A powerful blast of pure light exploded out from beyond her sight. Clara was having a hard time trying to adjust seeing it, and falling to her death.
It all happened so quickly, even making her forget that she was falling to the ground with no way out. The light looked like a waterfall rising upwards, and instead of water, it was pure bluish flames that flowed like water.
It was mesmerizing, and its greenish tint made it look more natural than anything else in this entire place. But soon that pillar shifted and formed, turning into something else.
Before Clara could realize it, something burst out of the pillar of liquid flame, extending itself straight towards her. Yet, she felt no fear. Because instead of turning into something dangerous, it slowly transformed so it had digits forming from the tip to the knuckles, all the way to the base of the palm.
It was a large hand, and it caught Clara as she fell right onto the palm. Despite her sudden landing, she felt no pain. Even as she touched the liquid flame now that she uprighted herself, she didn't’ feel like she was burning.
It was warm. So wonderfully warm, like tucking herself in the covers during a cold night. At her side, even Brucey who looked hurt started to relax, his facial expression easing into a restful sleep.
She looked towards the owner of that hand, seeing now for the first time of what that pillar of liquid burning light transformed into.
It was a giant man, with a thin frame but showed lean muscle even through the light. It was becoming easier to see, and she swore that the head of the giant man of pure light had a resemblance to somewhat ruffled hair, but had no facial features at all.
Just two giant eyes made entirely of turquoise. There was no nose, no mouth, no ears. It was as though it was formed with nothing else but for the added fact of having enough mass in the body.
To catch Clara. When she saw the resemblance, however, she no longer feared the giant mass of light.
The man of pure light looked directly at her, then he moved his hand closer to his chest. Clara saw that the chest was slowly opening, a burst of flame and liquid light shooting out for her. But she wasn’t afraid.
Since it was Bobo, she closed her eyes and accepted the protection. Her entire body along with Brucey entered into the opening, and soon everything became submerged in white light. But she wasn’t blinded as her eyes were pleasantly closed.
She only just rested, the entire situation becoming too much to bear. As she was now, there was nothing else to do but to let Bobo handle the rest. She smiled, knowing that she and Brucey are safe and protected under Bobo’s light.
…..
It all happened so quickly. A sudden burst of pure mana exploded just beyond the fortress’ path. Mikella watched in disbelief at the sudden appearance of a man made entirely out of flame and light just… existing out of nowhere.
Everyone, including their enemies and even the monsters, paused at the sudden welcoming of this strange creature. The bastion soldiers that were on the side of the battle watched in awe, and the monsters of the fortress, even the Weaver, looked as though nothing else mattered.
It wasn’t as though its appearance shocked them all to the point of a stand still. It was the raw, overwhelming sense of pure power that radiated off of the man.
Mikella couldn’t even begin to decipher the level of power from that creature. It looked like a giant made entirely out of mana, but there was so much more than that. It radiated absolute dominance, to the point where perhaps the entire biodome was bent to its will.
It extended a hand out towards somewhere, and when she focused harder, her heart stopped.
It was Clara. When she saw her little sister, she wanted to stop the creature from trying to catch her.
She had no idea how the hell Clara ended up in that situation in the first place. Why was she suddenly falling from the air, and why is that creature interested in her? When she thought about Zoan, she felt as though her entire world was about to be snuffed out when it caught her in the palm of its hand.
“Clara!”
She shouted, though it was useless. There was no way for her to do anything other than stare in disbelief. Not even the Journeymen could do anything, just watching in absolute awe at the creature.
Then, something strange happened. Clara didn’t scream, or shout in fear, and even when the giant man of light pushed her towards his chest, opening up as though he was about to swallow her whole, Clara didn’t protest at all.
And the way that the man carried Clara… it wasn’t a monster. It looked soothing, like a caring parent wanting to protect the child. Even the way he pushed Clara into its chest by tightening both hands onto himself felt strangely caring.
When she looked deeper at the man of light, rather than Clara after disappearing into the man, she noticed the resemblance immediately.
It had an appearance of a thin man with muscle tone, but there was nothing else that made him resemble a true human being. The only thing that stood out was the top of his head, where what looked like flowing shaggy hair, made entirely out of large tendrils of mana.
And finally, there were two giant glowing orbs of pure turquoise color that opened wide, showing no emotion across its utterly blank face. Once he finished absorbing Clara into his chest, he turned around towards the fortress.
He bent his back slightly, raised his head up high–and roared.
It opened its mouth in that instant, and nothing but pure Mana poured out from within as the roar swallowed everything whole. A quake of raw pressure flowed out of him, demanding attention in a way that nobody can ignore.
All the monsters Mikella saw immediately cowed, those from outside of the fortress ran immediately from the battle. They had no way of fighting back, and even if they could, they refused to do anything as they galloped and trudged away, looking almost half-to-death as they did so. That roar alone might have caused them damage.
The monsters within the fortress, the golems, suddenly turned limp and fell. The power that surged within them suddenly died out, as though the pressure reacted negatively to them and forced them to just… die.
She felt it then. A massive surge of experience flowed into her body as notifications settled into her vision.
> Level Up! You are now Level 53. You gain 4 free points (8 FP total).
>
> You have gained +6 STR from your class.
> You have gained +6 DEX from your class.
> You have gained +6 END from your class.
Her eyes widened at that. It wasn’t due to the sudden levels from possibly all the monsters that have died from the sudden pressure.
No, it was because she received experience points at all. That finally answered her question of where Zeke was this whole time.
Because that giant man of pure mana was Zeke.
“What the hell is that?!” One of the soldiers shouted, one of the enemy, she recalled. “What is that thing?!”
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“It’s killing everything around it! Is it another boss!?”
“Quiet!” A powerful voice echoed out, making Mikella realize instantly who it was. It was none other than the Lord of the Bastion army, standing on top of what looked like a platform of pure purple flames.
He looked more distraught than any of the men that shouted in fear. While that normally would be a win for them, Mikella can’t really enjoy this moment as the Lord, Roderick, shouted his orders.
“Take out the boss! Quickly! Before it comes!”
Her expression distorted to confusion as the soldiers also shared an equally befuddled look. But before they could piss off the Master-tier user, they went ahead to do just that. It was a blessing that the boss also stopped moving, looking directly at the pure form of Mana just standing there.
For a while, it just stood there. The presence was just awe-inspiring, still pouring as much pressure as it had from its roar. Thankfully, her comrades didn’t drop from the pressure. Myra and Piker closed up to her, their faces paling at the sight of it.
“Mikky… what is that?” Myra said, or at least tried to as her voice felt strained from the stress. “It feels like…”
“Like Zeke,” Piker finished, showing a look of consternation he hadn’t had in a while. “Is that true? I saw Clara falling to its hand and it just… absorbed her. Please tell me that she’s–”
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Mikella said, finally bringing everyone to exhale in relief. Then after showing her latest notifications, revealing that she just got them, they stood stock still.
“So that really is Zeke,” Myra gasped as she turned back at the standing figure. “What happened to him? Did he let his attunement take control again?”
“That shouldn’t have happened, but perhaps we should be grateful,” Piker said, his hands gripping hard on his bastard sword. “But what now? He’s just… standing there?”
Mikella was trying to figure that out herself. He stood there, just standing and staring at… something. Or rather, was he just unconscious?
“Mikella!”
Cloud yelled, getting her attention. The lords ran over to them, looking just as shocked and awed as the rest. The fact that Journeymen looked like this as well made Mikella more nervous.
“Mikella, is Zeke alright? Can you tell?” Cloud asked, more hurried than usual. “Is it possible you can sense through your link?”
“I’m… I’m not sure,” Mikella shook, and instead just showed the notifications to the lords, including Zacharia. “But that is Zeke.”
“Impossible…” Zacharia said. This was the first time that the general was caught unaware. His facial expression finally broke as worry took over. “How can that boy contain that much power? He should be dead by now.”
Mikella winced at that, and Val saw through it as she elbowed Zacharia at the arm.
“Don’t talk like that. Zeke is strong by his own right. The fact that he still received a notification is proof. But… what now? What can we do? Surely he’ll be in danger.”
“But can we really do anything?” Myra said, turning back at the figure, then at the boss that had started attacking again after being targeted by the soldiers. “He’s just standing there, and the other soldiers are trying to kill the boss again!”
“Do we… tell him to move?” Piker asked, unsure. He turned to Mikella, his brows furrowing. “Mikella, can you somehow… tell him through your link?”
“Listen, I only know the barest things about it,” Mikella shook her head. She understood their worries but all this talk about her link to him was getting to her. “I don’t know how the hell I can–”
Something shifted in the air. She flinched, her body shivering as she immediately turned back to the figure of light. Everyone else saw the change, turning rigid as they asked.
“Mikky?” Val spoke up. There was tension in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
“...He’s getting ready.”
That was the only thing Mikella said, which surprised everyone, including herself. She didn’t know why, but she felt as though something tugged at her mind, almost like mana pouring in from somewhere like how she was getting healed.
But it wasn’t mana. It was… intent? It definitely had a will, but it felt more raw than a conscious being’s will. But she felt that will being instigated to do… something.
In that instant, the figure finally started to move. He turned his head, his giant turquoise eyes looking directly at the fortress. That got everyone to stop moving, looking back to see the figure finally moving.
He turned his torso, then the rest of his body as he switched direction towards the fortress. He lowered his knees as though…
“Oh shit,” Mikella said, her voice rising to a fever pitch. “He’s coming here!”
Exactly as she said, the giant figure of light, possibly reaching more than 30 feet in height, began to sprint. Each foot landed on the ground and made everyone feel like the entire biodome was shaking. He swung his arms up and down, truly sprinting like an athlete.
He picked up speed, literally rushing straight towards the fortress. He opened his ethereal mouth and roared, another quake of pure pressure expanding across the entire realm.
Mikella turned to the rest, each of them widening their eyes in pure fright. “Retreat! Run! Just get your asses in gear and bounce! He’s gonna attack!”
She didn’t quite know how to explain a proper retreat signal, but her screaming like a maniac made it very clear to everyone on her team to do exactly as she said. She felt Zeke’s intent, or what his unconscious will is demanding out of the giant form.
To attack. As to what, she wasn’t quite sure yet. The connection was pretty shitty by this point.
Everyone in the Eve Glade team followed the general’s orders for retreat, a proper one this time as they all ran away from the fortress itself. The other soldiers from the Bastion city picked up on this, but as their leader hasn’t said anything, they only looked like they were regretting their entire life’s decisions that made them end up there.
Zeke ran, his figure of light just stomping everything underneath with no hint of mercy for anything. Mikella felt more XP flowing into her, unable to comprehend how many monsters Zeke was killing just by running. The only way one can gain a kill notification is by fighting against the monster itself. Their connection made it so that she could only gain XP, not learn what monsters Zeke killed.
And it wasn’t a small amount either.
Would there even be a biodome left after this whole mess is done? The only thing she could worry about for now is trying to survive this whole ordeal.
The figure of light and mana finally reached into the fortress. Rather than just bashing through the stone walls and buildings, killing everything in his path, Zeke instead did the one thing nobody, not even Mikella, would expect.
Zeke jumped. His legs extended wide and jumped high into the air, becoming airborne. Where exactly he was jumping to was obvious. He was jumping straight towards the giant boss that looked at the figure in surprise.
Zeke swung his arm back wide, then he punched the Weaver in its face.
Krratttuum!
If his roars were powerful as earthquakes, then that punch was a nuclear explosion that sent everything that stood underneath blasting apart into smithereens.
Not even their ears were safe, enhanced as they were, as Mikella felt warm liquid dripping down from them as she grimaced in pain. The Weaver howled in pain as it slowly, but surely, fell from Zeke’s powerful punch.
It caused the entire biodome to shake and rattle, an event that felt like the world was about to end, or worse–the world was about to fall right on top of them, since they were underground and all.
Yet despite the massive strain the two giants have caused, the biodome held for now. Mikella surveyed her surroundings to find that all of her comrades, including the retinue, were fine if not a bit injured from the cacophony of the blasts.
Meanwhile, Zeke’s figure of pure mana stood ever victorious and raised his head up high to roar again in defiance. Without any form of hesitation, he lunged after the downed Weaver, beating it senselessly like a barbarian made of pure light.
Even though the massive creature was being punished, thus improving their odds of completing the quest, Mikella worried. She watched as her trusted partner went absolutely apeshit on a monster that he had no right to face by himself.
But what else can she do? At this point, Zeke has gotten the strength to handle that thing on his own. And she was very sure that if anyone got in his way, they would be killed like all the other monsters.
So what else is there to do than to make sure Zeke was safe? She peered at her enemies, all of them now going into overdrive to stop the massive figure from killing the boss.
The Lord, Roderick in particular, was more than ready to stop him.
“Change of plans!” Zacharia roared, trying to let his voice reach his allies. “Attack Bastion! Leave the boss to Zeke! Leave no one alive!”
The soldiers roared in accordance to his orders as they all ran over to the bastion’s side. Mikella wanted to stop them. If they go too close to Zeke as he is now, he might end up hurting them or worse. What if he found out once he got out of this that he ended up killing his own comrades?
But a firm hand held onto her shoulder, turning to find Myra looking at her.
“Mikella, let’s follow Zacharia’s orders,” She said. She turned to Zeke, then nodded before turning to her. “Zeke’s got this.”
She knew Myra was right, and even as the two people she wanted to protect were literally in the middle of this whole mess, she breathed heavily. Piker showed up near her, just as worried for her as Myra.
Despite everything, these two still wished to help them. Even though they have every reason to be worried for their own safety, they wanted to help these two.
She nodded, then recognized that both Cloud and Val were already running towards the group. Val looked back, and without a word, she nodded to her before rushing further ahead. Her form started to change, and her monster-like appearance showed over her expression.
“Alright, got it,” Mikella swallowed her fear and panic. What remained was nothing but pure rage and determination as she stared at Roderick. “Let’s get’em.”