The Seventh Defensive Fort was utterly destroyed, with the ground covered in nothing but craters and clouds of fungal spores. Blades of steel and hardened weapons grown from the Rotten Matriarch’s flesh clashed while spells and rotting munitions exploded in the air.
Given the Matriarch’s significantly greater age, Ezekiel was of a lower Step than she was. So, if it came to a battle of attrition that would mean that she would win.
“I can see why Derrick and Christopher had such a hard time fighting you!” the Matriarch said as Ezekiel knocked her massive halberd to the side. The weapon was freshly grown, and he could feel Shine’s vessel crack from the force he was putting it under.
“The Winged Lord is too emotional, while the Deep Lord was only strong underwater, and even then, he ran more often than not!” Ezekiel fired several [Void Slashes] that cut through several pods that the Matriarch shot at him. “It’s not that surprising that I could withstand them after a few years of getting accustomed to this power.”
He could still remember the tie between himself and Derrick the first time they’d fought. The next time they fought he had been forced to run away after buying time for the island he was fighting on to evacuate. That time hadn’t been long after he’d developed his prototype [Soul Development] techniques.
“Cocky words for a brat that has yet to make me bleed!” The Matriarch’s blade shifted into something more scythe shaped.
The sudden shift caught Ezekiel off guard, and he found himself stabbed in the shoulder as the blade extended from where he had blocked. He tried to back away, but the weapon in his arm began to move, and he couldn’t pull back.
‘It’s growing into your arm!’ Shine’s exclamation didn’t help matters, but Ezekiel knew what he had to do, even as he started channeling his [Nothingness] into his shoulder to stop the now parasitic mold’s expansion into his body.
Space warped as he shifted himself out of the way. He lost a chunk of flesh, and most of the mold stayed inside him, but he warped the area around his shoulder, and utilized one of his new [Understandings] at the same time.
[Time Compressed] around the fungus in his arm. Causing it to age and die at a visibly rapid pace. It was an effect that Ezekiel never wanted to use on a living being that wasn’t a Cruor.
It was the equivalent of starving someone to death and killing the of malnutrition in seconds. Not only that, but against living beings, not just fungal offshoots, the magic conflicted with the soul and [Will] of the target. This exponentially increased the amount of mana he had to spend to make it work.
“That’s a trick we haven’t seen yet,” the Broodlord in front of him whispered as she watched him recover from his injury.
If used sparingly, and with proper sustenance, he could apply his [Time Compression] to himself so as to recover from injuries. Healing via Life or Glacial magic was better. Even Radiant healing was better, but this did its job in a pinch.
“Back at you!” Ezekiel’s biting comment was responded to with a raised eyebrow from the Rotting Matriarch. “You think I didn’t notice your use of psychedelic spores to cause my army to go mad!?”
The Matriarch chuckled mirthlessly as Ezekiel pointed out what he had done. He could tell that she thought he would take longer to figure it out.
“So, you figured it out. Yes, it’s not something that we figured out until recently. But they’re incredibly useful for turning back large numbers of Hunters and Mages that have masks enchanted to not let spores through.” The Matriarch lifted a hand. It glowed with bioluminescent light as glittery dust fell from her fingers. It covered the ground in a thin layer. “Since this isn’t, technically, poisonous, it can bypass your mask’s enchantments.”
With a wave of her hand, the dust disappeared, and several turrets that had been rapidly grown beneath it fired multiple shots at Ezekiel. Only to warp around him as space was twisted just enough to make sure none of them hit him. The spell was a mixture of [Force Redirect] and [Confined Space] that redirected space so that it was like he was surrounded by a series of tunnels with altering pathways.
“Ooh... I see you’re finally taking this seriously. You’re a lot more fun than that stuffy old man over in Quintessa. Although, given how young you are, that shouldn’t be a surprise.” The Matriarch continued to mock Ezekiel as he failed to do anything significant to her. “I wonder if you’ll be able to hold me off any longer than he did. You’re capable of progressing when he isn’t, after all.”
Ezekiel could sense something deeper in her words but knew he couldn’t afford to think about it now. It had been months since he’d last heard any word from Wolken. Which was, unfortunately, more than enough time for the Rotting Matriarch to have done something in Quintessa and still got here in time to fight him today.
‘Ezekiel, we need to do something. The longer we stay here fighting, the less of our Guild members and Mages will still be alive once Derrick is done with them.’ Shine’s reminder of what the other Broodlord on this island was doing reminded him that he couldn’t afford to play it safe right now.
He needed to finish this as soon as possible.
‘Can you maintain my [Spatial Warping] for a few seconds? I need to do something.’ He received a silent agreement from his bonded Spirit.
From his place high in the air above her, Ezekiel raised a hand while Sine took over his spell and continued to divert the shots from below. For a moment, the world seemed to slow down, even as his mind sped up.
The rings in his eyes seemed to mix together, and he allowed himself to enter a trance. He was making a prediction, just like he had after fighting the Deep Lord several days ago.
A series of fights played out in his eyes as holographic images layered over reality.
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Scenario 1.
Ezekiel dropped to the ground after increasing his personal gravity. Directly on top of the Rotting Matriarch. She deflected him into the ground. Cutting through some of his armor as she did.
The fungus and mold beneath the ground where he landed immediately began invading his body through the cuts that the Matriarch had inflicted on him.
This was a bust.
Scenario 2.
He expanded his [Domain] and turned it into a total vacuum. The lack of air and pressure caused nearly all the pods and other explosive fungi to explode. The depressurization also threw the Matriarch for a loop, and Ezekiel saw her stumble forward, and reach for her chest.
He changed, Shine brilliantly glowing with opalescent light as he went for a decapitation strike.
Only his arm to be caught by the Matriarch’s. Shine was stopped dead in their tracks, and Ezekiel felt his armor crack alongside the bones in his arm.
She looked up at him with a wicked smile.
Another failed attack.
Scenario 3.
Increasing his speed, Ezekiel utilized his [Push and Pull] spell to rapidly fly around the Matriarch in tighter and tighter circles. Compressing space as he moved inward, dodging attacks all the while.
The movement and compressed space put pressure on the Matriarch, and her movements became more strained. It was as if Ezekiel was wrapping her up in invisible ropes that were squeezing her to death.
Her flesh cracked, and both soft and hard fungal tissue was twisted and broken.
Then she screamed, and the entire region was filled with a toxic mix of every deadly form of spore and gas that the Rot were capable of producing.
The force of the Matriarch’s explosion threw Ezekiel off, and the warped and twisted space rapidly expanded from its compressed state. It rapidly sent the massive amounts of gas and spores outward, easily reaching his terrified and fleeing Hunters.
Worse yet, as he recovered from where he laid on the ground, having been thrown away, the Matriarch reformed from a newly grown mushroom.
Her form was much smaller, and she was heaving, as if gasping for breath. He could tell that, if he pushed forward, he could strike her down after that near suicide attack.
But Ezekiel didn’t care how close he’d gotten to killing her.
The island was lost, as a literal mountain of Mythical spores and gasses spread over the island. It bypassed all of their defenses due to the sheer power of the Ichor that was infused in the toxic substance.
Another failure.
Scenario 4. Failure.
Scenario 5. Failure.
Scenario 6. Failure.
This went on and on, and Ezekiel could tell that he was straining himself to the point of exhaustion, and he would soon reach a point where his mana wouldn’t be enough to enact any of these plans. But he continued, because he knew that he needed to find a solution.
He needed to get away from the Matriarch as soon as possible. Yet, he couldn’t just leave, or else Riley and the other Hunters from the Seventh Defensive Fort would die in vain.
He needed to get them away from here. As far as possible. While also getting word out to the other bases to evacuate. The Island was already lost.
Another scenario. Another failure. This time, he lost all of his equipment, including the Void Artifacts and Pouches he had made for himself.
‘Wait...’ A thought crossed his mind as the most recent scenarios finished.
He stopped predicting the battle and went over his priorities. At this point, the island was lost. The thought of multiple Broodlords attacking one of their islands at the same time hadn’t occurred to them. Not after they’d learned that the Deep Lord would be preoccupied with the Whale King of the Ocean Rulers.
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Since that was the case, why was he fighting the Matriarch? His Priority should’ve been to get away with his people. Nothing more.
New scenarios ran through his mind. Layer upon layer of actions appeared in his vision.
Priorities redetermined... Scenarios... Success?!
As the latest scenario ran past his eyes, Ezekiel couldn’t help but smile. Even as time began to speed up, and his perception of the world returned to the present.
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As time returned to normal for Ezekiel, he directly sent Shine his plans through the bond between them. A sense of incredulous disbelief filled him for a moment, before he sent some additional information to clarify things.
‘We’ll need to run fast. This will also strain us beyond what we’re used to. I know you won’t let me share the burden. Not all of it.’ Shine took a moment to think over Ezekiel’s plan. ‘Are you sure you can handle it on your own?’
‘It’s not a matter of whether or not I can. It’s simply a matter that I need to handle, or we all die.’ Ezekiel channeled his magic into the spells that would make or break his escape.
‘Then I’m behind you all the way. Let’s do this!’ Shine cheered in his mind, but Ezekiel could feel that there was still some apprehension. So, he just smiled in thanks with feelings of gratitude passing through their bond.
Releasing their flight, the two slowly descended toward the ground. The presence of the Void was heavy on the world, and the Rotten Matriarch became wary as she tensed up.
“What’s your name again? I think I’ve heard it before, but I never bothered to remember.” Ezekiel’s voice was gentle and soft. All the anger and frustration from before had washed away during his time predicting the results of the battle.
“... Serin. My name is Serin.” A moment later, a barrage of pods and spikes were shot at Ezekiel with explosive force. All were redirected by Shine’s spell.
Serin also flew forward. Her body warping and twisting as different growths appeared in order to strike at Ezekiel from different places.
But he didn’t panic. Instead, he simply gathered the mana he had been channeling into his palms. They formed a hollow orb of opalescent light, and right before Serin made contact with her weapon, he pushed it forward.
The orb expanded and covered Serin in its entirety, at which point her movements slowed down considerably. Her time extended from seconds into hours, using over half of Ezekiel’s mana capacity to power this spell.
He then snapped his fingers, and it was as if the orb was disconnected from the world. It began to float in the air, and Ezekiel cast a [“Sling] spell on it with the rest of his mana.
With a crack of displaced air, Serin and the orb she was trapped in disappeared. Flung well past the speed of sound in the direction totally opposite of the human forces.
“Guh!” Ezekiel fell to his knees as he gasped for breath. Those two spells had cost him all of his mana. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was confident that Derrick really wasn’t nearby, he would have been wary of being taken out in his moment of weakness.
For the moment, he had no magic at all.
‘Are you sure that she’s out of the picture?’ Shine asked with a hint of fear in their voice.
‘I’m sure. The speed she’s traveling at will get her well past the borders of the island and over the ocean before she breaks free. Even then, I didn’t set a limit for how long the momentum will continue for. She won’t be harmed, but she won’t be coming back for hours.’
His predictions had shown him as much when he had done this in his trance previously. The only problem was how he was going to have to push his soul to the brink to absorb and convert as much mana as possible, to gather up all the Hunters and Mages still on the island, and retreat to the boats to properly evacuate.
From there, it would be a matter of luck to determine who survived.
‘We also need to send a message out as soon as possible. The Cruor will consolidate their forces on this island before spreading to the nearby ones. But if they get an alert fast enough, we might be able to form a new boundary line before it gets to that point.’ Ezekiel sat down and prepared to enter a meditative trance. ‘Hopefully, once we get word out that three Broodlords are in the Archipelago, their absence will let us push to claim some other territories to make up for the loss of this one.’
Now that the shot had been fired, openings were made. It was time to punish them for their actions. So long as they were fast enough.
‘It’s a shame that doing that again will be too straining on my soul. Nor would Derrick be stuck at sea for nearly as long. He’d be able to fly back here far faster than Serin. Hell, he’d be able to pick her up and drag her back before we got near the coast.’ Ezekiel’s complaint received a mental nod of agreement from Shine. ‘Catch me if I faint later.’
Without waiting for Shine to reply, Ezekiel took a deep breath and allowed his consciousness to sink inwards, where the image of a compressor began to suck in mana from the world around him without restraint.
His soul shook from the force that was being exerted on it. This was not the steady and continuous stream of mana that was converted through sheer willpower during a fight. This was a rough and rapid refill that needed to be done in seconds.
If not, Derrick might get word of what had happened, and start taking action.
Letting out several grunts of pain, Ezekiel crushed the elemental mana within him, and using his [Understandings] and [Truth] forcefully ripped the elemental essence from the mana he was absorbing.
All around him, the sky began to twist as clouds and miasma mingled from where the Ichor and mana was mixing together as he absorbed both sources of energy.
The entire process took only a few minutes. But Ezekiel felt like he had been put through a meat grinder for days. He nearly fell on his face once he tried to stand up.
“I’m okay...” he muttered aloud. He was too exhausted to focus his thoughts.
A second later, his mind cleared, and his focus sharpened as Shine channeled their mana through Ezekiel to keep them at the top of their form.
‘Thank you,’ he sent through their bond. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
The stone beneath his feet shattered, and Ezekiel was off like a bullet as he flew toward his fleeing, drugged up companions.
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Elsewhere, the defenders of the island’s human communities and fortresses were in a tight situation. Due to their position, the main headquarters and several other fortifications were enchanted to the point of being able to withstand a few attacks from a Tier five being.
However, given the continual assault by the Cruor at the same time, it was impossible to tell just how long many of their bases would last. A couple had already fallen, and while their enemy appeared to be tired, there was no telling how much longer he could fight.
“Fall back now! Get our forces behind the protective barriers!” A tall Guild Leader glad in bright green Spirit Armor directed his forces as they retreated from the front defensive line.
He was in the middle of the pack, doing his best to fend off the assault on the ground.
“Dammit! How did things turn out like this?!” he whispered to himself as he heaved his massive ax to the side. A wave of branches and thorns shifted in the direction he moved, blocking the path of the Cruor and Umbral Beasts that were chasing his forces.
The makeshift barricade was only enough to hold the horde off for a few seconds. Enough to increase the gap between them, but the presence of the Amalgam Cruor was too much to leave the gap open for long.
“There you are!” the sound of a bird cry rang through the air, and several Cruor dive-bombed the Life Hunter that had been blocking their pursuit.
As soon as they got close, they whipped their wings forward, sending razor sharp feathers flying at the Hunter. A wall of wood sprang up to protect him, and barely blocked off the attack as the Cruor rose back into the sky.
Some of the Hunters that were nearby gathered around the Guild Leader, intent on fighting alongside him as the others finished their retreat. They were only a few hundred meters away from the primary barricade.
Suddenly, a chill ran up the spines of every Hunter in the region.
High in the sky, the dimming light of the sun disappeared as two massive wings spread out so far as to cast the whole of the walled citadel in shadow.
Those that could immediately threw up all sorts of defenses, to protect themselves and others. Just as two massive feathers, larger than a full-grown adult human in size, impacted against the fully formed protective formation that surrounded the small city.
Fortunately, since this was a primary choke point in the Archipelago's war against the Cruor, it was only Hunters, battle Mages, and Scholars, with no civilians around, but it was still a hard hit for those that weren’t behind the barrier.
Even the Cruor on the ground were affected by the force of the impact, but they swiftly recovered, and the sky was filled with a cheer of elation as they realized that their leader was there to finish their enemies off.
Climbing to their feet, the hunters looked devastated. The barrier had survived the first attack but was filled with visible cracks. Another attack like that, and their base would be destroyed for sure.
Some of the Hunters broke down into tears at the thought. The expectation of their deaths was too much for them. It was simply a hopeless situation for them.
Up above, Derrick ignored the events occurring on the ground. He showed no care for the cheers of his soldiers, nor the cries from the Hunters. He simply focused his gaze on the shield that he needed to break.
So, rearing his wings back once more, he tensed his body even harder. The flow of Ichor in his veins focused and pooled into two of his feathers. The previous ones had already regrown from the first attack.
With a single mighty beat of his wings, he struck with a force that shattered the shield around the Hunters’ base.
However, his eyes widened just as his feathers pierced through the protective barrier. With his supreme sensory abilities, he noticed something. Something sudden, and incredibly brief.
Every Human and Spirit in the region had disappeared. Right before his attack could fully land.
“Ezekiel...” his voice was quiet, but the intent and [Will] he channeled, filled with anger as it was, could be heard and felt by all the Cruor that were still there. Even as they looked around in confusion at the sudden disappearance of their enemies.
Before he could leave, a light flashed from within the city, and a massive explosion that was on par with a Tier five destructive spell leveled what remained of the city from within.
With a cry of rage, Derrick turned from the city, and flew at top speed to the next target.
Murderous intent flowed from his body in waves, and the foliage that still persisted was ripped apart from the gale-force winds brought about by every flap of his wings.
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As the Winged Broodlord scoured the island in his search for Ezekiel, the most powerful Void Hunter in the world was sweating and shivering as he directed all the boats that remained on the island as far away as possible.
It had been a shock to many of the Hunters and Mages, to suddenly appear in a group composed of thousands of humans and hundreds of Spirits, floating in a strange sphere that was hundreds of meters wide. But after the initial surprise faded, they swiftly followed the instructions of those that had been saved before them.
This led to a quick departure from the island, mere minutes after the final group had been rescued. It had taken some time to get all the people onto the boats, and to restrain the drugged-up Hunters and Mages that had been affected by the Rotting Matriarch, but they had managed to get away.
Though, that didn’t mean the end of their troubles. Not yet. Especially not for Ezekiel.
His mana was nearly empty, and his body was straining under the amount of Ichor and mana he was forcibly mixing inside him.
Even now he could feel his cells breaking down, and being rebuilt, stronger, more efficient, and overall, differently from before. It wasn’t as if his general shape had changed, but his body wasn’t suited to the amount of mana he was constantly drawing in and pushing out.
“How far away are we?” he asked one of the Guild Leaders he had first recovered.
“We’re nearly past the horizon. At that point you should be able to drop your Shroud and rest.” The Guild leader was a Death Hunter, and she was quietly observing Ezekiel’s soul from a distance.
While there would be little she could do if something truly went wrong, having someone on standby to alert the others of any sudden changes to his condition would be good, nonetheless.
All around them, the Hunters and Mages that could still use magic were doing everything they could to expedite the ramshackle fleet’s retreat. They were moving at an incredibly fast pace. Though not as fast as they could’ve gone if it was just a few ships.
However, in order to ensure that the fleet didn’t spread apart and exit his forcefully expanded domain, Ezekiel had used [Push and Pull] on all the ships to ensure that they didn’t get too far from one another.
Yet, this meant that, for Ezekiel, every word said and heard was a hammer to his skull, but he kept going, even as Shine channeled their own mana to help reinforce his body to keep him from falling apart.
Compared to his own mana, the Tier four mana Shine was using was less than effective. But every little bit helped at this point, and they had done a good job in keeping him refreshed in the beginning. It was only after they had cleared out over half the island that Ezekiel’s state had deteriorated to the point where the Void Spirit’s weaker mana failed to hold up.
‘That’s enough, Ezekiel. We’ve passed the horizon. They’ll have to make it a fair distance out before they can catch up to us. Even then, they won’t be in any condition to do battle. Rest! Now!’ Shine’s tone had no room for negotiation as they ordered Ezekiel to drop his spell and let the boats
“Gah!” the sudden shock of no longer forcefully channeling his mana and infusing his [Will] and [Understandings] into everything within his domain made Ezekiel flinch and pitch forward, nearly face planting into the deck.
“I’ve got you!” George, who was also standing nearby, grew a soft shrub from the wood of the deck to catch Ezekiel. “Easy! Relax. Just relax. Let us take a look at your condition.”
All around the fleet of ships, Hunters and Mages continued to force the ships into a retreat, but the shift as Ezekiel’s spell disappeared, caused them all to become more focused as they needed to more accurately direct their spells to keep them close together.
This meant that their pace had slowed, but it was only a couple of minutes later that they were fully out of sight of the island.
All around the various ships, overcrowded and cramped as they were, relief flooded the Hunters and Mages, even as their island was lost.
They had managed to escape and would live to fight another day.