Celeste and Jasper realized that none of them had a chance. None of them had truly offensive Domains. Their divine powers were meant for building nations, not for direct combat. The assault of the shadows continued, Jasper tried to elevate his powers to unleash an Ur-spell, however, jabs to his frame meant that he couldn't invoke the base power of the world itself.
It was a relentless barrage of power, leaving both gods unable to strike back against the substantial shadows. Jasper and Celeste wouldn't die of course, but they would lose Jasmine, which felt worse. They hadn't accomplished what they wished to accomplish, instead, they had been lured into a trap meant to dull their powers and to ensure that they would not flee.
Raffael Moordet's voice could be heard cackling from the shadows. "The old ones told me about what happened to Orlek when he killed you... now, imagine the power that I will obtain when I kill you both." The leader of the thieves guild sounded almost hysterical. "I WILL RULE OVER THIS WORLD AS A NEW PRIMAL GOD! ALL SHALL TREMBLE IN FEAR AND MY REVENGE WILL ONLY JUST HAVE BEGUN!"
Jasper felt the walls of shadow pound him into the ground, making him groan. They could not win this, though then again they had never intended to win this, they had come to create a nemesis to Kelllwan and rescue Jasmine. The idea struck Jasper like a lightning bolt. He literally needed a deus ex machina. He called out to Celeste, hoping that she could hear him. "Let go of the power on Erik!" He couldn't see her, all around him there was only darkness. "Call forth an ally!" He continued, and Jasper hoped that she would understand what he meant.
Celeste could barely hear Jasper's words. She was isolated by the shadows though his voice was a faint whisper. She swallowed hard. She knew what he wanted her to do. The Journeying Domain allowed her to forth an ally, though she hadn't picked it. She could use one Energy for the day to access it, though thanks to the demonic thief's powers, it would require two Energy to activate it. Even so, she only had five available Energy. She was spending one on keeping Erik alive, another one on her ability to use time as a weapon, and a third one on precognition so she could dodge attacks. Without her combat abilities, she would probably get knocked out, and if she was knocked out, her protection would no longer ensure that Jasmine wasn't dying. Celeste took a gamble, allowing her ability to attack to vanish, and she poured her will into one of the powers she hadn't picked.
The hour of need [https://i.postimg.cc/jq9cfYLg/image.png]
She could only think of one ally they had access to, though she was surprised when she found that she didn't have to specify who she wanted to come, she simply had to activate the power.
Jasper felt the wave of divine power coming from Celeste, and as she activated her ability the shadows focused on her. The God of Magic had to act quickly, his voice called out. "Path of the Ur-mage, first step, Way of the Deified." Jasper felt the ancient powers from the world's creation flood into him. He didn't need to go further on the path of the Ur-mage, though what he was about to do was still plenty stupid. The Path of the Ur-mage was something that should be cast over hours or days, not instantly. Doing so was a bad idea for all involved, something that he had proved last time he battled with Kelllwan.
He unleashed the magic. "Starweaver's tear - Gate of the Cosmos" Jasper felt his body wither away as he unleashed a spell from the same school that had resulted in the annihilation of a country the last time it was cast on Kalish. He didn't lose a limb this time, but he still lost four hit points, bringing him down to six in total.
The spell, however, had worked. Behind the God a portal appeared, and thanks to Celeste's power, the person on the other side would know that the duo needed help. Instantly, the shadows seemed to be banished to the corners of the room, as a man in shining metal armour stepped out. His hands and legs were too long for his body, and his beard was supernaturally bushy and magnificent. In one hand he wielded a massive hammer inscribed with runes the like Jasper didn't even know existed. His steely gaze fell onto the Raffael Moordet, who had plunged a knife into the heart of Jasmine as she was lying on the altar.
It was the second figure that surprised Jasper the most. From the portal, another creature stepped out. Jasper was hesitant to call the being a man or a woman. Every aspect of the person seemed to be made of some sort of fractal as if an infinite loop of energy had decided to compress into the approximate shape of a person. The ear folded in upon itself, the lips spreading over and over again, and the eyes seemed to contain an eye, which contained an eyes, which... Jasper felt a bit sick, though he realized who this person was. "Ewen" He whispered, and at the mention of the name, the being made from pure mana looked at Jasper as if seeing him for the first time. "𝙷𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚘, 𝙰𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚜." The voice of many spoke as one, which spoke as many.
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Kelllwan had been looking forward to this. His followers weren't malicious, though they were incompetent. He had no idea how many inquisitors he had provided with divine messages to track down Raffael Moordet. Few made it, and those that made it had been corrupted by the cur's silky words and promises. Kelllwan had tried to intervene himself, but the ancient barriers created by The Scribe had been impossible to circumvent. He had hated Armandos, which was part of the reason why he had wanted to duel the maggot when he had stepped into Kelllwan's holy realm. However, he knew better than the others how important these barriers were. His brother had been killed before these barriers had been erected.
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The God of Dwarves and humans took a deep breath, calmed his nerves and then attacked. His attack was a trio of powers all balled into one, all of them from his Melee Domain.
Contempt of Distance [https://i.postimg.cc/cHTszc8C/image.png]It was one of his favourite lesser powers, the reason was clear as he almost instantly vanished from his current location, and despite his weight, he appeared right behind the rogue, his hammer already mid-swing, ready to smear the demonic traitor to humanity across the stone walls, all thanks to the combination of the other two powers.
Unerring Strike [https://i.postimg.cc/BQKrLgQF/image.png]Conflict through Steel [https://i.postimg.cc/43Jq0Rvv/image.png]
The combination of powers made for instant death to all that would stand in Kelllwan's way. The former dwarf felt a chill run down his spine when he saw the smile on Raffael Moordet's face. Kelllwan's hammer passed right through that smile as the being melted into a shadowy goop, having never been real.
The voice from the shadows being pressed against the walls could be heard echoing through the room. "You don't seem to understand. I am more than any god could hope to become, I have been granted the gift of demonic powers." The voice echoed from the shadows.
Kelllwan saw Ewen reach out, and he recognized the ability that the former elf started to use. The power was from the Sun Domain, something that the mage had picked up thanks to his followers believing that the position of the moon and the sun affected their rituals.
"𝙳𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙾𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚢𝚘𝚞." The voice that spoke seemed to come from every corner of the room, it was overpowering and yet underwhelming. Kelllwan didn't like Ewen, and based on the effect that the creature made of pure mana was throwing out, the feeling was apparently mutual.
Sunstrike [https://i.postimg.cc/SK1X2qDD/image.png]
Kelllwan had to activate his Unbreakable power, ensuring that he wouldn't be vaporized by the light that didn't just hit the slowly shifting shadows, as the former dwarf had expected, but also Kelllwan. He only now realised that the former elf had targeted the shadow that had been slowly creeping up his body.
A scream of pain echoed through the room as holy light seemed to tear through the room. Everything was growing fuzzy for just a second as Kelllwan's shining breastplate reflected the light, making it shine in every direction.
When the power slowly subsided a trembling figure was lying on the ground. It was impressive that he was still alive after the power that had just been put on display. He looked like he had been quite severely burned, though before Kelllwan could follow up with another attack long arms slowly started to emerge from the ground, wrapping around the thief and pulling him into a dark pit. Kelllwan wanted to stop this, but he heard a voice speak softly from the void underneath Raffael Moordet. "Good to see you, brother." the warrior stumbled over his legs as he was hit with an attack to which he could not become immune. Emotional damage truly was his biggest weakness.
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Jasper felt like he had been hit by a truck, his body was aching, though thanks to his regeneration power he was slowly recovering from the battle. He couldn't really feel hurt, but things weren't pleasant. Celeste on the other hand was groaning worse than when she had decided to run a marathon. She was pretty much knocked out cold, just grumbling and mewling.
"Thank... both of you," Jasper said grabbing the hand that Kelllwan reached out to pull him to his feet. It was almost enough to forget that the man had three Ls in his name. "Ey, don't worry about it. I am sure that you have our best interest in mind... though maybe we should seal away our new god before he has a chance to escape?" Kelllwan said, and Jasper nodded.
Jasper was surprised when Ewen actually helped him set up the barriers that would encompass the Demonic plane and with that Raffael Moordet.
"You are sure you don't mind the fact that I had The Scribe set up barriers around the two of you?" Jasper asked as they worked, which made Kelllwan laugh. "I did mind, though I see the wisdom of your choice. Gods are a force to be reckoned with, and we should not have free rein of the world." The Warrior said, and Ewen nodded, the fractal pattern that made up the creature's body seemed to spill from every part of them. "𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚋𝚎 𝚕𝚎𝚏𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚌."
Jasper was so caught up in fixing the system that he forgot two important elements of the plan. He didn't check up on Jasmine, nor did he check up on Erik. He could be reasonably sure that none of them would die as long as Celeste didn't get booted from the game, but as they finished up the barrier creation, he still had a bad feeling in his stomach.
Kelllwan placed down his runic hammer and smiled. The two-handed maul was as big as Jasper with a head that looked like it was made from a single block of granite. Jasper didn't need his Domain to know that Kelllwan wouldn't be taking the artefact with him back to his realm, and as such he didn't protest, assuming that if he didn't the two gods would return to their own planes.
Seeing no protest, Kelllwan nodded and slowly left through a portal that Ewen and Jasper created together.