Cataclysm War | Chapter 57: A Final Farewell (First Draft)

Tuesday, August 2, 4 S.E.

Leonidas stood silently as the last vestiges of [Cataclysm Overdrive] ticked down in his HUD, eyes staring up at the sky in enjoyment of its myriad colors. Braedon’s body lay at his feet, the Prince-Royal’s greatsword clasped in his hands, arms crossed over his torso in a position of repose. The crowd had gone silent when he’d arranged Braedon that way, falling into a murmur of confusion at his actions, though he’d ignored them.

Some unknown, common agreement had rendered them all but silent as Leonidas quietly observed the sky and stood next to his fallen opponent’s body while awaiting the loss of his heightened state of awareness. Even the Announcer wasn’t speaking, as if respecting his moment of rumination.

The colors, the scents, the tastes, the textures that he could feel on the air—it was all so stimulating, so vivid, so powerful, so intoxicating.

His eyes drifted as he reveled in the experience for a few more precious seconds, inhaling the air of the arena in quiet satisfaction while the timer ticked down. His Core continued to scream at him, but his Willpower and Intelligence were amplified to such an extent that he could steadily ignore it. It felt like he had awakened. If this was what the higher tiers felt like, Leonidas couldn’t wait.

Progression would have to come quickly. He needed this feeling.

The thought alarmed some part of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

The euphoria, the bliss, the faint irregularity of his moods—all of it was a small price to pay. He had felt the wild impulse, the abruptness of his choices as he danced between rage, joy, and neutrality faster than his mind could process, all thanks to the tangible influence of his [Cataclysm Core]—but all of it had been beautifully, absolutely worth it. He’d felt alive again, awake after so long drifting through his new reality like he was a shell of what he’d been on Elatra.

As the time remaining hit single digits, he lowered his gaze, peering down at Braedon’s resting body and smiling faintly.

“{What a pair we make, you and I,}” he said to the fallen Prince. “{Both so alike in our pursuit of what could destroy us. In the next life, if there is such a thing, I hope we can meet on better terms, Braedon Eldormer.}”

The timer on [Cataclysm Overdrive] hit zero a second before [Unyielding Pride], and Leonidas had the wherewithal to steady himself as his power crashed. A spasm rocked his dantian, and his eyes widened as he resisted the urge to grip his abdomen, jaw locking into tension before several System Screens appeared before him.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

WARNING: Core Instability detected.

Your [Cataclysm Core] has been accelerated beyond safe margins.

As a result, your [Cataclysm Core] will incur a reduction in all Physical Attributes by 50% for 84 hours until it is healed.

His eyes narrowed as he read the notification, and Leonidas dismissed it with a wave of his hand, forcing himself to straighten as he felt lethargy, weakness, and an overwhelming loss of awareness roll through him. The world seemed to dull compared to his overdrive state, and he already felt… lesser in the wake of its absence. His [Cataclysm Overdrive] had given him a taste of power almost akin to what he’d held on Elatra, and afterward—everything just felt somehow reduced in beauty, as if he were watching reality through faintly blurred glass.

Everything has a cost, Ace, he reminded himself silently. This is Overdrive’s.

His eyes shifted to the next screen while he accepted that fact, and he read it silently.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Congratulations, Leonidas! You have won the [Right of Challenge]!

As a result of being the first Cultivator on [Unclaimed Planet 42] to participate in and succeed at the [Right of Challenge], your rewards have been adjusted accordingly.

[Reward 1]: Rule over [Dominion 5] (Deferred)

[Reward 2]: 500 Aetherium → 1,000 Aetherium

[Reward 3]: Legendary Title

Would you like to claim these Rewards now?

[Y] | [N]

Leonidas snorted quietly and tapped the [Y] button, narrowing his eyes when the System screen vanished and was replaced by three more. His eyes scanned them carefully, and he wanted to curse when he did, not out of pure frustration, but out of absolute fury at the System’s sense of sociopathic equity as he read each one.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Congratulations, Leonidas! You have earned a new [Title]!

Royal Champion

[Quality]: Legendary

[Description]: Your participation in the [Right of Challenge] on behalf of a potentiate monarch has solidified your place in the annals of history as a premier example of courage and fidelity. As the ordained Royal Champion of [Dominion 5]’s ascendant Monarch, you have earned unique rewards!

[Reward 1]: Gold Chest

[Reward 2]: +25% All Attributes while defending the Throne

[Reward 3]: +10% Charisma Effect with Loyal Subjects

Would you like to claim these Rewards now?

[Y] | [N]

Leonidas dismissed the prompt with a click of [N] and waved it off, directing his gaze wearily to the next screen in line as he tried to process exactly how incredibly stacked he was becoming from a social standpoint. Between all of his accrued bonuses, he was beginning to feel somewhat daunted by the scale of what he was acquiring. The way it was shaping up, he was getting a massive injection of personality impact with those within Dawnhaven—something he wasn’t sure how to really rationalize in that moment.

Instead, he focused on the next screens.

When he did, his expression twisted into disbelief again.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Congratulations, Leonidas! You have achieved victory in an [Honor Duel]!

Despite the lack of official declaration, there are few things more essential to the nature of an [Honor Duel] than the [Right of Challenge], and you have emerged victorious against a foe three Tiers your superior!

As a result, you have received rewards relevant to your immense achievement!

[Reward 1]: 52,000 Experience

[Reward 2]: 500 Aetherium

[Reward 3]: 1 Use of [Honor Duel]

Would you like to claim these Rewards now?

[Y] | [N]

Leonidas stared at the screen blankly for several seconds and then promptly slammed the [N] option, cursing under his breath and reaching a subtly shaking hand up to cup his forehead as his mind rolled with tumultuous realization.

52,000 Experience? That’s enough to push me to Level 21!

A shuddering breath left his lips, and Leonidas felt himself sag, weakness and exhaustion creeping in as he realized the scope of what had happened. He couldn’t accept those rewards until he recovered from his Core instability, or else the potential Tribulation would rip him apart—another factor which meant he definitely couldn’t undertake the Rank up in Dawnhaven.

He needed somewhere remote, secure, and out of the way; somewhere there wouldn’t be potential bystanders caught in his path.

As he dismissed the second-to-last screen, a final one took its place, and Leonidas read over it wearily.

SYSTEM MESSAGE

Congratulations, Leonidas! You have earned a new [Trait]!

Limit Seeker

[Quality]: Transcendant

[Description]: You have manifested Attributes and achieved victories that should be impossible for your Rank, manifesting the transcendant title of Limit Seeker, signifying one who searches for the boundaries that others battle to overcome. As a result of this trait, you will gain unique rewards at each Limit Tier, starting from Tier 5. As a result of this trait, all Experience requirements for each Tier after Initiate will be doubled. Go forth, O boundless Cultivator, and discover your final barriers!

[Reward 1]: [Locked]

[Reward 2]: [Locked]

[Reward 3]: [Locked]

All Experience requirements doubled?!

Leonidas punched his fist through the screen reactively, dismissing it in the act and glaring at the space it had occupied. Doubled? Doubled?! The injustice of it burned at him, and he realized with a start that it meant he also wouldn’t hit level 21 with his reward. He’d get to 20, but that was it. His next Tribulation would be the last one he earned normally.

After a moment, his enhanced Intelligence did the math, and he felt his hands shake again—as much out of shock as out of afflicted weariness.

“490,000 Experience to reach Contender…” he muttered in disbelief, staring down at his faintly trembling hands and curling them into fists. “And the costs at the higher tiers will be obscene…”

His thoughts were interrupted by a sense of presence hitting his [Psionic Focus], and Leonidas turned, shifting his attention to see Aylar, Ceruviel, and Uriel walking toward him across the Arena. The Dawn-Lord looked somber, the Dusk-Lord triumphant, and Aylar—Divines above, his fiancée looked radiant. There was sadness on her features as her eyes took in the corpse of her brother, but there was relief too—relief, clarity, and acceptance.

Part of him had feared what would happen. He had worried that his duel with Braedon would, invariably, damage something between them. How could it not? If someone had killed Kairi, Leonidas never would have been able to forgive them.

But in Aylar, all he saw was a sad compassion and an empathy that swelled his heart.

When the trio reached him, his Mentor spoke first, her voice calm and projected.

“Well done, Achilles,” she said simply, her lavender eyes searching him almost as if seeking to find something, and then flickering with satisfaction when she failed to do so. “You ended it the right way. That last duel—it was what needed to happen, even if nobody else ever understands.”

“It felt right,” Leonidas replied tiredly, his voice drained to his own ears, almost hollowed out. Perhaps they’d think it was from emotion. That would suffice, for the moment. “Braedon was a Warrior, and whatever his flaws—they were many, truthfully—he fought with honor. He deserved a Warrior’s death.”

At the Dusk-Lord’s side, Uriel nodded his agreement, all of them speaking while fully aware that their conversation was now echoing to the entire Arena.

“You gave him the last honor he would ever receive, then. You could have brutalized the Prince-Royal, but you showed restraint—you showed honor, Leonidas Achilles. That is worth more than any laurel of victory.”

The Dawn-Lord stepped forward as he spoke and looked down at Braedon with deeply thoughtful golden eyes.

“The Arena heard your final words, Haelfennyr or not. I found myself heartened by them. You were right, Squire of the Archon. Braedon Eldormer should have been so much more than this fate, but it was a fate he brought upon himself,” the Duke of Morning concluded with quiet certainty. “Thank you, Earl Latherian, for adhering to Alteran Codes of Honor. You have given this son of Eldormer an end befitting his lineage.”

Leonidas inclined his head to Uriel’s words and, at last, turned to Aylar.

The Queen, as he insisted on thinking of her, stepped forward and laid her hand on his breastplate, feeling where Braedon’s sword had impaled him. Her eyes searched the jagged hole in his warplate and then rose to meet his, azure to sky blue, and she watched his carefully.

“Are you hale?” she asked simply, her voice carrying across the Arena.

“I am, Your Majesty,” Leonidas declared formally, allowing that title to be carried as well. “To fight in your name is a privilege I am honored to have received, on behalf of all of your subjects.”

Aylar’s smile was fragile when it came, and she gently touched his breastplate again before stepping around him, moving toward her brother’s body as she did, and fanning her dress to lower herself to her knees on the manastone. Her hands, devoid of gloves, reached out to brush back his hair, and the Swordmaiden’s body trembled faintly as she did.

With his [Psionic Focus], Leonidas saw the resentment, the anger, the sorrow, the grief, and finally, the love—the love only family could hold for one another, no matter the extent of their differences.

Respectfully, he deactivated the Skill with a switch of his mind, and calmly placed his blade tip-down before him, resting his hands on it in silence as Aylar spoke, her voice carrying once more in elegant, heartbroken Haelfennyr.

“{You have come to your final rest, Son of Altera,}” she began gently, her hand moving to settle upon the wound over her brother’s heart. “{You were born of the wilds, the forests, and the skies. You were a child of songs, a scion of glories, and a beacon of radiance. Now, at last—}”

Her voice broke as she spoke, and the first tremor cascaded, transitioning into a choked sob that wracked her shoulders, though Leonidas, Ceruviel, and Uriel remained as they were—understanding, without words, that this moment was not for them. It was for her. It was for the sister who had lost her brother, the Queen who had lost what should have been her greatest General.

Around the Arena, the crowd was as silent as the grave.

“{—at last,}” Aylar continued in a heartbroken tone, “{you return to the final embrace of the Mother. Rest, weary Warrior, and take heart, for the Children of High Blood stand proud, and your end will be added to the annals of our eternal glory. Rest, my brother, rest, for you have passed to the halls of our Fathers, and shall dwell there evermore in the warm embrace of the Mother.}”

Aylar’s hands trembled as she finished, and the Queen bowed her head, gripping her brother’s hands with an audible sob, and letting the tears, finally, flow free.

Above them, Leonidas heard a cascade of movement, and his head snapped up to see the crowd standing—not just standing, but removing hats, pulling away caps, and placing their hands over their hearts. Even those that did not understand, even those that hated him, even those that saw only an enemy. As one, Terran, Alteran, and otherwise, they stood, and as the Swordmaiden wept over the corpse of her sibling, they bowed their heads in unity with their new Queen.

A final requiem for the man who would be King.

A final farewell for the Hero he would never have a chance to be.