-War Campaign: Renault, Part 8-

"NOOOOO!" My shrieks caused the palace to shake.

A burst of iridescent magicka scorched through my mana circuits, gathering at my fingertips. Spell formations I didn't recognize appeared all around me as lances of solid magick formed within them.

The shadows of dozens more void-reavers advanced on us from beyond the mist.

Silvery lances plunged down, repelling the monsters as my forces recovered. Unstable barriers appeared and were promptly shattered under a barrage of void magick emerging from the depths of the mists.

Damn it! Damn it! Gods damn them—

My body was wrenched out from under me. A crushing pile of twisted purple flesh splattered on the ground where I'd just been standing.

A mess of sweaty blue hair stuck to my breastplate. Flik heaved violent breaths as she slipped downward. Her body slipped from my grasp, tumbling to the ground and revealing a torn form. Her legs had been blasted away, the void-magicks continuing to eat away at the remaining flesh.

"T-that's quite the f-face, Your Eminence…" Flik sputtered through crimson-stained lips.

"N-No, Flik! I'll stop the—"

My head whipped around before the scream came.

"M-Momma, help! Please!"

Akari's plea came a second too late, as a pillar of violet flames crashed down on her tiny body. The flash of magick blinded me, and by the time I could see again, Akari was lying in a puddle of blood, her body burned and contorted. Her GLAMOUR spell hiding her demonic features had worn away, revealing her golden horns had splintered apart.

Akari! Akari! I… No...

My vision blurred, and the sounds of battle muted to a silent ringing.

The palace shook.

Chunks of ceiling collapsed as any remaining pillars cracked and fell, exposing a massive vortex of void energy raging in the skies above Axio.

Streams of dark liquid streamed down from the sky, eating away at everything it touched like acid. The void-fluid filled the throne room, swallowing my soldiers, the undead, and void-beast alike.

How in the Aether can anyone fight against this…?

My final thoughts as the sludge filled my lungs and burned away at my flesh was of terrible despair.

—AP OUT OF IT! HEY ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? IF YOU DON'T COME TO YOUR SENSES, I'LL BE FORCED… OH GOOD, YOU'RE BACK.

Atë's voice clattered in my head, which felt as if it were splitting apart from a migraine.

Crimson text flared in the center of my vision.

» SANITY HAS DECREASED TO 32 (36)

"—O' savage winds of unyielding will, O' furious flames—huuuck…"

Tatsuko, mid spell chant, began to wretch and collapsed to her knees.

A sea of flashing red runes across the raid group indicated we'd experienced another void oddity.

Hazy memories and a flood of emotions raged through my mind. I swept my gaze across all my companions, confirming they were still healthy and whole—as well as could be, considering.

Hikita was already casting the same magick to remedy the troops against the void-curse.

When my eyes finally met with Akari at my side, tears were already streaking down her cheeks.

An immense pain strangled my heart.

I pulled her close, burying her head against my chest.

WE'LL NEED TO PULL OUT SOME NEW TRICKS TO END THIS. ANOTHER ROUND OF WHATEVER THIS SHIT IS MIGHT BREAK YOU.

I think the same, but what options do I have?

DIVINE POWER SMITING? YOU MAY FALL UNCONSCIOUS FOR AWHILE... BUT ONE OF US COULD PILOT IN YOUR PLACE.

Terrible plan. No thanks.

MAKHAI SUGGESTS CALLING ON MORE ALLIES.

Great plan. How do you figure we could go about that without losing everyone here while I run for aid?

WHY RUN FOR AID? YOU EXPERIENCED IT JUST BEFORE, YES? YOUR DIVINE COMMAND? SIMPLY CALL FOR AID.

I had doubts it would be as easy as Atë made it out to be, but calling for aid gave me an idea.

Chaotic magick channeled through my body to my throat, and I gave a simple order to all those around me, "STAY BACK. RAISE BARRIERS AND FOCUS ON DEFENSE. YOU CAN NOT HANDLE THIS."

My voice reverberated through the halls, sending everything into an eerie quiet—only broken by the muted ramblings of a crazed tyrant on his throne.

A series of magickal barriers surrounded us as the soldiers rushed into a circular defense formation.

I let open the floodgates to the font connecting me to Capricorn, allowing the chaotic magicka to spill through my mana circuits.

Spell-crafting sigils appeared ahead of me as I willed them into existence:

Connection, Binding, Entity, Soul, Recall.

The spell I desired began to take shape, under my conscious efforts as well as my instinctive desires. Chaotic energy swirled between the dozens of unconnected sigils, forming a web of complex aetherial strands.

As soon as it was completed, I willed the spell structure of GLORIA VAN'IXIA into place. Hundreds of complex sigils sprang to life, all connected in an incomprehensible network of divine magick.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A cascade of murmurs spilled over the mages as they were overtaken by the sheer scale.

Two new sigils appeared near my hand: Protection and Deflection.

Divine magicks flashed as a number of sigils were swapped in an instant. A surge of magicka was being drained from my connection with Capricorn, and I imagined her face bearing an annoyed grimace.

Hah. I might pass out if this continues any longer...

Finally, the spell structure shone in brilliant silver, sparkling with multi-colored light. My knees buckled, and I was caught by Flik and Hikita.

Iridescent light flickered on my wrist, showing I'd succeeded—at least, in some way.

OH. THAT MIGHT BE BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT.

Atë's voice resounded smugly in my head.

» YOU HAVE FORMED NEW SPELLS:

» NEW TACTICAL CLASS SPELL, CALL OF THE WARBRINGER

» NEW NATIONAL CLASS SPELL, TUITIO VAN'IXIA

Better, indeed.

I wiped my brow, drenching my sleeve in sweat.

Turning toward where Julius was hunkered down, I called out to him, my words still imbued with a mix of divine and chaotic magicks, "IF I FAINT, YOU'RE IN CHARGE OF HOLDING HER REINS."

Julius twitched, turning to me in haste with a look mixed with both worry and confusion. It didn't matter to me, though. He received my orders, and I was already moving on to the next steps.

- - - - - -SPELL- - - - - -

[ᚨᛉᚦ—ᛏᚾᚴᛋᚪ][TUITIO VAN'IXIA]: [School: Divine][Class: National] Calls down the light of Aevum to protect anything that the Goddess holds dear.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I reviewed my new spell to ensure it had gained the desired effect, and was thrilled to see its description reflect exactly what I wanted.

Whatever cost I have to bear for this later, I'll gladly pay. Though preferably after this mad asshole is buried under this palace.

I tried to reassure and bargain with myself to help stabilize my panicky mind, but judging by the last time I cast a divine spell like this, I could end up passing out or worse.

WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO HELP, BUT IF YOUR WILLPOWER FAILS...

My heart was racing as the massive spell formation came to life. Capricorn's blood-orange chaos magick was rushing through my mana circuits, stripe-like patterns covered my exposed skin. The magick was stained a murky opalescent color as it formed in my hands—a raging mix of chaos and divinity.

"TUITIO VAN'IXIA."

I spoke the spell's name in an even tone. No wind-up or flourish.

With a crash, many silvery spears smashed through the ceiling. They fell on my raid members, passing through their bodies and encasing them in a rainbow-colored shell.

The rush of chaotic magick flooding into me continued, and I channeled everything I had left into casting CALL OF THE WARBRINGER.

The grand scale of magicka drained was enough for my balance to give out again, and I swayed backward unable to mutter even a single word.

A pair of sturdy hands caught me as a wave of crushing pressure caused my stomach to churn.

» AURA OF ANNIHILATION ATTACKS YOUR MIND [SANITY CHECK]

» YOU HAVE RESISTED AURA OF ANNIHILATION

"Hail, sword sister," Ikuye's cheerful voice cut through the stress, "Looks like you've had a lot fun without me."

I turned to find Ikuye grinning ear-to-ear, her halo and wings shining in their full resplendence. Her gaze quickly took in the room, and she frowned.

"Eugh, this foul void-stink. You were right to call me. Your companions aren't strong enough to face this alone. Now, brace yourself, foul magicks are coming."

Renault's madness was getting louder, and waves of void magick appeared just as I'd witnessed before.

The ground shook as fleshy tendrils burst through the floor, void-addled undead sprang back to life, and a dense mist seeped into the throne room along with the appearance of a dozen void-reavers.

What was different this time, however, was the chaos-infused war angel wrecking absolute havoc on said aggressors.

"Ha! This level of void-filth is nothing, Mighty Traitor King! Is that all you have?"

The taunting sure is new.

NOT SURE IT'S HELPING, EITHER. SOMETHING NEW IS HAPPENING.

Sooner than it had happened before, the ceiling began to collapse, revealing the signs of a void storm building up.

With a crash, Ikuye landed near me. She raised her scarlet blade toward the sky and turned to me with a concerned expression, "Sword sister! A link to the void realm is forming. If left alone, it will consume this whole city."

"Streams of void-sludge would poor down and eat away at everything, right?"

"So, you are aware." She nodded with a look of disgust.

I glared up to where Renault was still seated on his throne, impaled by crystals. "If we finished him off, would that stop this void realm linking?"

"Him? Oh, that puppet? I figured you'd want to kill it yourself in case the real one got away. Not much would change even if it died. The two-faced traitor is the one pulling the strings."

"The two-faced what? Real one…?—No, nevermind, more importantly, how do we stop this link?"

Ikuye looked at me, her expression turning serious, "We must cross over."

MORE DETAILS! THIS GIRL NEVER GIVES ENOUGH DETAILS!

I almost flinched as Atë screamed in my head.

"Gonna need some more specifics, Ikki."

Ikuye blinked.

"Oh. Uhmmm. Well, if I do this, then we—"

As soon as Ikuye twisted her wrist and magick flickered, the entire throne room shifted.

The empurpled sky was stained a dark crimson red. Streaks of black lightning crashed down all around, shattering the white marble walls and floor.

Between the strikes, the shapes of something strangely familiar flying around the skies could be barely made out.

"Fallen sisters…" Ikuye's voice was tinged with sadness.

I realized why I thought I had seen them before. Those are Alaetüs soldiers.

Though, these Alaetüs were infected by the void. Unnatural fleshy tendrils grew out from their bodies, their wings were mottled with void-growths and patchy.

"Uhm, Airis…" A deep voice grabbed my attention from behind.

I swung around and found the entire raid party had been transported along with us to this so-called void realm.

Shit.

FUCK.

I felt my mental state take a tremendous blow. Worry for my companions, now whisked away into some place beyond the watch of the Gods. Relief that Atë wasn't impaired by whatever this place was. Annoyance at Ikuye not explaining things better.

Julius and the others were still hunkered down in a circle formation, and all the barrier spells—including my divine barrier—were still intact.

The static noise in my ears had gone silent, however.

Sorry, Julius. Just pray that we can unlink the city from this place in an easy way.

Actually, scratch that. I don't want you praying to me.

"They, uh, should be fine." Ikuye offered in a not-so reassuring tone.

I pressed on my forehead, "What is the plan now that we're here. How do we stop this realm linking?"

"Easy. Kill the guy you've been trying to kill."

I followed her gaze, which led up the dais stairs to a perfect mimicry of Renault's throne—with the man himself seated atop.

Renault appeared healed, with no signs that he had been impaled by dozens of void-infused crystals.

CLAP. CLAP. CLAP.

The bastard was slow clapping as he stood up.

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