It appears… a king has awakened.

***

“That Light fragment… I would be grateful if she elaborated on the ‘monsters’ part… ”

I circle around the control panels to reach the entrance, then quickly slip outside and immediately scour left and right. Solace covers me wherever I can’t see, but he can’t distinguish its location either. The thud of heavy footsteps gets continuously louder, but the dark metal plating of the facility creates reverberating echoes, making me unable to distinguish its direction.

Then, a gargantuan shadow looms over me from up above. No words can describe the feeling I had when looking at the beast.

An enormous beast leapt over Solace and I from the high ramp. Time seemed to slow down every second that I looked at it, trying to wrack my brain over what kind of Decay creature I’ve just encountered.

It had the shape of a lion; given a description leaving out colour, it would be exactly the same.

Snow white fur covered its body, a heavy contrast to the dark plating. Blood red claws on all fours, ready to strike me down at any moment. Eyes that glowed so bright, it felt like they pierced into my soul. And a mane cloaked in darkness, similar in appearance to dark granite.

Just how many monsters have yet to be discovered…?

But with no clear answer in sight, time seemed to revert to normal.

*THUD

It landed on the edge of the declined ramp, smoothly yet focused, like it was–

Oh, it turned towards me.

Wait– WA–

“[ REINFOR–”

!—...

The Decayed King bashed head first into me with tremendous force, sending me flying up the ramp. Bouncing off of the curved wall, I barely land at the peak of the ascending ramp.

*cough

I can’t help but cough in recoil. My entire upper half throbs with immense pain, my heart is pounding loudly and I’m trembling from the adrenaline rush.

Solace immediately follows me up the ramp, and when he reaches me he zips wildly around in the air in a sporadic manner, emanating a sense of worry by scrunching his innumerable lamp-yellow eyes and an exaggerated frown with his mouth of darkness.

Then, I feel a massive surge of spirit pour out of me, and my vision is clouded in a brilliant green light. A pleasant feeling washes over me, soothing the pain by a noticeable degree.

The passive effect of the Regeneration Amulet, emergency heal, has been activated and in full effect.

I close my eyes, and a sense of euphoria flows through my body. Even after the green light and immense pain dissipates, I lay curled into a ball on the floor for a few seconds.

Once I’m mentally ready, my eyes fly open, and I immediately jolt upwards, regaining sense of my situation. Without hesitation, I act immediately and prepare for battle.

[ Reinforce ]

Stone as thin as threads crawl all over my body, forming vein-like patterns on my skin. They stretch from my hands to my feet, reinforcing the muscles in my body. As I do this, I peer down the ramp, and those glowing, beady eyes stare at me with contempt of such depth that I can barely believe it isn’t human.

It begins walking towards the ramp, shifting from a slow pace, then to a jogging speed, then a full sprint. In mere seconds, the creature makes it halfway up the ramp for a preemptive strike, and I react appropriately.

[ Stone Wall ]

Purple squares of light appear in front of me, and a wave of stone conjured from the light comes bursting out. A towering wall of dark stone of my own creation, situated at the peak of the ramp, blocks the path upward to stall for enough time to assess my opponent.

…Or so I hoped.

Right as I begin to devise a course of action, my train of thought is disrupted as a massive shadow is cast over me once again. Immediately, I move my gaze upwards,

He can just jump over the wall…?

*THUD

The beast landed a ways away from the stone wall with a sense of grace, which in turn balanced out the aura of hatred directed towards me. But that balance was flipped upside down and on its head when its eyes turned to me, a glare filled with an even more intense feeling of contempt I had felt mere moments earlier.

The ball of fire floating besides me begins to glow brightly. In response to the lion, Solace flies forward, and his visage grows tremendously from a green ball of flames to something else entirely. The green flames sprout four legs, a puffy tail, triangular animal ears and bearing his flaming teeth towards the beast. The once numerous lamp-yellow eyes coalesce into two sharp eyes. He had transformed into a large fox of swirling flames equivalent in size to the Decayed King, ready to take the beast head on. While Solace’s flames glow much dimmer from spreading out his flames, the heat in the air ramps up in contrast to his soothing flames.

Even so, the enemy doesn’t so much as flinch at the sight of a new challenger, raising his head high and opening his jaw. A loud, ear-shattering roar echoes throughout the facility another time, and Solace, likewise, roars as well in a higher pitched tone.

The clashing roars echo throughout the entire base, causing tremors to shake the entire facility, bouncing throughout the metal walls.

Then, just as quickly as they started, the two both tilt their heads back down to glare straight into their adversaries soul. The fierce look in their eyes tells me all I need to know.

They're both going all out.

The two charge at one another, and clash headfirst in the center of the curved corridor. An eerily loud twang rings out, and the two opposing forces are totally equal. When one side pushes the other back, they in turn push forward, leaving them at a standstill before they both leap backwards.

Solace doesn’t give the Decayed King the chance to recuperate when he opens his jaw and blows a wave of fire toward his enemy. The green flames obfuscate the corridor, and several seconds pass with seemingly nothing occuring except for more green flames filling the expansive hall.

But that isn’t for long, as the Decayed King roars, empowered by deep purple Spirit with a glow so somber it matches the plated walls. This wave of energy collides with and even contests the sea of green flames.

That's the Origination technique, ‘Makt’… also known as ‘Ardor’.

The ceiling lights overhead are shattered instantly, raining shards of glass over all of us. I create cover for myself with stone, while the two beasts are too resilient for it to matter. The shards of glass can’t even reach the Decayed King without disintegrating into fine powder, while the green flames melt the glass instantly. They phase right through his body and hit the floor, as Solace has a spiritual body.

The purple dyed roar begins to push back the green flames, but Solace doesn’t let this continue by amping up his own flames, evening the playing field and causing the two auras to clash with more intensity than before.

Purple dyed air waves and plumes of green flames push against each other, releasing massive amounts of spirit into the air. It’s like watching two different seas crashing into each other, trying to assert dominance over their domain.

The presence of ambient spirit makes their emotions as clear as day, and a slight tinge of their emotions flow through me. A strong will, filled with determination to defeat their opponent makes itself known. It's plain and simple– Solace has nothing to hide, and lets loose everything he feels in his attack.

Contrary to this, I can feel the emotions of my adversary even behind this sea of flames. It's a mix of hatred, contempt, and a tinge of regret. The emotions he lets out have much more depth to them, which I won’t be able to discern any further until we battle.

I can feel Solace’s emotions much stronger than the Decayed King since I’m right behind him, but due to them feeling completely different emotions, I can still easily differentiate them.

Then, both of their attacks– flames and sound, cease at the same moment. There's a momentary pause where the two just stand in place, staring each other down, as if both of them have made a short truce in order to reevaluate the monster facing them.

The white lion’s eyes reflect anger, but by how his jaw is relaxed, there is now an undertone of respect, acknowledging his opponents strength. Either that, or it could be cunning.

The flaming green fox’s eyes slanted down, as if sympathetic for his opponent. Sympathy for what? I don’t know, but when MOTF is involved, the answer will be rather simple.

However, Solace’s sympathy lets his guard down, momentarily distracted by trying to further understand his opponent. The Decayed King takes advantage of this, and immediately pounces, aiming his now glowing blood red claws forward. Solace is taken aback, and can’t react in time.

The blood red claws dig into the burning green flames, and while nothing visually changes about Solace’s flames, he flails and squirms wildly, trying to throw the beast clinging to him off. Even as the green flames grow to encompass both of them, the Decayed King doesn’t loosen his grasp in the slightest, so I make my own move to intervene.

A loud whimper escapes Solace’s maw as I launch a pebble to the right of them and shift between it and I. While still in the air from shifting, I make a raising motion with my left hand, and shout a command in my mind.

[ Pillar ]

Purple squares of light momentarily flash beneath the King, and a pillar of stone with an angular structure composed of numerous cubes comes rising like a rocket. The lion is directly in its path, and is sent flying upwards with it. While the force he was sent upwards with released his grasp on Solace, he manages to separate plumes of green flames from Solace’s main body.

The beast is pinned against the roof of dark metal with such tremendous force that it causes the entire surrounding area to creak and bend from the impact. It seems to be knocked unconscious for just a second upon impact, with sullied eyes directed at nothing. Yet without delay, the beady neon white eyes regain their light and glow even brighter with fury, its burning hatred growing ever stronger for the humans that imprisoned it.

It will let nothing get in its way.

I don’t let the lion recuperate either. I raise another pillar made of stone and trap the beast even further. Seven areas around me light up with purple squares, and a barrage of pillars come out one by one, pommeling it with such tremendous force that the dark metal plating it is pinned against bends and creaks loudly, but that sight is obscured when I manipulate the very pillars I raised into an upside down dome.

The dust settles from our short bout, and I’m left standing with my gaze pointed upwards. Turning to my left, Solace’s flames are significantly dimmer than earlier, and the flames that were once densely packed to create his fox form start to detach in wisps from his main body.

He looks at me with dreary eyes, seemingly awaiting for a command. I raise my right hand towards him, beckoning him to place himself on my right arm like earlier, and his visage begins to slowly shrink–

… ! ...

An ominous pressure fills the facility, feeling as if weights were placed on the both of us. Not only that, but the air seems to get hotter. And not only do the compression of Solace’s flames seize completely, but the mere movement of the flames does as well, as if frozen in time. Even if barely visible, I can see the terror in Solace’s thin, slitted eyes.

I can’t help but help but understand that feeling, as my breath is taken away and my eyes wide open in shock.

My eyes naturally shift to the source of the pressure– emanating from the prison of stone I had constructed mere moments beforehand. Factures begin to form on the stone dome, and a terrifying purple light shines through the fissures.

A frown grows on my face as I tell myself something in a quiet voice.

“I really shouldn’t have come here…”

I turn my head back towards Solace, getting a clearer view of my right hand raised towards him. Unlike my left hand, I wear a black glove on it, in order to conceal its unsightly state. This makes me more conscious of the stinging pain akin to peeled skin, and the uncomfortably wet feeling underneath.

This feeling subsides when Solace wraps around my right arm, both on and under my winter jacket. I quickly change pace and begin running down the long curved hallway, pulling out the broken handle of my blade.

Since I can only manipulate one stone at a time, I pull out all of the stone being actively manipulated as I move via [ Reinforce ] and converge it onto the hilt of my blade, and slowly begin forming its edge.

I run past several doors, and begin to organize the information I have at hand of the beast behind me. I need to conjure a plan to defeat a pseudo-Calamity class monster on my own. This is a real threat, not like some random Folatr, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Thinking back to what I’ve seen…

Firstly, it has the ability to use Origination. Among high-class monsters, it’s not particularly rare, but the experience it displayed was undeniable. Several imposition techniques, and power that can match Solace’s flames, a fully formed greater spirit.

Secondly, superb physical prowess. Not exactly something unanticipated. The only issue is that it (possibly) withstood Solace’s flames too. Its raw power alone is not enough to break my stone at the least. And I doubt my stone can’t pierce the lion’s hide.

Those don’t catch my attention all that much except for the very first thing I saw, back when I forced open the lower water-gate.

The ‘dark granite’ looking mane isn’t simply cosmetic.

Rather, it’s something more unusual. The winter plague, the Decay affliction… same as I.

Though, it’s weird that a monster born of the Decay is susceptible to its own environment, unless…

The ‘Decayed King’ is a foreign beast, be it from bioengineering, or origin beyond the Silent Sea.

And due to that, the Decay affliction on its mane has turned into an enormous weak spot, which I can further weaken by making it come in contact with the Curse of Decay on my right hand…

The Decay not only weakens the body, but also weakens the Origination techniques used by the beast that affect that area.

This shall be the centerpiece of my battle plan.

Right then, I hear a loud explosion-like sound go off behind me around the curved corridor and a blast of wind follows suit. It would seem that the lion has broken free from the prison, as a thin wave of deep purple spirit washes over the floor like a flood, only visible to me.

The lion roars with even more ferocity than before, echoing throughout the corridor. Even from this distance, the intensity is identical to as if I were up close, and leads me to picking up my pace.

Numerous weak tremors shake the floor rhythmically, and right as I turn around to check on the distance between it and I, the lion is already within 3 doors of me. I raise my left hand wrapped around my sword handle towards it, and mentally prepare for the usage of a more powerful command, chanting its name loud in my mind.

[ Crushing Wall: 100% ]

Purple squares form a wall of light mere centimeters behind me, blocking the entirety of the open corridor. From out of the purple squares comes a giant wall of stone, pushing the beast back with tremendous force. The wall pushes it back by several doors as I conjure a pebble and telekinetically launch it the other direction, eventually shifting positions with it once out of my manipulation range. This in turn causes Crushing Wall to also become inactive, and a crack immediately appears on it as I do so.

But yet again, I raise my left hand back towards the now crumbling stone wall, following up with an even more straining command. Loud in my mind, I chant its name.

[ Twelve Gates ]

Down the corridor where the lion is, purple squares of light envelope twelve rectangular portions of the floor, spanning wall to wall, and connected by a thin string-like trail of stone. One after another, a wall of stone quickly juts out of the haze of purple squares. However, after the 10th gate, the last two seem to be significantly lower in quality compared to the rest. The 11th gate only rose ⅔ of the way while the last gate barely scratched ¼.

This ‘unfinished’ command simply means that it isn’t instinctual, that I hadn’t recalled this memory enough times to know it by heart.

I begin to raise my right hand, cloaked in Solace’s green flames but hesitate momentarily before putting my hand back down.

The affliction is located on the mane, so I have to set up the trap high above. Sure, the corridor somewhat works, but I wouldn’t have much room to work with, literally and figuratively. MOTF is primarily a bio-engineering research company, so it is most likely that their biggest rooms are occupied by their genetically modified specimens. As such, the quickest way to search for a large room would be Spirit.

The sound of another gate being breached echoes out behind me, and I tune up soul sight to maximum capacity to expedite the process. All four of my other senses fade into the back of my mind; smell, touch, hearing, and taste, as everything turns white and black except for the green flames on my right arm and the small flood of translucent deep purple spirit.

Running further and further doesn’t seem to yield any results– nothing else stimulates my vision except for the green flames. Now, much further away from the 12 gates, the thin film of deep purple spirit has entirely faded away. Even as the situation becomes more precarious, I keep my calm and continuously scan every door I pass by, yet to no avail.

Another right-curved ramp comes into view, but instead of climbing it, I summon a pebble to my left and launch it around the curve, eventually swapping places with the pebble when it reaches the top.

To my right is another watergate connected to the center tank, and to my left is the wide opening as large as a highrise to the gargantuan elevator shaft. Even with how tight the seal is on the watergate, with my Soul-Sight amped up, I can see a trace amount of a green glowing mist seep through.

I continue running with Solace on my arm as I’m about to pass the two different opening–

–!!!

A different Soul signature suddenly captured my attention, diverting my attention as I snapped my head to the left towards the elevator shaft.

…The Decayed King had looped back around instead of breaking through my walls, and had climbed the elevator shaft to cut me off.

Several holes can be seen in the metal plating lining the shaft behind it, and the airborne lion raises both of its blood-red claws, now encapsulated by a deep purple water-like energy. I assume it's the wind-up for the Imposition technique known as “Min Egen”, but there's little time to contemplate as I instinctually move my body to repel what's coming.

Beads of sweat drip down my face as I simultaneously lift the sword held in my left to block and materialize a pebble to my right.

The beast swipes its claws downwards, and the purple spirit encapsulating them shoots towards me in the shape of two crescents in the shape of an X.

I amp the telekinetic force exerted on the pebble as much as I can, but it’s still not fast enough to give enough time to shift out of the way.

With less than half a second to spare, I summon a stone from the edge of my sword, and manipulate its shape to resemble a shield. At the same time, I telekinetically boost both the sword and floating shield with forward momentum.

It seems that this doesn’t matter much, however. As the deep purple crescents of spirit slice through the air, they finally make contact with the stone shield I created on the spot.

Glowing purple droplets are released into the air like sparks from the clash of crescent on shield. The X digs deeper and deeper into the floating shield, until cracks begin to form on its side. Eventually, the cracks cause the whole shield to shatter like brittle glass.

However, it is a different story regarding my sword. Due to my diligence when crafting my blade each battle, it is not only denser, making it extremely tough, it is incredibly sharp. Boosted by telekinesis, my sword holds back the X-shaped imposition once they make contact. Copious amounts of spirit fly off like sparks– purple drops fly off of the X, while little chipped pieces of my sword fall off one by one.

But by this time, the pebble I shot out has reached the safe zone.

For a tenth of a second, I’m drowned in purple squares of light before I find myself facing an inconspicuous dark metal wall. I stumble forwards due to the counterbalance suddenly disappearing, but nimbly catch my footing.

My blade is still held in front of me, and while I’m no longer in direct harm's way, trace amounts of purple spirit are left on my blade. A slash vertically at the air flicks off the water-like spirit.

Looking back at where our two forces clashed, only two things remain. The sliced up stone shield I created in the moment, and an X-shaped puddle of glowing purple water– spirit. The liquid starts bubbling and it quickly evaporates as the Decayed King lands dead center between the puddle of his spirit and destroyed stone shield, touching down with grace and posture that emanated pride. The thing just stands there for a second, before slowly turning its antagonistic gaze towards me, and ferocious intent as clear as Ato Diamond lake.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The hostile intent is clear, and I respond in kind.

Raising my left hand, I summon a stone and form it into a large spike, hurling it towards the lion as quickly as I can. It zips through the air, and the lion narrowly dodges my attack, maintaining eye contact with me. Meanwhile, my attack zooms past, piercing the back wall like butter, bending the metal in wave-like ripple patterns, and embedding itself into the earth behind it.

Without missing a beat, I summon and manipulate a small pebble and shoot it underneath the lion. It, however, noticed the minute detail with its sharp eyes. The lion’s momentum shifts backwards, and at the same time, the small pebble grows massively in size, spiraling and adopting the shape of a spike. It juts upwards with a slight tilt, aimed precisely for the beast’s now exposed underbelly.

But with it noticing the pebble beforehand, plus the momentum it built up in anticipation, its paws leave the floor as it leaps back. Even so, it’s almost enough speed, but not quite. The large spike of stone shoots towards the target, inching closer and closer until it’s about to pierce the target, but then…

*RINGG*

A high pitched ringing sound emanates from the lion, a mere tenth of a second away from being pierced through the stomach. The sound grows louder within the miniscule timeframe, and the beast’s underbelly begins to glow a dark purple.

My eyes don’t widen in shock this time, having gotten used to seeing new Imposition technique one after another, but I still can’t help but feel my expectations exceeded once again as a wave of dark purple water-like spirit pours out of the light on its underside.

The bubble of spirit grows, and stops the spike dead in its tracks. The ringing sound abruptly ends, and the stone spike, now stuck inside the bubble forming on the lion’s underside, begins vibrating violently. Almost immediately after I stop actively manipulating it, the brittle spike shatters into dozens of fragments and rains onto the floor.

The bubble continues to grow in size, eventually encapsulating the majority of the lion’s figure. It swirls and spins violently, almost like a whirlpool. The spherical mass of spirit floats in the air and begins to glow ever brighter. It illuminates the dark-walled facility like an artificial sun, yet staring directly at isn’t necessarily harmful due to its dark shade.

Around me in a circle, I form stone spike after stone spike, and meticulously aim them towards different areas of the ball of light. They fly forwards, zipping through the air, and most vibrate before shattering upon making contact with the purple water. The one I aimed towards its topside is different, however. Instead of shattering near instantly, it partially submerges itself within the sea of spirit, before the same reaction occurs.

This is exactly what I wanted and expected to occur.

In that time, a bright light shines from inside the dark purple ball, and while I’m initially skeptical, the reason is made ever more clear.

I conjure stone in front of me, and form a thick dome to protect me from the incoming onslaught from Makt.

From inside the bubble of spirit, the lion opens its jaw. The bubble quickly shrinks and seemingly disappears, absorbed almost instantaneously back into the beast. Some of that spirit amasses into a small, dark, golf ball sized sphere that floats right above its tongue. ‘Makt’, a name befitting of this rotten beast’s favourite Imposition.

And thus, the lion roared.

The ethereal orb cracked and burst into a spectacle of lights. It was a beautiful sight to behold, comparable to the fish swimming by like stars underneath . Unfortunately for me, this light show was trying to kill me.

An ominous wave of spirit pulsates outwards in all directions. Unlike before, the sound it makes is very quiet, almost like the wave of death was never here in the first place. That was until it made contact with the leftover pebbles of previous attacks.

A sound reminiscent of fireworks is created when the dark pressure wave makes contact with the pebble on the ground. Not only that, but for the short time the reaction occurs, lights set off like fireworks too. Once the spirit that made contact runs out of fuel, the light show ends and a small pile of coarse dust is left in its place.

A hole forms in the wave of spirit, much larger than the pebble it had just destroyed, but is quickly filled in by the surrounding spirit.

The wave of spirit rushes towards me, and I brace for impact as the firework-like lights go off out of my sight. With my back against the wall, it almost feels like the outer layer of stone is melting, as I can hear the firework sounds from inside the dome for a few seconds, before it eventually quiets down.

I go straight away to ripping a hole in the dome to locate the beast. Once my eyes lock on, I gather the doom stone into six large spikes orbiting around my character. Launching them forwards towards the now exposed enemy, they each follow different trajectories in hopes that one will land on the lion’s hide. But it counterattacks beginning with counteractive impositions, particularly Min Egen, the crescent shaped spirit.

One by one, stone spike after spike is evaded or destroyed, all until one is left. The final spike zips through the air, soaring high above the lion. Its point tips downwards, and falls at a rapid speed aided by telekinesis. A glowing crescent soars to meet it, and the spike is split clean in two. It doesn’t upset me, as it was well within expectations.

Meanwhile, I slowly and gently take off the thick, black winter glove on my right hand.

If anyone saw me like this in combat, they’d probably be more worried than scared for my well being.

What's exposed underneath would be a death sign to anyone else other than me. Or, well… I guess not yet.

A shriveled and blackened hand, a pungent odour, and the faint dim glow of the Curse Mark of Decay come into sight. It hurts all over for a second, as being exposed to warm air that doesn’t numb my hands is a rarity.

Why the dark hand? The curse, obviously. One might’ve assumed it to be gangrene before all this Origination stuff was revealed 6 years ago, but if anything, it's much worse.

While I still retain some* feeling in my right hand, I can’t exactly move it… at all. There is also a constant pain like peeled skin, but I’ve all but adjusted to it. Now for an accurate description; its appearance can only be described as a black, slightly fuzzy mold. The dark mold creeping up close to my elbow isn’t too hard to hide in winter apparel, but that’s acting like I do have someone to hide it from.

The curse mark itself is very unique. The outline of two gray glowing triangles in the shape of an hourglass floating directly over the back of my hand. Within both triangles, a darker gray, almost black liquid acts as its sand. The timer is about 20% through. But now, as to why I revealed it,

“Solace, it's in your best interest to get off this arm.”

He responds quickly, his green flames zipping from shoulder to shoulder.

[ Shift ]

I rematerialize upright in a haze of purple squares above the lion and out of sight. It stares confusedly at where I switched positions, as from its perspective, it looks like I had turned into a stalactite.

Gravity does its wonder, and my descent rapidly accelerates before my enemy can figure out what I just did. The time it takes the lion to look up and behind it is enough time for me to enter the proximity of the decayed area around its mane.

I reach out my right hand towards the decayed area, and when my fingers graze its mane, a surge of an eerie, unknown energy is released from our contact point. The wind pressure emanating from my curse mark threatens to blast me away, but I barely manage to hold on for dear life.

A ferocious roar filled with agony reverberates throughout my body, and while I feel much the same way, I’ve been through a lot more…

Not a long while after, the part of the mane I latched onto literally disintegrates, causing me to quickly lose my grip and sending me flying into the wide elevator shaft.

The dark plating looks like a rising tower as quickly I begin to fall. The platform down below nears closer and closer and at the same time, I summon a smaller stone platform underneath me and amp up the telekinetic force I exert on both my winter jacket and the slab, making sure to tether myself down beforehand. It barely slows down in time, lightly bumping the platform below.

I take a deep breath before shifting my gaze upwards, only to see an enormous lion perched up on the edge and large quantities of spirit gathering in its voracious maw. It seems to be winding up Løslatelse as vengeance for my earlier application of the Curse of Decay. There's just enough for me to evade–!?

A dozen varying items are scattered over the platform on my left hand side. My satchel had somehow opened, and out slipped what are possibly irreplaceable items and artifacts in my arsenal. Among them are several Originator artifacts made from people I’ve since lost touch with, that book I can’t seem to get rid of, rations and a physical map of Korguire. There's no way I would have enough time to gather all of them or to construct a barrier strong enough to withstand what might be headed my way in 2 seconds.

I don’t have even a second to brainstorm the best course of action– either save myself, preserve the artifacts or haphazardly do both. My eyes dart around frantically, but they instantly lock on to what’s right in front of me. The very same glossy dark plating this facility is shielded with.

My mind flashes back to when I launched my first barrage of stone spikes– the ones that flew past quickly embedded themselves deep into the wall. And the X shaped crescents that I barely avoided– they didn’t even scratch the very same plating. The sniper girl– why did her bullets just bounce off?

It must be… Type-C plating.

Resistant to Origination, but otherwise softer than most metals, about as durable as a strong wood species…

…And as a Guardian, we use spirit to fuel our abilities, but at that point what comes out is no longer Origination nor spirit. It's more like magic. All like-platings developed by MOTF, A through D, aren’t effective at keeping Guardians nor Wielders contained. The only Originators all four can contain are Imposition types, since Imbuement types use spirit to amplify themselves, not directly attack.

Survival instinct kicks in, and I send forward a pillar on stone, easily penetrating the soft plating. With a strong yank, the square of plating is torn off of the wall and flies right over my head. I hold it in place, and as the beaming jet of Løslatelse slams down into the square, I raise one central pillar to act as the foundation. Deep purple spirit bounces off of the Type-C plating and splashes all over the glossy walls overlaid with the same material.

By that time, I had managed to collect every little tool and trinket that had been dropped and swiftly stuff them in my satchel. I make a thin stone ring around the satchel and the red bag slung over my shoulder to ensure that neither would accidentally open again.

Meanwhile, the lion takes a leap forward and dives down to pounce on its prey.

Flying back into action, I practically tear away the makeshift defense to the open corridor and send a pillar of stone soaring towards the lion, smashing against its jaw midair with tremendous force, pushing it onto the floor right above me.

Soaring right beside the pillar is a small pebble which swaps places with me in a haze of purple squares. With a strong swing, my sword flies from my left hand and rapidly spins, but it narrowly avoids my attack, and my sword lands on the storm drain-like flooring clattering madly.

With a fluid step, I land gently on the pillar of stone. A stone conjures in my left hand, and I configure its shape into a large hammer. What isn’t graceful is the fierce bludgeoning strike, lifted and aided via telekinesis to smash the lion spot on the head with it. The amount of force used causes the floor to crumple under the lion’s feet, yet isn’t enough to deter its will.

It pushes back with immense force, slowly but surely lifting the hammer with its head. A fierce glow radiates from his beady eyes that are filled with anger as he lifts the hammer up far enough for us to make eye contact. It bares its fangs at me, and a deep purple colour– its spirit, converges in the lion's mouth, evidently preparing for another Løslatelse.

With little time to react, I have to make a decision. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glance of my fallen sword, laying flat on the floor. With a quick finger gesture, the blade begins levitating. It zips through the air, and right before the lion can cast Løslatelse, the sword pierces deep into the decayed mane of the lion, disrupting the beam directed at me.

I relinquish my grip on the hammer and step back, manipulating the pillar under my feet to act as a piston, boosting my jump enough to land on the far wall. Beginning to slide down the glossy wall, I summon a stone underneath my foot and embed it into the plating, creating a small platform for me to stand on.

Followed up by this, I manipulate the pillar of stone from afar to once again slam into the lion's jaw and stunning it temporarily.

Using this chance to recuperate, I summon a pebble in hand and swap its place with my sword. With my sword in hand, I raise the stone platform I stand on and begin ascending the elevator shaft.

Looking down, I can see the lion swipe its blood red claws at the curved pillar of stone I struck it with, splitting it cleanly down the middle. The beast raises his head to look at me as I ascend further, and I naturally stare down at it. This time, a gaze filled with a previously unshown emotion– fear, is reflected in its demeanor. That look quickly subsides as it poises itself up and leaps onto the far wall, digging its claws deep into the plating. It repeats this process, leaping from wall to wall and digging his claws deep inside each time.

He slowly but gradually gets closer to Solace and I by doing this. But if I want to initiate my plan, I need more time than what the current scenario will grant me.

By this time, Solace has recuperated enough to resume action. I lift my sword hand– the one Solace encompasses, down to the lion, and give him a command.

“Solace, I need you to hold him off for the time being. Can you do that?”

A vague feeling I can only describe as ‘complaint’ breezes past my consciousness.

Without hesitation, his green flames coalesce into a shape reminiscent of a bird. He zips towards the lion and clips its backside with his flaming wings, garnering its attention in the process. Green flaming residue rests on the lion's back but is quickly extinguished. Solace loops back around and floats above the lion, flapping his flaming wings as the two stare each other down and resume their duel.

I don’t have time to waste, promptly launching a pebble up the elevator shaft. It goes quite far, lightly tapping against the shaft’s roof. Right as that sound reaches me, we swap positions and I quickly create a foothold embedded into the wall.

In the exact middle of the roof, I summon a massive stone and deeply root its structure into the plating. A small stalactite takes shape, quickly growing in size until. Stone is continually added to it, letting it grow in size more and more.

Solace and the Decayed King duke it out down below as wisps of green flames and jets of purple spirit paint their small battlefield like the Revelation Artisan chaotic painting style. My attention shifts back to the growing stalactite, but as soon as I look back down at them, a crescent of deep purple spirit comes flying right at me.

To evade this attack, I manipulate my stone foothold to push me out of harm's way, landing on the adjacent wall and creating another foothold. The crescent cleanly slices through my previous foothold, but turns into liquid and begins evaporating when it makes contact with the plating. Not letting this distract me, operation on the stalactite’s growth resumes.

The spike grows to a staggering 40 meters long and 10 meters wide at its base before I decide that this will be enough to neutralize the Decaying King.

Content with my creation, I prepare to jump down to the opening of the lower level. Or rather, the highest floor, since I’m at the ceiling currently. Right as I look down, another purple crescent comes flying my way, now even closer then the last one was before I noticed. I’m not given the time to react appropriately, causing me to jump off the foothold out of pure instinct and fall directly down the open elevator shaft.

There's no time to do this gently, so I summoned a stone rod and shot it into the ceiling, embedding itself and merging with the stone deeply rooted behind the plating.

The opening to the highest floor approaches rapidly, and with only one option that will let this plan run smoothly, I shoot a pebble into the giant archway of glossy dark plating.

…Aaaaaand I missed.

I fall past the highest floor, and ever closer to the battle raging on below. I shoot another pebble upwards, but with my concentration broken, I miss the shot again.

With no other choice, I divert my attention to the floor below, and shoot one final pebble towards the massive open archway of dark glossy metal, closing my eyes and letting instinct takeover.

Even with the knowledge that [ Shift ] retains momentum, I still make this decision, becoming engulfed in purple squares of light as the pebble taps against the storm drain-like flooring.

[ Shift ]

kkURgh

A groan escapes my lips as my body slams against the cold hard floor.

“J–just barely made it…”

My body aches and throbs with pain, and a thought occurs to me as I lie there, the sounds of battle echoing faintly some distance down.

If it were a younger me, I would be rolling around in pain. Or even worse, just dead.

It hurts. But nonetheless, I quickly get up on my feet and jump back into action.

Both the Decayed King and Solace sense my retreat, but continue to duke it out in the wide open elevator shaft.

I shoot a pebble up the clockwise curved ramp and shift with it. Each door I pass by I open and look inside for a brief second, but none seem to fit the requirements. After opening a dozen doors, all hope seems lost, as there isn’t a room large enough to set up my trap.

The next curved ramp eventually reaches my eyes, and an unhappy expression coats my face. Shifting to the top of the ramp, I find that I’ve just about reached the highest area within the Abyss in Olympus laboratory.

Instead of seeing another ramp, there's a short and flat corridor which leads to a thick metal door. To my left, the hole in the wall leading to the open elevator shaft echoes with battle. To my right, the highest floor flood gate is bent and torn wide open, the glowing green water resting silently maybe 30 meters down.

I take slow and cautious steps towards the edge of the containment tank, and peer into the mystical waters that glow with so much spirit that Soulsight isn’t needed to witness the marvel before me.

*gulp

“Really? Is this the only place with enough room…? ”

I remove the stone casing around my satchel and pick out the Guardian artifact ‘Alchemist’s Enchanted Charm’. I turn around to call out for Solace, but it seems things aren’t that simple.

The lion is literally mere inches away from me, with Solace tailing close behind, but unable to catch up in time as I’m flung into the sea of green waters.

My heart and mind races as I finally process what just happened. So many thoughts run through my head at that exact moment that it feels like time has slowed down.

A Decaying King stands with dignity, and the lamp yellow a greater spirit with a body of green flames open wide in fear as he dives at full speed towards me, but it isn’t enough to catch me.

Suddenly, one singular idea among the dozens running through my head captures my attention.

I can feel it.

The whitish-green ring right beside my stone ring.

Taios’ last gift before his departure, the Zephyrus ring.

My hand flies up and I hold my left hand middle finger like I’m about to flick something. I can feel the ring sap my spirit as swirling winds condense near the whitish-green ring into the shape of a bullet.

I flick my finger, and a bullet of wind cuts through the air and vanishes inside the plume of green flames.

Only Solace can take it from here.

*splash

The green flames devour the wind bullet, and everything except the rippling waves abruptly halt.

The visage of the young boy sinks further and deeper down.

Green flames flicker right above the brilliant water.

And a high-pitched, whistle-like screech shakes the entire facility. It creates waves in the water, and even surpasses the roars of the Decaying King.

The ball of green flames that levitate above the green waters contort violently, changing shapes from spiky spheres to 4th dimensional constructs barely perceivable to any human. This chaos only ends when the flames begin growing and swirling like a tornado, taking up the entire available area within the containment tank.

***

“Ughhh…”

My head is pounding.

My eyesight slowly returns, and a small wisp floats extremely close to my face with a smile plastered over the flames.

“Good job…”

I reach out my hand, albeit sluggishly, and gently pet Solace. He is ecstatic, and that joy rubs off onto me, a tired smile creeping up on my face.

Mmm…

Picking up the alchemist charm, I turn my head left and right, observing the significant change in environment. Observing Solace, his flames glow so white and bright that it’s almost blinding.

It seems my theory was correct.

The green spirit-dense waters have all but been devoured by Solace. Small puddles collect in shallow parts of the concrete floor, the bodies of the Death Crown White Reaper and the snow golem are still bound and suspended, and massive chains on the floor lay unmoved.

…Solace’s flames– they have a relatively hard time devouring inorganic matter, like normal fire. Instead, he specializes in devouring supernatural substances and organic material to fuel himself, my summoned stones included. And normally, physical matter cannot safely host spirit, with the exception of living organisms.

MOTF is known for their bioengineering above all else.

The conclusion I came to is that the green waters were filled with microorganisms biologically engineered by MOTF to somehow host spirit. Either that, or it was so chock-full with life that the presence of spirit was unavoidable.

Either way, the water still had spirit, so Solace devoured it all. Due to the microorganisms being significantly weaker than, he didn’t adapt to their spirit traits like with the Zephyrus ring.

*THUDD

A certain decaying lion lands with monstrous force, shaking me to my feet. I quickly shift my sword into hand, and enter a battle ready stance. The monster and I lock eyes, and stare each other down, both with the knowledge that this is our final bout. My feet and his paws shift in anticipation before Solace takes the initiative.

A green flaming slash flies forwards, only to be evaded quickly. The lion charges forth, sending a crescent of purple flying my way. I too make a mad dash, dodging, weaving and shifting between each and every crescent thrown my way, slashing through the last one before charging straight for my adversary.

The lion swipes its monstrous claws, but before they reach me, I shift out of harm's way, right besides the lion's jaw. With my momentum retained, I use that force to dig my blade into its cheek and slash through one side of its jaw. The same momentum also lets me gain distance by landing behind it.

Solace changes his form into that of a python and dives down to wrap around the lion's legs, binding its movement as it tries to retaliate with fury in its gaze. It’s nowhere near as effective as before, however. Due to the amount of spirit Solace devoured.

I turn around and put his hand on the concrete floor. Pillars of stone rise out of the concrete and create even more shackles that seek to imprison the rotten beast, adding onto Solace’s binding.

The glow of deep purple spirit illuminates the 3 of us. A bubble in the colour of the soul begins to encapsulate the lion and swells in size, pushing away Solace and eroding the stone shackles placed on it. The defensive Imposition technique ‘Utstråling’ is being used at full force.

However, the spirit around the decaying mane seems to take longer to grow. It looks like a dent in the bubble, with a much thinner layer of spirit guarding it. Perfect for what’s upcoming. I take advantage of the thin spirit shielding this area.

Shifting directly above the lion, I use a command that I haven’t had the chance to use.

[ Pile Driver ]

[ Pile Driver ] probably couldn’t break through Utstråling. But that’s ‘normally’ the case. It's obvious that the decay is a physical weak spot, but why is there a dent in Utstråling?

The “Soul and Body unity theory”. It can be summed up in one sentence: A healthy mind is a healthy body. This theory plays a part in my battle plan– it's something I always take note of the few times I’m on the battlefield, though more so against humanoid opponents.

Origination, as a projection of the soul, will show both its gleam and its stains. If the body is damaged, it will show in the soul. If the soul is damaged, it will show on the body. This only applies to Originators though, so it’s meaningless against the rare sorcerer or resonator. With that and the decay affliction on its mane in mind, we now have an obvious weak-spot.

A tall, stone rod, 10 meters tall, emerges from a purple blur right in front of me. It stands perfectly upright and in position. I swipe my sword hand down, driving a 10 meter stone rod deep into the lion's neck.

The lion roars in agony as the stone rod pierces the decayed skin around its neck, tearing a chunk of both rotting and live flesh off and splattering over the concrete floor. Raw, unfiltered spirit begins leaking and evaporating from Utstråling, revealing the lion’s exhaustion. The bubble’s structural integrity begins to crumble due to its waning spirit.

With the vulnerability now cemented in place, I can start the final attack

Purple squares of light engulf me as I seemingly disappear from the battlefield.

Meanwhile, over at the massive stalactite constructed earlier, I rematerialize in a haze of purple squares of light and create a foothold out of stone. I stand with my head mere inches under the dark metal, and raise my sword at a horizontal angle.

[ Divide ]

With a strong slash, the stone connecting the stalactite to the ceiling recedes and disappears, and the massive construct quickly gains momentum, falling down the elevator shaft with tremendous weight behind it.

Purple squares of light envelop my figure, and reappear in the exact position I was previously in– at the lion’s rear.

Solace in his python form and the Decaying King are stuck in a fierce struggle. One attempts to bite and pry at the slithering flames, while the other holds on for dear life while evading as many strikes as he can.

Falling onto the massive lion’s decaying mane, I thrust my sword down into rotting flesh and impale its neck. Pools of blood spill out and splash onto both the lion's pristine white fur and decaying mane. Writhing and squirming in pain, it lets out a fierce roar in response.

“More…”

More blood spills out in a red shower, splattering onto my hands and face. The image of a falling stalactite flashes through my mind, further motivating me to hold on.

“Just a little longer…”

Tendrils of spirit reach into the air as the lion’s emotions literally fill the air, dyeing the dull concrete walls with the colours of his soul. I can feel everything he can feel– pain, anger, irritation, and most prominently,

Fear.

The despairing fear of all beings when faced with one thing– true death.

“You’re still scared, huh…?”

No one was there to understand my words.

An uneasy feeling entered my consciousness. A nostalgic feeling, deep in my heart, one that I feared yet accepted more than anything in this world. A threat that I knew deep down, would eventually resurface, yet had run away from all this time. But before it could overwhelm me, instinct drove my mind elsewhere.

With its spirit wavering, so has all its defenses.

A pebble emerges from the purple haze, and I position it right above the decayed mane.

Solace sees this, and readjusts his form accordingly to not be in the line of fire. Meanwhile I jump backwards before I shout the command in my mind.

[ Shift ]

The giant stalactite and pebble swap places.

It makes first contact with the monster’s spinel, and passes through with little resistance. The monster’s spine is crushed, and dies right then and there.

The Decaying King has been slain.

There is nothing to stop the stalactite, so it passes through the concrete floor too. The concrete cracks and crumbles, opening up to a dark abyss as we fall into a deep darkness below.

Things I never wanted to remember resurfaced there.

Hidden in that darkness were things more befitting of the name ‘monster’ than any Decaying King.