Hope

The situation changed not long later. The horde of zombies was joined by larger undead which Elizabeth identified as ‘bruisers’. They were not too different at first glance; however, they were taller and a closer inspection made it clear they carried a lot of extra muscle. More than a single body reasonably could have. Several dozens of them joined the onslaught.

And it became quickly clear they were also tougher. The soldiers holding down their fortifications concentrated fire on them - easy enough given they were sticking out - and found them far more resilient than the rest. They resisted both spell and shrapnel… for a few moments. They still went down but the effort required for it meant that the undead rapidly closed the gap between them and the actual fortification.

That was clearly not an acceptable status quo. A man with a tangible aura of magic stepped out with his much more distinct clothing revealing him to be someone more important than the common footsoldier. He was also surrounded by a small squad of soldiers wielding something that looked vaguely like shields. The man opened his mouth and chanted, though Irwyn could not make out the words from such a distance. A few seconds later a swarm of black dots began to crawl out of the man’s mouth.

Yes, crawl, because more than motes of magic they were reminiscent of insects. Like a disturbed hive, they surrounded the man. Most flew in a circle but some settled down. Crept over the man’s skin. Leapt around. And more kept emerging.

Then, when the mass was apparently sufficient, the man shut his mouth and unleashed that swarm upon the undead. Each of the little insectile particles of magic sought out a target, settling down at an opportune spot, then exploded into a surge of Void magic. Not a large blast, but big enough to sever a leg or a neck. Large enough to debilitate or outright kill the zombies or even bruisers if they landed just right. And they mostly did. When the thousands seemed to be nearing depletion, the man began their chant again, seemingly repeating the same process. Single-handedly that mage did about as much as the entire army fighting alongside them.

The undead, of course, reacted. Irwyn noticed something new approaching from out of sight, swaggering into the horde. They were… almost humanoid. Two legs, two appendages and a torso. But they had no head nor seemingly any eyes and those arms were instead shaped into long blades of pearly white bones sticking out of fleshy stumps. Irwyn counted six of them as they walked into the crowd, expecting them to be quickly targeted down… except they weren’t. Not so much as a single projectile or fly targeted them.

He frowned and focused on them. There, when he tried, he began to hear the slightest whisper at the back of his head. A compulsive suggestion. The idea that they were not there and therefore he should not see them.

“They are using soul magic to make everyone ignore them,” Irwyn spoke his realization out loud. “Assassins.”

“No idea what those are. Can you destroy all of them?” Elizabeth frowned. “I can deal with whatever reacts to you.”

“Will do,” Irwyn nodded and then focused. He did not have long as the assassins approached the Void mage with the swarm-ish magic. He did know a good spell for exactly this though. “...Stars scourge all,” he chanted and some thirty projectiles of Starfire launched from him. A lot less than when he had used the spells in sparing but that was for a simple reason: He had imbued them with an additional fifth intention, speed.

Because of how the spell was structured, it would split equally among the designated targets and try to kill them. Once that was done it would try to help with destroying the other undead. Therefore, it would be greatly beneficial if it could ambush at least a few and deal with them quickly.

The barrage of glowing missiles provoked a reaction in the camp, though not much given how fast they moved. Mostly just people hastily erecting a few barriers in his direction or turning to access the danger. If they were the target those would have probably done little, however, they seem to quickly relax when they saw the spell diving into the horde, returning to their own cut of the battle.

Thirty projectiles, six undead. That meant five aimed at each. The first and closest one had not been able to react and perished almost immediately. The little starlike chunks of magic dug into its body, tearing and burning it apart. It managed to slash one by striking itself with those scythe like arms, making it explode which took it out as well as anything else in the immediate vicinity. That was completely fine given that those were all undead. The remaining missiles moved on to the next closest one.

That one too began to be overwhelmed quickly. It could somewhat dodge five, however, nine would be too much. It tried to swipe at them with blurringly fast strikes, however, it was part of the spell to dodge and preserve itself. The abomination hesitated for a moment, then began to sprint.

So did the other four. Until that moment, they all walked at a rather leisurely pace, not even as fast as a brisk walk. Now they ran with everything their misfigured bodies allowed, fleeing from Irwyn’s Scourge spell.

They did not take a dozen steps before they began to run into the explosive Void insects. Irwyn immediately made the connection that moving slowly made their method of pseudo-stealth much more effective - if hurrying didn’t disable it altogether. The Void mage was now staring at them, directing his swarm to cut them off and either casting another spell or shouting orders.

One way or the other, he was buying Irwyn more than enough time to properly execute the assassins. The first one to go was the one pursued by the most projectiles. Irwyn did not even let it destroy one in a similar suicide attack. The creatures were clearly quite spell resistant – otherwise, they would have been incinerated in an instant - however, it was not to the level of the flesh hulk Irwyn had fought. It was still torn apart within a few seconds. The rest of the assassins were destroyed without much difficulty. Two managed to force their way to the edge of the undead frontline but not nearly into a striking range of the Void mage they had been clearly targeting. Not to mention the shield wall around them.

Afterward, Irwyn turned his scourge spell around, most of the Starfire missiles remained intact, and send them into the biggest clumps of the undead horde, ideally towards where the bruisers were concentrated. Then he detonated all of them, trying to spread the blast radius in as large of an area as Finity would let him.

With the spell breaking he was better able to return to himself, noticing beats of sweat had been falling down his forehead. He felt ever so slightly lightheaded, though that was already receding. His Vessel’s saturation of mana had also noticeably dropped, but that would recover quickly enough. Casting such large spells imbued with five intentions inevitably strained him considerably. He could only thank his incredibly high metaphysical stamina that he would most likely grow tired mentally rather than magically as was the case for the vast majority of mages.

At least his shield had not been so much as scratched. A glance made it clear that Elizabeth was engaged in a long-range battle with another gathering of undead Void mages and systematically overpowering them. He looked over and they were clearly already calling retreat as Elizabeth tried to kill a few more as they fled back into the building from which they had been attacking.

The undead horde followed suit. One moment, the dead were trying to desperately advance, sacrificing hundreds for each inch of soil earned… the next they were clumsy turning around and then walking away as fast as their limited capability allowed. The soldiers did not slow down though and kept firing away as long as the dead remained in their effective range.

A bit over a minute later, all that remained were piles upon piles of shredded corpses. Blood flowed down the street and into sewer pipes, though not nearly as much as one would expect from so much carnage. The undead were not the biggest bleeders after all.

“Careful, some active ones will be hidden among the actual carcasses,” Elizabeth warned him not to drop his guard. “But we are free to approach now. Same as last time, please, stand behind me and look competent.”

“As you say,” Irwyn nodded and followed her toward the military compound. Elizabeth did not have her badge on, however, she was wearing that signet ring which was also clearly marked with the symbology of house Blackburg.

“Your ladyship,” and the mage who had given such a good showing had noticed quickly as they got closer. They were still surrounded by a pack of shield bearers’ but seemed much more relaxed.

“Captain,” Elizabeth quickly read the man’s rank. “Who is in charge here? I need a meeting arranged immediately.”

“The major is the highest rank present lady…” the man said and paused.

“Elizabeth. We are in a hurry, lead the way!” she commanded though the captain did not immediately move.

“Would you be willing to accept some… caution on our part?” the man said slowly, staring Elizabeth down. “It is difficult to tell truth from deceit. False assistance is not an unknown tactic for undead assassins.”

“Keep as many spells aimed at us as you need to be comfortable,” Irwyn interjected before Elizabeth’s frown turned into a cause for real delay. “But we have vital information that needs to be shared. Now.”

“Very well, keep ready and in formation, men,” the captain ordered. “We head for the command. Double time.”

It was not far. They entered the compound building itself and immediately realized that their command had set up on the far end of a large entrance hall that could be quickly reached. There stood a table with a severe-looking man reading something from a stack of sheaves while simultaneously noting things down on a map they had put on the wall next to them. There were also several crystals Irwyn assumed were meant for communication.

“Captain, well done,” the man in charge immediately nodded. “And you would be?”

“Elizabeth von Blackburg,” she said, showing her signet ring for a moment. “Citywide communication is cut off. I need an update on the current situation and then access to the military network.”

“The city is under siege, obviously,” the major said after assessing her for a moment. “There have been false orders for a sudden, unannounced parade, though those have been disregarded quickly. We have switched to the outer circuit and assumed the Spires were compromised. Most compounds are under different intensities of assaults. No signs of the Lich in charge reported so far.”

“The Lich is currently being occupied by my guardian,” Elizabeth stated. “City Black has been made aware of the attack through confidential means, however, without the beacon active reinforcements cannot be brought in. I need to coordinate what forces are still available. Do you have a bloodline overwrite here?”

“I believe we do,” he turned towards one of the soldiers fluttering nearby. “Bring me the box from storage… It should be A4-C7, hurry.”

“Now that we have a moment,” the man then turned as soon as the subordinate ran off. He stared at Irwyn, studying his mask “Who might be this chap?”

“Someone under my direct command,” Elizabeth did not hesitate and it was a fine enough cover story. Also, probably not technically wrong. Irwyn had no idea how military law and wartime conscriptions worked but would bet swill to wine that House Blackburg would have exceptions and privileges written in for themselves and anyone they cared to extend them to.

“Does he have the clearance to be part of high-level discussions?” he questioned.

“His trustworthiness along with our current situation is enough to override any concerns over codewords and secrets,” Elizabeth started to glare at him. “Given the prolific mind reading those will have to be adjusted either way.”

“If you say so,” the man nodded, still judging the mockingbird masks Irwyn wore. “Though I feel obligated to mention their obvious connection to the less savory elements of society.”

“I assure you that I am quite aware whom I entrust my security to, major,” Elizabeth put on a frown now. “Mind your own subordinates.”

It was then that the errand boy finally returned, bringing with them a large sealed box. The major almost instinctively cut the seal with void magic, quickly digging into it. The box was itself relatively mundane: Slick black metallic material with a large ‘7’ inscribed on it. The contents though were different. It looked a bit like a glove but it was made of green matter that reminded Irwyn of wood. But it seemed… elastic where carved wood would be rigid. But it had the marks one would see on carpentered furniture. Elizabeth gingerly began to put it on.

“Station C-S-D1-5, broadcasting to every compound within the network,” the major took up… a microphone, if Irwyn was right, as well as an earpiece they put to one ear - both were connected to the workstation by a cable of some kind. “In a few moments, we are going to commence an attempt at a bloodline overwrite. May all of the highest-ranking officers be made aware and available. Over,” he put the microphone away. “All ready for your ladyship.”

“The landline,” she said but the major had already leaned for it and was handing Elizabeth a metallic cord. She connected it to the glove and took a deep breath. “I always hated this,” she grunted before pushing some of her magic into the glove-like device.

It began to glow. Green for the first few seconds, increasing in intensity. Then Elizabeth flinched, visibly biting down a scream - still grunting - followed by it flashing blood red. There was a moment of tension hanging in the air before the wooden gauntlet returned to green, but glowing. Elizabeth used the gloved hand to grab the microphone.

“My name is Elizabeth von Blackburg, sixth in line, by that right I take command over the forces of Abonisle,” Elizabeth spoke into it, her voice firm and authoritative. Downright trained. “The city of Abonisle is under the attack of an unknown Nameless Lich. They have infiltrated deep and are likely capable of mind reading or outright domination of their targets. The Temporal Beacon has been disabled and the Dredge overcharged, stopping any reinforcements from arriving in time. The Spires are almost certainly compromised if not outright occupied. The Lich itself is currently held in a stalemate with a classified asset. City Black has been notified and is prepared to dispatch sufficient relief.”

“Our primary and only objective will be to re-enable the beacon at any cost,” she continued. “All combat-ready personnel currently available are to head to the closest of compounds A-N-A11 A-S-A11 A-W-A11 A-E-A11 from where we will coordinate an assault on the Spires if necessary. If an approach is impossible, assist the city in resisting the incursion. We have less than four hours before the situation deteriorates. Past that deadline, the extinction of the entire city is likely. Move with all haste, over.”

Five hours, actually, though Irwyn understood why she would lie. He had, in fact, advised it on the way here. They couldn’t be sure whether some kind of mind reader was still active or if it had been the Lich that Dervish would be occupying but there would probably be more. Spreading false information was the bare minimum. Every misconception of their enemy was an advantage.

“I need something else,” Elizabeth turned to the major after putting down the microphone. “Your best Vessel and Reservoir recovery supplements.”

“Don’t you have your own stock?” the major raised their eyebrow.

“All my equipment is stored in a linked sub-planar pocket dimension only I can access,” she shook her head. “Unfortunately, without the Temporal Beacon active, the cost of bringing anything through is downright prohibitive. Unless you have late conception Time mage at your disposal, I cannot reasonably bring out any of the emergency items that would be very helpful.”

“Understood, I will have them ready before we set out,” the major nodded, then turned towards the staff. “You heard her, we are moving out. Spread the word! As we drilled, take every movable weapon and supply cache we can carry. I want to be out of here in 5 minutes.”

“One last thing then,” she nodded. “We have encountered some variant undead. Best we spread the information before setting out.”