953. The Price of Loyalty_Leveling up the World

Threads of purple split the air, cutting off pieces of reality in the process. A common person might compare it to a magic infused line attack, but doing so was like comparing a broadsword to a scalpel. Galatea was no longer resorting to the simplistic spells he had used before. His current magic was of a whole different scale. Dallion couldn’t see the threads, let alone the symbols within them, but he knew what their purpose was: the creation of multiple realities, each a deathtrap meant to defeat him.

Lyulak instantly surrounded himself in a cocoon of vines, flying away from the shattering fragments of reality.

Euryale and Jeremy simultaneously performed line attacks in an attempt to negate the Purple Moon’s spell. Neither had any effect, simply continuing further into the newly formed realities, like light through a window.

Dozens of things crossed Dallion’s mind. Now, he finally experienced the desperation of facing a Moon. The weight of the concept was enough to shatter his will, and in many instances, it had. But just as combat splitting could be used to experiment with physical actions, it had also allowed him to reach a thought so strange that it caused the pressure to bounce off.

That instance became reality and in it, Dallion reached out to the ground and made a mountain peak shoot up.

Realm section damaged

Overall completion 73%

A blue rectangle emerged. Behind it the tip of the mountain had slammed into the reality cracks, causing entire chunks of it to disappear into other realities.

The moment that happened, Galatea ended his spell.

“What happened?” Euryale asked.

“I’m not sure.” Mentally Dallion reached out and pulled the mountain peak to the side.

Just as he imagined, it stretched, forming a massive wall of rock. This wasn’t a common battlefield, it was a realm—the largest realm that all the conquerors had been fighting for. This was the realm of the world itself.

“We’re in control!” Dallion shouted. “We challenged the Moons for control of the world and during this challenge we can control it just as much as they can!”

Barely had he finished when a second pillar of rock shot up directly beneath him. At this point, the normal reaction of anyone would be to try and evade it or throw every attack possible to slow it down. Dallion did neither.

“Dal, move!” Euryale pulled him to the side, yet even Dark’s wings were unable to move them out of danger in the amount of time needed.

“It’s okay.” Dallion unsummoned his weapons, then reached out with his left hand.

The moment his fingers came into contact with the stony surface—

AREA AWAKENING

Reality shifted.

You are in the land of SPIRE MOUNTAIN.

Defeat the guardian to change the land’s destiny.

“I knew it!” Dallion said, then looked to the side. Euryale was there with him, still holding his waist. Realizing the impossibility they had achieved, she let go and looked around.

“A realm within a realm?” she asked, taking in the new reality of mountains that surrounded them.

“Just a realm,” Dallion replied, although he did check to see whether he could enter any of the clothes on him. “But the real world is also a realm.”

Cracks slowly formed in the sky, each filling with the color of a different Moon. Despite being in the realm, time hadn’t frozen for the outside, it had merely slowed down and not much by the looks of it.

“Nox, do your thing,” Dallion ordered, summoning his two blades again.

GUARDIAN CHALLENGE!

Nox has challenged the guardian of Spire Mountain on your behalf!

The guardian has no choice but to respond to the challenge.

A blue rectangle emerged, followed slowly by the guardian itself.

A colossus? Dallion thought as the massive mountainous form emerged before him. It was rather ironic considering the challenge that Dallion found himself in.

“There’s no reason for you to fight,” Dallion said. There was no use of music skills, no threatening actions, no combat splitting. Even so, he still held his harpsisword and aura sword tightly. “You know what the outcome would be. Just surrender.”

“You’re strong,” a loud voice boomed like thunder. “But even you are like an ant compared to those that fight.”

The outlines of the Red Moon were starting to form in the sky. It was still mostly shrouded, yet it was clear that it wouldn’t take long for it to enter the realm.

Copying the barrier spell he had seen Galatea perform, Dallion cast it, covering the red outline. A second later, it was no more.

“Maybe not an ant,” the colossus added, turning to the sky. “But still a kitten.”

“The outcome will be the same,” Dallion said, a note of sadness in his voice. The whole experience brought him back to the time he was still getting used to his empathy trait. Could it be that he had gone the wrong way, after all? If he had focused on empathy instead of magic, it would have been possible for him to interact with settlements and cities instead of destroying them. Now, he’d never know what would have happened if he had.

“Maybe, but how do you see me fighting against them?” the guardian asked.

“Sorry,” Dallion whispered.

Two sets of point attacks flew straight at the colossus before the being could even budge.

COMBAT INITIATED

A red rectangle emerged fractions of a second later.

TERMINAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

TERMINAL HIT

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Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

TERMINAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

TERMINAL HIT

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

Craters the size of cities appeared all over the colossus’ body. At Dallion’s current level, each attack had the strength to bring him instant victory.

SPIRE MOUNTAIN Level increased

SPIRE MOUNTAIN has been improved to obsidian

Dallion would have preferred a better material option, but considering that was the best of the provided options, he went for it. That wasn’t the most important, though. What he really needed was to establish control of the realm for what was to follow.

Reality shifted again. As it did, the pillar a hand away from Dallion and Euryale split in two, avoiding them completely.

Knowing that someone else might take control, Dallion instantly pulled both mountains down.

I think they’re winning, a faint whisper said. It was a voice unlike any other. Clearly it belonged to an area guardian, but it was so ancient and powerful that Dallion could only assume it belonged to one of the colossi of old.

It’s too early to tell, another replied. Things might get worse if they do,

Depending on who gets the prize, they might get better.

Purple rays of light crashed into each other as both Galatea and Jeremy cast powerful ray of destruction spells. Jeremy’s was instantly dispersed, like a stream getting crushed by a tidal wave.

A new barrier of aether emerged, attempting to split the world in two. Pan and Tiallia continued to do everything possible to keep the other Moons isolated, at least for a few moments longer.

Use my spell! Dallion shouted in his realm, relying on Simon to convey the message. The pearl can hurt him, so if we attack with enough of them, we can win.

In his mind, things were already falling into place. Provided that the new barrier managed to last five more seconds, there was a real possibility that Galatea might be defeated. Once that happened, all they had to do was repeat the process with another Moon and—

SIMON has left your party

A rectangle emerged.

“What the heck?” Dallion burst into instances. In a third of them, he focused his attention on Simon.

Jeremy had seen the same and instantly engaged in a multi attack, but it was already too late. A sphere of green aether had surrounded Simon, and all the attacks did was to propel the sphere away.

Sorry, Dal. Dallion heard Simon say in his realm. I won’t harm you, but this is the only way.

“Damn it!” Dallion slashed the air with his aura sword. Several spell circles formed, then stuck to his body, increasing his body and reaction traits. With Simon and Jeremy effectively out of commission, the only chance for victory was for Dallion and Eury to take Galatea down personally.

On the surface, that seemed an impossible task. All the magic in the world had come from this very Moon. Yet, it also was a constant that mages were weak to physical attacks. As long as the pair could reach Galatea unharmed, before the other Moons joined in, there was a real chance.

A second massive aether barrier emerged, yet this one wasn’t to prevent the Moons from reaching Galatea. Instead, it isolated the Purple Moon from everyone else.

“Damn you Simon!” Dallion shouted. “Why’d you have to mess this up!?”

With that action, the single chance they had faded away. There was no way they could win now. Even if they managed to evade the Moon’s multiple-reality spells and aether beams, there was no way they’d take on six Moons at once.

I can cut through it, Nox said from Dallion’s realm.

Dallion was just about to refuse, when a thought came to mind. Simon’s barrier was supposed to be indestructible, but it was made of hardened aether, so there were a few ways around it. As long as Dallion combined those ways, just maybe he’d manage to go through.

It’s close to Moon magic, he said. You sure you’ll be alright?

I can cut it, the crackling puma replied, deliberately avoiding the question. Both of them knew what they meant, just as they knew that the alternative was undoubtedly worse.

Make sure you survive. Dallion kept on flying straight towards the green aether barrier. Gleam, it’s time to use your magic.

You finally decided to come to me for help. Given the danger everyone was in, there was an unusual amount of glee coming from the shardfly. What’s the plan?

I want you to remove the indestructibility off the barrier, Dallion said. It doesn’t have to be the whole thing, just a spot large enough for Nox to slice.

Casting an illusion on a spell, Gleam mused. You always knew how to offer a challenge.

Will you need Gem’s help?

No, I’ll handle it. You’ll need someone to protect you further on.

Cantor’s hammer slammed into the purple aether barrier created by Pan and Tiallia. The Red Moon had no intention of waiting for the spell to weaken. The strike was so strong that the entire barrier shifted dozens of feet forward, scraping rock and earth at the point it connected to the ground far below.

“Four seconds.” Dallion looked over his shoulder and cast a new series of spells, enhancing Euryale’s traits as much as possible. “Get ready.”

“Always.” The snakes on the gorgon’s head kept on moving to enhance her three-sixty view of her surroundings.

On his part, Dallion used combat splitting to do the same.

A distance away, Jeremy started casting a spell. Lyulak unwrapped the vines around him, then flew in the rough direction where the Red Moon was likely to shatter the purple barrier. Torrents of leaves emerged around him, rapidly increasing in size.

“Now!” Dallion reached Simon’s barrier.

Gleam emerged into the world. The shardfly stretched its wings in all its glory, then flapped. All eight wings dimmed to a quarter of their luminosity as flowing powder hit the barrier like a gust of wind.

The links of the aether composing the barrier lost their indestructible properties in a small section, ten feet wide.

On cue, Nox leaped out of Dallion. Claws emerged all over the crackling’s body, digging into the surface like knives in hardened cheese.

AVERAGE WOUND