Tales of Revenants

Chapter 66 – Dark Entity's Rites

The accumulating malefic magic surrounded the town with its epicenter at the plaza.

A dark torrent of malevolence acutely filled the fresh air with sinister. Laken, Luciella, and Alisa arrived at the scene where the valkyries flocked the source of chaos.

Eris was also at the frontline trying to figure out how to fix up the situation, "Eris! What's the current status?" Laken called out for her. Asking somebody present at the disturbance of the town is faster than trying to guess what is it.

She immediately recognized Laken's voice and flew where he is, "La– I mean masked man!" Eris purposely hid his identity to prevent further turmoil.

The place is already in a mess, the other valkyries will go haywire once they discovered a wanted man is present at the moment.

"There was a woman inside the torrent of darkness, I assume she was the current commander of the balakhian soldiers," Eris explained the state of the battlefield. The dark energy inside the accumulation of magic was a person who succumbed to the abyss.

"I can hear her crying... she was pleading for help!" Luciella tried to run towards the source of darkness when Laken grabbed her hands to stop her, "Keep calm Luciella! It's dangerous."

"But I need to..." Luciella stubbornly wanted to help at all costs but Laken gave him a powerful head-chop and said, "Listen here! We must not make haste okay? We should fix this up without involving danger to you."

He scolded Luciella for being too reckless. The unprecedented occurrence of such a tremendous amount of dark magic accumulating in a person is way too risky, even for Laken, let alone for Luciella.

"Is she your lover perhaps?" Eris blushed to hide away her jealousy.

"No! We are not!" Both Laken and Luciella synchronously didn't agree.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She apologizes in a giddy.

"Getting back, have any of you found a way to stop the person inside the source of chaos?" Laken gets back on his feet.

"We still haven't discovered any weakness, I know this shouldn't be–" Out of nowhere, the dwarf valkyrie butted in when Eris hasn't still finished talking yet, "Commander Eris! The energy is inflating to the point that it will blast out!"

"What?!" Everyone's startled on what they heard.

They thought it was just an accumulation of dark magic, now that Alisa recognizes the balakhian soldiers never use magic in the first place; there's only one possible deduction she can formulate on the premise that's been shown.

"I should have explained this sooner, but that whirling torrent of darkness will burst out and might erase half of the town! We must prevent it at all costs," Alisa warned them.

The plausibility of the current situation they are involved with and could lead to total annihilation.

"Brace yourselves! Eris, order the valkyries to form a formation, we will try to prevent the impact." Laken takes the command through Eris.

She doesn't understand what could ensue nor what could actually happen thereafter.

Eris blows the horn of war to get the attention of all valkyries, "Hold your shield valkyries! Surround the source of darkness at the distance of spear!" She boosted the morale of her comrades and did as what they are told.

The valkyries instantly enclosed the source of chaos in no time. However, Alisa confronted Eris as she didn't agree with her tactics, "No! You must retract the command and make a retreat, they are in danger!"

At first, Eris imagined she must be hearing things when there's no one in front of her. After all, she can't see Alisa's banshee. In spite of the confusion, she still replied with dignity and pride.

"We have the duty of protecting this town and we shall die for it." Eris's stubborn resolute won't budge even if her comrades or herself is in peril.

Amongst them, only Alisa knows the true terror their adversary brings. That's why she acts to make amends of not telling Laken and everyone the truth about the whirling abomination of chaos.

Alisa began to chant her necromantic magic to save the valkyries and possibly everyone in the town itself, "Death won't hinder justice, from protection to stronghold, arise my faithful servant! Summon Undead: Skeletal Paladin!"

The ground around the whirling darkness crumbles with ten towering ironclad skeletal paladins covered in armor about twenty feet have arisen from the soil. The skeletons pushed back the valkyries to safety and they overtake the defense with their gigantic golden sword and shield.

"Thunder Enchant!" Luciella supported by strengthening the skeletal's paladin defenses with electricity. It would also help the summons to strike back with an advance.

"It won't be enough! Order the valkyries to retreat at once!" Alisa persisted her point or else they're all screwed.

"Commander! The magic level is arising into a threshold that we can't handle, we need to retreat!" Even her loyal comrade Reya knows and understands the situation.

It may be too late, despite everything, she blows the horn of war and declared, "Retreat at once! I repeat, retreat at once–" she suddenly toppled over when the land tremors over. A wave of pulsating darkness suddenly erupted from the source of chaos.

They braced the unforeseen shock as Alisa commanded the skeletal paladins to strengthen their formation.

After a moment of seconds, the fleeting dread they felt became cautionary when the inflation of darkness exploded into a massive shock overflowing with dark magic.

The skeletal paladins are doing their best but their strength isn't unlimited to constantly accept the grinding collision.

Eris just imagined the gigantic skeletons are barely staying on their foot. She thought if she persisted and the valkyries defended on the front, they'd totally be vaporized into smithereens.

"My mana is running out, I can't continue to reanimate the undead paladins any further!" Alisa's roughly staying on her threshold. The amount of pressure is taking a toll on her spiritual form.

Her last drop of mana has depleted and the towering skeletal paladins started to crumble into dust. Eris and Laken had the idea of at least covering the front to sustain half of the impact.

They reckoned it was too late. Everything shall be consumed by the torrent of darkness. Eris completely saw how Laken's azure flames ignited on his right arm blazing his sword, lighting up the battlefield to a degree of warm impression.

Before Laken could even s***h his sword mid-air, a lightning flash circulated around the collision of the wave.

It all happened in the blink of a second. Four technomagic weapons have encompassed the entire discharge amidst the manifestation of immense photon barrier, in order to prevent the impact along with the flaring signal of a mechanoid defender.

"Maximum Energy Discharge: Iron Stronghold!" The advanced weapons Xenon utilized absorbed the force before it caught the valkyries and the rest.

Eirisse arrived at the disturbance with her fangs and claws revealed. She reasonably activated her Metamorphosis along the way and kept her round eyeglasses hidden.

"We arrived in the nick of time. Is everyone alright?" Eirisse's worried about the party's condition.

"We're alright thanks to you two, Alisa and Xenon," Laken replied.

"What is going on Alisa? I can read through your eyes that you fully understand the circumstances," Eirisse is keen when reading one's emotions. She sensed the antsy reaction inside Alisa's heart.

"Please tell us how to help her!" Luciella persevered to help the woman inside the whirling impure darkness. She can understand her pain and sorrow, the pulse wave was her heartbeat all along.

"I will tell you now..." Everyone and Eris listened to what Alisa has to confess while Xenon holds the forth.

"It was the process of corruption, the balakhian soldier inside the whirling hostility will become..." Before Alisa could continue her sentence, Laken seizes Luciella's arm and Eirisse eluded behind.

They did not expect a far greater adversary. Xenon has been propelled with great force causing him to be grounded on the flagstone pavement.

His exterior armor and left arm where he was holding his shield have been penetrated. The photon barrier may have strongly absorbed the intensity of impact, but the aftershock it brings rendered Xenon to a state of hibernation.

"I leave everything to you guys. Shutting down the system... Hibernation Mode." After activating the auto-repair mechanics of his body, Xenon went to sleep to somewhat save his remaining energy and left the remaining difficulty to his comrades.

"Arise, my loyal servant, Summon Undead: Skeletal Butler!" Alisa chanted a summon magic to order a specialized skeletal butler designed for labor to do her task.

She commanded the undead to carry Xenon's material form on a safe spot so he can have ample time to finish up the auto-repair functionality.

"Be on guard!" Laken has undertaken the frontline and face whoever it is that can render Xenon into hibernation.

They gritted their teeth with the amount of dark magic concentrated inside one person. What emerged before them was a woman with her shotgun rifle, from head to toe, corruption has fully taken over her core.

Everyone believes it won't be much worse, however, what they behold in front of them was the mark of an eye on her arm and her atrocious four-eyes that's dead white. She lost all her faith and reasoning.

Laken's rage didn't find any purpose when he saw what has become of the female balakhian soldier. Nevertheless, he ignited the azure flames on his hand burning with his sin and pride.

"The explosion earlier... was the part of her rites of becoming a Dark Entity!" Alisa finally worded out what she wanted to say before.

"Run... everyone... run..." The agonizing balakhian soldier was able to part her message before the corruption fully takes over. She lost control of herself and pinpointed her g*n towards Laken.

They can't believe she became an abomination of a Dark Entity. What they can't accept the most was the fact a person can succumb to the abyss to the point they can become a Nightbeast.

Laken grasps the sword of the undying burning with azure flames.

Luciella felt the animosity of the former human who became Dark Entity, along with the radiating light of hope the shards have given off.