AGNOMAKHOS
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 24
Panting for breath, Alex threw open the city hall's front steps and started down the exquisite front hall. He braced himself for palace guards to swarm on him, but to his shock, he spotted the guards laying on the floor. Chunks of their armor had been blasted off and some of the guards nursed broken bones and purple bruises. They looked up when Alex approached but made no move to stop him.
Alex let his guard down a little bit. "What happened?"
"It was... the Sun Champion," a guard wheezed, clutching his ribs. "Tore right through us with her spear. Ran off to the council chambers."
Jaina's here? And she assaulted the guards? Tentatively, Alex strode past the guards and toward a staircase, trying to wrap his mind around this. Maybe she knew something about Perisophia and decided to act? Were her goals the same as Alex's? If so, Alex would have a considerable ally in this conflict. He brightened. This is turning out better than I hoped!
Alex changed his mind when he found the council chamber's door already open. He crept inside and found Jaina kneeling on the floor, trembling as a thick tentacle of blue and black mana gripped her. Perisophia stood on the room's other side, the tentacle's other end coming from her left arm. Similar mana coated the woman's eyes and a wicked grin was locked on her face.
That mana... Alex coughed as he entered the room. He felt like the dark mana was choking him, like a miasma in the air. His insides felt cold and he fought the urge to shiver. His breath came in shaky gasps. "Perisophia? What's happening?"
Perisophia's smile faded slightly. "Another one? If this keeps up, the whole city will know about me! I can't have that."
Alex bared his teeth. "No... you're someone else, aren't you?"
Then it hit him. "Phenax! I should have guessed! You've been pushing the whole city to civil war from Perisophia's council position. But why?"
"You're not as sharp as the Sun Champion," Phenax leered. "Well, at least you recognized me. So, what do you think you can do about it, fire mage?"
"This!" Alex dredged up the last of his mana and shot out a fist. A jet of brilliant flame tore through the room, right at Perisophia's head.
Keeping his tentacle wrapped around Jaina, Phenax forced Perisophia's body to roll to avoid Alex's fire. Then, Perisophia's right hand extended, palm out, and released a surge of deep blue mana. Alex yelped as the cold, hard wave knocked him off his feet and onto his back.
"Did anyone else follow you here?" Phenax demanded. "Tell me!"
"Like hell I will," Alex snapped. He crawled painfully to his feet and glanced at Jaina. Could he free her from that tentacle? He'd need her power against Phenax, but that tentacle was awfully thick. Jaina's whole body trembled from whatever horrible effect it had on her.
But still... he hadn't backed down before Kulla, and he wouldn't do so before Phenax, either.
Shouting, Alex sprinted toward Perisophia and loosed fireballs as fast as he could. The god of deception pushed Perisophia's body to its limit, ducking and weaving through the flames. Once again Phenax released a mana blast, but this time Alex was ready. He slipped to the side on a puff of hot air, then caught Phenax in his blind spot and flung another fireball.
Phenax grunted as the fireball smacked Perisophia's jaw. The woman stumbled back, stunned. At the same time, the mana tentacle around Jaina flickered and convulsed as though in pain. Jaina groaned from her position on the floor but didn't get up.
"Not bad, kid. But you won't touch me again." His smile replaced by a snarl, Phenax kicked out Perisophia's foot and sent a third dark wave at Alex. The fire mage rolled to the side, but he felt his meager mana supply fading fast. In just another minute or so, he'd be depleted, and at a god's mercy. He fought down sudden panic. Focus!
Alex shot another pair of fireballs, only to see Phenax knock them aside with black mana. A split second later, Phenax released a jet of blue and black mana that slammed right into Alex's gut.
Alex's vision flickered as he felt the mana hit him. He couldn't even find the breath to cry out; he just let himself get thrown to the floor once again, curled up in pain. No doubt that Phenax's mana output was limited by Perisophia's body, but even then, the god of deception was just tossing Alex around like the mortal he was.
I've got to do something, Alex thought desperately as he watched Perisophia's body approach him. Anything...
*o*o*o*o*
Only seconds after he let Alex escape to the city hall, Kulla had another thought. Not only could Alex try to uncover the council's possible secret, but he, Kulla, could help. At first, the idea seemed crazy. But as Kulla stood there, ignoring the sounds of battle around him, the doubtful part of his mind sprang to the fore and demanded action.
Ever since speaking to Elias at Second Battalion's barracks, that part of Kulla had started to rebel against the council's will. This was as good a chance as any. Was it worth taking? Could Kulla join Alex and reveal the truth about this civil war?
Kulla couldn't take it any longer. "Give me some cover against that archer," he told his men. His heart raced in his chest. "Put all your mana into it. I must reach the city hall intact."
"What? But sir!" a mage yelped over the din of battle. Behind him, the quadruped machine released another deadly mana beam. "You're needed here! What could that fire mage do to the guards, anyway? They'll take care of him for you."
"It's not about that," Kulla snapped. He brandished his wrist-mounted blades. "Don't argue! Get those barriers up!"
Reluctantly, four battle-wise mages clustered around Kulla, raised their arms high, and filled the air with their pearly white mana. The mana coalesced into large, hard plates that nestled together around Kulla like a coccoon. Of course, Kulla knew that such enchantments wouldn't last long against Estello's arrows, and he felt a tremor of fear at the thought. But as a colonel, he knew that he had a duty to try.
"Back away," Kulla growled, and his men did just that, shock clear on their faces. Kulla took a deep breath, fixed his eyes on the city hall, and pushed off the ground.
The street became a blur as Kulla streaked across the brick street, air howling against his mana barriers. His legs ached from the effort and he felt his mana starting to grow thin, but he didn't dare slow down.
A tingle in Kulla's mana warned him of an incoming attack just in time. So, you take your first shot, Kulla thought grimly. He glanced over at Estello on her rooftop, and he saw a mana-infused arrow shooting right for him. He vaulted into the air just in time; the arrow narrowly missed him, and instead shattered two plates of his mana coccoon. Kulla felt the deathly chill of Estello's mana as it passed.
Landing heavily on the street, Kulla resumed his mad dash, carefully watching for another arrow. He saw Estello take another arrow from her quiver and draw it back, leading her target as it moved. Then she took the shot.
Damn it! This time, it seemed, Estello was ready for Kulla's considerable speed. The arrow blasted through the rest of Kulla's barriers and grazed his right shoulder. The colonel gasped as flesh-hungry mana seeped into him, making his whole right arm go numb. Intense, ice-cold pain radiated from the wound and seemed to make his whole body sick.
But he still didn't stop.
Mercenary witch, Kulla cursed in his mind. After his first battle with her, he had resolved to find and kill her for her crimes against the Reverent Army and the city. But now, if Kulla could just reach Alex in time, it wouldn't matter. Estello, along with any other surviving mercenaries, would be ejected from the city once the civil war was over.
Kulla's sandaled feet pounded up the city hall's front steps, each breath aching in his chest. It felt like his heart pumped ice water, not blood, but his remaining mana kept him going for now. Mercifully, the front doors were already wide open, and the guards inside had been scattered and beaten by somebody, possibly Alex. So, Kulla gratefully stepped into the building and out of Estello's line of sight, and he hurried up a staircase and to the council chamber's open front doors.
What he saw shocked him.
*o*o*o*o*
What Alex saw next shocked him. As he lay there, weak and waiting for death, he slowly turned his head and saw Kulla step into the council chamber. The colonel stopped in place, his normally impassive face now alight with awe and horror. Alex had never seen an expression like that on the man's face. What do you know, he really does have emotions! Alex joked feebly in his mind.
Phenax, still controlling Perisophia's body, stopped. "A colonel?" he commented, turning to face the other. "Why must everyone come in here? Is no one still fighting out there in the street?"
"Oh, there is still a war on," Kulla growled. He clutched a hand to his right shoulder, and Alex was alarmed to see a deep, mana-infused wound there. "But I intend to end it, right here and right now. I see you for what you are... Phenax. I should have figured." He glanced down at Alex. "You were right, boy. There was something corrupt about the council. Be proud; you saw the truth when no one else did, not even me."
"That's enough of that," Phenax snapped. "You and the other colonels did your job to keep the war going. But if you're going to oppose me, then I'll destroy you!"
With that, Phenax lashed out his right hand and released a narrow, whirling vortex of blue and black mana. In a flash of white mana, Kulla evaded the attack, darted around the room, and slashed his left blade down at Perisophia's head.
Wham! Perisophia's head snapped down at the impact and her whole body came crashing down, sprawling on its belly. The mana tentacle twitched and flickered again, but still, Jaina didn't get up.
However, before Kulla could strike again, Phenax recovered. He snapped out Perisophia's left leg, infused with black mana, and knocked Kulla off-balance. Then, Phenax got to his host body's hand and knees and landed a terrific mana-infused punch to Kulla's gut.
"Kulla!" Alex yelled, but he could do nothing. The colonel stumbled back and fell onto his rear, his face contorted with pain and fatigue. The mana-rich wound on his shoulder throbbed and grew, clearly feeding on Kulla's weakness. The man's whole body shook.
"You're certainly better than that fire mage," Phenax commented idly, getting to his feet and rubbing his head. "Quite a vicious blow. But you won't touch me again." He emphasized this point by releasing a deadly wave of blue and black mana from his right hand. The mana shimmered in the air and closed on its target -
Kulla was gone again. To everyone's surprise, the colonel appeared before Phenax in another flash of white mana, safe from the mana wave. He kicked Phenax back, then landed a sweeping slasha cross Perisophia's chest. Blue and black mana shielded the woman's body from the worst of it, but even from the floor, Alex could sense the massive pressure of Kulla's attack. The colonel's mana-infused blade punched through the shielding and cut deep into Perisophia's chest.
"You were wrong. I did strike you again," Kulla said sternly. "I've learned not to assume too much about the enemy too soon. So should you."
Phenax staggered back, and this time, his mana tentacle snapped off. The tendril loosened its grip on Jaina, and the Sun Champion slumped to the floor, shaking. She groaned, but made no effort to get up.
Can she help us? Or did Phenax's magic weaken her too much? Alex stared over at Jaina, willing her to get up. She had to! Kulla wouldn't last forever against Phenax.
Phenax resumed the offensive and caught Kulla with a jet of hard black mana to the gut. The colonel was thrown right against the wall, hitting it so hard he left a cracked imprint on the stone. Then he slumped to the floor, unmoving.
As Phenax advanced on Kulla, Alex crawled forward, ignoring the aches and pains in his flesh. He raised a hand to throw a fireball, but it was no good. Phenax extended Perisophia's pointing finger and, with Alex watching helplessly, created a thin lance of black mana that pierced Kulla's skull.
"No..." Alex couldn't believe it. Kulla had always seemed indestructible, an unmovable warrior of the Reverent Army. But now he lay dead, bleeding heavily from a horrible round wound in his head. His mana flickered and died as his body went slack.
"What a troublesome fellow," Phenax commented. He withdrew his mana lance and stalked toward Jaina. "And now for you, Sun Champion. I can't let you stick around, either... aaaaaaargh!"
Phenax stumbled back, shielding his face with his hands. A gale of blinding white mana radiated from Jaina, filling every inch of the council chamber. The captain slowly got to her feet, her expression weary but determined. "I can't let you stick around, either. Ever think of that?"
"Jaina!" Alex cried, relieved. He started to crawl toward her without even thinking about it. At last, the champion was back, and he felt drawn to her.
The Sun Champion looked over at Alex. "Stay where you are. I'm going to need your help."
"What?"
Jaina winked. "Just trust me, okay?"
"O... okay."