The Astrologer finally made his move. How foolish of him. I had striped scorpions teleport in his way. He spun around them, like a bird. Yes, come closer and you will be within my grasp. I clenched my left hand. Tethers snapped across multiple wavelengths.
The Astrologer swung out with one hand. All the formed tethers shattered, but he still kept coming right at me. I clenched my right hand. The energy shifted around me. I was nowhere as good as the Refraction Orb I had defeated. The astrologer swung his other hand into my barrier.
There was an intense grinding sound. Energy materialized as white blasts of heat and energy, shooting away from where the Ritualist was trying to penetrate my defenses. My left hand was already moving, more tethers formed. This time he was unable to dodge.
He struggled, but he was at once stronger and weaker that an actual person. A person just arrived, would have their mind taken over, but the body would resist by twitching occasionally. The Astrologer was completely immovable but I was unable to penetrate his mental defenses.
I dropped my defense since it was longer needed and forced my depression aura on him. He shrugged it off. Well, I had captured him at the very least. I had a werewolf approach. “Astrologer, it seems the tables have turned,” I said.
“Ritualist. You won’t be able to kill me,” the Astrologer said.
“Oh, I know. A projection. Once you know what to look for it is obvious. Your technique is quite impressive,” I said as I layered more tethers upon his body.
“Just some minor tricks. You won’t be able to trace my real body or harm me,” the Astrologer said with confidence.
“Oh, I know. You are independent aren’t you?” The Astrologer didn’t reply, but that was all I needed as confirmation. “But you also have all the knowledge of the original.”
“So, you wish to torture me somehow? Don’t make me laugh. There is only one person I fear, and she isn’t here the last I checked,” the Astrologer said.
“I want a trade. Information. I have crossed the level 4 threshold and have captured you,” I said while keeping my anger in check.
“But for some reason there are no level 4 summons or hybrids. Also, you have learned some tricks. But the threshold is much greater. Summoning won’t work to do what is needed. You have nothing to offer me.”
“Or is there some sort of prediction you have made about my defeat?” I asked. The Astrologer didn’t respond. Again, it was all the answer I needed to my question. “Well, if you aren’t going to contribute knowledge, then you can die,” I said and began to clench my left hand. The tethers began to tighten, and the Astrologer’s body and clothes began to puff up like balloon with strings tied around it.
“I would not be so quick to throw me away,” the Astrologer said, and I paused but didn’t loosen up the tethers. “If you kill my Astral Projection, she will know.”
“And why would I worry about some woman, who I never met. Champion Michael is running away,” I said.
“You idiot stupid child. The only reason everyone still breathes is all related to my efforts. I am not selfless by any means, but once her boot presses down on your neck, you will understand true terror.” I could care less, my tethers began to tighten again.
The tethers suddenly snapped closed and collapsed before dispersing. The Astrologer was gone. Where was he!? All my monsters spun about trying to spot him. Not in the air. Not under the ground.
I let out a gasp as I felt my chest clench. A gloved hand formed in the air in front of me and began to close in on my face, just inches away. I felt a great danger from that hand. If it touched me, I would die. I twisted my right hand.
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A barrier formed in the few inches or centimeters in front of my face, to block the glove hand with the silver star on the back.
The grinding sound was overwhelming as white light blinded. A massive force was crushing down on me. The cushions I was resting on inside my safety box were compressed. The box groaned and then exploded in splinters. I went tumbling across the ground.
I lay on the ground as I commanded my monsters to act. The Astrologer stepped fully in the air slumped over as my monsters swarmed towards him. “Shatter!” The Astrologer swung his hands out to the side while jumping into the air.
Space itself cracked. My tethers in the area were shattered even if they were at a higher frequency. My few summons were instantly dusted. My hybrids suffered massive damage. My pain shunts worked overtime.
The Astrologer spun in the air, but he was too slow. One of my were-sword deverishes spun and cut through his outstretched right hand.
“Ahhhh!” The Astrologer screamed. The hand turned into a shriveled and deformed lump of flesh. There was only a bright glow coming from the Astrologer’s stub which was quickly closed off with a covering of skin. “Fine! No half measures! NULL REFRACTION SHATTER!”
Eight glowing white equilateral triangles formed around him in the air. Each was a flat plane, an impossibly thin 2D object as they rapidly spun in the air. He gestured with his left hand. The triangles spun at me.
My metal men were already in the way. The glowing triangles embedded into them. One flew past my head. It had missed me. The Astrologer then disappeared. The glowing triangles disappeared instantly without a fuss or an effect. There one moment and gone the next. The Astrologer was running away like a rat. Well at least I wounded the man. I felt pain from the left side of my head. I brought up my hand, blood was pouring out of my head. It was hard to control my arm.
I looked down on the ground. My left ear had been sliced off. That wasn’t too bad. Then my left arm fell to the ground as well. “Ahhh!” I screamed. Even as the tortured cry left my throat. I began to lose focus. I felt my energy shifting without my command!
I gasped for air as I clutched onto all my tethers with everything I had. I couldn’t afford to lose my army. I couldn’t lose! Heat and energy radiated from the level 4 crystals embedded into my spine below my head. They shrunk slightly, pulling bone and flesh they were imbued in, towards them, holding them in place even as they shrunk.
My spine was bent collapsed to the ground, unable to move or feel anything below my neck. I never let go of my tethers. At least I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Material formed where my left arm should have been. The glow from the energy and the angle of my head made it hard to see. It was too difficult to focus through my monsters.
“AHHH!” I screamed even more when I felt my spine shifting some more. It was all I could do, to hold onto my mind and my tethers. I was Chase. I was the Ritualist! A few moments later the pain was gone, and I could feel my body again. It was weird.
I slowly looked at my body through the eyes of one of my monsters. A left arm was back on my body, but it was no longer my arm. It was a puppet arm, similar to what the Puppet Master had. It had a metallic sheen to it, like the refraction orb. Four eyes opened on the arm, and my head felt like it was going to split. White tears dripped down from the pure white eyes. Eyes like the Weeping Child.
The hand had ten fingers. I forced the eyes on the arm closed while I forced my body to breath. I got back to my feet with the help of a couple of my summons and placed into a spare travel box. The box was closed up and I focused all my attention on my army.
My left arm and body felt weird. Everything felt off. My left arm twitched, and I could feel the eyes moving outside of my control. I frowned and exerted my will and brought my movements under control. I had transformed.
Even while I controlled my army, most of my attention was focused on dealing with what had just happened. I had undergone a partial hybridization. How was that even possible? I doubted the store would still be available to me, but there was hope that I could be fixed.
Or perhaps, this wasn’t a bad thing. I was evolving into the next form. I flexed all ten fingers on my left hand and my tethers sand. The control I had was immaculate. My mind could process all the changes happening with my monsters even more easily than before. Shifts of energy were available to me. I could project my depression aura out even further.
The Astrologer had screwed up. He had just progressed my power more than ever before. Soon, the world would weep before my strings. All dancing to my tune, unable to harm me. I mentally embraced the changes.
During my distraction there had been some issues, but I still had control. Champion Michael had struck during my distraction, dealing damage to my army before retreating into the city. I scanned the skies for the Astrologer, but there was no sign of him.
Now that I was even stronger, I dared him to try attacking me again. Soon Purgatory would be no more, Champion Michael hunted down like a dog, and I would stand on top of the world.