Book 6 Chapter 7
An oversized asteroid about a mile long, and half as wide, drifted through space. It was just a boring rock, no more interesting than any of the other thousands of icy rocks in the asteroid belt.
Its only notable feature was the array towers built on one side. Flashes of light and explosion lit up along its craggy surface, intermittently lighting up the void of space. At the center of it all the chaos was a large array tower, which leaned precariously to one side, a cloud of debris hovering around it.
Despite the excitement, and the chaos of battle, there was sound. That was a weird thing about combat in a vacuum. It didn't matter that Zee was in the center of the battle; it was deathly silent. The only sounds were her breathing and the drum of the heart of fire as she flitted through the enemy ranks. She was like a fleeting cloud, there one moment and gone the next.
Everywhere she went, bodies were left in her wake, the azure flames of spirit echo lighting up the battlefield in a macabre display. Carnage was left in her wake as she targeted the ranged combatants of the enemy striking hard and fast before they knew she was there. Killing them one after another she caused panic in their ranks. Zee supposed she could have fought shoulder to shoulder with her squad, but that wasn't her style. Brick and Dern had that well in hand in either case. Those two brutes were more than flashy enough to draw the focus of the enemy.
It was better to be the dagger hidden in the dark, an assassin who killed her enemy before they knew she was there.
Under only a fraction of normal Lorocan gravity, Zee went about her grizzly work. She was rushing towards an archer who had already turned several members of Steel squad into pincushions when she sensed an object flying right at her.
Her spatial ripple warned of the oncoming attack. Lurching to one side, she frantically leapt out of the way just as a cart sized bolder shot passed. The attack didn't end there. Having narrowly missed, the boulder exploded, sending out shrapnel in every direction. Unable to avoid the projectiles, Zee cursed as her shroud ripple, absorbing most of the impacts.
Her surprise attacker clacked their mandibles together in annoyance. The bug was clearly unhappy that its ambush hadn't given Zee more than a few shallow cuts and bruises. For her part, Zee wasn't all that enthusiastic about being bombarded with a hail of rocky fragment..
In retaliation, Zee conjured and hurled several dark blue spears with all her might. Even thrown at the speed where they looked like they were shot by a ballista, the spears glanced off the earth cultivator's hardened carapace like they were raindrops bouncing off a shield.
Antennae waving in annoyance, the earth cultivator slammed its forwards facing claws into the ground and the asteroid shook. Her heart leapt in her chest as Zee turned to a cloud of mist just in time to avoid being ripped apart by a forest of towering earthen spikes. She avoided the attack, but it was still much too close for her liking.
Body stinging from welts, she appeared on a nearby rocky ledge out of sight of her troublesome opponent. Well, she had expected someone to come after her after her wanton slaughter. A dozen blood gorgers already lay dead at her hand, cutting the enemy's numbers to about twenty.
She must have been more effective than intended, as this was clearly the leader of the bunch. Zee had to admit this earth cultivator was a cut above the rest. Its presence alone far out showed the others, marking it as a middle D grade cultivator.
She doubted this bug had formed a core, but still, but still It was an opponent she couldn't take likely.
"Dern, I need and the others keep the enemies distracted. Zul, I'm going to need your curses help on this one. It's much to sturdy for its own good," Zee said.
She didn't really need to tell Dern anything, but it was good to remind him. He was shoulder to shoulder with Brick, plowing into the enemy ranks, his glaive causing just as much carnage as Brick's axes.
Zul on the other hand was much harder to notice unleashing death from the shadows.
"I'm here, mistress," Zul said, just as a ghostly apparition phased up through the icy rock next to her.
"I'll distract you. Use that scary skill of yours once you get the chance," Zee said.
Zul nodded, sinking back into the rock.
It wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than nothing. Taking a deep breath, she stood, from cover. The moment she peeked from cover, the rock exploded a few feet from her face as her enemy unleashed an attack.
Painful shrapnel punched through the shroud of spirit echo, gouging bleeding cuts in her skin. She ignored the pain, activating her wayward walk skill to close in on the enemy. It was kicking her ass at range, so she decided to fight it up close and personal. Appearing next to the oversized bug, she swung at its abdomen with a two handed swing.
Empowered by spirit echo, which was compressed to a razor's edge, there weren't many things her sword couldn't cut. And yet, it felt like hitting iron. Her bones creaked and her arms vibrated painfully as her sword bounced off, sparks flying everywhere.
What the hell was this things carapace made of? Zee didn't have time to ponder on that.
Her opponent didn't hesitate, whirling and snapping at her with a wicked pair of mandibles. Frantic to avoid being beheaded, she leaned threat back, cutting upward to block its face hands.
That terrifying maw snapped shut a hairs breadth from her face, clamping on her sword instead of flesh. She imbued energy into the pommel and her sword snapped into a dozen pieces. Zee adopted a look of horrified surprise at her weapon breaking.
This prompted the blood gorger to leap in for the kill while its enemy was weaponless and off balance. It was exactly what she had been hoping for. The ethereal waves of ebb and flow crashed around them, wrapping the broken's fragments of her sword in azure flames.
Under her control, the razor metal spun around her, turning into a hurricane of steel and flames.
Caught completely off guard, the earth cultivator reeled back, sparks flying off its carapace as it was struck over and over.
Its shell was incredibly sturdy, but there were bound to be weak points.
Namely its joints, eyes, and the antenna atop its head. In only a few moments an antenna was cut off, a shard of burning metal was lodged into its left eye, and another crippled one of its six legs.
Letting out a soundless scream, It hunkered under her assault, a thick layer of stone shooting up to encase its injured body. Her sword reformed in only a second, and she leapt forward, intent on crushing through the rock to finish the bug off.
The thick stone was ripped to shreds in seconds under the relentless assault, her enemy frantic to protect itself. She hacked off large chunks of rock with each swing, showing just how tough that carapace really was.
Zee was nearly through, when a huge pulse of energy radiated from the earth cultivator.
In the next moment, she was violently thrown off her feet, hurled across the battlefield.
She smashed into a floating rock a few hundred meters away, her body aching despite the fact she turned into mist at the last second.
What was that?! Gasping for breath she reorientated herself. It was just in time to see a rock the size of a freaking castle hurling right at her.
So, this was the power of a middle D grade cultivator? It looked like her opponent had finally gotten serious. If she were hit by that colossal boulder, she would be nothing more than a smear of blood.
The heart of fire drummed in her chest, a grin splitting her face as she leapt right for the oncoming projectile. With her movement skill on cooldown for the next five seconds she couldn't get out of the way of something that stupidly massive.
If there was no avoiding it, she would meet fire with fire. She raised her hands in an overhead motion, grasping her sword in a two handed grip.
The world river churned, her sword vibrating ominously as she channeled over fifty percent of her total energy into a skill.
Her Well of mental energy was also dumped into the skill, compressing it far beyond what she had ever done before. Her body creaked from the strain, but she didn't fail to unleash the blow.
A vertical spatial tear nearly a hundred feet tall and only half a foot wide snapped into existence. The two attacks collided, and the gigantic rock didn't slow at all. It passed right through her attack like it wasn't there, plowing towards Zee with unstoppable force.
She waited, her heart racing as just before it reached her, the rock split into two halves.
One on her right, and the other on her left, each narrowly missing her by only a few feet.
It was much too close for her own liking.
Her relief was short lived, as there was another pulse of energy.
The two rocks passing to either side of her were struck by the powerful pulse, and cracked. Based on their first few clashes, she had a good idea of what that meant.
Her movement skill was usable again just in time. She turned to a cloud of mist just as the two gigantic rocks exploded. Thousands of rocks tore through her mist form, so numerous there would have been no hope of dodging them.
Sometimes her movement skill really saved her bacon. Pushing aside the thought, Zee urged her body to float forward.
There was no time to just float around. Her energy reserves were running low, and she couldn't stay in her mist form forever. It was better to use the boost to her speed to close the gap with her enemy. After all, that bug had already just how terrifying its skills at a distance could be.
The only problem was, Zee only had two option remaining strong enough to finish off this sturdy bug.
She could conjure the Avatar of Dominion though that might cause collateral. or she could tap into her inner world.
Both the enemy and allies fought right below her, and would be caught up in the avatar's domain of decay. Her bloodline talent didn't discriminate between friend from foe, but the alternative was unpleasant.
Channeling the storm would grant her power just like back when she fought the bone lord. This bug wasn't nearly as unkillable as that monster, so it should be enough to crack that shell.
The problem was, her inner world was at a tipping point. Breaking the seal would push her over the edge, and force her to go ahead with her evolution whether she was ready or not.
She really didn't want to go that far, but might not have a choice. With her slowed perception, Zee could just make out her opponent on a rocky crag.
They looked quite miffed as she shot towards them. She couldn't really blame them. Having your opponent simply phase right through your attacks had to be annoying.
Distracted as it was, the earth cultivator didn't notice as a spectral humanoid phased up through the ground behind them. The world river shuddered at the specter prepared to unleash that terrifying skill.
Much to her dismay, the earth cultivator whirled, and a dozen spikes of rock ripped the ghost to pieces. It appeared Zee couldn't rely on Kur Zul to finish this fight.
Well, no point in delaying. Time to unleash the power of her inner world. Her body surged with power, just as she felt Zul's soul return to her mind. Opening the cage that contained her inner world was a risky gambit, but with Kur Zul unable to turn the tide, this was her best option.
An explosion of energy rocked the asteroid, her body groaning as it overflowed with energy. It was like she just consumed a top tier berserking treasure, or activated a similar skill.
The side effects were not much different then. In fact, she would be as weak as a baby lizard for most of the day afterward. She pushed such concerns aside. This was a very temporary state, with only about two minutes before she collapsed. With that In mind, she shot forward, bringing her sword down toward her opponent's head with unstoppable momentum.
The earth cultivator only good eye bulged, and its body glowed as it frantically raised a barrier to block. The meter thick rock wall crumbled like it was made of fragile pottery as she hit it, but it bought her opponent precious moments.
The barrier crumbled just in time for her to see the blood gorger swallow a seed that let off a hair raising aura. Its body exploded with power just as her sword collided with the thick carapace of its upraised leg.
The impact of her blocked blow sent the blood gorger crashing down, generating a shockwave that reverberated around them.
Both friends and enemies were cast aside, pelted by fragments of rock. She was anticipating her spirit-infused sword, honed to a razor-sharp edge, to effortlessly slice through the leg, but was once again taken aback.
Whatever it ate just now had to be a potent berserking treasure. The carapace was cracked and leaking ichor from its forearm, but that was it. Without hesitation, its second frontal leg stabbed towards her side with shocking speed.
Blocking the lightning quick blow rattled her bones, and it lunged in to try and bite her in half with those savage mandibles.
While dodging to the side, a portion of her hair was severed and blood began to leak from a gash on her neck.
Ignoring the pain, she slashed upward towards the collar at its neck. It narrowly avoided being turned to a popsicle, as it deflected her strike away from the fragile array.
Blood and ichor flew off, flash freezing as it left the protection of their environmental collars. Zee didn't have time to worry about a few small cuts as she attacked with blistering speed.
With each attack, large exploding rocks shot in every direction, thrown around them from the force of their battle. Despite its speed and power she didn't dare back away, her sword whipping through the air as she fought the earth cultivator in a vicious melee.
It had only been ten seconds, and she was already covered in bleeding cuts and stinging bruises, her arms aching from the force of the blows.
Her opponent was much worse off, missing two legs, and an eye. She relentlessly attacked its blind side, thankful she had blinded its one eye early on. For a caster, this blood gorger was shockingly strong and fast.
So far, they were evenly matched, which wasn't a good thing. With its incredibly durable carapace, she may lose the battle of attrition. Zee had no idea how long that berserking treasure would keep the bug going, but her method wouldn't last to much longer.
She needed something to turn the tide, and finish her enemy in one stroke. And since everyone had cleared the area, she no longer had to worry about allies becoming collateral damage. Unleashing her full powered aura infused with compression, she shot straight upward.
Her opponent seemed more than happy to let her get distance, but it would quickly regretted that decision. The surface of the asteroid was lit up in a dark azure as an orb of spiritual flames appeared above Zee's head.
Like a voracious monster, it dragged in the energy around her, its domain unleashing a world of decay in a wide area around her. Empowered by channeling the storm, the avatar swelled much larger than its original size, its domain covering over a hundred meters in every direction.
It unleashed a world of decay, drawing the life force from anything in its domain.
Aside from the earth cultivator several unlucky blood gorgers were caught up in the attack. They were turned to lifeless husks in seconds, their bodies turned to ash. As expected, the earth cultivator conjured its own domain skill to resist the effect.
It glared up at her, standing amidst a dozen pillars of stone that formed its skill. She could feel the power building in those pillars as they prepared to strike. The blood gorger glared up at her with its one remaining eye, but held its ground. It looked completely confident it would win in a ranged battle.
Well, she was going to wipe that smug look off its face! The avatar reached its full size, having grown to the size of a house, and she didn't hesitate. With the help of the Mantle, she flung it downward, her Well draining from the effort.
Surging with power, the pillars of stone reacted immediately, growing upward to meet her attack. The asteroid shook as the two attacks collided, fighting for supremacy.
Stone crumbled, and the avatar descended, its aura of decay stripping the life from the stone pillars to fuel its power. Shock crossed the earth cultivators face as its skill crumbled with only token resistance. Panicked, it tried to escape with a movement skill.
Zee couldn't have that. The Avatar of dominion exploded, and the blood gorger was consumed in a fiery inferno. For a hundred meters in every direction, the rock itself burned.
And right in the midst, her enemy lay in a burning heap. The effect on the overall battle was immediate. The remaining blood gorgers either tossed down weapons and surrendered, or ran for their lives.
Flying above them, surrounded by flames she looked like a wrathful goddess. Incinerating their leader in such a violent display had to be demoralizing.
Zee was relieved that they fled, as she didn't have the energy to keep going. The flames parted as she descended, her boots touching down next to the burning earth cultivator.
Using the Mantle, she urged the flames to pull away from the body. Most of its things were burned beyond reckoning, but its spatial storage was still intact.
The energy flowing through her body slowly dissipated, and she swayed on her feet. Zee could feel a headache coming on, as she tucked the blood gorgers necklace away for later. Over the dancing flames, Zee could see Brick and the others watching her. Pushing down her exhaustion, the flames parted as she walked towards them.
Her vision was blurry, and her legs felt like lead. She was so tired, but was relieved to not her who squad was there. They looked a bit worse for ware, but everyone was accounted for. Brick raised a meaty hand, his body covered in gore, most of it not his.
"Are you alright Ensign?" Brick asked.
"I'm fine, just need a quick nap is all," Zee said.
Her vision narrowed further, and she swayed. Deciding this chunk of rock was as good as any other, she fell face first, her consciousness fading.