Return to Jorgaldur Volume V: Reunion (2)

Deceit

"What've you done!?" Kan Golge demanded, furious.

Somehow, his new core was giving him the power he needed, but it couldn't keep up the supply. It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did.

He didn't know that the Heart of the Eternal Flame he had obtained was as fake as the girl he had killed to get it. Eldi had created an identical-looking gem, and filled it with the power of the real one. That way, even the aura was identical.

However, unlike the real one, the amount of energy it contained was limited. When he used it, he had consumed the energy next to the connections, and it had run out in that area. The remaining energy had been expanding throughout the gem, but not fast enough to satisfy the demand for energy along those connections.

When he had tried again, the energy had already filled the entire gem. Therefore, he had been able to start the spell again. The problem had been that there was less left, it was less dense, and that was why it had failed even sooner. Now, it could be seen that the aura had weakened.

As for the girl, it was nothing more than a doll, painted and decorated appropriately. The rest of the details were the work of Gjaki's Imaginary World, an illusion.

Maldoa had always held her in her arms to provide mana to the doll, to make it seem as if she was breathing. As soon as they had separated, plus the blow, the supply of mana had stopped, and so the breathing.

As for the head, Gjaki had only sewn it. She hadn't worried about it being very resistant, as she hadn't expected such a violent and determined attack. The blow had opened the seams, and they had ended up breaking. Luckily, it had held up long enough.

"We've brought you what you've always wanted, the power you deserve. Haven't you already thanked us?" Gjaki wanted to act innocent, although the sarcasm was evident in her voice.

"Damn you! I'm going to kill you!" he threatened.

He tried to attack once more, but failed again, even sooner. At that moment, he finally realized. The gem's aura had diminished noticeably. He concentrated on his power center, a moment that Eldi took advantage of to throw a Javelin.

The vampire's defenses were disabled due to the problems with his power, but a barrier rose anyway. He had several artifacts that could save his life, although quite a few less than months ago. In his last defeat, he had had to consume many of the ones that weren't reusable, and some more had broken.

A second Javelin hit the shield, and weakened it further, as well as Gjaki's Darkballs and the lynx's Fireballs. That barrier wouldn't last long.

"It's false! You have...! Damn you!" he became even more enraged, while panicking.

His new power core was fake, which meant that he had a more than serious problem. As if that wasn't enough, it was starting to crack. Plus, the previous one had been broken after hitting the ground.

"Ready," Goldmi warned.

She had spent a good while deactivating the traps between them and their enemies. Since they had been waiting for them, it wasn't strange to assume that there were some. With Detect Mana and Detect Energy, she had been finding them. With Decompose Mana and Decompose Energy, she had deactivated them.

Of course, only the nearby ones. They didn't know if there were any others beyond. In fact, it was to be expected that there were.

Eldi also threw a Fireball and took hold of the axe, as he advanced towards him.

Gjaki ordered the two Blood Hounds she had summoned to attack, in anticipation of new traps. Goldmi began to Hold arrows. She was ready to release them at the same time. Maldoa's aura intensified

"Kill them! Kill them all! Destroy the transport circles!" Kan Golge then ordered.

He turned around, activated his magic circle and disappeared. An instant later the barrier collapsed, but it was too late.

"Shit! He's escaped!" Gjaki cursed. "Eldi, do you think it can be reactivated?"

"I don't know. Let me see," he approached behind a hound.

Aside from making weapons, armor, potions, or jewelry, he had been studying magic circles, runes, and whatever else he could get his hands on. His knowledge was rather basic, but greater than the other three.

Gjaki and Goldmi had never had any interest, while Maldoa's knowledge focused on organic, living structures. Therefore, Eldi was their best bet.

Meanwhile, the vampires stood up. Immediately, they shattered the circles under their feet and lunged at them.

"It's a standard circle, but it needs something to activate, some kind of key," the high human reported after a brief inspection.

"A key? I noticed something when he activated it. Let me try," Gjaki requested.

Eldi stood up and looked at her companions.

"Attack now! I'll raise a shield!" he informed them.

All the elf's arrows came out at that very moment, along with some of her sister's Fireballs. The drelf watched, ready to attack or retract the roots she had extended. She was ready to impale anyone who came close enough.

"It's activating! Let's go!" Gjaki called out.

She had taken out a vial with the blood of Ljila, Kan Golge's daughter. The blood was similar enough to activate the circle, something that their enemy could certainly not foresee. At least, they hoped so.

A strong Rock Shield enveloped them, while Goldmi took out a strange object.

The elf placed some Light Abysses, and left the object at the intersection of all of them. Immediately, they crossed the gate created by the magic circle, the lynx the last. If for whatever reason it closed, she had other means to return to her sister.

The vampires attacked the Rock Shield with ferocity, as they were following their father's orders. Although powerful, it couldn't resist the joint attack for long, which ended up destabilizing the mana structure. Without hesitation, they rushed against their enemies.

It took them only a few moments to realize that they were rag dolls, but it was too late. Several Light Abysses triggered, thus damaging them with the purifying magic to which they were vulnerable. However, it wasn't the worst.

The Light Abysses activated a magic circle placed specifically on the object that Goldmi had left behind. This circle caused the explosion of what was nothing more than a projectile. It was just like those that the allied army had launched with catapults against the losts during their offensive.

The explosion filled the room with light, although it didn't damage anything that wasn't vulnerable to purification. Of the vampires, only their clothes, weapons and dust remained.