Jaliete’s vision spun as her Mind’s Eye danced between dozens of Empire soldiers… dying Empire soldiers. Kalum Lesta, slaughter made manifest moved through the vault, and with each step and shift of his gaze soldiers died.
Explosions shook The Vault as he shattered walls to tear into unsuspecting men and a crimson flame began to burn in his wake. Jaliete had thought she was beginning to understand what power they were bringing into their world when she had seen it wear Dalen’s skin for a time. But now Jaliete knew she truly had no idea.
Formations of trained empire soldiers fell before him like children before a ravenous wolf. Magic crashed against him and arrows bombarded him with every step but it was like fighting living steel. The few penetrating shots or strikes were utterly ignored even as his blood poured freely to mix with that of the dead.
Not only was he incredibly durable but he must have had a powerful regeneration skill as well. If Nyx was right about his resource growing with each kill could he even be stopped? Jaliete was no fool. Kalum Lesta may be The Bearer but that didn’t mean he was some infallible leader. Dalen had agreed with that sentiment and worked against the words of the prophecy in Kalum’s favor in an attempt to humanize him.
Jaliete had witnessed a small part of that on two occasions, The Fractured Path and his first moments back in their world. She had seen the smile on his face even as she lay dying at his feet and the domineering aura crushing her will. But in Kalum’s current state, she had no doubt he would kill everyone he could reach whether he liked it or not.
Dalen still was responding to anything they tried. Even Jaliete’s skills had no effect on the man but Nyx told them as much as she could.
“He has more skills than he should and from what little I have seen he has high attributes across the board. The only attribute I could say I may beat him in is perception,” Nyx explained, her voice far more even after Volan healed her after seeing the others.
Jaliete nodded as she pulled her mind from her skill, “My Mind’s Eye allows me to watch him from enemy eyes and I suspect he makes up for that deficiency with a perception skill. What do you know of it?”
Nyx frowned, “He hasn’t explained it to me but I have seen him use it several times. I suspect it assists him in seeing different mana affinities or threads like Melisia’s skill.”
Boggled by both Kalum’s domineering strength and yet somehow well-rounded attributes Jaliete tried to summon what thought she could to find a way to protect them both their enemy and their savior.
“At the speed he is fighting through the halls he will reach the surface in just a few minutes. Will he leave?” Jaliete asked the room not really expecting an answer she liked.
Nyx, Volan, and Elendria didn’t respond as The Vault shook one more time, filling the room with more dust and debris. Jaliete was about to reactivate her Mind’s Eye skill when a voice she wasn’t expecting spoke up.
“Can’t you hear it?”
Jaliete turned to see Eliza’s boy Ander climbing to his feet from the wall he had been crumpled beside just minutes ago before Volan healed him. Jaliete hadn’t expected the boy to recover so quickly from the shock of his injuries but as he rose his brown eyes stared straight through her, “What do you mean child?” Something about the boy’s stance was off.
“The tearing?...” Ander staggered and his face suddenly paled as blue light began to pool around him. His eyes began to glow blue at first but slowly began to grow brighter until it was blinding white.
“Ander!” Nyx cried and limped toward the boy but before she had taken more than two steps she froze and groaned, “I can hear it… It-” Blue light sprung to life around her in an instant and she grasped at her chest before falling to her knees.
Volan was there a moment later, his hands alight with his healing power but as he reached toward them the blue light arced toward him and flinched away from it with a yelp, “Mana?! But how?!”
Jaliete didn’t bother filtering her limit mana sight, it was clear Volan was right. Somehow mana was being concentrated around the two of them. “Nyx, what is happening?”
Nyx didn’t hear her, instead, she turned to look through the ceiling of the dome and her eyes began to glow like Ander’s, “He calls for the end…”
Jaliete growled a curse and turned to Melisia who was still unconscious on the floor, her face pale from the shock of her injuries. She had been healed but when brought so close to death a person’s mind took time to recover, time they didn’t have. Jaliete needed Melisia’s skill, “Volan! Be ready to pacify Melisia!”
Volan looked startled by the sudden command, “What? Why- no Jaliete you shouldn’t use that skill. Not while she is so weak.”
“We need her perception skill, Volan. She will recover, just do as I ask!” Jaliete commanded.
The old healer didn’t look thrilled but nodded and stood beside Melisia. Jaliete brought her will to Melisia’s fragile mind. She grimaced over the thought of what she was about to do but it was a necessity. Jaliete focused her mind on to her first mind mage skill, Mind Spike.
It was not a complex or even rare skill but it was ruthlessly effective at what it did. Melisia flew to her feet with a scream as her mind was artificially thrown into overdrive. She didn’t stop screaming even when she saw Jaliete and Volan standing over her but her eyes darted around the room taking everything in.
“Melisia. You must listen to me. Activate Comprehend the Astral Threads now and tell me what you see,” Jaliete activated Suggestion to increase the odds of Melisia’s overwhelmed mind doing as she asked.
Melisia flinched as The Vault shook again and the screams of men echoed through the passages leading to the dome but her eyes flicked blue before flaring bright. Her eyes instantly snapped to something in the middle distance and her cries died in her throat as they flickered, “It's… beautiful.”
Jaliete grimaced, she could feel Mind Spike waning already, “What do you see Daughter?”
“Channels of power are flooding them with mana… They glow in my sight like nothing I have seen before-” Melisia gasped, her face paling and blood seeping from her nose, “Something is wrong. It is growing thin while the flow of mana is only increasing.”
“Where is it coming from?” Jaliete insisted as Melisia stumbled but kept her eyes locked on the unseen channels.
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“Kalum… The channels are taking mana from his body-” Melisia groaned and fell to the ground, “It flees his wrath.”
Jaliete cursed. She had hoped it would give her some insight on a way to slow or end his rampage but it was pointless, a waste of time, “Elendria, can you teleport yet?”
Elendria grimaced but nodded hesitantly, “Perhaps once or twice and only one at a time. No big workings I’m afraid.”
“Then it will be up to you. We must get you close enough that you can send him somewhere he will end his slaughter…” Jaliete’s voice trailed off as the dome was suddenly aglow with pearlescent light. Two brilliant white threads of light appeared, arcs of crimson light sparking across its surface.
“Gods!” Volan shouted, obviously able to see the channels Melisia had mentioned as well.
The channels seemed to stretch, the crimson sparks growing more fierce with every moment. Then faster than her eyes could follow the channel snapped. The dome exploded with blinding white-blue light and Nyx and Ander were thrown to the ground hard.
Above, something screamed…
----------------------------------------
The Slayer seethed as he charged the ranks of corpses before him, “Weak…”
You have slain [Dwendal Lan | Spearman 71 | Human]
Mutilation bonus added to total!
Mutilation bonus added to total!
You have slain [Lalaster Qwen | Mage 56 | Human]
Mutilation bonus added to total!
Mutilation bonus added to total!
You have slain [Olanta Del | Pugilist 65 | Human]
Mutilation bonus added to total!
Mutilation bonus added to total!
Mutilation bonus added to total!
You have slain [Felna Danta | Rogue 78 | Human] bonus experience awarded due to slaying a higher leveled entity.
Mutilation bonus added to total!
Mutilation bonus added to total!
Level up!
Kalum Lesta
Status
Class:
Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]
Level:
76
Race:
Human?
Health:
4521/5210
Stamina:
4543/8550
Wrath:
1423
Attributes
Strength:
919
Agility:
601 => 627
Endurance:
855
Vitality:
521 => 540
Intellect:
642
Perception:
587
Will:
1348
Wisdom:
627
Available:
0
Titles
Ascendant, Core Bane, Core Smith, Divine Deviant, Planeswalker, Planar Appetite, Slayer of the Strong, Endurance Elite, Strength Elite, Will Paragon, Demon Slayer, Paragon of Man, Planar Binding I, Soul Seer, True Slayer of Demonkind, Thief of Ages, Fate Diviner, Exemplar of Defiance, Disciple of Destruction, Resonance of Wrath, Resonance of Freedom
Skills
Soul Forge [Rare], Wrathful Regeneration [Uncommon], Wrath Incarnate [Epic] [Wrath Forged], Abyssal Consumption [Rare], Flames of Wrath[Uncommon] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Apathy [Rare] [Soul Forged], Edge of Malice [Common] [Soul Forged], Flesh of Iron [Rare], Eyes of the Slayer [Mythic] [Spiritbound], Planar Linguist [Rare] [Soul Forged] [Partial Integration], Cloak of the Wrathful Spectre [Rare] [Soul Forged]
Race
Soul: Partial Breach
He didn’t hesitate to spend his attributes as he hacked his way through the flesh of broken things. The Slayer had thought to allow the followers to slay the weaklings that still whimpered pathetically all around him but it was simply less efficient than performing the act himself. He was faster, much faster.
Screams of the dying filled the passages before him. Every step he took was another slain and more blood in his wake. The Fatebinder’s minions would die as they should and then the rest of the broken would join them.
The sickly glow of god-touched souls guided him higher and higher through the halls of the place of his return. In The Slayer’s wake a wave of crimson fire began to build as his wrath continued to climb. His body was finally taking damage but nothing worth deviating from his slaughter. Ahead the passages opened into a large chamber several hundred feet wide. Hundreds of corpses ran through the burning and torn remains of a camp.
A living space for the pathetic and broken. Those who didn’t know what they had lost. Those who would die to end it all.
Who or what they were was irrelevant to The Slayer’s purpose. They were the death throws of the dead plane, a dead species. The corrupted and broken souls swarmed like rats amongst carrion. The cowardly and wise rats screamed in anguish and terror as he stepped into the fray, the smart ones threw themselves down like the weaklings below.
The betrayer-touched did not.
Bolts of destruction soared across the dome to detonate against his chest. The fire he ignored, others even his shell would not withstand lightly. Tendrils of will darted around him as he moved, threads of guided skills tore themselves apart before his indomitable will and the casters shrieked in agony. Some fell limp as their minds pulped from the backlash but the more prepared twisted into the use of other less unified skills.
Fighters charged toward him with abandon as his aura destroyed their years of training, formations shattered in the chaos and officers screamed in desperation as he moved through broken ranks like a titan among children. Every easy kill only urged him on as his breaths became more still and his will further refined.
His body was not unharmed through the fighting but even when his bones were bare for the world to see his face held no fear, no pain, no anguish. The dying men saw only one thing as they fell, the crimson-gold eyes of their slayer. The Slayer.
*Crack*