Chapter 685: Backfoot
When Argrave arrived atop one of the tall towers at Jast, he’d expected many things—foremost among them being that the tower he’d stored his echo on had fallen, and he’d be in freefall. Surprisingly, the large black tower hadn’t fallen. Quick glances around showed that none had fallen… and rather, they’d expanded to an alarming degree.
Each of the towers had taken heavy damage—enough to break their enchantments and make them topple. Instead, new structures had been built around them: braces, supports, and wires, all to hold together this crumbling city. Beyond mere structural support, ballistae and other such weapons of war manned by strange, shapeless men fired back at the besiegers. Argrave could see magic coursing through them, and realized what this was.
These were Mina’s illusions—though illusions no longer, it appeared.
“Argrave!”
Hearing Anneliese’s voice, Argrave whipped his head to the direction it had come from. Anneliese and Mina stood together, overseeing the whole city. Powerful waves of magic shot out at the heart of the city from beyond its walls, and Anneliese dutifully crafted wards to block the worst attacks. As Argrave moved to join them, he looked at the besieger. His eyes sharpened when he saw her.
Almazora, goddess of magic.
“Grave! Kill that bitch! Nicky’s in danger!” Mina shouted savagely as he finally joined with them. The small woman looked exhausted, yet from the look on her face it’d be ages before she gave up the fight.
“Be calm, lest others die from overeagerness,” Anneliese assured, her focus never wavering from the fight. She didn’t look at Argrave, but she could tell her next words were directed toward him. “Almazora betrayed us. Presumably Jaray wormed fears into her—fears about magic disappearing once the cycle of judgment end. She would surrender her divinity, but never magic. That was our oversight.”
“Jast is dense with magic,” Mina continued. “A lot of spellcasters were here. Almazora stole the magic from most of them, then detonated the ambient magic. Without Anneliese, not a one of us could’ve cast a single spell.” Mina glanced over to where a wayward fireball had struck a tower. It began to tumble, yet Mina held her hand out and conjured an illusory brace in seconds that held it in place. She looked at Argrave. “Some ‘god of pain’ is leading a force against Nikoletta’s army. When he looks at you… it’s torture.” She shuddered.