After the brief delay, the army picked up the pace once more, incorporating Eva into its structure. A few hours later, the ground trembled as the noise of ten thousand feet moving in unison echoed across the land.
Jonathan cracked his knuckles through his armor, taking advantage of his somewhat enhanced physiology to accomplish the feat. While he was still mostly human, each tier brought small changes to increase overall efficiency. One of those was the ability to control his joints to a higher degree of efficiency.
“You’re in for a treat now,” Edgar whispered to Eva. “Jonathan’s power has blossomed in your absence. So has mine as well, but it’s mostly secondary.”
“I can tell. The aura pressure from you two is immense. When I saw you, I wasn’t sure whether to give you a kiss, or a curtsey.”
Jonathan shook his head and purposefully tuned out the conversation. Sometimes, enhanced perception felt like a minor violation of those around him.
Slowly, a dark stain on the land spilled over the gentle curve of the Fetid Plains, seeming to corrupt the already rotten land. Jonathan’s vision zoomed in on the figures at its head, spotting at least three that possessed power rivaling that of the other elites he had fought. Behind them was a host, vaster than any he had seen before. This was the heartland of Mire, and as such it would pose the most resistance, despite its lower monster strength.
“I guess I’m going to have to really cut loose for this one,” Jonathan declared, sighing.
He had been focusing more on his martial abilities during the last few fights, but with his Runecrafting Expertise and Energy Manipulation so close to Expert Rank, it was time to lean on them in battle. If he really was honest with himself, his Void abilities and Divinity were the strongest part of his arsenal, not his physical capabilities. It was high time he worked his runes into his skills again.
He raised his hands, and Void energy sparked around them, forming a cone of pure destruction. Colorless energy surrounded it, creating a shell of condensed potential. Then his Domain encircled it, creating a cannon that would accelerate it beyond the mere scope of his will. Finally, he reached into himself for his newly enhanced rune, and slotted it into his skill matrix. Red energy blossomed around him, streaming into the missile as it formed. Divinity poured from him like a tap, straight into his skill. His body strained under the weight of the skill, but he still brought it into being. His Rune fitted the conceptual ideal of his Void Missile skill, an attack that could cross great distances to kill his enemies.
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The purple and red mingled, and then fused, turning the energy construct into something that looked more like a lightning bolt made out of frozen fire, suspended in the air. Time seemed to stand still as Jonathan mustered his Domain, before sending the bolt streaking through the air.
The molecules before it split apart, and a trail of fire lanced across the sky as the missile accelerated. Within the span of a millisecond, it had crossed the gap. Shields began to spring up, but it was too little, too late.
The bolt slammed into one of the leaders, tossing him backwards. Just that alone pulped a few dozen weaker soldiers standing behind him. Then the true power of the technique was released.
Jonathan lowered his arms as the missile detonated, sending a series of concentric rings slicing through those around it. One of the Void, one of runic energy, and one of pure force.
Ten thousand soldiers lost their lives in that single strike. Then the unstable core of energy detonated, blasting a crater into the ground that extended for half a mile in every direction. Its sides were perfectly smooth.
Jonathan let his lip curl slightly into a smile, and then raised his fist.
“CHARGE!” He roared, streaking off across the plain, stamina flickering through his muscles like lightning.
A flicker of movement ran through his forces, and they ran after him, each step shaking the earth. The company moved as one, breaking through the sound barrier. As the enemies regrouped, Jonathan raced towards the gap in their lines that he had created.
To his surprise, the elite who had taken the full force of his enhanced Void Missile was still alive, albeit in terrible shape. He had been blasted into two halves, and not in an especially clean manner. Tendrils of elemental energy reached out between the body parts, but whatever he was trying, it was too slow.
Jonathan ignored him and turned his attention towards the other two powerhouses in charge of Slothari’s legion. There was one woman clad in light leather armor, wielding two small swords. The other was dressed in a hooded cloak, casting a shadow over their face. A gnarled staff rested in one hand, with a large crystal affixed to the top. Within the crystal, what looked like a storm circled, ready to be loosed.
Not giving them a moment to speak or act, Jonathan burned his Divinity and then his stamina. Two explosions of energy rocked his body, and for a moment, he lost track of where he was. In the middle of the supersonic leap, he used his Blessing, guiding his descent. He rarely fought to the fullest extent of his ability these days, but he had a plethora of skills that could be used in unison, dramatically increasing each other’s power.
His fists lit up with purple Voidlight and the red energy of his Rune of Revenge, creating tiny stars on the ends of his gauntlets. As he descended, he was forced to read the future multiple times, in order to cope with how fast he was going.
His fists hissed forwards, too fast to react too. Both impacted one of the fighters, who had remained foolishly close. However, as they sank into the flesh, both of them simply disappeared, turning into plumes of mist.