'Mmm, didn't expect anyone this strong to appear.' Zamia thought, still in her Alicorn form as she sent a burst of air at the devil as it appeared.
While the monsters below had plenty of Tier 10's, they were all of such a low-quality race that they could hardly be considered an opponent. In counter, this devil, was clearly her equal. Her attack didn't do much.
The winds sent it tumbling, but the blades she had infused into it had not drawn blood. In fact, her attack had done no damage. Only caused the devil to lose some of its balance.
'If I recall correctly, we fought during the last invasion. Back then, though, neither of us had reached Tier 10. We were both mere children back then. The fight had ended before a victor could be declared.' This made Zamia wary.
Since this devil was one she had fought before, she couldn't write his appearance off as something of a coincidence. He had to be here for a reason. She was confident he wasn't alone. And, in the worst case, this might be the devil's final push to destroy Avgi.
Should it be the worst case, then the attack on Taurus was sure to be increased once Avgi fell. If it fell. Zamia wasn't about to accept that. So she charged.
Charged with a speed which Ceph wouldn't be able to even see. Horn aglow.
The devil dodged the attack of light. The blast of air, however, caused it to stumble. Right into Zamia's daggers. However, its black war-mace clashed with the daggers. A high-pitched screech filling the air as metal strained against metal.
As the devil's flames tried to flow from its mace to Zamia's daggers, another burst of air separated them. The entire encounter didn't even take a second, far from it.
And so, the clash repeated as Zamia switched elements to find Zelth'terkt's weakness. Or an opening.
'So that finally worked...' Zamia noted. Finally, having drawn blood with an earth spell. Sadly, as their battle was aerial, this did not help her much. Earth was difficult to use when so far above the ground.
Besides, even if stone penetrated the black flames, unlike ice, water, and even fire. The damage wasn't much. And it was more correct to say she had only got a hit in, than it was the devil's weakness.
However, it allowed her to confirm that he struggled to keep track of small attacks.
'Dad, aren't you going to help mom?' Ceph asked, watching their clash from the safety of Avgi. For the most part, he couldn't follow what was happening. This was the first time he saw his mom going all out. And while it was impressive, he couldn't help but be nervous.
Only a few seconds had passed, but Ceph had counted at least twenty clashed. Honestly, Ceph barely followed when they separated before attacking one another again.
Each time they clashed, the surroundings were destroyed. Any of the monsters nearby ended dying from simple collateral damage.
Instead of receiving a reply, Ceph suddenly saw his father appearing behind Zamia. Striking an arrow to the side. 'No, that wasn't one. But many,' Ceph noted. Straining his eyes to make out just what was happening. Clearly, the devil Zelth-whatever had a ranged partner.
—
The sounds of fighting spread through the forest. To make sure Akarui stayed in the cave, and also to hide the fact that a war was being waged, Erik soundproofed the cave. And blocked it off.
He didn't enter with Akarui. Instead, he used some nature magic to extend the growth of the nearby moss. Also molding some earth to fully close of the entrance. After that, he hid.
An act in which Erik thanked his greenish skin for. It made blending in with the surrounding plant-life far easier. In fact, he had the plants cradle him. Turning himself into a shrub.
Erik had no ideas of grandeur. He wasn't a combat type player. And he was not Eldrian.
He wasn't about to run to find the enemy, nor was he going to run to try to offer his healing services. Why would he?
Those living and defending Avgi were all masters of nature magic. Their healing would be far more powerful than his. The best he could do was to save them a paltry amount of mana. Not even enough to make a small, noticeable difference.
So, instead, Erik hid. Praying that the battle would resolve without him needing to distract the enemies. And that his friends would triumph.
Naturally, he was fully willing to die to keep them from finding the cave with Akarui inside. Erik had also contacted Eldrian. Should worse come to worst, he hoped they might make use of his ring to escape with Akarui.
—
'Dear, this archer is quite the bother.' Zamia shared her opinion with a grunt, losing her third dagger to a sneaky arrow. Sacrificed to save her life.
The attack had come at her first as a hail of arrows. Arrows which were guided with ether, and thus had to be cut down and the connection severed.
As Zamia had focused on that, a magic penetrating arrow with an abyssalite arrowhead followed in their shadow. At the last second, Zamia had blocked the attack aimed for her heart. Only noticing it thanks to her instincts.
The shock, however, had caused her dagger to fall from her grip. In fact, the arrow had penetrated her dagger and nicked her chest through it. Luckily, her defenses were quite formidable. So the damage was minimal. Still, blood had been drawn. And not for the first time.
The poison coating the dagger also robbed Zamia of a good amount of mana. She couldn't ignore it, and while dispelling the poison was simple. It was potent and enhanced. Requiring enough mana for at least four Tier 10 spells to dispel completely.
Still, Zelth was worse for wear. Since his only support was from a distance, he had to face two Alicorns. And Agamemas was stronger than Zamia.
Agamemas quickly proved that Zamia's attacked lacked power. When Agamemas attacked with his greatsword, it sent the war-mace aside and tore through flesh. The water coating his blade extinguished the black flames and sneaking into the wound, aiming for the vitals.
Naturally, the devil quickly moved to stop the water from doing any real damage. And while the distraction this caused it had been a perfect opening, the arrival of a third devil had caused the two to fail to strike at him.
This new arrival stayed at a distance, too. Supporting the fight with magic. Its magic was mostly earth and fire based. The former was the most troublesome.
Fire Zamia could easily scatter with wind. Earth, however, had too much mass to it. Worse, her magic barrier couldn't dispel it either. Its momentum carried it true. Sure, the caster lost control once it entered her barrier, but getting hit would do just as much damage as if the barrier didn't exist.
Sadly, Zamia couldn't summon a barrier to prevent all ranged attacks. There were too many ways around it, for one. It would take too much concentration, for two. And, worse of all, it would simply give them an easy way to drain her mana.
Instead of penetrating it, they could simply launch numerous attacks to eat at her mana. It took more effort to defend than to attack, especially when the barrier needed to cover a large area.
While she had an absurd amount, nearly 3 million. It was not infinite.
'However, it might buy us some time.' Zamia thought as she canceled twenty spells and scattered another hail of arrows.
The arrows fixed their path after being scattered, and while their momentum was lost, they remained airborne. Zamia had to continue to scatter them. She could no longer strike them down, which meant more and more were joining the hail. It would soon become too much for her.
She wanted to burn them. Sadly, the arrows were not made of wood. The lowest quality ones had shafts of Mithril and arrowheads of Adamantine. Others were completely Adamantine, and...
'Shit!' She shouted telepathically, not even having the time to even warn Agamemas.
Panicked, Zamia summoned a physical barrier. However, the arrow which clashed with it shattered through it with ease. Only slowing by a fraction of its speed.
Zamia jumped in its way, daggers crossed. Yet, they, too, shattered. The arrow piercing her shoulder and sending her falling. The poison it was coated with quickly running its course.
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