Sphinx Without Questions
“Do we have a name for it?” Frein asked as the Nightmare drove the empowered spear forwards. At first he thought it meant to throw the weapon, but quickly realized it was commanding the flames and lightning to rush at him instead.
“A Sphinx Without Questions,” Elizzel replied through their Tether. “Not quite a Deep Nightmare, but it’s a tad bit stronger than a Forest Jaws.”
“It doesn’t quite resemble a sphinx to be honest,” Frein commented, sending an image to Elizzel through their Tether. “The body’s different, no wings, no—whatever they call that thing they wear on the head.”
“That’s your cultural, fictional impressions, which isn’t exactly bad or wrong. I don’t know. It is what it is, I guess. You’re better off concentrating on the fight than figuring out why it’s so different from your mental image.”
It didn’t take much effort for Frein to dodge the projectile assaults. The lightning strikes were a challenge to dodge, but in comparison, the flames were nothing more than a bit of a nuisance.
Sure enough, it wasn’t that easy. The Sphinx’s initial attack provided it enough space to wind up for a more destructive slash. Its gigantic body spun, lashing tails and swords in a twister of destruction.
Frein couldn’t get out in time.
Two giant longswords struck at his raised arms, slicing through the protective layer and piercing flesh. His Siffera dampened much of the impact, enough to prevent the attack from severing his hands completely. But the Sphinx followed up with a massive tail swipe, pushing Frein off his feet.
He flew past the walls of the chamber and collided with more layers of rooms until he was completely out of the Palace. The Sphinx Without Questions appeared a second later, causing destruction in its wake as it continued its relentless assault. Its maddening scream pierced his ears, stunning him in place.
“You alright there, Frein?” Elizzel asked.
He wanted to assess his damage, but he prioritized enduring the ear-shattering scream and planning his counter-attack. Elizzel didn’t bug him any further.
The Sphinx thrusted a spear at Frein. He dodged it at the last second and pulled it over his back, gripping the shaft with his entire wingspan. He leveraged it with Siffera, bending and pulling forwards with all his might while using the Nightmare’s momentum to throw it off balance. He heaved the giant creature over his shoulder and slammed it to the ground with as much force as he could.
The earth quaked at the impact as the Sphinx made a massive crater, letting go of its spear. It was too large a weapon for Frein, but its weight and unwieldiness were only mild nuisances. Focusing his Siffera around his fingers, he dug them into the iron shaft of the spear for his grip and trudged over to the Nightmare.
After fighting a few of them on the outskirts of the Nightmare Lands, Frein had ensured one important thing. These Nightmares could feel pain. And for a giant like the Sphinx to topple over with such force, it would surely be hurt, surprised, and disoriented.
Frein took his chance, flaring his Siffera just enough so he could run while carrying the spear. With a leap, he reciprocated the Sphinx’s initial attack. The Nightmare recovered just in time and managed to catch the weapon, but Frein’s momentum forced it down its chest where the heart would usually be.
The Sphinx Without Questions screamed—no, it roared. Frein quickly reacted and erased his Siffera before the Nightmare’s Negating Roar affected him. It was a dangerous maneuver, and the screech was enough to make his ears bleed. The impact that carried along with the Roar also sent him away. He was able to recover and re-Draw his Siffera before falling on the ground.
“Shit, my ears!” Frein winced but kept one firm eye at his target.
The Meiyal Art, Siffera, didn’t possess the same effects Samesia had even with four-meiyal and couldn’t replace damaged parts of his body like Katherine did with her fight with the Forest Jaws. But enhancing his constitution as a whole, it allowed him to endure more pain while reinforcing his senses. So while the ringing in his ears didn’t stop, it became significantly bearable, allowing him to hear the oncoming assault of the Nightmare.
This time, he made sure to keep his Mesiffera up to predict the Negating Roar earlier than relying on his reflexes. He added four-meiyal to the Art.
The amazing part about four-meiyal, after studying it quite extensively, was that Frein didn’t have to burn through the specific resource to enhance an Art. He could simply add it as a supplement while relying on his normal reserves. Like adding a splash of polish and sheen on an otherwise finished painting. It worked perfectly for his massive supply of Milled meiyal, allowing him to sustain both Siffera and Mesiffera at the same time.
The Sphinx had taken the spear out of its chest, leaving a large hollowed hole.
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Of course there’s no heart. Not even blood.
With its serpentine body and four legs, it slithered around in random patterns, jumping and sliding as it circled around the Visitor at amazing speeds. Frein couldn’t turn fast enough to keep up.
Instead, he focused on his surroundings, enveloping it with his awareness to track the Sphinx’s movements. It edged closer in range and showed intentions to attack. As it thrusted a long ranged spear, Frein stepped slightly to the side and swayed just in time to get out of the way. He felt the wind graze through his clothes as the Sphinx moved into his vision.
He glared at it.
In response, the Nightmare sent a flurry of sharp steel. Frein calculated them all, feeling each approach within his awareness and moving only at the exact moment to evade.
For a Nightmare such as this, its attacks carried a certain pattern. It never attacked with the same weapon until the rest of its arsenal made a move. A stab and a slash interweaving perfectly one after the other.
It made Frein’s job easier, but he didn’t dare lower his guard. If this creature was practiced enough to develop a pattern, it would surely be intelligent enough to break it.
So, for the next few minutes, Frein studied the creature while avoiding all of its attacks. He didn’t care if he suffered a few scratches or if his clothes were ripped apart. He wasn’t losing too much blood and his shirt could be replaced. Most of all, he was curious how far he could maintain his focus.
In short, he was having too much fun.
Battles of attrition was something that thrilled him the most. And the Sphinx looked nowhere near exhausted despite its intense movements and attacks.
“Amazing…” Elizzel couldn’t help but gawk from within the Tether. “I can see everything! I can see every move, every action! And it’s costing us almost nothing!”
“I want to see more,” Frein admitted. “I want to try and peek at Destiny, but I don’t think we should try it here. We can’t replenish our meiyal.”
“And the last time you did it, you almost lost consciousness.”
But Frein could feel it. Within this storm of steel and scale, he could feel he was on the cusp of something profound. A realization he couldn’t quite grip.
Still, the situation wouldn’t allow him to risk it. The two of them couldn’t expect any rescue, and he wasn’t stupid enough to try something new unless it was the only way. Instead, he etched the feeling into his Mind Palace the way Norazzel taught him with intentions to simulate it with Katherine later.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
The Nightmare soon figured out it was getting nowhere. Whatever it tried, however angle it chose to approach, Frein read through them without fail. Frustrated, it leapt away, causing the earth to shake once more from its massive weight.
And then, it roared.
It wasn’t a Negating Roar, nor was it anything Frein was familiar with. He raised his guard further.
His Mesiffera showed how far the roar reached, reading the web of meiyal rushing out of the Nightmare. And a foreboding feeling descended upon him when a response came from the opposite side of the broken Mind Palace.
A shadow leapt from beyond the walls and landed with an earth-shattering impact on the opposite side of Frein.
Another Sphinx.
“I think we should run,” Elizzel said, struggling to hide her panic.
“Look here, lady. I’ve been dodging the entire fight. If I could run, I would’ve done that already!” Frein lied. They both knew it was a lie. The Tether made sure Elizzel knew about it.
He was smiling ear to ear.
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In a sense, Evanclad was thankful for Frein’s appearance. It made his work a lot easier. As soon as the first Sphinx summoned the second, he knew he was in the clear.
The First Monarch truly didn’t know where to find this Palace when he first manifested in Kristel’s Dream, but he knew the Mind Palace itself. It was his in the first place.
Time was against him. While his observations gave him enough confidence that Frein could take care of himself, two powerful Nightmares against a practitioner with only two Meiyal Arts seemed too askew a balance regardless of whether the Visitor possessed four-meiyal or not.
If it had been six-meiyal, this fight would’ve been over. Maybe I should… Evanclad stopped himself from getting distracted.
Need to find the Princess.
Evanclad proceeded to the basement. It was where he kept his Worldspace, now known as Spatiera.
He stalked carefully out of every corner, making sure there were no stray Nightmares. Even if the Sphinx Without Questions used its Summoning Roar, sometimes a Nightmare would just be too stubborn to respond to the call.
Fortunately, they were in the Dream, and these creatures couldn’t invade such a protected individual as constantly as they would anyone else. In fact, he was surprised there were any Nightmares here at all. Thankfully, the Visitor arrived just in time to help.
It didn’t take long for Evanclad to find the problem. The stairwell to the basement was shattered. It was only due to his intangible form that he was able to fly downwards and find his way.
A pair of doors stopped him.
A thick layer of Nightmare meiyal enveloped the hinges of the frame, tendrils of it wrapped around the handles. He could feel each piece of power leering at him with malice, urging him to open the doors.
Evanclad clicked his intangible tongue. Of course it wouldn’t be this easy.
Without much choice, he leveraged his existence and Opened his meiyal core, careful enough to limit his influence only within this section of the Mind Palace.
Wouldn’t want to distract the Visitor.
He didn’t know the modern name of this Void Control Technique, nor was it given one during his time. In a sense, this was the Void Control Technique. The root of them all. Due to the principles of his current state, he was left with no choice but to exchange a flicker of his existence to cleanse the hindering Nightmare.
As usual, the screams of a thousand souls echoed from the malignant meiyal as it vanished from the Dream.
Finally, he opened the door and the contents of the room made him hesitate.
It was so unbelievably small.
There was nothing inside except for one Princess Kristel chained up against walls that she could almost reach. Evanclad didn’t know the rest of what was wrong with her, but this cramped Worldspace was proof enough that she couldn’t connect with most of her potential as an Irista.
Have all my heirs been like this? Kristella wasn’t, but that was because the remnants of the Divine Severing still allowed her to embrace her Deitar status. But what about Eva, his granddaughter? What about Eva’s children?
There was no way for him to know right now.
Right now, I need to get you out of here.
“Wake up, Princess. Time to wake up.”
Kristel stirred but whatever it was keeping her from full consciousness had no intention of letting her go. It was too solemn to consider a Nightmare, but was angry enough to be one. The chains tightened and the Princess winced in pain.
Now what do I do with you?
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