Chapter 14: Chapter-13: A violent effort

Alenor stood at the precipice of the bridge, The Way. The ticking rang in Alenor's mind. Alenor watched as the sanctuary faded away. Monsters gathered on the bridge, one by one, uniformly. And she used her EA to cleave through the first wave. Their bodies dragged in pieces as they fell, cut apart. Metal cuffs latched around her abdomen, a metal chain attached to it which faded, if she looked back she would know where, but the fear of the unknown stopped her. 

Their commander, a man?, it was hard to distinguish, he was covered in Armor from head to toe, purple, shining. Alenor knew nothing of such metal. He ordered Lanthrols to get on the bridge. 

Second wave walked on to the bridge, snarling, hunched. She knew what her end would be if they captured her alive. Or when the clock stops ticking. Which one would be first? Getting captured, obviously. Her binding would increase with every Afflict she performs. This one felt heavier than the one She used hours ago. Likely because she was exhausted from the torture earlier, her head pained as if mushed, and everything looked washed. She could hardly breathe. Lanthrols on the front howled and jumped; everyone behind it jumped in unison. Did these monsters think of a counter, or was there a whisperer here? No matter; she just needed to stop the monsters. If actual soldiers did not try anything and just waited for her to get exhausted, that would be great.

She raised her hammer, channelled more mana than earlier, and swung at an Impre she had cracked beforehand. It connected perfectly, the Impre glowed, Air became solid. Cracks appeared, glowing, this time more than earlier. 

Afflict

Cracks spread, elapsed on the Lanthrols in the middle, his  body split, still in armor, blood sprayed, it fell down on a crack, his head cleaved. Every monster cried as their body sundered. Once again, blood and corpses over blood and corpses.

Alenor felt a piercing pain in her right ear. Her hand went on it quickly. An arrowhead was piercing through it. No blood. A metal chain attached to it. Alenor felt nauseous from the mangled corpses and pain. Too much pain. She had thought only heavy bindings were her limitation, not this pain. 

Commander bellowed, his voice was gruff. Monsters scrambled again. Backing off from the bridge, drool flowing down their mouths; Eyes pure black, wide. 

A single small Lanthrol came onto the bridge. White furs, a variant. They were faster than the normal ones. Also,  more violent. ‘They plan to use one monster at a time to tire me out’, it did not matter. The only thing that mattered was how long they took; whether one or hundred, her spell would work the same.

INDICTUS 

Alenor whispered, another part of her Empirical arts. Mana flowed through her veins into the black hammer. A toned-down version of Afflict. More accurate, and far more physically and mentally taxing. Lanthrol was half way through the way, other monsters could not enter the bridge once it started charging. Her hammer felt heavier, her grip tightened, and her muscles ached from overuse.She swept her hammer, slamming it into the Impre, a single crack slithered through the air. Lanthrol jumped over the crack howling, ‘First tear’ Alenor whispered those words, consumed in mana. The crack stopped in its track and burst upwards like a spider's web, slicing the airborne lanthrol into pieces. She coughed out blood, her throat hurt, already ruined from her screaming earlier. She fell on her as the shackle around her abdomen got heavier. She channeled mana, amplifying pain, through her body, and stood up. 

Commander shouted and in unison Lanthrols walked, howling, on to the bridge. Alenor tried to take a breath as the monster charged but failed. Her head felt light, nauseous. 

Afflict

Again she used Afflict. Anything else would just end in captivation. She doubted she could even manage two of these inhumane things. They all died again, but this time they did not even try to counter it. Simply died. 

One more metal chain, one more arrowhead, in right lower leg. Piercing pain. She stumbled but maintained her balance. The next wave of monsters got on the bridge. ’Why am I doing this?’  a question arose in her mind. For Celine, she answered herself. She wanted to protect her. Why? She was the only one who treated her with kindness, like she was human. It felt right to do so. So what if she wanted some mercenaries to die? They were not worth anything, yet Celine blamed herself for sacrificing some criminals. She was kinder than she gave herself credit for. Celine blamed herself for Alenor’s suffering, when Alenor herself made the choice. Yet she could not bring herself to look back; she did not know, but it felt like if she did, her will to fight would exhaust itself. Why? She asked herself. She did not know the answer. She raised her hammer and struck at another Impre. 

Afflict

Lanthorls were stronger than they looked. In the course of their charge, they crushed armor and their brethren's bodies as if they were hollow. The entire bridge was now a jumble of organs, skin, and armor. Once again, they split apart, dying rather unimpressively. A metal cuff appeared on her wrists—no pain, just unwarrantedly heavy. The hammer fell from her arm, from a momentary startle. 

Air hummed, something rose from the ground, Alenor could figure it out, especially with her washed out vision. Air hummend. Even monsters did not move and looked up at the sky. She did hear Celine’s voice, not what she spoke to or said. She used this confusion to pick up her war hammer. Weights on her wrist made it hard to balance. She used the hammer to balance herself and heaved. There was a burst of mana, but she did not look back; her eyes laser focused on the other end. 

The ticking of the clock got louder, as if the clock was about to burst, so did the monsters howling. They did not approach the bridge, scuttling away. Making way for Soldiers, Riding on Harrocks, far faster than horses and dense enough to shake the ground when dashing, although slightly. They looked like bulls but taller, muscular, reflective black bodies like it was made of marble. Soldiers were fully armored, they did not have a sigil or flags to indicate their origin. Long spear in their arms.

"CHARGE" 

A man in front, riding the tallest Harrock, cried. Every soldier charged swiftly, unbothered by the quivering bridge. Alenor hurriedly straightened, and charged her hammer with more mana, she did not wish to take a chance. Her vision grew whiter, blood rushed into her mind, and she could hear her heartbeat. Her throat ached and cough rose as she tried to breathe. She stifled it and Swung the black hammer faster than a blink and smashed it into a Glowing Impre. Her vision turned white as she did.

Afflict 

Cracks spread like spider waves, times more than earlier ones. Harrock spelt apart like finely minced meat before they could even cry. Blood flowed out of every gap in the full armored suit. As they were raggedly towed by the motion. Smashed into the floor with a big impact, bursting open, minced body spilled out, almost like a dense red and white paste. 

Her sight came back. Alenor watched everything wide-eyed; she could not bring herself to believe this is what her Empirical Art could do. It was inhumane. Evil. She controlled her urge to throw away her hammer. A chained arrow pierced her left leg. She had anticipated it; she did not stumble like last time. Her legs felt like jelly. She looked at the other side, at Lanthrols rushing through without pause. She held her hammer tightly. Were they trying to disorganize her? not that it mattered. She was close to her goal. Or so she would like to think. 

 Afflict

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One more chain, this time cuffs on both of her ankles. She firmly planted her legs. Mobility was gone. Her headache made it unbearably hard to focus. Her vision turned white every time she used her art.

Harrock riders charged without even waiting for her to take a breath.

Her hammer Swung.

Afflict 

New chain, new binding, new arrow head, in her left arm. She did not give it a thought. How many more afflicts? Before she would stop moving. Yet she could not even think as a new wave of Harrock riders, dashed, splashing puddles of blood, crushing hollow armors. She swung her hammer.

Afflict

Her heart stopped beating; a giant spear head pierced through her chest. She tasted her blood as it rushed through her mouth and coughed. Hammering pain as she heard her heart once again. A new wave was already rushing, almost upon her. She gripped her hammer tightly and swung, only to stagger. She could not generate enough momentum to generate spiderwebs. 

As the crack spread, one of the hardrocks jumped onto the other. It used the other one as a platform to jump. High enough to not get caught in Afflict. 

Cracks disappeared as it landed and charged with everything. The goal was simple: kill the girl before she uses another one of her EAs to mince him. He pointed his spear and charged, kicking Harrock, urging it to go faster. 

Alenor was disoriented, she swayed but maintained her balance. She looked ahead, her vision almost  white, she could barely see the outline of the rider. Stabbing pain in her right arm. She gritted her teeth and lifted her hammer. Rider was almost upon her when her vision returned. Bridge beneath her swayed as a new wave of riders dashed. 

Harrock jumped as she swung her hammer, she changed its trajectory, lifted it up, and smashed it into an Impre, creating cracks at an angle between the sky and the ground. Rider threw his spear with everything before he webs minced him into pieces. Alenor jumped to the side, or tried to but her shackles did not let her, she fell face first into the ground. The spear missed; her head cracked on the floor. Her forehead was cut open, blood wetting the ground.

She used her hand to push herself off the ground. Her metal piercings passed through the ground as if they were imaginary. She sat on her knees, using the hammer to pick herself up. and failed miserably. A metal collar bound itself around her neck. It felt too cold and heavy to be a figment of her imagination. She abruptly stood up. Let go of her hammer. Both her hands went to the collar, her eyes shaking. Blood coloured her face red.

The next wave was charging, The ticking of the clock in her head ringing louder and louder, yet her mind could not focus on anything but the collar. She channelled her mana into her leg, metal piercings hissed like ice cold water on an open wound. She used all her strength to drag herself to the side of the bridge. Just as she crossed the bridge, Harrocks swarmed, and the ground quaked. They have entered. They cried victoriously. 

Only thing Alenor could think of was the collar, shining metal, chained. She used both her hands to grip the collar, trying to find a gap between it and her neck. She found none. She pushed her fingers against her neck, tearing open the skin even then she could not get her hands in it. Her whole body shaking, her mouth open, trying to breathe yet unsuccessful.

‘I need to get this of’, ‘ I need to snap it’ 

‘break it!’

‘anything’

"Just leave, get it off’

‘Get it off!'

‘Get it off’!'

‘GET IT OFF!'

She screamed in her mind, it did not budge.

 

 

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