'TOMATO FLINGER!'
Drowned in the influence of Fulgardt's legacy, Sila could only call out to Skullius who was buried under the thick, sea-like prison with him. Probably.
The Tower General couldn't see where he was, and he hoped he could find him soon. The situation had turned more perilous than before. When they had died, at least the two had had a plan, and wouldn't have been delivered to Somanda's hands.
That had been the brighter path.
But now...
With the constraining of the dark sea Sila was trapped in, which spelled that death – true death – was approaching, it was the worst time for the true owner of this body to be missing.
What was coming wasn't simply the destruction of the body.
The soul would wax into nothingness too.
Even Somanda wouldn't get what he wanted!
This was gravely concerning to the Tower General.
'Tomato flinger... Forgive me if this goes sideways,' he called pleadingly.
...
Outside the stifling inner world, Sila wasn't the one only concerned about Skullius' state.
"He's hurting himself..." Viccil said as she watched Seramoro kneeling under the makeshift tree. The soul she had thought pitiable before, had grown smaller, and constrained. After being exerted recklessly and chunked off by Moonlight Revelation, she could only imagine how it looked now.
Viccil didn't know the circumstances surrounding this transformation Skullius had undergone, but so far, she had no love it.
She couldn't believe that someone could survive with their soul as it was before it started getting battered within the Territory, and now...
"Will he even be alive after this?" she tried to imagine how that was even possible.
Behind her, Maxim was feeling the same. She had her focus taken by the change in scenery since eleven seconds ago, and only now, after Seramoro's cries ended, did she finally turn to Vali who was convulsing in pain after her soul had split.
A dark look showed on her face, and she finally used the golden potion she held in her hand. A Supreme potion.
Maxim hesitated to use the potion, but in the end, since Skullius had told her to so, she had Vali chug it down. Given the state of Skullius' soul now she had wanted to turn and save it for him – if he survived – but Vali's condition continued getting critical. After all, living with half a soul was impossible for normal living beings.
As the golden, sludgy substance slid down Vali's throat, her body was decked in a bright blow.
The effect of one of the most potent recovery means known to man showed immediately.
Maxim had seen it a few times. Supreme potions were generally created by Mages who focused on alchemy; most of them being Arch-Mages. They were extremely difficult to manufacture and a single one could cost a fortune depending on where one bought it.
Skullius had only managed to buy one from the Guilds Association after pre-ordering, as the last two months had taught him that the potions seldom stayed on the shelf – and if they did, they were already taken.
Vali's body started to change, fluctuating between expansion and contraction as a pale, viscous ooze poured from it in droves. Deep within her body, the roughly third of her soul remaining was gripped by the potent glow of the Supreme potion's effect, and with a grand explosion of soul light, it began to heal rapidly!
Yet, this hardly seemed like the most astonishing thing occurring within the Territory.
The light from Vali healing was far outclassed by the sudden blinding radiance of the enormous moon in the sky.
No one needed to be told.
The Secondary ability of Deific Moonlight Paradise, an attack, was ready, and only after a little more than a dozen seconds!
Behind Rayn, within the paradisiac city, the human figures within started chanting loudly, as if praising the moon and urging it into growing stronger. As they did, it grew larger, and cast its silvery gloss in such a way that stretched the shadow of the city, merging it with the one that grew from Rayn's feet.
Seramoro's stalk was challenged, as was the shadow it hid under.
The light from the moon grew so intense that it became impossible to fully keep it away from the long-haired figure's body.
And thus...
"|!@#&!|" Seramoro muttered incomprehensibly again, and a thick, mist-like darkness bellowed from before him. It squirmed restlessly, its lustreless matte wading here and there. Then....it blew high and quick!
...!
Suddenly, Rayn saw the bright light of the moon dim.
No!
It didn't just dim.
It vanished, almost leaving behind none of the silvery glow about!
The former Royal Knight turned with surprise towards his moon, and found... a thick matte of darkness was revolving around his moon like a thick, black cloth.
...!
A micro moment later, Rayn heard a comprehensible scream.
"|SHUDDER!|"
It was as if the golden sky of the Territory was susceptible to the night.
With Seramoro's scream, a harsh darkness that brought with it a chilling wind bashed down on Rayn, intent on making him shrink in its cold!
With the Moonlight Revelation gone, Seramoro also threw himself forward, madly flying from above to crush Rayn under his axe kick.
The Royal Knight didn't seem fazed.
The darkness and the cold didn't affect him, but it did start to infect the entire Territory like a disease, drowning everyone else within its chill!
Sevill and Viccil found themselves unable to move as thick, white ice grew over them despite the Nitros guarding their bodies. The same was true for Actuass and the rest.
Their view was dyed black on top of this, and they couldn't resist any of it.
It was ferocious.
They shuddered.
In one moment, they were within a golden Territory, and in the next, they were buried in a sea of black that threatened to freeze them to death, without the possibility of a counter.
'Dreadful thing...' Actuass thought, growing a bit impatient. With a thought, he summoned a great, deep flame of Undeath that bellowed around him, Revia and Fulina. Sadly, it did not add any warmth.
From the darkness, the spectators heard another bellow, and another boom that made the wind even worse.
The bits of gold that had always been flying in the air showed up here and there, but the view of what was happening skirted their vision.
Actuass grew anxious.
To think that a Territory as strong as this was being countered like so...
It went to show that his plans had been right on the money. While Rayn was the thing he desired most, Fulgardt had been the best alternative.
The power of the Immoral which had contended against the Deities in the Second Grand War... It was mighty indeed. In some ways, it could have even been better than obtaining Rayn, as the current circumstances showed.
But...
The blindness all had faced, was suddenly parted.
A part of the whole Territory was opened up, revealing the blue sky above, and the broken land and sea.
This wasn't the Territory rupturing.
It was under Rayn's command.
The moon which had been cloaked in darkness shuddered with a mightier light that set it free, and the advent of the Secondary attack grew imminent.
Seramoro shrieked and scurried to its stalk, away from Rayn whose mana core could be seen burning through his body as it expelled a vicious stream of mana that was transformed to strengthen the Territory.
Shockingly, Deific Moonlight Paradise grew to cover twice the range it had before, and its Imaginary GeoScape expanded as well; indeed its moon included.
It was a dazzling sight.
'I can't go any further. This body likely can't handle it...' Rayn thought as he clasped his hand, a hard look on his face. He scoffed and then glared to Seramoro.
"An unpleasant surprise you've been, Fulgardt. Now be gone from my sight."
...!
The moon gaped, an opening showing at its centre, and the chanting of the humans in the city grew even louder.
Seramoro screamed and darkness flew out of it like a flood to guard, as even in this state, danger was easy to recognise.
No one could properly articulate what happened next.
A bright flash that overcame the Nitros shrouds of the Incandescent Stagers bathed the world, and its call of fury turned them deaf.
Everyone felt as if they were made to float for a full minute that followed, their senses made void and then...
It became clear.
No wonder Rayn had opened up a section of the Territory.
It was staggering what the moon could do.
The sea had been parted for as far as the eye could see, the ground underneath dug and burnt.
The gap, roughly ten kilometres wide, was rapidly getting filled with the waves of water that somehow created a soothing tune as they bashed against each other.
A glaring mirage could be spotted in the air, creating the illusion that the waters could sprout human bodies and dance, and that the mana had a sturdy form over said waters.
It was appalling, yet beautiful.
Rayn looked at this nostalgically.
Deific Moonlight Paradise then crumpled unceremoniously, leaving everyone that was alive on the tattered island, scattered about.
All of them were beginning to defrost and from the looks on their faces, the last burst of moonlight had harmed their souls quite a bit, though not enough to cause permanent damage, as they hadn't been the targets.
Vali was the exception.
Shock was palpable, as well as fright. But...
Viccil and Sevill didn't waste time. The moment their bodies were capable of movement, they took action. Viccil, still decked in the wooden armour, struck her hand into the ground, and large roots extended from the wood, digging into the ground.
Not a second later, a great, golden brown tree burst from the ground and carried them all up – Vali, Maxim, Darwel included – into the air with its ever-growing trunk and branches!
Viccil was its end, steering it wayward ahead where it grew at lightning speed, shooting out branch after branch.
By the time a second passed, the group was already passing the spot on the sea where Secondary attack of Deific Moonlight Paradise had lost its might; close to sixty kilometres away, and the tattered island from whence they came was reduced to a distant dot.
Rayn looked at the fleeing group.
His eyes then fell on the thick trunk of the golden brown tree.
"A very high level technique. I recognise it. Rather unfair that the self-preserving Sif gained such abilities..." Rayn said with a bit of a frown that spelled his dislike for the kind he had seen just now.
But he didn't have the heart to pursue them, nor the reason.
The tall man merely looked into the distance a final time, as the waves crashing close to cover the gap made all the more noise.
Actuass approached him, his bloody robes wet from the defrosting.
Revia was still incapacitated, as was Fulina, but both were mostly fine.
Rayn turned to gaze at Actuass, and finally asked.
"I had the wrong idea, it seems. You don't want to enslave me, do you?"
Actuass remained silent. He perused Rayn's body and saw that it was in a dire state, but held on still. He had found the perfect vessel, after all. The strain from fighting had broken it further as he had wished too.
"What makes you think that?" he asked calmly.
Rayn scoffed.
"Crafty," he said, looking at his body. "When you reached me in the Yormuness, I thought the greed of mankind had reached the summit again. Extending to the resting place of souls to call me back... I imagined you had a strong resolve, but a feeble sense of self. I acquiesced to the arrangement you offered, thinking you'd be loose..."
"What do you think now?" Actuass asked with a firm tone.
Rayn shook his head.
"Whatever it is you aim to achieve... it's not for yourself, is it?" he said with a stern look into the hazel glow behind Actuass' mask.
The masked man remained silent once again.
He then drew back the hood to his robes, and removed his mask.
Rayn's visage shifted slightly.
"If there's anything history – yours, and that which came before, has taught me..." Actuass said. "...it's that selfish desires can't burn the world. It's only that which isn't burdened with self that will break even reality, to reach its destination..."
Rayn narrowed his eyes, and watched as Actuass placed his hand on his chest.
Then...
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel