Interlude - Conclusion

Interlude - Conclusion

Conclusion

The three attacked, and Zach It was so quick, will that made the Essence around him shake and twist. Ryun couldnt understand it, something was different about him. He changed, got stronger, and yet how? In the three days that they had been imprisoned? And the way he spoke, the things he said. Something was wrong.

There was no time for him to try and figure it out. The fighting started and the amulet on his neck was getting hotter.

He will hold them, he sent to Selia. We need to go after the Dome Leader.

Selia moved immediately, a silver disk made out of Qi formed beneath her feet and he sensed her activate her Evolved Form. Then, she spoke as the disk raised her in the air.

Go after Hastur, now!

Everyone followed. Ryun ran after her, on the steps he created, gaining altitude. Over Zach and his fight with the three who had been taken, and immediately they were attacked. Black tendrils, made out of will but having no less substance because of it, attacked them. Ryun dashed into the air, lessening the pull of gravity on his body. A hundred spears made out of Qi flew through the air, heading for the Dome Leader. More tendrils grew out of the ground, slapping Selias attack away.

Then, a pillar of void fell from the sky right on top of Hastur, engulfing everything. A moment after the attack ended, Ryun saw and sensed tendrils wrapped around Hasturs body, protecting him. Ryun was about to activate his Evolved Form, but then realized that he couldnt take the amulet off. It was hot now, enough so that he could feel it through his robe, and the temperature was increasing. In his Evolved Form, his body was made out of the Void. Items could generally change size, rings and amulets at least, though changing shape wasnt possible. Even if the amulet could remain around his neck, it would not survive touching his skin, not for long at least. He couldnt use one of his strongest perks.

He was certain that the only reason why they werent under Hasturs mind control now was because of what Eratemus did before. They had to finish this fight before the amulets crumbled, and his sense told him that the material would not handle this for much longer. The other amulets were the same.

Selia, we cannot delay this, he told her. The amulets are not going to last for much longer.

He felt her fear, and her conviction. She relayed his information to the others as Ryun moved to get a better position in the air above Hastur. While Selia and Vryull attacked Hastur he got higher, and took the opportunity to drink more potions from his storage. His mental and physical stamina were drained for some reason, and the effects of all the potions that he drank before they exited the Ethereal Realm was gone. They had been here for a while it seemed, though by the state of his body, he knew that it wasnt longer than a few days.

His sense told him that the city around them was empty. There was nothing living or dead anywhere within the walls, there was nothing even beyond it. The fort outside on the hill was abandoned too. It was strange, and it posed some questions, but there was no time for them now.

After he drank several stamina regeneration potions along with a couple stat boosting ones he turned his attention back on Hastur. He moved his stats to his wisdom, and prepared; then used his {Avatar of the Reaper},creating a copy, he had it craft {Void Armor} and did the same. Then he immediately sent it away. Each cube-step that the avatar created to move through the air drained his core, but he still had his Essence to replenish it once.

While the others fought with Hasturs tendrils, trying to get closer to him. Anashi was doing something that made the tendrils slow, but she couldnt do it on more than a couple of them at the time. He knew that she couldnt get into the Ethereal, and he knew that a lot of her powers relied on that. She did have some powers that could manipulate space, though, which he assumed she was using. But he could tell that she was barely holding on without access to her full power.

Ryun studied their opponent. Hastur didnt move, but his mask was cracked, Ryun could feel the flesh beneath, or at least something that had form. He couldnt penetrate beneath the skin though. The state of their opponent was interesting, but he didnt have the time to try and figure out the reasons, he had to figure out if it gave them any type of advantage.

His avatar reached the place where Ryun wanted it and both he and it pulled on his Qi, shaping a technique. He followed the battle, the Void blasts thrown by Vryull and the pillars that came from above, Selia throwing spears while Erdania stood in front of her, battering the tendrils away with her great staff.

He triggered Total Knowledge and saw how everything moved. The tendrils and the air, the attacks of everyone else. He saw an opening and pointed his hands at Hastur, aimed with |Target Mark| his avatar doing the same. A moment later he released his {Void Beam}.

Through the chaos, two beams passed without anything blocking their way. Hastur saw, somehow. He moved, new black tendrils rising from the ground to block. His void burned through them, will against Qi, his Qi won. His avatar missed, tendrils stopping the beam for long enough that Hastur managed to get out of the way. Ryun followed, Hastur was too slow, his beam hit the Dome Leader in the shoulder, getting through the robe and flesh beneath. Every tendril around went wild, smashing without control, more grew out of the ground. A dozen appeared beneath both Ryun and his avatar, rising high and grabbing. Ryun jumped, getting out of their reach with |Pouncing Rush|, his avatar wasnt fast enough.

The tendrils grabbed hold of it and squeezed, crushing through the {Void Armor} after less than two seconds. He lost the avatar and a big chunk of his Qi, but now he knew how long he had if the tendrils caught him. Hastur was glaring at him, even as his tendrils fought the others. Ryun could feel his attention, a will that was focused on him. His amulet shook. For a moment, Ryun worried that targeted focus on only him would be enough to crack it and break through. But then Maleatus appeared in the air above Hastur.

He had one hand pointed down, and the very space below him trembled. Ryun couldnt explain exactly what happened, only that for a moment his sense of that area went insane. Then a building, a two story house, occupied that space. It fell down, faster than Ryun knew it should. He realized that Erdania had increased the pull of gravity on it somehow.

Tendrils rose to stop it, even as one manifested beneath Hastur and then it launched him away. The building smashed into the ground, but Hasturs body had already reached the edge of the square, and he landed among the buildings. The tendrils around them fell apart into nothingness, and everyone moved. Maleatus disappeared, and Erdania leapt after him, while Selia flew on her disk and Vryull landed near Anashi who did something to space in front of them to make them faster.

Ryun launched himself through the air, leaping from step to step after the Dome Leader.

Building on your left, Ryuns sense told him exactly where Hastur was, and also He is slow injured? He sent to Selia.

Hasturs physical ability so far hadnt been high. His tendrils were strong, but even made out of will, they werent something that they couldnt handle. Was it that he was just focused on mental powers? It seemed that way. They had to end the fight before he had a chance to break through their protections.

He saw Erdania speed ahead, her body growing. Her Evolved Form. In just a few seconds, she towered over the buildings. Selia yelled at her, relaying the information and Erdania smashed into the building. Tendrils rose from all around grappling with her, but she was stronger. She ripped through them, a sphere the size of a bus orbiting her and smashing into everything around her. Selias spears flew around Erdaina, hitting the ruins and exploding on impact.

Then, there was a roar, a tone that made Ryuns entire being tremble. He felt something pulling from him, not from his mind but soul?

It formed next to him, too fast for him to react. He turned around, and shaped a wall. Too slow, too weak. Lightning smashed through the wall and hit him head on, his armor cracked, and then it was in him. Burning him from the inside. His core drained as he regenerated the damage from within, dipping fast. He raised his right hand, hoping to add at least some more protection, it burned through it, the Void inside bursting apart, his hand disappearing in moments. He burned through his Rapid Regrowth in order to save Qi, and just as it regenerated fully he smashed into the ground. Just before he hit, his eyes saw the shape far above him. He recognized it, but now he saw.

Avariel: Lord of Lightning

It was stronger than he remembered.

Selia

She felt something pulling from her, and then, before she even had a chance to fully comprehend something came for her.

She sprang into action immediately. She activated Projection Armor and a suit of armor surrounded her, silver and layered. She placed Improve increasing its durability and then spent one charge of her Boost object to increase that durability by another 30% then she used Reinforce increasing the total durability by another 200%. From her Construct Library she pulled a design and then used Recreate. She fashioned a tower in between herself and the attack, it rose from the ground. She was trying to get out of the way, but it didnt matter. A tail smashed through the tower and then hit her, sending her flying from her disk and to the ground.

She smashed into the stone, cratering it and sending debris flying. Her armor held, but she felt her bones crack. But with Sanguine Silver flowing through her veins her regeneration was greater, she was already healing when the second attack came.

Her Qi moved through her body, preparing several techniques. Her Evolved form allowed her to use up to 8 techniques at the same time. She released the same technique, eight times.

Then;

Presence of the Eternal Huntress

Twenty four spears formed above her as she used {Sanguine Silver Spears}, her attacker spread his wings, tried to bank away as she focused her will on the Sanguine Silver Qi of the spears and fired them up at it. It evaded most of it, but a couple pierced the fold of skin between his left wings. The monster fell to the ground, her aura hit it as it rolled before coming up to its feet.

Familiar eyes glared at her, and she narrowed her own.

Derkol: Cloud Guardian

The dragon was the same one that she had helped kill long ago. But that attack with its tail was far stronger than it should have been. The dragon was undoubtedly stronger than it had been. Behind it, she saw Erdania being pulled by dozens of tendrils the size of houses, trying to take her to the ground. Vryull and Anashi were attacking something among the buildings, and Maleatus was above them, removing buildings and tendrils by switching space.

A screeching and the sound of thunder came from behind her, but she couldnt look. From the bond she could feel Ryuns surprise. He was fine for now, and she had her own opponent to deal with.

She couldnt afford to waste time.

She shaped technique after technique, filling the air with spears. The dragons body was twisting, clouds forming around it as it prepared an attack that she remembered.

She sent the spears flying, the dragon blocked with a plume of cloud like breath. She jumped out of the crater, shaped another disk and used her will to control it. Then, she used {Inner Body Forging} increasing her wisdom. She shaped a single spear, then layered a technique on it from her secondary path. {Pulsing Impact} filled it, and then she sent it flying. She let her class armor go and formed another one with her class as she flew behind the spear. {Sanguine Silver Armor} covered her and she unleashed her fruit technique {Goddess of Metal}. All of her spears on the ground, near the dragon and her, moved. Everything following her.

Her spear hit the dragon as it tried to evade, and then it pulsed sending the impact deep. The dragon was thrown to the ground, impaled. She arrived, landed near it with all the metal of her spears above her. She let her branch technique out, and with {Inverted Sanguine Silver Sphere} the metal moved. It hit the dragon from above, a spherical storm that shredded it to pieces. It turned to black mist and dispersed.

She had expended more Qi for that than she shouldve, than she needed even. But they had no time. The amulet on her neck was so hot that it burned her now. She layered her Aspect Manifestation: Sanguine Silver Cloak over herself. It protected her mind, but she knew that it wasnt enough. She only hoped that it would help keep the amulet whole for a moment longer.

She glanced back, and saw a birdlike monster in the air, throwing black lightning down at Ryun as he reached out to touch it. She took a step to help him, but then the ground shook, and a few seconds later a sound unlike anything that she had ever heard filled her ears making her grimace in pain. She turned her eyes around at the fight with Hastur, and saw insanity.

Ryun

The monster was definitely stronger than it had been when he fought it last. Its Essence was tainted with the black substance that the Hasturs tendrils were, will of the King in Yellow.

Ryun grimaced, his robe hadnt survived the attack, its effects no longer worked. He unequipped it, then equipped a different copy from his forge. Then, he recreated his armor, this time in its mist form and dashed away from another attack. His sense told him that the fight with Hastur was still going on and that Selia had been attacked the same as he. Far behind them, he felt Zachs fight, and even though he couldnt focus on it, he knew. Something had changed with Zach, something had made him far stronger.

He pushed that out of his mind as Avariel attacked again. He dodged, but the edge of the attack hit him, his armor defended him, but a chunk of his Qi was depleted in the process. He moved, shaping steps as he ran up to the monster. He charged his technique, and dodged attacks coming from above.

After his technique was ready, he switched half of his wisdom to other stats, preparing in case he got hit again.

Ryun made his choice.

He let his technique out, a hundred shaped Void spikes hit Hastur from all sides, piercing and keeping him in place, depleting his Qi fully. His will sharpened, he reached for the strings heading for Zach. And he snapped them. For one moment, his will was greater.

The tendril around his torso cracked his armor, squeezed his flesh and tore him in half. No Qi, no regenerating. The tendril around his neck smashed through the armor there, tearing his head off.

The last thing he saw was Zachs blade come down.

|I Strike Through Time|

His blade came down. A line appeared over Hasturs entire body, splitting him in half. The edges of the line frayed, then fell as if turning to dust. The monster fell apart, two sides falling to the ground, flattening buildings.

Zach watched, as the wind carried him down. He touched the ground, and closed his eyes.

He wasnt fast enough.

He died before his eyes. He would never learn what he knew.

A bright light caught his eyes and he turned, seeing the man he had fought stand to the side. He looked at the dead monster, then met Zachs eyes. He was still tainted with black. A moment later he burst into fire and disappeared.

He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder and he turned. Naha was standing there, her expression not something that he could identify.

You did it.

I failed, Zach said. He died, and I will never learn what he knew.

Ryun? Naha asked. He had immortality, I didnt see the monster pull his soul from the Ethereal. He will come back in time.

Zach tilted his head. Immortality. Yes, he had something like that too.

The others approached. Two women that the monster nearly killed, holding each other. Two more, then one.

Something intruded on Zachs vision, a box filled with words, and he frowned.

Selia

They had nearly died, failed in their mission. Ryun had She couldnt tell a lot of what happened at the end, but they had done it. She looked at Zach, he she didnt know what happened, but he was not the same.

Ryun was his immortality would save him. It might take a few years but he would be back. She could still feel him through their bond, so she knew that he was alive. His emotions were as if he was sleeping a deep slumber. Muted.

They returned to the others, and she saw that all of them had survived. It was more than they couldve hoped for.

A notification flashed in front of her eyes, through her filters, and she read it.

Hastur the King in Yellow defeated.

The spread of corruption limited.

Kill achieved:

Eratemus Prideborn The Lord of Death

Zacharia Gardner

Ryun Nacht The Witness of Journeys End

Selia Ha Jhan Mistress of Sorrow

Erdania Xi Jhan Mistress of Gravity

Vryull Klaar The Voids Chosen

Maleatus Enis Master of Area

Nahamassa Plainrunner

Anashi Vekos Mistress of Paths

Rewards granted. The Gate to Rlyeh is now open.

A light flashed behind them, and Selia turned. She saw a tower appear where Hasturs throne used to be, tall and with a large gate set in its center that was filled with blue light. There was always more. She turned around just as chests appeared around them, each with a lock on it and a symbol, exactly nine of them. One for each.

She sighed and leaned her head against Erdanias shoulder.

It will be okay, Erdania said. We will go to the sect and wait for him.

Selia gave her a smile and nodded.

Then, someone spoke.

Something is wrong, Selia raised her eyes and saw Anashi holding a white orb in her hand, a Far-link Orb.

What is it? Selia asked.

Anashi turned her head to meet Selias look. No one is answering me.

Selia frowned, and pulled her own orb. She tried it, hoping that Sigmund would hear. She tried for several minutes, and there was no answer.

Eratemus

His soul traveled across the world, nearly instantaneously. A grand teleport. He couldnt create many scrolls, because of resources, and also because most of what he did gather he used for his vessels. He couldnt have his soul travel for a long time.

He filled another vessel, back at his home. His fortress welcomed him, and he opened his eyes.

Then, the formations activated. Messages stored, filtered through, and he frowned. Too many. He scanned through them then felt fear. He stood and walked out of his grand chamber, into one of the side chambers.

A notification arrived, and he felt elated. Hastur was dead, the others had succeeded. He glanced at his interface, the messages there. He turned away from them and accessed his fortress and realized the truth.

They had prepared, they had a person able to influence it. And still, it had been

The trip through Ethereal, he whispered to himself. It took us three years.

Three years for Hastur to do whatever he wanted across the world.

He glanced at his messages again, and saw. They didnt save anything.