Chapter 49

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

The battle went badly.

“Get me to Astovin!” I snarled at Kassie and bolted from the Vault.

“But you have to restore monster girls!” gasped Kassie.

“There are soldiers on the wall! On my dungeon! I can’t bring monster girls to life or repair the damage to the gates and walls. I have to do something. I’m not losing this fight! Come on!” “Right, Lord Leo!”

I rushed to the teleportation hub and cast my spells. Strength of Mountains, Granite Flesh, Revitalize, Static Aura, and Metalcoat. I armored myself from head to toe in steal with that last one. Plate armor. I had strength, my body as hard as a rock, and energy, like I had drunk a thousand red bulls, poured through me.

I was ready for anything.

I grabbed my spear on the way. We reached the teleportation circle. Kassie joined me and cried, “Asud Gu!”

In a heartbeat, I was beneath Astovin. I knew where I had to go. The North Wall. I heard the all-clear from the south wall, but the North was suffering horrendous losses. I raced upstairs and burst out of my governmental building, running through the streets.

Smoke rose in all directions. The air resounded with shouts and screams. I could see the north gate. The enemy had breached it. Feya surged down with her hippogriffs as enemy soldiers charged into Astovin itself, the defenders all dead.

They charged at me. A hoard of them armed with spears and swords.

I slid to a stop and roared, “Metal missiles fly, let the spikes of Lord Nabu pierce!”

A volley of spikes slammed into the enemy soldiers. It ripped through armor, killing a dozen at the front of them. Real people, not monster girls. They dropped to the ground in spurts of blood. None of them vanished.

I swallowed the horror of what I did.

“Night devours, let the corrosive shadows of Lord Zuen burn!”

Dripping Shadows dripped from above them. The black, corrosive darkness devoured the men engulfed in it. Their screams burst from it for a moment before they cut off. Smoke rose as the darkness melted them.

“Izi Zum!” cried Kassie. A spurt of flame burst from her hand and engulfed four or five soldiers.

From above, the hippogriffs’ turquoise feathers ripped into the soldiers charging at me. They rushed down the street, racing over their own dead. I gripped my spear, ready to fight them as more words rose from my mind.

“Flames erupt, let the conflagration of Lord Gibil blaze!”

A massive fire erupted in the soldiers. The men inside screamed. Greasy, black smoke burned from the inferno It covered a large swath, burning them all the way back to the wall itself. I gripped my spear, watching the flames dance before me.