Saving a Greater Spirit

Only a few of Adalgard's Spectral Chains landed among the knights. Most of them thrashed the ground in front of them, throwing dirt into the air. She then used a minor blessing to cause a mini whirlwind that limited their visibility. That was then followed by a barrage of Spectral Chains among their ranks.

Vesta's fireball had little effect on the barrier that the mages had around the priests that were controlling the ritual. The woman leading them, who I assumed was the Sostrate that the trappers had mentioned, gave her a mocking smile. Vesta sent another fireball but this one had a liquid look to it and when it landed, it splashed and continued to burn on the barrier.

Of course it was going to be difficult for one mage to take down a barrier that multiple mages were keeping up. The real reason I wanted her to attack them was to hold them in place and keep them from aiding the others. Vesta then started to throw a few spells to aid Adalgrad while keeping the pressure on the mages in the barrier.

This was all going on while I ran between Turnus and the Gylltaine Stag. He released the glowing spear from his hand and I was just able to intercept it, filling my shield with my Osgar aura.

Since it was a powerful spiritual weapon able to harm a Greater Spirit, taking the strike head on would have been suicidal. Instead I used my shield to push it off course. Even then I felt the burst of energy as the spear scraped against my shield leaving a deep gouge. I shook my arm to get rid of the numbness that was a result of the impact.

The spear embedded deeply into the ground with a burst of dirt. Turnus pulled another spear from his Storage Device. This time he grit his teeth and charged me.

"I knew you were a hell spawn the moment I saw you. In the name of the Light I will purge your evil from this world." He yelled as he engaged me in battle.

The energy coming off the spear wasn't as great as I when I deflected it but I still felt the burning spiritual energy. And it seemed to be building the longer he held on to it.

"If your precious Light was so powerful then why are you guys always failing?" As I mocked his beliefs I also used my psychic motes to push his anger in hopes of distracting him.

"BLASPHEMY!" He yelled.

Fanatics like him were easy to manipulate. It was harder to think while angry which would hopefully leave an opportunity for me to strike. Of course the danger of enraging him was that he began to attack me with greater ferocity.

As he focused on me, Turnus left his back open to the Gylltaine Stag. The dark silver antlers picked him up and threw him to the side. After the attack the Greater Spirit stumbled. Normally I wouldn't want to pull the spears out since that would cause more bleeding. But the spears seemed to have a poisoning effect on the Gylltaine Stag since the area around the spears was starting to turn black.

Dark blood poured out of the wounds as I removed the spears and stored them in my Storage Ring. In a moment the blood started to take on a brighter, healthier color. The Gylltaine Stag staggered and one of its knees bent to the ground. As I placed my hand on its side, I could feel its power struggling to break free of the rituals restraints.

With a brief pause in fighting the deranged Holy Knight, I was able to see how my allies were doing. Adalgard had killed a few of the other knights while still fighting most of them. Her Spectral Chains defended her back while she swung her greatsword at those in front of her.

A few of the Knights had broken away from Adalgard and were pressuring Vesta. She was using pillars of stone that were moving around like tentacles to block the attacks, while a flaming whip kept them at bay. Occasionally a long Spectral Chain would reach out and grapple one of those attacking Vesta. During this whole time, Vesta kept up her barrage of Persistent Fireballs on the barrier.

"Hahahahah." Turnus started to laugh. "You might think you have won but his Eminence was blessed with Foresight from the Holy Light. He prepared me for such a complication. Though I wish it hadn't come to this."

Turnus then pulled out a vial of a liquid that I recognized. After downing the potion his form began to change, enlarging to nearly three times the size of a man. His clothes and armor tore apart and once again I was looking at the naked form of troll. He still had the last glowing spear on him, though now it looked comparatively small in his oversized hand.

This was obviously his first time transforming as he stumbled towards us with little coordination. What he had over the three brothers who were used to the transformation, was the powerful weapon and his Spiritual Magic.

I had to block a Bolt of Holy Energy that he sent at the Gylltaine Stag. Turnus kept up the barrage of magic as he haphazardly approached us. When he swung his spear I tried to block it but was thrown to the side as his strength had greatly increased.

The Greater Spirit tried to move away using its antlers to parry the spear but still took a few wounds from the spear. Getting behind the monster, I started using my Moonlight Lightning Slash on his ankles and the back of his knees. This slowed the troll down enough for the Greater Spirit to get further away.

Enraged by the wounds he turned his focus back towards me. I pushed my mana into my Speed spell to avoid his uncoordinated attacks. Frustrated by his inability to hit me, he tried to turn back towards his original target. Anytime Turnus tried to pursue his prey, I attacked from behind, pulling his attention back to me.

This back and forth didn't last too long as Turnus was getting used to his new monstrous form. As such I was put more and more on the defensive, having to use my shield to push his attacks from hitting me head on and started to be thrown back a little each time.

At that point things started to turn for the worse for all of us. While I wasn't able to distract Turnus as much anymore, Adalgard was having difficulty handling the other knights. Having to deal with that many opponents was starting to tire her out and she ended up back to back with Vesta for help.

Vesta wasn't able to defend herself and attack the barrier anymore as she was starting to run out of mana herself. This allowed the mages to lower the barrier protecting the priests long enough for their leader to step out and join the knights on the attack.

I had to roll to the side after being knocked back by Turnus as an Ice Lance landed where I just was. Sostrate was rotating between sending spells at me and the other two. At this rate it wasn't going to be long before we were overwhelmed and killed along with the Gylltaine Stag.

"Is this really the way of the Holy Light? Becoming a monster." I taunted Turnus in an attempt to delay what was coming for us. I pushed my Emotion Manipulation spell as hard as I could.

The transformed Holy Knight turned his head towards me.

"Of course you were always a monster on the inside since that's the only type of person your Holy Light can attract. People with disfigured souls filled with malice are the only people your corrupted Light has any use for." I continued.

He took the bait and swung his massive troll fist down towards me. I pulled out both of the spears I had previously put in my Storage Ring and braced them into the ground.

The momentum of his fist drove the points of the spears deep into his knuckles. The attack was still able to connect with me, sending me sprawling backwards. I turned to my side and coughed up some blood as I pulled a Healing Potion but before I could take a drink and Ice Lance pierced my side.

"Wilmaer." Vesta yelled and began slinging spells at Sostrate who had sneak attacked. This lowered her guard to the knights around her and left their defense fully in Adalgard's hands.

When I looked back at Turnus he was staring at the wounds in his knuckles. The same black corrupting essence that had wounded the Gylltaine Stag was infecting him. No doubt he believed that his weapons shouldn't be able to hurt him in the same way and was trying to figure out why.

Shaking away his doubts he turned back to his target as I downed the Healing Potion and got back to my feet. But by then I didn't have the energy to make it between them.

For a moment I thought we had failed.

Then came a thunderous sound from the forest. Dozens and dozens of the deer with brownish gold fur and dark silver flecked antlers stormed into the clearing from the same direction we had entered.

"Damn it, how did they get in?" One of the knights yelled.

"It was those points of power that they destroyed. Retreat, we can't win this." Sostrate yelled.

"No! The will of the Holy Light must be done!" The troll Turnus bellowed as he fought with a reinvigorated Gylltaine Stag.

The Holy Knights and the priests followed his orders and prepared for the stampede but most of the mages let go of the barrier and used what magic they could to try and flee.

Vesta didn't miss this opportunity to launch a massive fireball into the group of priests. They screamed in pain as the ritual they were using began to collapse.

Turnus tried to give a finishing blow, but the Gylltaine Stag reared back and pushed him with its front hooves. He stumbled backwards landing on his back. As he attempted to rise I jumped over his head and sent a Moonlight Lightning Slash towards his neck.

Blood spurted from the wound and before it could heal from the troll's natural ability, he was gored from all sides by the antlers of the descendants of the Gylltaine Stag.

Without even activating my spiritual senses, I could see the fluctuations in the air as the final remnants of the ritual disappeared. What was holding back the Greater Spirit's power was now gone. When that happened a green healing energy began to come out of the vegetation around us. Most of it coalesced around the Gylltaine Stag.

In a matter of seconds it's wound healed and a greater power began to radiate from them. The Greater Spirit slowly walked towards the fallen Holy Knight who was on his last breath. It raised its front hooves before smashing its enemies head.