ATTACK NEGATION FAILED
You were unable to affect the TWIN DAGGERS’ attack.
Dallion’s line attack shattered mid air as he leaped to the side. Even at his speed one of the strikes grazed him, shattering a layer of his protective spells.
This was the first time that Dallion had experienced an x-based attack. It was very different from two line attacks. One could better describe it as being four attacks merged into one. No wonder the strike of his harpsisword had failed to stop their attack.
“Sweet,” Dallion slashed the air with his aura sword.
Dozens of spells formed, each propelling hundreds of aether shards at the castle still in the air. Like termites, the shards chipped away through stone and metal, devouring the chunks already created by the daggers’ attack. Before they could hit any opponent, though, the guardians leaped safely away from the attack area.
Magic? Dallion thought.
He knew of magic items, and he knew of guardians that knew magic, yet he had failed to see either. It took him a moment to switch his thinking. Thanks to his high perception and magic traits he was able to see strands and patterns similar to magic, but these spells weren’t made of aether, merely void.
ITEM GUARDIANS – NOSHT & ZDRACH
Species: NIGHT DRYADS
Class: SHADOW
Health: 100%
Traits:
- BODY 80
- MIND 40
- REACTION 60
- PERCEPTION 40
- EMPATHY 20
Skills:
- TWINCRAFT
- ATTACK
- GUARD
- ATHLETICS
- ENTANGLE
- ACROBATICS
- CARVING
- ARTS
- ROOT BURST (Species unique)
- LEAF SHIELD (Species unique)
This was the first time Dallion had gotten to see them. The pair were dressed in a black adventurer clothes made of dark matter. Both had long pitch-black hair and delicate faces that would make them more at home in a pop idol magazine.
“What’s with the twins lately?” Dallion asked.
As he did, the castle—that had been largely reduced to dust—started to restore itself. It was like looking at sand pouring back up to its previous shape.
They’re twin weapons, Onda said. Two entities linked into one. Stats, realms, abilities are the same.
“That means their health’s the same.”
What he means, dear boy, is that they are the same, Adzorg joined in. This isn’t like the vortex guardians that you faced. In that case, they were two entities sent to defend an unusual situation. You’re fighting one single item in this case. Great blacksmiths forge exceptional items, but only exceptional crafters can create a single item split into two. Their guardians may seem separate, but they aren’t. It’s like facing magic echoes.
“Magic echoes?” Magic threads flowed into the aura blade. Multiple spheres of purple formed around the weapon as a complex spell gained form.
“Fingerless magic?” the female dagger asked. “Wow, you’re good.”
“Not that good.” The male dryad smirked. “He’s still slow.”
Before he could finish his sentence, a new series of line attacks had been made, flying towards Dallion like a lethal grid of destruction. There was no escaping it, so Dallion didn’t even try. Instead, he concentrated on one cross point of the grid, unleashing a dozen point attacks.
Ten attacks slammed into the target without effect.
ATTACK NEGATED
You partially negated the TWIN DAGGERS’ attack.
Two red rectangles finally appeared, stacking up atop the ten previous failures.
In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t much of an achievement, creating a single hole in the grid. However, that happened to be precisely enough for Dallion to evade any negative consequences, while still continuing with his spell.
I really need to get faster at this, he thought.
Magic echoes were without a doubt a powerful tool, but they required way too much preparation. Even after everything, he was probably half a minute away.
“How long have you been here?” Dallion asked, using his music skills. Knowing it wouldn’t be enough to trick them, he then split into twenty instances, performing a new series of point attacks with each.
Black vines sprouted from the male guardian’s hand, effectively swallowing up every attack. Even if the power was ferocious, splattering the void in all directions, the liquid always managed to pull back and meet the next blow. The only effect that Dallion achieved was to push the dagger guardian back fifty feet.
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“Vicious.” Nosht darted to the tower of the fully reconstructed castle. “I see how you managed to defeat Vihrogon.”
“The same won’t work on us,” Zdrach joined him. “We were told how you fight.”
“So was he.” Dallion threw the harpsisword at them. A thick layer of water covered the weapon as it flew at the tower.
A massive explosion followed, pulverizing the entire part of the structure.
MINOR HIT
Dealt damage is increased by 10%
Not waiting for the dust to settle, Dallion summoned his weapon. The harpsisword emerged in his right hand again, ready for combat.
Once again, the guardians seemed unharmed.
“He got you?” Nosht asked, looking at his twin with a mocking smile.
“The attack punched through,” she replied. “He used spark in the last one.”
“Splitting and spark already? We must be giving him a hard time.”
About twenty-five seconds remained until the completion of the spell. Yet, Dallion could notice that the daggers were unusually calm throughout the whole thing. It was almost as if they were letting him cast his spell. Were they so confident that they could defeat him in less than twenty seconds?
Can you take them, Harp? he asked.
I think so, but I’ll get hurt, the nymph replied. It’s their realm.
Dallion paused. Despite her strength, void had a far greater effect on her than it did on others. Dallion remembered all the way back to the time he, Veil and Gloria fought crackling mountains in Nerosal. Harp had received her first and only crack back then, which had scared Dallion to the extreme. She’d barely been wounded since, but he felt reluctant risking her just yet. After all, that might be precisely what the daggers aimed for. While corrupted, they weren’t their own individuals, not fully. They were still part of the void and it could afford to sacrifice a few pawns in a city full of them, as long as they deprived Dallion from his main advantage.
“Oh, right!” Nosht shouted. “I almost forgot. I’m supposed to tell you that the offer for becoming the next Star still stands.” Blobs of cruelty emerged throughout his body, visible even through the void. “Just say the words and it’s over. Personally, I hope you refuse.”
“Fighting on is the right thing to do, after all,” Zdrach added. “What will those you sacrificed to get here think otherwise? If it wasn’t for the greater good, then what was it for?”
“You’re the worst recruiters ever.” Dallion retained his calm.
“We’ve been called worse.” Nosht shrugged. “Guess that means the offer is rejected.”
Void tendrils shot out of the castle, flying straight for Dallion.
Quickly, he split into two hundred instances, scattering to escape the tentacles’ reach. In the cases in which he saw that escape wasn’t possible, Dallion ended the instance, focusing on the rest. Soon it became obvious that he wasn’t the only one using combat splitting. Although neither the guardians nor the tentacles created versions of themselves, they reacted to what Dallion was doing. With each instance that faded away, clusters of void would merge together, moving to the ones that were still present. Likewise, each time a new set of instances would burst into existence, the void would splinter up again.
“Spark!” Dallion shouted, releasing several line attacks in all directions.
The glowing white lines cut through the void like wire through cheese, but proved far too slow to injure the guardians themselves.
Careful, Vihrogon advised.
What did you notice?
They haven’t used their vine attacks.
Come to think of it, with the exception of the leaf shield, they hadn’t used any of their dryad abilities. It was difficult to tell whether they were still measuring Dallion, or had another reason to be so passive.
I might ask you to join in, Dallion said in his realm.
Fun. Was hoping I’d never have to face another dryad again, but if you must.
I won’t be killing them! Dallion almost hissed.
In the words of Onda, chill, the dryad laughed. It’ll be fine. I needed a stretch anyway. Just one thing to keep in mind. Healing works both ways. Just as you can purge the void, they can use it to corrupt me once more. Or you.
Is that why they’re holding back?
Doubtful. Unlike purging, corrupting takes a while.
That sounded good, but experience had taught Dallion that when someone was overly arrogant, there were only three possibilities: they had a reason to be, they were bluffing, or they were a fool. If nothing else, the twins were definitely not a fool. One of the remaining two options remained, but which?
“Alright, I’ll bite,” Dallion shouted. “Just do what you’re planning.”
Laughter followed.
“You’re way too arrogant!” the female guardian said. “I like you.”
“Why do you think we have to do anything?” the other asked. “You’re the one who came here for answers. It’s up to you to get them.”
“All that we have to do is get you.”
More tendrils shot out from the castle. This time, they weren’t aimed at Dallion, but surrounded the space like a spherical cage. In his mind, Dallion could already see it shrinking, constricting his movement further and further until he was captured or forced to exit the realm.
There’s no way it could be that simple, he thought.
You’d be surprised. Vihrogon sighed. Most of us are creatures of habit. Anyone with a bit of imagination quickly rose in the ranks.
“Are you sword marshals?” Dallion asked.
“Like that has-been? No, we were aristocracy. We dined with kings.”
At this point, Dallion knew that they were lying. They were masking it very well. Even his music sense wasn’t able to spot any inconsistency, yet he had taken the time to read the dryad scrolls from the aura swords he’d found, so he knew that there was no such thing as dryad kings. That had been added millennia later by human poets.
“You’re lying,” he said, his expression becoming cold as a stone mask.
The spells round his aura sword were complete now, creating three silhouettes of purple light nearby. One magic echo would have been enough, but why settle for one if he could go for more?
Light turned to matter as three copies of the noble emerged. By all accounts, the fight was already over. A split second before the spell’s completion, however, a droplet of void split the air, hitting the echo in the chest.
PERMANENT EFFECT - CORRUPTION SEED
MAGIC ECHO has been affected by corruption, disrupting its magic strings. Unable to use magic until the status is removed.
The status continues to be in effect in the real world.
As permanent effects went, this was one of the nastier ones. As far as mages were concerned, this was a quick way to limit or even to seal their spellcasting ability. When applied to magic echoes, on the other hand, it was no different than quick poison. Magic echoes were nothing but magic given form.
Several more droplets followed, attempting to strike the remaining echoes. They were quick enough to combat split and fly away casting spells, though that was a temporary solution. Soon enough, the droplets turned into a rain falling inward from the void cage that surrounded the edges of the realm.
“Well, what do you think now?” Nosht asked with a maniacal smile. “You wanted something impressive. There you have it. Our first cultist owner used us to defeat mages. A single wound and their abilities were no more.”
Dallion looked at his left hand. The void drops had eaten through all his aether layers of protection and now were spreading through his skin. There was no pain as such, but he could see his magic threads being devoured. There was no change in his magic traits, which suggested the effect wasn’t permanent, but merely long lasting. Having to live with a curse for over a year, not to mention a permanently bleeding wound, he had learned the most important thing in such situations—never panic.
PERMANENT EFFECT - CORRUPTION SEED
MAGIC ECHO has been affected by corruption, disrupting its magic strings. Unable to use magic until the status is removed.
The status continues to be in effect in the real world.
PERMANENT EFFECT - CORRUPTION SEED
MAGIC ECHO has been affected by corruption, disrupting its magic strings. Unable to use magic until the status is removed.
The status continues to be in effect in the real world.
More red rectangles emerged, as the magic echoes he had painstakingly cast were dissolved into nothingness.
“I guess I’ve learned everything I need to know.” Dallion closed his eyes.
Magic spark, he thought.
Divine magic exploded through his threads, brought into his body from two Moonstones. Faster than light, they quickly repelled all the void within him, then created a glowing layer around his very skin, evaporating any droplets that tried to go near.
“Now it’s my turn.”