As the Doomguard prepares its attack, Michael Blinks forwards and stabs Derflinger into the unarmoured part of its wrist, causing its sword to fly out in a random direction, accidentally killing two groups of imps as a result.
Michael pulls Deflinger out but is forced to punch out at the huge clawed fist heading his way, he manages to throw Derflinger directly upwards as he was blown away from the attack, his body literally tumbling through three imps and a beast-like demon before finally halting.
Luckily, the Doomguard is unable to follow as Darth appears from a shadow in the crook of its neck, grabbing Derflinger and bringing it down, stabbing the blade into its vital arteries.
"AAARRGHHKK!" the Doomguard screams out as its blood sprays out in a similar manner to a firehose. It clutches its throat but drops to a knee when Darth pulls the blade free, unblocking the wound.
Michael tries to get up from where he'd landed but grimaces as his leg folds as he tries to stand on it. Both bones in it were completely shattered. Gritting his teeth, he bites into his hand and casts [Dark Pact] while downing a Health potion.
Before the spell goes off an imp appears behind him and attempts to claw his neck to shred, only for a large spike of ice to imbed itself into the creature's head, courtesy of Umnii.
*SKOOOSH!*
Dark Pact explodes outwards, turning any nearby demons into a meaty soup. Once done, Michael steps out of the black mist and grabs the offered Derflinger from Darth. "Keep focussing on the spell casters." he says, tossing his ebony dagger to the shadow Familiar which vanishes to perform a massacre of its own.
"Michael! We must go! The golems will not last!" Irarus shouts as he fights. Michael looks around and sees what the Draenei means, the demons had circled the golems and were having them each chase a single imp while the others blasted them with spells.
Despite how powerful the golems were, they lacked the intelligence to avoid such tactics, and would only last a few more minutes under the bombardment. Even worse, the group was only halfway to the library, meaning they'd be completely surrounded once their distractions fell.
"LET'S GO!" Michael shouts, rejoining the groups and continuing to cleave a path with renewed vigour, blasting Laguna Blades willy nilly while constantly sucking on vials of mana potions to keep himself topped up.
"We won't last!" Umnii anxiously says while being barely able to hold up her staff, a large claw mark on her arm allowing blue blood to drip from it.
"WE CAN MAKE IT!" Iraru bellows, unwilling to let them fail when they were so close.
Lyham bites his tongue to hold back his own thoughts, his spear half-melted and completely covered in green demon blood and his arms almost entirely covered in heavy burns.
The group is only two hundred meters away from the library when the golems finally fall, each exploding into green flames as their magic gives out.
"W-we're doomed!" Leyham screams, dropping to a knee as all the demons turn to face the group.
"NO! KEEP FIGHTING!" Irarus roars, raising his war hammer and causing golden light to explode outwards, burning any nearby demons while healing the group's wounds. This doesn't help Leyham recover his courage however, the Draenei is unable to push himself from the floor as imps charge him.
Blue blood flies into the air as the unfortunate Draenei is torn to pieces. The demons devour him as he screams out in horrifying agony. Umnii covers her mouth in shock, forcing Michael and Irarus to fend off the demons attempting to do the same to her. One demon even charges them with Lyham's own spear...
*CRAAASH!*
Fortunately, it didn't seem like the group was entirely alone. The shudder from the direction of the library has everyone turn to face it, allowing them to see the large robotic-looking golems beginning to engage the demons.
The constructs didn't look to have people inside them, despite how agile and human their movements were. They were large armoured figures with white and gold colouring that accented the large blue gems embedded into them. Each arm was like tower shields, their bodies surrounded by a magical barrier that seemingly prevented any spells from actually harming them.
"THE VIGILANTS! IT'S THE VIGILANTS!" Khaam shouts in relief as the reinforcements tear through the demon army like emotionless super soldiers.
"GO! GO! GO!" Irarus shouts as he throws Umnii over his shoulder and charges towards the Library, the distraction proving enough to allow the group some reprieve. Michael keeps slashing his way through. The demon's claws, teeth, and blades aren't able to breach his ebony scale mail, but that doesn't stop the bruises forming under it.
Fortunately, after a mad dash for the doors, the group sprints past the Vigilant robot-things and up the stairs leading to the restricted parts of the library. Most of the lower floors had already been terribly damaged, with the stone books shelves all being half-melted, and their contents burned. But the higher they got up the structure, the better things looked.
Soon they reached the top floor, but Michael was randomly snatched from the group by another Vigilant, the robot holding him tightly as its lifeless mask looks him over...
"Wait stop! Michael's fine! He's not one of them!" Umnii exclaims.
The Vigilant doesn't even glance at her, instead just continuing to stare, contemplating if it should just crush Michael.
"Let him down! He's no threat to us!" a woman orders from a nearby doorway where a pale blue-skinned Draenei walks out dressed in tame yet colourful robes. Her glowing blue eyes went over the group before resting on Michael.
The Vigilant places him on the floor and walks off, down the stairs to patrol the lower sections and remove any intruding demons.
"Ennura?" Umnii asks, her voice sounding hopeful.
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"Ennura?" Umnii asks again, her voice cracking slightly as she stumbles over and wraps the woman into a hug. "I thought you were dead..."
"There, there. I'm perfectly fine... I'm happy that you managed to make it through all of that."
Umnii shakes her head, "If you hadn't sent out the Vigilants, we wouldn't have survived."
Ennura smiles and grips the girl's shoulders, "But you're alive, and that's all that matters..." she says but her expression falters slightly, "Even if we likely won't survive for much longer."
"What do you mean?" Irarus asks.
"I mean, the invaders will destroy the Vigilants eventually, once they fully breach the Great Library, they'll stop the magic protecting it and burn it to the ground." she states, causing Khaam to almost drop to his knees in despair. Lyham had already been torn apart, and Khaam had been right there, watching it up close and personal... He'd hoped that Ennura could help them join with whatever survivors were left, but it seems that Michael was their only chance for survival.
"Er, sorry but why don't you just make more Vigilants? They're robots or magical constructs, right? Surely you have more hidden in a bunker somewhere? Maybe even a factory?" Michael asks, not really knowing the state of the Draenei military.
"You're not from around here, are you stranger?" Ennura remarks while pulling away from Umnii, "Otherwise you'd know that each Vigilant holds the soul of a fallen Eredar warrior... It's far more ceremonial than practical, the fact that we have any Vigilants guarding the Great Library at all is a miracle."
"Ah... So like, they give permission to have their souls shoved into armour? Or do you just do it regardless?" Michael asks as this was sounding more and more like soul trapping and necromancy than anything.
Irarus shakes his head, "Permission is not required, it's an honour to be tasked with protecting our people even after death." states absolutely.
'That's pretty fucked up' Michael inwardly remarks, thinking on how he'd feel if such a thing happened to him.
Regardless, there were other matters that required imminent attention, "So, Ennura... How about you show me the Library?" he asks, causing everyone from his original group to freeze. Was it impolite to immediately get to the point or...?
...
"That depends... Why would you need access to them while a catastrophe is occurring? As the Chief Librarian and the one overseeing this entire place, it is my job to protect what knowledge remains..." she looks to Irarus, "Who is this?"
Irarus wets his lips, "He's a being not from this world who's come to fight the invading demons, supposedly. He offers us sanctuary away from this world, which we intend to accept unless you have word of our leaders?"
Ennura crooks a brow in curiosity but shakes her head at his question, "I have word, whether or not you wish to hear it is another matter entirely." she ominously says.
Irarus, Umnii, and Khaam look at one another before coming to a consensus and nodding, "I think any news is beneficial right now, even bad news."
Ennura lets out a sigh and runs a hand along one of her horns, being it down to trace it through the tentacles hanging from under her ear, gold jewellery adorning each individual one. "The Prophet Velen has been gathering survivors to a random location, but it's too far to even think about reaching... Especially with the timer he'd given us to get there... We'd have to travel thirty miles in thirty minutes through the mass of demons..."
Irarus nods, "An impossible venture... But what about the other two, Kil'jaeden and Archimonde? Surely they'd be with the protectors fending off the invaders?"
...
Ennura looks up from the ground, her glowing eyes dim with sadness and betrayal, "Kil'jaeden and Archimone have joined the enemy."
...
"W-what...? No... You must be mistaken!" Irarus instantly retorts once he'd processed the information, "They are the very best of the Eredar! They wouldn't betray their own kin like this!" he exclaims, voice sounding more erratic the longer he spoke.
Ennura shakes her head, "It's true... Kil'jaeden and Archimonde allowed the invaders to target our military structures and personally conduct surprise attacks on any that hadn't immediately surrendered or fallen. I-it's not just that. They've been... Corrupted. I saw it on the Scuring Gems... Kil'jaeden, his skin is crimson, and both of their eyes glow green with that sickly magic... Our leaders have abandoned us."
Irarus almost drops to the ground in despair were it not for his war hammer that he was resting all of his weight on. His eyes were tightly closed, but that didn't prevent the sorrowful tears from pouring out, dripping down his face and off of his chin to the floor.
Khaam and Umnii had been affected similarly, the latter hugging Ennura tightly as if the woman was the last source of warmth left in the world.
...
"So..... About that Library?" Michael awkwardly asks, his voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard as it echoes throughout the room. He receives a glare from Irarus and Khaam but it quickly fades as Ennura steps forwards.
"Allow me to guess. Our knowledge for sanctuary?"
Michael nods, "Exactly. Plus, I only want to look at it, you can take care of the books once we're out of this hell hole."
...
Ennura thinks for a long moment before reluctantly agreeing, "I am tasked with protecting the knowledge of this place, not the Great Library itself. I suspect what you're suggesting wouldn't breach that-... Too much..."
"Come, I'll show you to what's left of the library and the other survivors." she says while gesturing for them to follow as she steps into a narrow hallway that was just big enough for a Vigilant to fit through sideways...
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
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