AGNOMAKHOS
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 20
"I'll be okay, Kulla. Have a little faith in me, okay?"
Olivia already had her massive broadsword drawn as she watched the warring sides collide in Meletis' main street. She shielded her eyes from the blinding flares of offensive magic and mana barriers, and the collective shouts of warriors rattled her eardrums. Kulla, who stood by her, had yet again asked if she was fully ready for this. And Olivia's answer had been the same as before.
Kulla swallowed and nodded. "May Ephara watch over you, Olivia." His adopted sister smiled.
"My enemy will need it more."
And with that, Olivia bound through the battlefield as her fellow captains and colonels dispersed to join the fray. Olivia ducked jets of flame and sword slashes, scanning the writhing crowds for one man. Where is he? I know he'll be here with his foul mercenary friends. Indeed, a woman in black leather armor stood on a temples roof, her enchanted arrows punching through Reverent Army hoplites with ease.
Whoa! Olivia's green mana tingled a warning and at the last second, she vaulted nimbly to the side. An enchanted arrow, humming with deadly blue and black mana, narrowly missed her ear and thudded into a wall. Corrosive mana spread from the arrowhead like a stain, boiling away the wall's bricks.
Now Olivia realized who the archer was: an infamous mercenary named Estello, and Kulla had tangled with her during the assassination attempts some weeks ago... the same day where Olivia had lost her right arm.
But Estello wasn't the target, and neither was the giant wooden machine that spat out focused beams of fire magic. As a group of red-robed rebels moved aside, Olivia got a clear view of an older man with gold armor and a black-handled, heavily-enchanted sword.
Argyros.
"Mages, on me," Olivia barked to the nearest battle-wise mages. Three of them clustered around her, ready for orders. "Enchant me with all you've got. See that man over there?" She pointed. "He's worth ten men by himself, and I'm going to take him out. But I'll need help."
"Our soldiers need our spells too," a mage hesitated, glancing at the nearest hoplites. As she spoke, two hoplites fell to enemy swords.
Olivia stamped a bare foot. "Do it anyway! I already lost an arm to that man, and I don't want to lose anything else! I'm a captain, so obey me!"
Although the mages weren't from Olivia's platoon, or even First Battalion, they complied and coated her with iron-hard white and blue mana. Olivia thanked them and stepped forward, pointing her massive sword at Argyros. "Hey! You!"
Argyros blinked and turned to face her. He raised his bushy gray eyebrows. "It's you again, huh? Didn't learn your lesson the first time?"
"As a captain, it's my duty to defend this city from people like you," Olivia said firmly. "And that means I'm going to take your life today."
"Kids these days," Argyros commented idly. He stalked toward Olivia, expertly twirling his sword, Lepida Akyrosi. "All right. You're on!"
At once, Argyros charged. Olivia took a split-second to analyze his move: a blunt forward attack, his sword swinging at Olivia's midriff. Was it a feint? Well, just in case, Olivia would put herself in a superior position to throw Argyros off.
Olivia sprang into the air, marveling at how her enchantments boosted her movement. She vaulted higher than ever before, feeling almost weightless. She let out an excited whoop as she arced over Argryos, easily clearing his sword strike and placing herself over his left shoulder. Before Argyros could react, Olivia swept her massive broadsword across her opponent.
Shattered pieces of gold armor scattered on the street and Argyros shrank back, clearly shocked by the blow. Olivia, meanwhile, landed lightly on her bare feet and whirled to face Argyros, grinning. "I thought you were better than that," she taunted him.
Argyros' face settled into a grim mask. "I am. I won't make that mistake twice."
Once again, the old mercenary charged, but this time, he spun like a dervish, his vicious sword filling the air. Olivia flared up her green mana and braced herself, digging her feet into the brick street to endure the pressure of Argyros' rapid stokes. Olivia's left arm burned as she wove her broadsword in a complex defensive pattern; she had infused it with green mana for strength, but it couldn't match what her right arm used to do.
"Damn it!" Olivia winced as Lepida Akyrosi sliced off a piece of her enchantments, vaporizing the white mana plate as it came off. Lepida Akyrosi's hungry edge could easily nullify mana, even from a glancing hit. There had to be a way around it...
There! Olivia saw a gap in Argyros' defenses for just a split-second after his attack. She knocked Lepida Akyrosi aside and ducked, squirming into Argyros' guard. Then, she raised her right foot and bashed Argyros' left knee, buckling it even through his armor.
Argyros winced and stumbled, his guard lowering for another instant. Triumphant, Olivia stabbed her broadsword right at Argyros' exposed stomach. The six-foot-long blade impaled him completely, the bloodstained point emerging from his back.
Olivia wrenched her sword back out and flicked it through the air to get the blood off. "And now your neck." She whipped her sword through the air at Argyros' exposed neck...
Clang! Lepida Akyrosi rose and blocked the blow, its edge grating and squealing against the pressure of Olivia's broadsword. Try as she might, Olivia couldn't push Lepida Akyrosi back or wrench it to the side. She frowned and increased the pressure, but still no change.
"You're... better than I thought, girl, especially with one arm," Argyros wheezed wetly. He spat out a bit of blood. "But not good enough."
Argyros' open left hand seized the rod weapon on his back and thrust it at Olivia. The curved blade at the end sliced off another piece of Olivia's enchantment armor, and it was distraction enough for Argyros to knock Olivia's broadsword aside.
Then, faster than Olivia expected, Argyros lunged and swept both weapons inward, like a pair of scissors closing. Frantic, her nerves tingling with shock, Olivia ducked and swept her broadsword to deflect Lepida Akyrosi. But the rod-blade weapon lashed out and cut into Olivia's thigh, breaking through enchantment armor and flesh alike. Olivia bit back a cry as the blade carved through her thigh muscles.
Bubbling green mana welled up to seal the wound, but the damage was done. Argyros knocked aside Olivia's broadsword yet again and Lepida Akyrosi shattered the rest of her enchantment armor with one easy blow. Olivia sprang back, her body suddenly feeling heavy.
What can I do? Even with that injury, he's still a match for me, Olivia thought, panicking. Her breaths came in rapid gasps, her hair tangled with sweat. What's his secret? How can he stay standing and have all that strength? She thought back to her first clash with Argyros, and even then, the man had fought on when a normal man would have collapsed.
If I don't find a solution soon...
*o*o*o*o*
FWOOM!
Lakram smiled as he snapped his fingers, and once again, a piller of flame burst into the air. Reverent Army hoplites and mages shouted as the explosion threw them into the air, and not even their shields and mana barriers could save them. Lakram could see every detail through the heat of his flames and the warmth of human bodies, and not for the first time, he wondered what it looked like with normal eyes. But this way, he could see every grisly detail imprinted on subtle patterns of heat, and that was more than good enough.
So, maybe I'll take out that phalanx formation over there, Lakram decided. He drew a coin from his belt's pouch and pressed it between his thumb and index finger. Red mana channeled right into the metal, and Lakram felt it vibrate and pulse with energy. He drew back his arm to throw it -
"Watch out!" a rebel shouted, but Lakram didn't need the warning. He clearly saw a mass of cool fluid washing over the battlefield, and one person rode atop it with expert balance. Nearby hoplite platoons parted to let the water and its controller rush past.
"So, you're Elias?" Lakram called up. Valerie had told him about the Reverent Army's officers, including this man. "Of Second Battalion?"
Elias easily glided to the street on a ramp of water. "I am," he answered. "I've been watching you, mercenary, and I've decided to take a hand in stopping you."
"Go ahead and try," Lakram smirked. He held up his coin for Elias to see. "But don't you know that water evaporates when exposed to heat?"
"Of course." Suddenly, faster than Lakram expected from such a calm man, Elias threw up his hands. At the movement, his mass of water spread out to form a massive disk that encircled himself and Lakram, and then the disk coalesced into dozens of tendrils. As one, the tendrils rushed inward and stabbed at Lakram from all sides.
By instinct, Lakram released a surge of red mana and spread his arms out. He winced as cold, magically-hardened water crashed down on him. Elias' blue mana and Lakram's own mana reacted explosively at contact, and the kinetic force flung Lakram high into the air, not unlike his victims from earlier.
Damn him! Lakram's smile faded as he released a cushion of heat to slow his fall. His red robes and clothes were already soaking wet and cold, hanging heavily on his frame. He trembled and felt his body ache horribly with the movement. That water hit me hard.
Meanwhile, Elias extended an arm to recall his water. Some of it had evaporated from Lakram's explosion, while the rest simply collected around Elias' arm like a sleeve. Lakram could see Elias' body glow even warmer as he conjured his inner mana, and then Elias rose on a waterspout that whirled rapidly like a dervish. Elias automatically backed up a few steps, alarmed by Elias' sudden height.
Calm down. You've faced worse, Lakram reminded himself. But not much worse, honestly. Elias had a lot of mana, maybe even more than the other officers on this battlefield. In a duel, Elias would probably outlast Lakram... so Lakram would have to even the odds.
"Mages! Get over here and back me up!" Lakram shouted over his shoulder. "We're gonna take out that colonel!"
Obediently, five mages gathered around Lakram, two with fire magic, and three with lightning crackling on their hands. "We're ready," one of them said.
"Good, 'cause we've got incoming!" Lakram pointed. Elias kept his waterspout rooted in place, but the body extended and wriggled toward Lakram's party like a giant snake. At the same time, Elias extended his arms and focused his blue mana there. Any second now...
"Block it!" Lakram barked. He darted to the side just in time; Elias came crashing down, blasting sheets of hardened water from his hands. At the same time, the five mages countered with a collective blast of flame and lightning. Sparks and water droplets sprayed everywhere in a dazzling display.
One of the lightning mages stumbled back, his arm broken and his body trembling. Lakram didn't care; he just needed this opportunity. He sprang and prepared another coin, then hurled it right into Elias' waterspout. Wtih a snap of the fingers, the coin detonated.
Steam filled the air as hundreds of gallons of water evaporated instantly. Elias' waterspout was cut in half, and the base half collapsed without Elias' body connected to it. Meanwhile, Elias tumbled to the ground, stunned.
Lakram bounded forward. "Finish him!" he shouted. "Now's our chance!"
The other mages, though weary from blocking Elias' savage attack, summoned the last of their mana and sent jets of flame and lightning right at the exposed colonel. Lakram's old grin came back as he closed on his target, a coin held tight in each hand.
"Aaaaaargh!" Once again, Lakram felt himself thrown into the air, and his insides lurched with sudden vertigo. This time, Elias had issued water from inside the street. Did he soak some water in there to use as an ambush weapon?
The water jet curved in mid-flight and slammed Lakram onto the street, and the mercenary grimaced against the pain; it felt like a few ribs had cracked. Furious, all patience gone, he set off his left hand's coin to evaporate the water and sprang to his feet. He was too late; Elias had already conjured more water, and this time, he sprayed it over Lakram's support mages in a fine mist.
To Lakram's surprise, the water froze solid on contact, and the five mages fell over like statues, locked in position. Lakram stayed where he was, gripping his right hand's coin tightly. "What was that?"
"My blue mana can nullify the strength and mana of others," Elias said calmly, turning to face Lakram. "Even the captains and other colonels can't resist its effects."
"You gonna do that to me, too?" Lakram's heart raced with adrenalin and hatred for this bald man's smug superiority.
"I'm sorry, my friend, but no," Elias said. "You're not a citizen of this city, and you're far too dangerous to let live. I must destroy you."
Lakram bared his teeth. "Go ahead and try!"
"Very well."