บท 22: Death Anomaly
The angel was not a suicidal one, but she still ran to the middle of the battlefield. Even if she had gone silently after Lupina neighed aloud, it was so easy to spot a white mare and her mistress with a fluffy dress when they moved in the field. It didn't take a second for all eyes to be on her body.
Artie Shen looked down at the leader, but she had no idea what was happening to her. It was as if her body suddenly moved on its own. Moreover, she felt magic channeling out from her eyes as she looked down at the leader. The smile she gave wasn't even hers as well.
[Warning: visage anomaly! Apostasy surge is being activated!]
[Apostasy surge will occur if an angel forces battle upon a certain individual. The danger of actions and duration of control will depend on your total Apostasy points! Venerable angels should avoid physical conflict as much as possible!]
'Oh, shoot! You gotta be kidding me!' Artie panicked inwardly, but her facial expression of a merciless killer didn't change.
Bang!
The leader then felt something stung his neck from the side during his trance. He felt his body suddenly grow numb and cold even before he realized that a throwing knife had been struck against his skin. Fast-acting poison also seemed to coat the blade so he could only die on the spot.
[Your actions had led to a death! Apostasy + 10! Total meter points: 76; Veneration 49, Apostasy 27.]
The horse landed on her front legs and began moving around to avoid knives and arrows. Those bandits trying to take down Artie were being met by knives squarely on their throats. When Artie broke out of the Apostasy surge, she turned to the side to see who was throwing the killer knives.
"Lady Shen!" Miel and a few more knights came to salvage the situation. When a bandit tried to attack him, Miel only waved his hand, a small knife leaving his sleeve. What was terrifying was that he didn't really need to look to know that it would be killing the enemy. "Lady Shen! Behind you!"
Artie broke out of her trance and saw a bandit archer shooting her with arrows once again. She didn't force to open the Conquest tab again as she tried to evade with her successful maneuvers—only because Lupina knew how to evade them as well.
The ship behind them was not totally wrecked, but it was already unsalvageable. Larkin dropped the spell circle before taking a deep breath. He raised his left hand in the air again and forcefully pumped an open palm towards the sky. Another black spell circle drew on top of him, but it expanded all over!
The spell circle spread almost all over the sky above the harbor. Larkin's eyes began to shine bright red as the wind tossed and turned around him. Even his very body was beginning to levitate in the air. With the wind protecting him, the bandit archers could only watch his spectacle.
"Perish!" Larkin only spoke loudly; he wasn't even yelling.
Black lightning sizzled from the black spell circle, and the root-like frame extended to the people underneath it. Loud thunder rumbled as the lightning kept on crackling, every terrifying sound blasting a portion of the bandit population. A bandit was pierced through by each root ending and rattled until they were toasted from inside.
Artie had always known that Larkin was a powerful wielder of demon magic, but she couldn't help but freeze every time she would witness his power. In a field of enemies, Larkin's black lightning continued to zap and kill the multitude of bandits around them. As for why he didn't do this from the start…
It was probably because killing the bandits was the least priority. If he did this while the people were escaping, they could be mistakenly hit. Moreover, the bandit could grab a civilian and use them as a hostage. They could also escape through the ship as well if he didn't destroy it first.
In a few seconds, the siege turned into a complete slaughter. There was no wonder that the people of Ellis Plains could only protest without doing much harm. Else, they would be meeting their ends through the archduke's terrifying magic prowess.
Larkin slowly landed on the ground and dispelled the circle. He turned in a direction, seeing Artie approaching him. She then got off of Lupina and hurriedly hugged Larkin to support his balance. It was not obvious, but Artie could feel it.
The archduke… was surely spent. A spell like that, not to mention he had been casting spells, would drain his energy no matter how strong his stamina was. Artie had a feeling initially, but the anomaly notification made her sure of it.
[Warning: death anomaly! An ally is on the verge of collapse! Use Heal to salvage their health.]
"Are you okay?" Artie chuckled as if downplaying Larkin's situation. Besides, he seemed to be very aware that he couldn't be seen collapsing in public. She then used a hand to brush the fringe on his face, feeling the sweat that had been drenching his forehead from the heavy spell casting. "You—"
"You worry me. Must you always dive in trouble?" Larkin caressed her head, but his finger felt the arrow that Artie had not removed yet. Even if his lips were on the verge of curling into a smile, he stopped himself and hid the apprehension in his heart.
There was an arrow stuck through Artie's head?! How did it even get there?! How was she not dead?! He frowned as he calmed himself down... before holding onto the top part and breaking it without shaking Artie's head. Even if his hand was already weak, he still snapped the arrow in two.
"An arrow is not a proper headwear for you. Do you mind if I remove it?"
"I actually… just have no idea how to take it out without bleeding all too much." Artie had forgotten about the arrow because it didn't hurt her anymore. How sick was it to have a body that responded to objects as if she was in a game? An arrow to the head was never considered fatal.
The arrow was pulled from the back, the movement covered by her long dark hair. Blood dripped from her head, but her Heal skill stopped everything. It seemed that an arrow was not enough to actually produce a Bleeding effect. However, Artie's going to study that later.
For now, she needed to make sure Larkin wouldn't fall over… even if she had to hold his body against hers as they stood in the middle of the bloodied harbor.
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