Taking a brief moment to swap his senses, Daniel reunited with the panther and stared at the horrific battle taking place. To him, it was like two titans had descended onto the world, playing around with magical powers like toys.
“Despite his body being fine, Thomas’ soul is on the verge of collapse. Still... We can win. The black crystal in Velkir’s maw is supplying boundless mana to him - as long as we separate the two, victory should follow,” Daniel said to Raph, but his words were directed at the shadows. Slowly, a plan was forming in his head.
“Raph, conjure the flashiest illusions you can when I yell. Time them with Thomas’ attacks. Also, I wouldn’t recommend charging into the fray by yourself.”
With that said Daniel stepped into limbo. Floating up the tallest tree he could find, he watched as the three figures jumped from shadow to shadow, rapidly circling Velkir. On the other hand, Raph kneeled in front of the icy battlefield, spreading his hands out towards the horizon. His distorted form rippled, and for a brief moment, Daniel saw a tether connect the warrior with something his mind refused to acknowledge.
Rematerializing on a branch was more perilous than he thought. A single mistake and he could end up being impaled by stray branches that suddenly became very real. Still, from up here, he could observe every detail on the battlefield.
The clash between Thomas and Velkir only intensified, the air around them crackling with energy. The flames on the Paladin’s wings grew hotter as he pushed his soul to its very limits, expertly weaving between the massive pillars. Each strike would shatter the interconnected barriers, but the end was nowhere in sight. Once again, he retreated as a hail of ice shards rained down, carrying with it Velkir’s boundless rage.
Like staring down at a chessboard, Daniel waited until all the pieces aligned. The crystal pulsed with mana once again, consuming Velkir’s mind with madness.
“Raph! Now!” Daniel bellowed, his eyes entirely focused on Thomas’ radiant flight. With each flap of his wings, the light around his mace intensified.
The shadows cast by Velkir’s massive form began to elongate, taking on a more sinister tone.
The midnight panther dashed across the black ice with no regard for its safety.
Raph’s eyes turned a blinding white, layering a world of illusions on top of the fickle reality.
Then, the battlefield exploded in colour. Thomas saw the opportunity manifest itself. Shining brighter each second, like a meteor falling from the sky, he smashed through anything that stood between him and Velkir.
With wings that resembled the plumes of a phoenix, two angels cloaked in living flame flanked Thomas, joining him in his flight. With a raise of their hand, the forest began to burn. Illusory walls of fire sprung up around Velkir, and massive fireballs exploded in the air, deliberately missing the wolf.
Using the elongating shadows as its cover, the Midnight Panther ran faster and faster, darkness seeping into its being. Three figures joined its frantic dash, their steps completely silent, their presence unnoticed by anyone. From above the monster’s head, an alabaster hand reached for its scythe.
Once again, the crystal pulsed, sending a wave of dark mana through Velkir’s body, carrying with it a sense of omnipotence. Barrier after barrier stacked on top of each other, creating a thick dome a bright shade of orange. From within, the wolf gazed intently at Thomas, murder in his eyes.
For a brief moment, light filled the world, chasing away every trace of darkness. A tremendous bang reverberated through the entire forest, accompanying a symphony of shattering glass. Billowing flames surged around the wolf as Velkir howled in agony. He lived still.
The second wave of onslaught followed moments later. The phantasmal scythe cut into the monster’s neck, dissipating before it could completely behead him. Velkir snarled and howled as ebony tendrils violently grasped his limbs, ensnaring him in their wicked embrace. And as they did, the shadows reformed to reveal the cold eyes of a Midnight Panther. It lunged at the distracted wolf, its claws raking across Velkir’s eyes.
Finally, a shadowy figure, covered from the sun by a billowing cloak, reappeared right in front of the rabid beast. Its bone dagger plunged into Velkir’s jaws, drawing blood and covering his flesh in strange symbols. A gloved hand reached for the wicked crystal, but, as if possessing a will of its own, it flared, bursting out in a storm of mana.
Black blood poured out of Velkir’s body like a torrent, causing anything it touched to wither. He howled, yanking his head back from the hand. Every inch of his flesh was filled with tremendous amounts of mana, which rapidly rushed out.
“RUN!” Daniel yelled, but it was too late.
Velkir’s body began to convulse, pulsating with corrupted power. His eyes, dull and unfocused, regained their clarity for just a moment. The ground beneath him quivered as a frigid wind violently tore through anything standing next to him, a precursor of something much bigger. The night guardians sank back into the shadows, abandoning their initial goal. Thomas’ wings flared, desperately chasing away the cold, but he was nowhere fast enough.
Raising his head to the sky, a wave of frost and darkness erupted from Velkir’s maw, the air itself freezing in its wake. A sea of towering glaciers erupted from the ground, covering every inch of land. Like a tidal wave, the spell stopped for nothing in its way. Trees and boulders became encased in ice, their very essence drained by the spell. The Midnight Panther died instantly, and when Daniel’s soul returned to him, agony unlike anything else he had experienced spread through his body.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Daniel stared in shock as the wave caught up with Thomas, washing over his body. The flaming wings sputtered out, and his body, half encased in ice, plummeted towards the sharp tips of the glaciers. The gems encased in his armour flashed and broke, shielding him from instant death. Whether he survived the fall was a separate matter.
The wave of death had no intention of stopping. Abandoning his illusions, Raph fled further into the forest, pushing his exhausted body to its limits. Daniel stepped into limbo and dropped from the tree, hoping to escape the worst of the assault. Here, the spell took on a different form. Countless shadows chased after each other, entangled in a mess of bodies, their hands reaching out for anything that still lived.
In limbo, dirt and stone were merely suggestions that could be obeyed. This time, he didn’t. He sank into the earth’s depths, where not even the disastrous spell could touch him. Seconds passed in silence, which he spent moving closer and closer to Velkir. However, being in limbo for this long was dangerous.
First to spill from his aching soul were his emotions - those he lost almost immediately. Next were the memories. The happy moments, the sad moments, and everything in between lost its purpose. The only thing that remained was cold, hard logic. Perhaps it would be better to stay like this forever. Being emotionally driven had led him to commit one bad decision after another. In a world filled with swords and sorcery, every mistake had the potential to be fatal.
The longer Daniel stayed, the harder it was to move. Shadows tethered him to this place - a mere reflection of the mortal plane. Still, he struggled on and on, emerging from the black ice and staring at the barren wasteland before him.
There, standing proud amid the destruction, was Velkir The Scarred. In here, the previous wolf visage was tainted and scarred by eldritch mana. A thousand souls had fought and devoured each other, fusing into the thing Daniel saw before him. Velkir perked up, sensing danger by sheer instinct, yet no threat presented itself.
Calmly, Daniel looked him in the eyes. Once, he had seen agony and sadness. Now, madness tainted Velkir’s eyes black, spreading to every corner. Daniel’s hand wrapped around the crystal - the culmination of countless lives, born through the darkest of experiments.
Then, he materialised.
Sheer panic coursed through every inch of Daniel’s body as he regained his emotions, but it was too late to back down now. The moment his fingers touched the obsidian crystal, it was like electricity ran through his entire being. Claws scratched against his brain. His intestines wrapped around his heart and squeezed. A cold hand gripped his lungs, gently caressing them as madness rampaged through his mind.
An ocean of agony surrounded his soul, seeping in through the still-healing cracks. Xaviar lifted his halberd in preparation, but there was no need to interject today. A glimmer of light, cradled by the gentle touch of Kel’Tharia, shone like the dawn sun. The warm light soothed Daniel’s exhausted soul, banishing every trace of malice.
Bearing through the pain, Daniel yanked at the crystal with all of his strength, but Velkir desperately held on. A second passed. Then two. That’s how long it took for the mana to completely overwhelm his mana pool, cracking it in half.
Daniel beheld twisted memories of countless experiments, of spell after spell failing. Both the wolf and the crystal were failures, discarded and left to rot. A city's worth of sacrifices were prepared for the rise of a monster who could devour gods, but it was never enough. The Lich’s time was rapidly running out, and the experiments stopped yielding results.
In the end, all that remained of the latest clutch was a single wolf pup, trying his best to survive in the harsh cages. Abandoned by his cruel master - all alone, with nothing more than soul shards for food. Each time Velkir ate, unimaginable agony would flood through his soul, and each time, he resisted with nothing more but the strength of his will.
As more and more souls joined his own, his mind was overrun by countless desires and last wishes. Some craved to be the one in control. Some craved for more to join their fold. Some simply wished for Velkir to become more powerful. With each month that passed, the madness deep within his soul grew. At last, what emerged from the laboratory was not Velkir.
He had died a long time ago.
Daniel once again gazed at Velkir, but the innocent pup was nowhere to be seen. All that remained was a cruel experiment, a creature whose only purpose was to suffer and cause destruction. It was time to end this. With boundless mana at his fingertips, he cast the only spell he knew.
Glimpses of the Lich’s memories had taught him better than anyone else could. Daniel concentrated as the mana inside his body began to rapidly drain. The surroundings hummed with magic, begging to be shaped into something that could kill. Frost spread across Daniel’s skin, and black ice drained his vitality, but that would not stop him from his duty.
“Farewell,” he said, watching as the air around Velkir split.
A thousand alabaster hands, their bone-white fingers gleaming with an otherworldly light, surrounded the beast. Each hand reached into Death’s domain for its phantasmal scythe, wielding it with eternal conviction. They raised their spectral weapons high. A thousand scythes swung in unison, and nothing could stop them this time.
Velkir’s maddening roar was cut short by the silent crescendo of magic. Each scythe cleaved deep into the wolf’s flesh and left its mark on the world, leaving behind a pool of black blood. Velkir’s body dropped to the ground, carrying with it the cursed crystal.
The only thing left was Velkir’s soul, which cried out in anguish with countless voices. Before Daniel could reach out and grab it, the air once again split open, revealing a multi-coloured light. As it washed over the twisted amalgam, the souls stopped writhing in agony, revealing expressions of relief. One by one, they wrapped the colourful light around them as protection, bidding their last farewell to the world.
In the end, only one soul was left standing. A wolf - scarred, exhausted, but relieved of his burdens. Slowly, Velkir’s undying spirit reignited, shining through his eyes. He looked up at Daniel, who reached out a hand.
With his head bowed, Velkir stepped forward and into Daniel’s arms, dissipating in the process. Somewhere in Daniel’s soul, an old man shouted in surprise upon seeing a grown wolf appear out of nowhere.
Finally, Daniel was left with two things. An ancient contract, burning with a blue flame, and a black box, awaiting his confirmation.
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Contract Fulfilled.
Reward: Beastly Soul, 100 SP, Wolf Aspect (Unique).
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Soul Reaper 10 ---> Soul Reaper 15
Available points: 35
Skill Selection available.