The Ascension of the Celestial Priest

26; The Rat King.

"What the…" Lukas was just about to ask when another crash thundered through the hall, jolting their hearts a standstill. Lukas's paled even further as he felt the backlash of the spell on his body, mind and psyche. The sigil needed to be continuously channeled with mana during its duration and if anything happened to the shield he was bound to be hit by the spell's recoil.

"Can someone tell me what's happening?" Rexsi snapped.

The dome by now looked like a web of cracked glass; it only needed a touch for it to all fall down. Lukas furiously swept his free hand, further instigating his mana to repair the fractured dome. With a soft light, it slowly mended while getting smaller increasing its metallic shine. After shrinking in size, the dome defense's more than doubled though it barely left enough space for them to wiggle in.

Renesme's clear jade eyes shone as she eyed a particular corner the moment another crash came. "Impossible" she muttered under her breath, her eyes flickered even brighter trying to pierce through large mass that surrounded them like a heavy blanket.

"What is it?" Geoff asked.

Renesme's face twitched in response. "It seems to be... a Rat King"

"What?" Rexsi turned. In fact he perfectly mirrored everyone expressions at that very moment.

"No way…" Mira whispered to herself. "It should have been impossible" She added before she saw she was about to be bombarded with a thousand questions. "Basically this horde has birthed a king."

"A Rat king! as in the ruler of these beasts?" Geoff asked incredulously.

Mira nodded. "The odds for such a thing to happen are not worthy mentioning but the fact that we happened to stumble upon it..." Seeing their confused gazes, she went on "The underground rats are basically tied to their foundational stages, a normal underground rat can only be as strong as an early mortal mage at most hence they are deemed weak. What they do rely on are their numbers. With their ability to procreate countless of times faster, their numbers can overwhelm other beasts more than twice their strength."

Renesme continued. "For this horde to bear a rat king then special circumstances must have arisen. With its ability to lead these mindless beasts they have become more than worth the trouble."

"You don't say," Lukas snapped for the first time since he had first entered the dungeon. "Forget about the rest, I just want to know how we can kill it."

Another crash was heard, this time muted under the thickness of the dome. Renesme shone her jade eyes over to the direction before she calmly spoke "The rat king's strength seems to range from Late to Peak of a Mortal Ranked Mage. I can cast a volley of arrows in the general direction its hiding but I'm not too sure I will be able to claim its life with this spell's strength." She threw a quick glance at Lukas, silently impressed by the fact that he could withstand the strength of a late or even a peak mortal beast with his mid mortal cultivation.

Lukas vehemently shook his head. "It's not enough. We have to make sure we kill it and the rest of its minions at a go else we might get besieged by more rats if it gets the chance to escape."

He took a glance around before he seemingly had an idea. Pulling a haggard breath and with a deft move of his free hand, he took out a small plain blue potion from his belt, uncorked it and then spilled the contents into his mouth. The potion tasted like an iced liquid quickly spreading throughout his whole body, giving life to his nearly dried up mana.

Rexsi could only watch in envy. Mana potions were profoundly expensive in the Continent of Lush and basically only nobles could mostly afford a bottle or two of it. They are mostly usually used as life savers and although it stung Lukas a little he couldn't care less seeing as he needed it now more than ever to make sure they even stay alive.

After a certain modicum of strength returned to his body, he eyed Mira and Renesme clearly before he asked. "Do both of you have any trump spells that can kill this entire nest of rats within in a single cast?"

They had one chance only to clear the beasts and its leader and the spells had to be strong enough to make sure none of them live lest the rat king survives and summons even a bigger mob landing them in more danger than they were already in.

Mira bit her lips before she slowly nodded. "I do have such a spell but it will take a few breaths of time to collect enough mana for it"

Renesme gave her nod too. "Such a spell I do posses but it will take a moment also."

After getting their assurances, Lukas settled in a battle pose. "Then prepare them at your earliest, I can only promise to hold down the dome for as long as I can"

Mira took a deep breath and without hesitation, she took out an exquisite small blue bottle (which looked and felt more expensive than Lukas's), uncorked it and then emptied its contents in one graceful move.

"For the spell I am about to cast, I will need all the mana I can get." Determined she closed her eyes, holding her amber staff gently almost like a lover before she stared muttering under breath, chanting and collecting mana, tuning out all of the surrounding distractions. Her fiery robe slowly danced under the golden sheen, the only proof of her accumulating power.

Renesme also settled herself in a battle pose, the bow held across her chest as she also closed her eyes, collecting mana and chanting soft words under her breath.

Lukas eyes flashed towards Geoff. "You will play the most dangerous role. You have to attract the rat king attention the moment they are prepared with their spells. All this to make sure it doesn't escape at the most inopportune moment."

Even as they stared at each other, Lukas's pale hair casually dancing as his white robe fluttered in the air while Geoff; chaffed and rough, streaks of blood all over his armor, he instantly understood the underlying meaning. He had to risk himself and pin the beast an instant before the spells start flying and it was at that precise moment where he would have to face and survive the furious onslaught of countless rats all vying for a piece of him.

He hefted his shield, his silver eyes under his helmet filled with resolve. "You can count on me." he said as he moved just a little further from Lukas, nearer to the dome, keeping track of the rat king's movement who kept crashing into curved wall with the hopes of destroying it.

Lukas turned to Rexsi. Despite their differences from the moment they had met until they arrived in this dungeon both of them knew that this was not a time to be holding on to grudges, and Rexsi clearly knew who was most provocative between the two of them.

"You will be his lifeline. " Lukas solemnly said, his head slightly dipped to Geoff standing a little further from them. "Make sure you pull him back in time; away from the rats but especially away from the ensuing spells." He gave glance at the visible accumulating mana from Mira's staff and Renesme's bow as he added, "We definitely don't want one of us caught up by our own spells."

Rexsi nodded with assurance. "Trust me. " He half smiled, despite the despair that surrounded them. "No one is allowed to die under my watch."

With that, he swiftly stood beside Geoff.

"Why are you here?" Geoff asked the moment he arrived.

"I'm here to make sure you don't die that easily." Rexsi quipped.

Geoff nodded in appreciation. "I am glad to have you watch my back."

Rexsi smirked "Let's survive this first before you make any promises."

He scoffed "You wish" as his mental state calmed down, fully focusing on the recurring bangs.

Within seconds the metallic shield slowly started to accumulate countless small cracks and despite the visible efforts at mending them, the Rat King increased its ire, smashing into it and further instigating countless more rats under its control to butt their heads against it unconcerned for their own lives. Soon blood colored the dome making a gruesome scene where the rats went even more berserk, increasing their efforts by bashing their heads again and again and again until their brains went mush and their innards were split open, trampled upon by other rats who replaced them almost immediately. It didn't take long for the cracks to add up, sprayed across the glass like surface like streaks of lighting.

With a sudden breath Both Mira and Renesme opened their eyes.

"I'm ready" Mira whispered now bathed in strongest hue of orange further accentuated by her crimson robe.

"My arrow is locked.” Renesme announced, her clear jade eyes focused and her green cape wildly flailing behind, as the striking bow in her hand shone like the greatest star aimed directly at the daring beasts.

And in a second after, almost like a ripple everyone moved.