Oscar struggled to stay awake and tried to scream, but he drowned in the pure Ein of the Convergence. He sought solace in the deep recesses of his mind and found none. Retreating in his inner thoughts only replayed his biggest mistakes, the tragedies of the deaths and losses in his past. Rather than peace, it flared up his anger that swelled and rushed in his veins, and at that moment, something in him snapped. Oscar willed himself wide awake, letting out a muted roar. He refused to relent an...
2024-06-23 21:58:57 +0000 UTC
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Avril felt the world shaking and heard a mournful wail, a desperate cry of pain and sadness shouting in the fierce winds. She didn't know why, but it disturbed her and filled her heart with grief. The feeling of triumph and confidence earlier almost seemed to be a lie compared to how her heart ached now. Around her, her sister, children…everyone shed a few unwilling tears, some wiping their eyes while looking confused. Several curious Exalts attempted to attack Gilbert in the center in a ra...
2024-06-21 19:39:37 +0000 UTC
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After so long, the moment finally arrived. Oscar had been worried the entire time while sitting in the farthest place from where the fighting reached its climax. His solace lay in the fact that Lelith was dead, consoling his disturbed mind that it was enough; he had done all he could. Now, everyone's efforts bore fruit, lending the time and aid for Auren to complete his formation. It was a risky plan with a horrid array of unknowns and variables beyond his control, but luckily, it worked. He ...
2024-06-21 04:38:15 +0000 UTC
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The nodes shone, the lines shimmering to and from every place. Auren took out three bottles and poured out their contents in the center. One contained the collected blood of everyone in their encampment, the loyal soldiers and followers of his Lord. The second dripped a single drop, the blood he collected from Lysander. The last bottle, given to him by one of the Brilliant Drake Empire, released the blood of the princess and her retinue. The blood of all coalesced into an orb that floated abo...
2024-06-20 03:58:32 +0000 UTC
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"Chances of success is 1 out of 13566. Merging two opposite bloodlines in one person will result in immediate death." His lips moved without his will, forced to speak out what his mind calculated based on the immense knowledge crammed into it. His head ached, and his heart was cold. Auren shifted his arms inside the metal casings and wanted to cry. His first memory had been sitting in his chair, speaking whatever his captors wanted to know. His head was locked under an iron helmet, nails ...
2024-06-18 03:33:14 +0000 UTC
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Something was happening. Kragg's ears perked up. The noises and screams of his captors outside incited his rage as he wondered who could have stolen his prey. For many years in this windowless room, he longed to tear his torturers, the New Dawn, apart limb by limb and gnaw on their bones. The hunger imposed on every thought he mustered, having been starved for several weeks now, no light, no food, no comfort, and Restel was missing. He paced and prowled back and forth, hunched and droolin...
2024-06-14 20:45:27 +0000 UTC
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Waiting in Metures's throne room, Oscar snapped his gaze up, still unable to see past the craggy ceiling of bumps and crevices, but he could sense the powerful Eins clashing far, far above, yet so clear all the way down here. He wiped off the sweat beading down his chin and suspected the two opposing Eins to be Gilbert and Lysander. Lysander's Ein was still fresh in his memories, having faced it head-on in a duel an hour ago, and he had experienced Gilbert's long ago in the library, the first...
2024-06-14 17:57:13 +0000 UTC
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Marcus believed he had endured the worst of blows, most enemies unable to match the brute strength of his Lord's power, and took great pride in his half-dragon blood that granted him durability in scales and great violence in his claws and teeth. However, the sudden strike that shattered pieces of his scales off his shoulder proved his pride to be mistaken, the belief in his invincibility broken. It came faster than an arrow and rattled his brain in his skull upon contact, sending him flying ...
2024-06-14 15:33:32 +0000 UTC
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"Lord Taradon. Don't hold back. My plan will work even better…if you tire him out. Don't mind any injuries." Auren managed to speak out in short gasps. The clash between Lysander's and Gilbert's Ein suppressed the entire area, a sudden weight pushing on his shoulders. He reeled and coughed from the pain of his organs being squeezed, enduring with gritted teeth and stepping slowly to the center. He made it to the center and slashed his palm, drawing blood. Tracing his finger on the smooth su...
2024-06-13 04:26:09 +0000 UTC
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"Does it seem like I have a choice? Either I choose to let the Caerulumen invade and massacre the people or fight them and have a chance of winning." Oscar frowned, displeased, but his lips flattened and brow smoothened, resigned to the obvious choice. He stood up under Metures's blazing glare and dragged his weary self closer, brushing past Ignyres, who remained silent and stepped aside. Erden grunted and walked by his side. They reached the throne, standing barely past the bottom of Metures...
2024-06-12 22:08:27 +0000 UTC
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Oscar stared widely at Metures. He couldn't believe what he had just heard and stayed still in place, speechless at the sudden proclamation. He had no words, and all attempts to speak failed to part from his mouth. Metures's red glowing eyes looked back at him, slowly whirling in place, and the Ancient of Metal turned quiet, granting him time to digest the absurdity of what was said. Through their shared connection, Oscar also felt Erden's shock and confusion echoing in his own thoughts, ampl...
2024-06-11 21:12:14 +0000 UTC
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Oscar peered below, saw no hint of reaching the bottom yet, and grumbled to himself at the loss of flight inside the pit. A lingering presence, denser than the depths of the ocean, constricted him, binding his feet to the stairs, one step at a time. The freedom he had enjoyed for several hours since arriving inside the dark tower was stripped away again. With flight, he could reach the bottom in a few seconds with a single leap and dive, but his shoes pounded on the steps like a hammer on an ...
2024-06-11 02:34:08 +0000 UTC
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Shortly after the outburst, the strange being of ash named Quinn leaped forward, swelling in size as ashes flowed like the sands of a desert. On the other hand, Isha and the Elves didn't seem worried, as if waiting for something. Maia doubted that foul creations could express emotions, but Isha's calmness caught her attention. Red flames jetted under her prided wings and quickened her pace, arriving by Quinn in a flash of heat. Clasping her hands together, Maia parted them, intensifying the l...
2024-06-09 02:14:15 +0000 UTC
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"Oscar…." Avril said, worry laden in her voice as she traced her fingers over his furrowed brow.
"Just give me a moment," Oscar blinked, regathering his thoughts, and glanced away. The light emanating from the false depiction of the two suns on the far ceiling, two floors away, dimmed near the bottom where he and the others rested, lazy and soft rays of light passing by. Oscar could see the faint splotches of green blood that weirdly glowed like certain plants in a forest at night. De...
2024-06-08 04:21:44 +0000 UTC
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Green blood sprayed from Lelith's torn neck as her hand hung and dangled limply, unable to clamp on the severe injury, the slight leaks now flooding beneath her feet. As her mouth gurgled and spat out more of the strange blood, Oscar had to admit it looked very gruesome and unsettling since the color of her blood was abnormal, eerily inhuman. But that was the extent of his musings, ending without pity. In his opinion, she deserved far worse for her crimes, for her torture of Avril, and for ma...
2024-06-07 05:30:36 +0000 UTC
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Her enraged roar echoed to his side of the battle, and Oscar couldn't help but smile, gladdened to hear her so lively and well. Surely, she suffered for far longer than he had under the influence of Lelith's spell, but her invigorated cry dispelled all of his unease. At last, the final piece toward their victory had been placed on the board. Lelith closed in, crossing her scythes in full swing with her wings jabbing forward. Oscar firmed his footing, unwilling to back down, and punched, linki...
2024-06-06 05:04:13 +0000 UTC
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To be truthful, he didn't have any confidence in his Integration. After decades of trying in Talos and Fallen Heaven, his Anima, the shape of his soul in the form of a deer, still failed to merge and permeate his flesh, bones, and blood. Oscar sensed the unwillingness of his Anima, the helpless groans echoing in his ears, but he no longer cared for the consequences. Several veins tensed and writhed visibly underneath his skin, many popping and spurting blood. The ground caved in as the violen...
2024-06-05 04:50:04 +0000 UTC
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Was he drifting? No, the feeling of descending deeper and deeper was akin to drowning, reaching further below in the unfathomable darkness enveloping him. He remembered this place, the needling chill that pierced every pore in his skin, and the thick tangle of unseen elements that halted his limbs from moving. No one existed in this void except for him. He had been here before, decades ago, when he had yet to awaken while Demon fought in his place. He tried to keep his eyes open and struggle,...
2024-06-04 01:45:50 +0000 UTC
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They were making good progress. Auren thought so as he drew a circle on the face of a statue in his blood. He lost count of the number of marks he had planted in the expanse of this incredible dark tower, its structure surpassing any conventional knowledge of formations. The denser conduits funneled immense Ein upward through the tubes, nigh unbreakable. But the Ein also permeated deep in the structure of the dark tower itself. Staring at the crater in the center of the hall, Auren surmised a...
2024-06-02 02:07:08 +0000 UTC
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As Ignyres dropped his revelation, Oscar had no time to ponder or continue the conversation. In the distorted world of the Prinstyct, Lelith's true body was catching up to her future images, almost overlapping as she stepped in, almost akin to teleportation. The light glanced off her scythe into thin lines, the blade's edge glinting a few inches from his chest. Oscar jumped, though not fast enough to avoid Lelith's strike. Helping him, Demon and Erden pulled him up, completing his full leap a...
2024-05-30 21:42:47 +0000 UTC
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Flames burned fiercely, incinerating the majestic robes of the statues, leaving them bare and wreathed in his fury. A mere breath from his lungs swelled the flames to higher peaks, turning the hall into a burning passage that sought to consume Lelith. But within the inferno, a mark shone brighter, bearing the symbol of a crown. Oscar's flames, driven by rage, could not engulf her, a part of the crystal floor left alone and untouched by the searing fire. It was as if her cold indifference coul...
2024-05-30 16:00:22 +0000 UTC
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"Small child. Are you alright?" Sharasn found him slumped on the wall. He set down his basket and placed a gentle palm on his chest. Not wanting to worry the old priest, Michael forced himself up and brushed the straws off his clothes. He sniffled and wiped the tears as Sharasn palmed his head and prayed. After ending his prayer, Sharasn asked again, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine now. Thank you." Michael didn't want to admit it, but the moment of silence spent listening to Sharasn's pray...
2024-05-29 23:55:03 +0000 UTC
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Michael's life in the old church was boring. In the mornings, he woke up drenched in sweat and changed his bandages after wiping his body with a towel. The church didn't have a bath and had a simple hole for a toilet. He missed the clean, modern bathrooms of his world and lamented how well he had it before. During the afternoons, Sharasn had him read the holy scriptures for his education and eat the slop he called a stew, though, after a while, it became more bearable to ingest. In the night,...
2024-05-29 23:52:06 +0000 UTC
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Michael gasped as he woke up, his breathing weak and rushed. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted his sight, made from old wooden planks, dust still covering nearly every inch. How long had it been since they were cleaned? He groaned and whimpered as a headache worsened, hammering his brain and skull. All of his senses and thoughts ended in pain, from the attempts to move his fingers to the ribs creaking in his chest. He lay limply, unable to gather the strength to move, immobile in ceaseless agony....
2024-05-29 23:47:12 +0000 UTC
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Adam punched the doors and sent them crashing to the floor. Surrounded by rocks, crevices, and a flat terrain of smooth stone, he assumed this room to be one of the environment chambers that replicated any environment set. Similar to the halls, the room reached immense, absurd distances as if he were truly outside and striding along a lifeless waste with only pebbles and boulders as his companions. He sensed a familiar presence, his smile widening with anger surging in his flared pupils.
<...
2024-05-29 04:37:58 +0000 UTC
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Kragg walked off the stairs and growled at the shut doors before him. In his long trek, he had encountered open archways and entrances, but never one that was shut. The door smelled of nothing, odorless and indecipherable, the contents of the mysterious room behind unknown to his acute nose. Kragg stepped forward and placed his palm on the azure door with golden engravings lining the edges. It pulsed and glowed blue when he made contact. Contrary to his expectations, the door swung wide open ...
2024-05-28 03:27:11 +0000 UTC
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The weight of her strike, amplified by the speed of her descent, sent Santen falling straight down, his knees trembling as he landed on his feet, breaking the splendid floor. He looked up and blocked the thick chain, now wide as a person with spikes that could skewer a man and split him in twine. Thinner chains protruded from the larger and coiled around his wrists, forcing his arms wide and exposing his chest. Santen struggled against his bindings since an innumerable amount of threads entra...
2024-05-27 06:08:07 +0000 UTC
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Hundreds of thin, long needles poured like rainfall, darting through the air at great speeds that muted the sound of their travel. Santen's hands swept across and landed together in a clap, gathering all the needles and squeezing them between his palms. Letting go, he dropped a clump of metal that dissipated into nothingness as the Ein that formed them lost its power. He preferred calm and silence, eased by the moments of respite, but he found none here. Instantly, a scythe sang its song, the...
2024-05-26 04:51:02 +0000 UTC
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'These stairs are endless.' Oscar griped as he kept rounding down the spiraling stairs, hearing nothing but the sounds of his own feet clacking on the smooth white stairs. Apparently, age did not affect them, not a single fracture or crease of time gnawing on their surfaces, and the gilded edges remained sharp and as dazzling as a freshly cut gem. Descending by flying would be faster, but he remained grounded, deliberate in every step to avoid being surprised or caught by an ambush. ...
2024-05-24 17:07:50 +0000 UTC
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Oscar took a harsh step forward, intent on reaching Avril before the dark tower truly opened. But it was futile. A glint of light shone on the tower's black walls, small yet distinct to the naked eye. Following that, several more flashes of light glinted, and more and more, until the entire dark tower shimmered, replicating the stars in the night. Oscar clutched his ears, as did everyone else. A great high-pitched noise rang in across the entire eleventh land. He tried to shout but couldn't h...
2024-05-23 02:44:40 +0000 UTC
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