“The sounds of battle are such a unique thing,” said Eveline, a note of appreciation playing across her voice. “Weapons clashing, people screaming. Anger and agony, death and an unmatched verve for life. I’ve always found it fascinating.”
Zeke ignored her as he ducked beneath a massive blow meant to decapitate him. The Knight of Adontis who opposed him was under the influence of the familiar transformation skill that enhanced his size – and physical attributes – many times over, so he towered over even Zeke’s colossal form.
But for one of the first times since ascending to the Eternal Realm, Zeke was faster. He owed that to his twin domain skills, [Hell on Earth] and [Burden of Sovereignty]. For more than a hundred yards all around him, hellfire burned and corruption filled the air. Meanwhile, the [Burden of Sovereignty] weighed down on his enemies while enhancing his allies. As a result, the movements of the opposing army of Knights and infantry were sluggish and lacked power. At the same time, the kobolds within the boundaries of Zeke’s domain blazed with bright red runes that gave them unmatched potency.
And they used it extremely well.
Aside from Zeke’s standstill with the champion – who was level seventy-five, which made him the highest-level foe Zeke had ever faced – the battle progressed with inevitable certainty. They were going to win. For the first time ever, the kobolds could individually match the Knights, and with that increased ability, their cohesive tactics were even more effective.
Out of the corner of his eye, Zeke saw a group of kobolds – called a talon, he’d learned – surround a powerful Knight. The woman lashed out with her massive sword, but she met only the kobolds [Shield Wall], which flashed with mana and light upon impact. As she rebounded from the blow, the kobolds brought their spears to bear, stabbing with unerring accuracy. Her armor deflected some of the damage, but there were so many spears that some were bound to get through. On top of that, she endured a steady barrage of [Spear of Memories] from the second line of kobolds.
Her fall was certain.
The kobolds advanced with inevitability.
It was enough to make Zeke appreciate just how powerful his army could be. And it wasn’t an isolated fight, either. All around him, similar battles raged. The beastkin had adopted the kobolds’ tactics, but they weren’t nearly as efficient. Nor were they, on the whole, as highly leveled as the lizard-people. As a result, their casualties were higher. Yet, they persisted, and their efforts were effective as well.
“Nobody but you,” Eveline reminded him as he aimed a horizontal hammer-blow at his foe. It hit with a loud clang that sent the Knight staggering backward a few steps, but they quickly recovered, kicking out at Zeke. He took the attack on his hip, dislodging bits of rock and metal. But it was a minor inconvenience.
At the same time, he saw Pudge leap upon the Knight’s back and rake two instances of [Netherclaw] across his shoulders. That elicited a response, and the Knight howled as he tried to throw Pudge free.
But by that point, he was already gone, using [Shadow Evisceration] as a means of escape and to chain attacks into his next target, which was a group of Knights who seemed intent on helping their champion. An explosion of shadow and corruption swept through them, and though Zeke couldn’t see his companion’s actions, he saw the results.
Detached limbs and a cloud of blood and rent flesh filled the air as he completed the skill, appearing only a moment later and sprinting off to another battle. Ten Knights – all lower-leveled, but still deadly – fell to the ground. Some were dead, but others were simply missing limbs. Either way, they were out of the fight for now.
Zeke wanted to step back and appreciate the performance of his army, but there were two problems with that. First, it wasn’t all good. All around, there were kobolds and beastkin being wounded or dying. His skills were powerful, but they weren’t foolproof. On top of that, they only extended so far, and those unfortunate members of the army that found themselves outside of his circle of influence were having a much worse time of it.
Especially the centaurs who, due to their hit-and-run fighting style, were rarely being affected by his domains. They were still effective – after all, they made for a powerful cavalry force – but the Knights had plenty of countermeasures to slow them down. Pikes, ditches they’d dug, and makeshift palisades were very effective in counteracting the deadly stampede of the centaurs. Fortunately, the half-horse, half-human creatures had a few skills they’d developed to overcome those obstacles, but they weren’t always successful. Instead, they depended on surprise and superior mobility for their success, and as a result, the effectiveness of the cavalry declined with every passing hour.
The second reason Zeke couldn’t admire his army’s clear advantage was the fact that they all depended on him to at least tie up the enemy’s most powerful combatants. Zeke had already killed a couple of level seventy warriors, but the newcomer had proven to be his match. Even with his twin domains weakening the powerful Knight, he was more than up to the task of fending Zeke off.
But then again, aside from his domains, Zeke hadn’t used any of his own skills yet. Normally, his physical prowess was enough to see him through most battles, so he’d adopted a strategy of holding his more active skills back until absolutely necessary. Using those at precisely the right time was often enough to tip the balance of any battle.
Such an opportunity presented itself when, suddenly, silvery light burst from the Knight. Over the space of the next second, it swept across the battlefield, stopping only after it reached fifty yards. Then, it created a dome centered around the powerful Knight. More distressingly, Zeke felt both of his domains weaken, then shatter, creating a backlash in his mind and soul. At the same time, he stumbled with the loss of power, and that provided a brief opening for the Knight to land an overhand attack that cut through Zeke’s shoulder, severing his collarbone as it sliced into his lung. It was only due to his high durability that it stopped before completely bisecting his torso.
Zeke recovered from the backlash quickly, then activated [Shifting Sands]. Doing so extended his agony, but it also gave him time to react and recognize the effects of the Knight’s dome of moonlight.
The sudden cessation of Zeke’s skills hadn’t just affected him. Instead, it had robbed his allies of the enhancements they’d so far depended on to give them an advantage. As a result, the shocked kobolds and beastkin were suddenly vulnerable to counterattack, and the Knights responded with vicious fury, flipping the battle on its head. The kobolds recovered with some alacrity, yet by that point, the damage was done.
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Dozens had already fallen, but many more would soon follow.
Zeke needed to do something, and with the time dilation provided by [Shifting Sands], he had an opportunity to do just that. As he slid through the earth, he activated [Cambion’s Awakening], mending his colossal form with an influx of earth mana. Meanwhile, he tried to reactivate his interrupted domain skills.
They did not respond.
So, Zeke pushed harder, infusing the skills with his Will. The Knight’s domain shuddered, but it held fast.
That was when Zeke did something ill-advised, and wrapped his Runebreaker technique around the expression of [Hell on Earth]. The results were, in a word, destructive. Even as the technique ripped through Zeke’s body, mind, and soul, it merged with [Hell on Earth] to create something wholly new.
And far more devastating than he’d intended.
Notifications flashed in Zeke’s mind, but with the pain coursing through him, he couldn’t spare them any attention. Indeed, he couldn’t focus on anything but trying to keep the combination of his skill and technique contained. He was only marginally successful, and the expression of [Hell on Earth] swept through the battlefield, ripping the Knight’s domain apart with ease.
But it didn’t stop there.
Instead, it completely dismantled the ongoing skills of every enemy within his domain’s bounds. That included the Knight’s transformation skill, and even as the man shrank to more normal size, his armor lost its luster – both in the physical sense as well as to Zeke’s interpretation of the mana coursing through it. As Zeke emerged from the Earth, and time reasserted itself, screams erupted across the battlefield.
At the same time, Zeke forcibly canceled the flow of his Will. [Hell on Earth] went with it, but it left enough demonic mana behind to fuel his transformation into the corrupted form of [Triune Colossus]. Even as his body transformed, taking on the sleeker, more aggressive characteristics of the demonic colossus, he fueled [Cambion’s Awakening] with that same corruption.
Rapidly, his body healed from the attack that had nearly cut him in two as well as the consequences of using his Runebreaker technique. Then, he sighted in on the stunned Knight, who’d fallen to his knees, stomped on the ground, and activated [Hell Geyser]. A line of destruction tore across the battleground, covering the twenty yards between the two most powerful combatants on the field. When it reached the Knight, it erupted into an explosion of fire, corruption, and earth.
Even as the Knight was bathed in destruction, Zeke reactivated his domains and to no more resistance. His allies shouted as an influx of power swept through them, but Zeke was more concerned with his more immediate enemy. Despite the potent devastation of a straight-on hit with [Hell Geyser], the level seventy-five warrior persisted. In fact, Zeke could feel the foreign mana swirling within the plume of corrosive fire and earth, announcing that the Knight was not finished.
Zeke intended to change that.
He launched himself forward with all the strength and speed his demon-fueled colossal form could muster, covering the distance in a flash. When he reached the site of [Hell Geyser], it had begun to dissipate. However, to his enormous surprise, he quickly saw that the Knight had turned tail and was fleeing towards the castle in the distance.
“Did not expect cowardice,” Zeke said, already embracing [Center of Gravity].
“More like self-preservation,” Eveline pointed out. “He’s level seventy-five. Immortality is a feasible goal for him. In the face of that, who wouldn’t flee a sure death?”
Zeke didn’t answer, but then again, he didn’t have to. Because Eveline knew that his response to such a situation would have been the opposite of how the Knight had reacted. Zeke would have stayed and fought, right down to the last breath, and there was nothing anyone could say and no circumstances that could dissuade him from that course. He would not surrender, even in the face of certain defeat.
Surely, that stubbornness would one day get him killed, but in the meantime, it was likely his greatest strength.
“That’s how it usually is. Every strength is a double-edged sword,” Eveline pointed out as Zeke let loose with [Center of Gravity]. If the ragged Knight had been in any better condition, he’d have already outpaced it. However, Zeke caught him just before he passed out of the skill’s range, and as a result, the man quickly reversed course against his will. Suddenly, he was falling toward Zeke.
When the two met, it was with the an impact that sent a wave of kinetic force across the entire battlefield. The nearest combatants were thrown to the ground, while even a hundred yards away, they stumbled briefly under that shockwave’s influence.
But the Knight got the worst of it when Zeke hit him with an overhand blow that drove him into the sundered earth. His body went limp as bones broke, and he tore a crater into the ground. Yet, Zeke didn’t stop there. He was already swinging again, secure in the knowledge that he couldn’t kill such a sturdy foe with a single blow.
Or a hundred of them.
Fortunately, he was in it for the long haul, and his use of [Hell Geyser] had already done most of the work. Still, Zeke ended up having to pound the insensate Knight with his hammer almost twenty times before, finally, the damage overcame the man’s natural defenses. An influx of kill energy swept through Zeke, pushing him to a new level, but he wasn’t concerned with that. Instead, now that he’d defeated the opposing army’s champion, he could turn his attention to the rest of the battle.
Like Pudge had been doing since the beginning, he waded into the fight, wreaking havoc on the enemy Knights. However, unlike his companion, who favored mobility and sudden lethality, Zeke’s tactics were like an inexorable tide. He didn’t try to avoid his foes’ attacks. Instead, after having switched to his earthen colossus form, he simply took whatever the Knights could dish out, returning those attacks tenfold.
It was a painful way to fight. Despite his durability, Zeke could still feel each landed attack. Yet, his cambion racial ability that dampened pain did quite the heavy lifting in keeping him going. Even without it, Zeke’s tolerance for all things agonizing was well-developed and oft-used.
Still, the battle continued for hours more. Some of the Knights ended up surrendering. Others took a cue from their champion and tried to flee. Those were run down by the kobold rangers or centaurs. The would-be prisoners who made the mistake of surrendering to the beastkin who’d once been their slaves didn’t last long.
Zeke might have been capable of stopping it, but he was of two minds as to whether or not he wanted to do that. On the one hand, it was a barbaric practice to kill prisoners of war. However, the practical side of things was that he had no idea what to do with the prisoners already housed within his ever-expanding jail, much less any additional captives they might acquire. So, while killing prisoners disgusted him, Zeke chose to ignore those excesses in all but a few occasions where the beastkin took the punishment too far.
Even so, he knew he would soon need to establish some rules, or he would lose any moral high ground he’d begun to enjoy.
“There is no morality in war,” Eveline stated. “Pretending otherwise is how you end up losing.”
Zeke wanted to argue, but he was no good at debate. He just knew that, if he let those sorts of things continue unabated, he would be no better than the enemies he so loathed. Of course, Eveline pointed out that such a stance was naïve.
In the end, the battle had been decided the moment Zeke had killed the champion, and though it took quite a lot of time for it to play out, the ending was inevitable. Hours later, Zeke stood in the battlefield, looking at all the carnage. He was glad to have won the battle, but there was no denying the sense of melancholy he felt that it had been necessary in the first place.
“Cheer up. You have notifications to read,” Eveline said. “Or did you forget?”
“Yeah. Kind of,” he admitted. Then, he opened his notifications and read:
Congratulations! [Hell on Earth] has incorporated your Path of Arcane Destruction, becoming [Aura of Desolation] (C). In addition to previous effects, it now degrades enemy domains as well as active skills.
“Wow,” Zeke said. “That’s…unexpected.”
Eveline didn’t respond, which probably meant that she hadn’t anticipated such a change either.