Chương 167: The Sanctuary in the Sky (16)

Nodens set the world on fire. Burning Abyss was one of the most dreaded Tier IX spells in existence, because its radius could reach hundreds of feet centered around the caster. Anything caught within its range was immediately set on fire… including its own user. Having been warned by Waybright that it would be part of the demon's arsenal, Simon had hoped to dissuade Nodens from casting it by applying Elemental Imbalance to curse him with fire vulnerability. He had miscalculated.

The archfiend set everything around him ablaze, laughing as the flames consumed his flesh and cooked him alive. Lady Junon's roots squirmed in pain as they burned; the Freedom Bird's paint melted away and its engines exploded from the sudden heat, the airship quickly losing altitude; and the flying champions closest to Nodens were swiftly immolated, their screams of pain filling the air. The only group to avoid the worst of the effects was Voltobauta's crew.

The runes engraved in the Ravenous absorbed most of the flames, the same way they had once negated Simon's attempt to sink it, and Belzemine shielded the crew with anti-fire buffs. The ship continued to drag Nodens to the ground, while Simon gave pursuit after switching his current ring for one of Cursed Flame. He trusted Alcyone and Eole to evacuate the Freedom Bird before impact. Immolating himself while being under the effect of an Elemental Imbalance hadn't done much damage to Nodens.

His flayed flesh now looked like a cooked steak leaving steaming blood in its wake, but his grin had only grown ghastlier. How much damage could he take?" Gravity…" A flayed and bleeding Anaximander incantated on the Ravenous' deck." Tide!" Drawing upon the gravitational energies of the Watermoon floating high above them, the elven archmage called upon a wave of telekinetic force that struck Nodens from above and pressed him down to the ground.

He crashed into the ashes of the burning forest below in a cataclysmic crash. Simon quickly joined in by hammering Nodens with Mindflayer in an attempt to disrupt his concentration. It didn't need to hurt the demon, just distract him.

While this strategy had worked against the archfiend when he had merged with Casval—who didn't share his possessor's sadomasochist tendencies—the demon ignored the assault and countered with a spell of his own." Torment Chains!" His magic tore multiple rifts in reality around him, opening a variety of holes each over sixty feet wide. Enormous, spiked crimson chains thicker than bridges erupted from them and struck the Ravenous from all sides.

They coiled around its masts and hull, crushing any crewmate unlucky enough to be in their path, then tore the entire vessel apart with phenomenal force.

Simon caught a glimpse of Belzemine and Voltobauta both flying away from the deck, with the former carrying a bleeding Anaximander in her arms, but the rest were crushed by the chains. The gravity tide crushing Nodens lost its potency and the archfiend began to rise up again. An enraged Simon immediately ordered his dracozombie to get into melee range before he could recover. He summoned a specially crafted morning star carved from Lady Junon's own wood to his hand and smashed Nodens' skull with his inhuman might.

The blow, empowered by the dryad's holy nature, shattered some of the archfiend's fangs and left a crack in his jaw. Nodens waved one of his metal wings at him in an attempt to strike, but the dracozombie managed to fly away in time.

"Simon!" Simon looked up to see Tybalt, Zeal's squad, and Culebre's flock of brainwashed Champions descending upon Nodens.

"We're here!" Nodens stared up at them with malice." Gorgon Gaze." Petrification negated by Unyielding Essence. It was an unfortunate fact of life that there was no foolproof, blanket protection against all possible ailments. Simon had distributed various rings of ailment protection, but he only covered some of them. As a result, half of the Champions were instantly turned to stone and shattered onto the earth below.

Tybalt, Zeal, her bound demon, and the remaining Champions guided by Culebre fearlessly fell upon Nodens like a swarm of wasps assaulting a bear.

Tybalt drove his blade into Nodens' left eye, and Zeal ordered her Tamer-empowered thrall to tear out the right. Blood poured out of the archdemon's eye sockets while the other Champions hacked at his wings with their holy weapons. Nodens roared as they managed to sever his left wing from his body, but he quickly retaliated. His naked flesh oozed blood that immediately transformed into a crimson mist expanding from him. Its mere contact melted the flesh off the bones of anyone it touched.

The Champions were stripped down to their skeletons in an instant. Tybalt's Guardian Class granted him mighty stat bonuses and various immunities when fighting on a territory he defended, so he and Culebre alone managed to survive and back away. Queen Zeal and her tamed demon alike were consumed with a shriek alongside her kindred, their strength found wanting. The mist expanded until it threatened to cover most of Boreas, only for a mighty gust to sweep it aside and away from Simon.

Sky-Father Vayan had taken position a hundred feet away from Nodens, anchoring himself to the ground with his talons and breathing out a gust mighty enough to uproot trees. The archfiend nearly tumbled from the impact." Magic Up, Wind Amp!" Ruto continuously cast buffs on Vayan. Culebre also joined them, his melody strengthening the Sky-Father further." Pierce Wind!" Nodens used his only remaining wing to protect himself, then glared at Ruto with his bloodied, eyeless gaze." Atopere."

All of Ruto's limbs were suddenly sliced off his body; his legs, his arms, his wings, and even his head. He fell onto the ground below in a pile of severed parts and bloody chunks whose sight twisted Simon's stomach.

"Ruto!" Vayan roared in horror and fury at his speaker's demise, the winds increasing in potency.

"Murderer!"

"Disappear!" Nodens snarled at Vayan as one of its bound claws pointed at the eidolon." Hurricane!" Nodens cast the same tornado spell he had used in Cocagne, but his comet-boosted strength caused it to live up to its name. The archfiend unleashed a massive typhoon that overpowered Vayan's own gale and tore Boreas' crust off the island.

Realizing the danger, Simon quickly dismissed Culebre before the blast could hit him, causing the Dark Eidolon to vanish back into miasma and teleport back to his original self's location. Vayan, however, was struck head-on and blown across Boreas.

The Sky-Father had been beaten at his own element.

"I won't lie," Voltobauta said as he flew up to Simon's side alongside Belzemine, his cape having turned into bat wings. Tybalt, and an Alcyone-carrying Eole joined up with them. The kish among them looked grim, pale, and furious, and who could blame them after losing Ruto?

"This looks unwinnable."

"It's not," Alcyone insisted, her copy of the Mana Sword gleaming in her hand.

"Nodens isn't regenerating from the damage we inflict, and he has lost a wing. We have him stranded." Simon froze upon noticing the absence of someone among them.

"Is Anaxim–" Belzemine's sorrowful scowl told him all he needed to know, his hands clenching in rage and grief.

"No…"

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Belzemine apologized, "The Anti-Heal effect reapplies itself as soon as I can lift it. All I could do was delay the bleeding." Eole's eyes widened in horror as she looked at her father. The wounds he received from the melting mist earlier looked severe.

"Dad, you need to fly away–" This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I'll die before I can escape his Domain's range," her father replied sternly, causing his daughter to flinch. His tone immediately softened upon seeing her reaction.

"I'm immune to Bleed, Eole, so I can last some time."

"We can save our wounded if we kill Nodens quickly enough and cancel out his Abyssal Domain," Simon reassured Eole, though he struggled to believe in it himself.

"Eole, buff us," Alcyone ordered as she waved her hand at the group, her Class activating.

"I'll engage him in melee with Simon and Tybalt. Belzemine, Volto, cover us with long-range projectiles." Alcyone added you to her Party! You received an experience and stat boost! With no other option than to follow Alcyone's plan, Simon charged ahead of the group. Eole's song echoed behind him, time slowing down to a crawl as his perception sharpened. Haste and Mirage status applied! The entire group grew faster and left afterimages in their wake that blurred their movements.

Nodens turned to face them, then struggled against the bindings holding his torso with a demonic roar. His arms broke free in a burst of power. Moving with surprising speed for his size, Nodens grabbed his remaining wing, ripped it off his shoulder, and then threw it at the group with all of his might. The knives composing it split off into a massive storm of blades.

"Behind me!" Simon ordered his allies as he channeled a Chaos Wave through his hand, repelling the projectiles in front of him. Eole and Belzemine hid behind him and were spared, while Voltobauta and Tybalt managed to dodge on their own. Unfortunately, his dracozombie was struck in multiple spots, its wings torn to shreds. Simon was forced to dismiss it and activate Darkflight to continue his assault, rushing at Nodens with all the speed Eole's song granted him.

The demon opened his mouth, perhaps to blast them, but Alcyone quickly waved her hand at him. Runes flared on her skin and materialized a cart-sized, flying fist of stone that punched Nodens in the jaw hard enough to force it closed. This gave Simon and Tybalt an opportunity to smash his head with their weapons. They both landed critical hits that caused the archfiend to reel, shattering one of the spikes coming out of his skull and causing miasmic brain matter to leak out of his head.

Unfortunately, Warmonger's additional effects failed to affect Nodens. Anti-Heal curse negated! Eole dropped Alcyone onto Nodens, with the Adventurer slicing into his chest as she fell. Her lesser Mana Sword proved as effective against the archfiend as it had been against Simon, the wounds she left shining with holy light and causing Nodens to hiss in annoyance.

Voltobauta revealed two of the handheld cannons he used against Simon in the previous reign and opened fire, while Belzemine unleashed fireballs that incinerated their enemy all the way to the bone. The demon directed his animated chains at them and flung his arms in an attempt to repel them all, all while attempting to smash Alcyone, but the Adventurer was a blur of speed too fast for Simon's eyes to follow.

She danced around the demon and lacerated him from all sides, her sword leaving bleeding scars everywhere it touched. Voltobauta and Belzemine deflected the chains with their projectiles, allowing Simon and Tybalt to keep striking and slashing at their giant foe unperturbed. Each of their blows broke bones or opened new wounds.

Nodens' tail, now an exposed charred corpse topped with a faceless mouth, suddenly tensed and let out a terrifyingly powerful wail so loud, so mighty, that it briefly repelled everyone back with a shockwave. Heavy Wind damage! Instadeath negated by Unyielding Essence! The Aureole spells Belzemine had applied to her allies saved them from death, with Simon and Tybalt circling Nodens before rushing back at him for another blow.

"Buffs, eh?" Nodens' grunts turned into scornful laughter as he waved his hands." Rain Spell, Spellscar!" A wave of miasma erupted from the archfiend, and a thousand invisible daggers sliced Simon from all sides. There was no other way to describe it. Phantom blades peeled his soul and flesh, stripping him of his buffs and magic. Shadowshield, Haste, Mirage, even Darkflight, all of his buffs and lingering effects were stripped from him. Bleeding wounds appeared all over his body.

Worse, the effects spread to all of his allies.

While Eole only took a handful of slashes marring her pristine skin and Voltobauta didn't look harmed in the slightest, Alcyone and Belzemine were nearly eviscerated, with the former stumbling. The slashes striking Tybalt proved so violent it chopped his head off his shoulders, to Eole's wail of horror.

"Father!" All buffs flayed away! Massive Metal damage! Anti-Heal and Bleed ailments applied! As Belzemine warned him, the effects immediately reapplied a second after the likes of Lovestruck transferred them to a bound demon. He could feel the blood rushing through his armor's gaps, draining him of his strength. Simon lost his Darkflight and fell alongside Tybalt, with Eole diving to catch him. All of them seemed to have lost their buffs, which Nodens swiftly exploited."

Doublecast," Nodens said, pointing at the slowed Belzemine and Alcyone with his hands.

"Torturous Polymorph, Penance Cross." A cross-shaped contraption appeared right behind Alcyone and caught her with barbed wires, crucifying her and leaving bleeding gashes on her arms. The Adventurer bit her tongue rather than scream as she struggled to free herself, but though she managed to teleport a few feet away with Fast-Travel— the barrier being down and the Abyssal Domain left open—the cross remained attached to her. However, her torment paled compared to what happened to Belzemine.

The elf underwent a hideous transformation mid–movement, her body shrinking and melding into a single blob. She became a roiling, fatty wave of flesh falling down the earth; a faceless, amorphous tumor with two fearful eyes, and no mouth to scream with. The pain was too great for Simon to call her name as she bounced off the ground, even as Eole managed to catch him and avert a disastrous fall.

That relief only lasted a brief second before one of Nodens' chains lashed Eole from behind and threw them both to the earth, Simon's vision briefly going white from the concussion. He and his lover lay in the ashes, leaving Voltobauta alone to hold back Nodens with cannonfire and spells.

"Eole?" Simon immediately forced himself back to his feet in spite of his bleeding draining him of his strength and moved to his unconscious lover's side.

"Eole!" She was breathing, but bleeding from the head. Fear overtook Simon's heart as he immediately opened his inventory and pulled out one of his Ring of Anti-Bleeding. He quickly put it on Eole's finger, hoping to preserve her life, and then switched his current ring for his spare copy. His wounds ceased to hemorrhage for a moment. Bleeding ailment suppressed. Not negated. Suppressed. Simon heard a disgusting crunching noise right above him. He looked up to see Nodens looming over him.

His tail's mouth had closed on Voltobauta and chewed him between its fangs.

"Debilitating, isn't it? The more buffs Spellscar dispels, the more damage it inflicts." Nodens raised his hands above his head.

"Forcing me into four centuries of sensory deprivation with no other pastime than tinkering with new torments was the mistake of your life, brother." Green particles gathered in his palms, which immediately reminded Simon of Frea's Nova spell… except the glowing sphere of raw mana forming above the demon was swiftly transforming into a small star brighter than the sun itself. Forgive me, Carbuncle, Simon thought as he moved in front of Eole and began to utter his summoning chant.

"When the curtain of darkness falls on a world devoid of light, the black mirror shall show your true self! Reveal thyself, Carbuncle the Devil-Mirror!"

"Scream for me!" Nodens snarled back as he flung the arcane sphere straight at Simon." Supernova!" Darkness swirled and a mirror appeared behind Simon, empowering him with its Auspice. Nodens' cataclysmic attack hit a spherical, nearly invisible barrier surrounding Simon like a ball striking a wall. Though Simon sensed immense pressure battering down on him, his Mirror effect held and bounced the projectile back at its sender. Nodens' own spell struck him in the chest, and all of Boreas shook from the impact.

The cataclysmic explosion threw the giant archfiend back, sent tons of ashes flying into the air, and blasted trees away. Carbuncle's Devil-Mirror form shielded Simon and Eole from the shockwave by floating in front of them like a shield, while Alcyone's cross and Belzemine were tossed away beyond Simon's sight. When the light dimmed, the left half of Nodens' torso was gone.

His arm had been vaporized, his ribcage and the pulsating miasma serving as his organs left exposed, his crystal gleaming atop a sundered skull. And in spite of that, the archfiend was still alive." Har… Vester," Nodens rasped. His chains roamed the bloody battleground and greedily grabbed any corpse they could find lying around. They picked Tybalt's remains and severed body parts, then dragged them back to the archfiend.

A horrified Simon could only watch as his friends' flesh merged with Nodens like grafted organs, slowly reforming the parts incinerated by his own spell. Nodens was regenerating. This is a nightmare, Simon thought, the claws of despair slowly sinking into his heart. A nightmare. If Nodens was among the weakest Zodiac Fiends, then the stronger ones must become civilization-destroyers under the comet's glow. Nothing short of all the Noble Class users gathered together could save the world.

An enormous shadow flew over Simon, the flap of its wings blowing a gust across the battlefield. The wounded Sky-Father hovering over him, his avian gaze full of grim resolve.

"Overlord Simon." Vayan glanced at the devastation and the bleeding Eole before letting out a deep breath.

"Form a pact with me. Now." All their red lines had been crossed. Simon clenched his jaw and nodded, immediately accepting a notification the moment it popped up. The Abyss bore witness to your Pact, which no power in the planes may break. You have formed a Dark Eidolon Pact with Vayan, the Storm-Father. Simon dismissed Carbuncle, returning him from whence he came, then sang a chant rising from the depths of his soul.

"The Abyss lies empty, its gates rattling in the wind! Blow away their hopes, Storm-Father Vayan!" The power of darkness flowed through Vayan, and his roar filled all who listened with fear.