Tale of Eldramir

The one good thing about the Cult of Light’s abominations was the fact that they were stupid. Driven entirely by instinct, they weren’t able to do things like planning, or even prioritizing any sort of objective beyond the one that they were given.

In this case, that meant that Wolken almost had an easier time fighting off the three of them than Ezekiel did, holding back the group of Imperials headed toward him. With the reinforcements from the city still at least a couple of minutes away, he knew that he was in for a bad time.

‘At least no one else is gonna get caught up in this...’ Shine tried to look on the bright side, but it was obvious that they were having difficulties. ‘Do you think we’re far enough away from the compound to not damage it when these go off?’

‘Honestly, I’m not sure.’ Ezekiel glanced toward the area where the building and mana chambers were. The enchantments had nearly recovered, but the Imperials were almost at it, with long range spells already striking it once more. ‘I’m just glad that we’re a good distance from the city. Though, with the reinforced arrays protecting it, I doubt that anything but a joint attack by all three of those monsters will break through it.’

Ezekiel could feel Shine nod in the back of his mind. The Spirit’s agreement gave him some comfort, but it wasn’t much. ‘Let’s just get this over with.’

Holding out a large metal, rod shaped, artifact, Ezekiel tossed several steel balls with one hand, and lifted the rod in the other.

Channeling his mana through the rod, sparks immediately lit up, and began bouncing back and forth between it and the spheres that were now floating around him. Within seconds, Ezekiel’s [Empowerment] strengthened the lightning to the point that it changed from a bright violet to a blinding white. Almost like cracks in a mirror that cut through the air.

A high-pitched whine filled the area, and the pressure that Ezekiel was releasing increased five-fold. The mana condensed more and more, until finally, a loud crackle filled the air.

“Raaaaahhhhhhgggg!!!” Swinging the rod in his hand down at the Imperials, at the middle of his arc, the energy that surrounded him was released in a massive blast of lightning that branched out for tens of kilometers in every direction he was facing.

The area behind him, where his base was, remained untouched, but the area in front of him was torn asunder at the lightning ripped through the air and the earth.

Dozens of Hunters and Mages were struck by the blast, but that was a startling minority when compared to the amount that was still coming. From the look of it, only a handful of Adepts actually perished. The output of the spell was barely within the Legendary realm, but not the upper ends, and therefore it was blocked by the Legendaries that prepared their defenses.

‘The output was lower than we had hoped, and the actual control aspect was terrible. It just flew everywhere with no direction at all!’ Shine was disappointed in the results of the Artifact Ezekiel had made. ‘Though, I guess it’s not a total failure, since we can use it as an anti-array weapon.’

Ezekiel silently agreed. This Artifact was a bust when it came to attacking large groups, since it was apparent that it was easily avoided. But he could easily see himself using it against the defensive encampments used by the Kindled family.

Breaking their bases’ protective formations would make it easier to strike at them directly. Something that would be valuable when they got to Morathi.

‘Incoming!’ Shine’s warning nearly caught Ezekiel off guard, but he reacted well enough, and avoided the flaming wind spear striking down from above.

His Artifact was dropped, however, and parts of it became melted slag as the fire melted the relatively weak metal.

‘Keep note that we need to make sure that the defensive properties of these Artifacts are also improved.’ Ezekiel idly mentioned to Shine as he dodged out of the way of a dozen enchanted daggers being controlled by the wind.

Sparing a look upward, he noticed several Legendary Hunters flying at a higher altitude than himself. So distracted by the army below him, he hadn’t been paying attention to any support forces that had broken off to pincer him or anyone else in.

‘We messed up.’ Shine mournfully complained. ‘How could we mess up like that!?’

‘It’s fine, we just need to hold out for another minute, and we’ll be good to go.’ Ezekiel didn’t let himself feel worried. Even now he could tell that his support was just a short distance away.

‘Defensive maneuvers. Focus on maintaining a minimum mana output.’ Taking a less aggressive stance in the sky, Ezekiel allowed Shine to focus on the long-range attacks, while he focused more so on the direct attacks coming from the Legendaries that were now within melee range.

They were mostly Tempest Hunters, since their presence was necessary in order to safely maintain an atmosphere so high up. Now that they were lower, it wasn’t an issue, but Ezekiel knew he’d have to keep things like this in mind moving forward.

“Wretched Anathema! Die and rot in the dirt below!” One of the Tempest Hunters screamed as he engaged Ezekiel in hand-to-hand. Gauntlets covered in lion heads with manes running along his forearms impacted hard against Shine’s blade.

Due to his physique, Ezekiel didn’t lose out in power, or speed, but before he could make a counterattack, he was forced to back off, and avoid a flaming whip shaped like a snake, with fangs that dripped a crimson substance that ignited in the air.

“Venomous mana...” Ezekiel grits his teeth as he blocked a hammer blow from a third Hunter. This one was a Cavern Hunter, whose weapon was lit up with numerous enchanted runes.

Allowing the impact to throw him out of the way of the pugilist once more, he tried to wrap the Flame user's whip around Shine’s blade. He hoped to lock it in place, to keep the woman using it from both attacking, and maneuvering as easily as she was.

A tingle on his back told him to stop that and move out of the way.

The next second, as he shifted several feet to the side, the barriers that Shine had thrown up were shattered as the daggers that the Void Spirit was deflecting lit up with Lightning and broke through thanks to their increased offensive might.

‘Alright, this might be a bit much!’ Regret was flowing through Ezekiel as he realized that trying to hold back half a dozen Legendaries by himself was too difficult, even for him. ‘I’ve got a position! [Jumping] now!’

Shine braced them with a series of barriers as Ezekiel connected the space, he was in with the space several hundred meters away. A blink later, he successfully avoided the combined strike of hammer, whip, and daggers.

‘Too close. How much further out are-’

The clash of thunder shattering stone filled his ears, causing him to flinch at the unexpected sensation. Glancing down at the ground, he could see that the forces from the Empire had successfully broken through the barriers around his property.

Right as the first group from Sanafalls entered the battle.

‘New plan: strike their back lines before they can recover!’ Ezekiel took off in a flash as the Hunters he was fighting tried to catch up, but only the Lightning and Tempest Hunters were able to match his speed. Only two bothered to try.

“Get back here, Anathema!” The pugilist Tempest Hunter, and a Lightning Hunter with a wicked pair of scimitars kept up the chase. Ezekiel couldn’t help but smirk. These odds were much more in his favor than before.

Especially when he sensed an incredibly hot flame approaching from where he had just been.

‘Oh good. She caught up.’ He stopped flying, nearly causing his pursuers to fly past him. Only to get a fist to the face each, and a blast of blue fire that nearly boiled them alive in their armor.

Riley’s crimson Spirit Armor was wreathed in blue Flames as she came to a stop next to Ezekiel. The heat she emanated made him a bit uncomfortable, as it meant that she was upset with him, and wasn’t bothering to keep the flames from affecting him like normal.

“I don’t suppose my most heartfelt apology will be enough?” Ezekiel nervously chuckled and Riley became locked in combat with the two brainwashed Hunters.

“We’re going to dinner after this. An expensive dinner. Then, you’re not allowed to use any training rooms for a week, at least!” Ducking under the Lightning Hunters weapons, she brought up the butt of her spear, knocking the man back and rattling his brain.

Before she could follow through, the Tempest Hunter sent a gust of wind that pushed the Violet clad Hunter away from Riley’s strike. He tumbled for a second before regaining his bearings.

Letting out an angry growl, he turned into a bolt of Lightning. A loud ‘crack’ filled the air as his scimitars impacted against the shaft of Riley’s spear.

Rather than reply to her orders with another word, Ezekiel decided to remain quiet as he moved to handle the Tempest Hunter before he could help the Lightning Hunter any more than he already had.

The fanatic’s lion covered fists broke the sound barrier with every blow he tried to land on Ezekiel. But other than shaking causing him to shake his arms from the rattling, Ezekiel remained largely unaffected.

“How are you doing this!” The Tempest Hunter screamed as he lashed out with a kick that Ezekiel flew forward and past in order to avoid.

A blade of wind that would’ve stuck him had he backed up sailed past him, harmlessly flying into the distance where it dissipated without issue.

“I’m not a mindless beast that’s lashing out aimlessly, that’s how.” Ezekiel swung in a wide arc with Shine missing the Cultist’s head by mere inches.

The man seemed to smirk as he moved to strike at Ezekiel’s open side. Only to reel back as a [Void Stab] impacted on his armor. A slight crack appeared for a moment, but quickly disappeared.

‘It looks like whatever they’re using to dope up their troops is getting stronger.’ Ezekiel dropped out of the way of the Tempest Hunter’s counterattack and moved to give Riley some support. ‘Ready a [Jump].’

Shine prepared their spell, just as the Tempest Hunter caught up to Ezekiel. Blindly swinging backward, he [Empowered] and redirected the [Force] in his blow to make the Tempest Hunter literally bounce to the side. All of the man’s momentum was sent flying into another direction, and a moment later, Ezekiel shifted positions and disappeared.

Right in front of the charging Lightning Hunter that had reared back to take a swing at Riley. Who was shaking her arm as if it had gone numb. With the way it sparked with electricity, he figured that it probably had. The thought that it was the [Understanding] and uniqueness of this Hunter’s magic crossed Ezekiel’s mind, and he made a mental note to look into it later.

For now, he could see the Hunter’s eyes widen in fear and surprise as the man tried to stop himself from skewering himself on the opalescent sword in front of him. But all he managed to do was slightly alter his course.

Shine’s reinforced and [Empowered] blade, which was also wreathed in a [Void Stab], pierced through the Lightning Hunter’s side, rather than the center of his chest. But Ezekiel didn’t let up there.

Wrenching his body around, Ezekiel levered Shine through the man’s torso, ripping the Void Spirit blade out with a splash of blood. The Lightning Hunter fell to the side, his injuries now fatal.

However, it was obvious that he wasn’t going to die just yet. Screaming in rage, Ezekiel barely had time to back away before the man ignited the mana still inside him. A massive electrical shockwave was released, and even with his strong physique, Ezekiel felt himself spasm as the lightning coursed through his Spirit Armor and into his body.

“Ezekiel!” Riley’s yell grabbed his attention, but there was little he could do while he lost control of his body. A dull numbness began spreading through him as he felt a foreign magic fill his being.

‘What the hell was that!?’ Shine hadn’t made the same connection regarding the Lightning Hunter’s possible [Understanding] and Ezekiel had. So, his sudden inability to move his body properly had shocked the Void Spirit into anxiety.

As he fell through the air, Ezekiel watched as Riley began dueling with the Tempest Hunter, who was now diving after him. ‘Just make sure I don’t break on impact with the ground. I need to figure out how long it’ll be before my body recovers.’

‘Can’t you just neutralize it with [Nothingness]?’

Ezekiel mentally shook his head at Shine’s suggestion. ‘Not with this. Purging the spell wasn’t difficult, but the damage has already been done. My nerves are nearly fried, and I might need a proper healer to recover.’

Since it was his nerves that were damaged, even though he could sense his body’s overall physical health fairly well, it meant that the physical sensations he relied on to tell when he was going too far with his physical spells was not too accurate right now.

Twitching his fingers clenched his fist. Tapping a toe turned into a mule kick. All while releasing mana that wasn’t being properly channeled through his body.

‘That bastard must’ve been a Peak Legendary even before the enhancement he received from the Cult.’ Ezekiel’s body continued to flail as he tried, and failed, to reinforce and enhance his natural healing in order to recover from his current state. ‘I’m pretty sure I can recover from this on my own, but not anytime soon.’

The numbness had begun to fade, but his actual control over his body had yet to return.

But by now his descent had slowed down as Shine telekinetically halted his fall and asked, ‘How did this happen?’

‘I got cocky and didn’t expect a suicidal explosion filled with a bizarre [Understanding] that I wasn’t prepared for. Now we know for the future, at least.’ Ezekiel tried to look on the bright side as he continued to watch as Riley parried a series of blows from the Tempest Hunter. ‘How’s the rest of the battle? Is anyone else coming near us?’

‘Not yet, but I’m not sure how long that will be the case.’ Shine sounded worried as they spread their senses outward. Ezekiel could tell that his partner had sensed something bad. ‘I don’t know how much longer Wolken can hold out for either. He is outnumbered after all.’

‘... Alright, time to test the next item. Inside my Void Pouch is a glowing, dark green vial. Can you get it for me and feed it to me?’

Shine reached out and began sifting through the objects inside Ezekiel’s bag, even as his body still spasmed every now and then as he tried to move under his own power.

Finally, after several seconds of checking things, Shine found the correct item.

‘Are you sure that this will help you?’ They couldn’t help but ask as they worried over what the effects of this elixir would be.

‘I know that it won’t kill me.’ Ezekiel’s body shook even more violently as a cool sensation spread through his body as the elixir did its work. After a few seconds, steam suddenly began emanating from his body, seeping through the small openings in his armor. ‘That’s not good.’

Ezekiel felt it as his nerves were reformed, and his skin peeled off beneath his armor and clothes. It was as if his entire body had been renewed, but he also felt a pressure fill his helmet.

‘I think your hair grew out!’ Shine exclaimed as they examined the changes happening to their partner. But Ezekiel remained silent. The cool and soothing sensation had turned into a burning one as his body became hypersensitive.

It was like the blinding sensation your eyes felt when going from pitch black darkness to sudden bright light. The only difference was that this feeling was all over his body, not just centered around his eyes.

‘How’s the fight going?’ Ezekiel mentally growled out his question as the pain of his sudden regeneration began to pass.

‘It looks like Riley’s winning, but she hasn’t yet.’ Shine changed their focus to the fighting around them. ‘I don’t think the Imperial forces are doing too well either. It looks like Sanafalls is out in full force.’

“Then let’s get to work!” Ezekiel grunted in exasperation as he finally regained control of his body. “I really don't want to waste this opportunity.”

Taking out a number of caltrop shaped artifacts, Ezekiel tossed them at the ground, before flying up to fight with Riley.

‘Are you sure using those is necessary?’ Shine maintained focus on the ground, where the Artifacts that Ezekiel just tossed out began emitting Void Magic. Specifically, [Nothingness] infused domain magic.

It did little to the more powerful Hunters, but the Adepts and other support forces found themselves with their spells breaking down, or their magic stuttering and faltering as the flow of their mana was interrupted.

‘It’ll be fine. They’ll only work for a few minutes anyway. It wouldn’t be a good thing if they harmed our allies too. Nor if the Imperials figured out what was happening.’ Even with his voiced concerns, Ezekiel wasn’t worried. He made sure that this particular Artifact was practically untraceable.

Focusing on the Hunter that was fighting Riley, he noticed that the man was starting to grow tired. It looked like Riley would be able to finish him off fairly soon.

Seeing the two had clashed once more, Ezekiel waited for a moment when Riley would be further away from her opponent. But it seemed like there was nothing to worry about, as Riley took action to finish things herself.

The enemy Hunter had taken hold of her staff, and the two were now nearly face to face, with a whirlwind of cutting air that was snuffing out most of Riley’s flames. But something seemed to change in the air. Riley quite clearly took a deep breath, before blowing out a thin stream of fire, directly at the man’s head. His right eye, specifically.

Having noticed Riley take in her breath, the Tempest Hunter tried to back away, but Riley had actually let go of her spear and grabbed his forearms instead. An intense force of wind pushed against her, but the air seemed to ripple for a moment, and all of the built-up momentum seemed to dissipate.

Instead, a sharp ‘crack’ filled the air as a pressure wave was released. Yet it wasn’t strong enough to disrupt Riley’s spell.

A thin blue line of fire passed through the Tempest Hunter’s skull, exiting through the back of his head. There was no explosion of energy due to suicidal sacrifice. Merely a body becoming limp as all thought left his mind. His life was now extinguished.

Riley’s spear fell out of the dead man’s limp grip. At the same time, she tossed the body to the side. It’s Spirit Armor now dissipating.

“Good fight. Was that a new [Understanding]?” Ezekiel asked as he caught the falling spear, just below where Riley was floating. “I don’t think you’ve used a flame as condensed as that before. I also noticed that you did something to the air that blocked his last attack.”

He gave the spear over to Riley, who sighed in exhaustion. “Yes, that was new. It has to do with conflicting temperatures. But it’s very difficult to do.”

Ezekiel reached into his Void Pouch and took out some crimson-colored mana crystals. “It’s not much, but you should regain what you can for now.”

He could tell that Riley had used more mana in this fight than he had, so he wasn’t going to bother using his own reserve of mana crystals just yet.

“Thank you.” She immediately drained all the mana to partially fill her reserves. “Where to next?”

Ezekiel looked around. It seemed that their fight had moved them well outside the reach of the rest of the battlefield. As it was, the Imperial forces had been pushed back, and there was now a bit of a deadlock as the Sanafalls fighters weren’t as willing to throw away their lives as the clearly brainwashed Imperials. Though, it was obvious that the invaders were beginning to grow tired.

One thing that confused him, however, was the fact that he could no longer see where Wolken and the Cult’s monsters were. This was disturbing, since the man was beginning to lose the last time that he and Shine had tried to check on the Mythic Hunter.

He knew that he had lost track of the Mythical beings once the battle had started. But given how intense such fights were, he would’ve thought that he’d be able to find them again without any issues.

There should’ve been devastation, and the landscape torn up and destroyed while they fought. Even the pressure from the mana released in their fight should’ve been easily noticeable.

‘We’ll find him later. We need to do what we can here and now.’ Shine pulled Ezekiel from his concerned thoughts. Shaking his head to disperse his worry, he turned to examine the battlefield.

“Let’s clear out their back lines before they see us floating here and decide to do something about it.” Ezekiel pointed at one specific corner, where it looked like some basic defensive barriers had been set up by a couple of Legendaries.

The surrounding area had very few Legendaries nearby. Most of which were locked in combat already, so he and Riley would have an easy time destroying the forces that were currently there.

“Sounds easy enough. Better than you going off on your own again.” Riley moved to descend, but Ezekiel called out to hold her back.

“Wait! I almost forgot. I made something for you that might help with your range. I wasn’t sure you would want it, but after seeing that last spell of yours, I thought you might be able to master it fairly quickly.” Ezekiel pulled another Artifact from his Void Pouch.

This was a weapon that was fairly familiar to him, at least from his past life, but was almost alien here on Eldramir.

“What’s this?” Riley held the weapon in one hand, doing the absolute worst thing she could have, given what type of weapon it was.

“Don’t do that!” Ezekiel immediately snatched the gun away from her when she began looking down the barrel with her hand on the grip. A finger was very close to the trigger.

“Here. Hold it like this, and channel your mana into the grip. When the runes are fully lit up, pull this trigger here. Make sure that you’re pointing the barrel, this part, at your enemy when you do.” Ezekiel gave her a brief rundown of how to handle the weapon.

“It’s a weapon that’s not from Eldramir. Given the enchantments I’ve given it, it should synergize well with your newest spell.” Ezekiel could easily picture Riley shooting beams of fire at her enemies. Their bodies would be pierced through by the incredibly hot flames.

Curiosity filled Riley as she carefully did as she was instructed. Filling the Artifact with a relatively minor amount of mana. But feeling a familiar sensation to what she did when focusing on her new spell.

Pointing the gun at an Adept that was below them, she made sure that it was filled with mana before pulling the trigger.

A stream of fire was instantly released, and the Adept in question fell to the ground. Dead as a doornail with a charred hole in his chest about the size of a finger.

Riley nearly jerked back in shock. “That was only half the mana I usually had to use by myself!”

Ezekiel smiled. He was glad that this Artifact worked the way he intended it to. “Now then; shall we go?”

Riley just flew forward without a second glance. Her new weapon was once more filled with mana, but her spear was also covered in blue fire.

Following behind her Ezekiel dove into the fray, cutting down Adepts with ease, and helping the Sanafalls Hunters by getting rid of the supporters that were taking pot shots.

However, just as he had cut through the last Hunter in his immediate vicinity, a sinking feeling filled his body and soul. It didn’t scream at him, like it had done so in the past, but he could easily tell that something had gone wrong, and they were all in danger.

Looking into the distance, Ezekiel pulled a throwing knife from the Void Pouch. It was a simple thing, and barely had any enchantments beyond some reinforcement and sharpening runes.

Pulling back his arm, he broke the sound barrier with how hard he threw the dagger. It went flying through the air in a flash of light as the mana he had infused within it began to break it down.

It only took a few seconds, but the dagger crossed the battlefield uninterrupted, and impacted on something hard, nearly ten kilometers away.

The were a sound like shattered glass, and a series of cracks filled the air. Everyone on the battlefield heard the sound and turned to look at the broken segments in the sky. They glowed softly with Radiant mana and began to close.

Yet, before they did, everyone could clearly see the bleeding and panting form of Wolken, as he stood before three equally injured and exhausted abominations.

Without a word, the Mythic Hunter charged forward once more, even as the battlefield lost track of him. The massive mirage barrier made of Radiant magic cutting off all view once more.

Half a second later, the battle began once more. This time, the Imperials' morale had been restored, and they began fighting much more intensely.

All while Ezekiel dashed toward the location of the mirage barrier, with Riley chasing after him.