Chapter 54: Chapter 54: A demon and an army
"How many soldiers does this army have?"
[300 Creator, 200 tactical assault soldiers consisting of brawlers, magical swordsmen and heavy knights, and 100 mages]
Apollo sighed in relief, for a moment he thought he was up against an army of thousands of personnel.
"And their ranks?"
[It's a bit complicated Creator but the one with the highest rank is at Duke rank while the lowest is at General level]
"This is a bit problematic"
Thunder began to roar among the clouds, while Apollo cancelled his thunder aura spell.
Thunder aura consumes too much mana, prolonged use of it will deplete his mana storage. So Apollo will switch spells and use his skills in weapons.
"Jeremiah showed me my stats"
[Name: Apollo Lionheart
Status: demonized
Position: Senior researcher mage
Rank: Archduke
Level: 20
Strength: 1000
Agility: 1000
Dexterity: 1000
Endurance: 1000
Stamina: 1000
Intelligence: 1000
The energy bank has been activated
Mana: 1000
Ki: 1000
Mana regeneration: 50 per second
Ki regeneration: 50 per second
Vitality: 800
Skills/Abilities:
Evil sorceress (Rank SS) {Passive} - Every spell or technique is in its corrupted or darkened form.
Any dark spell is boosted by 50%
Corrupted accompaniment (Rank SS) {Active} - a cursed energy that can kill anyone at a given range
Shadow blast (Rank SS) {Active}- a compressed amount of corrupted mana and ki
Shadow run (Rank SS) {Active} - can turn into a shadow as a means of transportation
Damage reduction (Rank SS) {Active} - reduces any damage upon contact.
Accessible every one minute
Wings of the night (Rank SS) {Active} - the wings would temporarily transform into blades
Retriever (Rank SS) {Active} - can temporarily access the non-demon skills for a short period of time]
A smirk appeared on his face while glancing at his stats.
"Wait how can I smirk when I don't have a mouth" he suddenly realized but he quickly switched subjects.
[Somehow I feel you are about to do something reckless]
"Yes I am, Jeremiah activate the skill Retriever and get Automatic Weaponry for me"
[What are you going to do?]
Apollo looked at his body and said "I'm gonna do some upgrades"
...
"My lord this is too reckless we might alert the city at this rate"
Hawk one of Stannis strongest knights said.
"Lord Stannis Hawk is right we need to retreat"
"Enough Eagle I received an order from Bishop Sergio that they needed reinforcements and we shall do what he says"
"But my lord"
"If you are worried about being noticed fear not we have been given blessings from the archbishop, so there is no way they'll find us"
The two knights could only nod their heads helplessly at their master's command.
While three hundred armed soldiers match forward a looming danger began to envelop them.
"Halt!" Falcon commanded.
"What's going on?" Eagle asked however falcon only pointed towards the sky.
"What is this"
"Lord Stannis!"
"Order the mage to cast a barrier around us!"
Hawk and Eagle wanted to suggest a retreat but hearing their master's command they had no choice but to stay.
They have no clue why a sudden chill crept into their body making them nervous and panic.
"It's as if a mysterious pressure is limiting our thinking"
Hawk couldn't help but say.
"What do you mean?" Eagle questioned.
"Can't you feel it, it's as if there is something pushing us to make mistakes. Just the fact we are just standing here acting like live targets is already evidence"
With Hawk's words, it made Eagle realize their situation.
"You are right, that really makes sense"
However, that realization was too late as the mass of light pierced through their defensive barrier.
"What is that!"
From the cluster of light, a knight clad in black armor emerges. Each step he takes creates a sense of fear towards the soldiers of the house of Stannis. Unconsciously they began to step back.
[Notification Alert!
For the potential you have shown a skill has been created!
The skill name is Oppressor
This skill allows the Creator to put pressure upon his enemies without doing anything. This pressure may cause confusion and errors in judgments causing for their low battle awareness.
The skill may activate without the Creator's authorization depending on the situation]
A notification appeared making Apollo baffled at his sudden gain of skill.
The tension began to rise when the mysterious knight remained standing. And since he remains stationary they felt like if any of them move, will surely cause their death.
However unbeknownst to them their enemy was just a 13-year-old kid transforming into a demon.
"What are you doing? ...the enemy is right in front of you! Attack now!"
Theodore Stannis shouted while pointing towards the mysterious knight that appeared out of nowhere.
However before the knights could even move and before the mage could even cast a spell, a black miasma began to spread.
This miasma spread so fast that even the fastest knight and mage failed to defend.
That's when their horror began, one by one, those people who were exposed to the miasma soon screamed in agony. Their skin peels off to the extent of showing their muscles and even their bones.
"What is this!"
"Run!"
Panic spread when the soldiers saw how their comrades turned into skeletons.
"What are you all doing attack!"
Some were able to snap from their frantic thoughts and retreat to a safe distance but unfortunately, the majority of the soldiers began escaping from the battle.
The knight finally made his move he raised his hand and spoke with his inhuman voice "Fall"
Thunder roars while lightning strikes, and each bolt slaughters soldiers however this time the army becomes more composed to fight back.
Spells were formed while heavy knights were positioned to tank every coming attack of the black knight.
"Jeremiah proceed to activate three skills"
[So this is your plan]
Apollo never tried using three skills at the same time, he wanted to test if his body would receive some penalties. Despite his situation, he still wants to take this chance to test himself even though he is surrounded by enemies.
[Initiating skill activation]
While this transpired spells were already cast and swords were already drawn all aiming towards the same target.
"Make sure to cast a protective charm to protect the knights!"
"Hurry cast buffing and debuffing spells!"
It was as if the earth and the sky were at war with each other. Lightning continued to crash creating piles of bodies while the soldiers tried to disperse the cloud. Mages tried to contain the miasma while the combat soldiers waved their weapons to attack.
With all this chaos the culprit of this event merely spread his wings however as he did so, his entire body began to change. His wings then turn into sharp blades while Apollo' armor-like body becomes sharper and more fierce. With his new transformation, his dark silhouette soon disappeared.
[What did you do? Your appearance change?]
"I put some stuff at my armor-like skin and turn it into a real armor"
He said while diving right into the enemy.
"His coming!"
"Point all forces to stop him"
"Mages put some protection on us this monster is releasing another deadly miasma!"
"Heavy knights help us the lightning keeps striking us!"
With all the attacks coming from a single entity the army consists of 300 personnel find themselves overly occupied.
The mysterious enemy was like a god of death killing those around him without mercy.
"Argh!"
"Help me!"
"His wings are bla-..."
Blood dyed the ground because Apollo's bladed wings turned the soldiers into pigs for slaughter.
"Why can't you hit him!"
"I just couldn't!"
"He is turning into a shadow!"
Apollo would use his wings for offense while turning into a shadow for defence.
"Use a different spell!"
"You think I haven't done that!"
The answer is the liquid armor Apollo put on himself.
[You did great with this armor, it's actually absorbing all the spells impressive]
"I'll tell you about this armor later"
He flaps his wings again causing another life to perish.
[Creator look to the right]
Apollo turned into a shadow travelling through the air and there he saw twenty mages all gather for a joint spell.
[Magic swordsmen and heavy knights are on the way]
"I can tell what they want to do but I won't let them"
A magic circle was crafted before turning into a ray of black beam.
"Lord Stannis retreat!" Eagle tried to warn but it was too late.
A bright light of darkness envelopes their sight turning the area into a sea of inferno.
[Creator a couple of humans are still alive what should we do?]
"It's okay we don't really need to deal with them"
Jeremiah was a bit confused but soon his sensors detected something.
[The soldiers from Sidus]
"Correct and that's our signal to go"
Dark shadows then devoured his body turning him into a being of the night.
.....
"Where are you Apollo"
Alicia wondered while sitting right on top of their dormitory's roof.
At first, she was going to patiently wait for him to return but with every passing second, she began to worry about him. In the end, she decided to sit on the roof for a better view of the academy.
"I never anticipated that you like high places, Alicia"
"!?"
Apollo never expected to see her, especially on top of their roof however he was happy that someone was actually worried about him.
Under the now clear sky Apollo saw the beauty of the girl in front of him. Unconsciously a smile forms on his lips.