章節 36: Nocturne's Defeat
The balls of light collided with the shields of the charging soldiers, sending them tumbling backward. Vagran surged forward, propelled by the demon's strength, and with precise aim, he hurled his sword like a spear towards a soldier. The soldier deflected it with his shield, but the sheer force behind the throw sent him flying.
Swiftly dodging another strike, Vagran seized a guard's face and smashed it against his hand and the ground. With deadly grace, he continued his onslaught, effortlessly dispatching the mind-controlled soldiers, their bodies tossed aside like leaves in the wind.
Above, the miniature sun I conjured hung solemnly in the sky. Bringing my hand down, hundreds of rays of light shot forth from the celestial orb, engulfing the mind-controlled soldiers below. As the rays struck them, bubbles of light enveloped the soldiers, rousing them from their nightmarish trance.
The Demacian contingent looked at me with confusion and concern, while Vagran halted his rampage, turning to me with a playful smile.
"Are you serious, Lucas? I was just getting warmed up!" he protested, even as the commotion attracted more townsfolk rushing towards us.
Glancing back, I caught the mageseeker's gaze, his expression filled with fear as he clutched his cracked medallion. I returned his gaze with a taunting smile.
Garen clenched his sword, his gaze filled with a mixture of fear and determination as he turned to me.
"Who are you really, a mage from Noxus?" he questioned, but before I could respond, a hand slapped him on the back of his head.
He turned to his Aunt with a puzzled expression, while Lux chuckled softly.
"Apologies for Garen's rudeness, Lucas, was it?" Lady Tianna addressed me, her eyes scanning the dispersing bubbles of light that freed the mind-controlled people. "I am sincerely grateful for your assistance."
"Don't worry, Lady Tianna. Vagran and I will hunt down the main host of the demon," I assured her with a smile, sensing a fast-approaching presence.
"Prepare yourselves! The demon is coming!" Vagran's warning echoed, prompting everyone to assume defensive positions. The soldiers shielded the nearby civilians.
Suddenly, a child emerged behind Vagran, wielding an arm blade made of shadow, poised to strike. Vagran didn't even spare the child a glance as his hand transformed into his armor, seizing the blade and breaking it effortlessly. The child's eyes widened in shock as two more blades materialized on his arms, launching a barrage of attacks at Vagran. However, each strike was deftly met by Vagran's fist, thwarting every attempt to harm him.
"So this is all you are capable of? A disappointment to the name of demon!" Vagran's voice roared as his body became enveloped in a towering pillar of fire erupting beneath him.
"A demon!" the mageseeker exclaimed, his medallion crumbling into pieces.
"Vagran, what are you—" I began, but his glare silenced me.
"Let me handle this, Lucas. I will show this parasite what it truly means to bear the name of a demon," he declared, his sword materializing in his hands. "Just ensure that the host survives my onslaught."
In an instant, Vagran's human form vanished, replaced by his familiar black armor, his figure towering over three meters in height.
I furrowed my brows, understanding Vagran's disdain towards Nocturne, the parasitic creature feeding off mortal emotions. But to resort to such extreme measures...
'He just wants to prove his strength,' I chuckled inwardly, initiating protective spells as Vagran vanished from sight. In a blink, he reappeared behind the child, his strike cleaving the body in two. Thankfully, my protective spell prevented the child from being bisected.
Nocturne's weapons shattered with just one strike, a feat observed only by me. To everyone else, Vagran seemed to teleport, but in reality, he moved at such incredible speed that only I could perceive.
Suddenly, dark smoke began to billow out of the child's body. In an instant, I found myself beside the child, immediately initiating healing spells to mend his injured form.
Vagran, noticing the escaping smoke, swiftly positioned himself above it and plunged his sword downward, impaling the dark entity and absorbing the smoke within his blade.
The Chaos Lord collapsed, reverting to his human disguise, while everyone remained on high alert, their eyes fixed on Vagran with palpable fear.
"What?" Vagran grunted, sensing the tension. "If I wanted you all dead, I wouldn't resort to tricks. I could just hack you all to pieces."
Tianna took a deep breath and signaled for everyone to sheath their weapons. As she approached me and Vagran, I observed the flawless healing of the child.
Suddenly, a woman rushed towards us with guards in tow, calling out my name, "Luca!" My eyebrow raised in surprise. Did she know me? She hurried past me towards the child, repeating his name. It appeared that this child shared my name, Luca.
Tianna scrutinized us before posing her question. "Who are you truly?" she inquired, her gaze unwavering.
I glanced at Vagran, who let out a resigned sigh. "Vagran, Tyrant of Ur-Ganash and Demon King," he confessed, eliciting puzzled expressions from those around us.
"I am Lucas Aldaric, from House Aldaric, and king of the Holy Falcon Kingdom," I declared with a smile, surprising the onlookers with my revelation. "It's been a pleasure to lend assistance."
"A king?" Lux exclaimed, her eyes widening in astonishment. "But I thought you were a priest, given your attire!" Her words earned a disapproving glance from Tianna.
"Apologies for Lux's lack of decorum, Your Highnesses," Tianna interjected. "I am Tianna Crownguard, Marshal of Demacia." With a graceful bow, she introduced herself, then turned her attention to Garen and Lux.
"Forgive us, Your Highnesses. I am Garen Crownguard, Commander of the Dauntless Legion," Garen stated with a respectful nod.
"And I am Luxanna Crownguard!" Lux announced joyously, beaming at both of us.
"Well met," I said with a bow that puzzled everyone, perhaps Jarvan III was not a king that showed a lot of decorum.
"We should reseal the demon," said Vagran as he looked at me. "This demon was sealed as his strength was extremely weak and you, weirdo with the mask!" Vagran interrupted the mageseeker. "You better stop this signal right now or I promise you I'll shove my sword in yo-"
I created a binding of light around his mouth as I looked at the mageseeker that paled after what Vagran said.
"You fucking mages seem to think that you owe our country," the mageseeker clenched his teeth as he looked at us. Tianna widened her eyes as she turned toward him.
"You sent a message to the capital?!" she cried out with worry in her eyes. "You mobilized the rest of the Dauntless Vanguard for something so trivial as THIS? I'll make you trialed when we come back to the Capital's City!" she exclaimed.
"You call this trivial? Mages of this strength are a danger to our kingdom. They need to be put down or captured!" the mageseeker cried out with fury in his eyes as he drew another medallion and tossed it toward us.
I pointed one finger at the medallion before generating a spark of fire that incinerated the magically resistant object, thanks to Urgash's blessing. This move made the mageseeker widen his eyes as he backed off, only to realize his back had hit something hard. He turned to see Vagran in his human form, towering above him.
"Going somewhere, asshole?" the demon grunted as he punched the mageseeker in the torso, causing him to gasp before falling unconscious.
Tianna rushed towards the falling body and swiftly crushed a medallion in her hand.
"I am extremely sorry for what happened," she began as she stood up. "Detain him!" she commanded to some members of the Vanguard before turning towards us. "You spoke about resealing the demon. How is it done?"
"I will need you to open the tomb right there," I motioned towards the nearby tomb. "This is where the demonic presence is coming from. I'll need two or three minutes to completely seal the demon for at least a hundred years."
"So this was the demon that our ancestor defeated," she muttered, though my enhanced hearing picked it up. "I thought that he killed it though."
"Follow me, then," Tianna said, marching towards the tomb. "Lux and Garen, stay here and tend to the wounded. I will accompany the two of them to the tomb."
"But, Aunt Tianna—" Luxanna started to protest.
"Enough, Luxanna. You'll do as I say," Tianna cut the young woman off sharply before departing promptly.
'What a woman' I though as I followed promptly toward her, "Vagran, you can stay here and protect everyone if there is a problem"
"You'll be fine ? " he asked me
"No problem" I replied as he nodded.
–
We swiftly arrived at the tomb, a grandiose monument standing tall before us.
"This is where my ancestor battled the demon that we fought today," she said, placing an emblem on the door. The gears turned, and the door creaked open.
Darkness greeted us as we entered. Reacting quickly, I conjured an orb of light to illuminate our path and enveloped us in a protective shield of light.
"Please follow behind me," I said, "this darkness is highly corrosive."
We advanced slowly as I seemed that a large part of the tomb was in petricite, dampening my mana to a bare minimum.
I heard Tianna draw her sword behind me, I still created an invisible wall behind me, as I didn't trust everything about her, she was a pragmatic woman, outing me like that could reduce a potential threat to her kingdom.
I heard whispers all around the tomb as it seemed that the shadows were dancing.
Without warning, a shadow lunged at us, two blades aimed directly at my heart. My barrier intercepted the strike just in time, while Tianna swiftly cleaved the shadow in half with her petricite greatsword.
But the threat didn't end there. Suddenly, a dozen more shadows surged toward us with unnatural speed. In response, the ball of light in my hand transformed into a piercing beam, slicing through each shadow horizontally, effortlessly cutting them down.
As I felt my mana significantly deplete, a frown creased my brow. With a sense of urgency, I clasped my hands together, releasing my blessing. A brilliant golden light erupted from me, illuminating the entire tomb. Swiftly, I conjured a dozen magical circles around the crack from which the shadows emanated.
[Elrath Seal]
The shadows roared in rage and pain as the tomb trembled. With determination, I continued to weave the seal, channeling its power to contain the threat. In less than a minute, I clapped my hands together, sealing Nocturne away for a long time.
The world seemed to spin around me as Tianna's arms steadied me.
"I expended more mana than I would have liked," I confessed to her, still maintaining my barrier as a precaution.
"Somewhat anticlimactic, wouldn't you say? I was expecting a showdown worthy of the Winged Protector," Tianna remarked with a hint of disappointment.
"With all the petricite around?" I replied, offering her a smile, which she returned as we began our journey back towards Fossbarrow.
–
Well, for the next chapter the two vagabonds would be heading towards the capital of Demacia to meet with the king and others.
See you soon :)
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