The Tree of El was immense and as old as the world. Other trees around it looked like measly twigs. Climbing through the grassland that flourished on the ancient tree's roots was as challenging as climbing an uneven, narrow hill. Ainchase looked up and saw frost on the leaves and singed branches. The demons were already there.
"Ciel," the demoness said, "I need my strength."
"Fine," the Steel Cross grumbled. "Can you promise me to use it only when it's a matter of life or death?"
"You have my word."
'The word of a demon is worthless. He should know that better than the rest,' Ainchase mentally noted, wishing he could voice his immediate concerns without derailing the group's mission. The priority was keeping the El Shard away from the Glitters' hands. He would only act against the demoness if she acted to aid her compatriots in any way.
The entrance to the Tree of El was only a few paces away. A massive wooden gate was carved within the trunk, swarming with Glitter archers and their famous red Gargoyles. The demons sensed their approach, but the elven woman was even quicker with her bow. She charged an arrow and imbued it with the strength of dozens of wind spirits. The resulting wind current deviated the first volley of enemy arrows and made it impossible for the Gargoyles to fly towards them.
"Rail Stinger!" The Ranger shouted as she let her projectile fly. It was no longer a mere arrow. It was akin to a flying drill ready to shred everything in its path. It forced the Glitters and Gargoyles to flee, though most were too close to the path of destruction to do much before being turned into mincemeat by the Ranger's attack.
The Captain unsheathed his sword, revealing an obsidian blade carved with runes. A burst of mana rushed into his body, enhancing his speed. He leapt next to the elf, entering the tree's base before all else. Ainchase had never seen such a strange enchantment on a weapon before, but it did not seem to be made of heretical magic. He could not say the same of the Steel Cross's mana, but that was to be expected. After all, that man was slowly but surely getting turned into a demon.
The rest of the squad of warriors burst into the imposing, hollowed-out entrance of the Tree of El. Ainchase felt lighter, far more alert, and stronger than before. The El Shard had to still be within the Tree of El.
The Celestial looked around the base. Though the demons had put their disgusting flags over the El Search Party's banners on the wooden walls, the stone-paved halls and central plaza that led to the stairs were mainly free from the demons' corruption.
A shiver ran down Ainchase's back, and he turned his gaze above, where a set of wooden stairs that led to the floors above was overcome by a wave of Glitter spearmen and swordsmen rushing down to where they were. The few unlucky survivors from the Ranger's attack had been quickly dispatched by the Steel Cross's bullets. Banthus took the lead and was soon followed by the rest of his men while the elven Ranger and the Steel Cross fired arrows and bullets to guard the knights. The red-haired boy hesitated to step in, and an enemy arrow nearly hit him.
Though the foliage hid most of them, the Celestial could feel the foul mana of four archers peeking from the mezzanine that hung from the third floor. He charged a blade with divine energy in his hands and aimed right towards it.
"Primus…Tenebra," he muttered as the projectile elongated into the shape of a slim, diamond-pointed spear. Ainchase did not need to even throw the weapon for it to charge straight to where the hidden enemies were. It pierced the skull of one of the Glitter archers and continued forward. Before it lodged itself against the wall of the large weapon storage room the archers now occupied, Ainchase teleported to his weapon's location. The enemy scrambled to aim at him, but they were too slow.
He leapt towards the closest demon, grabbing its ugly, slimy head with his right hand, using his weight and momentum to slam the creature to the ground before slitting its throat. He glanced to his right and caught two other archers aiming at him. Ainchase opened the palm of his hand, conjuring a summoning circle in the blink of an eye.
"Disruptio," he called. The summoning circle unleashed a flash of light. Though the demons had managed to fire two arrows towards him, they were trapped within a prison of Celestial energy that was slowly crushing them to death.
Ainchase figured he would unleash his divine form again just before the arrows hit him. Just as he began to transform, A flash of blue flames and a long mane of white hair briefly hid away the demons. The arrows that the enemy had fired burned to a crisp.
The Celestial blinked, reversing the process he had started and turned his attention to his left. An adult, white-haired demoness was holding the last remaining archer from the throat, squeezing his last breaths out with her gauntlets. Her navy blue dress had a smoke-like feel, just like her horns seemed to be covered by dark smoke. Two parallel scars marked her back where her wings should have been.
"You owe me one, priest," she said, turning her ice-blue gaze towards him before she crushed the Glitter's throat. It snapped like a twig under the extreme force of her gauntlets.
Ainchase returned his attention to his spell, clenching his open hand into a tight fist. The summoning circle changed, expanding before contracting. The prison did much the same, crushing and twisting the enemy's bones as it contracted. When the spell vanished, the only thing left of the archers was a pile of gore.
Ainchase got back on his feet, dusting off his robes as he supposed humans would. He could conjure a brand new set of clothes, but he suspected that would blow his cover. The Celestial assumed the demoness had not seen his real form, though he figured it would be advantageous for him even if she had.
"Where are the others?" he asked her.
"We spread out into groups. It's the best we can do to reach the El Shard before they steal it."
The door to the room came crashing down with a loud thud, revealing yet another wave of Glitter soldiers that rushed towards them. Ainchase covered his hands with divine power, forming spheres of energy he could create and throw in seconds. He launched a volley of attacks at the enemy, killing at least seven. The demoness had also entered combat, launching orbs of blue fire to deal with the first wave of enemies.
Though they were completely different beings, Ainchase and the demoness' hand movements were almost identical, from how they charged their spell to how they threw it at the enemy. The Celestial was briefly intrigued by it, but he soon focused entirely on the battle as more and more waves of enemies burst through.
Though the combined strength of their unlikely duo was ferocious, Ainchase noticed the enemy was gaining ground solely due to their numbers.
"Shit!" The demoness hissed as she looked at her empty hands. She could no longer use any mana.
"Cover me!" She ordered him as she rushed to fight the enemy with her gauntlets as her sole means of offence and defence.
The command took him aback. He could hardly believe a demoness could be so entitled as to ask her people's sworn enemy to defend her in any way. Yet, that alone intrigued him. Ainchase wondered if the demoness had grown conceited enough to believe everyone would protect her or if she was one of the cockroaches in the North who thought they could live peacefully in Elrios.
The idea that she would be fooled by his human appearance suddenly crossed his mind.
'Could that really be it? Could she be so clueless?' the Celestial wondered with a smirk as he continued his attacks. He modified his spell so the orbs would expand and explode, maiming far more enemies unfortunate enough to come into contact with it.
He threw another barrage of energy at the incoming soldiers. Twenty Glitters fell dead with a sizable hole in their chest or half their skulls blown to atoms. They were replaced by twenty more screeching demons ready to skewer them both. The demoness was also killing demons by the dozens, but for every soldier she beheaded, two others rushed towards her.
They were hardly making a dent in the enemy's number now. At this rate, they were going to be run over. The enemy had clearly sensed his true nature and was prioritising him. If it meant the other knights would get to the El Shard sooner, Ainchase would gladly give every Glitter an excellent reason to come running towards him.
'There's no other choice. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.'
The Celestial grabbed his pendulum and shattered the crystal within. A wave of El Energy spread throughout the room, blinding every enemy who found themselves looking directly at him. He could levitate in his Celestial form, and his crystal wings hovering over his back allowed him to fly. However, he did not need any of it. The light still dazed the enemy, and Ainchase would fully take advantage of it.
He drew a circle with his hand, conjuring a hexagon of pure divine energy. He held his right fist in the middle as if grabbing a bow and pulled his other arm backwards, forming a slender arrow. The hexagon grew until it was almost as tall as he was, and thousands of other arrows began to form around the edges of the hexagon he had summoned.
The moment he let the arrow he had charged fly, the countless others that had formed also shot towards the enemy. He pivoted left and right, and hundreds of new projectiles created and fired themselves in the blink of an eye. The seemingly endless waves of enemies were mowed down in less than a minute. Ainchase initially felt proud at the result of his actions, though a cursory glance at his surroundings made him painfully aware of his failure.
"You're still here?" He asked the blue-eyed demoness behind him. She had taken back her child-like form.
"Of course I am," she answered. "I will admit your spell was more effective than anything I could do with my current level of power. I'm unsure why, but I expected that much from you."
Ainchase tilted his head. "You're unsure why you expected me to do…what?"
"I expected you to resort to an indiscriminate attack," she explained. "I would've suggested it myself if you had not been so quick on your feet. Honestly, you read my mind faster than Ciel does."
She offered him her hand and a grin that could almost be mistaken for a smirk. "Let's continue to fight together, your Holiness."
Ainchase looked at her hand, then at his paper-white hand. She had to be seeing him in his true form.
"You must instinctively know what I am. Why are you willing to trust me?"
He formed a dagger, ready to exploit the demoness' foolishness. His grip on his weapon faltered. He clenched it tighter, but his hand shook despite that. He wondered if there were still remnants of the corruption of Time and Space within him. It was the only explanation as to why he could not bring himself to kill her.
The demoness looked down at his hand, then back at him.
"I know what you are, but you don't seem to be a murderous zealot like your brothers," she told him. "You have missed too many attacks for it to be due to incompetence."
She pointed right at his weapon. "And even now, you're hesitating."
The Celestial did not have to look down to see what the demoness meant. She was utterly delusional, of course, but it was only a matter of time before he regained his strength. He would kill her then.
He sighed and conjured a gigantic sword from his own reserves of divine energy. He swung it twice, and the pile of bodies that were trapping them were pushed to the sides, leaving them a barely functional corridor out to the upper floors.
"Believe whatever nonsense you wish, demoness," he scoffed as he walked away from her. "I will not hesitate to kill you the moment you touch the El Shard."
"Oh, don't fret," she replied as she caught up to him. "That double-edged sword is of no use to me."
'This demoness…' he bitterly thought, throwing her a distrustful glance. 'She knows no Celestial would ever trust her at her word. What is she hoping to achieve?'
Ainchase returned to his human form in case the others were around. Humans could not see him in his true form, and – considering their current ignorance – the Celestial did not wish to scare them into thinking he was an invisible enemy.
The chamber of the El was right at the top of the ancient tree, two floors above where Ainchase had fought against what he assumed to be the bulk of the Glitter forces. It was a vast, oval-shaped room with only the tree branches and the sky as its ceiling. Most of the branches, however, were unceremoniously spread on the floor. Ainchase could spot the elven Ranger to his right. Her limbs were entirely encased in ice, and she looked worriedly to the front.
There, a gigantic Garen commander stood right next to the Altar of the El. The gem was untouched, which was odd. The blue, hound-like demon stood as tall as a two-storey house, and his muscular, clawed limbs could have easily reached the El Shard. Instead, the beast growled at something in front of him.
He ran forward, forming two daggers in his hands. Ainchase was aiming to cut the demons' slim, forked tail. Perhaps he would get lucky and get enough momentum to cut the tendons of the Garen's legs.
"Ciel!" The demoness yelled as she leapt right after him.
Just as he had expected, the Garen commander turned his attention towards them. His long, canine snout revealed a set of razor-sharp fangs, each was almost as long as a short sword. His blue eyes had no visible iris, only a white pupil.
The demon spun around, swinging an ice-covered fist towards them. It was big enough to send them flying. With an annoyed groan, Ainchase threw his daggers towards the enemy's claws. The blades dug themselves into the flesh, lifting part of the nail. An audible crack preceded a torrent of blood coming from under the nail. The blue demon roared in pain, quickly deviating his attack.
The white-haired demoness glanced at him and gave him a nod in gratitude before she stepped forward. The Celestial's frown deepened at the thought that she was thankful to him. He had not attacked the Garen to protect her. He was doing it to protect himself and the El.
The gigantic beast had stepped aside to lick its painful wound, allowing Ainchase to see the unconscious Steel Cross and the red-haired boy. While the boy was shaking like a leaf, he had no injuries. It could only mean one thing: the boy had become deadweight during the most crucial fight of his life.
The demoness rushed to her servant's side and hissed something at the injured demon commander. Though Ainchase did not understand her, a word caught his attention.
'Berthe,' he noted. 'That does sound like a demon's name.'
The beast replied in his native tongue, but he stopped when he set his eyes on Ainchase. The Garen commander let out a low, menacing growl that made the ground tremble.
"You are a disgrace, Steel Queen," the blue, horned hound seethed as he began to pace around on all fours. The fur collar around his neck grew as the demon's hair stood on its end. "I'll kill you and the Celestial right now!"
The demoness laughed as she charged her gauntlets with her cold, blue flames. "Those are bold words coming from Aegirp's little lap dog. You can't even handle having your nails trimmed, Berthe."
Berthe howled as he charged at them, enraged like the beast he was. Ainchase unleashed his Celestial form, but instead of feeling the power of the El flowing unrestricted into him, his power was absorbed by something else. It was shocking to see his power slip away from his hands to the point he had no choice but to return to his human shell to preserve his strength. Ainchase looked to his left, where the red-haired boy was. He was absorbing pure El Energy from him and the El Shard itself.
The boy turned his attention towards Berthe, and a wave of El Energy coursed through the Tree of El. In the blink of an eye, the red-haired boy had his blade only inches away from the Garen's neck. The beast's eyes widened as it used his every muscle to avoid imminent danger. Berthe ducked the hit and rolled away, only losing a tuft of his fur instead of his head. The boy's attack landed on the stone-paved floor, sending debris around him as the ground quaked under the sheer force of the hit.
A fireball came crashing down, creating a small curtain of fire from the cut branches between Berthe and the rest. The blue demon growled, and neon blue marks appeared under his eyes. He used his claws to call forth a portal, which he used to flee.
The magician was back, and she made her presence known with a haughty laugh as she stepped as close as possible to the fire she had caused.
"And don't you dare to come back, you filthy beast!" She hollered at the portal that was slowly closing. "I'll burn you to a crisp!"
Ainchase had to control his urge to roll his eyes at the purple-haired girl. He had thought there had to be a limit to a human's hubris, but the Sanderian mage was dead set on proving him wrong.
The Steel Cross woke up. His face was bloodied, and he let out a soft groan. The demoness put her hands over his shoulders and asked if he could stand. The half-demon softly shook his head and sat down with some difficulty.
"Give me a moment, Lu. I'm still dizzy," the Steel Cross mumbled.
The Celestial approached the red-haired boy, who had not moved since his sword cleaved the ground instead of decapitating a demon commander. The El Energy he had absorbed was still flowing wildly within his body, but it was not going out.
"Are you alright?" he asked the boy as he walked in front of him. The young trainee looked dazed, and he was shivering. Blood began to run down his nose and his ears; the El Energy he had absorbed was threatening to consume him inside out.
Ainchase had to get the excess energy out of him, though the spells to do so would betray his true nature to more people. Saving the boy from certain death was more important for his mission than having an elf and possibly a half-demon ask questions about him.
"Dirumpamus vincula eorum," he whispered, summoning a complex magical circle at the boy's feet.
The ground lit up with ancient glyphs as they absorbed the El Energy within the boy. Thankfully, the process was going far smoother than what he had anticipated. The red-haired boy returned to normal in a few minutes, although he collapsed soon after asking where he was.
Ainchase caught the boy before he fell to the ground. His even, regular breathing was reassuring, though it was hard to tell when he would wake up. The Celestial saw the elven woman looking at him from the corner of his eye.
"Will he be okay?" The peridot-eyed elf asked as she slung her bow over her back.
"His life isn't at risk anymore, Miss Elf. He just needs rest," he reassured her with a grin. "By the way, where are the other knights?"
Almost on cue, Captain Banthus, Lieutenant Lowe, and the three other Sub-Lieutenants emerged into the room. They were battered and bloodied, but – as expected of hardened soldiers – they were all still standing despite their injuries.
"What happened here?" Banthus asked as he looked around the messed-up chamber. Besides the burning tree branches, the place looked ransacked. Bullet holes caved every wall, ice shards were still clinging onto some furniture, and the floor was cleaved by claw marks and sword slashes of all sizes. The only thing left intact was the El Shard.
The Sanderian mage proudly walked forward, clearing her throat to catch the Captain's attention.
"Well, I, Aisha Landar, defeated the beast demon single-handedly," she announced as she puffed her chest. "Captain, I'm sure you know of my clan and how pricey our help is. But rest assured, I am extremely generous; I only ask that you grant one request. I want you to let me take a piece of the El—"
"You did not save anyone, Miss Magician," Ainchase interjected. He had had enough of the girl's antics. He looked at the red-haired recruit resting in his arms before turning his attention back to the girl. "This boy was the one who saved us. Had you not intervened, perhaps that demon commander would've died instead of getting a chance to flee."
"I second the priest's opinion," the blue-eyed demoness chimed in. "The boy gave us a golden chance to counter-attack. We could've killed that demon had she not set those branches ablaze."
The Celestial looked disapprovingly at the demoness, which, paradoxically, only drew an amused smirk from her. She was playing with him. Ainchase should have expected her kind to disrespect his authority, but he had not expected her to be so brazen. The blue-eyed demoness was frustratingly puzzling; he was growing more curious than annoyed at her bizarre moves to provoke him. It was perhaps strange for him to be intrigued by any demon, but he had to admit that she was unique among her kind.
She fought very similarly to him, and perhaps that explained her lack of wariness towards him. If she could copy his movements, he would have to understand why she could do that and counter that suspicious ability of hers to kill her.
"Captain, this girl released me from the ice spell the demon commander trapped me in," the elven woman explained before the silence grew tense. "She might not have saved all of us, but this girl saved me."
"What happened to the men escorting you back to our base?" The blue-eyed Captain asked. His authoritative tone deflated the mage's ego like a needle popping a balloon.
Aisha gulped, showing a dangerous glimpse of her nervousness to a veteran. Ainchase could tell that whatever she would say next was going to be a lie.
"We got separated," Aisha explained as she scratched the back of her head. "Some demons were there, and, uhh, I lost them in the chaos. They last told me to come look for help, so here I am."
"That's odd," the blue-eyed Captain noted, his eyes narrowing at the purple-haired girl. "Neither of them would've been overwhelmed that easily. And you're a Landar. If you're powerful enough to defeat a demon commander without breaking a sweat, you three could've handled an entire demon army. How many demons were there for all of you to be overwhelmed by them?"
The girl fidgeted in place, swallowing hard at the Captain's question. Her lies had caught up with her. Oddly enough, she preferred to remain silent than admit whatever she was hiding.
"Lass, you claim to be the heroine. You want us to give you a piece of the El, but you can't answer this simple question?"
"I, uhm, I just don't know how to—"
Banthus glanced at his Lieutenant. "Lowe, she's all yours."
The grey-eyed knight nodded. "As you wish. Soldiers, restrain her."
The mage raised her staff, but before she could charge another spell, the knights had forced her staff out of her hand and restrained her. Lowe stepped in and forced her arms behind her back to cuff her.
"Hey!" The mage protested as she tried to break free. However, no mana flowed from her hands. The cuffs were undoubtedly enchanted to nullify magic. "What are you doing? Release me!"
"Lass," Banthus called to her, "It's nothing personal, but I don't believe a word you said."
"I'm not lying!" The mage protested. "How dare you suspect me when I'm the one who saved everyone here?!"
The Captain sighed. "You may be a strong mage, lass, but you're certainly not strong enough to defeat a demon commander. I'm not sure I fully believe the priest's story either, but I have to ensure you stay put while we investigate."
"You could just ask me to, and I would stay!"
"I asked you to remain with my men and return to base," Banthus countered. "You disobeyed. I won't put you in a cell unless I have to, but you've left me no choice, lass. The cuffs will stay."
Ainchase carried the red-haired boy on his back to the base. When they returned, the air was thick with tension. No soldier spoke as they crossed the gate, but they all glared at the mage. A couple of them even spat on the ground when they saw her pass. The Celestial expected her to raise her voice and demand respect from the knights, but she was oddly quiet and held her head down.
The black-haired knight, Liam, greeted the group once they reached the main training grounds. He was closely followed by more than two-thirds of the rest of the knights. The sapphire-eyed knight had to use wooden crutches to approach them, but despite that, he did not look weak. His gambeson had been burned by something, and he had fresh wounds on his arms and legs, one directly on his knee. His injuries were all bandaged, but blood was starting to taint the clean, white bandages that covered them.
"Welcome back, sir," Liam greeted with a slight, respectful nod. "I hope the mission went well on your end."
"It did, Liam," the brunette confirmed as he glanced at the mage every soldier but Liam was staring at. "Can I get a quick report on what happened on your end?"
"Certainly. Sir, The Landar girl electrocuted us while we were still en route. When I woke up, two injured Glitter soldiers were attacking Orpheus. They had taken both of our weapons, and he was protecting me from their attacks. We didn't sustain any injuries from the electrocution itself, but the shock depleted our mana. It was a hard battle to win, but we eliminated the threat."
Banthus glanced at Aisha. Lowe and the other knights that had accompanied them to the Tree of El glared at her.
"N-No, no, no. This is a misunderstanding. I, uh, I didn't mean for that to happen. Please, you have to believe me!" the girl pleaded. "I just did—I made sure my spell would only knock them out. I didn't want to hurt them, I—"
"I brought Orpheus back, but he remains unconscious and critically injured," Liam informed them. "You can ask the medics for his prognosis, Sir. I will write a complete report about the incident from my perspective as soon as I can."
"Lowe, take the girl to a cell," Banthus grumbled. "Regardless of her intent, she attacked my men without provocation."
"Roger that."
I don't want you to assume I necessarily hate Aisha as a character. I honestly just want to take the chance for her to grow as a person by correcting her pride on her abilities right away. I hope it doesn't come off as OOC. That is not my intent. With that said, I'm surprised on how well this fic has performed. Kalafinn, on her end, is also quite happy about how the stats over on Archive of Our Own are growing. Chapter 5 is already well underway and you will have an early update. Sorry for the lack of a consistent schedule. I try to make weekly updates, but I can't always manage.
