My Servant System

Leraie and I both turned to see the newcomer that entered our building, surprise etched onto all three of our faces as we stared at one another in silence.

My Demoness companion and I both reacted as fast as we could, our hands moving even as we stared at the Elven woman in shock, wondering why she was entering this place and why she had looked towards us so quickly, finding our hiding spot and reacting just a moment after we did.

I flicked my hand forwards and threw a dagger towards the Elf with lethal precision and insane speed, but I was still a moment too late as the Elf let out a shout, her voice infused with mana as she tried to shout "[Barr-]!"

Sadly for her, my dagger sunk into her throat and robbed her of her voice - as well as her life - but the damage had been done, her sudden shout drawing the attention of the other Cultists as they turned to stare at the building in surprise.

The mana from her attempted incantation - something I dully noted was a staple amongst the Cultists, and something that I should pursue to learn - alerted them that this wasn't the shout of a surprised woman seeing a rodent or stumbling on something, but instead of a woman who had found something dangerous, something that warranted the use of mana to combat.

As such, the Cultists grabbed their weapons and armor and began to march over towards the building, shouting and beginning to encircle the area as they peered in through the windows, their own mana being used as they illuminated the area in a myriad of colors.

Leraie cursed, her dagger finding its way back into its sheath as she summoned a sphere of her own mana and shot it into the air, surprising the Cultists and forcing them to take a step back, wary of the sudden sphere that appeared above them.

"Why the hells did she come into this building?! Did she see us?"

"She must have! It doesn't matter; they know we're here now, so let's make a break for it! upstairs and onto the rooftops again, before making a run for the walls!"

The Demoness nodded, raising her hands and summoning walls of stone around the building, buying us a second as we both turned and made our way onto the second level, where we climbed out of the windows and scaled the side of the building as quickly as we could, whilst also trying to remain out of sight.

Her flare burst and sent a thunderous clap throughout the city, which gave us a minute before the others found their way into the city as well to aid us; until then though, we were on our own.

Reaching the rooftop, we both cursed as a bolt of mana arced from the ground up towards our position, the Cultists below aware of our movements and sending attacks up, with a few leaping into the air and trying to scale their way up as well.

Leraia raised her hands again and swiftly cast a few spells, sending the Cultists flying as she bludgeoned them off with pillars of stone, while I erected a dome of wind around us and protected us from the next barrage of spells.

With the dome up and at full strength, I switched from defense to offense, maintaining the dome but prying small pieces of it off to attack instead, flicking my hand around and sending crescents of sharp wind hurtling through the air, slicing cleanly through armor and flesh alike as I targeted those that radiated more mana then the others.

The Cultists shouted and began to defend themselves with their own mana, countering my wind crescents as best they could before dodging the pillars that Leraie made; for a moment the battle was at a standstill, but that changed swiftly as I sent a larger, more compact crescent straight at one of the Cultists, slicing through their ward and bisecting them in two, creating a gap in their defenses that Leraie exploited instantly.

Pillars erupted from the cobblestone around them, slamming into their sides and throwing them around, audible cracks and cries of agony filling the air as bones were broken from the impact of both the pillars and the crashes, while one died as they tried to dodge a pillar and instead had it smack them in the cheek, twisting their head and snapping their neck cleanly.

That gap was filled swiftly though, the Cultists rallying and boding their mana together once more, this time overlapping it and glaring up at us as they created a unified front, with a few stepping forwards and beginning to chant quietly, their hands pulsing irregularly with raw mana as they stared up at us.

Frowning, I bolstered the dome around us and prepared to attack once more, while Leraie shored up our defenses as well before raising her hands, only for the two of us to shout as a heavy pressure descended on the area around us.

Mana pressed down on the dome, trying to stifle the winds and remove that protective barrier so that it could instead press down on us, though even with the tightly knit dome we could feel the solid pressure of this mana intimately, Leraie and I both buckling for a moment before adjusting, standing against it and gritting our teeth as we stared at the chanting magicians below.

Before we could do anything else though, the roof around us buckled too, and my eyes widened as I heard the support beams below emit a crunch as they snapped, dropping the Demoness and I into the shell of the building violently as the second floor crashed to the ground as well.

We fell hard and fast, the added pressure of the mana working with gravity to slam us to the ground and disorient us, knocking the air from our lungs and surprising us both; the wind dome weakened as my mind was taken from it, and a volley of concentrated spells exploded against its surface, trying to tear through the wind and reach us beneath its almost solid shell.