Chapter 68 - Waterloo
Will stared down at Ilias's body, nearly disbelieving what he was seeing. Nearly an entire year of scheming and plotting had paid off with a bloody climax. The mad goddess laid dead on the ground. The sword that once hung above the world's head, his own head, was shattered, and gone.
He looked to his side and saw the conflicted expression on Luka's face. It was a victory, yet the strange act of affection had taken him off guard. He could not accept it, for it came from such a horrible individual, but it was clear he could not fully reject it either. Will reached out and gently grasped his friend's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. It shook Luka from his thoughts and he shot his friend a look of appreciation.
"There's still Micaela, your aunt," Will reminded him in a reassuring tone. "And us too. You aren't alone in this."
Luka hummed in acknowledgment, glancing back at his grandmother's corpse. "I know I'm not. I never expected her to be so deranged, even after everything you've told me. I hope she's found some peace."
Will didn't respond, knowing he'd be unable to agree, and wordlessly watched as flames poured out of Alice's hand, consuming the body. The hellfire burned brightly as Ilias turned to ash. Being a creature of light, her physical form broke down quickly, energy seeping out and returning back to the world. There'd be no chance of her returning or body being misused by others.
Sara limped over and wrapped an arm around Luka. Her body covered in bruises and scorch marks, parts of her hair burned off, but still in one piece. Alice's hand on Will's arm caught his attention, causing him to turn to face her. "We did it. I almost can't believe it," she softly said in relief, smiling at him.
"Neither can I, honestly," he replied, tail reaching around and wrapping itself along her arm. He tugged her closer to himself, a hand resting on her waist.
"Your knowledge truly helped us out. It made this possible," Alice quietly said in appreciation and motioned around them.
Will scratched the side of his cheek, and sheepishly chuckled. "Nah, I didn't do anything. I'm just a tag along. You guys did all the work and let me feel included."
"Agree to disagree in this case," Alice remarked with a smirk, lulling into silence as they held each other. There was still much work that had to be done but they could bask in their moment of victory. The pair quietly stood there, while Will turned his attention to the rest of the group.
They were all alive, though in various states of injury. Erubetie had gotten the worst of it, the slime having no resistance to electrical attacks, and Yao's numerous tails were stained black and red with charred flesh and blood. Alma, though untouched, moved sluggishly, having strained herself seizing control of the storm from Ilias and channeling such raw energy through her. While Tamamo patted her once luxurious tails. He couldn't help but stare for a few moments, stunned by her beauty.
"If I'd know she'd go down so quickly I'd have held off on this," Tamamo remarked with a sigh of annoyance, placing a hand on her hip and gesturing to herself with her fan. Her refined matronly voice worn down by exhaustion. "I'm afraid I'll be unable to help manage the army of angels in a few moments. Word of Dispel takes a great deal out of me."
"Your old age is starting to catch up to you," Yao replied with a tired smirk. The kitsune was in good spirits despite her injuries. "Do you need me to carry you back home and tuck you into bed? Perhaps a spot of sake to help ease your weary bones?"
"I'd chastise you for such comments but I know it'd fall on deaf ears." Tamamo shook her head and softly smiled. The power radiating off her began to fade and she looked down at herself one last time. "Such a shame, until next time." A second later she disappeared and reappeared in her smaller, petite body, swaying on her feet. Her shoulders were sagging and tails drooping low on the ground, stumbling in place and nearly falling over, until she was steadied by Yao.
The wind screamed at Will that danger was upon them, and at the same time Luka opened his mouth, shouting a warning. "Yao move!" The kitsune eyes slowly widened in surprise and she began to dodge to the side as a holy spear tore through her torso at supersonic speeds, barely missing Tamamo's head, the sonic boom following in its wake seconds later.
Blood and viscera sprayed from the gaping wound in the kitsune's gut as the projectile continued forward. Yao let out a cry of pain, sent staggering forward from the force of the blow and hastily pressing a tail against herself to stem the bleeding.
"You know, I've always hated that wise advisor routine of yours. Always attempting to steer decisions from the shadows and rule as the power behind the throne. It wore thin very quickly," Black Alice loudly declared over the howling wind. Her voice filled with anger and annoyance in place of her usual amusement. "I am the Monster Lord. I will not suffer any dissent."
A barrage of icicles the size of pillars rained down upon them from the sky, aimed at the injured members of their group, causing them to scatter. It was like a maelstrom of raging magical power descending upon them, unleashing salvos upon salvos of attacks from a range. Erubetie moved too too slow, her slimy body pierced nearly freezing her solid, forcing her to split her head off before the ice reached it. It fell to the ground with a wet plop, Erubetie immediately reformed a much shorter version of her body as she flowed quickly to Yao for cover.
Alice grabbed Will before she and Granberia teleported to Black Alice, seeking to overwhelm the blonde usurper, while Luka rushed and closed the distance on foot an instant later. The quartet immediately launched their assault, weapons and limbs lashing out in tandem, forcing Black Alice to go on the defensive.
Her eyes flashed and suddenly Will found the wind silent, causing him to momentarily stumble as he lost his momentum with Luka following suite. Alice and Granberia's own movements were thrown off, catching them off guard, allowing Black Alice to gracefully move between them with blindly speed and land several strikes each of them with bladed tendrils.
It forced them back. She'd briefly severed their connection to the spirits, stopping them from drawing upon their power.
The hailstorm assault continued, scraping several of the injured members of the group, causing frostbite that blackened the flesh on contact. Alma's own speed faltered for only a moment, her wing clipped by a blast of ice, slowing her down immensely. She was forced to the ground with a tumble, recovering and sparing a brief glance at Alice before rushing across the blasted field to Yao. She grabbed Sara's arm, much to the princess's protests, and one of the kitsune's outstretched tails before disappearing, teleporting away on her Lord's orders.
"I've learned from our last encounter," Black Alice gloated with a sneer, glaring between the four of them and flaring her many tendrils that sprouted from her back. "Queens are useless, so I went a step better and found a worthwhile follower."
On cue the source of the icicles emerged from the storm clouds, a long serpentine woman held aloof by five pairs of black feathered wings and two butterfly wings emerging from her waist. Her flesh discoloured, scales turned necrotic and colour faded to a shade of purple. Her face was obscured by a black veil that hanged down from curved sloping horns that came from the back of her head, covered by lengths of pale sickly hair, framed by a pair of dead flowers. She was easily forty feet long, and her upper body nearly ten feet tall, a bloated corpse stretched to grotesque proportions.
"The only person I should rely on is another Fateburn!" Black Alice declared with a vindictive smile. "It felt wrong to leave her with La Croix! It's more fitting that she be ordered by her ancestor!"
Alice stared up, mouth hanging slightly agape. "Mother," she quietly uttered.
"Fifteen, kill that impostor and her underlings," the blonde ordered, pointing at Alice. "Feel free to eat their remains when you're done." She recoiled as Granberia's sword took off the outstretched limb, and she ducked low to avoid a follow up blow aimed at her head.
"Yes my Lord."
Alipheese the Fifteenth appeared behind Granberia, arm jabbing forward to impale the knight, and missing as Granberia effortlessly twisted and contorted her body to avoid the attack, flowing around it like water. The corpse's stomach opened up to reveal a gaping maw of teeth that snapped out to tear apart the knight, but the attack was countered as Luka lunged forward with blistering speed, his blade extended. It struck the deformed body and knocked her aside as he channeled the strength of the earth.
Alice's fists tightened as she gazed upon the deformed corpse of her mother, brought to life by foul necromancy. Her initial hesitation gave way to determination, flaming leaping to her command as chunks of her mother's tail were blown off by magical explosions. That drew her attention as the undead body retaliated, turning to assault her own daughter.
Will moved around the undead bodyguard and threw himself at Black Alice, eyes burning with hatred as his body was wreathed in flames. There was only one goal in his mind, a single driving object, and that was to kill her. She moved to dodge the attack, her tail sweeping out to knock him out of the air, and he simply rolled with the attack, driving a fist into flesh as it passed him. It charred at his touch, and he pushed off it with his own tail, launching himself at her.
A length of bone erupted from the usurper's remaining forelimb, catching the underside of his arm and slicing through a gap in his armour, digging into the dense musculare. It didn't stop his momentum, wrapping his own arm around the limb and spinning as he drove his armoured boot into her shoulder, breaking the joint and tearing the arm free from its shattered socket. His tail whipped across her face with a loud crack that gouged the flesh.
Fleshy strands of muscle tissue bursted from her stumps, reformed arm snatching his tail and slamming him onto the ground, crattering it and kicking up a cloud of debris. Her tail struck out like a scorpion, aiming to impale him only to be knocked aside by Luka at the last moment. The hero's sword carved through the purple scales, releasing a dense stream of thick mist-like mana to erupt out like a broken pipe.
Will pushed off and rolled onto his feet, hitting the ground running as he circled around Black Alice. He and Luka shared a brief glance of understanding, and lunged in unison. Their weapons struck true, landing blow after blow upon the blonde's body, keeping up with her as she attempted to outmaneuver them. She unleashed a flurry of magical and physical blows, fire and ice erupting from her numerous appendages with increasing ferocity.
Within her raged four fake spirits, granting her similar boons to Luka. The earth tumbled with every blow, the air filled with the thunderous booms of shock waves and the smell of burning flesh.
The usurper's bodyguard was faring better, keeping the knight at bay with blasts of magic. It did little to perturb Alice though, for she knew how to move around and counter it. Her mother used the same fighting style that she did, though fueled by the souls of thousands of sacrificed humans. It granted the Fifteenth great power but two targets could split her attention enough to keep her off balance. The undead's single minded focus left her isolated from her master.
Alice moved with a grim determination, stoically facing down her mother's corpse. She couldn't afford to wince at every blow she landed, putting down the puppeted remains of the woman that had given her life. It had to be done. The body was already defiled, skewering its undead heart was a mercy. Her mother would be at peace, a fact that drove her onwards despite the pain the bloodshed caused.
One of the blonde's many appendages struck Luka's hand, taking off several of the hero's fingers. He let out a cry of pain, clutching the wound and, and an instant later a pair of long translucent wings, glowing a brilliant golden colour, burst from his back, as a holy fire began to burn from his eyes.
The ring finger had been severed, and Luka's angelic heritage had been unleashed, visible waves of holy mana erupted from him. It was a sight that gave Will pause, seeing the raw power contained within his friend, and drove him to press the attack further.
Black Alice's eyes flashed once more, but Will was prepared, sensing the split second build up of power, and planting his feet firmly in the ground as he deflected her blow. She lunged at him, intent on bull rushing him with her sheer size and strength, when Luka appeared beside him in a blur, moving with unnerving grace.
Luka held his injured hand out, catching Black Alice's hulking mass, and an instant later a star of awe inspiring power coalesced in his palm. The blonde barely registered the attack as the burning sphere expanded and exploded outwards, eviscerating her body in a blinding explosion. It sent chunks of her flesh scattering across the battlefield, nearly severing in half, tail hanging on by threads.
The damage was already starting to heal, thin threads of muscle tissue piercing through the layer of charr and slowly reconnecting her body. She glared at them in rage and raised herself off the ground. "Fifteen! Protect me with your life!"
The undead corpse responded immediately by teleporting to her master's side, placing herself between the blonde and the quartet. Black Alice's arm began to vibrate with power as she pulled upon the wind, concentrating it within the limb, a miniature tornado forming along its length. "I will rule this world! Human! Monster! Even angels will bow to me!"
Will sent out waves of burning jets aimed at her, but they were countered by a wall of ice formed by Alipheese Fifteen, and forced to dodge as shards exploded outwards from it. Granberia took a more direct approach, rushing forward and swinging her sword dozens of times in the blink of an eye, leaving bloody gashes along the zombie's long tail.
Rocks lifted from the ground and shot to Black Alice's arm, condensing down and forming spinning rings around the limb as it dropped low, the usurper visibly struggling to hold her own arm up. The ground beneath her tail cracked, broken apart by waves of magical power and weight gathered within her.
Fire gathered within the corpse's mouth, shooting out like a dragon's breath at the knight. The plume was cut short as a near physical wall of darkness slammed into her head and forced the jaw shut, burning it from the inside. Recognition flashed across Will's face. "Stop her! Stop her now!" he shouted, launching himself at Black Alice.
The gigantic bodyguard intercepted the attack, taking the full force of the impact that sent ripples across its discoloured flesh. Her tail whipped around to grab and constrict him, unperturbed by the flames dancing across his body, burning her more as he managed to keep the coils at bay. Luka leapt into the air and brought his sword down onto the zombie's tail with enough force to make the ground beneath them quake. It carved long gashes that bled chromatic mercury-like fluid, draining Alipheese Fifteen of the power that had re-animated her.
Water droplets coalesced from the air to form floating strands of liquid that wrapped around Black Alice's arm. The limb was vibrating so hard with power that tore itself apart at the seams, skin breaking apart faster than it could heal. "The attack that once ended my reign will now secure it forever!" she exclaimed, each word a struggle to force out.
Hellfire began to form along her arm, when Alice teleported directly behind Black Alice. The Monster Lord's sword was already thrusting forward for the killing blow, only for the blade to skewer her mother's hand and be wrenched aside. The zombie hadn't pulled Alice far enough away however, her lengths of white hair lashing out like a whip across the usurper's neck.
Panic flashed across Black Alice's face, a split second to realize what had happened, before her head toppled from her neck and the ungodly amounts of power concentrated within her body were unleashed directly below her corpse.
It erupted like a nuclear bomb, instantly vaporizing Black Alice's body in a blinding flash of heat, and sending out a shockwave that sent all of them flying as the ground disintegrated in a cacophonous blast. The blast expanded within seconds, blowing open an hole in the earth, and scattering the clouds within a second.
It overwhelmed Will's senses, and he thought he'd be consumed by it, when a hand grasped his, and a moment later he was sitting on a hill miles away that overlooked the battlefield. The sky above them cleared from the shockwave, letting in sunlight shine down upon them. Alice was beside him, and smiling down at her, was her mother, body battered and broken, leaking blood and magical power.
A certain light had returned to her golden eyes, freed from Black Alice's control. "My little girl, you've grown so much," Alipheese warmly spoke, in spite of the shattered jaw. Her body started shaking, unable to sustain itself any longer, and slowly returning to death. She lowered herself to be level with Alice, and wrapped an arm around her daughter.
Alice stared up at her mother, tears streaming down her face as she returned the embrace.
"You succeeded where I failed. I'm so proud of you," Alipheese the Fifteenth weakly muttered. "Know that I'll always love you." Her eyelids began to drop, body slowly going limp as the light faded from her eyes.
Will gently placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned against her in silence. He said nothing, knowing no words would be enough, and simply offering her his presence and support.
The sound of footsteps caught his attention and he glanced to the side to see Granberia standing off to the side, holding an unconscious Luka in a bridal carry, sans glowing wings and eyes. The ring that sealed his power had been placed on his other hand, and at his confused stare, the knight gave a knowing look.
'She snatched it before she grabbed him,' he realized in relief.
They stood there, battered and maimed from their fight, but alive. The world would live and so would they.
RN: Illias fast defeat was for several reasons. 1) Our SI kinda knows her plans. With leads early to 2) Early counter operations against queens and Ilias don't know about that because 3) Prometein is kinda maybe on our side and 4) Tamano actively sabotaging Ilias spying through her cupids. Which leads to Surprise attack on Ilias. Attack on Heaven is successful blitzkrieg operation on unsuspecting enemy, who still think that her plan going fine, but suddenly Alice inquisition.
