[Kara] Chapter 14: Antimagic Domain (Patreon)

With Elder Golag subdued, it was not difficult to subdue the main part of the riots. There had been thousands of orcs gathered here on his behest. And to see him so easily defeated must have been a massive shock. So many of them surrendered to the guards.

They hadn’t witnessed Koros in battle before, so they didn’t expect such a massive show of force. Soraan himself had very rarely ever seen the Dark Lord in a fight too, but he knew that even someone with a Tier 30 manacore wouldn’t stand a chance of winning.

However, while many of the orcs who were a part of the Ironhide Clan handed themselves over in defeat, that didn’t mean the riots were over. The chaos had spread to other parts of the city, and there were brawls breaking out even in Sentinel Square. So it wasn’t over.

Soraan moved with the rest of the gathered guards to stop the fighting in the nearby streets. His partner followed him, rubbing the bruise on his face.

“O-ouch…”

Honestly, Soraan was impressed. Somehow, his partner survived getting struck in the face by Elder Golag. It was quite the feat— although it still wasn’t impressive enough for Soraan to force himself to remember his partner’s name. He shook his head, before blinking as a figure nearly ran into him.

A panting guard dashed through the street, making his way to Koros and Hayder. The latter two had been overseeing the detainment of the present orcs. But they turned around as the guard came to a halt before them.

“What is it now?” Koros asked as his voice boomed through his helmet.

“D-Dark Lord,” the guard started, dropping to a knee. “We received a report from the walls of the city— towards the main tower, an antimagic field has been detected.”

And Koros exchanged a glance with Hayder as they both realized what was going on.

—--

After both Kara and Caius agreed to work together, the two then began to discuss their plan of action. They didn’t know how much time they had before Levi would act. But they knew they had to prepare themselves for something to happen soon.

“So you’re saying Levi wishes to go after the vault?” Kara asked as she placed a hand on her chin. “To steal the… Keys of Azad?”

“That’s right.” Caius nodded. “And we will set an ambush for him there— when he finally acts.”

Kara looked towards the elf curiously. “And are we supposed to just camp at the vault all day until then?”

He gave her a reassuring nod. “Don’t worry, I’ll have it all planned out for you. You just have to come when the riots start.”

“Right…” She somehow didn’t seem convinced by his confidence.

“Our only real concern should be his Antimagic Domain,” Caius said, pursing his lips. “I am not sure how we’ll be able to deal with it…”

Kara saw the worry on his face, then looked down at herself. She closed her eyes and sighed, “I… think I can handle that.”

“You can?” Caius asked dubiously. “Are you certain?”

She raised her head and met his gaze. “I am.”

—--

Back in the present, Caius leaned against the white walls of the Antimagic Domain, watching as Kara stepped into its bounds. He watched as her golden flames flickered out of existence, and his lips drew into a thin line. Would it have been better if she remained outside of this deathtrap? Perhaps…

But she had told the elf that she had a plan. And he trusted her. Even though they barely knew each other, having only met twice before today, he still believed in her abilities. After all, if she was truly incompetent, she never would have been able to survive her trek through the Xor-In Mountains.

So he observed. Even as Kara drew forward, meeting the gaze of the other human. Her presence stunned Levi to silence. The two humans didn’t speak for a long moment.

Until, finally, Kara said, “Hello, Levi. I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a while now. Don’t be so alarmed. Can we speak?”

And that made both Levi and Caius blink. The two of them stared at Kara in disbelief as she slowly drew forward.

“Is this really what you had planned, Kara…?” Caius asked hesitantly. “To talk things through?”

And he was starting to wonder if he could really trust her plan.

—--

Levi stared at the blonde woman in shock. He barely processed her words. He was still taking in her face. Because she looked just like him.

Even though she was dressed in strange clothes— almost like the kind of outfits noblemen would wear in their fancy parties, but with a red piece of cloth running down her chest instead of a ribbon— and even though she had just been adjusting her fingerless gloves like she was prepared for a fight. She was still…

“You’re… a human?” he said, staring at her as she approached him. He snapped back to reality and leapt back away from her. He pocketed his cross and raised a dagger and aimed at her. “Get back!”

“My name is Kara, and I just want to talk,” she insisted as she came to a halt a dozen feet away from him. “Please?”

Levi gritted his teeth. He eyed her suspiciously, before looking back at the elf just waiting at the back. Was this an illusion? No— it couldn’t be. Any illusion that was cast would have already been dispelled inside the Antimagic Domain. Even if it had been cast from the outside, it wouldn’t have survived this long inside of here.

This was real. He slowly relaxed as he lowered his daggers. Then he smiled as he greeted her.

“It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to another human,” he said, giving a small bow. “I almost thought I was starting to go delusional. My apologies. But… I’m in a bit of a rush, so could you hurry up?”

Kara pursed her lips as she heard him speak. She shook her head and gestured at the white barrier encasing them. “I heard what you had to say before I entered this Antimagic Domain. You want to destroy the city with the Keys of Azad.”

“That’s right.” Levi sneered as he spread his arms wide. “I’m going to bring this ‘great’ Sanctuary City to ruin before I take my leave. I’m going to make sure these disgusting demimonsters suffer. Every single one of them.”

“But you don’t have to do this,” Kara replied, shaking her head.

And Levi scoffed back at her. “I don’t? Why shouldn’t I make these filthy creatures pay for what they’ve done to me? Because of them, I have been trapped in that fucking cavern for a year.”

“That’s because you tried to steal from them, Levi,” she said as she pointed at the artifacts he had on him. “Of course they’re going to hunt you down if you steal from their city!”

“And so what?” he snorted. “I am a [Treasure Thief]. Well… I was one. Now I am a [Shadowcrawler]. That’s the only good thing that has come from being trapped in this shitty city.”

“But why did you even want to steal from them in the first place?” Kara asked, taking a step forward. “These people have done nothing to you before that— they don’t deserve this.”

Levi tilted his head back. “Why not?”

He thought about it for a moment as her gaze bore into him. When he was finished, he shrugged and replied casually.

“For the same reason adventurers go into Dungeons to slay monsters— because I can.”

Kara’s gaze darkened when she heard what he had to say. “I see.”

“Is that enough of an answer for you?” he asked, raising his Blink Blades. “Or are you going to continue getting in my way?”

She sighed as she took another step forward, then looked up to meet his gaze. “You know, when Zarkoth told me that humans in this world were so unreasonable they tried to kill him every time they met him, I didn’t believe him. But now that I’ve met you…”

Golden flames began to flake off her body, and Levi’s eyes flickered.

“So you’re going to side with these demimonsters against me? Fine—” he snarled and threw a dagger at her.

The weapon simply bounced off the golden flames coating her body. Levi’s brows snapped together.

“What…?”

Kara began to stride forward as her left eye gleamed. “I’m starting to understand what Zarkoth was talking about.”

“You—” Levi opened his mouth.

But she dashed forward, reaching him in an instant. He barely teleported to the Blink Blade he had thrown in time, only to see her landing next to him again. His eyes snapped wide open.

And she grabbed him by the face, slamming him onto the ground. He heard his nose crack as he screamed in pain. Blood coughed out of his mouth, and he moved his lips.

“[Dark Backlash].”

His shadow shifted, then shot up at Kara like a blade. She let go of his face and leapt back. The dark blade barely missed her as he steadied himself. He threw one of his Blink Blades at her again as she tried to dodge the attack.

But he flexed his wrist. “[Shadowstring Control].”

And the flying dagger curved mid-air, twisting with where he aimed. Kara sprinted around the edge of the white dome as it chased her. She then flipped into the air as it crashed into the walls of the Antimatic Domain, and Levi felt his magical control over the weapon’s flight vanish.

He looked up at Kara as she raised a hand.

“God Strike.”

His eyes widened as he saw the oncoming streaks of golden flames. He instantly teleported to the Blink Blade at the other side of the Antimagic Domain. As soon as he reappeared, he felt the intense heat from Kara’s attack wash over him, and he felt the ground beneath his feet shake.

He looked up as the attack ripped apart the floors of the city walls. The enchanted brickstones were shredded through, just like that. And he stared in horror as she landed right before the dissipating flames.

How was she doing this? the question crossed his mind as he gaped at her power.

Even a [Warrior] would struggle to fight at his full strength inside of an Antimagic Domain. After all, mana was the lifeblood of all things. It gave [Mages] the capacity to cast magic, and it gave [Warriors] the strength to crush a mountain. To take it away from them would be to take away their power.

That was the reason why Levi had been able to kill all those city guards with ease. Even though not all of them specialized in casting spells, their enhanced strength and their special abilities were severely restricted by the Antimagic Domain.

And yet, here was Kara, fighting completely unperturbed by it. Even the elf looked shocked to see this.

Levi clenched his jaw as he stared at the blonde girl. She was wreathed in the golden flames. He couldn’t even see her face. All he could see was her glinting red left eye.

“Calm down,” he told himself as he raised his two Blink Blades. “Even that elf could still put up a fight for a minute after I activated my Antimagic Domain. I just have to tire her out…”

Kara charged at him again, and his body blurred. He managed to dodge her attack this time around with his [Rapid Step].

All Levi had to do was keep her back as she tired herself out. And that was easy as long as he had his Blink Daggers. Or so he thought.

She chased him around the Antimagic Domain as he teleported all around the dome-like barrier. He thought it would be over soon. But she was relentless. She created a pair of flaming claws and swung for his neck. There were a few near misses— attacks that burned his clothes but didn’t hit him.

And Levi started to realize that he was going to run out of mana before her.

“This is impossible—” he whispered.

Only to be struck by a kick to the stomach. He was sent flying into the white wall as his skin burned from the brief moment of contact. He coughed out more blood as he picked himself up.

He stared at his opponent in sheer disbelief. “This is an Antimagic Domain— it should nullify all magic in here. It’s supposed to drain all mana within its boundaries. So… how?”

Kara paused as she tilted her head back at him. He shook his head and pointed at her with his Blink Blades.

“How are you doing this?” he shouted. “How are you still using magic in here?”

It made no sense to Levi. And even Kara seemed to ponder over that question. She craned her neck back in thought, before answering simply.

“Certainly, to an ordinary person, I’m sure this Antimagic Domain is enough to stop them.” She then started walking forward, her footsteps burning the ground as her flames wisped around her body violently. “But do you really think it would work against a dragon?”

“…w-what?” Levi heard her words, and he saw the way her flames twisted around her body. It covered her— it engulfed her entire being.

Perhaps it was because of her words, but he saw the flames taking the shape of a dragon. He saw it looking over him— threatening to incinerate him into nothing.

His knees grew weak. They threatened to buckle beneath him as the vague shape of the burning dragon drew closer. His breathing quickened, and he was stricken to the heart with fear.

It was a ridiculous notion. For him to run into a dragon of all things— because they were on the verge of extinction, and they were practically a myth. But even though he didn’t know what one looked like. Even though he had only heard about their descriptions from stories. He was certain about what he saw.

He stumbled back as he nearly dropped his Blink Blades. His back pressed against the white walls of the Antimagic Domain. And he opened his mouth, pointing at Kara.

“You’re… you’re not a human!” he screamed in terror, trying to back up further, even when he couldn’t any longer. “You’re a monster!”

“I am a human,” Kara replied as her flames continued to twist and grow. It towered over him like a dragon, ready to unleash its fire as she continued. “You’re the monster who wants to slaughter thousands of innocents to satiate your thirst for revenge.”

“I-I—“ Levi gritted his teeth and spun around. He dropped one Blink Blade and grabbed the cross from his waist. The Antimagic Domain shattered as he pointed at it. “Fuck this, I’m out of here!”

There was no point in stealing the Keys of Azad if he was going to die to some crazy girl. So he moved to flee. The white dome collapsed as the watching elf blinked. Caius scrambled for his bow, but he was too slow. Levi was already moving.

Kara watched as Levi threw his Blink Blade far from the walls of the city out into the open sky of the outside world. He knew that it didn’t have infinite range— that it could teleport him for only about a hundred feet. So when it reached the edge of his range, he teleported to it.

“Kara, stop him!” the elf shouted in the distance.

And Levi glanced back as he soared through the air. There’s no way they can catch me—

He froze when he saw Kara standing at the edge of the battlements. She had a hand raised to her mouth, a tiny golden sphere resting on her palm.

“Dragon’s Breath,” she whispered.

And the massive cone of golden flames poured into the air as Levi could only watch. He helplessly glided in the air as he felt the smoldering heat draw closer. His eyes slammed shut, even as the light grew brighter.

“No—” he started.

Then there was nothing of Levi that remained.

—--

“What is that?” Hayder exclaimed, seeing the golden light flash atop the battlements of the city.

Koros narrowed his eyes, seeing the plume of golden fire shoot out into the distant sky. Even from where he was, a few streets away from Alyona’s walls, he could feel the heat. He could sense the overwhelming magic.

And he shook his head as he turned to the captain standing next to him.

“It appears Kara has kept to the promise she made you.”

“What?” Hayder frowned, uncomprehending.

“Let’s go,” Koros said simply and marched on.

—--

When Kara approached Levi for the first time, she didn’t know what to expect. All she knew was that she had heard a lot about humans, and because of that, she had wanted to speak to him. Not just because he was a human— although that did play a part— but because she wasn’t sure what to expect.

She had been told about how humans were in this world from Zarkoth, and then she saw the distrust held towards her from the people of the Sanctuary City. Very few of them ever had a favorable outlook on humankind. But she wondered how much of that was because of prejudice, rather than having any basis in reality.

After she spoke with Levi, she understood where they were all coming from. Perhaps he didn’t represent all humans, but simply speaking with him left a disgusting taste in her mouth. And she was certain that wasn’t the taste of smoke from her Dragon’s Breath.

She already had doubts on whether she would have been able to convince Levi to return the stolen artifacts, considering that he had already killed over a hundred guards from the city so far, and was going around murdering innocent orcs. But their conversation went worse than she thought it would go.

The best outcome she saw happening— which was unlikely in the first place— was him turning himself over for what he did. And while the worst outcome was her killing him… she hadn’t expected him to piss her off that much.

“If that’s what humans are like in this world… this world really does suck, huh?” Kara muttered under her breath as she watched a pair of daggers fall to the ground alongside a rain of ashes.

She looked down at herself, flexing the palm of her hand.

“He was the first person I’ve ever killed, but I don’t feel terrible about it. Maybe I really am a monster.”

It could’ve also been because she had already mentally killed someone, back when she fought the Soulmaster’s machine. Or maybe it was because Levi had been so alien in the way he acted and thought that it felt no different to killing a giant spider or walking tree. Like he was just any other monster.

Kara didn’t know why she felt so apathetic about killing him. All she knew was that she had gleaned what she wanted from her conversation with him. So she stood there silently. She only turned around when she heard a pair of footsteps approaching her.

“Well, you gave me quite the scare there,” Caius said as he rubbed his shoulder. He came to a halt right next to her. “I thought your big plan to stop Levi was to talk to him.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m not an idiot. I knew if my words couldn’t get to him, I could very easily kill him. And I did.”

The elf smiled. “I always knew you were smart.”

And she didn’t give him the validation of a reaction.

The two of them remained silent as they stared at the distant horizon. A wall of rain and magic was slowly approaching Alyona from the distance. Its colorful gales and bright bolts of lightning still seemed threatening, even from afar.

“So a dragon, huh?” Caius said as he looked towards Kara.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“I didn’t expect dragons to look like humans. Unless… this is an illusion spell?”

“No, it’s not,” she replied flatly. “I am a human.”

“Oh.”

He scrunched up his brows, and she let him figure it out. A minute passed before he deciphered what she meant.

“A dragonsoul, then.”

“Correct.”

Caius nodded as he placed a hand on his chin. “I see.”

She gave him a sidelong glance. “...is that it?”

“What else do you want me to say?” He shrugged. “I think that’s pretty impressive. I never thought I’d ever meet a human with a dragonsoul. But here we are.”

“I expected you to be more surprised or shocked or something,” Kara said, shaking her head.

Caius averted his gaze. “It’s a bit less… impressive than my initial assumption. No offense.”

“None taken.”

“Well, if you want a reaction…” He drew back and looked her up and down. “Remind me never to doubt you again.”

She chuckled as she waved a hand off. “I mean, maybe you can doubt me a little bit— I didn’t expect the Antimagic Domain to be that draining, after all.”

Based on everything Kara knew about her dragonsoul and magic in general, she was confident that the Antimagic Domain wouldn’t work on her. She had even asked Zlo’tan about this hypothetical scenario the day before, when she went to collect her new clothes, to confirm that her plan would work.

He had warned her that while dragonsouls did create mana, it would still be adversely affected by an antimagic field of any kind. While her magic and strength wouldn’t be impeded in the slightest, she would grow tired even faster.

And she felt it now as she wobbled where she stood.

“I’m going to take a long bath when I get back,” she said as she sniffed herself. “I reek of barbecue.” At the very least, she was glad her new clothes weren’t damaged from the battle. They truly were as durable and high quality as Zlo’tan promised.

“Well, I don’t know if you can leave just yet,” Caius piped up as he glanced back.

And Kara raised a brow. “What do you mean by that?”

He gestured past her, pointing down below the battlements. She narrowed her eyes as she followed his fingers. When she saw what he was talking about, she pursed her lips.

Dark Lord Koros and Captain Hayder both made their way towards the walls of the city. They were accompanied by a retinue of guards, and they brought with them a few dozen bound orcs in tow.

“I guess it’s time for us to explain what happened, huh?” Kara said as she chewed on her lower lip.

Caius tilted his head back at her. “What do you mean by us? It was your plan, remember?”

And she snorted. “Yeah, right. Come on, let’s go talk to them.”

—--

“Greetings, Captain Hayder… and hey, Koros,” Caius called out to the two figures leading the retinue of guards way to the city walls.

Kara stood sheepishly behind the elf, scratching the back of her head. She wasn’t sure how much trouble they were in. But judging by Hayder’s immediate reaction to march up to Caius, it was clear that there was going to be some explaining to do.

“What did you two do?” Hayder asked as he gave a death glare.

Caius backed up and raised his hands placatingly. “Oh, us? We didn’t do much— we just saved the city, that’s all.”

Hayder frowned. “Saved the city? And how exactly did you do that?”

“By catching Levi,” Kara said, deciding to speak up. She knew Caius would drag things out for the fun of it, so she explained simply, “Uh, sorry, I mean killing Levi. He was after the Keys of Azad in the vault, so we stopped him..”

It was a concise retelling of events. Or at least, Kara thought that it answered all questions. Unfortunately, that only seemed to confuse the captain even more.

“Levi? As in… the human thief? That’s impossible. How did you—” Hayder started.

And Caius produced the twin Blink Blades that had been stolen. He had the forethought to pick them up before this meeting. “Here’s proof. Unfortunately, the cross that was bound with the Antimagic Domain spell was incinerated.”

Hayder stared for a moment. “You—”

He looked like he was trying to process what he was seeing. It took him a moment to work his jaws again.

“But why was the human thief at the—” Hayder paused, realizing what he was going to ask was already explained. He shook his head as he looked between Kara and Caius. “How did you know Levi was going for the vault?”

“Yeah Caius,” Kara said as she stepped to the side. “How did you know that Levi was going for the vault?”

The elf pouted and folded his arms across his chest like a child. “Bully.”

“It was your idea.”

“I know, I know…”

So Caius explained his hypothesis and his plan. Hayder listened. But it wasn’t just him. The nearby guards overheard what the elf regaled. And so did Koros. They all listened intently until it was over.

“So you’re saying you knew this riot would happen, but the only person you told was that human?” Hayder sputtered as he pointed at Kara.

“Well, if I told you, none of you would have believed me,” Caius said as he huffed. “And Kara is the only one who had a counter to the Antimagic Domain anyway.”

Hayder eyed Kara suspiciously. “She has a counter to it? But how?”

“That’s because I, uh, convinced him to lower his guard since we’re both humans?” she made up a quick lie.

“That’s right,” Caius agreed as if he hadn’t just almost revealed her secret to everyone.

Fortunately, the captain didn’t think this was suspicious. Instead, he focused on another aspect of their story.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone else about that human thief’s plan?” Hayder asked as he looked towards Caius. “We could’ve prevented these riots if we’d known about it— there are hundreds of guards dead because of you!””

The elf scratched the back of his head. “Ignoring the fact that you wouldn’t have believed me… what else could we have done? These riots would have still happened regardless of what we did. Unless you were going to somehow go back in time and prevent the murders of all those orcs?”

He cocked a brow at Hayder.

“You—” the captain started.

But Caius simply continued. “Also, what if I was wrong? Sure, I was confident in my hypothesis. But you would have wasted all your time and resources on hunting down Levi if I was wrong— instead of dealing with the riots. There would be many more guards dead, and even more civilians killed, if that were the case.”

His words made Hayder hesitate. Kara was impressed by how skillfully the elf navigated this discussion. It was very much proof of how often he found himself in trouble, since he seemed experienced in knowing how to talk his way out.

Of course, Hayder didn’t seem fully satisfied by the explanation, even now. However, the discussion could only be concluded when Koros spoke.

Throughout the length of the conversation, the Dark Lord remained silent. He stood at the back, and his helmet covered his face, hiding the expression he wore. He uttered not a single word. Until now.

He stepped forward, and everyone turned to face him. Even Kara looked his way.

“Caius,” Koros said as his voice boomed, enhanced by the enchantments of his helmet. “While I understand your logic and reasoning, you should have still communicated your plan to us. This was reckless.”

Hayder snickered when he heard that.

But the Dark Lord continued, “While this may have been the optimal solution, things may not turn out so well for you or for us in the future.”

The expression on the captain’s face dropped. Caius bowed his head apologetically.

“Sorry, I guess I got ahead of myself. I won’t do it again.”

“And Kara,” Koros said as he turned towards the girl.

She straightened when he faced her. For whatever reason, she felt like a nervous student in school, about to speak with her principal on whether she was in trouble or not.

“Yes?” she asked apprehensively.

Koros spoke softer, even with the magic of his helmet. “Good work.”

“Oh, thank you.” She blinked.

And the Dark Lord spun around as he faced the gathered guards. There was a crowd of civilians who had stopped to watch what was happening too. He faced them all as he grabbed both Kara and Caius by the hands. They blinked as he stepped forward.

Hayder just watched with round eyes as the Dark Lord bellowed for all to hear.

“As of today, for bringing justice to that human thief who has plagued our city for a year, Kara and Caius will be celebrated as heroes of Alyona!”

Author's Notes:

4.8k words. What thonk? 

Read next chapter here