It was a strange experience. To see the world rush by on fast forward. Especially since it was the opposite of what he usually did. However, it was the best he could do to buy as much time as possible.
Whether or not it would be enough was the question. One that Ezekiel wouldn’t know the answer to until everything was settled. Something that would be coming surprisingly quick, since he could feel the magic fueling his spell being drained.
If he had been at Tier six when it came to his magic, it wouldn’t be a problem, but as it was, even with the aid of his father and the Shae, he was barely holding on. Even though it only felt like a few seconds had passed since he had begun.
The shadows are getting greyer... Ezekiel thought as he examined the boundary of the [Domain] that kept Radiant Chaos and himself from accessing the material world. I’m not sure I’ll be able to hold this up for much longer... Will this be enough for Shine to have made progress? How are the others doing? Did they get here in time, or are they still out at sea, making their way here?
Ezekiel found his thoughts wandering, much to his frustration, since his focus was the only thing directing his mana for the sake of holding his spell together.
The conical shadow that was sustained by the combination of his father and Shade had originally been pitch black, with no light visible within whatsoever. Yet now it was growing brighter, and the slowed movements of the Broodmaster were speeding up.
It had only been a few hours, but Ezekiel had hoped that that would be enough. The current situation outside was unknown to him, since he had been forced to lockhimself down with Radiant Chaos, but he had hopes that Shine had managed to wake up and make a dent of some sort.
If they had managed to make a breakthrough, then it was possible that they would actually be able to finish things without too much more sacrifice than what they had already gone through.
The world was already heavily damaged, and Ezekiel knew that it would take years, decades, if not centuries, before humanity was back at its peak. Half the continent had been wiped clean, after all.
I wonder where they are... Have they woken up yet? His mind started to wonder, and there was a flicker of light that managed to escape the shadowed [Domain].
Out of reflex he reached for it, intent on stopping it from going far enough to reach the other avatars, however it wasn’t enough, and the light escaped.
Not only that, but his attention wavered, and in that moment time was synched between the boundary. He momentarily managed to feel through his bond with Shine. A sense of overwhelming terror and hopelessness, followed by a sense of determinations tinted with doubt filled him.
It was nearly enough to make him lose concentration on his magic. The [Domain] wavered, and while he held on he also knew that it wouldn’t be much longer before it broke.
Then, with a scream of rage and terror, it shattered.
Though it was through no fault of his own.
Instead, it was the brand new body of his bonded Spirit that slammed through the boundary and reached for his open hand. Power rushed through his soul, and his body pulsed with an even brighter light.
For a moment, there was hope, since Ezekiel was now with his partner, and they were both Tier six. Even though they had broken through in different ways.
“We have a serious problem!” Shine screamed, before they shifted into their sword form once more. For a moment, Ezekiel was confused, but only until Shine’s memories finished flowing into him.
Time seemed to stop, and Ezekiel didn’t bother avoiding the incredibly slow spell that had been fired at him by Radiant Chaos. His perception was too fast right now, and Shine took care of it anyway. They cut through the spell with ease, and both received a moment of reprieve.
Instead, Ezekiel did everything he could to not scream in despair. Just as the sea of gold began peaking over the horizon. Time began to resume its standard pace, and he dropped from the sky like a meteor, intent on killing Radiant Chaos as soon as possible.
A deep and bubbling laughter filled with madness met his ears. One that he wasn’t certain he would be able to silence.
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Shine had only been awake for a little over half an hour. They had first done everything they could to get to Ezekiel, but then they had noticed just how bad things had gotten.
The ever expanding ocean of Ichor, that was constantly absorbing mana from the world, was the biggest indicator that something had gone wrong, of course. Then they got closer to where the battle was taking place, after making a few half hearted attempts to fend off the ocean, and their soul shook with fright.
They could sense nothing from Ezekiel, so there was no possible way that the events that were occuring were the cause of Radiant Chaos. Which meant that this catastrophe was one that they wouldn’t be able to stop just by killing the Broodmaster.
With that thought in mind, they burst through the boundary of the conical shadow that had trapped both their partner and the Broodmaster. With a quick surge of information through their bond, Ezekiel was informed of what they had seen so far.
“We have a serious problem!” They screamed, and at once they returned to their blade form and began firing spell after spell at the laughing Broodmaster.
“This is better than I ever could have expected! With this, the world shall fall into my grasp and become mine in its entirety all the sooner!” Radiant Chaos cackled and roared in rapturous joy. “You see, oh wretched Herald of the Void! This is the end of your worthless species! The true inheritor of Eldramir is me! Only me! Everything will be me!”
They did their best to ignore the maddened words and haunting aura that contrasted starkly with the golden radiance of the Broodmaster’s presence.
“We need to finish this as quickly as possible.” Ezekiel appeared to be in such a frenzy at the apparent loss that Shine could barely make out any words or meaning through their bond. “Maybe, if we can destroy that bastard's soul and consciousness, we can whittle away at the rest of its Ichor. If we can do that, then there should still be a chance that the world can be saved.”
Shine wanted to agree, but they were much more calm than their partner right now. Thus, their senses were able to feel the ever expanding presence of the Ichor below them.
It would be less than an hour before it reached Radiant Chaos, and when it did, that would be the end. The mindlessly expanding sea of mana devouring life blood would be given direction, and would focus all its efforts on wiping Ezekiel out.
“C’mon Shine! Don’t let up! I need you now!” Ezekiel swung harder and harder. His [Domain] of [Nothingness] expanded, and his desire to wipe out Radiant Chaos was all consuming.
It hurt them to see Ezekiel this way. After all they’d been through, he had almost always been a source of steady determination. This desperation that rolled off him in waves was wrong, and Shine knew that they needed to stop it before it could go on much longer.
Perhaps it was because they didn’t have the same connection to the rest of humanity and the world, but Shine didn’t feel the same sense of despair and confusion that Ezekiel did. Instead they felt surprisingly calm. If anything, they were almost accepting of what had happened.
Oh... I guess it’s because I’ve already accepted what I need to do...
The thought was comforting, because Shine knew that they needed to do this. Not for the world, nor for the other people that they had come to have some care for.
They needed to do this in order to ensure that their partner, the one whose soul they were a part of, would be able to stay alive, and in doing so, all that Ezekiel loved and cared about would be saved as well.
Hey... I’m sorry, but I think that this is it for me... There was a pause as Ezekiel seemed to process their words. Kill that bastard for me, and remember that I’m still here, even if it seems like I’m not.
With that said, Shine used their magic, a full tier stronger than Ezekiel’s, to forcibly [Jump them both high into the sky, above where Warren and Shade were recovering. Above the clouds that were barely there. All the way up to the very edge of the boundary that [Enshrouded] this world.
“Shine... What are you doing?”
The weak and tired voice that escaped Ezekiel’s mouth nearly made them come to a stop, but there was no going back. They had already forcefully taken in as much mana as they could.
Even if they couldn’t find his sixth Chakra, so long as they had enough mana, then it was possible that they could fill every inch of his soul with Tier six mana, and in the process they could do what Theo had done for Warren.
It was risky, but that was the only hope that they had.
Without another word more, Shine ignited their soul, and sent all of their energy through their bond with Ezekiel.
At that moment, the sky changed colors, and the stars shone brightly for everyone to see.
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A massive burst of azure flames incinerated a group of constructs. All of them were much weaker than Riley, but a new group was coming toward her. This one was composed of a couple of Tier fives.
Given what she could feel of her mana reserves, it was likely that she wouldn’t be able to fight them off for long. So, with that in mind, she flew off into the direction of one of the mana cannon’s lines of fire. Then, like the mindless drones that they were, the constructs flew straight into that line, and were struck down in quick succession. From there, she flew away from the battlefield for a moment of respite.
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This had been the third time that Riley had been forced to retreat. The support of the weaponry from Morncrest was a great help, but it wasn’t enough as the tide of constructs and Ichor was seemingly endless. Though clearly acting on instinct, and with no sense of direction at all, the enemies she and the others fought were relentless, and their own number was not enough.
“How are the others? Have they managed to hold back the other sides?” She wished she could ask if they had pushed their enemies back, but it was obvious that pushing back at this time was impossible. Holding them off was the best that they could hope for.
“We've managed to keep the Ichor from circling around us. At least in the areas that we can see from Morncrest and the front line.” The Scholar she was addressing was focused on her Artifact, which seemed to be one that expanded a Mage or Spirit’s senses. “However, I believe that the Ichor has spread too far. It’s going beyond the horizon and still moving south. It won’t be more than an hour before it reaches the point where we’ll be surrounded on all sides anyways, and at that point it’ll just have to push inward until it crushes us.”
This was bad news, and all Riley could do was nod in thanks before moving on.
“Remnant! Do you have any ideas as to what we can do?” She asked once she got to the area that the remnant was directing mana from. “I’m not asking you to make Morncrest fly, but do you think that pulling back to the ocean would be a good idea?”
The remnant paused, seemingly thinking about what they should do next.
Then a smile broke out on her face. One that wasn’t nearly as disturbing at the other times Riley had seen such an expression on the Void being’s features.
“We stay here. If we run away now, then we’ll be stuck running away until the day we all are consumed. At this point, we’ve reached the final push. Whether we live or die, now rest solely in the hands of that young Void Spirit.” The remnant almost sounded wistful when she spoke. It was as if she was saying goodbye to a dear friend, and a sense of dread filled Riley’s soul.
“What are you talking about? What’s happening with Ezekiel? With Shine?” She wasn’t so panicked as to be unable to recognize the specific mention of a Void Spirit.
Whatever was happening apparently didn’t rely on Ezekiel, but on Shine. Which was surprising, but no less disconcerting.
“Do not worry, oh Exalted Azure Flame, your husband is well... Though, his heart might feel broken, should he succeed. So, it’s a good thing he has you, and his family, to support him.” The remnant didn’t answer her questions, and Riley opened her mouth to demand her answers more forcefully. “Focus on the task at hand. At this point, surviving, and making sure that those young girls also survive is your only priority. What your husband does to survive at this point is not something within your reach.”
As much as she wanted to deny it, Riley knew that the remnant was right. There was nothing she could do to help Ezekiel at this point. If anything, the fact that she was having such a hard time where she was meant that she would simply be a liability if she was fighting alongside him.
So instead she grit her teeth and searched for her sisters-in-law. If there was one thing that the remnant was right about, it was that she had a duty to ensure that the twins were safe.
Evelyn as well, but she had left before things had gotten settled, so there was no helping there. All she could do now was hope that the Obscure woman was safe enough to come back from wherever she had gone.
With that in mind, Riley had just gotten to where the twins had returned with another group that needed to recover, when the sky changed colors, turning into a pitch black void that was dotted with opalescent lights that shone brighter than any stars she had ever seen before.
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The wind whipped by, and if not for the shield that Brun had put around both himself and her, Evelyn knew that she would certainly have been tossed to the ground from the sheer force pressed against her. As it was, there had barely been enough time to settle onto the Tempest Spirit’s back.
“I am surprised that you had the awareness to not simply meld into my shadow.” Brun spoke with his usual airy tone with a wide grin splitting his face. However, ever since she had further become less than human, and more like a Spirit, Evelyn had found herself noticing things that she hadn’t before.
Like the anger and worry that Brun was projecting into an aura that would usually have been invisible to her.
“Call it a new instinct... I just felt that doing so would mean that I would be thrown into the battle without a moment of warning.” It had been a strange sensation. One that Reya had explained was a part of the instincts that were slowly bleeding over to her through their bond. “I’m sorry for putting you in this position, but I just felt that I needed to be there. Wherever it is that my son and husband are right now.”
Brun said nothing, but his fur ruffled in the wind slightly more than usual. Evelyn felt her hackles rise, but didn’t know why. Then Reya explained it, and she grew annoyed at the new instincts that were so unknown to her.
“I won’t go far... I will stick by your side, and ensure that I am not in the way of anything you might need to do to fight properly. I just need to get to where they are. I don’t need to take part in the fighting.” She hoped her words would alleviate some of his fears.
Brun huffed, but spoke with a smile once more. “You’d better... I have no desire to be wiped from existence by the only two Ancient Beings that I’m allied with, just because you died on my watch.” The air trembled just enough to let Evelyn know that he was utterly terrified.
“My family members are not so cruel and unforgiving as to blame someone who was not the cause of something like that. If I die, just speak truthfully, and while they might lash out, they won’t just straight up kill you.” As the land rushed past them far below, Evelyn hoped that Brun wouldn’t attempt to throw her off. “You can’t tell me that you think my son would be like that. If he was, then why wouldn’t he have fought harder to get out of the Spirit Haven you attempted to trap him in?”
The Tempest Spirit snorted. “Stop trying to convince me. We are nearly there, and leaving you alone in this place would give them cause to blame me. Now, be ready. Your senses might have changed, but they can’t tell you the stories that the wind can tell me. We are almost there, and I don’t need you dying of fright.”
Evelyn settled down, holding tightly, but not painfully, and readied herself for whatever it was that was coming. She had just gotten comfortable on Brun’s back when a cone of darkness came into view several minutes later. Above it, a bright golden light shone brightly, above it, creating a contrast that made the shadows even stronger.
At that moment, she knew that her husband was fighting in his own way, supporting Ezekiel with everything he had.
Then, from the side, a dark comet with an opalescent tail streaked forward, just as a flash of gold escaped the shadow. The opalescent streak made contact with the shadow, causing it to shatter, and a massive armored figure that could only be her son appeared.
He was grabbing the hand of another figure. One that looked just like him, but with colors inverted. A figure that looked more like the night sky in human shape than anything else.
“Brace yourself!” Brun’s warning was just in time, because Evelyn knew that if she had failed to project her magic into a shield, then the force of the roaring laughter from the Broodmaster would’ve thrown her off the Spirit’s back.
It was saying something, and Ezekiel and Shine said something in reply, but she couldn’t make out what it was. Instead, she just held on for her life.
“I am taking us upward. Something has happened, and I won’t be able to contact Ezekiel as he is right now.” Evelyn leaned over, confused for a moment, but realized that Brun was right.
Her son wasn’t fighting like a Hunter, or a Mage, he was fighting like a rabid animal. There was desperation, and fear, in each of his strikes. All while his [Domain] stretched further and further.
“There! I can see my husband!” Evelyn took the chance to look up at where she had seen the light that could only have been Warren. In his arms, he was carrying what looked like a humanoid shadow that was releasing wisps of obscure mana as smoke.
Without another word, she and Brun approached, even as the world below them shattered and quaked with the force behind each of Ezekiel’s blows. Not that it seemed to matter, as the Broodmaster simply accepted each one and reformed with ease.
“Evelyn!” Warren’s call brought her attention to him. She nearly leapt off Brun’s back once they were closer. “What are you doing here? It’s not safe. You need to be with the rest of the Hunters. There’s nothing we can do without them right now.”
In an instant she knew that Warren was unaware of what had happened elsewhere. She explained as quickly as he could, but before she could finish telling him what the others were up to, a streak of light shot up from below.
As one, she and Warren looked up as the figure of their son disappeared. The familiar [Jump] spell was visible as he went higher and higher, while below them the Broodmaster continued to laugh.
“What’s happening?” Evelyn hated how her voice quivered. “Why are they going away?”
Warren was silent, but she could see him biting his lip with a thoughtful look on his face. One that was full of worry as well. “Warren... What are they doing?”
“...What they need to do, in order to win...”
Evelyn tried to ask for more details, worried that her son was going to sacrifice himself for them.
Then the sky changed colors, turning black with the brightest stars she had ever seen before.
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Ezekiel found himself within his mindscape alongside Shine once more. Only this time, neither he nor his Spirit seemed to be happy. Shine, in his new humanoid form, and he, with tears streaming down his face as he gazed at the Spirit that had been with him for over twenty years, floated across from one another. Both were silent; each one was uncertain as to what they needed to say.
“Why are you doing this? The must’ve been another way... Maybe we could’ve won if we had just continued to fight...” Ezekiel couldn’t muster up the anger he so dearly wanted to feel. Anything besides what he was feeling right now.
“So, you know what I’m trying to do... I thought that I had hidden it pretty well. You made no indication that you were aware of what me and your father discussed in Eldramir’s Spirit Paths.” Shine spoke slowly. Their voice was quiet and Ezekiel could feel the regret rolling off the Spirit in waves. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner, if you knew what was going on. If you knew that this was an option...”
Ezekiel was silent. He didn’t want to say anything, but then a shudder ran through his soul, and he knew that he wouldn’t have much more time.
“I didn’t know for certain... I knew that you were hiding something devastating from me... Just not that it would be this... Even then, I wasn’t certain until just after I had broken through with my body.” Ezekiel clenched his hand, looking at it with regret. “When that happened, I felt a change inside myself, and I knew that it would take a massive amount of mana, channeled through my body and thus, my soul, in order to break through. It wasn’t something that I was able to handle. Even with my [Truth] and [Rules] to keep me anchored. The amount of mana that I would need to not only channel, but prevent from destroying myself would be too much for my magic side to handle. It would've been a smaller amount if we had found my sixth Chakra first, but then the reverse problem would’ve happened, and my body would’ve been destroyed instead. That wouldn’t have been something you could’ve fixed after breaking through yourself, since physical refinement wasn’t an option for you until you created a new body after your breakthrough.”
The words spilled from his mouth in an unending stream. He just couldn’t stop them. He wanted to keep talking. To extend this time with his Spirit for just a little longer.
By this point, Shine’s legs were starting to fade away. Ezekiel felt something snap within his soul. The flood of Tier six mana from Shine had forced open something inside him, and while his body was holding on, shifting and growing in strength as his magic grew with it, the pain was getting to him now.
Not only had his sixth Chakra, which had been destroyed when he broke through physically, been restored and ripped open, but now his soul was being reshaped to emulate and graft pieces of Shine soul onto his own. All so that he could break through properly.
“I’m sorry... I guess the only reason you didn’t say this sooner was because you didn’t want to think about it, and you had the perfect excuse not to with Radiant Chaos being right in front of you.” Shine snapped Ezekiel out of his endless explanation. “You know that, just because we won’t be able to talk anymore, doesn't mean that I’m not going to be here...”
Shine smiled. It was a strange thing to see on a face that was so like the avatar of Eldramir that he had seen those few times in the past. Yet it was one that was filled with a calm and steady joy.
“Goodbye, partner...” Shine had almost entirely faded away at this point, and Ezekiel reached out to try and grab hold of them before they left.
Ezekiel’s fingers passed through the space where Shine was floating just moments ago. Their consciousness was now entirely fused into the mana that was pushing Ezekiel past his limit.
“Goodbye...”
Another snap within the depths of his soul, and he felt his body and his magic merge into one. No longer connected, yet separate. Now they were completely one being, combined with his soul.
Awareness flooded his mind, and he felt himself become one with the Void, in mind, body, and spirit. The world itself seemed small now, and he realized that he had grown past the point of Eldramir being able to sustain him any longer.
Looking down, it was as if he could hold the world between his hands. If only just barely. Then, as his power fully settled into its new place in the universe, at a level unheard of before by any being alive on Eldramir, he realized that he was more than powerful enough to finish things on his terms.
After all, compared to the world itself, Radiant Chaos was more than small enough to fit within the palm of his hand.