Chapter 7

"Fearless leader, do you have any thoughts?" Terrick avoided another blast of Uriel's magic.

"Don't get hit," Amaris replied, "We just gotta wait until he runs out of gas."

"That's a fucking terrible idea!" Clementine yelled. She put up a shield to block another blast.

"Then what ideas do you have?" Amaris shouted back.

"Actually I do! We can use the corpse of his daughter as a hostage," Clementine explained.

"That's not what a hero would do!"

"Then used that brain of yours and fucking think!"

"What if we take the book from him?" Terrick suggested. Clementine stared wide-eyed at her dark-skinned friend.

"Terrick, you may actually have a singular brain cell that works!" she complimented, or insulted. No one knows at this point.

"What does the book have to do with anything?" Amaris asked, confused at the sudden revelation Clementine had. After saying that, he quickly side-stepped another blast.

"Most sorcerers can use basic magic without the help of a book. However, as you use more advanced magic, the difficulty of using the spells are also harder and put more of a strain on your body. In this case, the book is a conduit for his magic. If we take the book away, his spells likely will be much weaker, or he won't be able to use necromancy at all," Clementine explained, "So do you have any plans?

Amaris narrowed his eyes at the Uriel while dodging more of Uriel's magic. As this was a three v. one situation, he would usually say to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers. However, this man possessed the power to easily destroy a small town, so killing three people would be quite easy for him.

"If I rush in alone, with Terrick and Clementine supporting me, I'm most likely not going to be able to hold him off. Even worse, Terrick and Clementine could accidentally hit me or I get into their crossfire," Amaris thought as evaded another blast of magic, "If Clementine and I rushed together, with Terrick supporting us, we could somehow make that work. But Clementine isn't nearly as proficient as me or Terrick in close combat. But she also lacks the precision to be able to get the book out of his hands. Guess I'm gonna have to gamble."

"Terrick, prepared for disarming! Clementine, we're gonna keep him distracted!" Amaris ordered as he rushed into the fray.

Terrick nodded at friend, and climbed up the cave wall, so he could hide from Uriel's view. Due to his dark green armor, he blended in with the darkness of the cave. Clementine followed Amaris, even though she felt uneasy about this plan of his.

Amaris rushed the deranged man with blinding speed, swinging his staff with precision. None of the attacks managed to hit Uriel, but simply hit his magical shield.

"Fire:Calor Trabem"! Clementine yelled as she blasted him with a fury of flames, which he also blocked. Uriel fired a wave of chaos energy at the two, sending them flying back to the wall.

"Fucking shit, he's strong,��� Clementine commented as she got up. As Amaris rose with her, he noticed sudden cuts appearing on her body.

"What happened to your skin?" he asked. Clementine looked down at her body and was greeted with the sight of several cuts and wounds.

"The chaos is breaking down our bodies," Clementine answered. "If we take a few more of those, our bodies will be fully deconstructed."

With that, the duo went to assault the necromancer once again. While they did this, Terrick was hanging from the ceiling of the cave, charging up his Sosu for one shot.

"They don't understand how hard this is," he thought. "He probably has a magical barrier around it, cuz he ain't an idiot. I think. I need a lot of power to pierce it and that shit takes forever."

As he charged, Amaris and Clementine were getting their asses handed to them by an insane necromancer. Amaris would go and rush, making sure to avoid any sort of magic coming his way, and attempt to strike Uriel, but fail again and again.

Clementine then would use a mix of Fire, Air, Earth, and Ice spells to support Amaris, but it was ultimately futile against a necromancer of Uriel's level. His chaos shield was simply breaking down the magic.

Amaris ran behind Uriel, aiming for a sneak attack, but instead of swinging, his staff slowly disappeared as he and Clementine both started levitating off the ground.

"You know, it's been some fun, but my daughter is waiting," Uriel stated as he drained their energy and soul. But they suddenly fell down.

This situation was odd to Uriel. He didn't remember being able to drain organisms without them being in the air. It takes a lot of magic to drain a soul, so the body usually is lifted up due to the force. So why were they on the floor still? And smirking at him?

"Oh, the book," Uriel noticed, "It seems I lack the power to drain Sosu users. That's not good for me isn't it?"

"It's definitely not, broski," Terrick replied. He jumped from the ceiling and landed next to the coffin.

"You know, if he didn't pull the old "arrogant villain" act, he probably would have killed all of us. He could have killed us immediately," Clementine commented.

"Yeah. It's kinda bad. I don't want this story to be using tropes like that. Can we be original?" Terrick complained.

Clementine sighed. "Facts, this novel is shit. Anyways, Earth: Carcerem." Uriel's body was covered in stone from neck to toe.

Uriel laughed. "Do you honestly think this can stop me? Do you think a sorcerer like me doesn't know how to break out of this?" Amaris conjured his Sosu staff, preparing for the worst.

"Do you honestly think you can toe-to-toe with all of us without the help of the book?" Clementine yawned.

"It's a grimoire, woman. Educate yourself please," Uriel responded. "And to answer your question, no I don't."

"Then why would you even try. Seems pointless to me," Clementine said.

"Isn't it obvious? Spite and desperation.��

"Sounds really petty."

"Everyone is petty at the core of their character."

"I don't believe that. You are an obvious outlier in society."

"There is no such things as human outliers in society"

Amaris walked towards the imprisoned man. "Enough of your blabbering. I will cleanse this cave of the evil you infected it with." Amaris gripped his staff with both hands and raised it above his head, ready to strike Uriel down. Suddenly, Uriel started laughing again.

"And that begs the question. You call me evil, but am I really?" A look of confusion crossed Amaris face. Observing the boy's confusion, Uriel continued. "Of all these names or titles that I possess, the one that is dearest to my heart is father."

"What are you talking about?" Amaris asked, confused on the point Uriel was trying to make."You were about to sacrifice thousands for god-hood."

"And the only reason I desired god-hood was to make sure my daughter would have been safe. So, enlighten me, hero, would you kill a father who was simply trying to keep his daughter from harm's way?"

"Don't let him persuade you," Terrick interrupted.

Clementine agreed. "Yeah, remember all the things he would have done?"

"Tell me, hero," Uriel started, emphasizing the word hero, "who is the actual evil one here? Me, a father who only wanted best for his daughter, or you, a mere boy who is about to take the life of said father."

With each word, Amaris could feel his conviction and willingness breaking. This man was simply trying to save his daughter, despite the deranged way of doing so. And by taking a life, would he actually be a hero? Or a murderer?

"Ponder upon that, boy. Then you shall realize who the real vill-" Uriel went limp with a quick chop to the neck. Clementine removed the stone around him so Terrick could carry the body to Yalsuri.

Clementine turned to look at Amaris, who stood there, gazing upon the coffin. "If you feel that conflicted then we will bring him to the guards. Besides, we will probably get more money if he's alive." Clementine laid her hand on his shoulder. "But you can't freeze up like that in situations like this. You will eventually have to make a decision. If you don't, I fear you may not survive."

With that, Terrick and Clementine started walking back towards the exit. Amaris watched their figures disappear in the darkness as he stood there. He returned his gaze to the girl's dead body.

A few minutes later, he left too. Carrying two coffins with him. The girls and his metaphorically coffin. Because he vowed, he would never ever stoop down to the level of a common thug. He would rise above the rest and show everyone that kindness and justice aren't mutually exclusive.

And he wasn't dumb nor naive. He knew that having these beliefs were costly. They could result in the death of himself and even his friends. They won't respect him for it, but he made a promise. Not only to himself, but to the world.

And he has to see it through.

He must not fail.