Kyrion watched as the earth erupted and the summoned silver weapons fell into a hole, and as time went by Ra eventually returned to him. Within the next minute or so Aether came out with a relatively confused expression.
“Why is it so silent?”
“Who am I supposed to be right now? For you I mean. I’ve finished negotiating with three beings that could probably put me through my paces in my current condition. I know what you can do and I know all about the backdoor into my cerebellum that you gave yourself when we shared a body. So, do you want this to be a fair fight, or are you here to end me?”
“I’m here to figure out why you arranged for the final fight to involve me and you despite our opponents missing.”
“Cecil got cheated and he was one of two people on my team that can beat you one on one.”
“What and are you the second?”
“You know all my moves, most of my tricks, and how I think. At best I could force a draw.”
“What do you propose.”
“Assume it’s a draw, and I’ll surrender then you’ll surrender.”
“Why would I accept something like that?”
“‘Simple really. Gios is already here and he’s hiding among one of the spectators. The invasion has started early for him, and with most of his shards within me, he is no longer restricted.” Kyrion stated a hypothesis.
“Don’t play with me Kyr.” Aether’s sclera darkened as tendrils of black mist surrounded the two of them.
“That is just a hunch, given his ability to manipulate space and the fact that he sent a bunch of his spawn here, I can assume that he is quite close.”
“What makes you say that?”
“A hunch is a hunch. We can fight, both of us will get injured then we’ll have to face that bastard while in a weakened state. I can’t handle him as I am but I don’t need to.”
“Well he’s yours to kill. I can always kill him if he beats you. Why don’t you pr–” Aether said coldly.
Kyrion moved at a speed well beyond sound and yet there were no shockwaves present in his path as all the wind for miles wide converged into one location, a simple palm strike, from Kyrion’s palm shot an absurd amount of wind mana and divine essence that caused the sky to break as clouds were forced out of its path. In moments a giant hole in the sky could be seen a the moon Icaron shattered like thousands of shards of glass being broken. For a brief moment, six spheres could be seen, each much larger than the circles he’d grown up looking at in the sky every morning. The seven moons were currently right next to each other and in near-perfect allegiance Kyrion suspected.
“We have hours!” Aether didn’t hesitate as he looked at the palm that hand barely missed him and plugged a bone spear through where Kyrion’s heart should have been. Only Kyrion didn’t disappear immediately.
Kyrion in turn had used the distraction to thrust Brion into Aether’s abdomen and knock him out of the arena leaving a floating greatsword alone on team Drisil.
Around forty-five seconds later the orc woman appeared on the arena floor unconscious and the winners of the second and final round were announced.
“Team Drisil will face off against team Norm in the final round!”
“Whats that? No way! Norm has withdrawn from the tournament! The Victors of this years continental tournament is Drisil, led by Kyrion Moslay, under the supervision of Headmaster a Caeden.”
“What do you? How did you get that pat me!”.
Confusion erupted from the arena as Aether moved towards Kyrion, a scythe twirling in their hands while Kyrion danced between the blades, always just a millimeter away from getting cut up.
“I hate you!” Aether pulled his scythe back and watched as Kyrion's head popped off and yet the expected blood fountain didn’t erupt.
“You have been blinded by rage young one. The fights over and you’re still trying to kill me? ” Kyrion said from behind as he watched a straw dummy collapse to the ground. Such a thing shouldn’t have been possible without his space affinity and yet it had appeared.
“What is that? That isn’t any kind of magictech Cecil developed.”
Kyrion pulled a bean out of a pouch and cracked it before tossing it forward. From the seed came a straw doll that was suspended in the air. In a flash, it appeared to resemble Kyrion’s shape and appearance. Kyrion struck an exaggerated pose balancing on the tip of his left foot and bending back into a half-moon. His right foot was sticking up in the air. “Ninja substitution technique.”
“What’s a ninja and why do you know stuff I don’t?”
“Not sure, I think they are a mix between secret assassin and bodyguards. Ask Ander, I just have a bad habit of picking up things I find interesting, without thinking then hoarding them. You should know that already.” Kyrion hopped into the air and flew off he had to find Gios before they escaped.
As Kyrion’s eyes landed on an orange-haired individual that resembled Rion he felt an itch at the name of his neck and blasted off. Something was wrong, and he couldn’t figure out what it was. Two of his signals had vanished as though they had never existed and yet he couldn’t figure out who was missing.
“Eden, Ceil, Bella, Tiffany, Minah, Hel, Brion, Max, Ander, Chiyo. All of them are present, then who vanished? Vanished? Did I make an eleventh tracker? Something just happened.” Kyron scowled as he knew something was torn away from him.
Kyrion landed at the entrance to his dungeon where a somber Lin stood with a tired expression. “So you won and will go to the final round.”
“That doesn’t matter right now.”
“It does, if you win then we’ll be trapped in a five year training bubble. While the rest of the experts are gone. The goal is to wait out the call then create an army of experts to defend our world. If you win, you’ll have to fight in an army led by whoever they pick.”
“Ah…so do you want me to lose?”
“Yes. For all of our sakes. I can’t lose you right now.” Lin’s eyes seemed quite red, almost bloodshot.
“No promises. But, I can tell you that I won’t be able to fight in my current state.”
“What happened?”
“I burned out all of my eternal organs and mana veins, I can use some power to fly but that's due to the residual mana around me. In a few minutes I will be unable to use mana for about two days. The only thing that will be functional is my regeneration and fire D.E.”
“Why did you use that much power at once on something so trivial?”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“To be fair, I only wanted to move the clouds out of the way.”
“So you underestimated your power?”
“Did you know that the moons are actually ginormous?”
“Yes. I imagine each one is as big as this one?”
“Well… I can't put a planet in my domain. Which means no holding planets hostage.”
“What were you going to do? Blackmail a deity or try to ransom a planet?
“Maybe drop a moon sized rock on their planet that should break everything.”
“Do you want them to smite you down?”
“Just need to keep my options open. To think Hel would summon a creature like that during the tournament.”
“I didn’t know she was capable of it.”
“She is the best summoner at your school. I expected this much if she was willing to go all out.”
Kyrion looked at Lin with a perplexed expression. “Why do you know this?”
Lin pulled out a pamphlet written with a familiar set of handwriting. “I was given this, by your mother. She was trying to figure out how the harem thing worked and one of your sisters gave this to her.
Kyrion recognized Freya’s design and squinted. “Do not take anything written in that book relating to me as gospel.”
“Hmmm? Most of it contains statistics and obvious pairings. Quite a few were pulling for you and Minah. As she seemed to ask about you alot and you shared quite a few classes.”
“What are you going on about? I didn’t…Fraternal twins are confusing.”
“She was third, want to hear about second? To think I had so much compettion.”
“Nope. I’m still having whiplash. Anyway, I have reservations for dinner at a nice restaurant in Deltin. A short flight, with little traffic, best of all no experts will be there due to the tournament going on.”
“You have a match tomorrow and you want to go on a date?”
“Hmmm? I’m not participating tomorrow. If the world is about to go up in flames I’d rather enjoy these last few days then spend them fighting for something I no longer need. Also, I believe Sheeva is likely to follow us away.”
“No. It isn’t time for this. We should prep—.”
Kyrion placed a finger in front of Lin’s mouth. “Shush. You're clearly stressed, exhausted and hiding something from me. You are also contradicting yourself. Do you want to wait out the incursion in seclusion or do you wish to save as many lives as we can by taking them from our rivals?”
“Neither and both. Shouldn’t you be angry or something? You seem quite calm for someone in your position.”
“I know that you wouldn’t willingly keep a secret like this which means it’s related to something that hasn’t happened yet. So, should I stay here for now? Or would my knowing something is wrong, mess it up. I can wipe my own memory if you wish.”
Lin sighed. “I can’t answer your question, is your perception enhanced?”
“I’m normally a bit more tactful and quiet about my observations but something about this situation screams Charles. Or seers.”
“Damn it.”
“Hmmm?”
“They said that if you could figure this out you should participate in the finals with the best people at your disposal including me.”
“Why?”
“It means your mind is resonating with Gios, and calling to him, so he’s really close.”
“Oh, and you're saying we shouldn’t be? I could get us disqualified for tampering with the battlefield prior to our arrival.”
“And get yourself executed?”
“Hmmm…Lin, have you ever kidnapped someone?”
“No? Define kidnapped.”
“Whisked someone away to a location that only you or a select few know about?”
“Yes, and no? It wasn’t kidnapping so much as it was transportation, new members of my organization.”
“Right, then I’ll lead, as I'm the most experienced in this. We go to dinner and you drop one of these in my drink while I go to the restroom. You pay the bill and then drag my unconscious self out to somewhere secluded.” Kyrion held up a pouch with some yellow power substance that had been individually packaged.
“Kyr…before I say no. What is that, and why do you have it?”
“Hmm? Oh, this is an antacid. Perfectly harmless and I was thinking about selling them next to bars and the like.” Kyrion opened the pouch and poured it into his mouth.
“Why did you do that?”
“It’s also high in vitamins, with a good source of potassium.”
“Kyr. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Otherwise–”
“You’ll be hunted down like cattle.” Said a familiar chilly voice that caused Lin to freeze up while
Kyrion didn’t react physically. He silently activates various runic traps around the area for the other pests. Unlike Lin, he’d known of her presence the second she got within a mile of their location.
“Where did you come from?” Lin created a wall of ice between herself and Sheeva.
“Lin, do you need my help with this?” Kyrion asked with a bored expression.
“Take care of the others first.”
Various triangular objects floated out of Kyrion’s robes and flew toward the various practitioners hidden in the trees.
“Feast of 100 blades.” Kyrion closed his right hand and tens of screams started and stopped at once as various bodies hit the ground simultaneously. No one died from the wounds inflicted with surgical precision but quite a few could go into shock if they didn't receive healing in a semi timely manner.
“Exactly seventy three practitioners have fallen. Waiting on you.” Kyrion stated.
Lin redirected various spears of ice then through her hands forward causing vines of ice to wrap around Sheeva’s legs.
Sheeva broke out and attempted to summon power when a loud clunk echoed from behind her head and she passed out.
Kyrion observed the four-armed buck wielding a familiar club with a familiar set of runes. It bowed to Kyrion and then seemingly moved through a teleportation circle.
“I don’t know your name but you’re getting a promotion!” Kyrion eyed the buck.
“Kyr, while she wasn’t me, I’m pretty sure that I’m going to have a bit of trauma.”
“Oh… Maybe an abroad promotion. Maybe send him to Earth to act as our liaison.”
“Sure. Yeah.” Lin approved her downed shard and made contact. In moments Sheeva faded into blue energy and then entered Lin’s body. For a moment Lin seemed to glow a light blue before she suddenly passed out.
“Well…That's not good.”
“What isn’t good?” Asked a pink-haired man who resembled the spawn of Gios only looked quite a bit like Song from the previous round.
“Huh, to think you moved right under my nose. Is this a vessel or another shard for me to consume?”
“That’s a good question.” Gios didn’t answer the question as he began the process of bending space.
Kyrion who knew the signs stomped a foot and the power fizzled into nothing.
“Can’t you just die and save me some trouble? You can’t beat me in a fight, especially with your lover lying unconscious right next to you. An unscrupulous individual could kill her before you attacked for convenience.
“You refer to the twenty seven archers placed around us. Correct?”
“Just twenty seven?”
“No, fourteen now. Now then, Gios, you look quite a bit different now. Why is that?”
Gios didn’t cancel the spell they were crafting out of blind stubbornness. “None of your concern.”
“I’ll take a guess. To come to this world early I imagine that heavy restrictions were placed so that you could hide among the practitioner tier people and deal with them from the inside?”
“Do you–”
“And you’re using a form of possession magic to animate that doll as well as the three golems you have remaining.”
“They shouldn’t be in sight.”
“Gios… Oh you sweet summer child. I’m sure your world has druids. Or necromancers, can’t forget those. Do they let you anywhere near their inner sanctum without a fight?”
“What are you going on about–” Gios felt a pang in his head as all of his golems exploded simultaneously.
“Seems I was wrong. You aren’t Gios, though you believe yourself to be him.”
“How can I not be me?”
“Unless strictly using dangerous levels of Charm magic, Gios is likely capable of altering brains, memories and more, if given time. Are you certain that you aren’t Dwen’s shard that had their mind overwritten?” Kyrion eyed the seemed to use the same form of power Kyrie had access to.
“Fire!” Song commanded and the forest stayed quiet.
Kyrion picked Lin up while Song stood there menacingly. “Not working?”
Song focused their mana and flinched as the rebound hit him all at once. His nose began to bleed as his energy went haywire.
Kyrion then began to walk away he’d done enough damage.
“Return to the beginning where the world was fire and ash.”
“Nope!” Kyrion was not going to stay and get hit by a spell like that. He’d been right and wrong, Gios was hiding among practitioners, but he’d also placed quite a few agents all over the place.
Lin seemingly began the process of waking up as Kyrion snapped his fingers. 76 Stone golems fell from various locations to the ground and shattered simultaneously. Various triangular objects float around the debris and absorb it. In time 76 new triangular objects joined the thorns.
“Ky–”
“Lin, I need you to open the portal on the second level. It should get us to the Arena. Karl closed the dungeon off behind me. Retrieve our monster allies after we leave.”
“Already retrieved while unlikely to have been hunted I predicted your worry. They would rather die protecting you then protect themselves.”
“That’s oddly loyal.” Kyrion pivoted around a tree, his expression concerned before he proceeded down a flight of stairs.
“Well you are holding the souls of their families hostage and monster resurrection is possible. It’s the least they can do in my opinion.”
“Not as surprising and much more palpable than saying they see me as their god or something.”
“That is one faction of the bunny race that you let out relatively recently. Would you like to see the statues?”
“No. I’m good for now.” Kyion ran down the side of a wall and flew into a room with ten inert doorways.
“There should just be three.”
“Correction, you chose three, but I had to make multiple gateways to connect to your continent, and bypass the defenses you set up.”
“How did we get there in one jump then?”
“An expert with a space affinity and many more years of experience, like your new teacher. How’s that going by the way?”
“No idea, apparently when that shard of consciousness returns to me, I can work with that new knowledge if I spend time comprehending it. Why?”
“One second—Well that's not good. Use the first portal to get to the med bay. Asela’s condition has gone from stable to critical, Eden is in danger and Charles is busy fighting someone around his level.”
“Who are they fighting?”
“I have no data, but they have taken to the sky and I assume the country as such a fight starts and ends with collateral damage. 300 civilians dead and over a thousand wounded just on their arrival alone.
“What?” Kyrion’s irises seemed to morph into a spiral pattern for the briefest of moments.
“That shouldn't be possible. They came too early.” Lin looked around.
“No, it’s time. It seems that we’ve lost our last two days in an instant.”
Kyrion closed his eyes and sat Lin down. “I’m going to check on Asela and the others, you need to hide in the safehouse. Adapting will take time, and I’m probably going to need to see you alive.”
Lin nodded in understanding. “Fine, but if you die again, I won’t forgive you this time.”