618. Three-Way Battle

Red and green markers appeared all of a sudden, providing Dallion options to better his fight. The issue was that they appeared minutes after they were needed still displaying solutions to situations long past. The first few times they had confused Dallion to the point that he’d almost lost all his instances to magic attacks.

Which one do I go for? Dallion asked, zig-zagging through the air. Four aetherbirds were in the air, casting spells at tremendous speed. For the moment, they were focusing on the Star, though Dallion would also be targeted.

It doesn’t matter! Nil shouted. None of them are real!

That much was a given. The real aetherbird remained the realm itself, although the way magic went it was also possible that every echo was simultaneously the real one.

Concentrating, Dallion combined a spark with a line attack. The action was tiring, though not as exhausting as in the past. A slightly shimmering line spread towards the horizon, ready to sever everything in his path. Dallion had aimed it to hit three of the aetherbirds and the Star. To little surprise, it only managed to strike one of the echoes and mostly due to its overconfidence. Apparently, spark attacks were potent even against a being made of magic, though normal attacks could also have some effect.

No rectangle appeared. Most likely it would do so in another minute, when everyone had forgotten about it. That was one of the things that annoyed Dallion about magic: the rules went counter to everything he had learned so far. To make matters worse, having an entity that could create spell patterns with its feathers made it next to impossible to break a spell cast.

Fighting Katka was so much easier, Dallion thought as he darted toward the Star. The plan was simple: while he had to defend himself from the aetherbird, defeating the Star was a must. With luck, the spark attacks would inflict some permanent status crippling Arthurows in the future.

Concentrating, Dallion tried to use his perception trait to find weak spots on his enemy. As expected, no markers appeared. That wasn’t too much of an issue, as a hunter, Dallion was used to fighting without markers.

“Spark!” he shouted, striking at the back of the Star.

The void matter quickly thickened to protect Arthurows, but that was part of Dallion’s plan. He had seen how a spark infused harpsisword could cut through the material… and it did.

MINOR STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 10%

A scream filled the air, but it wasn’t Arthurows’. There was no mistaking the shriek for anything human.

He brought in an army, Dallion thought. The void matter wasn’t just the brainless blobs kidding in the buildings of the fallen south. They were actual creatures… and one had just been killed.

“Back!” Dallion ordered, fearing a response.

The moment he did, a new series of spikes emerged from the Star’s back. The difference was that this time they didn’t remain attached to it. Similar to Aether’s attack, though on a far lesser scale, they burst in all directions.

Watch it! The armadil shield extended, forming a cocoon round Dallion. Three loud thumps indicated that he had been hit. The tip of a spike appearing within the cocoon indicated that it was serious.

MAJOR WOUND

VIHROGON’s health has been reduced by 50%

“Shield!” Dallion shouted.

I’m fine, Vihrogon replied. The pain soaking his voice made it clear he was lying. If it wasn’t for Lux’s healing effects, he would have been dead by now. Thankfully, there was a sliver of health keeping him from breaking apart.

Dallion unsummoned him, splitting into instances. The black spikes had changed form, turning into grotesque flying creatures. Even in this state, Dallion could tell that they were chainlings. There had to be over fifty of them, corrupting the environment like ink on a page of paper. Black smoke came out of all of them, as Aether’s realm slowly burned their nature away. No doubt they were in considerable pain, but not enough to keep them from fighting.

“Spark!” Dalloin shouted, doing another three-sixty like attack.

The line cut through several chainlings, destroying them on the spot, along with a new echo of the aether bird that just happened to appear at the wrong place. The aether creature glared at Dallion, then went on to attack a nearby chainling. After a certain amount of time, it was going to disappear, surrendering to the effects of its destruction, but until then it intended to do as much damage to the Star’s army as possible.

Shield, how are you? Dallion asked.

Alive. Don’t worry about me, the guardian replied from within Dallion’s realm. Focus on the fight.

Two chainlings merged together, claws and tentacles shooting out of them as they attempted to trap Dallion like an iron maiden. Combining spark with a multi-attack, Dallion drilled them full of holes.

AGGRAVATED STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 100%

Dozens of purple rectangles stacked up quickly chipping away at their health. In a matter of seconds, what was left of the entity dissolved completely in the air.

Good show! Nil congratulated Dallion.

Normally, Dallion would take the compliment in stride. The ease with which he dispatched chainlings, though, alarmed him. Even after reaching the level he had, he shouldn’t be able to kill them off this easily. The creatures were barely stronger than cracklings. There were item guardians that had given him a harder time.

The item, he thought.

That had to be it. The moment he’d used it, he had reduced Aether and everything else Dallion was in contact with, to level seventy. Apparently, the Star’s army was no exception. Yet, that posed a serious concern: since there was no way for the Star to have been in the aetherbird’s realm, there was only one other place he could have come from…

Nil, can a realm be invaded without its owner knowing? Dallion asked, while engaging in another chainling. This one had taken a smarter approach, using tentacles to fight him at a distance.

Some have claimed so, but not really, no, the old echo replied. If nothing else, you’d be told that your realm was invaded. It’s possible to see the rectangle when it’s too late, but—

What about hiding in it? Dallion moved left, and right at small bursts, slicing up the tentacles striking at him. No matter how much of them he cut off, they always seemed to regrow.

That’s a different matter entirely. While people have a difficult time, there are entities that have successfully hidden in other realms. The icicorn within Diroh is a perfect example. However, even that presents a serious difficulty. One would have to be considerably adept at—

Splitting into three instances, Dallion flew forward. Using acrobatics, he made his way forward, avoiding the tentacle attacks, and thrust his sword in the center of the black shape. The harpsisword vibrated, breaking the effect of the light like cracks along the creature’s surface, causing it to disintegrate.

TERMINAL STRIKE

Dealt damage is increased by 1000%

“I’d forgotten what it’s like to fight here,” Dallion said. There was something inherently satisfying seeing the results of each strike.

The euphoria didn’t last long as a new series of spikes emerged from the ground, one of which missed him by a hair. The aetherbird wasn’t slacking either. At this point, everyone was going all out.

Dallion had no way of knowing the state of his opponents—the Star seemed to be doing pretty well, shooting phoenix echoes with his shotgun, and Aether seemed entirely unphased. Sadly, stress and fatigue had started piling up. Masked beneath the pain of his shoulder, he was starting to feel the usual headaches which occurred when he overused mental abilities. Furthermore, his arms were getting slightly numb.

Spinning in the air, Dallion twisted his body, performing a point attack with a kick. The result shocked his body, sending a brief burst of pain through his leg.

Good, Dallion thought to himself. That gave him a few more point attacks if needed. The bad news was that his legs still weren’t fully used to the pressure, so he wasn’t supposed to overdo it.

“You’re picking the wrong side,” Arthurows shouted. “You’ve seen the south. The phoenix was the one who caused all this devastation. If you don’t help me, he’ll do it again. It might not be today, but he’s set his sights on the empire. In a few years, or a decade at most, it’ll be gone, just like the south had.”

That lie was poorly timed. Dallion had seen first hand snippets of the events that occurred in the past. As any good lie, it also had enough elements of truth to it. There was no denying that the Star had been pushy back then, but the Moon’s reaction was… extreme to put it lightly. Reducing an advanced society to utter savagery for the actions of some was on the harsh side. Also, Dallion hadn’t seen what had occurred the second time. The devastation there seemed even worse. If the fabled city had been erased of existence, the Moons took special care to make sure that the people remained alive. Judging by the craters, the second time things were far more severe. Could it be that the phoenix had caused that? As the embodiment of magic, it was within its power. It was curious how the aetherbird’s perch had remained more or less intact after two cataclysms at the very least. Clearly, Aether had the power to save anything he had strong feelings for.

“I’m the only one providing a counterbalance,” The Star went on, while three echoes of the aetherbird composed an exceedingly large and intricate pattern of symbols in the air. “Without me, he’ll go rampant throughout the world. Only the Moons will have the power to stop him, and the Moons don’t care. For them all, this is just a chess game. Aether is nothing more than the family cat that likes jumping on the board and knocking off the pieces it doesn’t like. One good purr and the Moons will forgive him and set up a new game. It’s okay for them, but not for the pieces.”

“So, we are the pieces?” Dallion asked.

“You know that already.”

The pattern was complete, releasing a mega spell of lightning straight at the Star. Dallion had only seen a handful of spells, so he had no basis for comparison. Seeing this made him freeze up as a statue, as if he’d looked in the eyes of a gorgon. In a flash, every part of him had turned to stone, clothes and weapons included. It was only thanks to Lux’s flames that he remained in the air. The effects elsewhere were a lot more terrifying. A giant crater had emerged in the realm just beneath where the Star was, ever-present, even with the rest of the environment shifting. As for Arthurows, the shield of void matter that had expanded to protect him had turned to black clay, quickly crumbling away.

The phoenix caused this? Dallion thought. The crater was similar to those in the south, but also to the one in the Glass Mounts. Could it be that for once in his life Arthurows had told the truth? What if everything he had done was merely to stop a far greater catastrophe? Nerosal being swallowed up by the wilderness would be devastating, but how would it compare to what Dallion had seen happen just now?

“My plan was never to challenge the Moons,” the Star said, throwing a spear of void matter at the nearest aetherbird echo. “It was to stop him! That’s why I needed the zoology skill gem! It was only meant to attempt to reason with him without relying on anyone else.”

You tried to destroy Nerosal, Dallion thought.

“No,” the Star replied. “My plan never was to destroy it. I wanted to shield it. Only the void can stop Aether’s attacks. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself this. How come spark attacks work on him just as well as they work on me? Aren’t they something granted to you by the Moons?”