Mr. X launched a multitude of attacks towards the pillar, each one fizzling on their approach. “What the hell is going on!?” he scowled.
He clenched his fists tight, black ooze dripping from his palms mimicking blood. Gritting his teeth, Mr. X shouted with great fury, “Volnir! Get your ass over here!”
Rubble on the other side of the cave shifted as Volnir rose from it and mumbled, “Damn it, I was hoping I could just ride this out. Kid hit harder than I thought he would.”
Mr. X barked further orders at Volnir, “Use your magic to finish these children off! I am going to try and stop the awakening.”
A wicked smile formed on Volnir’s face. He responded enthusiastically, “You want me to put the wounded dogs who can’t fight anymore down? I wonder just what I did to deserve such an honor!”
Baz clutched his arm and sneered, “You just try it, ya cowardly sadist!”
“Ha! Cowardly? At least I will be alive in the end. Well you can go and insult me however you want, not like I care what a corpse has to say anyways.”
Mylon staggered to his feet, worn out from defending against Zycor’s stray bolts and fighting against the pressure from the waves of mana. Aisha stood up with Mylon and asked, “Are you sure you can fight Mylon? You look exhausted,”
He chuckled with a pained tone, “Do I really have a choice? This Volnir guy is seriously bad news.”
Aisha’s eyes narrowed, staring pensively at Volnir. Each of his steps seemed heavy, and he was nursing his chest pretty heavily. She placed a hand on Mylon's shoulder and insisted, “Let me fight him. In his current state, I doubt he can muster up much of mana. On top of that, he is clearly still reeling from the hits he received from Zycor.”
Mylon went to protest, but he fell to his knee, his left leg giving out. He cursed under his breath and reluctantly relented, “Fine, I doubt I could do much anyways. I will join you as soon as my legs start cooperating with me again.”
While Aisha readied herself to confront Volnir, Mr. X faced down the pillar of mana. He cursed under his breath, “What bullshit is this?!” He took a deep breath and composed himself, “It’s fine, I just have to interrupt the process. This sucks. I will have to use some of the mana reserves I set aside, but it’ll work out.”
He raised his hand towards the pillar, multiple tentacles pointing their tips to the center of it. A dark mass of magic swelled in his palm, increasing in size then suddenly collapsing into itself over and over. Mr. X couldn’t help but smirk, happy to know this thorn in his side was about to be dealt with. Looking back on it, Zycor was far more trouble to corrupt than it was worth.
His concentration was cut short when the prison containing Novos broke in a flash of light. Mr. X slowly looked back with a furiously annoyed expression. When he laid eyes on Novos, his eyes widened in shock and concern. His face contorted into hatred, with a hint of fear, and seethed, “I should have realized you and that damn dragonkin who stopped me all those years ago were related.”
Standing with a faint, white glow emanating from his body was Novos. He was clad in blue and gray draconic armor, his wings violently unfurled with a heavy gust of wind. His humanlike face bore the expression of a warrior on a mission. His blazing yellow eyes narrowed, silently staring Mr. X down, almost daring him to try it. Novos snarled, “I wonder how you came across information on my race, especially considering we have never existed on this planet. Though, I suppose I can just beat it out of you, I am certain Alice will be curious to know as well.”
Clicking his tongue, Mr. X returned his focus to the pillar, “You damned religious zealot, following the false god must truly be painful.”
He flexed his forearms and began to fire the mass of concentrated death magic at the pillar. His hand was forced towards the sky, missing completely. Novos glared down at him, the dragon’s grip crushing his arm. It was at that moment, Mr. X realized how dangerous this being was. He was emitting pure mana from his body like it was natural, allowing the dragon to harm him. Novos growled, “The goddess is keenly interested in that magic you are wielding. It is not of this universe, so the question is, where did you get a hold of it?”
Mr. X was overcome with a mixture of dread and pure anger. He fired a wild blast of death magic from his mouth, connecting with Novos’ face. He then had one of his tentacles lash out against the dragonkin’s hand. Finally released, Mr. X put distance between himself and Novos. He glared with unfiltered hatred while Novos stood unharmed and stalwart, the pillar of mana pulsing behind him. Mr. X, overcome with primal fury, raged, “What the hell is happening!? This entire situation is utter garbage! It’s ridiculous! I have planned every step, each move! There is no way, now that I am at the finish line, that I can fail now! Not because of some angsty human that can’t even control his own emotions!”
He clutched his head and roughly ruffled his hair, continuing his tirade, “I am so close! There is no way it can all just collapse in on itself like this!”
Mr. X abruptly stopped, raising his head with a look of realization fueled either by actual logic, or his own madness. He chuckled in a crazed tone, “That’s right… it can’t collapse. Sure I may be set back a bit, but I have more than enough power to wipe out an entire continent… no, the whole world stored up! What’s it matter if I use some of it?! I just have to kill everyone here!”
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A sudden burst of a black aura surrounds Mr. X as he begins to cackle hysterically. Black ooze leaked from his eyes while Novos watched on with an expression full of pity. This only served to anger Mr. X further as he roared, “I will tear you asunder, you damn slave!”
He rushed Novos, who easily swatted him away. The dragonkin crossed his arms, his tail slamming the ground. Mr. X quickly recovered and fired multiple balls of concentrated death magic, each of which were wiped out by a pulse of mana from the pillar. Mr. X was completely outmatched.
Meanwhile, Aisha launched fireball after fireball at Volnir as she ran around him. Volnir blocked them all, only having trouble because of the periodic pulses of mana throwing him slightly off balance. He clutched his chest tightly, grunting, “You brat… you are lucky I am in rough shape. I will give it to you though, you are much faster than I thought you would be.”
Aisha, breathing heavily, felt she had finally gotten a solid grasp of Volnir’s current fighting capabilities. She goaded, “I sure hope the only thing you can do isn’t just block the attacks of little ol’ me~.”
Instantly, Volnir furiously exploded, “You brat, what was that!? I see you have a death wish!”
He removed his arm from his chest and began to cast a fireball of his own. Utilizing the opening she had created, Aisha removed her ring and rushed him. Her speed exploded throughout the dash as she transformed, catching the egotistical narcissist off guard. She kicked him in the chest, right where he was nursing, with all of her might. Volnir coughed up blood, staggering back while his fireball fizzled out.
Volnir glared up at her and growled, “You damn demi-human… that was dirty…”
Aisha, appalled, chided, “You total hypocrite! There is no way you said that with a straight face!”
Volnir, however, didn’t care what she had to say. All that mattered was her guard was low enough to criticize him. He placed a hand on the ground, and a moment later, the ground underneath Aisha ruptured as a stone spike pierced through it. Aisha barely reacted in time to dodge the pointed tip. However, she was grazed by the lateral surface of the coned attack and knocked away.
Her feet skidded across the ground, managing to steady herself. A line of blood from her forehead ran down her face. Aisha wiped it away, glancing over at the pillar of mana and thought, “How long is this supposed to take?!”
-
Zycor opened his eyes slowly, his cheeks still wet from the tears. He looked around at his surroundings and saw he was kneeling on top of calm waters. Raising his head, he saw a seemingly endless ocean that spanned across the horizon. Blue skies with clouds spread sparsely. The water suddenly rippling caught his attention, turning around slowly to see what happened. A woman stood in a white and light blue dress with a smile on her face.
Zycor recognized her as the goddess, Alice, though appearing older. He wore a somber expression, remarking, “You're older than I remember.”
Annoyed, Alice puffed out her cheeks and began scolding, “You stupid boy! How in the world did you find out about contract fusion?! I was certain I made sure that knowledge was lost to time! Do you understand how reckless and moronic it is to use that!? I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you do it the first time, and you went and did it twice in quick succession?!”
Zycor rose to his feet, drying his tears with his sleeve. He turned to face her and questioned, “So, am I here strictly to be scolded?”
Alice let out a heavy sigh, “You know, most people who are faced with the literal goddess tend to speak with a bit more tack. Though, considering what you have been through and who raised you, I can’t say I’m too shocked.”
“So, what’s going on right now? I remember Baz stabbed me… after…”
Zycor’s silence was met with Alice placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, a calming smile on her face, as she consoled, “I know, you don’t have to say it. You have been through a lot, far more than most others. You have lost much, and for not being able to step in and stop it from happening, I apologize.”
“And why couldn’t you? You are a being of pure power, so why not?”
“Because doing so would interfere with the free will of others. You were all created with the incredible blessing of being able to make your own choices. It is lamentable that many abuse that gift to cause harm to others. However, if I was to interfere with that free will, it would strip away the concept of free will. You would never truly know whether or not your choice was all your own.”
Zycor’s head lowered, his fists clenching as he shouts, “So are you just saying that I need to suck it up and move on?!”
“No, moving on or not is up to you. Or maybe you can find another path forward using that free will of yours.”
His body was suddenly enveloped in a white aura as Alice stepped back, “My dear child, you have suffered and lost much. And despite it all, you still wish to live on. For that I grant you a new body and a skill, defying the concept known as magic, born from deep within you. A skill personal and unique to yourself, one I am sure will serve you well. I pray that upon our next meeting, you shall have lived a life you will be happy to share with me.”
Zycor reached out towards her as he cried out in confusion, “What do you mean by that all that!?”
Alice simply smiled as the aura completely consumed him and he felt himself crash to the ground. The pillar of magic had collapsed, revealing Zycor standing silently, his body returned to human and glowing white. All noise ceased yet again, the eerie silence returning as everyone looked on in a mixture of awe, confusion, fear, and anger for some.
Zycor looked over towards Aisha and Volnir and raised his hand slightly. A great burst of wind spewed forth and shot Volnir into the wall behind at ludicrous speeds. While everyone looked at the smoke and rubble from the impact, Zycor looked down at his hand, trying to wrap his head around his new power.
Mr. X used the commotion as a distraction and launched a furious attack at Zycor. The latter glanced at the attack and vanished. In the same instant, an impact was heard from behind Mr. X. When what happened finally registered, Mr. X’s expression went pale with fear. He couldn’t see what happened. Novos grinned, cackling, “Welcome back, Zycor. Not a bad awakening if I say so myself.”
Mr. X turned to face the smoke and rubble as Zycor stepped out, unharmed. Dusting himself off a bit, Zycor commented, “Wow, I am way faster and stronger than I thought. This might take some getting used to…”
He clenched his fist and locked eyes with Mr. X and smiled determinedly, “Well then, shall we start the next round?”