Waiting for her and the Night Guard Captain at the half repaired gates of the Royal Adventurers Academy stood a group of people, Ambrose was fairly certain she didn't want to see. The Headmaster, Olferig, stood next to a tall blond man wearing furs and bearing the royal crest on his breast. In front of them, eying Ambrose with a crooked eagerness that made the young woman wary, sat a raven haired woman in a long night dress. Surrounding the three of them were more than two dozen royal guards. All of them blocked the path into the academy for Ambrose.
When Yolanda halted in the road and bowed to the nobility, Ambrose turned toward a sideroad and kept moving, having no intention of pushing through the nobility or dealing with their bullshit after what she’d already been through that night. If they didn’t want her in the school grounds, there was nothing keeping her there. She could find a nice tree to sleep in for the night and head home in the morning, when she had rested.
“Where are you going, commoner?!” came a high, haughty voice that mildly reminded Ambrose of Nayeli in its cadence. Lifting a brow, she just kept on walking, she wasn’t going to reply to that.
“Ambrose?” the guard captain asked, looking after Ambrose as the pantrada began walking off.
“Ambrose, my sister is-,” Olferig said, the prince trying to explain something before he was cut off.
“You wish to act as though you are a mighty noble, then prove it, commoner! Fight me!” the woman called.
Ambrose snorted, the raw amusement of the moment hitting her. Turning her head, she addressed Olferig and no one else. “Are all of your sisters this aggressive? First Nayeli, now this one?” she chuckled.
Olferig smirked, but the woman nearly threw herself from her seat in her displeasure, standing tall and glaring down at Ambrose. “You will know your place around the nobility soon enough, peasant,” she hissed. Seeing that she was angry, Ambrose chose to continue to ignore her.
“Well, my answer to hers is the same as my first answer to your other sister, Olferig. No. I will not fight her for no reason other than to satisfy her violent urges. There’s no benefit to me. And before you say anything about status, money, or materials, I will save you the time. I don’t care about status among people who kowtow to violent bullies who wait around doorways to pick fights. If I need money, I’m quite capable of earning my own. And if I need materials I will use that money or my own skills to gain those materials,” Ambrose said, casually lining up slaps to the woman’s ego while she didn’t even look at her. “She has nothing I want, so there is no point in a duel. I’m going to leave now.”
There was a long moment of furious silence as Ambrose turned to go and find that tree. After the things she’d said, she was fairly certain she had worn out her welcome at the academy. It was a shame, she’d likely miss Lyssandrea, and she had enjoyed getting to know Laiji. But none of that was worth all of the hassle she’d had just being at the school for less than a week.
“Nothing you want?” the woman asked, her evil smile evident in her tone, “Is that so? Then I guess you won’t mind when I raze Swallotale to the ground?”
Ambrose stopped walking. Her blood ran cold. Searing murderous intent began seeping into her veins, as her mouth went dry.
“Ah. Touched a nerve, did I?” the woman giggled, waving Olferig off as he tried to protest. “That’s right, commoner. You will fight me, or I will burn that monster village to the ground and be rid of it. In fact, you will fight me, and when you lose, you will do as I say into perpetuity, or I will take my time having that den of beasts picked apart with ballistae.”
Ambrose turned on her, her movements slow, controlled, deliberate. She needed to be calm, slow if she didn’t want to alert the woman to her intent. “And when I win? What’s to say you won’t hurt my people in a tantrum?” She asked. This was the crux of the matter. This woman had threatened her home, her place of happiness. Depending on her answer, Ambrose would rip the heart from her chest before the woman could blink and be done with it. She would flee and spend the rest of her days hunting the royal family of Diestol if that was what it took to protect her home.
The woman scoffed, batting away the question as though it was completely ridiculous. “You won’t w-” she began, and Ambrose tensed her legs. Deep down, she knew that if no one held this woman in check she would be callous, spiteful, and vindictive. Now that she had a vulnerability of Ambrose’s she would seek to leverage it every chance she got. Ambrose would finish this in an instant…
The tall blond man seemed to sense something from her and he moved, stepping in front of the woman and putting on a charming face. Ambrose eased the tension in her legs. With him in the way, she was unlikely to get the clean blow she needed. He seemed… dangerous. “Lady Di, was it? This is an exhibition. While my sister is holding your village hostage to satisfy a bet she has made, I do guarantee that if you win, you will be rewarded handsomely. Your village will be safe, under the protection of the crown prince. I, Brandr Vargut von Diestol, vow that I will make certain Swallotale comes under no harm from the royal family. And to sweeten the deal, I will personally send them a hefty sum of money and goods, enough to fill a village’s coffers to bursting. My only caveat is that if you lose, you must swear loyalty to Diestol, and your obedience to her royalty,” he said. His words were lofty, but smooth. He had a level of tact and charm his brother and sister lacked.
Still, his promise was the best that Ambrose would get out of this situation, stated in front of the nobility and the head of the guard. Ambrose could only prepare herself for what was to come. None of this would be pleasant. Looking at her stats, and alerts, the very ones she had chosen to hold off on until she had rested, she began making decisions as she spoke.
“And she will listen to you? She won’t go behind your back to hurt my people?” Ambrose asked, mostly stalling for time. If these people were as pompous about their rank as they seemed, the woman wouldn’t dare cross the crown prince for fear of retaliation and punishment. But she was a “commoner” so she could pretend not to know that.
New Forms Available. Please choose a new form.
New growths available. 12 Please distribute growths before changes apply.
I was hoping to save these growths for the next time I talked to Lyssandrea, but… I need the power now, Ambrose lamented. Quickly distributing her points for balanced growth, Ambrose began sorting through options that could possibly help her in a fight with royalty who was likely far higher level than she was. What form, what form could help her close the gap.
Goblin
Dormouse
Lamia
Harpy (Pigeon)
Palumu (fruitbat)
Rainin
Moon Blood
Ifreet
Sylphae
While Ambrose was impressed that some of the minor elemental races were in her list of options, Ambrose couldn’t dwell on those thoughts. She knew the Rainin were associated with lightning and thunder, and the Palumu were akin to bat harpies and had excellent agency over their aerial mobility at night. Those were quick, easy choices. Moon Blood sounded neither appealing, nor bad, but in the night, something so aptly named might save her serious trouble. Ifreet were fire elementals, and while they were powerful, counters to fire were common and abundant, not to mention the destruction caused would be hard to control. Sylphae had greater mobility, but she had no inkling of where to go from there. With no better options going through her own mind, Ambrose made her quick decisions and then let the levels take effect.
“You wouldn’t betray me, would you Laecia?” the man said, turning and putting on a devilish grin that obviously intimidated the princess to her core. She began shaking her head and putting up her hands immediately, Something that Ambrose noted mentally as her body swelled slightly and her will sharpened against the persistent tug of mental exhaustion.
“No! No, dear brother! I would never! Your word is law. If you protect that village then it is protected by the will of the Kingdom!” she said, obviously fearful of Brandr’s ire. Just what kind of man was Ambrose dealing with?
“There you have it, Lady Di,” the man said, turning back to her, his charming smile back on in full glow. “What say you? Do you accept the royal family’s challenge and terms?” he asked.
Ambrose took a long, deep breath, and then nodded. “I will fight your sister. When I win, the village will be protected,” she agreed.
“When I win, you will obey like the proper commoner you are!” the princess scoffed, before gesturing at the guards. “Go, beat her into submission!”
The guards drew weapons, clubs, staves and short swords drawn in a flash before they moved as a unit. A group of A ranked armored and equipped guards of the kingdom versus a single M ranked student? How was that fair? The night shift captain balked as the royal guard moved as one to subdue a woman who had, not hours before, saved the city from a potential outbreak of serious mana pollution.
Ambrose backed up shifting forms to her horned lambda and raising her shield while she kept her club in a low ready position. She wasn’t certain how she’d manage thirty men, but she had to if she wanted to protect herself and her home.
—
The first five men stepped forward while the outer ranks attempted to surround Ambrose, and the young woman was forced to make a quick decision, charging to meet the advance of the warrior in the center of the five with her shield. His blade scraped off of the heater and to the side, her immense strength even in this form causing him to stumble back and opening up an opportunity for her to slam her club into the man on his left. The guard buckled and Ambrose stepped back even as she took a glancing blow to the shoulder, retreating until she could see most of her opponents.
Once again, she was confronted with the idea that she had far more striking strength than most people could handle. The majority of the guards were rank A, and while she doubted that they were at or under her own level, that hadn’t made up for the damage she could do with their lack of durability. People were not meant to withstand the forces she could output. Even if these people were her enemy for this fight, she didn’t want to kill them.
Stepping to the side to evade a swing from another man with a sword, she bashed him with her shield, pulling the blow as much as she felt she could. The man grunted and tumbled off to the side, only to be replaced by another with a club, who stepped in and swung low, hitting her in the back of the leg. The blow hurt, though not nearly enough for her to bend or falter. She turned and rammed the man with her shoulder, knocking him back into another guard and sending both of them stumbling. The pair shouted and tried to right themselves and defend from a follow up, but Ambrose was already retreating, trying to bowl her way through the other guards. All she needed to do was move in and attack the princess. Then she could call them off and no one would get hurt. Hefting her shield and pointing her horns she charged into a wall of twenty armed guards, fully intent on surging through like a rampaging bull.
“Kneel!” came the commanding voice of Laecia over the din of the fighting. Even as Ambrose hit the first line of soldiers, a compulsion hit her, a striking desire to fall to her knees, that made her falter in her charge.
Before she could correct herself, several of the soldiers had moved around her and begun hacking and smashing at her with their weapons. The pain was the only thing that pulled the stunned Ambrose from the compulsion as she cried out and thrashed, throwing herself free of the throng with a powerful shield bash and a leap. When she landed, she knew she was in bad condition. Her legs wobbled and her entire body stung from cuts and bruises. One of the men had stabbed her solidly in the stomach, another cutting into her thigh. Her knee and ribs had been bludgeoned. If she had been any less sturdy, that one mistake could have cost her the entire fight.
“How interesting. You can resist my command even now,” Laecia mused, leaning back in her seat and smiling. “I’m impressed, commoner. But you’re wounded. Perhaps we should call it my win here?”
Ambrose huffed, switching to the pantrada form, noting just how much more powerful and speedy it felt with her transformation. The enhancement of the form really had pushed it beyond its natural limits. Perhaps Ambrose would need to enhance and evolve another form before this was over. Rather than answer the princess, Ambrose sped into motion, blurring before the guards could close back in on her to do more damage to a form that was much less capable of handling those attacks.
She moved though and between the guards with ease, trying to line up a charge with the princess. All she needed was a hit, a single, solid hi- “STOP!” the princess commanded.
Once again Ambrose found herself in the middle of a throng of enemies, trying to move through, but stuck as she tried to resist a compulsion. A club swung hard, knocking her in the back of the head and sending her reeling while more weapons began moving toward her body. Whack!
Ambrose nearly blacked out. She was… she was going to fail… to fail the village. That sparked something in the back of her mind and as she fell, she shifted again. She couldn’t afford to fail the village, she couldn’t afford to be tied to these pompous, wealthy nobles who would threaten her home at every turn if she didn’t win. Ambrose didn’t want to kill anyone… at least she didn’t before the redcappi form took hold.
Rose the redcappi swung her cleaver in a manic swirl, taking the legs off of the men who surrounded her, bathing in the blood and screams. The men around her victims backed away as limbs and torsos tumbled to the pavement around her. A wild smile painted her lower face as the little, red-capped girl pulled back an arm and launched her cleaver at the nearest retreating guard, the bone weapon biting past the steel and into his clavicle, causing him to howl in pain.
Rose didn’t hesitate, leaping on him and yanking the blade free. She was about to take his head off when another command came. “I said KNEEL!” some woman shouted. But all that was on Ambrose’s mind was ‘kill’. Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
The man beneath her tried to push her off and she swung, taking off his arm and basking in the sweet energy that filled her as he howled again in pain. Someone struck her from behind and she tumbled to the ground, only to move to her feet and begin cleaving anew. A leg here, an arm there, a smashed rib over there. It was a feast of pain, a smorgasbord of tender prey all brought to the laughter. To the butcher.
“STOP!” That command bit through Ambrose’s bloodlust, just for a moment. Just long enough for her to take another hit. Rather than wait for more people to attack, Ambrose shifted again.
Water surged around her in all directions, welling up in a massive orb as Ambrose stabbed out in all directions with her spear, the advantage of her range alongside the simple fury of the Beastiary beginning to push back the numbers. She sent forth shards of Ice and waves of water to throw off her attackers while her blade stabbed and bit at any who managed to press in too close to her. Surrounded as she was, she didn’t feel nearly as vulnerable as she had in her fight with Nayeli. No one had shown enough magical prowess to force her out of that form and she could close out the sounds around her, which seemed to be keeping the woman’s commands at bay.
An idea formed in Ambrose’s mind and she began sending large waves of water off of her orb in every direction, looking to coat the enemy guards and hopefully the princess as well. More men tried to rush her, to crowd past the water only to be stabbed or knocked back by larger waves. The street was soaked in under a minute, and while the guards continued to struggle, Ambrose moved on to the next step.
Ambrose’s body shifted once more, taking on the form of a pale, ashen skinned woman with long, black antlers, wild tresses that flared away from her hair and powerful muscles that crackled with the raw energy of lightning. She peered around herself, floating inches off of the ground still as her regal form prepared to dispense judgement. Eyes widened around her and there were shouts of fear and terror a moment before the night lit up. There was a flash of white, a crack, and then a boom of earsplitting thunder as elemental lightning struck down.
The guards all fell twitching to the ground where surges of electrical energy danced off of their armor and weaponry. Ambrose couldn’t tell how many survived and how many were simply spasming from the power still coursing their nerves. She didn’t particularly care either as she turned her attention to where the royals sat. It seemed she hadn’t managed to soak the princess in her attempt to cover the area in water, but she wasn’t too disappointed. The woman would suffer in her own time.
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Ambrose was about to attack again when the princess made a gesture with a single, elegant hand. From the very night itself came a troupe of black entities, warriors, archers and mages drawn from nothing into being in an instant. They were covered in armor and robes, but obviously humanoid and obviously armed with weapons. Bows and swords gleamed in the moonlight, and staves glowed with the power of mana. “I may have underestimated you, commoner! But you cannot defeat me. Those weren’t even my real warriors,” the princess cackled. “Withness my true power!”
Dark arrows sang through the night toward Ambrose as the archers immediately sent a volley her way. Ambrose floated out of the way of the first, but found she lacked true speed in this form. It was meant to dominate through mystic strength, not agility. Shifting to the palumu, Ambrose took to the sky, her webbed wing arms beating powerfully as her long, fluffy tail guided her movements. Wind smoothly passed over her body, the breezes tickling the light fur that tufted at her chest and round her neck, as well as down her thighs and legs. Her new fluffy tail wiggled along the wind, providing her with balance and resistance in equal measure.
Somehow, more than anything, Ambrose felt like she was in control as she moved in the night air, her wings beating powerfully. While Ambrose had never had wings before, instinct carried most of her transition into the sky. While she would need to spend some time on her own practicing if she wanted to successfully pull tight maneuvers, her movement was not completely stunted by her lack of experience.
The palumu were a race of Demi Humans with strikingly humanoid faces, long, powerful webbed wing arms and fluffy fur to keep them warm year round. Their bat-like qualities made them unwelcome in most cities, but they had a strong hold over the mail systems on the continent, along with the harpies who lived in the Advelhein Empire. The added agility did wonders for Ambrose, but even as she evaded in the air, she knew she was only biding time. She needed to take care of those summons.
Flying back into the city away from the princess and her warriors, Ambrose ducked around a corner as another arrow followed her movements, but slammed hard into an opposing wall, winding herself as her lack of experience flying displayed itself. Rather than stopping, Ambrose switched forms again. She could hear the thunk of heavy grieves on the stone pavement as the summoned warriors chased her deeper into the city.
It was all Ambrose could do to keep from panicking and stay calm while she tried to fully consider her options. The Mermaid form was fine, though she would likely need to contest with mage summons now, rather than human guards. The pantrada was dazed and wounded, and not an option without some time to heal. The same could be said for her Lambda form. While the Redcappi was likely fine, she wasn’t sure these summons would be terrified enough to make mistakes when coming after her and trying to chop her smaller form to pieces. That meant Holstaur, Moon Blood, the Anfaunum, or her new Lamia form because she didn’t want to use the Rainin again until she had a free shot at Laecia.
The steps were getting closer, and Ambrose made a quick decision calling on the power of the Moon Blood. Her muscles swelled, her sense of smell sharpening as she began catching the scents of humanoids all around her. Long ears craned around on her head, catching constant sound round her. Her claws felt mighty and dug easily into the stone as she prepared to pounce.
The first of the black guards to round the corner caught her leap to his chestplate on his lead arm only for her impressive strength to bowl it back in front of her pursuers. Ambrose slashed with her claws, tearing into the armored visor covering his face, but didn’t get far through the armor, the enchanted warrior didn’t panic, instead, it rolled to the side and out of the way as another of its number swung hard with a heavy hammer.
Ambrose took the brunt of that blow to the chest, flying back into the alley and bouncing off of the wall before hitting the pavement. She was certain she had felt her ribs snap with that blow and the landing had been terrible. Yet for some reason, instinct told her not to shift again, simply to relocate. Gritting her teeth and ignoring the pain, the taste of iron in her mouth and the aching in her sternum, she pushed herself to all fours and ran as the knights pursued. Her aim was to gain time, not necessarily to get away from the princess. She hadn’t lost yet.
As she ran, she heard crunching and cracking noises, twinges of pain running through her body until Ambrose slowly began to feel better. Glancing down, she saw the bruising receding along her skin. Regeneration? That was amazing. It gave this form some serious advantages that she felt like she could make use of.
An arrow narrowly missed her shoulder as she stepped out from the other side of the alley. Rather than stopping, Ambrose changed course, heading straight for the archer, whose black silhouette stood out against the roof of a nearby business. Ambrose charged recklessly, her eyes locked on one enemy. If she could take them out one at a time, buy herself a few moments to start working up another plan, then perhaps she could get that hit she needed to end this…
—
“You see this, brother?” Laecia asked, still seated in her chair in front of the Academy, allowing her summons to harass and track down the M rank commoner. “M rank or not, the common folk are common folk. She will bend the knee once my minions finish with her.”
“Sister, you treat this as though she is not already a threat, as though antagonizing her now will somehow prevent her from vengeance when she gains the power to overwhelm us,” Olferig hissed, gesturing at the guards who even at that moment twitched and groaned in misery on the city streets. “Thirty-two men downed in an instant. All of them A rank and specially trained to serve the royal family. She can resist a compulsion that you yourself have used to ensnare and enslave dignitaries. Her power grows by the day, and she loses patience with our antics even faster. Sister, this is not wisdom.”
“Nonsense, brother. This is wisdom. To keep the powers that will be under the heel of the power that exists is the way of the noble,” Laecia said, chuckling. “Once she is under control we will contain her growth. There will be no reason for fear.”
“Oh I believe there will be much reason to fear if what I think is going on happens to be the truth,” came the soft, pleasant tones of the Heiress of Advelhein.
Olferig spun, his hand on the hilt of his blade, only to find himself face to face with the platinum Visor of the Heiress’s bodyguard. He hadn’t felt her move behind him. “Ah. Heiress.. Margaux,” he said, stowing his discomfort and looking round to see why Brandr hadn’t said anything when they were being snuck up on.
He found Brandr talking to the head of the night guard, his face serious as he considered what information she was relaying to him. Olferig wanted to go over to them, to be privy to that information as well, but the Heiress stole his attention again.
“You coerced her into another fight? Surely this is some form of sick joke? Do you want your kingdom destroyed?!” the Heiress asked, seeming to genuinely think that Olferig was stupid. At the moment, Olferig was debating if he could argue against such an accusation.
“Calm yourself, Heiress. Everything is well under con-nh!” Laecia began before she grunted in discomfort, clutching lightly at her chest as something hit her. It had been a long time since Laecia had experienced summon loss. The glow of her mana dispersing was a telltale sign for Olferig though.
“She killed one?” Olferig asked, looking out over the city, searching for Ambrose’s location. What she had just done was tantamount to slaying an S rank in their high 20s.
“Yes. An archer,” the princess grunted, returning her attention to the fight with a grim scowl on her face. “She won’t get another.”
“Something tells me she will,” Margaux said.
Laecia didn’t respond verbally, but Olferig could see her fist clench.
—
The minion faded away as Ambrose pulled the arrows from her gut, chest and shoulder, growling in displeasure as each barbed head came out before the healing factor of the Moon Blood form could take hold. The heads took chunks of flesh with them, but the Moon Blood seemed capable of recovering from even such grotesque wounds once the offending heads were withdrawn.
An alert in her head distracted her, leaving her to mentally peruse messages in her mind in the hopes of something, anything that would help.
-
Congratulations. You have leveled up. Your class allows natural growth in Might, Virility, Nimbleness, Discernment, and Potency per level. You may apply 3 extra growths per level to further empower your status.
New growths available. 3 Please distribute growths before changes apply.
New Chimera available. New Chimera slot Available. One slot must be filled.
Chimeric Investment unlocked. 1 Chimeric investment point available.
-
That was… a lot… Ambrose was about to go into it when a thundering crash happened from below her. The warrior minions had caught up, the one with the hammer smashing its weapon into the wall of the shop. Its second strike sent cracks spiderwebbing up the wall, and Ambrose hissed in displeasure, turning to retreat only to be caught with a surge of electricity. Her muscles seized and she howled in pain, her back arching as her insides spasmed, trying to tear themselves apart. Then the roof caved in under her, dropping her into the shop.
Ambrose crashed to the floor with a massive thud, her body still seizing, the healing factor of the blood moon struggling to combat with the continued electrical damage. Ambrose didn’t have the time to let her body recover. She had to shift again. With a quick mental application of an ability she had been trying to save up, rather than spend all at once, Ambrose piled all five Investment of Essence into the Holstaurus form before shifting.
The change was… subtle, so far as Ambrose could tell. She couldn’t really see herself, but she felt vibrant and healthy as she tossed away the chunks of rubble around her and lowed. The stones clattered around the inside of the building as the warrior Minions advanced toward her from the outside.
Even as they came Ambrose did her best to think through her options. Chimeric Investment, new chimeric form, she needed the stat improvements, needed a new form to deal with what she knew was turning into a losing situation. Drawing her halberd, Ambrose took a deep breath and tried to make some quick choices.
—
Laecia cheered as nearby the roof of a business caved in. Olferig looked at her with a raised brow. “Is there some reason you’re cheering?” he asked his sister.
“I’ve got her cornered. My other minions are closing in. This will be over all too soon, brother,” Laecia giggled, wiggling in her seat in anticipation.
From behind them, heavy footfalls could be heard, soft, blessed light entering the area. Olferig could tell who was coming without turning. The Scion of Light’s reputation and power preceded her. Turning, he took a deep breath, wondering how he would manage to explain what was going on to Lyssandrea. “Scion. You are yet awake, I see,” he said.
“Headmaster! What’s going on! I saw the call of a storm. Heard the crashes in the city. Are we under attack again? Why aren’t the alarms blaring?!” she asked. The glowing redhead was in her mirror polished armor, her blade in hand as she slid to a halt, her eyes scanning the perimeter as she found herself in high ranking company. Without a moment of hesitation, she began giving courteous but speedy bows to those necessary.
“We are… Fine. As you might remember, my sister planned to challenge young Ambrose Di to a test of Might. She chose to do so now,” Olferig sighed, looking over to her sister who was still gleefully bouncing in her seat.
“I thought… I had hoped she was jesting. This is no fair contest, even as exceptional as she is, her highness outstrips her in level by magnitudes,” Lys frowned, not seeming to understand at all.
“It doesn’t need to be fair! She needs to learn her pl- nnh! Filthy peasant! Fall already!” Laecia hissed, her body glowing once, then twice as she lost two more of her minions. Rather than stay seated, she stood, calling forth four more warriors.
Olferig had never seen her dig this deeply into her mana for a test of strength. What on Ruvia was Ambrose doing to push a woman three times her level with an evolved class so far?
—
Ambrose parried the stab from the warrior summon with the reinforced, metal haft of her halberd before whipping the blade up and slamming it into the neck joint of the armor. The blade sank deep, nearly taking the head clean off. This enhanced Holstaurus form had the physical power to match the minions and the halberd had given her the range advantage she needed to do damage to them quickly.
Yanking her blade back and dragging the minion with it, she pulled back a hoof and kicked the dissolving corpse off of it, sending the armored shadow through the front window and tumbling into the night. With the hammer minion already down, Ambrose hopped the counter for the sake of gaining cover and tried to think. She had a new chimeric slot, one that would allow her to fuse three forms into one. A boon like that could completely turn the fight around if she put the right pieces together. She just had to think. To fight past the weariness of her exhausted mind and pry a solution from nothing.
What had worked so far? The merfolk had been excellent at controlling the influx of attackers. The elemental had struck down her foes with an overwhelming amount of power. The Blood Moon form had saved her with its regeneration and strength, and the evolved holstaur had been… well… she had effectively crushed two opponents with it. While that didn’t rule out everything else, she couldn’t really afford to mess around with what ifs. She needed power and results.
Mentally listing what she needed from the forms, she made use of the second slot for chimera, fusing the Rainin for its elemental might, the Blood Moon for its tanky resilience and regeneration, and the evolved Holstaur for its sturdiness and raw might. To seal it all off, she threw in the chimeric investment for the new form. While the Hollam form was mighty, she loved it how it was. She wouldn’t need to invest in it. Best to make use of that point to ensure her win.
Once it was done, Ambrose felt herself shift, her body revitalized from enhancing her own vitality, but she wasn’t done yet, and she could hear the enemies coming. Sets of Armored feet crashed into the stone pavement. The crackle of magic on the end of the mage minion’s staff was drawing close. It was now or never.
Ambrose closed her eyes, trusted in her class and her own judgement, then shifted.
—
The world was quiet for a moment as the royals all stood in wait, wondering what would come of Ambrose. Would she fall to the onslaught Laecia had thrown her way out of frustration. Would she flee and escape? Not a word was spoken. Then the world lit up, a vortex of raw electrical energy roaring into the sky, tearing the clouds asunder and illuminating the kingdom from the castle far into the reaches of the countryside. The peal of thunder and the howling wind that followed that beam of agonized rage into the sky nearly bowled Olferig onto his side.
Beside him, Margaux yipped and cheered, as he watched his sister clutch at her chest and bend over as the backlash of losing her minions took another toll. He turned to check on her, but stopped as he found the Heiress in the corner of his eye. She was no longer on her feet. She was on her knees, on all fours, her palms flat to the floor as she bowed in the direction of the calamity.
That was the moment when Olferig decided that they had fucked up. Turning to face what was surely a completely vaporized building, he too moved to his knees. Whatever had done that was not something he felt he could compete with.
“Peasant! Commoner! Nobody! YOU FILTHY PEASANT!” Laecia screamed, summoning more minions to do her bidding, scratching furiously at her arms as her agitated nerves got to her. “How dare you!? How fucking DARE you?!”
The sounds of the people in the city panicking, leaving their homes to flee what they obviously thought was an end to the city rose as lights turned on under the fading illumination of the thundering death that had pierced the sky.
Beside the royals, from where he had been calmly speaking to the guard captain. Brandr stepped forward, moving himself between his family and something he knew was coming. “If she makes it here, sister. You have lost,” he declared solemnly holding out a hand before himself. Intricate lines of sunny golden light wove free of his fist like the lines within the magitek golems, intertwining forming symbols and circles as a half dome barrier erected itself before the royal family.
“Nonsense!” Laecia spat. Olferig could hear how insensate she was, how mad. “I haven’t lost! I would neve- ah!” Olferig went wide eyed as the sound of the slap hit his ears. He looked up to see Laecia clutching her cheek, whimpering as she looked at their older brother, who glared at her with a murderous glint in his eyes.
“If she makes it here. You. Have. Lost,” he said again. Laecia nodded, cowering back into her seat.
—
Rose roared again, her declaration of power echoing across the landscape! All she viewed was her territory any who displeased their king would be crushed! The clouds scattered, the earth parted at her whim and will. None would dare to challenge her and live. This was her declaration to the world, to the lands she now stood upon.
A trio of black armored knights approached her, one of them sending a ball of flames in her direction. She leapt toward the attack, lightning surging through her clawed hands before her own power subsumed the blast and sent it hurtling back at the mage, coated in lightning. The blazing flash of light and heat did nothing to deter her as she landed and charged the other knights who had been caught on the edge of the blast that had killed the mage. The armored one with a sword was crushed flat by a thundering downward smack of her paw before she turned to the one with the hammer and took it by the throat.
The knight struggled, swinging its hammer and hitting her side. The blow was feeble, like a baby batting at the arm of their mother. She barely felt it. Cocking back her arm, she took aim and then threw the creature at an archer who had been preparing to fire on her. The corpses collided and the armored one tore through the archer, blasting it apart in shadowy chunks as it continued to sail higher and higher into the night sky.
Rose took a deep breath, and began walking toward the castle and Academy. Someone there had angered her greatly, threatened her home, her loved ones. Someone had forced her to appear and to conquer this place. Now was their time to pay for such folly. She would crush them, crush the castle, even. That sounded like wonderful payment for the disrespect she had endured.
As she approached, a line of the shadow minions charged her, silently raising weapons as they sought to run her down and overwhelm her. Raw electricity ran off of her arms and claws up her abs and down her legs as her power displayed itself. A wild grin parted her plump lips, and Rose charged.
Lightning struck where she struck thunder followed her movements and paraded her step as she massacred the humanoid shadows, leaving singed prints of mangled avatars burned into the stone. One after another, first two, then four, then ten shattered, scattered shadow corpses painted her path toward the gates. A shimmering barrier told her just where she needed to go.
__
The howl the terrifying creature Ambrose had become made when it lunged at Brandr’s barrier shook Olferig to his bones. The way the beast slammed into the wall with its claw and nearly shattered the glowing defense on impact made him regret ever entertaining his sister and her notions. Only Brandr stood between his immediate family members and death. The blades on its hands shimmered in the light of the cracked barrier and the lightning surging off of its body as they pierced into a warding barrier that should have halted a shot from a war machine with ease.
The barrier flickered as the beast raised its other paw. Olferig’s hope for even one more moment of protection shattered with the barrier. Fragments of shimmering light cascaded around the royals and nobles, dissipating as Ambrose stepped forward and the cobbles cracked beneath her feet. She bared her teeth, her jaw glowing with electricity as she panted. Laecia fell to her ass from the seat she was in as the glowing eyes of the beast focused on her, visible through her wild hair.
Olferig could only watch as Brandr stepped in and blocked a titanic slash meant for the cowering Laecia, who shrieked again and threw herself to the side, crawling away in desperate fear. Ambrose let loose a rumbling, crackling growl that made her lips glow with deadly electric light. The sound mixed with a static hum, as though something was charging behind those glowing fangs.
“You’ve won!” Brandr, shouted, trying to get Ambrose’s attention. He moved his body between her and their sister, keeping up his arm, which Olferig noticed was bleeding. “Ambrose you have won!”
Ambrose stepped forward, pushing Brandr back, the taller man grunting, his knees bending as he tried to resist an immense strength. The immense pressure of her ire was forced down on him and for a moment, Olferig thought his brother would buckle.
“Ambrose!” he shouted, gritting his teeth as she growled and put more force on him. “Swallotale is safe! The village is safe!”
For some reason, that broke through. Ambrose stopped crushing him, stopped glowing with electrical power. She even shifted back to her bruised, battered human form, her hand still gripped around his wrist, where she had been ready to crush him. “Safe?” she rasped, her face focussed on him. “They’re safe?”
“They’re safe.” Brandr replied, panting, his eyes focused closely on her.
That answer seemed to be all it took. All at once, the will to fight left Ambrose. The young woman collapsed, falling to her knees and then her face on the scarred, electricity singed ground at Brandr’s feet, completely unconscious.