BOOOOM!
An earth shattering explosion shook the cavern as Nero and Umaga clashed. A wave of violent, red mana rushed outwards, washing over both friend and foe, and causing damage to them.
When the dust cleared, Leon saw Umaga’s head still pressed against Nero’s sturdy shield. A trail of blood ran down the front of the shield, evidence of Umaga’s injury.
“Grrrr… Scum! I will end you!” From his evident anger, Umaga was clearly enraged at being injured by Nero. He reared back his head and swung a clawed arm at Nero.
“You spoke with disrespect towards my master. You must die!” Nero angrily replied as he repositioned his shield to block off Umaga’s arm. When the collision came, his sword was already swinging in an upwards arc to slice off the offending arm, but Umaga was quite fast, easily withdrawing his arm form harm.
Red eyed, Nero followed after Umaga, swinging his heavy great sword as if it weight nothing at all. Umaga deftly blocked all of the strikes, but not without getting pushed back with each block. Nero’s momentum based attacks were overwhelming, and not even the constant red barrier around him could withstand those blows without getting pushed back.
Leon watched their fight for a while before moving his attention to another noisy part of the battlefield. There, Marcus swung his sword, unhindered by the mass of monsters around him. Leon was amazed, as he found it quite interesting how an ordinary C rank human was able to withstand the assault of so many C rank monsters without getting pushed back. Not only did he not get pushed back, but he even advanced forward!
“Something is up with that guy. Kaladin, take care of him.” Leon nodded toward his loyal mage, receiving a nod in response.
Kaladin stepped off the raised platform that they had appeared on, but instead of descending to the ground, he continued floating forward, as if gravity meant little to him. Sparks of lightning crackled around him, and he held up his arms.
Soon enough, his electrifying form was noticed by Marcus’ hard eyes, which seemed to be clouded over by a sort of calm rage.
“You have caught the master’s attention,” Kaladin began speaking, “But it shall last only for a moment, like the brilliance of lightning. A flash in the sky, and then darkness is all that is left.” As he spoke, the lightning crackling around him intensified, turning into a hot, blinding furnace of white for a second.
Marcus frowned up at the floating skeleton mage. His skill was still running, and providing him with an extra boost to his strength, but that would never be enough to face Kaladin on equal footing.
“Dammit.” He growled and pulled out a bottle from his side. The bottle was not a potion but rather, a bottle filled with small, red pills. He popped out a pill and threw it to the back of his throat, swallowing it in one smooth motion. “Argh!” A grunt slipped past his lips as he felt liquid fire run through his veins. His eyes turned red, and his dark hair turned into a dark shade of scarlet that resembled blood.
Kaladin tilted his head in thought for a moment before waving his hand and conjuring multiple orbs of lightning. The orbs of condensed lightning spread out in a wide circle in the air above Marcus, and Kaladin gazed down at him, like an arbiter of justice. He raised his arm and waved it down, and that area was painted in white light.
When the light cleared out, Marcus was left kneeling, with his sword stabbed into the ground, the only thing holding him up. His hair was gone, and his armor was scorched and bent all over. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, and one of his eyes was sealed shut. The other was red and bloodshot as he stared up at Kaladin with fear and fright.
He realized that they were fighting a losing battle. They never stood a chance against Leon and his army. His heart sunk even deeper when he remembered that this was one of the Leon’s summons, not even the master himself. If just one summon could do so much, then that would mean that they never stood a chance against him in the first place!
“Still alive? You are a rather resilient cockroach, aren’t you? Perhaps you will be useful under the service of my master.” Kaladin said as he slowly floated down, an orb of lightning floating over his right palm. Tendrils of lightning snaked out of the orb and reached down, grabbing a hold of Marcus and lifting him up. The lightning numbed his muscles, making it impossible for him to move or struggle. Even his tongue went numb, so he could not speak. He could only watch with overwhelming dread as he was carried away, taken to the armored undead.
Thud.
Marcus dropped down to his knees in front of Leon, unable to find strength in his limbs. He looked up with his remaining eye, his vision blurred. He was beaten, but a firm aura still weakly flowed out of his body. He would not die with his head bowed.
“I do not know much about honor, but your firm spine is something I admire.” Leon spoke, his tone deep and mysterious. “So, I will not give you a shameful death.” He said, holding out his hand. A pitch black sword appeared in his grasp and he stepped forward, pointing the sword at Marcus’ chest. Marcus’ eyes shook slightly as the sword stabbed into his chest, sinking in deep and sliding out through his back, covered in the dark color of blood.
He coughed, and blood splattered on the ground before him, his eye losing focus. His body slumped back, and his vision passed over the battlefield. As expected, things were turning out poorly for their side. Only a few people were still alive, including Joseph. Umaga was being beaten up, and things were looking bleak.
‘Perhaps… I overreached this time…’ Marcus thought grimly as light left his eyes, and his body shut itself down.