Flower of Darkness (2)

Lord Kieran could see that Iris was struggling to remain calm. For someone who's never been in tune with her magic, Iris surely was oblivious to how odd she was, even for a magus. The demon lord couldn't surmise what kind of elemental magic Iris had affinity with, but one thing was sure—she was able to perform creation magic, something that not many maguses nor darklings were capable of.

For this reason, he wanted to test how much control she had over her seemingly overflowing mana and how it would respond to her. She didn't have a magical crest that would identify her heritage, nor did she have any proper education on magecraft. The demon lord believed that she would have to rely more on her magic if she truly wanted to survive in Asnar.

He watched as Iris took a steadying breath, willing herself to calm down before drawing the bow, pulling the string as far as she could. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized that the resisting pressure was far stronger than what she was accustomed to, but she kept her pose.

Iris kept her movements minimal and efficient, telling the demon lord that her experience with hunting was decent enough for her to use the weapon he just handed to her. Her eyes then shifted ahead of them, her green eyes glowing as her magic responded to her call.

"I see it." She whispered, but loud enough for Lord Kieran to hear.

He saw her tremble as she sat on top of his steed, face blanched with fear as she looked at something. What could she have seen for her to react this way?

Lord Kieran followed his gaze and cursed inwardly. No wonder this human suddenly became afraid. Hundreds of meters ahead of them, a darkling dressed in a priest robe with golden crown leaf was leading the second swarm. It was mounted on an obviously dead black horse with blazing red eyes.

The second swarm grew closer while Aiden and his troop engaged with the previous one. As soon as he saw what was heading their way, he made a sound of disapproval.

"Come on. That's basically cheating!" He yelled. "A necromancer? Really?"

This only meant that no matter how many times they slashed and defeated the other darklings, as long as there was a necromancer leading them, they would rise from the ground and draw their weapons again. He slashed the last Night Critter obstructing his way and joined his lord and the magus.

"Don't get distracted. If you aren't able to kill it in one shot, then it only means your magic has no effect on it." Lord Kieran told Iris as he summoned several swords midair, waving his left hand down for her to see. Hundreds of blades descended from the night sky like falling rain, stabbing the Night Critters at the same time.

"Just like that, but use your own magic." He added.

"I can just call as many arrows as I need?" The demon lord heard her ask.

"It relies on how much mana and control you have. Projection magic requires high magical energy, so you would have to be certain and efficient to make sure whatever things or weapons you need will materialize."

Aiden furrowed his brow and rested his long sword over his armored shoulder. He looked at his liege and Iris with a confused expression, wondering why Lord Kieran was wasting his time giving the magus a crash course in performing Projection Magic. They should be thinking of a way to defeat the necromancer by now.

'It's a necromancer. I doubt that Lady Iris's magic would be able to defeat it.' He thought.

Even Lord Kieran would have a hard time dealing with a necromancer, because he would need to destroy every piece of its body until it turned into dust to make sure that it wouldn't be able to revive itself. So how could a mere magus with no proper training kill a High Night Critter?

Also, the amount of magical energy a magus can release at one time was restricted by its body's limitations. This was why there were many magi who lost their lives being devoured by the overwhelming mana they were born with, because they weren't able to contain it unlike darklings could. Maguses who were born from the union of a darkling and a human had a higher rate of survival compared to those who were born from humans.

The second swarm crept closer and to be able to stop them from obstructing Iris, Lord Kieran concentrated his magical energy on the fingertips of his left hand until it created five small black orbs before firing it towards their enemies.

The Night Critters on the front lines fell one after another from the demon lord's attack while Iris concentrated her attention, by pulling the string of the bow, imagining herself holding an arrow that could strike the necromancer's head.

Suddenly, she felt something warm tingling at the ends of her fingers that were holding the string. It didn't take long before an apparition of what seemed to be an arrow appeared in her hand, its pointed end rested slightly on her left hand that was holding the bow in place.

Iris fired the arrow as soon as she saw an opening as Lord Kieran continued his attack. The arrow found itself embedded in the chest of the high Night Critter, who was slightly confused by what had hit it. It whirled its head towards Iris and even though its eye sockets didn't have actual eyes in them, it made Iris shudder in fear.

Aiden was about to make a comment, but stopped midway as the High Night Critter suddenly collapsed and fell from its horse. The Night Critters around it were frozen in place as it struggled to get up. Black thorned vines sprouted from the point that Iris's arrow hit, and a low growl reverberated from the High Night Critter as she prepared for another shot.