Visibility was relatively low in the dense jungle, but from what Nick had seen, the Star Oni were largely winning against the bandits. Between Nick and his Soul Servants’ help, combined with their intelligent strategies of utilizing the devilsaurs to take out their enemies, the scales had truly been pushed into the Star Oni’s favor. Of course, that Myron was playing the tactician or general role while he fought Thresh had a significant impact.

Nick passed Shara in a blur, his speed aspect of his Heroic Concept starting to truly become a part of it. It was almost as if he had added another fragment to it, the influence on it starting to become substantial, but not yet as much as an Early Concept on its own. He was certainly much faster than the result of Dash, the skill, even without his Concept. Now he moved in a blur, faster than just about any enemy he’d faced.

He imagined when he reached the next level, where it would be at Early Mastery, he might just reach Middle Mastery in the main one, the two linked together. Through his Heroic Redemption and Salvation, he would be empowered to be a hero, his speed and strength increased by a significant amount. More than if he simply had a strength or speed Concept, he was sure. The power of the valorous light and evil darkness was special, at a completely different level of performance.

Thankfully, Birdy and Jasper had been doing a lot of work in aiding the Star Oni. Several of the enemies they slayed must have had some weaker Concepts and fragments, as throughout his fighting he had gotten some mental energy back, enabling him to run his Cloak of Twilight for a while longer.

His Judged souls also must have given him something as well, and the weight of their sins was not enough to slow him down.

Facing Elrash, he had only used his Frost Aura laced with his Concept for a short period, so he still had a fair amount in the tank.

Unfortunately, Thresh was someone that would take a lot out of him, and the Devilsaur… he doubted he could even hurt the thing without his Concept, but he had built himself up for some time. Perhaps… he could make it happen.

He quickly arrived back at the Patriarch, and it seemed it was just in time.

The glass dome and stars surrounding the Patriarch shattered, revealing a very angry Thresh as well. Myron looked wounded, and more than a little diseased or poisoned–his skin covered in splotches of purple and green.

Thresh’s voice was taunting. “I told you–your efforts are useless. But I have to admit, you Outlanders are stronger than I gave you all credit for.”

Myron had trouble breathing. “You… have impressed me too, in a way. Your mastery of the Dao would make you an elite of The Realms. But my efforts were not useless. Reinforcements will soon arrive.”

Thresh snorted, as he turned and spotted the incoming Star Oni men and women. They were stomping toward them in the distance and gathering as they aided one another, and should arrive in another minute or less. “Is this all? You know as well as I do that a few Second Stratum warriors hardly matter in a fight like ours. You need more than triple this for them to matter.”

Nick arched his brow at that. He had kept to the shadows somewhat, but he was surprised Thresh hadn’t seen him because a shift in Myron’s expression told Nick that he had. It seemed this Thresh was built like a poisonous tank, and felt he didn’t need anything else to win a fight.

And Nick supposed that was true. Despite losing much of his bark and vines tanking numerous blows, they had all grown back, and he looked nearly as strong as when they started. He merely needed to outlast his enemies through his poisons, and he would eventually win through his defense and regeneration.

Myron gave a weak, but proud smile. “I don’t know about that, Thresh. This old man has a lot more tricks up his sleeve than just the Star Prison, too. I did say I would make you ruffians pay dearly, did I not?” He grinned as he withdrew another treasure, filled it with essence, and tossed it into the air at Thresh. It looked a lot like a Rubik's Cube with many more cubes on it to Nick, and it began shifting and unfurling into something much larger as it moved through the air.

“You!” Thresh was pissed, to say the least. With a roar, he prepared to leap as he spewed out a wave of noxious fumes, but the blocks started to shoot at him like shots out of a gun, smacking into him before he could complete his jump. He was quickly surrounded by them as they grew and interlocked, despite his efforts to pry them open with his vines.

The treant roared in anger as he tried to part the cubes from his humanoid body, but the cubes only bulged from his efforts, and stuck to him like glue as the larger cube built around and surrounded him.

Thresh slammed his fists and roots into the cubes from the inside, but it seemed they were resistant to force, reminding Nick of a mixture between padded walls and a foam-like substance.

Myron chuckled, grinning at the treant’s anger. “That’ll give us another minute to talk, Young Lord. It seems he’s strong and sturdy, but his Daos are all based on poison and disease, it seems. The cubes become useless if we attack from this side, so it’s best we wait it out. I see you got there in time to rescue her. Excellent work.”

That confirmed his suspicions, that he was watching everything through his stars. “Yeah, though… she’s on her way here, I think. Here, let me help you with your wounds.” Nick walked toward him.

Myron sighed. “I know. That’s…not exactly optimal, but I’ll take it over her being captured and used against us. You can heal me?”

Nick nodded, and wanting to skip to the end of what might be an argument, he gave his Oath. “I have a healing spell that should help you. I give my Oath that I will cast it with the full intention of aiding you.”

The weight of his Oath washed over Myron, and he frowned. “What was that?”

Nick said, “It’s Soul Magic. I gave you my Oath. If I violate it, it will destroy my cultivation. You should feel that it was true.”

“You’re right. Like swearing against the heavens? How strange. People of your strength normally can’t…never mind. Please proceed, we don’t have a whole lot of time.”

Nick moved closer to Myron, and cast the spell he thought would help Myron out: Soul Mend.

His spell wrapped around Myron’s and as he spotted it, the other’s soul within him, soothing and restoring them both partially. In all, the effect was small. The man and the other’s Soul was substantial, far beyond what Nick imagined a Third Stratum person’s Soul could actually be.

Myron shook and trembled, Nick imagined in shock. He cast it again, aiding the two souls further. At that point, Nick knew the man was likely at the limit of how much he could be helped at this time.

“That…how? You can heal wounds of the soul?”

“It’s a power of my race. We’re true masters of the Soul, enabling us to heal it. You’re a lot stronger than me, or maybe I could do even more.”

Now, Nick used his own recovery item, placing the pill in his mouth. Lumos had crafted a pill from some of the special waters collected from the Test of Supremacy. Combined with essence fruit and a treasure obtained from Silverbrook, it was a proper mental energy restoring treasure, enabling him to use his Concept just a little more. The effect was soothing, reminding him a lot of a more potent energy whiskey that Jasmine always gave him.

Myron sighed, talking over Nick’s recovery. “That’s more than enough. I wish I knew this sooner. I’d have tried to avoid so many of this man’s diseases and poisons–made different trades. But you just returned another chunk of my strength.” He then ate a pill, which healed him a little more and restored the essence within him.

His essence rose a substantial amount and his body straightened. Nick guessed he somehow had restored thirty percent or more of his original reserves somehow, which was more than a little surprising.

With a pleased sigh, Myron pointed in the distance. “Go back into hiding, your strange cloak helps with that, right? Look for the best moment to strike. Unfortunately, your odd power is interfering with mine. The longer you stay out of the fight, the more damage I should be able to do with my abilities.”

Nick frowned. “That’s some bullshit right there old man, you need some serious help to beat this guy, and I can’t just hold this Cloak forever–”

“Now, now, it’s not that I don’t have confidence in you, Young Lord–I can see that you can influence this fight plenty now–I am truly impressed. My power is related to divination, and you being near really screws with it. Tell you what, I will be a little more aggressive than I would usually be, and try to make an opening for you quickly.”

Nick arched his brow at that. That made a sort of sense, based on what he had learned about his people and their need to change Archaen Law for immunity against divinations. “Fine. But if it ain’t looking good, I’m not just sitting still while I watch an old man get a beat down.”

Myron snorted, and started preparing stars around him as Nick skulked into the shadows–an easy action considering how thick the underbrush was. His Cloak helped him feel at home within the shadows, and he found a place off to the side, in between where the Star Oni were coming from.

He arrived at his hiding spot as larger stars started appearing, their lights starting to look ominous as they began to hover around Thresh’s cubic prison.

A cube was ripped off, and a beam of light from the orbiting stars shot directly where the cube had been removed. This enraged Thresh underneath further, and two more were ripped off in quick succession. The same thing occurred with Myron targeting those points, and he dashed in with his spear to stab into the treant underneath, unleashing a blast of light through his spear.

That action caused the whole thing to lose cohesion, as roots burst outward, tearing the prison apart, and two cubes even flew out toward Myron, striking and knocking him back. A wave of noxious-looking gas was then blown out, a Concept enhancing the blast, which Myron barely avoided by leaping into the air. To Nick’s surprise, he had no issue just floating there.

“This ends now.” Thresh’s roots stabbed into the ground, and his body began to grow slightly as the area surrounding him became desiccated and diseased.

This reached out even further than the gas had, and Nick could feel the power behind this Concept or Convergence Skill that was building. Now, he was thankful he had waited to understand what this enemy could even do.

Floating in the air, Myron twirled his spear above his head in response, which drew in the stars into its orbit, and toward his spearhead. It glimmered brightly, the gathering stars building into an attack.

“Star Piercer.”

His spear shot out a prismatic light, like a shooting star. Thresh’s roots twirled around in front of him, forming a thick shield. But a tiny star persisted through slowly, like a glimmering snowflake drifting through the wind. As the small star reached Thresh, it exploded in a burst of light, sending him flying through the air. He tumbled across the ground, but unfortunately, he was thrown away from where Nick was standing.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Despite Thresh being knocked back and much of his bark being blasted off, he looked otherwise fine. But vines then burst out of the dust from the ground, stabbing into Myron’s legs where he was floating in the air and releasing a poison. The treant started walking toward Myron with a grin, taking his time.

“Gotcha. Only a matter of time now.”

Myron had cut the two offending vines and fell to the ground, and Nick could tell the poison had weakened Myron further, the man groaning in pain as he fought it off.

Thresh chuckled, and while Nick was about to leap out since he had walked closer, it seemed that the treant was distracted by what he saw in the distance rather than Myron as he turned his head to the side. “How lucky. Your treasury came walking back to me. I’ll be right back.”

The group of Star Oni had been near, but seeing her father wounded, the daughter had rushed ahead of the rest, toward him. It seemed she wanted to give him a decorated pouch.

Myron shouted, “Daughter, look out!”

Thresh crouched as he filled himself with essence, and leaped through the air with surprising speed. Nick decided this was as good a time as any. He drew up as much essence as he could, empowering himself with his Heroic Concept, his body blazing with chains of essence before leaping into the air.

Bouncing on air, he dashed through the space between with intense speed, and approached Thresh from the side. With his Soul Blade filled to the brim with darkness and light, it started to vibrate. Thresh spotted him coming, but could do little more than bunch up his vines in a makeshift shield for a moment because Nick was simply moving too fast.

Elongating his blade, he stabbed at the man’s Soul at the center of his chest. Nick pierced through the shield and bark-like flesh, and nearly reached his Soul Core. But Thresh’s weight diverted his blade slightly, causing him to only scratch the core, his blade piercing nearly entirely through the middle of his chest and out the other side.

He was forced to let go of his Soul Blade rather than continuing to cut through the plant-like body, however. The body was just too dense from the weight of his Concepts for him to hold on to the hilt.

It was a shame because had Nick been strong enough, he could have cut the man mostly in half from the center from the momentum alone. Frost continued to spread from the inserted blade, but he withdrew his Soul Blade using his Resonance trait, sending it flying into his hand.

Thresh tumbled to the ground, his body crashing into and shattering a tree as he landed. “You!”

Thanks to Nick’s diversion, he didn’t land anywhere near Shara, and several Star Oni women with clubs passed her now and the men held her back, providing her with some protection.

Nick could feel Thresh’s aura wavering from his attack. A wound to the Soul Core was a powerful one, even a tiny scratch. Now, his aura was in turmoil, and on top of that, he was definitely fatigued. Myron had truly worn Thresh down.

“Yeah, me. Your buddy is long-since dead, by the way.”

Whatever Thresh was going to say next was lost because a different Star Oni woman arrived at Thresh, who was attempting to stand. The purple woman was covered in starlight. It was reminiscent of what Eirwen could accomplish, and her bat crashed into Thresh’s side with a crack, despite his vine-covered defense.

The blow shattered much of the remaining bark protecting him, and several other Star Oni women and men then joined in the attack. Thresh responded by letting out a poisonous gas, but the Star Oni men countered with their own starlight dust, protecting the women who otherwise ignored it, as they continued hitting his body. Thresh’s roots whipped out, but the spiked clubs blocked and tore them away.

This wasn’t without cost, of course. The protection did not keep the poison from reaching them completely, and they seemed to be impacted even if the potency was lessened by their magic, their skin starting to be covered in green and purple sores. They fought on in spite of that, in an attempt to wound the enemy leader.

Nick covered himself with the light Cloak of Twilight, protecting him from the gas, and then cut into Thresh’s extremities as he weaved between the Star Oni. His white blade of light infused with his Concept cut into the tree man’s leg, then his arm with powerful swings, then a beam of starlight from Myron struck Thresh, shredding his chest further.

Thresh’s fists and vines punched out toward the Star Oni, but the berserkers were large and strong. Their star-covered clubs and bats crashed and pierced into his body, their own Concepts fueling their large bodies’ powerful blows.

The Devilsaur Matriarch’s roar shook the valley, and its thunderous footsteps were getting closer. Several of the Star Oni were now facing off against a large grouping of Devilsaurs, having to split their efforts. If they didn’t win soon, it was going to be utter chaos.

Myron laughed, but started coughing from his wounds. Despite the pain, a smile remained apparent. “Dozens to matter, is it, Thresh? You looked down on my people a little too much, and you led your people poorly. We have crushed your army, and now you will be shattered and broken, like all enemies of the Fatestrider Clan.”

Thresh roared, and spun his vines with enhanced power. He knocked many of the Star Oni away, and then his vines rushed out and pierced some of their limbs, the Star Oni shouting in agony.

“Those people are only bodies, meant to corral your people and capture them, nothing more. Now that I am here, your fate has been sealed.”

Those words matched the ominous change in the essence in the clearing, as the weight of Thresh on reality increased. A shiver went down Nick’s spine, as darkness was drawn out from his body. The man was perhaps just as evil as the Bishop, billowing the evil darkness from his soul. Nick itched to Judge him, but knew it was far too dangerous.

Thresh started to activate a Convergence Skill, or infused his Path into his poison, and Nick knew whatever he was going to do was going to be powerful. Several of the Star Oni grunted in pain, as it seemed their bodies were being drained of something–and Nick was reminded how the ground had become desiccated when he grew, before.

Nick had to act now. Drawing in the essence from the surrounding area and much of his own, he activated his own Convergence Skill. The power of his Path and Concept converged, drawing out the strength of his Kingdom and the Ice from his Crown, his Core.

Chains made up of the power of his Pacts rose up in front of him, spiraling and linking together with ice, forming a large gauntlet, bigger than Nick’s entire body. It then flew forward and crashed into Thresh’s chest, wrapping around it and his arms in a steely grip.

Frost spread rapidly along Thresh’s vines, and Myron landed a stab into Thresh’s back with his spear, as Nick dashed forward with his Soul Blade. Thanks to the vines freezing, two large Star Oni women freed themselves from their bindings and struck Thresh on the shoulders with downward swings, bringing him down to his knees.

Blurring with enhanced speed and strength, Nick’s blade of pale blue light pierced his bark between two fingers of the inexorable gauntlet toward Thresh’s Soul Core. More noxious fumes were ejected as Nick’s frost overwhelmed his plant-like flesh, and the core was finally impaled by Nick’s Soul Blade.

The light left Thresh’s eyes, but the fumes covered Myron and the party of Star Oni, their bodies covered in disease and poison. Nick’s Cloak covered him, preventing the Concept from invading him too heavily, but he was forced to protect himself with much of his stored faith energy within his body and Concept to fully shrug it off.

The Trial prompt changed, indicating that Thresh was dead, and the Star Oni would be victorious–except that not enough of the Clan were yet at the cave. They had to defeat the Devilsaur Matriarch or have more arrive at the cave for victory.

As much as Nick had wanted to Judge Thresh, he was forced to avoid it. When he had judged the Bishop in the past, he had nearly exploded from the stress of Judging someone half a Stratum above him. If it weren’t for Irene’s efforts, perhaps he would have died. And he knew that the difference between the Third Stratum and the Second, for a Lord, was even more substantial. Since he had just Judged Elrash, he wasn’t about to risk it.

With Thresh dead, he was exhausted and forced to cancel his Cloak of Twilight.

The rest of the Star Oni arrived, having dealt with the small horde of devilsaurs.

The Star Oni princess ran over to her father, speaking her native language. They started a sort of argument, which left Shara both embarrassed and angry by how red her face became, but Myron reluctantly agreed to something. She then handed over the ornate pouch, and he took several pills out and handed it back.

It seemed he was originally going to refuse, but with her impassioned plea, he took them with a grimace. Much of the poison started to lighten on his skin, but Nick could tell he was nearly on his last legs. Taking pills forever didn’t work, and he was likely just about poisoned by the pill toxicity itself by now. The energies inside the pills were shocking, and Nick was tempted to ask for some himself.

“Are you good to move now, Myron? We need to get to that cave.”

He was rotating his arm, and testing his footing. “It seems… I can move, and maybe have one last attack in me. But… I think I’ll need a lot more than that.” Myron pointed to the side, and the Devilsaur Matriarch then arrived through the clearing, roaring in anger, along with a dozen of the smaller devilsaurs.

And the Matriarch lived up to her name. She was easily twice the size as the rest, at about the size of the Alpha Drake Nick had faced. Her tail had a bladed spike on the end, and her claws looked exceptionally long–like large curved swords at the end of her reptilian fingers.

Her color was darker, with jagged black lines running across her red scales. The reptile’s yellow eyes glowed with intelligence and pride, her snout raised as she looked down on the Star Oni and Nick. It walked like it had all the time in the world, as its young rushed forward toward Myron and his forces.

The Matriarch had cut off half the forces with its entry, a few of her young now split and chased after some of the Star Oni that had run towards the cave.

Nick didn’t have a whole lot of resources left. He had pushed his Heroic Cloak of Twilight to its limits, and his head was pounding from the mental energy used from using both of his Convergence Skills. This was in spite of him being fed energy from Jasper and Birdy, and using the restorative pill provided by Lumos.

The one thing he had plenty of was mana and essence, at over half his total resources. Each time he Judged, he restored much of it. He had used a lot to create numerous chains as he fought Elrash, but he had gotten most of his mana back.

The Matriarch looked most interested in Myron, her steps taking her in his direction.

Myron said, “It wants me because my body is that of a Nascent Soul cultivator–the Fourth Stratum. I want you to leave me. I will delay them here, while you take my daughter and the rest of our Clan to the cave. It’s the only way.”

Shara looked desperate, her eyes nearly shedding tears. “Father no… please! You must come with us. We’re so close… You can make it!”

“Daughter, that’s enough. You know my days are numbered, that I will die soon because I have defied fate for far too long already.” He showed his wound, which held the other spirit inside. ”My Fated is dead now. You know what that means.”

While Nick understood Myron’s need to sacrifice himself, Nick saw another path. The spirit inside him still lived, and with some effort, Nick could save them both.

Nick grinned. “The girl says you gotta make it, she’s not ready to give up her dad. And, your people still need their Patriarch, it seems. Maybe get on her back? She’ll carry you, and I’ll slow the Matriarch down for you all to get away. I think you need to at least see your people reach safety, or maybe you’ll haunt me after your death.”

Shara’s smile was wide as she nodded enthusiastically, but Myron frowned. “Don’t be foolish. You are strong for your cultivation, but it is only that. This Devilsaur…it’s like facing another Thresh, perhaps stronger, and you don’t have me to wound it and exhaust it this time. Well, it’s probably smarter than he was, too…”

Nick snorted. “You think some overgrown lizard scares me? You must really look down on me if you think I’m gonna get beat by some dumb-ass demon lizard. Not only that, but I am not alone–and I don’t just mean your people, or even the bird and the wolf I brought. I’ll beat it, or escape.”

“I’m not sure what that means, but it’s foolish to throw your life away for old bones, someone that is only going to die no matter what, like me. We’re strangers to you, don’t you have a responsibility to live for your own people?”

The Star Oni started facing off against her young who had rushed forward, but Myron was guiding them away toward the cave with his stars, as they fought while backing away.

With the devilsaurs heading toward those that fought Thresh, they didn’t have long before they would need to face them along with the Matriarch, but every moment of recovery would help.

“I am the Lord of Frosthaven, but I walk the Hero’s Path. It means I need to try, even when things are difficult. It doesn’t mean I’ll throw away my life like some martyr to save you, but it does mean I’ll risk it and give it a shot. I got enough essence to slow the thing down, and I’m confident in getting away if nothing else.”

Myron gave him a proud, but calculating look, and looked at his daughter, who looked at him pleadingly. He sighed. “Your Path, your Dao, is it? I see. I’m impressed with your resolve and your valor for strangers such as us. Let us try to make a miracle, then.” He turned to address Shara, and the remaining Star Oni with narrowed eyes. “But I will not allow my people to throw their lives away for me, and that is final. I’d rather burn my soul away and never enter the cycle of reincarnation, if it means any more of you die for me. We’ve lost enough of our brethren.”

Shara shrunk under his glare, and reluctantly agreed. The Star Oni men prepared to flee, by creating a smokescreen made of stardust.

Nick chuckled as he watched this Matriarch speed up its approach in their direction with eyes narrowing in anger. It seemed it didn’t like the idea that much of her food was preparing to get away. Jasper and Birdy had arrived a distance away, and they were preparing to aid Nick when he ordered them.

He drew his Soul Blade once more, and took a deep breath before letting it out. “Fair enough, Myron. I can understand your doubts, but I think you’ll find I’m quite good at creating miracles. It’s time for you to see a real hero in action.”