Sorry for the late upload. I've been working on another story and I got a bit wrapped up in it.
Part 16
Neia hurriedly ran through the streets of the town, her eyes searching for any vendors or shops that had nonperishables in stock. Before she bought any rations though, she stopped by a shop which sold travel equipment. There, she bought a backpack, a flint and steel, and a portable tent made of leather. Left with ten silver after these purchases, Neia spent a few more minutes searching the streets before she found a shop who sold dried meats and other nonperishables. She spent seven silver here, buying four pounds of beef and pork each and two packages of dry, powdery crackers.
With three last silver coins jingling in her pockets and a food laden backpack, Neia approached the northern gates of the city. Since she didn't know exactly when the Southern army would move to attack, she had decided to set up camp outside in the hilly regions near the city and wait for the army to leave the capital. This way, she wouldn't be caught in the commotion which was prone to occur around any large gathering of troops.
The guards stationed at the gates of the city briefly studied Neia before letting her go. A petite woman with no armor aroused no suspicion from them. After exiting the city, Neia walked at a slow pace to avoid attention until the road dipped below sight of the city guards. Then, she hiked off the road up one of the neighboring hills. Dropping her backpack and laying down in a depression between two hills, Neia sighed. It was time to wait again. As the hours passed by, her eyelids grew heavy. Having not slept for twenty four hours, Neia felt herself drifting away into sleep despite the rough dirt she had for a bed. She jumped up with a start as she felt her eyes close. Sleeping now would be a disaster. I can sleep when the Southern army sleeps.
Just as Neia began to pace in circles to keep herself awake, she heard the distant clang of metal. They're here. Neia crawled out of her hiding place up the hill facing the road until only her head was visible. She saw a long stream of soldiers exiting the capital. One out of every one hundred soldiers or so held a flag with the royal crests of the Southern Kingdom. After completely affirming that it was indeed the Southern Kingdom's army, Neia crept back down to pick up her backpack. She waited until the sound of their march faded into nothingness before walking back onto the road to follow them. She planned to follow the army at a distance for the first four days and slip in on the fifth day during the chaos of battle.
With this plan in mind, Neia spent the next four days doing nothing but walking. On and on she walked, resting only when she was sure the Southern Kingdom's army had stopped. By the end of the fourth day, her limbs felt more like numb chunks of meat than actual limbs.
On the morning of the fifth day, Neia entered the Northern Kingdom. There were no stationed soldiers along the border. The Southern Kingdom had decided to concentrate their troops in the towns instead so that they would be unaffected by the Northern Kingdom's naval bombardment of the demi-humans. This bombardment, however, had ended yesterday, thus both Neia and the Southern Kingdom's army passed the border without any disturbance. When noon came though, this peace was abruptly ended with earth shattering clap of thunder as a streak of lightning split the clear skies.
Neia, in the process of closing the distance between her and the army, broke out into a run. Jaldabaoth had made his move.
When Neia came into sight of the Southern Kingdom's army, she saw a scene of chaos. Soldiers were running with no rhyme or reason and charred bodies littered the road and its surrounding region. There was a blackened circle with jagged lines protruding from its edges smoldering in the middle of the road. The soldiers closest to Neia and furthest away from the carnage which had just ensued, were desperately attempting to locate the spell caster which had slung such a devastating attack.
They did not need to look far. A slim figure with a scaled grey tail hovered ten meters above the ground at a distance of roughly thirty meters. Neia immediately know it was Jaldabaoth. No other spell caster could have wrought such destruction except for the Sorcerer King. The Sorcerer King... Neia examined Jaldabaoth more closely. With her enhanced senses, she saw that his clothes were torn and his body was bloodied. The damage that the Sorcerer King inflicted is clearly shown, but is it enough? Neia gripped her bow tighter as she watched Jaldabaoth raise his hands to cast another spell. The remnants of the Southern Kingdom's army launched a volley of arrows, spears, and spells at him in response, but all of these projectiles either impacted harmlessly on the air around the demon or were vaporized by an intense burst of flame which erupted from his hands.
"「Twin Raging Infernal」". The distant words of the Jaldabaoth made its way into Neia ears as the entire left arm of the army's hastily assembled formation burst into flames. Neia didn't wait to find out the glaringly obvious result of the spell. Pushing her way through the dumbfounded Southern Kingdom soldiers, she made her way towards Jaldabaoth. No one questioned or even noticed her, just as she had expected. When she reached the end of the rear army's formation, however, she noticed a distinct flaw in her plan. She was the only one approaching Jaldabaoth. The rest of the troops were running away in panic or standing still in uncertainty, their will to live fighting with their instilled training.
Neia's mind raced for a few seconds as she paused in her movement. If I continue approaching Jaldabaoth, my advance would be noticed within seconds, surrounded as I am with these unmoving or retreating troops. She cursed silently to herself as she realized her predicament. I was relying on the Southern army to not crumble instantly.
Just as she was giving up hope, however, a booming voice resonated throughout the air, drawing the attention of all who could hear, "Are you men or are you spineless animals who care for nothing but their lives?" It was The Bull. Neia could see him instantly due to his height. The army shifted in agitation at the sight of the king's personal guard. "The Bumbling Buffoon has assured me that Jaldabaoth is bluffing with his power. He should have little to no mana left with that last attack." Murmurs of uncertainty arose from the army as they heard this statement. Not even the name of the strongest spell caster in the Southern Kingdom could quell their fears. An especially scared looking man yelled,
"How the hell do you guys know? You're the king's personal guard. You're ensured to die last. I'm sure you'll say anything to get us to throw our lives away."
There were whispers of agreement before The Bull's thundering voice once again silenced the soldiers, "Not only are you a spineless, but it seems that you are also a fool. If the enemy had mana he would have attacked while I was speaking, no?"
The soldiers, their fear reignited by the mention of the demon, turned quickly to face Jaldabaoth. Their fear turned into astonishment, however, when they saw that Jaldabaoth was indeed not readying another spell or attack. Rather, he was just watching their exchange motionlessly and with an expressionless face.
"The battle with the Sorcerer King has exhausted his mana. The Bumbling Buffoon assures me of this."
"Attack again and I will smite down all of you in one fell swoop. Do not test me." the smooth voice of Jaldabaoth rang out.
"Do you see his fear? He is a demon. If he could strike all of you down, he would have done so already. He knows not the definition of pity. Attack you damned fools."
When the soldiers stilled milled about with doubt, The Bull uttered a curse before shouting, "If you lot are truly so spineless, then I will lead the charge. He barreled through the uncertain ranks of the army, knocking unsuspecting soldiers flying. The Bumbling Buffoon was not long behind him, teetering like he was perpetually falling and yet moving at a pace which matched The Bull's. A shadow of a being slunk along behind both The Bull and The Bumbling Buffoon. When she reached the end of the army, she disappeared into thin air.
A resounding roar erupted from the Southern Kingdom's army as they saw the three charge in. Moving once again in cohesion, they marched directly towards Jaldabaoth, their faith in the king's personal guard trouncing their fear.
Neia, as small as she was, was powerless to resist the crowd. She was jostled forward as the army advanced, being tossed side to side as she attempted to create enough space to raise her bow. Despite the fervor of the army, her expression remained grim. She did not believe for a second The Bull's explanation. Though she was thankful for the aid he had provided, she knew that only death lay ahead.
The Bull reached Jaldabaoth first. Launching himself up the entire ten meters with a leap which cracked the earth underneath him, he growled, "Let me bring you to the ground you bastard of a demon." before he cleaved down upon Jaldabaoth with his pitch black bastard sword. His fierce expression turned to surprise, however, when the sword bounced harmlessly off the air around Jaldabaoth.
"What? How is your protection strong enou-" Before The Bull could utter another word, Jaldabaoth smiled and uttered, "「Instant Combustion」". A translucent barrier came into view around The Bull for a brief second before shattering into thousands of glittering pieces. The Bumbling Buffoon gasped in confusion as The Bull fell to the ground screaming in pain and clawing at his skin until it bled. The Bumbling Buffoon rushed to cast a healing spell, but stopped in alarm as he saw tendrils of light emerge on The Bull's skin. The Bull let out one more hoarse scream before his body evaporated into thin air. He had been burned to nothingness from the inside out.
The Bumbling Buffoon stared with stupefaction at where The Bull had just been moments ago. This inaction was quickly ended, however, when the bastard sword of The Bull fell to the ground with a thud, draining the color from the grass it touched. Jumping into action, the Bumbling Buffoon casted,「Amplify Divine Magic」before attacking Jaldabaoth with「Holy Fire」and 「Holy Smite」. Both spells were absorbed by Jaldabaoth's protections.
"That's not possible. How do you have so much mana? Just how much stronger are you than the Sorcerer King?"
"Not that much stronger at all actually."
"Then wh-"
"「Flash Freeze」"
A translucent barrier once again appeared before shattering. The Bumbling Buffoon stopped mid-sentence as his body instantly became a pale blue. He was frozen solid.
"Martial art, 「Rain of Arrows」" A black blot of projectiles filled the sky as the hands of the nameless archer of the king's guard turned into a blur. Each arrow was infused with holy magic and burned a brilliant white as it hit the protective shielding around Jaldabaoth. This holy fire spread onto the vines which erupted out of the arrows, encircling the protective bubble around Jaldabaoth. At the sight of this, Neia tried to draw her bow. There would be no better time to strike secretively than when the air was already filled with arrows. Try as she could, though, she could not free herself enough from the tightly packed army to make use of her bow. She could only look on helplessly as Jaldabaoth clicked his tongue in annoyance and began scanning the army for his assailant.
"Let's thin the haystack. 「Pentuple Bouncing Flame」". Immediately, the five soldiers nearest to him burst into flames. When they were reduced into a crisp, the fire jumped from their bodies onto neighboring soldiers. As the army size dwindled, Jaldabaoth finally caught a glimpse of the elusive archer.
"Ah. There you are." Jaldabaoth lifted his hand lazily.
Sensing her imminent death, the archer cast aside all attempts to conceal herself and muttered, "「The Forest Knows no Death」" Her bow ceased being a bow. The wooden fibers of it came to life and unwound itself to encase her body. Multiple trees sprouted around her and grew rapidly to create a formidable wall.
"A wooden wall? What a laughable attempt. 「Flame Lance」" A stream of fire shot from Jaldabaoth's hands. It did not spread out during its travel but rather condensed itself even more. When it impacted the wall, it had shrunk to an inch in diameter but had turned from a reddish-orange infernal into a brilliant blue lance. It drilled a hole into the newly formed trees and hit the wooden armor of the archer, splashing flames across her entire body. The flames burned brightly for a few seconds but were snuffed out quickly as the trees grew rapidly to encase them, depriving them of oxygen.
"Interesting." Jaldabaoth gazed upon the forest with a newfound curiosity. He thought for a few moments before casting, "「Twin Maximize Flame Lance」".
The outer trees were vaporized instantly. The forest burst into an inferno of flame as the archer was reduced into ashes within milliseconds.
Amid the crackling of the flames, however, a distinct creaking and groaning could be heard. When the fire died down minutes later, a new forest had been formed.
"The forest which never dies. Hrm… This is certainly new magic." Jaldabaoth scrunched his eyebrows in thought. "I guess I should take care of the small things before investigating though." He turned his eyes once again upon the Southern army but found that there was no longer an army. Half of it had been destroyed by the 「Pentuple Bouncing Flames」and the rest were fleeing the battlefield. This isn't good. Jaldabaoth thought as he scanned the battlefield. Where is she? She has to move now or- His thoughts were cut off as an arrow shot through the skies with immense speed. There it is.
The source of the arrow was Neia. With finally enough space to maneuver due to the massive loss of Southern troops, she had managed to draw and fire her bow while, as it seemed to her, Jaldabaoth was preoccupied with the forest. The arrow penetrated Jaldabaoth's defenses as soon as it touched them. They broke with a boom whose shockwaves sent Neia reeling in shock. And then, it hit Jaldabaoth.
Inhuman, ungodly shrieks of pain tore through the ears of all who could hear. Everyone in earshot immediately doubled over in pain as their eardrums bursted. Neia, with her heightened senses, had it even worse. The pain was so immense that she temporarily blacked out, falling limply to the ground.
It was during this time that Jaldabaoth made his move. He plucked Neia's arrow out of the air with ease before faking an uncontrollable descent to the ground. During this descent, a nearby stationed doppelganger sprung to action, alerted by Jaldabaoth's screams. Emerging from thin air, the doppelganger, who had transformed to appear exactly like Jaldabaoth in dress and body, nodded silently to Jaldabaoth to indicate his understanding before moving to the preplanned location. Jaldabaoth threw Neia's arrow with great force at the doppelganger before teleporting away. The doppelganger crumpled lifelessly where the real Jaldabaoth should have died, and Neia's arrow was the cause of the doppelganger's death. The plan was a success.