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667. Stasis
Hartia had won. He was certain of his victory. It was assured. All he needed to do was remove Haec from the battle, and he could deal with Salvos by himself. And with this simple move— by sacrificing all of the Third Legion— he would have come out victorious.
It would have resulted in so many Demons dead, just like that. But it was necessary. No… it was more than necessary. They were traitors who had joined Salvos and Haec. They refused to aid the [Unseelie Lord] in battle.
That was why he was going to kill them all. All he needed to do was reach for the power of his second Grand Skill, the [Unseen Collar Of Space], and he could kill them all in an instant. He brought his hands together as he tugged for the strands of magic connecting every single Demon in the Third Legion to the invisible spatial network only he and a few others could see. He laughed victoriously, hearing Haec scream.
Hartia clapped as he reached for the deaths of the tens of thousands of watching Demons. And he waited to hear their necks snapped. He waited to see their bodies fall. He waited to feel his magic ending their lives in an instant.
But nothing happened.
The [Unseelie Lord] narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Third Legion in the distance. They hadn’t fallen to the ground lifelessly. Instead, they just stared at him quizzically. He turned to Haec who was still standing there with the white aura coating his body.
“How—”
Hartia started as he frowned. He clapped his hands together again and again, but nothing happened. He couldn’t even feel his connection to the collars any longer. It felt like his very control over the fabric of space had been taken away.
And then he saw the distortion that was covering his body. All he could do was stare wide-eyed at the twisted power that was surrounding him, closing in like the tendrils of the Voidspace.
“What… is this?”
But even as he asked that question, he knew the one who was responsible behind it.
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I didn’t know what I did. Well, actually, I knew exactly what I did. But I didn’t know if it would work. I had to act fast when I realized what Hartia was going to do. As far as I understood it, Haec’s second Grand Skill allowed him to absorb the power of those who were under his protection. But a downside was that he also was also vulnerable to any damage they received.
To what extent? I didn’t know. But all I knew was that if the entirety of the Demon army gathered there died, Haec would probably be badly hurt at the very least, or very much dead at worst. So I acted to save him.
I focused my [Protection of the Corruption] onto Hartia because I knew that the corruption was capable of disrupting spatial magic. Instead of using it as a barrier, I used it as a shield. I covered the [Unseelie Lord] with it, and it completely cut off his connection to the summoning collars. He didn’t even realize he was wrapped in the distortion until he tried to clap his hands again.
“You!”
He screamed as he turned towards me. I bared my teeth back at him and spread my arms wide.
“What do you think of my corruption? Pretty handy, huh?”
“This will not stop me!”
Hartia flew straight up to escape the coalescing corruption covering his body. He raised his hands again, ready to clap again. And I gritted my teeth as I focused on moving my corruption to stop him. He clicked his tongue when I cut him off once again.
But he continued moving as he glared at me.
“You can’t delay their deaths forever!”
And I knew he was right. My lips drew into a thin line as I continued pointing at him, trying to continue to coat him with my [Protection of the Corruption]. It would have been a lot easier if he wasn’t moving. However, neither Haec or I could have tried to pin him down. After all, it was a barrier Skill.
I might have been using it to disrupt Hartia’s magic, however it still deflected attacks. So we could physically restrain him. I had to do something else. And as Hartia zipped across the sky, I had an idea.
And unfortunately, it was going to piss off a few Demons I knew. Or at the very least, be a surprise to them.
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Hartia screamed as he was engulfed by the distortion. It was both in anger and fear. He hated seeing it coalesce around him, closing in like it was going to consume him. It reminded him of the Voidspace. It reminded him of his failures once again. And those memories terrified him.
But also— it breathed life into his resolve. His rage against the Fairy Queen. His hatred for the person he used to be. A subservient drone who dedicated his life to an entity who cared not for him. And most importantly, his desire to kill the Enemy of the Netherworld.
He shot towards the sky as he tried to continue to evade the distortion that was following him. He could see the mosaic of colors from the very fringe of his vision, and everything around him continued to blur. He tried to ignore it. All he had to do was break free from this.
All he had to do was find a moment of reprieve and he would win. He moved faster and faster until he felt the first vestiges of spatial magic returning to him. He laughed victoriously, reaching his arms out.
“Now, I win—”
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But before he could yank the strands of mana connected to the summoning collars, he slammed into an invisible wall. Hartia yelped in pain as he drew back from the invisible wall. His brows furrowed when he saw what it was.
“This is space magic?”
He spun around in confusion, then he saw Salvos’s blurry figure zipping past him, forming another invisible wall beside him. His eyes widened as she flew around him, and he realized he was being boxed in.
“You, bitch!”
He shouted as he tried to fly out. But the Enemy of the Netherworld cut him off every single time. Hartia spun around as he saw the crimson skies grow dark, and the white earth fade away. He heard Salvos’s voice echoing around him.
“Now you’re in my world.”
And everything around the [Unseelie Lord] changed. No longer was he in the Netherworld. Instead, he was trapped in a glass-like cube surrounded by darkness. He gritted his teeth as he continued to hear the mocking words of Salvos reverberate around him, followed by a voice in his head.
Now Leaving [Demon King’s Domain]!
Now Leaving [Nexeus: Netherworld]!
“Do you really think you can keep me trapped here?!”
Hartia screamed as he aimed his hands at the dimensional walls collapsing around him. He reached to undo their threads of spatial magic— to free himself from this prison. But Salvos appeared before him, grabbing him by the hand.
“Oh, no you don’t!”
He glared at her as he broke free from her grasps.
“You can’t kill me! Not as long as I have my [Fractal Barrier]!”
Hartia cackled, flying back. She nodded understandingly as she whispered.
“I can’t.”
And Salvos raised her head as her eyes glinted.
“At least, not right now.”
The [Unseelie Lord] paused, before she vanished. Her laughter was all he could hear as the walls of this pocket space began to close in on him.
“But I can trap you here until I can kill you.”
“What…?”
And Salvos zipped around as her figure blurred. Hartia swept his gaze over his surroundings, thinking she was just moving that fast. But then he saw the whirlwind of colors. He watched as the distortion overcame his own body. He tried to reach for the threads of space that was the composition of this artificial world.
But he failed to get a grasp at anything. He couldn’t escape the distortion. The walls of the pocket space collapsed on him as he struggled to break free. He tried to reach for something. And he found nothing.
“N-no—”
He opened his mouth. His mind flashed with visions of that moment so long ago. When he had been trapped in the Void, unable to do anything. When he was only left with his thoughts.
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Basil didn’t know how much time he remained there, trapped in stasis. There was no time here, and his mind couldn’t comprehend it. Even though he was struggling to break free after hearing that voice speak. He still couldn’t break free.
He would have gone insane. He would have died from losing his mind. But he focused only on one thing to survive.
He focused on the Fairy Queen. On what she had done. And what he had done for her.
Basil forsook it. All his past actions— his past life. He shed it all away. He became someone else. Something else. Something more.
And he swore that he would never be Basil again.
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The distortion filled this world, and Hartia could only watch. There was nothing he could do was his senses were numbed and his body was practically crushed. His [Fractal Barrer] still held up against the pressure of the closing world, but everything else failed him.
None of his other Skills were powerful enough to break him free. And he could only scream as he was consumed by the corruption as he was left alone once again with his thoughts and nothing to do.
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And then it was over.
I had won. I trapped Hartia in a piece of my pocket space, away from the rest of [The World Of My Mind]. I still kicked out Taburas, Bertrugil, Aemula, Ultis, and Aliq when I did that, because I wasn’t sure if having them nearby would endanger their lives. So they were thrown out into the Netherworld without much warning. But I did what I needed to do.
Now, Hartia couldn’t escape. He couldn’t even fight back. He was trapped in a pool of corruption in a piece of space that was forcefully shrunk to the size of his body. He was only still alive thanks to his [Fractal Barrier]. But I knew I could finish him off soon.
Once I could cast my other Grand Skills like my [Claw Of Corruption], I was certain that I could kill Hartia in an instant. For now though, I had to keep him alive and trapped. And as I returned to the Netherworld alone, the Third Legion cheered at my ostensible victory. I looked down and saw Haec’s relieved face alongside the outraged looks on Taburas and Bertrugil, before also hearingd a flurry of voices echoing in my mind.
Even though I hadn’t killed Hartia, it seemed that my hard work hadn’t gone unpaid. I grinned as I listened to everything that was listed out to me slowly.
General Skill [Corruption Manipulation] Gained!
Experience is awarded for the learning of a General Skill!
Class Skill [Prison Of Isolation] Learned!
Experience is awarded for the learning of a Skill!
Subspecies [Angelic Devil Princess] Level Up!
[Angelic Devil Princess – Lvl. 167] -> [Angelic Devil Princess – Lvl. 168]
Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points!
Class [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!
[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 149] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 150]
Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!
Class [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!
[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 150] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 151]
Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!
Class [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!
[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 151] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 152]
Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!
Class [Draconic Apprentice] Level Up!
[Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 152] -> [Draconic Apprentice - Lvl. 153]
Gained 2 Secondary Skill Points!
[Class Advancement Available]
[Titles Available]
I nodded to myself satisfiedly as I landed on the ground.
“Huh. Now I wonder what you have in store for me… but I can deal with you later.”
For now, I checked up on my companion, and figured out a plan of action to do next.