The Blackwyrm Chronicles #2: My Little Campaign of Carnage Gets out of Hand

Chapter 116

After that, we left Matilda's study and made our way back to the mess hall. Miras had come to his senses, so he was able to walk without assistance. When we did get back to the mess hall, I whistled sharply, and my team grew silent.

"Alright, listen up you lovable bunch of lunatics." I began, "We have one more mission to take care of, then we'll be done here. Azrael will be attacking a city by the name of Crisos, and we'll be raining on his parade in a few hours when he tries to do that. This will be the final nail in the coffin of our enemy, so let's give him hell, yeah?"

My team cheered happily.

I chuckled, "We'll be leaving in about two hours to finish Azrael off and head home."

"So you say we're going to Crisos?" Seon inquired: "That city's near the border between the wood elven and the dark elven provinces."

"Is that a problem?" I asked her.

She cringed, "Relations between our two provinces are...less than ideal."

"Well, they'll hopefully understand why we'll be near their city when we finish off Azrael."

"Hold up." Dorrian chimed in. "Let's not forget that you died yesterday, Helix. Rather than taking a breather like most normal people do, you want to fight Azrael?"

I sighed. "We're close to ending the bastard, so I can't afford that luxury. Trust me, I want more than anything to sit back and rest. Alas, there is no rest for the wicked."

"If you insist, allow me to replenish your reserves." Luna chimed in as she appeared beside me. "That won't instantly solve your problem, but I'll do everything I can to keep you going."

I closed my eyes in bliss as I felt my wife replenish my reserves. A few moments later, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, this is fine and dandy..." my short friend grumbled. "We'll be blnking over to Crisos, yeah?"

"Yes we will." I told him, "Because traveling by carriage takes up too much damn time."

"Too true..." Nova grumbled as she tinkered on her anti-matter launcher.

"If this final conflict will spell the end of Azrael," Erron began, "How will we finish him off?"

I pondered his question as I continued to watch my sister tinker on her weapon.

"Lightbulb..." I murmured, "Hey Nova, you said your anti-matter launcher can punch through time and space, right?"

"Well, yes and no. You see, if I shot a living being, it would tear that poor sap apart due to the two types of ethridium reacting with each other and...Well, disintegrating whatever its coursing through."

"Would it tear through an ethereal being?" I asked her.

Nova grinned from ear to ear: "It would, and I like where you're going with this, my bro."

I chuckled, "It'll take the entire team to pull off the plan I'm currently concocting, but I think I know how to put Azrael down while adding insult to injury."

Serafine chuckled to herself while Stanford looked at me curiously. I also noticed that everyone else was listening intently to me.

"Really?" My boss inquired, "Share with the class, Hel. How are we going to kill Azrael and rub it in his face?"

I snorted, "I'm getting to that part. It'll take me an hour or two to fully explain my plan-."

"Get on with it!" Ben complained.

I rose an eyebrow, "Fine then. The gist of this plan is simple: we incapacitate Azrael so Nova can score a killing blow on him with her new favorite toy: the anti-matter launcher."

My sister giggled as she kissed the steel of her weapon.

I snorted: "Everyone will have their own important role to play in this mission: Dorrian, Ben, and Seon will continually shoot arrows at Azrael and attempt to take his kneecaps out so he'll be an easy target. Erron, you'll primarily focus on blinding Azrael by pelting his face with fireballs. Make them as hot as you'd like-I don't care if you melt his ugly mug off as long as you distract him. Stanford, you'll help me directly engage Azrael and insult the shit out of him as we beat him senseless."

My boss smiled: "I'm loving this plan already."

"Analise, you probably have the best part in all of this," I continued as I looked at the happy blood elf: "You will have the honor of slitting Azrael's throat whenever you see it fit."

She flashed her teeth in a fierce grin: "I'm not always a sadist, but when I am, it's for a good reason."

Dorrian rolled his eyes, "Aren't you always a sadist?"

"I can be if you want me to be," She purred.

"Alriiight, please let me cover the nitty-gritty of this mission before you cause Dorrian to faint," I cut in.

Analise laughed evilly: "Fine."

I rolled my eyes, "Now, where was I..."

One and a half hours later, I took a deep breath and drank from a glass of water that was sitting on the table beside me. I then looked at my fellow team mates as they sat and stood around me: They all had grins on their faces and looked like they were ready to kick some ass.

"Any questions?" I asked them.

"You explained it fairly well, Helix," Ben replied as everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

I nodded, "Good. We'll be leaving for Crisos in about an hour-Honestly, I'm tired and I'd like to rest before we kick Azrael's ass. You guys okay with that?"

They all nodded eagerly, and I watched as everyone sat down around me. Nova and Luna sat on either side of me while Sylvia sat on my lap. To say I was relieved to take a breather with my team would've been a serious understatement. I was able to share multiple laughs with my team as Dorrian cracked a rapid succession of jokes. Nova also talked to me about her anti-matter launcher, and she went into full-detail as she told me how the dual-chamber functioned, how the bolt of blended anti and regular ethridium could leave the barrel of her weapon without instantly exploding, and what happens when said bolt collides with a living being. (My brain still hurts...I'd like to think I understood most of what my sister said, but she spoke so fast...I know Erron was also confused as Nova continued to enthuse about her beloved weapon.)

Thirty minutes later, my team was ready to get down to business.

"I'm sending a platoon of my finest warriors with you." Matilda told me: "Please take them as a precautionary measure: no one knows what Azrael will do when you reach Crisos."

"Very well." I replied.

"They will be waiting outside on the forest floor." She continued as she smiled softly, "May the gods be in your favor, Mr. Blackwyrm."

And with that, Matilda left the mess hall.

"Let's head outside." I told my team, "We don't want to keep those soldiers waiting."