Chapter 702: Blackgard's Blackguard
“Are you sure you’re alright to do this?” Argrave asked as he stared at the last fort standing between the southern valley and the city of Blackgard. The last thing keeping out Gerechtigkeit’s present avatar—a terrifying force of nature.
Sophia watched ahead unwaveringly. “It’s what you’d do… right, dad?”
Argrave eyed her. He’d never actually heard her call him ‘father’ or ‘dad.’ He didn’t want to demand it of her—he had no right to force the title out of her, even if it was something he wanted her to feel comfortable saying. In the end, that long wait had been worth it. It carried far more weight than if he’d simply demanded it.
“Well, maybe not when I was your age.” Argrave inhaled deeply. “I’d be playing this scenario out with action figures instead of actually living through it. The reality is a lot scarier.”
As if to prove that point, a great destructive noise echoed over and above the fort, and Sophia tensed. Elenore fed him more information, but in truth he paid them little mind as he waited for Sophia’s next words.
“I don’t want this to end,” Sophia said simply. “If I can do that… I want to.”
The last fort burst wide open in a white inferno that turned stone, wood, enchantment, and even the closest parts of the mountain all to ash. Golden embers drifted through the air as that four-armed centaur automaton walked through, its body cracked and exposed in parts where Argrave had managed blows. It took in the city almost in awe, before focusing those terrible eyes it had on the pair of them.
Argrave put Sophia down, keeping his eye on this opponent. Inside the city, the restraints of the array upon their enemies would totally cease to function. Proving this point, in a blink of an eye the Zanti was upon them, his arms grasping futilely at Sophia. She stared up at the thing fearfully, yet unflinchingly. It was as if there was an invisible barrier around her. Argrave, meanwhile, thrust his hand out with a spell at the ready.
He used [Godkiller] up close. His arm burst into gore as it always had, yet before it could even strike its target all his flesh and blood returned to him. The Zanti only briefly diverted its attention away, slapping half-heartedly at the magic with one arm. Instead of the former outcome, its arm was utterly repelled, and the bolt of pure blood magic slammed into its body. The centaur automaton was sent flying away at breakneck speeds, propelled out toward the coast. It split the water before being lost in it, sending a great wave outward into the sea.