The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

His arms felt slightly numb from enduring Draven's heavy, destructive blows, the fast and overbearing light of Caires, and the nauseating shiftiness of Remulus's time spells. As a powerful double strike of Caires and his clone drove itself into Saul's side, he felt no pain but was forced to sway, his shock amplifying at a collapsing swirl of spatial void nearing his head and reaching the tip of his nose. Their timing, the use of their Ein in rotation as if they were one being, and the uncanny way they moved to the perfect spots to complement each other were signs of Resonance.

'Is that even possible for these three?' Saul tried to stab four of his legs to destroy the approaching collapsing void, but a time spell moved them back, and his entire body was engulfed in the violent winds of devouring space. His golden carapace suffered countless scratches, a minor inconvenience. He fired several arrows, shattering the surrounding void and forcing Caires and Draven back. Tugging on metal strings, he controlled his arrows to give chase and exploded them into countless adamantium needles.

Remulus's time spells slowed the needles, retracting them backward while Draven and Caires scattered them away. Sensing their response, Saul erected dozens of adamantium shields through his arrows and sent the ramparts crashing toward them. Draven roared and expanded into a large Kraken, his tendrils coiling around the ramparts and tossing it back to Saul. Canceling his spell, he placed a hundred arrows on his bow, stretching the string to the fullest extent. His hundred arrows, strung together by metallic webs, screeched and spewed sparks as they fused into a single long arrow, the world itself trembling from the tremendous Ein contained within.

The sound of its flight came after its release, a moment of complete silence until the arrow traveled halfway, and the thunderous roar of its destructive wake finally resounded. Draven, Caires, and Remulus all trembled, not from fear, as Saul could see from their defiant stances, but from the land and sky themselves quaking from his arrow. It had locked onto them and forced them to face it head-on. He watched curiously. His arrow was his final test to confirm his suspicions.

The three King Exalts merged their Eins, not in the shoddy way some do to resist the strain of powerful Ein and environments, but a purer fusion as if they had become one entity. Draven's tentacles coiled around the arrow, and he punched out. Caires and his clone formed the two wings of a dragon, brilliant radiance showering the dark chasm in its light, and sliced onto the arrow. Remulus answered by stopping the time on the arrow, beads of sweat filling the deep lines along his brow.

The air sucked into the epicenter of the clash, and all fell silent before a single glint sparked and erupted into a bright light, deafening everything in a single high-pitched sound that even Saul felt his ears ring in confusion. He clenched his bow and stared intently at the three King Exalts who had survived his killing blow. With this, he had confirmed it. They were indeed using Resonance. It was unbelievable for that to occur, but the truth was before him.

"How have you three achieved Resonance? It's hard enough even for a pair to achieve that state." Saul frowned. The Resonance was a unique state between people who wholeheartedly trusted each other. Their thoughts, actions, Ein, and instincts would all align, almost like a single individual. In a single moment, the ones under Resonance understood all they needed to know to uplift each other. It sounded simple, but he knew from various experiments to achieve the same phenomenon that its difficulty surpassed many. Even when he captured a loving couple and forced them to undergo horrific trials, they never entered Resonance.

Two was surprising enough, but shockingly, the three King Exalts entered Resonance. Today, he experienced so many surprises that his lips curled up in delight, delighted that he could still encounter the unknown and new in this old age. Saul asked again, "I am very curious. Resonance is rare since only those in Marshal Exalt and above can enter it, and even so, the utmost trust is needed…the three of you don't appear to have that same level of trust, especially you and your son."

Caires roared in laughter. "The Resonance? Ah! That's why I feel so many intrusive thoughts churning in my skull." He swung his broadsword around, clearly using Ein Awaken to recover some Ein. Saul scoffed and turned to Remulus for an answer, expecting an answer from the good theorist he understood him to be.

Remulus chuckled and spat in his direction, a clear insult. "It's simple. All three of us are willing to die today. And most importantly, we all owe Oscar. It's a welcome surprise, but how could we not enter Resonance when death is before us, and we all are fighting for the same person?"

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"That simple?" Saul rubbed his chin, shaking the loose skin as he recalled trying similar experiments. "That's quite vague. It didn't work when they had to protect their child or immediate family. They all died, failing to protect themselves and their families."

"You are utterly deranged. I can't believe I ever let someone like you into my Pavilion." Remulus's gaze grew colder as he gripped his staff to the point it trembled uncontrollably.

"Enough talk!" Draven's imposing figure was before him, swinging his chakrams empowered by his Shattering Waves.

Saul deflected the violent strikes from any direction and angle, Draven's hands constantly reaching into spatial voids to attack anywhere. The two chakrams halted to his sides and unleashed the Kraken, hungry tendrils reaching out and binding his skittering legs. The discomforting dragon's roar intensified again, weighing on his entire body with tremendous force that would squash a weak Exalt. A giant bright blade parted the clouds and fell from the blue sky, shining brighter than the two suns, a piercing light that forced his eyes closed.

Still, he could see them. Draven soared from below, concentrating everything into two fists as four black-armored tentacles coiled around each. Caires and his clone pushed the gigantic blade from above. A powerful Ein stopped his movements, and he resisted, breaking the bindings of time, but it was persistent. Turning to Remulus and peering through his closed eyes, he saw the remaining four clocks had stopped. They were pining everything into this one strike, placing all of their powers.

"Futile!" Saul shouted. Metallic webs spun from his legs, weaving into balls. The battle was entertaining, but now, he had enough fun. From the eight orbs of webs came eight spells, his Integration allowing him to condense and use spells from all legs. Inside the legs were adamantium spheres. A magnetic force spun the adamantium spheres, a low humming that turned into a distorted groan calling out each rotation. The magnetism curved away the brilliant draconic blade, repelled the Eirin fists of Draven, and even tore off the shackles of time itself. The pulsating sounds of its intensifying power went into a loud rumble as a wave of magnetic force rippled all over.

The spheres burst apart, and the three King Exalts were flung away. Saul pulled out an arrow and fired at Caires, who had grievous wounds all over his body like a torn doll. The Dragnar Ancestor's clone, created from Duality, managed to rebound his attack before dissipating, veering it off course. Instead of the head he wished to take, his arrow took away the arm, and Caires groaned in pain, clutching the bloody arm as he fell to the ground, unmoving.

Canceling his Integration and Meld, Saul stepped on the grass. His one attack had forced them all onto a new area of the land. Near a boulder, his old friend, Remulus, leaned his battered body against the stone, holding his knee, which was missing its leg. Deep chasms of time swelled on Remulus's face. As his weak gasps reached Saul through the silent forest, he seemed to have gotten older by centuries, visibly thinning while his skin sagged. Saul approached him, stopped, and sighed.

"That's enough, young man." Saul turned around and saw Draven standing shakingly, blood dripping from his shattered form, streaming down the black robes and muddying the dirt. Somehow, the helmet remained intact, hiding the face. Meeting his gaze, Saul said, "You've fought well. The element of space is truly a marvelous wonder, just like the element of time. It's a pity. I would have lost to you even without Reis if you were a Tricrown King Exalt."

"It's not…over." Draven's breathing grew more erratic, wheezing behind his helmet.

"It is. I can hear your pounding heart from here. There is nothing more you can do. You're over your limits." Saul stepped back as the young Warden stomped his right foot forward. Draven trembled and splurted out volumes of blood that seeped from his helmet. Saul pitied him as he fell to the ground, motionless. "What a fool you are. And what a sad life you've lived. But there is cause for celebration. Your body will fuel Kais's research and aid in bringing about a new beginning for humanity."

"Deluded bastard…." Remulus's voice was very low.

"My old friend. Why do many lack the vision?" Saul crouched before Remulus, knowing his friend was in no danger of dying. "We had many discussions in the past. I enjoyed those long talks about what is possible. I admired your theories. I wish we could have done this together." Saul rose to his feet and dusted off his robes, not a drop of blood on them. His eyes dropped slowly and settled back to normal. His hand reached out, gathering Ein inside its palm, ready to obliterate his friend from existence.

Remulus mumbled something. Saul lowered his hand and asked, "Some last words? Very well. What do you have to say, my old friend?"

"I…I," Remulus said faintly.

"Speak clearly. I wish to remember your last words fondly." Saul leaned in, wanting to hear the last words of a King Exalt.

"I'm…disappointed." Remulus's words sank Saul's heart, and he trembled, fearful of the solemn intent behind that sentence. Shackles of radiant light bound him, and he turned his head, facing Draven, who was an inch away. Remulus smirked a bloody smile. "Fool."

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