WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 23

Shadows rose up all around Kari. There were eight of them, spread out around her in a circle, blocking her path. They towered over her like ancient monoliths. She had never seen a technique like this before, but she knew the one controlling them was somewhere close by.

Taking a deep breath, Kari spun the light ranseur around in her hands, adopted a firm battle stance, and narrowed her eyes as she waited for her opponent to make the first move.

That move came when the monoliths, one by one, began falling toward her. Kari danced left, avoiding one falling monolith. She then thrust out her spear. Light and darkness met. With a shout, she pumped more of her Spiritual Power into the monolith, which seemed to have been created with a set amount of Spiritual Power that could not be changed, and overpowered the technique. Cracks formed along the monolith’s surface before it exploded in a shower of black fragments.

Kari released a surprised scream as the fragments pelted her. Each fragment contained a vile and dark energy that stung when they struck. It was like something inside of them was trying to devour her.

She channeled Spiritual Power through her body to negate the effects, even as she shuffled to the right, once more dodging another falling monolith. This time, she did not try to destroy it. However, that also turned out to be a mistake. The monolith, upon touching the ground, burst into a dozen tendrils that sought to skewer her. She spun her light-based ranseur in front of her, creating a golden barrier that deflected the attacks, but each strike against her felt like someone smashing a hammer into her arms.

What made the situation worse was that each time those tendrils struck her, they would invariably bring her closer to one of the other monoliths.

Kari thought fast and activated the Third State of Spiritualism. Her body transformed into a brilliant figure of golden energy. She spun around and slammed into the monolith she’d been about to get sent into, blowing it apart. As the fragments flew in all directions, she reappeared several meters away, her body changing back into flesh and blood.

“Ha…”

Kari released a deep breath before she summoned a small blue pill from her storage ring. It looked like a crystal clear blue. Energy swirled inside of it.

It was called a Rejuvenation Pill. According to Eryk, it was an intermediate level pill, but its effects were outstanding. It would help someone recover their Spiritual Power even better than the Spiritual Recovery Pills that he used to make for them.

Of course, as with all things, there was a limit to how much this pill could accomplish.

“I’m surprised you’re still able to stand after all this time,” a voice said, sounding like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “You humans are a surprisingly hardy bunch. Still, you should know that you are not my match. You might as well give up now. If you do, I can promise to make your death painless.”

“You should realize that telling someone you will kill them if they give up is only going to make them fight harder,” Kari shot back. “Be honest with yourself. You don’t want me to give up. You’re enjoying watching me struggle.”

A low chuckle echoed around her. “I cannot deny that. While I am not battle prone like my two brothers, I do enjoy watching humans struggle and cling to life with everything they have.”

At that moment, the sky began to grow dark—or that was how it appeared at first. Kari soon realized the sky wasn’t dark. It was that Dunherr had spread his Spiritual Power around her, creating a dome that she had become trapped within.

The moment she became trapped, Kari felt as if her strength was being zapped. The light ransuer in her hands dissipated as she fell to her knees. Her breathing became heavy. Sweat poured from her body. Even her heart felt like it was struggling to keep pumping blood. Even worse was that it felt like something was tugging at her soul, trying to pull it from her body.

“What… is this?” she asked in a rasping voice.

“I call it Death Dome. It’s a simple name, I know, but it gets the point across,” Dunherr answered her. He seemed to enjoy explaining his techniques. “I have infused all the air within this dome with the powers of the Void. Have you heard of it? The Void is the next stage of power for those of us who can wield darkness. It is a higher level concept that grants us incredible powers over the concept of nothingness. Within this space, nothing can exist. That includes your Spiritual Power, and of course, that includes you.”

Kari couldn’t say she understood exactly what Dunherr was talking about, but she understood well enough that this Death Dome was a technique that relied on a higher level of power than the darkness element. He called it the next stage. Did that mean darkness was, in itself, merely the lowest rung of the cultivation ladder for people who had that elemental affinity?

Regardless, Kari knew she had to get out of there. She used the last of her Spiritual Power to summon six Rejuvenation Pills, which she shoved into her mouth and swallowed quickly. The medicinal liquid from all six pills gushed down her throat and settled in her stomach, where they quickly spread energy throughout every centimeter of her body.

Kari was quick to take hold of that Spiritual Power, spreading it evenly across her body and activating the Third State of Spiritualism once more. She gritted her teeth and leapt into the air, pouring every ounce of power she possessed into this attack. Her body became a spear of light as she struck the dome. Despite her best efforts, the Death Dome held strong, but Kari was not one to give up so easily, and she poured even more Spiritual Power into her attack.

Cracks soon began forming on the dome. One after another they spread across it to create something even more intricate than a black widow’s spiderweb, creating streams of light within the darkness, until Dunherr’s technique finally shattered.

Kari landed on the ground after she destroyed Dunherr’s technique. She stumbled as her legs threatened to give out. Much as she hated to admit it, that last attack of hers had consumed everything she had, though she summoned another two Rejuvenation Pills and quickly popped them into her mouth. Even with the aid of alchemy pills, it would take time for her to recover.

“Marvelous. Simply outstanding.” Low and mocking claps echoed behind her. Kari turned around and glared at Dunherr as he walked forward with slow, confident steps. “I did not expect a lower life form such as yourself to be capable of breaking through my technique. You do not know this, but Death Dome is my second strongest technique. It was something I created after nearly a thousand years of hard practice.”

Kari almost sucked in a breath at his “one thousand years” comment. She did not know how old Dunherr or the other Sekbeists were, but hearing him state he was over one thousand years old made her realize how far above her this person was.

She felt like an ant standing before a god.

As a Spiritualist who had reached the Third State of Spiritualism, Kari would probably live for a thousand years according to Eryk. If she reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism, her life would be extended even more—by at least five thousand years. However, none of that changed the fact that, right now, Kari was only a twenty-two year old woman.

One thousand years. She simply couldn’t fathom that length of time.

However, she was not going to show surprise to this man.

“Does that mean you have a first strongest technique?” she asked.

“I do.” Dunherr’s smile looked positively vicious. “Would you like to see it?”

Dunherr did not give Kari a chance to respond. Black motes of light turned into streamers of dark power that swirled around and gathered on his body, which had become pitch black like a night without the moons and stars.

Kari did not know what was happening, but she knew it wasn’t good. However, while she wanted to stop Dunherr from completing whatever he was doing, she could not get any closer. The dark Spiritual Power swirling around him was toxic. Just being this close to him was consuming her Spiritual Power, eating away at her.

She used the Flash Step to gain some distance. This caused the effects to lessen, but she still felt as if her very soul was being drained from her body. She took another two Rejuvenation Pills and warily watched as the Sekbeist known as Dunherr slowly transformed into something terrifying.

The first thing that happened was Dunherr’s body swelled to an incredible size. It was like he had become a balloon, but instead of air, his body contained Spiritual Power. He looked bloated and fat. This state only lasted for a second before he grew to become at least six times larger than before.

After he grew, his body began morphing again, the bloated look disappearing and becoming replaced with incredible muscle mass. His arms grew thick and sturdy. His legs became strong and powerful. A torso rippling with muscles, broad shoulders, and a thick neck soon replaced the balloon-like appearance. Even his hands had become bigger, broader, and covered in sharp claws.

Dunherr’s hair had disappeared. In its place were a pair of twin horns which curved elegantly around his head, like a mad king’s crown. His face had become more masculine, more defined, but also more inhuman. He no longer possessed eyebrows but thick brow ridges. His jaw no longer looked feminine but square and distinctly male.

Kari could do nothing but gaze at this creature in shock. Her body shook as she felt the power flowing from this monster. This was not something she could fight. She knew that instinctively, just like she knew there was no one else who could fight this. Even Siv would probably not be able to do anything in the face of this monster.

“How do you like my new look?” asked Dunherr, his voice now deep.

“It’s ugly,” Kari said without hesitation. Even though she was terrified, she was glad to see her mouth was at least working.

Dunherr snorted. “You just can’t appreciate my sense of aesthetics. A foolish mortal like you has no right living.”

With that, Dunherr held out his hand and splayed his fingers. Kari wondered what he was doing at first, but then she jolted when a sphere of black energy coagulated in front of his palm. It looked small, but that was only relative to his large body. It was probably about the size of her torso. Kari had a terrible premonition come over her, and she didn’t hesitate to act on it, disappearing within a Flash Step mere seconds before Dunherr unleashed his attack.

The attack was a massive beam of dark energy that flew forward and slammed into the ground where she had been standing, tearing apart the street, splitting it wide open. Dunherr didn’t stop there. He moved his attack up the street. A wide chasm appeared wherever his energy beam left. Within a mere split second of time, a two kilometer long and fifty meter wide chasm had appeared within Midgard.

“I should have known you would dodge that.” Dunherr turned to her, his lumbering steps shaking the city. “You are awfully quick, but let’s see if you can dodge this.”

Dark motes gathered around Kari. One became two, two became four, four became eight… and within less than a single second, there were hundreds if not thousands of dark energy motes surrounding her.

A shiver ran down Kari’s spine as she realized what these were. Void spheres. There were so many of them that she couldn’t use Flash Step to get away. The Flash Step was a movement technique, not a teleportation technique, which meant it didn’t let her move through objects or energy. She would still be struck. She would just be struck at a much faster speed. That would damage her even more.

She might have been able to avoid this attack if she activated the Third State of Spiritualism… but she no longer had the Spiritual Power for that.

The dark motes of energy quivered for a moment, then shot toward her at speeds most humans would not be able to keep up with.

Kari spun the ranseur in her grip quicker than she ever had before, moving it so fast her weapon became a simple streak of golden light that surrounded her on all sides seemingly at once. Her spear cut through the motes like they were made of feathers. It seemed these motes didn’t contain much power. They simply made up for it with sheer numbers. Each time a dark mote was destroyed, it would burst apart and the Spiritual Power would scatter.

She moved constantly, never allowing herself to stay in one place. The sound of her feet shuffling across the ground sounded surprisingly loud in her ears, but she knew she had to focus. She couldn’t pay attention to anything else except keeping herself safe.

“Ah…”

Pain exploded in her left thigh, suddenly and without warning, causing her body to wobble. Blood exploded from the hole that had suddenly appeared when one of the motes struck her. She could feel the blood staining her tights, dripping down her calf, and getting into her boots.

“Ngggh!”

Another mote struck her, this time in the hand, blowing a hole clean through it, forcing her to drop the ransuer she had been wielding. Her weapon struck the ground and burst into light particles. Now she was without a weapon.

In desperation, Kari once more summoned Rejuvenation Pills and swallowed as many of them as she dared. She stuffed them into her mouth and took direct control of all the energy inside of them, but she didn’t use it to recover her Spiritual Power. Instead, she simply let that energy explode from her body and transformed it into light energy.

It hurt. Kari had never known anything could hurt this bad. It felt like her insides were being destroyed, like something was burning away her internal organs. She’d never experienced something so painful before in her entire life.

However, the results from her desperate gamble were successful. Light burst from her body, expanding rapidly and destroying the motes.

“You… defeated my technique?!” Dunherr sounded shocked this time, well and truly surprised. “How did you do that?!”

Kari did not answer him. Even if she wanted to, she would not be able to. Her body fell to the ground like a puppet without strings. Sweat ran down her body and blood poured from her nose, mouth, and ears. She had used up everything she possibly could. All of her power had gone into that last attack, and then she had pushed even further beyond it. Now she had nothing left.

Dunherr snorted. “Even if you were able to defeat my technique, it looks like you used up all of your Spiritual Power. In that case, you can die now.”

Dunherr raised his hand and gathered more energy onto his palm. Kari knew this would be the end. She didn’t have the strength to move and didn’t have the Spiritual Power to block it. Even if she was at her full strength, the amount of Spiritual Power that Dunherr was pumping into his technique would have overwhelmed her.

In short, she could do nothing.

This was the end.

Or so she thought.

Just as Kari was about to accept her ending, a powerful but invisible ball of wind exploded against Dunherr’s shoulder. The monstrous Sekbeist Lord howled in pain as his entire shoulder was torn to shreds. He stumbled backward, crushing a building underneath his foot before steadying himself. Crimson eyes narrowed as he turned his head to look at something coming in.

Kari also glanced at the figure that was arriving. It was a large creature covered in glistening emerald scales, with beautiful horns that protruded from the crown of her head and swept backward, and glowing green eyes shaped like a rhombus. Massive wings flapped and generated an incredible gust. Behind this four-legged creature was a long tail.

A reptilian muzzle full of sharp teeth opened and fired off several more wind spheres. Dunherr grimaced as he raised his only good hand and created a large black barrier. The spheres slammed into the barrier, which shook and cracked but held strong. However, the dragon was not done yet and created a large beam that tore through the barrier and penetrated Dunherr’s torso.

“Gaaaa! Blasted Drakvar!”

The dragon—no, the drakvar landed on the ground in front of Kari. She turned her head, long neck rippling, and looked at Kari with what seemed like remorseful eyes.

“You’re late,” Kari said with a blood-stained smile.

“Sorry,” the drakvar said, eyes tearing up. The voice was deeper than what she was used to, but Kari definitely recognized it as belonging to Siv.

Kari shook her head. “It’s okay. Do you think you can handle it from here? I’m afraid I don’t have any strength left.”

“Leave this to me.”

Siv turned back around after speaking and looked at Dunherr. The Sekbeist Lord was slowly recovering. The destroyed flesh of his shoulder was knitting back together at a steady pace, though it still wasn’t usable.

“I should have realized you would defeat Unglück. That fool was always underestimating his enemies.” Dunherr glowered at her. “Do not think you will be able to beat me the same way. I’m not the kind of person who would underestimate a drakvar.”

Siv did not say anything. She opened her mouth and released a condensed beam of wind, which flew forward and slammed into the shield Dunherr created to defend himself.

The battle was on, but sadly, all Kari could do was watch.

***

Thanks to the communicators Kari had made, Commander Ashten was able to coordinate with his troops much more easily. It did not take long for the Midgard Spiritual Knights, Paladin Sect, and Battling Valkyries to reclaim much of the city. The strange creatures who had exited from the portal were slain under the combined assault of the largest group within Midgard and two of the most powerful combat-oriented sects.

“I’ve just received a report from Kroak! He says the northern quadrant of Midgard has been secured.”

“Maria Flamme has defeated all of the Sekbeists in the south!”

“Deterion and Lilac have joined forces and are pushing the Sekbeists back in the east!”

“Nam says she’s having some trouble. It looks like a very large Sekbeist with incredible powers over the darkness element has appeared and is wreaking havoc. She’s doing all she can, but it’s too powerful!”

Numerous reports were coming in at a steady pace from the various officers he had communicating with his soldiers in the field. Commander Ashten was standing by the table. The map was still there, but now he was using porcelain Hnefatafl figures to show the lay of the battlefield. Every time an enemy was defeated, he would remove a piece. When a new enemy appeared, he would add a piece. Several pieces also represented his own forces and would be periodically moved whenever he received a new update.

“Since Kroak has cleared the north, ask him to reinforce Nam in the east,” Commander Ashten ordered.

“Yes, sir!”

The two who were in charge of communicating with Nam and Kroak saluted before relaying orders and information.

“What is that dragon up to now?” asked Commander Ashten.

“Commander, it looks like the dragon is fighting a giant monster in the south,” one of his officers said.

“A giant monster? You mean a Demon Beast?” asked the now confused Commander Ashten.

The officer shook his head. “No, sir. According to eyewitnesses, the monster is a humanoid who can actually speak. I’m afraid that is all the information I have.”

Commander Ashten frowned, but he didn’t say ask anymore questions. There wasn’t anyone in the area around the dragon right now. He’d instructed everyone to avoid it.

While he was a little worried about there being a dragon in Midgard, he did not believe it was there to cause havoc. He remembered the petite woman at Eryk’s side, the one with wings, horns, and a tail covered in emerald scales, and he believed she was that dragon. If so, she was likely there to help.

That was his hope.

“Sir! I just received a communication from Lady Alexis!” an officer shouted. “She says they found the portal! It looks like there is some strange staff being used to keep it open, but they can’t get near it because there is some kind of barrier.”

“I understand.” Commander Ashten, after hearing the report, made a snap decision. “I am heading to the site of the portal. Continue with your current commands. If a situation changes, respond accordingly.”

“Yes, sir!” the officers inside of the lobby shouted.

Commander Ashten said nothing else as he left the Midgard Spiritual Knight headquarters and traveled according to the directions given to him.

In the far off distance, he could see the battle being waged between the dragon and the strange monster.

***

Dark beams of energy collided with bursts of air. The detonation from the combined attacks created a fierce storm of power that swept through the city streets, tearing apart buildings, ripping the roads to shreds, and laying waste to the terrain.

These attacks came from Siv and Dunherr, who were currently locked in a fierce struggle. They didn’t just fight with their Spiritual Powers. Siv would use her tail to smack Dunherr hard enough to make him stumble back. Had anyone else been struck by her tail, they would have probably exploded, but he was so large and sturdy that he wasn’t even lifted off the ground. In return, Dunherry raked his claws across her skin, tearing through her scales, causing blood to well up on her flesh.

Kari wished she could help. She hated seeing Siv scream in pain, hated seeing the sweet and quiet young drakvar do something she didn’t like, but she had no power left. She had already used everything she had in her previous battle.

This was the first time in awhile that Kari had felt this helpless, that she realized how powerless she was.

After Eryk, Fay, and Lin reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism, Kari had no longer concerned herself with cultivating. Sure, she planned on eventually reaching the Fourth State of Spiritualism, but it wasn’t something she actively craved. She just wanted it for the longevity. Why would it matter if she grew stronger? It wasn’t like anything or anyone could defeat her or her family. Even the Sekbeist from her previous life had been felled by her and Eryk. In fact, the only enemy she believed they needed to worry about was the Great Overlord of the Seventh Plain, and he was currently sealed away. There was still time, she told herself.

Now she was regretting her lack of urgency.

The battle between Siv and Dunherr was heating up even more. Siv had taken direct control of the wind and was cutting into Dunherr’s flesh with reckless abandon. Distortions appeared in the air at random and increased with every passing second. Blood burst from his body. One particularly powerful wind blade slammed into and gouged out his left eye. However, in exchange for taking his eye, Siv’s left wing was pierced with a beam of darkness.

Kari bit her lower lip so hard blood welled up. The taste of iron filled her mouth.

Wasn’t there anything she could do? Could she do nothing but stand there and watch as her sister fought against this powerful enemy? Why? Why why why why?!

Why am I… so pathetic?

“Waaaa… hic… hic… Mommy. Where you go? Mommy?!”

A voice that caused Kari to feel impossibly cold, like all the blood in her body had become frozen, reached her ears. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be! Except it was.

She turned to find Raul. He was standing several meters away, wandering through the destroyed street and sobbing. How did he get here? Where was Alexis?

“Raul! What are you doing here?!”

Kari ignored how her body protested, ran over to the little boy, and attempted to scold him, but the moment he realized who she was, he wailed even louder and wrapped his tiny arms around her waist.

“Big Sis! Scary people! They hurt Jan! I ran!”

Kari had long grown used to Raul’s somewhat scattered way of talking. Kayli had spoken similarly at this age. She inferred that Sekbeists had arrived at where he was staying, Janet had fought against them, but she got hurt. Raul ran away out of fear and somehow ended up here. It was a miracle he hadn’t died.

“It’s okay. I’m right here. You’re okay now.”

Kari hugged the boy to her and ran her fingers through his red hair, trying to soothe him.

A strong explosion of wind slammed into them, causing Raul to scream and Kari to grit her teeth as she fought to keep them both from being swept up like leaves in a storm.

She looked over at where Siv and Dunherr were battling. The powerful clash between the two had caused the space around them to fracture. Air and darkness collided, and a spider web of cracks appeared in the air.

Dunherr snarled as he released a powerful beam of darkness from his hand, which sailed toward Siv, but she roared and fired a wind sphere that slammed into the beam. The attack exploded. However, the beam didn’t dissipate but transformed into several smaller and less powerful beams that flew off in a variety of directions. Several struck buildings, a few struck the ground, and one flew straight toward her and Raul.

A thousand thoughts went through Kari’s mind as she saw her death coming closer. Was this the end? Would she and Raul be killed here? She had no desire to die or let her son die like Kayli had in her previous life, but what could she do?

Because she didn’t have any strength, all Kari could do was hug Raul tighter and try to protect him with her body. She got ready to use whatever Spiritual Power she had left. If she used the small bit of energy left to her, she would undoubtedly die from Spiritual Exhaustion, but she wanted to at least protect her son.

If Kari would say what her single regret was, it was that she and Eryk hadn’t been able to produce their own child in this life.

“Kari!” a voice shouted.

Kari’s snapped open the eyes she had unknowingly closed and looked back in front. A figure had appeared before her. Long green hair descended to the middle of his back, no longer tied into a ponytail but flowing long and loosely around his body. His outfit was primarily white and blue with gold accents. He had broad shoulders and a strong back. While she couldn’t see his face, she could imagine the intense look in his green eyes.

“Eryk,” Kari whispered, her voice thick with emotion.