Touch of Fate

Chapter 202: Coming to a Head

"[Wind Blades]." Tal announced in her trademark emotionless voice as she launched her spell down the stairs, catching two of the intruders and cutting them to pieces in the process.

A few bolts from their small crossbows fired up in response, and the elf was forced to evade. With the top of the stairs clear again, Sera took the opportunity to lean over and release her own arrow at the climbing Tennundians. While she still had to back up quickly to avoid the return fire, she had time to watch her attack strike home.

"Got one!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. Very good, but don't get cocky. They aren't even seriously trying to take this command tower, otherwise we'd have been overrun already." Kiera commented from the window, where she was still watching the course of the battle, a semi-permanent scowl fixed on her face.

Things were not looking good.

Not too long after they received reports of teleported infiltrators, a massive force of Tenundians appeared in the eastern part of the city, right next to the wall. While Sera didn't know much about teleportation or how difficult it must be, the movement of hundreds of soldiers, even over short distances, was quite a feat. If they hadn't been under attack for that very reason, Sera might have felt impressed.

As it was, it didn't take long for the enemy to lay siege to the minimally guarded observation tower. Thankfully, the majority were occupied in their attempts at seizing the gate, while the most powerful enemies were squaring off against members of the Royal Guard in flashy battles with high amounts of collateral damage.

Nevertheless, the lower floors quickly fell to the enemy as much of the command hierarchy retreated to the topmost portions of the tower. With the assistance of the mages on standby, the Almirans were able to mount an effective defense, turning the open staircase into a death trap for the invaders.

As a result, both sides were currently at a standstill, with the Tenundians occasionally launching tentative forays using a variety of tactics, while the defenders did their best to resist. This had gone for about ten minutes.

Sera fired another arrow, this time only grazing her target. She was about to take another shot, when Tal pulled her back suddenly. A barrage of icicles shot through the area she had been occupying, before continuing on and shatter against the stone roof.

Suppressing a shudder, she turned and thanked the elf. "Thanksthat was a close one."

"Enemy mage. Tier 2. Stand back." Tal replied while pressing a hand against the floor. The bracer that Mike had given her flashed momentarily, and a slight vibration passed through the floor. After a moment of consideration, the elf started chanting a spell. Sera didn't quite catch what she said, but once she finished there was another, stronger vibration and a chorus of horrible screams passed up the stairs.

"Hm. Missed." Tal said while standing, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "Mage escaped."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get him next time." Sera answered, slightly nervous.

[Since when has she been able to do something like that? Why am I surrounded by absolute monsters?]

"Bigger problem. More on way."

Harnik, who had his hands full maintaining the built-in protections that were the keeping the tower from simply being destroyed, gave a tired sigh. "If any of them are Tier 3s, then we are in trouble. I don't think we can hold too much longer as it is. Any chance of us getting reinforcements, Kiera?" He was standing in front of a square pedestal, somehow interacting with the tower's system by placing his hand upon it.

The 1st University Division commander shot him an unreadable look. "More than likely, we won't see any until the force assaulting the gates are beaten back. All available reserve forces have been redirected to support the 2nd Division." She was silent for a moment. "According to reports, they suffered a similar attack which resulted in the defeat or capture of the entire 2nd Division headquarters."

There was a moment of stunned silence as the audience absorbed the steam of bad news. One of the younger mages noisily collapsed against the wall, before gripping her face in futile effort to halt a stream of tears which quickly started to spill from her eyes. One of the other novice mages quickly knelt down to console her as best as he could.

"Her friend was stationed there." Harnik explained quietly before turning towards Kiera again. "If that's the case, why hasn't the gate fallen already?"

The commander frowned. "I'm not sure exactly. The last report only stated that a group of armed citizens, following someone claiming to be the Prince of Thieves, had arrived just in time to resist the Tenundian assault. Since our enemies haven't started swarming through our streets just yet, it seems like they've been able to hold out."

[I guess Brenden got involved after all.] Sera thought to herself with a pinch of unease.

For some reason, she found herself very worried about the beastman. He had managed to place himself in the most dangerous part of the battlefield, and didn't have access to any of the tools necessary to call Mike to his side in the worst case.

She touched the strange necklace he'd given her before running off into battle, and considered using it. Something about the situation felt wrong, and she would be a lot more comfortable if he was around to deal with it. Just when she'd decided to make use of the item, the tower shuddered noticeably.

Harnik groaned, as if under a sudden strain. "They're trying to bring down the tower's defense system! The fools! The tower will collapse if they do."

Another shudder, this time stronger, gave urgency to his words. Twisting lines of blueish white arcane energy suddenly appeared on the walls. As they watched, the lines flickered, becoming noticeably fainter in the process.

Kiera responded first. "How do we stop it?"

"The defense system was designed to be controlled from this room, but there are nodes on each floor that can be accessed. We have no way of knowing exactly where they are" Harnik groaned again as another vibration shook the tower. "Mana support! Quickly!" He commanded the other student mages before resuming his explanation with a strained voice. "You'll need to check every floor."

The commander glowered at the window one last time, before turning to the other occupants in the room. "Well, you heard the man. We'll be retaking this tower, one floor at a time. I know most of you aren't skilled in combat, but we don't have much of a choice."

Sera activated the necklace, believing that now would be an excellent time to call on their resident walking disaster. However, it flashed briefly before disintegrating. "Um, Tal? Is it supposed to do that?"

The elf looked at her, then down at her own necklace, and finally at the walls. "Tower defenses. Interference, maybe."

It took a second for the Oracle to understand the meaning behind the elf's words. She was suggesting that the field of arcane energy built into the towers walls were somehow preventing the necklace from activating as it was supposed to. While this might be due to the current state of high activity, it also meant that they couldn't carelessly make use of Tal's item until they were sure it would work.

"Alright, I'll take the lead. I want those of you with the most combat experience to be right behind me. Harnik, try to buy us as much time as you can." Kiera commented as she strode to the head of the stairs, drawing a simple, battered sword in the process. Once in place, she swept the assembled mix of students, instructors, and volunteers with a steely gaze.

"Well, let's get on with it." She commented dryly, before bursting into action and leaping down the stairs. For a full second silence reigned in the room, until one of the messengers, carrying nothing more than a dagger, gave a battle cry and charged after her. Soon the rest of them followed suit.

Sera and Tal were swept up in the tide.

Gripping her bow tightly as she ran down the stairs, Sera felt her anxiety disappear. Whatever happened, it was now largely outside of their hands. That said, she couldn't help but feel a small amount of anger towards Mike, since he'd indirectly gotten them into this mess, unfair though it was to blame him for it.

[If I die in the next few minutes, I'm definitely coming back to haunt him.]

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Just as he was about to launch his spell, Mike was momentarily distracted by a high pitched sound from somewhere behind him. It was so short in duration, he thought he must have imagined it. Nevertheless, it left him with a strange feeling of unease that he couldn't banish easily.

The distraction nearly proved fatal, as the brief hesitation gave Nurenal a chance to evade and counter with his own spell resulting in the pair of them being hit with simultaneous explosions of magical energy. Mike was able to protect himself from the worst of it with another mana shield, and endure the rest.

[No time to worry about it now. I've got to deal with the guy in front of me.]

Deciding that he should prioritize eliminating the current threat, Mike summoned a humming blade of fire, and pushed himself into the cloud of smoke surrounding his enemy, swinging horizontally at the last place he'd seen the elf. Somehow sensing his attack, Nurenal blocked the blow with a curved sword of his own, coated in brilliant arcane energy.

The resulting clash pushed the smoke away, revealing an unfazed battlemage ready to fight. He glanced down at the angry line of white-hot fire that was attempting to eat through his sword with something resembling fascination. "An inelegant application, but one with some interesting possibilities."

Mike resisted the urge to respond angrily, and instead pushed back on his opponent's sword, forcing the elf to take a step back. His follow-up attack was interrupted by the need to dodge to the left as Nurenal punched out with a fist clad in arcane energy. Mike wasn't sure what that attack might do, but the way the it seemed to sizzle as it slid past his head, made him not want to find out.

He took his distance and fell into the Roaring Flame Stance. He felt compelled to bring this fight to a close swiftly. Channeling mana into his limbs, he bathed himself in a fiery aura and launched himself at the battlemage.