III-40 Breach

"What is the matter, Lord Scorn? I can hear you raging across four different dimensions. What has you so angered, dear boy?"

"Fuck off, Challenger. I don't have time to hear you flapping your cunt lips at me. I need to get to my gate. There are people I need to FUCK to death. I'll show those cunts what the price is for detonating an Animancy Bomb in my dimension, for taking my gate away from me, for killing my Vultegs."

"Oh, Scorn, we both know you care little for your Vultegs."

"It's the fucking principle of the thing! I don't care about them in the sense that I think they matter. I care about them in the sense that someone killed them and stole what was mine."

"And not yours much longer. You see, Scorn, that gateway you're planning to send your soldiers across through is about to lead someplace very different."

"What the fuck did you just say?"

"I mean that it will soon be connected to a certain Tutorial, which means you will be dealing with my orcs if you do not sever the gate, or seize Gate Theborn right now. In fact, I suspect that at this very moment, a certain gate lord, Adam Arrow, and his delightful friend, the Corpse Shedder, are going to enact a Bloodrite to alter the Dimensionality of the gate. The Bloodrites of the Vaketh-Insul."

"You… you ratfuckcuntFUCK! Have you been planning this?"

"Planning? No. But the opportunity came and I seized it. Quite the opposite of you, actually. You hide here, you suckle and feed and you hide. It's pathetic. You can thank me for bringing some entertainment into your life."

"Are you trying to provoke me, you gray shit-stained-skin?"

"Oh yes, I am provoking you, Scorn. Do invade your former gate. Do burn your divinity to enhance the rewards offered by this quest. The quest system offered to taunt your impotence. For you will never, ever regain Gate Theborn. It is lost. It is lost because you are a coward. And it is lost because you are a petulant, scared child. How you became a god is beyond me—”

"—Someday I'm going to hollow out your piss-stained eyes and FUCK YOUR SOCKETS!”

"—and you will continue ranting and raving in your little dimension. Hiding away from the rest of the world. Godhood is not immortality, Scorn. If you wish to live forever, you must be strongest. But the strongest cannot fear death. Throw your tantrum. Waste the lives of your Vultegs against the Deathless. Entertain me. You know you cannot help it. You are, you understand that you are flinging your forces into a provoked trap. But you cannot turn from this. Your pride, it is poison. It is your nature. Just as cruelty is nature for an orc. I leave now. I don't need to say anymore. Struggle. Embarrass yourself. Amuse me."

"Challenger! You cocksucking, motherfucking, piece of SHIIIIITTTT! CHALLENGER! COME BACK! I’LL—FUCKING! VULTEGS! HEAR ME! WE’RE MOVING ON GATE THEBORN NOW! GET ME THAT GATE BACK! BRING ME THE HEAD OF ADAM FUCKING ARROW! AND—THE CORPSE-SHEDDER? And what the fuck kind of name is Corpse-Shedder… Why do I always have to deal with the felling fucking freaks…”

-The Challenger and Lord Scorn

III-40

Breach

Shiv and the others emerged from the obsidian tower to see an eruption of molten fluid climb high up into the air. It was the very same molten fluid that once ran as rivers at the base of Gate Theborn. Now it was spewing free from the cracked barrier built over the Vulketh gateway. Meters of reinforced alloy had been fractured, was fracturing more and more with every passing second. More importantly, the Dimensional spellpatterns layered over the reinforced barrier were also failing, flickering out one after another as a building flood of dimensionality overflowed into the gate. A puddle of static-covered blackness shivered beneath the mana core’s azure light.

At the same time, another explosion rocked the gate. A fireball climbed in the distance, a fireball near the surface district. Shiv bit back a curse as he watched the bridge connecting the district to the surface gateway collapse. A groan of metal paired with a scream of distant voices echoed through the air. Above the crumbling bridge were fast moving silhouettes that unleashed fire. Buildings and encampments built atop the surface district vanished in balls of flame.

“Is that a felling Jealousy?” Shiv blinked.

"Godsdamnit all," Adam growled. “How did it get in? How?”

"You deal with the surface district," Shiv said. "I'll make sure nothing gets in through the gateway.”

“Right, Uva—”

"I'll go with him," Uva said as she leapt aboard her shield. "We'll handle matters there and return as soon as possible." She made eye contact with Shiv and cast a thought at him. “Die well. But don’t stay dead.”

The Deathless smirked. “Have fun. But hurry back. No guarantees there will be anything left when you get back.”

The Gate Lord gave Shiv a brief nod before he fired a Veilpiercer. A dimensional pathway opened before him, yet before he accelerated across, he shot a look at Valor and Can Hu.

“Go,” Valor said, flaring a blade forged of Necromancy. “We will be here and serve as Shiv’s backline.” Can Hu built on his words by creating a rising wall of stone, shaping a small fortress around the breached gateway. Shiv and the others rose high into the air as they found themselves standing on the newly risen battlements.

"Don't worry about me," Shiv said to Adam. He spun his Skysplitter in his hand. "I’ll be fine. Go.”

Adam clenched his jaw and accelerated through. Uva followed thereafter.

By now, dimensionals summoned to guard the gate were swirling overhead. Shiv counted ten dimensionals in total. Five were fire dimensionals, two were air, and three more resembled humanoid forms shaped from folded metal. They composed spells in anticipation of the coming invaders. At the same time, the first responders of the Arachne Order arrived. Umbrals and Weaveresses emerged from spatial pockets and took their positions atop the towering battlements Can Hu hoisted from the ground. Immediately, they began casting spells of Portomancy and Dimensionality, trying to reinforce the failing spell patterns layered over the Vulketh gateway.

Shiv had a feeling that their actions were too little, too late. 

True to his expectations, another jet of molten fluid blasted through the fracturing alloy barrier, and just then a shape burst free from the rising spray—the shape of an armored Vulteg, who emerged screaming as his skin was bathed in a stream of molten metal hot fluid. He drew his obsidian axe back as he sailed through the air, and a dozen other Vultegs followed him.

"Lord Scorn, witness my—" 

And that was as far as he got.

Temporal armor flared over Shiv’s body. The Vulteg’s froze. Everyone froze. Only he remained in motion. He blasted toward the enemy, shattering the ground where once he stood. Shiv slammed hard into the axe-bearing Vulteg. The enemy’s armor looked impressive. Tragically, it did nothing to spare the Vulteg’s life when Shiv drove the tip of his Skysplitter through the Vulteg’s bright-blue eye. Deepest Edge sent Shiv’s stab all the way through the Vulteg’s skull. Blood erupted from the back of axe-bearer’s head—and the Vulteg’s body disintegrated as Shiv spiked himself another dozen times. Shiv's Inertial Overdrive thundered in delight as sought new victims.

The invading Vulteg vanguard were all clad in heavy armor and bore heavy weapons. A few even had powerful Magical Skills. But none of them were Chronomancers, and as Shiv fell upon them with might and metal, Vultegs died without ever knowing who killed them.

The Skysplitter sang a screaming song as Shiv used it to split armor and break bone. He stole the mass of some Vultegs, increasing the weight of the blade in his hand, but he kept its size minuscule. This to allow him to hammer and hew with a near-ton of mass in his hand. What he couldn’t cut well were crushed and pulped. A few of the Vultegs had Master-Tier Toughness. They died all the same as Shiv pierced eyes and split skulls. A pulse came from a temporal warding. Shiv backhanded the approaching counter-mana with his Magebreaker, and the cascading field of golden mana went off course due to his Frictionless Vector.

Frictionless Vector 63 > 64

Distant Vultegs were bombarded with laceration spells. Their Magical Resistances shattered. They split apart within their own armors, coming asunder as they were betrayed by their own biology.

As Shiv killed, he added his Vitaemancy into the mix. Streams of white and red speared through other Vultegs. At first, he simply sapped their vitality, but then, using the halted pace of time to his advantage, Shiv crafted a Vitae Golem, and he infused within it both Inertial Overdrive and Gravitic wrestler. But the golem hovered frozen beside him, and Shiv frowned as the cold touch of weakness chilled his exhausted being.

Why—oh, shit, Chronomancy. Right.

He infused it with his Chronomancy as well, and suddenly a golden shell flashed around the golem. Shiv grinned in delight as the golem shifted to regard him. Shiv pointed at the building rupture splitting the broken barrier just as his Chronomancy field began to crack.

"Get through that crack, spike yourself as many times as you can, and then discharge your Inertial Overdrive before you break or evaporate.”

The Vitae Golem didn't hesitate. Immediately, it blasted off, spiking high into the air at first, before plunging straight down through the dimensional chasm lining the breaking barrier. As more cracks spread across Shiv's temporal shell, and he dismissed his Chronomancy. As he did, the second group of Vultegs blasted out from the Dimensional blackness welling out from the broken blockade. Yet, rather than arriving ready for battle, they were flung out from the dimensional chasm. Several were already dead, their bodies blasted apart, a few were missing limbs, and the toughest among them seemed stunned and dazed. They died stunned and dazed as Shiv struck their head clean from their body with a flick of his elongated Skysplitter, beheading three Vultegs at once.

Golemancy 5 > 7

Before Shiv could go for the other downed Vultegs, bolts of Dynamancy smashed into them. Instead of splattering them across the ground, the bolts swallowed in fields of gravity Vultegs and began collapsing inward. The Vultegs screamed as their bodies were compressed into small singularities that promptly collapsed. The Vultegs burst apart and turned into smears of red—balls of twisted metal and flesh. 

Shiv turned and found Tequila with a foot planted high on the parapet. The orc spun his twin wands as he gave the Deathless a joyful chuckle.

"The thing about gravity," Tequila said, the cigarette between his lips bobbing up and down, "is that it can collapse even the strongest body."

Shiv made note of the orc's wands. If he was ever going to fight Tequila, he would make sure the Orc was disarmed first. 

Just then, Shiv felt a resonant vibration pass through his Chronomancy. There was another Chronomancer approaching. The Deathless instinctively triggered his Strider of the Unbending Path. 

And just in time, a temporal shell fused over Shiv as a massive Vulteg shrouded in a ten-meter veil of golden mana exploded free from the dimensional chasm lining the ground.

The Vulteg moved in an aberrant manner. Rather than traveling normally, as Shiv did, he skipped across existence, flickering from moment to moment with every ripple of his Chronomancy. His field wasn't very wide either, but it wasn't nearly as compact as Shiv's dimensional armor. It only oscillated a single meter away from his body, but it seemed to propel him, to cast him forward with every passing half second. 

The Vulteg jumped from place to place, going for one of the Weaveress Dimensionals casting from the walls.

Shiv intercepted him. However, as he collided with the Vulteg's body, he felt a heavy impact slam against his temporal shell. Pieces of golden armor broke free from Shiv. He felt himself lose five seconds of time. Yet, in the clash of Chronomancy, it was his adversary that came out worse. Their Chronomancy field burst apart, tearing partially. A brief scream escaped the Vulteg's vertical jaw. Then they went still before Shiv, unable to use their Chronomancy to influence time. 

As the veil of gold faded from the Vulteg's body, Shiv saw that the Vulteg was at least three meters tall, blessed with rippling muscles and barely any armor. In fact, aside from a leather vest that glowed with revolving spell patterns, the Vulteg had nothing else guarding his body. He also used no weapons either, aside from a few metal studs that were wrapped around his knuckles. 

A brawler, Shiv realized.

Before the remains of Shiv's temporal shell could break away, and the Deathless dismissed his armor. Chronomancy had been a lifesaver in his past, and he needed to preserve it in case there was another Chronomancer coming his way.

Time resumed. Shiv slammed his blade into the Vulteg's gut. The large Vulteg let out a cry of pain, but rather than folding over, he reached out and seized Shiv by the neck. Shiv responded by throwing himself backward with a tug on his gravity field. The Vulteg was ripped off balance. Shiv twisted his body and swept the Vulteg's leg from under him before slamming them against the ground.

Gravitic Wrestler 144 > 145

Shiv landed on top of him and immediately began stabbing, slashing. Yet as Shiv cleaved into the Vulteg, as the Vulteg flinched with every slash, with every blow, the large, single-eyed Pathbearer didn't die. Rather he developed slight lacerations, bruises, and no more. Every injury he sustained was reduced at best.

A barrage of spells crashed down on the dimensional rupture. Roaring blasts of artillery screamed down from above. More Vultegs arrived. Shiv tried to finish his current foe.

As Shiv brought his blade down again, the Vulteg reached up, caught him by the wrist, and rather than physically struggling against Shiv, he screamed. It was the loudest scream Shiv ever heard. It made the Deathless's bones rattle, and it burst something within his inner ear. Equilibrium vanished. Shiv tumbled backward, unable to maintain his own balance.

For the first time, the Vulteg hit him instead. It was a heavy blow that launched him off the Vulteg's body. He twirled into the air and felt himself tear an ugly gash up along the battlements, confusing his broken balance even more. And somewhere in the middle of all that, the Vulteg caught his leg and flung him back down to the ground. 

Shiv impacted the floor—and the Vulteg smashed knee-first into the Deathless’s chest; started hammering him in the face. Punch after punch landed. The first fractured Shiv's helmet. The second blow left a bruise on Shiv’s neck. The third landed under Shiv’s armpit—and bounced off due to Adamantine Adaption. Shiv groped blindly, trying to figure out where the Vulteg was, trying to steady himself so he could get back into the fight.

It felt like water was pouring into his skull, unbalancing him. Shiv pulled blindly on his gravitic field and felt himself slam into the Vulteg. He was briefly freed, but also felt himself rolling along the ground. He shaped a Woundeater, and it slid inside his skull, eating the wound. At once, something popped inside his ears. 

The world stabilized, things stopped bobbing up and down. Shiv found himself lying face down on the floor, and there was a shadow descending upon him. He turned and shot up, whipping his Woundeater high, but the spell passed through the Vulteg as the cyclopean Pathbearer dissipated into a splash of misting shadow. He reformed, right in front of Shiv, and lashed out with a heavy kick. 

The Vulteg was fast.

Shiv was faster. 

He caught the Vulteg by the leg, but then the Vulteg dissipated into mist again. He formed behind Shiv, only to miss entirely as Shiv activated his Chameleon enchantment and ducked down. Pure instinct saved the Vulteg as Shiv swiped his blade up. The cut hissed through the air. The Vulteg laughed, reveling in his own skill—only for Shiv’s Woundeater to crash into the back of his head. A blast of mana swallowed the Vulteg—then the Vulteg vanished from  Shiv's sight. 

For a beat, the Deathless thought the Vulteg had used a Stealth Skill. But then the Vulteg burst back into view just a few meters away, with several gleaming knives lodged in his thigh and armpit. Blood poured free from his body, but rather than gush, they only ran as a trickle.

A Dimensional barrier burst beside Shiv as Whisper revealed himself. He was stumbling, smacking his right ear with an annoyed expression on his face. "That was loud," Whisper commented with a chuckle of his own.

As the Vulteg pulled a few of the gleaming blades out of his body, he turned and glared at Shiv. Behind him, the erupting jet stream of molten metal intensified as the alloyed barrier succumbed entirely. Plates of metal furled like a blossoming flower as a flood of new forces broke through. Spells descended from above, the defending Dimensionals responding only now due to their lacking Reflexes.

"Deal with them," Shiv called out. "I'll have this one."

"Aye, Insul," he heard Mortar reply from above the walls, and then came a concussive blast. An arcing projectile sailed through the air as it struck the emerging Vultegs in a cataclysmic impact that shook the world. Bits of burning flesh joined the molten metal now in a rain of fire and destruction. But more Vultegs came, spilling out faster and faster. They slipped out from the building eruption of molten metal in proper formations, stepping out in teams of five.

Yet before they could truly amass any momentum, the sounds of a violin squealed, and a small army of new Dimensionals entered the scene. They crashed into the Vultegs as a rain of gleaming knives followed behind them. Bolts of Dynamancy descended as well, scattering teams and creating openings for the defenders to exploit.

Yet, while the orcs, Umbrals, and some Dimensionals worked to bottleneck the Vulteg invaders, Shiv eyed his new adversary and briefly disabled his Chameleon. "Interesting Toughness Skill you got there," he said to the Vulteg brawler.

"You as well," the Vulteg replied, assuming a fighting stance. "Just a Scratch. Master-Tier"

"Adamantine Adaption," Shiv replied. “Master-Tier.”

The Vulteg did a double-take. "Adamantine Adaption? How?”

“Die and find out,” Shiv taunted.

The Vulteg shot toward him, jumping into the air with a twirl of his body. Shiv flung himself off the ground. As he did, he extended ropes of Vitaemancy, trying to secure the Vulteg. However, the Vulteg passed through the lashing limbs of red and white. He drifted toward Shiv as a patch of blackness, and the Deathless awaited the coming of his enemy. A Woundeater flared along Shiv's right arm, and crystallized laceration spells flooded its insides. 

The Vulteg had substantial Magical Resistance. Not nearly as much as Confriga, but still substantial. Shiv guessed it would take at least ten more spells to crack the Vulteg open.

Problem is getting him to stay still long enough, Shiv thought. Between his stupid Toughness and his ability to turn into a gust of mist, he's kind of a pain in the ass. 

Of course, the Vulteg wasn't the only one that could be a pain in the ass. Shiv immediately activated his Chameleon enchantment again, but also projected a Minor Illusion just a few meters away from himself. To Shiv's satisfiaction, the Vulteg went for the Minor Illusion, materializing to unleash a spinning kick that cleaved right through the Minor Illusion and cleaved a deep slash into the surrounding walls. 

Three Woundeaters slammed into the Vulteg right after. A detonation of mana consumed everyone within 50 meters.

The Vulteg staggered back and Shiv blasted into him, carrying high into the air and away from the others. Before the Vulteg could respond, Shiv stopped time again. The Vulteg reactivated his Chronomancy Skill as well. Once more Shiv's temporal armor fractured apart, but this time Vulteg's time mana was reduced to torn tatters, trailing gold like from the broken field. The Vulteg's oscillating mana field split in half entirely.

The Vulteg cried out again—and went still.

Yeah, sorry, friend, Shiv thought. System’s a piece of shit, and you ran up against the wrong Pathbearer.

 He launched another Woundeater into the Vulteg one after another as he drained the Vulteg of vitality. Then, he spiked himself a dozen times, and then a dozen more. He dragged the Vulteg high into the air before he discharged his Inertial Overdrive.

Shiv let time resume. A beat passed. Shiv smashed down like a meteor, crushing a Vulteg under his boot as chunks of the slain brawler rained down with the falling dollops of molten metal. Before the other Vultegs could respond, the Inertial Overdrive discharge washed over them. The weaker Vulteg’s burst into bloody mist. The stronger were flung off their feet. Only the greatest stayed standing.

And just then, it seemed like the Vultegs were going to be pushed back.

Well, not much of a fight, are you guys? Shiv thought. He stared at the shattered barrier, at the unstable pulses of Dimensionality spewing out more Vultegs and frowned. Alright. Challenger. Let’s get this shit over with. I’ll do the damned ritual. Connect your Tutorial to this gate.

At that, a notification appeared before his eyes, and with it came the Challenger’s laughter.

Ritual Invoked: Bloodrites of the Vaketh-Insul - Slay enemies of an appropriate quantity and tier to gain an equivalent in orc recruits from the Lone Star Orchestra

Ritual Conditions: Slay [44/50,000 Vultegs] to align the Dimensional frequency of the Vulketh Gateway to the Tutorial.

Shiv blinked. “Fifty-felling-what?”

Just then, another bombardment of spells crashed into the dimensional rift.

Ritual Conditions: Slay [51/50,000 Vultegs] to align the Dimensional frequency of the Vulketh Gateway to the Tutorial.

The Deathless breathed and gripped his Skysplitter tighter. “Well, this is gonna take a while. We should still push them back. Better to keep them contained if we can.”

The orcs were doing a good job keeping the Vultegs boxed in. Between Whispers' rain of gleaming blades, Mortar's bombardment, and all the Dimensionals' band was summoning, something of an stalemate had formed. An impasse that the Umbrals and Weaveresses were trying to exploit. New Dimensionality spells were forming around the compromised gateway. A massive ring of static blackness swirled around Shiv. It expanded wider, running for around a hundred meters before a second layer of rings was constructed. 

The spell patterns ran counter to each other, and Shiv noticed how each of the rings were connected along singular bridges. The amount of coordination required to shape such a large spell left him staggered. And he realized he didn't really know that much about magic, aside from what he could use and can create with his intent.

Just then, a Vulteg burst into existence beside one of the Umbrals. This enemy held a crossbow, and its tip glistened with Pyromantic energy. However, they teleported again just as Tequila blinked into existence across from them, flinging a spell from a Dynamancy wand. As the ambushing Vulteg vanished, so too did Tequila, using his temporal magic to keep up with his enemy’s Portomancy. 

Good thing we have our own skirmisher, Shiv realized.

A crash of thunder and a flash of lightning drew his attention. Overhead, a chain of electricity descended upon the emerging Vultegs. As the chain crashed down, Shiv's eyes widened as he realized each section of the chain was focused around a metal quill. It sank into a Vulteg pyromancer trying to cast a spell. And she died with a scream as the thunderstorm erupted out from her body. The other quills detonated as well, consuming patches of space and burying the emerging Vultegs beneath the condensing tempest. Blackened clouds rose from the smoldering remains of the Vultegs. It condensed in the sky above, blotting the mana core’s brightness from sight. Not only that, it proved a functional barricade against the spraying molten metal as well.

Lightning whipped down, slashing at any Vultegs that emerged through the dimensional rift. And above the cloud, Shiv saw a weaveress. Her body flickered with static electricity, and behind her, two air-dimensionals channeled more lightning into the metal quills running down her limbs.

Shiv blinked. Is that Null Mont? He thought to himself. He shook that thought from his head as he dispatched a new Vitae Golem. However, he did something differently this time. Previously, he installed Gravitic Wrestler, Chronomancy, and Inertial Overdrive within the Golem. Now he added something special: Vitality Drain. 

“Let's see if this makes you self-sufficient,” Shiv muttered to the Golem. As it ripped free from his body in a splash of red and white, he felt a rush of enervation sweep through him. And so, his anticipation rose as he yearned to see what this golem could do. "Go get the bastards. Cross through the rift, fight as long as you can. Burst yourself when you're about to break or run out of vitality."

The golem shot forward. It moved just like the last golem did, spiking high into the air before stabbing down. A bolt of lightning accompanied its path on the way down, and as it slammed through the breach, several Vultegs were shredded apart from its sheer acceleration. Yet, before the Vitae Golem could pass through entirely, something crashed into it. Something knocked it aside. A group of Vultegs descended on the downed Vitae Golem with spell and steel.

Meanwhile, a new group of enemies entered the fray.

They arrived as a trio. The head Vulteg’s eye gleamed like an orb of golden fire, so brilliant it stood apart from all the chaos and carnage. His armor ran in crenulated scales, each section glistening with gold, further enchanted with Chronomancy.

Behind, two other Vultegs followed. One held a colossal blade, while their body was shrouded in dense chunks of shuffling stone. Another, smaller Vulteg, skipped into battle behind them, bearing a sphere of oceanic blue. The sphere that reshaped itself into a spear, just as their glistened with dense Hydromancy. 

All three of them were Master-Tier mages at the very least, Shiv could feel that from the mana fields they exuded. The first was a Chronomancer, and their golden armor formed a twenty-meter thick sphere of radiant mana around them. Shiv wasn't sure what kind of Chronomancy they had, but he suspected his temporal shell would take more than a little damage once he passed into this threshold of their pocket. The second, Shiv suspected, was a Geomancer from the moving landslide they wore as armor. The third was a Hydromancer, and that one's power reached far and wide, spreading for well over a full kilometer—beyond Shiv’s ability to observe.

A series of spells came at them, lightning-infused quills of metal descended from above, bolts of Dynamncy curved through the air to strike the trio. The sphere of golden mana pulsed bright around the enemy Chronomancer. Every attack froze just as they splashed against the first Vulteg's Chronomantic threshold. And there the spells and projectiles stayedas the three Vultegs walked past them without a care. 

Shiv glared. This'll be interesting. 

As the battle raged in the backdrop, the leading Vulteg looked down upon Shiv and his gleaming eye flared brighter. "You are the Corpse Shedder, you wear the visage of death."

His sphere of Chronomancy drew closer toward Shiv, but it stopped five meters away from the Deathless.

“Oh,” Shiv said. “Finally noticed I’m a Chrono, too.”

“We knew. You slew Shatterhand. Thus, I, Squadhead Kastiglier, have been dispatched to eliminate you.”

“How did you assholes manage to get in, anyway,” Shiv asked.

“As if we would speak such secrets to an enemy," the Vulteg Hydromancer hissed. Her voice was sibilant, but there was also a reverberating quality to it, as if she was speaking underwater. “Now, we come to claim your life. Yours and Adam Arrows. We come for you. And we come for him. And we will please Lord Scorn with your heads.”

“Yeah, about that, do you know if I can get the quest rewards if I kill myself?” Shiv asked.

All three Vultegs fell silent. Their eyes widened as one. The rock-clad Vulteg looked at the two others. "Did he just promise to kill himself for the quest rewards? Does that work?"

"It does—" 

As the Chronomancer Vulteg spoke, Shiv formed his temporal shell once more. 

Time halted.

The Chronomancer continued speaking. "—n't. Wait. He's activated his Chronomancy skill." He pointed at Shiv, and to the Deathless' surprise, the three Vultegs held within the Chronomantic sphere were unaffected by his time stop. Stranger still was how the sphere gnawed hard against Shiv's temporal shell. It didn't break his Chronomancy field immediately, but it felt like a layer of abrasion was being emitted from the lead Vulteg's Chronomancy. 

And that's when Shiv realized that the sphere wasn't actually a sphere. Rather, it was like an inner field, and from it emerged an outer layer as well—weaker layer that slowed the outside world to some extent before it impacted the inner layer.

Felling weird ass Skill Evolutions, Shiv thought to himself.

Shiv dashed to his left, and then he went right as he triggered his Minor Illusion alongside Chameleon again. However, while the Chronomancer and Hydromancer Vultegs were fooled, the rock-armored Vulteg continued following Shiv, his single eye gleaming purple. 

Oh great, a Diviner, Shiv thought to himself. Looks like you're dying first. Shiv increased his chaotic tactics. He flung a body at the Vultegs, launching it out from his cape. As it sailed, he began to construct a new Vitae Golem. He infused his Gravitic Wrestler Skill in the golem at first, and then winced as he watched the Hydromancy drive a spike of water clean through the head of his corpse

Broken Moon, she packs a punch. She put a clean hole through adamantine.

Yet, as she did that, something slammed into the Chronomantic sphere protecting the Vultegs from behind. It arrived as flash of white, red, and gold, and all three Vultegs pitched forward as the unknown enemy clawed at their final threshold of protection. Shiv had to do a double take as he realized just who came to his aid. Holy shit, Shiv thought, that was my last Vitae Golem.

Parts of its red and white shell were cracked. Even so, it still seemed bright with vitality. It had four skills inside its body, and it constantly turned through Vitae. It should have vanished sooner than any other Golem, but it was still fighting, still active. Shiv's face widened into a joyful grin. Holy shit, Vitality Drain worked! I got self-sustaining golems! I think… And then he refocused himself and began constructing a new golem to support his first.

The golden shell preserving his Golem shattered apart as it entered the inner Chronomantic field guarding the three Vultegs. But the inner field was also ripped asunder by the sheer magical abrasion inflicted by the Golem's approach. Shiv's first Vitae golem became as if a dagger breaking itself to pierce armor.

The hydrokinetic Vulteg responded immediately. She whipped out with her spear, and to Shiv's astonishment, he watched as she took a significant chunk out of the golem's skull. A wound three centimeters opened a slit along the right side of the golem's face. Broken chips of red and white sprayed through the air. And still, the Hydromancer wasn't done. She swiped her spear three more times, each time the blow cleaved harder, deeper, truer. Her fluid weapon flowed around the golem, wrapping and slicing at its body. More gaps lined its exterior; more wounds decorated its vitae-forged form. 

Only then did the Vulteg Chronomancer respond. 

Comparatively, the Vulteg Geomancer hadn't reacted at all.

Useful, Shiv thought to himself. Hydromancer's fastest. Chronomancer second, Geomancer third. He updated his priority targets. Go for the Hydromancer first. It didn't matter that the Geomancer was also a Diviner—he couldn't react.

Right then, Shiv finished infusing Chronomancy, Gravitic Wrestler, Vitality Drain, and Inerital Overdrive within his new golem. He sent it out to crash into the Chronomantic sphere from the other side. At the same time, the Vulteg Chronomancer made a gesture and an invisible blade manifested, slashing through the golem's chest.

Yet the golem didn't split in half, even as a blast of razor-sharp wind passed through it. Only the faintest scratch lined the golem's torso compared to the wounds the Hydromancer was inflicting. And before the Hydromancer could capitalize, it reached out, seizing the Chronomancer by the wrist. Vitality flared within the golem, and the Chronomancer let out a gasp of pain as he was drained. His Chronomancy sphere flickered, and just then, the other vitality golem slammed into it, tearing the field from the other side as well.

The Chronomancer let out a shriek of agony. Shiv's eyes narrowed. And that confirmed something for him. Shiv’s Chronomancy worked differently from other Chronomancers. His shattered and regrew fast. It only had ten seconds of use at baseline, but it didn’t hurt or strain him like it did other Chronomancers. Meanwhile, they used their field like a limb. They could keep using it, but it hurt them when it broke.

Must be some time dragon shit, Shiv thought

"Spike yourselves! Explode!" Shiv called out to his golems. Both of them responded without hesitation. Their gravitic fields pulsed violently, and their inertial sheaths responded in kind. A shroud of rippling violence built as the last fragments of their temporal shells finally broke away.

The first golem discharged, and a cleaving flash of light swept through the world. A blast of fire consumed the inner sphere created by the Vulteg Chronomancer. The trio of Vulteg’s vanished into the light. And then came a shockwave of force. That flung the three Vultegs out from the flames. 

The second golem's detonation followed, and that shattered the Chronomantic sphere entirely.

Strider of the Unbending Path 135 > 136

Inerital Overdrive 113 > 115

Vitaemancy 59 > 61

Vitality Drain 54 > 55

Shiv felt his time armor nearly crumble, and he dismissed his Chronomancy before he lost his magic entirely. Dismissed it as a massive blast swept through the area. The Geomancer Vulteg was flung back through the dimensional chasm, splattering some of his allies as he crashed through them. The Chronomancer was nowhere to be seen, but a second later, a leg slammed into Shiv's chest—a smoking leg glistening with gold. 

Poor bastard, Shiv thought to himself. Needed more Toughness—

A spear of water slashed wide across the air. He barely dodged in time, ducking his head as it split clean through the top of his helmet.

Dodge 14 > 15

And that's why I wear an extra layer of armor, Shiv reminded himself.

The Hydromancer dove out from the jet of water, uninjured but furious. She let out a snarl as she shaped a Hydromancy spell, drawing all the moisture in her surroundings to her. Her field was vast. Her magic was powerful. 

He felt the moisture in the air condense—felt her pulling at the very water within his body. And he heard her scream and shudder as he broke the spell forming in his hand with a punch from his Magebreaker. As the spell exploded. The Hydromancer's back arced, as she screamed, Shiv reached out and gripped her by the neck before he slammed his Skysplitter into her gut and dragged it up. He got two centimeters before she seized his grip with both her hands. Blood sprayed from her mouth. She collapsed against him as the struggled.

In the backdrop, more spells crashed down on her allies, and  a massive tentacle exploded out from the gateway, reaching high into the air.

Shiv ignored that for now. Instead, he grasped the Hydromancer by the back of her head-tentacles with his free hand, trying to pull her up. As the Vulteg looked up at him, she let out a rasping groan, then breathed hissing poison in his face. A rush of toxics flooded Shiv's body, and she continued spewing corrosive acid at him. Shiv blinked in surprise at first. He felt some of his skin itch and burn from the substance. His insides tingled as well. It was like he was shedding the flesh on his face.

Then, his Plaguefueled triggered, and Shiv's armor began to break around him as he grew larger and larger. Soon he loomed three meters tall, holding the Vulteg Hydromancer as if she was a doll in his hands. His armor hung off him in tatters. Shiv just grinned, indifferent to the broken pieces falling from his body. The Vulteg’s eye widened. She looked on in abject horror as Shiv began drawing out pieces of bone from within his cape to rebuild the parts of his armor that had just broken.

"Now that was an unfortunate mistake," Shiv muttered to the Hydromancer. "But I do thank you for feeding me. Got anymore?" 

“I—you—” The Hydromancy tried to shape another spell, but Shiv ripped his knife out from her. She shrieked. But before she could finish, he grabbed her by her legs and pulled in two directions. “NO! NOOOOOO!”

Those were her final words as her body came apart along her midriff.

Dread Aura 94 > 96

A rush of terror washed into him. His Dread Aura rose by two levels just as he noticed how all the surviving Vultegs were stumbling back, flinching away from him in fear. Their formations were battered but holding. They created their own barricades to advance, and now they were hiding behind them, gawking at the Corpse Shedder’s brutality. But before they could even consider retreating, a huge looming eye rose behind them. A purple eye. An eye that glistened with Psychomancy and baleful ire. The head of a Jealousy pushed free from the gate and the rest of its body materialized in a pulse of psionic energy.

"Corpse Shredder," the Jealousy cried. Its voice was deeper than the jealousy Shiv killed before. "Come for you. Come for Adam Arrow. Lord Scorn will be pleased. Lord Scorn reward Mrpegia.”

Shiv just laughed as magnified the size of his Skysplitter in response. "Oh, look. The meat’s starting to deliver itself!”