Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn! 196 Clash 6

At the same time as the cloaked figures were executing their plot, in the hall of the Truthstone, a group of 5 Divine warriors were seated cross-legged around a snowy white cat, located in formation at the five corners of a pentagon.

Their lips were moving in an esoteric chant, but no sound was heard. However, wisps of runic power snaked up out of them every now and then, the lines of Divine light coiling around the Truthstone before being absorbed into the transparent crystal.

The Divine Beast in the centre had her eyes closed in a frown – concentrating on powering up their secret weapon.

Just then, the sound of someone knocking on the door was heard. Without waiting for permission to enter, a beautiful golden haired girl dressed in nearly transparent white robes entered quietly. She looked to be in her late teens at most, but her height and her curvaceous body gave her an air of maturity belying her age. She carried herself with a perfect mix of dignity and sensuality which, together with her bewitching figure, was enough to mesmerise any man or woman who saw her.

She walked over to the centre of the room where Elder Mash'noth and her team were seated, every step graceful and pleasing to the eye. She seemed to unconsciously exude an aura of charm that would stir a watcher's desire yet, curiously, she bore an innocent air as well. This innocence was contrasted by the fact that each step would cause her robes to catch and cling on to the curves of her voluptuous body in a hypnotic fashion.

However, the most curious thing was that, if asked, no-one in the entire homestead would recall ever having seen this beauty before.

Crossing the room, she entered the formation easily, the runic symbols seeming to leap in delight when she drew near. Reaching Elder Mash'noth's side, she bowed slightly and spoke in a melodious voice.

"Elder Mash'noth, your orders have been carried out. All preparations have been done."

The Divine Beast nodded slightly with her eyes closed. She then finished the last stanza of her chant before opening her eyes and smiling fondly yet sadly at the beautiful girl before her.

 "Well done, Luca. The tainted ones are likely to make a move any time soon…" The Elder's voice trailed off and she was silent for a moment. She made a silent prayer to the Divine Lord, hoping that they would not need to trigger their last resort.

Then she sighed deeply, as if from the bottom of a despairing soul.

"Who would have known that the Dark Lord would emerge… There's no time left, we have no choice…"

She turned to look at Luca, the exquisite beauty beside her, saying, "Go and find the Child of Light, stay with him and protect him! No matter what, both you and the boy must live! Only with you by his side, can Lars vanquish the darkness forever! Bring him safely to the Temple of the High Priest – Sunil will know what to do next…"

Having said those words, Elder Mash'noth's body lit up brightly, burning with Divine fire. She then began to chant wordlessly, quickly joined by the other 5 worshippers around her.

The runic formation pulsed once, twice, three times, causing the Truthstone to pulse in response. Then a halo of Divine Light formed above the Truthstone. This halo floated over to land on the girl's head before turning into specks of golden light which were absorbed into her body.

This process seemed to age Elder Mash'noth greatly, causing her snowy white fur to turn grey and dark in some places. Coughing in pain, she let out a mournful meowl and fell to floor weakly.

Seeing the Divine Beast's condition, Luca hurriedly kneeled down by Elder Mash'noth's side to help her up. Her face was twisted with a look of sorrow and she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"It's… It's alright… What must come, must come…" Turning to the beautiful girl, Elder Mash'noth laid a gentle gaze on her.

It seemed that time froze for a while then. Elder Mash'noth seemed incredibly frail at that moment, but a small cat that was small enough to fit in one's embrace. She reached out a soft white paw to touch the girl's face softly and fondly.

However, they knew that this had to be done.

Elder Mash'noth nodded once slowly, tears streaming down her face and with an expression of unwillingness, spoke her last words to the girl.

"...It's done… Now go…"

Despite the tears that blurred her vision, Luca nodded calmly, as if she had already known this moment would come. However, she couldn't still her shaking hands. She rose to her feet, clearing her throat in an attempt to compose herself, then spoke chokingly.

"Yes… Mother."

The teary faced girl left the temple with determined footsteps, headed to find the Child of Light.

* * * * *

"Ow!" Lars slapped the back of his neck where he felt something like a mosquito bite. Then he frowned as he looked at his clean, empty hand – how would it be possible for a mosquito to get near a Mountain-level, Legendary individual?

He shook his head, chuckling to himself at the silly thought – but he could still feel a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as if though something was about to go terribly, terribly wrong… He couldn't quite shake this bad feeling, but without knowing what it was about, he could only shrug and respond to whatever came.

He turned his eyes to watch the battle unfold, ready to intervene as needed.

* * * * *

Where the battle between Zera and Viru had been close before, it was now heavily in the goblin's favour. They were fighting in close combat, making moves and counter-moves at point-blank range.

They were both peak Mountain-level fighters, capable of establishing their names as Legends in the annals of history. However, in terms of strength, however, there was a significant difference. Viru's heavy weapon and basic physique allowed him to continuously pressure Zera. The agile spear user's advantage from a longer weapon was counteracted by Viru's tighter attack trajectories while she was only marginally faster due to Viru's berserk attacks.

 'Shit… I need to create a gap… But this dog isn't letting me!' What had begun as an attempt to lure Viru into her trap had instead turned into a life-and-death struggle which she couldn't disengage from.

The moment their battle re-started, Viru had unveiled his berserk fighting style, rushing at her with frenzied, full power blows. If she tried to counterattack, he would threaten a mutually destructive exchange, one which she would come out on the losing end. When she tried to open up a distance, the goblin would roar and momentarily accelerate in a burst, his unique technique that allowed him to close the gap consistently.

She could only wait for an opportunity, a mistake from Viru, striking cautiously as she retreated and dodging with her life on the line, each time one blow away from a crippling death. Whenever she blocked his war hammer, both she and her kingswood spear would groan in protest, and unless she dodged each attack completely, even the slightest brush from Viru's attacks would cause her face to turn pale and body to tremble.

She was sweating and panting - she had been walking this tight rope for several minutes with no sign of a chance emerging.

"Pitiful human…! I have no wish to crush you and your people, but for my tribe, I will make you surrender the artefact! DIE! Killing Art: Peaks-to-Plains!!" Seeing his chance, Viru shot forward like a meteor soaring through the air, wielding his war hammer to deliver a crushing blow. A phantom image of a Primal Beast appeared behind him, looking like a Sabre-toothed Tiger with the skin and horn of a rhino, blood dripping from it's planet-rending fangs.

'No choice! Dammit, DAMMIT ALL!' Zera knew that she could not hold on for long. She grit her teeth and made her decision, forcefully drawing on the remaining Earth Pulse in her partially ignited 11th and 12th Life-Foci, permanently damaging the meridians in the process.

However, this sacrifice gave her an extra burst of power.

"Wretched, audacious goblin! I'll show you true power! TWILIGHT EXECUTION!!"

The night sky that was approaching dawn was dyed black, and the only light that was seen was the shining of a grand spear descending from the skies that cleared out the hills, vegetation, trees and goblins that lay in the path of the attack, leaving only level ground where it passed.

Lady Zera slowly floated to the ground, breathing raggedly and clutching at her chest with her left hand. Her bloodied right arm hung limply by her side, her spear already turned to splinters.

She smiled victoriously at the figure of goblin lord Viru who still stood, remaining suspended in the air with his arms and war hammer crossed before his chest in defence. He was badly burnt, but the wide-spread attack had failed to deal a killing blow – exactly the expected result.

But it was enough to distract him from the hidden joint attack of her companions that was sprung in the darkness – companions that were surrounding goblin lord Viru, whose strikes had pierced his body in 5 places leaving gaping, fatal wounds.

"Ur…ghhh…" He gasped and collapsed, beginning the long fall to the ground as the goblin army cried out in dismay.

"GET LOST, BOTTOM DWELLERS! BEFORE WE MINCE YOU UP LIKE YOUR LEADER!" Gatyon's roar of intimidation resounded towards the goblin army while Xiloth hurried over to Zera's side to help her stand.

But before he could reach her side, the dim light of the night sky turned to darkness and terrifying shrieks and wails were heard as five cloaked figures pounced onto their wounded prey.

Chapter end