Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

36. Battle of Toulon II

"Imperfecti Fungi Bloom!" Aelita calls upon giant shrooms, trapping Lord Eugene.

He encases himself in a cocoon of iron, then rolls himself at us. Aelita's nimble feet propel its owner upwards while my agile wings save me from the iron ball.

However, the slower John is caught. Lord Eugene breaks open his cocoon, his menacing blade put on John's throat.

"Blood Vortex!" Two spirals of blood are unleashed on him, and John fires his Divine Judgement at point blank.

Aelita rushes to John, assisting him to get back on his feet. Lord Eugene is unfazed; only a mere scratch exists on his chest.

"What ridiculous defence ...."

I gather mana on my hands. Lord Eugene's defensive skills are superb; only a strong attack can penetrate it.

"Divine Vines!" John and Aelita draw upon each other's power, overwhelming Lord Eugene with an omnidirectional attack.

"Nature Summon: Toxic Flower Fumes!"

"Four Angels Formation: Eternal Chains!"

Now Lord Eugene is binded by a strong chain and surrounded by yellow poison gas.

"Black Chupacabra!" The hound strikes in the confusion, generating a massive blast, although it is still far inferior to the destruction that Madam Fron and Lady Jessica are creating.

I smirk a little, expecting that Black Chupacabra to knock Lord Eugene out. "Is that it?" Aelita asks sheepishly.

"Mmmh!"

Suddenly, liquid metal surrounds my legs, then my stomach and my entire body.

"Vio!"

It all happens so quickly I can't react. The liquid metal hardens.

I can't breathe!

I can hear salvos of iron spears outside, repelling John and Aelita. "Blood Shockwave!"

I destroy the metal, freeing myself. "Hah... Hah..." My breath is running short. Aelita throws me a concerned look as she struggles to avoid iron rods from impaling her.

This isn't over!

"I'm okay." I gently nod.

"Iron Golem! Hidden Weapon: Iron Pillar Crush!"

Again, the dreaded gigantic iron pillars from the golem's chest are fired. "Divine Cube!" John's shield battle the battering pillars.

"Hidden Weapon: Iron Grip!" From the golem's chest, a metal hand and iron chains appears. The former violently grabs John.

"John!" Aelita shrieks in panic, using her vines to prevent John from being taken.

"Blood Vortex!" My swirls of blood fail to make any impact; the defence of the golem is truly annoying.

John himself doesn't go down quietly. "Divine Penetrative Laser!" His fingers glow, but the armour of the golem is simply difficult to penetrate.

"Aargh!" John is stabbed by iron rods.

"JOHN!" Aelita is consumed by hysteria. Her vines lose strength and Lord Eugene's chains prevail. Sweat falls from my forehead as I hear John's muffled screams from inside the golem.

"Nature Summon: ...." Aelita mutters with her red face, "Minotaur!"

What appears is a bull headed giant man, wielding a giant club. It clobbers the golem mercilessly.

"Blood Maelstrom!" I strike from the flank, flooding the golem with a wave of blood.

A flash of light forms inside the golem's chest; John fighting for his life. The combined strength ultimately prevails, destroying the golem. John suffers from multiple stab wounds.

"That was impressive," Lord Eugene comments, "very impressive."

"Thousand Iron Fist!"

In a very fluid movement, the minotaur is felled by a flurry of iron punches. Lord Eugene leaps at us.

"Blood Sword!" Two swords materialise on my hands, blocking a heavy blow by his zwëihander.

"Blood Mist!" I unleash a thick, red, mist, clouding Lord Eugene's vision.

I jump back, avoiding my own mist. "Nature Summon: Toxic Flower Fumes!" Aelita enhances the mist, thickening and adding poison into it.

"Imperfecti Fungi Bloom!" "Four Angels Formation: Eternal Chains!"

Now Lord Eugene's mobility has been checked by chains and fungi. "John!"

I can feel John's mana flowing into me. "Divine Chupacabra!"

My Chupacabra is modified greatly; it is bigger and more powerful, and its colour changes from black to grey. The resulting blast–hopefully–annihilates Lord Eugene.

Lady Jessica, still engaged in a fight with her equal, Madam Fron, grits her teeth seeing our counterattack. Neither the former's two headed creature nor the latter's Lady Liberty is seen. She shouts, "Cathedral of Despair!"

Black clouds surround the battlefield. Darkness blinds us all. Madam Fron lights fires around us. She raises an ice golem from the ground.

"Get up here!" she commands. John and Aelita flies upwards with me trailing behind.

"Akh!" I let out a squeal as a cold hand grabs my left foot. A surviving Lord Eugene clings to it strongly.

Iron rods fly toward me, piercing my stomach and chest. Biting my tongue in a futile attempt to minimise the pain, I gather swirls of blood, launching my Blood Vortex.

"Blood Orb Bullet!" The copious quantity of blood waves and blood bullets fail to force Lord Eugene to release his grip.

"Twin Dragon!" Madam Fron finally intervenes, sending two dragons to force Lord Eugene back. Aelita's vines coil around me, pulling me into safety.

"Are you fine?" Aelita asks as her gentle touch closes my wounds. I nod affirmatively.

"Watch out," Madam Fron warns as she holds her glaive tightly, "this is one of Lady Jessica's most troublesome spells and it's invulnerable."

"So how are we going to destroy it?" Aelita asks.

"You don't destroy the Cathedral of Despair," Madam Fron grimly mutters, "you outlast it. It lasts for about ten minutes."

With the dim light, we can see sixteen iron pillars coming from behind. "Quintuple Flamethrower!"

The iron pillars melt due to the intense heat. Madam Fron sweats heavily as she conjures multiple ice shields. Soon, black arrows and lasers fall upon us, with Lord Eugene launching iron pillars and iron rods.

"Gaia's Advent of Roots!" Aelita unleashes a multitude of thick roots, disabling some iron rods and iron pillars. John and I send blasts of energy and waves of blood to halt the iron offensives.

"They don't seem to end!" I curse.

"Shut the hell up and focus on repelling them!" Madam Fron curses back as she dodges a black laser blast.

Darkness finally fades after the ten minute time limit, but now the battlefield seems empty. No longer is the sound of laser bolts being fired or artillery firing heard.

To our flank, Mr Charles is slammed towards the ground by an endless array of undead creatures. To our other flank, I see Remi being impaled by Lady Caitlyn's scythe.

"Now this gets troublesome."