“How high is the portal anyway?” Ms. Tara asked as they hovered four thousand feet in the air in the cool breeze of the jungle’s night.

The gigantic black hole in the sky was still a good eleven thousand feet above them and Achilleia responded as such. Swirling clouds of deep-blue ascended essence surrounded its edges as if to keep it open and he could almost sense the suppressive power of the portal all the way from where he was.

“Now this… is a stable portal,” Jerome said. “Not the one we closed up a few days ago.”

“Will it take as much time as it did the smaller one to shut this down,” one of the twin’s voices reached him from their underground hideout.

“If you can inject as much Light Force as it requires into it, it’ll take half the time, probably,” he replied. “But there are many layered steps to take to achieve that. That’s what’ll take time.”

“We trust you, Jerome,” they both said — a little more endearing than was necessary.

Forester cursed through the comms and the twins tittered naughtily. Jerome shook his head at their antics. They had broken up into two teams — one team to help infuse Charybdis with energy and the other? Jerome had no idea what Forester wanted to achieve by being a spectator out here but he’d wait to see if he would join the fight — truly join the fight.

“No one rises above nine thousand feet,” he said, addressing the Royal Sprouts. “You’re the only ones who can rise that high and I bet you’d be tempted to… don’t. That portal would tear you apart if you do.”

“You do not command us, cunt!” Forester growled into the comms device he had given them for the mission. His voice was far too loud for comfort. “But you’re finally admitting your weaknesses. It’s good you know your place.”

Jerome didn’t bother responding to him, concentrating on organizing the other attack teams.

“Shut up, Forester,” one of the twins said in a lazy voice.

“Jerome can actually reach ten thousand feet,” the other said.

“And you do not have to hold the comms device directly in front of your mouth. Put it behind your ear and it’ll stick,” another person said, a male. What was his name again?

“Shut up, Solon!” Forester barked again.

Whoever named the poor guy Solon did not know what they were doing. He felt sorry for the Sprout but there was nothing he could do. But the name did sound powerful so there was that.

Jerome tuned them out. “Are you in position, Lang?”

“Affirmative,” came Lang’s voice through his ring.

“Selene?”

“Affirmative. But I think the Baelors are having a hard time following orders.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jerome said with a smile. “They’ll fall in line when the battle begins. What about the other teams, Sheela?”

“Teams, report,” Sheela’s voice reached him.

“In position.” A lot of voices came through.

“Get ready to attack then.” Jerome took a deep breath and activated his ring.

Runes covered his entire body the next moment and complex geometric spell frames surrounded him. Two seconds later, the air above the Messengers’ camp shattered with a resounding boom. A thick cloud of white-blue pure essence enveloped the air above the base and the Messengers began running around to get to their stations. They had really set up a large base here and it was a large one.

“They are pretty organized,” Csala said.

“That they are,” Nyx said. “Ooh! Is this your Dragon’s Wrath, Jerome.”

Jerome coughed uncomfortably. “The cloud of essence hasn’t even cleared yet. How can you see through it?”

“I can see through anything. But that’s not a dragon, Jerome” — he could hear the mirth in her voice — “Why isn’t it a dragon?”

“You’re talking way too much, Nyx,” he said. “You’ll ruin that aloof and mysterious image you’re known for.” He almost felt her shrug.

“The others can’t hear us.”

“Our teammates can. Tell her, Achilleia.”

“No they can’t,” Achilleia said. “This is a private connection.”

“Since when did both of you start ganging up against me?”

They laughed together. Strange. But he was glad they were getting along.

The cloud of essence was immediately and mysteriously sucked into itself. And a white-blue gigantic armored warrior, holding a spear stood midair above the camp. The Messengers aimed their canons and shot at it right as it shot down toward the earth.

“You’ve improved, Xerae. But much of it is because of your ring though.”

That’s not an improvement then. A faster casting time is still a welcome development — even if it is by relying on my ring.

“The Dragon’s Wrath,” Bram drawled into his comms unit. “I actually thought I’d be seeing a dragon, Jerome.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint you, mate. No dragon’s today. And I did say it is one of the avatars of the Dragon’s Wrath, not the full technique itself.”

“Yeah, right. Forester made a dragon.”

Ouch.

Jerome could hear the sounds of battle from his end. All around the camp various small battles had started. If he was lucky enough, no Judge would show up. Jerome reached out to everyone again.

“All teams, be on alert. We all know what the Judges look like. They are big, tall, and extremely dense to the senses. However, if you sense anyone dressed like me, you run like your life depends on it… because it does.”

“Affirmative,” came the many voices of the team leaders.

“And if you see an Elite Judge, Jerome, you let me know, okay?” Nyx said, her voice laced with a little worry.

“You’ve got it.”

The avatar of the Dragon’s Wrath was rampaging across the camp, effectively tying down much of the Messengers. A lot of them were dying but their numbers didn’t seem to be reducing. Jerome decided to up his game, sending his intent through his ring. The avatar’s helmet opened up in front of its eyes and a storm of essence rage behind them.

Twin beams of light shot out of its eyes the next moment and it drew a line of fire that was more than a mile long. The avatar kept at it, cannons exploded as its beams of light touched them. Messengers were disintegrated on contact and explosions rattled the surroundings.

“Jerome, the portal.”

Jerome looked up. He could see points of golden light appear inside the dark portal but knew the Messengers didn’t just fall out of the portal. No, they were teleported to the ground beneath the portal. Just as soon as he saw the lights they winked out.

“Induct phase-shift,” Jerome said and thunder rumbled across the sky — above them to be specific.

“What’s happening?” Ms. Tara asked from beside him.

“I’m disrupting the entanglement to destabilize the portal!”

Lightning shot toward him from the portal and Jerome swerved away.

“Is it supposed to do that?” Ms. Tara asked.

Jerome shrugged. “They probably know I’m doing something.” More lightning shot at him from the portal and he had to dodge again and again. “Get away from here, Ms. Tara. Join the others. I’ll deal with this.”

“Will you be okay?” she asked, concerned.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, smiling confidently at her.

Jerome watched her go before focusing on the portal again. The night sky had turned chaotic as a storm built up in the sky.

“Charybdis is maintaining the phase-shift, Xerae, but not for long. The portal is too powerful.”

We only have to destabilize it long enough for the world to correct the warped space. It will take them too long to reopen it — and that’s if we give them reason to.

A greater force than he had ever experienced pulled him to the ground the next moment. Jerome heard Ms. Tara’s voice from afar as she was pulled downward too. He crashed into a pool of lava in the ground and sank into it.

“Ms. Tara, are you alright?” he asked, pulling himself out of the now cool and hardened earth. His core had sucked away all the heat from the pool.

“Don’t baby her, Jerome,” Nyx said.

“I’m okay,” Ms. Tara said.

“You shouldn’t worry about others when you’re in danger,” a new voice reached him from behind.

Jerome turned around to see a blonde-haired young woman dressed in a long coat resembling his — complete with lapels and all. Her deep blue eyes were just as otherworldly as the portal floating in the sky. It was almost strange seeing the clothing on her but his eyes didn’t betray his emotions. The destruction behind her did much to give power to her image as facilities exploded here and there. She just stood there like it was another day in her life.

Her long coat was dark blue, he noticed, and there were emblems embroidered on its chest area. The design of the long coat was quite exquisite, not something he would say was done by human hands. They probably had machines to help them accomplish some level of clothing design that would be impossible in Vorthe, he had no idea.

“And who might you be?” he asked.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Your doom.” She shot toward him.

Jerome teleported away. “You are fast,” he said from three hundred feet away from her. “But not that fast.”

She came at him again and he teleported away right before black flames enveloped the whole area. Nyx shot down toward the Elite Judge and a loud boom shook the ground. The black flames covering the whole area prevented him from seeing the battle. Not only could he not see through something so essence-rich, the flames were distorting space.

“When will I wield power like—” Boom!

Something hit him out of the sky. Jerome grunted as he crashed into debris after burning debris. When his momentum was finally broken and he looked up, a Judge was almost on him, flying through the sky toward his position.

The avatar of the Dragon’s Wrath smacked him with his spear into the ground.

Jerome got up to observe the new foe. He wasn’t dressed like the normal Judges he had encountered. This one didn’t wear the long coat like the others. He had on a leather cuirass, pants, and sturdy boots. His powerful arms were without sleeves but two heavy-looking braces were wrapped around his forearms. And he wore the signature skull-shaped helmet of the Judges.

“That hurt… a lot,” the Judge said, groaning as he struggled to stand up.

He was taller and bigger than Jerome thought they could grow. From the distance between them, he could see he didn’t reach up to the Judge’s waist. Heavy boots thumped the ground toward him and Jerome pushed his astonishment aside. There was no time to be shocked by the impressive size of his enemy. He quickly covered himself in his armor and began channeling essence underneath it.

The jades in his ring sparked to life and he prepared himself to take a beating.

“You may think me a mere Judge,” the giant brute said in a deep rumbling voice, his thick accent prevalent in every word. “But I advise you to think again.”

An Elite? Another Elite!? Jerome asked, startled. What the fuck!?

The giant shot toward him. He was way faster than should have been possible! Jerome’s suit of armor vibrated slightly and he dodged just in time. Something smashed into his previous position, pulverizing the earth. It flew into the Elite Judge’s waiting hand and Jerome took a moment to scan the weapon.

“It’s called a—”

I know what a chain-axe is, Achilleia.

“Well, have fun dueling with him.”

You’re not going to help?

“Oh! I wasn’t aware you needed my help, Xerae.” Jerome could already hear the ‘do it yourself’ lecture coming on.

Forget about it. I’ll figure something out.

If only Charybdis was in his hands right now. It was engaged with shutting down the portal and that was a procedure he didn’t want to interfere with.

“They might be powerful but they’re still mortals, Xerae. You can handle it.”

The big guy turned around but Jerome teleported away from his line of sight. “Run like the little mouse you are. I will get you, soon enough.”

With Suzie, Jerome sliced into his booted foot, right where his left ankle should be. It felt like he was trying to cut through a diamond with a kitchen knife. The axe came swinging back toward him but he dodged.

The giant brute was fast, and it was only through pure skill that Jerome was able to dodge the barrage of swings from the axe. Said axe was charged with ascended essence and one cut from it could drain him dry.

“Or make said giant brute control your healing. Ascended elements can do a lot of things.”

Fuck!

The axe came at him from above and Jerome moved to the side. The giant landed a punch to his midriff the next moment. Jerome was hurled into the distance. He groaned in pain from the punch and coughed up blood.

“Are you alright, Xerae?” Achilleia asked with concern.

I’m fine. Can’t take too much of that though.

The giant leaped after him, covering hundreds of feet in a leap. Jerome prepared to teleport but an idea came to him. He readied himself to materialize the pod of Hezvar when the giant was close enough. But Nyx crashed into him from above, nearly crushing him to pulp.

“That hurt!” he roared in pain.

They crashed through a series of damaged buildings before their momentum came to a stop.

“Sorry but this Elite is a little too hard to deal with.” She spat out blood.

“Are you okay?” Jerome asked. He had never seen her looking so disheveled before. “I’ve never seen you bleed before.”

Her hair was in disarray and her black gown torn in various places. She had on a black cuirass made out of black flames that licked the air around her with an intensity that made him think it would explode at any moment.

The giant exploded into the building the next moment. His chain-axe shot out of the dust he raised, aiming for Jerome’s head. Jerome dodged out of the way but Nyx’s black flames overpowered the axe in an instant.

The giant roared in pain. Nyx spat a globe of black flame at him but space distorted around him, pushing the flames to the side.

Alarm bells rang in his head the next moment and Jerome teleported away. Five slashes ripped into the ground where he once stood and the female Elite Judge sashayed in from behind the giant brute, holding a blade made out of warped space. She stood beside the giant as the black flames eating away at his chain-axe died down.

“I assigned a blue-black color to her void blade so you can see it,” Achilleia said and he could see it was so. “Your nanites will preserve that color and isolate it when she makes use of the blade.”

So I don’t see illusory or fake blades where there aren’t any. Thanks, Achilleia.

“Hmm. We’re ready for the next phase, Xerae.”

That was like music to his ears. He had known this would take some time but experiencing it felt like it was taking too long. Even though only a minute and some seconds had passed since they began.

“Generate quantum fluctuation,” he said out loud and the portal thrummed in the sky.

The sound reached them like reverberating booms through the partly destroyed roof of the building, vibrating everything around them. The female Elite Judge was startled and looked up in shock.

“What did you do!?” she asked and Jerome shrugged.

“Nothing you should concern yourself with,” he said.

The portal thrummed again. This time with more force than before. Debris fell off the walls of the building and the walls that weren’t destroyed made cracking sounds.

The giant stood up heavily. “He could never do anything to destroy the portal.”

“It sure looks like it from where I stand, Timofey,” the blonde-haired, female Elite Judge said in a light but still heavily accented tone. “Remember I’m the one who wields space here.”

The giant groaned in response.

“You take the girl, I’ll take the brute,” Nyx said. “You seem more suitable to deal with her.”

“Deal.” Jerome cracked his neck in preparation. “Make sure to make him bleed.”

“With pleasure.”

Both teams rushed each other and the building exploded from their crash. Jerome had to use his suit to bend space around him so he could take a blow from blondie. She was far faster than the giant. She couldn’t teleport like he could but he could see the warping of space around her, like Nyx’s black flames, she generated a covering of spatial barrier that looked like writhing flames to his eyes. It felt unnatural. And because of it, he couldn’t get a straight hit.

Achilleia, do you think my plan would work? He felt her scan his mind.

“Against the brute, I would have been a hundred percent certain. Against her, though, I’m only sixty three percent certain it would work.”

Above average. I’ll take it.

“You’ll have to get close to her to do it, Xerae. She could take your life as quickly as you could teleport away. Well, she can’t take your life but you know what I mean.”

Got it.

They fought all through the base, destroying everything they came in contact with and Jerome carefully and patiently reduced the distance of his teleportations. Little by little she got closer and closer, and more aggressive. Jerome chanced a blow at her midriff and she caught his arm, twisted it behind him, and slammed him to the ground.

“I’m a little disappointed, you know?” she said close to his ear. “I was promised a monster but all I get is a calculating, sleazy, sacred artist. I want to see the red-eyed Spawn of Madru everyone’s talking about.”

“Monsters are calculating,” Jerome bit out in pain. If she continued twisting his arm, his shoulder would pop. Even wearing his armor, he couldn’t budge her. She was planted firmly above him like an immovable object.

Jerome concentrated on the pod of Hezvar inside his body. In its immaterial state, it was harder to use it to do what he wanted it for.

“I’ve prepared a special place for you nonetheless,” the blonde said. “My monster playpen. You’ll love it—”

The pod burst out of his wrist like a spike and very nearly impaled the Judge. She shot away from him in an instant, freeing him in the process. Jerome teleported behind her with the thin black spike now in his hand.

“What the fuck is that!?” she asked, shooting farther away from him. “That’s space! Space in physical form!”

Huh? He thought. “Just a little gift I prepared for the likes of you,” he said from beside her, having teleported to her position. Hearing that the pod was space in physical form was a little confusing.

Is the pod not made from Mythril, Achilleia? He asked but Achilleia gave him no answer.

“Who are you!?” the blonde asked, looking at him as if seeing him for the first time. Jerome vanished and she ran again. She was fast, and covered a vast distance with every step. “I won’t let you touch me with that thing! It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt!”

“You can feel it?” Jerome asked, matching her speed with teleportation. He was getting confused the more she spoke.

Multiple explosions went off in the distance to the north and Jerome knew the Sprouts assigned to that location had succeeded in taking out the enemy there. The explosion distracted the blonde and he took the opportunity to get close to her. She shot backward but Jerome teleported away.

She looked back, noticing he wasn’t following. He watched her expression change as she discovered that something was amiss. But it was too late. Multiple explosives went off in her position the next moment and her cry of pains were drowned by the thunderous sounds.

“I can’t believe that worked?” Nyx’s voice reached him through his ring. “I thought she could bend space and prevent the fire from the explosion from reaching” — she groaned and a boom shook the world on her side — “reaching her. Fucking brute!”

“Energy overload, Nyx,” Jerome said with a smile. “Fire is energy itself and ‘could’ theoretically create disruptions in the blonde’s connection to her space-warping abilities.”

“Could… right.”

Jerome felt gravity return to its original intensity and relaxed a bit. But the blonde shot out of the blazing inferno created by his explosives. She shot toward him like a missile and the closer she got, the heavier he felt. If she was controlling gravity intrinsically, he would have had respect for her skill. But this was no learned skill. Just an ability she could turn on and off when she so pleased.

“You don’t learn, do you?” he said.

When she got within twelve yards of him, Jerome materialized the entire pod of Hezvar in front of him. The cube was massive! Bigger than it was the last time he saw it. He felt the oppression of gravity ease up a little, like the Elite was trying to backpedal, but it was too late. She slammed into the pod with the force of a freight train. He heard bones shatter and the sucking sound of muscles struggling to contract.

But there was no aftershock like he expected. It was like nothing significant happened. Jerome walked around the large floating black cube to see what had become of her. There was nothing recognizable about her anymore. She was just a pile of crushed meat and bones. Blood was spilled everywhere but the cube was left unstained.

“I don’t know if there are worse ways to go than this but at least this was instant.”

He gave the pod a closer look, scrutinizing the alien-looking artifact carefully. He could sense nothing out of the ordinary. Even touching it gave him no new insight.

“I once told you, Xerae, that you are an even bigger mystery than the dragons, remember?”

Yes…?

“Well, it seems… ‘She’ has done something to transform your pod. Clearly she made it possible for you to bond with artifacts the way you do. It’s all making sense now.”

Jerome knew who the ‘She’ Achilleia was talking about was. The mind-calming stone was many things and predictable wasn’t one of them. He was reminded as such again.

So she turned the pod inside me into space? As in the literal thing? How is that even… no, what process did she even use to get it done!? Asking how it was done would be a stupid question at this point — this was the mind-calming stone afterall.

Achilleia gave him a mental shrug. “Well, it’s a lot more powerful than it was, that’s for sure. Because Mythril wouldn’t have done that to a Judge. And just so you know, she isn’t dead.”

What!? He looked back at the pile of harshed meat still dripping fresh blood on the grass. How is that possible!?

“Jerome?” the twins called out to him. “We have a problem.”