037 | Death Magic

Felix shook me up and I opened my eyes to a dark night sky.

"Get ready," he said.

They've arrived.

Their numbers are beyond what I or anyone could have imagined. Just looking beyond the walls and you could see countless numbers of skeletons marching towards us. Yanalians were shaking and trembling in fear.

As the Captain of the Knights, I need to keep everyone's morale up.

"Knights! Mercenaries! Whatever you are, we all share one thing in common!"

Heads were turning towards me.

Good, I had everyone's focus now.

"We all stand here as proud people of Yanalia! We are here to protect our family! Our loved ones back at home!"

People were nodding their heads. Sympathizing with what I said.

"Together! We shall stand strong and victorious until the very end! So that we can all see ourselves walking home alive!"

The annoying "royal" Captain on the other side shouted along with me. At least with his help, morale increased even further.

"Haha! He is right! For Yanalia!"

The soldiers cheered and shouted.

Felix put his hand on my shoulder.

"Listen, Waryun."

I turned my back from the crowd and faced Felix.

"I'm all ears."

"I can start off the first few volleys of magic spells, saving some ammunition for your cannons. At best, I can drive off a few. Hopefully, we can dwindle down their numbers before we have to send out our troops."

"How long can you last?"

"A while. If I were to use my most powerful spells, I could last 10 minutes. If I conserve some mana and play it smart, I can probably do at least half an hour. Why do you ask?"

"Pen said he has some mercenaries planning to flank the army from the sides. They'll come from the forest with an attack."

"Mere mercenaries are entrusted with that? Is Pen sending them to their deaths? I don't believe having them charge in swinging their swords around will do us much good. Unless there's like a hundred of them. And AT LEAST a few ranked at Two Star Silver."

I shrugged. Sometimes, not even I know what's going on in that AU manager's head.

"Pen said there was no need to worry. He also told me that he'd be afraid I would be mad if I disclose their personal information."

Felix had a suspicious expression.

"Huh? Did he hire foreigners or some dangerous criminals? Impossible, Bridgette informed me that nearly all the criminals that were locked up behind bars had been killed."

"Well, not even the AU would go to that extent...right?"

Felix just looked at me.

"What? Did I say anything wrong?"

He sighed.

"You never know. Everything has a dark side. The public doesn't know but that doesn't mean secrets don't exist. Use your brain you musclehead."

I clicked my tongue. Although Felix's presence being here makes me relieved, he doesn't do me any good when he talks with that mouth of his. Always such a smug attitude.

I remember the good old days, the scrawny twig-like boy would fall so easily. There was also one time that-

Suddenly, the walls shook violently.

Felix hopped and suspended himself in the air while everyone else found something to hold onto. The shaking stopped after a brief moment.

"What the hell was that? Felix? Got an explanation for this?"

A drop of sweat trickled down from Felix's face. He took off his glasses slowly as if he was so shocked he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"D-Death...N-no, that's unbelievable..."

"Death what?"

Felix touched the ground and grabbed my collar to pull me closer. I've never seen him so agitated before.

Did he learn something from all those years studying at the Sorcerer's Guild? Was there something that only HE knew about this monster?

I grabbed Felix's wrist.

"If you're withholding vital information from us, I'd GREATLY appreciate it if you share it with all of us. Otherwise, more people will die!"

I didn't notice that Haydon came here before he grabbed my forearm.

"Haha! Let's not break our only Sorcerer's hands shall we?"

I just realized I was hurting Felix. I quickly removed my grip and backed off.

"I-I'm sorry...I apologize for my immaturity. I was just-"

Felix readjusted his glasses and put his palm out to tell me to stop. He twisted his wrist, checking if it was alright.

"It's fine, Waryun. I get it. You don't want anyone here to die. I want the two of you to listen to me. It'll be better if Bridgette was here too but-"

"Hey."

Felix jumped from being surprised by Bridgette's presence. She was silent and I knew that puddle in the corner was too real to be true.

"Well, looks like everyone's here. Hey, Bridge."

"Don't call me Bridge. I especially HATE that nickname."

"Haha! When was the last time all four of us came together like this?"

Felix interrupted. Whatever he had to say, he seemed in a rush to do so.

"Guys, leisure talk later, let's address the elephant in the room first."

He let out a long sigh before continuing.

"I thought of this before, but this isn't a regular monster. Typically, it would be considered a Lich, an undead that's capable of raising other unholy creatures to fight."

"It seems that's not the case, haha!"

Felix nodded.

Bridgette pointed at the approaching army of skeletons.

"They fired something at us. Whatever they sent towards us, it really struck us hard."

"I know. I was trying not to fall and this piece of crap just jumps and stands on air."

"Not the time right now! Watch out!"

The walls we stood on shook violently again. This time, the shaking duration didn't last as long as before.

"All three of you Captains, listen! This is an abnormal monster, something bigger is definitely behind this incident. As if it's an elaborate plan to wipe Yanalia off the map! That Grim Reaper over there..."

The Veteran Sorcerer looked over the walls as he bit his fingernails.

"They're capable of using Death Magic. In short, do NOT risk getting touched by Death Magic. Just like its name implies, you will die."

Now, I don't think that was very plausible.

"And, how do we die?"

"Death Magic is quite literally a combination of the worst aspects of spells. It will drain your lifespan, your energy, your power, your flesh, and corrode everything that makes you alive! Look!"

Felix beckoned us to follow him. He looked over the walls and pointed to a section that was corroded. The material that the wall was made of was rusted and broken. Shattered as if it was a few thousand years old.

"So...Death Magic is a no-go?"

"If you couldn't tell, yes! It's a no-go!! Being able to send out an attack from such a distance means he's no easy opponent either."

The other two nodded their heads along with me.

"Haha, we can all infer that already! His magic power is quite something!"

"I've informed all my scouts to tell everyone to stay away from his Death Magic."

"Good work, Bridge."

"Shut the f*ck up."

Felix huddled us all closer.

"Listen. I don't want ANY of us here to die and I'm sure no one here wants that either. Here's my plan, after Pen's mercenaries flank them, we send our strongest attacks to decimate as much of their army as possible. Then, all of us will team up and attack the Grim Reaper."

"Sound plan but, uh, what if Pen's plan doesn't happen. We'll be sitting ducks over here taking shots of Death Magic. I don't think we can take much more."

Bridgette turned into a splash of water and traveled out the walls. She reappeared standing, looking onwards at the horde that slowly got closer.

"Which is why we have to act first. Before the Grim Reaper has a chance to break down our wall."

Haydon and I jumped over the wall and landed next to Bridgette. Felix shouted from above.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

The three of us?

"We're fulfilling our duties as Captains, Felix."

"Haha! Well said, my friend!"

"That's the only time you said something sensible."

As annoying as Haydon can be or bratty Bridgette is, their skills are the best in Yanalia. We'll need everything we can.

"Sorry, Felix, looks like we can't follow your plan."

This time we saw in the distance, black particles condensed into a single point and were sent outwards in a blade of Death Magic.

"Haydon!", Bridgette yelled.

Haydon drew his sword and embued it with a yellow aura.

"Haha! I got it!"

Before the blade of Death Magic arrived, Haydon held his sword in front and performed a short sword dance that erected half a yellow forcefield, made of Holy Magic, that shielded the three of us.

Upon collision, the Death Magic managed to shatter our forcefields but at the same time, we managed to successfully take on a blow with no physical injuries.

"How much mana did that take from you?"

Haydon sheathed his sword, "Not much. Haha, I can't do this consecutively. It won't be viable."

Bridgette placed her hands on Haydon's back, "I guess it's my turn to shine."

A magic circle appeared, taking up the upper half of Haydon's back. Bridgette was using a spell to give some of her mana to Haydon.

"Haha! You have my gratitude, my lady!"

Bridgette nodded, "With this, we bought more time for Pen's mercenaries to do their thing."

I was feeling a little down. It's not like I would be of any help if I used my Raw Energy to block it. I'll simply be tanking a few hits before I die. Since I don't specialize in any magic at all, I'm quite useless this time around.

Even Felix came down to help. He fired off small spells to try and thin out the number of enemies. The skeletons were fragile so Felix's spells easily broke them. Though, no matter how many spells he sent out, the number of skeletons never really seemed to decrease.

Felix shouted out various different spells as he conjured them.

"Fire Spears! Hurricane! Water Blast!"

The people of Yanalia were stunned by the spells that Felix sent out. Being born and raised in Yanalia, and with little to no traveling experience, you're like a bird in a cage. Only knowing a limited amount of the entire world.

Yanalia knew OF Magic and Mana but it's rare for them to witness such.

"Out of mana yet, Felix?"

"Just getting started. Don't worry about me and worry about not getting hit. You're the most vulnerable of all of us."

Typically, I would be the most sturdy person but in this scenario where Death Magic is our enemy, all my techniques are rendered useless.

I definitely would have to be on guard.

Bridgette can always dodge, she's slippery like a snake.

Haydon has his Holy Magic, there's no need to worry about him.

Felix can probably do some card tricks or something else to survive.

I'm just here, spectating...