Jonathan chilled upon hearing that declaration, but he kept running, only to be knocked off his feet by one of the Tier 2 guards. Luckily, nobody else had heard that, as Edgar had been unconscious and the guards had been behind the wall. He did not have time for this, and he rapidly burned his reminder of his stock of Divinity to empower his next strike. Jonathan placed everything that he had in the attack, and as his body shriveled, he slammed his burning fist into the nearest guard’s head. There was a crunch, and the man was sent flying off his feet. There was no explosion of blood and gore like there normally was, but Jonathan’s strike still knocked the man out. However, he was still too weak to kill him.
The other guard was distracted for long enough for Jonathan to rush past them, racing across the reception area and towards the stairs. Behind him, there was an apocalyptic crashing noise as Granath slammed through the stone wall that was surrounding the treasury, and slithered out onto the floor of the waiting area. His massive bulk crushed the accountants by the dozens, but he paid them no heed, instead snapping his tail and teleporting towards Jonathan and Edgar.
Just before Granath reached them however, Jonathan leaped into the stairwell and rolled forwards, heading up the stairs. Granath drove his leathery bulk into the bottom of the staircase, collapsing it, but Jonathan was already out of the way. He took the stairs twenty at a time, running faster than he had ever ran before. His body was almost on its last legs, but he still had enough left in the tank to get out of the palace.
As he entered the hallways, he sped up, and he broke the sound barrier as he ran, so fast was he moving. The sonic boom echoed throughout the hallways, drawing the attention of the nearby guards. The floor beneath him buckled and warped beneath the force of his strides, but he ignored it all, focusing on carrying his charge to safety. Edgar was unconscious from whatever Granath had done to him, and the man was flopping bonelessly around as Jonathan ran. Guards spilled out into the halls as a blaring alarm started to sound, but Jonathan sped past them all, appearing as nothing more than a streak of light to the weaker ones.
A Tier 2 appeared in front of him, and swung her massive ax at his legs, but Jonathan leaped over the lightning fast blow, and kicked the woman into the wall as he passed. In this form, he was on par with a low Tier 2, it seemed.
Jonathan reached the arched entrance to the palace mere moments later, and ran out into the night, heading for an alleyway. He could feel his bodily functions shutting down, and he wanted to make sure that he could get to safety before he collapsed. He reached an hidden alcove between two mansions a few seconds later, and fell forwards, landing in the bottom of a small stairwell leading up to one of the mansions. As he ebbed out of consciousness, he let go of Edgar, letting the man fall to the ground next to him.
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Some time later, the tremendous agony infusing his body drove him to consciousness, and Jonathan had to clap a hand over his mouth to prevent himself from screaming at the pain. It felt as if every inch of his body had been boiled in lava for hours, before being tenderized by a giant hammer. His bones were twisted, and his flesh was torn across his body. Edgar was still out for the count, and Jonathan was not in much better shape, unable to move at all. However, a sudden wave of essence surged into his body, more than he had ever felt before, and he jerked as his bones snapped back into position. There was only one explanation for it. He had gained experience from that Tier 2 he had knocked out in the treasury. He must have done more damage than he had thought. However, it was more of a temporary fix than anything, and his body was still in rough shape.
He crawled over to Edgar, grunting as his body asserted its displeasure with his movements, and tapped the man lightly on the shoulder. Edgar groaned, and started to stir, and Jonathan quickly clapped a hand over the man’s mouth as he began to say something. With the enhanced senses of people at their level, such a noise could be a death sentence. As Edgar looked up at Jonathan, panicked, he saw who it was, and he calmed down somewhat. A moment later, there was a rattling boom, and something shattered back in the palace, likely a wall that had gotten in the way of Granath’s wrath. Now that Jonathan had stolen something from the worm, he was now vulnerable to him, on account of the restrictions of the universal law that he had found earlier. Even though he was most assuredly more than three times weaker than the worm, he had stolen from Granath, as well as physically attacked him, or at least his mana. In any case, it was now time to get the hell out of the Ashen Citadel, as it were.
As Edgar regained enough strength to stand up, Jonathan got up as well, fighting to stay on his feet as the pure pain from having not only used Smite, but having enhanced it too, washed over him. It was far worse than when he had empowered his skills for the first time, as the effects of Smite lended a multiplicative bonus to the stress that his body was now under. He would not be able to use his trump card skill for quite some time after this. However, at least he was still alive, and with a few more levels under his belt for his troubles. Having killed a Tier 2, even indirectly, had netted him a staggering four levels, which had barely stemmed the damage that his body had been dealt. However, once he was in better shape, those levels would be greatly appreciated. He needed every edge that he could get if he was to defeat Granath. The worm was far stronger than he should have been, even at the peak of Tier 2, and Jonathan didn’t doubt that he had some sort of additional power from his position as circle lord. In any case, it was now time for them to leave this place, before Granath himself caught up with them and killed them.