Sworded Affair

Chapter 78 : Seven Eight Nine

As before, Emma commanded the Earthbound Immortal to foul the Bishop's slash, this time dropping him on his side and sending the blade of wind smashing uselessly against his own barrier. The Bishop wasn't down for long, rolling to his feet in an impressive display of dexterity given his armor, before stomping one plated foot on the ground.

"Blessed are the lands bequeathed by Him above!" The Bishop declared, as the soil turned gold beneath him as holy flames scoured the ground clean of life.

[Earthbound Immortal defeated.]

"Damn it," Emma sighed, feeling the second of her four summons returning for a rest stop. "I was hoping you wouldn't be a fast learner."

Closing the gap yet again, Emma watched her foe carefully this time as she advanced, prepared to turn intangible at a moment's notice. The Bishop clearly noticed her caution as well, which was probably why he didn't repeat his prior tactic, instead choosing to allow her within melee range. His confidence was well earned, given the one-sided beating Emma had received just moments before; which was why she had not the slightest interest in another fair fight.

As Emma closed within punching distance, the Leech King appeared directly above the Bishop at her mental command, swallowing the man whole within his cavernous maw, armour and all. The summon's bulbous body bulged as the trapped Bishop began punching in every direction, seeking a way out; Emma didn't try to stop him, instead taking advantage of his distraction to stab through the Leech King's body and into him, looking for a weak spot. Her first three blows stopped dead against consecrated armour, and the fourth missed entirely, but her fifth thrust drew a scream as Epitaph found soft tissue.

"Die!" Emma ordered, forcing a burst of Death magic through the tip of her blade; Epitaph itself barely holding on as the acidic blood of the Leech King did its work against friend and foe alike.

A rasping gurgle could be heard from within the Leech King's body, followed by a desperate cry.

"Clad in prayer, I am invincible!"

[-1000 Anima.

The Leech King defeated.]

A wave of golden light tossed Emma head over heels, whilst the Leech King was blown away entirely; this time, she hit the golden barrier head first at quite some height, before sliding slowly down to the ground. Picking herself up quickly, she locked eyes upon the Bishop once more to find him in a sorry state. It hadn't taken long at all for his meticulously crafted plate armor to be boiled away to nearly nothing, whilst his exposed flesh bore the ravages of acid, magic and the poison from Weeping Scars. His left arm was entirely gone, severed at the shoulder by Emma's lucky stab, and even his remaining limbs had burned away to the point that they were more bone than flesh.

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Even grievously wounded as he was, the Bishop managed to stagger towards Emma, the first time he'd taken the initiative to advance. Emma let him, content to force him to seek her out for a change. As she'd half-expected, he didn't last much longer, managing barely a few steps before falling to his knees; body unable to support his own weight as whatever ability had kept the Bishop alive waned with the passage of time.

"Well fought," Emma praised him sincerely, making no motion towards the kneeling man.

"Were you a bit weaker, I'd dignify you with a beheading, but even on death's doorstep, you're still too strong for me to take any chances. Antipode, finish him off."

Her fourth and final summon coalesced from thin air, a mighty pillar of ice gesturing imperiously towards the Bishop. His ever present companions; a dozen flaming orbs followed his unspoken command, converging upon the Bishop and burning him alive. Faint dregs of golden light persisted around her foe even then, trying to ward off the bite of the flames; but the Bishop was already on his last legs whilst her Elemental was fresh to the fight. Ten seconds later, the battle ended the only way it could.

[Bishop of Dunwich defeated!

200 EXP gained.

Level up!

Emma Knight - Level 11 Damned Apostle

Anima: 3500

EXP: 4110/5000

Die by the Sword is in effect, ability selection altered!

Congratulations for your first level up as an Advanced Class.

Starting now, all future level ups will offer two choices as a starting point.

Choose up to two options from the selection below:

1) Weapon Enhancement - Toxovolia: Epitaph can transform into a Bow, firing arrows born of anima. The more anima invested, the more powerful the shot; the arrows also apply the effects of other Weapon Enhancements.

2) Weapon Enhancement - Can I Play with Madness?: The first Wound dealt to an enemy inflicts a random Status Condition.

3) Weapon Enhancement - Cull the Weak: Enemies lower Level than the wielder suffer Instant Death when wounded.

4) Trait - Abominus: Anyone looking at you suffers damage every second, as their anima recoils in horror.]

As Emma began to ponder which options to take, the golden barriers created by the deceased Bishop began to flicker and fade.

---

"What do you mean, you want me to be the mayor?" Noah exclaimed in shock as he surged upright, nearly dislodging Saint from his lap in the process.

He'd been out celebrating the removal of his cast, having a proper drink for the first time in weeks, only for Ryan to find him and drop this bombshell.

"The Empire has started to make good on their promises," Ryan explained. "Delivering food and drink and critical supplies, along with mages to help fend off the demons at night. It's all been low-level until now, but sooner or later their brass will want to talk to us, you know? Make it all formal."

"Somehow, this makes you come to me?" Noah lifted an eyebrow. "I have magic now, true, but I know little more about the Empire than you."

"You have the right blood though," Ryan rebutted, drawing upon what Elizabeth had told them during her few trips out of the Tower. "Maybe that didn't matter much in the army, but it does with the Empire. This camp has nearly a thousand people living in it now, all of them dependent on aid to survive; we're trying our hand at farming, of course, but there won't be a harvest for months. If we get just a little more food with each delivery, because the one asking is a descendant of Anathema? It's worth it."

"Goddammit," Noah sighed heavily, but despite his longstanding aversion to taking a leadership role, he couldn't find it in himself to refuse, given what was at stake.