“Give me a reason I shouldn’t immediately kill you,” Rakaz’s animosity turned up.
“You can’t,” Leo snapped back.
I rolled my eyes, “Would you guys like us to leave so you can threaten each other more intimately?”
August let out a one-off “Ha!” at my statement and they somewhat calmed down.
“Stop the carriage!” Rakaz yelled out and the driver pulled on the horses’ reins to do as asked. “I’m afraid I can no longer accommodate this man,” he nudged his head toward Leo. “Furthermore, you two are no longer welcome because of your connections with him. I know not which world you three hail from, but I suggest to return and leave Pargat to its business.”
Before I could blink, August was stopping Leo from drawing his blade. Sometimes I forgot how ridiculous quintessential energy was. “Use your head,” he told the paladin then turned to Rakaz, “you too. Both of you are on the same side and want the same things, but are just going about it differently.”
August sat back down for a while, “While it’s true we don’t know how powerful the Star Sorcerers are, I quite doubt they’re enough to deal with this man,” he nudged his head at me, “and I myself pack quite the punch. I know these are mere words and might not convince you. You can test our power anytime you so desire,” August kept himself focused on the bald grand warlock, “We offer you another chance to rethink your decision.”
Mana amassed through him and dark swirling energies could be seen. Dillon and Miranda began scooting away from him. “And?” he asked August. “If I am convinced of your power, what makes you think I’d trust a bunch of strangers stronger than me?”
I guffawed, “You already did that when we walked out the dungeon and met you at your home, buddy. Well, we’re not begging for your trust. Good luck, grand warlock, Rakaz. And you two,” I turned to Dillon and Miranda, “run your mana through the connection if you need me,” I said, placing Light Link on them both.
With that, our ensemble became smaller. Well, we can certainly get to the capital or whatever faster than him, but I’ll be damned if I knew where it was. What a pain…
Just when I thought those words, I felt Dillon crazily weaving mana in and out of the Light Link. And soon after, Miranda did the same. Looking at the carriage, I could see Rakaz’ mana flaring even higher and the boy and woman’s life essence slowly deteriorating. Unreal… I immediately cast Eden. “August, you mind rescuing Dillon and Miranda? Like, right now. Kill Rakaz if you like.”
He nodded and teleported – well, he sprinted – over to the carriage. In a couple seconds, Dillon and Miranda simply stepped out the carriage, and so did August afterward. I stopped channelling Eden at that point and instead chose to really focus on inspecting their life essences. Killing someone was one thing, but doing it with shadow magic? I couldn’t help but feel like I should be worried about them.
Rakaz suddenly darted out the carriage and dark energies around his hands formed, and so did the other warlocks. Not only was this a big spell, but it was also a group spell. For something of unknown power, my best bet would be to simply bring everyone into the void and leave a clone behind.
But August tapped me on the shoulder and shook his ahead as if he knew what I was thinking. “No need, bro,” he stepped in front of me and in a second’s time, the armour we made to look like the great demonic apparition that Emily showed me had equipped itself onto him; it was the armour we used to murder en masse while we were in Ulanos. But now, it would simply be used to amplify the fear an enemy felt when facing off against us.
When the first warlock fell to his knees and another to his backside, I could tell August cast Mind Break. The last standing warlock and Rakaz were frozen stiff, yet trembling. Miranda lost the strength in her legs, despite the spell not being directed at her. Dillon watched on with anticipation. After August made one step forward, two warlocks passed out. Now, only Rakaz and a kneeling warlock remained. They had not even the means to beg for mercy as fear held a titan grip upon their entire beings.
Aside from Emily, August was the only person I knew who could kill me at the drop of a hat should he so wish; I’d never see it coming. The man was a monster of unequalled strength. Unless I cowered in the void or stacked Timedial heavily, I’d no chance of escaping death if it meant August was my enemy. I was just happy that he was on my side.
Suddenly, August’s armour and longsword disappeared. The strange look on Rakaz’s face told me Mind Break was also deactivated. All four of them suddenly began floating and they were tossed into the carriage like bags of garbage.
Once again, the importance of mind magic concreted itself. Despite some other essential spells, one could be a most fearsome mage by mastering mind magic.
“How are we to find the shadow heart now?” Leo moped a little, then looked at Dillon. The boy certainly seemed like an encyclopaedia on all things Baruum, and knew much more than he let the Order of Warlocks believe.
“I don’t feel like getting invaded, so I’m not going to help you,” the kid shrugged.
Leo inhaled deeply, then slowly let it out. “Eric, August, I thank you for your concern, and I thank you for your help. But I wish not to intertwine your fates with mine any longer.” He began glowing a soft golden light.
Before long, August did the same, “You and mother saved my ass when I overloaded on quint, so I owe you one.”
Both of them planned to find the Star of Fahzul and reclaim it themselves. Sheesh! “Alright, alright, wait up.”
“You wait up!” Miranda grabbed me by the shoulder. “What do you three plan to do?”
August and I locked eyes for a second, then looked toward her. “Find the most heavily fortified place and kill our way in until we get the heart,” he clarified what they agreed upon.
Miranda’s face contorted, then a titter escaped her, “That’s impossible!”
Leo, with a less than patient expression simply sprinted off, disappearing in the blink of an eye. August followed closely, and Miranda couldn’t help but gape as the dust settled in their paths.
“Dillon,” I ruffled the boy’s hair, “you care about this country’s safety, right?”
“What’re you getting at?” he answered condescendingly.
I smiled, “Well, listen, those two are incredibly strong. They’re going to get the Star of Fahzul, no matter what. If you tell me where it’s located, they can go there directly instead of killing innocent soldiers.”
“I doubt they’re that powerful,” he scoffed. “There no way they’ll get past elite guards, the entire Order of Warlocks, and the Star Sorcerers. So, there’s no way I’m squealing. Let them become martyrs!” He folded his arms and looked away.
I closed my eyes for a bit, “Then I’m sorry, Dillon. I hope you can forgive us.” I summoned a clone, “I’ll take you back to the temple. What will you do, Miranda?”
She took quite a while before confirming that she’d like to tag along with me to see for herself what measure of power we touted.
After a few minutes, I caught up with August and Leo laying waste to guards in the nearest city. Well, they didn’t actually kill anyone; there was no need. However, many of the guards simply ran away when they were faced with overwhelming odds. The body-count that had the streets littered with unconscious or injured soldiers were in the hundreds.
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Miranda could hardly believe it. She saw with her own eyes the gargantuan strength that those quint-users boasted. Warlocks, who were much more feared than even the toughest soldiers, were more ineffective in doing anything against August and Leo because of their magic resistance. Her hands clasped together and blocked her mouth, “T-tell them to stop! I’ll lead you to the Star Sorcerers!” she claimed desperately. The screams of brave and coward men alike filled the air with a tense overtone, and the jarring bangs of dented plate when Leo and August’s fists smashed into the enemies’ chest armours made it obvious to those within earshot that the Empire’s men were outmatched.
I placed a Frost Nova on where I felt the Light Links since tracking them visually was impossible without Timedial. The spell was basically useless against them, but August knew it was just a sign from me to stop, and Leo realised August halted the fighting and quickly did the same. They looked up at me in question when I descended with Miranda. For her sake, I told her to act scared, like she was a prisoner. Didn’t want others thinking she was a traitor.
After a quick five-second channel of Vivify, the soldiers were all in tip top shape, although I couldn’t say the same about their armours. We sped off in the direction Miranda pointed us to afterward, to the capital of the Baruum Empire, called Orokell. After about an hour of flight, we came across a vibrant and bustling city. It almost looked like a town from Hyzek with their bright colours.
Hmm, so this is the centre of the Empire. Now, I wonder where the heart is… As we ventured farther inside the city, I discovered that I was an idiot for not looking in the centre of the city. Hell, the castle could be seen miles away, but I refused to believe they’d actually house the damn heart in the most conspicuous place available.
“That’s it, there!” Leo exclaimed softly so as not to draw attention. “I can feel its closeness. Mother’s heart is in that fortress!”
“So, listen, before we go in there, I’ve gotta ask,” I cut Leo short of his excitement.
“When mother gets her heart back, how are you sure she won’t wipe out the people of Hyzek?” August finished my sentence like he knew what I was thinking. Perhaps he did.
“I,” Leo seemed to fumble with his thoughts, “in reality, do not know. I know that I trust her, however, no one but mother can say for sure what she’d do. However, I do know that the heart there is undoubtedly a part of her, and so, I only wish to return it to its rightful place.”
“How about we ask her right now? We can return here anytime,” I advised.
Leo was clearly unhappy about our lack of resolve in the matter, but should our doubts prove us right, it would mean the death of millions. And unlike the shadow beasts of Umbral, Hyzek’s warriors would not reincarnate. So, we went back to mother’s nest, looking at the shadowy waters with a new addition to the team – Miranda.
I felt the entire nest shake a little, almost as if mother had clear distrust in anyone from Pargat, yet, she yielded, noticing that Leo, August, and I were in her presence as well.
“Mother of shadow beasts, you saved my life when I was surely on the road to death, and so, I am indebted to you and wish to take your side in recovering your heart,” August explained, showing zero fear. “With that being said, I have my concerns about what the heart means to you, what will happen when joined with it, and what you choose to do with it. To simplify, how do we know you won’t go on a rampage and abuse your power? If you do get power, that is.”
Mother, as far as we’d seen, did not have a physical body, and therefore had no mouth to speak, but this time, a wispy body manifested, or something of the sort. It looked like nothing but a cloak covering a humanoid figure, but there wasn’t anything inside the cloak, just a strange darkness. “I may show visions of the past, but there is no way to prove its truth. It is as shallow as words the words I speak now, nevertheless, my heart, in essence, is my body. Once reunited with it, I may move on, at long last.”
“Move on?” Leo asked with suspicion.
The apparition turned to Leo and uttered a single word, “Perish.”
“Why would you die if you get your heart back? That doesn’t make sense!” August pointed out whilst Leo simply seemed to be disconnected from his own mind.
“Dark magic, a magic that should not be known to beings of this world is used by those who hold my heart.”
Shadow magic…
“This dark magic is the hand of death itself, and my heart has been saturated with it. If I am to regain my heart and form my body, the magic will kill me. I’ve prolonged my death in hopes that I can take form one last time, so I ask, bring my heart back.”
Immediately after, the cloaked shadow disappeared. “Well,” I raised my brows and nodded my head periodically, “that was some fucked up shit.”
Finally, we returned to Orokell, only to be welcomed by an outrageously gigantic and powerful creature. It towered over the entire city, taller than even the highest building in the Order of Mages. Hell, it gave Hydra competition in height, but it was slender. Its body looked to be part flesh, part flame and covering the shoulders, head, and wrists were black armours that seemed alive, moving freely like water elementals. Anything below its waist was like a whirlpool of ecru mist, allowing it freer movement than that of regular legs.
Its horned helmet spiked into the air and its ghastly glowing eyes took notice of us the second we appeared. Folks were running away frantically, screaming about legends of old and the prophecy. And eventually, we would overhear that this new baddie was in fact, the Avatar of Chaos that the Order of Warlocks originally wanted to summon.
Interesting how they did that in just the few minutes we were away. The titan looked at us for a while, before brandishing a sword in one arm, and a shield made entire of magical skulls in the next. However, the creature didn’t attack us, and instead focused entirely on the barrier that protected the castle.
With every strike, we could feel the Star of Fahzul’s shield weakening. Leo did not take kindly to this. Before I could blink, he was in the air, slicing along the throat of the Avatar of Chaos and then descending to its sword arm, severing the lanky creature’s hand from its arm. But, by the time Leo landed and looked back up to see how much damage he’d done, the entity had regenerated perfectly.
Leo jumped once more, but was slammed away by the skull-embedded shield. He was hit so hard he landed outside the city, but according to Light Link, he didn’t sustain any difficult injuries besides simple fractures, cuts and lacerations.
The Avatar of Chaos went right back to assaulting the barrier, almost refusing to cause unnecessary damage to the surrounding areas. “They did it!” Miranda’s eyes opened when she came to a realisation. “They gathered the materials and actually summoned the Avatar of Chaos!”
Interesting… So, what now? Does the barrier being destroyed mean the heart would be destroyed? Better play safe! I cast Banish on the monster, but it simply wasn’t enough. The spell itself was shackled by the fact that it was a spell, it couldn’t go past a certain level of power, so I opted for manipulation instead. I flew up to the creature’s shoulder, grabbed hold of a spike growing out of it and stacked Purist, then used void manipulation to push its big ass into its own void plane.
I’d imagine whoever was controlling it would be confused as hell. I then sent a clone to heal and retrieve Leo. Once he joined us, I brought them into the void with me and simply entered the castle, using Leo as our navigator to find the heart. He led us downstairs, into a room locked behind magically constructed doors. Six men, clothed in carmine robes were knackered and trying to catch their breaths. In the centre of them, was a dark violet mass of muscly flesh.
“So,” I came out the void, “are you gentlemen the Star… Oh, pardon me, lady and gentlemen,” I corrected myself upon noticing the one woman amongst them, “Star Sorcerers?”
They looked at each other, rather startled. With Mana Perception active, I was ready to weed out any lies they may spew. On the subject of mana, they were rather low on it. None of them chose to answer, but they also knew very well that they couldn’t defend themselves should we choose to attack.
“Okay, keep your secrets, then. Let me just get to the reason we’re here, yeah?” I looked right at the heart.
“We’re here for the Star of Fahzul,” Leo announced. “I am reclaiming what you people refused to return.”
One of the men laughed, and a couple others joined him. “Might as well kill us, lad. We’ll die anyway if the emperor finds out someone took the Star of Fahzul from us.”
“Aye,” the woman agreed, “it’s obvious you bunch must be strong to make it past the barrier and the great door, and it’s not like we have the strength to battle anyone right now.”
“Make it quick, eh?” Yet another agreed.
August jumped down to where the heart was located and simply touched it to put the item into his inventory. Thank Hydra’s ass for Yunaris’ world magic because the heart was the size of the boulder that I first found Emily sitting on. It made me wonder just how big the shadow beast mother actually was.
“Why are you all so eager to die?” Miranda questioned them. “Aren’t you the greatest sorcerers alive? The emperor can’t do you anything.”
One of them scoffed, “Funny that someone from the very group the emperor uses to threaten us would say that.”
“Oh, it’s not so anymore. As of now, the Order of Warlocks are no longer allied with the emperor. It’s us who wanted the Star of Fahzul destroyed in the first place. Who do you think summoned the Avatar of Chaos?”
Their eyes opened wide, “You’re telling us, we’re free to go and we have no reason to fear the emperor nor the Order of Warlocks?”
“Yes, although we may have just doomed the Baruum Empire with this stunt,” Miranda groaned regrettably, shards of doubt still lodged in her mind.
I healed the Star Sorcerers drained stamina and used Transference to refill their mana pools. After teleporting Miranda wherever she wanted to go, we set course to the shadow beast mother with her massive heart in tow.