All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 332: Up, Up, and Away + Huge Announcements

Archibald chased after the two airborne Lieutenants, trying to herd them back towards the Custodian of the Void. Even though they were little more than ephemeral shapes, it was clear that they were panicking.

The reaction was one that Archibald couldn't help but revel in a little bit as they fled before the angry dragon. They'd probably thought they were safe, but what about Void being occupied for the moment? But nope. Now, they really had reason to be afraid.

The air demon let out a screeching howl like a gale of wind as Daedalus caught the dense being in his teeth and tore it apart, tossing one half to Tony. The Custodian of the Void tried to catch it, but the creature of air reformed mid-flight and changed course, evading his touch.

Their two opponents were some of the least human of all the demon lieutenants. With a sound of screeches and hisses that might have been language, the two separated and dashed off in different directions. After a moment, they arched around and sped away from the battle at top speed, heading back south.

Archibald raised his sword over his head and shouted in victory, the sound drowned out by the much louder roar of the dragon beneath him. They met up with a similarly celebrating Tony in the air, who was also completely drowned out by Daedalus. Once the dragon eventually had his fill, Archibald yelled over to Tony, "I didn't know you could eat demons."

Tony gave a modest shrug. "I didn't either. It's pretty uncomfortable, honestly."

Daedalus rumbled with approval. "Eating demons is quite fun. I'm glad someone else can appreciate the experience as well."

Archibald patted the scales. "Yes, yes, we know you can eat demons, buddy. But Tony's don't come back up."

"Hmmm," Daedalus's tail lashed behind him in annoyance as Archibald reminded him of that particular incident. "I suppose…"

"Say," Tony said, "you think we should go after them?"

Archibald looked down at the fortress. "Er… do we need to help out here? I mean, shouldn't we support Void and Bee?

The trio looked at each other, but Daedalus let out a huff. "Fools. We cannot afford to let them leave. What direction are they heading?"

Archibald opened his mouth to answer, then realized that it was a rhetorical question. Recognition dawned on both him and Tony at once.

"Oh," he said as Tony realized the same thing. "Yeah, we should go after them,"

"I'll tell Bee," Tony said as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples. Despite the oddly ethereal image he presented, his voice came out normally. "We killed the succubus and drove off the air and shadow Lieutenants. But they're heading toward Barleona's capital. We need to go follow to head them off. Can you handle things here?"

Tony paused for a moment, then shook his head. "No," he said, probably in response to Bee. "Yes. Yes. I did. I ate it with Void's breath."

The light winked out around him as he finished his sentence, and he sagged slightly. His shoulders slumped where he hovered. If Archibald had to guess, he was just starting to crash after the hectic battle.

Archibald leaned over and pulled him onto the dragon's back for a well-deserved rest as they headed after the fleeing Lieutenants.

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Bee met Zeal's lifeless eyes. The moment seemed to stretch on for an unnaturally long time, even though it couldn't have been more than a fraction of a second. Just as she'd expected, the shamed cult leader had nothing to say for himself.

Her eyes snapped up once again, taking in the rest of the room as she came up with the plan. There was no time to wonder what series of events had brought the man here. The ominous-looking circle in the center of the room needed to be taken care of fast. She left the fallen angel Lieutenant in its reforming puddle, fairly confident that it would stay down for a few moments longer. With that, she flung herself across the room.

Her broom extended towards the monster of bone as she slammed into it, pinning it against the wall. She bashed it again with the edge of her broom, sweeping splintered and shattered bones away with a technique she'd honed against weaker skeletons below the castle. As she battered her opponent, she yelled to the Nighty Knights. "I'll handle the Lieutenants! Stop the ritual!"

She kept watch out of the corner of her eye. Thankfully, the Knights seemed to understand her intent and rushed to wipe away the carefully painted lines of the various ritual circles. The two responsible for summoning the lesser demons were immediately disintegrated apart by torrents of soapy water and sheets of scouring sand. Their magic fizzled out with a sharp popping sound as demons ceased to appear within them.

But the larger one, the one the witch doctor chanted over, was proving to be more difficult. The channels carved into the floor held the blood no matter what they did, and even when they started to blast away at the stone with their skills, it seemed to resist their efforts. Something was fighting against them as though to protect it.

Bee didn't have time to consider the exact mechanics of the thing. In a moment, she was flying back from where the Lich had used the wall as leverage to strike her across the room. She rotated in midair and managed to land on a crouch on the opposite wall, the force of the impact sending cracks through the stone. As she hopped down, she sent a vigorous swipe of her broom through the still-healing Lieutenant puddle, sending it splattering across the stone.

As the Lich shot toward her in pursuit, Bee had a different plan in mind. She launched herself at the witch doctor, attempting to stop his chanting and cut the ritual off at its source. The tip of her broom sailed toward the Lieutenant's center of mass but didn't meet its mark. Instead, it glanced off a blue dome surrounding the creature.

Her eyes widened as she collided with the dome, sliding across its surface and slamming into the wall behind. Scowling, she whipped around and yanked on her broom, now half-embedded into the wall. It took a decent amount of her considerable strength to rip it out, coming loose just in time to bash aside the club of bone aiming for her head.

Was she in over her head? Yes. Almost definitely. But though she was technically fighting off three Lieutenants at the moment, things really weren't as bad as they seemed. One was busy with his ritual, and the other was still reforming from incredible damage. As long as she kept that up, it might be okay. And the witch doctor didn't decide to join the fray. And the ominous ritual didn't complete. Really, there were a lot of ways for this to be worse.

Bee dodged the Lich's strikes and spared a glance at the Nighty Knights for a half-second, attempting to see how much progress they were making. But before she could properly assess it, stars flashed across her vision. Her head spun as she was sent rolling across the ground. She cursed herself for getting distracted. She had to trust that the Nighty Knights would do their job well. She had her own job to do.

Needling pain erupted across her exposed back, and she rolled over, lashing out with her broom. The wind batted aside a flurry of feathers with barbed tips as they sailed toward her. They shot out from a partially reformed wing that still dripped with demon goo. Bee cursed again. She'd been too slow. She'd let her advantage slip due to the distraction, and now the healer was back in the fight.

She pressed her palms to the ground and launched herself forward in a half-run, half-crawl, not able to take the time to fully right herself. It proved to be a good decision. A massive claw of bones flashed through just where her head would have been if she'd stood up all the way. As she scrambled forward, she kept up the offensive. Her broom lashed out, cutting through the healer's wing but unable to stop its reforming shape from clumsily scrambling aside itself.

Using the tip of her broom, she speared through the wing of the angel as it fled. Then, with an effort and a quick twist of the blade, Bee spun and flung it toward the mass of bones glowing threateningly behind her.

The two demons collided with each other and tangled together as she flung out a hand toward the witch doctor. She sent a quick Scouring Strike at the crackling blue shield around the Lieutenant. She barely had time to glimpse the sand flashing off to different sides, only a tiny bit making it into the barrier. Then, she had to spin to deal with another attack by the winged demon.

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