Smoke hung thick in the air.
That was the first thing we saw when we burst out of the room, ran down the hallway to the closest terrace, and looked out over the city of Atessa. Of course, plumes of smoke weren’t exactly an unfamiliar sight in a town of blacksmiths. But two particular plumes were remarkably duskier than the others.
And then... Fwoom! There was a third explosion, and a new plume appeared.
“It’s Tessius!” Zel shouted.
“I’ll bet!” Amelia said, glaring toward the smoke.
Hang on a minute here! Zel had pointed out the possibility that Tessius’s Forest Hounds could attack any minute now, but even so, this seemed a little too sudden. Just how short-tempered are these guys?!
One way or another, though, the city was under attack! Meaning we had to defend it!
“Amelia, you and the soldiers handle evacuations! Be careful! Some of the Hounds might have infiltrated the city in the chaos!”
Amelia looked briefly upset by my order, yet she responded firmly, “Very well!”
I knew she would have preferred to take part in the evil-vanquishing directly. But I also knew that if a princess insisted on going to the front lines, the soldiers and local security would insist on going with her instead of getting the civilians to safety. Amelia knew that too, which was why she hadn’t rushed out first thing.
You’ve grown, Amelia. In the old days, she’d have climbed up on the roof of the guesthouse the instant I took my eyes off her to make a dramatic declaration to our opponent.
“Soldiers of Zephilia and Saillune!” she called now, turning to the crowd of armed men. “Though our nations and ranks may differ, we have a mutual desire to protect the people and keep the peace! With servants of evil upon us, it is our duty to repel them and safeguard this city! Will you lend me your aid?!”
“Aye!” the soldiers cried out as one.
Meanwhile... “Zel! Grab Gourry and follow me! I’m gonna go on ahead!” I said, even as I began reciting an incantation. “Lei Wing!”
The spell lifted me off the terrace. I’d have preferred Gourry and Zel at my side, but my only two options for flight magic were a slow, floaty one and the high-speed one I’d just invoked. The high-speed version was handy when you were in a hurry, but the wind barrier it created made it hard to control. Its max carrying capacity, speed, and altitude were all dependent on the caster’s ability too. It would’ve been a piece of cake with my old magic-enhancing talismans, but trying to carry Gourry without them would limit us to skimming along the ground at a not-so-speedy pace. We probably wouldn’t have even been able to clear the city walls.
Now, Levitation—the floaty flight spell—would let me carry someone with ease, but it had the drawback of being far slower. Hovering around at those speeds was like asking someone to hurl projectiles at you. That was why I’d decided to lead the charge, draw the enemy’s attention, and buy time for Zel to bring Gourry along!
I flew over houses, stores, and workshops before crossing the wall that encircled Atessa. Given the location of the explosions in town, it was easy to guess where the Hounds were. I flew some distance from that area, dismissed my flight spell, and landed in the middle of the forest. Then I began my chant!
Thou who art darker than twilight
Thou who art redder than lifeblood
I swear in thy exalted name
Obscured, deep in the flow of time
And make this pledge to darkness here:
So all those in equal measure—
Fools that they are to block our path—
Shall face destruction unconstrained
Grant me power, and unleash thine!
“Dragon Slave!”
The crimson light I produced concentrated itself in a point in the distance and then—Fa-bwoom!—burst outward as sheer destructive power!
My target was the heart of the forest. The timber at ground zero was completely atomized by the blast, while trees around it were bent, broken, or ripped from their roots and sent flying!
Dragon Slave was a spell that, as its dragon-slaying name suggested, packed enough punch to obliterate a small castle. It created a depression—well, more like a crater—the size of a city block, surrounded by destruction. Indifferent to the savagery I’d wrought, I immediately chanted a new spell.
“Fireball!”
The light I unleashed this time smashed into the mowed-down trees and—Bwoosh!—exploded, scattering crimson flames everywhere. I followed up with a second round, then a third! It was hard for fire to spread among healthy trees, but if you turned up the heat enough from all sides, you could make it happen. Pitchy smoke rose up as the surrounding trees began to burn.
I don’t think they can ignore this, but... I scanned the surrounding forest with my eyes. Something’s...
I thought I saw it. A strange chill ran up my spine. Heeding my anxious gut feeling, I whipped around immediately. Just then—Krrrshoom!—a flash of white cut through where I’d just been standing! I looked over to see who’d come to greet me, but all I saw was white mist rolling toward me. I couldn’t make out its conjurer.
The mist just kept expanding, billowing out my way. It soon reached the trees being licked by rising tongues of flame and doused them, immediately reducing the force of the blaze. Aha... As Alaina had said, it was a great spell for putting out wildfires. I would have loved to study it, but unfortunately, I didn’t have time to sit around and marvel at spellcraft.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked someone hatefully from beyond the mist that now encompassed the area—Tessius.
“Oh, come on,” I replied with an intentionally mocking tone. “It’s okay for you to shoot attack spells at a human city, but unforgivable for humans to torch the woods? Don’t be stupid. Next time you attack the city, I’ll set even more of the forest ablaze.”
If the Hounds’ goal was to take the forest back for the elves, I’d figured that setting a nice swath of the place on fire would get their attention PDQ. And it seemed I was right on the money.
“You will pay for this,” Tessius hissed. “This was our forest to begin with.”
“I dunno about your personal take on the matter, but I hear humans and elves hashed this all out a long time ago.”
I could hear Tessius’s voice get closer. A figure gradually began to take shape in the fog.
A new shiver raced up my back.
The gray figure that appeared through the mist was larger than Tessius—larger than any ordinary human or elf, in fact. It was the size of a lesser demon. Maybe even bigger.
“A small group of elves made that accord. We’re under no obligation to respect it.”
A giant all in gray, its color too cloudy to be called white... As it drew near and I could make out more detail, I realized that its features were somewhat familiar.
This is... gonna be tricky.
I suppressed my inner nervousness as I made the decision to keep provoking him to buy time. “And why should everyone else—elves and humans alike—just listen to whatever you say instead?”
“You stupid humans don’t understand the facts. All you do is bray.” The gray giant’s footsteps came to a halt.
I wouldn’t have known it was Tessius if not for his voice. Pale gray armor covered his entire body. Two protrusions stuck out from the helmet, resembling antlers or animal ears. Where eyeholes should have been were two sleek crystal stones resembling onyx, and several tentacle-like protrusions sprouted all over the plating here and there.
“I just took what you said and switched the parties around. I’m trying to prove that your logic is inherently faulty.”
“Heh. You’ve got guts to keep rambling after seeing me like this,” Tessius proclaimed confidently.
I waved my hands. “Little old me? Naaah. I’m scared out of my wits here. Knees knocking, the whole deal,” I said as flippantly as I could.
“You underestimate me. You might think this is just heavy armor, but—”
“Nope, I know it’s not.” Then I said it. “That’s the Zenafa Armor. Or... the Zanaffar?”
My offhand declaration stunned Tessius into silence. Understandably, of course. Who in the world, knowing full well what it was, would speak its name so brazenly?
There was an oft-told legend about the magical beast Zanaffar that destroyed the city of Sairaag 120 years ago. The beast’s true form was a living weapon-slash-armor created from knowledge obtained from the mythical magical tome, the Claire Bible.
In the more recent past, a human had created an incomplete replica of the living, magic-resistant Zanaffar. It was worn like armor, but it had a mind of its own. It quickly went out of control and destroyed a city. Gourry and I had had the pleasure of putting that down a few years ago.
But even more recently than that, elves and dragons had used the same basic knowledge to develop the Zenafa Armor as a counter-demon measure. I’d slain an especially high-ranked demon with the help of an elf wearing it.
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