The girl, Louise as she had introduced herself, she was a kind girl. A mage that seemed to care for the Vessels that she had picked up, and unlike the others she seemed to actually care for them.
She didn't seem like the bandits that were transporting them as pets or as goods to be sold away, she didn't seem to be like the villagers that would worship them because of their connection to the Void.
And from how much she seemed to care for their well-being, she didn't seem like the Elves who would use the Vessels for their experiments to understand and then make use of the Void.
She was a kind person, a good one. Someone that took the time to name the Vessels, to understand the minute desires that a Vessel would have. She was someone that would've cared for them, and protected them with their life.
The Pope's Familiar kept that thought in their mind as they raised their Nail to the side of their head.
But even if she was a good person, even if she had claimed that one of the Vessels was her 'Familiar' and by extension had called herself a Void Mage. They didn't have proof that she was right, or so was the excuse they'd make.
The ground cracked as they launched forward with a single kick.
With them being in a warzone, they could dispose of her safely and bring back their Siblings to someplace safe.
Her pink eyes widened as they reached her, the tip of the Nail aiming straight for her head.
At the very least, her death will be quick.
A powerful upward force suddenly shifted the momentum and direction of their Nail.
It was the Vessel with four horns, Sib as she had called it. Their own Nail, only Channelled instead of Pure, had intercepted their strike. Despite the difference in the quality and size, the Vessel was still strong enough to divert the force of the blow into the ceiling above with an upwards strike. The ceiling cracked just as easily as the ground, and the girl fell over once they were forced to a stop.
Before they could pull free the Nail from the ceiling, their arms were held in place by two objects piercing their shoulders, before looping around stabbing their elbows as well.
It was the Vessel with two horns, the one that she had named Bug and the one that brought back memories. It resembled one of the Vessels that had almost escaped, just before they left the Abyss with the Pale King.
Ah… if only they saved it back then.
This Vessel had more control over their Void body, their arms forming the Void tendrils that were keeping their arms in place.
They twisted their wrist, hoping to wrench their arms free.
Before they could however, Bug's whole body become enveloped in black, and blasted a spell into them.
The magical spell slammed into their body, and carried them away from the mage. Had they not have gripped their Nail tightly it would've remained stuck into the ceiling as they were carried across the room by the force of the spell. The tendrils ripped out of their shoulders and elbows, but the pain was still bearable.
What was less bearable was them slamming through a wall, the stone falling way to their body and the spell.
Before they could be carried further away, the Vessel slammed both of their feet into the ground. Digging a small trench with their legs in the stone floor, the spell tried its hardest to keep carrying it back. But they held firm, and just as they hit another wall they managed to slow themselves to a stop.
The spell continued to pass through them, painfully, and smashed through the wall that it would've carried them through.
They rolled their shoulders, trying to regain feeling in their body from the sudden blast.
Huh, wherever Bug had escaped from after leaving the Abyss it appeared to have forsaken a Nail for magic. While Sib had hone their strength with a Nail.
It glanced around them, the spell had carried them out into the hallway outside of the room. They looked around, and found nothing but corpses of the soldiers that had tried to stop them. Just as they were about to rush back into the room, they whirled to the side with their Nail raised.
Just in time, as a tunnel of wind suddenly slammed into them with enough force that it would've sent it off-balance had it not been prepared. At the end of the hallway was a blonde mage, the same one that they had blasted with their Focus. He was still alive, though from how he had to use a wall to keep himself standing, it was just barely so.
The focused air tunnel was split apart by the Nail in their hands, preventing it from hitting the Vessel with its full force. Then with a single flick of its wrist, they swung their Nail and sent a powerful gust of wind back towards the mage.
It was no magical spell, but it was still strong enough to cut through the air tunnel and slam into them. Their wand clattered from their grip, as he was pushed back.
Once more the ground crack when they kicked forward, their Nail held out to the side to bisect him. And once more it dug a small trench as it stopped itself just short of the blonde, and then leapt away once they sensed that something was about to hit it.
Their intuition proved right, as just moments after a pitch black ball of fire slammed into where it would've been just moments prior and exploded outwards. It came from the doorway where it had entered from, the fireball had blasted it away just as it did with the ground.
"Hot!" The blonde winced, being closest to the fire.
They agreed, even at the distance they had made they could still feel the heat from it. Was that the same spell Bug had hit them with? No, the last one didn't have heat.
The mage then. A fireball spell that was as black as the abyss itself.
…
No, they still had no proof. It could be simply be a coincidence.
They landed on their feet, just in time to see the mage and the two Vessels rush out of the room.
"Sorry your highness!" The pink haired mage apologised, "But that was the first thing I thought of. Are you okay?!"
Sib and Bug stood in front of the two, ready to fight.
"That was some fire spell Valiere," the blonde mage responded as the pink haired mage tried to keep him standing "But thank you." He nodded towards her.
The path between them was covered in the black flames. More than a few of the corpses had been burnt away, and the stone walls that she had hit was nearly melted.
They tightened their grip on their Nail, and prepared to move.
But Sib moved before they could, rushing past the flames with their Nail held out to the side, and charging towards them. Bug lengthened their arms, extending them and pulling them back.
"Sib wait!" Louise called out, but she was too late.
Sib reached them first, dashing forward while swinging their weapon in a wide horizontal arc aiming for their legs.
The ground shook as they stabbed their Nail into it, and watched as Sib's own Nail bounced against it. They were thrown back by the sudden stop, and before they could right themselves they were sent flying by a kick.
It wasn't enough to hurt them, but enough to lift them off the ground.
As it was flying back towards the mages, two more tendrils from Bug suddenly fired towards them. Their other hand gripped the handle of the Nail, and with a single sweep they batted aside the tendrils with the flat of the Nail. They pierced the wall to the side instead of their intended target.
They vision returned to Sib, just in time as it had recovered while it was still in the air. It took out something from its cloak, and swung it into the wall. They hung onto the side of the wall for a moment, before they kicked off from it.
Their cloaks lengthened behind them as they dashed forward, while the Nail in their hands was raised upwards.
Bug's tendrils wrenched themselves free from the wall, they pulled their extended arms and swung them towards their mask.
Both struck at the same time.
Sib hung in the air, the edge of their Nail sinking into Void flesh. But it was a shallow cut, their body was tougher than their younger Siblings and only the edge could cut into their arm. The appendage blocking the Nail from hitting their head.
The tendrils wriggled, probably from pain, as they had to pin them down into the ground with a forceful stab. They could see Bug struggling to pull them free.
The Nail in their arm shook as Sib tried to pull it free.
Releasing the grip on their Nail, the larger Vessel snatched their Sibling with their free hand. Sib struggled in their grip for a moment, trying to break free.
Pulling their arm back, they threw Sib down the hallway.
And directly towards Bug.
The area went silent as both Vessel slammed into each other, both of them being sent flying back towards the mages. The tendrils snapped back into Bug as they were both flung backwards.
They felt a moment of worry at how they could've seriously harmed their Siblings.
"-g, Sib!" Louise voice reached through the silence and quickly ran forward and held out her arms, catching both of them before they could fly back any further. She looked at the two in her hands, worry on her face "Are you two okay?!"
A good person, truly she was.
They pulled the Nail free from the ground once more, and held it to their left.
She was clutching them in her hands, backing away once she noticed that she had stepped closer to save them.
Despite that, the fear in her eyes was gone. She glaring at them, her teeth bared and her wand pointing forward as much as she could.
"Valliere," The blonde mage rasped out, pointing his own wand forward "You need to leave right now!"
Not happening.
Their right hand glowed, for a moment they thought to use the Runes. But the chances of them passing out from seeing that 'thing' again, dissuaded them. Losing consciousness while two of their Siblings could be saved, wasn't a risk they want to take. So instead they merely called upon the Soul within them, and focused it into their arm.
A single dagger fired towards Louise.
She stumbled back when Sib launched from her grip, and swatted it upwards. They landed in front of her, ready to fight again.
"Don't rush in!" Louise was quick to order, "We need to leave Sib, and we can't waste time fighting them."
"Well spoken words Zero!"
Voices and two pairs of footsteps were approaching them from the end of their hallway.
Two figures, mages from the looks of their cloaks and wands, turned the corner.
"Glad to see you s- WHAT IS THAT?!" One of them, a mage with red hair, pointed her wand at their direction, her voice rising in volume.
The other one was blonde, but she was female instead of male. She was silent while she stared at them, but her body was shaking. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out.
"Louise, did your Familiar double again?!"
Louise looked at them, her eyes were still glaring at them. But despite that, there was still worry in them.
Worry for them? Something that was trying to kill her?
"No," she answered after a moment of pause "They're not friendly!" She pointed her wand forward "It's trying to kill me and take away Bug and Sib."
"Sure we can't just give them so that it spares us?" The red head asked.
The silent glare Louise gave over her shoulder was the answer she got.
Enough of this. The Vessel bent their legs, and raised their Nail to the side of their skull.
Louise started to back away, fear returned to her eyes at the prospect of the attack. Just as they were about to dash forward however.
"Ah QUAS!"
The corpses around them suddenly exploded as the blood within them flew out of them.
The blonde female had her wand pointed forward, and a moment later every drop of blood from every corpse around them converged into multiple streams of water. Then they speared towards the Vessel.
They heard screaming from the others, but paid no head.
The first stream of blood was split with a single swing, cancelling out the spell before it could strike them. The second met the flat of their Nail and the liquid splashed around them, hitting the top of their horns and their legs.
The third stream circled around them the Nail and tried to hit them from the side. It speared their hand instead, the blood pooled into their palm as they tried to stab through the Void flesh. They turned towards the group, and they saw how the blonde's eyes widened even as she was directing the rest of the blood streams. That and the horrified look on Louise's face.
They swung their arm and blood pooling in their palm was splashed at them.
They head even louder screams, a particularly shrill one from Louise, and watched as the streams were disrupted from the splash.
Before the levitated blood could drop, they moved. Dashing through the flames and the blood, aiming towards the distracted Louise.
Sib couldn't react, the blood had stunned them from moving. Bug was still in her grip and they couldn't extend their arms to react without hurting her.
The Nail nearly reached her, it was almost over.
Then suddenly heat.
More screaming was heard. But once more they couldn't focus.
Heat, so much heat. They stopped their charge and stumbled backward, trying to get away from it. But the heat continued to follow them. The heat was unbearable, disorientating, it hurt!
The heat continued to burn them, they lost sight of Louise and their Siblings as the flames covered them entirely.
"Kirche, you nearly burned me!"
"But I didn't!"
"We need to get away now, while it's stunned!"
NO!
They swung their Nail blindly, hoping to hit something.
Once more the direction and momentum was shifted aside with a loud 'Clang'. And before they could try again, they heard them run away.
Clenching their fists, they gathered the Soul within them. A flash of magic and the flames dispersed from their body. Soothing cold replaced the heat, and once the flames were gone so did their vision return.
They looked and saw that the group was gone, having left while they were distracted. They could feel some residual heat, and looked at their arm.
Orange flames mixed with the black that came from Louise, the small embers on their arm still stung despite the small size of it. They put out the small flame with a brush of a hand and turned away from the end of the hall way.
Just in time to see another newcomer.
It was another soldier, just like the ones that had tried to stop them while they were running towards the castle. There was a crazed look in their eyes.
"You!" The soldier growled as he pointed his sword towards them "You killed all my friends!"
The man screamed and ran forward, holding his sword forward.
They didn't have time for this.
A single swipe of their Nail separated the man from the waist. They didn't even wait for the two halves to fall to the ground before they moved. Raising a Nail, they swung through the wall and hoped to make a shortcut to where they might be going to cut them off.
They still needed to save their Siblings.
[Scene]
The castle shook once more, causing Wardes to stumble in his search. A frown appeared behind his mask, the mage shook his head at the impatience of the Lexington. They really wished that they had brought their Griffon, but there was nothing they could do now.
As they pulled opened another drawer and found nothing, the mage let out an annoyed grunt. He turned away and looked at the room he was in.
It was a grandiose room, with expensive furniture strewn about. It was to be expected, considering that it belonged to the king.
Said monarch lied in his bed, dead after he had stabbed him clean through the head with his sword wand. The elderly man didn't put up much of a fight, especially when he couldn't even react to him rushing over to kill him before he could make a move.
With the king dead, as well as the two guards that had been protecting him, all that was left of the royal line was the prince, Wales Tudor.
And with him was the letter that he needed to grab, before he either died and took the secret with him to the grave, or if the idiots on board the war ship decided to knock down the whole castle.
Not that they would, Cromwell was very insistent that they needed to keep the castle standing.
With nothing to find in the room, Wardes left. Just as he stepped out the door, he stumbled as the castle shook once more. For a moment he was about to complain again, but then he noticed that the lack of sound from the cannon bombardments that should've came first.
Wardes left the room and listened, and he could hear the sound of spells being casted from somewhere within the castle. Wind magic was often loud, creating localised hurricanes would mean that anyone within an enclosed space could know that magic was being flung around. So far the only other mage left was Wales.
The Prince was still alive, and from the sound of the magic being casted he was fighting for his life.
The castle shook again, and once again he heard no cannon bombardment from the Lexington. Now there definitely was something wrong with the whole situation.
By now he would've asked whatever soldier he had with him, trying to ask if there was some sort of trick.
But as he continued to move through the castle and spotted more and more corpses of the Reconquista soldiers, he recalled how a good portion of the forces that he had brought to assault the place suddenly lost contact with him. Not only that, the 'main' forces that had been planning to assault the castle was quiet as well. Sure they had ransacked the place as planned, but he expected to see more of them around the castle alive.
Seeing the floor being covered in bisected bodies, and walls that were missing large portions of them. At one point he looked out the window, and saw a massive gaping hole at the outer walls.
It was official, there was some thing else here with them. And it had been killing the Reconquista rebels.
The Sword-Wand in his hand flickered to life as the castle shook once more, the lightning magic humming as it covered every metallic inch of the 'blade'. Wardes continued to move through the castle, until he found himself in a familiar hallway.
It was still in the same condition as before, the broken Lumafly Lanterns and the charred corpses of the Lumaflies themselves were on the ground. And just like before, he could see that at the other end of the hall was a room that glowed bright red.
This time however, there was something else.
A large figure stood in the doorway, seemingly blocking the path. Their back was facing the mage, and in their grasp was a weapon that gave Wardes pause.
"A Soul Wand…"
A powerful artefact that was said could be used to turn even a Dot Mage into a monster on the battlefield. The ore that made them up was so magically charged, even a novice could channel their magic into it without any problems.
A weapon, that was almost synonymous with the Insects that infested Halkeginia.
As Wardes carefully approach the figure, he could see aspects of the Insects within the figure. Two horns that grew from the top of their head, their body seemingly segmented into carapace like sections. The only odd thing was that their body seemed to be completely black.
But the rest of their body proved to Wardes that he was looking at a particularly large Insect.
Just as he was about to charge in, he saw something past the creature. They seemed to be battling a group, maybe it was more Reconquista rebels? He approached it closer, to see who it was fighting against.
And froze on the spot.
A group of mages was the Insect's opponent, among them was Prince Wales Tudor himself, and another one was Louise.
The long pink hair and short stature, it was definitely Louise Valliere.
His fiancée.
What was she doing here, in Albion of all places? Had she been sent here to help with the escape of the Prince.
No, if such a plan was to be made by the Princess, then surely she couldn't have been sent alone.
Yet, here she was. Louise Valliere of no magical talent currently standing within Newcastle, fighting off a giant Insect. There was something wrong with the picture, something missing.
But, he couldn't afford to find it right now.
Because right now, one of his goals in front of him. Prince Wales needed to die, and before he did, Wardes needed to demand the letter. But he couldn't just kill the Prince right now, not with the Insect fighting them.
Spells were being thrown its way. Water spells, Fire spells, and even the occasional Wind spells were blasted directly towards the creature. But none of them made it budge, standing their ground as they swatted aside and withstood the magical attacks.
Wardes ran forward, the Sword Wand in his hand held to the side. At the least he could try and earn their trust by saving them, and when their backs were turned he could finish off the Prince.
As he grew close, he tightened his grip on his weapon and struck at the Insect's back.
Only to meet nothing but air when the creature suddenly twisted their body to the side. Wardes' eyes widened at the miss, he didn't expect the Insect to have heard him over the sound of spells being thrown their way!
Time seemed to slow down for Wardes at the mistake, and he turned his head to look at the creature.
Blank empty eyes stared into his mask, there was no expression on their face as they stared down at him. The hand that was holding the Soul Wand twitched, and came down at him.
Barely he managed to avoid getting struck by the weapon as he rolled forward.
It sliced through the cape of his cloak, and nearly threw him forward from the force of the swing.
He came to a stop and turned to face the Insect.
"What the?!"
"Who is that?!"
The group behind him started to ask, but he kept his focus on the Insect.
He dragged his Sword Wand in front of him, sparking the ground before he pointed it forward.
A chant under his breath, the magical power flowed through him and into his weapon. And with a mental command, Lighting surged forward.
CRA-KOOM
It was a powerful spell that could neutralise even the strongest of beasts. It was fast enough that most mages couldn't even hope to react to the spell unless they struck him down before he could finish the spell.
It was his own pride, it was why his runic name was Lightning.
So he could only watch with shock when the Insect pointed his Soul Wand forward and caught the entire blast with it. It arc around the 'Blade' of the weapon as it absorbed the entirety. And then before it could be conducted to their hand, they swung it to the side and stabbed it into the ground.
He watched as they directed the lightning back out into the ground, charring it black. But it left them uninjured.
Those eyes stared at him the entire time.
Wardes legs kicked him forward, his Sword Wand coming to life again with lightning covering the metal. He swung, hoping to strike it while the weapon was still lodged into the ground.
His grip on his weapon was nearly jarred loose when the Insect pulled it free and blocked his attack. The force nearly made him lose his footing, but he stood firm.
As expected of the weapon, the lightning coating his Sword Wand did nothing against the Soul Wand. Not a single scratch of scorch mark could be found on the point of contact.
But that didn't matter, even if the edge of his weapon was stopped from meeting the flesh. The tip of his Sword Wand was pointing directly at the chest.
He started to chant another spell, a point blank Lighting strike would do it.
Just as the last words of his chant left his lips, the creature swung to the side and forced his arm, and by extension his Sword Wand, away from their chest.
CRA-KOOM
Just as his spell went off, and a misfired Lightning spell hit the wall beside them.
His eyes widened.
How?!
How could it had figured out the timing of his spell? He had only used it once!
Before he could figure out the real reason, he found himself staring into the open palm of the creature. His eyes winced as it glowed a bright white glow.
All the while, those empty eyes stared into his mask without a hint of feeling.
"BUG, NOW!"
The palm in his vision was wrenched to the side, and from it a dagger made of pure light fired out. The magical construct was sharp, seeing how it pierced through the stone walls as if they were paper.
Black tendrils had pierced the length of the creature's arm, and drew it away from his face.
He was saved.
Once that thought entered his head, Wardes was quick leap away from the Insect. Just in time as the other hand holding the Soul Wand came back around and would've decapitated him if he hadn't had jumped away.
The weapon whistled through the air, a testament to its sharp edge.
He landed on his feet, and stood just in front of Louise of all people.
"You okay?" She asked, her voice was terse and sharp. A contrast to the usual meek and quiet girl that failed, or the shrill and loud screams of her when angered. By her sides were two creatures that resembled the Insect they were fighting against, but they were smaller, child-like in comparison.
One had their own Soul Wand, while the other had their arms extended outwards like tendrils.
"You saved me?" He asked.
"We need all the help we can get against this guy!" He turned to see a red head, a Germanian if he had to guess, smiling at him "So don't think it's something personal."
"Indeed," he heard a raspy cough from the prince. His eyes were glaring at him, showing that he knew who he was, and why he was here. "It doesn't matter what purpose you're here for," the way he gripped his wands tightly told him he knew "Right now, we have a bigger threat on our hands."
The remaining mage, a blonde girl, stayed silent. Although the whole time, he could see her mouth moving, silently chanting the spell she wanted to cast.
The creature pulled their arm free from the black tendrils, and they receded back to the creature by Louise's side.
She pointed a wand forward, and chanted a spell.
Instead of an explosion as he would've come to expect from the many times he'd seen, a fireball that was as black as the night sky, and as hot as the sun suddenly emerged from the tip of her wand and flew forward.
The shock of seeing her cast a spell, overshadow when the Insect simply batted aside the fireball and watched as it exploded and set the stone walls and ground on fire. He wondered if the room wasn't currently glowing scarlet red from the torch, it would've been illuminated by the black flames.
The sight of her casting spells, it was an odd sight to be certain. Yet, she did it so proudly and without a hitch in her step.
[Scene]
Louise withheld squealing when she saw Montmorency waved more blood around. The sight of it disgusted her, not only from having to see the blood getting ripped out of the corpses, but that she was desecrating the dead with spells that she wasn't even sure she could've used!
They waved around her, the spell moving in intricate patterns as they tried to strike at the adult Void Vessel from every angle possible.
Each time, one came close they would swipe it out of the air with their Soul Wand, growing faster and faster as each one approached them.
It didn't do anything towards them, other than keep their arms busy so that they couldn't cast that spell again.
Kirche finished her chant, and she saw her fire out a stream of flame that moved through the air like a snake.
It coiled and turned, moving in sync with Montmorency's own blood magic.
The fact that she could control fire to that degree was shocking to Louise, but she paid it no heed as she tried to wrack her brain on a plan to get out.
If she stayed here too long, she could risk getting left behind by the air ship that Wales had said would carry them to safety. But, she couldn't do anything with that Void Vessel standing in her way. It was too fast to move past, and she couldn't risk sending Bug and Sib to harass it considering how easy it had handled them back at the hallway outside of Wale's room.
Two spells. One of them a stream of blood speared towards them from the left, the other was a trail of fire that almost resembled a snake struck from the right.
It raised their Soul Wand, and allowed both to slam into them. Both blood and fire failed to get past the defence of the weapon, the Void Vessel standing strong.
Both of them tried to keep the spell going, hoping to tire it out. But both of them were getting tired, and for a moment lost concentration.
The moment the spells faltered, was when it swung in response.
Hot blood and air nearly struck them, the red liquid managed to miss everyone but the heat made everyone take a step back.
Everyone except Montmorency. Once again she casted another spell, the third time in a row without pause in her stride.
The blood that nearly hit them stopped in the air, brought to a stop with a flick of her wand. Then, without another word she pointed her wand at the Void Vessel's feet.
Louise nearly jumped out of her skin when the blood rushed under her feet, alongside whatever liquid was in the room, and pooled under the Void Vessel.
They looked down, before their head snapped up and tried to run.
Montmorency flicked her wand upward, and encased the Void Vessel in a water bubble of blood. It held the Void Vessel in place, keeping it trapped in the liquid. At least she assumed that it did.
Kirche recovered the moment the bubble formed, and with a chant faster than she's ever heard her chant before, she fired a massive stream of fire directly at the blood bubble.
Immediately the smell of metal and copper invaded her nose, which made her wince and take a step away. Even then, she could still see that the blood was boiling.
The masked stranger, the one that had tried to fight the Void Vessel and nearly got himself killed, chanted his own spell and from the tip of his Sword Wand fired a steady stream of lightning into the blood bubble.
They were planning to cook it alive.
Despite the fact that it had been trying to kill them just a few moments ago, Louise felt her heart twist as the sight. She saw how both Bug and Sib seemed to tense as well.
Some part of her wanted them to stop, but she held it down. They needed to leave the place alive.
Her thoughts were cut short when she saw that the blood bubble was glowing. Even in the scarlet lit room that she was in, she could see the bright white glow emanating from the bubble. It was growing brighter every moment.
"Oh god," she heard Wales breath out, "GET AWAY!" He shouted to the three who were casting the spell "GET AWAY RIGHT NOW!"
But his warning came too late.
A moment later the glow reached the brightest she'd seen it, and then from within the blood bubble an explosion of magic and light spread out. The stream of fire and lightning were put out by the blast, while the boiling hot blood flew everywhere.
She saw a massive glob of it fly her way, but before it could hit her the masked stranger shielded her. The blood splashed into their left arm, soaking the cloth and hitting the skin with boiling liquid. She heard the hiss of the boiling blood over the sound of the stranger hissing in pain.
She heard Wales chant a spell and erect a wall of wind to stop it from hitting him directly. A few drops touched his cheek, but he stood unharmed.
Kirche held out her free hand to stop the blood from reaching her face, causing her to scream when the blood burned the palm of her hand. She stumbled back, clutching it in pain.
Montmorency was the only other person that was unharmed. The blood stopping just in front of her with a spell she had managed to cast.
Even then, the blonde was staring at it with fear in her eyes as the bubbling liquid hovered in front of her. A moment later, it dropped to the floor with a sickening 'Hiiisssss'.
The Void Vessel stood there at the doorway hunched over, steam emanating from their body. While their mask stayed clean and white, their grey cloak had been dyed red from the blood that it had just been soaked in.
It raised their head, showing that despite the boiling blood bath it had just stood in, it wasn't even phased. It straightened their body and swung their weapon, the heated wind that they blew their way made all of them wince, Kirche most of all.
The stranger had to take a step back, holding their arm as their Sword Wand fell to the ground.
"We're gonna die here…" Montmorency muttered, the first thing she's heard her say besides the spells she had been chanting.
The Void Vessel took a step forward, and her eyes saw how the hand gripping their Soul Wand tightened as they did.
Soul Wand.
Her eyes widened, she turned to Sib who had theirs still drawn.
"Sib," she called out to it.
The four horned Void Vessel turned her way.
She reached out with her hand "I need your weapon."
For a moment they looked at her, before they drew back slightly. For once it lost the usual expressionless posture and looked concerned that she was asking for it. The hand holding the Soul Wand pulled away from her.
"Sib," her kept her voice calm, even as her heartbeat was speeding up "Please. I just need it for a moment, I need to do something with it."
The large Void Vessel took another step forward, it seemed that the blood bath had more of a effect than she thought. But it could still recover at any moment, it could still kill them all in a single go if it wanted to.
Despite that, Sib seemed reluctant to hand it to her.
Louise kept calm, and once more reached with her hand "I'll give it back to you right afterwards Sib." She smiled "Just trust me."
Sib paused at her words, and she could see that Bug was looking her way as well.
"Oh god!"
She heard Montmorency scream, and she knew why. It had recovered and was about to attack again, this was the end of the line for her and everyone else in this room.
At least, until Sib relaxed and handed her the weapon.
She smiled "Thank you."
Immediately she pointed the weapon towards the Void Vessel. It was about to dash at her just like the various times it had done before, their Soul Wand glinting off the red flames.
Louise chanted a spell.
And once she did, she feel the willpower and magic inside her twist and turn. It flowed up from deep within her, slithering up from the depths of her soul and making its way up towards her chest, then shoulder, down her arm, until it reached her hands. It made her tingle, as it usually did whenever she used her 'Void' magic.
But this feeling was stronger, it filled every inch of her with the magical sensation and more importantly focused it into the catalyst in her hand.
Sib's Soul Wand glowed white, the spirals glowing white as her magic flowed through it. It circled the grooves that were etched in the wand, until it reached the tip.
All of this happened in a near instant the moment she chanted the spell.
The Void Vessel saw what was she was about to do, and dash forward faster than before. The ground under them actually broke as the air made a sound similar to a pop.
But she already finished chanting the spell, she looked at the skull of the Void Vessel.
Unknown to her, that her eyes were glowing pure white. With a single word, she casted her spell.
"Ventus!"
She was nearly blown off her feet as a black hurricane suddenly blew from the tip of the Soul Wand. Everything around the room was lifted off the ground and then thrown about as the violent wind from the wand carried them all over the room.
Louise had to struggled to keep her hand pointing forward, the force of the hurricane she was casting nearly tore her arm out of its socket. She gripped her shoulder with her free hand as she gritted her teeth, keeping her spell pointed forward.
Towards the Void Vessel.
The moment the spell was casted they had stopped in their tracks, before they were nearly blown straight down the hallway that they were guard. It was only due to their own Soul Wand that they were still in the same room.
The intricately carved catalyst was stabbed into the ground, trying to stop it from being blow away. But every moment that her spell was active, it was pushing them back little by little, carving a small line in the stone floor.
Everyone else around her had dropped the floor the moment the hurricane was casted. They were grabbing onto it for dear life as they tried not to fly away.
Montmorency had grabbed Kirche's hand as used whatever liquid she had found to anchor herself to the ground.
Wales had a smaller wind spell around him to counter the push and pull of her own.
The masked stranger had grabbed their Sword Wand and used it in the same way as the Void Vessel, anchoring themselves to the ground.
Sib and Bug were holding her by the legs, trying not to fly away.
A stray piece of wood flew past her head, as did dozens of other random objects around the room. Everything in the room had been picked up, and were tossed about. Not even the throne was spared as it was lifted off the ground and was somewhere near the ceiling.
The only object that remained rooted to the ground was the Nightmare's Torch.
Despite that, the Void Vessel was still standing their ground. They looked at her, their blank eyes stared back at her with defiance.
Her teeth gritted against each other as she tightened her grip on her wand. The spell was a just a pushing spell, the most basic of wind spells.
But something so basic can be used in different ways. She tried to focus on the direction she was pushing. Then with a scream of effort she swiped the Soul Wand to the side, so that she was pointing at the door at the entrance of the Main Hall.
The wind died down for a split second, the hurricane vanishing just like that. The objects in the air threatened to fall, most of them above her and her group.
But then it returned, pushing to the side instead of infront of her. The suddenly shift was too fast for the Void Vessel to react to, and before her eyes they were picked up by the new direction and flung towards the entrance of the Main Hall.
They slammed into the wall, before everything else in the room slammed into them as well.
Every table, chair, plate, fork, corpse and whatever had been in the room slammed into them. They buried the Void Vessel under their weight, each one slamming into them with enough force to kill any living human being.
Then just as quickly as the second burst of wind appeared, it vanished. And once more the room was quiet.
Louise stumbled as a headache started to form. Sib's Soul Wand clattered from her grip. The Void Vessel was quick to pick it back up, but it stood by her as she was swaying on the spot.
But before she could fall she felt the stranger grab her by the shoulder and waist.
He was oddly touchy, she wanted to tell him to get his hands off of her, if she didn't need it to keep standing.
"Wow." She heard Kirche mutter in awe, her eyes wide in shock at the destruction around her.
"Sheesh Louise," Montmorency spoke afterwards "This is a little much isn't it?"
She looked at the blonde and wanted to say 'No', but all that came out of her mouth was a "Nnghhh."
"You three should leave now," Wales spoke up, the prince standing up and pointing down the hall that the Void Vessel had been guarding "While it's trapped in there."
"Don't have to tell us twice!" Kirche could've have agreed more. She gripped the wrist of her injured hand ran "Let's get out of here!"
"Yhhh."
Louise pulled free from the grip of the stranger as she followed behind the two of them. Sib and Bug were by her side as usual.
She was getting dizzy, her head was spinning from the spell she had casted. But she wasn't going to pass out now. She followed behind her two friends.
As they were moving she heard the sound of the rubble at the entrance shift.
No…
Her head turned to see the Void Vessel had shifted aside enough furniture that one of its hands was free.
Said hand was pointed in their direction, but instead of her it was pointed towards Kirche and Montmorency.
Sib saw it as well, and was already dashing forward to intercept it.
Louise opened her mouth to try and scream out a warning.
But instead of a warning, the only thing that came out from her mouth was pained gurgle and a gasp.
She found herself lifted off the ground, her legs were no longer touching the floor under her. She felt a sharp, but cold pain in her side and stomach.
She looked down and saw a black tendril, not unlike Bugs, poking out from her stomach. Time seem to slow down for her as she looked down at the object, her eyes followed it and saw that it had entered from her side. Her gaze followed the tendril, all the way back to the Void Vessel by the entrance.
In that split moment it had fired a tendril directly towards hers her.
She looked it in the eye.
And once more she heard its voice.
I Am Sorry…
Then without warning, the tendril threw her back into a wall. The last thing she saw before her head slammed into the wall, was the sight of Bug looking her way.
Her head smashed the against stone, and her vision went black.