Chương 321: Please

Kite couldn't help but make an inward sigh of relief as the sword array of the King finally gave in to his dispelling wave. Besides everything else at stake here in this clash, it was also a ready demonstration of just how much of a difference Kite normally made through tearing apart the magics of his foes, the deciding factor in his great success at fighting essence-users in general.

His aura power, Discarnate Erosion, was what had been the deciding factor in the case of the array, as the gold-ranked effect increased its efficiency the greater the size of the magical constructs it was wearing down. And while each sword wasn't that big, it was still one cohesive whole magic-wise, with plenty of angles for Kite's aura to erode to allow his powers to finally take hold.

To his credit, the King did not hesitate or otherwise stumble at the twin setbacks he suffered as the final wisps of whatever empowering boon the previous darkness had been joined the dissolving pieces of the array, sending out a few more sword omens to create some distance in order to reorient himself.

"I must say, Sentinel, that I have never faced a path more frustrating than yours."

"As yours is terrifying, your Majesty. And if you would let yourself be collared while I help save the heart and soul of our kingdom - or, even better, help me - it won't risk getting prematurely cut off either."

"If you think me defeated then you are sorely mistaken. I still have more than enough tools left to strike you down. And besides, this is not the kind of battle nor the kind of cause you step down from. At least not for me."

"For someone who has deceived you from the very start?"

"Silence. On this matter, you know nothing. Not the actual truth of things." While things had always been tense, these last words from the King was the first time Kite had heard a slight snarl leak into his voice as his eyes flashed with anger. But it did not seem like the anger of a man refusing to see the truth before his eyes, but rather that of dedication questioned.

That was when Kite truly realized that this man before him could have been a great monarch, had that dedication been directed towards something - or someone - else. Then the time for words was once more over, the King diving in to assault Kite with renewed fervor. Even without his array, the man remained a fearsome opponent who - while damaged - had not suffered the same kind of directly crippling injury as Kite.

But by the grace of Fortune as well as the Queen of Jade and Sky, arms were something Kite at least had to spare. From barely holding on until now, he was suddenly able to hold his ground - or rather, air - much better than ever before during the conflict. No, not just hold, but push. That shift was an incremental one, as Kite brought more and more of his spectral arms to bear now that his speed matched his opponent's so much more closely. One step forward, a trio of slashes that sent the King stepping back.

Another step forward, a sweeping of his conjured shields while making one-handed thrusts through the barriers with his spear to harry. A third step forward, staff slamming into the mirror-blade raised in defense.

This new dynamic had them moving back and forth in the air much more dynamically than before, gold rank speed put on even greater display even as both combatants were starting to bring forth the last of the cards which had been held in reserve, sparing no trick or effort as they drew closer to what had to be the end.

"World breaker! Chained cataclysm!"

"Infinite Beyond, Devour the storm." A series of point-blank detonations carrying enough force to create a chain of craters the size of grand lakes vanished into a gaping maw of darkness even as arrays of pale void sent snaking chains like long gashes in reality that converged upon the form of Sect Leader Calamity, only for them in turn to be torn asunder by a sphere of roiling lightning that burst from the man's body.

The shockwave from that eruption sundered even more of the white pillars inside Ardent's Halls of Nothingness, carrying that debris far out into the dimensional space. Even as he brought forth more of his runes to shape his domain, Ardent Horizon Seeker was not blind to what was going on on the outside. At least his aura wasn't. Things were truly turning complicated now that it seemed that the other sects were entering the city, along with the reinforcements Kite had arranged. That his son had arranged. Son.

Ardent still felt rather silly in how novel the concept felt, as he and Kite had known about it for years. But now there was not just a mere statement of heritage, but a true bond between them; acknowledged by both in an act that left them both more vulnerable to one another. And now Ardent could feel that son of his clash with the King, as they had been for some time. Much like the fight going on inside the dimensional pocket of his dueling power, it was a fierce clash, one Ardent would not wish upon most people.

The King's nemesis confluence gave him such power, but Kite was also very adept at wearing down or shattering such advantages. Of all the warriors Ardent knew of who might put up a proper challenge to the monarch, Kite was one of those he felt had a chance, along with himself and the man before him.

"Nihil Perspective. Endless steps. Absolute Sunder." Even as their paths met again and again as their conflict carried them back and forth across the whole pocket dimension of his power, Ardent was at least glad for the sake of the capital that it was he who had become the target of Might of Inner Calamity. At least both Kite and the King had powers with less of a tendency towards collateral damage.

The cataclysm confluence was not known for its subtlety, and Ardent had to use all of the spells, special attacks and advantages of his dueling power to keep the man at bay even in this place where his control was further empowered. While his void essence was widely known, the rest of the pieces that made up Ardent's path were not. Complimenting the void was the order and potential of the rune essence as well as the insightfulness and skill of the adept essence.

This left Ardent with the master confluence, wielding the void as his primary medium to enforce his path upon the world while the rest of his powers worked to enable, synergize and elevate. And if he were to shrug off humility for a moment, Ardent would have to admit that he was very skilled in its employment. But given the destructive path of his foe, all that skill and slumbering experience after over two decades as a sect leader were strained to the utmost.

And given how dearly Ardent wanted to emerge from the space and go to the aid of his son in this tumult, he also realized that it was time to start taking some risks in order to actually be able to do so without unleashing the calamity that was the sect leader upon allies and city both. Might of Inner Calamity seemed to detect the change in the very air of the Halls of Nothingness, the huge man grinning wildly with a rather unnerving intensity as he spoke.

"Good! Bring it out! Bring it all out! Show me your path so that I may tear it asunder. Glory be to Discord, and the opportunities I will seize as the weakness is torn from our kingdom!"

"There is another inbound, my Lord."

"Indeed, my Lady. I can feel it."

"And I can feel that thou art flagging, at least in body. Thy spirit burnest as gloriously as ever."

"Then that is all I shall require. Hand in hand with you, there is no way I could ever falter. Come one undead. Come one hundred. Gold rank or not, it does not matter."

"My Lord, there is such a thing as valor tipping over into the realm of oblivious bluster."

"My Lady! You wound me! Can you doubt–" Striding along a street in the furthest corner of one of Heavenward's more mercantile neighborhoods, fellow guild members spreading out among the houses and hunting for the undead as they closed in on the ritual site, both Will and Laevyeth fell silent as their quarry appeared from around a nearby corner. It was as grotesque as it was unique, a floating sphere of merged rib cages with elongated skeletal arms sticking out of it at odd angles.

Within each rib cage, a screaming wraith-like face seemed trapped in viscous black liquid as it strained outwards, each seeming to control one nearby arm which twitched through different magical sigils as it started flinging noxious bolts and streams of death towards the spearman and his companion.

Much like the few other gold-ranked undead Will and Laevyeth had helped their fellow guild members vanquish, it was a gold-ranker in name only, enjoying the perks of rank disparity while not quite living up to the fearsome attributes. Still, it was only through their unified path that Will and Laevyeth were able to strike them down, most other combatants needing much larger groups to overwhelm the defenses of the abominations.

But unlike the other such encounters, this one suddenly took two unexpected turns in short order. The first was that another gold-ranked undead suddenly burst from the streets nearby, a squat hulking creature of bone and hate with wide, shovel-like claws not unlike those of a mole. However, it had barely had the time to emerge before it was suddenly brought to the ground as what looked like an ashen meteor crashed into it.

Said meteor was no rock from beyond the heavens however, but a bear of embers and ash that roared with a rumble like that of the deepest of forges. An armored man followed, borne through the air by a cloak of billowing flames before plunging his spear into the bony form held in place by the ashen bear, the shield on his other arm battering away a great claw meant to strike down his familiar.

"Sir Knightfire! Our greetings!" Will called out even as he spun Leavyeth to deflect some of the incoming spells while dodging others through switching places with other discarded conjurations. It had been some time since Kite's wedding, but as a fellow spear wielder - and therefore man of impeccable judgment and tastes - Will remembered him well. As did he Kite's other friends and allies.

The two Gellers proved not to be far behind their vanguard, the fiery-haired Rachel appearing atop a nearby rooftop to fling globules and cascades of corrosive acid down towards both of the nearby undead while Phiona vaulted in to help her fiancee.

"Sorry we are late!" Rachel Geller called with a cheer that definitely did not match the gravity of the conflict around them.

"Focus, cousin!" Phiona called in return, whirling her staff to slam another huge claw to the side, the rank disparity still leaving her sliding across the cobbled road.

"Well, leave this one to us. That stern guy from the task group–""Sir Ryker!" Phiona interjected at the informality, causing Rachel to roll her eyes.

"Sir Ryker sent us out to help deal with the undead while he and that other gold of theirs went after bigger fish."

"Then you have our gratitude!" Will called even while flying upwards and sending a cascade of spears as return fire towards the floating ball of magic, bone and death. He meant it too, as the experienced team of peak silvers would have a much better chance than many of the guild members who had not nearly progressed as far.

"Heavens as our witness, evil shall be vanquished this day! Heavenly Shaft: Darkness Penetrator!" As he lunged forward, Will didn't see Rachel nearly fall off the roof behind him from how she suddenly started shaking with repressed laughter.

Tungar Boh reveled in the feeling of the slick blood covering his claws as he crept into the city in the wake of the scattered groups of sect warriors who had started trailing away from the so-called tournament outside of the walls as they finally noticed that there was something else going on right under their noses.

Sending his minions to sow chaos and distrust, appearing from the shadows to disembowel and kill those targets of opportunity that would spark the most chaos, or tasting the fear of all those proud warriors once they realized that their elders weren't close enough to save them from him… Today has been a wonderful day for the ghoul monarch, the allies of Father Undeath having served up a wonderful opportunity for him.

Eating the corpses of powerful people was his main way of growing stronger after all, and perhaps he would even have the chance to break up his diet of silver with a gold morsel or two. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. However, as he felt a pair of silver auras isolated from the rest of their companions, Tungar had to resign himself to wait for a more appetizing meal. Hopefully the opportunity would come eventually.

"Silk! We cannot! The others of the sect are–""What we can't do is to leave our father and our brothers at home undefended. Not on a day like this. Gods only know what happened to trigger this mess. I won't be satisfied until we have brought them to the sect camp. Then we can see about fighting for glory."

"... Fine, but don't blame me if the elders will have our hides for this. Or worse, that it might ruin your chance of catching someone's eye and becoming an inner disciple." It had been a long time since Tungar I had felt any kind of sympathy for the plight of others, and he certainly did not start at that moment. Instead, his sharp-toothed smile only widened as he slid into an alley in the wake of the pair - one bronze rank and one silver - as they slipped further and further away from any kind of help.

How would their fear taste to him? His long tongue lashed the air at the very thought, the hunger rising inside him as he started speeding up. He needed to taste them, to feel their life running down his claws, to rip– In his haste as he slid along the shadows of the alleyway, Tungar barely noticed as he brushed aside some garments hanging forgotten from various clotheslines that criss-crossed the street, and was thus very surprised when the fabric suddenly twisted and stuck to his clawed hand.

Only his whip-like reflexes saved him next as several more lengths of cloth suddenly descended from above, their edges somehow seeming sharp enough to cut and rend. This was proven true a moment later as they plunged into the stone cobbles below as Tungar leapt back while tearing apart the fabric restraining his hand with a swipe of his claws.

"A fisherman, huh. Out to catch himself something nice, only to find old Tungar instead. A shame," the ghoul growled as he sped up, skittering up along a nearby wall and up atop the tiled roof before the twisting, animated fabric could catch up.

"A shame that it's the fisherman who's going to get gobbled up this day!" Even before he had finished, Tungar's tongue and the paralyzing saliva that dripped from it was already striking outwards, elongating greatly at speeds that would be hard to follow for most silvers. But the whiff Tungar had picked up from the man who landed at the roof ahead of him was of a much more delectable, richer prey.

However, his tongue never found its mark when the man suddenly shifted and disappeared into one strand of cloth and suddenly emerged next to Tungar while delivering a punch to the ghoul's side. A gold-ranker was always going to be strong, but the force of the blow took even Tungar by surprise as the cloth twined around the man's arm glowed and flexed, sending the ghoul crashing into another roof three houses over before he managed to right himself.

"Why are they always talkers?" was the only growled response Tungar got before the man dove on him once more. So close. It was so close. The end of her hooked chain brushed against the fluttering robes of the priestess for just a moment. Perhaps they could just reach a little bit further, a little bit quicker and– and the woman turned to smoke once more. By now, River was more than tired of the chase which she had been led on. More than frustrated.

This time, as the infuriating priestess once more slipped out of her grasp while more of the palace's - albeit now rather spent - defenses were turned against her, she didn't even snarl. It was as if River had run out such expressions, the frustration now burning in her chest as a deeper and deeper cold rather than the hot incandescence from before. The object of River's vengeance had been so close for so long now, only to slip out of sight again.

She needed a new way to traverse the palace, to corner her foe in this place that the other woman knew so well. Something needed to change. And this was in spite of Dragonfly actually having seemed to manage in her intervention, as only the occasional construct still showed up every now and again to try to impede River's progress.

One on one they were easily disassembled by her chains almost as an afterthought, the silver-ranked constructs needing numbers and unthinking, unfeeling persistence to have a chance to impact a gold-ranker. The priestess' disappearance led to River once more being forced to navigate and track with mostly her aura senses in the smoke as the chase led them into a part of the palace where they had previously not traversed.

It did not seem to become a long visit to the more utilitarian corridors - perhaps servants quarters or alike, given how River felt lesser auras huddle in fear in the various rooms - either, as the priestess seemed determined to move back towards other parts of the palace. And while her aura was generally not easily read even by River, the acolyte of Pain suddenly felt herself focus even more on her spiritual senses than before. What was that current? Fear? Yes, but not for herself. Something else. There…

For the first time since the chase began, River stopped - actually stopped - in her tracks so that she could focus more intently on her spiritual senses. There was something or someone here the priestess did not want her to find. And while River wanted to keep up pursuit of the woman so badly that it almost felt like physical agony - much to the delight of her god - the tempering of mind and new perspectives she had undergone during the past years let her reign in that impulse, albeit with much difficulty.

What was there to be found here? As she started probing more deeply, River realized that there was indeed something here. Or rather, the lack of something. It was subtle, but with her aura strength she could pick out a whole area that her senses seemed to register as empty. A bit too empty. It was below and slightly off to the north, and River felt a distinct note of triumph.

Not only because she realized what it might be, but also in that her target seemed to have noticed her slowing down as the priestess of Discord even started backtracking slightly, as if wanting River to chase once more. After sundering a few more defensive barriers, River soon found herself in a seemingly nondescript crossing of corridors that was right above the area she had managed to detect. Without hesitation, River then summoned a chain which she slammed into the ground, stone chips flying in all directions.

It definitely made a mark, but this would take time. Chains were good at many things, but not as tools of digging, even with River's gold-ranked strength. Loathe as she was to admit it, she would require assistance to get this done. Fortunately, there was a decent source of it nearby. River sent one sharp poke of her aura in that direction before she went to work, her chains a blur as they started thrashing the stone floor.

Not long after, crashes and sounds of scorching violence drew closer before River's intended assistance was launched into view around a nearby corner, two jade-constructs close on her heels.

"Alright, alright, I'm here! Now stop it!" Dragonfly shouted, wresting her axe from the grip of one construct with surprising ease as she slammed the butt of the weapon into the other's head with force enough to shatter it easily.

"Heavens, that aura of yours is like needles pushed into my spine!" Rivers was about to speak, but even she was given a moment's pause when she truly took in Dragonfly's form. The other woman had apparently taken more than her fair share of punishment, as her smoldering armor was ruined beyond what any self-repair enchantments could help as mere scraps remained of it and her clothing.

But it wasn't Dragonfly's near nakedness that made River truly stop and consider, but the incandescent inner fire that burned inside the fierce woman. Each hit suffered would stoke it further, and as things stood, River wouldn't be surprised if Dragonfly surpassed her in sheer strength as the increased attribute transcended into gold-ranked territory. But sensing the priestess draw closer, River spoke, as this was exactly what she needed.

"You shall help me break through this floor. Now," she said, sending out a pair of chains to sunder the second construct, which from the looks of it might be one of the last of the Threefold Guard still standing. When Dragonfly didn't immediately move, River turned to look at the woman with furrowed brows, only to note that she was getting a raised eyebrow in return.

"What?" River asked, impatient.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Dragonfly asked, arms crossed.

"No. I am a gold. We cannot. Not truly."

"Well, I suppose you can't forget something you never learned," Dragonfly muttered.

"This, River, is where you are supposed to say thank you. Thank you, Dragonfly, for keeping gods knows how many constructs of my back. Can you help me dig here, please? Thanks?" River almost snarled in frustration at the absurdity of it all, but the priestess was drawing closer and she sensed quite a lot of exasperation from the silver-ranker, battered and blooded as she was.

So, for the second time in a short order, River forced down the impulse to merely throttle the other woman until she did what she was told - another experience that was apparently pleasing to Lord Pain - and spoke.

"Please." The word came out through gritted teeth, and River was actually surprised when it had an immediate effect on the other woman.

"Well, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" Dragonfly asked, immediately leaping over.

"Crush this floor, you said?"

"Yes."

"What is beneath it?" Dragonfly asked, but had already started laying into the poor, partially sundered stone floor already.

"Something important to our foes. And thus, to us," River stated as she helped even as she felt the shimmering smoke thickening around them.

"My target is returning. You will keep on digging. I shall fend her off." When Ametrine had first felt Pain's whelp start lagging behind, she had thought it mere happenstance, or that the woman had perhaps given in to the frustration. But then the hitherto doggedly persistent woman had suddenly started moving off in another direction, and given where Ametrine felt her stop, this was something that meant trouble. And no mere inconvenience either, but something that could become truly disastrous. How?

How had she picked up on their main ritual site? It was supposed to be some time yet until it was detectable from the outside, and by then it should have been too late. They had shielded it so well. How? But as Ametrine's keen hearing picked up the first sounds of shattering stone, she realized that there was no time to lament her misfortune. She needed to act.

Turning and drawing closer, Ametrine slid around a corner while under the cover of her shimmering smoke, noting that it wasn't just the whelp of Pain there, but the Pathbreaker's silver-ranked wife as well, the shorter woman's greataxes tearing into the stone floor with disturbing efficiency.

Inwardly cursing, Ametrine conjured a few of her hidden blades, only for the slicing manifestations in the smoke to be deflected by whirling chains as Pain's whelp turned to chase her, turning back once Ametrine created some distance. They repeated this dance a few more times, Ametrine forced to back off time and time again as she simply could not step in to properly engage the more combat-savvy young one. Slippery Ametrine might be, but that helped her little in a one on one confrontation like this.

Ametrine needed reinforcement, and she needed it now. From what she had glimpsed through the windows, the dueling power of Ardent Horizon Seeker still remained, meaning that Might of Inner Calamity was still indisposed. This left only one option that Ametrine could properly trust, even though she loathed to call upon it for many reasons. Still, such was the way of this whole endgame of theirs. Time and time again of late, they had been forced to act without being fully prepared.

If they'd only had the few additional years of their original timetable…" This is not the time for scattered thoughts, Gardener. Act, or risk failing this whole endeavor. Act to preserve my garden that has not yet bloomed." The words of her god snapped Ametrine out of it. Hidden in a thick bank of smoke, she conjured her portal - one small mercy was that their foes had somehow circumvented the spatial lock over the city - and leaned into it.

"Altessia! You are needed!" Ametrine shouted out into the air above the Heavenly Stairway where the other end of her portal had appeared, her words almost completely swallowed by the roaring din of the many conflicts that raged across the capital.

"Handle it! It will–" Altessia Sessante replied, keeping her foe at a slight distance through a series of huge conjured claws that appeared in the air to swat at the amethyst-haired celestine as if she were a bug. Ametrine did not let her finish though, for once interrupting her so-called 'superior'.

"The main ritual site is compromised. It needs to hold." Ametrine's statement wasn't loud, but she knew she had the other woman's attention and that Altessia would be able to hear her. Which she apparently did, her helmet turning her snarl into a discordant screech as she made for the portal with obvious reluctance. Ametrine only had the time to see Altessia's foe disappear in a blur before she leaned back, readying herself.

A moment after, Altessia shrieked through with the sound of warping steel as she crashed into the wall, catching herself effortlessly as her claws immediately started tearing up debris which she flung towards Pain's whelp at the intersection which was rather close by the standards of a gold-ranker.

But just as Ametrine gave the command for the portal to close - or, more specifically, the very moment before - Altessia was suddenly stopped mid-stride as another blur shot through the portal and crashed into her like a river of flowing lightning.

Soul, Blessed of the brute Warrior instantly found her bearings and spun away from a series of retaliatory claw-swipes before delivering another spinning kick into Altessia's armored form that send the other high priestess flying through the wall in a shower of splinters and transcendent light.

"By Discord's sweet gardens, who leaps into an unknown portal?!" was all that Ametrine could snarl in pure disbelief as the aperture finally closed, even if its very purpose had proven to be in vain. Now there was even more madness unfolding as the two new combatants - both a lot more destructive than Ametrine or Pain's little toy - started tearing the nearby palace to shreds as they fought with the frenzy and abandon of a pair completely submerged in the concept of conflict.

Ametrine wasn't sure, but some of the movements of Soul even seemed to channel those very principles, as if the celestine was somehow adding and emulating it into whatever accursed fighting style she was using. This didn't matter at the moment though. Altessia could not help, at least not in any concerted effort. Ametrine's gambit had failed, but she had one option left that would be even riskier as it would take more time. Perhaps too much, but that was all she had.

As such, Ametrine shifted into smoke and sped off with all the speed she could muster to the other end of the expansive palace grounds, towards where two unstable auras still fought for supremacy. Towards her King, her blade. She would help him and then bring him here to defend the heart of their whole endeavor after they had struck down the persistent Pathbreaker together. Heavens be willing, they would return before it was too late. They had to. Or everything might have been for naught.

And that was something Ametrine could not allow. She would have to risk herself even more for their great undertaking.