The wraith knight had, when he was still a pony, been a powerful and respected warrior. A noble mageknight in service of the unicorn royal family, he had been one of the rearguard, the warriors who had stayed behind to keep the windigos at bay while the other unicorns fled. But that was a long time ago. Gone now were his chivalry, his honor, and his reason. Naught remained of the pony he had been save for his power and skill, blunted as it was by Apophis' corruption. Asmo had made a mistake announcing his attack. The wraith was aware of him now, and he would find nothing but dozens of long, icy spike beneath him when he landed. The mare, though. The bat. Where was she? ************************************************************************************************************************** Celestia was doing astonishingly well, incinerating wraiths as quickly as they approached. The windigos, wisely, were steering clear of her. ***************************************************************************************************************** Rain saw Maya get injured, and ran towards her. "Stand still. I need one minute, less if you can slow your heart rate a bit." Maya's guards circled around her, spears pointing out, forming a living fortress to keep her safe. *************************************************************************************************************** Apophis was angry. They were stealing from him again. And somehow, they were hurting him. Pain was new to the god. He knew of it, of course. He'd sensed flickers of it coming from his wraiths from time to time. But he had never felt it before. He didn't like it. ********************************************************************** Daisy turned around in time to see shadowy figure attack a wraith that was going after Dusty.
Asmo impaled himself on the spikes, but pulled off as if nothing had happened. Maybe killing Asmo wasn't the best move, for the sake of the knight's comrades. Raven, guitar in hoof, took aim and started playing along with Fauststein's solo. With every note, a laser beam flew from the guitar, aimed at the knight. ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Thanks, Rain." Maya took out a healing potion and downed half of it. "There, that should make your job a lot easier. Don't wanna be out for too long." ~~~~~~~~~~ Dusty used his magic to pick up a fallen spear and impale the wraith that had attacked him as the shadowy figure burned it. ~~~~~~~~~~ Azrael, knowing very well how much punishment he could take, made a point to keep a lot of the wraiths' attention on himself for the sake of the soldiers. He had several spikes in his sides and back and almost resembled a giant, edgy porcupine, but he was still going strong, slashing, blasting and pummeling his way through wraiths that got within the radius he and the guard were defending. "You can't kill what's already dead," he taunted, shattering an earth pony with a strong headbutt. "Not with your weak methods." His bird, Cain, had flown into the battle, carrying around an urn and salvaging what souls he could from fallen wendigos to feed to his owner.
Still smashing the wendigos, Blackened simply decided to charge right through them in the air, as if they were a line of dominoes.
These two were becoming a nuisance. The knight levitated a dozen icy shields to block Raven's incoming fire, then summoned an enormous ice claymore, twice the length of his own body, and slammed it down at Amso's body. His power was dwindling, but no matter. He would simply replenish himself by tapping into his master's infinite power... ...But something was wrong. His master's power, infinite and unmeasurable, was waning. Still, he took as much as he could, and replenished, returned to the fight. ***************************************************************************** It took thirty seconds to heal Maya. In that time, more than a hundred wraiths charged the line, and were slain as quickly as they charged. The onslaught had also cost Equestria seven Royal Guards, but their lives had been sold dearly. *************************************************************************************************************************** Spotting Azrael slaughtering the minions, the remaining dragon wraith decided to pay him a visit, scattering defenders like tumbleweeds as he came crashing to the ground in front of him. ***************************************************************************************** "Two more minutes," Silver said quietly. "Two more minutes and the spell is complete, and this bastard becomes mortal."
Asmo caught the claymore in his teeth, snapping it in half. Raven cranked a bit more heart into her playing, intensifying the power of the blasts. They started to seek out the wraith, aiming for his chest. Her plan was to eventually rip his heart out and feed it to Asmo, like he wanted. Fitting revenge for his stool friend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Alright, let's get back to it!" Maya threw a cluster of fire potions outside the perimiter, torching a large group of wraiths. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You think this is my first time dueling a dragon?" Azrael asked, staring up at the icy beast. Belial flew down and landed next to his brother, wings vanishing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Can you feel that, Daisy?" Dusty asked. "His power. No longer an infinite supply. We're almost done, I reckon."
RepS: (Manifestation that appears next to and only to Silver) We hope. If even a piece of its consciousness survives somewhere....it can once more grow into a threat.
After clearing through a pack of Wendigos, he decided to turn his focus away from them. He then flew near Azrael, who was preparing to fight an icy dragon. "Need a hoof?" he offered Az as he made it near him.
"I mean, what doesn't kill me..." He began to fly backwards slowly, taking this opportunity to become a distraction for the dragon.
The knight formed an icy armor over his body, and surrounded himself with hundreds of flying ice daggers. With a burst of magic, he made the daggers orbit his body, rapidly gaining speed as they formed a cyclone around him. *********************************************************************************************** Silver nodded, calmly removing the head of a windigo with his flaming sword. "So we shall make sure nothing survives." ********************************************************************************* Daisy shrugged. "Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted." ******************************************************************* The dragon launched a massive fireball at Az and Belial, then swung its massive claws at Blackened.
"Will you just..." Raven adjusted her aim, shooting for the daggers. "...die already?!" ~~~~~~~~ "I'm sure there will be another epic battle some day," Dusty assured. ~~~~~~~~ Belial deflected the fireball with another fireball. Azrael leapt up and swung his sword down, aimed at the dragon's wrist. "You keep your damned claws off him!"
In response, he quickly flew to the side and away from the dragon's claws. "Nice f*yay!*ing grip!" he teased.
Daisy nodded, crushing a wraith's skull under her hoof. "Probably, but this one's bigger than most." ******************************************************************************** Several of the daggers were broken by Raven's shots, so the knight switched tactics. Sending the whirlwind of blades at Asmo, he created a spiked targe of thick ice and charged Raven with it. ********************************************* The dragon roared in rage as its massive hand was detached at the wrist. Pulling the mangled limb close to its body to regenerate, the dragon launched another fire blast, a long steady torrent that carpeted the ground and sent a wall of flame at Az an the others.
Asmo caught the blades with his face, yelping and stumbling backwards. Raven cartwheeled out of the way, aimed her guitar at his back and fired a few notes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dusty shrugged. "You better make the most of this, then. How many more do you suppose are nearby?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Azrael teleported himself right behind the dragon, staying within the spell radius, pulled the sword back, and stabbed up, aiming for a place the sun didn't shine. Belial shook his head, looking to be absorbing some of the fire. "It's not very effective..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Maya began handing out her healing potion to some soldiers who needed it as the numbers thinned.
In a swift move, Black flew upwards and above the flame-wall, the flames barely singing his tail. He then flew behind the dragon where Az stood.
Raven's blasts cracked his armor, leaving it weakened and vulnerable. The knight had a decision to make. He could take a moment to repair his armor, or he could press the attack. When he was still himself, a millennium ago, he would have known the right decision. But he was no longer that wise and noble warrior. He was a creature of rage and hatred, a slave to his master Apophis. Turning his back on Raven, he summoned an icy longsword, and levitated ten icy spears on either side of himself. Then he charged Asmo, launching the spears one by one as he ran. ************************************************************************************************ Daisy looked around. "I see maybe fifty windigos left. The rest fled south. The dragons and the griffons will take 'em out before they get far. Maybe a few thousand wraiths, but they're dropping like flies. That big dragon wraith looks about half dead, too." She chuckled. "So really, our only problem is the mile-long flying snake." ********************************************************************* The dragon roared in pain and rage, and spread its wings to take flight. ******************************************************************************** Nightshade, standing with the chaos mages of the Cult of Discord, noticed the air around Apophis begin to shimmer. "He's trying to teleport! We can't let him escape!" The mages all cast at once, and a huge clawed hand, five hundred feet wide and made of stone, shot up from the dirt and grabbed the snake by the throat. Apophis writhed in its grip, and the hand began to crack and crumble. "We can't hold him long! We need help!"
Asmo caught all of the spears in his tentacles, then thrust with one, aiming for a crack in its armor. ~~~~~~~~~ Dusty nodded. "Yes, these wraiths are mostly awful warriors. One of the drawbacks of destroying the mind. Need any extra buffs?" ~~~~~~~ Azrael pulled the sword out of the dragon, then slashed, aiming to cut off its tail before it left. As he dueled the beast, he ordered, "Belial, assist Nightshade!" Belial nodded before teleporting himself over to the cultists. He cast a spell upon the hand, repairing it, strengthening it, and coating it in white flame.
The knight's armor shattered, exposing him to attack even as he plunged his sword in Asmo. **************************************************************** Daisy nodded. "You think you could magic my sword to me? I left it stuck in a windigo's neck, but the damn thing flew away with it." ************************************************************************* The dragon, unable to fly without its tail, crashed back to the ground seconds after taking off. ************************************************************************************ Despite the combined efforts of Belial and the cult, Apophis was breaking free once again. Blackheart, realizing that the snake would not be held for long, ordered the Longhorns to assist, and hundreds of magic chains erupted from the ground to hold the snake.
Raven decided to go full godmod, tackle the knight, and start prying its chest open. "Hey, sword-for-brains, ever played Mortal Combat?" Asmo stumbled back from the sword, but quickly shook it out of his body. ~~~~~~~~~ "Of course, dear." Dusty's horn glowed as Daisy's sword came spinning back to her from the distance. ~~~~~~~~~ In the midst of the chaos, Navaja, now recovered, was able to run unseen to where Azrael was, hop atop the dragon and jam his hidden blade into its eye. "Grita por mí, idiota." "Nice of you to wait until I crippled it," Azrael said dryly. ~~~~~~~~ "How much longer on this spell?" Belial questioned. "Our efforts won't hold him forever."
"Ten seconds," Silver said quietly, his communication crystal projecting his voice for all to hear. "Ready the ballistae." **************************************************************** Apophis let out another roar, severing his connection from his minions to preserve what remained of his own power. Leaderless and mindless. they went into a frenzy, attacking not only the ponies but one another as well. ****************************************************************************** Without his master's constant control, the knight finally felt a glimmer of the pony he used to be. His mind was shattered and gone, but enough remained for him to realize what was happening. He went still in Raven's grip, allowing her to finish her task. His dull, lifeless eyes locked onto hers, and his voice came out in a distorted growl. "Thank you." ****************************************************************************************** "Fantastic," Daisy said with a grin as the weapon landed at her hooves. The thing was too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too rough. Indeed, it was like a heap of raw iron. Grabbing the massive weapon like it weighed no more than a simple dagger, Daisy rushed into the fray and took out five wraiths with a single swing. *********************************************************************************** The dragon writhed as the blade blinded it. In a fury, it sent out another gout of flame, blindly striking a windigo and the ponies attacking it.
