Chapter 149 - The Black Mist
It didn't take long before the fight inside the Royal Court had gone outside the establishment.
From the grand hall that withstood hundreds of years since its inception, the grandoise structures and details of the hall, was now nothing but ruins. Some golden embelishments had already melted by the intense heat that comes from one side while the other side was filled with debris and fallen ceiling.
The entire area was filled with explosions and echoed with battle cries. One battle was one on one while the other was two against one. Even then, the Vassals of the Queen of Hell's Court were keeping up with the Adventurers from Terra.
Frederick and Blithe started to float in the air, firing their flames at each other. Their exchange of attacks looked like they were bright fireworks display from afar. The continuous explosions coming from the two forces had lit the air aflame.
"Where are the other guild members?" Elliot asked, standing in front of Sora who was staring at him with bored expression. "I don't think we can do this on our own."
"They're busy evacuating the citizens," Luck replied. He got in front of Elliot and blocked the Hundred Thrusts from Sora. "They're gonna finish soon. Midnight will tell us once that happens."
"How will he tell– us…" Elliot trailed off after seeing the bright skies darken. A large sphere of darkness covered the sun, making it seem like it was a cloudy day.
"Eclipse of the Dark Abyss."
Below the gigantic sphere was a large figure of Midnight's Morphed Form. His large wings, horn, sword, and entire body had the colors of the night. Pitch black with eyes fiercely glowing.
Looking around, Elliot didn't spot Sun around. When he asked Luck about it, Luck told him that Sun was evacuating the citizens, leading the other guild members and the dragons.
"The dragons are here?" Elliot gasped. "That's amazing. When will they come back?"
"Not unless every handicapped people are evacuated," Luck replied. "Let's focus on our enemies for now, okay?"
"Oh, so that's your trump card?" Sora smirked as she watced Midnight exude his power. "That's a shame. But you know, you might've forgotten that the Vassals are demons."
Black and thick mist-like magic started to spew out of Sora's armor. The mist attained a shape of another armor that took over her broken one. Shoulder pads, her chestplate, kneepads and a short skirt that reached just above her knees.
"Demons thrive in the dark," Sora grinned devilishly and attacked full force. She relentlessly thrust and slashed her sword against Luck who was now struggling to keep up.
The woman got an incredible amount of boost from the black sphere Midnight conjured. Her body adjusted to the darkness well, as though one would put fish in the sea to swim.
And it was dangerous for them.
"You ret*rds!" Luck yelled. "These motherf*ckers has the same sh*t as Midnight! Night, stop your spell or I'll die right here."
"B-But you're– Argh!" Midnight's jaw dropped, realizing his mistake. He was about to dispell his sphere when a whip coiled around his wrist. He turned and saw a masked man holding the weapon from the ground.
"My enemies are missing. I need someone to play with," Harley said. He suddenly groaned and screamed in pain making Midnight worry about what was going to happen. He immediately removed the whip on his wrist and cancelled his sphere, the sun blasted its light among everyone below instantly.
Harley yelled with a deafening scream, a pair of wings started growing on his back as he dropped his head in front of him, his mask falling to the floor.
"What in the hell just–" Before Midnight could even finish, Harley appeared in front him. His dark green eyes piercingly watched the boy's morphed form slowly dissipate due to lack of darkness. "Were you the guy from–"
"Broken Starlight!"
The multi-colored small orbs surrounded Harley. The orbs closed in on him, distracting him while Midnight felt himself being pulled back. There, he saw Galaxia who had a bright smile on his face.
"Oh, my Midnight," Galaxia said, running his hand on Midnight's face. "Are you hurt, my love?"
"Dude, how many times do I have to tell you?" Midnight deadpanned. "I'm not a woman. I'm the manliest man in the world."
"My love, I do not wish to burst your bubble, but you are my woman," Galaxia muttered, pursing his lips and tried leaning in for a kiss. "Nothing will ever change that."
"Uhm, am I supposed to be watching this?" Harley asked, his face contorted in disgust, uncomfortable with the two men in front of him. "I mean, I don't judge Terrans if you practice things like that, but it's weird for me, you know? I never thought about two–"
"What do you mean?" Galaxia cut him off, tilting his head as his aura started pulsating with intense pressure. "What practice? Is it forbidden to love when you're in Hell?"
"What? No, but you're both male–"
Galaxia didn't waste time and puched Harley in the face. His movements were so fast that even the Vassals felt the shock from his attack. Harley was flown back by a great distance, rolling in the air a couple of times before he regained his composure."
"So, that's the strongest person here right now, isn't he?" Sora asked, intentionally egging Luck. "After I'm done eliminating you two, he will immediately follow you. His death will surely affect the defense of Terra, considering he's a highly decorated Terran."
She rotated her spear on both her arms and formed a cone-shaped vortex in front of her. Mists of black magic from her armor seeped into the vortex, making it darker and slowly gain power.
"May death rain upon you," Sora said and fired the cone. "Hellian Shot!"
Luck whistled several times, casting multiple spells in order to block the attack.
'Hymn of Protection. Hymn of Enhancement. Hymn of Protection. Hymn of Enhancement.'
"Spam Cast," Luck muttered under his breath as the domes of air formed and thickened right over them. There were several domes that shielded them, Sora's attack pierced the first few layers but was successfully blocked by the rest.
Along with Multicast, Spam Cast is a high-level type of casting where the user casts one or two skills several times simultaneously. A Spam Cast ignores a great portion of cooldown of the skill, even a needing a quarter less of the mana it needs to be casted. With this, there is a Condition for Spam Cast. The skill or skills that are spammed would reflect physical damage to the user.
The more the skill is casted, the higher the damage. It was a give and take situation.
Only a few Adventurers are able to do this and it was the first time Elliot would be seeing one. Spam Casts are risky considering the casting would inflict damage on the user and might drain their HP. Spam Cast should only be used in critical situations.
"Why are you spamming?" Elliot asked. "We could've easily blocked that attack."
Luck shook his head and ruffled the boy's hair. "You think I'm doing this just for that attack?"
Elliot's eyes widened, realizing what Luck meant. "Luck, you're already having a hard time matching Sora's speed. Look at her armor. The black one she gained from the Eclipse did not fade, meaning she still has her enhanced powers."
"Aw, you talk to much," Luck snorted, looking at the boy with soft eyes. "You do remind me of him a lot of times. You're both so stupid."
"What do you mean–"
Luck whistled, cutting Elliot off. The layers of domes started to shrink around Elliot, surrounding him with the shield alone while Luck walked past it.
The air of the dome got hazy, considering there were four layers of the domes even after Sora's attack. Elliot could only see a blurry scene of what was happening outside. Even the noise from outside was blocked by the buzzing sound of the dome.
"What in the hell is he thinking?" Elliot grunted. He tried pushing the dome away so he could pass through like what Luck did but it was no use.
Elliot then brandished his sword and casted Hasty Aspire, only to fail. His patience was getting thin, he was asking himeelf as to why Luck decided to fight the Vassal one-on-one. It was dangerous if Luck would do it alone.
With a heavy breath, Elliot saved a great chunk of his mana into his sword, the weapon igniting with a surge of red aura. He closed his eyes and feel the layers of the dome. If he would attack forward, he might hit Luck, if in case his attack would reach him.
So to be safe, he turned sideways and took another deep breath. He opened his eyes, they were glowing with a bright red color. He raised his sword, and slashed it forward.
"Ethereal Strike!"
The red slash broke all the layers of the dome, Elliot didn't waste any more time and got out of it at once.
"–er," Sora finished her word without Elliot hearing her. He was about to call Luck when he felt his world stop spinning.
"W-What in the hell is that?" Elliot gulped, seeing a black and thick mist hovering over Luck's shoulders.
It was similar to Sora's.