Alistair’s entire vision was blocked by an endless wave of lava. Reaching up the sky, this was no ordinary volcanic eruption. Though beasts tended to have less meaningful Daos at the same level, the xuanwu was far higher leveled than anyone present, and the earth/fire Dao within the eruption was corrosive and powerful.
However, the primary threat to Alistair was not the lava, which fell slow enough that it was like molasses to him, but the pyroclastic flow.
Alistair wasn’t sure how fast they normally were, but the emerging black cloud was faster than his [Dash] speed. He slipped into Black Impermanence, his partially reptilian pupils fading into a pitch black iris with a halo of white light, the opposite of the aura that surrounded his body.
In this state, he was barely human, more a force of nature. Surrounding his gauntleted hand with a [Frozen Claw], Alistair braved the incoming pyroclastic cloud head-on. He infused his Ghost Node into the Skill, invoking the “Permanent Haunt” division.
The ice of [Frozen Claw] crystallized the smoldering cloud, but at the same time, etheralizing it. The image of Fan Wujiu, the Black Impermanence, imprinted itself on his mind’s eye. On his tall hat were the words, “Arresting You Right Now,” and he swung his fan.
Instead of its normal pale blue color, Alistair’s [Frozen Claw] and its massive web of crystals were black, like the state of Kai’tazake Mutra. The momentum of the cloud stopped completely, standing still as if in a museum.
Alistair jumped up and on top of the mass of ice crystals, surveying what had just happened. The lava was still billowing down from the heavens after being shot up so high by the volcanic eruption. He ran into a jump in which he coiled all his potential energy, soaring into the air.
When he was about to make contact with the falling lava, he activated [Frozen Claw]. He used each piece of frozen lava like a gymnastics bar to swing from and did this until he came to the very apex of the eruption, several kilometers into the air. He deactivated Black Impermanence, since the drain on his Dao energy was high.
The rest of the lava cascaded downward in a landslide of biblical proportions. For as far as the eye could see, the tsunami of molten rock filled the land. Within seconds, it was as if Alistair was standing above an eternal sea of lava.
On the other side of the kaiju stood a massive glacier. Alistair recognized it as Arcanous Devil Spell #1: Glacial Front. It was the first of his five Arcanous Devil Spells, which he now had detailed intel on thanks to stealing Oracle’s memories with [Blood Hand]. The glacier created by the spell appeared nearly instantaneously, making it a powerful defensive tool.
By the looks of it, neither the pyroclastic flow nor the tsunami of lava could pass its barrier. The lava hardened in front of it in the form of a crashing wave, while the rest of it flowed around the glacial front.
Alistair felt the kaiju’s energies ebbing. After such a huge explosion of Mana, he would have been worried if the beast hadn’t been lethargic.
With a [Dash], Alistair launched himself off of the falling ice. It felt different, so high up; the wind parting against his face. While this was a battle of life and death, he was having fun. Determined fun. His limbs coursed with extra power from the “Good Samaritan” Badge, heightening his speed to the point where he was almost moving fast enough to match his reflexes.
Dev’rox carved space apart with his magic. The compression looked like a warp drive from the movies, and Alistair could tell he put in an extra oomph.
Alistair came from above, touching down on top of the glacier for a split second. He [Dashed] again the moment his feet touched the ice. His eyes were locked on one target. George Moulin, the leader of the Devil Kings.
[Monk Motionless] alerted him to the danger first. Alistair unconsciously stopped his [Dash] and swayed to the left. An ice spear crashed into the ground with tremendous force, producing a hypersonic shockwave that sent Alistair tumbling for the length of several city blocks.
A trickle of blood came out of his ear, accompanied by a low ringing. If he kept going on his [Dash], the spear would have impaled him. He recognized the spear as coming from Arcanous Devil Spell #2: Ice Spear of the False Heavens, but the weight and speed of the spear, which had shattered into a million pieces on impact with the ground, was far superior to the ones he saw in Oracle’s memories.
Did he use it as a normal spell instead of a reflex? Alistair wondered. No, that can’t be. He reacted way too fast. The stolen memories held the answer. Heavyset.
The Thirteenth Devil King didn’t stand out. She honestly looked like a normal middle-aged woman, though she was morbidly obese. But her role wasn’t as a fighter, but as support. Her manipulation of gravity could make things heavier and lighter—not just physically, but also metaphysically.
That explained the unusual speed and power of the ice spear. It also gave Alistair a target to go after. Of course, George wouldn’t let him at his valued support easily. Alistair needed some backup.
“It’s time,” Alistair messaged. Caren gave him back a psychic nod.
Alistair stood up, taking a deep breath. The seven aura signatures of the Devil Kings blazed on the horizon, made all the more repugnant by their maleficent odor. The scent of demon blood seared his sensitive nose. If a Devil Prince was like a rotten egg, George was thioacetone.
With one snap of a small pair of fingers, reality shifted. Dev’rox connected Alistair to the anchor he made in space during his first [Dash].
Alistair was certain they knew about his spatial capabilities by now, though Alistair doubted they understood the source was the ghost of the demon. While they might not have been taken completely off guard by his sudden teleportation, perhaps they would be surprised by his next move.
The teleportation brought him a football field length away from the Devil Kings, at which point Alistair [Dashed] again. That was to be expected, and he sensed incoming danger from above. Since he was expecting the ice spears, [Monk Motionless] was better equipped to alert him.
Attacks inside one’s perception versus outside, Alistair thought. Everything ties back to Master Ko Pao’s teachings.
Alistair darted from side to side, avoiding a series of three ice spears. They weren’t as strong as the first one George sent down, but they would have still caused a serious injury. Purple fire that screamed with the pain of a million souls flew in concentrated beams while an arsenal of spears came from above. They were even weaker than before, George going for volume instead of power.
Entering the ocean of tranquility was like coming home for Alistair. The mass of water subsumed him entirely with in its peaceful innards. It was the only state of the Kai’tazake Mutra without an outward visual change. The mind needed no fancy auras or colors to achieve perfection.
This time, in his hour of greatest need, he dove far deeper into Tranquil Mind than he had ever done before. He knew the risks. The depths of the Kai’tazake Mutra were unfathomable. There was a chance that if he went too deep, his psychology would be permanently scarred. Forever stuck in a state of perpetual enlightenment.
Alistair moved like a Daoist sage. He expended minimal effort to dodge the incoming attacks with minimal movement. He subconsciously used [Eyes of Truth], accessing his precognitive vision. Combined with Tranquil Mind, he truly felt omniscient on the battlefield.
Each spear of ice, or shadowy tendril, or cone of destruction that assailed him came closer to hitting him each time. He pushed his body and skill to its utmost limits.
The Dharmic Wheel turns, Alistair thought. Karma will be restored, injustice will be righted, and the aeon will move forward toward the final culmination of total enlightenment.
There was always a breaking point. Alistair was strong, and by chancing his sanity and drawing from his Karma, he could temporarily match the output of the Devil Kings. But that was only when they were testing him.
In his foresight, he saw Morgana rain down a murky spell unknown to him. His [Eyes of Truth] couldn’t reveal its full extent, owing its high weight on reality and the fact he had no prior knowledge of it. His precognition worked much better on things he had seen before. Whatever the spell was, it was powerful and encompassing in area.
At the same time, he envisioned George using a named spell. Despite knowing the Devil King’s arsenal from Oracle’s stolen memories, he couldn’t see the details of this spell. There was a chilling, blizzard-like aura that surrounded all of George’s images in the future, one that he almost felt was watching him in the past. There was a Fate-warding measure at work, a strong one at that.
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The result—death. Alistair retreated for a mere moment, but there was an advance from another side.
A column of scarlet light appeared above Heavyset. Eight of the strongest cultivators on the planet fell from the sky. Alistair knew each and every one.
Bartholomew Wood looked like a complete android, his skin covered from head-to-toe with a metallic silver casing. His eyes had a red glow, and he carried a razor-thin laser sword that felt even more concentrated and sharp than before.
Alexandra Lykaios was an avatar of wrath. Her killing intent had grown more intense, cultivated with the endless slaughter of Devil Princes and monster and beasts. Her [Barbarian’s Fury] had taken an opaque glare, partially shrouding her features in a hue of blood. She wielded her Withering Promise and a new ceremonial dirk that gave off an insidious aura that felt like the color of her eyes, those viridian pools of fire.
Pharaoh was shirtless, as always, displayed his protective golden band around his waist, along with the pschent crown. His strength was solid and unmoving, a living memorial of the ancient times. He was the same as Alistair remembered, though he had not let the others surpass him.
Whimsy, Brigid, Marhzan, and President Ryder came alongside their transporter, whose identity was never in question—Jesse Waterfall, the Australian that had joined the Northeast Freehold during the fifth Quest.
All eight of Alistair’s allies dropped on the preordained target. Heavyset was the weakest of the Devil Kings in direct combat and an important facet of their well-oiled machine, buffing the others with her gravity-related powers.
Seeing Alistair’s reinforcements fall from the heavens, the Devil Kings weren’t about to let their member die without a fight.
Heavyset was at the back of their seven-man formation, with George at the front and center, flanked by Jakk and the Shadow Twins. Morgana was floating above and to the right from Alistair’s perspective, who faced the Devil Kings head-on.
By directly teleporting on top of her, they were breaking into the Devil King formation, but also exposing themselves to attack. But there was one man who always had primacy.
In Tranquil Mind, Alistair reigned supreme over all others in terms of reaction speed. He was the first one to recognize the burst of scarlet light that signaled phase two of the plan. Thankfully, it took almost a second for the [Scarlet Shift] to fully teleport, leaving him enough time to prepare the cleansing benediction required.
The deep chant began, reciting the sacred name of the tenth-level compassion bodhisattva at superhuman pace. George was the second to realize what had happened, though he found himself torn for a split second between the threat in front of him and the paratroopers going for his back line. That moment of indecision let the Avalokiteśvara avatar of [Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Judgment] fully form.
Alistair had seen this form many times over his dozens of duels with himself, but he was still awed by the majesty of his finishing Skill. Formed of force and lightning affinity Mana, the avatar radiated an authoritative but compassionate aura. Each of the eleven heads chanted with a deep voice and spread unintelligible but perfected sutra that messed with the Devil Kings’ psyche even if it didn’t harm them directly.
Perhaps he would have been more in tune with the Dharani but at the same time he used his Skill, he left Tranquil Mind for the analytical Infinite Arsenal. With his silvery aura and blue tint to his eyes, he had no time for enlightenment. Since he was still within the purview of Kai’tazake Mutra, he didn’t have to take an effort to leave its unfathomable depths.
[Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Judgment] launched its tidal wave of palms. Each palm was filled with a bounty of Dao energy and encased in Karmic energy that frayed the threads of Fate surrounding it.
There were far too many palms to stem the tide with ice spears. Alistair could feel George using a named spell, but the bodhisattva’s judgment crashed into the Devil Kings before he could finish.
One of the Shadow Twins was at the edge of the assault. Alistair chose him as his target. Thousands of possibilities laid themselves out as he peered into the threads of Fate with the accompaniment of Infinite Arsenal.
The only issue with his new three Kai’tazake Mutra states was their intense drain on his Dao energy. Tranquil Mind from Justice, Infinite Arsenal from Fist, and Black Impermanence from Ghost. He had to be careful with his expenditure of Dao energy on his typical attacks. That was where nue was helpful as a third and separate pool to draw on.
The Devil Kings weren’t going to take his finishing Skill lying down. Hephestaus, from his safer position behind George, issued a chariot of flames so large it could have been used by giants, sending it flying towards the palms. Morgana and Jakk worked in well-practiced unison, combining his torturous flames with a wind funnel she made to amplify the fire.
But most of all was George. He cast a spell that Alistair recognized immediately as Arcanous Devil Spell #4: Autonomous Crystals. Oracle had seen her master use the spell once against one of the Beast Lords he recruited. Autonomous Crystals consisted of George throwing one seed crystal which created a chain reaction of ice crystals freezing anything they contacted. It reminded Alistair of an aspect of his own [Frozen Claw], though to a much greater extent.
The combined force of Autonomous Crystals along with the other Devil Kings’ attacks was enough to hold off [Thousand-Armed Bodhisattva Judgment].
[Dash] brought Alistair next to the Shadow Twins. Alistair didn’t know their real names, but they were certainly dangerous. They were two as one and one as two, relying on each other for everything. No doubt their twin bond came from before the initiation, and they shared a Class that revolved around shadows, allowing them to move into any piece of shade.
Alistair wasn’t sure of what intel they had on him. But they definitely didn’t know about his new nue clone from [Dash]. When he moved in, he triggered the nue shadow, expending more than the standard.
To the outsider, especially one who had little experience with nue, they would interpret the shadow as a real person. The one Alistair designated as the first Shadow Twin tried move into the nue shadow’s shadow—and failed because it cast no shadow. His brother tried arresting the real Alistair’s shadow, pinning it down in its spot. As long as it couldn’t move, the person attached couldn’t either.
Alistair used the split second of confusion that the first Shadow Twin had when he use his Skill to activate his new Tier 2 [Draconic Roar]. Tier 2 increased the cone of effect and primal fear, making it more of a true dragon’s roar.
Both of them were caught in it, the first twin receiving the full brunt of the screech. He went catatonic for a moment, and that was all that was necessary to seal his fate.
With the activation of another [Hand of Karma], Alistair upgraded the Skill to Tier 4. The upgrade increased its Karma cost to 10, but it gave the Skill an important new utility—searing threads of Fate at a distance.
When he waved his Karmic hand, he spread the crimson energy along all the lines of Fate connecting him to the second Shadow Twin. It was as if the threads of Fate, normally golden and translucent, even to Karmic sight, were burning with a heatless, smokeless, carmine flame.
Alistair was immediately unfrozen, and the second Shadow Twin fought against the Karmic energy that threatened to short-circuit his spiritual pathways.
Dev’rox snapped his fingers. Alistair took his place right behind the first Shadow Twin, who was finally returning to sanity after the [Draconic Roar]. He would never get a chance. The plan he came up with using Infinite Arsenal worked to a tee. A Tier 3 [Force Fist] was fast enough to activate during Alistair’s punch, whereas before, he had to do it prior to moving.
Five punches smacked into the Devil King’s face. With the fifth punch, the Spiritual Fighter’s Echo of the first started landing. An autonomous defensive Skill activated, probably when the Shadow Twin reached a certain Health percentage. A dark and murky Dao became omnipresent as light became shadow and shadow became light.
Pathetic, Alistair thought. An illusion of this level couldn’t keep me trapped for more than 0.231 seconds.
There were so many flaws that it was almost difficult to choose the proper mode forward, but by burning more positive Karma, he figured it out. Alistair used his sense of smell to detect the Shadow Twin’s real location, where the illusory film was at its weakest, and then bombarded that point with a [Blood Hand] infused with his Ghost Node.
Alistair speared the Devil King through the neck, absorbing his life force as he tallied on his bloodline evolution to 89/1000.
> Level up! You are now level 57. +3 Agility, +3 Intelligence, +3 Charisma, +3 free Attribute points, +23 Upgrade Points.
>
> Bonus Quest Reward: [Vanquishing the Devil Kings] - 5/12. +40 Upgrade Points.
Alistair didn't pay attention to the notifications since he couldn't use extra Attribute points right now.
“Jared!” The cry of anguish from the other Shadow Twin was the epitome of despair, yet Alistair was paying attention to the rest of the battlefield.
Autonomous Crystals froze the better part of his finishing Skill, while the rest had collided with the other attacks of the Devil Kings. The reverberating gong noises and golden shockwaves were impossible for most of them to avoid, and he could feel it had damaged their pathways.
Even Infinite Arsenal had its limitations. He had hoped the sneak attack of eight of his strongest allies would be able to take out Heavyset, but it looked like things weren’t that easy.
George was getting mad.
A chill spread across the entire battlefield as the leader of the Devil Kings unfurled the full extent of his aura. Temperatures dropped to below freezing near instantly as a true blizzard formed around George.
At first, Alistair wondered if his greatest enemy had used his proto-Domain already—in that case, victory might have been possible right then and there. But the ice that had already accumulated on the tips of Mammothskin Raiment’s sleek collar was too physical and Mana-based for it to be a proto-Domain. No, this had to be a Dao field, but it was by far the strongest he had ever felt.
The restriction he felt on his person, both spiritually and physically, was almost as great as Pharaoh’s proto-Domain. He struggled to imagine how strong George’s actual proto-Domain was.
The worst-case scenario was getting separated from his allies and having George slaughter all of them. His attack on the Shadow Twins was on the left wing, whereas Heavyset was in the back right of the formation. Thankfully, Alistair had planned things in advance. The moment Dev’rox performed the first swap, the imp hightailed it off toward George.
While he didn’t look it, the ghost was a fast flier, and by the time the First Devil King had gotten serious with the Dao field, Dev’rox was already three-quarters of the way there.
The distance was way longer than any swap that Dev’rox and Alistair had done before. The ability was Mana inefficient for long range, but it had to be done. By performing his signature move, Dev’rox would have enough Mana for one Spatial Rending and not a single drop more.
Alistair was at the center of everything. The blizzard surrounding George was so thick he couldn’t see the cultivator, while the other Devil Kings pointed their swords at Alistair’s throat. He could feel his allies’ presence on the other side of the center of the blizzard.
Alistair felt no anxiety within Infinite Arsenal. If he wasn’t deep within its embrace, he might have taken a deep breath before stopping and speaking his next words.
“GEORGE!” Alistair shouted with the entire weight of his body, infusing Dao energy into his voice to make it carry even further. “I have an offer! Let us have a temporary truce. I swear on my Dao and on my mother’s grave there is no subterfuge or trick.”
The ball was in the Devil King’s court.