The island by itself wasn't very interesting. There was a single beach that faced towards the shore that held the lighthouse on its coastline. The rest of the island was sheer cliff, that while not very high, it didn't look fun to climb up either. They didn't see anyone directly on it, but the island was still big enough that they weren't able to see the entire thing easily, even when Owen had flown into the sky to get a better view.
There were a couple sentries that stood guard on the beachhead, so Owen and his friends circled around until they guards were out of sight. "Are we going to sneak over or storm through the front entrance." Malik asked and turned to the rest of them. "I don't think it's wise to leave any enemies behind us, it would make us too easy to flank." Myra said, getting nods in return. "It might be best to sneak and take out as many guards as possible as we get closer towards the domain." Peggy offered.
Myra and Malik nodded and they all turned to Owen, who still hovered there. Malik was keeping some mana flowing into the air, to help keep Owen from falling, while he thought. "I don't think my sneaking capabilities are going to be very top tier. I will probably have to fly either above you guys, or sneak with you guys, but everything in the vicinity would be affected from the chaos I'm leaking."
"Do you think you could burst down enemies in a single hit?" Malik asked. Owen didn't hardly have to think about it. "I think as long as they are a low enough level, that I'd be able to hit them, then yes." Owen answered and Malik nodded. "You should do a majority of the stealth kills then. I can focus on one side and you clear out the either and we will slowly push in, until we reach the domain. Then all that's left is for you to do what you do best." Malik finished grinning.
Owen smiled inn return, but was still wondering how he was supposed to actually be stealthy. Turning to Peggy and Myra, both seemed to have already agreed with the plan, so he nodded awkwardly and set off as quietly as possible.
The twigs and gravel underneath him popped and sizzled, sounding like he was cooking something with each step. It sounded like a thousand bullets going off and as he approached the nearest guard, he thought it was impossible that they wouldn't hear him before he got close. He tried to use keen eye on the guard, he could feel the mana activate, but it was eroded before it could activate the skill itself.
"Well isn't that just amazing," He thought to himself. He had no real way to gauge an enemies power anymore, but as long as it was a surprise, he was confident he could win most any fight. As the guard lazily sat back, barely paying attention to his surroundings, Owen created a small fist sized clump of chaos. He forced it to maintain its shape, while getting ready to throw it.
A simple toss ended the man's life. The clump flew threw the air casually and landed against the man's back, before Owen let the chaos do what it wanted. In the next moments, the chaos had pancaked out and began dissolving the shirt and then flesh of the man standing in front of him. High pitched screams joined the sizzling sound and Owen panicked.
The man continued screaming and before Owen was able to recover from being startled, more than a dozen people came rushing up the hill from the beach. Owen cursed and this time didn't try to focus on single targets. He flung out strands of chaos that whipped through the air faster than the eye could track. Sending out the energy, he quickly moved forward wielding his bracers in their spear form. Thankfully, the chaos resistance that Xerxes had built into it, was the only thing that kept them from breaking like almost everything else of his had.
He dashed forwards and was like a force of nature as whips of chaos and blurring spear thrusts took out the group that had come running up the hill. He heard more shouting coming from the direction Peggy and Myra were waiting and didn't waste an other second before rushing towards them. He had been trying to bring some brevity to the situation to try and prepare his mind for this last fight, but with the blood pumping through his veins, if he even had blood anymore, had made everything that much more real. He wasn't about to lose anything else to Envy, while taking what was owed him and more.
Rather than just running, he threw himself up into the air and released some control over his shape. He flew through the air like a gust of wind and landed among a group of enemies that were pushing back Peggy and Myra. Unable to use his keen eye skill, he picked his target at random and began a flurry of movements that whipped chaos through the air. Peggy and Myra moved forward at the same time and began their own series of attacks. They had been in several life and death situation and had been tempered in real battle. They methodically crushed their opponents, throwing attacks made of magic, axe, and chaos, until there were none left.
"Are you guys okay?" Okay asked, surprised he wasn't gasping for breath after the fight. Both girls nodded and pointed towards the top of the hill, towards the center of the island. "There is no more point in waiting, if they know we are coming, then we might as well drag the rest of them here." Myra said in between breaths. Peggy caught them both before they rushed away. "Just buffs," she said and Owen felt himself grow faster and slightly stronger.
The three of them raced off after that. Most of the people that got in their way were weaker than some of the citizens of Rochester, but Owen forced himself not to think about it. They had chosen this and while there was a good chance they had been tricked, he couldn't save everyone. They continued to push through the island and each of them were surprised there were roads and other clear paths that led across the entire island. Owen tried flying high again, but was immediately attack with arrows and bullets, forcing him to fly down.
"I didn't see anything that might be the domain and I don't have the map itself anymore." Owen said as he gestured to his hands that shimmered with chaos energy. Peggy made them pause and pulled out the map that Malik had shared. "Have you guys seen him?" Owen asked while she was still looking and Myra shook her head. "He had mentioned starting form the other side of the island, so I expect we will run into him at the domain."
Owen nodded and a couple seconds later, Peggy gestured for them to follow. The domain was apparently at the island's dead center. They still had to continue fighting their way closer. It only took another hour of moving forwards slowly and fighting, before they could feel the domain's energy radiating in a large area. Even before entering the inside area, Owen could feel it trying to influence his thoughts and desires. He found himself growing angry at Malik in one moment, before shaking the thought from his mind, only for it to return with him feeling envious.
The moment he had the word for the feeling, the foreign influence left him, though he could still feel it prodding his psyche, ready to pounce. "Guys be careful, this one doesn't seem like it will leave easily. It's way stronger than the previous domains." He could see Myra and Peggy clearing their minds from, the influence, before both nodded ready to move forward.
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It was less than a second, but Owen sensed intense levels of danger radiating in the distance. In the same moment he recognized it, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He expected the feeling to disappear, but he couldn't breath. He tried gasping for air, but felt the same danger radiating. He completely relaxed his hold over his body, but it was the wrong reaction. Despite practically being made of gaseous energy, it felt like another gut punch but in his arm.
He forced himself into his physical body again, wheezing and barely heard the shouts of worry coming from Myra and Peggy. He wheezed for air, but something felt wrong, like he had lost a part of himself. He tried scanning his body, but nothing wanted to move as pain radiated across his entire body.
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Myra felt herself begin panicking as a large hole was blasted through Owen's stomach out of nowhere. They hadn't sensed anything, or even seen the attack, but in the next moment he turned practically invisible, before appearing again with a lost arm. He cradled his whole body while rocking on the ground and letting out silent screams. Myra felt fury override her panic and turned towards where she thought the attack had come from. She barely stayed long enough to compare the direction she thought the enemy was, with where the center of the domain was on the map.
The instant she had confirmation, she tore through the air towards the enemy base. It barely took her more than a couple seconds, but now that she was closer she could feel a powerful energy radiating off of a cannon looking machine in a clearing. She didn't shout her skill, but she used a weaker Ivar's fated blow, to throw her axe unerringly at the machine. It easily sliced the cannon it two pieces and and explosion of unfamiliar energy clouded the air around it.
Rather than the slow degrading of energy or weird chemical reaction that chaos had with the world around it, this energy just removed everything that wasn't it. She tried using her identify skill on it and was surprised with the result.
*Broken Void Cannon*
She hadn't heard of void energy before, but it seemed straightforward enough. She felt her anger grow and without even waiting for a clear enemy to appear, she activated each of her boosting skills and well as her domain skill. Cycling all of the energy into the replacement axe she had summoned into her hand, she swung it hard against the wall of the compound that was the center of the domain.
It didn't break, which made her more angry, but it did seemed to shake everything in her surroundings. She hesitated to go inside, but before she did, someone practically teleported in front of her. Sword was already swinging towards her head and she barely had time to react, before she felt a burst of air behind her. It pushed her forward far enough to put her inside the attack range and Myra used it to grapple her opponent.
Myra didn't pay attention to the name of the person that had attacked her, but she heard Peggy rushing up towards them. Myra cursed as she felt that the man she was grappling with was stronger than her, even with her boosting skills activated and she finally acknowledged the name.
*Curtis - Level 168*
She felt her blood run cold, but she didn't let up even as she was slowly getting pushed back. "Is Owen okay?" Myra practically screamed and Peggy shouted back. "I wasn't able to heal him, but he seems to be in one piece again." Suddenly Myra felt her strength increase by another 30% and grinned as she was able to fight on almost equal ground with the man. She wasn't sure how to kill him in this situation, but she was ab ;e to hold her own for a bit. She could feel the mana moving behind her as Peggy began working some kind of magic and Myra tried to create an opening for her.
She purposely let the man push her back slightly. When he began pushing even harder, Myra used his forward momentum to crack her forehead against his face. He barely staggered, but it was enough to quickly separate from him. A blast of fire flew out towards him and Myra was able to create more distance.
"You fucking bitch. I was going to kill you, but now you both need to be punished a little more personally than that." Curtis said. Myra felt some of her anger fade as the man seemed to bask in the flames for another moment, before his body seemed to absorb the flames. Myra felt her anger fade even further when she noticed that his face had either healed from the fire or she hadn't been able to heal him.
"Oh wow, it's even better than I thought. You guys are so weak!" Curtis said cheerfully, while cracking his knuckles and crouching down slightly. A sword appeared in his hand again and all three of them prepared to fight seriously. He launched himself forward. Myra lost sight of him, but swung her axe forward with all her might. She used Ivar's fated blow and added as much combat resonance into it as she could.
Her reappeared behind her and began cackling as his sword dug deep into her shoulder. A flash of surprise followed his excitement as the attack stopped after cutting only a couple centimeters into her flesh. Her blow came crashing down and he disappeared again, but her attack wasn't simple. She had demanded from the world itself that her blow would land and it became his fate. He reappeared less than a foot from his starting location and her axed crashed down hard.
He was still her superior in levels and the axe didn't kill him outright, but despite him trying to block with his sword. Her axe cleaved straight through his sword and left a deep gash in his chest. He stumbled back and moved to disappear again, but an orb of weird energy appeared behind him and pulled everything in the area towards it. The pull included Myra and another heavy blow of her axe as well. It sliced through bone easily and severed the man's left arm.
He let out a scream and Myra grinned, before the soundwave that followed, pushed both her and Peggy back. It completely removed the magic in the air that had been in the middle of being used, leaving the man panting on the ground. Myra moved to dash back in, but something made her hold back. She was glad she did, as in the next moment his body was fully recovered and he began laughing.
"I'm sorry ladies, but you're just too weak to actually make any attack last." He looked at them and mimicked and sad face. "One of my skills allows me to remove any damage that wouldn't last longer than an hour with my base regeneration. In order to truly harm me, you would need to deal enough damage to out do my regeneration after being boosted by all of my skills." He began laughing. "Not even that idiot Malik could kill me!" Curtis shouted and began laughing maniacally.
Myra squared up to get ready to attack and Peggy began weaving together enough energy that the ground began to shake. Curtis leaned forward and gestured towards his neck. "Come closer," he taunted. "I'm giving you a free blow." Myra held back a laugh as the man gloated. She could see Peggy was as well and they both threw themselves forward.
Rather than actually giving them a free blow, the man began took a ready stance and swung his sword towards them. A blast of energy raced form the edge of his sword tearing up the ground and splitting Myra and Peggy further apart. Myra activated fated blow, but didn't put even close to the same energy into it. As she swung down, one of Peggy's abilities launched Myra forwards, her axe swinging for Curtis's neck. He moved to dodge, but seemed to realize her attack wasn't simple as he had to raise his half a sword to block. He growled in frustration then opened his eyes wide as Peggy unleashed a large blast of elements.
Deciding Peggy's was the more dangerous attack, he moved to dodge it. Myra's second axe came crashing down against his neck in the next moment. He had already moved to shout again, but no sound escaped. He could only stare in horror as his head separated from his body. The flesh immediately began trying to knit itself back together, but Myra just picked up the head and with a fully empowered kick, punted towards the ocean.
"Fucking cunt," Myra cursed and Peggy nodded looking tired. They heard bushes moving and both turned on high alert. "Just me," Owen groaned and they both let their defenses drop. "This the center?" He asked while holding his head in one hand. They both nodded, but Myra looked at him worriedly. He caught the glance and smiled. "I can't do it right now, I feel like I'm about to fall apart."
She felt her heart ease somewhat. She wasn't ready to lose him, but they were already at the end. They had really done it, she had helped him to reach his dream. She felt a part of her ease somewhat, but couldn't shake the thought. "But what about me?"