Just a few minutes before Ezekiel was nearly killed by the artificially enhanced Meryn.
Scarlet and Kari were watching over the Sanafalls expedition. The majority of their companions had been healed by this point, barring a few injuries that still needed to have the lingering Death mana from the Death Worms removed.
Currently, however, the expedition was in somewhat of a panic. A little under an hour ago, a large crack had echoed across the forest. Several members of the expedition wanted to go to investigate what had happened. The majority determined that doing so would not be a good idea, so instead of sending out scouts and patrols, the expedition was put on alert, and the various Hunters and Mages took up defensive positions.
Luckily, the few dissenters were unwilling to defy their orders, as the most important person in the expedition had awakened from his temporary coma.
“Are we certain that Ezekiel was going to meet up with us today?” Carrian asked from where he lay on a propped-up pillow. Scarlet and Kari were watching over him as a Life Mage continued to inspect his condition. “How are we with the surrounding Wild Spirits? Are they still staying away?”
Carrian had taken over the expedition the moment he’d been awakened by the noise that had emanated from the direction of the Ruins. He’d been quickly caught up on the situation when he saw the cloudy and dimly lit sky of the morning. Scarlet and Kari were so relieved to see him awake that they didn’t even bother fighting him over leadership.
“Given how fast the avatar was, I trust him when he said he’d meet up with us today. Just not too sure about how fast the reinforcements will get here.” Scarlet said. “We got no idea how long it’ll take the Adepts they may want to bring. We also don’t know if they’ll be runnin into whatever made that noise.”
Carrian nodded in understanding. He agreed that Ezekiel wasn’t likely to lie about his abilities, but that didn’t mean that nothing could go wrong during their travels.
“If that’s the case, then we should-” Carrian was cut off as the sky a distance away, in the direction of the Ruins, suddenly opened up, a large ball of light forming a second sun in the sky. A voice then called out, quiet from the distance, but rumbling with power, nonetheless.
“JUDGMENT OF THE RADIANT LORD.”
The ball of light seemed to move as if thrown toward the ground. Then a bright light lit up the world, nearly blinding all who looked in its direction.
“Kari, Scarlet, to me. We move to the Ruins, now! Ginny and the second in command of the Saber Scales are in charge. Do not leave this encampment unless a Legendary or higher is about to invade!” Carrian belted out orders as he threw himself upright. His mana was fully replenished, and his body was more or less in top condition, but he still tumbled as a bout of dizziness hit him.
“Grand Scholar! I don’t think you should be moving right now.” Kari quietly exclaimed. Scarlet said nothing, knowing what Carrian’s tone implied. He would not be deterred.
“I’ll be fine. For now, we need to move. Let’s go!” With that said, Carrian shot off like a bullet as he used his mana to force his body to move well beyond his normal speeds. Scarlet had trouble keeping up, and Kari was forced to don her Spirit armor as her Spirit fused with her being for the moment.
“Carrian... that wasn’t the power of a Legendary being.” Scarlet said. She had worked with Legendary beings for years. She was one. The power she just witnessed was not the power of a Legendary being that she had ever seen before.
“I know. I told the rest to stay back for a reason. If things go badly, they’ll follow the original contingencies that are in place with the Guild Leaders and other Scholars. The ones we couldn’t use due to the Cult’s appearance.” Carrian explained the contingency that was in place if the Legendary leadership was ever lost. “They’ll retreat to the coast and make their way around the island. Hopefully they’ll meet another expedition within a few weeks and be able to retreat back to Sanafalls.”
The trio fell silent, rushing as fast as they could through the forest. Suddenly, up ahead, they saw a figure running diagonally toward and away from them. They could barely make it out as a humanoid figure made of wood. It looked like the avatar that was accompanying Ezekiel.
“Is that-” Scarlet’s question was interrupted.
“Get down!” Carrian ordered. Scarlet and Kari hit the ground, concealing their mana as best they could, and hiding beneath the brush of the treetops.
Suddenly, a beam of light cut through the trees, disintegrating the avatar. None of the three dared to risk taking a look at what had just done that. The heat and brightness from that beam of Radiant magic was enough to severely injure any one of them, even if they dedicated everything they had to their defenses.
A heavy pressure weighed down on them, more powerful than anything any of them had ever sensed before. Then, the sensation was gone, and a crack of air indicated something moving far away at a very fast pace.
“What was that?” Kari quietly asked.
“I don’t know, but I’ll bet it had to do with whatever happened at the Ruin.” Carrian said. “We need to move. We won’t get any answers just sitting here. The longer we wait, the less likely our allies are alive.”
With that said, Carrian, Scarlet, and Kari continued moving as fast as they could, Kari keeping pace with her companions rather than rushing ahead. None of them wanted to face whatever it was they were going to witness on their own.
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Groans and grunts of pain could be heard around the large hole that now took up the space of the area that Marwyl and the other members of the reinforcement expeditions previously vacated. Everyone who could had thrown up their strongest defenses as they flew away due to the actions of the Legendary Tempest Hunter from the third expedition. Most had succeeded, while others were luckily thrown far enough away.
“Sound off!” Marwyl called out when he realized that the figure that had thrown such a powerful spell at them had vacated the premises. “Is anybody dead?!”
A number of voices called out to them, but it seemed that, other than a few serious injuries from bad landings, no one had died. Though it was obvious that the majority of the expedition here wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon. Several minutes passed by as a head count was made.
“Where’s Ezekiel?!” Fiana’s voice cut through the little chatter that was going on as people checked up on one another. George was nearby, but he looked just as confused as she looked worried.
Looking around the area, it seemed like there were no signs of Ezekiel or the avatar’s presence. This made several Hunters angry, thinking that he had abandoned them. But before any protests or concerns could be raised, three figures dashed through the forest toward their group.
Many of the Hunters were on alert, as were several Scholars, so they nearly attacked the moment they saw such quickly moving figures running through the forest.
“Hold!” Marwyl called out, seeing that it wasn’t Wild Spirits, or anything else that might be a danger to them. Instead, he saw a familiar face. “Carrian! You old bedwetter, I thought you were hurt?”
“Burnt brows. It’s good to see you here. What happened?” Carrian asked, ignoring the nickname Marwyl had called him by.
Seeing that Carrian was serious, Maryl dropped the pleasantries.
“We backtracked Ezekiel’s route to catch up with your expedition, but as we approached the Ruins, we saw that they were damaged by something that had broken out.” Marwyl explained. “Given the Void kid said he’d trapped the Cultists inside, we were worried that it might be a Mythical Death Worm, given they can apparently force a Tier up, that was a legitimate concern.”
Marwyl then gestured to the devastation that remained in the area.
“However, as you can see, that was not the case. It seems like those Cultists are more of a threat than we expected.” Marwyl stated. “Given that he’s not here right now, I’m guessing he’s after something that isn’t us right now.”
Carrian narrowed his eyes at Marwyl’s words. Then he looked around the camp with a glare. His eyes landed on Fiana and George. Kari had moved to get a report from her Guild members who were off to the side. She did not look happy as Martin and Nina tried to defend themselves and disparaged Ezekiel. Carrian figured that would ignore that for now.
“Fiana, George, report!” Carrian demanded. Fiana and George gave a rundown of what had happened. The story was ridiculous, but believable given what he’d been told so far. Yet it was Fiana’s final words that had Carrian cursing.
“Ezekiel isn’t here right now, and neither is the avatar.” Fiana said in a subdued tone. “We don’t know where they are.”
Carrian stopped to think for a moment. An uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach as he thought of possibilities. He knew full well that the Cult was here for Ezekiel. If the avatar running from the direction of the Ruins beneath the cliffs was any indication, then it knew as well.
A soft rustling caught the attention of all the Legendaries in the area. Each of them turned toward the noise with their spells held at the ready to attack whatever might come at them with ill intent. A small figure was making its way out from under the bushes near the crater left behind by the attack. It was a miniature figure of the Forest Spirit’s avatar.
“We do not have much time.” The avatar’s voice was much quieter than its larger version. “This avatar also has little mana and will fade quickly. Head toward the center of the island. That is where you will find the Children of the Void. Save them, or all will be lost. So says the Remnant of the Void within this island.”
The little avatar pointed in the direction that the Legendaries knew was towards the center of the island where the Temple of the Void was located. Its branches began to stiffen, and its voice grew fainter.
“All the Legendary Spirits of the island are gathering to save him. You will have support. Do this, and we will grant you access to the Temple of the Void. A privilege which previously, we were only going to allow the Children of the Void.” The light in the avatar’s eyes dimmed. “Go now... or leave... in... disgrace...”
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The little avatar stilled. Its branches and leaves were now nothing more than a dead husk of wood holding branches in the shape of a fist, pointed in a single direction.
All of the Legendaries, and the Adepts that were near enough to see what had happened, were looking at the avatar incredulously. None of them, barring Carrian, Marwyl, and Scarlet, could comprehend what was being asked of them.
After a moment to gather his thoughts, Carrian straightened his robes, and began marching off to the direction the avatar pointed in. A look of determination on his face. Scarlet followed after him, and Marwyl was about to, but the Legendary Hunters called out to them before they could set off at a proper clip. Their voices filled with incredulousness.
“Where are you going?”
“You can’t be serious?”
“What chance do you have?”
“How can you expect to-”
“Quiet!” “Enough!”
Carrian and Marwyl were both loud enough to silence the other Legendaries. The surrounding Adepts did nothing as they watched on. A look of disappointment and understanding overcame them both as Scarlet stood back.
“I know that it might seem strange to you, but the fact of the matter is, a gift from the Void has been sent to us. We, as Scholars and followers of the Ancients and their teachings, will not sit idly by as the key to Void magic races away with death on his tail.” Carrian stated.
“Indeed. We do not expect you to follow, but you will not stop us from going forward. Besides, we’ll only have to hold out for a few minutes before a number of Wild Spirits take over for us.” Marwyl said. “I’m that Cultist’s Tier up is false as well, then it’s likely he won’t live for much longer. Forcefully breaking through like that causes a cascading failure within the soul. He likely held out for as long as he did by not doing anything. But now that he’s using mana, he’ll be dead within the hour.”
“That’s still an hour you’ll have to survive against a Mythical being!” Kylie, the Legendary Guild Leader from Tillsmont, said from where she stood beside Yorn, her fellow Guild Leader. The two Guild Leaders, Tempest and Cavern Hunters, both nodded in agreement.
“If it makes you feel any better, if we survive, we’ll get access to the Temple of the Void, while all of you will be stuck here, twiddling your thumbs and filled with regrets.” Marwyl said before turning around. This time he didn’t waste a single moment, jumping off into the trees as fast as he could.
Carrian and Scarlet followed quickly after them. Kari caught up a moment later. Though she gave instructions to Martin and Nina regarding where their Guild and the Sanafalls expedition were currently located.
“... I’m going.” Yorn said to Kylie. “He might be your father, but he’s my mentor, and the man who helped me get to where I am today. I’m not going to let him go off on his own.”
With that, Yorn dashed after his mentor and father figure. Kylie, taking a moment to internally debate, let out a groan of frustration.
“Ancients dammit! You three!” She pointed at three of her Guild members. “When everyone is healed up, set out to meet up with the Sanafalls expedition. Follow those two, their Leader should’ve told them where to go. If we don’t return by the end of the day, escort the Sanafalls expedition to our boats. Get them off this island. They’ve been through enough.”
With that said, she dashed after her fellow Legendaries, the last two from the third expedition gave similar orders, after taking longer to debate what to do, before making haste to catch up with their companions. None of them knew if they were going to survive, but they weren’t willing to lose out on whatever benefits the survivors would undoubtedly obtain.
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Flashes of light lit up the sky. Those at the lower Tiers, far away as they were, found themselves blinking away spots from their vision whenever they looked in the general direction of the battle.
From the moment the battle had begun in truth, the three Grand Scholars and three Legendary Hunters had been playing a defensive battle as they did their best to form a wall between themselves and the center of the island.
Meryn’s bestial form was powerful, but it lacked the flexibility that a well-trained Legendary Hunter would often display. He had become essentially a brute force of nature that hit hard but was easily avoided. Worse yet, his mind was failing alongside his soul. This allowed the Legendaries to just barely survive the onslaught of a being that was a full Tier higher than them.
Gusts of wind pushed people out of the way of beams of light. Gouts of flame devoured the forest around them in an attempt to burn off Meryn’s flesh. Yorn was still sitting out of the battle, so there was little in the way of shadow-based redirection magic, but the walls of stone and ice picked up the slack when it came to defenses.
“I’LL KILL YOU ALL!!!” Meryn screamed as he was hit by a spear of stone. “YOU INSECTS WILL BE CLEANSED IN THE LIGHT OF THE RADIANT LORD!!!”
“Pull back!” Carrian called out.
Kylie and her fellow Hunters dashed backwards, the Cavern Mage throwing up a wall of stone that the Tempest Mage hid behind. Carrian and Scarlet did the same with their Glacial walls, protecting Marwyl and Kylie.
A pulse of light emanated from Meryn’s body. Constant streams of light burned away at the walls that had been summoned up. But the ones hiding behind them were none the worse for wear when the light had faded.
“Block him!” Marwyl yelled.
The Tempest Hunter seemed to disappear in a gust of wind. He interposed himself between Meryn and the center of the island. Ice crystals formed mirrors that flew around in a maelstrom of wind. A reflective barrier formed, preventing Meryn from transforming into light and flying away.
“RETCHED HEATHENS!!! FOUL DEFILIERS!!! YOUR SOULS WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF REDEMPTION!!!” Meryn’s words were growing frantic in tone as he found himself held back once again.
He had made several attempts since the battle had begun to break free and chase after Ezekiel. Lightning was the only element that could equal Radiance when it came to pure speed. But with the support of his fellow Mages, the Tempest Hunter from the third expedition had been able to interfere fairly well. They had barely moved more than a few dozen miles from their starting position. Far less than Kari and Ezekiel.
Of course, Meryn had not yet expressed his full power just yet. The increase in Tier had strengthened his spells but given the fact that he was still only a Step one Mythical being, it wasn’t as if he had unlimited mana. Just a fair bit more than his opponents.
“Carrian...” Scarlet gasped out as she threw another icicle at Meryn as a distraction. He evaded, only to get a burst of Flame directly in his face.
“Pull back. If you’re out of mana, then you’re no good here.” Carrian said as he physically threw Scarlet away from the fight, hoping that she still had enough mana left to soften her landing.
“That wasn’t a good idea.” Marwyl muttered. “We can’t afford to lose our numbers.”
“Yes, we can.” Carrian said. “We have reinforcements.”
“What?” Marwyl didn’t turn to look at Carrian, as he barely avoided a ray of light that melted the ground beside him.
Carrian didn’t respond as a bolt of Lightning struck Meryn from above. A loud screech filled the air as a Legendary Lightning Spirit flew down from the clouds. With six wings and three legs, the massive purple crow unleashed a literal torrent of Lightning on Meryn.
A bubble of light appeared around him, near effortlessly defending him from the stream of Lightning. A ball of light once again formed between Meryn’s horns, a beam of light far more powerful than before was released at the Wild Spirit, who suffered damage to one of its wings as it rolled out of the way. It barely stayed airborne as the battle continued.
From further within the forest, a massive snake burst from the ground. Covered head to ore-filled plates of stone, the Legendary Cavern Spirit sent spears and arrows of stone and steel flying towards Meryn, who had landed on the ground not far away.
The Tempest and Cavern Hunters, seeing the reinforcements arrive, pulled back as they allowed the Spirits to take part in the battle. Kylie let loose a torrent of flame that condensed into whips that wrapped around Meryn’s body.
All the while, Marwyl and Carrian stood back, watching on in awe as the battle raged on without them. Marwyl finally took the chance to take a look at Carrian. His face was filled with relief.
“Ha! It looks like we might just get out of this alive!” Marwyl stated. His elation quickly faded, however, as he noticed Carrian’s condition.
The Grand Scholar of the Sanafalls Cathedral had blood running down his face like a river. His eyes, ears, and nose were all bleeding. The whites of his eyes were fully red by this point, and it appeared that he was barely standing up.
Given the severity of the fight, it was impossible to truly pay attention to each other, and stay aware of their conditions. However, Carrian, having only just recovered from a severe head injury, and woken from a coma barely a few hours ago, had been forced to use his Glacial magic to manipulate his own body to hide his current state from his fellow Mages.
He had finally reached his limit, however, and his mana was beginning to run dry. Even if he received immediate medical attention, it wasn’t likely he would live long. Life magic didn’t heal wounds freely, after all. It merely altered, accelerated, and enhanced the natural healing abilities of a lifeform’s body. Given his age, and the extent of the damage, it was likely that the act of healing him would use up the rest of his body’s lifeforce, causing him to die either way.
“Bedwetter... Carrian...” Marwyl tried to approach, but Carrian waved a hand in his direction, coughing blood as he did, forcing Marwyl to the side.
For his part, Marwyl felt his body move without his input, but the act had ultimately saved his life. As several condensed beams of light pierced through his robe and would’ve pierced through him if he hadn’t been moved.
“I’LL KILL YOU ALL!!!” Meryn cried out.
The light and pressure that he was emanating grew stronger as Wild Spirits ganged up on him. By this point, Kylie and the other two Hunters had retreated in full, their mana spent, and their bodies exhausted. They had barely managed to get out of the blast radius when Meryn let out another pulse of light.
“This battle... isn’t finished... just yet...” Carrian gasped out. “Those Spirits... they can’t work together... They are losing...”
Looking at the battle as it was, without the synergy that the Scholars and Hunters had when they were fighting, Meryn was beginning to tear the few Wild Spirits that had appeared apart by the seams. One was dead, and another was injured. There were four of them, still fighting, but the injured ones had disappeared. No longer willing to fight now that they had seen the power of this threat.
He knew that, as he was, he wasn’t much use in the battle right now. But since Meryn was no longer holding back in order to preserve his soul for as long as possible, Carrian felt that retreating was no longer an option. Not if they wanted to keep Ezekiel alive.
“You should go... old friend... Take your daughter... and the others... live... to fight... again...” Carrian said. With those final words, he strode forward, to once again enter the battle.
“... I will. May the Ancients guide your soul.” Marwyl said in a solemn tone. He dashed over to his daughter, pulling her away as they and the two other Hunters followed them in retreat.
A careless Spirit failed to fully dodge one of Meryn’s beams of light. A crude hard-light sword cut through another Spirit, and two more Legendaries were out of the fight. If not for his failing mind, Meryn would’ve easily been able to break away from the Legendaries surrounding him. But at the moment, he could only focus on the enemies in front of him, not the target he had sold his soul for.
But Carrian knew that it wouldn’t last forever. The longer the lack of battle went on, the more likely Meryn would head off at full speed to try and kill Ezekiel once again. He knew he had only one chance to continue holding Meryn back. To hold him off until his soul was fully burned away. A forbidden spell that only Adepts and above could perform.
“Ancients... please... watch me now...” Carrian seemed to undergo a change as he approached. His mana didn’t grow stronger. He didn’t Tier up like Meryn had, but nonetheless, he began emanating a pressure that could be felt by all around him.
Inside Carrian’s soul, the pool of mana that was nearly depleted began filling up, but as it did, his soul began shrinking. More and more, his soul was exchanged for mana, forcefully filling his pool of usable mana. As his soul shrank past his fourth Chakra, a cataclysmic reaction seemed to occur.
His mana began emitting a bright blue light. The blood red color faded from Carrian’s eyes. In its place was a gentle blue glow. Behind him, a legion of icy spears formed in an instant, before shooting forward and striking the shield thrown up by Meryn.
Armor made from bloody red ice began forming on his body as the temperature around him dropped well below freezing. Carrian’s hunched and weakened form straightened up as he seemed to be filled with a renewed vigor. His injuries did not disappear, and he still felt the pain from within his brain and other organs flaring up. But unlike Meryn, it seemed like his mind was clearing up, rather than degrading.
“Your time has come, Cultist!” Carrian’s voice had become sharp and seemed to contain the echo of the ocean in its undertones. It was far stronger than it had been just a few seconds ago.
“I AM A MYTHICAL BEING!!! CHOSEN BY THE RADIANT LORD!!! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A DYING LEGEND!!!”
“You are merely a broken myth that has begun to fade. Your mana is not regenerating. Your soul collapsing in order to keep your Tier, rather than your mana.” Carrian said. “Let’s see whose soul is extinguished first.”
A flash of light met a sequence of icy shields. The Legendary Spirits that were still able to retreat did so, attacking from a distance if they could. Providing what little support from the Glacial human that was fighting their shared enemy.
Luminescent rainbows filled the area with a beautiful ambience as the light was diffused through the frozen crystals. A horrifying contrast to the bloody conflict that was still occurring. One in which the clear winner was no longer pre-determined. Though Carrian wasn't sure how long that would last.