Chapter 936 - He is here

The notification of the reward is there, simply stating that it will be given after the event concludes. I have many thoughts about the possible nature of the Mirror that I would like to delve into, but with the Wraith approaching, I decide to think of them later.

Meanwhile, the Empyrean Heir is getting piled upon by what feels like everyone in the area. The lance I shot through her chest is gone, and that hole through her chest remains, big enough to be seen through.

Even missing a big chunk of her spine, a lung and other organs, and her left arm, the woman doesn't slow down at all. Her output remains the same and probably even increases.

Blue, golden, and white mana dances across her skin, and the area around her seems like a broken mirror. Space doesn't behave normally, and anything approaching her warps around, hitting other people instead while she continues with her attacks. They do seem to be slightly weaker, either because of the wounds, her effort going somewhere else, or the many arrays the hundreds of people around throw at her.

There is only one person she is wary of, doing her utmost to not allow her to get close, even as Victoria follows her like an unstoppable, hungry hunting dog. My sister continues to duplicate from pieces of her flesh around the battlefield, constantly overclocking her body to get close.

I've noticed that whenever a duplicate dies, its body is left behind with the black arm as well. There are now dozens of Victoria's corpses in many different states of destruction, and each of these black arms has the same signature as the original.

The power in her arm is the stigma of one of the godkings, and instead of coming from her, the power comes directly from that god. At this point, I think that even if she made thousands, tens of thousands of duplicates somehow, each already ridiculous black arm would have the same strength, and Starless Sky probably wouldn't notice a drain of his powers.

With so many arms around, I also notice that the effect they create isn't as suppressed as the one the alive Vics have. It is like it is beginning to slowly break up, and whatever powers the Starless Sky has are leaking into the area, with the effect emphasizing the more arms there are. The place is becoming colder, people are having a hard time activating their skills, and teleportation skills begin to break down.

But the Heir doesn't have trouble with that for now, she warps all around, targeting any annoying attendees or locals and fighting against the arrays suppressing her.

It is like she is a raid boss on the verge of entering a second stage, fought by people who know they likely won't get the reward, yet understand it will still count toward their achievements and the performance system that judges their classes, traits, and skills.

And maybe they hope to secure a piece of that body, a bit of Empyrean Ichor, the flesh of a god's descendant, and someone potentially on the path to awakening a Divine Heart and becoming a demigod.

Due to me absorbing the mana of the explosion, some pieces of the Mirror remain, slowly reverting to their original glassy state. As the Heir doesn't have time to attack me, I pick up a few pieces too, coating them in mana and putting them into my pockets.

It is way too quiet, and there is no sign of the Wraith.

I suspect the Mirror appeared around here, the heir likely rushed over after sensing my blood, and Calvorn summoned the Wraith. All three entities that were probably meant to be spread across the second floor are now gathered in this single area.

"He is here already," Calvorn says ominously, and I filter out most of the sounds.

Brich begins to use some items, and parts of his armor light up as his presence activates and defenses snap into place.

Unlike during that expedition, I cannot feel the Wraith's presence anymore at all, and with hundreds of people around, he could be anywhere.

Genevieve lands on the ground near us. Instead of her missing wing, a new metallic one grows in the same color as her pummeled armor. One of her swords is broken, and for a bit, she stares at us, taking a step and walking a nonchalant circle around us with eyes almost exclusively on Calvorn.

The Wraith does not even try to pretend, as Genevieve's wing, eyes, and hair turn red while he weighs his options, looking back and forth between Brich and me.

In a similar way, I also make a circle to mimic his position and stare him down.

The vampire twists Genevieve's face into a slight nonchalant smile, showing the fangs that have grown.

The sword in her hand begins to glow, and her armor begins to release a heat that melts and twists the metal as the Wraith overclocks everything without a care for the body he possesses.

I meet his attack with just my reinforced body, the use of kinetic energy, and the defensive layer on my skin. I absorb all of the impact, speed up, and for a moment, mana oscillates across my palm as I meet the sword he lifts in defense.

That sword shatters under my attack, releasing lashes of energy that tear deep trenches into the ground, slide across my defenses, and cut deep into Genevieve.

I notice some life in the feylith's eyes as she still remains there, just suppressed somewhere in the background, so I decide why not. I lower my mental defenses to make way for the Wraith, and he notices it.

Genevieve is a feylith, and most of them I have met have at least some talent when it comes to mental abilities. She notices what I am attempting to do, and as the Wraith is leaving her mind, her face turns into a sad smile. She mouths words of thanks, as if already knowing what is about to happen.

I hoped it wouldn’t come to this and wanted to give her a chance, but in the wake of the Wraith leaving, he destroys her mind entirely. It doesn't even feel like him being cruel, more akin to a strategic, cold decision not to leave an opponent behind.

Genevieve falls to the ground dead, and I appear within my mental space that the Wraith has reached. That mental space is now gray and neverending with red stars dotting the pseudo sky.

He stands there as that red, half-transparent humanoid figure, towering high over me, and I can feel his mind fighting against mine. To take over, to tear off my memories and absorb them, and to take control over my body.

It is silly for him to think I wasn't expecting that and preparing for it.

[Calibration - lvl 15 > Calibration - lvl 16]

[Calibration - lvl 16 > Calibration - lvl 17]

[Calibration - lvl 17 > Calibration - lvl 18]

[Calibration - lvl 18 > Calibration - lvl 19]

[Calibration - lvl 19 > Calibration - lvl 20]

[Eclipse - lvl 82 > Eclipse - lvl 83]

The mental space turns black and white, and all the red stars disappear, eclipsed by my form there as my manifestation begins to grow.

Most of my subminds snap into one after a long time, leaving only a little for background tasks. Like his entirely red form, mine turns blue with two golden circles that seem like they are peeking from behind an eclipsed sun.

The red figure watches me almost unbothered as I take a step closer. He is unable to move at all as I give him a punch, and like a stone sinking under the rippling water of a lake, he disappears, pulled outside.

Without a pause, I appear back outside, tracking the red shadow. Before it becomes imperceptible to me and moves to Brich, my vessel forms behind my back, grabs onto it, and pulls it back to the ground. There, a second vessel manifests and slams down with specially resonating mana I calibrate.

Even so, it is not perfect, and the damage is little, only slightly hitting the Wraith before he adapts, becomes transparent, and gets out of my hold.

Brich seems to see him too due to a visor that slid down from his helmet.

The crazy lumaran gives a smile before he says to me, "Well, not again, no, thank you. And I don't think I have the mental defenses to deal with him right now. Bring me back to the Crimson Forge, Nathaniel, they will pay you well!"

He salutes, destabilizes some item, and his head explodes as his body falls to the ground.

It causes both me and the Wraith to pause momentarily in surprise, and an automated message starts playing from some device in his armor.

"We politely request that you return the body, equipment, and any associated materials to the nearest Crimson Forge branch or headquarters at your earliest convenience. All items are proprietary prototypes and registered intellectual property of Crimson Forge. You will be handsomely rewarded for their safe return. We strongly urge-"

I filter out the rest of the words. The Wraith, instead of continuing, shoots towards where the highest concentration of people is located to gain a new body.

I follow him, only stopping briefly to set a barrier around Brich's body and to grab Calvorn. Threads of mana expand from my fingers, coiling around the blade and forcing the ego sword's mouth shut.

Wraith Dance brings me across the battlefield, right into the middle of a group of people launching combined ranged attacks at the heir. There are some craters from the attacks from the Heir around them as they erratically organize, share information, and launch projectiles toward the main fight.

They barely notice as I resonate through their barrier, appearing in their midst, even causing one of the rushing and shouting attendees to bump against me and fall to the ground.

I ignore their rising alert and panic as they notice me in their midst. With my eyes wide, I look around, searching for anything that would point me at my opponent.

Yet, there is still nothing, even as another attendee reaches me, shouting at me about the protocols and such. With his mana and primordial void flickering around, he asks me to identify myself, putting more and more pressure on the defensive array.

I don't ignore him entirely, and while searching, I still keep an eye on him. That is why I am prepared when he suddenly moves in a burst, shooting primordial void in a directed blast and reaching towards the sword.

As I duck to the side and pull the sword out of his reach, his body slams against my barrier. He explodes under the impact, with his blood and flesh sliding against the layers of mana covering me.

The Wraith doesn't even pause before jumping towards someone else. My vessel appears to grab him, but it is too late, and he gets into the body of a lynthari woman nearby who also crashes against me in an attempt to reach the sword.

My senses spread wider, and kinetic energy halts everyone in the area, immobilizing them while a pulse entirely disrupts their mana. Even so, the velnar man currently possessed by the Wraith tries to move through that hold, and the body breaks down, killing the man.

Then the vampire's presence disappears, and I follow the signal that heads towards my sister, using Wraith Dance multiple times until I realize I have been tricked and it was a feint.

Annoyed by such a mistake, I look around, only to move back as a human man slams into me, sending both of us rolling across the ground. His skin is covered in a metallic layer that reflects my kinetic punches, and two primordial energies radiate from his body, gravitational and kinetic.

He kicks me away from himself, and I pull Calvorn away from his reach. This causes him to slam against me again in the middle of my Wraith Dance, destabilizing it and sending us breaking through the forest.

His speed increases, and his eyes glow red as the Wraith reinforces his movements and tries to tie me down with gravitational energy.

I take on his attack, absorbing the impact of it and launching my own that sends him stumbling back. I move through his hold to disrupt his natural defenses and touch him.

Then I teleport the both of us away. Midway through it, he breaks the skill, sending us crashing down right into the first city that is now entirely empty of participants.

Freed from my mana threads, Calvorn opens his mouth, likely about to speak, but he never gets the chance.

I throw the ego sword on the ground in front of me.

The Wraith, who put all this effort into getting his hands on it, goes blank for a moment. He stares at it, and both he and the sword remain there in silence.

I kick the sword, sending it skittering across the cobbled road until it bumps against the Wraith's shoe.

"Pick it up," I say.