Faelmac Westrisser stood on the walls of Malloon with only a single companion. Freewall Yuuryin was needed within the operation room of the barrier and any other citizen of Malloon would likely be heavily injured even by the reduced reverberation from the battle. Therefore, the presence of servants was pointless.

He stood tall, arms folded behind his back. His feathers tingled. I am so close. Just a bit more time and I would have perfected the anchoring… once my isolated spaces are complete, my power accumulation will accelerate. So long as we win today…

“Looks like I won’t even need to act,” Westrisser’s companion croaked, a sadistic glee obvious in her tone. “You know you owe me a favor either way, yes?”

He spared the old woman a glance. The squat, wart-skinned old woman filled him with distaste. Grettic was a goblin, an ancient one whose canny knack for survival had been noted even before she had entered into the Nexus. As a member of a lesser race that spent most of its time squabbling with each other and slaughtering themselves, Westrisser did not appreciate having to owe the old crone a favor.

However, he was a cautious man. In order to succeed today, he would pay any price.

Westrisser didn’t dare relax his attention. “Lord Cerulean might be more powerful than Bleak Sky, but I doubt this is the Nether King’s full power. Also, Bleak Sky’s companions remain in the distance, gathering energy for nefarious purposes. It is very likely you will need to assist Lord Cerulean, when they reinforce Bleak Sky.

Grettic waved a pruned hand. “Don’t worry, keke. Defensive battles are my specialty. Is that not why you sought me?”

In front of Malloon, Bleak Sky cracked his long neck and adjusted his cloak. Nether swirled around his body, still maintaining the keening note of resonance. “You are as arrogant as rumored.”

“I must admit I am disappointed not to have exceeded expectations, even in that regard,” Lord Cerulean teased. He rolled his strangely slender wrists with the same deadly grace with which he always moved. Then both rushed toward each other once more.

Bleak Sky brought more and more dangerous fusions of Nether and wind to slash at the raptor construct, but Fatia Cerulean had been named the most powerful warrior of the Aether lands for a reason. Nothing could stand in the path of his twitching, horrid self-image. Claws both physical and spectral lashed out, caving a path through the storm. Arrogance and certainty stained existence, unleashing a constant pressure that buckled all of the Nether constructs the Nether King threw against him.

Behind Westrisser, a young woman climbed the steps to the top of the wall. He barely suppressed a grimace and spoke without turning around. “Daughter. Considering your current strength, you should not be here.”

“I cannot in good conscience remain idly by while my ancestral city is under attack,” She responded, stopping on the side of Westrisser opposite Grettic. She even stayed a single step behind him, as etiquette dictated.

“A loyal kid,” Grettic cackled.

However, Westrisser’s lips barely twitched. Do you think I will forget all of your transgressions just because you learned to act cute now? Heh, fine. Remain here and witness what our people have worked so long to build.

However, opinions about his daughter could wait until more peaceful times. Nether grew heavy in the air, even through Malloon’s barrier. More and more currents of energy gathered around the baleful Nether King Bleak Sky to pressurize the entire area. However, Cerulean didn’t hesitate before such a foe. His claws lashed forward, severing the wind.

The ground rumbled. The environment in the immediate vicinity of Malloon continued to deteriorate with the blows of the two. The keening note of the Nether King’s energy seemed almost a constant now, piercing even through Malloon’s barrier. Westrisser privately said a word of thanks to Cerulean, who had pushed him to utilize the Winged Serpents more fully, since Westrisser was unwilling to simply eradicate the failed spin-off species. Now, thousands worked in the tunnels underneath Malloon, reinforcing the bottom part of the shield.

Had they not been present currently, the shield might have destabilized simply because the foundation began to crack.

Bleak Sky worked his Nether patterns, but Cerulean severed every attempt to inflict damage. A kick caught Bleak Sky in the chest and pushed him backward. A ripping gesture with his claw prevented a great gout of Nether from stabbing at Malloon’s barrier. Hacking with both arms destabilized the dense Nether, allowing Cerulean’s image free reign.

After only thirty seconds of fighting, Fatia Cerulean paused in his offensive. From start to finish, he had done nothing but advance and force the Nether King in front of him backward. “Is this… really it? The legends have been grossly overexaggerated. Call one of your companions. I cannot temper myself with you as a foe.”

Bleak Sky straightened. His eyes were almost entirely black as Nether flowed so thunderously through his body, marbles stained with poisoned ink. “That will not be necessary. I will hold you at bay for the requisite amount of time.”

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“Hold me at bay? Setting aside how unlikely that is, what would be the point?” Cerulean snorted out a gout of azure flame. The image version of himself, usually lurking just beneath the surface of his body, threw back his head and laughed. “It seems almost foolish to remind you of this, but you are the one attacking us.”

Bleak Sky smiled. Behind him, the half-dozen massive faces in the clouds also had their mouth distorted into an approximation of ugly joy.

The four Nether Kings waiting in the distance finally finished their preparations. A huge amount of Nether began to swirl, not just on a local level, but in a huge swath of land that included Malloon, the low hills that stretched in the immediate vicinity, and the hundreds of private residences and small hamlets in the surrounding. The Nether rapidly became so dense it crept across the ground like a fog, veiling the surroundings. Westrisser’s expression tightened. A side effect of the dense screen of energy was the details of the Nether Ritual were impossible to ascertain.

Aside from the power being gathered against Malloon.

Into that tense moment, Fatia Cerulean chuckled. “Are you unfamiliar with the defensive properties of Malloon’s barrier? Your Nether Rituals will be unable to break through our defenses. You waste your time.”

“How reassuring it must be to know that,” Nether King Bleak Sky clacked his beak. Neither moved. The insidious note of Nether hummed in Westrisser’s eardrums. It seemed to be getting louder. Cerulean tilted his head to the side, gauging the being standing opposite him. Almost thirty seconds crept past. Bleak Sky seemed content to let time pass peacefully.

Why wouldn’t he be? Even if the Nether Ritual fails, they will just try again. Westrisser’s lip curled up. Nether dogs. No matter how long it takes, they will seek to tear down everything I have built.

“It is likely a trap,” Grettic said quietly. “A bluff, to lure you out of the defensive arrangements. Or to drag out reinforcements for Cerulean, striking at the moment the barrier opens. Do not fall for it.”

Just as Westrisser unclenched his jaw to reply, his daughter spoke in a soft voice. “Yet what else can we do? The Nether Kings will gladly forge great Nether Rituals and throw them against the barrier. Besides, no matter how powerful the barrier is, a repeated bludgeoning of power by Nether Kings will weaken our foundations. If the land collapses beneath us, Malloon will not survive.”

Thick currents of Nether began to swirl toward the city from the low hills, massive rivers of dense energy. More and more of the surrounding space became muffled and distant as the Nether Kings were free to do their work. Yet despite the darkness of the current situation, Westrisser allowed a tight smile on his features. “What we can do is trust in Cerulean. Even if he is out there alone… you both witnessed their previous confrontations. He will also follow our train of thought.”

On cue, the azure flames around the raptor construct surged. The image of himself raised its head and roared, forcefully pushing back the huge ocean of Nether threatening to drown him. Westrisser couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of admiration for this being, for the purity of power his image could manifest.

“How petty,” was all Cerulean said, his image humming with killing intent. He accelerated forward at Bleak Sky.

As Westrisser had suspected, the Nether King now gathered a hitherto unheard of amount of Nether power in his body. The strange vibration in the Nether sharpened abruptly. He settled into a crouch, his tattered cloak whipped back and forth by the wind. His slashes of violent squalls were massive, carving canyons into the ground in front of him. Cerulean took the first on the shoulder and paused for a brief instant. Then he drilled forward, ripping his way through the Nether. Bolts of negative energy crackled around the battlefield, generated by two powerful forces standing in such forceful opposition to one another.

The Nether King’s skeletally thin arm met the slash of Cerulean. Again the ground broke, but this time, neither took a step back.

“You’ve been holding back,” Cerulean clacked his jaws.

“You are a mannerless bastard who toys with those he considers weaker than him,” The Nether King responded. “Should I not take advantage of your flaws?”

Cerulean barred his teeth. The flames spun tightly and sunk into the image version of himself. “Fatal Predation.”

The world exploded. Ground and Nether and air were so forcefully displaced that the disparate elements had become an indistinguishable solution that slapped up against Malloon’s barrier. The force was enough that the tremors shook the wall.

Yet despite Cerulean unleashing the Skill for which he had earned his dread, Nether King Bleak Sky spoke. His words resonated with the Nether content in the air, somehow surpassing problems of hearing. “Desolate Horizon.”

With the same violence of the explosion, all motion ended. The note Bleak Sky had spread throughout the area was removed. Or more accurately, ripped away, leaving the remaining energy to collapse. The Nether quieted. Dirt and air stilled without the animating resonance. The horizon cleared, a rapidly expanding area of visibility. The core area displayed the Nether King, cloak discarded, standing tall. All the Nether that had vanished from other areas gathered around his body in a grey haze. A small wound by his waist showed that Cerulean’s attempt had an effect, just not a fatal one.

The cleared area continued to expand. Cerulean stood several meters away, finally looking at Bleak Sky with interest. “How unique. This manifestation is not a Nether concept.”

“You are not the only being who can devour their opponents and grow more powerful. Upon crushing the spines of so many Aether mundanes, I have some small attainment in the area of Domains. How does mine feel?”

Rapidly, the Nether enhanced Domain blossomed across the battlefield. The clouds melted away underneath Desolate Horizon, just like Nether had. The hills were bare and harsh, the jagged fissures laid bare. The sky had been sucked clean of color, leaving it a strange yellow grey, like aged paper.

In the distance, suddenly the figures of the supporting Nether Kings were clear. Westrisser could grasp some of the details of the great Nether Ritual.

However, another detail caught his attention. His eyes narrowed. Why is one of Nether King Hungry Eye’s skyislands… drifting toward the opposition?