Chp.39: The end of the attack

BLAM!

When Sisna's fist collided for the umpteenth time with Thornag's arms, which the man had promptly raised to defend his head, it generated a powerful shock wave that kicked up the dust in a radius of several meters. The man grit his teeth and threw her away, but soon after Maleficent attacked him from behind and he barely had time to dodge, but he didn't quite succeed and the woman opened a long wound on his right side.

"Come on! Is this the best the mightiest warrior of the Jurao Kingdom can do?" Sisna scoffed. "Apparently the stories about the extraordinary abilities of you legendary levels are… well, just stories. Maybe you have a little more power than the others, but without that you can be cornered like any mere mortal!"

Glausar and Jatara appeared behind Thornag with their daggers and brought them down hard; aiming at the head; the man managed to raise his fists to defend himself and through the divine power he tried to tear them away, so as to regain at least one weapon, but while he was doing it Sisna hit him in the left leg making him stagger and allowing her two sisters to leave.

Thornag moved to a safe distance and gasped deeply. That situation was really bad for him. Weakened as he was, he wasn't even able to react to the constant attacks of those evil women. The wounds they were inflicting on him weren't as deep as they would have been inflicted on an ordinary mortal using the same amount of force, but they still hurt, and he couldn't even heal them since he couldn't afford to waste divine power. For the first time in a long time, Thornag was being injured by individuals who weren't legendary levels.

Suddenly he noticed that Glausar's legs were shaking slightly and that the woman was panting. Her guard was slightly off. He immediately seized the opportunity: he lunged at her and converged his divine power in his fist, and he hit her on the head with all the power at his disposal. The woman's skull exploded and for a moment Thornag felt a sense of triumph, but it was short-lived as soon after he felt something pierce his chest; he looked down and saw that the woman's hands had moved and they had planted in his belly. Even though they were only hands he clearly felt extremely long nails digging into his flesh, as if they were claws. Glausar gave a few spasms, then the body fell lifeless to the ground.

'What? How did she even move after that…UNGH!'. Thornag's thought was cut short when Jatara appeared from behind him and thrust her knife into his neck. She had made herself invisible and taking advantage of his distraction had attacked him secretly. Thornag pushed her away and backed away, using his divine power to mend the wound, but he soon found that he felt even weaker than before. "No way... more poison...?"

"Obviously. It's not as powerful as the hydra's, but don't worry, we made sure it could keep you at bay" Sisna replied. The poison they had imbued their daggers with was a poisoning potion they had obtained from the criminal organization 'The Spider': it was extremely powerful and as such was also illegal. On top of that, they'd added a little dragon's blood to it, making it even more deadly. Despite it couldn't be compared to hydra venom, when injected in the right amounts even a legendary level's body would begin to wobble.

Thornag grit his teeth in fury. Every second that passed he grew weaker and those women cornered him more and more. Well, at least she had gotten one result: now there were one less of them… wait a minute. He glanced at the body and found that the corpse was no longer that of a woman, but a strange jumble of pieces of various creatures. Her hands, still dripping with blood, had turned into what looked like feline claws. That's how she had hurt him! "What... What the...?"

Sisna ignored him and nodded to Maleficent, who nodded and threw a potion of fire on the corpse, burning it rapidly. None of them seemed the least bit upset by their companion's death. In fact, it almost seemed as if they didn't even consider it relevant. "Seriously, what kind of monsters are you!?" Thornag screamed.

"Phew, how boring you are. I've told you a thousand times already that we won't reveal our identities, yet you keep asking us" Sisna grumbled shaking her head, then suddenly something seemed to catch her attention. Thornag noticed it too. In the distance, among the roofs of the city, a faint glow was glimpsed for an instant.

Thornag didn't understand what it was, but Sisna must have understood it very well, for the smile on her face grew extremely wide. But this time it wasn't a mocking or malicious smile, but a smile of pure triumph, victory... almost happiness. "It's done! We did it, sisters! We won!" she exclaimed, and for a moment her voice almost sounded like a little girl who had just received a new toy. The other women cheered in turn and almost embraced in delight. Thornag found the behavior horribly disturbing, but what concerned him most was the fact that they seemed to have gotten what they wanted; but what was it, exactly?

However, an instant later, it was as if a second sun had appeared above them: a huge mass of flames appeared in the sky heading at full speed towards them. Thornag clenched his fists, expecting this to be another attack from his opponents, but instead a jet of flames emerged from the fireball and aimed at the women. Sisna sensed the danger just in time and dodged, but all the others were reduced to ashes.

The fireball stopped in midair and then dissolved, revealing a being with its head wrapped in a mane of flame. Thornag's eyes widened: this was clearly a spirit! Of course, Hara must have summoned him and sent him to help as soon as she managed to resolve the situation at the academy! He too had thought of summoning a spirit, but unfortunately he was too debilitated to attempt it without risking his life. Therefore, even though he would normally be annoyed if someone interfered in his battle, Hara's help was welcome this time.

Sisna lost her smile for a moment. "And what kind of fucking nuisance are you!?" she snapped as soon as she saw the spirit, and she lunged at him to attack, but he reduced her to ashes as he had done with the others.

Thornag heaved a sigh of relief as he saw her disappear. "Thanks for the help" he said to the spirit.

He nodded. "My name is Ifrit, and you don't have to thank me. I just did my duty to obey and protect the chosen ones of my mistress" he replied flatly.

Thornag inspired deeply. His whole body ached. "Could you heal me?"

"I'm sorry, it's not within my powers" Ifrit replied shaking his head. "I'm not a healing spirit"

Thornag snorted. Even though he'd expected that answer, it was still annoying to know that the spirit wouldn't help him. At least now that those cursed women were dead he could take his time to heal and cleanse his body of poison. About those women... "Do you know who those girls were? It almost seemed like they didn't fear death"

"Because they weren't alive" Ifrit replied.

Thornag's eyes widened. "What? What does it mean?"

"They were just corpses reanimated and controlled remotely as if they were puppets" the spirit answered. "That's why they didn't fear death. Even though I destroyed their bodies, they are still alive and safe, presumably far from here"

Thornag's mind flashed back to the moment he had seen Glausar's corpse transform from a woman to a hideous monstrous creature, before Jatara set it on fire. Now everything was explained... that's why those women were not upset by the death of their partner... that's why they weren't afraid to face him... they weren't physically there. "I saw one of them destroy the body of one of her companions" he told Ifrit. "Did they do it because otherwise we could trace the source of the magical connection?"

The spirit seemed to reflect on it. "It is possible. However, there is also the possibility that they wanted to hide something. For example, I wonder how they managed to create such a perfect disguise. They clearly used light magic, but this is the first time I have seen such perfect illusions that they are even maintained during a battle. The individuals behind this attack must have possessed a concentration far superior to that of ordinary mortals..."

Thornag narrowed his eyes. The more he tried to explain what had happened, the more intricate and incomprehensible the situation became. However, it was clear that the individuals who had masterminded this attack were very dangerous people. Not only had they been nearly able to defeat him, a legendary level, but according to Ifrit they must also have great knowledge in both necromancy and light magic, as well as enormous concentration. And we must not forget also that they possessed the poison of a hydra, a hydra which was also a calamity, and that consequently it was the monster slain by the dragon during the war against the Baudonia City Alliance. How did they get it? They must really have been a group full of resources. "Could you trace them?" he asked the spirit.

Ifrit shook his head. "Since they weren't using their real bodies, I have no idea what their soul is. I could try to trace the remnants of the magical connection, but it appears to have originated far, far away. I doubt I'll reach it before the my time in this world runs out"

Thornag nodded sympathetically. The spirits, like any other creatures that served the gods, couldn't remain in the mortal world for too long: their time was limited by the amount of divine power used to summon them. They generally stayed no longer than twenty or thirty minutes; and if Hara had been similarly debilitated to him, as she probably had, then the time would have been even less. If really the people who had organized that attack were very far away, then it was impossible for Ifrit to track them down and reach them before having to return to the realm of the goddess Heloisa.

Unfortunately, for the moment there was nothing Thornag could do. The best thing now was to recover, re-secure the city, and launch an investigation at a later date (although even the best detectives probably wouldn't be able to track down such a skilled group of people). He tried to get to his feet, but he found he was still too weak; it was better to wait and completely cleanse his body of poison. So since Ifrit was there, he might as well take advantage of it. "Go to the king" he ordered. "Let him know what happened here, and protect him until your time in this world is up"

Even if it was Hara who summoned Ifrit, he had a duty to obey the orders of every chosen one of the goddess Heloisa, and therefore also those of Thornag; therefore, he nodded and flew off in the direction of the noble district. Thornag wasn't sure how the king would react to seeing the spirit coming, but he doubted he would refuse his protection; and even if he had, Ifrit wasn't someone Marcus liked to give orders to. So, at least for the moment, Thornag could rest easy: the king was surely safe.

The man sat in the middle of the palace courtyard, trying to ignore the surrounding corpses and their stench. When he recovered, he would first have to search for survivors, then round up the bodies and have them identified so that they could be returned to their families. Then he was supposed to help the king reassure the population that the danger had passed, repair the damage and replace the armed forces that had been lost. And he would also have to have a new sword made, since the one he had before had been in Sisna's hands when Ifrit arrived and while it hadn't been melted down it was still terribly damaged.

"What a day" he grumbled, letting out a sigh of exhaustion.