Chapter 180: Annihilation

Chapter 180: Annihilation

Vir approached the edge of his domainand stopped. He knew what he was getting intoyet another fight for his life. Hed struggle, hed risk it all, and hopefully, hed prevail. For there were no easy fights in this realm.

To cross the boundary was to challenge the vicious bladed beast, which hed learned from Cirayus was called a Blader. Considering how the beast was covered in lethal metal, it seemed like a fitting monicker.

How does an animal even grow metal? Vir wondered, staring at the beast, currently resting some thirty paces away.

The Domain Lord was well within range of his new long-range weapons. The ones so far had been exceedingly reluctant to leave their domain, which meant that, for the first time in a very long time, Vir could attack with impunity at range.

What to test first?

Katar Blade Launch only traveled around twenty paces, so there wasnt any way of testing that without stepping into enemy territory. He could, however, test both Chakram Launch variants.

When Vir had stumbled upon the attack by mistiming Launchs activation, hed learned he could hurl a prana chakram out in front of him without actually throwing the chakram itself, and ChakramLaunch traveled farther than its katar counterpart. But did it do as much damage?

Vir slid two chakrams off his neck, grasping one in each hand. It was time to find out.

Here goes nothing.

Two disks of pure energy ripped forth from Virs arms, sailing at the Blader. The beast remained motionless, oblivious to the attack until the last moment.

So it can detect prana, to a degree, Vir observed.

The beast jerked away just before impact, but it wasnt enough to avoid the attack.

There was no thud or clang, or any sound at all. The prana simply dissipated the moment it touched the Bladers armor.

At first glance, it seemed to have done nothing.

Then Vir saw it.

No way, he whispered.

The Bladers sword-limb was chipped. Like someone had taken a steel sword and sliced it into an iron one.

The chip wasnt large, but it was certainly there.

Vir stared at his chakrams.

No way!

The Blader roared in confusion, looking this way and that for the enemy whod harmed it.

That cant be possible, can it?

It wasnt that the strikes were especially powerful. But they had penetrated its prana armor. If that was all, the ability would have been nice, but nothing amazing. If Vir could only lob one or two, its utility would be limited.

Vir wasnt limited to one or two. In fact he wasnt limited at all.

An unending barrage of prana disks surged from Virs chakrams. His body became a prana conduit, sucking greedily from the earth, from the air, and even from elsewhere within his own body. The source didnt matter. He just needed more fuel.

The Ashen Realm was happy to oblige.

The Blader whipped aroundit couldnt see his disks of pure prana, but it did see him. Putting two and two together, it ran right for him

And impaled itself on a barrage of invisible chakrams.

Chips of its bladed limbs and armor flew off, blasted away.

This is insane, Vir thought, unaware of the tears that welled up in his eyes. After spending so long being weaker than his opponents, finally, finally, he now had an edge.

He was battering the most formidable foe hed fought in the realm And he was just standing there. Not even moving, aside from the motion of his arms. Not even in danger.

The chakrams continued to sail, a barrage of death that disintegrated flesh and steel. There was no escapethe monster ran around trying to evade, but its erratic motions only delayed the inevitable.

The inevitable, however, never came.

Vir aborted the ability, roaring in pain. His arms burned, as though set alight. He fell to his knees, cradling his arms.

Too much prana. It burns! Is this what prana saturation feels like?

The Blader gave him a wary glance, then limped away to lick its wounds, returning to the farthest edge of its domainout of range.

That suited Vir just fine. He had his own wounds to treat. Blood moved fast, but the amount of prana hed channeled was immense. In those few seconds alone, he might have consumed more prana than he had in an entire month in the Human Realm. It was just a guess, but it certainly felt that way to him.

There was a difference from a mejais prana saturation, however. When they saturated, it meant they could no longer suck prana from their limbs to form a suction effect.Likely because their body had reached its maximum prana carrying capacityVir couldnt say for certain.

In addition, lesser mejaithe Mejai Sorcars and the Mejai of Ashdidnt know how to power spells with the prana from their own body, which meant they relied on equilibrium forces to eventually purge the excess prana.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

Not so with Vir. With a thought, Vir activated Reverse Channeling, purging his body of prana. It helped, but as hed suspected, it wasnt the root cause. His body was just frazzled from moving too much prana.

Wonder if humans have a name for this. Wonder if theyre even aware. Only Earth affinity prana mightve been abundant enough for such a phenomenon to manifest in the Human Realm. Even then, Vir doubted many fights involved using Talents in such rapid succession that it caused burnout.

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I feel you should move back to a lower domain. I can eliminate the lords for you.

Vir glanced back at the domains hed taken out. Within hours of moving away, two Ash Wolves had jumped in, claiming it as their own. Hed worried he would have to fight his way out every time he wanted to leave the domain, but there was an unspoken rule amongst the lordsnone of the lesser lords attacked him when he crossed theirs.

They growled and howled, but they left him alone.

Still, Vir couldnt accept. I didnt take down this lord just to sit still. I need to progress. Half a year, Cirayus. Its been almost half a year for Maiya. I cant do this to her. I have to get in touch.

The giant sighed. I understand your feelings, lad. I truly do. Which is why Ive played along thus far. But there is a line between ambition and recklessness. You are teetering on the very edge.

Ill keep that in mind.

Cirayus grunted. Youll sleep in an hour. Youve had a long day.

Two hours? I can definitely go for another two, Vir begged. Ill meditate on the Foundation Chakra. Thats relaxing, right?

Do you consider being crushed by the weight of a mountain relaxing?

Uh, well, its not real, right?

Cirayus looked up at the stormy skies. Do you see this, Maion? Your son is just like you.

Really!?

Ill hear none of this, lad. The agreement was for you to fight the Blader in exchange for following my instructions to the word. Meditate if you must, but no more than an hour.

Vir hung his head. Fiiine.

I shall fetch some food and water.

The giant bounded lightly away, disappearing into the forest in the distance.

Vir began the process of purging his thoughts, but there were many, and they were loud.

Im stronger nowcant we just train deeper inside the Ash? Whys it taking so long to unlock the Foundation Chakra, anyway? This progress is too slow! When am I gonna get my first Ultimate Tattoo? Why wont Shardul and Ekanai help me?

Vir sighed, frustrated.

Whys it so windy, anyway? Another storm?

Hed been so frustrated that hed failed to notice the breeze that nipped his nose.

Should still have some time before it gets too bad. Gotta wrap up meditating before then.

It was only then that Vir noticed the breeze had grown in strength.

He opened his eyes and gasped.

Cracks appeared before him. Cracks in reality. They spread like a mirror shattering in slow motion, growing longer and deeper.

Then suddenly, Ash prana emerged from within. Just a tendrillike a drop of a vast ocean.

Virs heart nearly seized. His body went into shock.

The Ash Tear? No. What is this?

It was prana so dense, it manifested to his normal sight. Not as a wispy cloud, but as a solid. Solid prana. Just being near it made him dry retch, sending him onto his knees.

Then the blackness expanded, like a beast clawing its way out, wrestling the cracks wider. Tearing reality like a fabric.

Thats no ordinary tear, Vir thought dazedly. Thats a full-on Ash Gate!

The infinite void spun and spiraled, and then it was gone. In its place was an imagea looking glass into a place far, far away. A dangerous place.

Vir backed away. Or he tried to back away. He found his body frozen. Transfixed by the prana. The Tear had never done this before. Hed almost thought it benign.

But when an Ash Wolf bounded through, Vir knew hed been wrong.

Before he could react, the beast was at his side, biting his leg off

Or not?

It bit into his leg, but not so deeply that it penetrated his armor. The beast moved so quickly, Vir hadnt been able to react. His head hit the ground, making him see stars.

No! Stop!

Vir fought his body with every shred of willpower he had, but he could do nothing as the wolf dragged him back with terrifying speed.

Get away from him! Cirayus roared.

But the demon had arrived too late.

Vir had already been sucked through.