Chapter 317 - Cannons and Chaos

Kiri dodged to the side as Divine Energy flowed through her body and soul. Pink hair flashed through where Kiri had been a moment before and dirt went flying from the sudden impact of feet moving so fast that even the mythic tier ground couldn’t handle the force. Another step, another slash, more of the forest destroyed.

Kiri smirked to taunt her opponent as she gave ground before Perenthia’s onslaught. Kiri could see that the coldness that had lingered in the elf’s eyes every time she looked at anything that wasn’t Nate was well and truly gone. What remained was pure insanity with a heavy dose of obsession fueled intensity.

The silver blade whistled over Kiri’s head as she ducked another attack and her sudden movement let her see how the clouds were sliced far above. Soul Domain continued to fuel Kiri along with her Divine Energy as she matched Perenthia move for move. Kiri was improving her body positioning and battlefield awareness at an astonishing rate. 

The increasing challenge was starting to show on Perenthia’s face but only for a moment here or there. When Kiri did a slight twirl to avoid being skewered that let her throw a backhand at Perenthia that forced the elf to abort her follow up attack, the look was there. When she tilted her head to the side minutely to avoid a Severing Strike by the width of a leaf, the look was there. It was a look of shock on a face that had never known shock.

“How?!” screamed Perenthia as launched into a three-piece attack that ended with her slicing a line in the ground for fifty metres.

Kiri sidestepped the final attack and then stepped in close, launching a bone-shattering kick that Perenthia was forced to invest Divine Energy to avoid. Suddenly, the elf was just that bit faster than she should have been. Improbable, perhaps, but then Kiri had long learned that the girl was every bit as bullshit as both she and Nate were. A cheat of the highest order. Kiri was in one of the Nine Heavens. If only the girl hadn’t been completely insane. She could’ve been perfect for Nate. Instead she was this…this broken thing with a one-track mind and the ability to defy Reality.

“How?!” screamed Perenthia again, now with ten metres separating them. “How are you doing that? You were a mediocre combatant at best when we started. Now you’re moving like…like…like my father! I hate it! I hate you! HOW?!”

Kiri debated answering. The distance between them was nothing. Perenthia could attack from there and Kiri could close the distance with her enhanced movement in the same timeframe. So, did she want to answer this insane elf? She did, if only to gloat.

“It’s you, actually. I’m moving like you.”

Perenthia’s brain seemed to short-circuit for a moment, the dead-eyed stare returning for a moment before the blast of the volcano must have reminded her of Nate. Then the obsessive wide-eyed intensity returned to her perfect pink eyes as Kiri watched on.

“I used to…a while ago…well, only two years really…but whatever, I used to have a Skill that let me steal the soul energy of the things I killed. And then I could burn that soul energy to utilise some of their capabilities. Empower myself or take on a small amount of their mana affinity temporarily. You get the idea. But, I thought those days were behind me. Then, Nate figured out your Skill, the one that lets you read people through the spirit realm by I dunno…tasting or whatever the soul energy they naturally exchange with the spirit realm. And I got an idea. See, I am really fucking good with soul energy. So, what if I did something similar…but more…targeted. See, you’re right…I was a kind of mediocre fighter, at least in terms of talent and training. I’m just so tough to take down that it never really mattered. But then you come along, all talented and trained, a genius of combat and the sword. Now, I don’t really care about the sword, but I do like the rest of what you know, and it turns out that to pull soul energy in from the spirit realm you’re also leaving yourself open to the soul energy of others from the spirit realm.”

Kiri smirked, still channelling soul energy into Soulborne Knowledge, as she Endured the chaotic thoughts of Perenthia while extracting the knowledge of fighting and combat from the insane elf. A small amount of Divine Energy trickled into Kiri as she discarded yet another memory of insanity and found another of Perenthia in some kind of training room moving through forms with perfect footwork.

“Let me show you what I have learned from you.”

Kiri moved. Perenthia’s blade came up to deflect the incoming punch. Kiri used Soul Shift. Her arm changed position so that it would slip underneath the deflection. Probability changed and Perenthia’s blade was once more in the way. Kiri let her arm collapse from the deflection, adding a burst of speed as she headbutted Perenthia hard enough to send the elf flying off into the trees.

A scream of fury followed as Perenthia righted herself, blood leaking down her forehead so that she looked like she was a pink flower with a red stem. Kiri grinned and launched herself at the elf again. Another exchange and more blood was flowing from Perenthia now. Kiri had gotten a cut in with her Regalia, the Destruction lingering in the wound. Perenthia had given as good as she got for that one and Kiri found herself spending Divine Energy to repair the damage of Severing. Kiri could tell they were both starting to run low on those resources, but she was confident Perenthia was lower as Divine Energy continued to trickle into Kiri from Enduring all the punishment and insanity the elf had in her.

Kiri moved again. Perenthia’s blade whipped out and shone white. Kiri was bad with most Concepts other than her own. She was aware that she lacked her brothers innate sensitivity to such things. Even she could tell that Perenthia was making a last ditch attempt to kill her, throwing everything into the attack. Divine Energy and two Concepts were mixing within the blade and Kiri tried to activate Soul Shift to escape.

“SEVERED FATE!” screamed Perenthia.

Soul Shift failed. There was nowhere to go. Every possibility was cut off except for the white blade moving towards her. Kiri couldn’t move, couldn’t act, could barely think. All she could see was the shining blade as it cut her in half.

Kiri opened her eyes within her sanctuary, the other half of her Soul Domain. She was both of the spirit realm and the physical realm, so her Soul Domain existed across both. She looked at her tether, slowly unravelling as a thousand tiny cuts tried to sever it and cast her adrift within the spirit realm. The last of her Divine Energy flowed out of her, golden as it coiled around the white thread of soul energy that connected her to the physical realm, reinforcing it. Her thread Endured, and Kiri appeared once more in the physical realm.

Perenthia looked on with disbelief on her face.

“He should have been mine…” 

Kiri smiled. “Didn’t your Skill tell you? I’m immortal.”

Then a small amount of Divine Energy flowed into Kiri from Enduring the attack against her Soul Domain. It flowed into Kiri’s body, empowering her. Then Kiri moved. She landed behind the elf, blood sizzling on the hand dagger extended from her Regalia. A second later Perenthia’s head hit the ground. No Divine Energy flowed into Kiri. Perenthia had used everything. Kiri scooped up the Orb that formed and then dumped everything, including the elf's body, into her Soul Domain. To the winner went the spoils, and if she was going to piss off the girls Patriarch no matter what she did, she might as well make sure she got as much out of the exchange as possible.

Glancing up she looked for the Solaris. She was completely out of Divine Energy and could do with a pick up while she recovered just in case Nate needed help, though she doubted he would. Looking back towards the volcano in the far distance she smiled when she saw the tidal wave of lava forming into a gigantic fist.

“He’ll be fine. FRICK!!!!!”

*************

Worldhammer watched the screen with equal parts annoyance and shock. That little shit Kalin had gone against his orders and gathered a small army to attack the two second evolutions. He should’ve just accepted his loss gracefully and been rewarded by Worldhammer for his obedience. That was the source of the annoyance. The shock came from the fact that the second evolutions were winning. The System was clearly preventing certain things from being shown, but it couldn’t hide everything. 

Perenthia Illari’Svell was dead at the hands of Kiri Beaufoy in single combat. While Worldhammer could acknowledge that the girl had been a genius of the blade, he was also one of the few that was aware of Divine Vessels and knew that the girl had one courtesy of her father. A second evolution should not have been able to surmount such a difference in capability. That was why Worldhammer knew that Kiri had a Divine Vessel as well, which meant so did Nate.

It had been a long time since someone had managed to trick Worldhammer and the faint feeling of surprise fluttered through his chest. The boy, Nate, had baited him on that night. Even if his little ploy hadn’t changed the outcome, the boy had successfully tricked him.

Worldhammer didn’t feel anger at being manipulated. If anything, he was impressed. Not so impressed that he wouldn’t kill the boy as soon as he broke through to Greater Divine. Which was the second thing to surprise him. Nate’s points on the leaderboard had been far beyond any plausible expectations. Now Worldhammer knew why. Kalin had broken through to Greater Divine in an attempt to save himself from Nate’s wrath. By all rights the moment Kalin evolved he should have been teleported out of the World Reaping. But The System seemed unwilling to intervene and Worldhammer realised why as Nate attacked anyway, disregarding the tyranny of tier. The System wouldn’t do something that made Kalin owe it and it seemed denying the second evolution his retribution would have created a debt somewhere.

Worldhammer leaned back in his chair and frowned. His Vault was about to be raided by the very individual he planned to kill. Worldhammer just hoped he wouldn’t take anything that didn’t technically belong to Worldhammer. A faint hope, but a hope nonetheless. He had a moment of thought where he considered removing a few items from the Vault but instantly felt the bindings of Reciprocity pressed so tightly against his chest that for a moment he couldn’t breathe. He had given his word to The System, and it would have its payment.

Worldhammer restrained his anger with the thought that at least he would finally be able to break through the barrier in his Divine Vessel development when this was all over. It was a balm to his pride, albeit a small one.

*************

Frick cackled as he guided the Solaris across the skies.

“Ready Almighty Boom!”

“Ready, Captain Frick!” came the reply.

“Fire!”

In the forest below Frick could see the late arrival team from the Golden Tide, led by Sergeant Who-Gives-A-Fuck, fighting for their lives against twice their number. They’d been unlucky in already encountering a single team from the Dynasty of the Heavenly Serpent. Then that team had been reinforced by other members of the Dynasty fleeing the huge fucking mountain of lava that Nate was throwing around like it was jelly and the battle was a food fight.

Normally Frick wouldn’t have cared, but that was the point. He didn’t care. So caring itself was an act of Chaos! Or was it? Frick realised he didn’t know, which was probably chaotic anyway? What he did know was that fire was awesome, especially when accompanied by a big boom.

The cannon’s strike set a swath of the jungle on fire. A few of the Dynasty who had already enjoyed the gentle caress of Frick’s cannons tried to flee into the forest.

“Frick-seeking missiles over…hey what the fuck!”

Frick cursed at the mini-Fricks that hadn’t even waited for his orders, throwing themselves overboard as they glided down on little, bat-like blue wings while clutching makeshift ordinance in their arms. They were supposed to wait for the order! 

“Chaotic, eager, little shits,” grumbled Frick.

The following explosions and the small amount of Divine Energy from at least one successful kill was a balm for his wounded pride.

“Orders, Captain?” asked First-mate Frickle.

The tall goblin was impeccably dressed wearing a blue shirt that buttoned up on the left and epaulettes on his shoulders denoting his rank. The perfect seaman, and utterly devoted to the chain of command. Everywhere else on the deck was chaos. Frick was in heaven.

“Ready the Last Rites. We’ll try and pick off another two.”

Another ten minutes and there were three more dead Dynasty suckers with the help of the Golden Tide. Frick found himself wondering if the Golden Tide boys and girls could handle a Heaven’s Fist as the Solaris circled above. They would be spared his wrath this time as they kindly offered up tribute from the fallen. Acceptable, decided Frick. That was when a shrill voice reached his ears and he sighed.

“Lady Kiri calls for aid, Captain,” said Frickle, stating the obvious.

Frick sighed. The fun was over.

“Set a course, First Mate,” replied Captain Frick.

In the distance a flowing mountain of lava was battling against a tidal wave of silver liquid. Hopefully Kiri would be agreeable to watching. Especially since the cannons were running dry on materials.

*************

Wulfgar helped Jak to his feet. The orc had nearly been split in twain by a greatsword wielding elf that moved like the wind and hit like a falling mountain. The elf had gotten away, though only after sacrificing the last of his team members to cover his retreat.

“Are you okay?” asked Gwen, still trying to heal the gash down the orcs chest.

“I’ll live,” groaned Jak.

Then Wulfgar felt it. Someone was ascending to Greater Divine. Like a beacon lit in the dead of night he could’ve pointed to it from kilometres away. Maybe from another continent.

Fili appeared next to them a second later in a burst of speed that could almost rival Kiri. Wulfgar knew the limitation though. Fili could only do it in short bursts. Kiri could move like that for hours if she felt like it.

“We should go,” said Fili frantically. “Like, right now!”

“Why?” asked Wulfgar, glancing back at the volcano that was spewing forth a mountain of lava. “The System should remove them. It said so in the rules for a World Reaping.”

“I don’t care what it said! Apparently it doesn’t pull people out when there is someone trying to kill them!”

“What? Oh…oh…”

Wulfgar smiled.

“Nate must be really mad.”

Fili looked like she was ready to pull her hair out but Wulfgar was pretty confident the kid knew what he was doing. Wulfgar looked around for a seat, or better yet, a sky ship. Somewhere he could watch, because he was expecting one hell of a show.