Sworded Affair

Chapter 68: Diablerie

Emma didn't target one of the priests directly with Oversoul. That would have been the height of stupidity, mere moments after they demonstrated the ability to harm her through their faith. Thankfully, the soldiers within arm's reach were not quite as pious, and Emma had no trouble slipping into the driver's seat.

"Traitor!" Those nearby cried in disbelief, as Emma's stolen body beheaded the nearest priest with a vicious overhead swing.

The sudden aggression left her vessel wide open, the unlucky soldier receiving several mortal wounds in quick succession from his enraged comrades, but by then Emma was already on the way to possess another host. Seeing no reason to change what clearly worked, Emma brought down a second priest through the same tactic; bashing his head in with a borrowed maul.

"Foul spirits, depart!"

The survivors had caught on by now; the remaining priests bowing their heads with hands clasped tightly together, whilst the soldiers waved sticks of incense. For all that the reactions seemed unplanned and chaotic, it was enough to invoke protective magic of a sort. The sky dimmed as the omnipresent golden glow retreated; binding itself fully within the invaders still living and branding their faces akin to cattle at an auction.

[Possession failed.]

Emma was forced to materialise, appearing in front of two very surprised spear-men as Oversoul failed to find a valid target. Not bothering to summon her blade, Emma slammed a fist into each helmet, hard enough to dent the metal and pulp the bone underneath.

"Foul creature! Dabbler in diablerie, consort of the damned! Forsaken is your line, in the eyes above!"

[Quest - Align in the Sand updated!

(Bonus) Objective: Complete the Trial as the presumptive heir to the throne (FAILED).

Rewards updated!

Objective: Complete the Trial of Crowns.

(Bonus) Objective: Complete the Trial with the Princess alive.

(Bonus) Objective: Complete the Trial without changing Alignment.

Rewards: 500 EXP, Archetype (Reaper)

Bonus Rewards: Companion - Princess Principal, Trait - Humanitarian Principle]

"Really?" Emma grimaced as she phased through two swords and a spearhead, none of them sufficiently blessed to overcome the intangibility granted by Ardent Ephemera. "Guess necromancy isn't that popular with the locals."

[Too many have seen the dead rise; this is something beyond your power to silence, and the court won't like it in the slightest. Not even royal blood will keep her position, and with her removed from the line of succession, civil war awaits.]

A bit annoyed now, Emma called Epitaph to hand and made short work of her remaining three assailants; smashing limbs and severing heads. She didn't even deign to claim their souls in the end, as none of them had demonstrated any abilities worth keeping. This earned Emma a short reprieve; as whilst there were still hundreds if not thousands of soldiers nearby, none were within immediate reach, and a quick glance around saw them far too preoccupied with the hordes of the dead to bother her. Even the remaining priests had no attention to spare for Emma; their heads were bowed, chanting furiously as they directed a flood of light towards Princess Astaroth atop the battlements, seeking to break her necromancy and the infinite tide of reinforcements it represented.

A wave of fatigue hit Emma the moment she stepped towards the nearest priest, not quite forcing her to stumble but noticeable all the same. One brave soldier charged at her, thinking her vulnerable in that moment; which she was, but not nearly to the point where she'd fear an archer with a dagger but not a helmet. Slapping him aside with a pommel strike, Emma decided to shift gears; even if approaching the priests directly wasn't an option here, she'd grown a lot in Scholomance, and had options to choose from. A quick glance at Princess Astaroth found her safe and sound, a number of guards now protecting her from every angle. Satisfied, the Earthbound Immortal faded away, opening the field to Emma's newest acquisition.

"Have an ice time!" Emma couldn't resist adding, as Antipode took to the field for the first time.

The massive elemental emerged right next to the nearest priest; running him through with an icicle to turn the holy man into a holey man. The soldiers within arms reach simply froze outright; plate armor being no protection against pure cold, whilst many more burned as a dozen flaming orbs ignited around the elemental, perfectly balanced as all things must be. That, as it turned out, was the final push needed to turn the tide; the death of the priest caused his fellows to flinch, a critical weakness as their combined magical might fought the Princess for purchase.

The golden light around them flickered once, twice and was no more; the priests for their part collapsing on the spot, blood pouring from every orifice that turned into flaky white before they even hit the ground. Bereft of their holy support, the surviving soldiers broke before the unending ranks of the living dead, fleeing piecemeal towards their companions further back by the camps; archers and mages aplenty yet none whom could fire into the melee for fear of hitting their own comrades in close proximity.

"Salt?" Emma tilted her head, running her fingers through the pool left by one of the priests.

[Using a substance famously associated with purity to kill an order of priests. The Princess has a rather devious sense of humour. An interesting vector for transmutation as well, even if it only worked after weakening the targets first.]

"I'll have to ask her what school of magic that's from," Emma agreed, wondering if she could learn it for herself; everything she'd learned thus far had come directly from the System, but nobody ever said that was an absolute limitation.

[You can learn outside the System, sure. It's just a lot harder, doing it the old fashioned way without the accumulated knowledge I'm using to raise you up. It's worth the attempt, if nothing else; learning how magic is usually learned will help you relate to the struggles of the less fortunate. Oh, and speaking of learning.

For defeating the first wave of invaders, 100 EXP gained.]