Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress of Ashtown

Half-Breed

There was no more time to talk as the golems attacked. Caspian moved to stand between them and Erica, who had backed up against a wall to keep the enemy from getting behind her. As a Sorceress, one of her few weaknesses was being blindsided. That was why a Sorceress had a Knight, but even a Knight could only protect so many places at once. It would all be over if the enemy flanked Erica.

Spinning on the balls of his feet, Caspian avoided the grasping hands of the first golem to reach them. He then slid behind the earthen figure, spinning around and bringing his blade down in a slash that should have severed the creature from right shoulder to left hip. Instead, his sword bounced off, the steel of his blade squealing as it ground against cement.

"Spirits damn it!" he swore. "My blade can't cut through cement. It's too hard."

"I call upon the Spirit of Storms, Destroyer of the Yamata no Orochi. Susanoo-no-Mikoto, grant my Knight's blade the power to pierce through all substances!" Erica chanted. Caspian's blade flared a bright red. Flames engulfed it, a fire that roared yet did not burn, a conflagration of pure energy rather than actual fire. It flickered and writhed as if it was a living entity, wreathing his sword in pale blue flames. "There! That should allow you to cut through these things with ease."

"Thanks!"

Caspian didn't hesitate to swing his blade again. This time his sword tore through the golem like it was made of paper, splitting the earthen creation in half. The lower and upper halves separated from each other, yet even then, they still continued moving, the torso dragging itself forward with its hands, while the legs just sort of kicked and twitched sporadically before crumbling.

"You have to sever their heads," Erica informed him, "these are elemental constructs that have been given life by elven magic. They don't function like a regular human would, nor do they die like flesh and blood do when cut in half. The head is where the controller is located. Sever it and they'll crumble back into their base components."

"Right!"

Caspian spun around, dodging the next golem that attacked him. It came down with its clawed hand, a slashing motion that he avoided by sidestepping. He then swung his blade in a diagonal slash that severed its head, and a good portion of its shoulder, clean off. Just like Erica said, the moment the head separated from its body, the earth elemental creature crumbled into clods of cement.

"Caspian, get back!" Erica shouted a warning. "By the power of the contract, I make this pact with Hachimon. Smite those before me with a hail storm of spears. Rain down devastation upon thine enemies!"

Caspian jumped away from the elemental constructs just in time to witness more of Erica's Spiritual Evocation at work. Like droplets of rain they descended, dozens of spears raining death upon the cement golems. The spears, unlike his sword before it was blessed with a spirit's power, pierced their hardened bodies as if they were made of cotton. The golems become riddled with spears, which stuck out of them from many different angles. Most of the golems crumbled into dust on the spot, their bodies unable to stay cohesive after having so much damage inflicted upon them. Others didn't receive much damage and continued moving toward Erica.

Caspian wouldn't let them come any closer than that.

Charging into the fray once more, Caspian brought his blade up, bisecting one of the golems from groin to head, causing it to split down the middle. Another golem came in from his left. He shuffled to the right, spun to avoid having his face punched in, then brought his blade down, severing its head from its shoulders.

Instincts warned him of impending danger. Fueled by adrenaline, Caspian twisted his body to the left, avoiding a swipe from a cement hand. That hand was severed when he brought his blade up. Then he turned his sword on the golem as it passed, removing its head as well.