Suddenly a towering, ancient tree appeared outside of Gnemotrimn's Will. Its lush green branches stretched into the fortress. A green light jumped through its crown, suddenly launching itself towards the majestic tower.
"Hmpf. Overestimating your abilities!"
A voice tinged with disdain came from Dragon Slayer Velge. The skeletal dragon raised its head, erupting with a dragon breath filled with frost and death. The temperature in the entire fortress dropped abruptly. Ice spontaneously formed in the sky, crashing towards the ground as a terrifying hailstorm. Everyone who was too slow to escape scrambled around, seeking cover from the big pieces of ice.
The green light was about to be hit by the brunt of the dragon breath. Everyone held their breaths. The players had roughly figured out the hierarchy among the NPCs. They didn't think that the wood elf Phey could endure a direct strike from the dragon slayer.
Just as it looked like the green spark would be devoured by the dense dragon breath, there was a sudden change. Without any signs the green spark was replaced by a woman in silver armour. Surprisingly it was Second Princess Oniarohl.
No one expected the two elves to pull of such a move. But the one affected the most was undoubtedly the dragon slayer. In order to deal with Phey he didn't strike with all his power. Thus, the dragon breath was too weak to stop the second princess. A silver light covered her armor, protecting her from the dragon breath as she swiftly approached the black tower.
"Hmpf!"
At the last moment a snort rang through the air. Suddenly someone appeared from the shadows not far from the second princess. It was the first time the players saw Iss'ir's real appearance. With the size of an average dwarf and a body so thin one might think a breeze could snap it into two, the black-skinned demon looked anything but impressive. However, no one would underestimate him. On the way Iss'ir clashed multiple times with Therim despite being unable to show his full power at the edges of the Southern Wasteland. Now that they had advanced this deeply into enemy territory, Iss'ir would only be even stronger.
And now Iss'ir was finally showing his real strength. In a flash he reached Oniarohl. The high elven princess felt the danger from the side. Her long sword erupted with a dazzling light and clashed with the demon. The two powerful NPCs struck dozens of times within seconds, their movements too fast for anyone to follow. White and black light erupted, and it looked as if two stars were contesting in the sky. The ensuing shockwaves barrelled the floor, causing even the majestic walls to crack ominously.
Dragon Slayer Velge was not far from the battle. Just the fact that his flight wasn't affected showed that the dragon slayer was on a similar level. Almost falling for the trick just now, he gritted his teeth in anger, eager for revenge. A bone staff appeared in his hand, and he pointed it at Oniarohl. As for an honourable fight, not ganging up on one opponent? What a joke!
Mana gathered on the dragon slayer's staff. But just as he was about to complete his spell, a golden light filled the entire sky. A magic spear arrived in an instant, about to pierce Velge together with his dragon.
"Riverbell!"
Velge's wrathful voice echoed through the air. At the last moment he switched targets, aiming at the golden spear. A massive, icy claw surrounded by deathly air appeared in the sky in front of Velge, colliding with the golden spear. For a moment all sound seemed to vanish from the world. In everyone's vision only the clash between claw and spear remained. Only the white and black stars not far away could ignore the collision.
After a single second, time resumed. The golden spear pressed down on the frost claw, showing faint signs of overwhelming it. A dark energy erupted from the skeletal dragon, surging into the frost claw, supporting it to hold on.
"Is this how high-level NPCs fight…"
The fight between the players had already ceased as everyone stared at the sky in astonishment and shock. Suddenly someone noticed something else.
"Over there!"
Surprisingly, taking the earlier clash as cover, someone had closed in on the black tower. It was chieftain Ogruz. The orc's thick muscles squirmed as he swung his massive club like a baseball bat, about to crush the top of the tower.
"Please, could you not?"
Suddenly a voice light as a feather could be heard, tinged with temptation. The players instantly felt dizzy while some even had hallucinations. As the one directly targeted by the voice, Ogruz could be seen struggling, his club stopping in midair. Although orcs had stronger resistance against physical control skills, their resistance against mental control was average. This was actually the speciality of nephilim.
At this moment a demoness appeared out of nowhere in front of Ogruz. She had pinkish skin and two large, red wings behind her back. Her extremely shapely figure and revealing clothes reminded Liam and his friends a lot of the devil Paradynimn they had once fought during a dungeon run.
A quick check revealed the demoness's name to be Devil's Maid Viohla. It was not difficult to guess which devil she served.
Viohla appeared in front of Ogruz with a tempting smile on her fair face. She sat one foot in front of the other, crossing them as she walked elegantly through the air and slowly approached Ogruz. As she came closer, she raised her hand, and black, illusionary claws formed. Just as Viohla was about to gorge the orc's heart out, the latter finally woke up with a resounding shout:
"DIE!"
Ogruz swung his club with all his might. The air itself compressed under the blow. Viohla felt the surroundings pressing down on her making it difficult to escape. Yet there was no panic in her eyes. As the heavy club struck the demoness, her body suddenly burst into bubbles as if everything had only been an illusion.
"How uncivilized… but I won't make it easy on you…"
A sigh rang through the air, once more trying to affect Ogruz. But at that moment something surprising happened. A small magic circle located on Ogruz's forehead activated. A golden light flashed in the orc's eyes, and he easily shook off the attack. Viohla gasped, recognizing the familiar feeling:
"Riverbell… oh no!"
The demoness was shocked. She hastily tried to come up with a plan, but it was already too late. Ogruz let out a loud laugh. He didn't care for his enemy. His club continued its way and finally landed on the black tower.
Of all the people present, Ogruz was the one with the highest physical strength. With a single blow a part of the tower got pulverized. Its top instantly lost its support and crashed towards its bottom. The ground quaked as dust and rubble rained from the sky. The two parts of the tower met and were crushed into pieces. The entire fortress was covered in dust.
"AHH!"
"Viohla!!!"
Iss'ir and Velge shouted in rage. They blamed Viohla for playing around too much instead of finishing Ogruz instantly. However, the demoness was in shock. She knew that while her moves might appear playful, she had already used all her strength. The fight between her and Ogruz would usually end at least even. But the orc was already prepared beforehand, relying on defensive magic to block her influence at the opportune moment to attack the tower.
But the question was, how did the order faction know that she was in the fortress? How did they prepare specifically against her? Her presence was a secret these lowly traitors wouldn't be privy to. At this moment Viohla felt a chill running down her spine as this war seemed to slip out of their control…
While the demoness was shocked, Ogruz felt exhilarated. He let out an arrogant laugh and retreated. There was no need to fight. Their objective had been accomplished, and one could already see the black fog in the surroundings slowly dissipating after the construction of the tower.
Therim and Oniarohl also pushed their enemies back and retreated. Below them, the players were escaping the fortress. In the distance the army had been attacked by some general-level infernals, who were also forced to escape now that the commanders returned.
After the destruction of the barrier everything happened incredibly swiftly. The order faction entered an orderly retreat. Therim hovered above the army, dousing them in powerful light to guard against a potential retaliation by their enemies. Iss'ir had indeed thought about doing so, but seeing Therim being this careful he knew that he didn't have much of a chance. The shadow demon could only watch his enemies retreating. Although the order faction had suffered a couple thousand casualties in the siege, this was far from enough. After all, Iss'ir knew that this army would not face any more obstacles before the final battle.
"Empty the fortress. We are leaving."
Iss'ir gave the command with a heavy heart. He threw one last look in Therim's direction.
"I will wait for you..."