Chapter 26

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

Her father?

That shocked me. Slepkavi died while I struggled to understand. Her father had died. So what was this thing before me that had just tried to murder Halia? The moment she declared that she stood with me, he had tried to murder her.

That anger blazing in me burned with a dark rage.

“Kill him!” I snarled.

All four of the will o’ wisps fired ball lightning at him. The balls of plasma surged out. A rip opened in front of the shadowy figure—in front of Anguin Vobria. They vanished through it while he dove to the ground and rolled to his feet to dodge the other two.

From that rift, the two ball lightnings shot at me. I darted to the right, my armor clanking. They hissed by me and burst on the wall. As I did, Garnet and Mrs. Lucina took to the air. My little sister had her whip of darkness in her hand, but what good would that be.

The wildhounds leaped in from three sides. Marwo, Ci, and Gwyllt all snarled. He flowed, his blade slashing. He cut Gwyllt’s head off then pivoted and cut Marwo in half. Ci landed on his back, her claws going to his throat.

He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. She struck the ground at his feet. He slammed his foot down into her neck and broke it. All three of my wildhounds vanished. My stomach lurched, remembering how fast my other monster girls had died to this monster.

From Mrs. Lucina’s halo, a beam of bright light fired.

Anguin’s dark rift opened again to catch it. I cursed and started to run to the right, expecting the beam of light to fire at me. Only when her light hit his rift, it burst into an explosion of light. Anguin raised his hands to cover his eyes, cursing.

Light magic! That was what I had to use. Of course. The opposite of darkness. I had only one real attack spell with Light. A pity, but it was a powerful one. I stopped running and snarled the words for Dazzling Sword.

“Blinding brilliance hardened, let the light of Lord Shamash cut!”

A sword of light flashed into existence to his right and slashed at him in a blur of radiance. He twisted out of the way, letting it slash past him. As he did, his sword hacked through the air. A blade of night hurtled at me.

I threw myself to the right, hitting the ground in a clatter of metal. It hissed over me.

I gained my feet as Paanee slithered at Anguin from the right. The will o’ wisps fired their ball lightning. A new rift opened. I gained my feet and broke into a run. The attacks flew back at me. I snarled and barked out the words to another Dazzling Sword.

The blade slashed where he stood. The bastard was fast. Paanee spat poison that missed. Another beam of light shot down that the shadowy figure was forced to dodge by rolling. He could dodge narrow attacks with ease.

What about something wider?

“Ocean’s fury crashes into the beach, let the passion of Lord Enki flow!”

Sweeping Wave burst behind him. A wall of water crashed down on him. Anguin vanished in the current, swept by it. I followed his progress and just as he was about to stop, knocked on his back the spell, another spell tumbled from my lips. Frozen Fall.

“From above it falls, let the ice of Lord Anshar crush!”

A block of ice appeared over him and hurtled down at his body. He slashed his blade, striking the ice and splitting it in half. The two chunks struck the ground on either side of him, bursting into shards that harmlessly spread over him. He gained his feet.

“Water’s crushing weight surround, feel the grasp of Lord Enki squeeze!”

Watery Grasp engulfed him. He couldn’t dodge the sphere of water that surrounded him from all sides. I had him trapped. I smiled at that. Could he drown? We were about to find out. But then the water ball was shrinking. The surface rippled, distorting what was happening.

Mrs. Lucina cried out above. The water was spraying over her. It burst out of a shadowy rift and drenched her wings. The torrent knocked her out of the air. She plummeted to the ground.

Mrs. Bella Lucina tumbled to the ground, her wings drenched. The angel screamed as she flapped them hard to arrest her fall. The water was gushing out and raining across the battlefield. The ball that held the shadowy knight, Halia’s father, was dwindling by the second. Mrs. Lucina’s halo flared bright as she flapped her wings hard.

They caught the air. She felt the bite. The lift. She banked out of her fall, her breasts nearly smacking into the floor. She banked hard to avoid Paanee who slithered behind the ball of water. The spell failed and the shadowy knight landed on his feet in a puddle.

Paanee lunched in at the bastard, the naga sprang forward in a blur of blue scales and fluttering hair. He turned to attack her. Mrs. Lucina fired a beam of light. It flared bright. Only inhuman instincts let the shadowy knight throw up his dark void. Her light annihilated it.

Paanee struck the knight. She slithered around him, her tail wrapping about his body. She crushed him, her big boobs heaving as she held him tight, pinning his sword arm to his side. She hissed out her fury.

“Lord Leo!” she cried. “Take him! I am ready, Lord Leo!”

“Paanee,” Leo cried as Mrs. Lucina realized what the naga asked.

“I love you, Lord Leo!” cried the naga.

“Blinding brilliance hardened, let the light of Lord Shamash cut!”

As he spoke those words, Mrs. Lucina could see the anguish on his face. The sword of dazzling light appeared and slashed in. It cut through Paanee’s body. As it did, the shadowy knight jumped with all her weight on him. But he didn’t get away clean.

He roared in pain as the sword cut him.

Paanee fell apart and then vanished in motes of light. The enemy staggered, a deep cut in his back that spewed shadows. He staggered and snarled. He whirled on Leo, umbral blood spraying behind him and splashing on the tiles.

“Evil never succeeds, Blight!” roared the shadowy knight as he slashed a shadow blade at Leo.

Mrs. Lucina’s halo pulsed. Another blast of light shot at him. Lightning balls fired from the will o’ wisps. The shadowy knight tumbled forward, all the attacks missing him. He came up and slashed twice at Leo, hard strokes that sent two different blades of night.

Her heart clenched as Leo threw himself out of the way of one and right into the path of the other. The blade struck him.

“Big bro!” Garnet screamed in fright as the blade of night struck Leo.

Such fright crushed the succubus’s heart.

But instead of cutting her big brother in half, the Static Aura he had cast while running through the dungeon burst to life. It sizzled and crackled, swallowing the spell and then spurting out. Such relief swept through the succubus.

She had to do something.

Anguin raised his arm. Halia’s terrible father went to cut Leo in half again. Fury swelled in her. Not only had this horrible thing tried to kill her big brother, but he had tried to murder his own daughter. Rage hissed through Garnet.

She swooped down and cracked her whip down. It seized his sword arm. He swung and she yanked, knocking him off-balanced. It also sent her tumbling from the air. She hit the ground on her knees and slid, hating the pain.

“Little bitch!” he snarled.

But the attacks surged in at him. Light fired from Mrs. Lucina. The will o’ wisps fired their ball lightning. A dazzling sword flashed into the existence and swung at him. And now Isatu attacked. The dragon-puppy rushed up and billowed fire from her mouth. A roiling flood of reds and oranges rushed at Anguin.

“Take that!” Garnet hissed as he jerked his arm free of her whip.

He dodged the light, sword, and ball lightning, but the flames had spread wide. As he rolled to his feet, they were on him. But right before they would engulf him, his damned void ripped open. Garnet puffed out her cheeks in annoyance as it swallowed the fire.

Mrs. Lucina screamed.

Above, the angel blazed like a torch. Isatu’s fire jetted out of a hole near the ceiling and immolated Mrs. Lucina. Garnet cried out in shock as the beautiful MILF crashed to the ground like a flaming meteor. She hit hard. Her body lay there. She rolled onto her side, still somehow alive.

Alive but in so much pain.

Garnet gained her feet as he raised his sword again. Her whip cracked out and struck him. Isatu hissed her fury while the will o’ wisps fired new blasts of ball lightning at him. His shield swallowed one. Isatu drew in her breath at that moment.

Anguin jerked hard on his sword arm.

Despite having him bound in her whip, the force of his movement ripped Garnet from her feet. The succubus screamed as she hurtled through the air and then struck Isatu as she gathered in her breath to unleash more fire.

Garnet screamed in pain, one of her wings breaking on the impact. Then she bounced and hit the ground in a tumble. She rolled to a stop, crying out in agony. She blinked to see Anguin standing over her. He raised his sword.

Her big brother saved her.

The dazzling sword appeared over Garnet and slashed at Anguin. He cursed and slammed his shadowy blade into it, parrying. The magical blade burst into bright light. Anguin snarled and stumbled back.

The injured Garnet rolled from him and gained her feet. She gasped, her ankle throbbing with pain, her wing crumpled. She lumped away from the bastard as more attacks flew at him. Garnet had to do something else.

She spotted the stunned and kneeling Halia.

I ran towards Mrs. Lucina. Somehow, she was still alive.

My metal armor clanked around me. The Revitalize I had cast still empowered me. I had all the energy I needed. I just had to find a way to kill him. Hurting Paanee had been so hard, and it hadn’t been enough. The bastard was bleeding but he lived.

I knelt over Mrs. Lucina and put my hand on her blackened skin. The words to Mend Flesh rose in my mind. I opened my mouth to speak them when the whimpering angel cried out. She lunged up, her hands planting on my breastplate, and threw me back.

I landed with a clatter a heartbeat before a blade of shadow whipped past me and cut Mrs. Lucina in half. My angel-MILF had a beatific smile on her lips before she vanished. Pain and fury tore at my heart as I gained my feet.

I immediately had to dive to the ground to dodge a redirected ball lighting. My will o’ wisps had to keep firing at him. Keep the pressure on him. He couldn’t be allowed to just act as he wanted, but it was a deadly game.

I came up and snarled, “Ocean’s fury crashes into the beach, let the passion of Lord Enki flow!”

Sweeping Wave rushed at him. Suddenly, the middle of the torrent of water vanished, swallowed up by his damn shield. He stood there and let the water surge past him. Garnet cried out, her battered body struck by the water, knocking her down before Halia.

Anguin slashed his sword at her.

“NOOOO!” I roared.

He cut my little sister in half.

The severed half of Garnet’s body landed before Halia. The stunned paladin stared down at Garnet’s cute face twisted in pain. Then she vanished into motes. The sight slapped the shock from Halia. The turmoil that had utterly seized her broke.

She could not believe that her father had become such a monster. He was beyond anything she had ever heard of. Nobody came back from the dead. And no man had this much power. He was bleeding darkness. It spilled out of him and yet he kept fighting.

“FATHER!” roared from her lips as she stood, holding his blessed sword before her. It buzzed with her own fury. “What are you?”

His head turned to her. “Daughter,” he said coldly. “You stand once more. Do you truly—”

“What are you?” she snarled. “What foul thing has taken you and turned you into this monster?”