Disclaimer: Neither High School DXD nor Elder Scrolls belongs to me, all rights to their respective owners.
Chapter 46
— Many warriors want their actions to go down in history. And for this they are willing to do anything, even sell their own souls. —
Eitar to Roland 4E
A deathly silence was present after Edzard's statements. And it is that all those who witnessed the force of the blow were amazed to see how the subject that was destroying them a few seconds ago seemed to have been killed with a single blow.
'Has he completely destroyed him?' thought Cao Cao looking at Edzard's back. It didn't take him long to discern the identity of the one he stopped from his enemy. 'So, this is the power of the so-called third heavenly dragon... The power of a hero from another world.'
'Amazing... Ed just killed that bastard in one hit.' Issei thought as he got up and deactivated his balance breaker.
The rest of those who saw the blow were with the same thoughts. However, before anyone could move, Edzard spoke.
"Issei, take Rossweisse and regroup with -."
What Edzard was about to say was interrupted when he had to move his sword to parry a blow that was aimed at his solar plexus. The sound of metal colliding echoed as the weapon parried the blow. The force of the impact caused Edzard to skid several meters while generating a shock wave that sent those watching the fight flying a few meters.
The person responsible for launching that attack was the same guy that Edzard had hit moments before.
"That was a good blow. But I shouldn't expect anything less from the «Dragon of the North», right?" the stranger said as he took an attack stance.
Edzard saw with slight surprise how the subject he had attacked a few moments ago was standing in front of him.
'Incredible. The force of the blow I delivered is great enough to dent Nirm's reinforced steel armor.' Edzard thought as he looked at his enemy. Now that he could appreciate him up close, he realized that his way of dressing was very peculiar, and his fighting stance was also very peculiar. 'Those clothes... that fighting stance... I see, he's a monk.'
"Your dress and the way you fight tell me that you are a monk, right?" Edzard said starting to slightly flex his legs. "From your posture, it is obvious that you are a master of the Vrin-Thak."
The stranger had a smile on his face as he looked at Edzard and began to release his bloodlust at the stance Edzard had taken. "That's right, I'm a master of the Vrin-Thak. And from your posture I see that you are about to use the Rawlith Khaj. I heard that you were an advanced user of the Vrin-Thak and the Ziz Kurah, and so I am eager to… kill you!"
With those words, the monk launched himself at Edzard. When he was inches away from him, the monk began to unleash a seven-hit combo at high speed with the clear intention of taking Edzard by surprise. However, his attacks were all repelled by the Dovahkiin's sword.
After deflecting his enemy's attacks, Edzard quickly let go of his sword and picking it up again with a different grip, he began to use the wind style of the Rawlith Khaj. Edzard's sword generated a buzz like the sound of desert wind as he began to move at extreme speeds.
The sound of metal colliding began to be heard as the remaining members of the hero faction watched the exchange of blows between the two enemies. The sheer display of skill, speed and reflexes had them gawking at the fight.
'This is unreal. Their attacks are so fast that I can't tell if they're attacking each other or if they're using a feint.' Thought Cao Cao looking at what little, he saw of the combat.
"T-t-they're monsters. Human-like monsters." Faust said fearfully as he watched the match.
While the two males from the hero faction watched the match in amazement and fear, Jeanne watched the match with a blush on her face, which had a fascinated look, as it was almost as if the match seemed like a hypnotic deadly dance between two men. dancers.
'I-it's beautiful.' Jeanne thought looking at Edzard deflecting the attacks and countering the blows with his own weapon.
While the hero faction was still watching the battle, the ORC members were also watching the battle and had their own thoughts.
Issei looked at the battle looking for an opportunity to help Edzard in combat. Unfortunately for him, however, he couldn't find any.
'That guy's power level is far above that of a high-class devil, it's obviously on the same level as an ultimate-class devil. My skin has bristled, and my survival instincts tell me that I will die if I interfere.' Issei thought, clenching his fists in frustration, because he saw that, despite getting stronger, he was still not able to fight against a Nirm being.
'That was a blow, no… it was a feint…. He has now used three feints consecutively.' Thought a newly awakened Kiba as he watched the display of skill that Edzard displayed when facing this rival. 'We knew that he is powerful, but even if he didn't have the power that he has, his combat ability would make up for that deficiency easily.'
'This is weird, Ed-kun should have already managed to defeat that guy, especially in close combat, but it's weird how that guy manages to stop Ed-kun's attacks. Maybe he has the «quick reflexes» skill since I can't find another solution for him to keep fighting Ed-kun for so long.' Rossweisse thought worriedly as she finished healing her wounds with magic.
Rossweisse and the still-conscious members of the ORC had to cover their eyes when Edzard and the monk landed a blow with much of their force on it, as it caused a shock wave that generated air currents so strong that they threatened to send them flying.
"Aghhh. Damn." Issei said as he held Irina's body to prevent it from flying away.
As Issei carried his childhood friend, Kiba for his part, he carried Xenovia's body, protecting her from being blown up into the air.
Edzard deflected the monk's attacks with his sword. But with every blow he deflected he was realizing something.
'The strength of each of their attacks continues to increase with each passing second. Nope…. That's wrong, what happens is that he begins to use more and more of his strength as time goes by. However, the strength he is using right now is far above that of an ordinary champion. In fact, his strength level is at the same level as my father when he was empowered by my mother's spell.' Edzard thought as he used his sword to parry the monk's attack.
"Heh, heh, heh. You really are someone interesting." The monk laughed maniacally as he attacked Edzard with his fists. However, after those words, he turned a hundred and eighty degrees and raising his leg, gave Edzard a powerful side kick.
Edzard saw the attack coming and protected himself by putting up his sword. However, the moment the monk's greaves collided with Edzard's sword, Edzard rocketed through the air.
'What the fuck?!' thought Edzard in amazement, because the force of the blow was beyond what was expected.
As he flew through the air, Edzard gritted his teeth and began to maneuver to stabilize himself. Upon making it, he landed on his feet and skidded several meters. When he stopped, he looked up and seeing his enemy, he began to study him more analytically.
'The attacks are obviously those of a monk, but even if he empowered his blows with magic, the sheer brute force of this last blow was not normal.' Edzard thought as he looked at his enemy. After a few seconds, he decided to use the «Vision of the Tenth Eye» spell. When his gaze returned to rest on his enemy, Edzard finally understood why he was so strong.
'I knew he was a fucking daedric champion with an artifact, but I never expected that artifact to be his boots.' Edzard thought as he watched the daedric energy emitted by the boots. He wasn't an idiot; he knew that the monk served Dagon both because of the clothing and because of what Lint had told him. 'Remember, Edzard... What daedric artifact of Dagon was a pair of boots...? Of course! Those boots are the «Groundsplitters»!'
After discovering the identity of the Daedric artifact, Edzard stood up and pointed his sword at the champion while changing his grip on his sword. He knew that he had to tread carefully, even though he had a tough body, Groundsplitters had the potential to easily destroy cities if they amassed the necessary power. So, well, he didn't want to take a hit from that level of power.
The champion looked at the change in Edzard's posture and smiled maniacally.
"Ohh… So, you are going to use the «desert rain» style of the Rawlith Khaj. Perfect!" the champion yelled as he took a different stance than the one, he had used so far.
Edzard narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his sword at the champion's new stance, for the stance was one that focused more on the use of quick kicks than the use of fists.
'I see. You plan to use your Daedric artifact more often.' Edzard thought as he took a deep breath to calm his pulse and stay focused on the battle. If before he had struggled to hit directly, now he would be even more troublesome, as he would have to stop a Daedric artifact while minimizing collateral damage.
Both enemies looked at each other for a second and launched themselves at each other to continue their battle.
Boommm!
While Edzard was fighting the champion in fake Kyoto, the castle where Kunou and Yasaka lived was under attack by several of Dagon's worshipers.
"Hold the wall! Don't let anyone pass!" Azazel yelled as he launched hundreds of spears of light at some members of the Mythic Dawn. However, the spears did not do much damage, as they were blocked by several wards.
The youkai who received the order from Azazel reluctantly obeyed the orders of the Fallen One. So, they quickly ran towards the wall where the explosion was heard recently. When they arrived at the location, they found about ten worshipers of Dagon who were wearing their bounded armor. Drawing their weapons and preparing their spells, the youkai prepared to fight. However, the worshipers moved at a speed they didn't expect and were about to kill several of them, but something happened at that moment.
Dagon's worshipers were about to kill several youkai but were unable to do so as nine golden swords fell on them. Although the worshipers managed to dodge the attack, the explosion that resulted from the spell's impact with the ground ended up killing three of them and those who survived were taken by surprise by two members of Edzard's party, who had moved to attack the worshipers from behind.
"Azazel-sama. How is the resistance on this side of the castle going?" Mittelt asked approaching Azazel.
"We are doing well thanks to you." Azazel replied looking at his subordinate. However, when the Fallen leader tried to say something else, he was interrupted by several roars.
"Wow! What are those things?!" Aika yelled as she watched as beings like bipedal crocodiles began to emerge from the portals.
"Shit…" Valerie said, surprising everyone. She blushed when she saw that everyone was looking at her in surprise. "What?"
"Valerie just swore…" Aika replied in shock.
"Never that you could say rude things." Mittelt replied in shock.
Valerie blushed quite a bit and looked away.
The reaction of the Dhampir and the other two girls made Azazel sigh.
"Girls, I'm sorry to bother you, but... do you know what those things are?" Azazel asked pointing to the bipedal crocodiles.
The girls stopped being shocked and pouting respectively, they looked to where those beings were.
"The truth is, I don't know. Valerie? Mittelt?" Aika asked looking at the two of her friends.
"No idea." Mittelt replied.
"I am in the same situation." Valerie replied with a shake of her head.
"Well, then we just have to call our leader." Aika said summoning a magic circle in her ear. When it started to glow, she asked. "Asia-chan. Look, we are seeing a large bipedal crocodile-like being appear. You know that they are?"
The circle glowed again and Aika started nodding every two seconds. When she finished listening to what Asia told her, the magic circle in her ear disappeared. Looking at the rest of those present, Aika saw that they were looking at her expectantly.
"Asia says they are called Daedroths. And they are mid-level daedras and some may even be high level. In addition, she mentioned that we must be careful with them, as they can spit poison, fire, or launch lightning from their claws. Also, that they are very strong physically."
"So, what's the plan?" Mittelt asked.
"Attack them with magic from afar and stay out of their attack range." Aika answered looking at her groupmates.
The three girls nodded and began to fly towards the Daedroths in order to defeat them.
Azazel watched the girls leave and heaved a sigh with a smile on his face. It was at times like these that he was thankful that Edzard and his group were not his enemies. Turning away from seeing the girls leave, Azazel turned back to watch the Mythic Dawn members continue their attacks on the palace. Letting out another sigh, he created a spear of light and charged forward to kill more enemies.
Asia swung her sword diagonally to prevent her enemy from defending. The meteoric iron blade pierced through the bounded armor like paper and cut the user of said spell in two.
"Ufff. Lint, Ingvild. How many enemies are we already taking down?" Asia asked looking at the aforementioned.
"I don't know, I already lost... The account!" Lint yelled as she impaled a Clannfear's head on a spear of light.
The small bipedal reptilian daedra, whose hard scales were normally very resistant, could do nothing against a weapon of light charged with much holy power. In addition, the spear pierced the daedra's head through the front part of the bony crest that it had on its head.
Lint sighed as she withdrew her spear of light from the daedra's corpse. The battle had been relatively simple, because despite their physical strength, these daedras were more animals than rational or thinking beings and their way of attacking was with their spiked tail, their claws that could tear a mortal apart in seconds or with their sharp teeth. To defeat this daedra and the four others she encountered, Lint had to do a lot of maneuvering and dodging while he waited for the perfect moment to attack.
"Asia, Lint. It seems that Aika, Valerie and Mittelt have gone to fight near where the portals appeared." Ingvild said as she flew close to her friends.
Asia looked at the two gates that had recently opened in the vicinity of the Kyoto palace.
'We're lucky that we evacuated the castle before the attack.' Asia thought with a quiet sigh as she looked at the barrier that kept the daedras in the nearby area of the castle. The barrier had been created by Azazel and several of the high-ranking youkai as soon as the attack began. This had been part of the strategy to keep the attack in one area.
"So, Asia. What do we do now?" Ingvild asked looking at her friend.
"I do not know yet. First let me check the status of the other fights and from there I will make a decision." Asia responded by summoning a magic circle in her ear and starting to talk to the rest of the leaders in each of the squads that repelled the attack.
After a few minutes, the magic circle in Asia's ear dissipated.
"So how do we proceed?" Ingvild asked looking at Asia.
"We will go to help the rest of the girls to finish off the daedras and then we will enter the portals to obtain the seal stones of each one." Asia replied as she prepared to head to where her friends were fighting.
"Okay." Ingvild said as she prepared to follow Asia.
Lint, for her part, glanced at Asia before walking over to her to speak. The near-death experience she went through made her understand that her life could end at any moment, so she couldn't let go of her emotions.
'It doesn't matter anymore if I become a fallen angel. I can't deny what I feel anymore. If I do, I may never get the chance.' Lint thought as she took Asia by the arm.
Asia turned her head and looked at Lint in confusion.
"Is something wrong Lint?"
Lint looked at Asia and let out a sigh. After that, she spoke with conviction. "Asia. When this is over can we talk alone?"
Asia looked at Lint and seeing that it was something really very important to her, she nodded. "It's okay. When this is over, we can talk alone."
Lint nodded while putting a smile on her face.
"Good. Now, without further ado, let's go we have daedras to defeat and two fortresses to besiege." Asia said as she started to fly.
Lint and Ingvild nodded and began to fly using their wings. A second later the three friends went to where the rest of their friends were fighting against the daedras to finally put an end to this attack.
While the fight to expel the daedras from Urakyoto was taking place, all the children and those who could not fight were kept in a safe house in the city outside the barrier.
In a room separate from the rest of the refugees, Kunou and Marie were sitting across from each other. Both friends had been reunited and together had been sent to the shelter. Their little friendship had taken a small step in this reunion, since both began to call each other by affectionate nicknames and no longer with their full names.
Kunou's ears were down, a clear indication that she was not feeling well emotionally.
"Ku-chan. Are you okay?" Marie asked looking worriedly at her friend.
Kunou looked up and tried to put on a smile, but to no avail. After realizing that she couldn't put on a face that would reassure her friend, she decided to sigh and speak.
"No, Ma-chan. I'm not well." Kunou replied looking at the ground.
"Don't be sad, Ku-chan." Marie said approaching her friend and giving her a hug. "You will see that your mother will come back. you just be patient."
Kunou looked at her friend and saw her smile as her eyes showed nothing but conviction and confidence. Her friend's smile was such that slowly her lips moved and showed a smile.
When Marie separated from her friend and saw her smiling, she smiled too. However, at that moment a loud crash was heard, which shook the entire room, causing the two girls to stagger a bit. When they were finally able to stabilize themselves, Kunou looked at Marie.
"W-what happened?" Kunou asked standing up. When he didn't hear a response, he looked over to where Marie was and what he saw completely amazed her. The always happy friend of hers who was staring to the east, more exactly the place where the entrance to the city was.
Marie looked at Kunou and swallowing a bit of saliva, the daughter of the last Dragonborn answered her friend. "I-I don't know. But what has generated that noise is something very bad. It has a very dark aura."
When Kunou was about to say something else, out of nowhere the door to the room was suddenly opened.
"Kunou-sama!" shouted an elderly man entering the room. The old tengu was sweating and you could tell he was scared, but at the same time happy.
Seeing the youkai in such a state, Kunou walked over to him.
"What's going on?" Kunou asked.
"Y-your mother, Yasaka-hime has returned."
Kunou froze like stone upon hearing that. However, she managed to get out of her surprise and quickly left the place being followed by the tengu, who was carrying Marie on her back.
The small group ran through the place at high speed and managed to reach the place where Yasaka was supposed to be in a few minutes. When they arrived, they could see the ORC and Rossweisse, who was carrying an unconscious Yasaka in her arms.
Kunou's mother's humanoid form was that of a voluptuous young woman with long blonde hair. Her facial features were delicate, and she had very short and rounded eyebrows, something that confused Marie, as it was the first time, she had seen such eyebrows. Her long hair was tied in a ponytail, which began to spiral as they approached her legs. Her attire consisted of a yellow kimono, which showed off a deep cleavage. She had a golden obi and a kind of black coat with golden skulls. Her hair also wore a traditional Japanese ornament.
"Hahaue!" Kunou yelled as she ran towards her mother.
When the little kitsune arrived, she saw that her mother did not react. So, she started screaming louder. "Hahaue, it's me, Kunou!"
Seeing that her mother still hadn't woken up, Kunou looked desperately at Issei and the rest.
"What's wrong, why doesn't she wake up?!" Kunou yelled.
Issei saw the little Kitsune and tried to answer her, but he couldn't, because at that moment another explosion made the place shake.
"Damn. Looks like we're going to have to evacuate this place. We are very close to the battle."
Issei's words made the Youkais that were gathered there worry. One of them stepped forward and asked. "Sekiryuutei-dono. What do you mean we are close to the battle?"
Issei looked at the youkai, a nekomata by appearance, and began to tell what had happened.
Flashback
Issei watched in amazement as the battle continued. If it was incredible before, now it was something else. The blows that were given were at such a speed that he could hardly make out what was happening. It was as if he was watching Edzard's battle with Loki, but now, the enemy could defend himself properly in hand-to-hand combat and not like the Norse God.
Issei's attention on the battle disappeared when he heard Cao Cao talking to his companions. Resting her eyes on them, she saw that the magician said something to Cao Cao, and he nodded. After that, the place was enveloped by a fog so surprisingly and quickly that no one could do anything to warn what was happening.
When the mist cleared, they were all in Kyoto city, but luckily, they were on the Youkai side and not in the human city.
"Issei! Rossweisse! Kiba! Saji!"
Issei and those mentioned looked at Edzard upon hearing his cries.
"Go somewhere safe! If you meet someone ask to be taken to the shelter! When you get there create a barrier to protect the place or else evacuate the place! Rossweisse, take Yasaka with you and bring her to that place!"
End Flashback
"And that's what happened." Issei said finishing telling what had happened.
"I see. So, the hero faction left and dumped them there."
"That's right. But let's change the subject quickly. How many are here that can create a decent barrier?" Rossweisse asked interrupting Issei's conversation.
The old man just looked at Rossweisse and sighed. "I'm afraid there are only children, old people and people who can't fight here."
Hearing those words, Rossweisse put a hand to her chin and began to think. In the end, she could only come to the conclusion that they should go from there, but the question was were. They couldn't go to the palace, as it was under attack, moreover, it was enclosed by a barrier. The second option was a place outside the Urakyoto but were. However, before she could do or say anything, she felt the fabric of her armor being pulled. So, looking in that direction, she saw Marie who had her hand outstretched and was handing her a small carved stone.
"What is this?" Rossweisse asked looking at the stone.
"It is a stone of…. Something?" Marie said with confusion, because she didn't know what the stone was exactly, but she did know what she could do. "But I've seen mom and dad use that stone to create barriers."
Those words made Rossweisse's eyes widen. So, looking more closely at the stone, she saw that it was a seal stone for creating barriers. A smile would have appeared on her face if she could use Magicka to activate it, but to her bad luck she couldn't. In addition, she couldn't activate that stone with magic either, since she had been a tireless student of both earth and Nirmnian magic to try to find a way to unite them without the need to be a hybrid like Asia, but she had failed miserably.
Putting on a sad smile, Rossweisse looked at her friend/love interest's daughter. "Marie-chan. You know that I can't use Magicka, right?"
Marie nodded in response to the question.
"Then you know I can't activate this barrier."
Marie looked at Rossweisse in confusion and then spoke. "But that stone was in Dad's lab. I read a bit of what the note said, and it can be activated without magic."
Those words made Rossweisse's eyes widen in surprise and horror. She is shocked to learn that she could use the stone to create a barrier and is horrified to deduce that Marie had taken it from Edzard's personal laboratory without asking permission.
"I see. Thanks for the stone, but don't do something like that again, okay?"
Marie looked at her parents' friend and nodded.
"Well." Rossweisse said with a smile as she rubbed Marie's head.
Rossweisse looked at those present and squeezing the stone, the only way she could think of that would be the way to activate it, she waited for something to happen. Fortunately for the Valkyrie, it was as if the gods smiled at her at that moment, because not a second after she pressed the stone, a ray of light emerged from it that rose to the sky and then formed a huge dome of blue energy.
Edzard deflected a blow from the Champion with his sword and in doing so a shock wave was generated that spread over several meters.
'Dammit. This is getting complicated.' Edzard thought with concern.
The battle had been complicated since the moment Cao-Cao had fled with his group, for doing so sent them to Kyoto. Fortunately, they appeared on the supernatural side and not the human. But that didn't take away from the fact that he was forced to fight with only one hand, as he used the «Detect Life» spell on the other. He did this to know where the civilian youkai was and thus prevent them from suffering collateral damage from the battle. However, this resulted in him having to lower his abilities to avoid dealing too much damage that ended up killing them.
In addition, Edzard's concern was also focused on what was happening in Yasaka's castle, because when he appeared he could see that there was not one, but two fucking portals to Oblivion. That made him worry about his lovers and his friends. However, his battle against the champion was far from determined for now.
"What's wrong, Dovahkiin?! Why are you holding back?!" the champion yelled as he unleashed a five-hit combo at Edzard.
Edzard gritted his teeth as he had to deflect all the blows and prevent the shockwaves from going anywhere near the shelter.
"Stop worrying about the bugs around here!" the champion yelled as he launched himself at Edzard. When he was in front of him, he threw three punches, which were dodged by Edzard, but seeing his attacks dodged, he leaned a little to the right and launched a powerful kick at Edzard, who had to use his sword to deflect the attack. However, the attack was charged with magic, causing a shock wave that ended up destroying five nearby houses.
"Focus all your attention on me! Otherwise, you will die!" yelled the champion as he continued to attack Edzard relentlessly
Edzard remained on the defensive as he parried, dodged, and deflected the attacks that threatened to hit him.
'Damn. I have to find a way to turn the tables on this battle, but… How do I do it?' Edzard thought with concern, but luckily for him at that precise moment he saw a thread of light emerge from where the shelter was. A smile appeared on his face as he saw the barrier in shape…. From whirlpool?... 'Wait... How come...? Marie! Little…. Aghhh... I really don't know whether to feel irritated that you have taken that stone from my study or proud of the talent you show as a thief.'
Edzard didn't know how to feel about his daughter at this moment, because he didn't need to be a genius to deduce that this barrier was formed by the seal stone he had been working on. Despite the slight annoyance he felt, he decided to stop thinking about it, he would do it later. Now that he saw that the civilians were protected, he discarded the spell he was using. With his other hand free, Edzard took the handle with both hands and determined to end this.
'I couldn't fight all out for fear of harming my friends or the civilians, but now that they're safe, well, you'll see.' Edzard thought as he looked at his enemy. The battle that had been going on for a few moments had let him know what fighting style the champion used, so, extending his left hand, he was tempted to summon a second Akaviri sword. However, before doing so he discarded that idea, as he had not yet managed to bring his Zhan Khaj style to the level necessary to fight against a champion, so he decided to continue using the Rawlith Khaj.
Dagon's champion looked at Edzard's posture and also at his eyes. A smile appeared on his face, for right now he saw that he was about to fight more seriously, so he also changed his stance from the Vrin-Thak to the Ziz Kurah.
The wind died down for an instant as both combatants prepared to fight.
"Before we begin, I will give you the name of your executioner, Dovahkiin. My name is Norgred, Norgred Crowheart."
Edzard saw the Champion, no, he saw Norgred and tightened his grip on his weapon. He knew that name, not Norgred's name, but Crowheart's. That name was a very peculiar clan name, it was not famous, but known by those who were like him, that is, people who liked to read too much. That clan was present in some chronicles of battles of the war of the three banners. Unfortunately, that clan only appeared there and in a very small way.
"I see. Now I understand why you became Dagon's champion." Edzard said looking at Norgred. "You did it to gain fame as a destroyer and make your clan relevant, right?"
For the first time since coming face to face with Norgred, Edzard saw an emotion other than a thirst for battle appear. Norgred's face went first with confusion and then with amusement.
"Ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha!" Norgred began to laugh very hard. "I can't believe it; do you really think that?"
Edzard looked puzzled at the Nord because he didn't understand why he said that.
"You don't understand, do you?" Norgred asked upon seeing Edzard's face. "Well, I'll be a good person and tell you. I have no interest in bringing glory to the Crowheart clan. I became Lord Dagon's champion simply because I was bored. It's the same thing that happened to you, right?"
Edzard frowned at Norgred's final taunt.
"Ooh. Do not put that face. I know why you left Nirm, after all you are similar to me. You did it because you got bored of your life there, right? I can't imagine how boring the most powerful of your generation must be."
Edzard dropped his stance and glared at the champion with annoyance. "Please don't put me in the same bag as you. While it's true that some things had gotten boring, I would never leave Nirm for a stupid reason like that."
Norgred looked at Edzard and dropped his smile.
"You know with what you have told me now I understand something. Do you want me to tell you the truth about why you became Dagon's Champion?" Edzard asked as he began to walk around Norgred with a teasing smile on his face. "You did it because despite your power you could not exceed the limits you had. You tried for a long time, but seeing that you did not achieve anything, you decided to take the easy option. You gave yourself to Dagon to receive an increase in power and prolong your life beyond mortal limits, rather than accept your own mortality and die with pride for your achievements.
After finishing saying those words, Edzard ducked to dodge a punch from Norgred, who had launched himself without saying a single word.
"Really, you got angry, right?" Edzard said after jumping away from Norgred.
"Shut up! You know nothing!" Norgred yelled, lunging at Edzard.
Edzard watched as the champion launched a punch aimed at his chest, more precisely at his heart. Moving to the right, he dodged the attack and then swinging his sword, he slashed downward diagonally. However, the attack was deflected by Norgred, who then began unleashing a combo of quick hits on Edzard. All the blows were so fast and strong that they generated waves of wind that could send anyone nearby flying, but not Edzard, who, standing his ground, used his sword to deflect all the attacks while counterattacking his enemy using the wind stance of his martial technique.
Both enemies were exchanging blows at high speed without giving a single meter of ground to the other. However, seeing that they couldn't push their enemy back, they both jumped back to gain some distance so they could launch their next attacks.
Norgred gritted his teeth at the sight of Edzard and taking a step, his boots glowed red and created a crater. A second later, he rocketed out at Edzard. When he was only a few meters away from him, he began to throw a succession of quick blows, which were blocked by Edzard. When he saw that Edzard had dodged his right punch, Norgred twisted his body to the right and in a one hundred and eighty degrees turn, delivered a powerful side kick at Edzard, who was forced to use his sword to block the blow.
Edzard received the impact of the blow and was thrown several meters by the force of it.
'Tch. That hit was just like the one a frost giant can give you.' Edzard thought as he stopped and a second later, he was shot at Norgred.
Arriving in front of his enemy, Edzard made seven quick slashes, which were blocked by Norgred, but Edzard did not stop there, because as soon as he finished the last blow, he quickly changed his position and used the rain technique of the Rawlith Khaj, began to make rapid thrusts with his sword. These thrusts achieved his goal and managed to hit Norgred, but strangely he did not receive any injuries.
'How come I couldn't hurt him? If all my hits landed on a non-armoured part… don't fuck with me. Of course, this idiot is wearing magical armor.' Edzard thought as he realized why his enemy hadn't been hurt by the attacks.
Realizing that, Edzard changed his grip on his weapon and prepared to use the «Two Moon Dance» style. Taking a deep breath, Edzard lunged at his enemy and launched an upward slash, which was dodged by Norgred. However, while maintaining the momentum of the blow, Edzard twisted his body from left to right and jumped. While airborne, he took the opportunity to spin kick Norgred. The blow took the Champion by surprise, hitting him in the face.
The force of the blow sent Dagon's Champion flying several meters, eventually impacting, and destroying three houses. The rubble of these buildings ended up burying Norgred, leaving the place with a slightly disturbing calm.
When Edzard landed, the ground shook, causing him to nearly lose his balance. Managing to stay on his feet, Edzard looked to the east and watched as one of the two portals was destroyed.
'Well, it looks like they've managed to destroy one of the portals. Now only the other one is missing, and this will be closer to the end.' Thought Edzard.
After thinking that, Edzard's instincts went crazy, so he looked to the south and saw how the sole of one of Norgred's boots was a few centimeters from hitting him, so he used almost all his ability in his human form, he swung his sword to parry the attack. Fortunately for Edzard, he managed to do it, but he did not come out unscathed, because the force of the impact made him fly several meters towards some houses.
Edzard went through the walls of five houses, but when he was about to go through the sixth, he took a turn and managed to lean against the wall. Already stopped, Edzard looked at Norgred, who had his arms covered in fire and his boots exuded daedric power.
'It seems that he is going to fight with everything. I should too, so I might as well use some shouts.' Edzard thought.
After thinking about that, Edzard lunged at his enemy, who did the same.
Edzard watched in slow motion as the two approached. Each step he took was like an eternity, however, he knew it wasn't.
'Four, three, two...' Edzard counted in his mind as he approached Norgred. When he counted one, Edzard opened his mouth and shouted. "TIID! KLO!"
Edzard's vision turned black and white as time around him slowed down. His thu'um had worked and he could now see a flaming fist drive in slow motion at his face. Taking advantage of his thu'um, Edzard dodged the attack long enough not to hurt himself, but without moving too much so as not to lose the inertia of the movement. When he felt that the fist had passed and that time would return to normal any second, he leaned on his right leg and, turning one hundred and eighty degrees horizontally, swung his sword against Norgred's neck. The blade of the akiviri sword hit his target, but he did not manage to cut the meat, because at the moment of impact, Edzard saw how Norgred's body glowed blue at the same moment of receiving the impact.
After that blow, time returned to its normal flow and Edzard ended up behind Norgred, who put a hand to his neck, exactly where Edzard's sword had hit.
"It seems you used a thu'um to hit me, but it was useless." Norgred said looking at Edzard, who had his back to him.
"So, it seems. Your magical armor really is tough. It's almost like I'm hitting Daedric armor." Edzard opined as he turned to see Norgred.
"Thank you." Norgred said mockingly.
Edzard saw his enemy and prepared to continue their battle.
The air that was breathed was loaded with sulfur and ashes, causing a little discomfort to those who breathed it. Amidst a wasteland of dead land and ash, six girls could be seen flying towards the only structure in the entire place.
"How much more to go?" Aika asked as she watched as that tower seemed more and more distant.
"Don't know. But I guess we should be getting there by now." Lint said looking at the tower.
"Lint is right. We should get there… now." Asia said seeing that they were already less than a hundred meters from the tower.
When they arrived, the six girls descended and as soon as they put their feet on the ground, they hid in some nearby rocks.
"It seems that this place is more protected than the other." Valerie commented as she recalled counting several lesser daedras lurking around the tower entrances.
"So, it seems." Ingvild pointed out as she sighed.
"Well, we couldn't expect this place to be as empty as the other one, right?" Mittelt asked rhetorically.
"You are right about that. But for once I wish I didn't have to fight my way through hundreds of Daedra." Aika opined as she leaned against a rock.
The other five girls looked at each other and sighed, agreeing.
They were all meditative for a few seconds, until Asia looked at them.
"Girls. I know this is tiring and that we have already spent more than fifty percent of our power destroying the other tower, but only this is missing, and this attack will finally end." Asia said trying to cheer them up.
The girls looked at each other and nodded, as Asia was right. They all got up and started planning their attack.
"So, what's the plan?" Aika asked, as her gaze focused on Asia.
The rest of the girls imitated Aika's gesture and also looked at Asia.
Asia saw them looking at her and let out a sigh.
'Sometimes I wish Ed hadn't made me second-in-command.' Asia thought as she put her hand to her chin and started thinking of a plan to destroy the place. She thought for several seconds, because they could no longer use the same technique that they had previously used to destroy the other portal, because to do so they used a combined attack of all their most powerful spells, but now they did not have the amount of magic necessary to destroy the place. Also, that they had spent much of the few potions they had left after doling out a large amount to the defenders of Kyoto. So, in the end they only had one option left.
Looking at her friends, Asia told them her plan. "Okay girls, let's go with everything. We will not hold back in this attack. It is the last fight of this battle. So, let's get this over with soon so we can go rest."
The girls looked at Asia and nodded. Each took their weapons and prepared.
When they were ready, Asia came forward and closing her eyes, she took a breath. Then she slowly opened her eyes and looking back she saw her friend's nod.
"Okay, let's get this over with." Asia said as she started walking towards the tower. After taking a few steps, Asia began to jog and finally started running. The rest of the girls followed her friend and leader and started running towards the main entrance of the tower.
When they were only a few meters away, several daedras launched themselves to stop them. However, neither could do anything, as Asia released a volley of «chain lightning», which ended up driving the daedras back. However, the attack did not end there, as not a second later, Lint and Mittelt charged forward, launching several spears of light each. The spears of light struck the Daedra's skulls, dispelling them for now.
"Okay, let's continue." Asia said seeing that their enemies were no longer blocking their way.
All the girls nodded and continued running.
The six of them made it through the door and into the first room.
This room was more of a passageway than a regular room. And just like all the rooms in this kind of place, they had the same architecture as the towers that protected the sigil stones, meaning smooth black stone walls with red lines like veins running down their walls.
"Let's go. We have to get to the blood seal to take the sigil stone." Asia said as she kept running, being followed by her friends. However, when she came to a crossroads, she had to stop abruptly and kneel to avoid being decapitated by a greatsword.
Asia watched as the sword passed just inches from her face and cut off a small part of her left bangs. When she saw that the danger had passed, she used her hands as a springboard to jump back and take a few meters away from the one on the spot.
"Asia!" the other five girls shouted as they watched their leader almost beheaded.
Asia looked ahead and swallowed with a little concern, because in front of her there was not a dremora, but there were six, but they were not alone, because next to them there were two Ruinach. The Ruinach are beings very similar to Dagon, but smaller in size and power than the prince, although that does not mean they are weak, since they were at the same level as a dremora in ability, but they were physically stronger and more resistant. Its main characteristic, apart from its size of three meters, were its four arms, in which they carried a single-edged sword.
Seeing them, Aika, Lint, Mittelt, Valerie and Ingvild took a step back, as it was the first time, they had seen these daedras.
"A-Asia. W-what are those things?" Aika asked with a bit of fear.
Asia did not stop looking at the Ruinach while answering the question. "They are Ruinach, a type of daedras who are physically strong, but almost without reason. Although, that doesn't mean you should underestimate them. Their brute force is their best weapon, so our best tactic will be to keep them away and attack them with magic. Or at least that would be the most prudent thing to do, but as you can see, there are Dremoras, and they do use magic. So that's ruled out."
After speaking, Asia started to think as fast as she could. It only took her three seconds to come up with a very basic, but functional, plan. Or at least that's what she hoped.
"Aika, Lint, Valerie, Mittelt. You girls will take care of the Dremoras. Ingvild-san, you are with me. We are going to fight the Ruinachs."
The girls looked at Asia and nodded. So, each of them quickly joined her companions and prepared for battle. Fortunately, they did it in time, because not a second passed and they already had the Dremoras on top of them.
Seeing them arrive, Lint and Mittelt charged at them and began to engage in close combat using their respective weapons to slow down their enemies' advance. For their part, Aika and Valerie began using magic to force three Dremoras to keep their distance.
Lint dodged the dremora's axe, which passed inches from her face. When she was out of harm's way, she quickly swung her sword and launched a horizontal slash, which was blocked by the dremora, who used his ax handle for this. Seeing her attack parried, Lint used her pistol and fired seven shots of holy magic bullets at point-blank range into the dremora's face. The surprise attack served its purpose and ended up killing the dremora, who fell limp to the ground.
'The upgrades on my pistol seem to be working.' Lint thought with joy that her secondary weapon was more useful against Daedra.
"Lint, get down!" Mittelt yelled as she saw a greatsword close in on Lint's neck.
Lint heard Mittelt yell and immediately ducked, as she only called her name when it was something important. So, when she crouched down, she watched as a slash passed mere inches from her head. When the danger passed, she Lint got back on her feet and immediately jumped away from the Daedra who almost killed her from behind. She ended up landing next to Mittelt.
"Thanks for that." Lint said looking at Mittelt.
"Thank me later, we have Dremoras to kill." Mittelt said as she lunged at a Daedra.
Lint nodded and did the same as the Fallen.
While Lint and Mittelt fought the daedras in close combat, Aika and Valerie used their magic to protect their friends, as there were two magic using Dremora among the enemies.
"Damn it, fall!" Aika yelled as she conjured seven magic circles, from which she released several torrents of flame. However, it was not the whole attack, as Valerie also conjured seven magic circles and released gusts of wind, which strengthened the torrents of flame.
Aika and Valerie's combined attack was directed against the Dremoras, who responded by using a ward, but it was not the same one used by mortals on Nirm, as it was not created with restoration magic, but originated from Daedric magic.
The attack hit the custody and exploded. However, when the explosion ceased, the Dremoras could be seen intact.
"Damn it, I hate Aurbis's magic." Aika said with annoyance seeing that her spells had not been able to get past the daedra's wards.
"We have to think about something else. If we keep attacking like this, we won't be able to defeat them." Valerie said as she watched as Lint and Mittelt fought the remaining Dremoras very well, as they defended themselves very well, while counterattacking when they had the chance. "We have to finish off the mages so we can help Mittelt and Lint."
"You're right." Aika said as she thought of an idea. A second later, she thought of something. So, approaching Valerie, she told her of her plan.
"Good. Can work."
While the rest of the girls were fighting the Dremoras, Asia and Ingvild were fighting the Ruinachs with great skill.
Asia gracefully dodged one of the Ruinach's attacks as she tried to find a place to attack, but she couldn't at the moment. Ingvild, for her part, stood firm at a distance, bombarding her enemy with spells. Until now she had not been able to defeat him, as the Ruinach defended himself using his swords.
Ingvild swung her staff and creating a circle of magic at the tip, she released a powerful beam of pure demonic power, which hit her enemy squarely. The force of the spell sent the Ruinach flying several meters until he impacted one of the tower's walls. However, he was not defeated, but only shook his head and roaring charged at Ingvild, who was forced to fly through the roof of the passageway.
"How tough are they?!" Ingvild yelled at Asia as she created a water dragon, which headed towards the Ruinach.
The daedra tried to destroy the spell using his weapons, but he couldn't and ended up being caught by the water dragon, which coiled around him like a snake.
Seeing himself trapped, the Ruinach tried to get out of the spell, for this he began to use his strength. Dropping his weapons, the Daedra took the dragon in his hands and tried to break it but could not. However, his action forced Ingvild to use more demonic power in order to keep him trapped.
"Fall at once!" Ingvild yelled as he used a large amount of power and reaching out with his hands caused his water dragon to squeeze the Ruinach with great force, immobilizing it completely. After that, the half-devil made her dragon open its jaws so that it would rip off the daedra's head in one bite.
The Ruinach's corpse fell noisily to the ground, drawing the attention of the other Ruinach, and the Dremoras who were still alive. This little moment of distraction was used by the rest of the girls, who with accurate movements and spells managed to kill their respective enemies.
When all the enemies were down, they gathered. After getting some air, they continued running through the corridors of the tower. The girls traversed several floors, where they were confronted by several Dremoras, but no other Ruinach were encountered. The battles were shorter, for now they could all fight together.
"That was exhausting." Aika said with annoyance, since having fought in a very closed space they had had to use their spells with caution.
"Do not tell me. I'm starting to hate fighting from inside these towers." Mittelt said as she kept running.
"You're right." Lint commented with annoyance, but then she looked at her friends and saw them looking at her strangely. "What?"
"It's strange to see you agree with something Mittelt says, Lint." Asia said with an awkward smile.
"Yes. That same." Ingvild said looking at Lint.
Lint blinked in confusion, but in the end she shrugged. "It is natural that at some point we think alike."
Their little conversation came to an end when they reached the door leading to the room where the sigil stone was.
"Well, we've come to the end. What do you think awaits us in there?"
"I hope nothing very strong, I'm almost exhausted. I have used up more than seventy percent of my demonic power reserves." Ingvild replied.
Asia stepped forward and opened the door.
The girls entered with their guard up because they did not know what they would find. When they all entered, they saw with surprise that the place was empty.
"It seems that there is no one." Mittelt said looking around the place.
"It seems so..." Aika said walking to one of the corners to see if there was anything hidden. "There doesn't seem to be anything around here."
"Yes, the place is completely empty." Said Asia using the «detect life» spell.
"I see. Then, let's just take the sigil stone and get out of here." Valerie said looking around the place. Not seeing it anywhere, she blinked in confusion. "Where will it be?"
The girls looked at each other and then looked at the place and not seeing it, they decided to see the ceiling. Upon doing so, they saw with horror how on the ceiling there was a being like a large caterpillar with several teeth.
The bug screeched loudly upon seeing the girls, who screamed in fear and disgust. As they screamed, they began to run towards the ends of the room.
The bug fell from the ceiling and landed in the middle of the room. After that, it started to look at the girls and then it screeched loudly again, but now it also threw molten rocks from its jaws. These rocks traveled at high speed towards Lint and Ingvild, who, seeing the attack, jumped to the side.
"Asia! What's that?!" Lint yelled.
Asia looked at the bug and couldn't recognize it. "I do not know!"
"How do you not know?!" Aika yelled.
"I never read of it!"
"What do we do?!" Valerie yelled as she along with Aika dodged a few molten rocks that the bug had thrown at them.
"Attack with ice-based spells!" Asia yelled.
The girls nodded and spread out in such a way that they surrounded the bug. When they saw that everyone was in position, Aika, Valerie, Asia and Ingvild conjured circles of magic from which bursts of ice came out. These bursts went directly against the bug, but they failed, as it began to move around the place in such a way that he managed to avoid the attacks.
"Lint, move!" Asia shouted when she saw how the bug was approaching at great speed towards her friend.
Hearing Asia's shout, Lint didn't hesitate for a second and she jumped to the right.
The bug turned and changed its attack direction when it saw that Lint was out of reach. Its new target was Ingvild.
The half-devil saw the bug arrive, so she spread her wings and began to fly. When she was in the air, she conjured a water dragon, which was sent against the bug. The bug saw the dragon and stopping its attack, tried to escape, but to no avail, as the dragon managed to capture it.
"Girls!" Ingvild yelled.
Ingvild's yell was the signal the girls needed to attack. So, Aika and Valerie conjured magic circles from which ice spears sprang out, while Asia used Nirmnian magic to launch seven ice spears. The girls' attacks hit the bug, which ended up being impaled by the spears. The bug screeched once more, but then went still and the lava marks on his body faded.
"Looks like it's already dead." Mittelt said as she cautiously approached the bug.
"So, it seems." Asia said with a sigh. She then looked at her friends and let them help her search for the sigil stone.
The girls searched for a few minutes, but in the end, they couldn't find it.
"Girls, how can we not find that sigil stone anywhere. They won't believe…" Aika pointed out looking at the bug.
The girls gulped and approached the bug. When they did, Asia, Lint and Mittelt stepped forward and using their respective weapons, they started to open the bug.
"Ugh. How disgusting." Lint said as the foul smell of the bug's entrails wafted out and fused with the air.
The girls felt disgusted, especially the ones who were opening the bug, but in the end, they used their willpower not to vomit.
Asia was moving her sword from one place to another, as if she was filleting a fish when her sword hit something hard. Opening her eyes, Asia moved her hands and using «telekinesis», she drew whatever was there into her hands. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw that it was the sigil stone.
"Ahh. Girls, I found it!" Asia yelled, drawing the attention of her friends, who were happy and sighed when they heard that.
After that, Aika took out her cell phone and took a photo of the bug, so that she could look up information about what it was. After that action, Asia used her Shadowkey to open a portal that they all passed through.
After passing through the portal, the girls appeared in Urakyoto, where upon arrival they could see that the Mythic Dawn attack had ended. As they approached to ask, the girls heard from Azazel that the daedras had stopped coming out of there a few minutes ago.
That answer made the girls understand that the portal had been closed since that bug fell from the ceiling.
"Looks like it's all over now." Aika said with joy in her voice.
However, when the girls were about to answer her, all Urakyoto trembled.
"What was that?" a youkai asked looking towards the outside of the barrier, where a large amount of smoke could be seen coming out. That caught the attention of all those who were inside the barrier since they had just noticed it. This was because they had been solely focused on the enemies attacking the palace.
The answer to that question came in the form of two beings that were in the air exchanging blows. One of them was Edzard and the other was a guy with skin as red as blood.
Author's note:
To those who have made it this far, Thanks for reading. Because being honest, I don't know how to write much in English and I'm relying on Google translators and the dictionaries that come with office 2019.
And here chapter 46, we are getting closer to chapter 50 XD
As you can see, in this chapter part of the battle against Dagon's forces has elapsed. Although it seems that this arc ends in the next chapter, the truth is that it is planned to cover a few more chapters, so there are still a few more things that will happen. Also, we see that Marie and Kunou are getting closer to being best friends, XD. And finally, we see one of the little pranks that the Dovahkiin's daughter usually gets up to.
Well, I apologize for any misspelling. Do not forget to leave a review if you liked the chapter or if there is something that needs to be improved or if you have any questions about the story. Also, any constructive advice is welcome. With nothing more to say, until the next chapter.