Kal awakened with a pained gasp as he tumbled through the air before the world seemed to stretch out before him, distorting everything. Either he had fallen into one of the tears or the lance itself had dragged him back into this disorientating place.
Every inch of his body burned horribly as he fell but he couldn't help but feel relieved that he didn’t need to siphon anymore. Kal dragged his sluggish mind inward to look at the new core he had created. Its surface was far better than the last one he had made, its threads glowed a radiant crimson as it contained his bloodthirsty soul.
He didn’t waste any more time and activated Wrathful Regeneration as he fell and gritted his teeth as his body slowly began to rebuild itself. He needed to recover fast. He didn’t receive a kill notification for Vorayx and knowing his luck he was about to fall into the demon’s bloody lap.
Health:
321/3930
Stamina:
1423/7400
Wrath:
0
Kal’s wrath bottomed out well before he felt any significant recovery. Quicker than last time the world around him lurched and Kal found himself falling through the foul-smelling air of the abyss once more. This time he didn’t manage to get his legs in front of him as he landed and he slammed into the ground, the only thing saving him from more broken bones was the last-minute activation of Flesh of Iron.
Kal once again found himself in the valley of bone, surrounded by the grotesque forms of the disfigured demons from the use of Vorayx’s skill. The mana storm that had raged from early on in the trial had grown even further, spreading from the collapsed dome across the sky to clash with the firestorms surging throughout the sky.
A wet cough urged Kal to get his feet and as he rose he spotted the prone form of Vorayx. The demon’s body was covered in tiny half-grown bone plates that seemed to barely breach the demon’s skin before losing all momentum. More joined the rest but each time a few snapped free and fell to the ground.
Kal staggered over on his still dark cracked legs and stared down at the demon. His Eyes of the Slayer showed him the demon’s barely flickering skill channels as it desperately tried to activate its skills but it was immediately obvious that it had no resources left to spend.
Its core was incredibly pale but Kal could see that it was slowly but surely becoming brighter. He could see small strands of abyssal mana sliding into its core. It would recover eventually if he didn’t finish it off now.
Kal glanced around for his sword and frowned when he saw no sign of it. Hopefully, it had just landed somewhere nearby but he put the worry aside and activated Flesh of Iron instead.
As he raised his still dark and cracked fist the demon raised its arm, “No… I can… be useful to you…” Kal’s fist paused and Vorayx continued, “You are no mortal… You should be one of us… Your mana is unique-” Dark blood sprayed from its mouth as it coughed up one of its shattered fangs, “My master would reward you if you joined me…”
A sudden rush of anger rose up in Kal’s chest at the demon's words and a snarl appeared on his face as all of his pain seemed to disappear.
Kal scoffed, “Are all you demons so stupid? Your kind has tried to kill me for months,” Kal battered the arm to the side.
Vorayx tried to speak again but Kal ignored it, “No, the only use I have for your kind is the power I gain from the slaughter I bring.”
His fist fell and iron met weakened flesh.
*Crunch*
Skull and horn cracked…
*Crunch*
One eye ruptured… Then the second…
*Crunch*
All of Kal’s strength went into each strike as the demon lay helpless in the valley of bone. Mutilation bonuses continued to stack until finally Kal roared and brought his fist down on the tier two demon’s skull one last time.
Bone shattered and Kal’s fist splattered the demon’s dark gray matter to a pulp as a potent rush of power surged into every fiber of his being. Kal gasped and fell to the ground as his wrath climbed and notifications flowed in.
You have slain {Lumixet Vorayx | Abyssal Spawn 104} bonus experience awarded due to slaying a higher leveled entity.
Level up!
Level up!
Available Skill Selections: 1 => 2
Level up!
Title acquired: Exemplar of Defiance [Epic]
As the rush of power faded and his wrath stabilized, all of the sudden anger that fueled Kal in the demon’s last moments fled and he collapsed to the hard valley floor.
Time passed as his regeneration struggled to repair his tortured body, even his increased level didn’t aid him in his agony. Above the mana storm tore into the sky and it was all Kal could do but watch the chaos of the two colliding forces.
Kal tossed and turned as his wrath moved through his body but even as it repaired some parts of his body its presence charred and tore others. Something was wrong, he wasn’t healing like he should. His wrath bottomed out and still, his body lay dark and cracked weeping near boiling blood.
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Health:
454/4030
Stamina:
2321/7640
Wrath:
0
Kal didn’t bother sitting as he reached out to siphon, the mana came easily but the instant it entered his body it was like had just injected magma into every pore of his skin and he screamed in agony as his concentration disintegrated, making the abyssal mana disperse.
“Fuck…What the fuck?...” Kal gasped as the pain faded. He tried again and the pain once again tore through his body unlike anything had felt before. Dozens of cracks tore open across his chest and arms and both his health and stamina dropped dramatically.
Health:
231/4030
Stamina:
897/7640
Wrath:
0
“Gods… Is this what happens… when you siphon… All of it?…” Kal’s words came as a whisper and he felt the skin of his face crack further as he spoke. How was he going to recover if he couldn’t regain wrath through siphoning? He didn’t even want to think about trying to make some kind of Soul Forge construct and try again so he didn’t and simply laid there and watched the chaos above him unfold.
Then he received a notification and he groaned as its gold light filled his vision.
Warning: Due to the remnants of the forgotten one and the interference of entities above tier 5 this plane of reality will collapse in 02:30
02:29
02:28
“Oh for fuck’s sake, always on a gods damned timer…” Kal muttered, ignoring the flakes of blackened skin falling from his face as he said it. Forcing himself back to his feet, Kal looked around the hundreds of grotesque statues that now filled the valley, looking for something he had put to the back of his mind the moment the fighting started. Mira.
The platform Vorayx was sitting atop his throne on had collapsed at the beginning of their fight but the throne itself was intact and on its right armrest was an orb of flickering blue light. Kal staggered over to it as the timer fell, he really hoped he wasn’t about to just wink out of existence but he saw no way he could make it anywhere in time in his current state so he figured he would use the time he had to fulfill Fyborh’s wish.
02:01
02:00
01:59
He climbed over the rubble of the platform, tripping and falling several times. His left arm burned furiously despite the fact it wasn’t even attached… But Kal had to admit that he was lucky all of his rings were on his right arm or he probably would have been smited or something by now.
01:01
01:00
00:59
Kal reached the large bone throne with just under a minute remaining to his surprise he found Exterminator’s Regards buried to the hilt in the back of the throne. He was relieved but he couldn’t spare the energy to try to figure out how it had ended up there so he simply pulled the blade free and sheathed it before turning to the orb.
He reached down and placed his darkened hand on the orb and immediately he heard a faint whisper enter his mind.
“Kalum Lesta… You live?...” Mira’s voice was frail and Kal could tell she didn’t have much time left. But neither did he.
“Just… I’m sorry I never came back to your bunker.” Kal said, figuring she would be able to hear his thoughts.
“I…” Mira’s voice faded further, “My personality core is failing… But I am glad I got to speak to you again, Kalum Lesta.”
Kal frowned as he saw the light in the orb dim even further. He couldn’t just let her die. She had helped him when he needed it most and all she got in return was to be captured by some fucking demon. Kal tried to reach into the orb but the moment his perception moved away from his body he was wracked with the same fiery pain as when he tried to siphon.
He growled at the pain but then he smiled, he did have something he could do.
Amulet of Dimensional Storage [Rare]
The owner of this amulet may at will insert any non-sentient object held in hand into a small personal pocket dimension. Any object contained within this amulet can be retrieved at any time to a space within 5 feet. If the selected space is already occupied by non-gaseous matter the retrieval will fail.
Dimensional Storage items of rare rarity or higher place the inserted objects in a state of temporal stasis.
Current Owner: Kalum Lesta of the 73rd
“You aren’t going anywhere just yet.”
Not game to pry Mira loose in her current state Kal snapped free the arm of the throne and raised it to his amulet. The orb flashed but without his hand on the orb, Kal couldn’t hear if she said anything and then the orb and bone were gone and joined his assortment of stolen gear and books.
00:05
00:04
00:03
Kal’s legs buckled beneath him and he looked disgustedly at his status. His stamina had bottomed out by just walking across fifty feet of rough terrain.
Health:
207/4030
Stamina:
0/7640
Wrath:
0
Laying on the rubble of the platform of bone Kal simply watched as the plane that had been his trial for the last two months was torn apart by the clashing power roaring around him. Each clash of power tore holes that led to gray nothingness and as he watched the horizon stretched away from him before distorting and shattering like glass.
The cracks spread faster than he could follow toward him but Kal couldn’t spare the energy to sit up let alone try to run, instead, he glared into the coming oblivion.
His mana sight seemed to activate on its own accord as the cracks surged forward and he couldn’t but watch in wonder as countless threads of mana extending beyond his perception tore and snapped as the world ripped itself apart.
It felt… Right.
----------------------------------------
Searing stars of light spread out before a singular figure. Light warped around its thin frame but with every gesture space succumbed to its will. There was nothing that could hide from its sight, nothing in the ever-expanding universes of the Prime System could evade his notice.
He who sees scanned the ever-expanding enemy. The abyssal horizon surged across the boundaries of Prime Space without pity, trillions died every moment. He who sees cared little for the lives of lesser beings, it only saw value in what could be seen. And it had seen everything. Millennia passed it by as countless beings rose and fell but it all amounted to nothing. Mortal kind had succumbed to the worst fate of all. Stagnancy.
The endless haze of abyssal powers was all consuming but for a brief moment in the consumed wastes of the 73rd universe He who sees sensed something, something new.