Realms of Magic: Demon Invasion

108. Clash of Sovereigns II

"Vio!" Darryl, Aelita, John, and Madam Fron leaps to my side. 

"What happened?" Darryl asks. 

Let me handle this, Vio.

Merango?

Merango seems to communicate mentally with them. "That-that's crazy," Aelita comments. 

"But it's true," I say. "I'll need your help. With that amount of mana spilling in, it's only a matter of time before he outlasts Merango and I."

"Alright, Vio. What do we do?" Madam Fron of all people asks me. 

"Aelita, heal me continuously. Darryl, use your Eight Pawn Formation to weaken him as much as possible. Madam Fron, at my signal, cast your most powerful spell. John, I need you to break the hold he has over the demons."

"That's impossible," John points out. "I don't have enough power to cast my Divine Dispel over such a large area."

I plug my power into John. The others scatter. Aelita makes a healing link and Darryl pumps all his mana into his crippling pillars. 

Merango finishes absorbing the mana from his people. "Iron Field!" Hundreds of thousands of iron spears rain down, blackening the sky. 

"Wall of Anguish!" A barrier of decaying flesh emerges from the ground, swallowing the iron spears. 

"Blood Eruption!" Pools of blood erupt from the ground, sending him flying. He stabilizes himself, throwing a flurry of fiery javelins at me. 

"Dance of Bones!" Javelins clash with spears of bone, neither prevailing over the other. Marengo wipes them all out with a gust of wind and he charges at me. I gather my remaining strength on one palm.

"Blood Shockwave!" Marengo barely defends with a water shield. He swings his blade. 

"Heah!" I answer it with a parry. Both of our blades shatter. "Blood Eruption!" 

A massive eruption of blood pours out from the ground. Marengo leaps backwards, sending a thunderstorm at me. I flick my fingers, forming a shield of blood around me. 

My eyes prey on my surroundings. Darryl has his pillars in place and Madam Fron has accumulated all her power.

"Divine Dispel!" John shouts.

"No!" Marengo screams. His mind puppets collapse to the ground. John limps back to the rear, guarded by Remi. 

"Now!" I shout.

"Endless Dance!" Madam Fron conjures a massive blue phoenix that slams itself at Marengo.

"You think that-"

I draw a blade of blood. Let's finish this, once and for all, Vio!

"Farewell!"

I swing the blade gracefully, bringing forth a gargantuan red sword from the sky. It charges at Marengo.

For a moment of tense silence. Marengo falls to his knees; his connection severed, his regeneration blocked.

Vio, I will finish this.

I suppose that's not a request?

No.

A burst of bright light blinds my eyes. Merango in his full panoply of war emerges with a sword in hand. "I regret this, brother, but I must do what I should have done long ago."

"Protect them, Merango," Marengo whimpers. "Protect our kin."

"I intend to." 

A clean slice later, Marengo's head falls to the ground. Merango turns to me with a grim and bitter smile. "It's finished."

"So what n-"

I feel as if someone had conjured a whirlpool inside me. My vision blurs, my arms shaking uncontrollably. "Vio!"

The faint light grows ever weaker. I open my mouth with great difficulty. "H-help me!" I roar weakly. I stumble upon a pebble and my legs collapse.

"Wake up, damn it!" I feel a not-so-gentle slap on my cheek. A woman almost identical to me-Lita. She grabs me by the collar. "Don't die! Don't die yet!"

"Lita! You're not doing her any favours!" Darryl's soft voice disappears, replaced by an exasperated shout. He places his hands firmly on my shoulders. Streams of energy stabilize my vision, if only ever so slightly. 

I must hold. I can't die ... not now! Not after all that has happened!

"What happened to her?" Aelita asks desperately as she joins Darryl.

"Her body can't handle the power she used as soon as Merango separated himself," Madam Fron claims. "Keep on healing her. I'll provide the mana. John, call all our available healers!" I can hear banter and bickering, and many footsteps. Yet no matter how much healing energy enters me, I still feel weak.

"I'm sorry, Vio," Darryl whispers. He leans forward, his sharp fangs piercing my neck. 

Is he turning me into a vampire? 

"I doubt vampire regeneration can work," Merango says. 

"Well, you got her into this mess, you better help us out here!" Aelita shouts. 

"Of course." Merango gathers all of his mana. "Complete Restoration!"

A stronger surge of healing energy enters me. Suddenly, I feel sleepy. My eyes close for a deep sleep. "The danger has passed," Darryl whispers. "Let her sleep."

When I wake up, I feel like I have been smothered in health potions. My body feels much lighter than before. Only a white, empty room greets me. "Ah, Vio. You woke up just in time," Lita says as she enters the room, somewhat dreary. She wears black clothes.

"Lita. Damn, how long did I sleep?"

"Around a week."

"Whew, that's quite long. What's with the black clothes, anyway?"

"Oh, it's ... Grandma's funeral. It's just starting."

"Wait a minute. I can't not attend!" I shriek. A nurse provides me with black clothes. I conceal my sword-which was Lita's sword-that was given by Grandma back when I only began my life as an Imperial Guard.

The clouds are grey, though they dare not rain. Grandma's corpse lay inside an open casket. A great many of the guests are illustrious men and women, but they make way for us. Grandma has been healed and her head reattached. 

"She looks so peaceful," Lita grimly remarks. I nod weakly. I pull out the blade from inside my black cloak to the astonishment and shock of others. 

"That is ... my sword?"

"Yes," I answer. "Grandma gifted it to me back then. I think it's time to return it to her."

I gently place the sword, alongside its sheath, inside the coffin. After that, Lita and I occupy the seats available, listening to eulogies. The Order members (including King Arthur himself) also come to pay their respect.

With the funeral over, I return to the hospital ward. Unfortunately for me, all is not over.