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Chapter 126 - Chosen Knights
🕑 Added 2019-08-10 07:36:48 +0000 UTC
I watch as Chandra's troops reach the first of the catapults and tear it down like a wave swallowing a sandcastle. From where I stand, I can't spot Korenga, but I'm sure she's playing her part. As long as she's there, they will be unstoppable even when other Chosen Knights appear; as an existence that can withstand being submerged in lava, there's little that can harm her.
Just as I think that, a lightning bolt comes down from the sky. I shift my eyes in the direction of the platform where the human army's military staff is standing, but Zenlith is still with them. Then again, he could be a remotely controlled body, just like the old man Alverost that I killed in Zohigal.
But if he's personally taking part in this, then I won't stay quiet either. I'd rather risk it all in an attempt to kill him before he can destroy the continent than to let him run wild and win the war. The result will be the same when the humans start a systematic genocide.
As if sensing my gaze, Zenlith, in the guise of Lucianus V, raises his hand with a smirk. Then he shakes his head and glances over his shoulder. I create a telescopic lens in my eyes and strain them to see what's going on among all the chaos, to find that a muscular man with long blond hair and a full beard is standing where the lightning struck. Electricity crackles around his body, and a large diamond glows on the back of the golden gauntlet covering his right hand.
That's when I remember the briefing about the twelve confirmed Chosen Knights and their abilities, which I only listened to half-heartedly because I thought they would never become an issue to me. This man must be Halthor, the Thunder Knight, and is considered the most powerful of the bunch. I can see why Zenlith might favor him; he follows the Lord of the Sky's designated theme perfectly.
If he can turn his body into lightning, then it's going to be troublesome. Even if he can't defeat Korenga, all the other demons won't be able to lay a finger on him. And that's an ability that can take out droves of my people instantly without even getting close to them. If Colart and Folke are the utility type, Halthor is pure offense.
But then I spot Korenga in her Black God form charging right at him. He lifts his hand, and lightning comes down from the sky, runs through his body, and lashes out at her. However, it dissipates as soon as it hits the surface of her blackened skin. Then she delivers a devastating punch to his face that sends him flying right into a catapult, which shatters from the impact.
Either he can't turn into lightning, or he didn't expect that Korenga was immune to his magic and was slow to react. But that punch should have broken his neck, if not completely splattered his head. So much for the strongest Chosen Knight, huh?
Of course, it's not that easy. It seems that Zenlith has been teaching Halthor more than just how to control lightning; the Thunder Knight comes flying out of the rubble, looking perfectly fine except for a slight bruise on his cheek. He channels lightning through his body once again, and his eyes start to glow from the inside as he lands in front of the Black God. When he straightens his body, he brings up his glowing gauntlet in an uppercut that causes her feet to leave the ground for a moment.
Did I see that right? A human managed to do what I was barely able to even with all of my mass put behind it at the time.
But that can't stop Korenga. It seems to enrage her instead, as she starts swinging her fists at Halthor in a barrage of punches that should each have the force of several tons behind them. However, he blocks them time and again while countering with his own. Despite the Black God's life experience, she never needed to learn proper hand to hand combat. On the other hand, the Thunder Knight has studied what appears to be boxing, as his movements are precise with little waste of energy.
"After everything he hated about Armeria, there he goes teaching the new humans to use the Imagination Engine again." Exla comments when she sees the duel of godlike beings. Both demons and humans around them have stopped fighting and are watching in awe, forgetting that they're still in the middle of a war.
"What happened in Armeria?" I ask without averting my eyes from the fight. The outcome of that will decide the fate of Chandra's charge. While I'm confident that nobody can really defeat Korenga because her power comes from the imagination of Mataku, many things haven't gone the way I thought they would today.
"Things got out of hand. More and more individuals with powerful fantasies appeared." Her voice sounds grim, though when she continues, I understand that it's not because she thinks it a bad thing. "The others wanted to be unchallenged, but they couldn't maintain control anymore. So they abandoned Armeria and came here."
And here, they created a system for magic with strict rules that everybody would have to adhere to, restricting their fantasies to what they think is possible. But Zenlith seems to have decided to grant some individuals more freedom than others, creating a person like Halthor.
He said he didn't want me influencing this battle with my knowledge of the Imagination Engine, but he's doing just that. It's like a cheater telling another cheater to stop so they can dominate the game alone. If only Exla's abilities weren't sealed, then I could at least fight him on even grounds. But as it is now, I can only hold back in fear that he'll destroy everything.
The glimmer of hope is the word 'today' that he used. Maybe I'm placing too much in that, but if it really only lasts for today, then we only need to hold out for that long. I've read somewhere that sieges can last for weeks, if not months, though that was for ones set in reality without magic and giants. But all we have to do is buy time for Exla's absolute rights to return.
Chandra seems to have ordered her troops to continue their advance. There are still several catapults left, and they're in the middle of the enemy army. Even if those in the immediate vicinity may be awed by the fight between the Black God and the Chosen Knight, those further away will be able to move and cut off their path of retreat. And their momentum had run out when Halthor first appeared, so it's going to be a difficult battle either way.
Suddenly, the ground shakes from a tremor, and I look around in surprise. Did the humans come up with some new means of attack again? But then an even bigger tremor occurs only seconds later, and the sound clearly originates from below us.
A shockwave sweeps through the gateway and blows out all the humans pushing inside. The buildup that led to this suggests it was Kamii's power. So that's what she's capable of when she gets enough hits in with her curse combo.
Colart walks forward, looking like he wants to take care of this personally. I don't know the little dark elf's limitations, but I doubt that his shields will be able to do anything against her exponential power. But something tells me that Folke isn't far away. Even if Kamii was able to sense the invisible assassin climbing onto my platform - it was my mistake for making the surface unfeeling and not activating the Chaos senses - it doesn't mean she'll be able to deal with him in particular.
Now that I think about it, couldn't I just plug the gate with myself? It doesn't count as fighting if I just turn into a wall of, and when people were to attack me, I'd swallow them in self-defense. This way, we could take a breather as well as hit the enemies in the morale; they already lost so much to crack the gate, so seeing it close up before their eyes should hurt them a lot.
But before I can set this plan in motion, I see Chandra's troops take down the last catapult. I have no doubts that these aren't all of them, and that they have more that need to be assembled in their camp, but at least for now, Exla doesn't need to stay here to maintain the barrier. This frees her up for other things.
"Exla, the enemy artillery is down. Help on the walls." I call out to her, and she nods in response. Even if she can't fight like a god, she isn't limited to one particular thing, unlike the Chosen Knights. That at least makes her versatile enough to do both offense and defense.
Colart has disappeared under the shield umbrella he put up above the gate to stop us from pouring down oil. He's about to clash with Kamii, who was able to survive without me for all this time, meaning that she must have gotten stronger. I do want to trust that she can handle herself, but I don't want to risk her getting hurt.
"I'm going to plug the gate. Take over here." Rhosk is the commander anyway, so I didn't need to say this. But it was to drive home that I won't be giving any orders for a while so he should make the hard decisions when they come up.
"Understood!" He replies by beating his chest once, then walks forward as if switching gears. Before he can give out any orders, I jump off the wall and grow out tentacles to swing myself underneath Colart's umbrella.
I land in front of the humans as they wait patiently for their champion to take out this obstacle. Their eyes are fixated on me, and then one of the men seems to recognize me as his face goes white. His armor clatters from his shaking body, and he's just about to drop his weapon in terror. Maybe I don't actually need to do anything to stop their advance; my presence is enough.
"Leave now, if you don't want to die." I announce in a tone which leaves no doubt that I can deliver on this threat. What will come next is laughter, and then somebody will rush forward to try and kill me.
But to my surprise, nobody is laughing. They must be on edge now, and considering we're in the middle of a battle, anything could happen. So it might not be too far-fetched to think that this lone girl standing before them could be an incredibly powerful demon.
"The demon queen..." The man that recognized me earlier mutters in fear, now certain about my identity.
"Huh?" Some near him make in surprise. Then the murmuring spreads through the ranks of the humans. Even if they weren't there, they must have undoubtedly heard about what I did in the siege of Arkaim. As far as I remember the numbers after the battle, very few humans made it out alive.
Oh, and I guess the annihilation of Pontis Daemonis is also known to be on me.
I let out my Crawling Chaos presence a little, and everybody shies away from me with terrified expressions. This isn't part of the Imagination Engine, so I should get away with it for the time being, as long as Zenlith isn't here to feel it himself. Now I don't need to turn myself into a blob and physically plug up the gateway.
It feels like Benkei defending the entrance to the castle alone so that Yoshitsune wouldn't be bothered during his ritual suicide.
With that ominous comparison in mind, I create a pair of eyes on the back of my head to see what's going on between Kamii and Colart. He doesn't seem to have noticed my interference and is solely focused on the little dark elf standing on the other side of the short tunnel.
Many differently-sized shields floating in the air surround him on all sides as he stands straight with his rapier raised. I still can't get over the fact that this slender man with a noble's face has powers that should belong on a tank such as Gram.
Kamii is staring him down with her cursed arm held behind her like a sword, ready for an upward swing. She could cut a person in half with the crab pincer, so she does possess some incredible strength in it aside from her curse power. But will it be useful against the shields?
Her party is right behind her, most likely intending to join the battle as well. Maybe this isn't going to be a duel after all, but no matter what happens, if she' about to lose, I'll step in and take Colart out myself. Even if it may hurt the soldiers' morale or her pride, being alive is more important than any of those things. Feelings can be mended; death can't.
One part of me worries about Chandra's charge. From where I am right now, I can't see what's happening over in their camp. But the fact that I can still hear thunder means that Halthor is alive and fighting Korenga.
"If we take her down here, this war is over!" A man in a rune-covered suit of armor comes through the encirclement of humans. He's obviously affected by my aura as well, but he tries to act tough and power through it. It does help to lift the soldiers' spirits, as some start to cheer reluctantly. Soon, they seem to gather their courage and challenge me with a roar.
I grow a tentacle from my back and turn it into something like a spider limb, with which I draw a half-circle in front of me. At the sight of this otherness, the humans grow quiet in shock and disgust. But the one that rallied them moments ago steps forward fearlessly, brandishing his mace that seems to glow from the inside. Is he a paladin?
"Anything moving over this line disappears." I announce just as he opens his mouth to talk. He closes it again and stares at me, then raises his mace and addresses his troops.
"She is alone. We will take her down here! Charge!" With this, he's the first to cross the line as he swings his weapon at me.
In the next moment, the part that crossed over onto my side of the line disappears - cut apart and instantly swallowed by tentacles growing from my back. Blades made from dragon armor and honed beyond the limits of the material thanks to my convenient body can cut through steel as if it's not even there. Even without using the Imagination Engine, I'm plenty strong.
Half the man's face and upper body are gone, and he falls forward, disappearing to my shredder until only parts of his legs remain on the other side of the line. The mist of blood left in place of where he used to be warns the soldiers that I can make good on my announcement with little effort.
Their morale instantly plummets, and they stop even before taking another step. In fact, they all inch backward, about ready to run away. With this, I have the gate covered - until the next brave leader steps up to challenge me.
It seems that Colart's fighting tactics are unexpectedly underhanded despite his white-knight appearance. He uses his shields not only to defend himself but also to block Kamii's view so that he can stab around it with his rapier. So far, she has gotten a few hits in on the shields but had to retreat each time he came in for an attack.
This way, she won't be able to build up her combo sufficiently. Maybe this is Colart's tactic, aiming to tire the little dark elf out and then strike when her movements grow slower from fatigue. After all, he uses very little energy whenever he goes in for a sneak attack, while she has to continuously swing her right arm as well as jump back to avoid getting stabbed.
I could help her right away, but a part of me wants to see how she will overcome this. Just don't let this be a wrong decision that will make me regret it later.
Suddenly, Terog and Zancrax seem to decide to join the battle as well. The former whips his hands around, tossing throwing knives through the gaps between Colart's shields. Most get deflected by the quickly reacting shields, but three make it through, two of which the Knight of the Iron Veil strikes out of the air with his rapier. The last hits his neck but bounces off his gorget. That's the closest anyone has come to hurting him.
The minotaur in his granite armor charges forward. Colart brings all his shields to the front but layers them so that Zancrax runs into one after another. But the massive demon crashes through them as if they don't pose an obstacle at all. It causes the Knight of the Iron Veil to step aside to avoid getting hit for the first time.
Terog suddenly appears from behind Zancrax and ducks underneath the knight's now misaligned shields. I can't see the latter's expression from where I'm standing, but him taking another step back tells me that this caught him off-guard. However, he's still a Chosen Knight and not to be trifled with.
The boar demon swings his axe horizontally while drawing a dagger with his other hand for a low stab. Unlike all the straight-laced warriors I've seen, he seems far more pragmatic and uses whatever means he can to win.
Colart summons new shields, but can't make it in time to get them to a size at which they can block the attack. Thus, he hops backward to avoid the axe, then swings his rapier down to stab Terog's other arm still in the middle of his upward motion. The latter twists his body to avoid it while throwing his axe up into the air. With a quick sidestep, he performs an incredibly fast spin around his own axis while whipping out a chain with the hand he just freed.
This time, the Knight of the Iron Veil has his shields at the ready, which deflect the chain. But Zancrax has turned around and charges at Colart from the side, ducking low to tackle him with his armored shoulder. This time, the several shields are placed at leg-height, which trips the minotaur up and causes him to slide across the ground. But as before, he was only acting as a cover for the approach of somebody else; Ireyo has joined the fight.
With strength that belies her little frame, the rabbit demon swings the oversized broken sword that would look much more fitting in Zancrax's hands down at the knight. Sparks fly when the blade cuts through several shields before finally stopping at the last one that separates it from his shoulder.
My Chaos senses suddenly tingle, and I turn my attention to the front, where somebody has approached me. But to my surprise, nobody is there. For a split second, I'm confused; then I understand what this is and start up my tentacle shredder. However, it's too late already, and Folke has passed me by.
"Invisible incoming!" I shout into the gateway, upon which Terog instantly falls back to where the others are. Kamii knocks her cursed arm on Zancrax's back, and he understands the gesture that they'll be splitting up for this fight.
The boar demon returns to the little dark elf's side and begins to whisper something to her. They must be coming up with a countermeasure against an invisible opponent. Just as they do that, Colart raises his free hand and performs a circle with his index finger. It seems that was the signal for Folke to turn his shields invisible because they fade from view right after.
It's two well-coordinated Chosen Knights against Kamii and her party. I'm not too confident about their victory, now that the Mirage Knight has joined the battle, but the little dark elf does seem to have a special sense for invisible people, so maybe she has a way to see through him.
"Come out and introduce yourself." Colart is directing this at Folke, who has the mentality of a mercenary rather than that of a chivalrous knight - which the former tries to make himself out to be.
"Why do I have to do that." Folke's voice echoes through the tunnel, masking his actual location. "They're going to die anyway, so what use is an introduction?"
"For the afterlife." The Knight of the Iron Veil's response is curt.
"There is no afterlife, only oblivion. The undead are proof enough." The Mirage Knight scoffs at this reasoning. He's either very cynical or plain ignorant because I've witnessed first-hand that the souls of the dead are trapped in the undead and are released with light magic. Well, not everybody gets to see light magic at work, considering how rare humans imagine its affinity to be.
Or maybe those weren't souls but just another imagination to complete the image of zombies. At this point, I can't tell what's real or only part of the system.
"Less talking." Kamii steps forward and swings her crab arm at thin air, but I hear a tongue clicking, which most definitely didn't come from Colart. So she really can tell where he is.
"How do you know?" Folke's voice sounds displeased. It's clear that he must have dodged, but there was no noise even though the last time I saw him, he wore all kinds of armor pieces that should clang or creak when in motion. He must be padding a lot to eliminate all the little sounds he creates, so being seen through so easily must be quite the shock.
"Ya two take him, the leader and I got this one." Terog points in the general direction of where Kamii swung moments ago and tells Zancrax and Ireyo to fight Colart on their own.
"He moved over there." The little dark elf takes the wind out of her companion's sails by pointing in a completely different direction from where he did.
"How?!" This time, Folke is furious. Maybe that's Kamii's aim, as angry people make fatal mistakes. Now I'm beginning to trust in her and her party's victory.
