143 2 in 1 Bonus Chapter! Unfolding
[2 in 1 Bonus Chapter/Extra Long Chapte, hence the above-average price.]
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'Damn it! Where is Leader or Aiden when you need them?' Dorian thought furiously, his mind still focused on controlling the energy that threatened to tear his soul apart. Neither of the two powerful King Class fighters seemed to have been transported to where he was.
Helena was the first to react.
WHOOSH
A powerful Aura of Might spread out around her as she went on full alert, energy rippling off in waves.
"Stop right there! Dorian, move!" Helena yelled out loud, jumping forward as she saw the Anomaly swoop towards Dorian. Her heart dropped as she saw Dorian stand still, seemingly dazed.
"No! Impact Magic: Heavy Impact!" She cast a basic Impact Magic Spell, one designed for instant use. Immediately, her momentum was greatly increased as what felt like a battering ram collided with her back, knocking her forward.
She hurled through the air just fast enough to slam into the attacking Anomaly before it reached the stunned Dorian.
"Hiya!"
BOOM
An explosion of energy rang out as Helena's Aura collided with the warm, welcoming Aura that Veritas held. Helena punched through this, her arms moving skillfully as she struck past the Anomaly's guard, her fist landing directly on its chest.
"Oof." Veritas exhaled as she was knocked backwards. The Anomaly had tried to swing its sword of light upward to cut Helena as she attacked, but missed. Helena's extreme skill and practice in close combat made dodging the attack almost simplistic.
The attack had only shocked Veritas, however, leaving no real injury. The ghostly woman raised a hand to her chest, tapping on it lightly before looking up.
"Ah, I see. You again, Vampire." Veritas spoke, staring at Helena from under her hood.
"What the hell?" Darrel Bold looked up from in front of the Leaving Door as the Anomaly spoke, alongside the other Lord Class Wizards, all turning around to see a small explosion of gold coins and treasure. The impact from the attack had created a miniature shockwave, throwing around much of the treasure in the center of the room.
"What do all of you think you are doing? The battle for the entrances may have been a free for all, but we're all in here now and there is no point fighting each other. It won't affect your winnings or any of the Trials." He continued, frowning fiercely.
"I won't sit by and allow for casual murder or robbery! I wouldn't be a Bold Brother if I did otherwise!" A King Class Aura of Darrel's own burst forth as he began to stalk forward, his chess-piece hair wobbling.
"Anomaly Veritas. We have no quarrel with you. I was sent here to negotiate with you." Helena began, ignoring everything else. At the same time, she withdrew a small bracelet from her Spatial Ring, slipping it on behind her back. The Capitoline Wolf Bracelet, a powerful, ancient Artifact she had as her backup.
Veritas ignored her, turning to look at a decidedly pale-faced Trajan.
"Ah. Vampire, you have already seen the Truth." Veritas said, her voice warm as she looked at the Wizard.
"Not any truth I would care about." Trajan spat out, forcibly overcoming his shock and horror as he looked at Probus' corpse. Trajan glanced over at Dorian, his energy vision letting him see that Dorian seemed to be frozen.
"You rejected the Truth…" Veritas shook her head somberly, sadness in her voice,
"It seems I must kill you after all." Veritas began to float towards Trajan and Dorian calmly.
"Hold on! We can w-we can talk this ov- listen to me, you ghastly woman." Helena swore aloud as she stood her ground, moving between the advancing Anomaly and Dorian, her fist clenched. She held the ancient Artifact at the ready, prepared to use it at a moment's notice.
"There's no use talking to it, Helena." Trajan shook his head, a look of intense concentration appearing as he glanced at Dorian.
"Savior, I will protect you, in return for your aid." Trajan continued as he clasped his hands together.
"Rain Magic: Water Knives!" Hundreds of blades made of pure water formed in the air in a split second, hovering over Trajan's head.
"Rain Magic: Aquarius Shield!" He cast a second Spell at the same time. Immediately, several large 5 meters wide shields formed and surrounded him, Probus' corpse, and Dorian protectively as Trajan stepped forward.
"Helena, careful! Its techniques are as weird as I said in my report!" Trajan warned, holding his hands up as he prepared to unleash the hundreds of Water Knives, each one infused with the power of the Law of Rain. While the Law wasn't extremely offensively powered, each knife would still hold the power of a Pseudo-King Class Wizard's Spell, not something that could just be ignored.
"I know." Helena grunted, staring face to face with Veritas as the Anomaly returned in front of her.
Veritas sighed quietly.
"Ah, child. You have refused to see the Truth. Therefore, I will open your eyes for you. Let the falsities you know be Inverted, only the Truth shall remain." Veritas' eyes flashed.
WHOOSH
The Aura around the Anomaly abruptly spread out fully, feeling warm and welcoming, but buried within it was a hint of danger.
As Helena sensed this, she didn't wait to see what the Anomaly was doing or give it any time to monologue.
'I can't win it over… Fine. Then you are dead to me, Anomaly. I will kill you and restore Trajan's sight, as well as rid the world of your vile presence.'
With that thought in mind, Helena attacked immediately, using her full understanding of the Law of Might to launch one of her strongest techniques, holding back nothing.
"Impact Magic: Royal Impact Series Number Six."
Helena's eyes glowed a brilliant white shade as she squared up, shifting her body slightly to the side. She pulled her right arm back. As she did so, two circles of white light formed in the air, one about two meters across, and the other three meters across, surrounding the first one. Muscles began to bulge and swell on her arms.
"Grand Meteor Impact."
Helena punched forward with a blow that carried with it the force of a massive meteor impact.
The stone floor beneath Helena cracked. It was made of the same tough, magically enhanced material that made up the rest of the Ascension Ruins. Despite that, it was no match for the raw force Helena had just caused to form, the sheer power in the impact she had summoned reaching a gargantuan level.
The Royal Impact Series was a series of spells created by the forefather of Impact Magic, Immanuel Hope, a Wizard that reached the Angelic Class. Each number in the series was a unique and powerful spell that carried huge amounts of force.
The Grand Meteor Impact was the 6th Strongest Spell, one that transmitted the full force of an enormous, 100 meter wide and large meteor crashing into a World from beyond the boundaries of chaotic space.
An attack of this scale… it was not something even most King Class Wizards or warriors could unleash. Impact Magic was notorious for its powerful Magical blows, and this combined with Helena's high mastery and the fact that she was only a step away from King Class meant that her attack had reached its full potential. She had previously been able to use this technique at a basic level, but only truly mastered it within the past few weeks.
Veritas' eyes narrowed as she saw the colossal blow blasting forward, causing the air itself to quake.
Without hesitation, Veritas muttered a single phrase.
"World Invert."
WHOOSH
The Law Veritas studied was one of the most abstruse and difficult known Laws to comprehend in the 30,000 Worlds.
A complex Law known as the Law of Inversion.
Everything in reality has an opposite. The opposite of heat was cold. The opposite of hard was soft. The opposite of black was white. The Law of Inversion focused on this concept, of there existing an opposite of all things. A complicated and exceedingly difficult to picture idea that very few people had ever heard of, let alone attempted to study.
Veritas was an Anomaly and a name, but the word Veritas also referred to a unique species. A type of semi-Divine creature, a race of beings born from the ether, possessing ghostly qualities. Members of the Veritas Race lived between the realm of the living and the dead, not quite existing in either realm. This quality allowed the Veritas Race to possess a unique sensibility when it came to seeing the true nature of a being.
Or, the Truth, as Veritas the Anomaly sometimes referred to it. Her own Truth, the Truth of her goals, or the Truth of others.
She could see the thing a person depended upon most, a core part of their true nature. By Sealing that thing away, she believed that others would see the Truth that she believed in.
She Sealed away Trajan's eyes, something he relied upon intently to cast his Spells and study Magic. She Sealed away Probus' sword arm, something that he had practiced and trained with since birth, something that was a part of his own understanding of the Law of Cutting.
All to help them give up their own Truth, and see her own Truth.
And what exactly was that Truth?
She didn't know.
Her compulsion to seek others out and Seal their nature, to open them up to see the Truth, was something she didn't quite understand.
All she knew was that if she continued on this path, eventually, her own Truth would be revealed to her.
And that Truth would lead her to perfection.
"World Invert."
The phrase Veritas had muttered echoed in the air, containing a strange, mystic property. Veritas' Aura abruptly became enhanced to an extreme degree, crashing down on Helena. A tense moment slipped by as Helena rushed forward, her movements tight and controlled. Trajan watched Veritas' every movement. His eyes widened as he heard the word, starting to shout out a warning.
Unfortunately, it was too late for Helena to hear.
WHOOSH
Before Helena's very eyes, as she was charging at Veritas, only a few meters away, and carrying an impact that was as powerful as a crashing meteor…
The world itself transformed.
Everything became inverted.
Black turned to white. White turned to black. Colors shifted to opposite ends of the spectrum.
Up became down. Down became up.
Right became left. Left became right.
Sounds flipped across spectrums, loud noises becoming quiet while quiet noises became loud.
Pure, unadulterated chaos spread across Helena's senses as the reality around her twisted into a madhouse.
"What?!" She sputtered, at a complete loss. Even her own words sounded horrifying, a maze of confusing echoes and screeches.
Helena tried to keep running forward. However, as she tried to bring her leg forward, she tripped. Forward had transformed into backwards, and her entire body twisted around as she smashed to a halt, everything going wrong.
From Dorian's perspective, as he watched all of this, his heart trembling while Ausra ran her simulations, Helena had started charging forward and then stopped abruptly, twisting around in mid-air. Her body physically leapt backwards, crashing into a pile of treasure off to the side.
BOOM
The terrifying blow that Helena had carried slammed into the pile of treasure with her, detonating.
"No!" The Grand Meteor Impact took up a huge amount of her energy. She could only cast the Spell three times in total at her best, and she was certainly not at peak condition right now.
One second, there was a huge pile of treasure, rare Artifacts, random Pills, and gold and silver sitting in a large, ten meter high pile.
The next second, the pile was gone.
A vast shockwave spread out as the pile of treasure literally exploded, coins, Pills, and Artifacts shooting off in a thousand different angles.
TINK
TINK
BOOM
A huge burst of wind whipped about the room as hundreds of treasures were flung through the air, turned into cascading shrapnel. The treasures pelted the challengers and knocked over hundreds of other treasures in other piles, flinging about randomly.
"My God. Are they trying to destroy the Ruins themselves?" Darrel Bold boldly retreated as he felt the force of this impact, recognizing that it had already exceeded the limits of his own strength to handle.
"Brother. Come quickly! And inform the Blazing King's Scythe Master Henry that some madmen are trying to destroy the Ruins from the inside, in the Main Treasure Room Trial!" The mercenary fled to the entrance of the room while speaking into an Artifact he pulled out from his Spatial Ring, a glowing white letter. He promptly broke the letter Artifact as he finished speaking, sending out a message.
Dorian, through Fate or not, was lucky he was standing near the origin of the blow. None of the treasures hit him. Trajan had a few ping off his water shields, but he was mostly fine. Arial, still hiding behind a pile of nearby treasure, merely crouched low to the ground, the treasures missing her body.
The shockwave was incredibly powerful. However, instead of spreading out as a normal shockwave would, the entire attack seemed to vanish after an instant. It didn't make it farther than a few meters past its point of origin.
The Ruins seemed to absorb the energy of the aftermath of the attack, preventing it from causing a huge amount of structural or physical damage to the treasures, or breaking the Trial.
"Damn! Water Knives! Go!" Trajan swore as he saw all of this, immediately supporting Helena.
WHOOSH
A deluge of knives cut through the air towards Veritas, preventing the Anomaly from attacking the dazed female Vampire. Veritas swung upward with the sword of light she wielded, melting knife after knife as she adeptly cut through Trajan's attack.
Suddenly, her Aura shivered slightly, unable to continuously hold up its enhanced state.
The moment that Aura faded, Helena regained control, the world reverting to its normal state.
"Hup!" She stumbled backwards, holding her hands at guard as she looked at the horrifying Anomaly with a hint of fear.
'I can't let her do that again!' Her mind was awash with horror and anger, the strange distortion of reality still present in her mind.
Helena took a moment to recover, her senses just now returning.
In that moment, the Anomaly Veritas moved.
Not heading towards Trajan or Helena.
But instead, right towards Dorian.
'Ugh. Not good.' Dorian still couldn't move. Ausra was still making simulations using Will's soul and he only needed a single second to recreate Will's body after that.
But till then, even taking a hint of his concentration away from controlling his soul could cause it to rip apart, and if he stopped Ausra, Will's soul would be the one to suffer. He was already too far gone.
The incredibly bad timing the Anomaly had shown up with seemed to be almost dictated by Fate.
"Ah, I can see a great Truth within you, my brethren. Allow me to sunder it so that you can focus on seeing the real Truth, the one that guides even me. Forgive me if my actions come across as rude, for my intentions are pure." Veritas seemed largely unperturbed by her failure to kill Helena in one shot, as if it didn't matter in the end.
"No!" Trajan yelled out loud as his energy vision detected this.
Dorian was the only one that could save Probus. At the least, that was what Trajan was convinced of.
Without hesitating, Trajan threw himself forward, slipping outside the protective shields that covered his and Dorian's body, directly between Dorian and the Anomaly. He was well aware that the strength of his shields would not be able to hold the Anomaly back for any significant amount of time.
He was standing only a few meters from the creature.
"Rain Magic: Chaos Rai-ulp!"
Trajan's voice cut off, abruptly, his Spell interrupted. The Vampire looked down at his chest in shock.
A glowing, sword of light had appeared, pierced straight through his chest.
The sword wasn't made of actual physical matter, however, and there was no sign of a cut or injury. The blade had moved so quickly that Trajan hadn't been able to react at all.
"Ah, foolish child. I have already cut your sight from you, to make you better able to see the Truth." Veritas smiled sadly as she halted, looking straight at Trajan. She flicked her wrist to the side, pulling the blade out from his chest, revealing Trajan's uninjured torso.
Trajan's face became pale as he clutched at his chest and then at his throat, a look of sheer horror on his face.
"Your eyes have already been Sealed by my blade." Veritas said, holding up her sword of light. She tapped on it lightly.
"I took your eyes from you. And now…" Veritas smiled warmly.
"I have taken your breath. You were given a chance to see the Truth, and you failed. I apologize, but you can no longer continue trying." In a single, smooth motion, Veritas casually knocked into Trajan's side, throwing him several meters to the side.
"Ulp…ulp…ulp!" Trajan clutched at his throat, trying desperately to breathe.
His lungs, however, seemed to have stopped functioning.
Veritas had Sealed them.
'No! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I can't help you right now, I can't stop! I will save you!' Dorian mentally yelled in his mind as he witnessed this, unable to move still. His heart twisted in pain as he saw the brave sacrifice, hatred burning in his heart for the other Anomaly.
As a Vampire, Trajan had very strong regenerative properties. As a Pseudo-King Class Wizard, he had even more energy and power to draw from.
Despite all of that, it was inarguable that he still needed to breathe in order to live.
"Arrgghhh." Trajan's body shook as he fell down on one knee, landing beside the corpse of Probus. The regenerative properties of his body battled against the oxygen deprivation, trying desperately to keep him alive as he collapsed, looking up at the Anomaly Veritas.
An Anomaly that had already moved on, floating towards Dorian.
"No, you WILL NOT!" Helena screamed out loud as she saw all of this, an Aura of Might the likes of which had never been felt before.
A close friend had been murdered recently, another close friend was currently dying, and the last person she considered a close friend, a unique being that even she didn't understand how she felt for, was in danger of being killed.
All of this swooped into Helena, the stress and anger she felt filling her up.
And caused her Aura to explode outward, ferocious Might filling her body. She drew upon everything, demanding an ultimate power. Insights like she had never known flooded into her mind.
And, in a flash, the feeling of her Aura changed.
From that of Lord Class to that of King Class.
Helena had broken through, her Soul Spell Matrix evolving as her understanding of the Law of Might reached her own level of completion.
"Useless." Veritas whispered quietly as Helena, visibly covered in writhing energy, slammed down on the ground in front of her. The female Vampire stood with her arms raised, her eyes bleeding fury.
"You hold great faith in your strength and in your skill. But you cannot defeat everything through pure might." Veritas said in one motion as her Aura exploded outward too.
"World Invert."
Once more, Helena's reality was thrown into pure, backwards chaos. Everything was inverted.
This time, however, Helena came prepared.
"Capitoline Wolf Bracelet, activate!"
The Capitoline Wolf Bracelet was an ancient Artifact of great power. It had two functions, one for escaping and one for attacking. The attack function was unique in that it granted the user great power, allowing them to overcome obstacles that they normally wouldn't be able to resist.
By activating it after she was being swarmed by Veritas' Aura and confusing Laws, Helena believed she would be able to throw off the chaotic Aura, resisting it. The bracelet Artifact was specifically designed to throw off debilitating effects and clear a user's mind while enhancing their personal strength.
And Helena was correct.
Cool, cold energy roared into Helena's veins. The ancient howls of wolves, their cries and yells, filled her ears as she felt the energy wash over her senses, letting her see through the distorted reality that Veritas had unfolded.
"Got you." She smiled and leapt towards the Anomaly, wasting no time. Virile, ferocious energy melded with her own energy from the Law of Might, further enhancing her strength.
'Yes! Helena! Hell yes! Take her down!' Dorian mentally yelled in exultation as he saw this, cheering her on.
Veritas' eyes widened in shock as she saw this. The Anomaly was completely exposed, in a vulnerable position. She had depended on her Law protecting her as she moved forward, intending to stab Helena with her sword made of energy.
Halfway through Helena's leap, something odd happened.
The world around Helena flickered.
In that split second, the glowing Capitoline Wolf Bracelet seemed to waver.
Abruptly, the Artifact cut off its activation, energy flowing out of it.
"What?!" Helena's first thoughts were filled with shock and confusion as the world around her instantly returned to its distorted state.
In the Main Treasure Depository, there existed thousands of Artifacts.
To prevent challengers from using these Artifacts for dangerous or non-Trial related reasons, Yukeli had constructed the room in such a way that any Artifact used would have its effect dampened and depleted, unable to fully activate.
The same effect applied to any Artifacts that were brought into the room.
WHOOSH
"No!" The world around Helena was completely inverted. She completely lost track of Veritas, unable to see through any of the distorted reality around her.
THUNK
Everything returned to normal as Helena felt a momentous impact slam into her chest…
And stab completely through it.
The female Vampire looked down at the sword of light that pierced through her chest in shock. The sword did not cause any visible wound, but instead caused her soul itself to tremble with pain.
"I can see your true nature… you have such confidence in your might… in your physical prowess." Veritas' warm voice slithered into her head as Helena stood frozen, unable to move.
"Yes… What you use the most… what you could not bear to lose…" Veritas' voice trailed off. The creature's arms blurred as it abruptly cut forward, a second blade of light appearing.
SNIP
Helena felt a burning sensation sweep her body. A moment later, she was able to move again, the sword of light leaving her chest.
As she tried to clutch at herself in pain, however, Helena looked down at her arms and saw what the Anomaly had done.
Tears threatened to burst from her eyes as she felt a sickening sense of horror and repulsion, overwhelming the fear and pain she was experiencing.
She no longer had hands.
Veritas had stolen them from her.
BOOM
The Anomaly casually kicked Helena away. Helena's body tumbled away in shock, the female Vampire undergoing a sickening sensation as part of her body was Sealed, forever unable to regenerate or be restored, lest the person who set the Seal died.
"And now you, my brave, foolish brethren." Veritas stopped just a couple of meters from Dorian, giving him a warm, assured smile.
'No! No! I am so close! No! Helena! No! I am so sorry! No! What do I do?! I can't stop this! Will!' A thousand thoughts flooded into Dorian's mind as Veritas arrived in front of him.
Ausra was still running simulations. In real time, it had only been around two dozen seconds since she started, not enough to finish.
If he stopped now, Will would truly perish. He would break the one promise he had made to himself.
If he didn't stop now, it seemed he would die, as would Helena and Trajan.
'No! Please no! Please, I am so close! Please don't make me choose!' In the back of Dorian's mind, the darkness that was present began to flicker, gaining intensity. This darkness began to spread once more, Yukeli's touch on his mind growing in strength.
"It is time for you to see the Truth." Veritas held her sword out in front of her, pointing it at Dorian.
'PLEASE NO!' Dorian's mental voice was harried,
'PLEASE, DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!'
The darkness that was in his mind threatened to explode fully, spreading out at a vast rate. Yukeli's touch grew stronger and stronger, ready to fully immerse itself within Dorian, to merge at a truly inseparable level.
'PLEASE!' Dorian yelled, anger and agony twisting his heart, putting his entire will his words. Trying to command Fate to change.
Just as Veritas was about to stab forward, a flicker of movement caught her eye.
WHOOSH
TINK
Veritas slid backwards slightly, a look of surprise on her face.
A petite girl with tufted fox-ears had landed on the ground in front of Dorian, holding her own blade of light at the ready. The girl was shaking, her entire body trembling as if this was a terrifying experience. A weak, Lord Class Aura rose up around the girl, one that could barely compete with the mighty King Class Aura Veritas gave off.
A familiar figure, one Dorian had never expected to stand up and try to protect him.
The figure of Arial V'ich, the Lightsworn Fox.
"S-stop! I will not let you kill him! I won't let him die again!"
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