Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

104. Defence of Batavia II

"Khh ...." 

Blood spurts out from my mouth. I can feel a sensation as if my heart were set on fire. A dagger is put on my neck. "I'm your target from the beginning, huh?"

"That teleporting bitch! Vio, hang in there!" Aelita squeals as she and John rushes at me.

"Not that easy!" I bark, grabbing the dagger with my right hand. My left takes Lady Sakurako's legs, and, with what little strength I have left, I throw her to the air. 

"What?" she gasped.

"Divine Judgement!" John screamed, blasting the demon with a burst of holy energy. Aelita summons a stone hand, flattening her.

Or not. She narrowly escapes with her spatial magic. Aelita quickly provides healing before I am brought to a hospital ward.

And the battle goes on for a week; the Empire pushes, Irvine defends. Even as Lady Jessica commits more and more of her reserves, the outer ring is yet to be breached. Meanwhile, as Madam Felicia says to me, allied armies have begun their move to encircle the enemy. The Irvinian-Elaisian force in the south has been checked, but the northern army has smashed through and is rapidly advancing.

On the eighth day I notice something strange; all fighting ceases and the Empire pulls back its troops. "Uhh, Remi?" I talk to my communicator. "Is it just me or ... is there something eerie going on?"

"Yeah," Remi answers. "Completely empty here. They're probably exhausted by now and want to rest a bit."

That aura!

"Did you feel it?" I gasp. 

"Y-yeah," Aelita says, almost running out of breath. "This kind of power ... only one person not on our side could possibly emit such magic."

"All Class IV mages and above, gather at the Imperial Palace. Now!" Madam Fron harshly barks through out communicators.

"Let's go," I say. We leap through buildings and towers until we reach the Imperial Palace. Now it is clear what threatens us.

A truly massive cannon, clad in black and white metal. It's ready to fire. "Lady Jessica," Grandma claims. "The very spell that annihilated a third of Francia."

I gulp my own spit. "How-how on earth are we supposed to stop that thing?"

"Jonathan, you ready?" Madam Fron asks. The Ad Astran leader nods rather weakly. Behind him is a team of at least a few hundred elite mages. 

"If this doesn't work, I bet my ass nothing will," Remi claims. "So let's just hope for the best."

A few tense minutes pass; hapless mages watch the build-up of Lady Jessica's cannon. At last it fires a white-and-black beam, almost immediately breaking through the threefold barrier around Batavia. "Jonathan!" Madam Fron barks.

"I know, I know!" He extended his palm, pouring all his mana into a formidable shield. After half a minute of brutal tug-of-war, the shield shatters; Jonathan manages to barely avoid it. 

"Life Furnace! Endless Dance!" Madam Fron turns into a butterfly monster in an instant, unleashing a monstrous phoenix of blue fire. It crashes into the advancing beam, visibly lessening it.

The elite mages conduct a hasty ritual, raising a shield of mana, but it is crushed almost effortlessly.

"Grandma!" I shout. Only she stands between the Imperial Palace and the assault now. 

"Krah!" she screams, raising her hands to the air. With a swift flicker of her waist, the beam scatters into hundreds of smaller beams. 

"Intercept them!" I order. The mages behind us fires spells at the weaker beams, while the Imperial Guards engage the stronger ones.

"Blood Shield!" I conjure a thick blood barrier with almost all my mana, stopping one of them. Remi charges with lightning, annihilating another one. Lita commits all her energy into one devastating punch, holding off the third beam.

John and Aelita weave together a shield of stone and light, staving off the remaining two major beams. At last we emerge exhausted, but safe. The cannon can no longer fire, for it only has one shot.

"Holy shit," Aelita curses. "I barely have any mana left and we only tanked the scattered beams!"

"They're ... strong," John grimly remarks. He looks at the direction of the cannon, and then at Madam Fron and Grandma, both drained from their efforts. They both withdraw to the Imperial Palace for now.

Their gambit having failed, fighting resumes. Aelita summons a giant tree, its roots rampaging through enemy armored lines while John crushes them with sheer divine power. Remi dashes like a madman, striking down foes with her thunderous assaults.

"Blood Maelstrom!" I conjure a sea of blood, sweeping away the light artillery. Everywhere on Batavia a renewed counterattack begins, slowly pushing the invaders out. 

Out of nowhere, a swarm of Argentum Sentinels appear, led by Lord Luke and Lord Elliot. The Sentinels scatter, but the two ....

"The Imperial Palace!" I gasp. I hurriedly rush there with my wings. 

"Vio, wait!" Lita shouts. She follows me. 

Grandma is in the Imperial Palace! They know we're all exhausted from parrying the attack earlier, so they're taking advantage of it! 

Without thinking, I force open the side door of the Imperial Palace. The duo has already begun wrecking havoc. The stairs have been infested by Lord Elliot's roots. I dance through the Palace, my blade swings cutting off the overspread roots.

"Vio, calm down for a minute, damn it!" Lita catches up with me, her brutal thrusts and slashes warding off the hellish flora around us. "We're both spent and we have barely any mana left! What do you think we can do?"

"I don't know!" I reply. "But I'm not letting them get Grandma! Blood Vortex!" I open a path to the throne room, where Grandma and Madam Fron are staging a desperate defence. 

"Ocular Blast!" Lita shrieks, creating an explosion from her eyes. She and I leap, positioning ourselves in front of Madam Fron and Grandma.

"What on Irvine are you doing?" Madam Fron barks. 

"You can't win alone," I say.

"Yeah, and you think you can?"

Damn it! I rushed here without thinking ... now I'm just complicating the situation!

"Tiger's Roar!" Lord Luke dashes forward, unleashing a flaming tiger. Grandma steps forward, conjuring a barrier that disperses the fire.

"Vio, Lita, save King Arthur and Princess Seira, then get out!" Grandma orders. I glance to the throne. King Arthur and Princess Seira are bound together to the chair by Lord Elliot's machinations. 

Lita hastily cuts off the vines. "Your Majesty, are you fine?" I ask. 

"Yes," he answers simply before glancing at his daughter. She nods. 

"Watch out!" 

Two fire daggers fly at a stunning speed.

Neither Lita nor I can intercept them.