Chapter 4248: Warrior’s Oath (Part 1)

Captain Xarko’s lunge at Alusha’s right shoulder crippled her guard, the second soldier’s deep cut to her calf disrupted her footwork, and the third soldier’s slash to her neck snuffed her life out.

"Code one on Teryon Verhen." The captain said. "I repeat, code one on Teryon Verhen. We proceed to move her to a safe location."

***

"What in the gods’ names is going on?" Argat, the violet-cored Awakened tasked with keeping the Association’s branch of Lutia in check, watched the communication runes of his accomplices disappear one after another.

"This doesn’t make sense. The attack started less than two minutes ago, and I’ve seen the flares for mission accomplished. How can things go south so quickly?"

He was the only violet core in Lutia and also the only one still flying despite the flocks of Crons raining spells on him from above and the packs of Rys and Shyf attacking him from below.

His only advantages were the inability of the magical beasts to use all elements and cast the Disarray spell. Argat had been careful, placing the six elemental sealing magical formations so that any attempt to destroy them would trigger a chain reaction with catastrophic consequences.

Unless Argat’s arrays were neutralized one at a time by a skilled Warden, the resulting conflagration would destroy the Mage Association’s branch and with it all the neighboring buildings.

Whenever the magical beasts were about to overwhelm him with sheer numbers, Argat only had to Spirit Blink inside the arrays to foil their newest strategy.

He had no such problem, and he used the protection of the elemental-sealing arrays to regain his strength with Invigoration and conjure Spirit Spells.

More than one magical beast had died in the onslaught, but that had only sent the survivor into a frenzy. The Crons now didn’t hesitate to attack Argat with their massive bodies, and even though they weren’t much for a violet core, there were dozens of them.

"Stop bothering me, stupid birds!" Argat swatted a Cron diving talons-first at him like a fly. "You can’t win."

"That was never their task." Lifebringer, the Kirin, Spirit Blinked right outside the range of Argat’s Full Guard and lunged at the Awakened with his enchanted staff.

"Great, another stupid beast." The attack was slow, and the King in the North had only a measly blue core, so Argat didn’t hesitate to catch the wooden staff with his open palm. "I’m going to shove this down your throa-"

At the last moment, Lifebringer’s bright violet aura burst out of his body, and his attack speed increased dramatically. It was too late for Argat to react, and the blow shattered his metacarpal bones, wrist, and ulna.

The Kirin had never reached enlightenment. He had accepted Lith’s teachings, sacrificing his potential future in exchange for the strength he needed to guide his herd.

The King in the North didn’t mind such a small sacrifice, and had entrusted his children to find the perfect way for the future Kirins and Gylads to conquer the violet.

"You wear a cloaking item!" The human Awakened cursed.

"What a coincidence. So do you!" Lifebringer unleashed the tier five Spirit Spell, Wheel of Destruction, from his staff.

An emerald ring surrounded the area above the Mage Association for a heartbeat before imploding on itself.

Argat Spirit Blinked away just to throw himself in the enemy’s open maw. Magical beasts had no Life Vision and couldn’t predict the position of a dimensional exit point, but Lifebringer could.

The King in the North had marked the Blink with a shining light that the magical beasts used as a beacon for their attacks. Dozens of angry Crons, Shyf, and Rys unleashed upon Argat the fury of a storm, conjuring their best lightning bolts.

Each one of them only possessed a bright cyan core, but the cumulative power of their tier four spells far exceeded anything that even a bright-violet core could conjure.

Argat conjured the Spirit Barrier of his armor, but it was instantly crushed. He then activated his own barrier spell, but it shattered as well. As his blood boiled and his nerves fried, Lifebringer conjured the tier four Spirit Spell, Piercing Star.

Four emerald pillars struck Argat from every side, pinning him into place until a fifth pillar erupted from inside his body, killing him on the spot.

"The human mages are free!" The Kirin said as the elemental-sealing arrays faded along with the life of their caster. "Now, find me the cubs of the Crownless King!"

***

"Please, no!" Anoka, the blue-cored Awakened holding Falco, said. "This isn’t how things were supposed to go!"

Captain Pheren of the Queen’s Corps ignored her pleas and established a battle formation, quickly joined by the magical beasts of the Trawn Woods. The Byks in the backline conjured a veil of darkness that blocked Anoka’s vision, making it impossible for her to Blink Away.

"Let the child go, and we’ll kill you." He said.

"What kind of offer is that?" She asked.

"Keep the child, and we’ll let the beasts have you." Pheren replied. "They don’t like that you killed their companions, and I’m sure they won’t give you an easy death."

Anoka swallowed hard, knowing that the captain was right. The only thing keeping her alive was the young boy who kicked, punched, and bit to escape her steel grasp.

"I’ll take my chances." She looked left and right, feeling helpless as the five-pointed formation tightened, closing every escape route she had left.

Falco panted in exhaustion, cursing his weakness and his nonexistent magical mastery.

’If only Uncle Lith were here, he would-’ His eyes fell on his clothes and finally remembered what he was wearing.

"Brezza!" Falco activated the floating spell of the Scalewalker armor and then pushed the air jets on his back to the maximum output, further reinforcing them with the strongest gust of wing he could conjure.

Suddenly, the boy bolted up like a small missile, but Anoka only needed to tighten her grip to stop his escape. Unfortunately for her, now her arm that held Falco was stretched up and away from her body.

"Shit!" She said as the sergeant of the Corps seized the chance to rescue Falco with a Blink that also severed the Awakened’s arm at the wrist level.

At the same time, the captain and two more soldiers lunged with their weapons in unison, forcing Anoka to activate her Spirit Barrier to save her life.

The other two members of the Corps pointed their open palms at the construct and conjured multiple fireballs on Anoka’s side of the barrier. It was one of the anti-Awakened strategies they had devised with the help of the Kings.

The moment Falco was safe, three more mages added their own fireballs and kept conjuring more until the barrier exploded from the inside.

Anoka was reduced to a charred corpse, but the armor confirmed her identity and the lack of an imprint her demise.

"Code one on Falco." Captain Pheren said. "I repeat, code one on Falco Vehren. Who’s still missing?"

***

Lith’s contingency plan to deal with the coordinated attack of multiple Awakened could be described as a rising tide that swept away the enemy on the ground while a single bolt of thunder killed those in the sky.

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