All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 337: What's For Dinner

Even after repeatedly rubbing her tongue with her shirt to cleanse it, Bee still couldn't get the taste of what she'd done out of her mouth. She would have liked to rinse her mouth out with some water, but there was no time. She had to chase down the fleeing Death Knight. After seeing what she did to the Witch Doctor, it had quite understandably turned and ran. Normally, she would have considered it an overreaction. It was a much higher level than her, after all. But maybe it could sense that she'd closed that gap now.

Despite its full suit of heavy armor and massive shield, it was still faster than her. It was only because of her flying carpet that she was able to keep up. Thankfully, sitting atop the plush rectangle gave her a chance to calm her roiling stomach. Though getting the Witch Doctor inside of her had been one thing, getting it transmuted was an entirely different one. She felt bloated and uncomfortable even after the fact, a testament to how much mass she'd had to choke down. But fixing her gastric distress would have to wait.

Her quarry wasn't heading in a straight line; rather, it was just trying to shake off her pursuit. The Nighty Knights had fanned out, and she was attempting to herd it into their midst. But the few times they had managed to get close, the Nighty Knights had been too spread out to have enough impact to really slow it down. But if they bunched up too much, they couldn't cover enough ground for her to trap it. Still, they were slowly having an impact; though the thing's regeneration was insane, it hadn't helped the Witch Doctor.

Bee was about ready to send the Nighty Knights away and regroup. As much as she didn't want to leave it alone, they weren't having any luck chasing down the Lieutenant. Maybe their efforts would be better spent assisting Lord Void from a distance with any ranged abilities they had. She knew her master was still fighting, even if she couldn't see the conflict itself. The flashes of light and loud rumbles filled the sky over the mountains. The pair must have been miles away at this point, the sheer power of their battle still occasionally shaking the ground beneath them.

That gave her some pause. She didn't have much hope in their ability to help in a battle between two gods. But with enough distance and numbers, maybe some concentrated fire could tip the battle.

Or maybe they would just make things harder on Void by giving it something to defend. Even if that did happen, though, there was no reason they couldn't fall back.

It wasn't just idle hope and optimism on Bee's side, either. She'd gained quite a number of levels from taking out that Witch Doctor, after all. Apparently, the system decided that completely destroying one extremely high-level Lieutenant with help only from lower-ranked people warranted a significant amount of experience. She'd jumped up almost a dozen levels to reach level 75 in the blink of an eye.

She hadn't made her skill choices yet, but a quick glance hadn't shown anything that would be immediately useful in the current fight. But she was excited for some of them in the future. Ruler's Decree was a standard monarchy skill, but it was one she had been hoping to get. The choices for 70 were less spectacular. So, for the moment, she dismissed them until after the Death Knight was dealt with.

Real quickly, though, she had to deal with the level 75 class change.

LEVEL 75 REACHED! CHOOSE A CLASS: ARCHPREISTESS, HERALD OF SPOT, SPOT'S PRODIGY.

Bee chose the last one. How could she not? Power and a wave of new sensations flooded into her mind, but she pushed them aside to sort through later; she didn't have the time.

The real thing she cared about was the stats. The jump had given her enough speed and strength that she had confidence facing it this time, and it seemed to know it. Even as she attempted to cut off the Lieutenant's pursuit with launched vials of alchemy concoctions and holy water, she noticed something coming from the far side of the fortress they had initially invaded: a new opponent.

The bone Lich rode at the head of an army of lesser demons mixed in with various more powerful demonic entities. Scanning their levels, she realized that it wouldn't be anywhere near as simple to take care of as the first time. But the bigger concern was that the Lich wouldn't be as easy to deal with as any of the other Lieutenants. Then it was destroyed. It didn't stick around for her to consume. Instead, it would probably return to its phylactery like it had last time.

Fortunately, it wasn't all bad news. If Bee had been counting correctly, there weren't that many Lieutenants left to face. Void had killed several, and if Tony got one and she got one, there were likely only four remaining in total. Considering that Daedalus and Tony were handling two of them, it really felt like they were in the home stretch. Even better, the speed with which the Lich had returned to the battle meant its phylactery must be nearby.

As she attempted to chase after the Death Knight, it stopped, and it became clear that he wasn't fleeing but baiting a trap. A flood a demons appeared behind it as it turned to face them. As she and the Nighty Knights gathered to face this new threat, she decided to put her Improved Pathing to the test. With a quick thought, she focused on the idea of finding where the Lich had come from.

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A moment later, a glowing line sprang into existence, leading off behind the incoming army. Taking things a step further, she used the All-Seeing Eye skill, and her vision temporarily zoomed into the center of the mountain. There, a glowing crystal ball sat on a pedestal surrounded by lava.

Perhaps it wouldn't be as difficult to find as she had feared. But then she saw the line led them right through the demon army.

“Nighty Knights! Form up!”

—

Archibald looked back over his shoulder at Tony sitting behind him. It had taken nearly twenty minutes of watching their pace and arguing with the dragon, but eventually, he relented and agreed to let Tony aboard for the flight.

Neither Tony nor Daedalus were exactly thrilled about this, of course. Why wasn't Tony thrilled? Despite the other guy's impressive skills, he just didn't have the magical stamina to make the long trip back to the Barleonan capital. Not while keeping the same pace as the two Lieutenants ahead of them.

The demons had surged in power a little while back and gotten even faster, to the point where Daedalus had to try quite hard to keep up with them. Still, despite their increase in potency, they hadn't changed strategies and were still heading for the city that was now on the horizon. Evidently, their power wasn't enough to keep them from running with their tails between their legs.

Daedalus beat his wings in a steady rhythm, but Archibald could tell that they were getting a bit more labored. He could also could feel the tightness in the joints supporting them through his bond. The dragon would make it to the city, alright. They might not make it first, though. That meant Arthur would have to hold on just long enough for backup to arrive.

That made them all a bit nervous. Hopefully, as soon as he saw the Lieutenants approaching, the grizzled veteran would also see the massive dragon behind it and understand what was happening. Still, despite the tense situation, having the Lieutenants on the run was an extremely satisfactory feeling.

Archibald pulled out a crystal and held it between his hands. It was one of his more flexible, recently acquired skills. As he flung the crystal forward, a beam of light flashed out from his outstretched palm and lined up with the crystal before continuing on to intercept the Lieutenants. It slowed them down fractionally, but they spiraled and dived underneath, and he wasn't able to readjust his aim quick enough for the effect to last. Still, they had gained a couple of seconds in the maneuver.

He's used the skill a few times during the chase, but not too much. He wished he had been able to do that more, but he only had so much magical energy to spare, especially if he wanted to be able to fight at full capacity when they got there.The three-on-two situation was still advantageous, but it was going to get messy soon er rather than later.

As the Lieutenants dipped down toward the city, Tony leaped off of Daedalus' back and zipped ahead in an attempt to blindside the two Lieutenants. Hopefully, it would buy them a bit more time. Even a handful of seconds would be enough for the dragon and his rider to catch up. Just as Tony was about to collide with the demons, though, a flurry of arrows filled the sky, arcing up from the wall and peppering the Lieutenants. Unfortunately, neither of these was particularly hampered by arrows, most of them passing through the incorporeal forms of shadow and air. But Archibald spotted several arrows that had glowing energy around them, which actually did strike home.

The assault was nowhere near enough to stop the incoming attackers. But they did help as a distraction. As Tony smacked aside the wind lieutenant, the two turned to engage the custodian.

Tony's glow of magic surrounded him, and Daedalus reared back and gathered breath in his mouth. The billowing flames shot through the air, arcing over the city in a curtain of rainbow light.

---

Arthur watched alongside many of his commanders as the five unimaginably powerful combatants clashed over his battlefield. The unexpected strength of the demons had certainly taken them by surprise, but in the end, it hadn't been enough to stop him. They had received far more casualties than he had hoped when they took the city, but they had mostly managed to stabilize the situation. The last pockets of resistance were mainly the castle, which was only partially repaired from Daedalus's last visit, and a few other fortified keeps that the nobility had kept.

Otherwise, the city had been scoured of most demonic influence. Some of the more helpful local citizens, adventurers, and anyone with classes had even pitched in to remove any summoning circles that had been left. Most stayed in the safety of their homes.

Still, a trickle of reinforcements poured from the three keeps and the palace where summoning circles were still intact. It was enough to make it not quite worth taking them yet, not until the hold in the city was completely rock solid. Then, they could bring full might to bear on each one of the targets and crush them with minimal losses. But the two Lieutenants in the sky above threatened to change all that.

Arthur ordered another volley, and arrows filled the sky once more. This time, though, every single one of them was empowered by some magic or skill. The few archers who didn't have their own magical shots had received buffs from many of the support troops. And while the arrows themselves might not do much, it would at least help provide openings for the others.

The wind demon mostly redirected the arrows back into his troops. Arthur watched with worry and pride as the healers jumped into action. Despite their best effort, they would lose a lot of people. Still, they couldn't give up.

The wave of arrows hadn't been useless. They distracted the demon just enough that the dragon fire nicked it. The sound of crackling energy filled the air like that of a thunderstorm. Arthur watched as the dragon dove in further, and Tony whirled away from his own opponent. All three of Arthur's allies converged on the one Lieutenant, and with a flurry of power that obscured his view, quickly all separated. The Lieutenant, being nowhere near left to see the last remaining Lieutenant, started to fly over the city walls. As fast as it had been approaching the city as it tried to get away, Arthur had a suspicion it wouldn't last very long.