Siege of the Black Gates 4

Day 17

More than a week passed. Synthara’s men were pushed back to the 7th gate and she only had 30,000 men left. Half of her vampires had fallen and she had lost 20 of her cannons. Nidhogg, while only having light injuries, was exhausted from the constant fighting. The only small comfort she had was that Jupiter did not make a move at her rear the whole time. Perhaps he was that badly injured?

Meanwhile the Ougonite forces seemed to be endless, it was as if she was facing the entire empire by herself. Fort Lynch still held strong, but did not face a single attack. They were only being pinned down so they were unable to assist her.

‘What's taking that stupid prince so long!? Even gods have limits!’  Synthara thought frustratedly. As she slammed her fist on to a rock, she felt someone manifest in front of her. She lashed out with strings only to find a familiar lean and short woman with short dark purple hair. It was Rusalka and a group of assassins with a message from Morgan:

My lady,

Please forgive our tardiness! By the time you see this letter we should be closing in on Ort. Between us and the orcs they are no match for our overwhelming numbers. It pains me to know that you have been suffering on our behalf all this time. I am on my way to assist you but I've sent Rusalka ahead. Use her as you see fit.

M.M

With Rusalka on her side and from what she could gather about Augustus’ ability, an idea that seemed impossible now seemed like it was possible. She smiled as she concocted a plan.

“You came at the perfect time my cute little Rusalka~” Synthara wearily pinched Rusalka’s cheeks, much to Rusalka’s chagrin. She found it soothing.

Day 18

As the morning’s battle raged, with all of the angel patrols preoccupied with containing Nidhogg, Synthara, two of her Dark Paladins, and Rusalka’s 30 assassins snuck into the Ougonian camp and assassinated Augustus.

Rusalka’s ability to hypnotize and take control of someone’s five senses by just looking at them was invaluable. The only limitations were that she cannot control what her victims were seeing even if the illusions are tailored according to her intent, and she can control a small number of people this way. She could do 5 on a good day but she could always hypnotize at least 3 people simultaneously. They also had to be within a certain range of her.

Combined with their various invisibility spells, this allowed the small group to sneak into Augustus’ tent where he commanded the battle.

Only it was empty.

Synthara quickly put up a shield as a beam of light attempted to smite a small group.

Augustus stepped out from behind a tent with a squad of Paladins and Priests in tow. “Did you really think I would leave myself open in such a way? You must have a low opinion of my abilities.”

Synthara appeared behind Augustus slashed his neck with a sharpened string. His surprised head sliding off neck.

“Did you really think I'd come unprepared? You must have a low opinion of my abilities.”

“Wh-how!?” Unbeknownst to Augustus, his bodyguards were engaged in battle with her own companions, leaving the two of them alone.

Augustus’ head then just appeared back on his neck in an instant.

“I see you are a master of illusions as well as destruction, but I can sense you from your bloodlust. Did you really think I would not enact a law that prevented me from dying?”

Synthara jumped back as Augustus began to counter attack with his enlarged mallet which was now a warhammer. She launched a barrage of fireballs at him.

“I cannot burn.” He said as the fireballs dissipated against his body.

Synthara unleashed a barrage of every single spell she could think of. Psychic spells, frost spells, electricity spells, all of it. Her hands moved in a flurry.

“I do not get headaches. I do not get cold, I am grounded against lightning, no spells work on me!” Augustus shouted as all of the spells bounced off of him uselessly. Synthara’s strings and hammer clashed against each other.

“I gave you a chance to surrender to me peacefully, yet you foolishly refused. Why are you gods so incomprehensibly foolish!? You do nothing but take our resources for your whimsical ventures, demand that we fawn over your mere presence, and dominate every single aspect of our lives! You do not know anything about how we mortals suffer! We have to struggle and scheme just to achieve even a fraction of what you can do effortlessly!” After the clash, Augustus managed to get past Synthara’s defense and knock on her feet. He then jumped into the air, intending to crush Synthara with his hammer.

“Be crushed under the weight of MY LAW! I AM THE STRONGEST!”

Synthara smiled as she suddenly felt a surge of power flowing through her veins. 'The prince sure took his time.' She vanished.

Augustus, surprised, was then blasted by an unbelievably large fire blast. He screamed in pain as he was pushed on to the ground by the explosive force of the flame. When he looked up. He saw Synthara flying above him in the air with a blood red halo above her head and six wings made of black flame.

“Demon King of the Sixth Heaven: Múspell Ragnarokr.”

Augustus looked up in surprise. “Impossible! How do you still have so much power after over two weeks of constant fighting!?”

Synthara smiled. “Your friend Jupiter almost killed me. He was way stronger than you. He had sealed my magic away, not completely but it still held me back. What you’ve been fighting against all this time was a mere fraction of my power. Your laws were annoying but passing so many laws must get confusing, to say nothing of the cost of enforcing them. Anything too powerful or broad of a law was beyond your mana levels, so you had to resort to making many specific laws. All I had to do was force you to overextend yourself until your laws meant nothing. Because if everything is illegal, then nothing is.”

“Wait, then that would mean Jupiter is-.”

“Yes, he’s dead, my companions have succeeded in their mission to slay him. Too bad, you were just too slow, distracted by delusions of absolute power and control. And now,” Synthara smiled above him like a cat about to eat a mouse caught in a trap. “You and your whole army will be burnt to a crisp! Ahahahahahahaha!!”

Augustus grit his teeth. He could not believe he’d been outmaneuvered by the gods again. Was it really his and mankind’s destiny to keep losing to these otherworldly beings?

Synthara created a ball of black fire in her hands. “Under normal circumstances, I think we could have been great friends, handsome. Unfortunately I cant have you running around anymore, see you!”

August watched helplessly as the black flame approached him, only to be taken away at the last minute and flown into the sky in someone’s arms. Valkykia, upon her pegasus, had saved him at the last minute.

Synthara looked disappointedly at the flying pegasus who was now flying away with her prey. She was really hoping to not have to deal with his law powers again.

“C est la vie.” Synthara then turned towards the fighting at the gates, the soldiers blissfully unaware that their commander had fled the battlefield. She was about to give them a nasty surprise.

“Let the flames of my wrath scorch these lands for now and ever!”

Synthara cackled madly as she unleashed her full power on the entire Ougonite army. Like in the legend of Valhalla, she was an angel raining fire and death from the sky, dancing like an elegant ballerina. Huge swaths of men turned to ash in an instant. Nidhogg contributed to the fire storm with his own breath. Her men were galvanized by her wrathful onslaught and pursued the fleeing army all the way back to Fort Rubicon.

Discipline and cohesion fell apart and countless Ougonites died on the fields of The Cradle.