors and many more in number.

It was only through the constant efforts of the Savior and his party that the invasion had been quelled to the point it was at, and without thousands of sacrifices, including the beast-kin of the team, the world would have surely been lost.

“Finally, we reached it.” Rosh’lin said, “The epicenter of this madness.”

Stretched before the three was a wasteland, not unlike the one she had cured nearly two decades ago at this point. The lack of life was the same, the desolation as well, and yet, there was one difference that made her shudder.

Roughly five kilometers from their vantage point was a giant hole, dug deep into the earth and descending far below. According to both Se’lim and the Savior, this place called to them, its corruption a beacon in their minds.

The Savior glanced over, his grey eyes boring into hers, “Yes. The world cries as we speak. Like a worm in a fruit’s flesh, the Vexus consume it’s spirit.”

Rosh’lin herself heard nothing of the sort, as dwarves did not have such a connection with the world spirit; only the silver elves and the grey-eyed human had such capabilities. Despite this, she could still feel it through the mana. The Vexus fed upon the natural currents and converted them into its own perversion of the magic. Before the second arrival, she had not noticed such effects, but it was obvious this hole was a vile cancer.

They had come all this way because of the possible consequences, and they would not leave until they either died or filled the wretched pit until its residents were purged from this world.

Unfortunately for the three, there was an army between them and the pit. An army of devilish creatures with haunting appearances and natural weapons capable of spreading their sickness with a single nick of their claws or teeth.

Glancing at one another, the dwarf and silver elf grimaced slightly as Se’lim withdrew her long blade. Shining with the same luster as the elf’s hair, it was made of a silver alloy, augmented by the magical metal worked into the sword. Her own innate magic enhances everything about her.

Rosh’lin herself did not wield a blade nor a manner of spell focus. She found her natural casting speed and manipulation of the natural magics to be stronger than any of the tools provided to her.

It was the same with the Savior, whose style of fighting was a split between her and Se’lim’s. His weapon of choice was one conjured from his own will, something unique to him and him alone.

It was a spear of the mind, something that didn’t leave a trace of its passing; instead, it pierced the very souls of its enemies, leaving nothing more than an empty body, devoid of life.

In some ways, each of them was more powerful than the others: Se’lim with her raw overpowering physical strength, The Savior’s spear, capable of rending any creature’s mind and soul, and Rosh’lin, the most powerful mage ever seen on Trendal, capable of wielding the mystic energies to fulfill her whim.

Even then, the three were facing worse odds than ever before. Rosh’lin’s magic would be devoured if not instantaneous, and several of the Vexus could match Se’lim blow for blow. Strangely, even The Savior’s ability had less of an effect on these creatures, something that had never been observed.

Knowing all of this, the three took deep breaths and leaped from their cliff face, descending into the horde of demonic beings.

Immediately, the Vexus were upon the three, their sharp, glistening claws going for the kill.

Moving faster than Rosh’lin could see, the Silver elf deflected every one of these strikes, her sword cleaving and slicing through the surrounding monsters and clearing a large enough area for the mage to begin casting and providing ample opportunity for The Savior to pierce the more powerful foes.

Pulling upon the arcane energies drifting around her, the mage pulled all stops, and a rain of spells began to manifest all around her. Fireballs, plasma strikes, and even waves of decay spread from her body, avoiding her teammates and killing her enemies.

Shouting above the screeches and explosions, the human yelled, “We must begin moving toward the pit; they will not cease until we destroy it!”

True enough, more of the monstrous creatures crawled out of the hole, and no matter how many of them the three killed, more continued to appear.

Wincing slightly, Rosh’lin produced even more magic spells, this time focusing them in one direction, toward the core of this mess. Beginning to run, they beelined for it.

As they grew closer and closer, the power of the Vexus only increased, inciting Se’lim to mutter a few words and summon her own magic, channeling her connection to the world spirit to empower her strikes even further beyond mortal blows.

As such, they were making good progress and were only a few hundred meters away from the center.

‘Everything is going well!’ Rosh’lin thought, panting as they continued to run, ‘Maybe we can make it out of this alive!’ Almost immediately, she regretted that thought.

With a roar that quieted the battlefield, a huge paw suddenly appeared from the pit, digging into the ground and leaving deep furrows behind. For a moment, it seemed like it was unable to pull itself up, but then came another set of claws, and following it was the rest of the creature.

Other than a pure white mask, covering whatever lurked underneath, its body was an inky black. It stood straight as if it were a human, but was several times taller than one.

Despite its gangly and almost malnourished-looking body, it radiated power like nothing else, a sickly wave of energy passing over its surroundings and infecting every little thing.

The three people included.

Rubbing her chest, the dwarf knew that they were on a timer; whatever the thing was, it had planted a small viral seed deep within her, and, eventually, would consume her from the inside out.

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Looking toward the others, they all nodded, and without further hesitation, charged the towering enemy.

Unmoving until the very last second, the Vexus was standing still as Se’lim brought her sword down upon one of its legs, but once it was a fraction of a second from slicing through, a loud cracking sound could be heard, and it had vanished.

Looking around desperately, the dwarf saw it reappear a few meters away from where it had been, and this time, it was looking at the attackers, its masked face turning eerily to face the people beneath it.

Feeling a shiver go up her spine as the malevolent aura only increased in strength, Rosh’lin felt herself pale and momentarily freeze.

Shaking herself out of the horror. She tried to snap out of it and readied herself to cast another spell, and speaking to the others nearby, she said, “Buy me some time, I can create an opening for Savior. I need a minute, maybe two.”

Seeing their nods, she immediately began to channel more energy; it was on a similar scale to that of the spell matrix she planted in the southern continent’s wastelands, but this time, she did not limit the speed at which she cast. It would injure her greatly, but the little kernel of void buried inside of her was growing, and they were running out of time.

Snapping its head toward her, the monster focused on the dwarven mage, the magical energies drawing its attention to her.

Seeing this, Se’lim lunged between the beast and the dwarf, deflecting a set of gnarled, razor-sharp claws, sending them just past the magic caster’s head.

Despite the nearly life-ending strike almost hitting her, Rosh’lin continued spell casting with only a brief gap of hesitation.

The Savior was not simply standing there either, and tried to attack from behind, but his quick stabs hit nothing; instead, they passed through holes that the Vexus had formed in its body. Surprised by the lack of effect, he wasn’t able to react in time as the huge monster screamed in rage.

Turning upon the human, it swiped at him with its long boney arm, sending him flying into a nearby boulder. He wasn’t severely hurt, but it would take him a moment to recover.

Once again, Sa’lim channeled the world spirit, infusing her blade with its essence and power. Ducking beneath several claws, she tried to bring it down upon the Vexus’s back and successfully bit into its inky black flesh.

Normally, her long sword could cut anything in two, and yet to her surprise, the elf felt resistance, and only went an inch into the monster.

Her blade, now covered in a greyish goo, she was shocked to see it sizzling, the Vexus blood acting as a powerful acid strong enough to melt her weapon. Quickly, she plunged it into the ground, normally a poor idea as it would dull her blade faster, but in this case, it reduced how much of the blood was coating it.

There was only a second to do this, but her enhanced speed could keep up with the monster, albeit barely.

Watching the two clash, Rosh’lin continued to channel her magic, weaving the arcane energies into a spell matrix with one intent. To bind. The spell itself was simple, but the dwarf doubted a weak binding spell could hold back such a beast, and instead augmented it with more mana, requiring constant control and all of her attention to continue to pack more power into it.

The elf and Vexus continued to clash back and forth, several slices appearing on both, and Se’lim’s blade was slowly being chipped and eaten away while her body was decaying from the virus working its way through her system.

The monster seemed to be winning, but the Silver elf refused to back down, protecting her friend.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rosh’lin saw The Savior, who had regained his strength and was slowly creeping behind the fight. Catching her gaze, he inclined his head slightly and continued to wait for the opportune moment.

Feeling her own infection begin to spread like wildfire through her body and encroach upon her heart, the mage redoubled her efforts, sacrificing much of her mana pool to finish the spell more quickly.

Finally, the dwarf finished her spell, and with a great surge of power, it expanded from her, passing harmlessly through the injured elf and wrapping around the inky black Vexus, like a net, it settled upon the thrashing creature, and constricted tightly.

Despite its obvious anger, the beast could not escape the spell’s clutches.

In that brief moment, the Savior dashed from his hiding spot, and with a loud ringing sound, his spear pierced the creature’s mask, and like a puppet with its strings cut, it fell to the ground with a clatter, its nightmarish body disintegrating.