204 (Part One): Power Overwhelming

Cirayus was beginning to think he’d made a huge mistake by restraining the boy.

“The City of the Gods,” he said.

“Yes,” Vir replied, frowning at the ground.

“An Imperium Goddess. The Goddess Ashani,” Cirayus said. “Who can create Ash Gates.”

“Yes,” Vir repeated.

“And you left her behind?”  The giant roared.

“You were the one who stopped me from going back!” Vir shouted, driving his fist into the wall of their abode.

With just his fist? Cirayus thought, eyeing the impression Vir’s fist had made into the hard rock. He’s stronger now. Incomparably stronger. How much prana must he have coursing within his body to be so physically strong?

And the cyclone of prana that had whipped around Vir when he’d come through the Ash Gate earlier…

The terrifying image played through Cirayus’ mind in a loop, even now. To channel so much prana that it became visible… He’d witnessed nothing like it in his four centuries of life. Just what secrets had Vir learned in that realm? What gifts had he been bestowed by the goddess? How strong was he now? Cirayus shivered in anticipation.

Vir paced around the home, fidgeting, his hand brushing against the handle of his katar as he summarized his time in the Mahādi Realm.

The more Cirayus heard, the more his amazement grew.

For centuries, he’d striven to glean what he could about the Age of Gods. Both to understand demonkind’s ancestors, and because such knowledge might very well lead to an improvement for demonkind’s lives. Who knew what sorts of secrets lay buried in their past?

And now, in just under a day, Vir had learned more than Cirayus had in four hundred years.

Vir sat on a chair and clutched his hair.

Cirayus was no stranger to loss, of course. How many times had he watched those he cared about pass on? Both on and off the battlefield. The most recent of which still scarred him.

He’d lied when he’d told Vir earlier that he’d found ways of dealing with death. It never got easier. Not for those who were truly close to him.

Others dealt with it by closing off their hearts, often becoming cold and lonely in the process.

Cirayus never had. Rather, he refused to. He felt that putting the world at arms’ length would make him lose something precious. That the loss of his wives, sons, daughters, and grandchildren in the Chitrans’ coup struck so hard meant he still cared.

Unfortunately, it also nearly destroyed him. To this day, he wondered whether fleeing into the Ash with the young Vir was for the boy’s benefit… or his own. Was he ready to return to that realm? Was he ready to confront all those he’d lost?

The Chits would pay dearly—of this he had no doubt. But even if he single-handedly annihilated their clan, how was he supposed to look his progeny in the eye after he’d failed them so thoroughly?

Cirayus couldn’t say. The wounds were still too raw for him. Still fresh.

It was why he knew no words could console the boy. Only time would do that.

Time… And a distraction.

The boy needed to release those pent-up emotions.

“You look like you want to kill something, lad,” Cirayus said.

“You’re Ash-damned right, I do. If it wasn’t for that Wyrm…”

“Well, they may not be Wyrms, but those Domain Lords out there are still waiting for you.”

“Why bother?” Vir asked. “I know I can take them.”

“Oho?” Cirayus said playfully, betraying none of his internal turmoil. “Quite the confidence. I wonder if you can back that up?”

Vir looked unamused.

“Alright,” Cirayus said, stroking his beard. “Fell the remaining Domain Lords, and we will leave this place. ‘Tis what you want, is it not? To venture deeper into the Ash?”

Vir paused, thinking it over, then nodded. “Shouldn’t take long.”

Cirayus’ eyes twinkled with anticipation. He had a feeling he was about to see something quite special.

— —

Vir walked toward the Domain Lords’ territory, his mind a dark storm of thoughts.

Why didn’t she tell me? he thought. If she only said she couldn’t go through her own Ash Gates…

What would he have done? Lingered in the Mahādi Realm until he’d devised a solution?

How absurd. Ashani was many times more knowledgeable than him. If she hadn’t figured out a way, what hope did he have? She must have known he’d behave this way. She must’ve wanted to keep him from worrying.

Vir ground his teeth. The goddess was too nice for her own good. She was better than him. Superior. And yet, she’d chosen not to worry him, even over her own chances of survival.

Arriving at the Valley of Lords, he took in the scene.

Despite having been gone a month in the Mahādi Realm, he’d only been missing a day here. And already, a new Lord had moved into his territory, while the lesser lords no longer allowed him passage.

The first—an Ash Wolf—died to Vir’s Fist Projection. He Blinked up to it so fast; it had no time to react.

Vir’s bare fist—coated in a blade of Ash prana—skewered it through. The black beast died before it knew what had even hit it.

One down. Four to go.

Vir walked across the Lord’s domain and confronted the next in line—an Ash Biter.

The bipedal humanoid beast, seeing Vir slaughter the other Lord, moved quickly in anticipation of the upcoming attack. Just, not quickly enough.

Haste activated, and the world slowed to a crawl.

Raising his palm, Vir fired a volley of Prana Darts. He darted behind the enemy, and fired another, and finally a third volley.

Like the Ash Wolf before it, the Biter collapsed without ever having understood how it died.

Vir cracked his neck, moving steadily on.

The Third Lord was the one who had moved into his domain, and it, too, was familiar. The remnants of the Tusker colony he’d driven out had returned, claiming this new territory as their own.

The Tuskers bounded out of their burrows, forming a line before Vir. While they hadn’t yet had time to restore their original numbers, they still numbered over fifty.

Swarms of enemies had always been Vir’s bane—he’d lacked an ability like Balancer of Scales to suppress a group of enemies.

He still lacked areas-effect magic, but he now had some weapons that came close. Well, weapon. Just one. But it was worth a thousand, all by itself.

Vir’s Artifact chakram blazed to life, buzzing its deadly song. Vir hurled it at the swarm of Tuskers, and followed up with a Katar Launch.

Prana ripped the soil, cleaving through a dozen of the rodent-like beasts.

The Chakram took care of the rest. It carved through Tusker after Tusker, barely even slowing after detaching their legs from their torsos.

Seeing the devastation, the Tuskers panicked and fled for their holes, but a barrage of Prana Darts ensured they failed. The darts weren’t as powerful as a Chakram Barrage, but consumed far less prana—and that meant he could fire many more. Though, of course, his prana channeling capacity had increased so monstrously, he could easily keep Barrage up for ten minutes before burning out.

Against the Tusker’s minimal Prana Armor, the darts were more than sufficient.

The stragglers scampered away, disappearing into the nearby forest.

Two Lords left.

The fourth Lord was one he hadn’t so much as fought before, but assassinated when he’d first arrived at the Mahādi Realm. This would be his first time fighting on head-on.

The Garuda stood ten paces tall on its hindlegs. Its humanoid arms were attached to bird-like wings, and despite having the torso of a man, its head was attached to a great beak.

Vir couldn’t say how much weaker this one was compared to the one in the Ash, but he’d seen this thing casually kill Ashfire wolves. It’d even managed to grievously wound Ashani.

He’d hold nothing back.

Prana Current activated. Until now, he’d kept it off; he hadn’t needed it, even with the lower ambient prana density sapping his strength.

The energy of life flooded into his body, reinforcing his Prana Armor.

The Chakram flew, and with Haste active, Vir Blinked around the beast, firing a barrage of Chakri Launches—disks of black energy that cut through the air, while Vir held onto the actual metal rings.

Chakris—being smaller than their larger counterparts—required less prana to turn into a launch.

That wasn’t to say they were weak, however. Not even close. Chakri Launch offered a level of devastation in between Prana Dart and Chakram Launch, and with his extended prana channeling capacity, Vir could maintain the barrage for over a minute.

The Artifact chakram dug into the Garuda’s Prana Armor, but unlike the Tuskers, it didn’t immediately cut through.

Even so, Vir’s barrage was relentless. When the Garuda focused on him, the chakram would swoop in, eating its armor away.

But when it focused on the chakram, Vir hit it with Chakri Barrage.

The Garuda grew frustrated and Blinked at Vir, swiping at him with its deadly claws. Claws that had cut an Ashfire wolf in two.

Vir observed the attack in slow motion and met them with his own. Three deadly claws flared from each of his fists. Instead of blocking, Vir lashed at the enemy’s own claws.

The two strikes met, but one was of prana—the other mere metal.

Vir’s claws sliced apart the Garuda’s and plunged into its Prana Armor, aiming for the spot his Chakram had been whittling away.

The claws penetrated, and then it was over. The layer of prana protecting it failed, and the chakram cut through in a dozen different places.

Vir recalled the deadly disk to his hand, look away from the gory devastation his chakram had wrought.

Last one.

“Lad, that Naga is different from the rest,” Cirayus called as Vir began descending down the hole that led into the Mahakurma’s shell. It was a narrow space, barely wide enough to fit Cirayus, and stretched down for some twenty paces.

“What do you mean?” Vir asked as he made his way d0own the chute.

“It used to be one of us—it’s demonkin. It may be able to use Chakras. Do not allow its strikes to hit you.”

Vir paused. Thus far, he’d been invincible, and if he was honest? It had felt good. He’d needed a release—something to take out his pent up anger on, and the Domain Lords he’d once struggled against had served that role well.

He’d avoided taking a single hit, but he hadn’t been worried even if he had. With Prana Current active, his Prana Armor was far stronger than anything he’d been able to muster in the past. He had faith in its protection.

Until now.

He’d never encountered a foe that could use chakras. Vir would have no defense against them—not as he was. All the Prana Armor in the world wouldn’t protect him from an attack that struck directly at his soul.

“I’ll be careful,” he said, dropping the final few paces into the cavern below. Instead of coming to a rest on the floor, he sank into his shadow. The dim lighting from the shaft—the only source of illumination—made for strong, vast shadows. Vir’s ideal environment.

From the Shadow Realm, Vir learned the cavern was low and wide, about forty paces in diameter.

As for the final Domain Lord, it was a type he’d never seen before. While its torso, arms, and head were that of a man, below its waist was a snake’s body. The Naga peered back at him with eyes tainted by madness.

“What are you doing there?” Vir asked, popping his head back up within the chute, where Cirayus waited, wedging his body against the walls with the aid of Balancer of Scales to stay up.

“The cavern’s the Lord’s Domain. It’ll attack the moment I enter. I’ll remain here unless you need my help.”

Vir chuckled. “Doubtful. I’ll take your advice, though. Anything you can tell me about it?”

“‘Tis difficult to say what powers this Naga might have gained after being driven made by the Ash,” Cirayus said, “but I do recognize that tattoo. Aspect of the Eternal Storm.”

“Is that what it sounds like?”

“Aye. Rainshowers, gale-force winds, and some can even summon lightning. Though most demons are only capable of using it to conjure drinking water.”

“This is an Ash Beast,” Vir said. “I should probably expect the worst.”

“Indeed. Nagas are master spearmen. Watch out for its weapon. They aren’t especially quick, though they move unpredictably. Take care not to get caught within their tail. They can easily crush you.”

“Noted,” Vir said. “If it can use chakras, does that mean its regular magic can attack my soul as well?”

“‘Tis possible to imbue magic attacks with chakra, though doing so requires a high level of mastery. Avoid its magic, lad.”

Vir wasn’t about to take any chances. Only a fool would attempt to fight such an opponent conventionally. As badly as he wanted to see more Chakra attacks in action, he wasn’t about to put his life in jeopardy to satisfy such urges. Besides, he had Cirayus anytime he wanted a demonstration.

No, Vir’s skills were optimally suited for killing mejai, and the way he saw it, this beast was like a mejai and a Talent wielder mixed into one.

One strike. I need to end this in one blow.

“Oh, and lad?” Cirayus said as Vir began to retract his head from the rock. “Do you have any idea how strange you look with just your head popping out of the rock like that?”

Vir grinned. “No, but your expression says everything. I really ought to scare people with this more,” he said, immediately thinking of how he could mess with Maiya. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t had the idea earlier.

He made a mental note to devise a trap for when they reunited.

Vir sunk back into the shadow, then with Haste and Prana Current active, he exited, and Blinked.

He didn’t aim for his enemy. He aimed deep into the Naga’s territory, some twenty paces away from the Lord.

Vir pivoted, Blinking again, Empowering his legs to their absolute maximum to arrive at the Naga’s unprotected back.

The beast tried to turn, but its body was large. It couldn’t turn quickly enough. Vir had banked on that.

He hurled his chakram at point-blank range, activating Chakram Launch to add to the terrifying Artifact’s already-deadly potential.

But he didn’t stop there. Vir fired Katar Launch as well.

Dual Launches ripped into the Naga’s neck at nearly the same time.

Its prana armor held—but only barely.

Vir’s heel smashed into the Naga’s torso at the same time his chakram hit its neck.

Blink activated, and Vir sucked the prana out of the Lord’s own body, decimating what little armor it had left.

The wailing disk struck, finding exposed, vulnerable flesh. There was no resistance. It cut right through… And the Naga’s head went flying.

Vir recalled the chakram, wiping a bead of sweat off his brow.

He turned to Cirayus, who stood some twenty paces away.

Cirayus thundered in laughter. “Well!” he shouted between laughs. “That’s more like it!”

“Do you believe me now?” Vir asked, turning to his guardian. “Am I powerful now, Cirayus?”

The giant regarded him with a look of awe… and something else, too. An expression that disconcerted Vir. Reverence.

The demon bowed his head.

“I do, my liege. My Akh Nara.”

——

Unbeknownst to both, a pair of piercing blue eyes watched on as the dark-robed figure attacked the Ash Beasts. It sat on its haunches, silent, keenly observing. But it didn’t look at the enemies—it stared instead at the boy, refusing to look away, even for an instant.

It watched as he effortlessly reaved into one beast after another.

But then the figure lit up like a beacon, blazing with the energy of life.

The pair of eyes widened, and it perked up.

It knew what it had to do.

NOTE: The chapter after this one is 204 (Part Two), which I added later. The link to that chapter is here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/92405405
Please read it before reading 205!