Shadowbane

The vortex begins swirling faster and faster until it eventually begins forming into a large liquid sphere. As soon as it formed into a sphere, it launched towards the ground so fast that even with my eyes I could barely keep track of it. A sonic boom rang out, shattering my ears as the shock wave that followed it knocked me back several yards right onto the ice, sliding for several more meters before stopping.

Shit, I can feel my ears healing but it's going to take time. Time I don't have.

Attempting to put my hands on the ice to stand up, they instead sink deep into a soft muddy surface. At the same time, I feel my butt fall through the ice into a puddle of mud as well. It didn't take long to understand why this was happening. The ground went from cold, to warm, to very hot at an alarming rate. The water evaporated soon after, leading to my new boots starting to smoke.

Enhancing my feet, I begin jumping between trees towards my destination, avoiding the ground as I go since it's now a hazard zone apparently.

I don't know what that spell was, but maybe the Satyr did know what the Eldritch was doing. Anything on or under the ground is going to be incinerated soon. That Eldritch didn't look like the kind that could climb webs or trees, nor did the Lords for that matter. If the spawn are going to be my only allies then I already know how this fight is going to end.

The sky lit up a bright orange as large fireballs began falling indiscriminately over a vast area.

"Hellfire?! Why?!!"

This is a spell they use when destroying large cities. The hive was a well-designed but compact place. It was not the kind of target Satyrs would use hellfire against... I don't understand it, but what's done is done. While I'm surprised it was dual-casting, I'm more annoyed that my advantage in darkness is now gone. Maybe that's why it cast hellfire? I'm sure they told the Satyr about me... Knowing that I guess it's not the worst choice in the end. Now they'll have natural light as this whole forest goes up in a blaze, and it will cause massive problems for any spiders that survived the other spell. The Satyr wouldn't have left itself tapped out after this, but I'm sure it's much lower on ether than it originally would have been. So there's a good side to all this at least.

~Albel's POV~

As a fire ability user, I'm beyond jealous of the scene playing out in front of me. How many normal people would be necessary to cast the hellfire spell alone? Probably a hundred meditating for a day... Yet this Demon did both spells alone in less than a day. All the trainees are told that Satyrs are the most dangerous demonic casters, and it's painfully clear to me now that the veterans weren't lying. If demonic casters are this powerful, then it's not much of a surprise that we stood no chance against the one who took Rachel... Not that I ever wanted this kind of clarity on the subject.

"You think they're all dead?" Lindon asked.

"No. Most were taken out, but I can feel something heading our way. However, It's hard to tell whether it was the spawn or Lords that survived with how infused the air is with ether right now." Keith continued, "Albel, keep an eye on your sister as we planned. We'll handle the front."

"Sure thing," I replied.

My job is to keep that Elf from killing Nisha or attacking us from behind. The stress of not knowing when or where an invisible enemy is going to attack you has honestly driven me to the brink. The reset puts you back to the state your body was in at the start, and I was rather well rested at the time. Not anymore though... I'm going to pass out for a week straight after this shit is over. And what's with that 'prevent back attacks' order? How the hell am I supposed to stop that? Any counter I can think of for the Elf went out the window when Hera and Janet told us about her invisibility spell.

... This 'hellfire' is doing a good job of burning the area, but I'd just be wasting my mana if I started burning the area around me. For now, Lindon put his ability barrier on Nisha, so she's the hardest to kill among us. Which is a relief, don't get me wrong, but I'd much rather be back in the days when I had to deal with in-your-face threats instead of dealing with this invisibility nonsense. Fighting the Satyr might be preferable at this point.

A fireball falls into the ground nearby, causing the tree I'm currently hiding on to fall over. As it nears the ground I roll off the side, barely avoiding the limbs of another tree from crushing me.

Well, this is just fucking fantastic. It keeps getting better and better...

Standing up, I look around for another tree full of foliage that isn't on fire yet.

A pointless endeavor. All these trees are going to be ignited soon, and since I'm a pure fire ability user my barrier is very good at dealing with that element. And yet...

Glancing around, I see a bunch of fire that I can't approach at all.

I spent years in my soul realm trying to upgrade my barrier to nullify both ability and real fire, but the only upgrade I received was completely negating my own fire, which is obviously nice, but it doesn't help me at all in situations like this. My barrier still takes massive damage being hit by natural fire, so I'm forced to avoid the fire just like the damned Elf has to. This is assuming she even needs to avoid it at all... I did incinerate her after all, yet she still managed to crush Brian's throat.

Sighing, I turn to look for another vantage point, only to see a fist coming directly at my face, barely a foot away already.

The world slows down, I push all the mana necessary to my right foot as I raise it slightly towards the Elf, casting my burnout spell, a directed explosion from where I will it. A loud explosion occurs from outside my foot, propelling me backward as I barely avoid the burning tree, rolling over the ground behind it. Looking up, I don't see the girl anywhere.

T-That was way too close... And I have no idea if I hurt her at all.

"The Elf is here!! She just attacked me, but I've lost sight of her. Be careful everyone!"

I did learn something though. She apparently needs to be visible to attack someone. That's better, but not by much.

Off to my left, a loud rumbling could be heard approaching this area as the ground began to shake. Soon after, the Eldritch Spider came into view, smashing through any tree in its way. It's also completely engulfed in flames, which should be a good thing. Yet...

"Bad news everyone. It looks like the spider was of the fire element." Keith said.

Upon hearing that, I knew I had to fend for myself. I can also see one Lord had survived, so the Eldritch isn't even alone. Although it looks like the end of the Eldritch's legs are melted? The lava spell must have worked at least.

Now then... The best course of action should be to stall as best I can.

Channeling outwards, a ten-meter area around me turns into a sea of flames.

If she can walk through this, then I'm doomed either way. I can't maintain it for long, but odds are she'll attack Nisha after seeing me inside this inferno.

I summon a fire javelin, preparing for her to appear again, most likely near my sister's hiding spot which is still within my line of sight.

Off to the left, I can see the Satyr put two fingers up to its forehead. As the Eldritch gets within twenty meters of it, the Satyr points those fingers directly at the Eldritch. An explosive cracking sound emanates as a bolt of lightning strikes the Eldritch right in its face. The spider is blown back a little, but immediately the fire engulfing the spider turns to an electrified aura. The end of the Eldritch's limbs begin healing, quickly reforming from the melted tips.

"You must be joking..." Lindon mumbles.

I'd wager that everyone in the group is feeling the same exasperation upon seeing that. Fucking Eldritch... You never really know what to expect till you fight them. A spider that absorbs magic, turning the mana that hit it into regeneration, while also attuning to the last element it was hit by? As if anyone expected this to happen... Even the Satyr looks surprised.

Two large axes appear in the Satyr's hands. It slowly begins moving forward to meet the spider's charge head-on.

I hope it's as powerful in physical combat as it is in magic.

Nearby, Lindon and Keith have already entered into combat with the Lord. At first glance, I can already tell that the Lord is designed to overpower combatants who can't penetrate its powerful defenses. Sadly for the Lord, Keith will not have that issue.

The Lord tries to crush Lindon with one of its legs, but he dodges backward as Keith slices the leg off at the joint. The Lord screeches as it tries swiping in retaliation with two other legs, which are also promptly lost as Keith cuts them off.

Yeah... Defense like that means nothing in front of him. He has no abilities. He can't enhance his speed much, nor is his barrier very good. What he is good at is...

A large blue aura extends from Keith's sword, causing the Lord to attempt a retreat, but it's already too late. Keith makes two swift attacks, one vertical, and one horizontal. The Lord splits apart into four pieces, falling to the ground soon after.

The Elf appears to the right of Keith mid-attack, kicking his ankle in such a way that I could hear the loud pop from here. I threw my javelin as Keith buckled to the ground, slashing his still-enhanced sword in her direction. The Elf grabbed his wrist, stopping the attack while pulling him in as she punched him directly in the face with her other hand. Keith flew back at least seven meters, sliding into one of the Lord's limbs he had just sliced off. After punching Keith, the Elf hit the ground on all fours, evading my javelin by a hair. She disappeared immediately after that.

"Keith, are you alright?!" Nisha said through the marks.

"Yeah... Lindon saved me at the last second." Keith responded.

Oh shit, it looks like he really did. I was expecting Keith's face to be a complete mess since he's not the greatest at enhancing his defense, but he's completely fine. It takes time for Lindon to remove his ability from one person and apply it to someone else, he must have barely made it in time. Which is great, except now my sister is completely exposed. He can't re-apply it without a line of sight on her, but... It should be fine. She's way deeper underground this time.

As all this is going on, an unending zapping sound is blaring from the Eldritch as it attacks the Satyr relentlessly. It looks like the Satyr has put the element of Earth on its blades, which is a first for me, but it makes sense. He must've been getting shocked through his weapons every time he connected with the spider. Watching a little of the battle, I can see large sparks lighting up every time one of the spider's limbs is blocked by the Satyr's axes.

The sound of earth being crushed sounds out behind me. Turning around, I see the Elf pull her foot out of the ground, apparently having stomped as deep as she could above where my sister is hiding. Knowing that it was nowhere near deep enough to reach her, I prepared to scorch the entire area in front of me. However, as I'm preparing the spell, a fleshy purple sphere appears in the Elf's hand, and she drops it down towards the hole she created.

T-That's!! No way, how?!

Obviously, I know what that is. Before she went mad, Janet was an excellent member of our unit. Despite the fact that she was only good at one thing, those bombs. All she ever did between missions, was spend time with her family and upgrade her bombs. Making them stronger and stronger every year. If one of those bombs detonates in the ground above Nisha...!!

A blue light shoots past me, turning into Lindon directly in front of the Elf. He tries to grab the bomb, but the Elf kicks his hand out of the way. In a panic, Lindon dives forward while grabbing the bomb, rolling a little forward into a ball. A muffled explosion could be heard from Lindon as his barrier flared up and shook, however... It didn't shatter. The Elf had disappeared, but I was already carpeting the entire area left of Lindon in flames so hot they were almost plasma.

"Fucking Hell... I could see my life flashing before me on that one." Lindon said, standing up.

"Thank you Lindon... I panicked and brought you to me when I felt the all-too-familiar signature of Janet's bombs above me." Nisha said.

"Eh, you made the right call. Still though, we need to deal with this Elf bitch now. She can't be allowed to keep harassing us like this. I don't know if the Satyr will lose, but the fact that it's a possibility means we really should be helping it." Lindon replied.

"Agreed. I'm ready for another attack and heading towards the Eldritch right now. You three stay together while I deal with this." Keith said through the marks, limping towards the Eldritch.

The Eldritch turned, unleashing a massive vacuum in his direction, sucking Keith into the air directly towards its mouth. In response, Keith poured all that was left of his mana into his blade, resulting in a twenty-yard-long aura extending outwards. Just as he got into range, he slashed downwards right at the spider's face, but the creature stopped the vacuum and evaded to the right. Keith chased the Eldritch with his blade, missing the spider's head by inches. However, he cut two limbs off instead. Keith turned into a blue sphere directly after the attack, being pulled back to our group by Nisha.

The spider could have jumped backward to avoid taking damage entirely, but it probably wasn't sure if the blade could extend even more, which would have resulted in the Eldritch dying outright. Not that this outcome was much better for it, after all...

The spider tips forward, barely catching itself from falling down as two large axes plant themselves firmly into the spider's skull, hitting it with such force the spider's face smashes straight into the ground. The Satyr releases its grip on the axes, standing tall in triumph over its now slain enemy. As we were about to cheer, a large explosion occurs behind the Satyr's upper body, blasting it down onto the Eldritch who is still densely electrified. Roars of rage and pain erupt from the Satyr as it is hit with so much electricity that its very own body has small bolts launching off of it into the ground. Eventually, the Satyr manages to pull itself free, but it's heavily damaged, looking around with bloodshot eyes for the perpetrator that harmed it.

"Fucking Elf!!" Lindon yelled.

Keith sighed, "Don't worry, this is a slight delay and nothing more. With the Eldritch dead we have already won. Nisha saved as much mana as possible so the Satyr could be warped back to the arena. We don't even need it at this point, but soon there will be two Satyrs here. That Elf can't stop us now with her pseudo-allies dead."

Stop us? Right... I didn't even think about that. Why is she attacking us? I can understand why someone from Viseux or the North would, but why would this strange girl we found in a hole attack us? Did Gaz or Peter do something to her, making her hostile towards us? It's not a far-fetched theory knowing those two assholes...

The sound of bells ringing radiates from one part of the forest. We all look in that direction, catching sight of a white aura moving in our direction as the fires near it are extinguished one after another.

"Ah..." Nisha whispers, her voice laced with fear.

"God damnit... " Lindon said.

Keith said nothing, and the reason is obvious. Even if Nisha warps all of us to her exit marks in the Arena, she can't warp herself. We'll have to abandon her, and since we would never do that...

"What are the odds, honestly?" I said.

Seriously, come on... We knew once the gift of reset(or curse depending on how you view it) had hit us, that a Tengu Lord had appeared somewhere in this direction from Viseux. Even so, that's a massive area to cover considering how far away from Viseux we are. We weren't too worried until Janet psychotically blew up Godwin's group, including Hera. There was no guarantee she had fallen to the influence of the Tengu, but with how unstable she's been for a while now, it was definitely a possibility.

The Satyr, either unaware of how pointless its actions were, or refusing to give up without a fight, attempts to stand up. It wobbles a little, but eventually settles into a channeling pose as it awaits our new visitors.

A few minutes later the Templars are standing thirty meters away, in groups of ten shoulder-to-shoulder facing the Satyr, with the Bishops in the back.

They're going to allow it to attack first huh? Might as well, they're still exuding the aura of their god so it's not like it makes a difference who attacks first...

The Satyr raises both its hands into the air, producing a large line of spheres floating twenty meters above it. After it throws its hands forward, the balls shoot diagonally toward the ground, exploding in front of the Satyr. Every half a second later, another set of explosions would occur closer to the Templars, with each explosion being larger than the last.

I see... I've never seen this spell before but it's an interesting wave attack. By the time the explosions reach the Templars they should be massive in size. Are they eating ether in the air as they go?

As I thought, by the time they hit the Templars, the explosions were each three times bigger than one of Janet's purple bombs.

In response, the Templars entered their usual stance, holding their radiant swords up in front of their faces to channel. A barrier forms over the entire group as they are engulfed in a wave of explosions.

As the dust settles, the barrier is seen to hold firm above the Templars. As I was wondering what the Satyr was going to do next, it rips the bead off its necklace, crushing it.

"Now this I wanted to see! At least I'll get something positive out of this before I die." Lindon said.

Not sure I wanted to die to see this, but I'm definitely interested in this so-called 'final attack' that Satyrs do when backed into a corner. I've heard of it casting ice storms so powerful even The Satyr ended up encased in ice before it could get away.

A large ether aura appears around the Satyr as it raises both its hands into the air again.

It's not casting the same spell again, is it? Obviously it'll be way more powerful, but...

However, up above, far into the sky this time, a large blue object begins approaching the ground.

A plasma ball...?

Soon after, I realized I was only half right. This was in fact a rock encased in plasma.

"A meteor surrounded by plasma... It's kind of beautiful in a way." Keith said.

He's not wrong, but I was focused on something else. Abilities are the only way to create Earth. With magic it takes an astronomical amount of mana if you don't use existing earth nearby, making the whole spell pointless. Yet this Demon created a rock that size and it was also that far into the sky? I can't even begin to imagine how much ether was inside the bead it broke, nor how its soul didn't shatter instantly upon taking it in.

The Templars, clearly aware that a barrier will not be able to stop such a force, switch to an offensive stance with the Bishops in front channeling onto their god's artifact. As both the Templars and Bishops channel, a small ball of light appears above it. Within half a minute it was slightly bigger than the average human. The unit raises the ball in the air until it's angled toward the meteor. Once in place, they launch the ball at the meteor, which is now three-fourths of the way toward the ground. The ball of light goes straight through the surface of the meteor, exploding in a bright white light that blinds everyone present. I only vaguely understood that Lindon had brought his ability barrier up around all of us.

The sound of large rocks falling onto the ground echoes around us for over a minute. After the first explosions erupted, all I could hear was the sound of ringing in my ears. I'm sure the others are just as deaf as I am right now.

As the explosions came to a close, I slowly regained my sight, and the first thing I saw was the Satyr with its face mushed into the ground by a radiant clasp around its neck digging into the dirt. Likewise, its legs were also pinned down, with its arms hanging into the air by bright white chains that appeared to come from nowhere.

... It's over. I've only heard of this through second-hand accounts before, but I know the Satyr isn't getting out of this.

The Templars had already encircled the Satyr, raising their swords high as a pure white mana wrapped around them. The Templars then aimed their swords directly at the Satyr, whereas it was engulfed in a large pillar of white energy, melting it piece by piece.

This is a little different from what I was told would happen, but I think I know why. They're not connected directly to their gods' domain anymore. They only have remnants of his ether left, so they are blasting him directly instead of sending it up into the heavens where it is sent back in the purest form of energy possible. However, they clearly don't need that level of damage here. The Satyr is dying quite easily from this, showing just how screwed we are as their next targets.

The Satyr was technically an ally for a while there, so even if it was a Demon... I'm not quite sure how to feel watching the final parts of it disintegrate.

As the light fades, signifying the end of the purge, the Templars all turn to face us together.

"Alright then... Time to find out what our sentence is going to be. Purged? Imprisonment? Slavery? Any guesses from you lot?" Lindon said.

At this point I really don't care what happens, I've been mentally tapped out ever since Rachel died. I was in love with her for the longest time... and yet I never worked up the courage to make a move. Truly pathetic.

If the Templars purge us, I'd honestly welcome it...

~Reimia's POV~

That was close, extremely close. It's damn near a miracle that I wasn't hit by any of those mini-meteors, but it was worth it in the end... The joy I felt from seeing that fucking Demon incinerated was indescribable. And during that fight I discovered something else that put an even bigger smile on my face.

Looking down at my outfit, which is now in the form of a black dress, I can't help but wonder if this is a dream.

Honestly, I should've realized something was off when the clothes kept resetting when nothing else in material form was resetting except everyone's gear that was already attached to their body at the start of the reset. Hell, nobody in Godwin's group realized it either. There's only one reason why these clothes would reset to their original location when that spell only targets souls.

"I can't believe I have my own set of artifact armor..."

I reacted way too late when that fire user had incinerated the area around his friend, and just as I was about to be torched again, a spindly black limb stretched out from the outfit, launching me high onto a nearby tree. I was stunned for a few moments as I tried to figure out what the hell had just happened to me.

I guess I can't blame them for thinking this was just another set of high-quality weaves designed to absorb mana. Which is still amazing, that's an extra lifeline if you fill it with mana, it'll negate attacks until it's completely drained. However, artifact equipment is made by using Eldritch or Demons souls, an art that was created in Viseux by uh... Shit, I can't remember. I think the race had horns?

... Well whatever, this outfit is amazing regardless of who made it. It wasn't activated though, which is probably why nobody knew what it really was. Thankfully the Old God had activated it for me when I accepted the mission. I just didn't realize it till the armor saved me.

I wish I had a mirror nearby, I've never worn a dress before... I only imagined myself wearing one to see if it would reform and it did. It feels weird to say it myself, but I think I look pretty good? I really need a mirror damnit. Maybe I'll go show this to Aresa later to see what she thinks. I was only testing out its transformation ability, but I think I'll leave it like this for now. Unlike that assassin, I don't need the extra coverage to deal with the cold or any other weather-related issues.

A clinking sound to my left interrupts my thoughts. Looking in that direction, I see the Templars chaining Keith's unit together as another one of the Templars pulls Nisha out of the ground by her hair.

So they're capturing them huh? I suppose I'm fine with imprisonment or whatever else they have planned. Once the Satyr died I lost interest in anything else going on here. It's time for me to move on.

As the last vestiges of the Old God's aura dissipate, I enter a praying pose, thanking the god for its assistance. I may or may not become a believer, but I'm eternally grateful just knowing there is an Old God assisting humans. Maybe it has ulterior motives, maybe it doesn't? It doesn't matter right now either way. If they're killing Demons and Eldritch, I'll work with them anytime they ask for assistance. Plus, I'll be getting souls out of it sometimes. The issue with that purge is that it completely destroys the soul too. I would've loved to eat the Tengu, Eldritch, or the Satyr...

Speaking of which, why the hell is the Eldritch soul gone too? While I understand the Tengu and Satyr dissipating because they were directly hit by the blast, I'm at a loss as to why the Spider's soul disappeared along with the Satyr's.

It's really disappointing... But at least they're dead.

As the Templars begin marching in the direction of Godwin's village, I remove my aura and line up with them. A few of the people chained up make a disgusted face as I re-appear, but it only makes me chuckle. Whatever feelings they harbor towards me won't matter for much longer.

We had to take a slight detour thanks to that first Satyr spell turning the ground around the hive into lava. Despite that, we eventually exited the treeline near the village, signaling the end of the saga here.

For now, I need to decide what to do from here on out. Godwin's group will probably assist me if I ask for a place to stay for a while as I get settled into this new world. If they don't, then it's not a big deal. I'll just punch another hole out into the ground somewhere and hunt monsters from there till I'm powerful enough to leave Urza and make my way back to the Elven planet, Aetheria. Either way works for me.