Unbound

Aenea gasped as the Bloodmoon's light shone upon the battlefield. The Reforged had grown to twice their size, while the monsters had gone almost insane with bloodlust. Their shield wall was barely holding up, despite the Bronze Rank support.

The little...Felix was right, she thought, almost numb. Vellus' moon returned. How? More than that, her Skill, Medicinal Query spotted a wave of Status Conditions spreading among the enemy:

Status Condition: Dark Murmurs (Modified)

Aenea clenched her jaw. Pushing her abilities further, she could taste a reaction in the air around the Reforged. It was sour and fetid, but wound around something sickly sweet. It smelled of rot and gangrene, but throbbed with vitality nonetheless. It makes no sense!

"Below!" Bodie shouted from ahead, just before one of the ice-armored Reforged fell to the earth. Bodie's magically enhanced mace was stuck fast in its skull. The man himself crashed behind it, his over-muscled frame hitting earth with as much grace as the dead monster. He gripped his mace and yanked it free, sending out a fountain of blue-black blood. "Sorry about that!"

"Please, I've seen far worse," the Alchemist said. Instead she knelt by the Reforged's ruined face and took out one of her specialty blades. Small enough to do delicate surgery, it was still only barely sharp enough to cut its Tempered flesh. Fishing a vial from her bandolier, she quickly dropped the chunk of flesh into a pale yellow liquid and capped it. Even before she shook it, the thin yellow fluid tinged a vibrant green and thickened in the tube. "What is—"

The entire vial shattered, spewing a thickened substance that was closer to a solid than liquid. Aenea stepped back from it, wicking it from her skin and clothes with her Repellent Corium Skill. It wasn't effective against weapons or Mana bolts of any sort, but blood and fluids couldn't penetrate. And luckily they didn't, as the thickened substance hit the stone and began to grow onto the cobbles. Tiny veins extended and stretched, grasping onto the cracks and crevices.

"What in the world is that?" Portia asked, pausing between Life Bolts to look over. The illusionist was next to her, quaffing the Alchemist's store of potions.

"An abomination," Aenea hissed. She took a second vial from her bandolier and poured it over the growing lump. Thick, potent acid sizzled as it ate away at the thing. "These...creatures were infected with a modified version of the Dark Murmurs. Their Bodies should have broken down into mush by this point," Aenea did some rapid calculations in her head. "The Bloodmoon was a catalyst."

"What does that mean?" Thangle gasped, finishing another Mana Potion. He limbered up his fingers, cycling his Mana through his channels.

"It means we're all in trouble."

"FIEND!"

Felix spun, just in time to take a series of stone pillars to the gut and chest. His Manasight had flared, but the battlefield was so chaotic he hadn't noticed until it was too late. Felix took the hit and rolled with it, letting his Body and Unfettered Volition move him. He flipped before skidding to a jittery stop on all fours.

"You dare tarnish my Father's glory?!" Mud ran at him, his enlarged steps shaking the earth like tiny, localized earthquakes. "I will destroy you! Utterly!"

Stone Shaping!

Felix sent his Mana speeding into the earth, intending to trip the enraged Arcid, but gaped in surprise. His Mana was ripped entirely from his control, the dusty-brown shade turned yellow-red and twisted. Felix yelped and threw himself to the side, flying nearly fifteen feet as a jagged spike of stone erupted right where he had been.

Holy—! Felix landed easily on his feet and stared at the spike of stone, then at the Arcid. He took my Stone Shaping away from me?!

The ground bucked beneath him, and Felix jumped straight up. More spikes burst upward, chasing him.

Shadow Whip!

A tendril snapped outward, snagging onto the ice armor of a passing Reforged. Felix hauled on it and swung around, twisting his body to avoid the sudden rain of rocky projectiles. More than a few hit, dropping his Health by ten or twenty points each time.

Shit! Wrack and Ruin!

Influence of the Wisp!

As a wave of blue-white wisp fire washed outward, Felix pumped his huge stores of Mana into a single, overlarge casting of his acidic spell. The dark green orb grew ten times the size it normally did, but he held its shape steady. With a grunt of effort, Felix hurled it forward as he rotated around the Enthralled Reforged, intercepting the next barrage of projectiles. The acid ate up all of the stone, but detonated in a spectacular splash against a newly erected monolith the Arcid raised.

Enthrall Failed!

Mud hadn't even stopped.

Felix let go of his whip and tumbled to the ground, letting his momentum and Strength carry him forward into a ground-eating run. Mud followed, keeping his distance and twisting the earth to attack him will spikes, columns, or even opening sudden, treacherous holes.

He's better with earth Mana than I am, Felix realized. Whatever was boosting his physique was also enhancing his power. Felix cast his Perception outward, noting that his people were getting closer as they cut through the Arcid's monstrous minions, but they still struggled with the Reforged. Felix sent a pulse of Stone Shaping outward, intending to trip up more of the Reforged for his people, but a wave of yellowed earth Mana hit and diffused his own. Felix cursed.

Mud laughed. "No no! You face me!"

Felix couldn't afford to hurl his acid any which way, not with his people closing in, and he'd lost Reign of Vellus. Influence of the Wisp was useless, as it relied on weak mental defenses to stick, and Mud had a solid Minds, apparently. Though it was nothing compared to their new Bodies. The Bloodmoon and whatever they had done with Dark Murmurs had pushed them beyond their limits. His Voracious Eye could sense that easily.

The Arcid wasn't giving him many options. He had to get in close. Felix grinned, and spat out his human teeth as fangs grew in their place.

"You want to fight?" Felix shouted back. "Let's fight!"

Unfettered Volition!

Monoliths erupted ahead and beside Felix, but he wove between them, too fast for their manifestations to block his advance. He saw a glimpse of fear in the Arcid's eye-fires, potent enough to shiver his Spirit.

"Anointed Barrow!"

In a flash, a series of boulders folded up from the earth, before crashing down onto Felix in tandem. He didn't even have a chance to dodge, this time.

*THOOM!*

"Hah!" Mud cried out, before pushing his Mana into the ground. "You'll not escape me! You...what?"

The stone pile detonated.

Mud fell backward, his metallic frame pelted with boulders as Felix emerged from below. Sovereign of Flesh sang within him, so bright and so loud that even the Arcid flinched in dim understanding. Massive plates of hardened flesh covered Felix's form, across his arms and shoulders and chest, like a suit of armor made of nightmares. Short spikes of thick, white bone stuck from his elbows and knees, while tiny spurs dotted his forearms and shins. Topping it all off, a helm of solid black, marked only with whorls of glowing, ethereal cyan.

"Escape?" Felix asked, and he didn't shout. He didn't have to, as Mud sat staring in undisguised horror. "No. No escape."

Felix charged, shattering the stones beneath his clawed feet. The Archid ran.

He tried to.

Stones flowed from the earth, intercepting Felix's path, but the Primordial smashed through them. No Skill, no technique, just pure, unadulterated Strength, Endurance, and Vitality. He emerged in time to grab hold of the Arcid's trailing foot, and his claws tightened on the metal appendage, sinking deep.

"YEEAAAGGG!" Mud cried, falling to his chest. But he didn't stop there, and the ground parted for him like water. It surprised Felix enough that Mud twisted from his grip, but Felix dove right in after him.

"No you don't!"

Felix tackled the Arcid, landing on the monster's spine. Metal groaned, stressed beyond its temper while Mud continued to holler. "No no no no! Get off of me, you treacherous, useless thing!" They fell through the liquid earth like stones into a pond.

Arrow of Perdition!

Felix's hand surged with golden-blue light and he cocked it back as he aimed for the Arcid's core. But Mud twisted at the last second, and the blow only skittered along his side. A terrible gash was ripped open in the metal, spilling a deep, poisonous looking blood.

Earth Mana swelled, and Felix had just enough time to realize what was happening before it did. The stone where his upper body was moving suddenly solidified, trapping him as Mud fell away.

Shit!

The Arcid all but vanished to Felix's senses, as he was quickly frozen in place. He couldn't move in the slightest, and not even his Wrack and Ruin would work quickly. Felix flexed his biceps and shoulders, straining to twist and buck. Just as he felt the rock crack, it was overwhelmed by the onrushing sound of an earthquake, and a fist the size of his chest hit him square in the face.

Rock shattered in all directions. Felix felt it turn to powder against his back, each deposit of stone bludgeoning him as it shattered against his scale armor. He burst from the earth in a spectacular geyser of stone chips and dirt clods, and the grinning visage of Mud was right below him, propelled upward on a massive pillar. The Arcid caught Felix by the arm and swung him down, right into the uneven surface of the pillar.

Felix's Health dropped down to sixty percent, and blood spewed out into his helmet.

Sovereign of Flesh!

As the Arcid lifted him again in a tight arc, Felix ragdolled until his body hung parallel to Mud's forearm. His shoulders and back were savaged, but he felt the itching tingle of healing as the Skill activated. He reached out and gripped the Arcid's arm, sinking his talons into the metal and flesh beneath. Mud howled in pain.

"Why won't you die!?" he screamed.

Felix clung tighter, even as the Arcid's entire arm slammed into another stone pillar. The two of them were several stories above the rest of the battle. His vision was getting black around the edges in spite of his enhanced regeneration. On the third slam, Felix punched his free hand into the pillar's many crevices. Mud pulled back but was stopped short by Felix's stretched body.

Mud yanked harder, his brown metal groaning with the strain. "Hunfh! W-what good do you think this will do? You only delay the inevitable!"

Ravenous Tithe!

With the barest of contests of Wills, the pillar erupted into dusty-brown smoke, and Mud was suddenly off balance. He let go of Felix and fell, howling.

Shadow Whip!

Felix latched onto Mud and hauled himself closer as they plummeted thirty feet. Talons sliced into his armor, and Mud's panicked yells became agonized. "Wha—the earth is mine to control! How?"

Felix didn't answer, only sank his talons deeper into his chest.

Ravenous Tithe!

Ravenous Tithe!

Ravenous Tithe!

Mud's screams tore through the night, before they hit the ground with a resounding crash. A cloud of dust rolled away from them, but the steady rain quickly dispersed it. Leaving only a man, surrounded by a rising fog of crackling lights.

"No! You can't—!" Mud howled weakly. "My Master's dream—!"

"Who gives a fuck?" Felix spat, and stomped his clawed foot into the bastard's chest.

The light in its helmet flickered and guttered out.

You Have Killed Arcid Number 55118!

XP Earned!

"You're damn right it was earned," Felix muttered.

Scorpion's Tail!

"On the right!" Evie shouted, bending her chain around Harn's bulky armor. The weapon snaked around him and struck the approaching Acolytes. She felt the spikes sink deep into them, a sort of visceral vibration through the chain, and tore it back out. They dropped.

You Have Killed An Unknown Acolytes (x2)!

XP Earned!

"The rabble feels endless," Harn growled.

"It's not. They can't have many left, and these are just the dregs," Cal replied, flitting through her own gaggle of enemies. The redcloaks fell shortly after, arteries opened so far that they were nearly decapitated. "That bitch is throwing children at us to avoid a fight."

Evie frowned. They had scaled the wall, negotiating its defenses, but it had been underwhelming. She had expected more resistance from the barrier, as the one at the edge of the city was almost impassible. "She likely needs to keep her attention on it," Callie had mused with a grin. "Wonder if she knows?"

When DuFont had run, she'd weakened her own defenses. But it was clear the ex-Elder wasn't keen on meeting them face to face. All Callie had to do was get line of sight and declare her Challenge, according to Zara, and their Duel for Authority would initiate. The woman was doing everything she could to avoid that. The Inquisitors kept coming, putting themselves between their blades and DuFont's retreating backside, but they were all Acolytes. New recuits. She'd been trying not to kill them, but they had such a fervor in their eyes that it had taken the choice away from her. Either she killed them, or she let them kill her.

They wove between buildings in the Sunrise Quarter, encountering barricaded alleys and cleverly trapped streets filled with spike-lined pits and heavy canvas tarpaulins that broke their line of sight. Evie was annoyed by how much she respected the effort put into the defenses, and simply fed that respect into the flame of her hatred.

They advanced, attempting to avoid the waves of white-enameled armor that came to them to die. It was not successful, and Evie felt her Stamina drop lower and lower. She wasn't recovering enough to get through all of them, and was forced to drink her Stamina Potion she'd been allocated. DuFont was trying to wear them down with pebbles until they were too exhausted to keep fighting. She clearly didn't know them very well.

But she certainly knows how to hide, Evie thought with a gasp. She plugged up the last of her potion, having only down half of it. There was no sign of DuFont, not to her.

"I think we lost her—" Evie started, only to have Harn immediately tackle her out of the way. A blast of distorted air ripped through her former position, so hot and powerful that it charred the bottom of her boots. "Harn!"

The man had taken the full brunt of the blast, and he stood stock still, his armor glowing a molten orange. Evie stared in dread. He had been broiled inside his own armor.

Analyze!

Evie shot out the Skill without thinking. The Skill was rebuffed by the amulets Zara had given them, claiming they were an edge they could use. Any edge in battle was good, but Evie felt despair climb her guts when Harn didn't move. Was...was he—?

"I always told him that he'd die in that armor!" A high pitched voice echoed around them.

Evie's scalp tingled with heat, and it had nothing to do with the Inquisitor's magic. She fumed. She leaped to her feet, finding Callie already pivoting in a slow circle.

"Where do you hide, Eliza?" Callie asked. "Too afraid of a little Challenge?"

Another high, mocking laugh. "Do I look like a fool? I'll not be risking my neck for pride, Calesca."

The voice bounced oddly, and Evie guessed it was a Skill redirecting the noise. There was no telling where DuFont was hiding, not without Harn's senses. The blunt man had a gift for finding his opponents in battle.

"Even if I fail, Eliza, Felix will come next," Callie warned. "He'll tear down your Wall." DuFont scoffed, but when she remained silent, Callie kept going. "Don't believe me? Fine. Say he fails. The monsters won't. You think this is a simple attack? Are you blind?"

"Watch your tone, Boscal!" DuFont threatened.

"There's forces at work that you've no idea about!" Callie yelled, her eyes sharp on their surroundings. "A creature intent on conquering this city, and you've nearly handed it to them!"

"This is my city!" DuFont screamed, and Evie caught it. The way the sound moved, it vibrated like her chain earlier. Like...like how her own Spirit trembled with anger.

Is this...my Affinity?

Evie let herself fall back, behind the glowing statue of Harn.

"You know nothing of what I have done for this city! What must be done, still!" DuFont's voice was louder now, though still it shifted and bounced randomly. Still, Evie could almost trace it. "I will eject the abominations from my city the moment I have dealt with all of you."

There.

Scorpion's Tail!

Her chain flowed and curved, speeding from her grip like a living thing while the spikes along its length lengthened into hooked blades.

"URK!"

She felt it hit, and twisted it. Sudden resistance met her grip, hauling back on the weapon and nearly yanking it from her grasp. A terrible groaning sound echoed from behind her, and heat billowed. Evie whipped her head to see Harn's nigh-molten fist grabbing onto the end of her chain.

"G-got you," he grunted.

He heaved backward, someone screamed bloody murder. DuFont, her body encased in white-enameled armor and tangled by Evie's chain, blasted through the barricades, shattering them into smithereens.

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