"Behind me, now!" Liv shouted, and everyone complied. "Demonic Aura Territory!" He said and slammed his Bloodserpent sword into the ground, creating cracks through which a blob of his red demonic aura rose and crept along the muddy ground. A circular barrier of demonic aura-reinforced earth rose to surround the four of them.
Inside Liv's ring, Langa saw the red water encircling the liva flower that represented Liv's mana core with alarming speed. This wasn’t good for Liv, but it held against the Cleaving Fissure.
"How are we going to defeat her? There is no way for a mortal to defeat a Daeva. That's the whole point of a Divine Wish, that you are assured a win at the cost of your soul!" Coraloa said.
"For a deity's Daeva sure, but a seraphim's weaker. And you're wrong. There is a way to defeat a Daeva, and that's with your own Descent," Synn corrected her.
[Multiple deities watch the proceedings with fascination and are prepared to offer Daeva contracts to any of your party members who would denounce their current deities.]
Coraloa glared at Synn. "I hope you're not suggesting that one of us offer up our souls and accept a god's Descent, because I would rather die. At least that way, The System will punish King Maetrolugy for bending the rules, but only after we're out of the Authority."
"I was just pointing out your error," Synn mumbled.
Langa knew a way for them to get a Descent without anyone but him sacrificing anything. He didn’t know if he could give up control like that, though. "If I die, he'll get the Star Fragment he needs and Ascend. The punishment for a constellation won't be the same as for a seraphim," he said instead. "He'll get away with a slap on the wrist."
"Coraloa’s right," Liv said, breathing hard. Langa could see he’d activated his Scale Armour under the heavy plate he wore to protect himself from his demonic aura. "The Gate is locked and the only way out is for me to die and forfeit The Sun God’s quest as soon as I respawn. If you can flee from her, you'll still be alive by then."
Liv was level 12, which meant it would take him 12 hours to respawn. Langa knew there was no way he, Synn, and Coraloa would survive for 12 hours hiding from the Daeva without Liv. Besides, this was Synn's last life. He wasn't going to let her die here.
"Forget it," Coraloa said. "Maybe we can pull this off if we throw all our divine skills at her."
Liv, Synn and Langa were left with only one use of their divine skills each, and Coraloa's divine skill was for self-defence only.
The cleaving blades slammed hard into the demonic aura barrier, and the more Liv sustained it, the more the red on the ring surrounded Liv's mana core. Steaming sweat dripped through his scales as one blade pierced through the barrier, cracking it.
Synn's flaming whip snaked towards the crack and the black flames managed to melt the blade that broke through.
Thankfully, the Divine Cleaving Fissure subsided after a few seconds, and Liv stumbled onto the ground, gasping as the demonic aura barrier broke into pieces. The floor of the dam was a mess of cracks and holes, and no level ground remained.
"Close." Funduvus watched them, then looked down at her body in satisfaction. "Do you see me now, Players? The Venerable One is watching me," she said. "I know I can rejoin him in The Dark Void if I take your lives."
Once the demonic aura barrier dissipated, Langa activated Distortion, going invisible, and Flash Stepped behind Funduvus.
With his right foot, Langa executed the Legacy's Fourth Step, transferring his weight to the left foot so that the added weight put more strength into Tonare, infused mana into the glaive, and slashed at her abdomen, hoping the extra damage from Flash Step and being invisible would help.
The glaive didn't even scratch the surface of her lion-like abdomen, and she grabbed Tonare by the shaft, her eyes finding Langa now that he was visible again.
He wrenched Tonare away and fled back when her bladed arm tried to stab him.
"The messenger told King Maetrolugy your weakness, you know," Funduvus said, her compound eyes glowing. "Bow down and give me the Star!"
Langa's mind went hazy as he felt compelled to follow the command. His Mental Resistance was in shambles, and all he had to hold onto was his Faith. He had promised Adtonifulmin that he wouldn't bow to anyone but him.
"No!" he screamed, his head on fire. Something was clawing against his mind.
“If you will not bow, then I will force you onto your knees,” Funduvus said, and then suddenly, from the eggs on the ground, large mosquitoes that reached Langa’s legs erupted.
He used Flash Step to get away, spinning Tonare around in a circle, using it as protection. He struck and stabbed, infusing it with lightning, but more and more mosquitoes swarmed him, overcrowding and suffocating him. He couldn't breathe as they descended on him. Why wasn’t Liv coming to draw the aggro?
Suddenly a sweet song sounded in Langa’s ears, and a jet of ice-cold water splashed against his face.
Langa opened his eyes to find himself crouching on the ground, hands trembling and holding onto Tonare. Coraloa handed Synn her bracelet and said, “You got it from here?”
“Yeah, go help him,” Synn said, gesturing to Liv, who struggled to hold his shield against the Daeva’s unending poisonous, exploding egg attacks.
“What happened?” Langa asked, confused.
“Cora had to splash you to bring you out of the mental debuff. Wear this." She placed Coraloa's bracelet on Langa’s wrist. "It will cleanse you."
“Mental?” Langa asked. Sure enough, his status showed he'd just broken free of an illusory attack. Fuck. Those giant mosquitoes weren’t real.
Coraloa kept firing her ice bullets, but Funduvus kept flying higher, avoiding them and preventing Coraloa from using her Sonic Blast.
“Yeah, you just suddenly stopped moving. I don't think she has good Mental Affinity, because she only targeted you with that skill,” Synn said. “As long as Cora’s here, her Siren’s Song and Fulimi can help. You will be fine.”
Langa clenched his fists, hatred burning in his heart. Fi Kindaro told the seraphim to use his mental weakness against him.
Funduvus' proboscis elongated and tried to latch onto Liv's neck. Liv's Bloodserpent sword grew teeth and cut through the air with a dark red demonic aura, aiming for the boss' wings to hinder her mobility.
“We can't win this without you. Can you fight?” Synn asked as she sent out a wave of black Flame Spikes that continued to eat at Funduvus’ armour, their heat intensifying as she poured more of her magic into the attack. Liv's Charging Ray Burst drew Funduvus’ attention, forcing her to focus on him.
Langa let his anger fuel him as he activated Thunderbird's Stunning Strike now that it was off cool-down. The worst part about this battle was that he was on edge. He didn't know what was real anymore, and it made him a liability to his team.
He had never been a liability to any team.
He used Jumper and Nahuke's Left Eye to leap into the air; his glaive aimed for the yellow-marked small ridges on the mosquito's thorax, driving Tonare into the ridges, but Funduvus’ tail swatted at him, interrupting the attack and sending him flying back.
[Thunderbird's Stunning Strike Incomplete (Funduvus - 234HP)
Bonus Lightning Discipline Damage (Funduvus - 234HP)
Backlash (Langa Zulu -12HP)]
He'd been able to do three times more damage than that in the tutorial! It seemed to irritate Funduvus more than anything. She stabbed her arms into the ground once more.
Coaraloa whistled for Acoustic Impedance the moment Funduvus started uttering her incantation, but nothing happened.
"It's not working. She's too high-level now. She's immune to my crowd control," Coraloa said helplessly.
"What? Even with The Blessing?" Synn asked as the three of them rushed to hide behind Liv's demonic aura territory.
Coraloa clenched her fists. "I'll make it work. I promise. I'll unlock The Higher Blessing today."
The battlefield became a disaster, and the broken rocks and cleaving blades covered the entire ground. Red aura started to seep out of Liv’s skin and he pulled back, trying to suppress the demonic aura. Unfortunately, that was the moment Funduvus combined three cleaving blades into one and struck. The blade tore through Liv’s metallic armour like paper and buried itself in his side, penetrating his scales and causing blood to pour out of him like a waterfall. He was thrown to the side, and his demonic aura barrier shattered.
“Liv!”
Coraloa screamed, her song combining with her Vibration Wave, reeling a forceful sound wave that pushed Funduvus back.
Langa hastily fed Liv a health potion, and even with him healing himself, his insane Vitality and special Endurance, the wound was going to take a while to heal.
"Cora, create an opening for me," Synn said. "I'm going to burn my mana recklessly for a bit to get her below 20 000 health. Liv'Kungsadu, get your Ray Blast ready because she's going to gun for me after."
Coraloa raised her trident, her hands steady despite the chaos around her. She took a much longer shot with her Siyotanka than ever before. A massive ice cannon ball flew from the Siyotanka, struck Funduvus' head, and sent a wave of frost spreading across her shoulder blade. Her health only dropped by 200, but she slowed down.
Synn's arms had transformed into her foxkin form, and she moved up to the close-range, Fire Ring surrounding her. She lashed hard and fast at Funduvus with her flaming whip, leaving red diseased blotches on the boss's arms and abdomen. Langa struggled to follow her movements as the whip snaked in and out of motion as Slumbering Smoke slowed down Funduvus.
It gave Langa an opening to get some hits in too, but Synn was still doing the most damage.
Funduvus' eggshell shield absorbed a lot of the damage, but she couldn't resist the darkness damage from Synn's whip, and wherever it hit, she bled heavily. They worked well together, with Langa using Nahuke's Left Eye to anticipate his teammates' movements. He took advantage of Synn’s attacks by striking with infused lightning at the diseased scars.
Coraloa shot more ice bullets at the shield as they kept Funduvus on the defensive and slowly chipped away at her health.
Instead of taunting the boss, once he healed, Liv froze, a halo on his head, counting down from 20 seconds.
Before Langa could alert the others that something was wrong, Coraloa activated Sonic Blast. The eggshell shield surrounding Funduvus blasted open.
"Maladic Blood Syphon!" Funduvus shouted, her proboscis suddenly elongated. More green orbs of maladic fluid floated in front of her.
Coraloa collapsed on the ground, and just as Langa Flash Stepped before her to defend her, he realised Funduvus wasn't aiming for her at all, but Synn was her target having dealt the most damage.
An egg golem hurled four explosive poisonous egg orbs towards Synn, but then Liv stepped in front of her and raised his physical shield so that the exploding eggs detonated over it, cracking it open and showering him with poison.
"Get out of close range," he told her.
Langa hurled his remaining Lucent Patch bombs at the boss' back, but it was already too late, as Funduvus' elongated proboscis struck even as her back was showered in flames. The proboscis latched onto Liv's shoulder and Funduvus sucked away his blood and absorbed all the blood before she licked her lips.
She cradled her egg golem. “Thank you for the meal, my baby.”
What the hell? Had that been Liv's grand plan? To get numbed by poison and take the hit for Synn? However, the Daeva groaned and jumped back, clutching her abdomen as Liv's free hand pulled out a bloodstained demonic Bloodserpent from her. The sword's mouth was also open, licking away her blood.
Funduvus flew back towards her cocoon and slammed both arms on the ground. "Double Divine Cleaving Fissure!"
Liv’s last Solar Shield formed a dome that surrounded the group just in time because what happened next was not a fissure. It was a mass of craters that erupted all around them and the cleavers were gigantic snakelike things that were double in number from the previous attack. They had a life of their own, slamming against the shield over and over again, but the Solar Shield was a divine dome that allowed nothing in.
The Maladic Blood Syphon was so bad that it reduced Liv to less than half of his HP. Red pimples erupted on his neck faster than ever before. The halo was still on when he approached Synn with anger on his face.
“You should have told me you had no respawns left,” he shouted.
Synn bristled and stepped back. “Did I die?”
“Yes! Why didn't you give up in the Celestial Clash? I wouldn't have killed you if I knew that was your last respawn,” he said
“It's none of your business,” she said.
“It is my business if someone I recruited permadies on my watch,” Liv said, placing his hand on his neck as he healed himself. “We wasted a use of Coraloa’s attribute because of you!”
"And yet, you couldn't come up with a better plan than taking the hit for me?" she asked.
"Maladic Blood Siphon is a targeted homing skill. I deflected it the first time, and I blocked it the second time, but it homed in on you the third time and killed you. It remained on after every block or deflection. The only way for it to stop was to hit someone!" Liv said. “There's another reason why I came back. Langa, it's time. I need more mana and more demonic aura!”
"What?" Coraloa asked.
"Are you sure?" Langa asked hesitantly. He knew they needed Liv's demonic aura, but his inability to control it was a risk.
"We have a Divine Quest and are about to make history. I'll be damned if I don't do my hardest." Liv said through gritted teeth. “Even if it means lowering my head to my Father."
"I have to try to use The Unrivalled’s Higher Blessing to stop her from casting," said Coraloa. "Synn, it's your last life, so stay back. We'll take care of things."
“Stop it!” Synn said. “If any of you die because of me, that won't make me feel better, it'll just make me hate myself more.”
“You-” Liv started, and Langa could see he was about to shout at her again, so he stopped him with a hand on and then he crouched in front of Synn. Langa wiped away the tears from her eyes.
“Then you understand how we feel,” Langa said. He knew how agonising it was to feel responsible for the deaths of people he cared about; it had made him feel like he didn’t deserve to live.
Desperate brown eyes looked up at him, her face raw and full of emotion, and she looked away.
He wanted to tell her that he would help her find a reason to live, but he knew from experience that was something a person could only find for themselves. The best he could do was keep her alive on this day, as she had been doing for him.
Was a Descent truly the only option?
"Argh, Fuck," Synn said, tears running down her cheeks. "You're all stupid fucking idiots, you know that? I'll tie her up and use Meteor one more time."
Langa needed to use The Sun God's Blessing so that when he increased Liv's mana usage, he wouldn't drain his own. Titles were like Blessings, except that using them depended on Faith. For deities other than a Player's patron deity, Faith wasn't measured in just the Player's relationship with the deity, but their patron deity's relationship with the deity also contributed. To equip the Blessing, Langa had to unequip his Avatar title.
Once The Solar Inverter Blessing was active, Langa infused his mana into the ring. As expected, he lost 50% of his mana, but it was instantly replenished by converting Liv's excess mana into lightning.
[Current mana stability for demigod Liv’Kungsadu:
Currently active, 30% of total mana level, 329/555.
Excess mana leakage: 120MP/s
Demonic aura encroachment: 1.5% per 78 hours.
Divine Karma encroachment: ???
Increase mana wielding: yes/ no?]
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Langa tried to increase Liv's maximum mana to 33%, but suddenly, the demonic aura overwhelmed the liva flower and Langa couldn't control the overflow as it went up to 35% before he finally stopped it. Langa tried to reduce it to 33%, but the artefact was now on cooldown.
[Current mana stability for demigod Liv’Kungsadu:
Currently active, 35% of total mana level, 593/647
Excess mana leakage: 131MP/s
Demonic aura encroachment: 17.5% per 26 hours.
Divine Karma encroachment: ???]
"Whoa!" Liv said, with demonic aura on his hands, and his sword grew more teeth, feeding on the demonic aura and increasing in size until it was a great sword taller than Langa. Both his eyes were bright purple, and the leaking aura was everywhere as Liv began to transform. Tiny scales appeared on his face, his teeth looked like fangs, and a single blue wing shot out of his back.
"Unholy fuck," Synn said.
Coraloa surrounded herself with light from Aquarius' Blessing. "Damn, that much demonic aura might actually kill me," she said.
"Maintain a distance of 2.5 metres from me at all times. I'll try to keep the aura at a controllable level," Liv said, his red aura crawling like fluid along his arms and legs.
Funduvus flew towards them, and Coraloa's ice bullets struck her wing, slowing the Daeva's movements as the ice took hold. Liv hurriedly went in close, striking hard at Funduvus’ temple with his red legs, then turning around and slashing her back with Bloodserpent, eliciting a pained screech.
Even though they were more than 3 metres away from him, Funduvus' next blow caused a wave of red fluid demonic aura to be expelled from Liv, and it flew wildly in all directions, leaving no room to escape. Langa took on the defensive stance of his spearmanship, twirling Tonare in a circle to disperse the aura. While he managed to reduce its concentration, it still slammed into him.
Langa instantly felt his health and stamina start to drain, but suddenly, the hit stopped and his right eye started bleeding.
[You are in the presence of raw demonic power. Nahuke's Right Eye has been forcefully opened.
+10% demonic essence resistance. Resistance increases by 1% for every second the eye is open.]
Langa finally knew the effect of Nahuke's Right Eye but the problem was that it took as much mana and stamina as the Left Eye and it steadily increased per second. If it wasn't for Liv's excess mana, he'd be out of mana already.
Even flying, Funduvus was faster than Liv, so Coraloa had to step into Liv's demonic aura range to cast paralysis on Funduvus, but Langa could see from the party menu that the demonic aura was sapping her HP and Stamina more rapidly than the others.
Langa infused more lightning into his spear. He sprinted towards Funduvus, he struck again and again, each hit sending jolts of electricity through her body. But Funduvus unleashed a wave of green maladic egg orbs that exploded on impact with the ground. The resulting battle was intense as Synn channelled her black incinerating fire through the whip, tying the Daeva's hands together. She had sprouted two flaming tails on her back, and her nose was bleeding heavily.
Langa, on the other hand, was struggling the most. One moment everything would be fine, and then the next, Fulimi's water would be jolting him out of the mental debuff again. He felt like he was dragging the team down.
Liv had ditched his shield, and propelling himself up with his one wing, he spun in the air and threw out a roundhouse kick targeting the shoulder joint just below the healing thorax. The intense aura caused the bone to crack, sending Funduvus crashing to the ground. Liv was hard to predict, his whole body brimming red with aura as he seamlessly switched from a perfectly executed double kick to blocking the malady with the length of Bloodserpent. Purple light flickered through the empty eyes of Liv's blue-scaled face. Bloodserpent licked its lips coated in demonic aura, ready to feast as its master stared down the boss. Coraloa's body was trembling; the light surrounded her, but Langa could see Liv’s demonic aura consuming the light inside her.
Even with Liv’s mana supplementing him, Langa couldn't keep up with him, and he hated it. Liv, the most prideful mortal Langa knew, was willing to bow his head and tap into a power he despised to protect them.
So why was Langa refusing to bow? Not to the seraphim, that creature was unworthy of his subservience, but to someone who was? There was only one reason why Langa refused to bow to Adtonifulmin and become his Visage. He didn't want to give up control over his future.
Coraloa desperately whistled Acoustic Impedance trying to steal the sound and interrupt the spell, but she failed. The Blessing did not take and she cursed. Another uncontrolled wave of Liv's demonic aura erupted, filling the whole area. Coraloa was gasping in pain, her health below 30%.
As soon as she fell back, Langa made a decision. "Coraloa, send me back," he said. "I have a plan."
Even as Synn struggled under the impending mana exhaustion, she didn't miss a chance to make fun of him. "Damn another plan? You are two for two today, Langa, are you sure you're okay?"
"To send you back, I have to release my Blessing, so I won't be able to hold back the demonic aura and I'll probably die," Coraloa said as Liv activated another demonic aura territory. She drank an uncommon mana potion, quickly refilling herself.
"I'm sorry," Langa said.
"Tell past me that to unlock the Higher Blessing I need to use Forsaken Icebearer. Tell her I know it hurts and the backlash is a bitch because of my low Water Affinity, but if I can sing Acoustic Impedance in that state and stop a Daeva from casting, even The Unrivalled should set the quest to complete," Coraloa said.
She smiled, touched his head, and muttered over five incantations. A large chunk of Liv's demonic aura spliced off and latched onto her, but she gritted her teeth and continued the chant. Langa trembled as red overtook her body.
[Party Member Coraloa Aquarius Winter has been consumed by a demonic aura.
Party Member Coraloa Aquarius Winter has died.]
The ring on Langa’s finger shook, and the red water overwhelmed the flower. Funduvus absorbed the black strands of Coraloa's Karma. Shit! Did it not work?
Langa's body was violently pulled backwards and he felt dizzy.
[You have been affected by the attribute Second Support. Your consciousness has been sent 30 seconds back in time.]
"What happened?" he heard Synn ask and opened his eyes.
This was just before Liv lost himself to the demonic aura. "Blast her with meteor now, we need to talk!" Langa shouted.
Synn didn't hesitate to use her last divine skill, the meteor falling with a loud crash directly on the paralysed Funduvus. Her egg golem jumped in front of her to block the large flaming ball of incinerating fire. It crashed into her partially frozen body. The combination of fire and earth caused the Daeva’s exoskeleton to shatter.
Liv and Coraloa fell back towards Langa. First, he gave Coraloa her message. "Damn," she said. "Why didn't she do it? She left me to suffer, didn't she?"
“Do you have a plan?” Liv asked.
"Yes, I can defeat her," Langa said. It wasn't a sacrifice. Not really. Adtonifulmin had proven himself to be faithful, always in Langa's corner. He hadn't pressured or forced his doctrines on Langa. He listened and was always there. His presence comforted and relieved Langa's loneliness.
The looks the others gave him showed that they thought he was mad. "What do you mean?" Synn asked. He was doing this more for her than anyone else.
"A Descent, you’ll see. I’m sorry, Liv, but I need you to sacrifice yourself for me. I don’t know how long my plan will take, but if it works, I can assure you we will win,” Langa said. "If you dialled up your demonic aura a bit more, how long can you hold her?"
Liv didn’t protest. "I don't know. The highest I've ever gone was 40% and that was nine years ago, Langa. I can already feel my control over my mana slipping. The divine Karma is begging for release, and the demonic aura is overflowing. I’m losing control of it, but if you need me to sacrifice myself, I’ll do it.”
“Buy me some time. No matter how far into the darkness you go. I’ll pull you back, I promise,” Langa said, raising Liv’s mana-wielding to 40%.
“I trust you,” Liv said. He and the other two moved forward, shielding Langa. Funduvus towered over the three of them, her eyes glowing as Liv's Bloodserpent sword flared with demonic aura.
The ground Langa knelt on was littered with the remnants of broken eggs. "Lord Adtonifulmin, hear my plea," Langa prayed. He felt a stir in the Divine Nexus. " I accept the offer to be your Visage. I beg you, save my friends. Descend into my body!"
As soon as the words left his lips, Langa could feel the Divine Nexus inside him come alive. The air grew antsy with divine energy, and his Karma trembled as he felt the powerful and divine essence filter into him through the Divine Nexus.
Suddenly, the battlefield was gone, and he was kneeling on a crystalline glassy surface, and the black sky loomed above him. All he could see were stars upon stars. He couldn't gaze upon them, for these were all the constellations centred around a single bright, lightning bolt. Every single one of Adtonifulmin's constellations was gathered here to witness this historic moment.
The main Incarnation of Adtonifulmin, Tarquinius shone the brightest.
<
Before Tarquinius could finish, the lightning bolt shot forward. <
<
<
<
[The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm, Adtonifulmin has proposed a Sponsorship Contract for you.
Contract Type: Visage
For more information on the rules and regulations for Visages, as well as the specifics of this type of sponsorship contract, please read The Relgte of The Unrivalled Tower Master, Scroll 4: Chapter 6
Accept: Y/N?
Time Limit: Unlimited]
"Accept!" Langa said hastily.
[Your Sponsorship Contract has been temporarily upgraded to Avatar (Temporary Visage)]
[Please note: This contract is currently Temporary and most benefits are LOCKED. An Induction Ceremony in which all your patron god’s constellations are to show respect to you as the High Priest of their god must be held before the Contract is finalised.
As an Avatar (Temporary Visage), you are the mortal face of your patron god. All actions of the Avatar (Temporary Visage) are a reflection of the god they serve. You must always act in a way that shows the glory and splendour of your deity.
In addition to your benefits as an Avatar, you are currently only entitled to:
+ Once per tier, you can accept your god’s Descent into your body or use one of your patron god's Sovereign Authorities without facing Karma implosion.
+One (1) Extra Blessing/Title Slot on top of the mortal maximum of three per Tier.
Restrictions:
-13% of all Karma earned will automatically be given to the patron deity. This amount of Karma will be already deducted by the time you receive system announcements of Karma earned.]
[To fulfil your Divine Wish, The Lackadaisical Herald of The Lightning Storm would like to Descend into your body.
Please note: As an Avatar (Temporary Visage ) you will not suffer from Karma implosion once the Descent is over, however, you may not invoke another Descent and you may not use any of your patron deity's Sovereign Authorities until you reach the next Tier.
Accept: Y/N?]
"Accept," Langa said. An incomplete contract was better than nothing.
[Current Faith Level: Avatar (Temporary Visage ) - Level 1
Descent is limited to (1) minute.
Due to the unfulfilled contract, your patron deity is restricted to using only your skills, attributes, titles and Blessings, however, all of your skills, attributes, titles and Blessings will be increased by 100%.]
The light around Langa intensified, his body trembled as he felt Adtonifulmin's essence merge with his own, becoming a vessel for the god's power.
*
“Coraloa, Synnforressa. I’m going to activate a stronger form of my demonic aura territory. I cannot control it, so I need the both of you to stay away from me or you will die,” Liv said, once Langa went into a trance. He tried to keep it together, as he didn't want the girls to see their party leader shaking in fear of his power.
The Daeva was strong and he honestly didn't know how long he would last against her. All he knew was that she threatened people who were important to him and that more than anything was amplified when Langa increased his mana wielding.
“Hold on. If you overuse your divine Karma, you could suffer Karma implosion and die!” Synn said.
“Langa will save me before that happens. You must protect me until then, using your Slumbering Smoke to slow Funduvus down and pepper her with as many fireballs as you can,” he said, leaving no room for her to argue.
“Fine, but-”
“And this is an order from your guildmaster and party leader,” Liv said, exerting his Karma pressure. “Don’t you dare die.”
Despite the situation, Synn smiled. “Yes, sir,” she said.
He turned to Coraloa. “Being a Disciple of a saint constellation, you’re more vulnerable to demonic aura. You will die. Get out of here.”
“No,” Coraloa said. “I’m deactivating my Blessing and equipping my Forsaken Icebearer title. It will lower my Darkness Resistance, but there’s no way you can take her on by yourself, even with Synn's support. You need me to use my Siren Songs.”
Liv already had too much blood on his hands. “It's too dangerous. If I killed you-”
“Then I will respawn. Don’t patronise me, Liv'Kungsadu,” she snapped. Small patches of ice appeared on her face and hands. “I am the Disciple of a saint constellation. I will not run from a demon,” she said sharply, then her eyes softened. “Especially not if that demon is my friend.”
"Suit yourself," Liv said.
He let go. Divine Karma fuelled his unstable mana, and the demonic aura inside him charged up even more. Whenever he'd given himself over to the demonic aura before, it was to free himself. This time he wanted to protect his… friends. He had friends, now.
The unstable mana core thrummed, and his demonic aura went haywire. He didn't suppress it this time. Dark blue scales covered his body, and both his eyes turned purple and both his mind and vision turned hazy. Blood red aura covered his entire body, and his Bloodserpent sword feasted on it as he lost himself to the movements of the Sword of The Vesska Nest.
One wing grew out of his back as he burnt his life force. Cleaving blades cut into his skin, poison seeped into his scales, and blood flowed from his body as he hacked at the Daeva’s eggshell armour, Bloodserpent feasting on her spilt blood and consuming her life force with demonic aura. He tried to hold on to his sanity, but Bloodserpent screamed for more blood.
In his haze, he saw golems, eggs, and strange, green liquid trying to attack him, but someone set them on fire to destroy them. He was aware of moments when he nearly failed to dodge the attacks from the Daeva, and then suddenly the Daeva froze.
Someone was helping him.
He wasn’t alone. That was all he held onto the only thing stopping the mana core from exploding, the only thing stopping him from fully letting go, breaking down into pieces and burning himself.
When the sea of Karma threatened to drown him, the words of a friend floated in his mind. 'Let me be your anchor point, and will the life inside your mana not to hurt your loved one… Use your life, burn your willpower, Liv. I know you can.’
He would destroy everything but his friends.
When the sword's demonic aura finally burnt through the Daeva’s flesh, she muttered an Incantation. Her tail lashed across his durable scales, tearing them to pieces and cutting Liv’s chest open. Blood flowed from him like a wide-open river, and even though Liv knew he was about to bleed out and die, he craved more blood.
Someone sang a beautiful song, even as the Daeva's massive proboscis elongated, aiming to latch onto him and drain his free-flowing blood to finish Liv off, that beautiful song silenced everything and stopped her from casting. Two massive Fireballs flew into the Daeva’s abdomen.
Their attacks gave the demonic aura time to consume parts of Liv’s already unstable divine Karma to repair his body. Liv knew he was waiting for someone, but it was getting harder and harder to control the demonic aura.
‘Free me!’ the demonic spirit inside Bloodserpent cried out and Liv felt the exhilarating power inside it, the aura burning, burning, burning everything in his surroundings, burning his Karma. Consuming him, setting his unstable heart aflame, his Karma ready to implode inside him, destroying him, destroying the world, destroying every-
“Calm down, child of Aapep,” a familiar voice said. Liv felt Langa’s mana flow into him through his ring. That mana forcibly seized control of his mana core, bringing him down from the demonic high, sealing the demonic aura, and tempering his Karma. “You are more resilient than I gave you credit for. You did well buying time for us. Rest for a bit. We will finish this.”
Liv was dazed. The person looked like Langa, yet his eyes were not black but lightning yellow and his Karma was overwhelming.
*
The Avatar (Temporary Visage) of Adtonifulmin opened his eyes. The first thing he felt was lightning coursing through his body naturally. Wind blew on his face, and the rough ground under his knees was littered with sharp objects.
Knees? A great being like him was kneeling? His anger fuelled the Karma in him to erupt, but there was barely any essence. What was wrong? Ah, he was in his Visage's body.
<
He allowed Langa to experience the Descent actively so that now, in this body, it wasn't a fraction of Adtonifulmin's essence in Langa's body, but Langa himself, fuelled by Adtonifulmin's essence.
Langa blinked. His body felt stronger since all his stats were doubled and his skills were also twice as strong. He surveyed the scene and the sight of Synn and Coraloa still attacking the Daeva even though Liv had fallen to the demonic aura, his Karma on the verge of imploding and killing everyone in this Gate warmed and ignited his heart. He had to save Liv first, as he promised.
“Calm down, child of Aapep,” he said, dialling the ring down to 1%. Liv staggered as power left him, dazed as he came back to himself. “You are more resilient than I gave you credit for. You did well buying time for us. Rest for a bit. We will finish this.”
He looked at the other two. Adtonifulmin’s Karma had forced them to kneel on the ground, and they watched him wide-eyed. "It is always a pleasure to see you, SynnForessa. And you, future Guardian Knight, you held your own against demonic aura. No wonder my beloved favours you."
"Um...Langa, or Lord Adtunifulmin…" Synn said, scrunching up her eyes as The Daeva struck the ground with her pincers, about to activate Cleaving Fissure again.
"Currently, I am both," he answered.
"Right, well, Both, can you make it snappy?" Synn asked, gesturing to the impending attack.
"Of course." Adtonifulmin didn't need anything else. Langa's skills were enough; he just needed to bring out 100% of his potential. He dodged a sideways blade and, using The Second Step, easily blocked a living snakelike blade from behind with Tonare.
He thrust Tonare into the ground and poured mana into the glaive, activating Thunderbird's Stunning Strike. Lightning ripped through the earth like a storm, lifting it and displacing all of Funduvus' cleaving blades. The three mortals were unaffected.
"The... the deserter..." Funduvus gasped, trying to fly away now that she realised her predicament. "Help me, King Maetrolugy!"
"We can't have that," he said and tapped into his Void Star. He couldn't believe a seraphim would risk obliteration for an incomplete Void Star. The star was eager, sucking away Langa's mana as soon as he made it the centre of his mana. He passed the electric charge through the Brand, causing it to stimulate his heartbeat, and then he gathered Liv's excess mana to bolster his already doubled Mana Pool.
Except for enchanting, he had every single one of Langa's Active, Passive and Divine skills, along with his attribute, active for that one second. His mana control prevented overvoltage as his velocity propelled him forward. Drawing upon Langa's Faith in him, Adtonifulmin moved the lightning mana into the magic circle and summoned the power of the heavens. The sky darkened, and unnatural storm clouds gathered, activating Lightning Lance.
"How dare you harm my Chosen and his comrades, creation of Chaos?" Adtonifulmin's voice resonated through Langa's lips.
Thunder rumbled, and Langa raised his hands towards the sky, calling forth Adtonifulmin's divine wrath.
Three massive Lances streaked down from the sky in a lightning storm that illuminated the battlefield; the ear-piercing strikes of lightning drowning out Funduvus’ screams. Adtonifulmin's power was absolute, the fury in his lightning refusing to relent. Funduvus howled in agony as her body began to disintegrate, but even King Maetrolugy couldn't save her now.
Where Funduvus The Cleaver once stood; only ashes remained. The storm began to dissipate, the clouds parting to reveal the clear sky once more.
[You have killed a Level 20 Daeva
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Adtonifulmin had been given one minute of Descent, and he defeated the Deava in half that time. She didn’t even have time to move. What puzzled Langa the most, though, was that he did this with just his skills. Sure, they were amplified by 100%, and The Relgte had said Adtonifulmin was a prodigy, but this was just absurd. Langa had to work harder.
<
The light inside Langa faded, and he felt Adtonifulmin's presence withdraw, leaving him feeling weak and empty.