Locrias’ mystical fire guided by Domination formed an unbreakable barrier while now the tier three bolts of energy shot from I(amila’s wands followed their targets until they hit.
A second breath of Origin Flames shattered more Sealed Space spells,
giving the sieged makeshift team even more power.
“Can you hold your own for a couple of seconds?” Locrias asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Kamila replied as the wall of fire faded and she barely dodged an incoming lunge.
“Fine!” The six-eyed demon entered her shadow, manipulating her movements like a puppet. A puppet that now had decades of battle experience and the aim of a marksman.
As Kamila dodged and shoot down her enemies thanks to Locrias’
eyes behind her back that left no blind spot, the ex—captain conjured the black flame that all Demons possessed.
It revealed the chain that bound him to Lith and several others that he had always hoped to never have to use.
“I beg you, my friends, heed my voice. Queen’s Corps, answer the call one last time!” The darkness and Spirit Magic that Lith had infused inside Locrias’ body traveled through the chains, turning more souls into Demons.
Some of his comrades who had fallen during Orpal’s previous attack were still haunting Lith’s house, refusing to abandon their duty and their captain. Locrias had let them be until that moment, hoping that they would move on and find peace.
Yet they were still there and now he was in desperate need of help.
Four of Locrias’ six eyes disappeared as their power was poured into the newborn Demons of the Darkness.
The strength a Demon possessed grew exponentially with the number of their eyes. By sacrificing four of them he rose five four-
eyed Demons. Then, the chains spread from the newborn Demons to even more souls.
Souls that belonged to members of the Queen’s Corps that Locrias didn’t know or that the wandering spirits had met after their death.
“Bring me with you. I can still fight. I have to!” Some were fallen warriors from says past, most were simply dead people from Lutia.
Each one of the Demons near Lith’s house used their own Chains of Fate to share their power, giving those who willing to answer the call one last chance. Then, the chains pulled them from the farm to Lutia in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, Zesker and the rest of the Queen’s corpse were fighting for their lives.
“l-low the heck do you recognize a Thrall from a human?” He asked Reaper who at first had seemed to attack innocents just for their wounds to heal and reveal the regenerative power of the undead.
“The smell!” He yelled while cutting his way toward the Heavenly Wolf restaurant. “A Thrall always has the lingering smell of the undead essence their master feeds them with.”
Reaper and Lifebringer were Awakened who had already reached the blue core, but they were having a hard time as well. Orpal had hired human assassins, planted his Thralls among the Lutians, and even made some of them his Chosen.
They could use the bloodline abilities of Draugrs to become as strong as an Emperor Beast. Or those of Blood Witches to use the undead equivalent of Origin Flames and Life Maelstrom.
lf not for Lith providing them with enchanted equipment and teaching them Spirit Magic, they would have already fallen due to the sheer numerical advantage of the enemy.
They could still discern a human from a Thrall but the more enemies they killed, the harder it became. The battle had started for less than a minute, yet most of the bystanders were covered in blood, making them smell like Thralls.
“How the heck does an undead even smell?” Zesker cursed and sent Valia, one of the newest recruits, to rescue a group of citizens from the attack of a Thrall that had turned into a Grendel.
She answered with a nod of the head and put herself between the monster and its victims, blocking the creature’s deadly claw with her polearm.
“Run away! I’ll hold him off while-” Her voice broke as the woman she had just rescued stabbed her in the back
“Foolish child.” She said. “I won’t allow you to ruin my hard work.
These people are a sacrifice for the Dead King. Their blood will make him stronger and so will yours.”
Only then did Valia notice that the group of people was as scared of the woman as they were of the Grendel. With her last breath, she felt her life essence drained and sucked by the Vurdalak’s colossal body.
Valia tried to speak, but only a gurgle came out as she drowned in her own blood. The Blood Witch then turned towards her victims,
emitting bolts of Blood Maelstrom that made the Lutians burst like fireworks.
The final thought of the newest fallen member of the Queen’s Corps didn’t go to her family and friends. Valia died cursing herself. She had failed to save those people and to warn her comrades of the hidden importance of the slaughter.
The Thrall had used Blood Maelstrom because it enhanced the life essence of her victims, giving Orpal the power he needed to keep fighting.
Valia knew all that yet her knowledge died with her.
Zesker watched her die and wished for Lutia to burn. Of the ten members of the Corps he had brought along, only five survived. The rest had been killed by the very people he had sent them to rescue.
Then, Locrias‘ Chains of Fate brought reinforcements and conjured more.
“Glory to the Kingdom!” The reborn members of the Queen’s Corps shouted while throwing themselves at the enemies with fury.
The Blood Witch and the Grendel turned towards the Demons,
holding one Lutian in each hand to use them as meat shields and further empower their master.
A sword pierced through the Grendel‘s back until the hilt struck his back while a black hand clenched the Blood Witch’s head.
“Glory to the Kingdom and thanks for the information, traitor.” Valia whispered in her ear before sucking her dry with Abomination Touch The corpse had risen as a Demon of the Fallen the moment she had died. She now inhabited her own body and had even imprinted her equipment again.
“Captain, protect the citizens! It’s their blood that feeds the Undead King. Without it, he is powerless.” Valia used her voice to warn the rest of the Queen’s Corps and the mind link to spread the news between the Demons.
Her sight struck terror in the Thralls and inspired new confidence in the members of the Corps as Valia showed her newfound prowess.
“Kill me if you dare, fucker.” A soldier said while pointing the chain that linked him to Iocrias to the assassin in front of him. “I’ll just return a second later and then I’ll be stronger than ever.”
The threat turned into a prophecy as the Chains of Fate spread throughout the city and more Demons rose. Some of them had just died and like Valia had returned as Demons of the Fallen.
Others had lost their body for years, but their spirit was unbroken.
“Don’t worry, Mom.” Said a Demon with the semblance of a child barely six years old. “1 promised you that once I grew up, I would protect you. I can’t grow up anymore, but I can still save you.”
The woman witnessed her lost son fight the Thrall that had tried to kill her and her daughter. All around Lutia, the citizens could see their loved ones rise as shadows to protect the living from the undead.
