Chapter 318 - Zone of Destruction

The anger in Nate’s heart was both mirrored and juxtaposed by the environment that he had created. The molten stone spewed forth from the volcano was burning away everything in the vicinity, the air itself being superheated to the point where breathing normally was an impossibility. Nate remained unaffected inside his barrier, his Regalia keeping him at a normal temperature and the barrier runes surrounding him bottling up the clean air he was producing from a secondary rune. 

His opponent, and the source of Nate’s cold rage, was similarly unaffected. The heat without and the cold within. Nate felt the urge to smile. He loved duality. But now was not the time. A rune for Molten Earth Shaping bloomed on his right sleeve and a fist the size of a bus rose out of the flowing lava and tried to flatten Kalin. 

The slippery elf flowed to the side like a mirror given form, the silvery substance reflecting the reds of the fires below and the black of the ash suffusing the air. In response, Kalin continued to spew forth a sea of silver from his Inner World. The Worldforger’s Sect signature Skill, in the hands of one of their greatest Seeds, had apparently become a repository for enough liquid silver to fill a lake.

The molten fist continued to chase Kalin and in response Kalin, freed from the bindings of Reciprocity and the restrictions from attacking someone outside of his new strata, began his counterattack.

Spears of silver shot up from the lake expanding around Kalin’s feet and launched themselves with pinpoint accuracy at Nate. Rather than contest them with his barrier, and with his Space Lock rune beneath the ground destroyed by the volcano’s eruption, Nate created a Space Rune and with the addition of Created Space moved himself minutely out of the way of each spear. Rewriting his position in Reality was more costly in terms of mana and also required he create the painting and while it was fast for longer distances, it wasn’t as quick as simply manipulating space for shorter distances.

The attacks continued to fly from either side. Nate added popping balls of superheated magma that were chaotic and harder to predict. In response Kalin started firing a myriad of smaller but faster silver arrows from the lake of liquid metal that continued to expand at his feet.

So far neither had been willing to use Divine Energy but Nate knew that would soon change. They were both preparing themselves. Nate had already used quite a bit of his Divine Energy. Kalin, by comparison, had not only grown how much Divine Energy he could store but also had that same container completely restored. Nate knew they were either close to parity or Nate was down slightly on what Kalin had available. Couple that with the likely truth that Kalin’s Stats were higher and it meant that at face value Nate was at a slight disadvantage.

There were however a couple of other factors and it was those opportunities that Nate was considering with a portion of his mind while he continued to try and burn away Kalin’s growing pool of silver. Nate’s advantages were his mastery of Concepts and his Regalia. As they fought Nate had gotten a very good sense of Kalin’s Concept and it was a simple one with a depth of complexity. With every change in the silver lake Nate sensed the Concept of Form as Kalin reshaped his liquid silver to suit his needs. Nate was pretty sure that Kalin could do a little more than that though. Form was malleable and Nate had begun to suspect that the liquid silver coating Kalin might go a little beyond the surface. In a sense, Kalin was the lake of silver. Nate just needed to confirm that was the case before he started investing his Divine Energy.

Against a weaker opponent Nate would’ve simply painted them out of existence. But that only worked if he could outspend them on Divine Energy. So instead he began using Runic Reality to create a new rune below ground. The area was ripe for it anyway, the Concept already present.

A small amount of Divine Energy was applied to a thin spear of lava as Nate accelerated it using Flow and Empower. The thin lance, only a finger thick, shot through the silvery form of Kalin before the Greater Divine elf could slip to the side. A small splash of liquid silver was all Nate managed before the tiny hole had sealed itself.

“That’s an interesting Skill. Silverscale isn’t just a name huh?” commented Nate, happy to drag the time out as he set up his grand finale.

“It’s my fathers name. He is a Greater Divine silver wyvern and I am sure he would pay you to cease this ridiculous attack and allow The System to remove me from the Reaping. You’ve made your point. I doubt anyone will be foolish enough to attack you before you reach Greater Divine now.”

Nate shook his head. “It’s not about making a point. It’s about the consequences of your greed. You had other options. Options that didn’t involve pulling together more than four times our number to try and murder us. But those never crossed your mind, did they? Because for you, getting what you want is more important than the lives of others. I hate that worldview. The idea that the only way to get ahead is on the backs, or corpses, of others. So, I guess I am making a point, but it’s not the point you think I am making. My point is this. Submit to your own greed and you’ll find me, eventually, to administer the consequences for your transgressions.”

Kalin sneered then, his face forming for a moment in the flowing liquid silver.

“It seems you cannot be reasoned with. Take your ideals with you to the grave. Rain of Silver!”

Divine Energy burst forth from Kalin and the tinkling sound of pieces of metal ricocheting off each other filled the area like a symphony. Nate looked up and realised that Kalin had been sneaking miniscule droplets of silver high into the sky the entire time he’d been running from the lava. Now that silver rained back down like a storm of tiny blades. More importantly, the lake of silver had spread, tendrils snaking beneath the ground, below even the lava. That part Nate had felt with Conceptual Sight but he hadn’t expected the secondary effect as another Skill locked the area down. Nate could control Space but only within the confines of the silvery lake. Beyond it was gone. There was nowhere to run to.

“I’m surprised you fell for it. I thought you’d sense my Silver Formed World and try to escape it. Now you’re trapped in here with nowhere to go.”

The silver rain continued to fall down in sheets, growing in intensity and Nate realised it was a cycle. It wouldn’t stop till Kalin made it stop or he ran out of mana. Already Nate’s barriers were falling one by one under the constant bombardment of hundreds of sharpened slivers of mythic silver. Still, Nate waited. The cost to challenge it directly with his own Divine Energy was more than the cost to restore his wounds with Art Imitates Life. He just needed to protect his head.

The entire time Nate continued to use Runic Reality to carve the ground into his desired shape, super imposed upon on top of the Silver Formed World. The silver broke the last barrier and Nate formed new ones above his head as the pins started to shred his arms and legs. His Regalia was no barrier to them and looked like it was rippling as hundreds of pins sliced through his body. He gritted his teeth, remembering that he had suffered worse than this at Ankh’aris’s hands. He’d spent days trudging through a barren wasteland, fighting on the edge of survival as his body was destroyed and rebuilt. This was no different.

Art Imitates Life and a small amount of Divine Energy restored his body, one of his self-portraits now showing his body utterly shredded besides a perfect head. Then the process began to repeat itself.

“How long can you keep that up? I am a Greater Divine now. And a Pure Mage at that. I can guarantee I have more mana than you do, more Divine Energy than you do, more Stats than you do. You merely prolong the inevitable.”

The words touched Nate and he felt his Soul Barrier rise in defense, keeping the words from affecting him.

“Was that Silver Tongue?” asked Nate curiously, blood dripping from his lips as his body was ruined once more. Another splash of Divine Energy. Another self-portrait commemorating his mutilated form.

“It was. Shame. Guess you really will make me use more of my Divine Energy to finish you off.”

Nate smiled through the pain. “Finish? Interesting word choice. I am. I like your choice of Concept. Form, it’s so adaptable. Similar to Shape but in many ways I think Form has additional depth. Adaptability is something I excel at as well. I made this specifically for you. I’d say enjoy, but I know you won’t.”

Nate activated the rune beneath the ground and poured his Divine Energy into the rune. All of it. Everything he had left in his Divine Vessel. Almost one hundred and eighty units worth. The rune was complex, and Nate had used the Sigil for Connect, coupled with Divine-tier Empower Sigils to connect it to Kalin’s Silver Formed World. Now they were both trapped in here and Kalin couldn’t disconnect his Skill. Then the secondary function of the rune activated. The falling silver began vanishing. No dust, no particles. They just ceased to exist. 

Their destruction joined the rest of the mana already tinged with destruction as the lava had melted away and destroyed everything around them. The result was a cascade. A pyramid of destruction where each part was built on the preceding one as it raced towards a climax, a final conclusion. The lava was the next to go, turning to gas and ash, then nothing. Nate felt Kalin fighting back, pumping all his Divine Energy into his lake of liquid silver, into his own Form. It didn’t matter because he’d used more Divine Energy for his attacks than Nate had to weather them.

The silver began flaking off, then vanishing into nothingness as the lake of liquid silver shrunk piece by piece. Kalin’s mouth was opening, screaming into the void, but Nate couldn’t hear him. The air between them was destroyed. The destruction in the air caressed Nate’s arms, eating away at him just like Ankh’s cultivation chamber. But the Creation inside of him kept the worst of it at bay. Destruction was a part of him and its touch was tentative rather than hungry. It was simply doing what the Concept of Destruction did and unlike Ankh, Nate was not a creature of pure destruction. He was the duality. The place where Destruction and Creation met. The space between the two opposing Concepts.

Nate watched Kalin die slowly, piece by piece, as his silvery form slowly became nothing. When he finally died, a few minutes later, Nate turned the rune off and took in his surroundings. Where the volcano had once been there was now a caldera in the shape of a bowl. A small amount of lava bubbled at the bottom of the indentation but of the slopes and mountain, nothing was left.

Nate was about to float himself over to the edge with the dregs that remained of his mana when the Solaris dipped down behind him.

“Need a pick up?” called Frick from behind the controls.

Nate sighed tiredly, utterly spent and feeling every inch of it as he landed on the ships deck.

“That sounds wonderful,” replied Nate, pointedly ignoring Gwen and Fili’s wide-eyed looks. Jak was leaning on Wulfgar with a huge smile plastered on his face.

As for Kiri, she took one look at him, then vanished and reappeared a moment later holding a ring and Orb in her hands. “Kalin’s I presume. Seems The System protected them. Nothing else was left down there.”

As if Kiri’s words were the floodgate, the rest of them brought forward spatial storages and other items and laid them down at his feet.

“What are you doing?” he asked uncertainly.

In Wulfgar and Kiri’s case he knew they were doing it to increase his points on the Leaderboard. But he didn’t expect the same of Jak, Gwen and Fili.

“We figured you’re kind of the leader and so we would help you win the Reaping. Since we’re all part of the same Sect now,” answered Gwen.

Jak and Fili were nodding along. Nate sighed and nodded, bringing up the Leaderboard.

Individual Leaderboard (Top 10)

1. Nathaniel Weber - Risen Sun Sect (2315)

2. Kiri Beaufoy - Risen Sun Sect (978)

3. Wulfgar Bjornson - Risen Sun Sect (722)

4. Captain Borin Vaughn - The Golden Tide (469)

5. Wu To’sama - The Starbreaking Guild (289)

6. Gee’k Dumma - Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent (192)

7. Natalie Hellfire - The Eternium (169)

8. Mondo Grin Kalim - Blood Wind Sect (167)

9. Baranthios - Flux Industries (164)

10. Sergeant Glick Thompson - The Golden Tide (163)

Nate read through the leaderboard. The names had almost completely changed. So many Seeds were dead. Kalin, Kole, Drim, Sel’kin. There had been another member of the Dynasty as well. Lower in the rankings. Lunar Sylvin. That had been the Light Mage. Nate was pretty sure that Frick had ended up shooting her down. Perenthia of course as well. 

The tables had been well and truly flipped. Nate could tell from the point changes that Wulfgar had killed two, his points having jumped by forty. Borin had jumped by more than forty but Nate guessed that was because, like him, the Captain of the Golden Tide had gotten more than just kills. He’d gotten the spoils of war, the tribute now being laid before Nate and counted against his overall points. Enough Divine artifacts to put Nate so far ahead that there was really no need to do any more System Challenges.

Just because the ambush was over didn’t mean the World Reaping was. But now, there were no threats left to Nate’s victory. So instead, it was time to pillage the place and take as many artifacts as they could.

Nate’s eyes came alive as he glanced at everyone.

“Half a days rest for everyone while Frick finds us a new area. Then we’re going to turn this treasure trove into a treasure mountain.”

The tired and bloody smiles he got in answer raised Nate’s spirits as he trudged towards his cabin in need of a good sleep. He blocked the door with a wooden stool to prevent Frick from doing anything weird while he slept and then put up some Sound Barriers in case Kiri decided to ‘celebrate’ with Gwen. Then, Nate laid back on his comfortable cloud Concept bed and let himself drift into the world of dreams where he imagined what he would fill his Created Space.