It was still early in the morning when I woke up. This always happens, even if it’s summer break. Since I spend so much time at the Academy, I’m used to the dorm’s timetable. This is why no matter where I fall asleep, I always wake up at 5:15 in the morning. My room was still dark, but I could see the faint rays of sunlight through the curtains.
I realized that why I was sleeping, I accidently turned to my other side, and now I was facing the still asleep Vivi. While she was sleeping however, she put a hold on my pajama. Form this angle, she looks so young. Although I shouldn’t say this; she is young, and I’m young, too. I carefully lifted her hand from me, put it on the pillow and looked around in my currently crowded room. The princess (I should call her Margaret now) was peacefully sleeping on my bed. Under the white blanket, I could see Scathach’s white hair. While being careful not to wake any of them up, I stood up and left the room quietly.
The kitchen was the same as I remembered. Nothing has changed here since I traveled back to the school after the winter break. The furniture, the yellow tiles, the dishes – they haven’t changed a bit. Only a coffee cup was missing, but Mother told me that a guest broke it when we were speaking on the phone. I quietly opened the cupboard and in the biggest possible quiet I tried to make some coffee.
When I was ready, I chose a book from the shelf in the living room, sat down on the sofa and started reading. I have to wait until Mom and Dad wake up. Then, I’ll wake up Vivi and Scathach (if she isn’t awake yet) and we’ll head back to the Witch Hand’s sanctuary as soon as we can. I have to inform the Archwitch about the location of the tablet, and it would be good if we could discuss the further plans.
The only thing that made me worried was the assassin from last night. He was wearing a Celestial Treasure, which is for sure. If he did, then it must have been the Viper Gauntlet. According to the rumors it can make several type of deadly poison with different strengths. It can also be used for close-range combat, since it’s made of a quite hard material. I didn’t think that assassins would have the Treasures used by the Church earlier, but recently I’ve met two Treasure user assassins. I tried to think about other Treasures that can be used by them, but I was woken up by a sudden greeting:
‘Good morning, darling’ said Mom. ‘Up already?’
‘Good morning, Mom’ I said. ‘Yes, this somehow became a habit for me.’
She also made a cup of coffee for herself and sat down on the sofa.
‘You’ve became so strong’ she said. ‘It’s like it was yesterday that you said you want to become a Paladin, and now you’re saving the world. You’re so grown up.’
‘I still haven’t saved it’ I said. ‘Is this all right for Margaret to stay here?’
‘She is welcome here’ she said. ‘But you aren’t going to stay, are you?’
‘I can’t’ I said. ‘If I stay here, you’ll be in danger. But if I won’t stay, they won’t hurt you.’
‘Won’t they attack the princess?’ she asked.
‘Scathach erased every piece of evidence about her being here’ I said.
‘You trust her that much?’ she asked.
‘I do’ I said. ‘Grimoires cannot lie to their masters. She is honest with me.’
I remembered Scathach saying that grimoires have to love their masters, but I didn’t mention this to Mom.
‘Vivi is such a nice girl’ she changed the topic.
‘You two were talking in the kitchen before we went sleeping, right?’ I asked.
‘She was continually apologizing for dragging you in all this trouble’ she said.
‘She isn’t the one to blame…’ I started, but I noticed the smile on Mom’s mouth.
‘She is such a good girl’ she said. ‘If she didn’t tell us that she is a sorceress, we couldn’t even determine it.’
I had the feeling that she means something between the lines, but I couldn’t ask her about this, since Vivi stepped in the room.
‘Good morning!’ she smiled on us.
‘Ah!’ said Mom. ‘Good morning, Vivi.’
‘Good morning, Vivi’ I said. ‘Sorry, did I wake you up?’
‘No’ she shook her head. ‘I just noticed that you aren’t in the room, and decided to look for you.’
‘Do you want some breakfast?’ asked Mom.
‘No, thanks’ she said. ‘Gergő, we should go soon, shouldn’t we? We disappeared during the night from the sanctuary. The Archwitch must be really angry.’
‘Don’t even mention that’ I said. It’s true that we have information about one stone tablet’s whereabouts, but we left without asking permission. I sighed deeply.
‘We’ll do something’ I said. ‘We can explain everything to her.’
‘In that case, please change clothes before you leave’ said Mom. ‘Also, you should have breakfast.’
‘Thank you, Mom’ I said. Vivi smiled, then left to wake Scathach up.
About fifteen minutes later together with the well-fed Vivi and the cheerful Scathach (Mom said that her hair is beautiful, which seemed to mean her a lot) were standing in the door. Mom gave a tight hug to all of us, and from the corner of my eyes I saw that Dad whispered something into Scathach’s ear.
‘Take care’ she said.
‘I’ll be back, Mom, Dad’ I said.
‘Let’s go’ said Scathach, and grabbed my hand. Was it my imagination or did she really twinkled to Dad?
‘Thank you for everything!’ waved Vivi.
I opened the door but just before I stepped out I heard:
‘Wait!’
Margaret came running towards me. Her hair was disheveled and she was still wearing Mom’s bathrobe; maybe she just woke up.
‘Are you leaving already?’ she asked.
‘We have to’ I answered.
She stepped ahead, hesitated for a moment, then asked:
‘Do you really have to?’
I just nodded. Her eyes were really sad.
‘I guess I can’t go with you’ she said quietly.
‘You will be safe here’ I said. She still wasn’t satisfied with this answer, but she somehow respected my decision.
‘Then…’ with a blushed face she stepped ahead and kissed me. This wasn’t the same kiss as the one Scathach gave me on the train; she placed her lips on my cheek, very close to my mouth. Even if she didn’t kiss my lips, my heart still skipped a beat.
‘Please come back safely’ she whispered.
I couldn’t answer, just nodded. She smiled, then together with Mom went back to the living room.
‘Take care’ said Dad, and closed the door behind us.
On the way down the stairs I asked Scathach:
‘What did Dad say to you?’
Scathach smiled:
‘He said that I must protect you, no matter what happens’ she said, then returned to her grimoire form.
The Archwitch was a lot more understanding then I thought. It’s true that in the beginning she was raging for a bit, but when I mentioned the Decalogue she immediately calmed down and invited us for a private talk.
She patiently listened to my story – which according to Vivi was rarer than the end of world itself – and when I finished talking, she just nodded.
‘So you are from royal blood?’ she asked.
‘It seems so’ I said. ‘According to No. 04 I am.’
‘This explains your high compatibility with Treasures’ she said, thinking.
‘Does this lead to any change in the plan?’ I asked.
‘As far as I can tell, it doesn’t’ she said. ‘Since I don’t think you want to kill the controller of the table and you won’t try to take the control over the tablets, it won’t change anything. You said you found the location of one of the tables, right?’
‘Right’ I said.
‘Where is it currently?’ she asked.
‘Under the Fisherman’s Bastion, in a secret underground storage’ I said.
‘Is it guarded?’ she asked.
‘As far as I know, heavily’ I said. ‘Last time I was there, there were plenty of Imperial Police members, but from what I’ve seen from the mage’s memories there are at least twice as much guards down there, all of them being combat mages.’
‘This can be a problem’ she said. ‘I don’t think we have enough fightable sorceresses against them.’
‘I can take all of them down’ I said.
‘Even if you can get there and destroy the tablets yourself, you’ll run out of magic and stamina, and become vulnerable to the reinforcements’ she said. ‘You will need our help.’
I hate to admit, but she was right. If I run out of Mana, Scathach can’t fight any more either, and I won’t be able to aid Vivi in fighting. I might really need their help.
‘What is the plan, my lady?’ asked Vivi. The Archwitch stood up.
‘Get ready, Vivi’ she ordered. ‘You too, High King of Hexes. I’ll order the others to get ready to fight as well. We might have to force our way through the city.’
‘Gergő, can you help me preparing?’ asked Vivi.
‘Of course’ I said and followed her to her chamber.
Back at her cell, Vivi asked:
‘Do you think we have to fight an open battle on the streets?’
‘I don’t know’ I said. ‘But for me, it seems like the Archwitch thinks that. If that happened, the Imperial Police and the sorcerers would have the advantage.’
‘And what about the assassin you met at the castle?’ she asked. ‘Do you think he recognized you?’
‘He might have not recognized my identity, but he definitely noticed that Scathach is a grimoire’ I said. ‘If he’d continued thinking further that what is a grimoire doing with a Knight-style cleric, I’m sure that eventually he found out that I’m the High King of Hexes.’
‘So they’re aware of your identity, huh?’ she said, while she was taking down her robe and put on s chain shirt-like vest. She also replaced her skirt with an armored half-hose and put on a pair of steel tibia-protectors. Finally, she put on a hooded mage robe, which seemed to be a bit worn. She turned to me, and asked:
‘Well? How do I look?’
I left my mouth open so I couldn’t answer, but she gave me a beautiful laugher.
‘Close your mouth and let’s go!’ she said. ‘We’d better hurry, you know.’
I nodded and followed her to the main chamber.
The quick army that the Archwitch sat up was waiting for us in the main hall, the very same place where I was fighting with those three mages the other day. Now thirty combat-ready sorceresses were standing there, listening to the Archwitch’s orders. All of them were wielding staves or wands, and in some hands I could even see grimoires. With this army, even if we’ll be outnumbered by the clerics, mages or the Imperial Police we’ll be able to give a worthy repost to them.
‘And there he is!’
The Archwitch finished talking, and when she pointed at me, all hooded faces turned towards me.
‘Come here!’ she ordered, and when I stopped on her side, she put her hand on my shoulder and said:
‘Listen, everyone. As some of you might already know, this boy here is Eötvös Gergely, the last High King of Hexes in a thousand years. Now, respect him as your commander and my direct deputy!’ She quietly whispered to me: ‘Come on, introduce yourself!’
I stepped ahead, bowed and said:
‘Nice to meet you all. As you all know, my name is Eötvös Gergely and I am the High King of Hexes. Now, we’re going to save the world and this is why I’m going to rely on your strength!’
When I looked up, I couldn’t see the faces under the hoods, but when I found Vivi’s eyes I calmed down a bit. Her eyes were shining with respect and some other emotion which I’ve never seen in anyone’s eye before. She was encouragingly smiling.
‘Then, it’s time to talk about the exact plan’ the Archwitch took a step ahead again, and started explaining.
From here events seemed to have accelerated to me. In one moment I was memorizing the Archwitch’s plan. In a next one, I was in the tunnel again, following half of the army. The other half took a different tunnel. And before I noticed, we were already on the surface.
When the Archwitch explained her plan, I found it hard to understand why we have to attack in broad light, but she said that this move limits the possible movements of our opponents. The main task of the Imperial Police is to secure the safety of citizens. If they sense that citizens might be in danger, they’ll surely hesitate or hold back. Personally, I hated the idea of involving innocent passers, but the Archwitch granted that we won’t have to attack them.
To tell the truth, I could have never imagined a scene like this (again). Together with seventeen hooded girls I walk down the capital’s streets dressed in a strange hooded armor, completely armed. I also put on my hood, but I was careful not to activate my invisibility. What made this scene even stranger was the reaction of the passers. The looked and pointed at us, but didn’t try to stop us, not even the guards. Maybe they thought that we are part of the show of the Spring Festival. Now that I thought about it, the plan made sense. If we went out at night like that, we’d have been stopped at the first corner by the guards. But as long as they believe that we are street performers who’re participating in the Festival, no one will stop us, not even guards. It’s going to be embarrassing for them if they’re mistaken, and I haven’t said anything about the consequences. It’s better for them to just leave us alone.
We got really far; we even managed to get through the Margit Bridge without anyone even trying to stop us. The misfortune happened after it, when we were forced to stop by a police barrier at the feet of the hills. We had to take a detour, but a policeman who was brave or stupid enough to stop us left his group and asked where we are going. Everything went wrong within a single moment. The crystal detector went crazy and without thinking he drew out his sword. One of the sorceresses in the front stunned him with a well-aimed spell, but the other guards have already alerted the others. The sound of the alarm bells flew through the river, and the sound of many other bells flew back. We quickly incapacitated the other guards, but it was too late.
‘Everyone!’ I shouted. ‘We’re changing plans! Let’s head up right!’
We started running up the hills towards the Bastion. We managed to make our way this far, huh? Well, it looks like for me that God is still on my side.
The first group of enemies was waiting for us in a small square. There were about eight or nine people there, both clerics and policemen. I easily recognized the three Knights in the front: all three of them were equipped with silverite swords. In the background I could see two guards with guns.
‘Everyone, attack!’ I ordered.
‘Don’t let them through!’ shouted their commander, and the fight began.
I pulled out both the Silver Knight’s Sword and Stoic, and while rushing through the Knights, I aimed the gunmen.
‘Fire!’ shouted one of them.
‘Too slow!’ I said.
The miracle I used here is called Death Trajectory. It’s a passive-type miracle used by Ranger clerics. It can indicate the most possible trajectory of a bullet, making it easier to dodge them. This miracle flawlessly works as long as the user sees the tip of the gun. It can be confusing when there are more than ten gunmen in sight, but against two single men it is perfect.
Judging from the trajectories, one of them would have eventually missed me, but the other aimed at my right side. I cut through both of the bullets, and asked in my mind:
‘Scathach! Stun them!’
‘Yes, Master!’ she answered.
Two light blue orbs appeared above my shoulder and hit the gunmen. I turned back and I just could see how Vivi took down two other guards at the same time. The other sorceresses quickly took care of the remaining guards and hurried after me.
‘Good’ I thought. ‘The first battle is done. Now we just have to win the war.’
With Vivi by my side and the others following me, I rushed up the street.
Back then, I didn’t know how difficult the next battle will be. On the street I chose to go up there were other squares and no matter how small and weak the first group was, they still gave enough time for our enemies to set up their own formation. And that time, I didn’t know who will be in the next group.
‘There is a next group ahead!’ warned one of the Avaritia mages me.
‘How many?’ I asked.
‘About twenty-five’ she said. ‘Clerics and mages mixed!’
‘What?’ I asked.
Our situation might be really serious. If clerics and mages join forces just to stop me, the battle will be really hard. And just when I arrived to the next square, I froze.
‘This can’t be…’ I whispered.
‘What’s wrong, Master?’ asked Scathach. Her voice was really worried.
Vivi arrived and caught my arm.
‘What’s wrong, Gergő?’ she asked.
I couldn’t move. My body became paralyzed when I saw the three boys standing in the lines of the clerics. One of them, who was wielding a single straight sword, took a step ahead, and shouted:
‘Stop right there, Gergő!’
The tall boy was my former best friend, Máté. He was standing there, looking at my eyes directly. Even from that distance, I could see the anger and sadness in his eyes. Besides Máté, Tibi and Ákos were in the lines of the clerics, too.
‘Stop it, Gergő!’ shouted Tibi.
Vivi stepped closer to me, and while not taking her eyes off them, she quietly asked:
‘Who are these boys?’
‘My former friends’ I whispered. ‘From the Cleric Academy.’
‘Former friends?’ she asked back. She looked at them, then asked:
‘You don’t want to fight them, right?’
‘This is the last thing I want’ I said.
‘Then, I won’t let them close to you’ she said quietly, stepped in front of me and raised her hand before me.
‘I’m going to help you too, Master!’ said Scathach, and changing into her humanoid form, she also stepped in front of me.
‘Answer us, Gergő!’ shouted Máté. ‘Why are you doing this?’
I didn’t answer. If I did so, they might have been in danger. I didn’t want to get them involved, but now that they’re in, I can’t throw them deeper in the dark.
‘Attack!’ ordered the enemy commander, and they started their attack.
The enemy sorcerers sent out massive fire- and ice balls towards us, which were completely blocked by Scathach’s shield. Máté charged towards us among the other Knights, and while she managed to avoid Vivi’s spell, I raised my hand, and casted the spell:
‘Dark Hail!’
This spell sent multiple black orbs towards the Knights, all of them with a size of a big apple, and even if they withstood most of the damage, all of them were knocked back, including Máté. Meanwhile, Vivi started a fight with Tibi. The surprised Máté stood up, and said:
‘So you really are a mage, aren’t you. But this is as far as we let you.’
I noticed from the beginning that when the mages sent out their spells and the Knights started their attacks, Ákos disappeared from the picture. I know this move pretty well, we practiced it a lot in the school. The three of us were the decoys while…
…while Ákos did the final jumping attack.
I saw him jumping through the whole square. This was also a feature of the Knight class, and this jump combined with Ukonvasara’s massive damage, a well-laid attack could crush a single target in small pieces. That is, unless someone has an adamantine sword.
I lifted up the Silver Knight’s Sword above my head, buttressing its blade with both my left wrist and forehead. When Ákos stroke me with Ukonvasara, our blades were sparkling from the impact. The street’s cobble stones cracked under me, but I remained unharmed. Still in the air, Ákos asked:
‘A-are y-you a Treasure user?’
‘Yes, I am’ I said. While not letting the sword move from my forehead, I aimed at his left knee with Stoic, and shot right through it.
Ákos fell to the ground and did not get up again. This happened just as I planned: by aiming right on the top of his knee, above his patella I managed to immobilize him for a few weeks while not turning him into a complete disabled. I know Ákos well, as well as the fact that he tends to forget protecting his legs. Even if he gets healed by a skilled cleric, he won’t be able to fight for at least a week.
‘Gergő!’ shouted Máté. He was raging. ‘How could you to that?’
I blocked Máté’s first attack, and jumped back. He continued his fierce attacks. He was serious, I could tell this from his eyes, as well as the color of his aura. His anger multiplied his power, but he forgot something that we’re taught in the very first lesson: ˝Don’t let your feelings overcome you. If you’re consumed by your fury, you will surely miss with your attacks˝. Even if his attacks were stronger that his usual attacks, they lost their accuracy.
The difference of our levels was usually really visible, but the Silver Knight’s Sword made me stronger, even stronger than Máté. Now my fighting skills and speed were greatly above his skills. And since he lost the control over his emotions, he was no longer match to me. When one of his slashes missed my neck, I stepped back and made an up cut from impetus, knocking his sword out of his hand. Finally, I kicked his chest and he fell down.
‘It’s over’ I said.
‘Why?’ he asked. ‘Why did you leave us? If it’s only about you being a sorcerer, then I’m sure we can solve this somehow!’
‘You are mistaken’ I said. ‘This isn’t about must or mustn’t. I chose this path myself, and I will finish it.’
He looked at me, then took something out of his pocket and threw it to me, saying:
‘Catch it!’
It was a small piece of paper. I hid it in my pocket and looked around. The battle almost seemed to be over, and surprisingly we were the winners. Scathach dealt with all of the mages, while the others took down the guards and clerics. A few meters away Tibi was lying. Vivi was running towards me.
‘Don’t worry’ she said when she looked at my eyes. ‘Your former friend is just unconscious.’
I turned around and started running up the hill. The team followed me, together with Vivi and Scathach. The second battle is over, but we still have a long way to our destination.
We met the third enemy team at the last square before the bastion. I could tell it from the distance that these ones are stronger. Even if I don’t know who the enemy general is, I have to admit that it was a good plan. This is a setup called tower defense; by putting the weaker pawns in the base of the ˝tower˝ and the strongest officers in the top he can drain the enemy’s forces out of their stamina. But something was disturbing me. If this is his plan, he either seriously underestimated us or he holds an ugly surprise.
My inkling seemed to come true when we reached the middle of the square. It was suspicious from the beginning that they didn’t attack us when they saw us, but since I didn’t sense any magical traps, I decided to go. And this became my greatest mistake in this battle.
‘Master, they’re surrounding us!’ said Scathach.
She was right. They baited us in only to surround us like that. The new solders were covering their presences and somehow I was sure that I could have discovered them if I’ve been careful. They quickly stood in position, which surprised me once again.
The Knight clerics and melee mages stood up in a semicircle in the middle. From the sideways Rangers and gunmen appeared, aiming directly at us. Summoners and Conjurers were standing in the corners, calling for their spirits and familiars. I even heard the chants of Orators, pulling up a barrier around us. As far as I could count, there were fifty of them.
‘This is bad, Gergő’ said Vivi.
‘What are we going to do, commander?’ asked one of the sorceresses.
The question was correct. Against this numerical superiority we don’t have much chance. I turned around and when I looked at their eyes, I could see both despair and expectation. I can’t leave them like this. I turned to Scathach, and asked:
‘Is that true that a black mage bears three times more power than a white mage?’
‘No, Master’ she answered. ‘They have the power of four white mages.’
‘Then, fifty soldiers shouldn’t cause much problem to me’ I said, and took a step ahead.
‘I am the High King of Hexes’ I said on a loud voice. ‘I stand on equal level with Saints and Paladins. If you don’t want to get killed, move out my way!’
I didn’t expect much from this intimidation, but at least I managed to confuse them. Even if they didn’t believe what I said, they involuntarily stepped back, but none of them surrendered.
‘Very well’ I said. ‘So I have no other choice but to do this!’
As I recalled the spell Scathach gave me earlier, a large magic circle appeared under my foot. It was glowing with both light blue and green. I raised my left hand towards the sky and shouted:
‘Stardust Fallout!’
From my angle I could only see that a large bolt of light left my hand and flew towards the sky, then – like shooting stars – they fell back, striking all the fifty people around us. This was a heavy strike; it could even damage those sorcerers who managed to pull up a shield in time. In an instant, the army of fifty was reduced to five.
‘Well, well’ said a voice from behind my back. ‘This was a quite powerful spell, wasn’t it? It could have eliminated a whole army, but as far as I can see, no one has even died from it. High King of Hexes, you are an interesting phenomenon indeed.’
‘Who is there?’ I turned around in an instant, just to see a single man on a rooftop.
He wasn’t an ordinary cleric, I could tell it. First of all, I didn’t sense his presence earlier. Secondly, he was holding a strange gun that I’ve never seen before. And last, I was able to sense a strong divine barrier around his body.
‘Forgive me for my rudeness, Cursed King’ he mocked me. ‘I haven’t properly introduced myself yet. My name is Karl Kugel, and I am a Paladin.’
My blood literally froze. This guy here is one of the six Paladins in the world, and the second one whom I met in the past few days. I have no idea if I can beat him. He might be stronger than me.
‘What’s wrong?’ he said. ‘Did you bit your tongue? Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. In the place you’re going you won’t need your voice!’
He pointed his gun at me and calmly pulled the trigger. I didn’t have to use Death Trajectory to tell that I can’t dodge his shot. Crap, is this how I’m going to die?
‘Watch out, Captain!’
One of the sorceresses – I will never get to know her name – jumped in front of me, blocking the bullet’s trajectory. It happened so fast: in one moment I could see her jumping, then in the next one, she disappeared. I didn’t even understand what happened until I noticed the blood sprayed on my face. The shot completely vaporize her. Only her feet remained from her body.
‘Hey, hey’ said another voice outside my vision. ‘This was a bit too brutal for a Paladin.’
Before I turned towards the new voice, I sensed its owner. He was definitely a magician, and not a second-class one. He was a Saint.
‘Damn’ he sighed. ‘I didn’t come this far just to see you killing some low-level minions. I wanted to see the High King of Hexes for myself.’
‘Prvek Rostislav!’ said the Paladin. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I was ordered to stop the Cursed King by the management of Heaven’s Road, despite the fact that they are a bit thankful to him’ he said.
‘Thankful?’ I asked. ‘Why?’
‘To temporarily removing the Paladin, Weinberg Christopher from fighting’ he said. ‘Despite all of your actions, Eötvös Gergely against our plans, you were a great help for us. You have my thanks, as well as the recognition of the whole Heaven’s Road management. But please don’t misunderstand me. You know, I have strict orders not to leave you alive.’
With that said, he pointed his staff at me, and calmly smiled. It was about a meter long staff, made of some kind of red wood and decorated with multiple jewel-like markings in red, blue, transparent and brown colors. Just by looking at it, I could feel its power. Maybe it is a costume staff designed only for him?
‘So just to make it clear: your only intention here is to kill the High King of Hexes, and you have no motivations of starting a fight with me?’ asked Kugel.
‘Maybe next time, my dear enemy’ said Pvrek with a calm smile. ‘I haven’t forgotten my business with you yet, Paladin of the Rifle.’
Both of them turned towards me, and I felt like I was already defeated. I have to fight two of the world’s strongest fighters at the same time. When I was fighting with Weinberg in Transylvania, even if he was also a Paladin, the circumstances were totally different. Back then, the Lord of Vampires was standing by my side and the Paladin seriously underestimated me. But now I was at complete disadvantage. These guys will never underestimate me. They will crush me in no time. And I can’t even use the card I got from the Archwitch; it would seriously decrease my arsenal of spells. I might easily die here…
‘Gergő…’
When I turned around, I faced Vivi, who took her hood off meanwhile. With an emotion I couldn’t identify, she said:
‘Please run away.’
‘Heh?’ I was surprised. ‘Why?’
‘You are the only one who can destroy the tablet’ she said. ‘I will try to gain some time for you.’
‘I can’t do that…’ I started, but I was interrupted:
‘Please go ahead, commander’ said an Ira-type mage. ‘We will create an opening for you. Even if we can’t defeat them, we’ll make them pay for killing our comrade.’
When I looked at the eyes of the others, I saw the same determination. These sorceresses here are really ready to die for me. Their leader told them that they have to protect me and ensure the success of our mission. I just can’t let loyal people like them die like this! I will never accept it!
‘No’ I said. ‘I’m sorry, but I won’t run away. I will fight! I won’t let any of you die!’
‘So this is your answer, Cursed King?’ asked the Saint. ‘To fight until the end? Well, if this is what you truly want, I shall grant your wish!’
He made a large swing with his staff, and incanted:
‘Doublecast: Scorching Bolt and Water Lance!’
‘Scathach, block them!’ I said.
‘Yes, Master!’ she answered. ‘Warding Zone!’
Even if Scathach’s shield blocked the spells, the Saint still managed to push her back a bit. Now it’s clear: I can’t hold back anymore. Until now I was holding back to avoid killing, but that won’t work against these foes. Even if I go seriously against them, they won’t die. They are stronger than that.
I turned to the Paladin, who meanwhile commenced his attack. He aimed at me, but I jumped in the air, cutting through the bullet. I used the Jump spell to make one more jump in the air, but before I could cut him, I bounced off his divine barrier. While I was falling back, he shot at me four more times, and even if I cut through them, he shot three more times.
‘What the hell?’ I grumbled. ‘What is that gun?’
‘This is my costume gun!’ he said. ‘It was made by using the latest mechanical inventions and Alchemy! It doesn’t need any reloading time or specific type of ammo! It can destroy a whole building in one shot!’
To give power to his worlds, he changed position and shot under my legs. I could hardly get away by jumping straight in the air, but this was what he expected me to do; in a moment he appeared two meters above my head and shot right down. He could have hit me if I didn’t dodge it in mid-air. Unrestricted movement is just such a useful miracle. With that, I can move in the air like I was swimming, but it also allows me to change the direction of my attacks. This technic is taught to both Knights and Rangers who exceed silver level. But since I know this technic and I’m only a Paladin candidate, I’m sure that my opponent knows it and its weaknesses. I won’t be able to win this fight if I don’t come up with something. I need a sure hit strike.
As I fell back to the ground and evaded his next two shots, I calmed down by using the self-suggestion calm inducement of the Orator clerics. When you have to chant such long chants as expert Orators do, you need to keep calm and focused, and this is why we’re taught self-suggestion tricks. Now that I got calmer, I started to think about a strategy. He is a Ranger. Rangers are specialized in ranged combat. They have good evading abilities thanks to their movement-type miracles which give them inertia less body, but in fight they might be overwhelmed by fast Knights. Okay, let’s give it a try! I focused and said my prayer:
‘Mightiest God, I need your help. Grant me Thy speed that exceeds lightning and charges through the universe! Grant me Godspeed!’
Godspeed is the strongest speed-increasing miracle that exists. While normal speed increasing miracles increase the vibration frequency of one’s aura, Godspeed does more than that: it alters the frequency pattern of the user from the others in an extreme way. When that happens, no matter what the opponent does, they can’t get close to the user due to the massive difference in the two auras’ vibration patterns. Besides the massive speed boost, the further empowerment only depends on the user’s abilities. I’m sure that he will dodge my first attacks, but on such high speeds he’ll eventually commit a mistake.
I jumped in the air, and time slowed down around me. I saw the Paladin evading my first slash, but before he could’ve turned around, I already bounced back from a building’s wall and aimed his back. He instinctively dodged it, but I managed to cut through his armor. I landed on the ground, turned towards him and said:
‘Give up already. You are no match for my speed. Run away or I’ll target your neck with the next strike!’
‘Don’t get cocky, thug!’ he shouted. ‘I’ll kill you!’
He wanted to jump ahead, but in the middle of the move he froze. He turned around and inspected his bloody back.
‘You bastard!’ he was raging. ‘What did you do?’
‘It was an expert swordplay move’ I explained. ‘Its name is Illusionary Second strike. It’s not part of the regular Knight curriculum, this is why you didn’t expect it coming. I followed the first strike with a second that is always faster than the speed of sound. If you won’t retreat, I’ll cut down your neck next time!’
I was surprised how well that move worked. I’ve never ever managed to pull it out during the trainings. But now thanks to the reflex increasing effect of the Silver Knight’s Sword, I did it flawlessly. But to tell the truth, he was too fast, Even if I was closer, I wouldn’t have been able to cut him deeper. He is just too strong to go down after a move like that.
‘Gergő!’ screamed Vivi.
While I was fighting with the Paladin, the Saint has managed to corner Vivi and Scathach. Even if our team had the advantage in numbers, there is not much a bunch of blue and grey mages can do against a white mage. Vivi is a grey mage on the edge of the red level, and Scathach is a legendary grimoire, but a white mage can overpower them. And only white mages can earn the title ˝Saint˝.
‘Scathach!’ I shouted. ‘Return to me!’
‘Do you think it’ll be any help?’ asked the Saint.
It will be, I kept telling myself. Even in independent fight, Scathach can only use magic if she drains the Mana from me. If she returns, I’ll be able to hold myself for three or four more minutes. Maybe I can think about something.
‘Analyze!’ I casted the spell. What I saw frightened me. It looks like he can only use elemental magic. He must be an Ira mage. And what’s more, by sacrificing his ability to learn and use any other type of magic, he gained absolute control over the four elements. This trait, along with his massive Mana capacity and great knowledge as a Saint, makes him a truly frightening opponent.
When he noticed that I’m looking at him, he gave me a strange smile, and said:
‘You managed to analyze my magic, little king? Well, judging from your expression you already understand its true nature. If you want to know, I gave it the name ˝Over Element˝. If you don’t mind, I’ll try it on you!’
Somehow, I managed to give a calm smile as response.
‘Oh, really?’ I asked. I had an idea and it seemed really good. ‘Well, don’t hold back!’
‘Prvek Rostislav!’ shouted the Paladin. ‘Are you going to take away my prey?’
‘Sorry, Karl!’ he shouted back. ‘I have to hurry, so I will deal with this kid quickly, even if you mind!’
He turned towards me with a huge, frightening smile. I could hardly maintain my calmness.
‘Witness my fourth strongest spell, kid!’ he shouted. ‘Fluid Space!’
The Mana around him gathered on such high speed that it was visible even without using Detect Magic. At first, it looked like dust in the sunlight, but it then turned into blue. It wasn’t simple blue though; it had all the existing blue colors in itself.
‘Die, Cursed King!’ he shouted on an insane voice.
And then I was hit by his spell. Its effect was simply insane. When I heard the term Fluid Space, I thought it created a field of liquid, but I was wrong. Its actual effect was even more terrible: it simply turned the space around me into liquid. If I wasn’t a powerful magician, according to the laws of physics I should’ve been evaporated when space changed around me. Everything turned into some unidentifiable liquid around me. The pressure was incredible; all of the air disappeared from my lungs in an instant. In this situation, it didn’t matter if I casted an underwater breathing spell on myself in advance. It was like my whole body started turning into liquid. I felt that magic won’t reach me here. Even a miracle couldn’t save me from the unavoidable death. I felt that my soul slowly leaves my body, then…
…Then it was all over. I was standing on the square, unharmed. I looked up at the Saint. His face was pale.
‘H-how?’ he whispered. ‘How did you survive?’
I gladly smiled. My plan worked perfectly.
‘It looks like for me that you weren’t aware of my power’s true nature’ I laughed. ‘Tell me, what you think my magic is?’
‘I was told it was Magic Replication’ he said, but he suddenly shut up.
‘It doesn’t make any sense, does it?’ I asked. ‘It’s because my magic is different. If I understand a spell’s true nature, it won’t work on me next time!’
The Saint looked frightened.
‘D-don’t tell me your magic is…’ he started.
‘Too slow!’ I said, and pointed my finger at him. ‘Stardust Cannon!’
Despite being shocked, he still managed to pull up a shield. The problem with that was that it didn’t do anything; before the cannonball of stardust reached the shield, it fell apart into several bolts of stardust. One or two of these bolts were blocked by his shield, but most of them simply went around it and hit him. The injured Saint fell down to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
‘It’s over’ I said. ‘You lost, Lord of Elements.’
‘Yes, it’s over’ said a voice behind my back.
I turned around as quickly as I could, but I was too late. What master strategists say about behaving on the battlefield is true; if you forget about your opponent just for a single second, it’ll cost your life. I was too focused on the Saint that I let the Paladin out of my sight. From the position I was in it was impossible to dodge his shot. The bullet hit me right in the middle of my chest, and I flew to the closest building’s wall.
‘Huh?’ he said. ‘So you’re still alive?’
‘I won’t go down that easily’ I groaned. ‘You have no attacks that can pierce my armor.’
Even if he couldn’t injure me, the pain was still unbearable. It covered everything I saw with red fog. I grabbed my sword, silently grumbled my prayer and stood up.
‘You are pretty durable’ said the Paladin. ‘You need willpower to stand up after a hit like that. So, what are you going to do if I shot your head?’
‘Gergő!’ shouted Vivi. She was standing in a corner, together with the mages who weren’t caught up in the fury of attacks.
‘Stay back!’ I shouted. ‘I can take care of him alone! Take the others and go back!’
‘B-but…’ she started, but I stopped her.
‘No buts!’ I said. ‘This is an order! Retreat!’
She put on a mocking expression, and my chest tightened. I didn’t want to say this, but I had no other choice. She was ordered to obey my commands. She has no choice but to retreat.
‘I’ll come back later for you!’ she said, then turned around and run after the others. The Paladin was just looking at them, but didn’t do anything.
‘Let’s finish this, soldier of God’ I raised my sword.
‘Yeah, let’s do that’ he said. He casted a healing miracle on himself and aimed at me.
Suddenly, Scathach said in my head:
‘Watch out, Master! The Saint isn’t down yet!’
‘What?’ I turned towards the place I last saw him. Now, the fog of dust was whirling around him violently. He was standing there without the slightest injury. He seemed perfectly healthy and – completely angry.
‘He regenerated his wounds and magic by absorbing air!’ said Scathach. ‘He is full of energy now!’
Scathach was right. I looked at the Saint’s eyes, but I didn’t see anything else than anger and insanity
‘Now you’ve done it, bastard!’ he shouted. ‘I don’t care about the orders anymore! I’m going to erase you from existence!’
He threw away his staff, making both of his hands free. With an insane smile on his face, he widely opened up his arms and looked up the sky. The Mana around him was swirling violently.
‘Stop it, Rostislav!’ shouted the Paladin. His voice was full of fear. ‘Do you want to kill everyone in the city?’
The Saint didn’t answer, he just laughed. His spell was so strong that only by casting it, it made air whirling around him, causing a smaller tornado.
‘This is really bad, Master!’ said Scathach’s panicking voice in my head. ‘You mustn’t let him finish this spell! This spell swaps the quintessential forces of humans with the essence of death, nether! Anything that has the quintessential force as life power will instantly die!’
I rushed towards him, but with just a stare of his eye I was knocked back to the ground, hit my head and almost lost consciousness. As I was laying on the cobble stones, he looked at me and shouted:
‘I will never let you run away from me, High King of Hexes! Be devoured by the essence of Hell that brings death to all the living!’
With full power, he swung down both his arms and shouted:
‘Pit of Hell: Carnivore of Soul…’
In a loud explosion, his casting was interrupted. Just before he said the last letter of his spell, the Paladin decided to take action: he shot right under the Saint’s legs. From the impact the cobble stones exploded and the Saint flew back a few meters in the air.
I knew the reason why the Paladin didn’t shot at the Saint’s head. It wasn’t because of he didn’t really want to kill him. Duels between the highest ranked warriors of both sides are forbidden; these kinds of duels caused lots of troubles in the past and they always ended in draw. If a Paladin were to kill a Saint here and now, it’d be equal to the declaration of an open war between the Church and the mages. He can’t let such a thing happen. Even if he was ordered not to engage in combat with the Saint or start a fight, he still had to stop prevent the Saint from killing thousands of civilians. He made the best possible decision he could imagine and shot under his legs.
‘Yes, you were right’ said the Paladin. ‘It’s over. Everything is over. But not for him. It’s for you.’
The Saint didn’t move. He lost consciousness after falling down to the ground. To execute his spell, he had to deactivate all of his magical protection he put on earlier. I heard somewhere earlier that this kind of pre-casted self-enchantment is called Saint’s Armor. They cast protection and buffing spells directly on their auras, making it an indiscernible and protective armor. But since its main goal is to protect its user, it also prevents the usage of some extreme-high level spells. He knew this, but he still decided to cast his spell.
‘Master!’ said Scathach. ‘Protect yourself! It isn’t over yet!’
‘Why?’ I asked. ‘What’s happening?’
‘When casting such high-level spells, if you don’t finish them, the large amount of unused Mana will try to return to the environment! It’s going to explode!’
‘Protect yourself!’ I shouted to the Paladin. Maybe from instinct, he automatically pulled up his divine barrier. Scathach wasn’t kidding; the magical explosion was really huge and destructive. It glowed with white light for a moment, but when the sound came, it painted the walls purple and turned the sky grey. It didn’t damage physical objects however; it came into chain reaction with all different kinds of energy, which negated each other in a huge explosion. It only lasted for less than three seconds, but if the Paladin didn’t pull on his divine barrier in the last moment, he’d have been evaporated. As the colors returned to normal, he let down his gun and quietly whispered:
‘Thanks for warning me…’
But when he looked around, I wasn’t there anymore.
alfabetagregor 