352. Aegis of Infinity (II)

Three days into meditating, he made a breakthrough.

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔸𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕀𝕏 -> 𝕏

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝔸𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 [𝕄𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕔+ (ℍ) -> ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (ℙ)]

He examined his Pagoda and nodded. It was shaping up.

That was ten thick floors of gold-and-red, all done. It was well on its way to towering; he could see the behemoth in the Astral Plane it promised to be. It began to exude an aura of grandeur. It was steadily gaining that impression of endlessness.

He kept going, feeling good.

Stacking floor after floor, hour after hour.

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔸𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!

𝔸𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕀𝕀 -> 𝕀𝕀𝕀

The Spirit, meanwhile, had taken to polishing the murals as it waited, muttering occasionally.

***

ғɪᴠᴇ ᴅᴀʏs ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ…

Zane took a deep breath and stood.

𝕊𝕜𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕧𝕖𝕕!

𝔸𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕀𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 [ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (ℙ) -> 𝕌𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕠𝕟 (ℙ)]

This Skill has reached a bottleneck. Advance to Minor God to advance further.

Twenty solid, full floors of sturdy pagoda shone strong in his soul.

He'd finished it off.

𝔻𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦? said the Spirit, wandering over.

Zane nodded.

𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕, it said, a bit stiffly.𝕀'𝕞 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦.

He blinked. "…Thanks."

𝕀'𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝔸𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕪, 𝕞𝕪 𝕕𝕦𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕔𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕠… 𝕚𝕗 𝕚𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 𝕥𝕠… 𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕒 𝕘𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕…

Its face twitched, and it muttered something about 'damned turnips' again.

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝! 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕥 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕠, it finished.

Zane was more of a meat guy, but he appreciated the thought.

𝔸𝕝𝕤𝕠, said the Spirit, puffing out its chest. 𝕀'𝕞 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕥. 𝕊𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕝𝕪, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕀 𝕒𝕞. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕖𝕖—𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖, 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕤… 𝕚𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕒𝕕𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥! 𝔹𝕦𝕥 𝕀'𝕞 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕟.

It took a deep breath.

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕕𝕒 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕒𝕘𝕖. 𝔸𝕟 𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖. 𝔸 𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕪 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤! 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥… 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕪 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖.

Zane saw the confusion. "I'm much bigger than he was," he explained.

𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥. The Spirit's face twitched. It took another breath.

𝔸𝕝𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕀'𝕞 𝕒𝕝𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥. 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥?

He nodded. "Bring it."

***

The room was plunged in darkness. Steely webs shimmered through the gloom.

And slowly, the Monsters came to swarm him.

Dozens of peak Minor Gods, all out for blood. And he felt their killing intents slicing toward him, invisible knives of malice. Trying to strike fear in him.

He stood there, breathing steadily. He felt sturdy and strong. A bastion of soul strength.

He kept that feeling deep in his chest.

The Pagoda began to resonate in his soul.

Then the swarm swept in a cacophony of shrieks and scything limbs.

His Pagoda burst into being.

Twenty grand floors, a revelation of fiery colors in a hive of ghostly white and gloomy blacks. In that moment, it seemed to tower above the trees—punch through the darkness, breaching the very skies.

Zane stood there, unshakeable. Staring down his foes.

Then the storm struck.

Massive mandibles showered down on him in their dozens, vicious ghostly pincers descending on the steel—CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CRACK!

On their own they could not break through. But the sheer glut of them, the onslaught of dozens of Gods, was enough to send seams scattering through the walls of his uppermost floor.

And puncture it.

Though every time they broke through one layer, they met another. And another still.

Then higher-pitched sounds started up around him—shrieks, crisper CRACKs as the beasts' jaws started shattering one by one.

Zane felt them break as he flexed the Aegis in his mind, brow furrowing. Holding it steady, backing its powers with his very soul. It was as though the Pagoda were an extension of his body, some great shield he held firm by force of will.

By the end of it, the tower still shimmered around him. Only six of the upper layers had fallen, still leaving fourteen intact.

He'd weathered the storm quite well, he was pleased to see.

The same could not be said for the swarm.

One by one, the Spiders broke against him—and fled shrieking. Until the last set of mandibles cracked against his walls, and its owner scurried into the dark.

Then there was silence.

Just a few days ago, that Swarm would've broken his shields at the first wave. The rest would've sunk dozens of vice-grip clamps deep into his soul.

Now they couldn't come close to touching him.

He looked around, wondering. But the darkness stayed put.

Things weren't over.

It felt strangely quiet… he couldn't see the light of the moon anymore.

Frowning, he tuned into his senses. And looked up.

Then he felt it.

Wisps of aura stretching over his head in a wide field.

Something enormous was dropping over him—and fast.

He frowned.

That aura… something about it…

Then its eyes flared through the gloom, and he saw it in full.

𝕋𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘

𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝟞𝟙𝟛

Its cloaking dropped. Its aura flared.

Minor Gods' auras, unleashed, felt like stars in the Astral Plane—and this creature's did too.

But theirs were mere dwarfs. And the Spider King's was that of a giant. A giant whose very presence whited out all other aura signatures for miles. A power like he'd never fought.

True God.

It blocked out all the moonlight, blocked out the space between the trees, and all Zane saw was that grotesque behemoth body descending—dropping right over his head, hairy mandibles splitting wide seething with ghostly smoke. Big enough to crush a house.

Those smoking mandibles were translucent, tipped with a milky poison. Half in the physical realm, half in the Astral—and they were the source of its power. The parts that shone the brightest, each a Sacred Bone.

And they were coming right for his head.

All these things, Zane registered in a split-second.

The sound that came out of the beast's throat was something between a hiss and a shriek, so shrill it hurt to hear, rippling through the forest like a whip's crack.

He barely had time to brace himself.

Then the jaws clamped down—and Zane felt what it meant to take the full-on power of a True God.

CRACKKKK!

Three layers shattered in an instant, and he groaned. Blood spurted from his mouth.

The force of it shook the whole Pagoda down to its roots, threatened to topple it in one fell move—Zane roared, dug heels in, and fought.

The Pagoda really was like another muscle now. His whole body tensed as he threw himself into it, and the Asura runes burned on his chest.

The jaws clamped harder. Waves of ghostly energy billowed off it in the Astral Plane, howling like banshees. Another floor shattered, and yet another, and a piercing pressure started down the sides of Zane's head.

Even as he gritted his teeth, struggling to hold back that force, he could feel each layer failing one by one—could feel the raw force a True God Bone could make. It felt like he was trying to hold back a freight train with his bare hands.

Each shattering put a little extra strain on him. His face was going red.

By then he was down to six layers.

The mandibles just kept crashing through. Five… four…

He heaved, threw the full heft of his soul into one last effort, and those last three layers, the foundations of his defense, flared the colors of the sun.

Ghostly Sacred Bones cracked against the walls of the third layer. And though seams started splitting down its length—though it shook, and cracked at last—the light in those Bones dimmed visibly.

That freight train was slowing. And Zane sensed the moment.

He shoved hard.

There was a grinding, screeching sound—those scything mandibles crushing through the second layer, putting cracks in the first. But those were the sounds of incredible friction. Of a great force being ground to a halt.

The Spider King's attack crushed to within a few feet of Zane's head—and stopped at the base of the tower.

He coughed out a mouthful of blood, head swimming.

Then those mandibles began to tremble. Began rupturing down their lengths, sheets of blinding light spilling through the cracks.

There was a sound like glass shattering in the Astral Plane. And it was the Spider King's turn to reel away, as its Sacred Bones cracked against his defense at last, showing two blunt ends…

Zane locked eyes with the beast. Stared it down, his own bloody teeth bared.

Its eyes bulged.

It let out a baleful hiss and receded into the gloom.

Light flushed back into the floor. The murals regained their glow. Zane blinked, heaved a deep breath.

Well. That was something else.

There was the Pagoda Spirit, looking at him strangely. It was a look Zane had gotten pretty used to these last few days.

"What's up?"

𝔸𝕟 𝔸𝕤𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕥, 𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝-𝕡𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕋𝕣𝕦𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕕…It sighed.

He shrugged. "It was only a soul attack." He wasn't sure how he'd fare against a True God, hand-to-hand. Soul attacks weren't much of a big deal in his experience.

𝕆𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕒—

The Spirit took several deep breaths.

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕚𝕥, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕟! it croaked. 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 ℂ𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℍ𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞, 𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔽𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕝𝕪! 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟…

It checked its pocket-watch.

𝔸 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜'𝕤 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖.

Zane nodded. "Neat."

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, said the Spirit. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕦𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕠𝕨.

Zane nodded. It ought to do for a while—he doubted anything was breaking through anytime soon. He was quite satisfied.

"Thanks."

𝕐𝕖𝕒𝕙, 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕙. The Spirit waved an absent hand. I'm off to sleep. Next time I wake up, you'll be one of the strongest beings in the Galaxy, I imagine.

It was still chuckling ruefully at the thought when it saw the thoughtful look on Zane's face.

Its face dropped.

…ℙ𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕘𝕠 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪.

***

That was Zane's last errand done. Which meant his time this stint in the Azure Flame Faction was up.

He did a quick inventory before he left, checked everything he'd packed. He had all the essentials. Some cookies and handwritten letters from Evan. Reina had given him a stockpile of World Tree elixirs. Among them were some of the World Tree's most treasured soul-replenishing elixirs, the 'Draught of Living Dreams,' since she knew he was planning on doing a lot of strenuous soul work. He'd taken to sipping them after heavy comprehension sessions.

Avery had gotten him a stick that was almost perfectly in the shape of a carrot. It was, as far as Zane could tell, an ordinary stick. She'd found it on the side of the road.

She wasn't sure what it did, but she was certain it was important and would come in useful down the line. It was a very rare stick.

There were also a few bundles of yak jerky Jawl gave, since he'd heard Zane was going on a long road-trip.

He had one last weekend back with Reina.

Then he was off to the Steelheart Conclave.

***

In the meantime, at the edges of Azure Flame territory:

There was a terrible screech. And black blood splattered empty space.

The raw Corruption within it was so potent it instantly punched holes in the realm.

This close to Azure Flame territory, the zones were high-grade. The fabric of reality was strong here. It had to be, to sustain the astral weights of all those Empyreans.

It said something about the nature of that blood.

And the man who drew it.

He was thin, pale, with a scarred face and throat, wearing tattered plain monk's robes. He wore a wide-rimmed straw hat, under which you could barely make out vaguely disinterested eyes.

In his hand was a single blade—more a saber than a sword. Simple, unadorned. Its hilt, and blade, were carved of the Sacred Bone of a True Roc.

The man scanned the open space before him. But there was no sign of his foe anymore.

"…It fled," he rasped.

He made a tsk. "So Noughtfire was right after all."

He held the blade up to his face, and it shrank, and shrank, until it was no bigger than the size of a piece of straw. Then he tossed it between his teeth and wandered off.

He was late for a meeting.