[TWS] Chapter 307 – Like a Cannonball

Miria pounced from place to place like a dark blur, using whatever structure or other obstruction she could find to reduce her visibility even more. She slashed all the unsuspecting people with her mana-sharpened blades as she scanned their ranks for mages and long-range attackers. Most of them stood on the platforms around the syringe contraptions so she picked one and began swinging herself up and up over its edges.

Arriving at the top, she descended onto the wooden planks right in the middle of a group of mages, surprising them greatly. Before they could even react, she connected her blades by the pommels, pulled them apart, and spun around, cleaving through the entire party with her extended shortswords. Their remains rolled down the tower.

Just as the other noctis turned to her, one of the women was pierced by three invisible stabs which created deep holes in her torso, digging into the wooden platform. Civienne flew in from the side, upheld in the air by a swirling current, and dropped in front of her with grace, swinging her rapier twice in a cross pattern. Two greenish crescents rushed at Miria but missed her by a hair’s breadth and decapitated a pair of men behind her back.

She smiled at the queen and made a grateful nod. They joined forces and went after the remaining mages together, dancing around each other like old friends or long-term partners. Whatever spell their enemies managed to cast, Civienne flung aside with her Wind Magic, protecting them both. Miria then dove in for the kill, slicing the caster into bits.

Their platform shook with a loud rumble and they glanced past its edge. A massive scythe made of swirling water had slammed into the side of the tower. They watched as an equally grand spiritual katana cut into it from the other direction, bracing in time for the next tremor, which sent a few noctis plunging to their deaths. It looked like the wood used to build these structures was quite sturdy, capable of withstanding such strong and sharp blows.

But, it wasn’t indestructible, and the duo standing at the top of the tower knew that the next combined attack from Tina and Selene would bring it down. They shared a glance and jumped towards the glass container in the middle, hastily breaking off its hinges and supporting elements.

When the tower shook with a distinct creak, they ran as fast as they could while the platform began tilting to the side. They launched themselves off the edge before the entire thing came crashing down, Miria landing on the ground with a roll while Civienne descended with a gust of wind.

Pieces of wood flew everywhere as Selene held the poison tank in the air with an enlarged version of her demonic hand. She smirked to herself and tossed it at another tower. The glass containers crashed and broke together, splattering almost everyone on and around the contraption with powerful toxins. Shouts and screams of agony filled the air as wooden tendrils rose from the ground and circled the structure, preventing the poisons from spreading further, soaking them all up.

Everyone continued to fight their own battles, often intermingling with each other. Asterios and Silvia remained mostly on the sidelines, dealing with a noctis or two that crossed their path as they kept their eyes on their comrades. He continued to throw simple techniques at the girls, timing them with their moves and ideas. Grea’s cackling and creative, mostly explicit, insults echoed from place to place as she peppered her opponents with enchanted bolts from her new favorite toy.

Things were going pretty well. The towers’ durability had surprised them at first, but after adjusting their strength, the demolition team managed to topple three more within ten minutes. The number of cultists continued to drop as all they could inflict on Ast’s girls and their friends was minor cuts and injuries.

From time to time, one or two noctis fled through the gate, but they paid those escapees no attention, knowing well that the traps would deal with the stragglers within another couple of minutes. Those who remained tried to fight back, but that didn’t have too much effect on the invaders, only slowing Asterios and the ladies down a tiny bit.

Then, a sudden boom shook the entire chamber and everyone’s eyes snapped to the massive gate. Its wings had been slammed into the outside walls by someone standing right at the doorstep, their arms extended to the sides. They must have caught the giant doors at the moment they had been opening or closing.

“Enough!” A powerful voice echoed throughout the hall, clearly belonging to a woman. “What do you think you are doing?!”

The newcomer was a noctis wearing dark robes too, though hers were clearly different. The color palette was the same, but the style was much more refined and fitting her figure. Many cuts decorated her clothes, revealing lots of the woman’s dark skin, especially over her legs, stomach, and shoulders. Her unusual, black-white-violet hair billowed with an invisible draft as it shone and glimmered mystically. The light-consuming black voids as her eyes didn’t help her weird image.

A dark purple haze surrounded her frame, lifting the woman into the air as she hovered closer to the middle of the chamber, exuding power, confidence, and of course, annoyance. She glared at Asterios and his team with a disdainful scowl, pausing briefly at Althea.

“So, you’ve finally caught on, you inferior reptile.” The woman sneered.

With a wave of her hand, she turned parts of the mist into tens of sizable spikes and hurled them at the Dragon lady and the two girls accompanying her. Selene raised a barrier to block them, but the power behind those projectiles clearly surprised her as about a dozen managed to pierce the multi-layered spiritual shield, ending up stuck between the sheets of mana.

“Ah, fuck,” Asterios cursed under his nose, hastily bottling all of his scorching hot energy away, as much as he could.

Silvia noticed it instantly. “What’s wrong?”

“Look at her forehead,” he replied tensely.

With a bit of effort, she noticed the menacingly glowing dark gray mark on the woman’s skin.

“Shit…” Silvia cursed too, which just confirmed how serious their situation was. “She’s a slave?”

“There’s a chance. One I don’t want to take. If there really is a True Dragon behind the cult and she’s their slave, even if they are long gone from this realm, there’s no guarantee they can’t see through her eyes or into her memories. The mark would have faded if they were dead,” he answered while grabbing his greatsword more firmly. “I’ll have to act like a Spellsword during this battle. We can’t let her figure this out. For everyone’s safety.”

“I have already let the others know. Just leave everything to us.” She squeezed his hand affectionately. “Let’s take her down before she has even a moment to think.”

The woman was currently under the barrage of Grea’s bolts, so they were able to join the fight without being noticed. Her weird magic blocked all incoming attacks though, leaving the assumed Matriarch free to continue hovering in the air menacingly. Seeing their leader, the noctis regained their spirits and doubled their efforts at fighting back.

~Miria, continue what you’ve been doing. We need someone to deal with the grunts while we focus on her. You are one of the best for this task,~ Asterios mentally instructed his feline lover.

~Got it, Master. Give her hell,~ she purred back, disappearing into the crowd again.

“My master will have your heads for this insult!” the woman boomed angrily.

“That pretty much confirms it.” He smiled wryly.

Glowing, white clouds began quickly gathering right under the high ceiling, and they soon parted at a certain spot. A bright, blinding pillar of light shot from the opening and swallowed the Matriarch. She covered her face while hissing angrily to the accompaniment of sizzling noises. With a hectic wave of her hand, she created a wave of deadly black spikes surging out of the ground, heading straight for Bryn and Grea. The Valkyrie had to break her spell to escape with the demon lady to safety.

Asterios didn’t give the Matriarch a moment to recompose herself, slotting a golden token into his greatsword, hastily activating it, and shoving the tip into the emerald floor. Five pools of sun-tinged light surfaced around him and shiny, gold chains shot out of them, wrapping all around the evil woman, tying her in place.

Then, with a loud creaking noise, humongous arms made of intertwined roots and wooden tendrils rose from the ground too and slammed their palms together around the leader noctis like someone attempting to smack a mosquito, causing an earth-shaking tremor. Selene was ready, and a bright blue flash illuminated the chamber even more as she launched a buzzing arc of spiritual energy right at the joined hands.

The arc sliced through them like through butter, crashing into the walls on the other side. But, they quickly noticed that there was a gap in the middle of the cut. Just then, all the light dimmed slightly and an explosion of dark purple shadow blasted the wooden hands into bits, breaking Ast’s heavenly chains into pieces too, revealing the unscathed woman with an even bigger scowl on her face.

“Mere ants dare to challenge me, the servant of an immortal?” She sneered at them. “You are in luck that my master demands to prioritize the plan. Since I can’t waste time on trash like you now that we’ve been discovered, your death will be quick.”

She began chanting something in a deep, ominous language as tendrils of dark energy shot out of her in all directions. Screams filled the chamber as the remaining noctis caught their heads and stumbled around, some even falling off the surviving platforms. Their eyes mirrored the woman’s and their veins started glowing with deep purple light.

“All stingers in! Release every load!” the Matriarch commanded and they moved all at once, heading to the platforms.

~Master! The people I cut down are getting up!~ Miria shouted through their connection.

Just as she’d reported, those who had suffered less-dismembering deaths were picking themselves up and joining their clearly manipulated comrades. It had to be a similar technique to the one the woman had used to bring the Elder back, just much less fancy and complex.

“We have to stop them!” Civienne’s voice carried through the wind she’d created. “They are trying to operate the towers!”

“Like I will let you!” The woman cackled madly.

She dropped from the air like a meteor and crashed into the ground next to Tina, Selene, and Civienne. The chamber trembled as a cloud of darkness rolled over the floor with fierce intensity, forcing everyone but her puppets to hold their ground against the chilling force. The mist continued to pour in waves like a ferocious storm with the woman in its center.

Something flashed faintly and surged upwards. It was Silvia, wreathed in her fiery, amber form. Using the Matriarch’s technique against her, aware that it was locking her in place just like everyone else, she poured her mana into her own spell. Transforming her gem into what looked like a huge crystal lens, she began weaving a familiar set of gestures.

Soon, Silvia gathered all the energy she needed and a big, circular array of a bright, orange color appeared between her and the lens. Pressing her flaming palms into it, she shot a thick and wide pillar of condensed heat and fire, just like in the fight against her father, holding nothing back.

Meeting the crystal’s surface, the vicious column of death ended up getting compressed even further, raising its intensity while reducing its size by about a third. A mighty buzz and hum filled the chamber as the very air trembled from its power and intensity. Silvia’s spell melted the walls of the inner sanctum as she slowly, painstakingly dragged it sideways, soon completely demolishing the first tower on its path and incinerating any cultists that were unlucky to get touched by the relentless inferno.

“No!” The Matriarch screeched in fury and canceled her technique.

As she aimed her hands up at Silvia’s figure, a crossbow bolt sped toward her head. It missed, striking the woman’s extended forearm instead as she tilted back just in time to avoid the fatal hit. But, that was perfectly enough for what Grea had planned. The bolt’s tip burst with blinding light and deafening noise, evoking a shriek from the Matriarch.

She had no chance of evading the great swirling lance of mixed water and wind energies sent her way by Tina’s very special bow. It carved a deep trench in the emerald stone as it tore through the air like a relentless force of nature, striking the woman in the right shoulder, once more missing her vitals.

The unrelenting whirlpool of mana drilled into the dark, misty barrier surrounding the Matriarch’s body like another layer of clothes. After a good few seconds, it managed to pierce through it and rip an impressive chunk of her shoulder off as it passed through, crashing into the opposite wall.

In the meanwhile, Silvia melted down another tower. Just six of them were left in an operable state.

Unfortunately, this much damage didn’t break the Matriarch’s hold over her kin and the controlled noctis managed to sink another needle into the Tree’s bark, pumping it with more poison. The other ones weren’t that far off either. The artificial Zombies made it much harder for the girls to just focus on the contraptions, pelting spells and attacks at anyone who targeted the wooden constructions. Miria, Civienne, and anyone else could deal with only so many undead cultists at once, and the Matriarch didn’t make it easy for them either.

Just as Althea tried working in tandem with Bryn, aiming to take down another tower with their combination of giant wooden arms from the ground and a massive javelin of pure light from the air, the noctis leader ripped her dangling arm off with a resonating growl. Another bone-chilling chant rolled off her dark lips and she flung it in their direction with all she had.

The separated limb exploded with pure darkness between the two spells and formed a wide ring of evil energy with an empty middle, hovering over the contraption. It caused a powerful tempest as it sucked the nearby spiritual energy and essence into what looked like an unending void, bending the javelin of light and arms of wood like a curved mirror, not affecting the cultists and their actions in the slightest. Consuming both techniques, it disappeared with a loud pop, leaving a sharp, electrified scent in the air.

“You will not ruin the centuries of my effort!” the Matriarch practically screeched, black blood or other liquid flowing out of her eyes. “My master will watch the Tree wither, just as he desires!”

Asterios was already throwing another sigil in motion alongside Selene and Civienne striking with whatever they could—one thrusting a violent apparition of a spiritual katana shrouded in demonic additions and the other gathering a coin-sized orb of deafening, condensed wind at the tip of her rapier—when the evil woman shoved her remaining hand into her chest, piercing right through her ribcage and flesh.

An unimaginable explosion of darkness sent everyone flying, including all the controlled noctis, who lost their gained features while limply bouncing off every possible surface. Even Silvia broke out of her spell, having to shield herself after the initial shock. The Matriarch ripped her own heart out, causing another world-shaking boom, and raised it above her head as she dropped to her knees. With an uncomfortable squelch, she crushed it between her fingers and black blood flowed down into her open mouth in a steady stream.

She greedily gulped down the ominous liquid while choking out another series of chants and incomprehensible noises. The dark purple mist surrounding her merged with pure darkness that rose from the ground and both essences assumed the consistency of the black blood covering the woman and the floor around her. It continued to grow and gather, expand and rise, forming a more and more well-defined shape.

Asterios shuddered as the evil energy began resembling a sharp, serpentine head, with the rest of its long body forming up right behind it. Just by looking at it, he could feel the immense power of the wicked darkness. They had to stop whatever this ritual was right now or their chances would fall immensely. And he meant chances of survival, not success.

“Shit…” he cursed once more, watching as the remaining bits of purplish haze kept the women occupied as if it had its own will and intelligence, some of it rolling his way too, possibly marking him as a lower threat.

He knew what he had to do but it came at a great risk. The Matriarch was clearly still alive, somehow. Her earlier words just affirmed him in his belief that someone was watching this entire show. Yet, time was quickly running out.

Asterios grit his teeth, hesitation continuing to fill his mind. “I can’t…”

“But I can.”

Althea suddenly passed him mid-sprint, a thick cloud of purple darkness chasing her. Green energy surrounded her figure as she lunged forward, her body soon fully covered by it. In front of his eyes, her hidden frame elongated and grew, and he quickly realized what she was doing. He didn’t think she was in good enough shape to do it, but Althea must have been holding it off for the most critical moment.

In a blink, a beautiful, noble Lesser Dragon soared through the air close to the ground, wriggling like a snake, its mesmerizing emerald scales glinting with dignity and majesty. A fierce roar broke out of Althea’s ferocious jaws as she breathed bright green fire right at the Matriarch.

Some of the gathering darkness was burned away, but most of it just moved slightly aside, being pushed by the violent flames. Even so, it was enough to uncover the woman and Althea chomped down on the noctis leader while still spitting unbearable heat. Everyone watched as she flailed her head, biting and gnawing on the Matriarch’s body, illuminating the chamber more with the jade glow.

After a while, she spat the charred, maimed figure onto the ground and held her draconic snout right in front of the woman, growling furiously. The Matriarch choked a stifled laugh with whatever was left of her throat. She looked closer to a piece of crumbling coal than a person at this point.

“I might not be able to… show my master… the final moments of the Tree… but you still… failed to succeed…” She grinned viciously. “The spell… cannot be stopped… Enjoy watching… your whole world wither away… you lesser bitch…”

As the Matriarch breathed her final words, Althea’s head snapped to the back. The giant, ominous serpent was just finishing fully taking form. It rivaled her size, if not topping it a little bit. Its light-sucking black scales had a skin-crawling purplish sheen to them. The snake wiggled its thin tongue at her and sprung away, surprising everyone.

Seeping darkness flowed around its body as it crawled toward the nearest still-standing tower. It snaked to the top by coiling around the structure and sank its fangs into the glass container. They all watched as it quickly absorbed the poison stored inside, emptying the tank in mere moments. Plucking its maw back out, it eyed another contraption, toxic liquid dripping down its black fangs, its scales getting a new kind of sheen to them.

The answer was obvious.

It was becoming just as toxic as the poison itself.

Althea didn’t wait and rushed at the serpent, breathing fire at it as much as she could. Unfortunately, it seemed to just roll over its dark scales without any effect, so she slammed her own body into the snake as it lunged after a second tower, meeting it in the air.

“No!” Civienne screamed as her most treasured friend whimpered in pain.

Just coming in contact with the evil serpent looked to apply the absorbed poison onto the attacker. Yet, Althea didn’t cease her actions. She relentlessly continued to slam into the black snake, trying to delay it as much as possible. It visibly hurt her, poisoning her deeply once more, but she wasn’t going to give up.

Asterios stared at the spectacle while racking his brain for ideas, already having filled it to the brim with all possible energies to quicken his thoughts. A massive headache kept banging on his skull, but he couldn’t just watch their new friend die a pointless death. They had to do something. Yet, nothing seemed feasible when the girls could possibly lose their lives the moment they touched the toxic serpent.

His eyes dragged all over the place with pure desperation. The malicious creature managed to consume the second poison and was heading for the third, almost halfway there. Its goal was more than clear. It was certainly going to sink its fangs into the Tree and pump it full of the mixed toxin, most likely further enhanced by its own powers.

What were their options? He could feel the girls’ effort to think with him, their very beings joined into one. Everything else had no meaning, just the brainstorming session to save their friend and the fate of the elves was of any importance. They tirelessly combined all of their moves, spells, techniques, and knowledge to find a way to bring down the serpent.

Then, Ast’s gaze landed on the stump itself. All his conversations with Althea about its history flashed in front of his eyes, alongside the layout of the Dragon lady’s lair, which was positioned exactly below them. What was more, the ring of emerald mineral squeezing the remains of the Tree of Life wasn’t just any colored stone. It was part of the seal. The seal locking away the Tree’s power.

That was the only answer.

With one last glance at the Matriarch’s charred corpse, he rushed forward. “Selene, Tina, Silvia, Bryn, on me!”

Black-red mist whirled around him as he triggered his transformation and turned into his real True Dragon form, not wasting any time to even roar, as much as his instincts demanded him to. With a powerful flap of his sizable wings, he launched himself towards the ceiling, the first layer of foreign mana coiling around his draconic frame. Cyan smoke formed spiritual plates of armor over his legs, torso, neck, head, and tail.

When his feet touched the tough earth while upside down, another shade of blue, a much darker one, joined it. It filled the spots between the spiritual plates with a layer of azure scales swirling like seawater, leaving just bits of his draconic features uncovered, like his sharp claws, jaws, wings, and such.

As all his muscles tensed in preparation for a jump, a third energy made its appearance. Condensed, amber flames covered his fangs, claws, spikes, and the soft, leathery surface of his wings. They began faintly glowing orange, emitting enough heat to melt the earth under his feet, causing it to drip down his body and onto the ground.

Finally, the last force reached the mix the very moment he pushed himself off the ceiling with a thudding flap. Heavenly, golden light coiled around the upper frame of his wings. It bathed their edges with a translucent barrier of protective energy that took the shape of stylish, metal-like ornaments. With their appearance, every single bit of his draconic figure was covered with something.

Rushing for the ground like ferocious lightning, Asterios spotted with the corner of his eye that the serpent had consumed the last, fifth poison and was in the middle of its lunge towards the Tree with its jaws stretched wide open. The sixth tower had been successfully brought down by the joint efforts of Miria, Grea, and Civienne while Althea disturbed it as much as she could.

Still, Asterios ignored the ominous creature moving in slow motion in his perception and focused on the overflowing mix of energies making him feel like he was going to burst at any moment. His attention was all at one single point on the floor right next to the stump of the Tree of Life. With a fierce roar full of determination, he shot a ball of black-red fire a fraction of a second before slamming into the emerald ground with a bone-rattling boom.

With a loud crack, the patterned stone crumbled and instantly broke down into pieces. Asterios, alongside the massive stump and lots of emerald debris, fell right into Althea’s lair, doing his best to avoid getting squashed by the humongous chunk of wood plunging towards the fresh grass and loose forest below him. It landed with an earth-shaking thud, wreaking havoc at quite a distance around its impact zone.

But, he had achieved his goal.

The serpent slammed into the ground somewhat far from his position. The women dropped by his sides through their joined means, Civienne riding on Althea’s back as the mesmerizing Lesser Dragon hovered next to Asterios. They all gazed right at the evil snake while a faint light jade glow illuminated their backs.

“It’s time to put you where you belong, worm. Right in the ground,” Asterios growled at the creature as his companions readied up for the final fight.

The Tree was not going to die on their watch.