The Soul Keeper

An arrow struck a soldier in the front row of their formation. Then, a blast echoed as lightning struck the middle of their ranks. 

Mona shouted something, and the plants seemingly came to life. Alex and Lucius dashed forward, and I leapt ahead, followed by a wave of purple and black flames. 

The Ereth also charged ahead – the soldiers didn't hesitate even for a split second as their ranks got blasted by lightning and arrows rained from far away. They were blinded by their loyalty, or perhaps by the sinister magic of the Divines. 

I wondered, was there any sort of mind control going on? I couldn't help but think that something along those lines had to be going on. There was no way all these soldiers would charge at us without a doubt in their minds, a hint of hesitation in their eyes. I refused to believe it.

I was the first to reach the enemy lines. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed as my blade met that of the first Ereth soldier's. As soon as it did, my flames leapt towards the soldier's face.

He screamed and stumbled backwards, wailing, and trying to douse my black and purple flames. Without a second of hesitation, I turned my attention on the inquisitors. My flames spread among the soldiers' ranks, forcing them to back off.

Behind me, I heard Alex's footsteps. "We'll take them, so go ahead." She said with a grin as her gaze focused on the now somewhat hesitant soldiers. Lucius, standing besides her, nodded as well. "Don't worry about us." He said as his grasp on the hilt of his sword tightened.

I nodded, then dashed towards the three inquisitors. I knew Alex and Lucius were more than capable enough to wreak havoc on the battlefield – they had proven as much less than an hour ago, during our previous battle. And Mona wasn't someone to ignore either. Her spell that brought the plants to life was nothing to scoff at – it was already creating issues for the Ereth as they had trouble moving around with the plants trying to wrap themselves around their feet.

Of source, the inquisitors weren't bothered by the plants or by Alex's intimidating figure. Their eyes were focused on me as I arrived before them.

"This is the day you die, demon!" Their leader shouted as she raised her hand to the level of her chest. In her palm, golden lightning crackled. 

"I'm sure it is," I mumbled as I gathered my flames around me. I knew I needed to use everything I had for this battle, but knowing that Asher, Laura, Theresa, and Rina had my back made me feel much more relaxed than I thought I'd be.

Without a second of hesitation, I raised both of my hands to my sides, and the flames roared, hungry for lives to take. And with that, our battle began, separate from that of the soldiers and Alex. And to my dislike, it wasn't a battle of blades, but a battle of magic. 

As soon as my flames roared, their golden light rose to match my power. 

It had been some time since I fought a battle of purely magic. Only against Vixia and Delthur had I won without any assistance, and only once had I come close enough to nearly kill Vixia, if the Demon Lord hadn't intervened.

But that was before I lost the souls I had gathered. Despite the fighting and grinding I had done since Fetheion saved me, I hadn't regained my old power. Was I stronger than before? Yes, I was. But not because I had more power, but because I had learned to make do with what I had. I couldn't take these inquisitors head on in a magical battle while they were backed by the unlimited power of the Divine Pillar and still hope to win.

Yet, I couldn't get close enough to strike them down with my sword either. I gritted my teeth and prepared myself for the onslaught of magic that was to come. Before anything, I needed to know what they were capable of.

And they proved to be quite capable. As soon as their leader sent her lightning towards me, the other two also released their own spells. I blocked the bolts of lightning with a barrier of flames, then sidestepped the arrows of light. Without a moment's hesitation, I retaliated with a volley of Dark Bolts. 

One of the inquisitors quickly created a defensive barrier around all three of them, rendering my spell mostly harmless and the other two remained on the offensive. I gritted my teeth as I sidestepped another volley of golden arrows. Their numbers advantage was quite an issue.

I couldn't help but glance towards Mona and the others. Could I expect any backup from them, or the others atop the hill? 

A lightning strike shattered the inquisitor's barrier, answering my question. I knew whose magic that was – Asher was lending me his aid. So, it was Rina who made sure Alex, Lucius, and Mona were ok. I was fine with this arrangement – despite know Rina for a longer time, I had fought side by side with Asher a lot more. We were a bit more in sync, so to speak.

And we quickly proved that as I didn't hesitate even for a split second. I dashed forward with my sword in hand, narrowly evading the arrows of light. Asher's barrier briefly appeared around me to block the oncoming golden lightning bolt, then disappeared, probably to conserve what mana he had left.

I didn't mind the lack of proper shielding – I was fast and aware enough to dodge or block nearly anything anyways, I really only needed his shielding for when I was unable to react in time.

A single glance at the inquisitors was enough to show that they hadn't expected Asher's lightning – the one who created the barrier in the first place seemed to be too shocked to react and the other two seemed to have some trouble coordinating their defence. They both hesitated, then cast their own barriers at the same time.

While the double barrier spell was a bit annoying, their lack of offense was quite useful as it allowed me to reposition right in their faces. I grinned, showing them my sharp fangs, then focused my flames on the black blade of my sword and brought struck their defensive barrier.

I felt the transparent, golden barrier crack and weaken as the third, stunned inquisitor slowly pulled herself together. A golden light flashed through the eye holes of her mask and I looked away just in time to cover my eyes from the bigger flash of light in her extended palm. Was she trying to blind me?

Annoyed, I fed more power to my flames and my smile widened as I felt the barriers shatter under my blade. One of the inquisitors quickly took a few steps back and began casting a spell.

Small bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, interrupting her focus. With the barrier completely destroyed, I had a few seconds to kill them – I had to do so before they created another barrier. Despite taking our time during the fight, I was well aware that we were on a timer. 

Eventually, the Divines would notice something was amiss, and if they showed up in the middle of battle, we were dead. It was as simple as that. So, I dashed forward, swung my blade, and was rewarded with a pained scream. The leader of the inquisitors stumbled back as the deep cut across her chest bled profusely. 

I didn't hesitate – My next strike found her throat, and she fell on the ground, lifeless. I turned my attention on the other two, but unfortunately, they had created yet another barrier around themselves.

One of them stepped forward and stood right next to the corpse of her fallen comrade. To my surprise, she didn't seem phased in the slightest as she stepped into the pool of blood and glared at me with nothing but cold focus in her golden eyes.

While she faced me like this, I glanced at the second inquisitor. She had stepped back a little. While I couldn't see her face because of the mask, I was sure she had an expression of pure concentration underneath it. I could tell, because of the pulsing orb of light in her palms.

Whatever spell it was that she was preparing, it spelled nothing good for us. I gritted my teeth. I needed to stop her – now!

Clearly, Asher had the same thought as concentrated lightning strikes rained down upon their barrier. I furrowed my brows as the barrier didn't seem to lose even a sliver of power. There were no cracks, no interruptions, or imperfections in the flow of magic.

"You let her die willingly, didn't you?" I asked as I loosened my grip on the hilt of my sword. Instead, my focus shifted to my left hand. I could feel the pulsing power in my palm. It was right there, ready to be used.

The inquisitor only chuckled as a response.