CHAPTER 276
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CHAPTER 276
297 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
As the Night King and his formidable entourage closed in, Aermir surveyed the battlefield, his eyes meeting the frosty gaze of the Night King. Aermir, feeling the surge of mana from the defensive buffs, focused on summoning the wildfire spirit and a medium fire elemental. The wildfire spirit manifested with a burst of fiery exuberance, dancing flames coalescing into a wolf. The medium fire elemental followed suit, its flames forming the vague silhouette of men.
Seeing this, the Night King sneered and attacked with shards of ice. Sith moved with predatory grace and dodged the attacks. Aermir turned towards his familiars and rained commands,
"Nin, Kilim, stay hidden and ambush them with Imu. Artio and Berus, you will be the vanguard, and Sith, after I start clashing with the Night King, come back and help the others. Poe, Erebus, and Skadi will do hit-and-run attacks."
Artio pawed at the ground; her eyes fixated on the approaching threat while Berus released a thunderous bark. The Night King, unfazed by the gathering of magical allies, raised his icy hand, and the white walkers recovered from Aermir's earth spell advanced with unnatural coordination.
White Walkers were not mindless undead like the wights; they were magical species. If Aermir had to call them something, they were close to an ice elf. They were bloaked in icy armor that shimmered with an otherworldly glow; they possessed an aura of arcane malevolence.
Their eyes burn with an ethereal blue, devoid of warmth or humanity, and their faces are hidden behind crystalline masks. These spectral figures move with an unnerving grace, and their very presence chills the air. Armed with weapons made of ice, their touch could freeze the life essence from living beings, turning them into wights.
Their skin was unnaturally pale and had an icy hue. You could almost see the muscles underneath because their skin was almost translucent. As the two sides clashed, Artio swiped her strong claws at one of the white walkers, trying to maul the white walker but only managing to destroy his mask. The white walker was angry because his mask was destroyed, and beneath the mask was a translucent skin kissed by an ethereal frost, forming the canvas for features that are both refined and unsettling.
The contours of their faces were sharp and angular, almost regal, contrasting with the pallid and haunting aura around them. The white walker struck Artio with his ice spear, but it got deflected off her magical shield while creating a screeching sound that clawed the ears of everyone who heard it.
As he charged toward the Night King, Aermir raised his hands. Flames erupted from his palms, taking the form of searing projectiles that streaked through the air, aiming at the white walkers.
Meanwhile, Skadi unleashed ice shard magic, crystalline projectiles slicing through the frigid air; a white walker raised a shield made out of ice, blocking the attack, and then threw an ice spear toward Skadi. She managed to dodge the attack with a sudden dive; Poe dive-bombed toward a white walker. The strong wind pressure crushed the white walker to the ground, but other than falling and a few streaks of trickling icy blue blood from the corner of its nose, you couldn't see any other damage on the icy being.
The spell that could shink longships of the Ironborn and crush even the strongest of knights into a meat paste could only give the white walker a nosebleed. The white walker wiped the corner of his nose and roared in anger with a screeching shout. He charged back into the fray like nothing had happened.
Artio charged deeper into the enemy line with the force of a battering ram, her massive claws swiping at the approaching foes. She was getting hit by many icy weapons, but the strong buffs around her body were able to stop the weapons from wounding her. But the same was true for the white walkers. Their icy armor and shields were powerful enough to protect them from their fangs and claws.
Imu vanished into the earth, reappearing beneath a group of white walkers and delivering a venomous strike on their spots. He struck at the spots where they didn't have armor, but his venom was not strong enough to kill them. It caused them to be a bit more sluggish, but that was all it did.
Nin jumped from one shadow to another, ambushing the white walkers as they were busy dealing with each other. His sharp fangs only left small wounds on them. Kilim was doing the same thing while diving into the earth. As the skirmish unfolded, Aermir directed the wildfire spirit and the medium fire elemental to focus their attacks on the Night King.
As he charged through the white walkers, he struck down on them using his halberd, and as the Valyrian steel clashed with the shield and armor of the white walkers, you could see sizeable dents on them. The weapon was effective, and when it cut through a spot without an icy army, they exploded like glass. He was surprised by the effectiveness of the Valyrian steel. The wildfire spirit leaped and twirled as it jumped from one white walker to another, burning them as it made its way toward the Night King.
Meanwhile, the medium fire elemental unleashed waves of intense heat, killing the first white walker with its fireballs. It took close to 10 fireballs to kill one of them, and as the fire elemental released more fire, it was growing smaller.
The Night King countered with his own magic, extinguishing flames with a mere gesture. White walkers, though momentarily disrupted, began to regroup, their relentless advance continuing.
While sitting on top of his undead steed, all Night King did was wave his hands, and all the fire around them, other than the two elementals, was extinguished. Sith and Aermir were not able to reach the Night King, and As the battle intensified, Aermir and his familiars found themselves gradually overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and supernatural prowess of the Night King and his minions. The white walkers, undeterred by injuries, pressed forward with an otherworldly determination.
Aermir rained down fire on them and killed a few, but he knew they were losing; the Night King wasn't fighting for real; he was just watching and providing some support with his icy magic. He wasn't taking them seriously. Aermir could clearly see the disdain on his face. Aermir knew that look because he was giving that look when he fought against the Ironborn and the Vale. That was the look of disdain against a weakling trying to fight against an unstoppable power. Aermir's mana, depleted from the continuous onslaught, flickered like a dying ember.
In the midst of the fray, Aermir met the gaze of his familiars, a silent understanding passing between them. The odds were insurmountable, and the Night King's icy grasp seemed inexorable. Yet, with a final surge of collective strength, they continued to resist, their spirits undaunted even in the face of imminent defeat.
He had one last thing left: Night King was looking down on him, which could help him take him by surprise. Aermir dove into the ground, catching the Night King off guard. The surprise flickered across the icy visage of the Night King. Seizing the moment, Aermir concentrated almost all of his mana on his halberd and said,
"Valon Ābra: perzys egros (metamagic:Flaming Blade)."
The halberd in Aermir's hands burst into crimson flames; the meta magic boosted a lower-level spell to the highest tier the caster could cast. So his level two flaming blade spell had turned into a level 6 fire spell. Right after that, he cast,
"Transformatio (transmorfation) "
Boosting his physical power to the limit, he unleashed his most powerful strike ever. Night King encased his arm in thicker ice and defended himself with it. As the flaming halberd and his arm touched, an incredible explosion of fire swallowed both of them.