Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

Since the incident with the mace almost turning her face to paste, Snow had moved a lot more carefully on the battlefield. It took her time to adjust her fighting style to be quicker and less methodical. Focusing all of her energy into killing a single target worked well for stealth and assassinations, but in a large-scale battle, some of that attention needed to be shared with special awareness.

Desmond sighed with relief when he noticed she had evolved her methods quickly. Though he was not fully settled and still kept a spare eye on her in the event of her needing another assist. The Earth Mages continued to exhaust themselves and the dam grew every closer to completion. By this point, the enemy had given up in trying to attack them and simply waited for the construction to finish.

Desmond did his best to use the lull in their need for defense to gather and recover as much mana and strength as he could. He figured that the moment they finished the last section of earth that the other side would probably rush along the top and start fighting a second battle there.

Desmond was not fully prepared for it, but would need to do his best to hold them off long enough for the basin behind the construct to fill with plenty of water. Once that happened…

"Lord Adler! The last stone is in place! Here they come!"

Dozens of warriors jumped up to the top of the dam, where he awaited them with his spear prepared. No one attempted to fire spells or arrows anymore after they realized that most of the forces were mages and could prevent their efforts from succeeding. However, Desmond appeared to be the lone warrior among them.

He gulped as he prepared to face his attackers. The first of which was a massive elf that stood nearly a foot taller than him. He wielded a two-handed hammer with a single hand. Behind him, two more men with great swords approached with faces eager for blood. Desmond stood alone as the sole vanguard against their advance.

He quickly twirled his spear before pointing the main tip directly at the largest of the three advancing fighters.

Several of the mages began casting spells at the other fighters, preventing them from moving up to join too quickly. Though they had to lower the output of their spells so their hard work would not be undone. With a quick glance into the basin that had begun to fill with water, Desmond launched into battle, leaving behind a puff of dust.

The massive elf quickly brought his weapon to absorb the impact of the spearhead that had been aimed directly at his heart. Desmond quickly retracted, and with a small flourish, spun around and attempted to jab under the elf's arm with the smaller spear tip at the rear of his weapon.

The hit was knocked away with a simple swat of the warrior's hand. This was a feint, though, as Desmond brought his fist into his opponent's jaw with a swift uppercut. The impact left Desmond's arm slightly numb while his enemy simply smiled and punched him in the gut.

He had hoped to save more mana, but it seemed unlikely that any of his normal attacks would break through the large man's defenses. As he jumped back, the other two soldiers advanced and swung their weapons where he had once been standing.

""[Sword Arts: Aura Blade]""

They both cast the same Art at once and two arcs of golden mana bore down on Desmond. Using the spear as a lever, he stuck it into the ground before catapulting into the air. He spun around in the air and lashed out at one of them with a palm strike. "[Brawler Arts: Force Palm]"

The strike connected with the man's chest. Mana that had condensed in an instant within Desmond's palm. Once the man and his palm made contact, it exploded outward. As if he were a puppet with its strings cut, the elf was sent limply flying into the air before snapping his neck on the drying up riverbed below.

Desmond felt the hair on his neck stand up as the large elf swung his hammer directly at his head. "[Hammer Arts: Heavy Impact]"

Without the ability or reaction time to dodge, Desmond opted to jump and change the impact zone from his head to his chest. Metal shards scattered through the air, accompanied by a significant amount of blood. Desmond's vision darkened for a moment and was filled with stars. The impact threw him several dozen feet backwards, thankfully not throwing him off of the dam itself.

Once Desmond skid to a stop, he attempted to rise to his feet. The enemy was closing in on him rapidly, but his body was refusing to listen. Several cracking sensations cascaded through his chest. It was almost certain that he had broken several ribs. Snapping his fingers, Desmond initiated the Recall enchantment on his whole spear. It instantly vanished and reappeared in his hand.

Using it as a prop, he rose to his feet to meet the remaining two warriors. The mages continued to keep the other fighters at bay, though by this point they had created small cracks in the structure. Though it was being damaged by the spells and fighting, it was still holding strong.
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The fighting was also getting too intense for any of the Earth Mages who still had mana left to get close enough to start any form of repair.

Desmond noticed the end of his spear was glowing again. He quickly brought it into a throwing position before initiating an Art. "[Spear Arts: Pierce]!" As he threw the spear with the Art enhancement, he also activated the explosive thrust of the enchantment.

The weapon sped away faster than a Thunder spell with enough force that it nearly knocked Desmond to the ground again. Barely keeping his balance, he quickly brought his fist up to a ready position.

By this point, the sounds of spells and shouts of soldiers fighting appeared to be filtered through water. Every movement seemed to be followed by a phantom blur. He could feel blood trickling from somewhere, and though he could not identify from where he was bleeding, he could feel his undershirt become wet and sticky.

The world spun around him; his feet unsteady, as though he would topple any second. Desmond took a shaky step forward, resolute in finishing the task that Lucius gave him. The basin behind the dam was still filling. Though they did not need it to reach the top of the rocky structure, the taller the water got, the better the result would be.

"You're a tough customer. I respect your gusto, but you die here." The large elf said while pointing his hammer at Desmond.

Desmond gave his best smile. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth, giving him a rather pathetic look. Yet, he still smiled. "Give it your best shot."

Desmond and the elves charged at one another. He raised his fist, preparing mana for an Art. Without warning, Snow appeared at his side. She quickly grabbed around his waist before the world suddenly changed. Everyone vanished, but they still stood at the top of the dam. The water below continued to rise and the surrounding air seemed to be filled with a strange black dust or mist.

Snow's breathing was ragged and sweat poured down her face. It seemed she had expended a lot of energy disengaging and coming to his side. The corners of her blue irises were slowly darkening. They were no longer a pale blue, but started turning almost black.

"I can't do this for long. Quick, take this before I eject us from this space."

Snow quickly passed him a potion, which he gladly drank. It tasted awful. The flavor almost reminded him of how a wet dog smelled. Despite its awful taste, it was an immensely helpful item; a powerful healing potion. Almost immediately, the blurry vision and copper taste on his tongue vanished.

The bones in Desmond's chest also itched as they tried to heal themselves. There would be no rest for them, unfortunately, but a small level of reprieve was better than nothing. Snow grasped onto his arm before raising a questioning eyebrow.

Desmond nodded in approval after returning to his ready position. The sounds of battle returned once more, no longer muffled, as the world faded around them.

The large elf was looking around, confused, giving Desmond a small opening to start an attack. He lunged with an open palm and acted as though he would start another [Force Palm]. The elf smirked and dodged the strike that was aiming for his face. Once Desmond's hand flew past the man's face, he snapped his finger and re-engaged the Recall feature.

Corva's wonderful creation appeared in his hands. Desmond quickly gripped it with both hands and braced the shaft against the back of the elf's head, using it as leverage to pull a knee strike directly into his opponent's nose.

The sudden appearance of the weapon threw the elf off his tempo and the strike landed solidly on his face, forcing blood to gush from his nose. Desmond used the elf's chest as a springboard to launch backward, wincing at the harsh movement's effects on his broken ribs.

The large elf roared in anger and began another charge. As he closed the distance, at about half the coverage, his eyes shot wide open. His run slowed to a walk, and he slumped to one knee before falling forward, blood pooling around his body. Attached to his back was Snow, who used the opportunity to sever his spinal cord.

"Debt repaid." She smiled.