“Come out, come out, wherever you are . . .” Nova crept closer into the gloom. His sandy hair tied in that same man-bun as many described. “I know you’re using some sort of ability to disguise yourselves. Should I simply cave-in this place and get it over with?”
That was the last Elmore saw of the man, before Donovan forcibly dragged them feet away. Even as the Shadow Clansman ran, he could hear the sect leader’s booming voice. “Or maybe I should just do this-!”
There was a blaze of magenta that briefly illuminated the entire chamber for a second. It was the same mystical, reality-distorting power that Violet wielded. Only infinitely more potent.
Fear streaked through Elmore. It all happened so quickly, and before Elmore’s body could even clench up in fear, the sound of a storm at sea made his ears pang in pain. Blinking, straining through the gloom, the little, enchanted light of a wall of frothing seawater separated Nova from the rest of the group.
It was hard to make out, from their rapidly extending distance, but Nova didn’t look surprised. “Oh Maris. What is a no-name God-Graced like you doing, meddling with my affairs?”
The more that was revealed to Elmore, the less he understood. What was the sect leader of the Water Clan doing here; protecting criminals? It must have been a political move of some nefarious nature. The rivalry between Maris and Juniper came to mind, but Elmore didn’t spare the thought to consider the matter too deeply.
The moment Akuji’s face — that poor, tortured man — erupted in smithereens. It replayed in his mind over, and over. But that didn’t take up all the space in his noggin. No, not by far. The truths flung into his face tonight, so terrible and disconcerting. They shattered Elmore's perceptions of the world, that he’d defend by instinct. Yet, every time, they came toppling down. There was no choice but to accept the sour truth: that imposter Unbounded had penetrated into the underbelly of society. Pulling the strings from beneath.
“No matter.” Nova’s now fuzzy voice knocked him out of the panicked reverie. Truth be told, Elmore often found himself getting far too philosophical.. “I’d like to see her defend you against this.”
The next words cascaded across the grotto, distance mattering little. “First Divine Right: Mastery.”
For several seconds, Elmore had no idea what was happening. The entire atmosphere seemed to be shifting, but in no visible manner. Only after paying attention to the Infinity suffusing the cavern, did Elmore know himself blind.
How he didn’t see an entire mountain’s worth of Infinity pouring into the room, was beyond Elmore. Like tiny pores into the rock walls, the stream of energy was relentless. They should have been drowning with how much energy was flooding into the chamber.
He didn’t dare channel the overflood inwards. His Bank would no doubt be overwhelmed, And promptly collapse upon itself. Even If he did nothing, Elmore would passively take in absurd amounts of the resource anyway. It was a testament to just how bombarded the cavern was.
Despite the murk of the cave, Elmore swore that Donovan exchanged a glance with him. They both knew exactly what was going on, with equal amounts of disgust. If someone using their Mark intensively was a flare, this right here was a beacon the size of a small city.
Streaks of purple — so many that Violet was incredibly outclassed — lit every inch of the gloom. Squinting, Remus saw Nova once more. Yet he was far more akin to an Unbounded than his previous, false demeanour. It was sort of like Violet’s Unbounded form that Elmore had only caught sight of as she was reverting out of it. Yet still humanoid.
Unbounded typically became more human-like as they acquired power. Never as perfect as Akuji and Milap’s clones, mind you, but enough that you wouldn’t think twice if they passed you in a crowd. The same wasn’t universal, clearly. For Nova, as powerful as he was, held the most terrifying face Elmore had ever witnessed. On their ebony white brow, the image of a hand stretching out towards you made Elmore shiver.
Immediately, more Unbounded than he could put a number to, poured into the cavern. The Pet-Keeper and Milap at the forefront of the fray. Milap giggled like a toddler let out for play time, whilst the Pet-Keeper frothed at the mouth with curses. It was a perfect example of how insanity was a wide spectrum.
“Have fun!” Nova screeched, like a proud Father. Not for Violet, certainly, but he looked upon his summoned army with triumph. Then, without so much as another word, he was gone.
Donovan abruptly stopped, putting the three of them down. There was no need to keep running; there was no escaping.
Elmore whispered, which was rather pointless, considering the raucous sound the Unbounded were generating. “How long can you keep us hidden?”
“It’s not an ability that exhausts easily. We can stay hidden, but that isn’t our issue. They’re going to attack everywhere until they find us.”
Right as he spoke, the Pet-Keeper dived to the ground. The stone below shifted like a tidal wave where he landed, pressure threatening to rip the skin off Elmore’s face. But even louder, eliciting a boisterous war-cry from the berserk sea of Unbounded, was his screech.
Given one second, Elmore had all the time to summon a protective cocoon, before the forces charged. He had no idea how his cousins, Remus, or Violet were faring. But if he was going to help them, he would have to help himself first.
He strained his Mark. The structure of his enclosing barrier threatened to compromise, with every slithering creature that smacked into it. But deep, vine-like tendrils of his own making struck out in response. Elmore couldn’t make out much within here, but cries of pain were like a sweet symphony to his ears. Being within this construct was only giving away his location to a few, attentive minority. It was time to move.
Elmore launched himself, swept Infinity to his Mark, and whipped out Donvan’s sacred gift; a boring plant with a ferocious touch. Like his life depended on it, because really, it did, Elmore conjured tens upon tens of the dagger-like leaves. He commanded them to swirl around him in an enveloping cyclone. It was exactly like the training method of hovering fronds Koa had dedicated himself to, when they first travelled to First Rite. Only amplified to its true potential.
As the minute went by, and more and more Unbounded blood was dragged along the currents of his leafy storm, Elmore was sure his arsenal must have been in the thousands.
The only issue was the hellfire they kept colliding with.
As he wandered slowly across the cove, Elmore eyed each of his companions putting in their all.
Remus, as mentioned, was doing an ample job of incinerating everything in sight. Where Elmore’s hurricane was powered by nature’s most wicked ends, fire proved much more simplistic. Controlling each individual leaf, ensuring they spun out in a large range, towards Unbounded, and without launching into one another, was a major pain. Remus, however, simply vented his fury. Nothing could get within a two metre range of him, save of course for a few fire-resistant beings. But to these, his silhouette did little more than click a finger. Their carcasses would subsequently cannon into the crowd.
Violet, regardless of his own unique ability to see through their shared ruse, was nowhere to be seen. Many of the Chaos-Marked individuals had eluded her earlier rampage by means of tricky escape, or by grace of having been preoccupied with Remus’ antics at the time. The girl must have blended in with their constant torrents of magenta. But Elmore did eye a rift pouring out Unbounded limbs here and there, but for never more than a second.
His cousins, praise the gods, were fine. They were both skilled fighters, when the incentive was there. Trained by, if he dared say, the best. A third of the cave had become a remote, underground forest. It was the kind of enchanted space you might expect to find in a children’s book, featuring fairies and unicorns.
Only, it was the forest from hell. Great packs of wolves were smashed to dust by animated trees, boulders were tossed by manipulated weeds to crush anything that came within reach, and little by little, Koa and Ash built up their private nature reserve.
Donovan, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen. The Pet-Keeper continued to thrust into every surface in sight, reshaping the cave and deepening it in several places. Milap was preoccupied with observing everything from afar, eyes flickering from spot to spot like he was searching for a prized jewel.
It was becoming more and more apparent that Donovan’s vanishing technique was a masterclass in disguise. Did it veil the scent of their energy output? Or was the anarchy all around them, with the thick taste of Infinity overlaying everything, covering them just fine? Perhaps, even, it was for more simple reasons. The fact that Violet was using Chaos energy herself; the territory Elmore and his cousins were covering to spread their energy thin; Donovan’s reserved amount of any other Mark-usage, and his concealing touch diluting their own. All very plausible explanations, excluding the overtness of Remus’ wild rampage.
But time was ticking. The Pet-Keeper was bound to run into them eventually, or perhaps Milap would finally find what he was searching for, and bleed them all dry. Whatever the case, Donovan, inexorably, acted first.
Every shadow in the area became its own unique weapon. Wiry Unbounded at ten-foot tall had their ankles sliced off by inky tendrils. Blades hurtled through the air with pinpoint precision.
And a dominating fiend of all black punched the Pet-Keeper square in the face.
Like Elmore, it caught the Unbounded off guard. They were sent flying several yards, jumped to their feet, and rubbed their chin. Then, with a sickened expression, a tooth was spat out. Their fury was unlike anything Elmore could put to words. Palpable in a way that seemed to send tangible drifts of emotion emanating off them.
The Pet-Keeper uttered something Elmore couldn’t catch, before every shadow jolted towards him. Together, they stirred, power brewing, grappling onto the Pet-Keeper with unreal weight. Scores of blades, a hulking figure with a more defined musculature than ever, and a jet carpet swimming with ready tendrils. An invisible man, out of Elmore’s view, must have made a simple command, and then the Pet-Keeper was done for.
Blood splattered. Bones, tissue, flesh, cartilage and all the other building blocks in mother nature’s arsenal were cleaved, smashed, or otherwise rendered useless. The Unbounded was an unrecognisable pulp of gore. Elmore’s mind made the betraying comment. It can’t be that easy. And then, through a broken jaw and cut off lips, the Pet-Keeper spoke those damned words. It likely would have worked even if his mouth was nonfunctional.
“Third Divine Right: Just Immunity.“
Within seconds, their body began to heal with frank horror. It was like watching the fluff put back into a doll that had been ruptured open by a rabid dog. Suffice to say, not the prettiest sight. Flesh mended, bones fused, and chafed skin gained a healthier hue.
The Pet-Keeper reached out an arm wildly. Right onto Donovan's neck.
The Shadow Clansman didn’t even squirm. No surprise was evident on his lips, not a sign of anguish at his ruse being undone. Colour returned to his monochrome body, and either due to the ability being trespassed, or the need no longer there, Donovan became visible to all.
Without thinking, Elmore rushed towards the Pet-Keeper. He sent several of his blades hurtling towards the invincible being, like scouts venturing ahead of their main body. They clinked against the Unbounded’s skin, but merited not a slither of blood.
The Pet-Keeper was relentless, slamming Donovan again and again. His haunting ghost of a shadow materialised behind, razors in place of fingers outstretched. They too failed in their assault.
Elmore wanted to cry out. In fact, enraptured by the din of the fight, he submitted to the urges. Screaming as more of Donovan was purpled by the Unbounded’s impacts.
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Weaponry the shade of jet cleaved through the air, at the same time as Elmore and his personal storm arrived. They combined mid-air, becoming a fuzzy blur of black-on-green while the pair’s Marks blazed. Elmore concentrated on his leaves, exaggerating their serrated ends, increasing their width until each was larger than his palm. Donovan’s own arsenal seemed to double-down in its ferocity, with tendrils leaking out of the daggers. All of them, in the brief glimpses he got, appeared to wiggle towards the Pet-Keeper. They latched onto his body, swinging upon themselves so the connected blades would land home.
It was like trying to put a dent in steel. Repeatedly, with murderous intent, the tentacular streaks stabbed towards the being. Like mechanical hands swinging an axe, with no end in sight. Following that analogy, the Pet-Keeper would be the toughest tree the lands had ever seen.
The Pet-Keeper grunted, the onslaught ticking him off to unfounded levels of rage. At the same time, Elmore weaved through the crazed barrage, strands of his hair being trimmed down by whizzing projectiles.
Donovan’s shadow put the Pet-Keeper into a headlock, who, promptly, tore the limb off with a swipe of the chin. Instead, sprouting a second set of arms at the waist, the dark presence wrapped itself around the Unbounded.
But still, the Pet-Keeper was the equivalent of a Warlord. His hold on Donovan wouldn’t be undone so easily.
As the holder of the ability, Donovan, as beaten up as he was, must have still been able to see through Elmore’s invisibility. Even with the guise not veiling himself.
About a metre away, as Elmore got into hailing distance of the Unbounded, the two shared a look. Through his black eyes, swollen and partially gummy, Donovan’s intent was clear as day.
One way or another, they were going to kill this fiend.
----------------------------------------
For what must have been the twelfth time, Violet regenerated a mangled limb.
Gaping holes through her torso, arms and legs forcibly cut off, and other small appendages pounded. Every time she had to restore one of these, absorbing the Infinity brimming in the atmosphere to do so, the more natural it felt.
Putting aside the dozens of lesser Unbounded she was brawling through, Milap had decided to give chase. And — surprise, surprise — he was an expert in this regard. The being’s raw power, wielded like a drunkard’s bottle, sent tremors through Violet. Tremors that devastated her body.
Donovan’s protection was a fickle one. After gaining a few injuries, it disappeared from Violet entirely, and Milap, watching above like a hungry predator, pounced.
Yet, if there was any place to be beaten to a pulp, this would be it. Her Unbounded side meant that any non-lethal attacks could be easily remedied. All it took was Infinity. And, whether intentional or not, Nova had supplied her with the ideal amount; an indefatigable medkit.
How ironic that she was relying on the man who wanted her dead more than anything, to survive.
As she came out of a rift, Milap was ready. His hand cleaved through her chest like it was a rapier. She coughed blood, the golden stuff leaking onto their face. But Milap’s coated lips never scowled. He seemed to be enjoying this all to an absurd amount. “Come on Violet. Your regeneration really is impressive, but good gods, why continue? All you’re achieving is my entertainment.”
Violet wrenched herself off, disrupting the ground at their feet simultaneously, so that it pierced Milap’s flesh in a sudden, jutting cluster. It cut his skin, but no pain great enough to wipe that smile off his face arose. She warped away, rebuilding her crushed chest in the process.
As she fled, Violet’s mind never kept quiet. The answers of today, they spun in her mind in the world’s most terrible distraction. Her only question left was the reality of her Mark, but she felt as if she already knew the answer. The truth beneath that obscuring blackness. It terrified her; made Violet want to scream into the abyss, but she silenced such thoughts for now.
Milap landed before her. Reality wouldn’t let her get away that easily. Not even after surviving so much damage.
Another Unbounded scuttled at their sides, and before Violet had the time needed to take in its appearance, Milap whispered something at the speed of light. Instantly, both of the beings disappeared. Replaced by a hovering, flawless orb of white. It cracked open, and once more, Milap came into view.
But they had changed, multiple spidery appendages spreading out of their main body. Milap crawled away, but that wouldn’t give you the right image. He didn’t crawl, like a drunken man having trouble getting home, at the dead of night. Their movement was staggeringly fast — an arachnophobe’s worst nightmare.
After gaining some height, scaling the wall in an effortless scurry, they dived towards her. Pincers pinned Violet to the ground, drawing more Ichor.
Violet was about to try her hand at distorting Milap himself, when a line of fire cut off one of his legs.
Now he wasn't smiling.
In the blink of an eye, Remus was upon them. A fiery leg shoved Milap, but the Unbounded was heavy. He was hurled a few feet, before recuperating himself, but that was enough time for Remus to launch himself into the Unbounded anew. The sound of a bomb going off stunned Violet, and yet again, Milap was tossed aside.
Without a word, Violet nodded appreciatively to Remus.
She got up, shook off the pebbles embedded into her clothing, and scanned the lay of the land. Her view was blocked by scampering Unbounded, at the lower end of the totem pole. In face of her initial annoyance, an idea occurred to her. Memories of controlling Snow Wolves, during her and Remus’ humble beginnings . . . it was time to see how far she could stretch the concept. Just how much of a difference could half a Rebirth make?
Violet invaded the minds of hundreds of Unbounded. She flickered from place to place, expanding her reach, grasping the darkness in their souls. Havoc, turmoil, chaos. All of these were there in abundance, mastered traits of creatures of war. She fed those desires, eradicating all other emotions until it became all-consuming.
The Unbounded collectively twitched in anticipation, waiting for her call. She sent it, and the slaughter began.
Unbounded turned on Unbounded, particularly around the Pet-Keeper and Milap. She couldn’t see the former, but the Infinity he was sending off was enough to make sure it was him. After what felt like hours, the Infinity in the cavern inevitably began to drain. The result was a conflict of self-hatred, Chaos and Infinity surging through the swarm like the most potent steroid. They tore one another to shreds.
Clusters, masses of walking crystal, stabbed into Milap. He rasped, shouting a hasty: “Fourth Divine Right-” Blood spluttered out of his mouth. “Fusion.”
Again, the oval appeared. A diamond blur, Remus was a second too slow to destroy the construct. It was already falling apart as his blow landed. Instead, the sound of glass breaking resounded as crystal fell off Milap, now exposed and reborn.
His amethyst armour had expanded, spikes erupting off at the shoulders and various other locales. A shattered patch expanded rapidly at his chest, but his crystal affliction did more than enough to outweigh the damage.
“Throw all the Unbounded you want at me!” He rasped. “I’ll just fuse with them. Like sharpening your enemy’s bla-”
Remus fired a score of fire his way. Milap took alight in an instant, fumes roaring. From the distance, a volley of wooden projectiles stabbed into the Splintered Equivalent. They acted as literal kindling, and Milap’s incessant bravado fumbled.
Koa and Ash, scratched-up but not hurt, rushed forwards. Their Marks blazed in a neon emerald, and together, they summoned thick tendrils of oak to claw out of the ground. These slithered across Milap like a great snake, holding him in place for all but a moment. Violet blinked, and the Unbounded had escaped, already fusing with another Unbounded. Great prison that turned out to be . . .
They were too stunned to stop him, and wings sprouted out of a burning Milap, hoisting him up after yet another oval released him. One second passed, and hurtled fireballs and bundles of oak were already rushing closer.
He flapped his wings, the produced gust keeping both at bay.
Again, the oval appeared.
Violet, Koa, Ash, and Remus, alongside Controlled Unbounded, rushed to destroy it. But the transformation was over in the blink of an eye.
Does it accelerate with every fusion? The thought was petrifying. Violet screeched over the roar of battle. “Don’t let him fuse again, or it’ll be too fast to stop! We kill him now!”
But every few seconds that passed, more and more Unbounded became one with the man. He became a clump of meat, misfitting limbs streaking over his body in ways that were gag-inducing. It was almost like Milap was becoming a second Daisy.
A second Daisy. That one tiny thought, and understanding clicked. Her stressed out mind was near breaking point, and each new epiphany was doing nothing to stifle the issue. Yet, now it was clear: Daisy must have been a byproduct of the Chaos Clan clones. The remains of imperfect clansmen, whose fusions had failed. Disposed-of ‘trash’ recycled, or per se. And, doing absolutely nothing to calm Violet, was the prospect that she may have only avoided joining him by a slim margin. Her steadfast memory outed her as an anomaly, holding the potential to reduce Violet to a few disposable limbs.
Milap was doing the same here, but with other Unbounded instead of morphed mortals, and to himself. Their Divine Rank may have been the same as that vile hodgepodge, but Daisy had been a false being. Enmeshed corpses given mock life.
This oval-loving Unbounded, fitted with a ‘Divine Right’ — whatever the hell that was — and his Supreme Steel armour, would be substantially harder to kill.
Nevertheless, they couldn’t let his morphing rampage continue until every Unbounded in the room was engulfed. It was time to strip the real Milap out of that hideous monster.
Violet skidded forward at blinding speed. At her side, Remus had done the same via his impromptu jetpack. Sliding under the cerulean fires, Elmore’s cousins leaped up, roots already off-shooting from the ground.
They covered yet another floating oval at opposite angles. Violet teleported around, punching it from all sides; Remus poured out sizzling fires, delivering an explosive punch every other second; and Koa and Ash’s uprooted oak pierced into the blank egg.
Five seconds of the onslaught, and right as Violet winced in dread, expecting an even stronger Milap to arise, it blasted outwards in shell-like shards. Perspiration pelted down the few patches of skin Milap had — the rest occupied by fur, scales, or crustacean shells. The symbol on his forehead began to dim, as if finally fading. Then the whole group showered him with attacks.
He spat; feathers, blood, and other random miscellany flinging off his tremendous form. Milap lifted off with his main set of wings, but Violet warped over him, donned her Unbounded form completely in a flash, and shredded both.
They fell as easily as dead crows. Milap’s own raw defence may have been nothing to mess with, but he was borrowing from a dozen creatures. All of which on their own, anyone of their group could destroy with ease.
Other wings, from other airborne Unbounded Milap had stolen from, began to flicker. Thorns shredded them in an instant, the work of Elmore’s cousins. Right before the squirming form could devise any other quick means of escape, Remus hugged the bulk of his body. Violet needed only to watch, as his rising fires became deadly white.
Save for the more heat-resistant components, the pressure was enough to destroy the vast majority of the flesh. All reduced to tinder.
Milap consumed Infinity like a madman, bleeding the room dry, doing his best to keep every organ and bodily part going. But all he achieved was a waste of resources. The cavern finally reached its last dreads of Infinity, nearing a normal, but high volume area in standard terms. It was like the Unbounded was cursed with an insatiable appetite, clinging onto all the divine sustenance he could get while his stomach screamed for more.
Futile attempts to fuse yet again overtook Milap, but it was no use. His mangled mouth could hardly utter the words, and regardless of if the oval could be mentally summoned, Remus’ flames, at point-blank range, and the rest of the squadron’s attacks cracked the construct before it could fully form. Plus, Violet had been focusing primarily on controlling the Unbounded around this whole time. Bit by bit, she had dragged them away. Now, there was nothing for this coward to latch onto.
Inexorably, like a butterfly whooshing out of its cocoon, Milap surrendered the gory form. With one final expenditure of Infinity, he whooshed upwards, but Remus was quick on his tail.
He may have been physically fine, due to his fusions taking the brunt of the attack, but Milap couldn’t disguise his exhaustion. Activating his Divine Right a dozen times over had obviously taken a toll on the Unbounded.
He was sloppy. So sloppy, that an eruptive upcut from Remus was enough to hurtle him upwards.
Milap’s body grazed against a cluster of stalactites. In a moment, Remus was there, flying via one hand. The Emblazed grabbed Milap by the throat, tossing him head-first into the rocky spikes with brutal indifference.
Right before her own strength guttered out, Violet cut through the space between them. She clung to the stone protrusion. Her angle was an odd one, and trying to claw at Milap herself would only get in the way of Remus. So, in the only reasonable decision, she set herself to obliterating the man’s mind.
Of course, regardless of how dazed the subject was, fully dominating a being Ranked above herself wasn’t a possibility. But she could confuse the Unbounded. Addle Milap’s mind so he struggled to make coherent thought, as Remus enacted horrors.
Repeatedly, with no end in sight, he threw the Unbounded into the stalactite. Each time, more blood would spout out of Milap’s face and mouth. His teeth were cracked, his eyes gummy with dried lifeforce. Even the armour forged out of weak Supreme Steel, that protected his lower body, was beginning to succumb. Pity he hadn’t thought of producing a helmet.
It was all Milap could do to gurgle incoherently through a mouth swimming with blood. Remus wasn’t aflame any more than necessary to keep afloat. Ninety percent of his strength went into his upper body, each twist of the waist bringing bitter misery to Milap.
The skin on his scalp chafed over. Then the muted pink of his brains were exposed. Then, in a sight so grim, Violet had to shove down the impulse to vomit, the portion of his skull not already crushed dented inwards. Milap stopped moving after that. But it wasn’t over. Remus kept hold of him, pushed his Mark to the limit, and consumed the Unbounded with more, fierce white fire.
If it was anyone else suffering the same fate, Violet may have found it hard to watch.
But she did. And as Milap’s split-head cracked for a final time metres below, Violet’s heart allowed no sympathy.
Two down, one to go.