Chapter 33: Chapter 32: Portal Raid 2

"Alright, men. Let's begin." Iona commanded. Aleph nodded, moving to the front of the group. In this portal raid, he served as the vanguard along with Brig. They set off at a run, boldly storming the front. They cut down the harbingers directly in their path, creating a safe route to the portal ahead.

"There!" Brig called out as they entered a familiar looking clearing. They were met with a large amount of harbingers. They kept going forward, ignoring them all. Moments later, earthen walls encased them from either side, obstructing them from the enemies.

"How much further?" Aleph asked, priming his gauntlets for the next part of the plan.

"Just a little more, sir Aleph. The tricky bit comes when we exit this tunnel." Brig answered. Aleph nodded, letting his knives go. They spun overhead, periodically diving forward and through harbingers' skulls at Aleph's command. He needed both hands for what's to come. The familiar blue glow began to emanate from them as mana of the force attribute began to build to almost dangerous levels. It lit their way, advancing quietly through the tunnels until they made it to the other side. A whole company of harbingers were ready for them. They had gathered at the mouth of the makeshift tunnel they created, appearing ready for their reused tactic.

There was a key difference this time though. This time, Aleph led the charge.

Aleph held a hand forward and pushed, sending dozens of them flying backwards, tumbling back into the direction of the portal, presumably. It was powerful enough to clear their path straight to the portal.

He could see it now, the distinctly pale white tree that the enemy had been using as anchors to teleport to. It glowed a little, or so Aleph thought, a glow distinct from the midday sun. 

"Damn, they activated it earlier this time!" Brig warned. 

"Can you hit it from here?" Aleph asked Iona, who was only a little bit behind them.

"Yes, but the barrier would–"

"Nevermind that, I just need you to hit it. Can you do it?"

Iona looked at him with that look she does when he asks her something crazy. The harbingers have recovered and were starting to converge on their position. There were dark shapes in the sky inching closer to them, too, Aleph thought it was fine. He awaited her response, calmly reengaging the Force Gauntlet while Brig and Lacey handled the incoming enemies.

"Just hit it. I'll deal with the barrier. Use something big, like that beam of fire you taught Lacey." Aleph reassured her.

"...Okay."

That was all he needed to hear. He charged the front, slitting the throats of any harbingers he came across. A dark shadow loomed overhead, making him take a step back. The ground before him broke, and an emissary appeared. There were other shadows overhead, but Aleph was actually happy about that. The birdlike emissary brandished its claws at him, but Aleph easily caught them at the wrists. A mental tug sent one of the orbiting daggers flying into the small of the creature's back.

"Kuaaak!" The emissary screeched. It  pitifully tried to squirm out of his grasp, but the dagger just dug deeper and deeper.

"I've been looking for more of you." Aleph taunted. 

"Godkiller!" The emissary shouted, " Lord Erebos will have your head!"

The shadows overhead loomed larger, but Aleph his gaze locked on the demon.

"I see you hiding in your minion's gaze. This one's heart will sustain my war, Erebos. You will pay for what you did in my sanctuary."

"Kaaaaakkk!" The demon's screams were unbearable. Aleph finally let go, just in time for other winged emissaries to  fall on their unfortunate ally. Their talons tore their ally into shreds, but they ignored it, linking their attacks into Aleph. He punched one of them on the skull, bending his neck at a grotesque angle, before plucking his dagger from the air to stab the second one in the eye. He had his back turned to the final one, but he had already taken care of him. The bloodied mess of their companion burst forth, with the knife he is in there taking his friend through the neck. A temporary lull descended upon the battlefield, as both sides were stunned by what Aleph had just done.

He bent over to pick up the bloody knife from the fallen, taking one in each hand. He faced the tree once again, awaiting the attacks he was sure would follow. Instead, the area surrounding the distant tree began to glow once again, and a barrier materialized. It looked like stained glass, obscuring his view of their target within. 

He waited awhile, letting the blue energy in his gauntlets travel into the blades of his weapons. He focused on that, creating an image of his next attack, until Brig and the others caught up to him. 

"Miss Iona, are you ready?" Aleph asked once again as he took a fighting stance. Iona stepped up beside him, doing the same.

"...Just say the word." Was her response. She'd brought out one of her orbs, focusing her power into it. The crystal glowed a fierce orange, like a miniature sun in her hand.

Aleph nodded approvingly, turning his attention back to the barrier ahead.

"Night slash!"

a cross of blue light came screaming from the edge of his blades. It clashed with the barrier, creating cracks across its surface. Aleph didn't wait, squeezing out every bit of mana in his gauntlets and fired another round of spells, adding to the previous one and destroying the barrier completely. The portal was once again visible, and more importantly, vulnerable.

"Now!" He shouted, but Iona was already moving.

"Death beam!"

A jet of white hot flames streamed into the breach he had just created, bathing everything in a flash. Aleph could see nothing but white for the next couple of seconds. When it faded, Aleph found no traces of the portal. Or anyone for that matter. By his estimation, the demon lord himself would have been critically wounded by that attack.

"A fitting name for a spell so powerful." He said out loud.

"You owe me a fire attribute mana crystal." Iona huffed. She held the remnants of a broken orb in her hands. She, too, swayed in the wind, completely spent. Aleph lent her his shoulder.

"I've recently come across a few gravity attribute crystals myself. Would you care for those instead?" He asked her with a smile, nodding to the pile of corpses close by.

"Funny, but no. That was my ace in the hole, and I need a fire orb as a vessel for it. I'll break like this crystal if I use it myself." She held up her hands as proof.

"Hmmm. I'll consider a replacement and get back to you."

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Aleph took the broken crystal in her hand, stowing it away for later. Iona got up, having recovered from using up most of her mana.

"Alright, let's finish up here and go home."

__________________________________

Aleph arrived at Sleepy Joe's, scanning the tavern area for Iona. After they had successfully raided a portal this afternoon, they had all wordlessly dispersed around town for some rest. He was anxious to see if Eric's condition has improved, though, so he went right back here after dinner.

He was barehanded tonight as he squeezed out every bit of mana out his Force Gauntlets. He left them down near his well, hoping proximity to his sanctuary would recharge them faster.

He spotted Iona leaning up against the bar, poring over some papers. There was a glass of ale set down to the side, condensation dripping on all sides as it lay there forgotten.

"You should be resting." He said out loud as he pulled up a seat beside her.

Iona stiffened, before looking at him irritably.

"So should you. You know, it took all five of us to break that barrier before right? And you don't even look out of breath!"

"If you expended that fire orb sooner, you would have easily taken out the barrier by yourself."

"Yeah, but it's so expensive…" She grumbled. She was writing on a piece of paper, starting and stopping at random points until she just crumpled the entire thing and started anew.

"What are you working on?"

"It's my artificer friend. You know the one." She adjusted her glasses as she said so.

"They want to come over and see you. And annoy me in the process, apparently. They asked His Highness if they could come relocate his workshop over here. I'm trying to see if I could talk them down."

"The one that makes those manameters? Just let them come. We could use the help. I have sizable project I'd like to finish, but between Eric's treatment and me joining the raid party, my crafting time has gone completely down."

"...But they usually bring a whole circus with them…I'm not sure it's worth it." She grumbled.

Aleph just stared at her. He figured that Iona, with her scholarly interests, would be interested in seeing what Aleph and this friend of hers could create together. He broke her down soon after.

"...Nevermind. I'll tell them to come, but you go deal with them, okay? I just can't right now…"

The pair sat there for a while, with only the pen's scratching between them. Aleph ordered a drink of sweetened wine before going up to see his patient. 

"Hey, listen." Iona said, laying down her pen and facing him. "Eric woke up. I had Brig keep an eye on him, but well… You'll see."

Aleph glanced at her from his drink, seeing an entirely new emotion in her face. She's sad? It was different from when she thought Eric would erode, but somehow…

"Stop looking at me like that. I know you did your best, it's just–" She feigned a yawn, but Aleph could tell she only did so to have an excuse to rub the growing moisture in her eyes. "His memories of the past four years are pretty much gone. That's essentially his entire life in the army, you know. The entire time we've known him."

She set aside the letter to the artificer, pulling out a different one on her stack. It was a different letter, one less complete than the first one.

"I've been trying to write something for his family back at the capital. Keep them up to speed."

Ah. "Hmmm. Sounds difficult." Aleph nodded. He wouldn't want to be the one to have to explain such a thing to Eric's loved ones like that.

"I know~~" She flopped her body across the bar counter, almost knocking off her drink. Aleph deftly caught it, preventing it from spilling as he offered it back to her. She gratefully took it, drinking a large portion of it in one go. For a while, they sat there in silence, taking sips of alchohol.

"You're a good leader."

"Yeah, I hate it." She answered back after a while her little smile coming back out. Aleph answered with one of her own, as genuine as he could make it.

"Thanks." She added, before gathering her papers and standing up.

"I think I'll turn in. Eric should be in his room along with Brig. You should see them before you go."

"Good night, miss Iona."

Aleph stayed put, trying to finish his drink before he went. He thought about Eric's condition, about how sad it was for him. Aleph himself had his own share of tragedy, but he never really thought to wipe them away, and so the thought of someone taking them from him was scary. 

He still remembered how Eric woke up, asking after a colleague that he knew. He was so devastated at relearning this Lisa's death that it snapped him back into reality for a brief moment. Would it have been the same for him? He retained the millennia of knowledge he accumulated over the course of his past lives, and even now he could summon the faces of the countless heroes he had met before. He closed his eyes, seeing Emily dying in his arms once again. He wondered if he'd be happier if he just forgot everything about her.

"...No." He decided after a while. The centuries he spent grieving and creating their final resting place would have been in vain otherwise. Someone has to keep their stories alive, as the heroes who kept the Abyss at bay. Aleph finished his drink and stared at the empty glass, growing pensive. On a whim, he hailed down Joe, asking for something stronger.

More people should know them, he realized. Eric himself is only alive today because he kept these memories alive. His students' artifacts are based on his friends' own equipment back in the day. He had been telling of their feats whenever he had the chance, but now he started to think that maybe he should be doing something more.

 He thanked Joe as he wordlessly handed him a second glass. 

Aleph stretched, settling in his seat for now. Eric can wait. All he feels like doing for now is have a little drink.

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