Zalia was swept away by the familiar swirling colours of long distance teleportation, the visual mess resolving itself into the massive throne room of the Monarch. Larel was already on the way to the far side of the space where she would defend from any enemy that came towards the room. Matthias stayed on this side, gesturing for Zalia and Boreal to take the middle.
The throne room of the Monarch sat high above an expansive city filled with Astar, floating about as pinpricks below. The skyscrapers and industrial structures of the city below were strangely at odds with the alien jagged architecture of the Astar, the view of a cityscape familiar to Zalia yet the individual detail so very different.
She turned back to face the throne room as Hildebrandt and Het’jel approached the top of the stairs where the throne sat, its imposing form outstripped by that of the Monarch. The eight metre tall form of their enemy stood from the throne as the two approached, their voice emitting from their aura much as Het’jel’s did.
“Het’jel, have you finally come to give your allegiance to me once more? You should not have brought this filth if you did.”
Unlike Het’jel, the Monarch’s voice came from everywhere, the entire hundreds of metres long room vibrating with their very essence. Zalia understood what it meant for this place to belong to them, not only physically but the very soul of it.
“I have not, old friend. This is your last chance to give up on your ideas of ruling halfway between Ascension and mortality. Ascend your second body or have it die.”
Zalia’s heart felt like it was in her throat as the powerful beings confronted each other, the power that was exuded by their existence building ever stronger as conflict came closer.
Rage twisted across the Monarch’s face, before it was immediately schooled into neutrality again.
“I. Will. Have. Your. SOUL.”
The words were screamed at such volume that Zalia’s eardrums popped, healing back quickly.
As if choreographed, Hilderbandt, Het’jel’s two bodies and the Monarch engaged in combat as nothing more than a blur to Zalia’s eyes. The massive indestructible dome that was one of Hildebrandt’s powers went up and Zalia took her eyes away from that fight, her attention focussing away and towards the city laid out before them. A few Astar were already flying up towards them from the city below, though they looked to be of Silver rank and below.
The anticipation of a fight built within Zalia’s body and she could see the heavily muscled form of Boreal tensing up beside her.
From above, green orbs of Nateysta’s power appeared as animals both familiar and alien were brought down into the Astar city. Those capable of flight were deposited directly in the air, many of them immediately diving down to attack the Astar on the way up.
Others, creatures lithe and bulky, fast and tough, scaled and covered with fur, were deposited along the pillars lining the throne room of the Monarch. There were all kinds ranging from Bronze to Silver to Gold.
An Astar appeared nearby and it was attacked by two animals, one a heavily muscled thing like a bear and the other sleek fox-like creature. The bear was immediately torn in half by the Astar’s spacial powers but the fox jumped up and clamped onto the Astar’s spine, a crunch resounding as it did.
Zalia had to look away, her bow shooting blindingly fast arrows down toward the Astar as her sword flashed at the one that had appeared before her. The Bronze ranked Astar, realising their mistake too late, died instantly by her hand.
It was quickly followed up by another, this one Silver rank and wielding proper weapons. Zalia danced around them, keeping her eye on Boreal as her friend fought a vicious battle against two Bronze and a Silver Astar.
A surge of power flooded through her body, the blessing of Rozestrazix making her feel stronger and faster. The Astar before her was suddenly sluggish and weak and it took her only a few seconds to dismember them, dodging their once quick dagger now easier than breathing.
Another Silver rank Astar appeared before her and Zalia dodged the sword with a burst of speed upwards. She used the momentum to impale another Astar and threw their body at the Silver ranker. A third Astar tried to capitalise on the distraction of the other two to attack her from behind but found themself being mauled by Zalia’s shadow come to life; one of Boreal’s abilities.
With Hunter’s Mark on both the Silver rank Astar and the one that had tried to ambush her, Zalia spun and stabbed the quite mauled Astar straight through where she thought its heart might be. She used Kill Shot to do so and the damage far over what the Astar could take was redirected to the Silver rank one, who had their entire torso blown up by the power.
Using a control over the wind that she hadn’t ever experienced before, even when using Nature’s Wrath, her bow was enhanced and her speed increased. The arrows that had sometimes been dodged now punched through heads and torsos as they saw fit, while Zalia spun between dozens of low ranked Astar, taking them apart one after the other.
“What in the world did you just do Zalia!” Larel called from her right.
Zalia only paused long enough to give a wink that had her laughing, battle mania obvious in Larel’s expression as she blew up a group of three with a single punch to the leader.
The fight went smoothly from there, each Astar that challenged her quickly cut down without much fuss. She descended into a trance, moving with lethal efficiency, enjoying the obscene power that flowed through her body.
Nearby, Boreal was experiencing the same power except instead of a control over the wind, lightning arced across her body. The dozens of bodies of the Astar she had been fighting laid nearby, some scorched and others torn apart.
Zalia gave her a feral grin, then felt a fundamental change in the ground they were standing on. It felt like the smooth marble floor beneath them had awoken from a deep slumber and with a grinding sound, moved.
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Hildebrandt grunted as a force like she’d never felt before crashed into her shield. If it hadn’t been for her power to resist knockback, she would have been sent flying into the wall with enough force to break bones.
Het’jel was moving quickly, dodging away from the bullet-fast fists of the Monarch with one of their bodies as the other sent spells from afar. A lance of reality warping power struck the Monarch in the chest but they shrugged off the impact and tried to grab once more at the closer body of Het’jel, missing by a hair’s breadth.
Hildebrandt broke Stand Your Ground to dash closer, planting her feet and reactivating the ability just as the Monarch punched her. The impact sent a blast of air out but her shield absorbed most of the impact. Backlash struck back at the Monarch at the same moment Hildebrandt’s mace impacted, both forces striking at their wrist to little effect.
Het’jel’s closer body created an ethereal chain and it snaked out to wrap around the Monarch’s other arm before latching the other end to the floor. It pulled taut, dragging the massive form of the Monarch of balance and pulling their arm to the side.
The other body of Het’jel and Hildebrandt simultaneously took advantage of the off-kilter Monarch, Hildebrandt striking with her mace twice before hitting them with Explosive Force as Het’jel cast a lengthier ability that slowly pushed a lance of the same reality warping power down into the Monarch’s head. It inched ever down into flesh as the ground around them screamed the Monarch’s rage.
Another chain wrapped around the Monarch’s other arm and dragged them to their knees with a loud thud.
“Give up! Your body WILL be leaving this mortal plane, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.”
An ethereal collar locked around the Monarch’s neck and a chain appeared to drag their head down to hit the floor. The spike of force drilling into their forehead was smashed straight through their skull by the impact. Het’jel summoned another of the lances that began to push through the Monarch’s spine.
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“You are weak.”
The ground around them shook as the Monarch spoke. Their head began to lift from the ground, breaking the chain. The Monarch snapped upwards, shattering the chain on their left arm and exploding with an immense force. Het’jel’s closer body was thrown away as the flying one weathered the blast better from a distance. Hildebrandt, who had just shaken some of the fear from the start of the fight, sheltered behind her shield.
A punch unlike anything else the Monarch had used so far sent Hildebrandt flying, the force so strong that it broke Stand Your Ground. She hit her dome with so much momentum that it sent a crack through the supposedly indestructible surface.
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Zalia was momentarily shocked as the walls around her began to close in in an attempt to crush her. She flew upwards as the ground shook and barely cleared the walls as they slammed closed behind her.
An explosion rocked the battlefield originating from the dome and Zalia looked over to see that Hildebrandt’s dome had cracked. She stared in disbelief for a moment before her attention was drawn away as one of the beams arching overhead grew a spike that lanced down towards her. She dodged the attack and found herself in the way of a sword strike from a Gold rank Astar.
This wasn’t the first time a Gold rank Astar with a sword tried to surprise attack her mid air but this time, she was the stronger one.
She dodged easily, flipping in midair to kick the sword out of their hand in an acrobatic move. Her own sword followed in an upwards slash as she finished the flip, cutting a shallow line down their torso as her bow shot them in the leg. The air answered her call and swept the Astar’s sword off the edge of the throne room and straight through the head of a Bronze ranker floating up there.
Without missing a beat, the Astar got in close to grapple her, pulling her down towards the high walls that were growing upward still. She dropped her sword, twisting her head to the side to allow her bow to shoot the wrist of the hand holding her arm. That move freed her left arm to punch the Astar straight in the gut with as much force as she could muster. They let out a wheezing gasp at the impact and Zalia followed it up by using both her hands to pull their head down into her knee, hearing the crack of bone for her efforts.
Bloody but impassive, the Astar pulled back slightly only to be jumped on from behind by a feral Boreal coated with ice and arcing lightning.
The lightning made the Astar’s back arc, revealing their neck for Boreal to bite into. She shook the Astar like a limp doll before ice grew up and over their body, freezing it only for it to shatter into a million pieces moments later.
Zalia took the moment of reprieve to check on Matthias, barely able to see him through his swirling storm of sand. He had managed to avoid the marble walls by lifting up on a rising tide, then swirled it into a frenzy with which he was savaging dozens of Astar with a death by a thousand cuts method. Larel on the other hand was punching through walls with explosive force, Neither Astar nor wall able to get in her way as the low ranked sycophants were cleared away. Many of the low ranked ground animals had unfortunately succumbed to the power but it looked as if they had won this initial flurry of combat.
Boreal and Zalia’s attention was drawn away from their allies as another powerful being appeared on the battlefield. They stared up as a Diamond rank Astar came down towards them. They hadn’t won their fight just yet, then. Unfortunately, even if they had won their battle, that wouldn’t have won the war, and another crack had just formed in Hildebrandt’s dome.
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Hildebrandt dropped heavily to the floor after hitting the side of her dome again. The Monarch was using her body like a wrecking ball against her own power, slamming her time and again into its surface until it was cracked all over.
She stood up and activated Stand Your Ground once more. Het’jel tried to chain down an arm but was unsuccessful as the Monarch marched toward Hildebrandt. Steeling herself for another strike, Hioldebrandt shook off her fear. The only reason she hadn’t yet had her body completely destroyed was that the Monarch kept hitting her shield, which healed her for as much damage as it blocked. Not that she necessarily needed her body to continue fighting.
Realising it was time, she activated another ability of the shield, making her immune to magical effects for a time. The Monarch punched her with another of its powerful attacks but failed to break Stand Your Ground.
Hildebrandt stared up at the face of the Monarch, a hole straight through their forehead, as a sneer crossed their face. the Monarch wrapped a massive hand around Hildebrandt and picked her up.
“Filth.”
She was thrown at speed, the dome cracking once more as she struck it. It was webbed with fine cracks and Hildebrandt feared that it would break soon. When that happened, they would have a hard time stopping the Monarch from harming their allies.
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Larel appeared next to Zalia only moments after Matthias did. They stared up at the descending Diamond ranker with dread.
“There weren’t supposed to be any in the city.”
Larel cracked the knuckles of one hand.
“Ifs, whys, whens don’t matter now. We do what we have to.”
Matthias nodded agreement.
“What are you doing to suddenly be so powerful, is it Nateysta? Can you give us that power too?”
Zalia shook her head, not clarifying any further. He looked at her but didn’t push.
“I guess we do our best then.”
With the power given to them, Zalia and Boreal were operating on a level, stat wise at least, akin to Emerald rank. The two of them might have a chance against the Diamond ranker if their abilities were functioning at that rank too. As it was, most of the strength someone like Hildebrandt had as an actual Emerald ranker came from her abilities, not her stats.
Zalia spun her sword around, flying up to meet the Astar in battle.
“You two keep the others at bay, Boreal and I will deal with this.”
With her anti-death measure still available and Boreal having her own as well, they were still within the measure of relative safety. If those measures were used, she would need to call up Larel and Matthias to fight with her.
As she rose into the sky to meet the Astar, wings beating and wind swirling around her, sword held to the side, she began to feel the influence of a new power. A deep red glow rose up from within her eyes as words from a long time ago echoed through her mind, sent there not by anyone present in the fight.
“You may take refuge in the heat and stone but the heat and stone will not rise to fight at your bidding, Druid. Not yet, at least.”
It was the words spoken to her by the Spirit of Heat and Stone, the Ascendant that was the creator of Glemp and his people who she had asked to help them in their war against the demon invasion.
Fire licked its way down her sword and with a battle cry, she burst upward with a sudden increase of speed. Boreal followed her, jumping off quickly created platforms of ice, lightning crackling through the air with her every movement.
The diamond rank Astar crashed down into her, twin glaive flashing. She deflected the first blade, leaning back to dodge the other side as it came up. She pushed forward to stab the Astar in the chest only to have her sword caught between arm and torso. With a skilled twist, her weapon was ripped from her grasp even as the twin glaives came around to slash her across the chest.
She flapped backward, giving Boreal room to jump up and latch her powerful jaws on the glaive wielding arm. Her sword, still aflame, reappeared in her hand as her bow shot powerful, air magic infused arrows towards the Astar. They dodged nimbly, grabbing Boreal by the back of the head and tearing her off their arm.
Zalia used the moment of time to cast Nature’s Wrath and compressed a bubble of air and fire down around the Astar, crushing it with the power. A perfectly spherical shield appeared to block her attack and the five air elementals she had summoned with the ability came to increase the pressure.
The shield exploded under the combined weight of power but the Astar was not in it. They had vanished, reappearing behind Zalia to strike. The current power of her mental stats along with her new affinity with the air allowed Zalia to see the strike coming and she bent completely backwards, dodging the blade meant for her neck.
She turned that backwards flip into a kick that sent the Astar flying through the sky, chased by three arrows, each striking their target. Boreal followed up her attack with a Pounce from behind that froze the Astar in a cage of ice, sending them tumbling down to the ground below. Zalia dove with them as the Astar landed, shattering the ice from their body with the impact. She came down moments later, her sword point first impaling the Astar, going straight through their torso and into the ground below as her bow shot more arrows into the still form.
Zalia was thrown back by a punch to her chest that had her vision swimming and the Astar ripped her flaming sword out of its chest and threw it to the side. The sword reappeared in her hand once more but she didn’t use it as she directed earth and plants to appear from the ground and entangle the Astar. Each restraining plant or clump of earth was thrown off easily enough but the sheer number of them gave enough time for Zalia to summon a ball of lava above the Astar, slamming it down onto them with a ground shuddering impact.
Given a brief reprieve from combat, Zalia saw as Hildebrandt’s dome cracked once more, then shattered. The sound was loud, like glass shattering then trickling to the floor.
A powerful aura washed over them all as the forms of the Monarch, Hildebrandt and Het’jel were once again revealed. The Monarch was growing further in size, the strength of their presence increasing many times over and Zalia realised that this is what she had been waiting for. The Ascendant power of the Monarch was showing itself in a move to finish the fight.
“Matthias, Larel, take over!”
They reacted instantly, engaging the Astar with Boreal as Zalia dropped down to the ground.
Preoccupied with Boreal’s ice encasing them, the Diamond rank Astar wasn’t able to stop Zalia as she hit the ground and pulled out the God-trap. She placed it on the ground and with a thought, activated the item. It rose from the ground, the concentric rings spinning faster and faster, but nothing happened.
Zalia stared at it, confused as to how it was meant to work. The diary they had taken from the same place they had found this item said nothing about how to make the item work, other than to activate it.
In a flash of blue and white light, Lumin appeared next to her, barking excitedly. The presence of the starlight wolf had a strange effect on the world around them and the Monarch suddenly stumbled, then growled.
“What is that?”
The voice reverberated through the stone but it sounded weak, confused.
A powerful light was drawn out of the Monarch’s chest and Het’jel didn’t pause, using ethereal chains to tie down the Monarch once more. The massive form of the Monarch began to shrink in size as the bright light continued to stream from it. The light shaped itself momentarily into the appearance of another Astar, face wracked with pain, anger and fear, before it was sucked into the spinning God-trap.
The battlefield froze for a moment, everyone’s eyes locked onto where the Ascendant power of the Monarch had been stolen from them. The pause of silence broke as the Monarch screamed, a pained and broken sound.
Het’jel silenced them.
The chains holding the form of the Monarch still dragged them to the floor, more powerful ethereal chains arcing over the body to restrain it even further. A complex circle of runes began to appear in the sky at the beckon of Het’jel’s second body and once complete, blasted a blinding beam of reality warping power downwards.
The spell continued, more and more of the power annihilating the body of the Monarch until the stone of the throne room echoed their last, faint words.
"I will make you pay for this..."