Chapter 57:- Bringing down the Abomination (part 2)
Disclaimer:- all the characters form the game belong to moonton and this is not a commercial story but just the work of a diehard fan.
Claimer:- the other characters which are not in game of mentioned are mine
With the war that had been raging on, the castle had all been but abandoned with all the bulk of the army busy fighting off the invaders. This proved to work in favour for Alice because she could now literally walk inside through the front gate and nothing would stop her.
A humorous situation it would have been, had Alice not been in such a depressing mood. Gone was her charisma, her happiness, her cruelty and even anger. All replaced by a husk of her older self with an aura of misery. Here was no longer the Demon Queen of Apocalypse, just a lost woman whose heart had been shattered into a million pieces.
As she walks through the empty halls of the elven palace, Alice couldn't help but recognise these place as the back of her hand. Why would she not? When she shared a history with this place.
An ancient history, but history nonetheless.
Every hall way, every pillar and every window brought back memories inside her that she had forgotten so long ago. The hopes that she had crushed here, the hearts that she had broken here. Alice couldn't help but laugh bitterly at that.
'Looks like fate finally found a way to get back at me. What better way than to give me a taste of my own medicine.' The demoness thought scornfully.
Sadness, pain and a bit of self-loathing, never would have Alice thought that she would actually bury herself in such emotions. However, she knows that these emotions will not help right now. She was here for a reason and Alice couldn't let herself be distracted.
She enters the massive throne room of the Castle and looks around vigorously.
"If my memories serve me right, there was a hidden chamber around here somewhere to house the royalties during times of danger." Mutters Alice searching for something of interest. She inspects the throne thoroughly and finally finds a hidden switch that opened a trap door behind the throne.
"Typical Estes, still a scaredy cat…" chuckles the blood demoness before going down the path herself.
After a long series of narrow and winding path, Alice finally reached her destination. The vault, most protected part of the castle that housed the most treasured artefact of Elves, The Sacred Knowledge.
Books and tomes of different kind and sizes lay scattered around the area, but Alice knew that none of them was what she seeks. No, Alice knows exactly where she had to look for it and she was right.
There, sitting pitifully on a chair with a golden scroll in his arms was Estes, the Renowned King of Moniya, hiding away like a rat when his kingdom burned above him.
Looking at him with hard eyes, Alice speaks, "We meet again…."
"I wish we hadn't." replies the elf after a while.
-X-
Karina ran as fast as she could towards the direction where she had seen Nana's explosions. All she prayed was the safety of her friend, hoping that she will be there in time before it is too late.
When she finally reached near enough to actually spot them, she found Nana along with all the other elves surrounded by enemies. A chill went down Karina's spine, realizing that Nana was currently inside an Orcish Death circle. No one will be leaving the circle enclosure until either of the side loses and the only way to lose was by death.
The powerful leader, Balmond had already wiped out most of the soldiers and now, only a few remained. Karina watched in horror as Nana jumped into the fight to save Miya, effectively being the main attention of the blood lusted orc who charged at her despite being just a small child.
"NO!" Karina screams dashing forward.
She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't lose another person dear to her as well. She couldn't lose another sister.
Karina was unarmed and weak yet still her will was strong, willing to risk herself for the ones she loved. She would gladly die trying to save her friend. Thus she didn't hesitate to jump into the Death circle without a care of her own well being.
Such qualities pleased the Moon Goddess, who shined her divine light upon the Night-elf despite how much Night-elves scorned the Moon Goddess. Miraculously, two blue dual-blades materialized in her arms, a gift from the Goddess.
The assassin was really shocked at what just happened but knowing that she didn't had enough time to ponder on it, so without a second thought, she threw herself before Nana and blocked the attack.
The Divine blade was no ordinary weapon, thus it was able to withstand the raw power of the Orc. Balmond was sent tumbling away because of his own power while the rest of the spectators looked at Karina in absolute astonishment.
Nana smiled and hugged Karina, "You came back!"
The Night elf smiled softly and patted her head, "I had to…"
However, the fight was not over because Balmond stirred awake, recovered from his previous disorientation and he didn't look happy. Knowing that the battle ahead will not be an easy one, Karina offered her hand to help Miya up.
The Moon-elf priestess took the hand. She was still not sure about the night-elf assassin but since she had just risked her life for Nana's sake, Miya was willing to put her faith in her. Plus the fact that the Moon Goddess herself had just bestowed her Holy Blades to her and the Moon Goddess gave her divine weapons to only those who are truly worthy.
Now standing side by side, the moon-elf and the night-elf readied themselves for the challenge ahead of them.
-X-
"Where is Hanabi!"
These were the only words Saya kept screaming as she fought against the hoard of the Abyss. A demon charged straight at her, but Saya ducked beneath the attack stabbed him right in his jugular. While the demon chocked and drowned in his own blood, the Sai'ore pulled the demon before her and used him as a meat shield when two more demons charged at her. Their attacks killed their own, causing them to get stunned realizing their blunder, enough time for Saya to close in on them.
With her gritted teeth, she stabled one continuously in the solar plexus and once her victim was filled with holes, she set her eyes upon the other. In an attempt to fight back, the demon tried to swing his sword towards her but before he could even understand what was going on, the demon's sword arm was severed by the angry Sai'ore and he now found himself at her mercy.
Holding the demon by his neck, Saya roars in his face, "Where is Hanabi?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, please…." She didn't hear any further and ran her sword through his neck. Seeing such slaughter, the rest of the Abyssal forces were really having second thoughts but the Ancient Sai'ore set her eyes upon them as well and slowly walked forward.
It was a blood bath!
She cut through the bulk of the Abyssal army, while the Elves cheered and followed her through the battle. They rejoiced for they now had a powerful saviour but only one was not so blind. No, Irithel knew that things were not as it seemed with the Sai'oren woman.
She had seen the way Saya fought; the intent, the anger, the savagery and the stone cold efficiency. It made the elven beast rider extremely nervous seeing the Xeno's battle prowess and the fact that her anger seemed to grow more and more with each moment was alarming.
"WHERE IS HANABI!" Saya roars like a battle cry, a hauntingly terrifying call, one that was really making the demons to lose their shits by now and it scared Irithel too. As Saya hacked down rows after rows of helpless demons, she couldn't help but picture the very angry Sai'oren do the same with her kin.
Iritherl felt a chill go down her spin at the very thought of it and seeing how Saya was effortlessly obliterating the hoards of Abyss who outnumbered her thousands to one, Irithel knew that the Elves would not even stand a chance in their weakened state.
So all Iritheal could do was watch and pray. Pray that whoever Saya was looking for was unharmed, lest the unstoppable Sai'ore's wrath befalls upon them as well.
-X-
Alice and Estes looked at each other for a good while in silence. It was the demoness who breaks the silence and speaks, "A panic room, seriously?"
Not in the mood for pleasantries at all, Estes narrows his eyes, "Away with you demon. You're not welcome here!"
The Queen rolls her eyes and says distastefully, "I don't like to bask in the presence of a coward either. Now, hand over the scroll."
Estes holds the golden scroll in his hand tightly. Glaring hatefully, he yells, "This Sacred Knowledge is the most prized artefact of Moniya. I will not let you have it!"
Alice scoffs at this, "Yes-yes, I know. The vessel of the forbidden knowledge, written at the birth of the Land, I know the tales as well. Now hand it over."
The Elf king takes a fighting stance and declares, "I will defend it with my life!"
Seeing his defiance, Alice couldn't help but laugh, "You, a cowards who hides when his kingdom burns will defend the scroll? Even the old human king of Mossenia is far more competent than you. You're nothing but a coward and we both know It." she says cruelly and Estes couldn't help but agree against his own will. She was right; they both know it and the king sulks back to his chair.
Alice could care less about him right now, however she does propose, "But I am feeling generous right now. Hand me over the scroll and I will call off the invasion."
Naturally, Estes didn't believe a word Alice said, however, he was conflicted when he saw sincerity in Alice's eyes. Estes had known the demoness for a long time. In fact, he could even shamefully admit that he knew her personally, long back when he himself had fallen to her allure. So he can pick it whenever Alice was trying to be devious. And that's the reason why her sincerity confused him.
"Why?" he speaks "Since when are you so generous…. Don't tell me it's because of that Xeno…." He hit the right spot because Alice looked down right outraged. Angry, murderous but he also saw something else in Alice's eyes. He saw sadness, one born out of heart break and it really shocked him.
"Don't you dare speak of her again…." Alice growls, which would have been menacing had her voice not been on the verge of breaking.
It was like everything was coming back to a circle now. The very woman who had broken his heart centuries ago, now stood heartbroken herself before him. And strangely, he could not feel good about it.
Estes sighs, "It's a luxury, one that was not meant for either of us. One that is denied to you, as it had been denied to me as well."
'I don't need your empathy!' that's what Alice wanted to scream, but she remained silent. She remembers the day when she had broken Estes' heart, how she had laughed to herself at the sport she had did. Now being on the receiving end, she got a taste of her what it must have felt like and couldn't help but feel guilty.
Shaking his head, the king gave the scroll to the demoness. Having what she had come for, Alice walked away. Suddenly, Estes speaks, "I….. am sorry." He says in a surprising sympathy, to which Alice replied back, "And… so am I."
-X-
Upon seeing the night-elf helping Miya and Nana, the demons were getting really stirred up with anger.
"Traitor!"
"You will pay for your treachery, Whore!"
But before the angry hoard could have attacked, Balmond stopped them, "No. I will deal with them myself." He growls angrily and cracked his knuckles. Karina narrowed her eyes and took her stance as well. She knew that the orc was very strong and at no cost can she risk getting caught by his crushing blows. Miya stood beside her as well, arrow notched in her bow, her palm sweated due to the anxiousness she was feeling and the thick tension was almost suffocating.
Balmond circled the two elves slowly, scanning them with cold and calculative eyes, thinking of ways to crush them as effectively as possible.
With speed that both Miya and Karine had not anticipated, the Orc charged head on, causing alarms to ring loudly in their head. But they were not fast enough to react and got caught right in his attack.
The orc sent Karina on the floor and now had Miya in his grasp by her throat. The priestess tried to free herself by stabbing his hand with her arrow head but the Orc didn't even flinch by the attack. His grip tightened around her neck, making Miya chock and struggle in vain for air.
Knowing that he could easily snap Miya's neck like a twig, Karina immediately came to her rescue. She slashed her powerful weapon at the orc but Balmond had seen this coming and casually threw Miya at Karina's direction and sent them both crushing to the ground.
"Come on, weaklings, at least try to fight back." Balmond smirks, causing the demons to snicker smugly. Not one to be out done by an orc so soon, both Miya and Karina charged at the orc. However, this had been of very little help. Dancing around their attacks despite his huge size, he was able to avoid most of their attacks and the attacks that did hit were completely ineffective. He just simply tossed them around with ease while they themselves were not able to do any serious damage.
Their demon spectators roared and laughed, mocking them for their weakness and even if angered the both them, they couldn't do much about it. Till now Balmond had just been toying with them and they shuddered to think what he could do when he was serious.
"He is too strong, we cannot win this…" mutters Miya, hissing in pain as her damaged body screamed in pain and protest. Karina couldn't help but agree. Even with the holy weapons in their side, they were simply no match for Balmond's strength and skills.
However, just when they were losing hope, Nana stepped in and says passionately, "No, we can do this, keep fighting!"
Her optimism would have been contagious had it not been misplaced and if both of them were not in such a bad shape.
"Hate to break it to you, Kid, But we can't do this…" mumbles Karina dejectedly.
However, Nana giggles at this, "Of course we cannot defeat him alone, but if we work together…"
The Cat-elf's smile widened into a full wide grin when both Miya and Karina's eyes widened in realization.
"Are you just going to talk or are we going to fight?" roars Balmond impatiently. He stood waiting, as if challenging them to try anything that could possibly harm him. Such was his arrogance. One that he will pay for dearly.
The three looked at each other one last time and nodded in acknowledgement. With a loud war cry, Karina charged head first and alone towards the Orc. Balmond smirked, thinking that the girl had finally lost it and was now suicidal. He waited for her to come towards him with his axe ready.
However, just when Karina was about to reach his range, the assassin jumped away and from behind her, Nana's cursed voodoo rabbit doll of misery lunged towards the shocked Orc. It had been a trap!
As soon as the horrid abomination touched Balmond, he turned into a totoro creature, "What the hell?"
Wasting no time, Nana chanted her incantations and created a series of pink explosions just below the transformed Orc, sending him flying.
"Now it's my turn!" yelled Miya and rained down arrows on the Orc. Her holy arrows burning through Balmond's now vulnerable flesh. Covered in wounds, Balmond came crushing down on the earth and transformed back to his normal form. However, he was heavily damaged and was barely able to stand straight.
Knowing that this is probably the only opening that she will get, Karina rushed forward to execute her ultimate attack, Shadow Transition. The attack was powerful, especially when carried out by a divine weapon. His eyes still wide in shock, Balmond slowly fell down to his knees, "Impossible…" and thus was the end of the Blood Orc leader.
It was done; they were victorious in this battle. However, Miya, Karina and Nana had to group up close because now their spectators looked very angry.
Now wounded and surrounded by enemies, the trio were ready to fight tooth and nails till their last breath. But suddenly, from behind, a hoard of Abyssal demons came rushing out of the city that they had been invading and the most shocking fact was that they seemed to be running away….. in fear.
"Run away!"
"Save your lives!"
"M-monster!"
They all screamed and to say that the three were shocked would be an understatement. They were wondering what could have spooked the demons of Abyss so much that they would run like so?
So they got their answer when form the gates of the city, out came Saya. Her body was matted with dirt and blood, her hair was flowing wildly in air, her fangs bared like a rabid animal and her eyes held wrath like none other.
"WHERE IS HANABI!"
-X-
Hanabi could feel sweat forming on her brow as she and the shadow bringer circled each other. She had heard of Helcurt's kind, an ancient species who were known to hold power over shadows and can devour the light. Everyone believed that they were extinct but they were wrong, because here was one who stood before her and its very presence was unnerving Hanabi.
"Tell me, Human, are you afraid?" the Creature of True Darkness purrs while dragging his claw on the floor slowly. The Ninja girl narrows her eyes at this and declares boldly, "You will see soon enough."
Helcurt laughs maniacally at this, "I will have fun breaking you. Scream for me, my prey!"
Suddenly he was upon Hanabi and she had to quickly use her kunais to defend herself because the shadow bringer had opted for a head on close combat.
Helcurt was a fast opponent, the fastest one that Hanabi had faced till now, but she was no push over either because she was able to keep up with the beast, blocking and parrying all the attacks from the shadow dweller.
"Most impressive, Human, Most impressive." Compliments Helcurt after jumping back a bit, creating distance between the two and giving Hanabi the much needed breather she required. They seemed to be almost evenly matched as neither was able to land a hit on each other so far.
But, Helcurt still had his Ace in his sleeve, "Let's see how you will fare when you are blind…" as soon as he said these words, the Entire area was surrounded by a miasma of Darkness that completely blocked Hanabi's vision, leaving her in complete Darkness.
"What is this magic?" She yells but all she heard was Helcurt's laughter echoing from every direction.
"Ahahaha, tremble!" he attacked from behind and due to her lack of vision, Hanabi got hit pretty badly by Helcurt's blade. The Shadow Bringer kept circling and attacking her, his approach masked by his darkness, Hanabi was helpless like a sitting duck.
'This isn't good… I have to do something!' Hanabi yells in her head while trying to defend herself. But pin pointing Helcurt's position was hard, especially with her lack of vision and how fast he was going.
'I will have to take the risk…' seeing not other way, Hanabi readied her Higanbana. She concentrates to sense Helcurt's position, but she could not. It was as if he was everywhere!
"Scream, my prey!" his haunting voice echoes from everywhere, making Hanabi even more desperate.
'Here goes nothing!' Choosing a direction, Hanabi hurled her chakram in that direction, hoping that it would hit something. Her prayers were answered because Higanbana actually hit Helcurt because he was too distracted by confidence to see it coming.
"What?" he yells as tendrils sprouted out of the ground and wrapped around Helcurt's body.
Seeing her chance, Hanabi rushed forward towards Helcurt's direction and rammed her knife in his gut. The shadow around her dissipated and Helcurt stood there with eyes wide in shock and a knife through his stomach. Slowly he fell to his knees and chuckled, "Well played, human, well played…" he laughs lowly and ominously.
Hanabi narrowed her eyes and spoke, "Never seen a creature like you before, who laughs in his own demise."
Helcurt bursts out laughing more at this, "My demise indeed, but yours too."
His words confused the ninja girl until a sharp pain stung her arm. Hanabi quickly inspect it and watched in horror when she found out that the wounds inflicted by the shadow bringer were turning sickly blue.
Helcurt laughs even more, "Do tell how my poison tastes like….. in hell." With that he lets out his final breath, leaving Hanabi all alone in the metal corridor, feeling a bit dizzy.
"I-I need to get out of here…"
She proceeded to go the way from where she had sneaked into the siege engine in the first place. However, she could feel the poison taking its effects because she was feeling very drowsy and even stumbled a few times.
But she somehow managed to get off the machine. Once in a safe distance, Hanabi looked back at the Siege engine, "You will not harm another soul anymore." With a couple of hand seals, she triggered the explosive tags within the machine.
As soon as that happened, the tags exploded, setting off a chain of explosions within the machine, and amplified by the explosions of the barrels within the machine, the Walking Metal Abomination of Doom exploded in a fiery blaze. It came crushing down the ground and its fires reached almost as high as the Heavens.
She had done it!
Her plan worked!
Hanabi rejoiced but not for long because she was suddenly picked up by the throat by a very-very angry Selena.
"Filthy human! Look what you did!" she roars furiously, angry that a weak human such as herself could deliver such a huge blow to them by destroying their machine. Hanabi chocked as the Abyssal Witch's grasp tightened around her, unable to fight back because she was too weakened by the poison.
But before Selena could finish her off, an arrow hit her and she had to let go of the human, "Leave her alone!" yells Miya shooting arrow after arrow at her. Nana tailed just behind her but it was the last person who followed them that made Selena stop.
'The Night-elf….Why does she see so…..familiar?' wonders the witch upon seeing the night-elf assassin that followed Nana.
Karina recognised her long lost sister as well and gasps in disbelief, "Selena?"
The Abyssal witch felt a sudden jolt and her head started hurting. Memories, ones she thought she never had flashed before her, causing her excruciating pain.
"What is happening?" Selena screams holding her head.
Soon, the Abyssal Hoard comes rushing out of the city.
"Shit, they destroyed the machine!"
"There is no hope, fall back!" they screamed.
The demons came rushing out, running for their lives as they were being chased by as extremely pissed Sai'ore. They did however pick up the disoriented Selena along with them and fled, showing that they at least had the curtsey to not leave their comrades behind.
"But what of the sacred knowledge?"
"Lady Alice has managed to recover that but we need to flee now, the monster is coming!"
And so the demons were pushed back and the invasion was stopped. It was finally over!
"Hanabi!" Saya calls, rushing forward in a hurry and Hanabi couldn't help but smile, "I am here!" she replies. Words could not describe how relieved the Sai'ore felt after finally hearing her human's voice.
With a wide smile and tears of joy, Saya ran towards Hanabi with open arms. Hanabi smiled too and rushed towards her friend. The one who she wanted to see and be with her in her last breaths.
The smile on Saya's face furrowed into a frown when Hanabi didn't walk, but wobbled towards her. Her steps shaky and weak. Not able to bare her weight any longer, Hanabi's legs gave away and she fell down on the ground.
The last thing she heard was Saya's panicked voice before darkness consumed her….
