Jackal Among Snakes - Chapter 509

The front deck of the Sea Dragon was shrouded in fog, and as Argrave walked at the head of his people, he reviewed this battleground he’d long ago surveyed. The front deck, unlike the back, was triangular. The emperor and his guards stood in the center of this triangle, and their formation was simple. The vanguard held pavises firm against the ground, the crescent moon of the Great Chu emblazoned proudly in white on their black surface. Just behind, expert archers prepared to fire arrows of great power.

The emperor’s elite archers would undoubtedly make any approach unimaginably difficult, and the cover from the pavises would make retaliation difficult. On top of that, Argrave could see other weapons on their person—once they came close enough, they would surely switch to melee weapons, demonstrating the same devastating prowess that they had in their first encounter.

The position inclined an onlooker toward using devastating spells to break their rank, but that might be a mistake. At the midway point of the triangular front deck, two towers rose up on the left and right sides. It was from there that the S-rank spellcasters had attacked them with water dragons, and it was there two remained, sheltered from attack while within their towers. From its shelter, the powerful spellcasters perched like a hawk watching for prey. With Ji Meng on the battlefield, their role would be solely to protect him completely. They would make casting spells a laborious thing—and even if one slipped past, Emperor Ji Meng himself was an S-rank spellcaster.

It was a deadly formation... but one that Argrave and Anneliese had devised a hastily-conjured counter for. That counter, namely, was themselves.

Rather than the Veidimen or the other spellcasters along with them, Argrave, Anneliese, and Onychinusa walked straight toward the formation. Argrave’s blood echoes spread out in a line, while Anneliese remained just behind him. Onychinusa persisted as displaced magic mist, blending in with the Brumesinger’s fog, yet Argrave knew she was present.You'll find the origin of this content at n0velb!n•

When the first volley of magic-laced arrows came to confront their advance, Anneliese conjured wards with practiced grace. Her wards, empowered by divine creations plundered from Erlebnis’ vault, easily withstood the blow. She and Argrave were protected within, while Argrave’s blood echoes remained without.

On the right and left, the Veidimen took formation centered around their remaining spellcasters. Their task was twofold—deal with the S-rank spellcasters within the towers, and flank the emperor’s guard. Vasilisa and Vera, their two best attackers, countered every spell the S-rank spellcasters in the tower cast, while Castro and Hegazar acted as reserve and rearguard both.

“The two in the towers have some spirits—perhaps a hundred. But Ji Meng has the most,” Anneliese told him, employing her [Truesight] to evaluate these people. “Easily over a thousand.”

Argrave’s party had a straightforward victory condition. They would need to deplete their opponents of spirits using a simple shamanic spell called [Freedom], which required its caster to touch the other party. Once their foes were deprived of their spirits, they became vulnerable to shamanic magic. It was Onychinusa’s duty to then cast the S-rank spell [Subjugate], that they might subdue the emperor without killing him.

Though grateful for the enemy’s spirit count, Argrave did not respond to Anneliese—instead, he unleashed his first counterattack to the imperial guard’s formation, calling upon each of his blood echoes to attack. Argrave saw bright maroon lights before he heard the terrible noise of his attack. Seventy-two sustained bolts of blood-infused lightning came forth from eight blood echoes, casting dreadful lights across the deck. Their sheer power illuminated the fog so completely it seemed that Argrave had cast them into a ring of hell, and the sustained electric arcs emitted an intense noise that sounded like an industrial saw.

This was one of the spells he had designed in seclusion with the Alchemist, experimenting with segmenting and [Blood Infusion]. With segmenting, he turned [Nine-Tailed Bloodbriars] and its bloody whips into [Arc Whips]—a B-rank spell that projected nine deadly electric arcs that spanned the air with lightning’s speed and power. With [Blood Infusion], each of these arcs gained the power of his black blood. He might’ve made the spell A-rank, but B-rank spells were the limit his blood echoes could cast.

The Bloodbriars had already been an unstoppable wave of destruction, yet now that they were formed of electricity while retaining the destructive power of blood magic. Argrave was used to emerging from the gate with an attack so powerful that it forced his foes on the defensive, and this was his most powerful gambit yet.

Even still, the imperial guard responded with infinite composure. Though the lightning was fast enough the first wave struck his foes, the pavise-bearing frontliners imbued their magic into their shields before the second wave came, conjuring a slew of wards from their weapons. The [Arc Whips] melted through lower-ranked wards, true—but dozens stacked together was another matter. Their defense held, and the elite archers changed both their formation and projectile type. When their defense fell, Argrave once again cast [Arc Whips] from his echoes. The archers met this with a wave of water arrows, upon which the arcs faltered. Argrave was shocked they so quickly devised a counter, but also had plenty of tricks in his own bag.

Before Argrave had the chance to change his style of attack, the guards’ formation split. Ji Meng walked forward, running his hand along his dadao. Argrave saw a mana ripple split through the fog, hueing it teal, but no spell came. Instead, Argrave saw all of the emperor’s magic pour into this weapon, and knew what was coming.

“Defend,” Argrave shouted, voice eerily clear in the foggy battle.

“Understood,” she answered, though he could hear the unease in her voice. Onychinusa did not answer, but Argrave could perceive her everywhere and knew she listened.

Argrave sent out ten blood echoes, straining his mind to its fullest. Two of them used [Arc Whips], blasting at the emperor. It was enough to keep him distracted defending, but also gave Ji Meng the opportunity to step backward and retreat. Argrave felt some panic seeing that, but stuck to his plan. All of the eight other blood echoes conjured [Electric Eels]. Argrave himself, however, cast [Bloodarc Bow], preparing a single mighty attack using the last of the blood essence within his silver bracer.

Argrave watched and waited, eyes fixed on the emperor ahead. He felt the two blood echoes deplete as they cast [Arc Whips], and moments before they finally vanished, Argrave pointed [Bloodarc Bow] into the sky, then shot up the maroon bolt of lightning. It soared toward the heavens, and following just after it was the far-slower [Electric Eels].

Argrave sprinted forth, heading for the emperor. The Admiral Tan Shu tried to intercept him, but Anneliese contested her. Some of the imperial guard broke away to try and fight Argrave, but Onychinusa manifested out of her immaterial magic form and conjured wards to block projectiles they fired.

Emperor Ji Meng saw Argrave’s approach, but rather than flee to safety, he began to once again imbue his dadao with an S-rank spell. Argrave felt rising terror as he realized that this man might intend to clash with Argrave, but it calmed when he saw the man’s neck crane to look at the approaching attack. The arrow of the [Bloodarc Bow] had flown straight upward, and now it came down with a trail of [Electric Eels].

The emperor raised his blade above his head as though to swat away the eels like flies. As the lightning descended upon him with terrifying speed, he swung his weapon and a great burst of electricity neutralized the eels. Then, just as Argrave ran at him, so too did Emperor Ji Meng rush forth to confront Argrave.

Argrave prepared [Freedom] in his left hand, ready to divest the emperor of his spirits to make him vulnerable to [Subjugate]. The emperor savagely swung his huge sword, and though Argrave was the larger man he was near certain he was weaker. All four of his Brumesingers conjured shades to assist him, receiving the blow to weaken it just before Argrave caught it with the Resonant Pillar. Argrave’s arm screamed in pain as he resisted the too-powerful blow.

Ji Meng deftly maneuvered his blade and swung at Argrave’s stomach. Under ordinary circumstances the deft movement would’ve fooled Argrave and he would’ve been gutted then and there. But the effects of the Domain of Law lingered, and Argrave only barely brought the Resonant Pillar in time to parry the blow. The Resonant Pillar returned the attack that Argrave had just received, and in tandem with his own strength, Ji Meng’s blade slipped from his grasp and he was disarmed.

Argrave completed the shamanic spell [Freedom], and thrust his left hand out at Ji Meng. The emperor blocked the attack with his forearm, but the spell did its duty. Spirits exploded outward from his body, and Argrave smiled triumphantly. His smile faded when the emperor grabbed his wrist and slammed his foot into the side of his knee in a practiced move. Argrave kneeled, crying out in pain, and the emperor then jammed his fist into Argrave’s throat.

Yet then, Onychinusa casted [Subjugate].

Wires of malicious black energy exploded outward from Onychinusa’s hands, assaulting all those she deemed in need of subjugation. Emperor Ji Meng recoiled and stepped back, clutching his head and crying out in pain. All of the imperial guard, too, staggered. Their thoughts and memories were directly assaulted, breaking beneath the spell.

Argrave coughed in pain, clutching his neck as the emperor recovered. He couldn’t breathe, and called upon healing magic to restore whatever the man had crushed—his whole throat, maybe. No one had fallen, protected by their divine armaments. In response, Onychinusa merely cast the spell again. The wires of black energy burst outward once again, assailing the guards.

Most enemies present were forced to the ground, incapacitated. Only the emperor stayed standing. Onychinusa cast the spell the third time... and finally, the indomitable Ji Meng fell to one knee. Argrave rose to his feet, neck healed, and walked up to the emperor. Ji Meng stared up at Argrave, his eyes bugging out.

“We’ll talk soon,” Argrave told him. “Sleep well.”

The emperor collapsed to the deck, falling into unconsciousness. Argrave smiled, trying to forget the fact that the man had just nearly killed him with his bare hands, and instead focused on the victory.