Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

37. Battle of Toulon III

Mr Charles, user of sand magic, stands wounded. His hands, transformed into scorpion claws, are chipped and his poisonous scorpion tail seems to falter.

"Vio, Aelita, prepare your mist," Madam Fron whispers, "we'll retreat to our second defensive line."

"Nature Summon: Toxic Flower Fumes!"

"Blood Mist!"

"Damn it!" Lady Caitlyn curses.

Mr Charles fires a few bullets of sand to the air as the eight of us escape. As he does that, the entire battlefield explodes.

"What the heck did you do?" Aelita asks.

"Al-Azhar planted a ton of explosives before the battle," Mr Charles explains.

"Let's split to confuse the enemy. Charles and I will go left. The Twelfth will go centre and the Thirteenth will go right. Charles, call the carpets!"

Mr Charles' whistle calls three magical carpets-Al-Azhar's favourite way of transportation.

Aelita channels a little of her mana into the carpet, enabling its flight. "Hurry up, Aelita!" I shout as I sense Lord Eugene's malicious aura coming near.

As our carpet makes its slow and clumsy start, Lord Eugene catches up. Chains encircle John and Aelita's legs, pulling them toward Lord Eugene.

"John! Aelita!" I shriek as I clench their arms tightly, engaging Lord Eugene in a dangerous tug-of-war.

I see both of them gritting their teeth as iron rods continue to pierce through their flesh. My arms are losing strength.

The pain.

The anger.

The helplessness.

It all comes to me again.

"Blood Shockwave!" I scream, crushing the chains that are binding John and Aelita. The uncontrollable bloodlust takes over my mind.

"How dare you hurt them?!" I shout while smirking, exclaiming, "Blood Maelstrom!"

A sea of blood manifests, drowning Lord Eugene. "Blood Bone Serpent!" A gigantic dragon charges at him.

"Vio!" I hear the worried sounds of John and Aelita. Gently yet firmly, their hands pull me back to reality.

"Thanks," I mutter with a thin smile forming on my lips, "let's get the hell out of here."

"Ukh!" I spit blood from my mouth. I borrowed too much of the demon's power; now it wants its pay. The blistering sunlight begins to fade. My eyes refuse to open.

"Neither the Twelfth nor the Thirteenth is ready to face a Lord on equal terms." I can hear Mr Charles' sighs and Madam Fron's muffled curses.

"Vio isn't strong enough to handle the demon's power. She unnecessarily took a high risk," Madam Fron comments.

"She tried to save John and I!" Aelita replies flamingly, "it wasn't a case of uncontrolled bloodlust!"

"She's going to wake up, isn't she?" John asks with a concerned tone.

"We've given her everything but the kitchen sink and her wounds have closed. She should've been awake by now, but ...." I hear Darryl's bitter reply.

"Are you saying she won't wake up?!" Aelita shouts at Darryl.

"Look, I'm not saying she absolutely won't wake up, but this situation is worsening by the day," Darryl explains.

From my hearing, I deduce that Aelita is grabbing Darryl's collar. "She has to wake up!"

"I probably won't if you keep on shouting, damn it," I mutter.

"Vio!" Aelita leans forward, hugging me tightly. "Thank goodness!"

I can hear relieved sighs from Madam Fron and Mr Charles. Darryl and I hug each other warmly, with him muttering, "I knew you would survive."

"Where are we?" I ask as Darryl releases his grip on my back.

"Fort Bard, in the western coast of Al-Azhar. You've been comatose for two weeks," Princess Suzuran's faint voice replies.

"Violleta's recovery is good news, but we have unpleasant news, too," she continues.

"What is happening, Princess?" Mr Charles asks wearily.

"We lost contact with the reinforcements."

"Reinforcements?" I ask.

"Al-Azhar, Francia, Erwing, and Irvine have assembled a force 900,000 strong, but for some reason they decided to cross the desert instead of travelling through the coasts. We stayed in contact until three days ago when they began their march, but now we have lost contact." Princess Suzuran sweats heavily.

"Judging from the distance, force marching through the desert does save some time, but ...." Mr Charles stops talking. His eyes widen.

"Don't tell me their route includes the Golden Oasis!"

"Well, I presume so, considering that the Golden Oasis is a great source of water. Sultan Rakh has also lifted the travel restriction there."

"Princess, assemble a team of your best mages. We must act fast if we don't want to lose our army. The Golden Oasis is where the king of the Djinn resides!" Mr Charles shouts.

"Djinn? Weren't they wiped out in the last war?" Aelita asks.

"Not all. Their king was badly injured and everyone thought he fell in battle against the Lords, but he survived. There's a reason why it was restricted!"

"Hold on. If I remember correctly, Queen Seira and Archduke Elliot of Francia also joined them, didn't they?" Madam Fron asks. Princess Suzuran nods affirmatively.

"Then I'll go myself and kill this Djinn," Madam Fron says, "losing the army is bad enough, but losing them would be catastrophic, especially for Irvine since, well–"

"No!" Princess Suzuran and Mr Charles shouts in unison.

"Al-Azhar has lost sixty percent of its battle mages, and, I hate to admit it, we won't stand a chance against the likes of Lady Jessica without you."

"But Charles alone isn't strong enough to take on the Djinn king," Madam Fron points out, "even if the Thirteenth has recovered enough, it's still a very risky enterprise."

"Yes, but I know the terrain well and I have the geographical advantage. I was born there!"

"Look, by this point they might have encountered the Djinn already. We can't waste time arguing!" Princess Suzuran fumes.

"Then John, Aelita, and I will accompany Mr Charles and the others. That'll be enough, right?" I offer, "and my mana detecting skill is superlative."

"You literally just woke up half an hour ago!" Mr Charles opposes.

"My physical wounds have healed," I mutter, "didn't you say we are in a hurry, Princess Suzuran?"

"Then the Twelfth it is," she replies decisively, "again, this is a desperate situation."

Leaving the hospital and bidding farewell to Darryl, I join Mr Charles, John, and Aelita outside.

Remi, Joe, and Agatha are also included in this mission. The seven of us ride on three magic carpets into the unknown desert.

"I have a very bad feeling about this for some reason," Remi comments.

"So do I," Mr Charles continues, "but this is what we have to do."