Chapter 20: 20: Invasion-part 1

With our boots activated, we walk over the water and turn around the island to reach a gate in front of the water.

During the journey i adjust the ring on my ring finger, removing it and putting it on my middle finger, then I slip my hand into a pocket of my pants and grab a bottle from the pocket.

I think for a few moments whether I should use the eye drops, assessing the risk of them losing their effect in the midst of the conflict, then I end up deciding not to use them.

We reach the large gate and Assan opens his wings.

“I will wait for the signal,” Assan then flies up into the air.

“Seth, you go ahead to protect us, Saulo stay behind to shoot, I will stay in the middle, understood?”

Saulo nods and Seth gives a smile, then he punches the golden gate with his right fist causing it to fly out.

“All we needed was a joke about hitting it.”

“I don’t like such bad jokes, sister.”

Seth enters the tunnel ahead, and I follow him. Saulo takes a little longer to enter due to nervousness, but I give a slight shout, signaling him to come.

“Sorry!” I wave my hand, indicating it isn`t a problem.

As we enter the tunnel, the view is similar to a tomb—a large corridor of white marble, similar to Greek and Roman temples. The walls have stone torches with purple flames lit on them.

“The torches are the first defense mechanism, be careful you two,” Seth extends his hand to the side, and it begins to enlarge as he murmurs something.

The rock of his body transforms, taking the shape of a spherical shield made of rocks, about ninety centimeters in diameter.

Seth then begins to walk in front with the shield raised, ready in case an attack comes from the torches. I, on the other hand, grab each torch we pass by and move the ring over the fire, absorbing the torch’s flames.

We do this with approximately twelve torches, three on each side of the corridor.

“Wasn’t the mage Chinese?” Seth and I stop walking and look at Saulo after his question.

“Based on the information we have, yes, he’s Chinese. The materials used aren’t unusual since we are in Venice.”

“Makes sense, I’ll focus!” We resumed walking until we reached a brown door with a golden symbol painted on it, the Alpha.

“Alright, this is definitely strange. Saulo, be careful,” Seth grabs the doorknob. I remove the whip from my waist, along with the pistol, just in case the mage is hiding behind it.

Seth opens the door, and what we see makes the least bit of sense.

The entire environment consists of a large spiral of purple energy descending into the underground. Large pieces of white marble float in the air, forming a kind of staircase. There are also tunnels, marble spheres, and within the staircase, small tornadoes of energy float, destroying anything that falls into them.

“But what the hell am I looking at?” I move closer to Seth who is on the edge, observing the entire scene. A large piece of marble beside us hints at where to begin descending. Saulo arrives shortly after.

“Is this normal?” Seth and I turn around, facing Saulo.

“No, Saulo, it’s definitely not normal.”

I sheathe the pistol and then raise my hand with the ring, releasing a small flame downward that falls toward the underground. I wait to hear a sound of impact, but it never happens.

“Okay, either there’s no bottom, or it’s too deep. A mage wouldn’t normally be able to do this.”

“Maybe it’s a side effect of the summoning ritual?”

“That wouldn’t be at this level,” I put my hand on my chin, deep in thought.

Perhaps some ancient god’s aid? I click my tongue and walk toward the marble to start descending.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Miss Cassiel, what are you going to do?”

“Standing around won’t solve anything. We’ll just follow the plan and go to the bottom.”

“Understood,” after Saulo answer, I jump onto the marble which remains static in the air, with Seth following shortly after but Saulo stays on the edge.

“Hurry up, kid.”

“Aren’t we supposed to go out and warn Sachiel?”

“We’re already inside. Let’s go,” Saulo takes a deep breath and jumps onto the platform, then we begin our descent.

We descend slowly to avoid slipping, staying close together for safety and support.

Each piece of marble is approximately five meters wide at the beginning and forms a steep descent, but gradually they increase in size.

When we reach the fifteenth marble, which is large enough to be a big platform, we hear a roar.

Looking up, we see a wolf Yoguai holding onto a piece of marble, but it’s not normal.

The Yoguai now has a pair of pure flesh wings on its back, eyes scattered all over its head and a mouth on its forehead. And it was not alone.

Above the Yoguai, several others are holding onto the ceiling taking different shapes—some no longer resemble wolves, having been transformed into lions, tigers and even beings with fish heads, extra organs and deformed features.

I swallow hard at the sight and grip the whip’s handle. I then begin a countdown of three with my fingers.

At the end of the count, I grab Saulo and throw him onto Seth’s shoulders, then we run down.

The Yoguai up high roars and the group lunges in our direction. The flesh wings open releasing a dark liquid. The creatures cling to pieces of marble and throw themselves at us.

“Saulo, it’s better to cover us, got it?!” The boy blinks, chants a prayer,and opens the case, grabbing his bow. He then shoots a lightning arrow.

The arrow hits one of the Yoguais in the shoulder and sticks into a marble above, the creature screaming in pain.

One of the Yoguais reaches us three and tries to claw Saulo, but I catch him in midair with the whip and throw him into one of the energy whirlpools between the marbles, destroying him.

“Jump!” Seth and I leap from the marble, strengthening our legs with the Shekinah, passing over the whirlpool, landing on the next step, and running again.

Two Yoguais fall in front of us. “Seth, left!”

The Yoguai on the left jumps at Seth and strikes with a sword, but he defends by putting the shield in front. Then I fire two purple fireballs at the Yoguais, which fall in flames on the ground, screaming. I only have nine left.

Listening to the screams of the Yoguais behind us I stop running and turn around while shouting, “Keep going, it'll only take a moment!” Seth just continues running.

“You carry them like a stream of water; they are like sleep; they are like the grass that grows at dawn; at dawn, it grows and blooms; in the afternoon, it’s cut by the drought,” the Shekinah fills my body, and then I perform a whip strike against the Yoguais. Normally, a whip attack hits at the speed of sound.

But with the Psalm 90:5 prayer, the attack speed increases tremendously. In an instant, I perform five strikes with the whip, releasing waves of water that form a wall of water against the Yoguais, hitting most of the group and knocking them down. Several fall into pieces of marble while some fall into the whirlpools and are destroyed.

I immediately start running again, more Yoguais flying toward us and those who fell into the marble beginning to get up with little damage to their bodies. The attack didn’t have much effect and probably only eliminated five or six Yoguais.

What a shit situation! I keep running as the sound of the Yoguais’ screams echo in my ears, mentally grateful I didn’t use the eye drops.

I leap to reach the next marble—Seth and Saulo already passed this one. Amid the landing, I feel something grabbing my body and look down. Ropes of a black liquid are wrapped around my arms and begin to lift me, carried by a Yoguai flying above.

Damn it! A lightning arrow then flies and hits the Yoguai in the forehead, piercing through it. The ropes dissolve, and I fall toward the void.

I swing the whip toward the marble I was trying to jump onto; the weapon binds to the marble and then I use a short prayer to summon a bit of wind to push me forward, throwing myself ahead.

I fall toward a lower marble while I hear Seth calling my name. I land kneeling on the marble and do a somersault to soften the impact, but a strong pain fills my right leg.

I fall sitting on the marble, groaning in pain and grab my leg with my hands, letting the whip fall to my side.

Looking at my leg, a bump has appeared near my knee; the bone has broken in the fall.

Son of a! I contort on the ground with the pain while biting my lips, then I squeeze the broken bone and force the pieces back into place inside my leg. Afterward, I lie on the ground, waiting for Seth to arrive.

Unfortunately, that wouldn’t be a viable option, because two Yoguais appear climbing up the marble on either side of where I’m fallen.

These Yoguais don’t have wings, but spider legs protrude from their backs. Their heads have been replaced from wolf to bull.

Even if I manage to get up, I won’t be able to run. Damn it, I sit on the ground and extend the ring in front of me, then I say, “esh.”

Purple flames emerge from the ring and take the shape of a wall of fire around me. I close my eyes to avoid seeing the fire. This consumes two charges, so I only have seven left.

I stay seated inside the barrier with my eyes closed. The two Yoguais reach the barrier and start attacking it with their spider legs. The sound of the flames colliding with their bodies echoes in my ears, and I move my hands to cover them.

More Yoguais are approaching, the flapping of wings gets closer, as do the claws climbing the marble. I breathe deeply.

10, 9, 8, 7—the Yoguais reach the barrier and strike it with their claws. Some back away after contact due to burns.

6, 5, 4—the hits echo louder; the barrier begins to shrink toward me to reduce the energy cost of maintaining it, cracks forming.

3, 2, 1—the cracks grow larger, like glass shattering in a chain reaction from a single point; the barrier is about to break.

0—a breach forms in the barrier. One of the bull-headed Yoguais drives its darkened arm scorched by flames into the barrier and advances toward me.

“Lessharof,” in an instant, the world around me is consumed in flames.