Whispers of A Dead Empire

Chapter 111

No one paid me any attention as I stood there. Alessia was desperately fighting for her life. Each swing of her polearm was as fast as quicksilver and struck with unerring accuracy, inflicting severe damage upon the man she was fighting. But with each attack she landed, two more struck her from behind. She was dancing around everyone, yet she couldn't keep up with the sheer number of strikes that were coming her way.

My blood boiled, and rage coursed through my veins. How dare they? A low growl escaped my lips as I felt my claws quickly come into existence. Without thinking, I lunged forward, covering the distance between us with ease, and struck the man just behind Alessia, who was raising his blade. My claws easily parted through armor and flesh, and with a quick twist, I pulled them across the width of his body.

Blood splattered the ground, followed by the pungent scent of iron, as the man collapsed. All the fighting ceased, and Alessia spun around to meet me. Her golden eyes were wide in shock. "Empress." Her words were airy and seemed forced.

I flicked my wrist, and I flung the life force that had adorned my fingertips off and onto the fallen man. I suppose I should feel empty and sad at killing, but I couldn't find it. All that I felt now was anger and vindication. They did this to themselves. "You come into my home. You slaughter my people. You threaten my daughter, and you attack my Chosen." The words that left my lips were harsh and angry, punctuated by a low growl. "You are all fools if you think I would tolerate it." The smell of iron stifled everything else and fanned the flames of wrath in my chest.

"Ah, so the necromancer makes her appearance." The leader stepped forward and bore his blade towards me. Like the others, his armor was pitted and formed more of metal than wood. It was polished to a painfully golden radiance and had vines chiseled into its surface, interlaced in strange patterns that stretched the entirety of his gear.

"I am no necromancer." As I spoke, Alessia vanished from sight before reappearing right next to me. Up close, I could see that her clothing was broken and tattered. She was covered in countless cuts and gashes, and a strange blue substance ebbed from her in a steady flow.

"A domain filled with the undead is but a disease upon nature. You can be nothing but a necromancer." He pointed his blade towards me and gritted his teeth. His face twisted into a sneer as he regarded me with amber eyes. The other two quickly formed up around him, bearing their own weapons. The remaining tree-like creatures rallied around them, which wasn't a lot. Two smaller ones, no larger than myself, and one that stood two heads taller than the group across from me.

"These are my people. You have no right to decide if they get to live or die. But if you are so sure of it, you are welcome to try." A familiar sense of my dream self came to the surface and settled in. But I didn't fight it. No, I welcomed it. It was who I am. It was who they needed.

"Then you will die with them." He lunged forward to strike me with a straight jab. Time seemed to slow down as my mind worked in overdrive. I stepped forward and deflected the tip of the blade with my claws, and Alessia quickly followed through with a counter strike with her own weapon. Chaos followed suit as the others joined the fray, and Alessia and I quickly went on the defensive.

Thankfully, before I even moved to get to Nyx, I bit into the exp bank I had and ballooned my overall stats. I jumped to level thirty-two, from where I stood prior, and dumped stats into all my vital traits, not to mention a few points into dexterity, simply to help my mind catch up to my body's movement.

It was sudden, but I needed everything that I could get to get to Nyx, and now I was using it to its full potential to rescue Alessia. I lamented the loss of time, since I still wanted to stack my proficiencies, but luckily I didn't hit my milestone yet. All that mattered was that Nyx and Alessia were safe.