My Servant System

"Kat? You good girl, or..? Holy hells, your arm is a mess!"

Cali approached me and reached for my shoulder, before stopping as she stared at my arm in shock, swiftly turning her gaze from my arm to my face, saying "How the hell are you not a sniveling mess on the floor right now?! What the..! Wait, that tattoo! Oh, you clever little-!"

"Cali! Just... quiet for a moment."

I was still looking intently at the battle in front of me, watching as Jahi slammed her great sword against the Fiend's chest and drew out a shallow cut as the edge managed to slice through its leathery blue flesh.

Meanwhile, Anput was leaping around and occupying its attention as she attacked it from up high, her long spear giving her reach and keeping her relatively safe from being hit back as she moved around swiftly, with Satanya and Luci aiding her as they employed hit and run tactics as well.

In frustration, the Fiend swung its arm out and tried to slam Jahi to the side, those spikes dripping a clear liquid that fizzed when it hit the cobblestones below, suggesting it was an acid of some kind.

And yet, even as more and more Demons piled up to attack it, the Fiend didn't bring that silver ring to bear, instead relying on its spine laden arm to bat away any attacks before swinging the ring as a weapon.

That orb remained dormant in the center, whilst the runes were lifeless and completely ornamental, making me frown as I continued to study the battle, using it as a way to ignore the pain as I continued to ease off of the tattoo, reducing my pain immunity into pain tolerance that threatened to bring tears to my eyes again, but...

"The... The ring... That silver ring, it... It doesn't have the ability to cast spells all the time! It can't activate back to back! The instrument needs time to recharge before it can be used again!"

Cali stared at me in shock before turning her gaze towards the Fiend, watching as it let out a caw and brought the silver ring up towards its chest, which made me shout "Retreat! Pull back now!" as my eyes widened in fear, wondering what ancient rune was about to be brought out next.

Jahi and the others didn't hesitate as they launched themselves back towards the protective dome, which the Cimeriesa's were beginning to power up with as much mana as they could, preparing to withstand whatever was thrown our way.

"Oh no you don't! [Warp and Rend]!"

Gritting my teeth, I lifted both arms - ignoring the white hot knives that sliced into my right arm as I did so, and fighting through the pain - and began to cast a spell, green runes appearing in front of me as I summoned a gale to help pull our comrades return to the dome, placing some wind at their backs so that they could remain safe.

But, Tza'Orbias' words allowed the orb to crack apart and reveal a new ancient rune, this one duplicating itself around the raven headed Fiend before shooting out blasts of raw mana that shot through the air so fast that it did just as it's invocation suggested.

It warped space and rent flesh as bolts of mana rained down on our comrades, and I felt my heart clench as I saw another Demon drop to the ground, skidding to a halt as her head suddenly exploded after a bolt collided with it, whilst another fell to the ground and cried out in pain as his leg was severed from the knee down, though he began to crawl into the barrier and into safety with everything he had.

When I heard Anput's hiss of pain though, my heart skipped a beat as I looked towards the Jackalkin, dread welling inside my mind as I prayed that I had either misheard that or it wasn't anything serious...

What I saw was a gash across the top of her right arm that bled profusely, the muscle splattered across the ground as the bone was revealed to the world, but otherwise... it wasn't a 'serious' wound in this world, which made me let out a sigh of relief as I watched her slip through the barrier as well.

Jahi and the rest managed to escape with light wounds as well, and we all panted and gathered our breath as we watched those bolts crack against the surface of the barrier, the light pink shield warding off the attacks of the Fiend as it stared at us with narrowed eyes.

"Well... that is annoying. Only two dead, one seriously wounded... Am I losing my edge, perhaps? Decades of sleep must have marred my abilities... Must have. Perplexing."

The orb reknit itself together, those runes disappearing as the ancient rune dissipated from the center of that blue orb, which made me narrow my eyes before I hurled a compressed spear of wind towards the Fiend's chest, making it click its tongue as it said "Not so fast now, girl."

Waving its hand, the Fiend redirected the spear to the side, only to click its tongue again as I said "Its orb seems to have a recharge timer. Don't know how long, but it can't be used back to back... so..."

Jahi stood beside me and kept her gaze from my arm, those golden eyes locked to the Fiend's head as she said "Good to know. So it has a period where its vulnerable.", which made the raven shake its head in mock disappointment.

"The puppy thinks of herself as clever, hmm~? I don't think you are..."

Blinking forwards again, Tza'Orbias raised the ring and revealed the first rune, the orb splitting and ravenously absorbing the mana around us as it cackled "Not so clever now, are you puppy?! ARE YOU?!"

Watching as the mana swirled around us and was absorbed into the blue orb, I grit my teeth as I felt the mana of my healing spell begin to get siphoned off into the orb, along with the mana in the air itself as well...