The Upyrs staggered in pain for one second, and that was all the ti the allied forces needed to turn Orpal’s thralls into ashes.
"Stand down and calm down." Lith’s voice sounded deep and gravely. "The enemy is defeated. Don’t turn against your allies."
Many undead had fallen into a battle frenzy and would have attacked the Demons on sight if not for the Tiamat’s warning. With their black features and armor, the Upyrs were too similar to the Demons for comfort.
The main difference was the eyes instead of flas, but it was hard to notice in an undeath-or-death struggle.
The commanding presence and voice of the Engine snapped everyone to their senses.
"We won!" Said a lone vampire, who was soon joined by his siblings in arms.
Victory cries resounded throughout the cave, and they beca almost deafening when the Dawn King opened the Stonewall Fortress’ gates.
"That was amazing, Magus Verhen." Erslan said. "I’ve lived many centuries, but I’ve never seen sothing as powerful as your Oga Pri. It must be the rumored weapon you used to defeat the World Tree in their own Fringe."
"Correct." After a few sweeps of the Watchtower confird nothing and no one was waiting in ambush, Lith ca out of the Engine, which reverted to its original size and color. "Everyone knows about it, so there was no point hiding it from ln."
"Especially considering it has many limitations and I doubt you can use it away from a mana geyser." The Dawn King said.
"Sadly, you are right." Lith lied through his teeth. "I couldn’t have done half of what you’ve seen today without a careful, long preparation. Charging the Oga Pri takes a long ti and many resources, let alone arranging its transportation."
"It’s a monuntal effort, but it’s worth it." Erslan nodded, falling line, hook, and sinker for the lie. "We are lucky we knew where ln was going to strike. I bet nadion set a Warping Array here during your last visit, when she fixed the Fortress with Creation Magic."
"And you would win the bet." Lith’s policy was never to interrupt a non-friend when they were making a mistake.
"I’m sorry to interrupt you, Supre Magus Verhen, but can we keep this?" A Dread Knight presented her spear that was still brimming with the power of Ruin.
"Yes and no." Lith replied, confusing everyone. "Yes, you can keep it, but it won’t last. Blade Spells are still spells, and I’ve stopped fueling mine."
"Oh." The Dread Knight had just the ti for a couple of practice swings when the reddish-black aura started to fade.
"Thank the gods our Golems are depowered but intact." Erslan ignored her and continued. "Once our Forgemasters find a way to counter Frost Soul, I’ll need to inconvenience Magus nadion to upgrade them with Creation Magic.
"The Undead Courts don’t have the ti and resources to craft more."
"It will be my pleasure." Ripha couldn’t wait to reap the fruits of soone else’s hard labor while she worked on her own projects. Two birds with one stone.
"Casualties?" Lith asked while dispelling the Yurial Guard and sending the Engine away through a fake portal.
"A few, but much less than we anticipated for our tactical retreat, let alone total victory." The Dawn King kept smiling, not to spoil the high morale. "What about ln’s side?"
"One survivor." Solus replied. "The cursed object managed to escape. Everyone else is dead."
***
"Casualties?" Orpal asked while coughing out a small pool of blood.
Ruin had destroyed his clone, who carried both Night’s prism and enough of his blood to make the Chosen no different from his master. Turning into a Divine Beast had amplified the Dead King’s power and the effects of the backlash he suffered every ti a clone died.
Orpal’s body was mostly crystalline to make up for what had been burned by the Blade Spell. If not for Night’s immortality, he would be dead.
"It’s easier to count the survivors." Jorl snorted. "A whopping total of forty-seven Upyrs out of 1,200 ca back with their lives."
"Forty-seven?" Orpal coughed out a piece of lung in disbelief.
"Including Uragar. Yes." Jorl counted them twice for good asure. "He was the bravest of them all and ca out last."
Solus had overestimated the loyalty of Orpal’s thralls. Most of them had joined him to obtain the might and bloodline abilities of a Divine Beast, not to die in his na. So had run away the mont the Engine had appeared.
More after the first Annihilation had been unleashed, and every ti Lith and Solus unveiled another bit of their strength.
Truth be told, the number of defectors would have been in the hundreds if not for the battle unfolding too quickly and most of the Upyrs being too deep in the enemy lines to turn their backs safely.
"It’s not the crushing victory I had planned to announce our return to Mogar, but it’s not a bad result." Half of Orpal’s face shapeshifted into Night’s, allowing her to speak. "We have lost, but we have also gained a lot."
"You planned this?" Orpal scowled. "Don’t you an we?"
"You?" The Horseman’s laugh was silvery, but also cruel and cold. "You just bled to create our army. Jorl had the idea to recruit plant folk, Fae, and cursed objects. I ca up with the battle plan and he directed the Upyrs as the fight unfolded.
"You and your clone rely acted as a communication amulet."
"I also empowered *my* Upyrs whenever it tilted the scales in our favor." He replied.
"Indeed, but with the Life Maelstrom *I* possess." Night countered. "You-"
"Enough of your idiotic bickering!" Erion cut her short. "I’ll never understand why you two work together if you hate each other so much. What have we gained, exactly? Most of our forces are dead!"
"*Our* forces." Orpal and Night spoke in unison. "You played no role in the recruitnt and have no control over them. You are nothing but a worm on the leash. Overstep your boundaries again and you’ll pay for it dearly."
The Davross spear Thorn appeared in a burst of erald flas right below the Jormungandr’s neck.
"As for your questions, we don’t go along much, but our objectives align. Any living legacy can tell you there’s a huge difference between reluctant cooperation and subtle coercion.
"The forr will always triumph, because it has two people working together in spite of their differences. The latter, instead, is just dignified slavery. There is no trust or loyalty involved, and the subdued party has nothing to gain.
"I need Orpal, and Orpal needs . It may seem a flimsy bond to you, but try asking Uragar how things would have played out today if his host wasn’t reduced to an empty husk."
The Jormungandr turned to look at the Book of Knowledge. He had taken out plenty of nutrients to feed the lump of flesh that was his regenerating host. A book was supposed to have no eyes, but Erion felt a glare so vicious on him that he held his tongue.
"Most of our forces are dead, indeed, but they were just rabble." Orpal and Night continued.
User Comments
0 comments from readers