Chapter Nine: Holy War
I
The Caylus Plateau, the Holy Land of Mekia
The dead marched on the Holy City of Elsphere. Under the command of Sofitia Hell Mekia, the Winged Crusaders formed up to meet them in the network of small hills that covered the Caylus Plateau. The Winged Crusaders fielded forty-five thousand soldiers. The horde of the dead numbered a hundred thousand. Though the Winged Crusaders had the advantage of terrain, they were vastly outnumbered. Blessed Wing Lara Mira Crystal gave the order for Senior Thousand-Wing Amelia Stolast to strike the first blow against their enemy. She set off on her horse, then, with the Caylus Plateau at her back, she dismounted on a deserted plain.
It is an honor as a warrior to lead the charge. Thank you, Blessed Wing, for granting me another opportunity.
Fifteen minutes passed. Amelia stood tall and regal, waiting for the oncoming dead, then her eyes caught human shapes. They welled up quick as blinking, and from them wafted a stench of decay that no living person ever emitted. An aura of evil hung about them, marking them as neither man nor beast.
With the vicious, clinging howls of the dead in her ears, Amelia licked her lips.
First of all, let’s see what you’re made of. She raised her left hand toward the group of dead shambling toward her at the head of the pack and cast Bonds of Immovability. Magecraft such as this spell that forcibly held her enemy in place was Amelia’s specialty, but she felt none of the response she should have. And indeed, her target showed no change. The dead continued their lumbering advance.
So that spell doesn’t work on undead creatures. That means their hearts aren’t beating, if nothing else. If they even have such a thing. She realized that, without meaning to, she had put her right hand on the pommel of her sword. Apparently, her body was eager to cut the corpses to pieces. A gleeful smile came over her face. Keeping an eye on her opponents’ movements, she moved on to her next method. Amelia tended to prefer fighting with a sword at close quarters over magecraft, but no amount of slashing would have any effect on a horde like this—even a child could see that. Her task was to quickly close the discrepancy in their numbers, and the only way to achieve that was through large-scale use of magecraft. Though she felt an urge to hack and slash until her soul was singing and see up close how the dead responded, she knew well that now was not the time.
Oh dear. Despite her hesitation, her feet were running, carrying her toward the dead. I really just can’t help myself.
In a burst of elation, she threw herself into the horde. A chaotic mass of hands grasped at her from all directions. Amelia struck them down with godlike speed. If they had been people, the creatures would have been shrieking in unbearable agony, but the dead felt no pain. No matter how long she fought, that soothing melody did not fill her ears.
“Ngh!” A corpse missing both its arms bared yellowed teeth coated in mucus and lurched forward, snapping at her. It was such inhuman behavior that Amelia felt a shiver go down her spine in spite of herself.
Were these really human once? They’re just too hideous.
The clattering in her ears made her anger flare, and she jumped back. At the same time, she slashed out to cast Thin Ice with her blade, sending three heads flying in a flash of light. Amelia continued her slaughter of the dead without pause until she had taken down more than thirty. Then she moved far back away from them. She beat her sword on the ground to dislodge a chunk of something that could not be called flesh, then took a deep breath.
They don’t see me. This was the conclusion she had arrived at. Of course they had some awareness of her, or they would not have attacked her, but the majority of the dead passed her by. Amelia still had more than a few questions, but at that moment, they weren’t important.
“In the end, you’re only puppets,” she said. “I suppose I was a fool to hope for more. It’s time to end this.” In her mind’s eye, she pictured a deep darkness from which nothing could drag itself out. The dead were slow but moved unmistakably forward. Facing them, Amelia held out her left hand, now glowing blue, and swept it across in front of her. A line of light shot out along the ground, bringing with it a violent tremor. The earth was torn asunder, rising up and dropping away so that it yawned open like the jaws of some enormous beast.
This was high-level binding magecraft: Hellbound.
Even faced with the gaping jaws, the dead did not stop walking. Instead, as though it were a matter of course, they tumbled down into it without showing the faintest hint of emotion. A heavy sigh escaped Amelia’s lips. Boring, she thought, watching blankly as the dead went on repeating exactly the same act. That should do it for now. The maw in the earth, now glutted with corpses, had done its job. It slowly closed, grinding them to mush as it did so.
Amelia created three more sets of jaws, then she cast another high-level binding spell: the Verdantwyne Myriad. Great vines burst from the ground to seize the dead that had slipped through the gaps in the jaws before tearing them to shreds.
“I can’t believe how boring this is,” Amelia muttered to herself. Her forehead was slick with sweat.
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