Chapter 135: Do Not Microwave.

Once again, we were inside the market. Well, almost. The market itself had turned into a jungle, and even after all the recent work, it wasn’t anywhere near cleaned up. Still, it was the best staging round to work with, since it was near the central part of the city, and could easily reach just about everywhere else with ease.

We were currently stationed on a larger building that had survived the previous conflict, only to have been infested with roots and new growing trees. That very same building had once been the bank that the big wolf had torn into. It gave us a decent vantage point over the market itself and a good view of where the wall breach was in the distance.

After all, based on its current trajectory, it was bound for the breach in the wall. By coincidence, or perhaps, it could have been attracted by the abundance of magical energy in the air coming from the former market. Regardless of the reason, it was coming right for here and would likely break through the previously repaired breach.

A lot of manpower had gone into bolstering the breach, a lot of people had worked on reinforcing the surrounding walls as well. All for naught. As it was, Liu Chou, whom was in charge of the city and garrison and had given out orders. Now, as a result, the areas surrounding the market were flush with troops, with many more waiting in the wings to plug the gap following the beast’s arrival.

Which meant, our task was to handle the initial mass of beasts while they stemmed the tide.

As for manning the wall and awaiting them there, not an option. Not after they’d so easily smashed through the wall before. Doing so would just strand those on the walls, or worse, entice the monsters to climb up and massacre them.

As it stands, a lot of soldiers had died during the initial assault. With a large population of the refugees remaining mostly unharmed, only because of Morrigan and Joan having cleared out the residential district. To make up for those losses, ever since that last conflict, a strict conscription order was put out.

Men of all ages were recruited, with even women being drafted to assist with logistics, such as refilling arrows. The new recruits’ overall strength was questionable at best, but if they survived, there was hope they’d become powerful. As to why these people weren’t facing ill effects from the dense magic in the air, I couldn’t say. Nor did I really care, not when it wasn’t something I had to worry about.

As time went on, as everyone settled into positions, the promised time was coming.

“Any luck?” I asked. The overall state of the battlefield was, in a word, ominous. It was a sunny day, but dark clouds hung in the distance. The wind picked up, carrying with it the faint smell of coming rain. The newborn trees rustled in the wind, adding to it all.

Truly, it felt like a storm was coming. An ill omen at its finest.

“Should be here any moment.” Morrigan said, her eyes shut. I glanced over at Joan and she merely nodded back.

“You good to fight?” I ask Morrigan, it wasn’t long ago that she was out for a few days.

“I’ll be fine. Just don’t let the battle drag on for too long.” She said with false bravado. It was clear she was still suffering from the damage Joan had inflicted on her. For Joan’s part, it was clear she felt bad about it. Not that she could help. Frustratingly, my earlier conjecture had proven true.

Morrigan’s magic had a heavy burden on her own soul, in exchange her killing potential was through the roof. Joan’s little search had done serious damage, enough that anyone else might have actually died. At least, according to Morrigan.

I wasn’t sure what to think, but I remember it being stated before that injuries to the soul were rather tricky. Which really meant that I couldn’t rely on Morrigan to do much beyond finishing the fight.

On the bright side, I had my troops. The stone soldiers were fighting fit, even if their numbers were severely diminished, and not just that, but their new enhanced bodies even gave me pause. And… I was also looking forward to trying something for this fight. Testing a notion I had, ever since I started questioning how I went about things. A notion that had some ground to stand on, based on how the last fight went.

After all, would I do better at the forefront? Or at the rear?

Now was as good time as any to try it out.

Interrupting my thoughts, Morrigan spoke, “Its coming.”

I braced myself, listened, but there was no precursor to its arrival. One moment the breach was still blocked, the next, something smashed through without a care in the world.

The sound was anything but silent. A sharp crack and boom that echoed out. A cloud of debris obscured the area, but the harsh wind quickly cleared it up. Revealing the creature’s form.

Its form was… different. Sleek, serpentine, but it didn’t look like a wolf. It was more like a lizard, with a long tail, claws, and a serpentine neck that ended in a long snout. Multiple eyes dotted their face, four on each side, each slit, black with red irises. Its body crackled and popped with tendrils of electricity running along its frame.

Perhaps this was the dragon, the sect guardian beast and yet…

It didn’t seem that strong at a glance, a silver at best, as for the exact ranking, perhaps a Mid-Silver? As for size, it seemed about as large as a bus. Was this the thing Morrigan was worried about? Not just that, but perhaps the wolf before was just a fluke. After all, this thing looked like an overgrown lizard, hardly a dragon.

I glanced over, and there was a frown on Morrigan’s face. I opened my mouth to ask her what was on my mind, when I felt it.

The thing, that lizard, paused for a moment, its eyes locked on my person. It didn’t move, didn’t act. Merely looked, stared. A long, narrow tongue jutted out of its mouth, as if tasting the air. Its head snapped to the side; a loud crack could be heard even from here from the action as it took us in from a different angle.

The moment our eyes locked, I felt it. Something stir, a clear portent. My connection roared, a jolt of command was sent to my soldiers to move. Yet, it was too little too late.

The thing moved, in a crack of thunder, a ripple of lightning it jolted forward at an incredible speed. One moment it was so far away and the next, it was right before us. It stopped short, its face tore open filling the air with the sound of rubbery flesh tearing apart, just to reveal a many toothed maw. A horrid screech ripped out, making the air vibrate. As the air shook, I felt my control over my magic slip, like it was a stallion that had gone mad. The reins slipping free from my hands.

Even my connection with my soldiers seemed to blur under the scream. I just barely grabbed the reins and juked to the side, taking Joan and Morrigan with me before its claws swiped towards us. Its claws cut right through the roof, crackling electricity lashed out, making what remained sizzle and explode pushing us further away. Chunks of wood and stone were sent flying and rained down from above as we hurtled off the side and into the nearest tree. I braced the pair, focusing my efforts on protecting Joan as we hit branch after branch in our descent until we hit the ground, where tall grass absorbed our fall.

The moment we hit the ground, I rolled off Joan and righted myself. Morrigan followed shortly after. The second she was up, Morrigan bolted away, leaving us to face the lizard alone.

From in front of us, I heard the lizard smash into the building, and saw its claws rip through the outermost wall, heading right for us. I didn’t confront it as it tore through the wall and beheld us, instead, I ran.

I felt its gaze settle on me. Its tongue darted out to taste the air, the lightning coursing through its body buzzed and spat. I heard the audible crack of its neck as it turned its head. I felt its attention shift from a still disoriented Joan to me as my boots beat into the overgrown grass.

Then it moved, I heard it, felt it with the scattered rime left in my wake as it jolted forward, almost too fast for my ice enhanced perception.

I hit the ground in a slide to avoid a swipe, silver blades formed at the bottom of my boots, and the moment I came to and of my slide, I jolted up and around to immediately fire a salvo of bullets into the lizard’s face.

With small bursts of electricity, it easily avoided my bullets, making a zig-zag pattern as it continued to close. The moment the last bullet fired, I turned around and continued my flight.

The lizard followed. It undulated as it moved, slipping around and through obstacles with ease, and when open ground presented itself, it burst forward in jolts of electricity, forcing mt to avoid or dodge. The game of cat and mouse came to an abrupt end when I felt a surge along my connection.

Out of the brush, a line of spears jutted out. The beast attempted to arrest its momentum, electricity surged along its form. In that moment, I loosed a volley. With a shrill cry, each bullet dug into the lizard’s scaley hide. Leaving small holes where they hit.

Enraged the thing let out another scream, disrupting the air again, nearly causing me to lose my balance, and causing the line of spears to shake just enough to clear an opening.

An opening it took.

The Lizard immediately jolted forward, only to crash headfirst into a line of shields. The sound of the impact echoed out, along with the sound of its teeth crashing together.

Swords slashed out, carving wounds into the lizard. I quickly reloaded, sending another salvo of bullets before the lizard shook itself free and batted aside the soldiers and forced itself forward. Breaking free just as the spearmen from behind were about to close the distance.

I didn’t back off though. This time I met it head on with bayonet out. I charged forward, silver blades digging into the ground, a sudden swipe was avoided with a deft turn and twist, returning the strike by carving into its side with my bayonet.

The bayonet keened in joy. Easily parting its scaled hide, leaving a hissing and frothing wound in its wake.

It wailed in in agony and writhed from the pain. Limbs and claws flailed, its entire body whipped around almost like a wet noodle at the pool. Despite my best efforts, a strike of its serpentine tail cracked into my side, taking my breath away and sending me flying into a nearby tree. The damage, surprisingly minimal as my uniform absorbed the blunt of the blow along with the thin layer of ice that coated my form.

While I got back to my feet, it too recovered, but by then, it was surrounded.

It didn’t move rashly as it took in its surroundings. Its tongue lashed out a few times, head twisted on its neck to allow its eyes to take in everything. In the end, it focused on me, with both malicious, and unbridled hunger.

As it prepared to move, I could feel the tension ratchet. Almost as if I were participating in a duel at high noon in some old western. Lightning crackled along the lizard’s body, humming and hissing, alerting us all that any moment it would jolt into action.

It was a bit of a standstill. Each of us were planning our moves in mind, like we were playing chess. Mentally gauging what our opponent would do, how they would move.

If I could correctly guess the lizard’s next moves, then, I’d be able to not only hem them in, but slaughter them with ease. If I failed, the fight could become long and grueling. As we faced each other though, A subtle feeling I couldn’t quite place made itself known. Yet… the moment the monster snapped into motion, it just clicked.

The moment I saw even the slightest twitch of its body, it was as if I knew exactly how it would act.

It twisted and turned, yet, like an extension of my own body, the soldiers moved with it cutting off every path of retreat. The beast circled and pawed, using its weight and body to bait out a charge, to create an opening it could maneuver around, but my soldiers were too well coordinated.

No, it was more than that… it was as if I understood how it would move before it even knew. How exactly this was, I didn’t know. I just… I felt it. Like a single thread, no, many threads. Like every action the beast had made, following in my tracks had built a dense web that now made them my puppet, only, not. They still acted as they were, they were still themselves, only…

It now became so obvious.

Seeing it couldn’t bait an opening, it instead tested the line itself. Claws batted out, swiping at the soldiers. Its neck whipped out, maw snapping shut, aiming to consume. Each and every time, it failed, only by the barest of margins.

And each and every time, it earned itself a new wound or cut. Bringing it closer to its preordained end.

Whenever I transformed, my soldiers grew stronger, I knew that. Something about my uniform had an effect of bolstering my familiars. Strengthening their overall capabilities. Now… I was coming to realize I could do more.

Last fight I learned that I could direct the energy along the line, feed it into specific soldiers for specific actions, granting them a burst of endurance, for when a claw carved into them, a burst of speed to avoid the whipping crack of the serpent’s neck, tipped with a hungry maw. Followed by a burst of strength, to power a thrust into an open flank.

Yet there was clearly more. As the seconds passed, as the end of the fight became ever nearer, I finally realized what it was. It was like a dance, a play. Everyone was playing their part. Acting out a grander plan that I’d only envisioned and somehow, made come true.

It was more than simply a plan coming together. Especially when so many steps were so, ad hoc. I knew for a fact that up to this point, I’d merely made a series of decisions in the moment to fulfill a specific need, there was no grand plan, and yet… the pieces seemingly fell into place.

The lizard wailed as its wounds grew ever more grievous. Black blood spilled from its wounds with abandon. The victorious soldier just barely managed to pull back as its tail whipped forward, a line of shields interjected, taking the brunt of the blow. A sudden burst of energy, hardening them, increasing their weight allowed them not only to take the blow, but retaliate.

In a breath, a series of blades carved into the serpentine tail, leaving worrying gashes along the beast’s oily black body. Its entire body seemed to undulate, and it pressed with ever greater force, freeing its tail, and retaliating with a series of swipes and snaps that made the air crack and pop.

It was a coordinated slaughter. With me as the maestro. Standing just outside its range, I focused my entire being on the fight, feeding and directing my soldiers to inflict ever more grievous wounds. I dared not let my focus lapse. The ice letting me take in every instant as if it was an eternity. Like watching a film reel, frame by frame.

No, as if… I were a director of a play, giving orders and commands on the fly.

My rifle and bayonet sat in my hands, all but forgotten as I focused solely on what was happening before me. As I felt out the ongoing battle, the ebb and flow of it, as if it weren’t a matter of life and death, but something simpler.

It wasn’t that I’d somehow made this happen, no… It wasn’t some mystical power, not technically. It was a combination of smaller effects, of my talents, of my magic, all coalescing coming together into this. That was what this was.

I replayed every move. As if it were a movie on rewind. The initial rush, the sudden movements, and every move after. Recontextualizing it, reimagining each step of this fight, it became clear.

Unconsciously, I’d been leading the lizard to a conclusion I wanted. Guiding its attention, altering my posture, how I moved, regulating my speed, all to arrive at this moment. Even when I was running, it was partially planned, but… the execution was beyond simple planning as I coordinated and worked with my soldiers, circling around the area, to the point where the soldiers could cut in front of us and lie in wait.

Was this… could this be considered talent? I had to wonder that as I watched my soldiers as they moved with shocking familiarity. As a single organism. A coordinated dance, a flow that the lizard couldn’t even keep up with. As the moments marched on, it became crystal clear they would win the day… given time.

Only… there was an issue. One quickly cropping up. Making itself known. So lost was I in directing my soldiers, I barely noticed the severe drain on my resources, until it was almost too late.

The prelude, was a slight stutter along the connection. A perfectly coordinated push faltered at the worst time. A swipe, meant to be interjected, blocked by a wall of magical steel, instead met unguarded stone. The unlucky stone soldier caught by its claws was unceremoniously thrown to the side with worrying wounds.

The sudden victory did not go unnoticed, nor was the sudden opening not exploited. With malevolent glee, the monster tore through the line. Even as I dumped a prodigious amount of magic down the connection to stymie its advance, it was like trying to quench a raging fire with a cup of water.

The maw snapped down, engulfing a soldier. Like a reptile swallowing food, the lizard just went up and swallowed them whole. Yet the soldier did not go quietly, trashing and stabbing where it could, kicking its legs to break free, all for naught. I felt the flare of panic from my soldier, a final burst of emotion as the last of it passed through the lizard’s gullet. That sudden ping sent the surrounding soldiers into a frenzy as they ignored possible harm to gouge and stab the lizard in the hopes it would give back their comrade, their kin.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

They couldn’t stop what was inevitable. The moment the soldier hit the Lizard’s stomach, I felt a sudden surge along the line, a final sputtering spark of its burning fire, right before it went silent. The line cut. The fire, snuffed out.

Reason gave way to fury. With bayonet attached, I charged and the lizard turned to look at me with mockery in its eyes. The moment I closed, I noticed something. Only with the world at a crawl, and so close, did I truly see.

Every wound, every injury, was healing. Literally knitting itself before my eyes as lightning coursed through its body… Unbidden, I thought of Éclair, of her magic, of her healing.

Was it doing the same? Accelerating its own healing? Where was it getting the energy from this? Éclair had her own means, but this thing… Glancing at it, I noticed, it did appear smaller. Was that how?

Even knowing that however, didn’t help. No, if anything, it made it all the more frightening. After all, I was already committed.

Like a coiled spring, the beast lunged towards me. I could hear muscles and tendons snap as it did so, the very air cracking as it punched through. In an instant it was before me, claws wide, sweeping down.

I kicked off the ground, just barely avoiding the swipe, only for its maw to meet me in the air. Even through the ice, I felt it. That last spark, that terrified trill over the line as it swallowed my soldier whole.

Was that to be my fate? Could I dodge? No… No, I could not…

Luckily, I didn’t have too…

A pane of golden light denied the hungering maw. Not for long, barely an instant, long enough for me to re-orient and slip aside, as its maw snapped beside me. As a final insult, my bayonet carved into the side of its head, carving through that side’s eyes. Denied its meal, and now half-blind, the lizard let out another horrible scream that didn’t just disrupt my magic, or my connections, but entirely severed them as I felt its cry ring and echo in my skull.

I hit the ground, hard. The uniform absorbed the blow, but the ice was shattered. It wouldn’t come. The scream kept echoing in my skull and constantly breaking up the ice. But the more I pulled on the cold, the more the scream dimmed and iced over, until finally it was gone.

Yet, by then, the damage had already been done.

Its smug mockery quickly gave way to frustration and anger as every second I was downed; my soldiers had thrown themselves forward to bar the lizard’s way. But without me directly guiding them and with the scream having disrupted the connections, they were no longer a single unit, but a grouping of individuals.

For a moment, all coordination failed. Soldiers scrambled forward, impeding one another, hitting what they could, even as they were bashed aside and thrown about like toys being thrown about by child having a tantrum. All that kept them going forward was a single thought, a single imperative, that I must not die.

Precious seconds were bought as golden panes made themselves known. As golden light interspersed at the most crucial moments. Yet, it was clear Joan couldn’t keep it up. The monster was simply bulling through the barriers without care. Though, their frustration grew at having their meal constantly denied.

Enough, that with a final snap, it stamped its feet like a petulant child and let out a final harumph before slithering away, its target, Joan.

By the time I’d recovered, it had already gone too far.

It moved too fast. It didn’t even jolt forward in a surge of electricity and simply used its legs to power through the vegetation, right for where Joan’s magic was coming from.

I tried to follow, but… it was already too late…

The moment it was in range, the lizard lunged for Joan. I barely caught a glimpse of her, of a single flash of golden light, but before the lizard even hit that flash of light, Morrigan came crashing through the brush from its blind side. Covered in black ichor, she tackled Joan and denied the beast yet another meal.

It soared past where Joan had been, shattering the pane of light that had stood there, and continued onward, crashing into a nearby tree, destroying it in the process.

Then, there was silence… Nobody moved and then, we heard it. Thrashing and crying. Like a child denied. Granting Morrigan and Joan the time to regroup with me and the surviving soldiers.

Quickly, the connections were re-established, a formation was made.

“Cleaned up the area.” Morrigan said on standing near me.

“I could tell, no stragglers interrupted us.” I said, paused and took her in. “How are you doing?

She puffed up, ready to deny and bluff, but… “Not good…” She admitted after a slight pause, deflating in the process. A small trickle of blood could be seen flowing from her eyes. Even just looking at the monster as it thrashed had her wincing in pain. “A few too many broke through, and I’ve lost contact with my crows. I have no idea what the hell is going on, and the beasts seem oddly coordinated.”

All grim news… Still, I turned to Joan. “And you? How are you holding up Joan?”

She was panting, pale. “Near my limit.” She said and winced, holding her side, trails of blood could be seen coming out of her ears. The fall and being jumped by Morrigan hadn’t exactly helped. Honestly, considering that she didn’t have a uniform, it was a miracle she was even still standing.

Once our conditions were confirmed, the lizard finished with throwing its tantrum and stood. It shook itself free of dust and debris and looked at us, its eyes glowing with rage.

“And you? I suppose you got a plan?” Morrigan asked with a weak smile.

“We hold.” Was all I could say. Her following laugh was bitter, only broken by the crack of hum of lightning, followed by a snap and whip crack of thunder.

I barely caught it. It didn’t merely lunge forward as thick tendrils of lightning arced out of its body.

A single command ran through the line the instant I realized what it was doing. Heads ducked, spears were planted into the ground and abandoned. Not a moment later, tendrils of lightning licked the surroundings, going for the imbedded spears, a few stray strands brushing against shields or helms.

Metal burned and glowed. Some of the more damaged spears burst, sending shrapnel everywhere, most of which was blocked by the surrounding soldiers, what wasn’t, we had to take with me shielding Joan’s body.

As for the shields that were touched, any limb holding them burst into pieces, sending jolts of agony along the lines of my soldiers as limbs burst from the extreme heat.

As for the touched helms, those kissed by the lightning, their ends were much more merciful. A sudden burst of heat, followed by their heads merely exploding. Snuffing them out in an instant.

The damage was catastrophic. Even if the three of us took little to no damage, my soldiers were about decimated. With the unlucky few being smote on the spot. And many more crippled. Even then, the lightning continued to course through them, leaving worrying cracks in their otherwise sturdy bodies.

There was also a bit of… a twist. A bit of an ironic one. The lizard was a bit too close to the explosions… causing it to get peppered with superheated shrapnel made up of magical metal and stone. And since it was so big, its head faced forward, well… it wasn’t looking good.

By no fault of my own… the lizard inflicted severe injuries on itself in that single moment. Its body was riddled with wounds, stone tearing away chunks of flesh. Better yet, the wounds did not heal. The extreme heat essentially cauterizing its wounds, inflicting ever more grievous damage upon it.

Enough that I saw Morrigan’s face shift, and her body move. Enough, that sensing the shift I threw myself forward as well. All the while, its body writhed and churned, the lightning crawling along its body hummed and buzzed like a hive of bees, as it pumped all of its magic into trying to heal itself.

I had no idea what was going on, even as I followed Morrigan’s lead. Even with ice slowing the world around me, I could barely get a feel for what was happening as the battle rapidly changed.

Too many soldiers were down, struggling to move. My own rifle was loaded, but I wasn’t sure if any of the bullets I had would make that much of a difference.

Another jolt of lightning arced off its form as we closed, jumping to an imbedded spear that promptly exploded. Sending jagged pieces of metal right into my side, whereas Morrigan seemed to evade the deadly storm of metal as her feet shuffled.

Sensing our approach, even through the agony and pain, it moved, sending a wild wave of its claws right into Morrigan’s path Morrigan didn’t slow, if anything, she picked up the pace. Only to hit the ground at the last second, as the limb went high, ass tendrils of lightning crackled around her, with none actually hitting her.

And in a single swing, her axe cleaved upwards right for the joint of the limb. With a meaty thwack, it carved right through the joint, sending the limb flying.

Before it could even process what had happened, Morrigan cried out.

“Hit it!” She shouted, but she needn’t have. After all, my bayonet was already in motion, having sensed on some level what the play was. With the opening presented by the now disarmed lizard, I rushed for its neck, coincidentally, or perhaps by some design, its neck twisted with a final crack, it maw opened to let out a final wailing scream of agony and pain, only to be met by the silver edge of my bayonet.

It cut through with ease. Parting flesh and muscle like it was nothing. Gouts of seared black blood gushed out. In a single swipe, I very nearly beheaded the lizard, but it wasn’t enough. The blade was too short to cleanly behead the beast.

Luckily, I wasn’t doing this alone. Right after, following my strike, Morrigan’s own came crashing home. Right into the other half, and with a final meaty thud, of metal on flesh, carved right through the central part of the neck, beheading the lizard in a single sweeping strike.

The moment she was done, Morrigan scampered back, “RUN!” She cried, I followed. Not a moment later, not questioning her command in the slightest as the beast began to writhe and lose control. The lightning coursing through its body lost all direction, directly cooking and boiling its flesh as it struggled to regenerate from such a grievous blow.

Flesh bubbled, hissed. Almost like it had been thrown into a microwave. It made me think of Éclair, how she healed, how she healed others. Seeing it in action, and finally, seeing the lizard’s body burst and pop, splattering sizzling globs of tar-like blood everywhere all the while it thrashed and screamed.

It made me realize just how insane Éclair was…

We watched in grim awe and growing horror as the lizard literally cooked itself alive, until finally with a final explosive splatter of sizzling meat and boiling blood did it finally die.

All at once, its form rapidly lost cohesion and began to disintegrate before us. A surge of starlight flooded into us. Helping us recover, easing over our wounds, but really, it was a drop in the bucket.

And finally, it was over… right?

It was then that Morrigan began to laugh. It wasn’t a good one. Long, cackling, half-deranged.

I moved to question why she was laughing, but… I felt it. The earth tremble and from afar, I heard the countless crows cackling away, mirroring Morrigan’s own thoughts.

“We’re so fucked!” She yelled. And glanced towards the wall, I couldn’t help but agree.