[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 71: Hollow Rage

Slowing down, the fury bled out of the Chaos Sage. The enemies were felled, those that threatened the Tree repelled.

All around, peace was returning to the Skyshard.

“The fight is over. Let go of the Chaos,” Raiko pleaded to the hollow version of herself. She reached out, mana passing between them, trying to rejoin.

Sam relaxed slightly at the change in her posture. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally rest.

He relaxed his grip on the [Charred Claymore] and eased his tether to the [Archflame’s Coal] now under half its Heat from his brief use against Sumet.

Less than half my HP, a quarter of my mana, and who knows what else is wrong with me, he thought, mentally counting up all the little wounds that dragged him down.

Reaching a hand into his armor, he pulled Komachi out and handed her to Kai. “Go with Kai for now,” he told her. “Get some rest.”

The little cat’s emerald-green eyes blinked slowly and then shut as she drifted off to sleep. He could tell that as tired as he felt, she was twice that.

As the Chaos Sage reached the group, her eyes fell upon the scholar. The change was immediate, a flash of heat lightning.

Sam had to act.

He had just enough time to realize he had suddenly approached a crossroads. His future hinged on this singular moment.

Along one road, he could do nothing and see how things played out. He was tired and weakened despite the levels. It was, undoubtedly, the easier option.

The demon scholar wasn’t a friend.

He was barely a neutral party, and yet letting him die because it was easier didn’t sit well with Sam.

Without questioning it, Sam chose the other road. His body moved before he had even come to the conclusion.

Sam leaned to the side and cast [Void: Scour]. A spray of silver-black flames leapt into the air right in the path of the golden lightning strike the Sage had aimed for the scholar’s heart.

Snarling, the Sage focused on Sam as the one who had not only done the impossible by stopping her revenge, but had defended the interloper.

He could see the unrelenting hatred radiating off of her in waves of pressure.

In her Chaos occluded eyes, he was her enemy.

Raiko cursed, the stream of mana snapping off between them. She rushed the hollow, clashing her katana against its mirrored blade.

The two of them staggered in a stunned state, both swords going low.

Sam bellowed over his shoulder, “Get the scholar out of here and keep an eye on him!”

Kai and Matt, sporting no few wounds themselves, hurried the lithe horned man away through the fields of bodies. Dullahans obediently followed Sam’s orders, rising from their kneeling stations to form an honor guard around the scholar.

Barely enough mana to cast another [Scour], he thought. The Heat from the coal would help, but it could only do so much. Still, he tapped [Rally] to provide himself with a bit of an HP buffer, re-entered [Power Stance], and surged forward to help Raiko.

The ghost and her body faced off, but it quickly became clear that the Chaos Sage was the victor. With a surge of violent multi-colored mana, she pushed Raiko away just as Sam reached her.

The hollow could tap into the power of Raiko’s Path, and the ghost could not.

Their blades crossed and Sam saw with horror that the mana coursing off her katana was eating away at his sword. Fumbling frantically, Sam sent a thread of Void mana along the edge.

It was the extent of his abilities, and he nearly failed doing something so simple.

Silver-black flames leapt along the chipped and dulled edge, Void pushing back the Chaos.

Void and Chaos mana mingled for a moment, then erupted, fizzling away into nothingness. The force of the explosion blew them both back.

Sam recovered first. So they’re combative, he thought.

Normally, that would mean any sane person would stop using Void mana where it might touch Chaos, since the result was explosive.

It was the right decision to make. The tactical one.

So, naturally, Sam doubled down.

Using his manatuned cloak, he sent his Void mana into it, turning the slightly pale transparent thing into a raging sheet of silver-black fire that burned as it trailed behind him.

Sam lunged forward, bracing with all of his strength as his silver-edged sword came down on the Sage’s swinging blade.

The two powers detonated again, throwing sparks of prismatic mana into the sky. The rubble and dirt bunched up behind Sam’s heels, but this time only the Sage was blown back.

For a moment, he witnessed threads of Chaos mana trailing off the Sage, weaving throughout the Skyshard. Perhaps that was the source, empowering her from the ambient chaos.

Tapping into his Breaker bloodline, he nicked one of those threads and it began to unravel. The Sage struggled for a moment, long enough for Raiko to seize her opportunity.

Raiko dove into the Sage, and the two underwent an inner battle.

Sam had never thought to use his Void mana and his Breaker powers at once… the result was satisfyingly effective.

He waited, hoping against hope that Raiko would win out.

While he waited, he drew more Heat into himself, preparing for the worst.

When the Chaos thread finally snapped, the backlash empowered the Sage enough that she was able to throw Raiko out. The ethereal form of his friend spiraled through the air and the Sage viciously gave chase.

Placing himself in the way, he refocused her attention on him. The Sage’s katana crashed down into his upraised claymore. Despite the line of Void mana slowly draining his mana, the resulting explosion left a hairline fracture in his sword.

The ground at his feet cratered with the force of the impact, and the two were once more forced apart.

But now Sam understood the trick. Thread after thread was Broken. And each time, Raiko attempted to take her hollowed body back.

They battled back and forth across the field of torn demon bodies. Their strikes blew dirt and rock apart. A dreadful wind, generated from the impacts, rolled over the plains.

The Sage, in a private maelstrom of rage, finally caught onto Sam’s tactics and avoided him. She was significantly faster than he was even when he tapped the Heat from the coal.

Though she was weakened considerably, she was still more than a match for Sam’s flagging body. Instead of meeting the dangerous Void edge on his blade, the Sage kept her distance and used devastating ranged attacks.

Her supply of Chaos mana may be never-ending, but Sam was on single-digits by now. At any moment, his defenses would wink out and then it was over.

He had to risk it.

Rather than dodging out of the way or cutting through the mana with his sword, Sam pulled the Void cloak around his body to shield himself from the stream of Chaos mana that morphed and changed as it flowed through the air.

The explosion threw him off his feet. He went limp and bonelessly rolled to a halt, legs splayed.

The Sage pounced.

Sam kept his eyes closed and counted silently in his head, fighting every instinct to get up. He rolled to the side at the last moment as she pierced the stone with her katana as if it wasn’t even there.

When he opened his eyes, Sam could see the Sage’s confusion was complete.

Good.

He twisted around, concentrated, and kicked out with all the power he could bring to bear and Broke her katana at the hilt.

There was a dreadful snap that echoed across the dead hills and plains. The hollow Sage stared at her hand holding the hilt of the katana and nothing more.

Sam sprang to his feet and, with a full-bodied [Whirling Slash], severed the remaining Chaos threads that bound the Sage.

Her wail of agony pierced his soul. He could feel all her sorrow, her rage, her fear of the demons hurting those that were most precious to her.

“Now, Raiko!” Sam bellowed.

“Voidknight,” the Sage cursed him with blood on her lips.

Raiko’s ghostly form pierced the Sage’s body, and the two became one. The Chaos Sage, drained and battered, sank to her knees as Raiko was finally able to win out against her.

Sam’s mana ran out a few seconds later. His cloak transitioned back to a pale, translucent moonlit white and the Void edge of his blade faded.

He sat down heavily on an uprooted boulder that had been cut down to size by their battle. For what felt like the first time since he arrived at the Skyshard, Sam took a deep breath and was able to look after himself.

You defeat the [Hollow Chaos Sage (Level ??)].

You gain incredible Experience for besting a Very Tough guardian!

Hidden Quest Complete: Legend of the Voidknight.

A Legend is more than a moniker or extra stat points. It is a way of living one’s life. Tales are still told of unique Legends from Ages long past. Most people never grow past their first Legend, but those that do become the myths and sagas of a Shard, whose storied Deeds spread across the Shardrunes like wildfire.

You unlock the [Voidknight] Legend.

[Voidknight]

Not satisfied to be a simple Adventurer, you have walked, unwittingly, as a Knight, while keeping to the Path of the Void. A feat that should have been impossible, especially in one so new to the Shardrune Realms as you.

Knighthood, however, is by no means yours by default. You are the first of your kind, using Apocalypse mana to protect rather than destroy. The Shard will be watching your progress. Should you stray, your Legend will die. You must continue to strive, to uphold the ideals graven upon your heart, even when—especially when—they are hard. Your Legend is yours to make of as you see fit.

You gain a new Affinity: Void (☆ Primitive).

+2 to all Stats.

+1 to all Talents.

Enhanced rarity for all future Jobs, Paths, and Professions.

Unlocks unique Void variants.

Sam’s eyes widened at the new Legend. More notifications flooded him about levels gained and the completion of the conflict quest, but he skimmed past them for now.

Sam furrowed his brow at the enhanced rarity bit. Jobs and the like didn’t possess rarity, did they?

He couldn’t remember ever seeing it.

How do you think the Shard differentiates between a Duelist or an Assassin? One clearly has higher stats and skills.

The only difference was, for whatever reason, the Shard didn’t bother to display the rarity. He could only guess as to what unique Void variants might be, but if he was already considered a Voidknight by Legend… what would happen if he gained a Void variant of a Job that was also a Knight?

Would he be a double Voidknight? Sam shook his head at the ridiculousness of it. Maybe it meant something else, but he was eager to find out all the same.

I’m still missing a Profession and with the state of this Skyshard… we’re going to need to do a lot of cleaning up.

While the rarity and unique variant was good to see, what had Sam truly excited to be a Voidknight was the doubling of stats and Talents.

No bonus points, but he wasn’t too broken up about that. Not when he gained 18 total stats per Voidknight level now plus Talents.

With the battle over, loot scattered across the landscape and tons of level ups to sift through, Sam was already looking forward to all the things to do in the coming days.

This was just the beginning of his journey.

A journey the Shard itself would be watching.

He had to stay on the road of a Voidknight, which meant doing idiotic things like deciding to protect a demon he hardly knew against an ally, to whom he owed almost everything.

And I would do it again, dammit.

He would, but he wouldn’t like it.

The dullahans returned and surrounded Sam and Raiko like an honor guard.

Once more, they knelt in fealty.

Sam wondered what was inside those suits of armor that made them capable of loyalty and respect, adhering to some kind of tradition he didn’t know.

This time, the most damaged of dullahans offered him a sword.

Not just any sword, but a colossal greatsword.

He turned away from the incredible gift for now. There was someone more important.

He took Raiko into his arms, picking her limp body from the ground.

Sam was only able to take a few steps before a hand pressed against his chest. He looked down at Raiko, making his helmet transparent and smiling to see her back to her normal self.

Raiko’s violet gaze was not a friendly one. “Who are you?”

[End of Voidknight Ascension, Book 1]

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With those shameless plugs out of the way (but seriously, check 'em out, we need all the help we can get!) I'd like to address a few questions we've gotten:

Are you going to make an audiobook?

Hard yes. When is more of the question. Ideally, we'd prefer to do a launch of audio and ebook at the same time. That depends on who we choose as a publisher for the audio though. No details at the moment, but we definitely have plans to bring Voidknight to audio.

Are you taking a day/week/month off like other authors do when the first book finishes?

Under normal circumstances we might, but we're not. Tomorrow will see the first chapter of the second book as normal. No interruptions.

I've heard you talking about another serial, what's its name? What can you tell me about it?

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How long is the second book of Voidknight going to be?

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You keep adding more chapters to Patreon, how far ahead of public will we get?

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And that's everything! If you have any questions you'd like to add, drop them in the comments and we'll answer them/add them to the list above. We sincerely hope you enjoyed the first book of Voidknight Ascension! Book 2 starts tomorrow.