Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends
Chapter 609: Nayra

Chapter 609: Nayra

Death

The field was covered in corpses, the Essence of Death thick and overwhelming. The fighting had been so intense that the casualties from both sides had been left out in the open to rot in the sun, to be eaten by the scavengers that circled above waiting for a lull in the fighting to swoop down and feast.

This was what war looked like, trenches and craters across the land. Corpses decaying and rot spilling into the ground. Carnage and death. This was what the Exalted Empire was causing all across the Sect lands, and all for reasons unknown. She knew precious little about them; they had never seemed like a real threat to her people. A faraway empire on the other side of the world.

Their assassinations had changed that in her mind. To so boldly strike against so many powerful people… It was unthinkable to Nayra and any analyst and strategist in her sect. Even if the goal of their war was simple conquest, they had to have known that the Sects were strong. Perhaps that was why they had chosen to attack, before they could get stronger still. She had to at least admit that they were doing better than she had expected. Their invasion had been mostly successful, with only a few fronts where they’ve been encountering greater resistance. A front like this one.

The invading forces that fought were a handful of factions from the core that had been absorbed into the Exalted Empire, with the empire forces serving as command and support. The battlefield was a long stretch of empty land, with two large forts on both ends of it. On the one side, the former Kingdom of Likeas, on the other, the Falling Moon Sect.

The two had been fighting each other for centuries, both had fortified their side heavily. The fighting had been relegated to small skirmishes over the last hundred years, nothing like what was happening now.

The Falling Moon Sect was one of the few that had managed to hold against the invasion, keep them from pushing in. Largely in part because their neighbors had not been targets of any assassination attempts and their Sects were not thrown into chaos, leaving them able to provide support. But that had come at a great cost as Nayra could see clearly from the state of the battlefield.

All of that was about to change. Her reinforcements surged across the field, warriors of Twilight Melody Sect and their allies from the Midnight Reign Sect. Their undead allies advanced first, their draugr True Bodies getting stronger in the Death-filled environment.

Their arrival didn’t go unnoticed, alarms spread across the enemy battle lines, and their commanders attempted to respond to the sudden charge of undead cultivators.

The distance between them was filled with attack fire in an instant. Array traps triggered, powerful perks spent, but none of it stopped the undead charge. In this field, surrounded by so much Death Essence, their power, like hers, soared.

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Nayra watched from the prow of her airship, her eyes scanning several different long-range scrying formations before her. Her subordinates ran around, passing orders and coordinating with the Midnight Reign command on the ground.

Most of her troops were those who had served her family back in the empire. Unlike the cultivators, they fought more like an army, though they had adopted some sect doctrines.

Nayra’s forces moved behind the draugr, a row of spear throwers in front, throwing spears filled to the brim with power, bombarding the enemy lines as the draugr charged them.

Then the lines clashed, and the enemy’s lines buckled. There was little the enemy soldiers could do against the onslaught of undead who soaked up all the fire they threw at them. The few stray shots thrown at her people were quickly taken apart by defensive arrays pushed on floating platforms, birthing domes of light that protected her troops every time an attack came near.

For those who had become isolated, the new uniforms Ryun provided served to protect them.

The one-sided tilt in the battle made the enemy panic, which was what she was waiting for. On one of the scrying formations she watched as a demasi man wearing bright silver armor walked out of the gates of the enemy fort. He held a large sword in one hand, and slowly raised it up to the sky as he gazed at the onslaught of the undead coming at him.

Nayra acted. Wings of Deathfire spread from her back and she shot across the battlefield, soaring above both allies and foes. As the enemy’s now glowing sword fell, and a blast of powerful light exploded out of it, she blinked into its way.

The man’s trump attack slammed into her, tearing apart the earth around her, cracking the air, igniting anything nearby. But Nayra didn’t worry, she took the attack head on. Her Aegis of Death protected her; the thick Essence of Death on the battlefield surged into her to power her shield, the levels of it dropping sharply, more than she had expected. The enemy’s attack was powerful enough that it could’ve broken through the defenses of her side.

The light dimmed as the attack was spent, and a lull and silence covered the field, everyone waiting to see what happened.

The dust settled to show her standing in the open field of death, the ground in front burning and melted, a line of torn up dirt connecting her to the enemy who had unleashed the attack.

The enemy looked at her with an incredulous look on his face, his shock delayed him enough that he had no chance to react when Nayra moved with great speed. Not that his ability to react would’ve done him much good.

Death Essence around her rushed into her as she focused on her perk, Death Blast. Her spear appeared in her hand as she pointed at the enemy lines and the fort visible in the distance. She harnessed the Death and with an effort of will unleashed it. A beam of darkness lanced out of her and across the land. Everything it touched died. The ground withered and turned to dust, the dead bodies decayed further and fell apart, the living caught in its path withered and then followed the same course as the dead. Her beam reached the demasi and didn’t even stop, his attempt at defending with a shield of light ineffective. He was swallowed up by Death, his body reduced to dust in moments. The attack continued until it hit the fort ahead, the defenses crumbling under the weight of all the Death both sides had caused in this field. Not just from this invasion, but across the centuries. Her attack was powered by all of it.

The stone of the fort crumbled and crashed down, opening a way through.

With her attack finally done, she beat her wings and flew above the battlefield, everyone looking up at her. She simply pointed her spear at the enemy and her troops understood. They continued their charge, overwhelming their stunned foes.

She watched from above, knowing that this was the easiest part of this war.