The sounds of battle clashed through the crags, as the rebel forces of John initiated a surprise attack on the convoy, aiming to free their master.
The rebels were suffering heavy losses under the combined might of Lord Styx, Prince Thalassos the drowned, and his guards, comprising of Aquatic Merfolks and Crimson Devils.
Hellfire and water spouts blasted the rebels off the cliffs, reducing their numbers significantly.
However, they just kept coming, like fanatics.
“Are they suicidal?
They just keep coming with no plan.” Prince Thalassos shout in the heat of battle, while swinging his trident in a large arc.
Water streams followed the trident as it pierces through the rebel forces, rendering them incapable of fighting.
“I have no idea, just keep pummeling them!” Leo shouted back, slashing through the enemy forces and darting around the field with high agility, empowered by his lightning magic.
As the horn blasted from deep mountains in the crag, the rebel forces routed and fled the scene.
The guards cheered for their victory, though they lost a third of the contingent.
Some were dead, while most of them were incapacitated due to sustaining heavy injuries.
Mages attempted to patch the most serious of wounds, but could not completely heal them as they will not have enough mana.
Leo walked towards Prince Thalassos, who was inspecting the wagon and the behemoths pulling them, ensuring that there is no margin for error.
The beasts are in shock, but other than that, they were fine.
“Abyssal Prince, is everything alright?” Leo spoke as he wiped his glasses, removing the blood and soot that had stained it during the battle.
“All looks like in working order, I expect we can prepare to move in 10 minutes.
We lost a third of the guards on this attack, all for this treasonous scum.” Prince Thalassos smacked the bars on the wagon, as it rattled loudly, but its prisoner sat inside, calm and unbroken.
John’s eyes has not shown signs of surrender, he knows that more lies ahead.
As the convoy began to set off, some of the guards buried their dead in the black sands of the Crag.
“At least you died near the homeland” One Aquatic guard remarked to the freshly dug graves.
They were presently on the outskirts of the Abyssal Realm.
The Black Crag is one of the paths that leads into the capital of Abyssfolk.
Some guards stood at attention and saluted the dead.
“May the fires cleanse you, and the waters wash it away.
Be at peace.” A small ceremony for the fallen, Leo thought.
He offered a slight bow as well.
As the convoy continued moving deep into the ravines, they reached the Pass of Crag.
A narrow pathway flanked by two sides of a mountain.
Legend has it that the path was carved during the first age in a war, where one of the dark kings unleashed a slash so powerful, it sliced a mountain in two.
The Abyssal race claimed that it was their King, King Crag the Ashen One of the Abyssal Race, who did this in a conquest war to claim the area.
Now, as time and weather erodes away at the mountain, the pass has widen and it sees a lot of travel.
However, the treacherous pass left it unsuitable to station guards and only after passing through here, will they reach the outskirts of the city.
The abyssal beast continued pulling the wagon as it creaked and groan.
Its prisoner was silent throughout the journey, biding his time.
Leo kept up his lightning magic to sense any danger, but expended use has burned through about 60% of his mana reserves.
Leo looked at Prince Thalassos, its skin was cracking and drying out.
Its constantly wiping water secretions off its face, not producing enough to protect its watery scales.
This was similar to the aquatic guards as well.
The crimson guards, on the other hand, is emitting less heat.
The smouldering energies from its shoulders are also reduced as well.
“Is it me or is something weird happening here?” Leo took his question to the Abyssal Prince, who was still wiping away.
“It is weird, my magic is not producing enough to protect me from the fiery elements of the crag.
Its like….
the mana is less dense here, which is not usually the case.” At this moment, John smiled and knew that the time has come.
All of a sudden, explosions on the two sides of the mountain happened at the same time.
Rocks shot out into the sky and started raining from above.
“Landslide!!!!
Defend the wagon, defend yourselves!!!!” Prince Thalassos shouted as its aboleth mount slides along the convoy, warning everyone.
The guards started to put up magic, a barrier of both water and fire, to deflect the rocks.
A wall of water and fire appeared above them, like a canvas, to block out the elements.
As the rock hit the barriers, it flowed off to the sides when hit by water, or turned to slag and flowed off when it hit the fires.
This barrier was not held long, as it started to weaken.
Rocks started penetrating through and a hail of stones rained upon the convoy.
More guards were injured and one even struck one of the Abyssal Behemoths, causing it to roar in pain.
The guard piloting the wagon had to pull of the reins to try and control the beasts from rampaging.
All of a sudden, chains and spikes shot out from the sides of the ravine.
It pierced the wheels of the wagon, and a mechanism activated, latching on the wheels.
More chains shot out, breaking the spock that was holding the reins of the Abyssal Behemoths.
The abyssal behemoths roared and prepared to run off at any second.
Leo caught wind of this and jump off his horse, dashing through the convoy with his electricity and place his palms on each beast.
Blue arcs of electricity charges around him and then Leo released it.
Lightning Magic – Paralysis He then induce a non-lethal shock to the two beasts, as they roared in pain.
Then, they both slumped onto the floor, knocked out and twitching, as the paralysis took effect.
Leo then collapse on the ground, 70% of his mana gone, and regeneration is not happening as quickly.
The chains then began pulling hard at the wagon with equal force.
Each wheel became an anchor as it pulled the wagon up into the air.
As this was going on, another Masked rebel appeared from the edges of the cliffs above, wielding a metal artifact that seems to be sucking the air in.
“The Master is secured!
Kill the remainders!” The masked man commanded.
Suddenly, rope spikes and claws flew out and latched onto the cliff edges, rebel forces were rappelling down.
Another battle ensued, with the guards fighting again.
Down to half their forces after the first initial wave, and the landslide that happened, they were having trouble resisting the enemy attacks.
The Abyssal captain called on its devil guards in a line again, and unleashing hellfire on the enemies.
The fires spewed out were weaker now and could not burn as well.
The lack of mana is seriously hindering their combat abilities.
As more than fifty rebels swarmed the position, it really seemed like all hope is lost.
Prince Thalassos, in a display of power, began a water fighting dance that consist of swinging his trident and slashing through enemies, while water circles around him expand and contract to slice and dice the enemies.
The masked leader shouted: “It is no use, this metal artifact I have here, drains mana from the air.
It has been at work since long before you came.
You cannot regenerate your mana in time to continue fighting.
Give us Prince John, surrender to us and your lives may be spared.
” As Lord Styx and the Abyssal Prince continued fighting, they could see their guards being massacred.
Now, it is down to a quarter of the original forces that Prince Thalassos brought.
The wagon containing the prisoner is up in the air, being pulled towards the mask leader.
All hope seems to be lost.
“They are getting the prisoner, Abyssal Prince.
We need to break those chains and regain custody of the wagon!” Leo cemented on the priorities of what they needed to do.
“I’m a little busy at the moment!
Can’t you dash over and kill the mask leader?!” Prince Thalassos swung his trident and pierced another rebel, but three more were heading towards him with swords and axes at the ready.
“I can’t, at least not now.
The lack of mana here has not given me enough energies.
To scale a mountain this high, even if I were to reach the wagon, I would not have enough mana to launch a counterattack!” The masked leader, accompanied by 5 more rebels, hooded and masked, was delighted that the mission was about to be complete.
The wagon was within sights now, he could see the rough shape of his master within it.
With victory in its grasp, the masked leader reached out his hand.
He could almost touch the wagon.
Suddenly, a dark sharp blade pierces through the masked leader’s abdomen.
As he turned around, he saw his other rebel members all had their throats slit by robed shadows.
He then looked at the one who impaled him.
The being wielded a scythe, and was hooded.
As it looked up at him, its facial features scared the masked leader.
The face of a skull, with the mouth open and emitting a shadowy aura.
Eyes deep as the pits, with no eyeballs in sight.
A long pony tail fluttering with the wind.
It was a fearful sight indeed.
“You…You are….” The mask leader exclaimed.
“Lord….Acheron” The shadow gave its own title.
As the mask leader and his group laid dead, Lord Acheron detected the metal artifact and the flow of mana flowing into it.
It felt some of its shadows being pulled in as well.
The shadow being picked it up and kept it inside its robe.
It then activated a mechanism that begun the lowering of the chains attached to the wagons.
While the wagon was slowly being lifted down back to the convoy, with a hand signal, all the shadow guards and Lord Acheron melded into the floor and the shadows began to move.
It scaled the cliff faces and then erupted out in mid air.
Leo saw it all, 6 shadow figures jumped out from the shadows and started attacking the rebel forces.
One of them was wielding a large scythe, decorated with a skull on the top and three chain whips attached to spikes at the bottom of the stick that formed the scythe.
Then, he noticed the familiar skull helmet.
“Sleeper…
cells…” Acheron’s raspy, echoing voice cut through the noise of battle.
“You…
run…
straight into…
my maw…” “LORD ACHERON!” Leo shouted.
“What are you doing here?!” The shadow ignored the calls and started slashing through everything.
The strength of the shadows are not to be underestimated indeed.
The rebels tried to slash and pierce the shadows, but to no avail.
It does not even harm them.
It seemed that they are truly invincible.
Lord Acheron sweeps his scythe in a wide, fluid arc.
The dark blade cuts not just through physical armor, but severs the mana connections of its victims and drains it back to Acheron His robed guards move in perfect sync, executing the disoriented rebels from behind using dark shadow daggers.
The shadows clinging to the canyon walls detached themselves, forming dozens of razor-sharp blades that swarmed the remaining cultists on the upper ridge.
Screams echoed through the fog as Acheron’s robed guards moved in unison, executing the spellcasters with lethal, silent precision.Within less than two minutes, the entire rebel strike force is completely wiped out.
With the battle completed, Acheron lowers his scythe, the dark blade dissolving into mist.
He glances toward John’s transport.
A brief, cold, unreadable eye-contact passes between Acheron and John before John looks away.
Leo catches his breath, pushing his spectacles up his nose and retracting his claws.
“Thank you for the assistance.
Now will you tell me what are you doing here, Lord Acheron?
“Tracking…
John’s remnants…” Acheron replied smoothly, raising a single gauntleted hand, pointing to the dead rebels.
With Acheron’s disrupting the metal artifact, Thalassos’s sea-kin and the crimson devils regained their magic.
The mountain pass fell dead silent once more, save for the crackle of residual flames and the groans of dying rebels.
Acheron turned his skull head toward Leo, his glowing eye sockets flickering beneath his hood.
“They…
were meant…
to be caught…” Acheron rasped softly, his voice grinding like dry bone.
“My mission…
intersects…
with yours.
But…
my hunt…
continues elsewhere.” “Understood,” Leo nodded.
“We’ll take him the rest of the way to Tartarus.” Acheron stood still for a moment, then let out a low, creaking sound from his helmet mouthpiece.
“Thank…
you…
Lord Styx.
I…will accompany….you…till…you…passed the…ravine.” Before Leo could reply, Acheron and his guards sank back into the liquid shadows on the ground, vanishing completely as if they had never been there in the first place.
Leo blinked, looking at the empty patch of ground where Acheron had stood.
He turned toward Thalassos, who was wiping blood off his coral trident with a puzzled look on his reptilian face.
“Is it just me, or is that guy a bit too polite for someone who looks like a walking nightmare?” Leo muttered.
Thalassos grunted, shaking his head.
“The Shadow race keeps their own counsel, Lord Styx.
But he saved us time and blood today.
Let us clear the road before more of John’s fools show up.” His skin began to heal as the mana density in the air recovered.
An hour later, the convoy cleared the mountain pass and reached the Great Rift—a massive, yawning chasm at the edge of the southern coastline where the churning ocean crashed against jagged volcanic trenches.
A monumental submersible vessel built from dark iron and enchanted sea-glass awaited them at the water’s edge, floating within a protected deep-water dock.
The prisoner transport wagon was loaded directly into the reinforced lower hold of the submarine, secured by heavy runic clamps.
Before they boarded, Leo looked out at the the ravine behind.
There, he saw it, Lord Acheron and his shadow guards standing in unison.
Leo waved at them, thanking them for their assistance.
Lord Acheron, seeing that the convoy is in safe hands, disappears back into the shadow with his guards, continuing the hunt for the remnants of John supporters.