Chapter 655: A king’s role (part 17)
Under Reed's expression of disbelief, his wide area spell casted through the ancient armament condensed with half of his Domain, clashed against the defense spell used by the light princess, and was… stopped in cold.
Continuous clinking sounds echoed through the throne room as the countless arrows got stuck in the crystal nether layer of Jasmine's Light Fortress, barely reaching the mana layer behind of it before they completely stopped.
"What!", the previous sounded simple, but Reed was beyond words due to it, ancient battle armor is a technique which basically patches whatever aspect its user is lacking, therefore, in Reed's case whose specialty is mind affecting spells, the bow he was holding right now, exponentially increases his attack power.
Sure, both he and Aslan were unable to use armor and had to change to armament due to the Megalodon taking away a part of them, since both their realms were originally lower than Byron, and he is also a knight so he could force his way into using the ancient battle armor technique as it should be done, even in this state they were.
But still, a regular attack from that bow was equal to that of an Arch ranked spell, and Reed even used a spell on top of it, so he had trouble processing the fact that his rain of arrows was stopped by a single spell from Jasmine.
"Calm down Reed, both her magical and physical defense has been boosted with a buff and then she received a Royal Reinforcement from that abomination, it would be strange if her defensive spell was destroyed in a single go", calmly said Byron as he opened and closed his hand a couple of times, as if to get used to having absorbed his Battle Avatar.
The explanation was up to Reed's liking, he was still in a rather volatile state after Sarah had stolen his innate ability a moment ago, but what the Balax Lord said made complete sense for him, unfortunately how could Sarah miss the chance to get on someone's nerves at the slightest chance to do so.
"Hold up, let's not forget little Jas is a young early-stage Lord ranked mage, while you are a grown-up piece of trash and an early stage Archmage as well~", she said, which made a vein bulge on the neck of the Asmadian Lord, but then before he could answer, the one to whom he was going to yell at, had disappeared from her previous position.
"And above all… did I not tell you that there were easier ways to kill yourself than attacking my younger sisters in front of me", a chilling ice-cold voice coming from behind of Reed, made the Asmadian Lord immediately turn around.
"Royal Reinforcement…", Reed who was in the middle of activating his spell, realized that he wasn't going to make it in time, so he used his ancient armament bow to block the incoming attack, just in time for Sarah's right hand which had formed a fist that was cladded in burning purple battle aura to land on it.
"Boooom!", a huge shockwave and an energy explosion, resulting from the crazy girl's battle aura making contact with Reed's bow which was condensed through half of his Domain, was the outcome of the previous, well, that and Reed being sent flying into the distance due to the huge impact which caused wind gusts to howl all over the place, Sarah wasn't playing around anymore.
"Ah right, don't interfere in the fight of the others, unless you want to die on the stead of someone else of course, have fun my cute sisters~", with those words, the crazy girl turned into a purple comet which shot into the same direction where Reed had ben sent flying a second ago.
While Byron and Aslan snorted at Sarah's words, the light princess and the nelapsi girl nodded at each other, to then charge at their respective opponent, who they had to take down by themselves for both personal and objective reasons.
"Crack", the white crystal wall as well as the light mana one that Jasmine had created, cracking apart, signaled the start of the final battle between the three sisters and the Lords. Forabetterreadingexperience,visitM(VLEMPYR).
Covered by the blinding white light that Jasmine's spell being cancelled, produced, Reyne appeared in front of the Bane Lord, her red-green eyes were burning in a bright crimson light as she thrusted her lance frontwards.
"Humph, do you think that old trick will work every time!", yelled Aslan, the black coffin which was floating next to him opened, revealing the black ominous darkness which lied inside of it.
Reyne couldn't help but inwardly frown at the empty coffin, but she didn't slow her charge in the slightest.
"Boooom!", however, the very moment her crimson flaming lance was about to reach the Bane Lord, countless black bone hands came out of the coffin and grabbed Reyne's lance, forcefully changing its direction, which resulted in it stabbing the ground instead.
Naturally, Reyne's fierce crimson flames which were enhanced by the royal reinforcement that Sarah had casted on her, almost instantly turned the hands that were holding her lance down, into ashes.
But then just as the nelapsi girl proposed to raise her lance to continue with her attack, a pair of skeletal feet stepped above it.
The lance lit up in crimson flames and the black bone feet that were restraining her lance were turned into ashes, unfortunately once again countless black bones came out of the black coffin, this time they were hands which grabbed the nelapsi girl's lance to hold her back.
"Humph!", with a cold snort, this time it was Reyne's body the one that exploded in crimson flames, unlike before there was a brighter red tone at their origin which was Reyne's skin, and due to that just by exposition to them the black bones burned into ashes before reaching the vicinity of the nelapsi girl.
"Royal Black Death Elite Guard", however, Aslan wasn't as defenseless as before, with a smirk, he chanted his spell which resulted in a pair of thick bone arms to come out of the ominous darkness contained in the black coffin, before, with a bit of a struggle, a towering figure emerged from the coffin.
"Clang!", just in time for Reyne's lance to reach the Bane Lord who didn't retreat unlike before, Reyne frowned as she saw the tip of her lance stopping just a centimeter away from Aslan's chest, the reason of the previous was a towering bulky black skeleton which by the way was wearing black heavy armor, not condensed out of bones but real magic equipment, who grabbed the nelapsi girl's lance with its big armored hands.
"Hssss!", and to top it off, the moment Reyne's lance released her crimson flames, the magic armor that was protecting the new undead that Aslan brought to the battle, shone in a blue light, which resulted in steam being produced as it turned out to be a water attributed magic treasure.
"Don't treat this one like the simple skeleton warriors of earlier, this one was specifically created to deal with fire affinity bastards like you, well, stronger ones to be accurate", said the Bane Lord which made sense, the undead in question is one that shared the same base as Horals, the strongest skeleton type undead known in the four galaxies, a Bone General.
The difference being that this so-called elite guard, is of course not a knight, since artificial undead can't be knights as they lack vitality, Horals who now doesn't appear to be an artificial undead, only became able to use battle aura after he became Daimon's subordinate.
So, this Bone General, had a bulky figure and a tough body because its bones were reinforced with some magic materials, but it was technically a mage, one that used nether to be more accurate.
It perfectly fulfilled its purpose though, since it was able to block Reyne's charge head on, without melting in the process, at least not instantly since direct contact with the crimson flames still wore the black bones even through the water element armor it was wearing, courtesy of the positive nature of Reyne's fire battle aura, which was combined into her blood one to produce the crimson flames.
'Damn monstrous bitch!', cursed Aslan to his insides, to then wave his hand and inject a large amount of nether into the black coffin.
"If one is not enough, then how about two, Royal Black Death Elite Champion!", this time the one coming from inside the coffin didn't struggle as its size was average, however its speed was far from that, as the black flash that reached Reyne in a fraction of a second suggested.
"Royal Crimson Surge", since her lance was still being blocked by the towering armored undead, Reyne protected herself by releasing a wave of crimson flames with her as the center.
"Booom!", an explosion echoed through the sky as the expansion of Reyne's crimson flames clashed with a stream of death and darkness nether, which was concentrated in a single spot, that was a sword attack to be precise, and the origin of it was another armored undead.
This one was only 1.8 meters of size and a much more balanced body shape in comparison with the elite guard, its armor was also way thinner but in exchange it had an extra piece of magic equipment, a sword.
And it was also a Bone General by the way, which meant that it was an Arch rank undead just like the guard, but it was an attack type one.
"Why didn't you call these two before when I was beating the hell out of you… perhaps you lacked the energy to maintain accurate control over them without that coffin", mumbled the nelapsi girl, which made Aslan's previously triumphant smile, sour.
Reyne was right, artificial undead with the capacity of independence are really hard to make, Horals and Rita who had some freedom of action back then, are incredibly expensive and rare undead, regardless of the level.
It wasn't a matter of strength, but of the method, effort and mastery that the necromancer that created them, put at their moment of creation.
These Bone Generals had lower cognitive capacities than those two at their base, and while they could fight by themselves, Aslan was enhancing their capacity to act through his nether, which means he is controlling two early-stage Arch ranks as of current, and that was only possible thanks to that black coffin condensed with half of his Domain, which acted as a catalyst.
"Just in case that violent nature you inherited from the Balax part of your lineage decides to act up, let me tell you that my ancient armament can't be destroyed unless you get rid of all the ones stored inside of it, and well, let's just say I had a lot of time and corpses in my hands in the past centuries", casually said the Bane Lord, he had gained a much more relaxed vibe now that those Bone Generals were out.
For a good reason, the "Black Coffin" is the ancient armament technique that the Death faction developed to deal with knights that had the capacity to bypass their swarms of undead, of course it's normally a complement since armor is the strongest, but in Aslan's current status, the coffin was the best option to cover the areas where he was lacking.
Seeing that the nelapsi girl's only reaction was to lit her body up in crimson flames, the Bane Lord snorted as he pointed at Reyne.
"Kill her", with a couple of words, the towering elite guard and the sword wielding champion, flashed at the nelapsi girl who swept her flaming lance at the incoming sword.
"Clang!", the crimson burning lance clashed against the black-blue sword of the champion, just like the heavy armor that the elite guard undead was using, it was a water element magic treasure, meant to counter strong fire affinity enemies.
"Booom!", Reyne's free hand formed a fist which clashed with the punch of the elite guard, resulting in a loud shockwave, the double clash forced the nelapsi girl back a dozen of meters, but contrary to what one would believe the Bane Lord wasn't happy in the slightest over the outcome.
For a very simple reason, she just tanked the attacks of two Arch ranked undead whose bodies were reinforced to function on a similar level of Archknights, and leaving aside the clash of magic equipment which Aslan kind of expected to be his lose, given that the three enemies they were facing, had some insanely strong magic weapons, the attack that the blond haired girl in front of him, received with her bare body only resulted in a few cuts on her knuckles.
"Hsssss!", and to make matters worse, with a single discharge of blood red mist, all the wounds on Reyne's hand instantly healed, but that wasn't all, the hand with which the elite guard punched the nelapsi girl, suddenly lit up in crimson flames, and then the water element heavy armor covering it, cracked.
"That's not blood element… vitality, unlike Byron she can use vitality directly!", exclaimed the Bane Lord with disgust, blood might be a form of vitality, but it is also related to wounds, hence to death, which is why he could receive the blood boost from Byron, however Reyne's blood affinity far surpassed what the Balax could ever aspire to do.
She could use vitality as an advanced application of her blood affinity, well, under normal circumstances it would be a passive effect which enhances the strength of her body, regeneration and her battle aura, for the time being this effect was thanks to the royal reinforcement Reyne received from Sarah.
'You have got to be kidding me, she wants to create "life" out of the death nether of my Bane family!', cursed Aslan to his insides.
"How dare you!!!", the Bane Lord's eyes got bloodshot, this was the worst insult he could receive, with a wave of his hand, the black coffin opened and countless black hands came out of it as a swarm of undead advanced like a tsunami towards Reyne, those were normal skeletons instead of Bone Generals, however, they were properly equipped with armor and even weapons.
"Royal Black Death Elite Corps!", with the chant of his spell, the swarm of undead, led by the two Bone Generals, pounced on Reyne whose pretty red-green eyes were still staring at her fist, which had ben healed at her will earlier, that was different than the usual effect of her lineage which enhances her recovery.
"Royal Crimson Surge", uncapable to discern how to use that power at will like earlier, the nelapsi girl exploded in crimson flames to then charge at the incoming swarm of undead, clashing with them the next second, resulting in a loud shockwave followed by an energy explosion, which illuminated the whole throne room for a moment.
"Boooom!", the explosion was strong enough to interrupt the battle ongoing at the middle of the throne room, where a white flash was clashing against a dark red one, as they both were blown away to the side due to the sudden explosion.
'What the hell, this is not blood element, how is a mere hybrid that was tainted and only has half the lineage of the Balax family, using a power that only those from the Violence faction whose bloodlines had been perfected to the King rank, can use!', inwardly screamed Byron.
The only nethereals that have shown the ability to use vitality as an offensive power, are all at the King rank, and for a good reason, vitality is not an aggressive power by innate, that's why it has to be mixed with mana and one's life spark to transform it into battle aura, which is suited for combat, having gained solidness and weight, vitality on the other hand is fluid and volatile… like mana which for a knight would be incredibly hard to use for obvious reasons.
"The answer to your doubts is very simple, sister Reyne is better than you", casually said the light princess, as if she could read Byron's mind, which made the latter grit his teeth.
"Royal Reinforcement, Red Explosive Step!", the Balax Lord's response to Jasmine's words, was a new martial art, one that that resulted in Byron disappearing from his previous position, to then appear next to the light princess, his right leg which was cladded in battle aura, fiercely landed on Jasmine's side.
"Booooom!", a loud shockwave, followed by a figure being sent flying at an insane speed towards the ground was the result.
"Daring to look down on your roots, it's my job as your progenitor to educate such an unruly brat, all the martial arts used in the state of "Wrath Royal Armor", have the suffix "red" not because of the color of our battle aura, but because we always end up stained with the blood of our enemies when using them", proudly said the Balax Lord as he looked at the crater on the ground, where he expected to see Jasmine coughing blood and fragments of broken organs after taking that attack without having deployed a defensive spell.
"Crack!", only for his expression to sour as he saw the light princess coming out of the debris, let alone blood stains, there wasn't even a speck of dust on her pretty face, in fact, her whole body was covered in a layer of white crystal which cracked and crumbled apart the next second, to reveal a Jasmine which was perfectly fine.
"It seems like it's not always…", mockingly mumbled the light princess as she gave Byron a defiant gaze, she was fine even after taking that kick to the side, an area which is innately weak as there are no bones protecting it unlike the chest.
"Damn it!", the Balax Lord loudly cursed to then turn into a red flash that descended like a thunder upon the light princess, he grabbed the hilt of his great sword with both hands, meaning that he was going to swing it with all his might, he wanted to cleave the enemy in front of him in half.
Jasmine's pretty blue eyes shone in a dazzling white light, she learned the basics from Daimon's swordsmanship, and Daimon usually only wields Gram with one hand, despite its great size and obvious high weight.
Of course that doesn't mean Daimon doesn't wield Gram with both hands, but he only does it when he has to fight seriously and Jasmine hasn't seen him do it yet, which is why a certain sword girl was surprised by the familiar "stance" taken by Jasmine in order to clash with the sword which was being slashed at her from above.
'This feels like Daimon~', excitedly thought Narasha as everything from Jasmine's fingers to her elbows was cladded in a layer of white crystal, before she grabbed Gram's hilt with both of her hands to then slash upwards.
"Clang!", an ear-piercing metal colliding sound, followed by a thunderous explosion was the result of the previous.
"Booom!", but it didn't end there, the ground below the light princess exploded due to the impact, but Jasmine didn't bend in the slightest, this continued until Byron's slash had lost its impulse.
At first it looked like a tie, then a dripping sound broke the silence that reined after the clash ended, there was blood coming down from… Byron's hands.
The Balax Lord's eyes contracted like needles, he not only failed to push back the enemy, but also ended up wounding himself in the process, Byron wasn't the only one surprised as of current, Eve couldn't help but gaze at Daimon.
'Did you actually train her when I was sleeping?', she asked to which Daimon inwardly shook his head.
'Nope, she deduced that by herself, but that's not what's important, it might have looked like my swordsmanship but that was adapted for herself, it was a slash that used the enemy's strength against himself, unlike my swordsmanship which directly overwhelms the other party after all', concluded Daimon.
He couldn't help but praise the light princess, she might have copied the basics from him, and even the previous had the shadow of Daimon's swordsmanship on it, but that was a Jasmine's original.
And as a proof of it, as if something had been triggered inside of the light princess, the crystal layer which when used for offensive means, had a limit to its extension, which is why it could only cover either a whole arm like at the beginning, or half of both of Jasmine's arms as she did for the previous clash, grew to also completely cover Gram in a fraction of a second.
'Sorry I did it unconsciously, I hope it's not uncomfortable', said Jasmine to the one inside the sword she was temporarily wielding.
'Mmm, is this the equivalent of "trying out clothes" with a friend?', asked the sword girl, which made Jasmine giggle for a moment, certainly for a sword the white crystal layer was like a long elegant white dress, the important part is that Narasha seemed to be enjoying fighting alongside the light princess, at least that's what mattered the most for Daimon.
Every scabbard he had designed for Disaster, was immediately turned into dust by the capricious sword, even in Gram's form, the only thing it allowed to envelop itself was Daimon's mana, so this was a first, it could be because Disaster was asleep, or maybe because Jasmine's both mana and nether were imbued with the intense desire to protect, or simply because the light princess was the first outside of the soulmates and Eve, in whom Nasha showed great interest.
'Mm, maybe we could try that later… if miss Narasha wants it of course', mumbled Jasmine, she knew Nasha's name but didn't know how to refer to her, Disaster is a half Stellar grade treasure, so she considered Narasha to be at that realm as well, meaning that she was older than her.
'You can call me Nasha, like Daimon does', said the sword girl, very much for the light princess's happiness.
"Mm~", with a smile on her pretty face, which Byron confused with Jasmine being proud of having returned the wound she suffered due to him earlier, the light princess turned into a white dazzling star which shoot itself towards the enemy.
"Royal Reinforcement, Red Glorious Blade!", feeling the dangerous sensation coming from that crystal cladded sword, the Balax Lord exploded in red battle aura which gathered on his great sword, to then slash it to his right.
"Royal White Heavenly Slash".
"Gah!", the very moment Byron's sword clashed against Jasmine's, the Balax Lord vomited blood, it was as if he had swung his sword against the fortified wall of a millenary fortress, the whole right side of his body shook due to the recoil, which forced him to grit his teeth, swallow his pride and add an attack type martial art, on top of the enhancing one he had added to his sword.
"Royal Red Explosive Slash!", and with that, white and red light engulfed the whole throne room.