The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

Airu took a step and vanished, and that was the first time in her life Amelia knew the true terror of deafness. She looked around stupidly in front of her, then began whirling looking for him. It was frightening enough when Airu had jumped in front of her and screamed in her face but a wordless horror had begun to seep into her heart. It was far worse not knowing where he was, losing one of her senses wasn't something she had been prepared for and her movements became more and more frantic as she looked around for him.

Others were doing the same, she saw mouths moving but heard nothing. Several moments later she saw Khiafin pinned to the floor, the bird looking triumphantly down upon him. Grimacing up at it, he was trying to hold the beak away with his weapons. Moments later he vanished, causing that huge foot to come down where he was with a great impact. He reappeared above Airu and stabbed down, the bird's mouth opened, presumably shrieking at him.

Things were rapidly deteriorating. Airu was running around largely unchecked. Khiafin could get there when he noticed fast enough, but for the most part, they were losing people handfuls at a time, again. At this rate, half or more of the Transient group would be wiped out before the minute was up. Amelia looked at Aidan, but he was looking like he was having troubles of his own. He spun around while she was watching and started to mouth, a spell maybe, then stopped. His mouth sneered and he looked like he was cursing. Amelia guessed that it wasn't easy to cast spells when you couldn't hear yourself anymore.

"Hello?" Amelia said tentatively, finally using the party system. She was relieved to at least hear her own voice. It was surreal to hear it though, with the background of utter silence and carnage that was unfolding before her. It was almost too much of a relief when someone promptly answered.

"Hello!" Raven answered chipperly. "What's up? Done already?"

"Ah. No." Amelia hesitated, and then she tried the friend channel. "Raven?"

"Yes?" Raven said through the friend channel. "Something private?"

"No. I just wanted to say how awesome you are." Amelia grinned.

"Oh, praise me more!" Raven replied. She didn't sound like she had a clue what Amelia was talking about but was more than happy to be called awesome.

"Aidan. We should friend all the Transients," Amelia suggested over party.

"Uhh…" He sounded confused for a moment. "But then they can only talk to us, right? It's not… oh."

Aidan had stopped turning and trying to cast, instead, he started looking around the room. Amelia smiled, imagining his friend request. Probably something idiotic. 'Friend me if you want to live' would have been her guess.

Moments later she received a friend broadcast message from him and guessed he was sending it to everyone on his list of contacts. "Form a group away from the Residents. They're not getting attacked, and if we're away from them they can start helping us because they'll be able to see our whole group." He commanded. "Khiafin will have less distance and fewer people to keep track of and will help you as fast as possible. Everyone who isn't holding a shield make a buddy near you with a shield. Shield people keep an eye on your buddy."

Just like that everyone stopped their frantic movements and started to converge into one block. No one questioned the orders and almost robotically stumbled complying. There wasn't much to say about the fact no one argued and offered a counter-plan as they might have at other times. Everyone was so relieved to have re-established communication that they happily followed along with the idea and moved as one toward the side of the room. Airu followed them, presumably shrieking the whole while. Once they were together people started forming smaller groups, groups composed of people who could defend and people who could not. When Airu appeared near one of them they frantically began trying to block the murderous bird.

"Start casting mass spells on our group's area. You won't hurt anyone." Aidan commanded across his friend's list again. "Be sure to thank Amelia later, she is the one who decided we needed to talk to each other."

Amelia started watching Airu, wondering what he did that made the deaf attack. It was a sonic spell of some variety, but she wasn't very well experienced in all the spells in that school, having sacrificed it almost immediately. There was also no guarantee that it had been listed in that sonic school at all. Monsters often had their own rules including deviations which made abilities resemble spells. She wasn't exactly sure that it would try to cast it again either, but she was determined to take a shot at countering it and being more than an aura buffer. She would just have to go through her ideas of what another word for a scream was and hope she got lucky.

The opportunity came sooner than expected. No one had regained hearing yet, but Airu didn't seem to care. He hopped away from the group that had been doggedly pushing him away and attacking him and his plumage bristled in that unmistakable pose of rage and threat. "[Counter Sonic - Shriek]."

Nothing happened. The bird's long cry was still silent to her eyes but she felt it hit her body nonetheless. Its ability spent, it hopped forward and disappeared into the group again, pushing down an archer before it was beaten away by a shield and then by Khiafin. Its dark blue and black feathers were finally beginning to show the strains of battle, turning a rosy color in places and looking out of order and disheveled. It showed no signs of weakening though and continued the attack. If anything the frenzied state of the thing increased.

"[Counter Sonic - Scream]." Nothing.

"[Counter Sonic - Deafening]." Nothing.

"[Counter Sonic - Rupture Eardrum]." Nothing.

"Khiafin, what spell is it using?" Amelia asked over the party channel.

He sounded beleaguered when he responded. "I'm sorry. I have no idea. I don't know of any such spell, though it's a sonic-based school."

Amelia nodded to herself and decided to stop bothering him. He was already looking like he was starting to get tired. This fight was stretching on, and every time it seemed like they had the bird cornered it just teleported away. It must have also been incredibly frustrating for Khiafin when he didn't manage to knock it off course and someone suffered for it. Some of the other rogues and ranger classes had tried to help him out, but several times they had actually bumped into each other, or him, and had quietly stopped trying in acknowledgment that it was a one-person job and he was the best suited.

The Residents were healing them and casting spells and shooting arrows, but for the most part, understood that the strategy of the Transients required them to stay away. They also didn't have the capacity to communicate verbally with the Residents so Amelia was grateful they had chosen to stay away. The General was standing in front, fearlessly presenting his back to the Transient group and not even bothering to watch Airu. Instead, he was using hand gestures, almost as if orc.h.e.s.trating a symphony, to try and direct the Residents in front of them. It was a grim tableau, watching with intense gazes, staring at him while he gestured frantically to different groups.

"[Counter Sonic - Burst Eardrum]." Nothing.

"[Counter Sonic - Deafening Cry]." Nothing.

It had dropped below 30%, and Amelia resigned herself to the idea that she may never be able to counter it but they would win anyway. The furious battle continued until it hopped away one last time and readied its shriek.

"[Counter Sonic - Screech]." A shock went through the air, but different than before. Airu stopped gathering his breath and looked like he had just swallowed something really awful. He choked and staggered a step. Unbridled hatred entered his gaze and moments later Amelia was face to face with Airu again. It's large beak swept toward her even as a woman with a shield stepped in front of her. "CLANG." The sound struck a beautiful chord as the beak hit the metal shield, and suddenly the world was there in her ears once more. People started gasping in relief, and even Amelia felt an unabashed elation. It was like having color restored to the world.

"Shadow Fall victory!" Aidan suddenly cried out. Shouts of agreement and then other guild names and victory were added to the shouting.

Spells started once again ringing in Amelia's ears, and the second time Airu hopped away to try his sonic attack she stepped forward confidently, "[Counter Sonic - Screech]."

Relieved laughter rang out, and it was only a matter of minutes before Airu finally tried to stagger to the pool and escape but didn't have the strength to make it. It didn't teleport, making Amelia think that its ability had to have a target of some sort to activate. It raised its head, opened its mouth, and no sound came out as it instead gave up and fell over, dead.

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Tomb Behind the Royal Apothecary - cleared.

Airu has fallen, the last remnant of an evil power that bled from under the Castle of Brack. His terrifying screech will be used in the telling of many bedtime stories, and his powerful beak will decorate the inner throne room on the wall as a reminder that there are many powerful creatures and the world is a large place, inspiring many to further heights and bravery.

Reputation Gained: 200

Fame Gained: 750

Level up (x15) Current: 215

Special Item Received: Drifting Dayless Staff

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"Examine." Amelia requested, looking at the staff that had appeared in her hands when Airu had finally expelled the last of the air in its lungs for the last time.

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Drifting Dayless Staff [Growth] Level 200.

A cylindrical piece of wood that bumped gently against the sides of the Pool of Airu for generations, slowly forming its smooth exterior and warped into an object of magic after absorbing years of magical energy coming from the pool.

Use: Increases the duration of spells by 50%. Increases wisdom, intellect, and spell mastery by 10%.

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"Wow, what kind of nonsense is this?" She whispered quietly.

Amelia was amazed at the idea that a weapon was able to grant such a fundamentally huge percentage to the duration of spells. The Drifting Dayless Staff even had [Growth] on it. She hugged it to herself, feeling a little bit ashamed that her old reliable staff seemed so tacky and cheap now. The only thing that could have made the new staff in her arms anymore godlike would have been if it had increased or returned mana gain for those moments where she made huge expenditures to cast counter and reflect.

"I feel like this is mostly my fault," Aidan said as he approached, giving an appreciative once over toward the staff that she was holding like it was her family. He smiled and turned, looking back at the group and smiling sheepishly.

"Oh?" Amelia asked, wondering what he was talking about.

"I shouldn't ever complain that a boss battle is too easy. It's asking for something horrible to pop out, and I got punished accordingly." Aidan grinned.

"Oh. Yeah. Shame on you." She smirked. "Maybe you should offer to give them battle reparations."

Aidan turned back toward her even as chuckles sprang out behind him, giving her a dark look. "Let's not be crazy, everyone is responsible for their own happiness you know."

"Mhmm."

"MHMM." Rang Raven over the party channel.

"Quiet you." Aidan sighed.