Chrysalis

The world itself is screaming as the gravity bomb warps reality around itself, but it hasn't even expanded yet. I ignore everything happening above me, since I can't do anything about it anyway. Either the phoenix of light will overcome the spell, or it won't.

I mean, I certainly hope I'm not responsible for the death of the guardian beast of the golden city. I get the feeling a few people might get a little mad about that. Not to mention, he seems like a pretty good chap. For a bird.

I mean, he almost came out and told me that he would save my sibling if he could, though not in as many words. However, he can't let me through, which means he's an obstacle to saving my sister. Which means he has to be removed.

I put the fate of the phoenix out of my mind and send it inwards. That steady trickle of Will continues to pour in from the captive, still the same as before. It's a confusing jumble of pain and fear, still growing weaker and weaker, though slowly. So slowly. As if her Will itself were being sapped away, piece by piece.

What sort of insane atrocity is being committed down there?! Do they really think they can get away with it!?

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWLLLLL!!!!!

The bomb screams towards its target. Rammon leans his head forward once more, beak open wide.

One moment, the beam of light isn't there, the next it is. A dozen metres thick, it projects itself for kilometres, blasting a sizzling trail through the sky of the fourth. Somewhere, in the heart of it, the bomb continues to propel itself forward.

He's trying to burn away the densely packed mana inside the spell, and he's doing a heck of a job, but it's not going to be enough. The bomb doesn't quite reach the giant monster before it expands, but it's close enough to put the bird in serious trouble.

Weaker than the one that devastated Greystone, it's still enormous. With a rumble, the entire mountain shakes, waves begin to rise and even I feel the pull of it. Redoubling my efforts, I focus on the well I'm manipulating and use it to keep myself moving forward. I wouldn't be surprised if the golden city gets ripped in half as a result of this spell, but that's none of my business. I didn't want it to come to this, but they left me no choice.

A piercing cry splits the air, penetrating through even the endless screaming of the wind, and I can't help but focus toward the great phoenix. With another beat of his wings, Rammon cries out again and begins to gather light into himself. In seconds, he's too bright to look at, not that I have a choice, and he only grows more radiant.

The gravity bomb, a void of pure black, and Rammon, an incandescent figure of light, hang opposed to each other in the air. 

Then something incredible happens. Rammon leans forward, and pushes himself towards the bomb. In an instant, he begins to be absorbed, sucked within the void and crushed, and the vast amount of energy he conjured goes in with him. First his head and neck are drawn in, then the pull catches hold and starts to drag in the rest of him, wings, body, tail.

He's literally trying to consume the bomb with his own body?! What the heck?!

More and more light is pushed into the bomb, and unbelievably, it grows dimmer and dimmer, shrinking in size as it consumes the phoenix. Such a vast amount of mana and energy is being funnelled into it, and so rapidly, the bomb can't eat it all!

Over the course of ten seconds, Rammon is consumed, until every speck of him is gone, and so is the bomb.

The screaming subsides, the shaking is gone, the waves grow still, but also, the light is gone. Where the phoenix had been, there is now a void, and the light of the city seems that much more dim.

I didn't expect him to go ahead and do that. Heck. I mean, he saved the city, there's pretty much no damage at all, but at what cost? At least there's nothing left to stop me from getting into that cathedral. I can't help but feel irritated by the Child-Emperor, who I assume is the master of the guardian beast. You could have just saved my sibling, and your loyal pet wouldn't have had to suffer like this. Why make things difficult?

[I AM NOW ORDERED TO DESTROY YOU.]

Oh snap! Rammon? How?!

[BUT I AM LOATH TO CARRY OUT THIS COMMAND. I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO MAKE THE ATTEMPT, SO I WILL EMPLOY THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF FORCE I BELIEVE WILL END YOUR LIFE, AND HOPE YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO SURVIVE.]

Light explodes in front of me. I get a flicker of an impression of feathers, wings, a majestic beak and deep, all-knowing eyes.

Oh, right, it's a freakin' Phoenix. Of course you can't just kill it once.

Then my world is enveloped in light and fire.

 

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