Chapter 52 - Siriokash, King Of The Banshees
Against their will, the thousands of hundred-kilogram undead trolls were lifted and thrown up into the sky, spilling out from the giant vortex many tens of meters above ground in all directions.
Alexander weaved ice magic continuously, commanding the temperature to fall even further, far below zero degrees. At that temperature, the icy winds swept across the undead troll army like a scythe, sending every single one of them sprawling on the ground. Eyes vacant, and absent of will.
BOOM! BOOM! BO-BOOM! BOOM!
The trolls that were swept up earlier began their descent back to the ground like thousands of catapult projectiles, smashing into their undead brothers with great power and in an unceasing barrage that sent great chills down Aleyria's spine.
The damage they caused was horrendous. Well, to be highly technical, the physical impact they made was horrendous. The damage, almost non-existent, considering all the undead trolls still remaining on the ground were frozen solid.
"Alexander." Aleyria whispered.
Alexander's eye twitched slightly, but he still continued to weave his magic, sending more frigid winds into the ranks of undead.
"It's over. They're all frozen solid." Flamewing said with a strange tone in her voice. That strangeness of her tone, more than anything, woke Alexander up from his spell casting.
As he opened his eyes to survey his handiwork, he was stunned.
All around him, everything was covered in white snow. But it wasn't pretty. Not in the slightest. Like a massive display of a sadistic God, the snow was marred by the thousands corpses of the undead, spread out in every conceivable position and angle. Countless body parts were strewn around the battlefield like confetti.
Far in the distance, he could make out the orc army in complete disarray. Although the mass of undeads in front of them had taken the brunt of Alexander's spell, the orcs were also hit pretty hard. Even the fringes of the forbidden spell were strong enough to kill.
"White memory." Alexander mumbled. "I don't think this was what Aloxandros intended when he created this forbidden spell."
"No, definitely not." Aleyria said numbly. "My teacher intended to create an extremely powerful yet elegant spell. He planned for the temperature to fall slightly below zero, and the winds would blow the snow unceasingly into the enemy. They would slowly freeze and die beneath the weight of all the snow. And there, they would remain as memories beneath the great white. Unseen, leaving only beautiful, pristine white snow."
"That's… beautiful." Alexander said awkwardly.
"In your case, the temperature fell far below what my teacher intended, and so the snow didn't fall enough and accumulate. The winds were also definitely many levels stronger than he imagined it would be. After a certain point, the extremely low temperature froze the enemy to death. You probably didn't need the wind at all. In fact, you probably don't even need the snow. Just… just freeze them." Aleyria muttered.
"But it wouldn't be 'White Memory' without the snow." Alexander protested with a laugh.
Aleyria merely shook her head and sighed as she turned away from the horrible scene. She didn't want to stare at it for too long lest the image seared too deeply in her mind.
In that instant, however, she suddenly snapped her head back toward the undead. Did she just hear…
"Higher banshees." Alexander said grimly. He was staring ahead, beyond the destroyed undead army. "Thousands of them, and much stronger ones, at that."
"That gigantic one right in front feels particularly nasty. The three giants behind him too." Flamewing commented seriously.
Indeed, the lead banshee was a full five meters tall, surrounded by an aura that had coalesced into form - a vast sphere of darkness that moved along with it. Behind him were three other giant-sized banshees almost as large as the first one. At four meters tall, they towered over the rest of the banshees behind them.
The thousands of banshees wailed mightily as they sped towards Alexander and Aleyria. They flew in a neat formation, clearly indicating that these were no random undead that had no training. The banshees were extremely deadly, and their training had made them even more so.
Alexander took a quick moment to ponder if he could take on the banshees. Although the previous forbidden spell was so powerful that it destroyed the entire undead army, it didn't really take much energy for him to cast.
He thought back on how Aleyria's spell took out the previous lead banshee and finally made his decision. He had to stay and fight. Enemies at this level were way too strong for anybody else but him and Aleyria to handle. Any other Red Robe would just die within seconds.
He glanced at Aleyria who, judging by the determined look on her face, had apparently reached the same conclusion.
She was still willing to retreat and regroup when dealing with thousands of undead. After all, a hundred Red Robes and thousands of Blue and Grey robes would certainly make a big splash in the undead army if they cast their most powerful spells all at once.
However, this giant banshee was an entirely different case. He would massacre Rin-Turah's army the moment they came within his range, shields and barriers be damned.
Alexander raised his hand almost at the same time as Aleyria. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Alexander asked with a smile.
Aleyria smiled back. "Maybe. Maybe not." She said mysteriously.
Alexander raised an eyebrow. Just what secret trump cards did this wonderful woman have?
But there was no time for sweet contemplations. The banshees were quickly coming within range.
Alexander narrowed his eyes and sent his will out in the form of magical seals into the elements. The wind that had died down surged in strength once more, blowing powerfully towards the incoming banshees. Alexander took a deep breath and released it slowly as he weaved even more seals at extremely high speeds upon the very air itself.
BANG!! It was as though the apocalypse had arrived. The space in front of him covering the entire undead army seemed to explode in bright light as his fire energy caused the air to combust.
The spell had a similar effect to the spontaneous combustion of the air caused by the Higher Fire Elemental. However, what was happening in front of Alexander was purely by design through the strength of his magic. And it was not merely just a small area that was burning up.
The entire battlefield was in flames!
Alexander's exhale turned into a full throated roar as he compelled more power to erupt from the burning of the air itself.
GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!
The strong winds that Alexander summoned fed the burning of the air, and caused it to grow stronger and stronger. At the same time, the winds also pushed the immensely thick wall of flames forward.
Aleyria, who had her hands stretched out and was about to cast her spell, opened her mouth and gaped at the mind-blowingly large wall of flames that was moving rapidly forward.
The flames were burning in such high temperatures that it turned white, causing the various layers of even the ground itself to burn to ash one by one. The undead trolls were fully pulverised.
She lowered her hands after casting a barrier to keep out the heat. There was no point in casting anything else now. Her spells would merely be food for Alexander's flames, and he certainly made sure that the flames had enough to eat.
Aleyria closed her eyes and turned her face away from the flames which were burning very brightly. She had never experienced, nor even imagined that such a conflagration could exist.
In the midst of everything, Aleyria wondered if Alexander had just become the strongest person on the planet. "I doubt even the White Robes with Legendary Beast Contracts could stand against him now. He's practically wielding the power of a God in a mortal world. That is extremely unfair."
Then she smiled to herself. "I like it."
The wall of fire made so much noise burning everything up that Alexander and Aleyria did not hear a single thing from the banshees.
After screaming and going all out with everything he had non-stop for almost a full minute, Alexander finally lowered his hands and gasped for breath.
"That's an incredible amount of power you've unleashed." Flamewing said. "I do not think even dragons have that much fire power."
Alexander nodded as he took in big gulps of air. Although not a physically strenuous activity, casting such a powerful spell drained quite a large chunk of his power and it left him slightly breathless.
"The purity of the magical power I've taken from Magius is truly astounding." Alexander said aloud, so that both girls could listen to him. "All the elements jumped at my command. I can feel them standing by, even right now, ready to do my every bidding. It is… Incredible. Much more than incredible. It's…" Alexander was at a loss on how to best explain the feeling.