My Servant System

Aiming the Ritual Circle at the oncoming horde, I unleashed a hail of wind empowered ice arrows that slammed against the brown mana shells of the Ogres, listening to the sounds of the arrows exploding as they crashed against the Ogres bodies, creating chinks in their mana shell that slowly leaked the rest of their mana into the air, weakening the shell.

More arrows slammed into their bodies, and with each new arrow raining down upon the horde, I gradually weakened and slowed them down even more, the hulking grey skinned monsters raising their arms and trying to swat the arrows away, only to have them explode against their forearms now and blow chunks of their flesh away.

The Goblins weren't even noteworthy, the crystalline shards that had become a staple of my fighting style flying through the air after each arrow found its mark, slicing through the smaller, weaker monsters and inflicting them with a deep frost that eventually killed them - if a myriad of puncture wounds or being stepped on by the Ogres didn't do that first, anyways.

Behind the horde, the Cultists remained by the portals, channeling their magics into maintaining the doorways between Nogart and wherever they were keeping these monsters as livestock, tapping into their reserves and trying their damndest to overwhelm Leraie and I with the sheer number of these bulky Ogres.

Now that the imminent threat had been taken care of directly in front of us, Leraie joined me on the offensive, redirecting her focus from the fortress she had created to instead the horde stomping down towards us, each of their footsteps impeded by the thick ice sheet beneath them and the frigid temperatures.

Leraie kept it simple for herself, so that she could redirect her attention again if she needed to with no issue; a bunch of stone lances began to whistle through the air as she hurled them at the monsters in front of us, relying on the weight and velocity of the lances to tear through the Ogres mana shell and destroy the meat underneath.

With my arrows and her lances raining down upon the horde, we slowed them down to a crawl, bodies piling up in front before eventually evaporating into dust like usual, their black collars and the occasional material remaining behind from the corpses of the monsters we killed, while their comrades behind them stomped forwards anyways, determined to reach us.

Seconds ticked by slowly, each one keeping the air pregnant with suspense for Leraie and I as we scanned the streets for any new threats, wondering if the Cultists had something else in store for us now - like that magical gravity pressure attack from earlier, or a new monster - or if the other Cultists were joining the fray, flanking around us and trying to catch us off guard.

We were 'stranded' in enemy territory, and caution was the only way we would get out safely, leaving each second to stretch on for eternity... yet also fly by just as quickly as normal.

The more I rained my arrows down on that horde, and the more lances that slammed into their front ranks, the quicker time went by as I absorbed the information being presented to us, calculating the numbers of monsters left, seeing if the Cultists were still in the back with the portals, gauging the distance between us...

All of it made time pass at an interesting, fluctuating rate that I could barely comprehend as we remained in our miniature fortress, slinging spells around and cutting down the horde as it approached us as quickly as it could on the frozen street.

Each Ogre that fell was quickly replaced by another, and the unending horde of monsters was slowly - very slowly - inching closer to us with each passing second, their roars of frustration and sharp claws and horns glittering in the pale light of the ice.

Though, they began to glitter in something else as a blinding light filled the street, followed immediately by a wave of blistering heat that created a wall of steam as the ice melted a little beneath the inferno that slammed into the front of the horde.

Looking towards the wall, Leraie and I saw the brilliant red Ritual Circle rotating lazily in front of a ashen haired woman, her smoldering crimson eyes visible from this distance - the same as the pair of liquid gold eyes that loomed behind her.

Another gigantic ball of flames began to gather and rotate in front of Leone, with the golden skinned Demoness standing beside her and layering another Ritual Circle beneath Leone's, supporting her spell and creating something more destructive as lightning arced randomly around the fireball.

"I think we should get down for this one..."

Leraie nodded, and once more we switched our mana from offensive spells to defensive spells as we consolidated our fortress and added more and more layers of protection, with my Ice and Leraie's Earth alternating as we slowly created a tiny box for us to stand in, hoping to withstand that powerful spell.

We could feel it when it got cast, the earth rumbling as the fireball chewed into the street and rolled towards the Cultists, where it evaporated the monsters and consumed most things in its path...

All of that was assumptions, since I was just staring at an ice wall hoping that there wasn't a counter to a spell of that magnitude inside the Cultists arsenal, so I just took a deep breath and waited for the sounds and rumbling to stop before creating a small window for me to look out of.

The street was bathed in flames - like I had expected - and there was little for me to actually see from where I was, but I knew that I could begin making my way back onto the street... if only because the bond between Jahi and I grew closer at a rapid pace, telling me the Demoness was rushing towards my position.

Leraie dropped the walls at my nod, and we stepped onto the burnt, melting and glassed street of Nogart, the smell of ash permeating the air alongside the scent of burning blood and flesh, making my nose scrunch up as all of that rushed into my nostrils and overloaded my sense of smell.

However, it was quickly replaced by the naturally sweet scent of Jahi as she appeared in front of me, the blue skinned Demoness pulling me into a hug and holding me close, despite knowing that I was perfectly alright.

But... I just enjoyed the warmth of her embrace as we stood there, and I didn't particularly mind being held like this after what just happened; it made me 'feel' like I was a maiden who had just gone through something unbelievable, despite me having taken care of myself...