The Forsaken Hero
Chapter 254: Battle of Attrition

Chapter 254: Battle of Attrition

The two inquisitors circled me slowly, warily even. The older woman, Veera, held a one-handed longsword in both hands, her white cloak flapping in the breeze generated by her aura. The other, Aqua, was barehanded, channeling some mysterious magical technique. Watery mana coiled about her fists in strange cycles, promising effects far greater than a simple punch in her attacks.

Snarls and screams ripped through the air from the other side of the street where Fable battled the other inquisitors. It wasn’t so much a battle as a slaughter, but the white-cloaked men fought tenaciously, refusing to die easily. Their fight was a parallel of my own, save it was the inquisitors trying to survive. A strange, bloody competition for survival, both fights hinged on the success of the other.

"Now!" Veera cried.

Taking advantage of my momentary distraction and focus on the other battle, the two inquisitors lunged forward. Veera’s sword swept forward, leading her charge with another blast of light. At the same time, Aqua struck, lashing out with one hand. A wave of water curled from her fingers, striking toward me like a sinewy serpent.

"Reflection!" I cried, thrusting my hands out in either direction.

A transparent, mirror-like wave distorted the air, forming a hemispherical curve around me. The chant for reflection created a flat plane, capable of defending one direction at once, but a few simple adjustments in the runes allowed for far greater coverage.

The two attacks struck the Reflection, causing dozens of hairline cracks to spiderweb across the warped surface. Sweat rolled down my brow and I sucked in a breath, fighting to control the rising ties of mana threatening to overwhelm my spell. Both magical techniques held fourth-level power, and trying to turn them both with a single third-circle spell was practically suicide.

"Foolish filthblood," Veera spat, a cruel smile spread across her face. "Your god is dead, and soon, your taint will-"

She trailed off, eyes widening, as the Reflection stabilized. Their magical techniques dissolved into mana, flowing into the wavering barrier, causing it to blaze with power. A second later, the familiar chime rang out, and the gathered mana exploded.

A wave of light washed over the street, consuming everything within a hundred feet. Veera stumbled back, screaming as the rampaging mana gnawed at her flesh. Aqua cried out, her voice soft and pained, but managed to fend off the attack with some sort of magical aura, constructed with the same technique she used in her attack.

Before the cover of the reflection faded, I turned and fled, sprinting toward Fable. Trying to fight them toe to toe would be futile, especially in my current condition. I could withstand their magical assault, but the moment they closed into melee distance, I would be helpless. Apart from Aegis, which would likely falter after a single blow, my only recourse was Fortunate Parry—a third-circle spell capable of deflecting multiple attacks. However, its reliability waned against opponents beyond third level, sometimes failing to redirect strikes altogether. Thus, until I attained fifth level and gained access to Blade Ward, evasion was my only option.

Unfortunately, my second attempt at running proved as successful as my first. The cover and damage of reflection deterred the inquisitors a few precious seconds, but it didn’t take long for them to resume the chase. Fable’s battle had taken him several streets over, crushing buildings and vendors as though they were no more than toys. I leaped over the twisted body of an inquisitor, his crimson cloak stained with blood, before staggering to a stop, bile rising in my throat.

The city wasn’t the only thing being damaged. The initial conflict sparked on a mostly abandoned street, but the moment it rolled over into adjoining areas...carnage. Wails and screams rose into the air, ripped from the throats of the dead, dying, and those who mourned them. Dozens of bodies–crushed, torn, or utterly split asunder, decorated the street in heaps of flesh and bone, their crimson blood flowing freely through the gutters.

It was bloodshed on a scale I hadn’t seen since Western University, when a Demon Lord himself directed the slaughter. But this time, instead of wounds caused by claw or infernal magic, it was sword and sun, trademarks of the inquisitors. Fable practically danced around the fleeing and injured, his massive paws stepping delicately about them, aware of the crushing guilt I would suffer at the loss of life.

As I fled through the streets, the coppery stench of blood and death forced itself down my throat. Tears gathered in the corners of my eyes as I suppressed the urge to wretch, questions spinning through my mind. How could humans do this to themselves? Hadn’t I suffered for my sins enough? What had I done that catching me merited all this death and destruction?

Suddenly, my hair rose, a tingle racing through the Sunpurge. Turning, I froze as a wave of light filled my vision, consuming me in a blaze of sunlight. Caught off guard, I screamed, covering my face in terror. Idiot! How could I get distracted in the middle of the fight?

But the searing agony never came. The sunlight wrapped around me, and then...vanished. I stared down at my hands for a moment, my surprise matching that of Veera, who’d launched the attack.

Then, it hit me. Amidst the frenzied combat, I had overlooked a crucial detail—I had attained fourth level. Despite their greater strength, we were now more evenly matched, rendering their attacks ineffective. There was no need for reflection or evasion; with my increased power, Adaptive Resistance would swiftly neutralize their efforts.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Veera complained, dashing forward once more.

Aqua shrugged, jogging behind. Against reason, she didn’t appear surprised, or even disappointed. Instead, there was the barest glimmer of a smile, which, even if fleeting, sent a spike of uncertainty through me.

My doubts doubled as Veera closed in, her sword flashing. I summoned an Aergis before her, but a single slash cleaved the barrier in two. Backing up, I risked a glance over my shoulder, devastated to find Fable still fighting the final standing inquisitor. The other two were lost somewhere in the devastation, likely dead, but the final one grinned triumphantly, as aware of their impending victory as I was. There was nowhere else for me to run.

As Veera raised her sword, the blade sheathed in light, an unfamiliar voice echoed in my mind.

"Roll left!"

Moving instinctively, I obeyed, throwing myself to the left. Veera’s sword whistled through the air, burying itself in the paving stones and releasing a shockwave of light. The blast consumed the entire region, but a convenient pile of wreckage shielded me from the worst of it, the remnant easily blocked by Adaptive Resistance.

As I struggled to regain my balance, Aqua appeared before me. Her fist blurred, trailing long ribbons of blue light, and connected with my chest. The blow sent me staggering back, but I was startled to find myself, well, alive. Strangely enough, the majority of the attack was concentrated mana, which dispersed futility against adaptive resistance. Even so, judging by her stance and grunt of effort, her fist’s physical strength alone should have shattered my ribcage, if not killed me outright.

But I had no time to ponder the mystery. Veera’s sword slashed at me once more, swallowing me in light, the blade whistling dangerously close to my throat. Had Aqua’s fist not pushed me back, it would have bit deep into my shoulder.

Offering a prayer of thanks for the lucky coincidence, I hid behind the remnants of their magical techniques, using the flashy lights as a shield while I cast a fourth-circle spell. By the time the mana cleared, it was too late for them to interrupt me, and they could only watch helplessly as the magic circles flashed.

"Earth Wall!"

The ground trembled as hundreds of tons of solid earth and stone erupted from the ground, dividing the street in two. The curtains punched through the rooves of the nearby buildings, drawing a straight line through the city five hundred feet long and almost fifty feet tall. The massive amounts of displaced material sent shockwaves radiating through the city, shattering glass and destabilizing countless buildings, the noise alone great enough to announce our presence to all within the Heartland Valley.

Fatigue washed over me, and my limbs grew heavy and weak. My mana was such that I could cast several fourth-circle spells, but after the intensity of the battle and casting so many spells back to back, my soul was dim and drained. That Earth Wall had taken nearly everything I had left and left me gasping for air, with barely the strength to stand.

The stone wall shook, a bright burst of light breaking over the top of the wall. Seconds later, another explosion rocked the city, and then another. The wall shivered and groaned, but it held steady, withstanding whatever spells the inquisitors threw at it. It was a simple spell, but as a fourth-circle spell, its strength couldn’t be underestimated. They’d be better off taking the time to run around it, or perhaps even climb the wall, then blast their way through.

With each deep breath, I felt my energy slowly returning. The Final Star had a discreet ability to recycle mana, collecting any excess energy and returning it to me. The passive regeneration was minimal, providing only a small portion of what a spell demanded, the amount negligible at lower levels. But, with my newfound ability to cast fourth-circle spells, it was finally proving itself useful, and I found the strength to flee.

I hadn’t made it far when my mana tingled, and I looked over my shoulder. For a moment, everything was still. And then the world filled with light.