Academy days, p.24
Academy Days, page 24
part #2 of Demon Princess Magical Chaos Series
"Mico Ignis!" Leif hastily chants the first part of the same spell again when he sees the approaching steel giant, though this time it explodes near the chest rather than inside the armor. He staggers back in fear and accidentally walks into Vigdis, who's caught off-balance. She falls over, and her staff rolls out of her hand.
Silently, the lich king raises his axe and aims at the water mage on the ground. Rushing over as quickly as he can, the leader knows that there's no way he can stop that monstrosity of a weapon. The rusted sword in his hand looks like it could crumble away any moment now, and his gambeson will only ensure that his body turns to mush rather than get split in half.
However, somehow Gram steps between the falling axe and their healer, and braces his shield to take the full brunt of the attack. With a mighty impact and the sound of bones breaking, the big man's shield dents and his left arm gives out. But he stopped the attack.
"Mico Ignis ac Effero Implodis!" Leif gathers himself and unleashes his fire spell at nearly point blank range, which explodes from inside the suit of armor's left elbow before the heat is pulled back together. Even though there's no flesh to burn, the imploding force causes the chainmail to rip apart and the arm to come off.
"It won't stay like this for long!" Rolan spots the green mist creeping around the severed forearm and quickly drops the rusted sword to pick up the gauntlet. Then he rolls across the ground just in time to avoid a fatal one-handed swing from the lich king's axe. Getting back to his feet, he runs away with the enemy's arm in his grasp.
"I-I am so sorry!" Vigdis crawls over to the big man on her knees. His right arm looks clearly broken, and he can't lift his left arm either. The water mage's staff is a distance away, so she can't use healing magic right away.
"I'll get it!" Leif runs over and swings his staff against a skeleton warrior along the way, thinking it would be easy to shatter. However, the attack is blocked by the shield and the unexpected resistance causes him to lose his balance.
Rolan rounds one of the pillars just in time to hide behind it from another swing by the lich king. The axe crushes stone under its sheer weight, but becomes stuck in the pillar.
"There's nothing here!" Just then, Hreidunn's desperate voice calls out to the leader from behind the throne, and he turns to look in her direction.
It's impossible to search for a phylactery without knowing what to look out for. Not only could it be buried beneath the mountain of treasure behind the throne, but it could be inside a hidden compartment in the walls, or even forged into the solid steel throne itself.
"Leif!" The ranger screams in horror and Rolan spins his head around to find that a skeleton is standing over the fallen fire mage with a rusted sword raised high.
At the same time, two more skeletons are approaching the downed Gram and Vigdis kneeling beside him, who can't defend themselves. He's too far away to run over in time, and he would still have to pass the steel giant to do so.
The group is coming apart.
Sigurd suddenly appears from behind a pillar and releases a crossbow bolt into the skull of the skeleton warrior about to attack Leif. It knocks the head off its neck and the entire undead falls apart.
"There is a square piece of obsidian embedded in the head of the lich king's axe!" He points at the massive weapon before moving to reload the crossbow.
While the gem's color matches that of the steel around it, its slight sheen gives it away. When it's swung around quickly, one won't have any time to try and look for something out of place - especially when the massive axe head is heading for oneself. The bard had been hiding behind a pillar in an area where all skeletons had been cleared, and observed everything from the outside to finally spot that discrepancy.
Hreidunn slides down from the elevated platform and nocks an arrow. It finds its way into the spine of one of the skeleton warriors heading for Gram and Vigdis. She quickly shoots another on the run and grazes the other undead's helmet. It doesn't even serve to slow down its advance, and she reaches down to pull another arrow out of her quiver, before noticing that she's out.
The big man gets up to his feet and throws his dented shield with all the strength he can muster in his left arm. It crashes into the last skeleton and scatters it into its pieces. He falls back down to his knees and both his arms dangle down uselessly. Apparently, the previous impact broke not only his right arm but also his left collarbone.
"Take this, Hreidunn!" Rolan throws the lich king's gauntlet towards the ranger, although it's too heavy for him to reach all the way to her. However, it's enough to delay the animated armor's reassembly, so he rounds the pillar while drawing his skinning knife. A giant hand comes down on him in an attempt to grab and crush his skull, but a crossbow bolt hits the back of it and penetrates the armor, causing it to swing off course. The leader takes this opening to ram the small knife into an opening in the armor comprising the knee, lodging it into the joint.
"Here, Vigdis!" Leif has found his sister's staff and throws it across the room towards her. She catches it and immediately begins to chant a healing spell; after witnessing Gram's heroism, she has gathered her courage again.
The lich king silently motions to pull out the knife stuck in its knee, but another bolt hits its left elbow joint. With a creaking sound, the wooden shaft is broken and the animated armor forces the movement through.
"Mico Ignis ac Effero Implodis!" But the little delay gave the fire mage enough time to finish an incantation. It's aimed at the gauntlet with the bolt still stuck in it, causing the delicate hinges to break and come apart under the force of the implosion.
At the same time, Hreidunn has reached the severed forearm thrown her way and brings her entire weight onto it to stop it from returning to the lich king.
As if in desperation, the armor lets itself fall forward and lunges with its spiked pauldron aimed right at Rolan. Its speed has increased because it's not wielding the heavy axe, and it takes the leader by complete surprise.
"Ah, wait!" Vigdis raises her voice in surprise. That is because Gram has jumped up again before she could complete her spell, and is now tackling the giant armor from the side. It veers off-course and crashes into the pillar, causing the stuck axe to come out.
Rolan doesn't let this opportunity go to waste and rushes towards it, but the lich king raises a leg to trip him. The leader stumbles and rolls across the ground, just past the weapon.
A crossbow bolt lands right next to him, and he looks over to find that Sigurd has thrown it rather than shot it. Understanding the message, he crawls over to the axe and wields the bolt like a dagger, slamming its steel head down onto the square obsidian. Under the impact, the volcanic glass cracks and a black plume of smoke rises up from it, shaping a tormented face.
A voiceless scream mixes with the storm of eerie green mist swirling about the animated armor, which attempts to stand back up and stretch its ruined arm out towards the destroyed phylactery. Its entire form rattles and then begins to come apart before the helmet falls off and a stream of aether escapes from the chest armor. Alongside the black smoke face from the piece of obsidian, the mist disperses in an immaterial breeze.
The ghostly green flames in the braziers flicker out and darkness returns to the room, except for the still burning torches the group dropped at the onset of the battle.
With horror, they all watch as the mountain of treasure behind the throne loses its golden shine and turns into a massive pile of bones. It was all an illusion to decorate the lich king's throne room; he may have been a poor lord in life and had no riches to bury with him.
However, among the bleak bones something shines and attracts Rolan's attention. He walks up to it and notices that there's a metallic sheen. Digging it out, he finds a rusted bronze sheath with the naked hilt of a sword sticking out from it, as the leather and wood that covered it has long since rotted. However, the hilt itself is in perfectly pristine condition, and there are ancient runes carved into it, which he's incapable of reading.
"Roshanee." Sigurd reads out loud as he stops by the leader's side. "... Sword of Light."
Rolan draws it from its sheath, which completely crumbles away after having faithfully performed its duty until this very moment, revealing a radiant golden blade that glows from the inside, illuminating the darkness of the throne room with a holy light.
Chapter 39 - One Day In Town
Winter is over, and spring has arrived.
I've been at the Royal Academy for five months now and learned many new spells in that time. My control over the flow has improved substantially, to the point where I'm on the higher end of normal output at this point. In exchange, I've increased my accuracy and consistency, which is far more important than size.
The rumors around me have changed into common knowledge by now, and nobody really cares about the fact that I swing that way anymore.
Some human girls have started admiring me the same way my juniors in middle and high school had been doing in my previous life. Obviously, none of them would ever take the step beyond that.
Drills has tried many methods to bring my popularity down. Even though we don't share any classes anymore, she hasn't let up trying to smear mud on my name. After all, before I arrived, she was the diva of the academy.
Her success has been mediocre at best, though it did work to keep away normal students. My bonds with special cases like Hestia, Lenoly, and Vitalis has strengthened instead, and among the members of the Demon Mages Society, I've become well-respected.
Unexpectedly, Drills herself has improved her skills in magic significantly. At least that's what I heard from Hestia, who was in wind magic class with her until a month ago when the former was given an individual lesson plan. While her affinity is wind alone - confirming my suspicion that she came in here through money rather than talent - the staff seems to have discovered something special in her.
It's the first Sjodag of the fourth moon, named Bryaleditid - the month of the mad god - and the first time I'm allowed to leave the citadel. I've been behaving myself, and the principal decided that I wasn't going to run away after making so many friends here. Of course, my bag was searched on the way out, to make sure I wasn't stealing any books from the library - or bringing luggage to run away after all.
While I've been outdoors a lot, it's an entirely different feeling being outside the confines of the academy grounds. Looking across the sprawling city from the citadel gate, I breathe in the fresh air and gaze beyond the walls, where the snow has thawed completely - except for the blanket still covering the slopes of the Kongensgrad in the distance.
The Maw is baring its sharp teeth far away, and I'm reminded of the adventure in the dark we had back then. I've been in this new world for over half a year now. Time sure flies, when there's something new to discover every day.
"Where are we going?" Hestia asks with a smile, leaning forward from beside me and looking up into my eyes. My friendship with the angel girl has become so close that we feel like we could tell each other anything. Of course, both of us are still holding back the most important information, which is our lineage. She doesn't know that I'm a child of the demon queen, and she hasn't told me more about her father since her initial confession.
"Hm, you're coming with me?" I ask with a deadpan expression, and she looks shocked. Last evening I agreed to go down into the city with her, but that was right before going to sleep. Now she may be thinking that it was just a dream. That idea causes me to grin, and she pouts.
"Please do not tease me, Chloe..." She's so cute that I want to hug her, but I can't. Even though we've grown so close, we've had to avoid any and all physical contact. She had told me that a few of her feathers had become gray and then fallen out a week after I had touched her the first time, so I've refrained from making things worse since then.
"I want to eat some sweets." Kamii gazes ahead and makes a show out of ignoring our flirting. She seems to be learning from Senka when I'm not looking because her attitude has become more and more like the doll girl's.
While she hasn't been as clingy publicly as she used to be, her shows of love in the bedroom have become even more intense lately. It's not like she doesn't enjoy sitting in my lap and being coddled though, it's just that these days, she no longer keeps hold of my arm as if fearing I could leave her.
"We're going to visit Daica's store in the afternoon." I've been in contact with her through Luna, as well as by mail - which I kind of strong-armed Thorvald into having delivered by express messenger each time. He's been trying to make it seem like I'm a special guest, so I'm having him treat me as such, too.
The half-elf told me that Daica's store is doing unexpectedly well despite its location and the strange rumors surrounding it. Unlike the last one, it also doesn't smell anymore, as she must be taking my advice on workplace hygiene and proper sealing of containers to heart. So I'm actually looking forward to visiting it.
"But first we'll meet up with the crew." It seems that the men from our old party have grouped up with another that lacked front-liners, and they've been making a name for themselves in the guild as prolific challengers of the Lost Tombs since.
"I am looking forward to meeting those companions you spoke of." Hestia smiles expectantly, and her wings quiver, acting as the angel's equivalent of a dog's tail.
Out of the corners of my eyes, I notice the reverent gazes from the gate guards; they always put on neutral expressions, but seeing a Fata has them all excited now. If they knew I was a demon they most likely would have attacked me to get me away from her. For some reason, I feel like stirring up trouble by revealing myself in front of them and putting a hand around Hestia's shoulder demonstratively.
"Let's get going. We have to be back before the citadel closes." I hold myself back from doing something stupid and point at the city.
Our first stop is the guild hall, where we can meet Rolan and the others. Luna has told him that I would come today, so they'll be in for sure. She couldn't join us because she has special lessons today. The academy is researching her unconventional spell-casting methods, and she's helping out voluntarily.
After having lunch with the party, we'll visit Daica, either together or just Kamii, Hestia and I. It all depends on how they feel about going all the way to the slum district on their day off.
The path to the adventurer guild is practically a straight line from the bottom gate of the bridge. Walking down the main road, I catch the angel girl looking around curiously. She told me that she has been confined inside the citadel ever since enrolling in the academy, so this is the first time she has the opportunity to look around the city.
It's sad to hear that a girl who can fly through the air so freely like she can has been living in a somewhat self-imposed cage all this time. What if I hadn't come here? Would she still be all alone, isolated from the people around her and bottling up the feelings that spilled out before me back then?
"Smiling." Kamii comments, and I notice the gentle expression on my face. Dammit, Senka is having a bad influence on her! At least she didn't say 'creepy smile' like the doll girl would have done in the same situation.
We soon reach the city square, and my eyes naturally fixate on the monolithic entrance to the Lost Tombs. The constant stream of adventurers and merchants going in and out of it is unabated, so it's clear that Rolan's party didn't clean it out. Maybe reports about their exploits have been a little exaggerated; they have the bard after all.
Everybody's eyes are on us, or more specifically, on Kamii and Hestia. Like always, I'm like an extra who doesn't really belong in the company of these two fantastical girls. But if they knew what I really was... they would be running away screaming, if they didn't die from fear on the spot.
I guess it's better that they just consider me a normal human.
"What are you be doing here, destitute noble?" A familiar voice speaking in a derisive tone echoes across the square, and I roll my eyes.
"Oh, if it isn't... umm, what was your name again?" I turn around and try to greet Drills in a friendly manner. It always throws her off when I don't go along with her provocations. But I've been calling her by that nickname in my mind for so long that I actually can't recall her name.
"Wha-? How dare you!" The blonde girl with the drill hair is standing a distance behind us, flanked by her usual flunkies. They don't look comfortable at all, glancing at me, Hestia and Kamii with worried expressions. My abilities with magic are well known, the Fata is an existence they don't dare to provoke, and the corrupted dark elf could curse them with a single touch for all they know.
"I'm sorry, I really forgot." That didn't make it better, as Drills begins to stomp over while visibly gnashing her teeth. But when she stands before me, she remembers that I'm just a smidgen taller than her.
"Svanhild Akerman! Remember that name!" She stabs a finger into my chest repeatedly, unconcerned about the fact that I could blow her away with a single one-word spell. Even though she supposedly improved substantially, neither she nor her goons are carrying staves, so they wouldn't even be able to retaliate.
But instead of doing that, I appreciate her courage, however misguided it may be. She's standing up for her pride even against somebody she knows is most likely beyond her, no matter how much she might have improved in recent times. I know that she isn't a one-dimensional idiot like the bully types seen in fiction after all.
"Alright, I got it Svanhild." I repeat her name to better memorize it, but she shows me an exasperated expression. Huh?
"That's Lady Akerman for you!" With a roar, she tries to make herself appear as tall as possible by standing on tiptoes. It's one of the rare situations where she's this close to me, and I can't help but...
