Chapter 562 – The Lich versus the Knight (Part 1)

The crowds were quick to get to the stadium for the final match today. Every entryway slowed to a crawl, and people were packed tighter than a bundle of wheat after harvest. The betting booths wanted their cut and stayed open to take as many wagers as possible. Currently, the payout was three to one with Petyr as the underdog. They witnessed the unceasing mana, stamina, and even health that Edina had and felt it impossible for Petyr to win.

However, some also bet on Petyr's sheer unbridled raw strength to come out victorious. Kanae couldn't pick one over the other to cheer for. She loved Edina, who was her best friend. At the same time, the number of times Petyr had been defeated could barely be counted up to one hand.

"Mom, are we going to be late? We're never going to get in at this rate!" Suvee groaned.

"Hmm. Okay, hang on to me. Mom's about to activate her Knight of Colors privilege skill." Kanae opened her arms to pick up both Suvee and Kanade.

"You're coming back to pick me up, right?" Arenade asked.

"You wanted to meet up with Andora and Wendy, didn't you? Grab us some snacks. We'll save you a seat!" She winked.

"Some wife you are!" The angry high elf shook her fist.

Kanae flew the kids into the VIP booth. Several guards rushed up to stop her until they realized who she was, then backed away to let them in. Some of the more early-bird spectators had already come in. She spotted Sivvy sitting with Esta and Feraline. The drakeling girl was sitting on the Knight of Red's lap, gnawing on a bone for the strips of meat still clinging to it.

"Feraline!" Suvee shuffled down the row after touching down. "Your big sister is here!"

"Share?" Feraline gladly offered the slobber-coated femur she had been tearing into.

"Ew… No, thanks…" The dark elven girl gagged.

"Amethyst, yours and Esta's daughter is the cutest thing! She's gonna grow up strong like me, I just know it. As long as she keeps eating bones." Sivvy Brenhallow, the Knight of Red, guffawed and pulled out another bone to swallow.

"Just don't let Feraline actually swallow the bones. You two are very different, and she's going to choke trying," Kanae explained, letting Kanade down and taking a seat beside them.

"Don't worry, Master. I'm keeping an eye on her to make sure that doesn't happen." Esta smiled.

Kanae breathed a sigh of relief, but she couldn't afford to let her guard down. Esta had been reckless with their daughter before. Many times, in fact. A quick look around the stadium, and there were visibly more mages reinforcing the barrier today. She even spotted Elizabeth Bedlam across the way, lending her magic. Over at the royal booth, Saint Priests Danito and Lanil guarded Radevic's leadership with their magic.

"Amethyst!" Archbishop Patrice ascended into view from the other side of the barrier upon wings granted to her by Holy Armament.

Kanae's heart almost jumped out of her chest.

"Please, I scare easily! What do you want?" Kanae groaned.

Surely, the archbishop couldn't have figured out they paid Marwin's tower a visit. Even Saint Priest Sheena Darrow missed them. Well, narrowly.

"I forgot to ask if you wanted to join me in proctoring the final match. These two are from your hall after all," the archbishop explained.

"Sure," Kanae said after a pause.

"Oh, oh! Mom, can you give this to Miss Petyr? I want Auntie Edina to win, but I feel like this belongs in her hand." Suvee waved Shifting Steel.

Kanae lifted a finger up to her lips, but it was too late. She glanced behind herself. Archbishop Patrice's brows arched knowingly.

"I'll allow it," the high elf said.

"Alright, Suvee. But it's up to Petyr if she wants to wield it." Kanae relented and took the enchanted haft.

The mages opened a hole in the barrier to let Kanae through. Together with the archbishop, they flew down to the arena floor. She frequently shot looks at Patrice, wondering if their trespassing into Marwin's tower had gone unnoticed.

"I did recall that Petyr Stormcloud's favored weapon was Shifting Steel, gifted to her by Ortesia's Lord Council. So, it seems she has gifted it to Suvee." Archbishop Patrice grinned.

"I tried to stop her. Petyr and Bocchiri's fight blew a hole open in the barrier, and Suvee tossed it in during the chaos," Kanae confessed.

"It was only fair. I did arm the Saint Priests with more than they were normally equipped with," she said.

The stadium filled up quickly. What was a basket of murmuring minutes ago had turned into a bubbling cauldron of chatter and excitement. Archbishop Patrice breathed in deeply, absorbing the sounds and jubilations into herself. What schemes swirled inside that head of hers, Kanae wondered. Although, having spent enough time with her by now, she might not need to wonder for long.

"I have decided to allow you to go to Nu-hauta. It will be a diplomatic matter. Find Bocchiri Ruu and bring him back. And seek out King Toro Squa. Convince the fool to evacuate his people. Rown Company's fleet is on standby at Port Kandis, and Radevic is ready to foot the bill to sail them to the mainland," Archbishop Patrice explained.

"I'll see what I can do—"

She grabbed her arm and added, "You're a succubus. Exert your natural… charm. Now smile, Amethyst. The show is about to begin!"

"What show? You mean the match?"

As if on cue, trumpeting horns bellowed loudly. Lines of marching drummers emerged from each tunnel. Harpies soared over their heads, pulling streamers and banners across the arena. Burning confetti rained down from the skies, disintegrating by the time they touched the ground. Kanae stepped back as a somersaulting fire dancer cartwheeled past.

An enormous lion and dragon, both illusion-made, put on an incredible spectacle that weaved together a dance and duel. They fought ferociously until both imploded into fireworks. The performance lasted about half an hour, but even in its short time people were beginning to clamor for what everyone had really come for. A fight.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and all," Archbishop Patrice began in her voice-amplifying magical scroll, "what a joyous occasion this is, for Knights' Tournament has culminated to a fight between light and dark, the holy and unholy, and the living and the dead. These two have demonstrated that they are without equal. Their strength transcends what is conceivable. They both happen to serve under Amethyst Hall!"

She handed the scroll to Kanae, who continued, "The Lich, Edina Hackett! And Petyr Stormcloud, The Redeemed!"

The audience went wild as both fighters stepped out from opposite ends of the arena. Edina, however, didn't come on a chariot this time. Instead, the necromancer was already in her lich form and levitated forward. Patrice, too, marched with her usual stoic and haughty demeanor, nose turned to the sky and scowling.

"The Redeemed?" Petyr smirked.

"You've done a lot to make amends. I figured it would also give people something to cheer about. Also, Suvee wanted you to have this for the fight." Kanae extended to her the haft of Shifting Steel.

"Edina Hackett, are you alright with this?" Archbishop Patrice asked.

"Sure, sure. Petyr's gonna need all the edge she can get," Edina taunted.

Petyr's eyes watered a little. She donned her helmet and reached forward to take Shifting Steel from Kanae's hand.

"Who would have thought that the very child I tried to kidnap once would be responsible for my victories. I'll be sure to thank her personally after this," Petyr said, transforming the haft into her signature hammer.

Archbishop Patrice lifted a foot into the air, a sign that the fight should begin soon. Kanae flew up a little, too. Petyr and Edina stared each other down mere meters away from each other. However, Petyr had to stare up at the lich instead, who now towered above from a dress of bones and cloud of necrotic energies.

"Fight well. Begin!" Kanae shouted, then shot up into the air with the archbishop.

Seconds went by with neither of them making the first move.

"What's the matter? Not summoning your usual horde? Here I was hoping to smash some skulls before I crush yours," Petyr said.

"A good friend of mine once told me, and I'm definitely paraphrasing, that I gotta use my other spells. So— Creeping Frost!" Edina leaped back, swinging the Scythe of Soul Reaping.

Half the arena's ground had frozen over in an instant. Petyr began to slip. Her boots weren't exactly made with cleats for winter in mind. Edina checkmated her with a single spell.

"And now… Fog of Death." The Lich breathed life into the brazier atop Pillar of the Damned.

A necrotic miasma spilled forth from it, spreading a fatal haze across the arena. Unable to move, Petyr watched as the spell closed in on her from all sides. Kanae and Patrice lifted a little higher to escape its touch. The archbishop brandished her brilliant staff, creating a bubble around them.

"I am crowned a Paladin. Do you really think this little cough and sneeze of yours is enough to beat me? Aura of Purity!" Petyr's voice boomed from within the churning clouds.

Fog of Death parted as a bright ring of gold seared away the miasma. Holy fire encircled Petyr in a modest radius. Magical ice melted beneath her feet, too. Both hammers glowed intensely infused with Smite.

"You want to fight an army? Take it! Legion of the Dead, arise! Tear Petyr apart, so I can take her soul," Edina ordered.

"Uh… Edina, this isn't a fight to the death!" Kanae shouted.

Scores of undead minions poured out from dozens of portals. Spectres blotted out the sky, serving as Edina's eyes. Undead mages readied their spells, and undead warriors and bone brutes brandished their barbaric weapons.

Petyr cracked her neck. Although she wore a helmet, Kanae was sure there was a thrilled smile behind it. The undead mass surged into battle, many of which perished simply entering Aura of Purity. Bone brutes and other larger monstrosities fared better. Relatively.

The weight of both hammers, wielded by the strength of a storm, crushed, caved in, and dismantled any that came too close. Petyr normally held a hammer with both hands. With one hand each, she was slower. Her swings appeared more deliberate. Every strike was infused with Smite, thoroughly destroying the undead unlucky enough to meet them.

Kanae winced at every swing and asked, "Why exactly does Smite hurt the Paladin?"

"It is undisputedly the strongest enchantment-type spell one can impart on a weapon. Behind Divine Smite, of course. Some of that uncontrolled energy comes back as a sort of… blowback. Many crowned Paladins train their entire lives to withstand the backlash and can only muster four or five attacks before it becomes unbearable. Petyr is something of an anomaly. I have heard tell of our new Knight of Azure mustering six," Archbishop Patrice explained.

"Like recoil then?" she wondered aloud.

The archbishop thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. Kanae still vaguely remembered firearms back on Earth. Although she never had the pleasure of firing one, most guns supposedly had a kick to them. That was the cost of kinetic energy to propel a projectile forward with incredible speed and strength. Sometimes, firing a spell through her wand caused a little bit of a kickback, too.

In that case, was Smite similar?

Petyr crushed the head of one bone brute. Another ran up to her side. She transformed Shifting Steel into a large tower shield and blocked the blow. The slab of metal glowed divinely gold, and she slammed her shield into the second bone brute, shattering it into a pile of bones.

"Am I supposed to be satisfied by this? Where are your death knights? Your dragons? Or just come down and fight me yourself already!" Petyr roared.

"Don't worry, I'm just tenderizing you first. But if you want the dragon…" Edina carved open an enormous abyssal portal.

A giant claw crushed several undead on the way out. The undead dragon pushed itself out, beating wings clearing what remained of the Fog of Death. Petyr returned Shifting Steel back into a hammer when the dragon chomped down on her and took off into the sky. The high elf clung on, half her body dangling from the jaws and teeth. She infused her felmetal warhammer with Smite, but the dragon opened up. Petyr plummeted, losing hold of Shifting Steel.

Edina's dragon snatched Petyr again, but this time in its right talons. She smashed the joint, causing the bones to separate and break off. Before falling, she grabbed hold of the leg and climbed. The dragon barrel-rolled in the mid-air, purposefully crashing into the barrier, and biting at its own leg to shake Petyr off.

"I've got another way to beat you. Return, my dragon!" Edina ordered.

It veered around from the other end of the arena, heading straight for the abyssal portal. Petyr made haste and climbed onto the spine of the dragon. She hoisted the warhammer high and brought it down on the skull. The force cracked its face in half and sent the mighty skeletal beast crashing into the ground, skidding up to meters away from the portal.

Petyr jumped off, infusing her weapon with Divine Smite, which was more distinctly white than gold. She walked right up to the dragon's ribcage, which housed the violent necromantic core. Edina recalled the roiling energy into Pillar of the Damned and cursed under her breath.

"Is that all?" Petyr asked.

Edina smirked. She pointed her staff into the swirling portal and discharged the core of necrotic energies inside. The ground shuddered. With every thunderous footfall, the barrier shimmered. A gargantuan four-legged rhinocerine beast stretched the portal to its limit, emerging from within.

"Asa Mareer?!" Kanae gasped.

"That's the undead creature that devastated the Harpy King's camp. What a glorious turn of events!" Archbishop Patrice exclaimed.

That wasn't all. The undead berinath, which had given Kanae quite the headache, and four death knights led by the former Necro Lord Cantu, accompanied the beast out of the portal. Over by the royal spectator's booth, Thored and Minestra planted their faces against the barrier, seemingly recognizing the Corpsestitched monstrosity he had become.

"Finally in need of me, Mistress?" Cantu stretched two pairs of beefy troll arms.

"What do you think, Petyr? Still think you have a chance?" Edina waved an arm across the mightiest of her undeads thus far. "As a bettin' squirreling, there's no way in three hells I'd count on you coming out of this alive."

"You want to know what I think?" Petyr picked up Shifting Steel and tapped the heads of both hammers together. "Now this is starting to look like a fair fight."