Kill The Extra-Chapter 54: Midterm Examination [7]

Sasha pressed her palm to the rough bark of the crimson leafed tree. She was fighting a battle in her heart. The memory of the cold steel and stunned students played across her mind like a broken mirror. She inhaled and slowly swallowed the guilt and the fear.

’Was it worth it?’

A question came to her mind but her pulse thundered as she replayed Ryker’s words: "Do this... and you will be one step closer to your revenge."

A battle raged in her heart between the desire for justice for Emily and the horror of what she had become. At last, she drew a slow breath.

"I will follow his plan. No matter what. For Emily I am willing to do it."

Firming her jaw, Sasha exhaled and vanished into the fog shrouded forest. Her footsteps were silent and determination was blazing in her eyes.

********

Arthur stood atop of a jagged outcrop of black stone and an impromptu fashioned summit from the bodies of fallen cultists and malformed beasts. Each corpse glowed with mana residue that was the result of his Voidfire affinity. His ebony blade burned in violet black flames and in the surface of the blade was full with crimson runes that pulsed like a beating heart.

All around him the air crackled with the residual of magic. Smoke curled up towards the sky and the distant roar of battle mingled with the groans of the dying. Arthur’s chest heaved as he surveyed the carnage below.

"Ha!" he shouted into the wind, his voice was rough, "Come on! Show me something tougher!"

A malformed Horror Beast a hulking monstrosity with molten veins charged from the underbrush. Its roar shook the cliff’s foundations. Arthur’s eyes snapped open.

Clang!!!

He met the beast’s spike laden gauntlets with a parry and sparks started flying in a sudden burst of Voidfire.

Whoom!!!

He struck back. His sword slicing through the chitinous armor. The creature staggered and molten fluids started spraying. Arthur rotated and started gathering mana like coiling serpents in his veins.

Bzzzt!!!

Voidfire bloomed around his blade in a ring of shadowy flame. He charged.

Slash!!!!

A single, devastating arc cleaved the beast in two. The beast collapsed as black started coming out and a steam black smoke rose up.

Arthur exhaled as he stepped up onto the mound of corpses. He lifted his sword, letting the echoes of Voidfire fade into silence.

"Is that all you have got?" he said as the sound gone across the valley.

*****

Lia led a ragged column of students with Dean at her side and Lucas Lockhart close behind. Their faces were streaked with dirt but determination shining in their weary eyes. They clutched their weapons spears, staves and daggers. They were ready for any threat.

As Lia led the students soon she spotted Arthur high above a mountain of corpses. She quickened her pace seeing him. Dean matched her speed . Lucas watched warily for ambushes as his spear crackling with latent lightning.

As Lia approached Arthur, the group of students formed a protective formation around Arthur’s cliff.

Lia called up, "Arthur! Over here!"

Arthur planted his sword in the mound and leaped down landing with a soft thud. The students parted, relief and admiration in their gazes.

"Lia! Dean! Lucas!" he greeted, his voice was strained. "What is the situation?"

Dean exhaled as he wiped sweat from his brow. "We pushed back cultists and monsters, but they might have regrouped farther east."

Lia added, her voice trembling with concern, "Several teams have been scattered or captured. We gathered whoever we could." She looked at Lucas. "He took a fall but is steady now."

Lucas stepped forward. "I will be fine. But there is lot of cultists going around the entire gate and massacring or kidnapping students."

Arthur’s brow furrowed, " Kidnapped?" He exchanged a glance with Dean. "We need to create a plan."

********

They huddled behind a craggy outcrop, shadows dancing across their faces in the dim red light.

"We can’t split up again," Arthur said, his voice is low. "Our strength is unity. First, let’s secure this ridge. We will hold off any attacks that comes from below."

Hearing it Dean nodded. "Then we move as one strike the cultist flanks to relieve pressure on the main force."

Lia’s eyes flicked towards Arthur "And we don’t know if they are regrouping somewhere. We need to find their main hideout fast. If we can find it, we will know how many we are against. We can attack after we have their main hideout location."

Lucas gripped his spear as he thought back to the information about the Demonic Cult, ’I know their tactics. They plan to summon a demon here if that happens, we are all dead including the main casts" He started panicking as thought, ’I can’t let that happen. I need to get rid of the demonic cult fast....l need to.....’

Arthur took a breath, weighing their words. "But, we need to find the hideout first and a head on assault against unknown amount of cultist would be suicide."

Dean chimed in, "We need intel first. We need to find out how many cultists and what defenses they have."

Hearing it Lia’s gaze sharpened. "We need a create a distraction to draw their main forces out then strike the heart."

Lucas’s eyes flicked towards Arthur as he thought, We can’t just distract them. We need find their hideout fast to collapse their summoning ritual."

Just then, a familiar figure stepped into the torchlight.

Arthur squared his shoulders. "Who!!!!!." He planted a hand on the pommel of his sword.

"Chill, okay?"

"Didn’t recognize me Arthur" Ryker said as he raised both hands in a peaceful gesture.

Arthur let his guard lower slightly. "I couldn’t tell if it was you."

Ryker glanced at the corpse mountain, "Impressive."

Lia hurried forward, "Ryker, are you all right? And do you have kind of information?"

Ryker turned to Lia and Arthur. "I am okay. I haven’t heard from any of teammates and I haven’t heard from Sasha also. I trust her enough that she will okay on her own. But I found something critical." He pointed towards east. "There is a massive pyramid like structure there. It’s five stories tall and carved from black stone. I watched dozens of cultists enter there an hour ago. That’s probably their main hideout."

As Ryker said it a hush fell.

Arthur exhaled slowly, "That changes everything." He turned to Lia and Dean. "We need to hit that pyramid. We need to cut the head off the snake."

Dean frowned. "But it will probably be heavily guarded. We will need to breach in with force probably. If we do that we will take heavy casualties."

Lia folded her arms. "Alternatively, we could do hit and run tactic. We attack some of them and they will sent some cultist after us. We attack them after they come out the pyramid."

Lucas stomped his foot and said "We need to go now. We can’t let wait that might put other students in danger...."

He hesitated before saying anything else and he glanced at Ryker, ’Should I mention the demon summoning ritual?’

Ryker’s eyes met Lucas’s and he smiled, "If we collapse that hideout quickly, we will cripple their forces entirely at once"

Arthur held up a hand. " Alright. Let’s do this. For this, we will do it in three phases. Phase one, secure our flank here. Phase two, mobilize our reserves for a fast strike to the pyramid entrance. Phase three, infiltration team breaches to destroy everything from the other side."

Dean grinned, clapping Arthur on the back. "Perfect."

Lia nodded. "Agreed."

Ryker stepped forward. "Before we move, any students who are severely wounded should gather I will heal them."

Hearing it Arthur, Lia, Dean, Lucas and Ryker came out from the behind of craggy outcrop

Arthur gestured, "All injured students move onto my right side."

Hearing him a dozen pale figures with broken arms and singed uniforms limped forward and they assembled in a semi circle on Arthur’s right side.

Seeing all of them together, Ryker closed his eyes and whispered the incantation.

"Sacrificial Restoration"

A radiant aura bloomed from Ryker and it weaved through the group. Flesh knitted, bones mended and color flushed back into their cheeks. Exhales of relief and murmured thanks rose in unison.

They stretched and flexed their limbs. They are astonished at their own renewed strength.

Arthur smiled. "That’s a very nice gift."

Ryker stepped back, a faint smile playing on his lips until a trickle of blood trickled down his nostril.

Arthur’s smile froze. "Ryker, your nose!"

Ryker’s hand darted up. He winced as he felt the warmth of blood. "Damn... I... I am fine."

Arthur caught him by the shoulders. "Are you sure? You look dizzy." as his eyes were full of concern.

Seeing it, Ryker’s smile faltered. He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "I will be okay. Just... pushed a bit too hard."

Lia and Dean exchanged worried glances. Lucas watched, uncertainty clouding his expression.

Arthur loosened his grip. "Rest for a moment, then let’s move. We’ve got a pyramid to topple."

Ryker straightened and brushing the blood away. "Lead on."

They formed ranks once more. Their weapons raised high. Their resolve renewed and they are ready to march into the heart of darkness.