Luckily, Irun heard me, lowered his vases to the floor, and turned to face me. "Thoma Fayren, the Lanky Synner. I've waited for this moment for a long time," he said with a distorted grin. "You mean the day you die, you traitorous fuck? Didn't know you wanted me to tear you from taint to throat so badly," I shouted from across the hall, but he scoffed and shook his head.
"Dakzul, Kimzul. Take care of the larger of the two, leave the lanky one to me," he ordered. The two armored figures said nothing, but made their way towards Bernar. "Heavily armored pricks without weapons? This should be interesting," Bernar said, a slight bit of amusement in his voice.
I heard my brother, but said nothing in return since my focus was on my once-called friend and the pair of undetected women. I saw Meliss and Leona halt about halfway down the hall, frozen in fear, and likely praying nothing would come after them.
Meanwhile, Thorsen and the others were having it out with the small horde of glicks that attacked them just outside, but during that time, their line hadn't been broken until someone to his right fell to the ground with a large gash in his neck.
"Hold the line, damn it!" I heard him shout, but it was too late, since one of the glicks had managed to slip past the line they'd formed. Bernar and I were too occupied with our enemies to notice initially, but by the time I heard its scales rustling down the vast hallway, Leona and Meliss had gone down, I knew it was too late.
Damn it, I can't get to them in time, I mentally kicked myself.
Thankfully, Meliss still had the dagger Pyle had given her with the armor, and turned to face the creature. "Get behind me," she said, pushing Leona to the side, causing her to stagger and land ass-first on the floor. "What the hell are you doing?" Leona asked. "I'm going to save your life," Meliss replied with a determined look in her eye as she gripped her dagger tightly.
The glick raised its claw just before reaching the young girl, who stepped in when it was at its highest peak, jabbing the blade into the creature's gut. It screeched in pain as she withdrew the dagger, covering her in the foul-smelling blood.
It staggered backwards for a moment, but attempted another attack. Meliss responded by jamming the blade into the soft meat just beneath its jaw, piercing its brain. It became limp as blood poured out onto the floor and all over her hands. "Ugh, that… hurngf… that smells rancid," Meliss said, holding back her puke.
"I can't thank you enough, but we need to keep moving before another one comes," Leona breathed a sigh of relief as she got to her feet. Meliss was still processing what she had just done, staring blankly at the creature's body below her, but responded with a grunt. She had difficulty tearing her eyes off the creature, delaying her turn to sprint to the safety of the royal quarters.
Gods above and below, that could've gone so much worse, I thought, having seen the whole ordeal through my peripheral vision.
Bernar and I formed a line with Taegin, who was deep in battle with his brother, and drew our swords as shockwaves from their battle kicked up dust and debris. My black-hilted sword was practically singing, yearning for blood as it left my scabbard. Irun drew his as well, though with the upgrade to his armor, his violet, jagged sword only dully hummed as it was drawn.
The two giants broke out into a run towards Bernar, who got into the Ochs guard. He raised his blade to the height of his right shoulder, with his left hand on the pommel, and tilted the point at a small angle towards the armored men, drawing mana and infusing his blade with Recia, igniting the mana that coated his blade.
I let my sword trail behind me just above the ground as Irun and I sprinted toward each other. When we were nearing striking range, I spun on the ball of my left foot and jumped, creating momentum for my attack. He deflected it with a grunt and immediately moved to counter with a strike that nearly slashed my throat. I rolled backward to avoid it and quickly got to my feet just in time to deflect a killing blow that was aimed at my torso, leaving us in a momentary bind.
"You're not using your second stage? Are you trying to say that I'm not worthy of it?" Irun asked through gritted teeth. "Exactly right. The only thing you're worthy of is a swift death, as I have no time to trade words with a witless worm," I said through the bare of my teeth.
"So? Why not use it on me? In your eyes, I'm sure I've done enough to earn it, right?" Irun asked mockingly. "Not yet. Tell me why you did it. Why did you betray us?" I asked through a grunt of exertion. "I began this journey long before you unlocked your second stage. Once I'd heard that you had, it only fueled my jealousy of you, but I have to live up to someone's reputation," he snarled as I pushed away and began a barrage of light attacks, hoping it would keep him talking.
He deflected one of my strikes aimed at his throat, but pulled me into another bind. "Your arrogance and lust for power will be your downfall, even if you don't die today," I replied, straining against Irun's pressure on my blade. We pushed away from each other with our blades, but I swung my sword upward from the left, striking Irun's shoulder from beneath the gap that his pauldron failed to protect, forcing him backwards.
"You sneaky little shit! You've never done that in training," Irun said, taking a few steps back and harnessing the pain for only a second before I was upon him again.
As I moved in to attack, I felt Taegin draw from the Ethereal and cast a spell simultaneously, creating an extended Kyr spell. Ardrin cast one of his own, meeting the spell halfway and creating a sphere of pure mana where they met as I clashed with Irun.
Taegin and his brother struggled to maintain their spells for long, as they were equally matched, eventually causing a blast that kicked up a cloud of dust that blanketed the entire area. "You'll never win this battle, brother! There is nothing you can do to stop me, now!" Ardrin shouted before casting another barrage of spells toward Taegin.
How the hell is he supposed to land a blow? Ardrin has blocked or countered just about everything he's had thrown at him, I thought.
I heard Taegin grunt as he forced the spells upward, ultimately striking the palace ceiling, blasting a hole the size of a giant clean through it. Ardrin momentarily turned his hands at opposing angles and thrust forward with his arms and weight. The resulting motion caused a large orb of violet mana to speed towards Taegin. Taegin countered with a large, golden orb, causing the two spheres to collide halfway and creating a sizable explosion of mana that nearly struck them both.
Meanwhile, Bernar sidestepped and strafed the incoming attacks as much as possible. I soon realized that the two he fought had little or no experience in battle.
If it weren't for their armor, he'd have made quick work of these bastards by now, I thought.
I struck Irun's armored torso, sending him flying backwards to give me some room to breathe while he recovered. I watched Bernar fight the armored giants, but I noticed an expression on his face that made him look like he was almost calculating something. Whatever it was, it was both reassuring and horrifying to know that he even had that capability.
"Alright fucksticks; play time's over," he snarled, but his adversaries laughed with their distorted voices. "Having a hard time getting at us, are you?" one of the giants asked, making Bernar furrow his brow. "Aw, look! You made him angry," the other replied. "Shut it, Alf," the first one spat.
Alf? That's a human name. Wait, those two aren't daemons? Are they just men in fancy suits of armor? So that's what he was gauging, I realized, seeing a slight grin appear on my brother's face.