The lands of the Willowbrush Empire had seen better days.
Where once there were lush fields and forests that covered the landscape, providing sustenance and the like for all sorts of human settlements and Spirit territories, there was now nothing more than an expansion of the Desolate Lands.
“It seems like you were correct. It has been several weeks now, yet there has been no further mention of the Herald’s presence.” The Blood Broodmaster was subdued when she spoke to Radiant Chaos. “It appears as though we will be able to finish forming the body of one of our brethren well before the originally scheduled timeline.”
Radiant Chaos said nothing in response, and the Blood Broodmaster looked up at his position in the air. The Ichorous Broodmaster was in his condensed, spherical form, and floated above another batch of humans that were in a hypnotic trance.
They were moving as a group toward the containers grown by the Rot Broodmaster during their last trip back to the center of the Desolate Lands. Large Primal Cruor that had been specifically trained to bring the humans and Spirits that were captured back to their territory remained still while their cargo was loaded. In just a few more minutes they would be ready to return to the seal of their brethren.
At the same time, large red and white Umbral Beasts, blessed with the Ichor of the Blood Brood, were rolled along by other members of their Brood.
“It seems like the blood balloons have also shown their usefulness.” Radiant Chaos shifted at the sound of pride in the Blood Broodmaster’s voice. “It seems like your idea of breeding beasts specifically for the purpose of processing the excess humans and Spirits into usable Ichor was a great one.
“That is to be expected... My ideas are the most effective means by which we can gather the necessary mana and Ichor needed to bring back our brethren. The fact that you failed to come up with it shows how much my guidance was necessary for us to succeed.” Radiant Chaos shifted, and a face appeared on his molten gold figure. “Gather the Ichor and return... I will catch up once I have finished dealing with our newest annoyance.”
“Annoyance?” The Blood Broodmaster shifted her attention to the direction that Radiant Chaos’ face was turned to, however, it was apparent from her shifting gaze that she didn’t know what he was talking about. “What annoyance? There is nothing here.”
Radiant Chaos didn’t bother responding, instead, he sent out a tendril that whipped his fellow Broodmaster to the side. A small flash of lightning sparked for a moment before turning into a massive bolt that tore the sky asunder.
The Blood Broodmaster remained toppled on the side in the ruins of a broken stone tower, while Radiant Chaos let out a reverberating laugh that filled the sky.
“So that’s how you gained the courage to come into territory so far from your own!” His voice filled the sky, and as the Blood Broodmaster pulled herself up and directed the Umbral Beasts to begin moving toward the core of the Desolate Lands.
“Come! Let me see how you flail about without your precious Herald supporting you! Even without my brethren, I will see to it that you join your fellow morsels as food for our freedom!”
Radiant Chaos took on a humanoid form once more, but this time countless tendrils extended from their back, and their face was split in half from how widely his fanged mouth was grinning.
He was covered in a golden light before flashing away in the direction the lightning had come from. All the while, the Blood Broodmaster ran alongside the cargo.
She didn’t look back, but Radiant Chaos was barely paying attention to the fleeing Blood. Instead, he launched an attack at the figures he could that, to his senses, were hidden beneath something that smelled like the Void.
Something that he would not forget from his countless years sealed within something similar.
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Frantic movements were all that filled the space where the hidden Hunters had fired their shot. A complex mechanism with Runic inscriptions and multiple components that the few Adepts were rapidly trying to take down.
“How much longer! That damned monster is on its way here!” One of the Legendary Hunters wearing violet Spirit Armor nearly screamed thanks to his panic.
All the while, Invera watched with narrow eyes. She kept her sights on Radiant Chaos, his figure grown closer and closer. It would be barely a few minutes before he got to their position.
“What do you think? Are our chances any better than you had assumed?” Next to Invera, Harras, who was covered in his own Spirit Armor, sat on a rock. “There’s currently four of us and only one of him, so the odds must be in our favor, right?”
Invera shook her head. She wanted to be as optimistic as her fellow Lightning user, however, it was just too difficult. Even with their greater numbers, the fact that they had missed their sneak attack meant that they were lower on mana than they would be at their peak.
Now, with her and Harras at less than half their full mana capacity, and the two Glacial Mythical Spirits floating in giant bowls nearby, their potential advantage was not as great as before.
“I think that this will be a fight where we will be risking our lives,” Invera shook herself and slipped into the harness that had been next to her. “As it is, we will need to go out and fight before he gets here. We’ve proven that the new Artifacts are useful, and this was a successful test, regardless of the final response from the Broodmasters.”
Harras raised a brow in response. “I would not say that getting caught was a successful test.”
“That is because you are forgetting what we’ve learned about Radiant Chaos, and how he is different from the other Broodmasters. Even now, his abilities are vastly beyond what we knew of the Chaos Cruor from before. Though, the fact that he is so much more in tune with the world itself is already bad news.” Invera grew into the harness, and it shifted upon making contact with her mana.
Several folds wrapped around her, and Runic inscriptions lit up while gemstones of different colors glowed brightly. “It’s a shame that this thing can’t refill my mana. Though, the increased defenses will be of great use in this fight.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t explode,” Harras grumbled, but there was a graveness to his tone. Invera knew that he was having his own worries about the armor. He was wearing a similar one to supplement himself, after all. “Let’s get going. There’s no point in remaining here any longer. You lot finish up here and get lost as soon as possible. Keep the Void Mages alive. If they get taken, then the war will be lost even faster than the current predictions are calculating.”
The scrambling team of Hunters and Scholars had almost finished taking down the specially crafted cannon, but spared a moment to salute the Exalts who were now heading into battle.
Several Void Mages, and two Hunters, opened a hole in the dome that covered their barrier.
“Apologies, Exalts... If we were stronger, then perhaps our [Shroud] would not have been discovered.” One of the Hunters, the only Legendary among them, though only at Step one, had her head bowed, but continued working on the Artifact that surrounded their makeshift camp.
“Such is the difference between Myths and Legends. Now hurry up so you can get out of here. If we cannot kill that thing, then we will at least buy you time.” Harras then turned into a bolt of lightning and flew out of the camp.
The two Glacial Spirits followed immediately after, and Invera gave one final nod before she also headed into battle, catching an Artifact thrown at her by the Legendary Void Hunter. She gave it a glance before nodding in thanks.
Her harness shifted slightly as she took flight, and she forced the doubts and wariness inside her down and out of her mind. They would do no good for her now.
Perhaps it was her age, and the centuries of experience under her belt, but she couldn’t help but feel that this would be a very different battle from when she had last fought the Broodmasters.
The only bright side to this situation was the fact that at least it wasn’t their side that was being sneak attacked and mind-controlled.
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It was barely two seconds after he had left the artificial [Shroud], that the Void Scholars had managed to construct, when Harras found himself dodging tendrils of golden Ichor that were somehow bleeding Radiant light. Only for a change to surprise him when he did.
“What the hell?!” he exclaimed once the shift in radiant Chaos occurred.
Several of the tendrils weren’t just turning into weapons to strike at him, but they were growing mouths, claws, and other body parts belonging to a multitude of creatures that Harras recognized as being entities that he had fought before.
Entities that were once Umbral Beasts that were mutated by the different Broods of Cruor.
“What are you...?” Harras couldn’t help but mutter upon getting out of range of Radiant Chaos’ attack. “You eat your own kind for strength... Yet you claim that we are the creatures that don’t belong in this world? How could any sapient being have such delusions!”
“How could an insignificant mortal like you have any idea of what does and doesn’t belong in this world?” Radiant Chaos’s voice echoed through the area, and the pressure that was released with every word nearly threw Harras to the ground. “You who have lived for less than even a few centuries have no idea the full extent to which those that exist at a higher level of existence operate. I am more in tune with Eldramir than you could possibly fathom! While you are merely creating minor sparks and flashes of temporary light and sound, I am the embodiment of the origin and the end of all life! You are nothing, and if not for the betrayal of my maker, you foreign infection would not be allowed to exist! My Broods would’ve wiped out your species millennia ago and would have long since taken to the stars.”
The stars? What the hell is he talking about? This wasn’t a topic breached by the Scholars and other magic users of the world.
As far as Harras knew, the stars were merely lights in the sky put up by the Ancient Void. They were meant to provide a small modicum of light alongside the moon when the sun was on the other side of the world. Nothing that any Scholar or Mage had studied had ever determined otherwise.
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Although... I will admit that that is only what I know from my childhood education. The study of stars and that which exists beyond the limit of the sky isn’t something I have ever been privy to.
A mental jolt pulled Harras back into the fight. His Spirit briefly reprimanded him for getting distracted, and he was forced to fly higher into the sky to avoid another attack.
Fortunately, the two Glacial Spirits had finally caught up. They were at their full, massive, sizes and he was able to get a moment to breathe when they attacked. The freely flowing Ichor was washed away, but Radiant Chaos didn’t let up his offensive. Instead, he seemed to grow more furious, and it was apparent that his [Will] was stronger than any of theirs.
If it wasn’t, then the Glacial Spirits would’ve stood a much better chance at washing away the liquid body of the Broodmaster. As it was, the Spirits’ magic was able to block, and even slow, the movements of Radiant Chaos’ tendrils, but that was it.
“The two of you will be tasty!” Radiant Chaos roared, and his figure began to swell.
It took moments, but he eventually outsized both the Glacial Spirits. He had managed to wrap his tendrils around the Whale Spirit and had formed razor blades that dug into the Glacial Spirit’s body.
Harras couldn’t help but compare Radiant Chaos’ actions to that of a mindless beast. Yet, he was unable to take advantage of the Broodmaster’s focus on the whale. Instead, he was forced to avoid the wildly flailing tendrils that were still coming after him.
The kraken Spirit wasn’t having a much better time. It was clear that, even as it formed its own tendrils out of water, that it was no match in a conflict of limbs.
The giant whale shrieked in pain, but Radiant Chaos didn’t let go.
Harras backed away, intent on making space to charge up a larger bolt of lightning to attack the Broodmaster. Regret and anger filled him, and he cursed Invera’s lack of intervention.
Where is that stupid bird!? He yelled within his mind. His Spirit just directed his attention upward.
Right as a massive bolt, far larger than the one he was planning on charging, fell down on Radiant Chaos, and caused his limbs and tendrils to twitch and wiggle about as the electrical charge affected the Broodmaster’s very soul.
The whale Spirit was quick to flee once the grip that held it went the slightest bit slack. Harras admired the control that Invera had over her spell. It was obvious that it took quite a bit of spiritual strength to enforce her [Will] on that bold so as to not harm their companion.
“How long do you think we will need to hold out for?” the Legendary bird asked upon descending to his level. To his dismay, it was apparent that her attack had taken a lot out of her, and there weren’t even any wounds on Radiant Chaos’ body to show for it.
The kraken and the whale then changed their tactics, and rather than trying to physically match the Cruor, they made sure to keep their distance, but Harras knew that they would start flagging soon.
If this had been a battle at sea then things would be different, but for now, they were all that was presently available. The rest had been needed to keep up what border defenses they could afford.
“We should at least try to buy ten minutes,” Harras declared. “It will take at least a couple more for them to finish dismantling everything, and we can’t afford to let them leave anything behind. Letting them get their mitts on anything related to the Void would be disastrous.”
Invera nodded. “Hopefully we can last at least half that long... I don’t know about you, but even with the strangeness of this Broodmaster, I can’t help but feel like something is different. He was more composed than this before, wasn’t he?”
Harras had noticed that change as well. However, he had thought that it was just a matter of growing more impatient and violent. Nothing new when it came to the Cruor of the Broods.
“If you say so... However, besides the fact that he’s glowing more, I haven’t noticed anything else besides the obvious changes.” A snake shaped tendril slithered around the kraken when he said this, but Invera just narrowed her eyes in thought.
“Hopefully, whatever I’m so wary of won’t end up rearing its ugly head during this battle,” she muttered with a harsh whisper.
Harras hoped for the same but knew that it was unlikely to be the case. If a Spirit as old as Invera was expecting something even worse to happen, then it was highly likely that it would.
“Keep charging your spell. I will aid you in shaping it.” Though she was newer to the Mythic level of power compared to him, Harras trusted the Mythical Spirit to add to his spell effectively.
It was apparent that the two Glacial Spirits were finally starting to flag. All the while, Radiant Chaos wasn’t showing any signs of slowing down. They would need to hit him with something hard or else this fight would end far sooner than either of them wanted it to.
A series of spheres took shape in the air around the whale. Each one shot hyper condensed streams that just through Radiant Chaos’ form with relative ease. Though any damage was healed in an instant. While at the same time, the kraken was doing its best to bind and contain Radiant Chaos’ tendrils.
It was a slow back and forth, with neither side gaining an upper hand.
“Now!” Invera’s command was quiet, but her words were easily heard.
Without a moment of hesitation, Harras felt his [Will] mingle with Invera’s, and the magic became doubly reinforced with its origin coming from two sources. The massive bolt of lightning changed shape from the orb of energy it appeared as when being charged, into an enormous bird with multiple sets of wings and talons. In a flash of light, it flew toward Radiant Chaos’ body.
If not for their combined [Wills] directing the entirety of their magic toward the Broodmaster, Harras was certain that their spell would’ve done something deadly to one of the two Spirits.
He knew that something was wrong, however, when Radiant Chaos did nothing to try and stop the spell from hitting him. Instead, the smile on his twisted fast just grew wider, opening up until it was wide enough to swallow their spell whole.
A tingling sensation filled Harras’ mind, and he felt his connection to it be severed. Both the Glacial Spirits took a moment to flee, right before the spell exploded.
The ground shook, and the air shuddered while Radiant Chaos’ body burst into an oily smear on the ground. For a moment, there was nothing but silence while Harras and the Mythical Spirits retreated.
Seeing nothing happen for several seconds, Harras nearly dropped his guard. The hope of having struck a deadly blow against the strongest and craftiest of the Broodmasters was great.
“Evade!”
He didn’t even think when he heard Invera’s words. He just flew upward as fast as he could, just as a forest of tendrils shot out from the pools of Ichor on the ground. The Kraken was able to maneuver out of the way. As did he and Invera. The whale Spirit, however, was just too big, and too slow.
It let out a pained cry upon being struck, and while it struggled and did its best to rip Radiant Chaos out of it, its mana began to evaporate into the atmosphere. Instead, the previously thin, and almost non-present miasma that lingered in the sky above them fell upon them all.
Maddening laughter filled the air, and the whale Spirit began hacking up blue blood that faded into motes of mana. The last thing Harras saw was a massive pool of golden Ichor burst out of its mouth. A warped and beastly face took shape, and that was it.
Harras and the other two Spirits were too busy running to continue watching what happened next. They only slowed down to grab the Legendaries and Adepts, destroying their Artifacts in the process.
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Several minutes passed before Radiant Chaos finished consuming the remains of the Mythical Whale Spirit. Once he had finished, he turned to stare in the direction of Quintessa. One of the two truly free human regions of the world. Not even the Fjorya and Tarquessa were out of the Brood’s grip, and the Archipelago was divided by water.
“... That was not like me...” he muttered while staring at himself. This had been something he had been repressing for weeks now. Something had changed, and he hadn’t been able to figure it out before now. He hadn’t had any reason to.
“How dare you infect me with your wretched emotions! I am the perfect being, who has combined both body and magic to ascend to greater heights! You are nothing more than a wisp!”
He had taken on his humanoid form once more, but this time it was far less defined that it usually was. As if he were a wax doll that had begun melting before turning solid once more.
“You are going beyond your usefulness!” he roared, and his body started rippling. Anger and hatred filled him, and he spent several more minutes flailing against the ground. A massive hole filled with tears that reached deep into the earth.
“Your emotions... they are stronger than I thought that they would be...” he forced himself to calm down, but his body still trembled. “Drake Cross... you outsiders are truly a pox upon this world. If you, the others, and the Herald had simply never come here, this world would’ve long since recovered to a proper state for me to achieve my domination of this world.”
For several seconds, there was silence once more.
You have not ascended... A faint whisper filled his mind. One that didn’t come from him. Nothing escapes the Void... Especially something that has already lost to it once before...
With one more earth-shattering roar, Radiant Chaos level the area, taking in the miasma and regaining all the mana he had lost while fighting.
After leaving, the entire region was even more desolate than before.
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It was nearly a week later when the Mythical Hunters of the world had gathered again. News regarding Radiant Chaos’ recovery and killing of one of the Mythical Glacial Spirits had spread, and they now needed to discuss what their next steps would be.
Of the Mythical beings that were present, only Wolken was missing. He was still in a coma, and while he was physically fine, it seemed more and more likely that he would not be waking up. If he did, then there might be something they could do, but for the moment, the majority of their plans were being stalled. Nothing had been done, and Invera couldn’t help but feel that today would be much of the same.
A map with several bases and battle zones outlined on it was laid out on the table between them all. So far, only pleasantries had been exchanged while waiting for everyone to arrive.
Now, it was time to start.
“Have there been any changes to the situation at the border to the Desolate Land?” Strom was the first to speak, and Invera wished once again that Wolken was here instead. Strom just didn’t have the same charisma, the same ability to lead, that Wolken had.
There was just too much shock, and too much disbelief. Four against one, five if you counted Harras and his Spirit as separate entities in the fight. An utter loss, and a total recovery in an instant by the Broodmaster.
“No changes at the border. Things have actually become quiet... We’re not sure what to think of it.” It was Narok that responded. He had been kept separate from Strom, who had mostly been taking care of more internal matters. “Given how many lives they’ve harvested, it’s almost impossible for them to have not obtained enough mana to process the Ichor needed to refill their numbers.”
“We shouldn’t be concerned with the status of the Border. We need to be prepared for an increase of those blasted Rotten Javelins!” Talia, who had recovered and was sitting in, even though she had fallen from Mythic, was nearly in a panic. “You are not the ones that have to deal with their own magic dying in front of them! If it wasn’t for Roc, we would’ve long since fallen apart!”
Invera sighed at the fallen Exalt’s behavior. Though she had never been bonded to anyone herself, she knew that this behavior wasn’t going to help Talia get what she wanted. Especially when she knew that they needed to
“I agree that the border itself is not the ultimate issue... But I don’t think that the Rotten Javelins are the biggest issues.” The other Exalts turned to her. “Given the time frame, and what little Ezekiel was able to tell us of what was happening, the only thing they could be pulling back for is the completion of one of the bodies for the fallen Broodmasters to possess. The only real question is which one, are they reviving? And where will they go to get the resources to revive the rest, because the Empire is nearly overrun, so they’ll run out of food, sooner or later.”
The faces of the humans in the room went pale, while the Spirits shifted uncomfortably. It was obvious that all of them had forgotten that fact. Though, to be fair it had been a hectic time for all of them.
“... Are we able to contact Ezekiel?” It was Harras who replied first. “None of us are capable of reaching the peak... There’s simply no time, nor is there a means that won’t rip our souls apart. Like what happened to Wolken.”
Heads bowed at the mention of Wolken’s current state.
All but Brun, whose ears perked up. Something that only Invera noticed. Then the Tempest Spirit smiled widely and laid his head on the table.
Three knocks filled the room, and Talia, who was closest, opened it. A glare on her face, and her mouth opened, likely to yell at whoever was outside. The words died on her lips, and she was gently pushed out of the way.
Quietly, with only a cane tapping on the ground to make noise. Something that the wind had been blocking before, Wolken stepped into the room.
Bandages covered in Runic scriptures that glowed with alternating colors of light were wrapped around his body. A misty look was in his eyes, and his sister lingered behind him, watching his every move, and glancing back and forth between Wolken and the other Exalts.
On the ground, Wolken’s Spirit slithered beside him in an upright position. Its figure was nearly as wide around as Wolken’s torso.
“I hear that you’ve been having difficulties planning what to do next?” Wolken slid into Talia’s empty seat. The fallen Exalt said nothing, and simply moved to the wall to watch.
“Let’s figure things out and see how we can proceed. I really, without preventing the savior of the world from breaking though.”