The Wielder of Death Magic

1094 “-start the retreat.”

“There, there, Emitious. No need to be afraid of this man,” a stronger entity fell from the skies, “-I’m here to assist you, my angel, you need not worry,” an opposite aura rippled across the troops, and the astral binding shattered.

“Think you can fight?” Igna whispered, “-Luci?”

“Are you him?”

“No. I’m not Lucifer,” he readied his stance, “-I’m Igna, the Devil,” with a snarky smirk, Igna leaped into battle. Auras crashed into sparks of black and yellow – the potency drew the focus of the stray troops.

“Follow the escapee!” Emitious ordered, “-leave him to us,” the faction split – Asmodeus’s faction went after the refugees whilst Zeus’ army stayed. Emitious, an unknown name in history, bore his fangs as one of Zeus’ acolytes. Attacks came in waves, Igna dodged and skillfully side-stepped; rendering the enemy worse for wear. Constant attack without a hit and no more than a simple exhale was the worse kind of defeat. The scar of invulnerability fractures morale. *Legendary Skill: Angel Slice!* Emitious fired projectiles, Igna rose his hand, *Death Element: Barrier,* Angel slice exploded, lifting dirt and debris around, “-this is our chance,” those who narrowly arrived rushed for Igna.

The archangel painfully clambered on his feet; ‘-he’s fighting to protect us. Artanos… they’re going for the refugees,’ the wings spread, “-Igna, I’m leaving them to you, please protect the city!” to which, Igna casually rose his head from the brawl, an attacker sought the opportunity and struck, or thought he did, crimson threads wrapped and decapitated the man in a fountain of blood, the terror provided a few seconds for him to give a casual thumbs up. Luci flapped.

“STOP THE ANGEL AT ALL COST!” Emitious thundered, those with projectile attacks tipped their weapons, “-ON MY MARK, FIRE!” Igna jumped and slid to a halt, he waved left to right, *Heed my call, for I, call upon thy strength. Stop all who dare oppose my will, Death Element: Magical Barrier, Pentagram Variant, Hell’s Gate,* an even more impressive wall of symbols absorbed the damage, he gasped with a sweat-ridden forehead, “-fighting in this heat is making me joyful,” Igna proclaimed. Soon, the suit jacket drifted onto the floor, and he marched forth into the thick of things – rolled-up sleeves and a white shirt partially stained by blood.

Emitious clapped, and a shockwave echoed. The battle paused, “-Devil, tell me, will you stake your life on Lucifer’s realm?”

“Depends.”

.....

“You must know this realm is without saving. The people will be massacred and the lifeforce turned into fuel for my lord’s usage. You, surely of all people, must understand the meaning of war?”

“I know,” he warmed up his shoulders, “-I haven’t gotten serious yet.”

“Well, Igna,” Emitious broadened a great smirk, “-the greater the height, the harder the fall. This is where you end your journey,” *Widen, Portal to Eipea, I summon forth minion of the dark-ages,* helmed warriors of differing sex and race ambled in gladiator armor. The weapons reminisced of the olden war days – maces, swords, shields, spears, the list carried – mobility differed from their weight, nimble wore light, the tough heavy, a visible difference in frame. Within said difference, *See the unseen, feel the unfelt, knowledge deep within, awaken for I order so; Eye of Truth,* ‘-demi-gods and spawns of other entities. They don’t look strong, why is he so smug?’ a strange hue caught his attention, ‘-wait a moment,’ he narrowed, ‘-is the lingering energy of a ritual?’

“No more waiting, Igna, FIGHT!” they swarmed the middle, coordinated attacks and well-placed spells carved the ground and narrowly hit his visage, ‘-mother,’ he dipped and punched, ‘-martial-arts is saving me so far,’ he blocked, countered and finished when available, ‘-have to hold them here,’ the white shirt grew red, the bicolored pupils flashed sparks of purple, ‘-I have to kill,’ the vampiric features manifested, *Blood-Arts: Crimson Threads,* he leaped, cast a net over a dozen then pulled – limbs decapitated, the soil drenched in blood and sweat, he landed in the middle. *Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary,* a crimson halo summoned over his head, and there, he casually opened his palm wherein a blood apple manifested, “-tell you, this is a good place to start, isn’t it?”

“Good place to start what?”

“To start the actual battle,” he glared at the angel, who, with similar confidence, returned Igna’s unfaltering poise, “-I’m just getting warmed up.”

“To bad,” he clapped, the dead returned without a scratch, “-look at you and them,” Emitious sat on a tower and crossed his legs, “-you’ll run out of mana sooner or later. They don’t need mana,” he grabbed the nearest guard, split his head and threw it on the ground. The guard unsurprisingly regenerated, “-you thrive on attrition, don’t you, Igna? Too bad your calling card is also our ace.”

“We’ll just have to see how long they last,” *Hear me, weapon forged in death, relish the thought of slaughter, enjoy the thrill of sufferance, raise from thy slumber, Orenmir, COME!* cursed screams of the destitute rattled the very air, an aura of pure desolation and ire raged from Igna’s stance, “-let’s have ourselves a battle,” he unsheathed, the captured souls rampaged – taking bites and killing few with low ethereal resistance.

Emitious gawked, ‘-it’s here, it’s finally here,’ he gulped, ‘-the cursed sword, Orenmir. We need its power,’ he glanced meaningfully into what looked to be the void.

‘You can’t outsmart me,’ Igna narrowed onto said void, *Mana Control: Spatial Disruption*

“The battle is here,” Emitious saw a flash, blood then nothing, ‘-what happened?’ the heart sank, ‘-am I injured?’ he looked about, ‘-no, I’m fine. Was Death’s killing intent?’ he gulped, ‘-scary.’

“By the way,” Igna pointed his blade, “-you should check inside your robe.”

‘Is that a ploy to take my eye off the battle?’ he snuck a peak, “-careful,” was written on his chest, “-how did you like my sword art?” Igna smirked, “-you’re not the only one with fancy attacks.”

“CHARGE!” he growled.

Another explosion leveled the battleground, “-Luci, you’re here, what’s going on in the city?”

“We got help from Igna?”

“Igna?” she paused, “-that Igna?”

“Yeah, the one and only,” an ill-intent took their caution, “-how’s the evacuation?”

“We’ll need a few more minutes before the teleportation portal is refilled. I’d say around thirty minutes.”

“Don’t think we can last that long,” Luci watched – clockwork soldiers riding winged beasts glared their way.

“Now’s our best chance!” gasped a student, “-lady Luci and Ereena, believe in us, please,” he rose his hand and gestured a spell, “-the third-years will handle this.”

“You students have battle experience; however, this is unlike anything you’ve witnessed before. Tell me, Arde, will your friend stake their lives on protecting the realm?”

“We’ll help,” a stronger demon-like figure stomped his feet, “-you angels are better suited for magic. Help us out at the long-range, we’ll take care of the vanguard.”

“Professor Rake, why are you here?”

“We got news about the academy being under attack. As a rivaling school, we had to help,” said the muscular frame of a man, “-so, let us angels and demons fight off this invasion,” he extended his long sword, and students under his command rushed down the valley, “-better have our backs, Arde!” said the crowd.

“Don’t die on us,” Arde fired back.

“Rake.”

“Luci?”

“We need thirty minutes for the evacuation.’

“We can do that,” Rake winked, “-you’ve always taken things too seriously. More the reason why you’re losing hair.’

“ENEMY APPROACHING!”

Ereena rose her hands, “-ATTACK!”

The demons rushed headfirst for the foot soldiers placed further down the mountain pass. A-rank spells riddled the somber skyline, “-take out the flying beasts.” Luci hovered with crossed legs, “-I will provide regeneration – focus your attack and provide support,” a bubble of pure mana expanded.

“Ay, Rake boss, these soldiers are easy to work,” students clawed and tore guts, the shriek of the dead was music to the professor’s ears. Before they knew it, the demons had pierced through enemy lines and were at the bridge linking into town. ‘We’re out of their support range,’ he turned with a heavy feeling.

“WHAT’S THAT IDIOT DOING!” thundered Ereena, “-did they forget the objective,” she slipped down onto the valley, “-I’ll go on ahead, those with experience with melee come with me.”

The heavy feeling was true – the defeated rose from their ashes – the symbol of Venera lit vibrantly, this time, the attacking vanguard turned and the support charged – Rake and the students were trapped in the middle. Ereena’s assumption was right, she’d be at the back of the retreating vanguard, however, “-they’ve split their forces,” a protection spell summoned, “-they’ve got us beat. Was that their plan?”

Demonic screams hauntingly clawed up the mountain pass, “-it’s a massacre,” she bit her lips, “-fall back!”

“BUT MY LADY!”

“We can’t help them – we’re out of Luci’s range. If we fall, the refugees will suffer. Come on people,” she slowly backed away, ‘-I’m sorry, Rake, I tried.’

*CRASH,* a bullet-like projectile slammed right into the face of the mountain. The massacre on the demons halted, and the dust settled from the impact area – one of which birthed a creator, “-mother lover,” a younger gentleman dressed in a white shirt and black pants casually climbed out, “-these guys are not messing around,” he looked at Rake and the fallen students, “-tough luck, you’re a fool.”

“Who are you?”

“The new landlord,” he chuckled, ‘-if he’s a fool, then I’m a greater imbecile. Oh well, it’s been a while,’ he cracked his knuckles and stretched his hands, “-the thrill of the fight. Been a while, it’s been a while,” the bicolor pupils bleached in pure white with crimson flakes ending in purple, ‘-Undrar gave them Venera’s tome. That’s the ritual I sensed. They’re immortal and they wore a kind of immortal. No matter the attack they’ll regenerate – the only way to defeat said protection is taking out the leader – the leader is, if I guess, Artanos or Zeus,’ he casually walked past the fallen, *Blood-Arts: Bloody Mary,* and drew in their blood and flesh, *crunch,* “-the blood of a virgin,” he looked at Rake, “-come on, professor, you shouldn’t bring kids out to a fight like this,” he clapped, two entities manifested from his shadow, “-Elize, Vengeance.”

“You finally called,” the lass purred, Vengeance knelt.

“Don’t think I can handle them on my own. As thy master, I order thy limiters to be removed – access to the best of your abilities, my dearest comrades. Seek deep and take what thee must for a massacre is what the devil has ordered.”

“Right on,” Elize licked her lips seductively, Vengeance toggled his flying spell and took to the skies.

‘To fight them on equal footing, I’ll have to unlock the nevermore gates,’ he carried his casual walk, the clockwork soldiers dropped their orders and ran at him, *Deep slumber, deep rest, awaken for the chance at retribution. Gate of which stands before mine way, open for thy master has come: Nevermore – Hell’s Gate,* black smoke, dark essence of the corrupt, *-Shackle the damned, shackle the hated. Bring forth chains binding one’s mortality, Ancient Magic – Sigillum Cadaver,* chains of provenance to the netherworld shackled the attackers, *Span across the ages, fear is what held peace, fear is what caused War, fear is the root of evil. I, the harbinger of the ultimate fear, have come to spread and reclaim what is mine of right: Nevermore – Terror Gate,* “-burn,” the void-flame followed the shackles and lit ablaze the clockwork fighters. Multiple explosions raged in the distance – maimed body parts flew like birds, ‘-I’ll need the powers of a demi-god.’ *Unbound by the laws of Heaven to Hell; unshackle mine power: Nevermore – Annihilation Gate.* ‘-should be enough energy,’ he reached out emptily – Orenmir flew into his hands, “-time to end this battle,” *Death Element: Shadow Step.*

A golden chariot landed, “-I’m here to evacuate the idiots. Climb on, Rake.”

“Cleopatra…”

“I know, I know.”

‘He restrained the soldiers, I guess Igna is the inheritor of Staxius’ powers. I should better keep my presence unknown,’ the chariot flew off into the distance.

“Lady Ereena, the demons have been evacuated, what are your orders?”

“We’ll make our way back,”

“No, Ereena, you go with them.”

“But Luci…”

“I’ll stay back, this battle isn’t over until we reclaim the town. Ereena, head back and close the gates, the demon academy’s waiting for the wounded.”

“If you’re sure,” she clapped, “-start the retreat.”