194 (II)

Euthanasia [II]

"Got it, little guy," the Hydra said, and by then Shiv noticed that a number of the Psychomancer wardens had been absorbed into Solzimort's body. The Deathless grunted but decided not to complain. Solzimort was a "kind" soul that wanted to be a guardian, from what Shiv could tell so far, it was just unfortunate that the Hydra's notion of kindness was practically traumatic for almost anyone else.

With the room secured and the bomb planted, they continued. Most of the orcs got back in Shiv's cape, and the designated Maestros stayed out with Shiv as they continued their chaotic operation. Solzimort moved again, and temporal lightning danced across his body. The core-raiders glided through the matter again. This time, the orcs clung to the edges of Solzimort's teeth. They were large and plenty, so one of Solzimort's mouths was stuffed full of the grayskins. Despite this, the Hydra hummed a jaunty tune as they proceeded closer to the core.

With every meter they progressed, Shiv felt a heavier pressure settle against his body, and he felt a building tension climb inside him. I need to cook. I need to get out of this hellpit and cook or I'm going to lose my felling mind.

Shiv had no idea where they were going, as the matter before them turned into a slurry of Orichalcum substance mixed with dense silver mesh. The Hydra and Adam, however, weren't so blind. Every few seconds, one of the Hydra's heads would tip down, and from his jaws, Mortar would fling out another bomb. The wardens didn't retaliate, probably weren't even sure where the Hydra was, and Shiv quickly realized the sheer difficulty of running a prison filled with Legendary prisoners. It wasn't just the sheer power a Legend had, but also the sheer variety of Skill Fusions and how strange they could get.

The Hydra's ability to swim through matter and incorporate it into his own flesh was nightmarish. It didn't matter if Shiv was stronger than the Hydra; if he made contact with Solzimort, the Hydra could absorb him in an instant if his Shapeless Tides failed. And then there was Gone. Despite Shiv's overwhelming might, Gone was someone he had to surprise if he wished to take down, because if there was one absolute advantage, it was being so fast your enemy couldn't react to you.

It didn't matter if you were stronger or tougher if you never had the initiative.

The moment they got out, it was little wonder that the Ascendants needed to personally intervene to regain control.

Shiv tried to imagine this breakout causing a flood of Legends to spill out from within the Yellowstone volcano. "Yeah," Shiv breathed. "This is gonna keep their hands full for a while."

After depositing a few more bombs, they accelerated even faster, and suddenly they were through. Shiv found himself falling, and he looked out from Solzimort's mouth to see a wide-open, brightly lit space. The chamber before them was around 800 meters in diameter, and at the core of the room was their objective. It was a massive, pulsating core that radiated with prismatic mana. It didn't glow like the sun at Gate Piety, instead resembling a fracture, a breach between worlds from which incandescence flowed.

Several bridges ran from sealed Orichalcum gates to the mana core. They were likely passes leading to the essential cubes surrounding this place. An endless mass of mithril supports like a series of crystalline needles poked through the fracture.

Ten bridges extended out from the mana core, and standing upon one of them was someone he recognized, someone he expected, and someone he didn't look forward to facing.

Using Farsight, Shiv took in Rebis. He was clad in Adam's sky-blue armor, but worse yet, he also held the Gate Lord's Spellstring and Vambrace. It seemed the Ascendants were determined to piss his friend off.

"Well, at least we don't need to go on a miserable hunt for all my equipment in the surrounding cubes," Adam muttered humorlessly.

But stepping out from behind Rebis was someone else Shiv recognized.

The Gate Lord let out a snarl. "Stormhalt."

"The hells is he doing here?" Shiv asked.

"He probably anticipated this," Adam said. "Veronica didn't warn you about him?"

"Nope," Shiv replied. "So. Either she decided to give me one last shit-sandwich surprise, or Stormhalt's being a walking sack of piss again and going rogue."

"The latter is much more likely," Adam said. He cleared his voice. "This doesn't change anything. We stick to the plan, and we make this quick. We don't need to beat the Ascendants in a straight fight. We just need to disable Rebis and have you get to the core. Once we collapse it, we should use the unfolding chaos as cover to retreat. The orcs will act as spoilers and a rear guard against the wardens or anyone else who might intrude."

"Got it," Shiv said. "Kura. Candles. Out!" At his call, the other Legendary prisoners started emerging from his cape as well. "Orcs! Out. Secure the entrances into the core chamber and hold them."

Solzimort slid down atop once such an entrance and allowed everyone to egress upon a bridge. As he did, a small army of orcs did as Shiv commanded. They moved along the walls and made for every entrance, while Solzimort partially sank back into the walls. "Those two look mean," he whispered.

Shiv clenched a fist. "Yeah. They are." He spun his Orichalcum dagger and grinned viciously. "But we'll fix that soon enough. You know what you gotta do while we bust everyone out of this prison?"

"Yeah! Hide in the walls and floor and pull more people into my body if they try to get close to this place." The Hydra nodded his many heads. "You can count on me!"

"Alright, Solzimort," Shiv replied. "Do it well, and I'll be sure to make you a happy Hydra. You ever had cooked basilisk?"

"Uhhh, no?"

"Well, you're going to. And it'll knock your crowns off."

"But I like my crowns…"

"He means it will taste extremely delectable, you snake's bastard," Kura snarled, clearly tenser than the others.

"Yeah," Shiv said. And then leaned close to the elf. "And don't be a prick to him. He's risking enough to help us."

"He's risking getting put back into an enclosure if he doesn't," Kura shot back. "And Deathless—point your gaze high. We do not have long here. If we do not overcome our foes fast, the other Avatars will be summoned."

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As Shiv looked up, he saw a massive grid of panels, made from mithril and lined with cascading spells. This place wasn't just a containment chamber for the core; it was also a teleportation anchor. It wouldn't be long until the other Ascendants and the entirety of the prison's defenders knew where they were. But for every second of confusion they bought, it would increase their odds of claiming the mana core, collapsing it, and finally bringing all this bullshit to an end.

The incandescent mana suffusing the vast chamber came alive with activity. It rippled and lashed at the air around the mana core, and soon both Rebis and Stormhalt were glaring at the invaders. The former's wings glowed with divine mana, and his body twitched with excess energy.

"Impudent prisoners," a low, rasping voice sounded. It had a reverberation, an echo to it, and Shiv guessed that it was Enoch talking. "You have come to free yourselves, then, to set your fetid kind upon the capital and debase my Republic. MY Republic. Mine. Forged at my hands! Shaped by my genius! MY GLORY!"

Enoch's words were laced with near madness, and it sounded like two people were talking at once. The first was slightly rational, more controlled. The latter, emotional, constantly hissing and seething. "You will not get further. I know not how you surpassed my defenses. My defenses were failed by the weakness of our wardens. They were pathetic. The wardens have done all they could. They are worthless. And you go no further. You die here. We will flay your bones and use them to build new effigies in remembrance of this moment."

"For once, I would like to fight a god that is mostly sane," Adam said thinly.

"You know what, Adam? When I go find the Challenger and try to take his head, I'll bring you with me. How does that sound?"

"Absolutely terrible," Adam shot back. "But practically a dream compared to this. Maybe I'll go back to the gate and bother Lord Scorn again. At least he's very clear about what he wants."

"Yeah, a nasty-ass dildo rammed up into our wounds. Shit, I can't believe I miss that bastard after everything we've been through." Shiv turned. "Alright, you ready to get this shit done?"

A snort came from the Gate Lord. "I have a few choice things to say to Stormhalt, but I think I want to make it known with my arrows rather than my tongue. And I want my armor back. Alright, people. Strategy—One final time. Shiv moves to ambush; I distract and traumatize, we overwhelm and hold; Shiv takes and collapses the core. Then, we use the chaos and move to escape after securing Rebis."

"Plan's a bit hopeful," Gone said. "Few of us are probably going to die."

"Thank you, Gone." Adam sighed. "We truly needed this final dose of realism and morale-lowering. The goblin just grunted in agreement. "Alright. Signal when you're ready, Shiv."

"I'm going to say this to you once," Stormhalt suddenly interjected. A flash of darkness emerged from the City Lord, and branching sinews of lightning crawled high up into the air. Immediately, a dark tree, which harkened the arrival of Halsur the Endbreaker, blossomed out from him. And over that tree stood the looming giant, bearing his spear and his massive shield in equal measure. More stormstuff pulsated free from his body, and it crackled down the tree back into Stormhalt, and the City-Lord rose into the air, drawn aloft by cords of lightning. "You came here seeking a release, and I will give one to you. Simply surrender. Surrender, and I will see you shackled and caged mercifully. I give this to you because of my better nature. I have every right to slay all of you right now."

"Every right," Shiv snorted. "What a fucking sack of shit. Hey, Stormhalt! I was gonna say the same thing to you. Surprised Veronica let you stay around after all your fuck-ups, but I guess you're exactly the type of person to get on the Auroral Council. Easy to control, easy to abuse, no political savvy, and a chip on his shoulder the size of a small mountain. You know what, I get why you hate Roland."

Shiv laughed bitterly. "But I despise Roland properly. I got a good reason. You? Well, I'm afraid there's no cure for being a bitch, Stormhalt. It's not his fault you're completely worthless without an Ascendant. How old are you? One hundred? Fifty at least. The hells are you still doing at Master-Tier?"

Shiv felt his Silver Tongue skill teeter on the brink. It quivered inside of him, and the lightning erupting out from the City Lord grew ever more intense.

"Be silent," he snarled. "I will not take this from a mongrel bastard made so by the hand of a vile deceiver. You're barely a person, Tanner Lowe. You're little more than a thing, an experiment. And soon, when we cast your master back into the pit he came from, we will see how much your tongue wiggles and how much defiance hides in that miserable body of yours."

A genuine laugh came from Shiv this time. There was always something so amusing about talking to someone who was emotional, especially when they liked insulting you as well. If one wished to banter or trade barbs, it was best that they held their own temperament in good control. Shiv didn't think of himself as much of a bully, but if he was, he probably would have bullied Stormhalt with much glee.

And that came with an uncomfortable realization. Shit, that does make me slightly like Roland. Maybe. Did Roland ever even bully this guy, or does he seriously just have a problem with Roland being better than him? Hard to tell with all the whimpering he's doing.

"I'll tell you what, Stormhalt," Shiv shouted. "I'll keep you alive if I can, mainly because I find you pretty pathetic, and Adam needs something to vent his frustrations on. We've had a hard couple of days, but since you're here, I think this is going to be a pretty good consolation prize on top of what we'll get from shutting this mana core down."

"Enough!" Stormhalt thundered. "Lay your arms down and surrender. I give you five seconds and no more." His voice was accompanied by a rumble, and just then, Shiv gave Adam a nod. It was time for the Gate Lord to take over. Shiv went Non-Sequitur. Soon, the fight would be on, but Shiv intended to make it as messy as he possibly could for the Ascendants and their Avatars.

As he ventured across the bridge, Rebis and Stormhalt approached. The massive tree lashed and pierced several bridges, drawing them closer, and as they were wrenched free from the walls, the steel groaning and then breaking with rattling screams, the alloyed matter began to change. It began to curve and twist into strange arms.

They resembled coiled wires wrapping around each other, their tips whipping tendrils that licked at the air as if leaves of a willow tree. The wires struck the walls and cleaved a few orcs in half. Rapidly, they began to construct a frame around the chamber—a mesh that outlined the edges of the room. Slowly, a pulsating flood of divine mana began filling the space in between the frames, and a heaviness filled the atmosphere.

Shiv guessed what was happening. Enoch was likely using Stormhalt's showboating as a distraction. He was trying to build something around Shiv and the others. Too bad the builder wasn't going to get that chance. As Shiv accelerated across the bridge, he came to a halt right in front of Enoch and Stormhalt.

As he did, the expected thing happened. Stormhalt's eyes came aglow with Divination mana, and the tree he was connected to pulsated with violet energy. The Ascendant who empowered him pointed his spear down.

"Something approaches." Halsur was an Ascendant of few words, and when he spoke, the world shivered beneath his awesome baritone.

"You think a feeble ambush like this will allow you to take us by surprise?" Stormhalt spat. Rebis waved his hands, and Shiv watched as a messy spray of incandescence expanded out from the former prisoner's body. The light seemed fluid at first, but as it spilled out from the gaps in Adam's armor, Shiv saw what seemed to be a hexagonal grid that slipped past him. As the Deathless tried to move through, he found himself stained with Divination mana. He might have been able to slip out with his Non-Sequitur, but that didn't mean he was unaffected by the powers they infused the construct with.

Gives them an easy way to track me. Well, this is annoying, Shiv thought to himself, but this was also anticipated. Adam knew certain Ascendants had powerful Divination, and even his personal Divination skill could anticipate where Shiv was coming from. But him getting close was only part of the ambush.

As soon as Shiv was noticed by the Ascendants, Adam moved to the next part of their plan. "Before we begin, I just want you to know that I will do to you, Enoch, what the Storm Lords couldn't finish at the Pacific Islands."

In an instant, the wire-mesh construct being shaped by the Ascendant came undone. Noises like snapping steel cables sounded as the stolen matter harvested from the bridges fell, crashing down in a spill of unstable matter alongside the flowing spellstuff.

"What did you say?" Both of Enoch's voices were aligned, and Shiv could practically taste the Ascendant's dismay.

Adam sneered. "I said, why don't you tell me what happened at Aina Huna?"

And at that, Rebis jerked as if mortally wounded. The Ascendant cried out as well. For the first time, Shiv saw Enoch as he birthed himself free from Rebis's body.

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