The Albionic Chronicles Part 1 Chapter 6: Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple

Here's the Church, Here's the Steeple

The force field gave them a valuable breather, allowing Sylvester to take inventory of their wounds. Bilo, while still recovering, chuckled at the absurdity of the situation, grateful for the wizard's quick thinking.

As they regained their composure, Sylvester began formulating a plan for their next move. The cultists, now aware of the protective shield, continued their attempts to pierce it with bullets, but the magical barrier held firm. The duo knew they couldn't stay in the force field forever, and soon they would have to face the cultists head-on.

Sylvester and Bilo exchanged glances, realizing the gravity of the situation inside the cathedral. Six cultists, each with their own capabilities, posed a formidable challenge. The two magic users at the back raised concerns, especially the one engrossed in a mysterious ritual. Sylvester, brushing off the last remnants of burn marks from the earlier explosion, spoke to Bilo in a low tone.

"Bilo, we can't stay in here forever. That ritual that fella is doin' could be trouble says I. We need a plan," Sylvester said, casting a quick glance at the ongoing magical ceremony. Bilo nodded in agreement, adjusting his grip on his vickers gun. "Roight, Sylvestah. I say we take 'emhead-on. I can 'andle those four big blokes with a good spray 'alead"

Bilo blinked, feeling an unusual sensation coursing through his veins. Time seemed to stretch and bend around him. He turned to Sylvester with a raised eyebrow, unsure of the wizard's mystical intervention.

"What the blimey you doin' mate?" Bilo asked, a mix of curiosity and bewilderment in his thick northern accent.

Sylvester chuckled, reveling in the magic at play. "Just a little enhancement, my friend. You'll find yourself quicker and more nimble. Let's call it... Haste Now, let's give these fellas a taste of our own fireworks."

With newfound agility, Bilo readied his vickers gun, a yellow toothy grin spreading from horn to horn. Sylvester conjured flames in his hands, preparing to unleash a barrage of magical attacks. Together, they advanced towards the cultists, ready to confront the magical cabal and disrupt their nefarious plans.

Amidst the chaos, bullets whizzed through the air, and flames danced among the robed figures.  Bilo's temporary agility allowed him to dodge and weave, almost dancing through the onslaught of bullets, while Sylvester utilized his magical prowess to deflect incoming attacks.

Sylvester shouted over the din, "Keep 'em busy, Bilo! I've got a trick or two up me sleeve!" With that, he focused his energy, preparing a powerful incantation to unleash upon the cultists.

Meanwhile, Bilo continued his onslaught, firing bursts from his vickers gun and moving with a grace unexpected from someone of his size. The cultists' bodyguards found themselves struggling to contend with the unexpected ferocity of the tiefling and the fiery onslaught of the ginger wizard. Who threw a large ball of flame into the crowd.

The sudden appearance of the magical barrier caught Bilo and Sylvester off guard, halting their advances. Bilo's bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the shimmering surface, and Sylvester's spells dissipated upon contact.

Bilo, ever impulsive, yelled, "Oi, wizahd! Can't ye do somethin' about this bloody wall?" as he, in vain attempted to climb the slippery immaterial surface with a machine gun strapped to his back.

Sylvester, panting from the exertion of his magical onslaught, examining replied, "Give me a tick, Bilo! These things take time don't you know?"

The cultists, now shielded by the magical barrier, went back to ignoring the two interlopers. The cultist conducting the ritual continued his incantations, seemingly unfazed by the chaos around him.

Sylvester's eyes glinted with a mischievous spark as he devised a plan to overcome the magical barrier. He explained, "Bilo, my boy, I have an idea. Do you happen to have any rope in that bag of yours?" Bilo, always prepared for unexpected challenges, promptly reached into his bag of holding and produced a substantial spool of 500 feet of sturdy hemp rope. Sylvester, twirling his wizardly beard in contemplation, then shared his proposed course of action, stating, "Indeed, I can cast a spell that could allow us to be lowered on the other side of the wall... but I ain't sure how you could manage to fire your gun effectively while hangin' from it."

The information when presented to resonated with him, and he swiftly proposed, "Why dain't we smash one of these benches and use the boards ta create a place for to stand on while we shoot'em?" Sylvester, about to suggest a similar albeit less brutish idea, found himself outpaced as Bilo, with inhuman strength, grabbed a blunt weapon and began demolishing one of the church benches.

Recognizing the efficacy of Bilo's direct approach, Sylvester sighed and joined in, contributing to the creation of their improvised platform, tying it into the length of rope before preparing his spell.

The duo prepared the rope and platform, and with Sylvester opening a small portal in theceiling, the Irishman, using his arcane prowess, initiated their ascent. However, to the surprise of the robed men on the other side of the wall, Bilo and Sylvester descended upon them rather than going over the barrier as expected.

As quickly as the pair arrived on the other side of the wall, the rope was shot through leaving the two to plummet several fathoms to the floor. Undeterred by their unexpected fall, the duo unleashed chaos once again in the cathedral, firing their weapons without pause. The cultists inside found themselves caught off guard as Bilo and Sylvester quickly regained their footing and pressed the attack.

In that fleeting moment, an eerie silence enveloped Sylvester and Bilo, shrouding them in an unnatural hush. A resonant pulse emanated from the ongoing ritual, a thunderous wave that reverberated through the very core of their beings. Earsplitting in its intensity, it jolted the two adventurers to their core, leaving them stunned and disoriented amidst the mystical maelstrom.

The pulse, a forceful surge of arcane might, penetrated their senses, eliciting an agonizing sensation that shook them to their very bones. Staggering under the weight of this magical onslaught, they grappled with an overwhelming bludgeoning pain, as if the very fabric of reality had been momentarily rent asunder.

Bilo's senses were ablaze with a searing agony, an otherworldly transformation unfurling beneath his very skin. A scalding sensation coursed through his legs, drawing his attention downward. To his bewildered gaze, a surreal metamorphosis unfolded – hair sprouted and cascaded down his legs, and the very structure of his toes contorted, breaking and reforming in a disquieting dance. The pain, an excruciating blend of tearing and reshaping, resonated as if each toenail was forcibly wrenched out, only to be replaced by the emergence of feline claws that extended from the once-familiar humanlike feet.

Sylvester, too, found himself ensnared in the throes of an arcane maelstrom. The sensation of cutting pain unfurled within his neck, a peculiar discomfort that set his nerves alight. Desperation led his hands to trace the mysterious transformation, and to his astonishment, he discovered the emergence of gills – delicate slits that materialized along the sides of his neck, defying the boundaries of the worldly anatomy.

The heavens themselves seemed to protest, sending forth a celestial beam that crashed from the cathedral's lofty rafters. Recognizing the portentous nature of this omen, Sylvester and Bilo, wise in the ways of survival, hastened their exit from the sanctified halls. Emerging upon the rooftop, their eyes beheld a very different scene from the Cambridge that they had come to know. Under the grey sky lied such ruin that the city itself had become unrecognizable.