Demoness 2 - Chapter 71 - The Magister of the Guard (Again, Part 2) (Patreon)

Bannon’s sword flashed, a shimmering barrier of water magic deflecting a blast of energy from Elder Gant’s outstretched hand. The force of the impact sent shockwaves through the air, the stones of the fortress trembling under the clash of their power.

Elania watched as Elder Holt sent another blast of energy hurtling towards Magister Bannon. It missed and struck the fortress.

The corner of the citadel cracked and then sheared away into the streets below.

A numb thought that if the Elder was capable of that, why hadn’t they simply started the assault with that? Why let so many Lightbringers and monks die in the battle?

Maybe they had been afraid of Magister Bannon, and of her?

Bannon landed in a crouch, his hand moving in a series of intricate gestures. A dozen tendrils of water materialized around him, the appendages glinting in the city’s light.

With a flick of his wrist, they shot toward the Elder like possessed whips. The Elder’s staff flashed, spinning in a rapid flurry before a flare of light sent the water spell fanning out and away.

The water reformed in the air and curved back around to surround the Elder. Spikes exploded from the inside surface of the forming bubble, piercing through Holt like needles.

The water orb settled around him, tinged red.

Bannon had got him!

She started to turn back toward her last target when a flash behind the Magister drew her attention.

“Watch out!” Elania shouted, but she was much too far away for Bannon to hear her.

It was Elder Holt’s body replacement skill… or something! The Elder planted his staff in Bannon’s back and sent the Magister flying. Somehow, he spun and slammed into a wall feet first, the impact shattering the stonework.

He leaped free from the crumbling stone, but two paladins were there to continue the attack.

One leaned forward to breathe a cloud of fire on him. The rushing flame charred the area, but Bannon was already moving, his body engulfed in a shimmering orb of water. Steam poured off of the construction, but the Magister was left unscathed.

Another paladin charged from behind, sword flashing in a deadly arc. The Magister spun, his water orb exploding outward in a torrent of fury.

The paladin was sent flying, his body slamming into the same wall that the Magister had impacted. The stonework crumbled completely, burying the armored warrior.

A volley of muskets cracked out behind her, and Elania realized she had forgotten her own fight. She turned around; the last paladin had reached the guards.

Ah, she’d fucked up.

The paladin’s great sword was cleaving through them like they were nothing, and everything they tried bounced off the pristinely shining armor.

Elania broke into a [Power] propelled sprint.

Too many men died tried to hold the paladin while allowing others to retreat.

Somehow, when she reached him, he knew she was there.

Sliding on the stone, she tried to drop a light bomb on him as she passed by but he grabbed her wrist and wrenched it toward herself. It exploded, blowing her into the ground with a bounce.

His sword came down a second later to slice her in half, but a guard jumped in the way, body blocking the blow at the expense of his life.

Elania didn’t have time to process that. The second swing she blocked with a wing. Then she slashed him with the other, jabbing piercing feathers of light through the armor. He didn’t flinch from the blow.

He elbowed her in the face hard enough to send her spinning; shards of teeth flying out across the battlement.

A guard ran in to stab him with a sword, expertly aiming for the holes she’d carved with her feathers. The sword drove in halfway before stopping, point refusing to poke out the other side of the paladin’s armor.

The paladin reached down and crushed the guard’s neck with an iron fist.

Elania picked herself up, rubbing her face with her elbow. Pain exploded in her jaw as [Regeneration] kicked in. It was enough to leave her panting. Teeth were incredibly painful to heal.

Almost as bad as regrowing a new limb.

The sickening thing was, she had the experience to know.

If it wasn’t for the ridiculous array of meta-human post-it notes that had tacked themselves onto her since her arrival in Eladu, she’d have been on the ground screeching her heart out.

She spat a wad of blood and bone at the paladin’s feet.

“Slowing down yet, big guy?” Elania said.

He took a step toward her and raised his sword.

She jumped back, out of reach. A quick movement had her rifle sling over her head and then she slapped a magazine into the weapon.

Another hop backward as he began to pick up speed toward her, and then she aimed and fired.

A quick burst of three shots rang out against his armor, ricocheting wildly. She pushed more power into the mana shard and compressed it even more.

This time, the three shots made small holes in his breastplate, and he staggered. Not enough to fall, though.

He took another step forward, and she fired again.

He made it halfway to her before falling onto a knee, hand wrapped around his great sword to remain balanced. His armor heaved up and down heavily as the man breathed.

Elania decided that the Lightbringer Paladins were ridiculous. She wasn’t even sure if the system was telling her the truth or not when it reported they were human.

The guards nearby stared at her with shock and awe written all over their faces.

She waved toward the Magistry. “Go on, catch up to the others.”

They didn’t question her.

Looking out at the Watch Fortress in the distance, she could make out the now smaller figures of the combat there.

A tendril of water flowed out of the ground, wrapping around a paladin’s ankle, and yanking him off balance. The warrior stumbled, his sword slamming into the ground to maintain his footing.

Bannon lashed out immediately, a dagger appearing in his free hand as if by magic. It jammed through the armor at the paladin’s neck, right between two large plates.

Elania realized the mistake before the Magister did.

The Paladin released his sword and grabbed Bannon’s wrist. The fight was too far away, but Elania was easily able to imagine the sickening crunch of bone. She’d just experienced that in her own fights.

Water stabbed the Paladin from below, a rising pike hoisting the armored man into the air before tossing him off the wall.

The Magister’s free hand dangled uselessly as he leveled his rapier toward Elder Holt.

The Conclave leader unleashed a barrage of light magic from his staff. Bannon blocked with his sword the strikes that came in from the front, while bolts of water smashed the ones arcing in from the sides away.

She needed to help him.

A stomp to the spine ended the immobile paladin at her feet. Reaching out to absorb his [Power] was almost an afterthought.

[You have slain Paladin - Human - Lvl 261]

[You have lost 1243 Karma.]

[For slaying a being over 50 levels higher than you, extra experience is rewarded.]

[You have gained a level!]

[You are now Level 200!]

[Due to reaching a milestone level, you have gained an additional perk point!]

[You have gained a rank in Indomitable Will!]

A rush of power coursed through her. Before she could take a step, another paladin slammed into the ground in front of her as if he had taken a giant leap.

He was tall and broad-shouldered for a paladin, and that was saying something. A blue cloth covered half of his pristine white armor, which seemed oversized when she took in the size of his helmet.

Okay, he wasn’t that big. His armor was just comically large.

She canned him with [System Analysis] and received a maddening response.

[Error.]

A frown appeared on her face. Was the skill worse than [Identify] or was the armor interfering?

He reached up and opened the helmet.

Elania hissed as she took in his face. “Paladin Anton,” she said, her voice tight with tension.

“That’s Arch Paladin Anton to you, demon,” he said, his voice dripping with contempt.

“I’m surprised they didn’t fire you after you abused your holy sword so much it abandoned you,” she replied.

A white circle flared to life around him, and suddenly, six more paladins appeared at his side, stepping out of his shadow, their weapons drawn and ready.

Well, that was truly marvelous.

“Your time to die has come, demon,” he growled, his voice low and menacing. “And I will be the one to send you back to the hell that spawned you.”

Elania glanced over his shoulder. Bannon was still fighting.

Fight, or flee?

A [System] prompt called for her attention.

Ah, what perks did she have available for this mess? It looked like they had changed, maybe because she was transformed?

[Available Perks: (Radiant Aura), (Divine Resilience), (Righteous Smite), (Divine Regeneration), (Angelic Bulwark), (Divine Mending)]