Brivaria took in her surroundings as soon as she materialized among the crusaders. Her first priority was identifying those who had summoned her. This time her summoners were a band of Arslan and Celian warriors. Arslan was the angel-given name for those who self-identified as humans while Celian was the name given to the many races that shared traits with animals, beasts, and sometimes even monsters. Having identified the friendlies on the battlefield, the angel turned her gaze toward the enemies. The foe of the day was a fleshspawn horde supported by Arslan spellcasters.
The fleshspawn were byproducts of magic gone awry. When skills or spells malfunctioned, the broken magic released could sometimes coalesce into physical form if not dispersed properly. It was a similar process that saw the dead rise as undead if not properly laid to rest. While fleshspawn could come about through natural circumstances, there was nothing natural about the horde before Brivaria now. Someone had worked terrible magic in this place and these abominations were the result, intentional or otherwise.
Brivaria’s first act upon being summoned was to utilize her Warmth of Heaven skill to rejuvenate her allies. It was a costly skill that would drain her mana but it would be a Pyrrhic victory to bring down the horde while the brave men and women who had summoned her perished. More practically, the piles of dead were a testament to their fighting strength and giving them a second wind was a worthy use of the mana.
Brivaria’s second act was activating Grand Lumen. It was an upgraded version of the base Produce Light skill which scoured all shadows and darkness in a wide area. The crusaders and monsters alike blinked in astonishment as the entire Pit, as far as their eyes could see, was suddenly and brightly lit from every angle. More hooded men and women were revealed by the light as the magic cloaking them in shadow burned away under the angel’s stern gaze and the powerful skill she wielded.
“They sealed the entrance, we need to use a different exit!” shouted the man who seemed to command the warriors below.
“If you know of one then lead your men to it. If not, we will find one together. I will be your shield,” Brivaria proclaimed. The fleshspawn were momentarily stunned upon her arrival but a moment of peace was all they were given. That brief exchange of words was all the two were given as the lull in the fighting came to an abrupt end. That was fine. Further words were unnecessary for what was to come. It took only a single beat of her wings to catapult the angel into the midst of her foes.
Brivaria’s weapon of choice was a narrow, double-edged blade. Slender and delicate though it looked, the sword was forged by angelic craftsmen to withstand the pressures of combat with creatures far beyond these simple fleshspawn. More than that, an enhancement skill overlaid the lithe sword with a gleaming construct of light thus turning the elegant, thrusting blade into a golden greatsword.
Blade and light cut through flesh, stone, and dirt alike. Each swing of the weapon felled everything in its path with terrifying efficiency. Monsters were bisected at the waist, cleaved through their deformed, and dismembered with every stroke. The angel was experienced, well-armed, and, perhaps most importantly, very high level. A mixture of high stats and powerful skills rendered her all but invincible to the horde.
Even when the mages channeled their most potent killing spells together, the angel merely extended her wings as though bracing herself against an invisible wall and raised her shield. An orb of deadly energy hit the white, heater shield she carried with it the force of a cannon ball. The winged warrior neither flinched nor was she moved by the impact. The brief glow of a skill upon the shield faded and Brivaria redoubled her assault. The mages did not live long enough to attempt a second volley.
While the angel fought, the crusaders organized. From the corners of her eyes, Brivaria saw the leader reassembling the men into a new formation. When the group started to move in unison, she changed course to cut a path through the horde in their way. She had no means to discern an exit from this place. She was more than content to purge the Pit of monsters for as long as she remained in this realm but she knew that her presence was temporary and the lives of the warriors depended on reaching an exit from this place.
Brivaria’s mana and stamina steadily decreased as they moved through the underground tunnel system. Angels were a font of mana due to their naturally high spirit but health and stamina relied upon endurance which was tied with awareness for their lowest, natural attribute. They were potent warriors and devastating spellcasters but they were not native to the material realm. Eventually the magic holding her physical form together would collapse and Brivaria would return to her home.
“Angel, how long are you for this world?” the leader of the crusaders asked between breaths as they sprinted through the oddly clear tunnel.
“I am Brivaria and I will remain in this place for another 7 minutes of your time.” It was a perilously short amount of time considering the exit was nowhere in sight yet the Arslan simply nodded.
“Live or die this day, you have my thanks Brivaria.” The angel smiled at that. Few had the skills required to summon an angel and fewer still would see their call answered by heaven. In Brivaria’s mind, those who her people aided were always worthy of such and this man’s courage only strengthened her resolve and faith in their cause.
The Pit of Rusek had a long and storied history which Brivaria did not know nor had any interest in learning yet the angel was startled as the corridor gave way to yet another large room. It was uncharacteristic to the dungeon excursions she was usually summoned to aid. Grand Lumen filled the room with light and revealed the area. It had once been a grand kitchen or something along those lines. Mountains of abandoned utensils and broken furniture were piled in the corners of the expansive room. The floor had been dug up resulting in a steady incline leading toward the center. This was a difficult place to fight for those without wings, the angel realized, but strangely accommodating for her. She wasn’t given to ponder that line of thought long for they had been expected here, again.
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Just as the crusaders had been ambushed by well-prepared opponents upon entering the Pit, their escape route had been anticipated by their foes. Between their group and what Brivaria presumed to be the exit up was another horde of fleshspawn, yet more mages, and something far more problematic—a Scheravasir. The humans looked up in surprise as the golden halo iconic to angels snapped into being over Brivaria’s head. Their leader’s expression moved swiftly from surprised to resolved as he alone recognized the gravity of the situation.
“Demon! Prepare yourselves lads.” It truly was a demon or Scheravasir as the angels named them. They were among the first races the heavenly host had encountered upon venturing outside their home plane. They were also the most violent, deceitful, and dangerous of the races Brivaria’s people had encountered over the centuries. If the angels were a force for good, and in their eyes they certainly were, then the demons were a force for pure evil.
Brivaria did not hesitate to charge the enemy. The crusaders needed a path to safety and she had only minutes remaining to create it. If they were to live then their enemies would need to perish. Granted, she could not permanently kill the demon. Demons, like angels, were not native to this realm. While they were not inherently beings of energy and could not exist within the domain of heaven, they operated by similar principles as angels. Upon being killed in a foreign realm, they would simply return to their home.
Death in another realm wasn’t without its side effects. Levels could be lost upon death. The greater the being, the more levels and power would be lost upon their demise. Were they so willing, this could have had dire implications for other realms. The demons could be an endless army of invaders but the reality was that violent upheaval was normal among the Scheravasir and those who suffered a serious setback in another realm, often at the hands of the angels, would likely find a true death awaiting them upon return.
The fleshspawn fell before Brivaria’s blade as easily as wheat before the scythe. She fluttered her wings and activated Featherstorm, a skill unique to creatures with feathered wings. Golden feathers as sharp as knives flew from her wings buffeting the creatures to her sides and sweeping inward as her wings shifted. Mages put up defensive barriers to block the projectiles. Some succeeded and survived. Others were too slow or simply lacked the arcane power to defend against her onslaught. The demon weathered the storm, sharpened feathers bouncing off its corded muscle to no avail.
As Brivaria flew toward the beast, she took its measure. Demons were natural shapeshifters. Where angels were forced to transform themselves to manifest in the material realm, demons constantly sculpted and re-sculpted their flesh. The more powerful demons were varied in size and shape. As their power grew, so did their mastery over their bodies. This one possessed the head of a bull complete with black horns angled forward. Its body was humanoid but exceedingly large, well-muscled, and sporting six arms that ended in hands with clawed fingers. Where its legs should have been was some sort of insectoid affair with a long, segmented body and a great many individual legs extending to the sides. At the end of the long body was an equally long, barbed tail.
The demon moved across the uneven ground in an unnatural glide that belied its strange form and large size. It had not been idle during the angel’s assault and the angel could feel a dozen enhancement skills empowering its tremendous body. The creature matched her fervor for battle even to the point of overrunning the fleshspawn in its path. The six, muscled arms casually swatted creatures out of its path be they friend or foe. Those unlucky enough to not be sent flying were trampled by the insect-like legs and left with deadly wounds in passing as every single leg that came down punched a fist-sized hole in whatever it landed on.
The Golden Halo skill was a greedy one and eagerly drained Brivaria’s dwindling reserve of mana but it was worth every point. It gave a sizable bonus to all of her attributes and had let her punch well above her weight in the past. Now it gave her the ability to completely halt her charge, fling herself to the side, and resume her charge from a different angle with a flap of her wings. It subsequently gave her the ability to use another flap to fly back as the demon instantly curled, moving its whole body to face her. For a being of its size and bulk, that level of speed was terrifying to behold.
Even with Golden Halo, Brivaria wasn’t fast enough. One of the demon’s fists landed a glancing blow on her shield. Pain exploded up the side of her arm then faded as the damage was healed a moment later. The angel’s health drained as the System exchanged it to heal her body. Despite the angel’s pain and loss of health, the demon had fared worse for Brivaria’s sword sheared off one of its arms in the brief clash.
The battle continued as the crusaders pushed toward the exit while the angel and demon fought in the center of the makeshift arena. Brivaria’s deadly sword had tremendous reach and she put it to full use against the demon with sweeping strikes that forced her foe to evade or suffer mortal injury. Despite the deadly blade, the demon did not stop trying to advance. The fight would end swiftly if it could get those five arms within striking range and both combatants knew it.
The battlefield quieted after the crusaders made their exit. Brivaria had succeeded, she hoped. Whether the crusaders would fully escape this place would be up to them now. All that was left to determine was whether she could kill this demon before her time was up. She had less than sixty seconds to send it back before she, herself, vanished. The winged warrior knew she could do it and pressed her attack.
The demon lost another arm entirely and another at the elbow. Brivaria’s sword moved faster and faster as the angel’s time limit ticked down. Each passing second was precious and had to be spent wisely. At once the angel saw her opening when the monstrous creature stumbled, several insect legs landing in a shallow hole and throwing off its balance.
Brivaria darted in for the killing blow. Her blade sliced a line from its left shoulder to its right flank. Glee turned to alarm as, rather than trying to take distance to heal the grievous and likely mortal injury, the demon clamped down on the angel with its three remaining arms. Two held her sword arm and one that of her shield. Finally the demon spoke.
“Got you,” the voice that spoke was soft, velvety, and surprisingly feminine. It was wholly incongruous coming from the bull-like head. Brivaria’s momentary surprise turned to grin. She was going to vanish in seconds and she’d dealt a killing blow. She’d won. “Won’t be that easy,” the demon hissed.
The words of the demon were stunted as they came out. They were the words of a dying creature yet not one that had been defeated. Brivaria’s triumph morphed into something else as the barbed tail flashed down, jamming something into her chest. It went straight through her armor into the woman below. The tail of the demon hadn’t been a stinger at all, it had been a claw holding a black flower with a needle-like stem.
Brivaria’s whole body was wracked with pain as the rose in her chest bloomed. It glowed with an unholy light as the demon disintegrated. The world faded as she was returned to heaven leaving the room in which they had fought filled with the silent dead. Two had witnessed those last few moments of conflict between angel and demon and both retreated, in different directions.
