Priam

Chapter 445: End of the run (updated)

Added 2025-12-15 10:58:28 +0000 UTC

Third chap of the week! Thanks for the support guys!
Double post, so make sure to read the 444 before this one.

UPDATE:
This chapter has been revised to better align with Priam’s characterization. I wrote the first version at the end of a sleepless night, and I was not satisfied with it. Such are the vagaries of the genre.

Revisions at the very end of the chap. (only for those who did read the chapter in the 7 hours after its release. Else, ignore)

Start of the chapter:

Congratulations, you are dead! Your Talent [He Who Eludes Death] brings you back to life once a day.

Number of deaths: 47

Synergy detected with your talent [Homo Elysian Obsession], your Titles [Four-Headed Hydra] and [Life is Hard; I’m Harder], and the fourth Merit of [Iconoclast]. Your body and spirit are rebuilt and will be more resistant to what killed them:

… Attribute potential redirected to skills per user request.

Lvl Up: [Rule Breaker] lvl 29, 30
CHAR +6
Meta (Chance) +12
Lvl Up: [Sun Steel Body] lvl 35
ERROR. CONST SEALED
Lvl Up: [Shear Resistance] lvl 30
ERROR. CONST SEALED
Lvl Up: [Cold Resistance] lvl 11
ERROR. CONST SEALED

Blinking against the light, Priam roared as he resurrected.

“FUCK!”

His death was unforgivable.

His death could only be described as unforgivable. Most people did not possess forty-seven extra lives, and even if they did, those were better spent influencing critical events. Knowing his path could have ended here was a disgrace. There was a difference between taking a calculated risk to gain a resistance and getting baited by an enemy whose game Priam had understood.

Fists clenched, the Champion made no excuses. [Heroic Identification] had spelled out his opponent’s build. His mistake was simply inadmissible.

Ashamed, he opened his hand and allowed himself a brief nod when he saw that Sigurd’s weakness was gone. [He Who Eludes Death] had erased it. If the Merit capable of multiplying his constitution by one hundred was already powerful—enough to tank a nuclear explosion head-on!—it became outright broken in the hands of the man called Death’s Obsession.

A cheat, but not a free win. Otherwise my Patron wouldn’t be dead. And compared to nepo babies like Vertex, I’m sure my edge isn’t that great.

Now with a clear head, Priam looked around and spotted Hailcyon’s limp body, Promesse still embedded in their head.

The Juggernaut frowned as he felt Breath react. Corpses rarely breathed. Was Hailcyon alive?!

“Fucking cockroach,” the Juggernaut growled. The pot calling the kettle black.

Leaping backward, he summoned a fire spear. Between [Spear Launcher] and Pyro’s raw power, the projectile shattered the sound barrier and struck the jellyzoan just as they twitched. The impact produced the same horrific sound as a hand slapping a scorching hot stovetop. In a burst of steam, half of Hailcyon’s tentacles shriveled, severely dehydrated.

The following fire lances were dodged, then drowned beneath torrents of hail. Priam cursed as he saw the ice melt on contact with the phantom, regenerating them as fast as a hydra.

If the jellyzoan’s vitality was impressive, the Juggernaut was more concerned with the method by which they survived with a soul impaled. His add-on supplied an initial answer.

[Hail density reduced by 27%. Ice temperature increased by 14 kelvin. Hailstone size reduced by 27%.
Hypothesis: host destroyed part of enemy soul. Hailcyon classified as mutant jellyfish colony. Loss non-lethal.]

Oh? Wait—

[Heroic Identification]
[Phantom of Hailcyon - Tier 0 - Prince - Immortal jellyzoan] - …
Attributes: Physical ( ̶2̶ ̶0̶0̶0̶ 1500), Mental ( ̶2̶ ̶0̶0̶0̶ 1500), META ( ̶2̶ ̶0̶0̶0̶ 1500)
Weaknesses:

Sensitive to dehydration.

The attack had been effective! Hailcyon had survived by amputating part of their being. The legion was now only a multitude.

And this time, [Rule Breaker] will protect me. [In the Zone].

As the Homo Elysian readied Promesse once more, the enemy must have sensed the shift in momentum. To escape danger, the phantom rode their Concept and teleported a hundred meters away. Priam restrained his throw in response. No matter his spear’s speed, it would struggle to hit a flashing foe.

Gonna get close and personal.

Deploying his mist, Priam watched Hailcyon answering in kind with his hailstorm. When fog swallowed the entire arena and the ice tempest intensified, the game of cat and mouse began.

The challenger rode his Concept to chase the boss, who vanished at the same instant. After two failed attempts, Priam caught up his quarry, and Promesse cleaved true. Rather than suffer soul mutilation, Hailcyon relinquished a tentacle. Unwilling to leave an escape route for the jellyzoan, the Juggernaut purified the limb in flame, only leaving a steam cloud.

Three leaps later, a stomach ache struck Priam, and he immediately connected the dots.

Fuck—was that a trap?

At no point had [Rule Breaker] reacted.

[Decrease in digestive system activity detected.
Probable cause: intestinal flora rebellion.]

Priam understood instantly. Every human lived in symbiosis with trillions of microorganisms that, among other things, aided digestion. Hailcyon must have used their Proto-life Concept to organize a revolt.

And now, I’ve got two kilos of invisible enemies in my gut. Fuck.

Annoyed that the enemy was not a one-trick pony, Priam resumed the chase. After a dozen jumps—and as the pain worsened—he realized he would never catch an opponent with superior attributes. The tentacle had been a trap.

Splitting his focus, Priam tasked his add-on with identifying a pattern in Hailcyon’s flashes. [Priam’s System] needed only fifteen jumps to establish the jellyzoan’s escape profile. On the sixteenth, Promesse appeared behind Hailcyon.

By reflex, the boss triggered their next teleport. Already there, Priam greeted them with an uppercut.

His hand, haloed by [There Is No Heaven], nearly bounced off Hailcyon’s jelly-like flesh.

Blunt damage is useless!

Fearing another escape, the Juggernaut body-tackled the jellyzoan before igniting himself. Both Champions convulsed. Hailcyon because they were cuddling the hottest human alive; Priam because a revolution was underway in his intestines.

Locked in a deadly embrace, their bodies rolled across the sand. Beaten by hail and flame alike, the duelists struggled with all their strength. Tentacles slithered over Priam’s body like constrictor boas, tightening until bones cracked. He screamed.

It wasn’t a bad thing. Pain, an old friend, granted him a strange clarity.

He could die. He could flee using his Colosseum Safety Token.

Instinctively, the Juggernaut rejected both paths.

Madness glinting in his eyes, he clamped his jaws around his enemy’s neck. With [There Is No Heaven] infused into his teeth, he tore away a chunk of jelly and soul. The tentacles’ grip weakened proportionally. Priam spat out his trophy and bit again.

Despite a life spent in the wild, Hailcyon demonstrated a survival instinct inferior to the Juggernaut’s.

The bloody brawl lasted two more minutes before the roles of predator and prey were permanently assigned.

Hailcyon, phantom of Wave 93 for 2 999 years, has fallen by your hand.
Undefeated duration prior to termination: 0 years.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the wave, Priam wanted to curse. His breath failed him. Instead, he relied on kinetic control to stand.

Wiping the trickle of blood from the corner of his lips, he inspected his body via Micro. The results made him grimace. There were riots everywhere.

His skin itched. His sinuses burned. His mouth tingled. And his stomach—

Priam went pale as he realized his own microbiota was digesting him from the inside. Bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses—every microorganism he lived in symbiosis with was at war against him.

And they were winning.

The relationship between his vitality, constitution, and symbiotes was too complex for him to fully grasp, but one thing was certain: neither [Rule Breaker], nor [Adaptive Virus Resistance], nor his attributes applied completely.

Lvl Up: [Adaptive Virus Resistance] lvl 4
ERROR. CONST SEALED. VIT SEALED.

When he assessed the level-up’s impact as minimal, Priam understood he had to return to Elysium immediately and place himself in Orisis’s care. With [He Who Eludes Death] not primed, it was his only chance to survive without spending a Merit point. Sna was a poisoner, not a healer.

Which meant aborting his run. For some unknown reason, the thought irritated him.

Clenching his fist, Priam recalled his recent death. The caution it demanded.

And yet, he balked at giving up. At leaving before even seeing the next enemy. Before testing himself against them.

“… Just one minute. Then I’m done.”

“Damn. I know crocodiles who stop biting sooner,” Hastenash exclaimed, accelerating his speech to finish before the next wave began. “I’ll give him that—he’s tenacious!”

“It was to be expected,” Seuz replied just as quickly. “Nobody unlocks that many resistances without having gone to hell and back. It forges character.” Without perception nearing ten thousand, his sentence was incomprehensible. “However, he’s going to die if he keeps this up. Like all adrenaline junkies.”

“Bah, a merchant like you can’t understand what it means to go down in a fight that isn’t lost yet. He’s proud, and he’s right to be. Maybe curious about his own limits too. All in all, it was an impressive run, but it ends here,” the drake smiled. “He’ll be shitting his own intestines in five minutes… if my son doesn’t kill him first.”

“And if Aarthash fails, the next wave will stop him,” Neitlan’h recovered a thin smile. Despite his later mistakes, her son had once been a great source of pride. “As it has for five thousand years.”

Aarthash Riusling, Prince of the greatest draconic clan in the Hope Sector, and Hastenash’s son. A longstanding source of conflict between drakes and phoenixes.

“My son has blocked the rabble for two thousand years,” Patriarch Riusling growled. “We won’t get to see your monster.”

“Guys, we’re approaching the climax, so shut up,” Thaal said with a grin. Then, turning to Priam: “Come on, my boy. Show us something good.”

Wave 94

A five-meter-tall silhouette appeared. Red leather wings wrapped around it like those of a bat, rendering it almost anonymous. Yet Priam did not doubt its identity for a second. His second heart revved like an F1 engine—or a fangirl at a K-pop concert.

The wings spread, revealing a juvenile draconid with a haughty gaze. Dressed in black silk embroidered with gold thread and scarlet rubies, an aether crystal was set into his forehead.

Their eyes met. The phantom frowned.

“A dragon bloodline? Low purity at that. Hm. Kneel.”

The command struck Priam like a slap. His knees buckled; he drove his nails into his palms to resist.

Rather than taking offense, the boss smiled. “Interesting. My name is Aarthash Riusling, heir to the Immortal clan of the same name. Since you are unknown to me, I assume I am this wave’s guardian. Which number?”

“Ninety-four.”

“Then I failed at the end. Disappointing.” Aarthash narrowed his eyes. “I smell phoenix ichor on you. And that scent… Pyro? Who are you to Prince Keltan’h?”

“He’s my mentor. Or something like that.” Priam tried to shrug, but with both clavicles shattered, it was difficult.

“Ah.” The draconid’s smile returned, this time mocking. “Then allow me to crush you in his stead. Come. I’ll grant you the first strike.”

Despite his exhaustion, Priam felt his pride flare. I’m going to shove an ultimate down your throat. We’ll see if you’re still smiling.

[Heroic Identification]
[Phantom of Aarthash - Tier 0 - Prince - Noble Drake] - Wrath of the Young.
Concept traces detected: none.
Attributes: Physical (4 000), Mental (2 000), META (3 000)
Weaknesses:

None.

Lvl Up: [Heroic Identification] lvl 4
PERC +1
MEM +1
CHAR +1

Noting the enemy’s race, Priam decided against using a Breath. As he raised his hand, his stomach clenched, forcing up a mixture of acid and blood. Swallowing the vile liquid, Priam focused on his palm.

The air began to twist as heat gathered above it. The shape of a spear emerged. Pyro summoned a red flame that quickly shifted to orange. After a second, it turned yellow. Aarthash was still smiling.

Seeing his opponent so confident, Priam drew everything he could from the opportunity. The spear turned white, then painful to look at. Incandescent, its light bathed the entire arena in an apocalyptic brilliance.

A minute later, the radiated heat began to assault its own creator. A drop of ichor touched the ground and vaporized instantly. Priam staggered. Two tears of blood streamed from his eyes, and thin rivulets escaped his mouth, his nostrils, his ears, and other orifices he preferred not to name. Feeling his strength ebb, Priam understood he had only minutes left before his microbiota devoured him from within.

With urgency closing in, he aborted the channeling of his super spear and drew back his arm. A drop of Potential accompanied the throw.

POT -10

Lvl Up: [Spear Launcher] lvl 8
STR +3
AGI +4
META (Focus) +2
Lvl Up: [Kinetic Sovereignty] lvl 5
PERC +9
META(Focus) +9
META (Perception) +9

Perception exceeds 1,000 points. Second milestone reached. Congratulations!

A line of fire split the landscape like a second horizon. Priam could have sworn the impact made the entire Colosseum tremble. The air thundered as if a volcano had erupted.

As usual, the level-ups distilled and cemented Priam’s experience, consolidating it to preserve only the finest essence. Simultaneously, he felt his body strengthen and his senses sharpen. Before he could discern the changes wrought by the second milestone, the smoke cleared.

Aarthash was observing a hole in his left wing with interest. His only wound. “Impressive.”

Priam stood slack-jawed.

“What, did you think that would be enough?” The drake burst out laughing, baring a cruel smile. “I’ve spent my entire life training and tempering my body specifically to defeat Keltan’h’s, and you thought Pyro could finish me? Between the two of us, who’s arrogant?”

Having said his piece, the phantom took a step forward and appeared directly in front of Priam. The Juggernaut raised an arm to shield himself. Too late. A claw severed the limb at the shoulder, and a foot slammed into his chest.

Lvl Up: [Sun Steel Body] lvl 36
ERROR. CONST SEALED

The violence of the acceleration knocked Priam unconscious. When agony dragged him back to awareness, he lay at the foot of the arena wall. Beneath him stretched a pool of blood. Lifting his head, he saw the drake greedily devouring his arm.

“Your flesh is spicy. I like it. Poisoned?” Another bite. “Mmh. Even with my resistance, it numbs me,” the drake marveled. “Good stuff.”

Wiping the blood blinding him, Priam forced himself upright. In his current state, only [Kinetic Sovereignty] allowed him to move. Walking toward the enemy, he saw the drake watch him with the amusement reserved for an insect struggling to live. The enemy’s condescension stoked the Juggernaut’s pride.

Stepping into the drake’s shadow, he saw the draconoid silhouette cut against the black sky of space. Behind its head, Earth’s sun crowned him with a halo.

Maybe out of curiosity or amusement, Aarthash did not attack.

Priam placed his last remaining hand on the scaled thigh and released [Kinetic Sovereignty]. His entire aether reserve erupted through his meridians, tearing into the enemy’s body. The Juggernaut was ready to sacrifice himself to wipe that smile from the phantom’s face.

Lvl Up: [Adaptive Golden Meridians] lvl 39
META (Focus) +3
META (Endurance) +6

The drake’s hide split, the muscles beneath rupturing. As his own meridians exploded one after another, Priam attempted to cauterize the enemy’s wound. Pyro advanced, only to flicker, meeting its nemesis. A Concept he could only describe as abominable.

“What—”

“Fireless. At Father’s request, I sacrificed one of my slots for this. And you’re telling me that in the end, I lost?” Aarthash murmured. “You will suffer for him.”

His claws plunged into Priam and enucleated him. His right eye made a wet, spongy sound as the phantom bit down. When Aarthash lowered his head, he looked surprised. Standing at his feet was the Juggernaut, defiant.

“You’re not running.”

“I won’t give you the pleasure of the hunt.”

“To survive, then? With your Colosseum Safety Token, I can’t stop you. Unless you still hope to win?”

“The last thing to die is hope. Because it makes you dig your grave before its.”

“Good proverb. And now?”

“I still have a second eye. Bon appétit.”

Aarthash burst out laughing and accepted the offering.

In a flash of pain, Priam lost his sight. Then the drake bit into the eye that housed Hecate’s New Moon. The Transcendent curse succeeded where [Poison Physique] had failed.

Even blind, Priam felt a wave of energy sweep through the arena, followed moments later by Aarthash’s scream. A cry of pain.

Smiling, the Juggernaut activated [Bloodless]. The Title description read: the Phoenix in you cries out, recognizing your potential. Your blood can now fuel your flames. The reverse is also true. Second atavism possible—10% bloodline purity required.

For Priam, devouring the chaotic nugget had raised his bloodline enough to grant him a diluted form of ichor. But of course, phoenix blood did not reveal its potential in liquid form. The Juggernaut burned to witness the true power of this evolution.

His soul resonated with his phoenix bloodline and [Bloodless], transmuting his ichor into flames. Pyro offered its synergy, and the vital fluid shifted from red to white. The substance expanded, every cell in Priam’s body awakening to a monstrous power. Where the transformation once resembled a chemical explosion, it now reached nuclear magnitude. Another rung climbed on the ladder of destruction.

The Juggernaut grew, abandoning his human form for that of an elemental rivaling the drake in size. Like a mirror to his enemy, two immense wings unfurled from his back—not of leather, but of flame. In his chest, two hearts pulsed like reactors, feeding the inferno. A meticulous observer could also discern three tempered gates—rings of aether—anchoring resistances within that gaseous body.

The fire beast roared.

Second atavism: Phoenix Ichor, accepted.
Warning: Embracing excessive atavism may alter your race.

Briefly, Hecate’s New Moon attempted to banish Pyro, but Aarthash’s flesh shielded Priam from the worst of the curse. For the same reason, the drake failed to invoke his Concept to extinguish Priam. Survival took precedence.

“My turn,” growled the Juggernaut as he advanced.

Even as he clawed at his own throat, the phantom backwinged the challenger. The elemental’s right arm detonated, but the drake’s flying limb was reduced to ash.

Extending a hand of flame, the Juggernaut tore the core from his opponent’s forehead. Inside it, a Mythic rune gleamed.

“Mine,” growled Pyro’s avatar as he opened his mouth. He had retained certain features, among them a third lung. A draconic one.

With ambient aether frozen by Hecate’s New Moon, the Juggernaut drew on his own reserves. Cannibalizing his body, he amassed his flames until he shrank back to human size. Then, opening his mouth, he released a Breath.

The drake roared in anger. Too late. The die was cast.

The words light and temperature lost all meaning. A sun rose within the arena. Electrons were torn from their atoms. The sandy floor became a lake of lava, then a sheet of obsidian.

A hand pierced the burning cone. No flesh remained upon it but bones reddened by the artificial cataclysm. Tempered, they managed to seize Priam’s flaming throat, and the Breath died. Emerging from the inferno stood Aarthash—eyes melted, wingless, burned beyond all reason.

“Ah. I believe I burned away your arrogance,” Priam smiled weakly.

From rage or exhaustion, the phantom failed to restrain Hecate’s New Moon any longer. The drake’s body exploded, and the curse swept over Priam, extinguishing his consciousness.

Aarthash, phantom of Wave 94 for 2 146 years, has fallen by your hand.
Undefeated duration prior to termination: 2 146 years.

Lvl Up: [Curse Anathema] lvl 2
DEXT +9
WILL + 9
Meta (Endurance) +9

Priam felt a flame rekindle within his soul. A fire coursed through his veins, bearing with it an exuberant surge of vital energy. As the clutch of death began to loosen its grip, the Juggernaut summoned his will and steadfastly refused its fatal kiss.

Save for the unyielding hardness of the ground beneath him, his awakening proved gentler than he had anticipated. Blinking his right eye, Priam at last brought the figure before him into focus: a stranger of breathtaking beauty. A sublime countenance graced a body of perfect proportion, clad in silks of manifold hues. The youthful humanoid bore variegated plumes in place of hair, and a crown of living flame adorned his brow. Standing beside Priam, he maintained but a single toe in contact with his patient, and through this link he channeled the regenerative flames of his kind.

“Ah, thou art awake,” said Keltan’h with a pretty pout. “For some inscrutable reason, thy left eye refuses all healing, even beneath the vitality of the phoenix. Apart from that lamentable exception, I have restored thee to the ranks of the living. Thou shouldst fall upon thy knees and kiss my feet; had I not been present, I would have given thee scarce ten minutes ere thou went to visit the Wheels of Reincarnation. And that only if thy system had not continued to squander thy lifespan in its desperate bid to stabilise thee. Knowest thou not that such skills fell into desuetude many aeons ago? They were once an easy backdoor to one of the three supreme bloodlines.”

Priam made no reply. He was overwhelmed by emotion. Not joy, but fear. He had stood no chance of defeating Aarthash had the fool not swallowed Hecate’s New Moon. His instincts whispered that even such stupidity would not suffice against the phoenix before him. A shared assessment: Keltan’h knew himself so superior that he saw no issue in healing his opponent.

“Now that thou art healed,” said the phoenix, sinking gracefully on tiptoes, “tell me why thou bearest my bloodline. Not that of the phoenixes, but mine own.”

“One of your tears will find its way to my Reunion, and a part of you will become my mentor,” Priam said.

“A fragment of mine own essence?” the phoenix answered coolly. “Never shall I grant assent to so profane an undertaking.”

“…I don’t believe anyone asked for your consent.”

The phantom’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Mother… didst thou truly—” His gaze snapped back to Priam, hard and unblinking. “What fate befell my original?”

Truth was not always meant to be kind, but Priam owed it to his mentor.

“He betrayed his clan for the Depths.”

The phoenix stopped smiling. His expression hollowed into something terrifyingly empty. He raised a hand—no, a talon—and Priam went pale at the sight of his halo. Phoenixes knew how to kill immortals.

Instinctively, Pyro burst from him like a cascading deluge to sweep the adversary away. The torrent slid across the phoenix, then gathered obediently within the hollow of his talon. For the first time, Priam was no longer the master of his Concept.

“Among the phoenixes, liars are punished by the rending of the heart. Thieves of bloodlines share that same judgment. By fortune alone, thou art endowed with two.”

“And plenty of chances to face you,” Priam replied with a smile. “I shall return.”

Then, he panic-pressed his Colosseum Safety Token an instant before Keltan’h’s talons ripped him open.

END of the chapter.

A certain phoenix mentor - young bipede version

**********

Revisions (only for those who did read the chapter in the 7 hours after its release):

After Hailcyon’s death (wave 93), when Priam hesitates between withdrawing or pushing further as his microbiota is killing him from the inside: