– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 216, Season of the Rising Moon, Day 19 –
Terry was controlling his breathing while focusing on his mana sense and collecting his equipment with the help of his bidirectional attraction inscriptions.
From what Terry could tell, their own side had not suffered many casualties yet. Terry narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow.
While Willow seems to have called on everyone among her circle to protect herself, this is completely unbalanced. While there are many of them, there do not seem to be that many experts on Willow’s side.
Even Harrison’s strength was already above average among them…
Terry jolted around and unleashed a disruption discharge that destroyed a spell structure that had appeared in Derek’s blind spot.
Terry searched for the source and then scowled.
Guildhead. If only their average Guildhead was as weak as the others on Willow’s side.
A person stepped out of the shadows and stared at Terry. However, before the blurry figure could do anything more, Terry noticed a woman in heavy armor charging over with a large hammer.
Terry looked around for opportunities to help out while getting an overview of everyone’s locations.
Terry frowned when he recognized some familiar mana signatures – not familiar on an individual level, but rather the typical signatures of cults he had encountered when they had faced the Devout Division.
Looks like Willow requested help from outside her own circle. Some stronger channelers among these cultists. Still, if it’s like this, Matteo will reach the dome, eventually.
Terry subconsciously started moving in the same direction when his gaze was drawn to several followers of the Bright Lady that used their healing abilities to support the Guildheads on Willow’s side.
Right, while they have fewer experts, they do have more healers. They can draw this out further… More casualties on their side, but their injured are taken care of all the time.
Our side has to try and preserve their strength.
Terry moved closer towards Matteo while opportunistically attacking or blocking for others on his way.
***
Eric roared and sent a darkwater blade towards Apex before liquifying his body and disappearing into the earth of the training grounds.
Apex punched out with both fists as the image of a flood dragon straightening itself resonated in the surrounding mana.
Azure flames shot forwards in an intensity that made them appear solid. The flames evaporated the darkwater blade to leave only a few scattered drops behind.
The corroding liquid sizzled when it made contact with the ground. Pockets of earth fused together while other spots turned moldy or into dust.
Apex snarled and dodged a stream of darkwater that shot up from below her.
When Apex looked back, she saw an intense purple lightning snake its way through the air and into the ground.
“ARGH!” Eric’s scream reverberated from the earth below.
“Oy!” Irritation welled up in Apex’s chest when she recognized the spirit-infused lightning of Matteo. She smacked her lips and glanced at the room of Sigille’s wake.
Apex growled in a barely audible voice. “Today, I’ll make an exception for the old hag.”
Apex clapped her hands together and then slammed them onto the ground. The silhouette of a flood dragon rapidly chasing its own tail flashed and her own lightning rampaged in the earth to pull out the darkwater creature hiding below.
A deep gurgling sound echoed as the liquified body of Eric bubbled up and then shot into the sky, where he regained his human shape.
*KAZAP* Purple lightning assaulted Eric the moment he appeared in the sky.
Eric’s skin looked like an ocean in a storm as waves crashed into each other. He glared at Matteo and swallowed a mouthful of blood.
Apex felt Matteo stepping closer and turned towards him. “Don’t get the wrong idea, this is an ex—” Apex swallowed her words when she noticed the cold haze that was emanating from Matteo’s eyes.
Apex felt the involuntary urge to run away, but she suppressed the instinct immediately. Her heart had skipped a beat. She wondered if Matteo was even conscious enough to understand her words.
Apex harrumphed and added her own attack on Eric while keeping a wary eye on Matteo.
***
Inside the dome that housed Guardian management, Willow was wearing a grave expression while examining an inscription panel on the wall.
“Damn it!” cursed Willow with a pale face. “Curse Vhida and whatever she has done to the defense system. Nothing is reacting.”
Panic flashed through her eyes, but she composed herself before turning around. “Have the circle send the rest.”
An old man that was also a follower of the Bright Lady stood in one corner of the room and his expression sank. “Bright Willow, didn’t you say before that the other younglings would be too weak to step into this conflict? From what I can see, this battle is even more gruesome than anticipated. If anything, we have already allowed too many faithful to come here despite their lack of power.”
“I know what I said, Luminous Anem,” hissed Willow coldly. “But as you have noticed, things have changed. I, too, am hesitant to see those of our circle come to harm, but without the outpost’s defense system, I fear that there is little choice.
“Or do you suggest we ignore the lives already lost and have their sacrifice be for nothing?” demanded Willow in a self-righteous tone. “While I would obviously be willing to sacrifice my own life to end this, I for one am not willing to turn the sacrifice of our circle into a farce!”
Willow’s eyes flashed between coldness and rage. “Where is Glimmer Cadence?”
“In the room of Lady Sigille’s wake, where the non-combatants have gathered alongside Dhruv,” said Anem.
“What does she think she is doing?” growled Willow with clenched fists. “Does she think she can stay out of this?! Does she think she can withhold her power from our side? Does she think our circle bestowed the Glimmer title for her charming personality?!”
Willow straightened her back and muttered in a barely audible voice. “Does she dare to think of herself above me? Above a Bright?!”
Willow regained her composure somewhat. “Dhruv, the wretch, seems to have abandoned the outpost as well. So much for his oh so honorable oath.” She spat through grit teeth. “He’ll pay after this.
“Have someone go to Dhruv and voice management’s displeasure,” ordered Willow. “I heard he recently took in a personal disciple. I wonder if he can bear the consequences of his choices.”
Anem was opening his mouth, but before he could reply, Willow continued.
“Same for Glimmer Cadence,” growled Willow. “Have her understand that, as a Bright, I can’t ignore her refusal to step up. No matter how much it would pain me, I can’t ignore her abandoning her fellow faithful.”
“Is this truly wise, Bright Willow?” asked Anem hesitatingly. “What if the pressure only leads to them siding against us?”
“What do you want me to do, then?” Willow shot back without thinking. “Should I just walk to the abomination and stretch out my neck so that it can take my head?!”
Willow paused and calmed herself before speaking further. “Of course, I would be willing to lay down my life. However, the goals of our circle require Anand’s abilities. Anand is essential to further the cause of the faithful.”
Willow let her eyes rest on Anem. “Matteo won’t be satisfied with my head. He will continue to pursue Anand, thereby sabotaging everything we have worked for. We still need Anand’s assistance. Not much longer, but right now, a dimensional mage of his caliber remains indispensable.”
“Where is Anand then?” a tall man clad in silver arrived from the backroom. Blades were visible on his whole body and white crystals were placed on his knuckles, knees, and elbows.
“While the Vigilant and the Virtuous appreciate Anand’s support, I do not feel like waiting in a backroom when a fight is to be fought outside. I’m not the only one voicing these thoughts back there.”
“A fair point in my opinion,” said Anem. “It does not seem wise to keep our strongest combatants waiting here when—”
A mana distortion appeared in the room, and a dimensional gate followed. A young-looking man in plain traveling robes stepped through. He seemed as if he did not have a care in the world.
“Anand, you are late,” growled Willow.
“I don’t remember agreeing on a time,” retorted Anand. “I arrived exactly when I wanted to.”
“Things have changed,” spat Willow. “There are way more people on Matteo’s side than we expected. Worst of all, we can’t use the outpost’s defense system. We have prepared everything for the trap, but if it continues like this, then we would lose too many of ours and I think you should—”
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“Let me stop you right there.” Anand interrupted with a tone that could cut metal. “We are merely cooperating because some of my interests are temporarily aligned with yours. That is all.
“At the end of the day, you bunch are still otherrealm worshippers,” spat Anand. “Don’t expect me to shed tears over some dead cultists. If you want to give orders, then talk to someone else.”
Anand shrugged off the glares from the channelers in the room without a care. “I will intervene as much as is required to reach our shared goals.” He smiled coldly. “Beyond that, I consider every dead cultist an improvement of the realm’s affairs.”
“Then why don’t we stop this right here and we all move out?” proposed the silver-clad man. “If you despise us so much, surely you do not need us here.”
“Do as you wish.” Anand shrugged indifferently.
Anand looked at Willow. “But remember that Matteo needs to reach this place. You and I are the bait, which means you have to stay here. We need to separate him from his allies to increase the pressure.
“The current Matteo is no pushover and my attention will be on Matteo’s condition first and foremost.” Anand grinned. “I may not be in a position to protect your life like when we took down the Divine Hammer.”
Willow glanced at the others in the room and then looked back at Anand. “You make it sound as if we ambushed her even though it was Sigille that—”
“Save that for someone else,” interjected Anand with an amused expression. “I really don’t care either way. My impression of realm traitors could not be any lower to begin with. There is no need for pretense when you are talking to me.
“So?” Anand smirked. “Go ahead. Send as many of your fellow cultists out of the backroom as you feel comfortable with.”
Willow took a few breaths and then addressed the silver-clad man. “Stay. Everyone should stay. We can’t risk Anand getting injured heavily or even killed. We still need a dimensional mage with his abilities.”
“Right…” Anand spoke amusedly. “It would be rather awkward if your little project would have to be abandoned near the finish line due to a lack of transport. Or if someone incompetent takes over, and you get discovered before you’re done.”
Anand closed his eyes for a moment and then spoke: “Alright, I’ll have a grasp on the situation. I’ll tell you what to do and you can instruct your own accordingly.”
***
Eric spat out a mouthful of blood. He glared at Matteo in front of him and Apex on his left. Then, he glanced towards his back where the dome was located.
While there were still a lot of people from Willow’s faction standing guard behind Eric, the strongest were all occupied. If Matteo made it past Eric, then it would not take long for him to reach the dome.
“This was not how it’s supposed to be,” grumbled Eric. “Damn that Palmer slapping Carlos around. Apex that fickle knuckle-brain.” Eric grit his teeth. “Useless Venom Siblings. Useless everybody. Bunch of muppets.”
Eric glared at Apex with a vicious glint in his eyes and growled in a low voice. “You want to play? I’ll play.” He moved his eyes towards Matteo. “You’re not getting past me. I’ll make sure to lay your corpse next to the decrepit hag.”
Eric grinned viciously as his lower body transformed into a whirlwind of darkwater that circled wider and wider. Droplets of darkwater were hurled everywhere.
Apex performed a movement technique to evade the debilitating water droplets. Azure wings of fire appeared on her back and she soared into the sky.
Matteo’s body erupted with countless snakes of lightning that circled around his body. He lunged forward and slashed at Eric from a distance.
Purple lightning followed the trajectory of Soul Fury and travelled towards the vicious channeler of the Shapeless Pond.
Vicious slapped his palms together, and the darkwater rippled from his shoulders forward along his arms until two giant waves crashed into each other right where his palms met.
Screams resounded from everywhere.
“What are you doing?!” yelled a woman from the circle of the Bright Lady. She channeled her healing abilities and stared at Vicious while the skin was melting from her face.
“Weren’t you hired to protect Bright Willow?” demanded a man next to her. One of his fingers was rotting away.”
Vicious sneered. “I am, am I not? You’re not Bright Willow, are you? If you’re too weak to protect yourself, that’s not my problem.
“Look, I’m even cleaning up some of their muppets.” Eric grinned viciously and gestured towards several writhing Guardians from Matteo’s side. They had also suffered under the darkwater.
Eric sneered. “Channel your lady’s underpants or something and stop whining at me.” Then Vicious returned his full attention to Matteo and Apex.
The three clashed again and again. Because of the viciousness of the fight, people from both sides kept their distance.
After several minutes of exchanges, Eric roared in frustration. He had gone all out, but even so, he was at a disadvantage against the two. While he managed to avoid a fatal injury, his wounds and exhaustion had piled up.
Eric had harbored some hope that Matteo would get distracted by protecting the bystanders and make himself vulnerable. However, the Mad Kid was acting differently than Eric was used to. Apex, unfortunately, had never worried about collateral damage to begin with, so his plan had failed.
“It would be fine if it was just one,” grumbled Eric to himself. He glanced back towards the dome again. Vicious sneered inwardly. “Let the muppets face him from the front. I’ll wait for an opportunity to smash his back.”
Eric tentatively moved sideways. He suppressed a grin when he saw Apex focusing on him while Matteo was moving forward towards the dome.
Eric clicked his tongue when he realized that the large area was actually devoid of people and that Matteo could move forward unimpeded. “Perhaps I should have held back a little. Such scared little muppets.”
Apex glanced at Matteo’s back and raised a corner of her lips upwards. Afterwards, she looked at Eric. “Now, where were we, little shitstain?”
Eric sneered and transformed an arm into a whirlwind of darkwater. The two continued clashing while Eric stole glances at Matteo whenever he could.
***
Terry was following Matteo’s signature when he suddenly encountered an area that was practically empty. He had a clear line of sight towards Matteo, who was facing several people right in front of the dome that housed Guardian management.
Terry sensed strong mana fluctuations further left and realized that Apex was fighting against Vicious.
Alright, make a wide circle around these two while heading straight for Matteo.
Terry exhaled sharply and dashed forward.
While Terry was running, he was taken aback by what he saw and sensed.
What are they doing? Why are only these few blocking Matteo while the others are standing back?
Terry narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Mana movement from his back allowed Terry to relax somewhat, because from what his mana sense told him, allied Guardians were already running towards the dome, just like Terry himself.
Terry glanced at the fight between Apex and Vicious. He recalled Vicious’s attempt to make his way into Syn City. Back then, it had been Sigille with her divine hammer inscription that had blocked the liquid pillar of darkwater.
Terry checked his prepared equipment in the storage bracelet and paid close attention to Vicious’s mana movement.
Suddenly, Eric transformed into a stream of black viscous liquid and charged rapidly through the air towards Matteo’s back.
Terry burst his mana as much as his mana channels allowed. He retrieved the prepared mana sublimator that had a large light-aspected monster core secured inside.
The monster core was one of the cores that Matteo had gifted Terry after their dungeon pioneering mission. This core was more than twice the size of the shining dropbear cores, of which Terry still carried a few from his own dungeon experience.
Terry dismissed the idea of transfixing the imprinted handle attachment because of his current velocity. Instead, Terry jumped and then channeled mana into the mana sublimator’s inscription.
*FOOOM* A giant blast of light-aspected mana accompanied by an explosive force intercepted Eric’s liquified body in the sky.
Terry was blown back by the intense recoil. He quickly transfixed the imprinted pearls that were connected to extension coil springs on his forearms to cushion the force before impacting on the ground and rolling on the ground.
Eric had been taken completely off-guard. He fell from the sky and was bloody all over. Small bubbles sizzled wherever the denser parts of the light-aspected discharge had hit him. He was glaring at Terry.
“OY!” Apex had appeared in front of Terry and was glaring at him, too. “You bastard, don’t you dare— Do I know you?” She squinted at him.
Terry involuntarily gulped when confronted with two ranked rookies glaring at him before he mustered the resolve to speak: “Syn City.”
Apex raised her head in understanding. “You were with Matteo and the old hag…” She growled. “Fine, today is an exception. Don’t you dare barge into my fights ever again.”
Apex turned towards Eric and cracked her knuckles. “How dare you take your eyes away when fighting against me? If I don’t make you squeal like a pig today, I’ll eat my teeth.”
Terry heaved a sigh of relief and then jolted his head around with a horrified expression.
That mana distortion… Spatial barrier. But different from the rainbow fishie’s abilities… Spatial lock, too?
Terry saw the people from Willow’s faction that had been waiting around before now all pouring into the area again. They were blocking the entrance to the dome.
Matteo was already inside. Trapped inside a spatial seal.
Terry clenched his teeth while looking at all the people in front of him.
Actions.
Terry charged forward.
***
Matteo stepped through the entrance of the dome’s large reception hall. Purple lightning flickered through his irises while a cold haze was emanating from his eyes.
“Matteo, what have you done?” exclaimed Willow reproachfully. “I’m sorry for your loss, but look at all the carnage you have left behind! I thought you were better than this! Didn’t you train to not be like this anymore? Isn’t this just a repetition of your past mistakes? How could you?”
Dozens of channelers walked out of the backroom and stood between Willow and Matteo.
“Now, if you let me help you, we can get this sorted out,” said Willow with a thin smile. “You do not need to continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
Anand stepped next to Willow with a carefree expression.
A purple snake of lightning travelled from Matteo’s leg towards his head as his eyes were fixed on Anand.
“Nor do you need to continue the mistakes of Sigille,” continued Willow. “Let’s just—”
A giant dragon of purple lightning charged at Willow before she could finish her speech.
Matteo’s mana lit up like a lone torch in a dark night. His mana throughput was pushed beyond his limits. He roared and violently slashed Soul Fury through the nearest channeler.
In the sky above the outpost, far above the giant druid tree, the clouds turned dark while lightning began rumbling rhythmically with every slash of Matteo’s blade.
“Get him under control!” Willow yelled at Anand.
“No, he needs to be pushed further,” said Anand. “But I can…” He attempted to infiltrate Matteo’s mind. A lightning jaw opened before his mind’s eye and he cancelled the attempt. “Well, that’s unfortunate.” Anand chuckled.
“What?!” exclaimed Willow. “What is it?”
Anand raised a corner of his lips. “It appears that aside from his exceptional mental and spirit resistance, and aside from the chaotic elemental situation, there is now a dragon soul claiming Matteo’s mind as its territory. I’m afraid control is no longer an option. It’s gaining more power with every passing moment.”
Willow’s expression fell. “You mean?”
“The only way is to push him further,” said Anand. “Either he evolves or we’ll have a veritable demon on our hands. A demon of unprecedented power.”
“You…” Willow scowled. “This is not what you told me before.”
“I told you that the fiendish blade could become a problem,” retorted Anand. “Like all of that woman’s meddling. The full extent has only become apparent now. Matteo should have already been much further entangled with the elementals. Sink or swim. Instead, there is now a dead lizard disturbing the water.”
Anand raised his hands to the side and shrugged.
Willow grimaced and channeled the Bright Lady’s abilities. Her skin turned golden. She looked down at the rampaging battle in front of her. At the purple lightning dragon. At Matteo. When her gaze met the furious eyes of Matteo, she involuntarily shivered and stopped breathing.
Matteo’s elemental mana seemed almost tangible, just like the fury emanating from his eyes. Aside from the purple lightning sizzling through the irises and the cold haze rising from within, tongues of fire were beginning to circle Matteo.
***