Chapter 125
The Nightmare
Saturday (Three Hours Earlier)
Alexa charged forward, just seeing the dragon caused a surge of energy to course through her body as she felt her numerous titles coming to life. All of them, at least all of the ones that were now becoming active, dealt with the killing and eradication of dragons. Feeling the surge of energy, Alexa once again created three Illusionary Replicas of herself, each one was created with the intent to ultimately slay the dragon before her. This time, just like the last time, she created them all to be exact perfect replicas of her, complete with her personally created sword. Well they didn’t have exact replicas of the sword, but rather Illusionary constructs of the sword that were reinforced with different schools of magic that she also had.
The copies were fused with Arcane, to inflict additional damage, Wind to increase movement speed, Earth to add weight and force behind each strike, Creation to infuse tiny bits of plasma to the sword and body parts, allowing just that little bit more of damage. Each replica also had Light woven around them, particularly around the sword, to mirror the effects that Alexa’s own sword had, one where the slashing momentum was altered and distorted, making the blocking and deflection of strikes nearly impossible.
As soon as she created the Illusionary Replicas, she felt how they were so much faster than her, that if she didn’t mentally reel them back, to keep them from going forward then they would easily outpace her and reveal her as the weakest link. This was of course a sign of how much more powerful she was magically than physically, while she was more than a match for most humans, even Super powered humans, she was still lacking physically, especially when compared to her overall capabilities of combating dragons via magical means.
The closer she got, the more she could feel the waves of energy wash over her. These were clearly malevolent bursts of energy, energy that was never meant to be on this plane of existence. That was why the planet itself fought so hard to contain the source of this infestation. The planet even seemed to scratch and claw at the source of energy the only way it knew how, with violent burst of electricity and strong winds. For eons this had been enough to thwart most attacks, but this was something different, this was on a scale the planet could have never even conceived of. The fact that the planet was alive didn’t surprise Alexa, she had long felt a deep connection to the planet. No, what surprised her the most about this was the fact that the planet for all its life seemed fairly vacuous, more akin to a large bacteria than a truly sentient creature. In a way, this made Alexa feel oddly sad. These were not the well coordinated strikes of a sentient creature, but rather the basic survival instincts that any living creature would have. This both seemed to prove the planet was alive, while also showing how much more the planet had to go, if it too was going to be helpful with protecting the people of Earth from the impending integration. Of course, all of that was minor in the grand scheme of things. Currently Alexa had one goal, slay the dragon and prevent whatever spell work the beast was doing to work.
As she got closer, she could feel the surges of mana, the way there seemed to be a whole new school of magic at play here, that of transportation. Finally, she got close enough that she could see the horrors that were awaiting. She saw the giant head of a minotaur poking through the ground, as one massive hand fought to pull the beast through the slowly expanding portal.
Seeing the beast, a twinge of surprise filled her. Getting this close to the action, her body was already feeding on the ambient energy of both the planet and the energy being released by the dome of protection. With her being this close, she could feel her mind coming alive as the emotional side of her mind was being fed and activating.
Instantly, the surge of joy and competition ignited in her mind, as she realized one thing. It’s time for a rematch, she thought to herself as a giant smile filled her face.
Last time she went against a minotaur she had lost, well technically she had banished the Summoned Aspect, back to the abyss from which it came. This time, she knew such a measure wouldn’t be possible. For starters, this time she would be fighting against the real minotaur, not a summoned portion of it, but the real thing. Also, this time, she would not have to deal with the elves and their draining runes of effect that had been in place at the center of her maze.
Last time she considered a loss, particularly given the fact that she had to resort to merely banishing the creature. This time there would be none of that, also last time while she had been outnumbered, she felt she had been close to winning the battle with the minotaur. This time she would be able to exact revenge and see how much she had grown.
Additionally, this time she would do something that always made winning that much more fun, she would cheat. There were four of her after all, while there was still only one dragon and one partially exposed minotaur, if that wasn’t cheating then she didn’t know what was.
Mentally she gave the commands.
The dragon was in the process of doing something more with their spell work. That was when Alexa sent one of her replicas, to go and speak to the dragon.
“Finally, you stopped moving. I thought I scared you off.” The replica said, mirroring Alexa’s own personal thoughts, then the replica did something that Alexa hadn’t been expecting. With a clear understanding of Illusionary magic, the replica waved her hand, and caused the dragon to pass out.
Thud.
The real Alexa turned to take in the form of the now slumbering beast, slowing her strides forward ever so slightly, as she watched the giant beast’s stomach slowly rise and fall.
Looking at the beast and the blood that was still pouring from the beast, Alexa could feel the mental thoughts of the replica, they had seen the blood loss, used some of Alexa’s Healing magic to create a quick link to the dragon. Then realizing that the dragon itself was clearly close to passing out, Alexa, or rather her replica, went ahead and knocked out the beast. The logic was simple, the one replica would stand overwatch over the dragon, while the real Alexa and the other replicas would go and tackle the summoned beings.
At the very least, this was a good gauge to see how strong these creatures were. Given that the rift was still so small, it led to an easy idea.
Slink.
Alexa turned to see the sound of a sword slicing through flesh and bone. Alexa knew this sound, as her mind told her this was the case, particularly as it was what her replica seemed to feel. Of course, the real Alexa was slightly slower than her replicas, so everything seemed to be on a slight time delay, at least that was the case she felt.
While Alexa herself, had been busy checking out the one replica and the sleeping dragon, the other two replicas had noticed the same activity, mentally processed the events faster, and then gone ahead with the next stage of the plan, namely to attack the minotaur.
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It was odd, and strangely disconcerting. The fact that the replicas moved with a level of sentience that seemed to only be possible given the fact that she was a master Tier X practitioner of Illusion magic. Given her capabilities, it was clear that there was more to being a master than she previously understood.
Alexa could also feel the way her replicas were able to draw in the essence of the monsters she killed, well the monsters they killed for her. It was such an odd experience, that Alexa tried to shake off the confusion, but soon found herself getting into place.
Off to the side, the second replica, took the now severed minotaur head and put it off to the side. While Alexa and the minotaur slaying replica stood over the hole and began slaughtering the giant rat like creatures that began slithering their way out of the holes. Again, Alexa was just that much slower, her attributes apparently serving as the base, before her titles were factored in. In a way, the replicas served as a direct realization of how much stronger she was magically, than she was physically.
This was an odd concept, especially considering that Alexa had only recently gained access to magic itself, yet here she was little more than a month away from awakening magic within her, and already able to outclass anything she could do physically with magic. It was a sobering reminder of how focused she had been recently, while she didn’t mind magic, and in fact found the idea of magic to be great, she realized that ultimately her replicas were showing her, her greatest weakness still, the fact that her human body was frail.
Even her duel with Countess Rojas, the mother of her best friend, helped to highlight just how lacking she was physically. In fact, in that duel it was also exposed just how lacking her powers were when fighting anything other than dragons with her magic.
Realizing this, she concluded that she was a one trick pony. Granted that trick, of slaying dragons was an amazing trick and one that was worth performing over and over again, the truth was that she was limited by her success.
There was more to the incoming integration than just dragons. The main enemy seemed to be elves, well at least at first, and if her duel with Ryelifa was any indication she would have lost handedly had her opponent used anything other than Death, or Necromancy magic. As it was, she barely survived the encounter, thinking herself able to dismiss the Illusionary magic, and the Death components of the spell. As it was, she had been lucky, and stupid. Lucky in that she had managed to resist the incoming magical attack just enough to survive. Stupid in that she let it get to a duel in the first place.
In a matter of minutes, the large rodent like creatures stopped coming out of the rift. Only to be replaced by the giant head of a minotaur. This time just like the last, a replica got the killing blow in before Alexa could even process the strike. They were just that much faster, as if all of their attributes also received the same 1,050% bonus as provided by her Dragon Slayer title, before other bonuses are even applied..
This time, the first replica took the severed head and threw it off towards the first one. Apparently, they were making a pile of trophies. It was what Alexa would have done, stack them all together and mentally note that as the current level of success.
After the minotaur’s body fell from the rift, more rats appeared. This time Alexa managed to strike down two that headed directly towards her. However, the three of her, well her and two replicas, were more than enough for the surge.
Then finally the third minotaur head appeared.
Alexa paused and waited for one of the two replicas to make their move, but only paused as they both gestured for her to go.
“Oh, how courteous of me.” Alexa said, as she took a half step forward and lining up her strike, struck out at the beast’s neck. There was just one problem, her strike while powerful, only made it a quarter of the way through the beast’s massive neck muscles.
“Gah-MOO!” The massive beast cried out in pain.
Shaking her head, Alexa wiggled her blade free of the beast’s neck, before once again slashing at the same spot. This time, she used Telekinesis to help push the blade forward, along with Wind and an extra umph of Arcane magic to cut at the beast.
Splat.
Thick black blood sprayed out wildly at the strike, but it was three quarters of the way through. Shaking her head, Alexa once again worked her blade free and then lined up to strike again. This time, she had help, as Replica one, came over and grabbed the minotaur’s head by the horn and peeled it back so Alexa could have a clean area to strike at.
Slink!
This time, her strike held true as her blade easily sliced through the remaining neck muscles of the massive beast.
Thump.
Hearing the sound from behind her, Alexa saw the other two replicas quickly glance away, but then turned their attention to the hole.
Alexa for her part turned back quickly as well, only to see that the dragon had apparently been put back to sleep by an Illusionary Dream, created by her third replica.
Apparently the bleating out in pain by the minotaur had been enough to awaken the dragon.
Realizing she was the weakest link of this campaign only made her shake her head in disgust. She needed to get better, to be stronger. As it was, the only reason she was able to even keep up with these monsters was the speed and power of her replicas.
Still this should be a good hunting ground. Given how small the rift currently was, no major monsters could get through, and any that did try to get through she and her replicas made quick work of.
In the end, the replicas seeing her own frustration began helping. Rather than completing a kill on their own, one would quickly slice the beast, while the second replica would grab a horn and expose the neck of the dying minotaur to Alexa, who would then provide the killing stroke. Then the replica with the horn would throw the head into the pile that had been amassing all this time.
They worked like this through the morning.
Well it had been morning for a while, but finally after a few hours the storm clouds overhead broke, revealing a bright shining sun.
Finally, there was a slight pause as nothing came from the rift for a moment. Then through the rift a voice called out.
“Get up you fool! Your army is being destroyed!”
Hearing the voice, the dragon that had been put back to sleep a number of times finally stirred. Realizing that they had finally gotten the attention of the masters, Alexa felt it was time to put an end to this, a sentiment that her replicas of course mirrored, as they were extensions of herself.
Then speaking on behalf of Alexa, the replica that had been standing beside the nearly desiccated dragon spoke. “Ah, you woke up. Don’t worry, we will still have time to play. But first, we need to send a message to your masters.”
The dragon’s head spun woozily for a moment, as it was clear they were having a hard time focusing.
Then before the dragon could truly regain full control over its faculties, they all cried out in perfect unison, “WE ARE NOT AFRAID!”
Slink!
Finally, the third Replica who had been denied the chance to kill anything got to deliver the final blow. With one swift strike the head of the great beast fell off.
Thump.
The skull crashed into the ground. As it fell so too did the last traces of magic the held both the protective barrier in place, and the sympathetic magic that had been used to hold the rift open.
For a moment, all Alexas stood staring at the slowly healing rift. Until finally every trace of red and corrupt energy dissipated, being absorbed into one of the Alexas. Only once the energy was gone, and the rift was completely sealed did the replicas begin to move.
As one, they all seemed to know their purpose. They were not of this world, and their current task was complete, so they made sure to go out with a bang.
The first replica since she was so close, shoved her sword into the head of the massive beast. Then with a force of will, she channeled her remaining energy down her blade and into the skull of the beast.
BOOM!
The first replica sacrificed the remainder of her energy on destroying the skull of the beast. The second replica came over and sliced her sword into the beast’s heart.
BOOM!
Just as with the beast’s twin, there was first a swelling of energy that erupted from the beast’s heart out, to encompass and destroy everything.
The third replica just locked gazes with Alexa, before nodding. The gesture was one she easily understood, for it was one she would have given someone who had tried to keep up with her. It was a message that said, don’t give up, you will be needed.
Then sticking her sword into the ground, the third replica did something entirely different than any other replica. Rather than exploding in a torrent of flames and energy, this one converted the remainder of her energy into Healing and Nature magic, letting the waves of energy that were released from its creation go out and attempt to heal the land.
Alexa just stared at the ground and watched as healing waves of energy began rolling out. While it was clear that the blood and viscera of the minotaur and rodent like creatures were toxic in some way to the planet. It was clear that her replica’s use of magic was enough to begin the healing process. This was good, as it meant that these creatures coming here permanently killed a planet, as there was clearly something that could be done, even after they arrived.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she failed to recognize the incoming footsteps of people.
“So, uh, what did we miss?” The voice of a man she knew very well came from behind her.
Turning, Alexa saw the form of her father, in his Warder outfit.
“More importantly, what exactly happened?” Judge, her mother, asked as she came to stand beside Warder. While Judge might have missed it, Alexa did not. She noticed the slight look of hesitation that came to Warder’s description, when her mother asked what happened.
Realizing that the battle was likely the easiest part of this encounter, Alexa answered as succinctly as possible. “They came, they summoned, I conquered.”