Chapter 173 – Floor 16: Part 4
Half the city disappeared from Mathew’s sight as a wave of destructive mana swept out from his pointed finger toward the lights below. There weren’t any huge explosions; flames didn’t rise to reach the clouds and drive back the darkness.
A large portion of the city just…ceased to be. Darkness swept over it like a devouring shadow that left nothing but barren land behind. People, buildings, streets, it didn’t matter what it was. Annihilation treated everything in a similar manner.
Blessedly, there were no screams of terror, pain or despair. Most likely, they never knew anything was happening before they died. Tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people, were just gone.
While Mathew felt an overwhelming sense of sadness and guilt over not being able to protect the defenceless people below, he could feel that Nadar was irritated by the results. Using Mathew’s body, it let out a grunt of dissatisfaction as it studied the landscape below.
“Tch. Useless. That spell should have eliminated this entire planet. You are to blame for this.” Nadar said to Mathew.
Mathew’s despair and guilt instantly turned to rage at the words as Nadar used Mathew’s body to prepare for another attack.
“No matter, one spell or a hundred, the result is the same in the end. After these insects are wiped from existence, I will use this planet to recover my strength and attempt to reach Divinity once more. I will not be denied!” Nadar shouted as the energy it was gathering reached a crescendo.
“No!” Mathew tried to shout, but all of his efforts merely resulted in a slight quiver in his body’s lips. Nadar was gathering an incredible amount of mana on a similar level to the spell he had just used. If Mathew didn’t stop this, the rest of the city would be wiped out!
“Annihilation!” Nadar shouted once again, using Mathew’s mouth. The spell was on the cusp of release, and Mathew, desperate to save the city, was willing to use whatever methods he could to do so. His mind latched onto the only way he could think of.
“Word of Power: Burn!” Mathew commanded, and reality obeyed. White flames emerged from nothing to burn the shadowy form of Nadar that had latched onto Mathew’s body. The spell was disrupted, but the mana had too much power to dissipate harmlessly.
In the sky above the city, an explosion erupted with enough force that the heavy, dark clouds were driven away to reveal the sun once again. The ground shook, the winds howled, and Mathew screamed as agony ripped through his body.
He was in control once again, but it came at a terrible price. His flesh was sliced and torn; his armour was in tatters. Sections of bone protruded from his skin, and blood sprayed to land on the ground far below.
Whatever spell or ability Nadar had used to keep Mathew’s body buoyant in the sky faded, and Mathew plummeted toward the ground. He hit a pile of lifeless earth that was all that remained after Nadar’s attack and began to roll down a small hill. Each movement sent pain lancing through his already battered body.
The changes that came from wearing the crown had caused changes in his flesh and bones, but whatever kind of monster he had turned into wasn’t immune to hurt and injury. When he finally stopped rolling, Mathew lay still and wondered how he was still alive.
He could only attribute his continued survival to the crown on his head. Even now, the connection between his body, the crown and Nadar was as strong as ever and foreign mana that had been absorbed earlier worked to heal his beaten flesh.
‘Lageness Trated Zatize Iddizend.’ Voices whispered all around him, chanting in a language he couldn’t understand. They echoed and overlapped, fading in and out of existence eerily, repeating endlessly.
Mathew could see the Celestials out of the corner of his eye. No longer contained within the darkness, their strange, white, elongated bodies floated around him, fading in and out of existence, but their eyes never left him.
He could feel their hands touching him, caressing his back and shoulders as he sat upright. They whispered in his ears, smelled his scent and tasted the mana that lingered about him. They were no longer curious about him; they knew everything they wanted about him.
No, now they wanted something else from him. He just didn’t know what.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Lageness Must Zatize Us.’ The voices began slightly clearer, and Mathew dreaded the moment when he could understand them fully.
“Pest! Nuisance! You are insignificant! Learn your place, insect!” Nadar screamed in madness and anger as its shadowy body descended from the sky. The Celestials around Mathew retreated slightly from the creature, but they were on the periphery, waiting for their chance to torment him again.
Nadar flew toward him again with its arms outstretched, but Mathew was ready and willing to pay the price of using the Words of Power.
“Word of Power: Burn!” Mathew screamed as he flung his hand forward to direct the attack. But this time, the Soulshard of Nadar the Immortal was ready.
“Word of Power: Sanctuary!” Nadar responded, and a barrier sprang into existence around its black, formless shadow body. Mathew was stunned by the Nadar’s actions. He didn’t think it would possess a Word of Power of its own.
The Celestials, who had been focused only on Mathew at this point, whipped their heads around and stared at Nadar with a ravenous hunger. If it weren’t for the barrier protecting it, Mathew was sure the Celestials would be swarming around Nadar.
The creature ignored the Celestials and began to laugh and mock Mathew as it swirled around within its sphere of sanctuary.
“Give up, pest and allow me to possess your body! Knowledge of a single Word of Power is praiseworthy, even if those who would deny me a place amongst them granted that knowledge to you. Think of what you can accomplish by joining me!” Nadar offered.
Seeing that Mathew was still unwilling, Nadar continued.
“It matters not. I will snuff out your pitiful soul and take your body as my own. Burn is a minor Word, just an annoyance that lacks the ability to truly harm me. I, however, possess many of the minor Words and several of the Major. Sanctuary cannot be bypassed by any means you may have, especially not by Burn.” Nadar taunted.
It was waiting to recover some of its energy. Despite its taunting, the minor Word of Power had harmed it enough that it was wary of Mathew. It did in fact, know several Words, but none of them were particularly useful in combat, and their use came with side effects so extreme that it was wary of the consequences.
It wanted to regain some of its mana, use a more powerful spell to bind Mathew, and quickly possess his body.
Not trusting Nadar's words, Mathew raised his hand and gestured at the floating void behind its barrier.
“Word of Power: Burn!” Flames erupted around the barrier, covering it like burning oil but failing to penetrate it. The eyes of the Celestials flicked back to Mathew, and the whispers grew in volume. He swore he could understand what they were saying if only Nadar would stop speaking for a moment.
Mathew stopped that thought before it could turn dangerous.
Nadar continued to taunt Mathew, but he ignored the creature.
‘If I can’t destroy the barrier or Nadar, then what am I supposed to do?’ Mathew thought. He reached up to run a hand through his hair when his fingers touched the crown on his head. The metal felt cool and hard against his fingertips, and Mathew started slightly as he had a realization.
“I told you, Insect, Burn is useless!” Nadar mocked as Mathew raised his hand again.
“Who said I was going to use burn again or that I only know a single word?” Mathew replied. Gripping the crown so tightly that its edges dug into his palm, Mathew screamed out the Word of Power with all of his remaining strength.
“Word of Power: Break!” Power rushed into the crown, and it felt like Mathew was tearing away a part of his soul. The world shuddered around him, darkness turned to light, the earth and sky switched positions, and Mathew felt like he was falling and flying simultaneously.
The Celestial's whispers turned to shrieks; their voices added to his own and became a chorus that shook reality. Their hands were on him, clawing at his own hands and the crown that he gripped. Their eyes stared into his own, and he wasn’t sure if they were trying to help or hinder him.
“What are you doing?!” Nadar screamed as the link between the creature and the crown was being hacked away, severed as if by a saw slowly cutting its way through it.
It could feel it in its soul, and when the link was gone, it knew it would be drawn to an unknown place that it had tried its hardest to avoid.
Mathew threw all of his willpower into destroying the Crown while the spirits of the Celestials hovered all around him, obscuring his sight.
There was a deafening explosion, and a pillar of light shot toward the sky before the darkness returned and silence descended once again.
Page Break
Agent Barlow slid down the side of the crater toward the lone figure kneeling at the explosion's epicentre that had occurred only a few minutes before. She had been lucky; her car had been parked just on the edge of whatever had destroyed half the city.
She had seen the struggle between the stranger and some dark shadow in the sky above her. She had thought to help, possibly taking a shot at it, when multiple detonations in the sky and on the ground had sent her scurrying for shelter.
Arriving at the bottom, she saw that the young man from earlier had regained his original form. He looked in rough shape; his odd armour was torn and tattered, and his body was covered in dirt and blood.
Lying in front of him was a few pieces of ripped-up yellow paper. Barlow could make out ‘Happy Bir,’ but the rest was missing. It looked like portions of it had been burned.
The young man looked up at her, and she saw a face filled with pain and sadness. She was about to speak, to ask him what had happened when a white light appeared behind him. Barlow could make out a set of open doors that looked to belong to an elevator, of all things.
She didn’t even question its appearance at this point after the things she had witnessed.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” The young man said as he climbed to his feet and walked toward the white light. In moments, he was gone, leaving nothing behind but the remnants of a paper crown that were soon blowing away on the breeze.