All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 329: Prince of the Air

Chapter 329: Prince of the Air

The wind howled as another enemy streaked by Daedalus' head. He turned and snapped his razor-sharp teeth, severing an errant foot as it passed. The Lieutenant of Shadow screeched in pain at a loss. The dragon scoffed as he let the shadows boil away in his mouth. Really, it was just a foot. For such a powerful being to wail about something like that? It was unsightly.

He grumbled as he rolled sideways, avoiding the wind Lieutenant as it whipped itself into a small tornado. He stretched out his rainbow-tipped claws, positioning Archibald to follow up the attack on the one he had gotten a bite out of.

It was frustrating that the Lieutenants had made themselves known so soon. He had been really enjoying his time exploring the world with Archibald. He'd already seen much of its sights himself, obviously, but his human certainly hadn't. In fact, Daedalus had been planning this trip for a long time, making a list of the greatest mountains, waterfalls, and other natural wonders that he'd show his friend once he woke up. Yes, that's definitely what he'd been doing. He wasn't moping like Archibald claimed he was. That was beneath him.

Unfortunately, they had only been wandering around this continent for four short years. Four years! They'd barely even looked around the others yet, and already the demons were out. Sure, they could always go explore more later. But it was an interruption Daedalus could have done without. Even if it was the whole point of their adventure.

The dragon continued his aerial dance with his two opponents and Archibald on his back. The battle was relatively evenly matched. The Lieutenants seemed much more powerful than he remembered, but he and Archibald had been no slouches. They, too, had grown a lot in this short time.

Their levels had already been remarkable, but they'd managed to add more on top. Daedalus fought to keep his attention on his opponents, even as he heard the insufferable succubus trying to tempt Tony. But thankfully, the young man was having nothing of it. He did worry about the guy, and they did their best to support the other human when they had a chance. But the two Lieutenants they faced were doing their best to keep the pair busy and away from their giggling ally.

After several strikes, it was clear that Archibald and Daedalus could handle their opponents, even if there was still some risk of losing. Of course, it wasn't like Daedalus and Archibald could finish off the Lieutenants themselves. They didn't have Archimedes here to trap them, nor did they have Void to help destroy them at the moment.

That kind of power was something that Archibald had been hoping to get with his level 75 skill, but unfortunately, he hadn't. Daedalus himself was still a ways off from level 80, but he didn't have much hope of getting some permanent solution to the Lieutenants. But that wasn't a huge problem. Once this was all over and Void had finished them all off, they wouldn't need it.

Daedalus let his attention roam slightly, even as his wings buffeted away the wind Lieutenants's gales and his flames tore into the shadow Lieutenant's form. Such things were just poor matchups for him. Honestly, these upstarts thought that just because they could fly, they could somehow stand toe-to-toe with a real dragon. It was laughable. Especially the windy demon. Its entire schtick was flying, and it couldn't even do that well. It only took a few blasts of dragon fire to show that it was full of hot air.

But on Tony's side, things seemed a little more dire. Down below, the Nighty Knights pushed against the partially blockaded entrance to the city. Despite the slag heap he'd reduced the gate to, the demons were still managing to hold it by plugging the gap with themselves.

He watched as demons swarmed forward, rushing in from around the edges of the black fortress. Even now, they were bunching up against the tight formation of young elites, nearly enveloping them in a shell of writhing teeth and claws. Evidently, the initial attacks by Daedalus and Void had only culled so many of them.

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But Daedalus didn't fear for the little ones. Even as he watched, the situation shifted as the Nighty Knights began to push past the wall of extremely high-level demons, along with the angelic Lieutenant supporting them. Bee seemed to be engaging that single Lieutenant herself, even managing to do a reasonable job of it.

Close by, a giant wolf breathed a cone of froth at the lower level demons circling around the city from the right. The cone grew exponentially as it arced outward, coating the enemies in white frost as they slowed and then stopped in instants. A blast shattered the newly-created ice sculptures, and just like that, thousands of demons disappeared at once.

On the left side, a glowing gold projection of Void that was nearly the size of Daedalus himself appeared. A black ball formed in front of it, only to be poked with the tip of its outstretched claw. The black ball exploded outwards, a wave of nothingness washing over the demons approaching from the other side. Between the frost and the black swath, it left the Nighty Knights to face just the enemies pouring out of the fortress, no longer beset on all sides.

Daedalus shot another gout of flame at the shadow demon as it tried to come in for an attack. He had an idea to help the others but wasn't sure whether to go through with it. He had no desire to upset his friends, after all. Void was a nice godling and a very polite one at that. It was the least he could do to extend the same courtesies.

Loudly, he roared into the sky, "Void, my friend! Is it okay if I make a mess?"

He waited for a response. It came slowly, almost hesitantly. But eventually, a giant thumbs-up appeared over the fortress, and Daedalus felt his toothy maw break into a smile. This would be fun.

Flaring out his wings, he blasted forward, giving himself space as he dove for the fortress. The pair of Lieutenants trailed close behind in hot pursuit. Letting out a roar of exhilaration, he heard Archibald whoop from his back as they accelerated through the sky. Then Daedalus opened his mouth, blasting out a focused beam of destruction at the nearby wall.

Prismatic light poured forth in a molten beam, cutting through the obsidian wall as though it were butter. The dark glass melted away under the sheer heat of Daedalus's onslaught, his flames so intense that they sent the remaining stone sparkling. A few unfortunate foes that had been too close turned to ashes on impact.

The demons had been holding the gate rather admirably, but now there was a hole fifty feet across on one side.

Daedalus didn't stop to admire his work. There was no time. Instead, he swooped low and came up to reengage the lieutenants before they could gang up on Tony. On the way, he blew a hole on the other side of the gate as well, just for good measure.

The Nighty Knights reacted instantly. With extreme discipline, they poured in and bypassed the gate through the new openings, sending skills flying in every direction. The demons writhed in chaos as they attempted to keep the breaches closed, but their attempts never even got off the ground.

---

Bee panted as she climbed back to her feet and faced her opponent again. She and the cursed healer were the last ones left outside of the city. The Nighty Knights had already streamed through the walls left by Daedalus, but Bee had fought to keep the healer away as they advanced.

Now that the healer had stopped acting as a support for her allies, the Nighty Knights had no problems rolling through them. Bee regretted not being able to be there to support her own team, of course. But unlike their opponents, they had other team members who could stand in for her, at least partially.

Another exchange of blows sent the fallen angel flying away from the city. She skidded across the ground for dozens of feet. Her tattered wings flailed uselessly at her back as they tried to heal against the strong acid Bee had doused them with. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Bee quickly glanced around to see how the battle was going around her.

The Nighty Knights had made it into the city, just as she'd hoped. Up above, she heard Tony yell something about a girlfriend for whatever reason as he battled the succubus Lieutenant.

That caught her attention. Strangely enough, despite the anger in his voice, both he and his opponent were completely still. Then, suddenly, a sharp crack echoed throughout the sky as she slapped Tony in the face. Tony was sent flying head over heels.

Bee was just about to jump on her carpet to soar up and take flight to help her friend. But less than a dozen yards above her, Tony halted and righted himself in the air before pointing toward his opponent. A hammer of energy soared in from the side, crumpling one of the succubus's wings and sending her flying off toward the mountain.

With a wave down at her and a point to the Nighty Knights around her, Tony zipped off in pursuit once again. Bee smiled in a mixture of relief and resolution, then turned back to her own opponent. It seemed like everyone else could take care of themselves. So she had to as well.