Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

106. One Last Dance

"To the north, they have been checked by our northern allies. To the south, a massive, brutal battle that consumes most of their reserves has developed. They're wide open now," General Cadogan declares in our headquarters with a satisfied smile.

"Yes, they're wide open; same as their retreat route to the east," Madam Fron barks. "We have to finish this in one quick lightning assault, or risk failing."

Grey clouds blacken the sky; sunlight falters and light rain falls. "Let us begin."

Madam Fron and Grandma stand a few kilometres outside the rather empty enemy camp. All Imperial Guards are behind them, as well as several dozen elite mages.

Madam Fron conjures a ring of blue fire, surrounding the camp. Hundreds of pieces of artillery rain down the wrath of Irvine upon it.

An ice sword to the air signals our move. From darkness hundreds of mages strike, fighting the Argentum Sentinels stationed in the camp.

"Vio, follow me!" Madam Fron orders as we head to the largest camp. Grandma and the others engage Lord Luke, Lady Clarisse, and Lady Sakurako in combat.

"Understood!"

Madam Fron bulldozes through enemy lines, throwing fireballs left and right while her glaive claims the lives of hundreds. "Blood Vortex!" I roar, launching masses of blood that penetrate the camp's outer barrier. Madam Fron conjures a blizzard, demolishing all the camp except for Lady Jessica, who is protected by another layer of barrier. A golden totem is in front of her. 

"Is that the relic?"

"Yeah. We have to destroy it now," Madam Fron tells me. She and I bombard the final barrier with blood, fire, and ice. "It's over, Jessica!"

"It's not," Lady Jessica taunts. "It's really not." 

A tense moment of silence occurs, after which Madam Fron shrieks in terror. "The relic is active!"

"Now it's over!" Lady Jessica shouts with a ghastly grin. 

"Vanya! All of you, retreat!" 

Damn it! We were so close!

As if reality itself has been set asunder, a gargantuan portal, at least several kilometres wide, appears. Legions upon legions of demons walk through it. All of us have withdrawn a few kilometres back. "Bombard that thing with everything we have!"

The carnage brought by our artillery proves rather ineffective at closing the rift. "Void Shield!" A black haired woman emerges from the portal, casting a dark shield in front of it. Everything that passes through it is absorbed. 

The main Irvinian army has arrived, their precise fire and armored forces staving off the new demons. Yet the masses of demons are neither thinned or dwindled.

"Return Fire!" A horrendous black beam materializes from the dark shield, only parried at the last second by Grandma's Ocular Blast.

"Madam Fron, what do we do?" I ask.

"I'm thinking!" 

"It's a dangerous gambit, but if we throw our best spells around that dark shield and hit the portal directly, we might stand a chance of closing it," Grandma says.

"Hoo ... so this is the other world?"

A majestic figure emerges. He is tall and clad in golden armor, a battle-axe on his hand. "It's ... quite familiar."

Fuck.

FUCK!

"It-it's the King!" Aelita says with a trembling voice. 

"Yep."

In a blink of the eye, he is in front of us. "So this is Marengo's host?" His graceful arm grabs me by the collar. Grandma clenches his shoulders, throwing him away with brute force. Remi unleashes thunderbolts at him.

"He's strong," Grandma remarks. "Too strong."

He flickers his hand. "Agh!" Ice covers all of us. Grandma and Madam Fron exerts their strength, shattering the ice.

Yet we are too weak to do so, and we remain trapped in ice. My arms and legs are immobilized and I can feel the cold seeping in my body. "Vanya, save them," Madam Fron says.

"And you?"

"Soul Furnace!"

Great power flows through Madam Fron, her aura suddenly multiplying in strength. She tears off her eye patch, revealing the Princess of Terror's Third Eye. "Come here, Marengo!" she roars. Her appearance is no longer human.

What-what did she do?

"A human possesses such power?" he wonders as his axe parries Madam Fron's wild blows. "I see. Sacrificing your soul in exchange for temporary power."

"Enough to destroy you!" Madam Fron flickers her fingers, conjuring a flock of flaming eagles.

"Water Wall!" 

Fire birds clash against water waves. Madam Fron fights aggressively, bombarding her foe with ice blades and fireballs. "Endless Dance!" A blue phoenix is unleashed from her sleeves. It crashes against Marengo directly.

"Impressive. Truly impressive," Marengo says, his barriers impeding–though only partially–the spell. "Very well. As a token of appreciation, I'll let you glimpse into my true power."

He's not using his full strength yet?

Grandma claps her hands, generating a shockwave that dismantles the ice-except mine. "Drats. This one is not normal ice," Grandma curses. "Help me, all of you."

I feel the cold sucking away my body heat. Grandma and the others cast their spells on the ice, while I radiate what remains of my energy. Madam Fron is still battling her foe. 

"Eye of the Beholder!" Madam Fron expels blue fire from her eyes, momentarily burning Marengo's cloak before he puts it out. Marengo rains down powerful thunderbolts from the sky, only to be stopped by Madam Fron's ice barriers. 

"Godkiller!" From the heavens fall a hand of various elements.

"Endless Dance!" The blue phoenix clashes against the hand, yet it falters almost immediately. Madam Fron conjures a final layer of ice wall, but it is futile. The hand crashes against her flesh.

No!

"It's finished!" Marengo dashes at me. Grandma takes hold of his shoulders, once more throwing him to the air. 

"Crack the ice down! I'll hold him off!" Grandma instructs.

No way ... Grandma can't possibly stand against him. He outclasses us all, and not to mention Grandma's mana is not full.

Out of nowhere, reality shifts once more. Now I am at the peak of a mountain. Merango approaches me with a red face.

Merango!