Chương 320: Raise your voice along with us

As she weaved once more through the shimmering smoke she had conjured, Ametrine couldn't help but smile slightly as she heard the frustrated snarl of the little whelp of Pain who kept up her dogged pursuit even as yet another of the palace defenses sprung up to impede her.

It was typical of a non-core user to underestimate just how well Ametrine could move through this most familiar of environments, especially as she had diligently kept up practicing the most slippery and evasive aspects of her path, further boosted by a few choice artifacts. The slight lead also let her reach into a voluminous sleeve and retrieve a stone whose glow was growing ever so faintly by the moment, a slight spark of familiar divinity starting to flicker into existence in its depths.

Connected to the ritual taking place in the hidden chambers beneath the palace at that very moment, the stone showed pleasing results. Within the hour, the accumulated strife and conflict on so many levels of society present would reach a high enough concentration for Discord to reach out and take an active role, creating the core of the domain.

From there, it would just keep expanding to envelop everything; the capital, the smaller domains of the other gods - both allied and more wary observers - the sect warriors. Everything. It would be the birth of a new era. And thus she needed to keep this troublesome whelp of Pain occupied rather than doing the more sensible thing and portalling to safety. Couldn't have a hostile gold-ranker with such keen senses roaming the palace and risk finding the main ritual, after all.

She– The faintest rattle of chains was the only warning Ametrine's senses had the time to pick up, causing one of her rings to flare up into a shield around her before the pillar behind which Ametrine had stopped was suddenly cleaved in two by the incoming weapon.

The barrier cracked almost instantly, but not before Ametrine had dissolved into smoke and slipped away just in time as the whelp of Pain came vaulting into the room in hot pursuit, following Ametrine with unerring accuracy even as she activated a few decoys. Too sharp senses for her own good indeed.

Sending out a few hidden blades throughout her smoke, Ametrine made sure to keep the woman's attention on her while activating a few of the palaces more offensive arrays once more to really drive things home as she sped away once more, robes fluttering but with a confident smile on her painted lips. Given how personal this was for the whelp, there was no way that the girl would ever notice anything but Ametrine, so great was her fury.

Not until it was too late, and her King had dealt with the Pathbreaker so that he could finish this one as well. And meanwhile, Discord's domain would finish forming undisturbed and uncontested." Unleash the Foreseen Calamity!"" Void! Void! Voi–" The air above what had once been the throne room of Hua-Xi lit up as cascading cuts of terrible omens were unleashed, staggered discharges of magic that sent the levitating stones spinning on end as the arrays strained to keep everything in place.

Two of the calamitous slashes were absorbed by darkness, but the third casting of Gate of Nihility came a breath too late. The reforming dark aperture was torn apart before it could absorb much of the devastating blow, leaving Kite to desperately dispel what he could with an empowered Pattern-Shattering Counter.

And even through that there were still enough slivers of the attack left to pierce his armor and tear more of his life-force from him as his gold-ranked body struggled more and more to keep itself together beneath the protective metal which encased it. Even through what healing Kite could provide himself, the King's relentless offensive was still wearing him down, enough so that he was even forced to pop a healing pill into his mouth during a brief second of calm which had unfortunately let the King do the same."

Dissolve the Patterns of Power!" Ripple of Cancellation swallowed a few lesser projectiles and caused the sword array to shudder again, even though it still held. Not quite there yet…" Wall!" More panes of force formed to harry the monarch and keep him at bay for a time as they revolved around the skies above Heavenward.

"Gathered Misfortune Pierces the Heart!" This time the thin beam pierced enough of Leyline Warding at once to cause the whole set of linked barriers - this time all of them in a bid to buy some time - to disintegrate. Fortunately it spent the force of the potent beam, but that let the King close in once more through the air.

Blade met staff, managing to leverage his superior speed to leave a shallow gash even through Kite's armor before turning to flicker around and do the same once more before– Cling The edge of the mirror-sword was suddenly intercepted by a chiming staff which had managed to trail its movement, and for what might have been the first time since this unexpected and deathly fierce duel had begun, Kite managed to deflect not just the next blow but the one after that, matching the monarch blow for blow as his own speed had finally caught up.

Not through any essence powers of his own though. No, this was all thanks to a most generous officiator construct after a trial that had gone above and beyond, and Kite's own lovely, lovely wife whose path he would have to celebrate a thousandfold if he survived this. Because inside Kite burned a flickering inner fire. Even stoked over so many injuries, it was a far cry from what Dragonfly could kindle as she waded into battle in order to increase her speed, strength and recovery.

But even that echo, available to Kite through his armor and the link it provided to the other members of the Elevenfold Unity, had been enough to let Kite finally match the raw physical prowess of the King, with the armor's attribute boosting enchantment finally activated to close the final gap to the monarch's further increased speed.

"Sage!" Just as Kite shoved slightly against the King's blade, the familiar - a steady presence in its usual place floating just behind his back - moved in the opposite direction and sent a beam of transcendent light which lanced into the other man, the gold, silver and blue of the magic bursting out the other side.

This gambit of Kite's was not without cost however, as the King quickly retaliated in a series of flickering sword strikes, one of them bypassing Kite's guard and barriers to once again tear into the familiar's incorporeal form with enough disrupting force to cause it to shudder and almost destabilize.

Chagrinned, Kite still seized the slight opening this left to plant another few swirling remnants of lingering spatial tears to further dig into the King's healing even as he withdrew Sage into himself, lest he risked the familiar's form being completely destroyed. It had been a gamble to risk one of his few healing sources, but given how he now somewhat matched the King in speed it was a move he had been willing to make.

But even as he shoved out with the barriers of Heaven-and-Void Warding to create a bit more space for another flurry of projected strikes, Kite caught a glimpse of how the monarch set his jaw as his eyes hardened, something that was only further hinted at in the man's aura. The next moment, a shroud of ominous black energies burst out from the King's body to outline his armored form, his body seeming to surge with power as his pupils turned a bright, glowing red. Annoying. So annoying. Frustratingly competent.

Those were only the surface thoughts of King of the Pure Firmament as the boy named Kite, called Pathbreaker and Sentinel of the Gates, shattered another of his special attacks as some kind of enchantment or power had suddenly accelerated the younger man's speed. It was not quite King's equal, but going from a ready advantage only barely kept in check through those spectral arms to almost equal was not a step in the right direction. Not at all.

Had this been another day, the King might have applauded the Sentinel's resourcefulness and looked to make him a regular sparring partner, but this day was one of calamity and doubt. Ametrine's schemes had gone far beyond what he had expected, and now she herself was - for once - in trouble. And even through the hurt, the King knew with absolute certainty that he would not back down. He was her sword. He would fight for her. And - one day - perhaps even die for her.

A normal person's lifetime of memories together rolling through his mind, there had never been any other option, no matter how sensible that might have looked. But now this Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune had gone and not only held on, but pushed the King to this point, and the writing on the wall was clear.

If the King wanted to secure victory and go help Ametrine anytime soon, he would have to use what he had been keeping in reserve; one of the more potent aces of his nemesis confluence, initially saved to give him the edge needed to take down that young woman with the chains and potent aura even after battling the Sentinel. If he did not unleash both it and the tighter rein he had held in utilizing his sword array, this would drag out for far too long." Nemesis Incarnate."

As the dark energies surrounded him in an instant, all of the King's attributes rose to new heights, and he knew that he was considered quite a fearsome and ominous sight when under the effect of this power. That in itself mattered little, as no matter the seeming darkness and evil of the power, it was the person using it that mattered. Given his choices today, the King knew that it might not paint him in the most flattering of lights, but caring about such things was for lesser men.

He might have let himself be distracted by the comforts of rulership for too long, but King of the Pure Firmament had never truly stepped down from the path towards the heavens. The potent boon would not last forever, but it had been a burst of potential that had carried him through many a duel in his early career as a duelist, and now it was time to use it properly.

Blade in hand, the King dove in towards the Sentinel, who at least had the dignity of seeming properly taken aback by the sudden shift in the level of power that he had thought bridged already. Barriers were raised and projected attacks rippled through the air, but this time the King managed to circumvent them. One quick, flashing motion opened a bloody gash in the Sentinel's side, and then another, and then another.

From above, it would seem like the King became a series of straight, silvery lines trailing the darkness of Nemesis Incarnate. Some attacks were deflected or shielded, but even more landed. After the twelfth strike, the King let more of his array be consumed as trailing lights carrying the omen of his falling blade shot towards the younger man, occupying his barriers while the true danger came from the side.

In a burst of speed, the King circled the defenses and let his mirror-blade draw a devastating arc, and while the Sentinel had grown faster, he was not fast enough. In another brief burst of blood, the younger man's left arm was severed close to the shoulder - armor and all - just as he counterattacked by thrusting out that chiming staff towards the King's midriff. This was a trade he would readily accept, as his foe had yet to show off the kind of power to regenerate a limb in short order.

When the staff hit - four rings of iron, bronze, silver and gold giving off that eerie tinkling sound - the King could once more sense the by now familiar pulse of the man hammer against the magics in his body.

This had only had the occasional effect during the clash, ending a regenerative boon here and there, but he trusted in the resistance provided by his Undeniable Adversary to– Then Nemesis Incarnate shattered as the dispelling strike echoed once, and then once more, striking the King's boon like an old gong that cracked beneath the repeated force.

The world slowed down once more, feeling slightly sluggish even though there had barely been two dozen heartbeats since the power came into effect; a power that was supposed to have lasted for minutes more and allowed him to end the fight. Disengaging, the King pulled back to regain his bearings as his attributes returned to normal, and as he swerved between a few projected strikes the Sentinel raised his only remaining hand and repeated a spell chant heard a few times prior during the destructive clash."

Dissolve the Patterns of Power!" The unseen ripple washed over the King once more, his conjured equipment creaking and barely holding beneath the magic-shattering strain, and it was only then that the King truly noticed that the armor and mirror-blade seemed visibly weakened. Not by that particular wave perhaps, but more as if they had been aging. Slowly, gradually deteriorating as hairline cracks and weak spots in the material had formed gradually, like groves in the stones of a river after centuries of wear.

Or rather erosion. WWJS: Congratulations! Your power [Discarnate Erosion] has reached Gold 0. [Discarnate Erosion] has gained additional effects. - Discarnate Erosion (Erosion) - Special ability, aura. Cost: None. Cooldown: None. Current rank: Gold 0 Effect - Iron: All hostile magical effects affected by your aura start to erode, reducing the duration of ongoing effects and lessening the impact of spells and special attacks within the area. Effect increases the longer the hostile effect remains inside the aura.

Effect - Bronze: Increases the casting times of hostile spells within the aura. Effect - Silver: The eroding effect becomes greatly increased against hostile solid manifestations of magic, such as conjured matter, equipment and barriers. Higher rank effects will take longer time to be affected, and some powerful effects might not be entirely eroded, instead leaving them weakened. Effect - Gold: The effects of this aura increase along with the size of the affected magical manifestation. Enjoying the story?

Show your support by reading it on the official site. His mind was forced back to the present the next instant though, as a sound like hundreds of panes of glass breaking suddenly echoed out from behind and above him as the sword array shattered, each blade falling into pieces like a mirror struck by a meteor. And far beyond them in the city, only partially felt by the two clashing warriors as a faint sensation in the ambient magic, something else shifted as well.

"Braid! While I am loathe to disturb the master at work, I would ask that you please expedite the process in any way you can," Little Crow called, the normal cheer in the celestine's voice sounding quite strained as he appeared inside the central array chamber where numerous clusters of glowing lines were intersected by likewise glowing threads that caused them to slowly shift and reconfigure.

As soon as the assassin appeared, another two members of his clan nodded and set off into the corridors outside where the sounds of conflicts could be heard getting ever closer, their short break to somewhat recover over.

"I should be thanking Fortune that this is something we only needed to attempt in a relatively low magic kingdom," Braid shot back even though most of his attention never left the work he was undertaking next to two array masters of the Tengu clan.

"To think that a silver-ranker like me even has a chance to interfere here is a testament to how far the governance of this kingdom has fallen. Starsteel bar, please." His last request had one of the few rat bodies of Wander present skitter over to a nearby bag before bringing out a small metal bar that seemed to be a fusion of bismuth and crystal glass based on the way it shimmered. The bar was soon fed into Braid's floating loom before emerging as a thread that joined the numerous others at play around him.

"Well, Fortune has been very kind to me, that is true," Little Crow agreed while he began conjuring glowing needles that vanished into his enchanted parasol.

"But those goons from the Thunderous Soul sect guarding this place seemed to have ample reinforcement ready to help them. Or well, I'm not sure if the sect or Discord is their true allegiance? We've all heard of which side their sect leader took."

"Then I hope that you can–" Braid began, but a shift and a series of sparks and several angry red glows from the arrays around them interrupted him.

"Oh sweet heavens! Wander! Coin!" Without hesitation, the rat helper produced a gold spirit coin which she rushed to deposit in Braid's mouth, even revealing a bit of the runic's pale, marked skin as two of the rats lifted his cloth mask for the third to deposit the small fortune into his mouth. The next moment, Braid's aura swelled with artificial power as he sped up greatly, almost shoving the other two array masters out of the way as threads started welling out of his loom.

"Bypass the connection– Reroute– Quash that! Where is it– There! Make the connections– Reinforce–" The mutterings of the man came faster and faster as Braid seemed more to be thinking aloud with hitherto unseen mental computation speed.

Little Crow could only watch with growing concern as the angry red patches were spreading further and further until Braid suddenly gave a shout of triumph before thirteen threads of bright blue shot out and struck several nodes in the arrays, followed by a flash of light that erased the red patches like a wave washing over a sandcastle.

"It's down and locked! Send the signal!" Braid called, staggering as the empowering effects of the gold-ranked spirit coin started to leave him. The weaver's words caused all the strain to melt from Little Crow's features as he swiftly reached into one voluminous sleeve to produce a small slate of stone which he channeled mana into, causing the various pieces of worked quintessence to light up and welcome a certain special someone and some very important companions into their humble little Kingdom.

Little Crow could only hope, but he suspected that his efforts would even qualify him for the best good boy treatment when this was all over and done with.

"Grand Elder! What are your orders?"

"Just– just wait a moment," the somber leonid man from the Pinnacle Zenith sect muttered as he stood atop the wall of Heavenward and tried taking it all in. From the outside, things seemed normal even though the city arrays were active to somewhat dampen aura perception for the sake of the people. Or that had ostensibly been the reason, which the grand elder currently found himself doubting as he took in the madness going on.

Several golds fighting and more similar clashes taking place as others decided it was their rivals who were behind this all. Undead and other monsters swarmed around key nodes of the city, with essence-users of the Silent Horizon Sect, Fated Severance Sect and the Autumn Wanderer's Guild trying to strike them down and push into those defended territories.

And that was without speaking of the giant pearlescent dragon clashing with some great vortex being in the shadow of the Heavenly Staircase, where part of the palace seemed to have been torn apart from within as other golds clashed. Was one of those the King?

Then, as if on cue, there was another shift in the air as the arrays shuddered for a moment, the grand elder noting several lines fade or be redrawn before the light of a portal could be seen from the adventure society campus not long after, which soon turned into three.

"I– Find answers! Spread out! Be on your guard, each of you. We don't know which of our enemies are enacting this plan, but make sure to seize anyone you come across and wrangle answers from them. By the heavens, what is going on here?!"

"Ah, finally! What took you so lo– Holy shit!" Riz, founder, owner and sole employee of Riz's Dimensional Courier Extravaganza - the latest in a long line of business names as she had yet to find one that really hit the right vibe - almost toppled over a few moments after stepping through her portal which had appeared upon one of the dedicated portal platforms of Heavenward's Adventure Society campus.

The battling auras and general spiritual pandemonium was like a sledgehammer to the soul, and she did not envy those of even lower rank in the vicinity. As more figures emerged behind her, she thought to warn them through her own daze only for the words to die on her lips as those that came after barely reacted to the environment beyond perhaps a moment of steeling themselves and moved off to the side to deploy their own portals.

"Mistress Riz. Are you alright?"

"I– by the gods, Amica. How can I? Why– How the heck are you alright?" the colorful elf groaned in reply as the telekineticist flew out of Riz's still active portal, the other two hunks - one elf and one runic - who made up her team hot on her heels.

"What? This?" Amica asked, glancing around.

"Sure, this is a lot for such a low magic zone, but you should have seen some of the other places we've been to. Heck, didn't Kite tell you of the time we boarded a pirate airship in the middle of a battle between two fleets? Speaking of, Kite does seem to be here. And in trouble," she finished, nodding towards the palace up on the odd, clearly man - or magic - made mountain in the middle of the city.

"Should we head there immediately?" Ceasar Tyh muttered, his rune-covered brows furrowing in clear concern.

"If Kite needs–""Kite is a gold now, and we can be too soon if we play our cards right," Amica interrupted.

"And in this case, doing that is following the orders of our own golds. They have the general plan. Oh, and speaking of… Sir Ryker!" Riz could only stare in mute disbelief as the thundercloud of a man introduced as Ryker Lansar emerged from one of the new portals that immediately collapsed behind him as his gold rank exhausted its capacity, not one muscle even seeming to twitch in the man's stern face as he let his gaze survey the madness around them.

"Steiner," he replied, gaze still seeming distant.

"Sir! It seems like we'd best head out now. This seems to be very high on the rankings of potential danger Kite supplied us. The air itself feels odd, as if something wants to influence my emotions." This had Ryker stop for a moment, focusing even more thoroughly before he nodded.

"So that was why they insisted on coming. Darn gods and their plans," he muttered. As they spoke, three additional portals had opened even while more silver-rankers of Gauntlet and a group of other adventurers apparently of the famous Geller family - a severe-looking blonde, a gorgeous feisty redhead and a man in literal shining armor accompanied by an ashen bear - emerged from Riz's and one other.

The elf had been doing her usual mingling while they had waited for hours for a potential signal in the port Singhni branch, and found out that all of them had apparently volunteered to be part of this contract after it became known that it was Kite who had issued it. Apparently, he was a pretty popular guy. Riz could understand that, as his contracts with her had let her experience so many new and great places to eat and drink where she had now become a regular.

And while Kite was even liked enough to draw in another gold - some hotshot called Sir Ilmaril Thenston who had just emerged from another of task group Gauntlet's portals - it was those who came out of the fourth and final portal who Ryker had been mentioning.

Riz shouldn't have been surprised when the sound of them seemed to herald the arriving people even through the portal, but she still found herself arrested by the phenomena as sonorous words started echoing around the courtyard with the portal platform the moment before the first figure emerged, a celestine with jade green hair. It wasn't just words though, but song.

As the woman emerged, an aura that was still silver yet felt somehow more washed over Riz and everyone nearby, enveloping them like a sheltering bay from the storms raging all around as it seemed to layer on top of itself much as the woman's voice did; a one-person choir in both song and spirit. And then the others emerged, wearing similar robes of sky blue as they joined their voices to the celestine's.

"High Priestess," Ryker said with a surprising amount of reverence despite his otherwise stern demeanor.

"While I wouldn't want to disrespect your rites, things here are a bit more turbulent than we had hoped. Can we hope that you can set up soon so that we can get out there?" The priestess was about to answer when her aura suddenly deepened even further as an echo of divinity suddenly bloomed within her aura, and the singing voice that seemed to come from the very air itself surely couldn't belong to the priestess.

"Fear not, Sir Lansar Champion against the dark and wicked Raise your voice along with us As we push back disharmony This is the blessing I bestow upon you Paid in full and within my domain Raise your voice along with us And take heart, as Song makes her mark."

The divine voice was so unbelievably pure that Riz found herself openly weeping as she listened to the verse, emotions normally only reserved for small puppies and the best and most glorious of booze welling up inside her as she started questioning her life choices. Then, statement made, it faded into the background and left only the small choir whose voices still stood in stark contrast to the tumultuous feeling that suffused the air of the capital.

"If I may clarify, Sir Lansar," the celestine high priestess continued once the divine presence had left her, somehow singing in multiple voices even as she spoke to them.

"My Lady Song will indeed allow us to act soon. It is rare for her to spend her mandate in taking action, so I hope that you will all appreciate what will be done here today. Please remain with us while we arrange for the ritual so that we aren't disturbed. Then you will be free to act."

"Of course, High Priestess. That was part of the contract, after all," Ryker replied. To Riz - still stunned by the divine verse she had borne witness to - what happened next passed in a blur as the clergy of Song prepared a ritual site then and there in the small portal square, some drawing out the lines while others circled the grounds in measured steps while carrying incense burners to stabilize the ambient magic that was churning in the city.

Only when a small rat came racing around a nearby corner was she shaken from her stupor, as she had spent enough time with Kite and his companions to recognize who it was.

"Amica! Holy crap, am I glad to see you~!" Wander hollered with all the force available to her tiny form as the rat threw itself up into the arms of the telekineticist.

"They had set the array up to block teleportation, sneaky bastards, but Braid managed it. Things are really messed up here and–""Hold on, Wander, hold on. I think these are the guys you should really be talking to here. You know, the ones in charge," Amica replied before taking hold of the rat and holding it demonstratively towards Ryker and Ilmaril who had both walked over while the other gauntlet members spread out to keep watch.

"What? Who– oh dang. Well, aren't you two a sight for sore eyes. And daaang, your auras! I don't know what they feed you at Gauntlet, but this is great! But… Wait a moment… Hey! It's you~!" Pausing her little rant, Wander turned to Sir Ilmaril and drew closer, stopping just in front of the statuesque elf, who in turn looked down at her quizzically.

"I'm… sorry? Have we–" Ilmaril began, but then it clicked for him as well. The aura was different from way back then, having gone from normal to silver rank, but that sense of otherness and that manner of speech.

"Wait… you!"

"Yep! It's me! In all my manifold glory~!" Wander called cheerfully, the rat rising to its hind legs and standing as tall as possible.

"It seems that you've come a long way since I found you in that crater beneath the rubble."

"Oh boy, ain't that the truth. You really helped me out back there when I first… Uhm… Arrived? Yeah, arrived. So… Thanks? For everything back then. I mean, I don't know how I can repay you - with you being an important gold-ranked guy and all that - but if you ever need hundreds of rats for something, I'm your gal! The first few thousand nibbles are on the house! And– Oh crap! Sorry! We can catch up later! The offer of nibbles still stands, but you need to move and go do your Gauntlet stuff now!

Or rather faster than now! Because the bad guys had a shit-ton more gold-ranked undead thingies than we thought, and now the sects are starting to peek inside the city too and there's no telling what many of them will do and–" Wander squeaked as she started her rapidfire explanation that was only interrupted by Ryker after receiving a nod from his both confused and amused superior.

"One thing at a time. Wander, I presume? Kite has told me about you. You are… even more talkative than he claimed."

"In the flesh! Or, well, part of it! The thing is, we really need your help. At least Kite got what he paid for, because I almost fainted when I heard your quotes. And that was after the buddy-discount~."

"Then give me a proper rundown of the threats. After we've made sure that the ritual site of Song's clergy here is secure, we'll head out to where we are most needed," Ryker replied even though it was clear that he was clearly suffering in the face of the over-talkative rat. At least Song's clergy worked fast, because it was not long after that their high priestess spoke again.

"We are ready now. Please provide some room."

"Great! And great to see you again, Serene~!" Wander shouted as she scurried off.

"Give those bastards a real show~!" Serene gave only a smile and a nod in response as she stepped into the center of the ritual circle that started to light up as she let her song rise. Four voices became eight, then sixteen, then thirty two as the different notes rose towards a crescendo that started washing out over the city as the ritual amplified and spread the music. But that was not the only thing it did either.

At just the appropriate moment, a small blue token that echoed of divinity was added to the circle, consumed in an instant as the song deepened and changed along with the image that started rising above the ritual site. It was the vast and unbound skies. It was the winds that travelled the world, touching each and every one of its inhabitants. It was hearts joined and purpose intertwined.

It was the spirit of Serene, touched by Song and amplified fourfold through her layered aura and then amplified again through what was clearly a potent divine ritual as it was put on full display for all in the embattled capital to hear and feel. It was only then that Riz - for once in her life a mostly silent onlooker - felt as if something was lifted from her emotions, leaving something lighter and more contemplative in its place as the miracle of Song was channeled through this marvelous priestess of hers.

From nearby, Sir Ilmaril Thenstone nodded, the azure orbs that were his eyes hardening as he turned to address the nearby adventurers.

"The barrier will soon be in place. Ryker and I will assign priorities, which will first and foremost be to deal with the rampaging undead and help support the silvers against the golds. You've all been briefed on the locals, so keep your tempers calm if you come into contact with them. We're here to help, not make things worse. Upon my signal, Gauntlet shall move out."