Silos

The undead stand before us. They outnumber us ten to one. A horde that threatens to consume all life. I shudder at the thought of this necromancer taking power. Despite this, my resolve dictates for me to fight on and win. However, I need to get the morale of the troops up.

'Lavislava, could you initiate this battle with a bang?' I ask her.

"I intended to anyway, my Lord." she said with that feral grin of hers. Its as if she saw this battle as nothing more than a duel between herself and the necromancer. She began to weave her arms in a complicated motion, above me I felt the heat of her magic.

A storm of flame, that was then pushed towards the enemy army, wide and long it crashed down upon the enemy forces.

Or at least, it should have. I could see that as the spell arrived it was being unbound, a storm that could have destroyed 1000 soldiers was reduced and took out a mere hundred.

"He's good." She began to chant the same spell again when suddenly dozens of spells began to rain back down onto our army. Thankfully I anticipated this and had ordered the grades 1 and 2 mages to focus on maintaining a barrier around the army. Judging from the display of the spells launched at us it would take roughly ten more barrages before the grade 1 and 2's were exhausted and useless.

"Grade 4 Mages form up with Lavislava!" I commanded when suddenly the undead began to march. It seemed that the necromancer had decided that an artillery exchange was one that he would be on the losing side of. His forces spread out and were marching in a perfect formation to surround us.

Raderius

That fire spell was magnificent and beautiful, a raw destructive power that I have yet to create a match to. I only have a dozen elemental mages and though their aura output is splendid and thanks to me near unending, it would take to much time to break the barrier of the enemy mages. By the time I had done so once you add the grade 4 mages in his employ I estimate that i'd have lost nearly two thirds of my forces. At that point the enemy would begin to march forward and though their casualties would be great I would likely be overwhelmed and slain.

I had to seize the initiative and go forward first. Sending 5000 troops as the front facing force while 2500 undead were ordered to flank on each side. Each of the flanking forces I had a dozen raised magic knights join with. Meanwhile, I would join the main force supported by the undead that was Leopold and the elemental mages.

Silos

"Lavislava rain destruction upon the enemy forces, use the grade 4's to bolster your spells! Grade 4 magic knights, Jake, take your squadron and support the front, Anevia you and your squadron support the left flank and Gera support the right, but leave your squadron with me at the rear!" I barked orders at rapid speed, not wasting a second. Lavislava created a vortex of fire in the middle of the enemy forces while the grade 4 mages rained down their own most destructive spells. The total combined firepower from these mages should have destroyed more than a thousand enemies per barrage, yet would end up slaying fewer than 200. Ordinarily, barrier spells would be the counter to such destructive firepower, yet the necromancer seemed to prefer unbinding the spells himself. The nerve! I seethe at the arrogance while admiring the skill it would take to unbind four spells at once from such powerful mages. I estimated our forces would collide within the next five barrages and steeled myself for what was to be the most grueling part of this battle.

Raderius

About nine hundred undead were destroyed before the battle had properly began. The frontline forces collided and as expected the living were holding their ground. I moved to the front and saw that a magic knight captain, about as strong as Leopold was fighting on the front. Judging from his strikes it seems he has a wind affinity that he's been using to lighten himself, moving gracefully nearly floating through the air as he dispatches undead one after another. The special undead are fighting about evenly with the low level magic knights and the non special undead are for now being held back but are definitely going to make progress in wearing them down. The first obstacle to overcome is this magic knight.

I rush him, spear in hand. He dodges, as expected. He calls out to the other magic knights under his command to surround me. Abandoning the militia and hoping to achieve a decapitating blow? Cruel, but expected from these nobles who care not one bit for those under their command. I command my skeletal champions and wraiths to match the low level knights pace and occupy their attention.

I use curse of fatigue on the knight. He notices that my aura extended to him briefly, but as I occupy his attention with non stop thrusts of my spear he doesn't have much ability to ponder whats going on. The battle rages for two minutes before the spell slows him enough for me to catch him. A Spear thrust in the shoulder of his sword arm. He yells out in pain, I follow it up with a touch and focus an excess amount of mana into my curse of years, extinguishing his life.

As I animate him I turn my attention back to the battle to see that i've lost three thousand five hundred of the undead from the front flank, my focus on this knight allowed the high level mages time to wreak havoc upon my forces. The right flank is going well, with 1000 undead and 200 mortals slain its only a matter of time before I break through. However, the left flank is on the verge of breaking 500 undead have been put to rest, but the only mortal still holding anyone off is a single magic knight. Unfortunately, it seems that the flanking maneuver I had my small force of wolves perform was defeated, though they took a few magic knights with them. I don't have time to reinforce and finish destroying the left and right flanks, the mages will obliterate my forces. With the leader of the front flank slain and fighting alongside me I should be able to carve a path to the mages destroying my army. Its a great risk and i'll have precious few minutes before the enemy reforms and surrounds me, but its the only path to victory I see. I move forward

Silos

I catch my breath, having only just defeated the flanking wolves alongside the magic knights that stayed behind. I'm glad we lost only a few of magic knights, if the wolves had slain even one of our high power mages it would be a tide turning loss and if enough mages were slain the battle would be lost. A quick look around and I see that things are grim, but victory is within reach. Anevia is slowly losing ground to the undead on the left flank, it seems theres a lot of specialized undead, but she's buying enough time for us to finish the fight in the front flank. Gera is alone in holding the right flank, at this rate she will perish, but her sacrifice will allow us victory. Jake, has been engaging the necromancer in battle and- he's lacking his usual grace? As the thought crosses my mind I see the necromancer stab Jake and in the same motion obliterate him into mere bones.

Evil.

Still, the front flank is going well. Jakes battle wasn't in vain, thanks to him the mages have slain over three thousand undead and at this rate the remaining magic knights and militia combined with mage support will destroy the front flank and finish the necromancer.

Perhaps If I send the magic knights guarding the rear to Gera they might arrive in time to save her. With victory on the horizon I begin thinking of minimizing damage sustained and prepare to order them to move when my attention is drawn back to the center.

The undead are forcing their way through the front rank, supported by a puppet imitating Jake. The Necromancer barges through the opening slaying any magic knights that get to close with his spear, not using more than enhancement its clear he's saving as much of his power for the coming confrontation as he can. I'm sorry Gera but i'm going to need every last hand availab-

*Gluh*

I turn my attention, to the grade 4 mage near me, he's coughing blood as the spear in his throat ends his life. How? I didn't even see the necromancer throw his weapon! That terrifying speed. Still, even as the necromancer closes in on us I recognize the opportunity within his Gambit. "Magic knights! Withdraw and support me! Slay the Necromancer and end this!" I use arcane enhancement on my voice allowing it to project throughout the entire battlefield. Within minutes the Necromancer will be surrounded and we can destroy him.

Still, I need to survive those few minutes.

"Lavislava!" I call out.

"I know!" She and the other mages withdraw melee weapons, a quick chant from her and the mages weapons as well as my family sword light aflame.

"Lets end this."

Raderius

Despite the drawing of weapons, the mages continue to throw spells at me. I unbind them one after another. Unbinding three spells at once is much easier than four and the mage with red hair has switched to fast to cast precision magic rather than grandoise battlefield-wide difficult to unbind magic. I lament the loss of my spear but I believe the trade off to be worth it. Eight low level magic knights charge me, but I have the newly risen grade 4 magic knight occupy their attention. Having him come with me will cost my front flank dearly, it will likely fall without him, but its worth it.

Before me stands a man in silver plate armor. His helmet has a eagle adorning it and the family crest of Silos adorns his shield. A flaming longsword emanating a faint amount of magic, a enchantment on top of the spell is present. Its clear that the man I seek to replace is this foe.

Silos

A pale man, unarmed but dangerous. He wears naught but a dark set of clothing, matching his black hair. There's a feral look to him, one of a wild beast that has lived outside of society for years. However, the gleam in his slightly slanted eyes betray the truth. A learned man is before me. He is ready to face me unarmed. I must keep him at bay until help arrives. I just need to buy enough time for victory. As this embodiment of death runs towards me I bark for the mages to support me, I'll hold him off.

Raderius

Dodge a left thrust, avoid a fiery needle, unbind a icy shard and a earthy projectile. I weave and dance a mad dance of combat, I will have to rely on regeneration and absorb at least one blow to achieve victory. However, it must be the perfect opportunity.

60 seconds until i'm surrounded and at risk of being overwhelmed.

Yet more magic to unbind and strikes to weave past.

55 seconds until i'm surrounded and at risk of being overwhelmed.

A blow that while not bad, is flawed enough for me to take head on. As I take the blow I use Rot body, to my surprise the enchantment on the sword prevents it from degrading sufficiently. It would likely take 5 more strikes before the damage was noticeable and a further three before the blade was useless. Thankfully, I accounted for this possibility and did not incorporate disarming Silos into my strategy. I grabbed Silos's helmet and crumbled it to dust revealing the man before me.

Young. That was the first thought that came to mind, Silos was barely older than me. What would drive a man to become so cruel so young? I decide to take this as a lesson in needing to be careful when raising rich children. Their cruelty will manifest early and need to be stamped out.

50 seconds remain. One more touch and I will end this fight.

Blows that are much more frantic than previous strikes follow me. It seems that he's caught onto how close he is to death. One touch and I will pour excess power into curse of years to destroy him. The magic thats supporting him is becoming more infrequent, it likely becoming harder to target me when the count is being more chaotic in his attack pattern.

45 seconds remain. I've grabbed his sword. He lets go and withdraws rather than risk a follow up attack from me.

To many fiery darts to unbind, they pierce me and I scream in agony.

I don't relent. The earth and ice mage are in melee reach now alongside the count. The count takes the fire mages blade, she stays back and continues to support them from the rear.

40 seconds remain. Every second feels like an eternity as i look for my opportunity. One touch is all it takes to end them. They know this, their Rert is not strong enough to dispel my curse of years if I pour power into it. The amount of Jin required to make this insurmountable difference in power is massive. At this rate, I can only cast three more curse of year spells with that level of intensity.

The mages are inexperienced but their attacks make reaching the count difficult.

35 seconds remain. A poor strike from the earth mage. I grab his arm and end his life in the same moment.

32 seconds remain. While the Count was able to continue fighting calmly the ice mage panicked. A touch and her life is extinguished.

25 seconds remain. The damage I keep enduring from the red haired mage is not enough to stop me. These darts would have ended my life thirteen times by now if I had lacked regeneration. She knows its futile, but hopes to drain my aura with these continuous strikes. She cant use larger spells for fear of harming the count. I refuse to relent in my savage pursuit.

23 seconds remain. It seems that the magic knight from the left flank has been slain. My undead are coming. They're to slow however to provide me relief from the oncoming forces. I need to slay both the Count and this red haired woman before they arrive or I will die.

20 seconds remain. A flaw in his defense. I grab the counts face and it melts as he screams in agony. As I pick up his sword, I turn to face the mage knowing I don't have time to enjoy his screams.

17 seconds. As I run towards her I note that the Count has died.

13 seconds. I've been set ablaze, a powerful spell that I couldn't unbind. My regeneration competes with the flame to inflict unspeakable agony onto me.

8 seconds. I've reached the mage.

Lavislava

This man has ruined everything. He's slain the man I love. He's destroyed my ambitions and hard work. He's going to rob me of my life. I may be a strong mage but as a melee fighter the most favorable comparison would be a grade 2 magic knight. In a second I will die. The reinforcements will be to late, he'll slay me, morale will break in the surviving militia and he can keep the grade 1 and 2 knights busy long enough to counter surround them.

This cursed fate of mine. It follows me every lifetime. I want to be loved. I want to be great. I want to be powerful, yet each life has ended in betrayal. Silos, my beloved Silos. The one man across seven lifetimes who wouldn't betray me, who would give into my whims, childish as they could be.

Still, this is the most powerful I've been in any of my lifetimes. I won't go down without one final push. My mind moves impossibly fast as it devises a new spell. One to avenge this robbed life of mine.

"Phoenix explosion". I use the words as a foci as I feel his sword run me through.

Raderius

Hot flame envelops me. I scream as I writhe on the ground. The first real scream I've made since I slew my village. I regenerate the wounds as fast as I burn, but the pain its like nothing i've ever experienced. Still, I must stand. The enemy is about to be upon me and I need to hold on while my forces come to my aid.

The next few minutes are a blur of dodging, burning, stab wounds and regeneration. I cant use any aura offensively, lest I risk running out and dying from these unceasing flames. I hardly notice when my forces arrive to save me from my predicament, I can't black out from the pain. To do so would be to allow this spell to consume me. With my life no longer in immediate peril I begin unbinding the spell. A minute that threatens to end my life passes. Yet, at the end of it. I stand. For the first time my aura is nearly exhausted, but my anger is still present. That a servant of evil had nearly destroyed me. It'll be with great irony when she serves me and advances my plans for this world.

Animate dead. I cast it on her wanting to inflict terrible havoc upon her soul as I rebind her to this mortal plane.

The corpse doesn't move. I don't feel a thing.

Her soul. Its not in the realm of death?

As this thought enters my mind I collapse, having spent the last of my aura on this spell exhaustion overtakes me and I begin to slumber.