All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 339: The Floor is Lava

Bee eyed the glowing line that led to the Lich's phylactery. Even though she now knew exactly where it was, it wouldn't make a difference if she couldn't get there. The path up the mountain was treacherous. They'd need to fly all the way up to its top, then down into the blistering hot caldera to locate the small side cavern housing the item. Worse, only those who could fly would make it in.

It was no small ask order. The volcano was tall enough that the air was rather thin, and it would take them a lot of time to travel all that way. Too much time, especially given the battle still going on. If they didn't keep things under control here, a lot of the flying demons could go to reinforce the Barleonan capital, and she couldn't have that.

As she puzzled through the situation, her plans suddenly became moot. It was as if her master was reading her mind, or perhaps had heard her silent prayers. It blasted a path through the mountainside, carving a massive tunnel right into the cavern where the Phylactery rested.

Bee blinked. Once again, she was reminded of how nice it was to have a god on her side.

The hole bored into the mountain near its base, meaning that they could travel much faster and not have to climb thousands of feet of elevation. Not wanting to waste a second, she yelled commands to the Nighty Knights, and Felix relayed them. All of them bunched up into a wedge shape. Rather than take the head like usual, though, she allowed Cliff to take point, her jowls menacing and wisps of icy vapor flowing from her snout. Bee stood off to one side and slightly behind. It gave her better coverage to protect everyone with her aura so she could play the role of the healer.

At this point, she was rather confident that they could achieve any victory. They'd proven their might plenty over the course of this battle. Now, her goal had shifted from the fastest elimination of their enemies to prioritizing other things. Namely, making sure that no Nighty Knights were injured. If they were injured, then she had to make sure they didn't stay injured for long.

The idea that she could afford such considerations against a pair of Lieutenants felt incredible. Some part of her still warned against underestimating their opponents. But letting any of her allies get hurt was inexcusable to her.

The Improved Pathing skill lit up the ground in front of her as she ordered the advance. They started off at a jog that quickly progressed to a sprint, and the diamond-shaped formation speared deep into enemy ranks. Cliff bowled over and knocked aside anything that stood in their way, and Tanu rode on her back, casting skill after skill to buff his companion.

The Nighty Knights moved in near lockstep. Skills flashed, and waves of force flew forth to batter aside anything that stood in their way. For now, they were primarily focusing on removing obstacles rather than dealing damage.

Once everything from the demon's front line had been cleared, the only thing that remained was the Death Knight, standing tall and in their way. The formation broke apart, and practice eased as they flowed around the static obstacle. And just as the Death Knight started to turn and chase after or attack or something, they all pivoted and collapsed on it, attacking it from all sides, making it impossible for it to get the shield between it and its attacker.

It by no means went down easy, but with enough, the Nighty Knights kept all the other demons away for just a handful of moments. Many of the most powerful of their number were able to bring it down to its knees before Bee even arrived, with some assistance from her. It was decapitated and stripped of its armor. And she was devouring it. Before the demons could recover to save their lieutenant, the group had already formed up and continued their advance.

The group barely slowed down as they punched into the demons, angling away from the mass of living bone piecing itself together at the head of the army. They managed to pierce past it before the Lich could properly reform into whatever backup body it had created after returning from its Phylactery. This forced it to charge into its own forces to pursue.

Many of the weaker demonic entities were crushed underfoot even as they bellowed angrily in a demonic tongue that Bee didn't think flesh and blood were capable of producing. Resistance continued to mount in their path, but still, they drove ever onward. Bee took a half step back in the formation as one of the other healers filled in for her. In a moment, she quickly navigated her way to the other side, placing a hand on Leanne's shoulder and healing a gash the young woman had received to her arm. The quick movement didn't even make them break stride.

The young woman nodded to Bee without making eye contact. It was a much-appreciated gesture, considering the bright flash of eye-beams currently scything through their enemies. Bee stepped back, hurrying to the next patient. Their speed hadn't decreased, but the sheer mass of bodies blocking their path wasn't doing much for their maneuverability. The Nighty Knights were an elite fighting force, but smashed together, it was hard for them to use much of the hard-earned skill that they had practiced as individual warriors and terrors of the battlefield.

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The direct tutelage of Lord Void, though, wasn't for naught. Even though their situation prevented them from showing off individual skill, discipline carried them through. They all stayed in position to support and protect each other, fending off their foes while ensuring the safety of their own. Bee quickly found her time was actually best spent in the center, as the well-drilled formations rotated injured members toward her and let her assist the slightly less powerful healers in making sure that everyone stayed up.

Some of the other support members of the Nighty Knights, though, had more complicated roles to play. Rather than healing wounds and patching up cuts, they focused on protecting others. She watched as the group cast quick, second-long shields to protect others from what would be, in some cases, lethal damage. They had to monitor the entire battlefield and prioritize, oftentimes letting other members take wounds in order to save allies that were in more dire straits.

Bee had seen them practice, as she had with all the Knights. But they had never been in a real scenario where they had been pushed this hard. The sense of pride welling up in her chest was matched only by the Nighty Knights's grim determination as they pushed forward.

Minutes later, they broke through the other side of the horde. Bee looked behind and found that her fears were unfounded. The swath of overpowered demons showed no interest in running to the Barleonan capital. They seemed single-mindedly focused on chasing her down. Even the flying ones had their attention trained on them, trying to make it to their group despite the hail of arrows and skill projectiles. Many of the members near the interior of Bee's formation flung attacks up at the sky to ward them off.

After making it through, the Nighty Knights charged up the foothills in what quickly became a foot race as the demons pursued and were beaten back by the rearguard. Eventually, they made it into the tunnel that Lord Void had prepared for them. A quick conference with the Nighty Knights commander and his second took place behind lines as they ran.

"You all stay here," Bee told Felix. "I need you to defend. I'll go destroy the Lich's phylactery if you can keep them away. You just need to buy me time."

Felix and his second looked at each other. "The tunnel's narrow enough that we don't need to put everyone here to plug it," Felix said, and Leanne nodded in agreement. "Take a couple with you. You can have some eyes watch your back. Besides, most of us won't be useful here anyways. We only need a few front liners and a lot of our ranged damage dealers. Our more mobile melee units won't be very useful."

Bee was reluctant to agree. Her All-Seeing Eye was telling her that the phylactery was relatively unguarded, with only a pair of archdemons standing on either side. The level 65 beings would be more than enough to fend off anything under usual circumstances. But then, they hadn't exactly accounted for her.

Still, she supposed that they had a point. With a nod of resignation, Bee agreed. "I can bring two. There are two Archfiends waiting between us and the Phylactery."

The commander and vice commander whispered quickly to each other. In a moment, Bradley Chadwick jogged over from where he had been leaning against the wall and drinking a water skin his sister had handed him from her storage space. He stopped and saluted.

"Bradley, you and Jason are to escort the High Priestess to the Phylactery," Felix informed the youth. Bradley gave a sharp salute as a second figure appeared at his side. Dark hair and dark eyes took a moment for Bee to place, as this was one of the relatively new recruits of the Nighty Knights. He'd only joined after the siege of the Kingdom's capital. He was a stealth specialist dealing with swords, knives, and throwing weapons. So she supposed he also wouldn't be the most useful here on defense.

Several of the more defense-oriented Nighty Knights had already engaged the enemy, blocking off the tunnel while ranged specialists hammered away. Waves of light and energy and elemental skills shot past them in well-choreographed waves to devastating effect, mowing down the enemy as they charged straight into the kill box.

"Good luck," Felix wished her as she and her two escorts started dashing down the tunnel. Bee was careful not to outpace the two at first, but found that they had little trouble keeping up. Bradley's stupidly long legs ate up the distance in a loping stride that easily kept him up with her, and Jason's quick feet blurred with shadow in what must have been some sort of skill.

Bee pushed ahead a little faster, nervous that despite the many advantages the Nighty Knights had, the demons would find some way through. Fears of them tunneling around or trying to collapse the tunnel itself bubbled up within her mind. Still, she had to believe that the Knights could hold their own. Besides, if the ceiling did come down on them, it wasn't like they were lacking for earth manipulators.

Only moments later, they burst out of the tunnel into a caldera. They stood at a small ledge made of piled rock and looked out into the smoking pool of lava before them. In its center sat a large rock that must have been fifty feet in diameter. Just as she'd expected, the two archfiends and the crystal orb of Phylactery sat atop it.

The heat was nearly unbearable. She felt the sweat quickly evaporate from her skin, prompting her to retrieve a few heat resistance potions from her mouth. Those still didn't make it any more comfortable, though. Just one more reason for them to hurry. Bee quickly pulled out her magic carpet, and the three of them squeezed on as she ferried them across the lava field. The archfiends took up defensive positions but seemed unphased. Rather, they looked excited at the easy targets. If only they'd known.

Bee was confident in taking the two of them on herself, but she quickly explained her plan to the Nighty Knights.

"You each distract one while I go after the Phylactery. Once we've destroyed it, we can take them out. But for now, that ball is the priority. I just need a few seconds."

The carpet sped toward their target. Right as they were about to land, the lava behind the two archfiends boiled and a skeletal hand dripping with magma clutched the side of the rock. A skull the size of a horse rose out of the magma pool, its surface glowing with heat as it hoisted itself onto the rock as well.

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