Chapter Five Hundred And Twenty Three – 523
Ouranic Override Removed!
Chthonic Authority Recognized!
The words repeated in Felixs head, but he hadnt the time to figure them out; he was too busy laughing like a madman as he and his friends rode through a gap in the world atop a freaking Dragon.
Title Evolution!
Voidwalker (Epic) Has Become Chthonic Traveler (Divine)!
New Title!Chthonic Traveler (Divine)!
You walk in places not meant for mortals, skipping through Dark Passages that skirt the empty Void. You hold within you a seed of veiled potential. Do you choose to let it blossom?
In addition to the benefits of Voidwalker, you gain:
+Increased Accuracy When Utilizing Dark Passages Or Shadowgates
+Increased Stability When Utilizing Dark Passages or Shadowgates
+Reduced Cost Of Initializing Dark Passages or Shadowgates
Thats not half bad either. Felix watched as the Mana Cannons on the underside of the three ships oriented on him and fired. The Dragon pulled up, shielding Felix and his friends from the blast.
Yintarion! Vess shouted, aghast.
The Dragon screeched, agony rolling through the sound, but he did not stop flying from the Dark Passage they had navigated. I remain! he declared.
That was their one chance, Felix said, mostly to himself, but he knew his friends could hear him. He saw the cannons charging again. No more. He pressed a hand to the Dusk Dragons skull. Now, Yintarion!
This is my final service to you, Autarch, for I shall hold nothing back! Yintarion howled as shadow and thunder split the sky. Begone!
Bursting forth from the Dragons scales came a tidal wave of water Mana, formed and shaped into the likeness of a dozen monumental Dragons, they opened their jaws and dropped onto the battlefield like a hammer. Each draconic wave twisted and turned, spinning over themselves as they avoided Felixs allies and curved toward the advancing line of the Hierocracy. Teeth of solidified water ripped wide, rending the lesser Inquisitors and Paladins like a knife through paper, until the waters ran as blood.
Trixie, Garox! Go! Felix commanded. A deep, bowel-shaking call sounded as the Abyssal Serpent and his army of Nagafolk rushed into the waves, their own jaws, claws, and Skills brought to bear. The sound of it was almost as loud as the riot of shame and anger from their Spirits.
Lindwurms! Now is your chance to prove your loyalty! Felix roared. Follow the Nagafolks lead!
Five of the draconic type monsters slipped from the sky, their wedge-shaped heads and horns a faint echo of Yintarions majesty, but not before giving Felix a fearful stare.
Manifestation of the Coronach is level 73!
Manifestation of the Coronach is level 77!
Adept Tier!
You Gain:
+20 FEL
+30 RES
+20 AFI
Rallying Cry Is Active!
Double Regenerations For All Allies In Range for 45 Seconds, Reduce Chance Of Frightened Status By 60%
Willpower Check Successful!
All Enemies In Range Are Affected By A Crisis of Faith for 3 Seconds!
Willpower Is Reduced By 60%!
Felix felt the Skill catch among his people, his range extending well over the battlefield and onto the wall itself. It was like a spreading wildfire, counterpoint to the deluge of draconic waves, and it bolstered flagging Spirits until their collective song soared.
Rally! someone cried. The Fiend has come!
Autarch!
The Blue Eyed Fiend!
The city and battlefield rejoiced, and their weapons lifted into the sky as they charged into the fray.
At the moment, Felix couldnt be concerned with them; he was entirely too preoccupied with the failing Dragon beneath his feet. Dude! Pull up!
Yintarion! Vess shouted again, and Felix felt her connection with the Dragon spike and soundYet the Dusk Dragon was unresponsive. He plummeted from the storming sky, carrying all of them with him.
Adamant Discord!
Felix snagged his friendsIsla tooand hauled the lot of them straight up just as the mountainous Dragon hit the battlefield below. New waves surged, earth and water flowing as one to bury the front lines of the Inquisition. Their choked off screams were drowned by a piercing, draconic cry, and Vess leaped from Felixs grip. He let her go, spectral wings forming atop her back as she arced down to the Dragons massive head.
Dont die, Yintarion.
Gah! Thishey Felix this hurts! Beef yelled, flinching whenever lightning zapped along the lines of their connection.
Right. Felix eyed the ground that was slowly approaching them all. Hold onto your butts!
Vess had amazing leaping abilitiesthe others werent so fortunate. So Felix chucked them.
Feliiiix!
Sorry, Isla, he shouted after her, watching her splash down on his armys side of Yintarions Body. Hed done it as softly as he could. Beef, meanwhile, also hit with a deep-sounding splash, along with both of Hallows Bodies.
Felix couldnt pay them any more attention thoughtheyd have to fend for themselves. He had a Territory to defend, and he was already riding the razors edge. Deep inside his core space, a screaming ache was tearing at the ribbons of light and power between his Skills and cores. His Pillars were trying to formhad been, ever since hed entered the dark rift between Realms. The added pressure of the Creatures stolen power called to something deep inside of him, and the endless jaunt through liminal space had catalyzed it, turning the already nightmarish ride through the Dark Passage into a marathon of applied Willpower and Endurance.
Though Yintarion had taken much of the power Felix had claimed from those ugly statues, hed left plenty behind when he had punched a hole through the Realms. Apparently an accomplished Sorcerer himself, the Dragon had tapped into the Grand Harmony, utilizing the fraction of power Felix had stolen from Noctis, Goddess of the Night. The Seal offered no resistance for Paxus had cleared the way, and the liminal space had opened like a doorway into the Void.
Felix tried to push it all from his head, the struggle through relative days of dark travel, skirting the Corporeal Realm atop the back of a golden Dragon, even the burning need at his center to advance himself. He surged through the air, riding upon flows of lightning and streamers of incinerating fire, only to land on the far side of Yintarions unmoving form. The waters hissed and steamed, burning to nothing where they touched his potent aura, while electricity branched outward in grasping claws to jolt every nearby Inquisitor and Paladin.
You Have Killed A Initiate Of The Inviolate Inquisition (x35)!
XP Earned!
You Have Killed A Paladin Of The Pathless (x 23)!
XP Earned!
Kill notifications flashed by his eyes relentlessly, and Felix accepted them as he took in the scene around him. Inquisitors in golden armor stomped through the calming waters, huge swords leveled against Felixs Claw members.
No. Thats not allowed here, Felix muttered, and lifted his hand. The Spikeshot Cuff at his wrist thrummed, stored Mana quickly manifesting a basketball-sized orb of metal, covered in cruel spikes.
Ten shots, he reminded himself.
Felix summoned and hurled the spikeshots one after the other, so rapidly that his arm never stopped moving. Each spikeshot hit a breastplate of hardened light Mana and shattered it to pieces, driving deep into the Inquisitors within. Each redcloak fell, chests ruined and blood fountaining from them as the metal ball first broke through and then was trapped inside the golden armor. It turned all of them to slurry.
You Have Killed An Inquisitor Of
Felix accepted the kill notification as his Nagafolk and Lindwurms drove their forces deeper into the Hiercratic forces. His Claw was not far behind, familiar faces dotting their number, including dozens that bore additional limbs upon their back. The Yttin fought alongside Henaari and Human, Half-Orc and Dwarf, while even the Frost Giants stomped atop rapidly freezing sections of flooded earth. All of them wore cloaks emblazoned with a familiar crest: a wide eye that looked to be burning.
For the Fiend! For Nagast!
The battle was only beginning though. There were far too many enemies left. Felix looked up, straight at the Manaships.
Youre next, he muttered.
Beef waded through the water that now swirled powerfully around his thighs, wincing as the muscles in his left arm and back healed. At seven feet tall and way too many pounds, it hadnt been nearly enough to cushion his fall, and apparently his dumb Pendent of Quick Guard didnt consider fall damage as an attack. Jesus, Felix. Youre lucky Im so sturdy.
His regeneration was fixing his injuries, and his right arm was working just fine, which was good because he had landed in a clutch of Paladins that were none-too-happy to see him. Beef had killed three of them in quick succession, his maul proving far too much for even their impressive armor, but more were coming. He lifted his left arm, ignoring the twinge of abused tendons. Cmon, then! Lets dance!
The four Paladins spread out, looking to encircle him, but Beef snorted in annoyance. None of that. Shatterwheel!
Shatterwheel is level 45!
Shatterwheel is level 48!
As a replacement for his old Circle of Smash, the evolved Legendary Skill Shatterwheel was impressive. It blasted the ground around him with an immense gathering of earth and force Mana, combining the two in a concussive press as devastating as his falling maul. The Paladins were crushed to the earth and the water itself was pressed outward in a ten foot tall wave.
You Have Killed A Paladin Of The Pathless (x4)!
XP Earned!
I like your moves, little bull!
Beef whirled toward the voice, planting himself against the water that surged back into place as his Skill dissipated. Chaos surrounded him, shouting and clattering, metal on metal, magic burning the air until it smelled like ozone.
Over here.
Barely able to gasp, a boot kicked Beef in the backright where he was still healing. He stumbled forward a half-dozen steps, recovering far too late, yet found his attacker had simply stood and watched him reset. Beef looked her up and down, noting her fancy white armor and tumble of copper-colored curls. You look important, he said.
A mace that was just as big as his own maul was hefted atop the warrior womans shoulder. It was red-gold, just like Beefs magic helmet. Doing the mental math, he wasnt too confident his helmet would be any protection against itthe lady grinned, like she could read his mind. Oh, I am. Question is, are you?
Strong enough to kick your ass, Beef said.
Journeyman Tier, and freshly baked too. But strong. Too strong. The woman quirked an eyebrow. Whatre your stats?
Beef lowered his stance, maul held in both hands and shoulders upready to use his horns if needed. Wouldnt you like to know.
She blinked. I would. Thats why I asked, you idiot.
Beef snorted. Come and find
Your Pendant of Quick Guard Is Shattered!
A savage thrust caught Beef square in the jaw, ringing metallically off of his magical helmet and throwing him back onto his asswhich meant half underwater. His pendant burst in a shower of sparks, the enchantment overloaded with a single powerful strike. Beef spluttered, vision swimming as much as his arms, and was only barely able to avoid the disdainful downward slash the woman delivered.
Tough enough. Not nearly fast enough though. She lifted her mace, dripping with water and mud and blood.
Beef touched his face and hissed when he found his chin, split to the bone. I wasnt ready, he spat.
My apologies, little bull. Ill give you a moment to gather yourself.
Before the words even left her mouth, the woman appeared at Beefs side, a wild wake of water and mud cresting behind her as she swung low with her oversized mace. Beef hollered, his words muffled by splashing water, and only barely able to summon a wall of chitin from his reserves. The mace blasted through it, and took him hard in the gut.
Ooof! Beef grunted, driven up out of the water in a dizzying arc, only to land twenty feet away with a tremendous clap of water. He blinked, half-submerged and unable to stand up. His Mind spun, unable to grasp onto solid concepts like ground or how to bend his knees. Urgency drove him to flail outward, hand still clenched around his chitin-covered maul, but he did little better than splash about.
Status Condition: Concussion (Major)
Status Condition: Bruised Solar Plexus (Minor)
Hm, dazed, but still nothing broken. The words were muffled and Beef couldnt make sense of them, their meaning tumbling around his Mind without answer. Something grabbed the remnant of his hauberk and yanked up back above the water, and all Beef could make out was a curtain of tangled copper hair. A Minotaur. Never heard of someone like you. Are all your people this tough?
Areare allare all you zealotsstupid? Confused or not, he felt a surge of glee as rage passed through her green eyes. Gottem, he thought.
Fine. The womans hand dropped from Beefs hauberk, but he managed to get an elbow up at least. He saw her stand back up to her full, impressive height. You arent worth the trouble anyway. Die, trash.
The mace moved, and Beef hadnt even the time to flinch before sparks of red, gold, and green burst inches before his face, instants before a wave of water and mud all but bowled him over. He gawked, Mind catching up, as he beheld a glowing, crooked sword that had fully stopped the maces descent.
Oho, and whore you? the woman asked, her tone surprised and delighted.
Get away from my friend, Felix said, before hesitating. Mace? Your name is Mace?
Thats only name you need to know, boy, Mace said, before putting what looked like her entire weight behind her weapon. Felixs sword didnt budge an inch. Who in the Light are you?
In response, scales rippled up Felixs shoulders and neck, and Beef felt a physical pressure push him backward through the water. Ow! he gasped, as lightning zapped his face. Felix!
Stay back, Beef.
Felix, the woman said, a grin splitting her freckled face. She pulled her mace and retreated several steps in a blink. Autarch. Finally!
Felix reset himself, hooked blade to the side and his clawed offhand empty. Whore you supposed to be?
That smile grew wider, until Beef could count her teeth.
Your executioner.
Whoa, thats a good line, he thought, just as the two blurred toward one another.
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