Soaring through the sky the large black bird twisted and turned above the breaking suspension bridge as green-yellow flames erupted up into the sky as fireballs trying to strike him down.
"Motherfucker! Eat my feathery ass!" Given his cursing i can hear Thorn's definitely having a tough time against whoever the prodigal of choices is, even with the ink knights on the surface of the bridge led by Taul trying to get close to whoever is wreaking all this destruction.
"Dryden, you think you can repair the bridge?" I asked while stretching my arms over my head. "If i try to run across with [mach rush] at full throttle it'll just break apart as it is currently."
Extending her blue hand out from beneath her cloak, Dryden spoke quickly. "For this size. A stronger conduit is needed. Talismans will have minimal effect. Grant me an archmage staff from the infinite crypt."
Tossing a metallic silver rod with a glowing steel core at its crown over from thin air, i pointed at Dryden and said, "Thats the fifth one i've given you now. Try not to bludgeon any disobedient undead with it again."
"This will do well." Grabbing the steel rod in both her gloved hands Dryden stepped forwards and started gathering energy as i got ready to run. "Hamma nay ah! Aira! Hamma nay ah! Curia!" The core of the staff glowed a great blue hue as Dryden's body transformed into a lich."
[aspect: living demise — spirit build!]
"Hamma nay ah! Aira! Hamma nay ah! Curia! Hamma nay ah! Aira! Hamma nay ah! Curia!" The broken pieces of the bridge steadily began to rise up from the bottom of the chasm, fixing the damage as they refitted into the cracks. "Go! The incantation will break shortly!"
[skill: autumn kings conquest — mach rush!]
"Thank you." In a flurry of amber bolts, i leapt onto the bridge, sprinting through the cars and jumping over great holes. Just fast enough to not lose control of myself while twisting through the maze-like debris of cars covering the bridges road.
A great gap over fifty meters wide quickly approached on my charge and as i leapt over, the road that had previously fallen into the chasm rose back up into place as i landed on it and started sprinting up the steep incline of the reforming bridge before quickly getting back onto the direct path.
Dwing~!
One of the bridges broken cables whipped around in the air, sweeping across the bridge right in front of me and an idea popped into my head making me accelerate even quicker. As my speed increased the bridge shook wildly with each empowered step i made before i leapt up and grabbed the flailing wire getter taken right across to the centre of the bridge as i swinged off.
[skill: horizon chain — extended mind!]
A magical chain wrapped around my palm as it flew up into the air. The next moment a net made of chains spread over the sky and held down all the flames as it dropped onto the bridge shocking the angel above.
"Come back with less baggage!" I yelled whilst punching the chain into the bridge road. The angel above huffed and flew off to where Dryden and Teuxer were while Thorn quickly realised i was back.
'I thought i smelled you nearby, pisspot.' Flying down Thorn perched atop the chain net and held it down in place over the source of the green-yellow flames.
"Stop joking and tell me who the Choice Prodigal is!" I ordered harshly as i punched through a barrier of green fire with the crackling orange [fragarach spear] in my hand.
Flapping his wings to push himself down, Thorn struggled to keep the flames contained. 'It's Ben! I don't get it but the bastard is the prodigal! His gramps is so going to kill us when he finds out!'
'Turns out Ramirtec's suspicion that Ben could be an Axis wasn't unfounded.' I thought internally. It's more surprising than I wish it was to see Clarity tied a tiny piece of themselves to him.
However the other two prodigals were newborns, Ben is already in his teenage years. Don't tell me Choice just shoved his fragmented soul onto an already defined soul.
"I have a way to help him! But make sure the bridge doesn't break apart yet." I stated.
'Easier said than done!' The black raven stressed mentally. 'He's turning whatever he touches into fire, literally! Even Zhan is struggling to keep up with his fire and he's made of it!'
Understanding how dire the situation was, i coursed more aether into [mach rush] foregoing all the normal safety precautions and pelted my body forwards in mad excitement. Breaking the sound barrier and hypersonic barriers at the same time.
The bridge tore in half as i kicked off the ground and spearheaded the flames with my bare body, grabbing the two individuals fighting within the fire before tossing them into the sand far away from the bridge on the opposite side.
Thorn let go of the chain-net of fire in his talon as i stopped focusing aether around it, and the suspension bridge broke apart entirely, dropping into the depths of the chasm as the limits of Dryden's spell hit their max and shut itself off.
[stigma: equal correlation — sequence: 6.3!]
[aspect: taken devourer - frozen sanity]
Right as the stigma took effect, a gatling of fire bullets shot for me. Stomping my foot down, a wall of slushy silver liquid protected me taking all the bullets easily.
"Thats not Ben's fighting style." I muttered.
The [fragarach spear] that was still in my hand crackled and as the wall of slush water dropped, then i threw it straight into the boys lower left leg making him scream in pain.
The blonde boy emitting green energy from the pores of his skin kneeled in agony and hovered his hands across the crackling golden spear of energy embedded in the back of his calf, staying paralysed by the aether lightning currently coursing through his whole body.
"I was trying not to hurt him!" Digging his head out of the sand, Zhan announced his presence. "I thought you wanted the kid trained not butchered. You could of sent him to the central systems in
[skill: conceptualisation - alter matter!]
Kicking my heel in the sand, a stream of silver mud quickly headed to Ben's possessed body and sank him down to his neck before solidifying back into a dense dry sand. "I hit his gastrocnemius muscle. The bones and tibia in the calf are fine, nothing a normal doctor can't fix."
Huffing angrily Zhan placed his hands on his hips. "You could just say don't worry, you know."
Ignoring the remark I stepped forwards across the sands as i manifested a new [fragarach spear] in my right hand. Pressing its orange glowing spear point against Ben's possessed forehead.
"bene salve, irae messias." Ben spoke in an extinct language only known to a few which Zhan wasn't apart of, but i was. Even with his translator he wont understand it. "You understand this child has been chosen as my vessel for the final salvation. Why do you shield him?"
"Your tearing his body apart." Speaking back in the same language i got a confused look from Zhan while Thorn arrived. "If you continue to posses him like this you'll implode and take half the planet with you. Why did you forcefully fuse your soul with him?"
"There is no need for my intentions to be revealed, [messiah of wrath]." The possessed voice declared proudly. "Fix the error and your place in the universal scheme is assured. Even when you lose your position as the [Sinner of Wrath]."
"Since you said so. I'll kill you to fix this setback."
As the spear sunk into Ben's forehead without hurting him, Choice immediately apprehended what i was doing. Ben's possessed face contorted into an ugly expression and he cried out angrily, "You bastard, glitch!! When my main soul learns of this there will be no hiding! The thrones of creation will erase you just as we did the wish dragons!"
[aspect: taken devourer - take the soul!]
"I can't wait for it, Choice. Limit and Fate will be waiting with you though!"
The green energy flooded out of Ben's body and soul, immediately getting taken in by me and fed to Sefirot within my throne-world. Just like i had done with the other two prodigals of clarity.
Thorn flew to me as the crackling amber spear vanished from my hand and a subtle headache overwhelmed me as aether whispered rampantly into my brain.
"-the diviners are fractured! Hegemony dispersed-"
"-slay the slavers, abstraction of concepts-"
"-the beasts of genesis must be rended by the leviathan of finality!-"
Gripping my head i was strugglingly to resist the flurry of thoughts trying to merge into my mind but managed. "Settle down. I said settle down." Keeping their distance as i argued with myself Thorn and Zhan stood warily. The sand began to raise around me as gravity distorted with the aggravated aether before i yelled, "Quiet!!!"
A burst of amber-silver wind picked the sand up off the floor blinding everyone around me. Settling the rampant energy within me almost immediately. Aethers apologetic whispers flowed in to appease my enraged madness as it stopped yelling in my ears. Finally at peace again i shook off my head.
"There. I didn't want to yell at you but you all made it needed. Don't get in the way."
The sand settled and aether ceased its torrential thoughts into my brain. Zhan and Thorn both watched me through the lifted sand being on guard in case i suddenly attacked.
Checking first Thorn asked, "You still with us, princess?"
"I'm here." Dipping down i pulled Ben's unconscious body out of the sand and tossed him over to Zhan. "The problems been fixed at the source. He won't have any outbursts like that again."
Catching Ben's body the princely military man held a look of distrust in my direction. "That language you spoke with whatever was possessing the kid. What was it?"
Thorn raised his tail to strike Zhan from behind but I gestured not to. "A dead language from a time no longer remembered in our universe. I only learned it by coincidence exploring some ruins in the last 7000 years. As for the thing that possessed Ben, it was a fragment soul of an ancient entity from that era. How it ended up in him though? Can't say i know how."
Zhan continued his skeptical stares as Teuxer and Dryden arrived with Taul strutting behind them. All being carried by a type of flying spell from Dryden.
Then with a sigh Zhan eased himself. "Alright, you always were obsessed with ancient history even before you got locked up in the
Shrugging at the comment i said nothing and Thorn flapped his wings over to me landing on my shoulder. 'Nice wordplay, pisspot.' Thorn sent mentally. 'I thought we'd have to alter his memories a bit to be honest. Kinda wish we did. I want Zhan's recipe for that killer cheese steak he cooks.'
'I'm not meddling with his memories, Thorn. You know I'm not fond of doing so.' I messaged back inwardly as the raven on my shoulder siphoned some aether from me.
"My liege!!" Jumping from Dryden's floating platform, Taul dived and rolled across the sand. Swiftly presenting himself kneeling in front of me. "Ah! How incredible of you my lord! You managed to quell and save that which those self proclaimed gods could barely comprehend. Your magnificence knows no bounds."
I sent Thorn a thought. 'What did he do while he was here?'
'Primarily just yell at Zhan for being useless while punching Ben along the bridge to get him off before being kicked off by Zhan into the chasm.' Thorn relayed while suppressing a giggle. 'You should have been here. It was great.'
Darting my glare at Zhan as he handed Ben to Teuxer, i said, "you have my permission to bully him for five minutes."
"Thank you, great archon!" No less than point-five seconds of bowing later, Taul vanished under the sand and quickly dragged Luke down with him while screaming.
"Oi! Don't get sand into my clothes you fanatical snake!" Zhan cried while trying to keep his head above the sand.
"Hahaha!" Thorn and Teuxer laughed together as i walked up a mound of sand to see Dryden complete their checkup on Ben's soul.
Without a word i stood over Dryden while her thickly gloved hand hovered over Ben's unconscious self on the sand. When done the lich took a step away and bowed to me, "this one's soul is safe. Gratitude to you, lord kralscell. For aiding the lost."
"You know well enough i was just curious about what gave him a sudden boost, Dryden." Crouching down on one knee i observed Ben one last time in case i left part of Clarity's power by accident. "Including this boy there were two others. That girl we saved together and a boy i conveniently found quite quickly."
"Do you know what triggered this, lord kralscell?" Dryden asked, trying to ignore the fight between Zhan and Taul rolling through the sand.
Debating how much to reveal my answer came slowly. "...definitely a who. But not a what for. I'll have to look around to understand their aim though i doubt I'll ever understand forcefully grafting a fragment of primordial essence onto a mortal soul. The outcome of such an action should be obvious to even them. Unless they expected them to be stabilised like this, though it doesn't seem like it was. I'm more certain they did it out of desperation."
"Desperation from what?" Dryden inquired.
Standing up i dusted the sand off my knee and turned my head away, watching Taul bury Zhan in the sand again. "...you know that itch when something you want is suddenly closer than ever before but you still have to wait for it?" I asked Dryden and she nodded with a deep understanding. "It's that kind of desperation. Of wanting the future to arrive and forgetting the consequences of anything that might happen and prevent that day from coming."
Rolling my shoulders under the scorching sun a loud sigh then left my mouth.
"It's a honestly a question of when should gods forget mortal hubris."