Trouble With The Church XI

Kies and the white-robed people from the church fought for what felt like an hour when in reality, only five minutes had passed. Kies had to be on the go constantly since he lacked the magic to create barriers and block attacks, and couldn't stand still or else he would get bombarded like before again. Also, he didn't have the magic nullifying cloak anymore so any magic attacks from now will hit him directly and hurt him much more.

His magic reserves were close to being depleted and he could feel his body slow down as there was less magic to keep it going. He still had a huge amount stored in his moonstone but if possible, he didn't want to use it since it was his trump card. It was also a waste to use it now when it wasn't going to do him much. He needed to wait until Ammine and the others found the fragment and got it to him. That was when he should use the magic from the moonstone.

For now, Kies could stop attacking and focus on evading and running while his magic came back. His attacks weren't doing much anyway. Other than the five initial priests he injured who were now all back in action after being healed. Fighting against an enemy that can heal themselves... It was a massive pain. But he didn't exactly have the right to say anything about it either since he was the same himself. As long as he had magic, his body naturally healed all the damage that was done to him.

Kies dodged every single one of the enemy's attacks and after some time, they began to slow down. The priests were all running out of magic power and had to be conservative as they couldn't afford to randomly shoot attacks at Kies anymore. This was good for Kies since it meant that he had to do less dodging. Although only a few minutes had gone by, Kies felt a good amount of his magic come back. It still hadn't reached a quarter of his maximum capacity, but it was still something.

Kies' only worry was the robed man standing in the very back of the group. Unlike the others who were pressuring him nonstop with magic attacks, the old man had his eyes closed the entire time while holding a large cup of some sort in his hands. His clothes were also different from the rest so Kies knew that he was someone important or of higher rank. He was likely the leader of the entire group. If Kies could take him down then maybe the rest will scramble.

But that was easier said than done. In order to reach the old man, he needed to get through all the priests that were in the way first. They weren't going to let him just run by. While Kies could use a spell to increase his speed and catch the priests off guard before they could react, his instincts were telling him that the idea wouldn't work. He didn't know why but the old man gave off an aura that he felt was very dangerous.

Kies continued to keep an eye on the old man while dodging the priests' attacks. If he did anything, he needed to be ready to do something about it. Kies jumped and flew through the air and dodged a ray of light as it shot down from the sky and scorched the ground where he just was a second ago. It was then that he caught the old man making his move.

He raised the chalice and his lips began to move slowly. Kies didn't wait to find out what he was doing and immediately shot a blade of wind at him but it was intercepted by the priests who were all forming a wall in front of him with their bodies. They put up a barrier to block off any further attacks from Kies.

Kies tried to find an angle where he could hit the old man but couldn't and decided to just blast through with a Wind Cannon. "Winds, heed my call and serve my will! Clear a path for me this instant!" The winds responded to his command and rushed to his hands before getting shot out like a rocket and hitting the barrier.

Upon impact, the barrier shook a little but still held up strong. Kies shot another one but it found no results either. "Tch." Wind Cannon wasn't going to work here. Instead, Kies chanted words necessary to cast Wind Lance and charged at the barrier the second the lance took form. The priests watched him run at them with the weapon but did nothing and continued to keep up their barrier.

Kies stabbed the lance into the barrier and pierced through it like it was paper. A few of the priests fell back while the rest staggered a little from having the barrier destroyed. While the Wind Lance was still active, Kies slashed horizontally with it at the priests. Although it wasn't the proper way to use a lance, stabbing them one by one was far less efficient than hitting multiple of them at the same time.

"Gah!" The priests that Kies hit bled from where the wind cut them and backed off.

"Cardinal, we need assistance please."

At that moment, the old man finished inciting his spell and a ray of light opened from the heavens and shined on the priests. "May God bless your souls."

Kies jumped back from the ray of light, unsure if it was harmful to him or not. It was better to not take the risk and find out by staying in it. He witnessed as the priests he injured had their injuries healed and what looked like their energy restored. The ones that looked tired just a second ago were now back and brimming with vigor.

Before Kies could figure out what had happened, the priests began slinging spell after spell at him again. "What!?" Kies turned and fled from the attacks and ducked behind a battered house to get away from the attacks for a moment. He heard loud cracks and explosions as the attacks hit and destroyed the house he was hiding behind.

How were they doing that again? Did the light restore everyone's magic power? There was no other explanation. Kies cursed silently to himself. He hadn't expected something like this to happen. He really should have been focusing on the old man instead of the others. Because of them, the fight had now reset back to the beginning. But there was one difference, and that was while the enemy's magic reserves were full, his was almost out.

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