Miki was standing in the middle of a field. Her body was covered in dark robes. I couldn’t see her face at all. The reason I knew it was her was because of the distinct tail sticking out the back of her robes, so much paler and more fragile than the other foxkin.
An army of animalkin made up of catkin and rabbitkin was racing toward her. This was probably part of King Roth’s plans. The rabbitkin wouldn’t hesitate to fight to defend their kingdom. Fighting alongside your common foe was a great way to breed unity. It had essentially been how I united the west in a single swift moment. All of those lords and ladies who had ignored me and my rank were now tied to us after we defeated the demon lord. Well, my death might have put a hamper on things, but they were probably too busy rebuilding their seats of power across the west to focus too much on what happened to Chalm.
I took a step forward, but then Alysia called out. “Wait!”
I stopped, not because she told me, but because I also felt it. There was a strange static to the air. It felt like a miasma, but also not miasma. That’s when I noticed that her tail was spreading out into nine tails. However, they weren’t the cacophony of rainbow colors that I had grown to admire. Instead, each tail was as black as night, giving an appearance like her shadow was growing from behind her. It was extremely menacing, but the soldiers still charged.
Black flames erupted in a circle around her feet and spread out in a circle around her. At this point, a gathering of magicians all launched spells in her direction while also putting up protective barriers for their men. I wanted to leap out and block those fireballs, but my danger sense was exploding and telling me not to go. I had stood in front of armies before. The fear didn’t come from the army. It came from Miki herself.
She raised a hand, and black fire rose in a massive wave. Wherever the magician’s spells struck, they disappeared just as fast. This wasn’t a shield that blocked mana. This was a shield that ate mana! She was absorbing their power! I recalled that the crazed scientist had said that Miki had become a conduit become life and death. In many ways, that also made her a conduit of mana and miasma. It was clear to see her absorptive abilities were unbelievable.
The men had crossed 2/3rds of the distance to Miki. They were lowering their weapons, some even glowing with the power of activating some unknown skill. They had spoken of capturing her, but they didn’t need her alive. There were probably better ways to control her if she was already dead.
She looked down at the army of nearly five hundred men racing toward her on mounted crag cats. She didn’t appear frightened in the least. She casually raised her hand.
Her words were quiet, but they seemed to pierce through the air, filling it. She didn’t speak it like a threat. She wasn’t angry. Instead, it felt more like an order that had to be obeyed.
An aura erupted out from Miki, spreading out in a dome-like pattern. The first wave of crag cats reached, and the men barely let out screams as their bodies disintegrated. Within two steps they had gone from fully fleshed men and muscular mounts into only bones collapsing to the ground. There was a splash of dust that fell forward a bit, and then nothing.