Chapter Five Hundred And Twenty Seven – 527
Thunderwing is level 73!
Pit shot through the sky, ignoring entirely the spells and Skills that shot at him from below. He was far too fast to be hit by the few that noticed him, and all Pit had eyes for was the glowing stone crater near the city wall.
Felix! I am on the way!
There was no response from his Companion, only a thunderous crescendo of chaotic song. Pit recognized what was happeningit had happened before, after all, back in the Omen Path. He was too far away to Converge with his friends Spirit, but glimpses flashed along their bond, and the sheer magnitude of Felixs struggle was overwhelming. All Pit could do was get close enough to mergethen, at least, he could help.
Pit was so intent on his flight path that he wasnt entirely sure what made him look aside, except perhaps a dire instinct passed down from his ancestors. A frisson of phantom terror stole up his spine and tingled across his limbs, and Pits golden eyes swept around. What is?
Ahead, three figures in white armor strode through the battlefield. Directly toward Felix.
A warble of anger gathered in Pits throat, but it died away as the High Guard met resistance. Six Frost Giants fell, split in half by a single blow. A dozen Legionnaires were crushed beneath an immense slab of stone, as if the earth had folded them up, while three dozen Haarguard clutched their throats and simply fell limp to the ground.
Never once did they stop.
Felix wont be done when they reach him! That thrill of fear clutched at his voice, but he shoved it aside with his iron Will. He needs more time.
Gloaming Shroud!
Pit would buy all he could.
Fiendforge is level 55!
Felix had descended into his core space, through the Essence-laden branches of his Divine Tree and across the shining expanse of his slowly rotating Skills. Farther down, past his grinding dual cores, the root-formed sigils and Seal, and into the glittering darkness beneath it all. There, in the shadows of his core space, two woven Pillars resided. Made of thick, gleaming cables formed from his Skills, each Pillar was threaded through by opalescent roots plaited into a nightmarishly complex weave.
Cables of light descended from above, where each of his Tempered Skills were tethered to his spinning dual cores. They had been gathering for months now, waiting for when Felix was ready to make this attempt. As Karys explained it, he only had one shotand to weave them before he was an Adept would have risked his foundations. Fear and caution had kept Felix from pursuing the weaving, even after hed reached Adept. Now, however, as the ache of it echoed throughout his core space, Felix had little choice.
His Willpower and Intent were firmly grasped around those colored cables, his Cardinal Flame flared for fine control. His Fiendforge clamped atop the entirety of his core space, for good measure. He was relying on his perfect recall to weave the cables together, twisting and braiding them as he had once done before with his first two Pillars, until they were trunks thick enough to support all that resided above. Within each glowing cable, Felix could feel the song of his Skills change with every pass, the texture of the weave altering the timbre, tone, and pitch.
Fiendforge is level 59!
The visualization techniques Vess had taught him were paying off, as was his Hungers ability to numb his senses. He floated within his personal void, and he worked.
Willpower and Intent were the hands by which the weaving operated, but it was his Affinity, Alacrity, and Perception that kept him ahead of the ever-changing patterns. Dissonance and Harmony sang sweet chaos into the dark, pressing deep within the Third Pillar as he went, flickering and flashing at their centers with red-gold abandon and blue-white freneticism. The debut release of this chapter happened at Ñòv€l-B1n.
As before, the opalescent roots of his Divine Tree intermingled through the Pillarunlike the last time, however, the roots were far more responsive to his touch. He called them roots, but the System called them Veins, and they were not alone. First, the opalescent roots of his Divine Tree were seated deeply in the Pillar, anchoring his Skill cables with a solidity that could not be denied. Then, slipping through the gaps that Felix had not noticed, was a drumming Need whose rhythm hung like background radiation across his core space.
Status Condition: Spirit Damage 15%
Status Condition: Curse of Flame!
Curse of Flame
When this Masterwork weapon deals an injury, the curse born by its blade ensures that said injury is permanent. The curse of flame is to burn forever.
Oh, he is awake, said a thin, almost skeletal looking fellow. He wore the same milk-white armor, but he carried a large, silver-chased book. His expression was curious but also very bored. He is angry.
You should have stayed in your hole, Autarch, Mace said. You cant fight all three of us at once.
Two other High Guards advanced along with him, all of them without their smooth, featureless helms. The wild-eyed Mace stared with a manic glee, and the manthe man with the bloody blade glared with an expression of utter serenity.
The Autarch finally graces us with his presence. Good. Casually, as if mailing a letter, he sliced off Pits other wing, and his Companion writhed in utter agony. It echoed through Felixs core, a debilitating pain that threatened to topple him. Let us end this.
Status Condition: Berserk
Berserk - Increase Damage Output By 20%, Increase Damage Taken By 20%
White-hot rage surged through his veins, unlike anything Felix had ever experienced. It evaporated the pain like it never existed, even as the Spirit Damage ratcheted up another fifteen percent. There was no thought.
There was only violence.
Mace charged forward, her namesake weapon lifted high.
Sovereign of Flesh!
Relentless Resolution!
Felixs Will seized her Body, even as his morphed into a deadlier form. Scales ran the length of him, and his hands became tipped with vicious talonstalons he used to rip at her shoulder joint. For the tiniest fraction of a second, Maces Body resisted Felixs Skill and Strength, but then it failed. She fell, screeching in pain and gushing blood, her momentum ruined as Felix held up her severed arm.
Chthonic Tribute!
And he fucking ate it.
Blessed Pathless The sword bastard whispered, his calm broken. What are you?
Felixs eyes blazed, staining his vision blue-white and red-gold. Your executioner.
