Sworded Affair

Chapter 173: Hello, World!

The Leech King’s bulk was enough to block off her tunnel, hiding the next wave of attackers from view. Emma had nearly issued the recall command when, for lack of a better word, it exploded.

[Leech King defeated.]

Emma was just quick enough to activate Parallel Lives, swapping places with her Duplicate and making the latter take the brunt of a wave of crystalline shrapnel hitting at 2000 feet per second.

[Duplicate defeated.]

That cost her both summons, but kept her actual body unharmed. She could have phased through it, of course, even recalling the Duplicate to save it for later, but that would have left the congregation behind her exposed to the blast instead. Sparing a quick glance behind her, Emma found the rest of the conspiracy pressed against the floor in prayer, facing the idol at the centre whilst completely ignoring the carnage behind them.

“Put your hands in the air!”

A warning called out, one Emma only understood thanks to the System’s translation, where her ears heard only static. She did as she was asked, raising both hands along with her bow, to fire her first arrow of the battle, straight down the tunnel still obscured by smoke from the earlier explosion.

[Empire Summoner defeated.

50 EXP gained.]

“That explains the giant scorpion,” Emma murmured, though with every question answered more arose to bother her. “Why aren’t they returning fire?”

[Standard doctrine advises against firing into an active ritual. Destabilisation can be a worse outcome than completion, in many cases. Not this particular case, mind you, but in many.]

The smoke dispersed amidst Edith’s commentary, allowing Emma a proper look at the enemy.

[Empire Destroyer - Level 30 Golem]

Two giant, armoured golems filled the tunnel, each resembling Emma’s own form, were she to overindulge in magical steroids. They advanced slowly, hidden behind tower shields that concealed all vulnerabilities, with swords taller than Emma herself sheathed at their backs. Emma fired again, but the same arrow that killed the Summoner in a single shot just bounced off their shields, earthing into either the ceiling or the floor, doing no damage at all.

Sir Bearington was the next to try, closing the distance alongside a flying sword without a passenger. The former’s headbutt met a shield slam; the shield won, sending him sprawling. Epitaph did little better, managing to pierce one shield but getting stuck in the process, leaving an extra decoration but by no means halting their advance. It did finally prompt one of the golems to draw their sword, a single downward swing cutting Sir Bearington in half.

[Sir Bearington Defeated.]

Now down to her last summon (as Emma was wary of calling Antipode in such a confined space), a change in tactics was in order. The Earthbound Immortal spawned underground, and immediately made its presence known by raising the floor. The tunnel sealed itself, cutting off the enemy advance. The golems gave their best effort to continue, of course, making quite the din, but even their strength faltered against the sheer weight of earth blocking their path, hopefully for good.

With her own area taken care of for the time being, Emma had the time to take a look around. Her nearest allies stood firm, thankfully, the Templar wreathed in a golden barrier blocking the path before him, whilst the Operator suppressed his foes with a continual stream of fire, his rifle firing bolts of searing blue light that never seemed to need reloading.

[Empire Destroyer defeated.

Empire Destroyer defeated.

300 EXP gained.]

Emma turned back to her own tunnel at the notifications, finding that the tremors from the golems attempting to force their way through had ceased, and in their place…

[Magus Austere - Level 42 Invoker]

Somehow, Emma could see his name through a wall of solid stone, much like she herself was certain that somehow, he was looking right back at her.

[Austere? I’m surprised he lived to six hundred, what with his total refusal to rely on the traditional methods for prolonging life.]

The Earthbound Immortal rose at Emma’s side, emerging from the ground without warning.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked, turning to address her summon.

[Ephemera (Toggle: ON)]

That let her barely avoid the fist through her head, as a tearing sensation at the back of her mind warned her (a bit late) that a foreign entity had temporarily suborned her summon. Ordering the Earthbound Immortal to disperse didn’t work either, so Emma removed it the old fashioned way. It was a one-sided battle; she could turn intangible to avoid being hit, while her summon had no such luxury, but it still took time to deal with her mutinous minion.

[Earthbound Immortal defeated.]

As her last summon fell at her own hand, the barrier it had created crumbled, permitting Magus Austere to take his first steps into the central chamber. He looked rather worse for wear, just a few steps from her; a thick cloud of dust coating his black robes of office, and his face solemn. He made to say something, but at the same time, the crowd of supplicants behind them both gave a final, euphoric roar, and began to turn to dust by the dozens. Emma didn’t see that, busy as she was preparing an arrow, one the Magus raised a hand to intercept, a foul green bubble growing from his hand.

[HELLO WORLD]

Emma toppled, as her body lost power, the anima needed to sustain it beginning to slip away. Thinking fast, she brought her homunculus out, taking possession of a body more grounded in natural principles. Magus Austere wasn’t affected as badly, but he was affected; his prepared spell fizzled, and he began to clutch at his chest, gasping as old maladies reasserted themselves in magic’s absence. He reached into a pocket with his free hand; not a pocket dimension, just a simple pocket in his robes, pulling out an oxygen mask that he placed over his face.

“Here?” The Magus rasped, regaining the power of speech as his medicine worked its magic (figuratively speaking). “Why here? This unimportant dust bowl was only meant to be a distraction!”

His eyes refocused, though he still looked puzzled.

“Also, why are you unclad?”

He pointed his hand at Emma again, who finally remembered that her homunculus had lost its leotard some time ago. Emma, for her part, felt Eden’s Echo heating up on her finger, emitting a groan of protest. Before the item shorted out altogether, she withdrew one final item, the Qilin Horn, and lunged at the Magus, running him through.