The sound of writhing worms and violent gnashing echoed throughout the depths of their Fragments Of Mind. Imaginary mental constructs twitching as each one of the approaching figures scattered like dust in the wind, manifesting an assortment of summoned weapons and armour-constructs around them.

  Their emotions heightened and their fears growing more pronounced as the Carcosa-Form Horrors slithered across burning embers and carnivorous tree-roots, coiling their foul, intangible limbs around whatever they could get their eldritch-looking hands on. Instances of weave natured damage inflicted upon the surface of their conscious minds.

  One of them, the one Titled Vanishing Solar-Wind Ranger unconsciously moved their hands towards their summoned bow, pulling back on the string and manifesting an arrow formed from solar-natured spiritual energy. Their eyes moving towards the white-armoured figure roughly two-hundred metres away from them, staring towards the space where she expected his eyes to be-.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  A voice softly whispered into the depths of her mind, shared without her consent towards all the members of her organization. Dissonance Of The Vengeful Word narrowing his brows, hearing the unfamiliar-sounding voice, eyes darting between the ‘unknown’ and the lutin, undyne and human standing behind him.

  Unable to detect even so much as a hint of their spiritual energy.

  His feet shifting ever-so-slightly, momentarily glancing towards the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge. The target was in a vulnerable state right this moment, although it was unknown just how long such a thing would remain the case, given its ample regenerative capabilities.

  [Song Lian Yu; Threaded-Heart Of Terminus Est].

  His eyes widening, feeling an explosive burst of weave natured spiritual energy coming from the summoned dragon. The heart-mutation which was clearly visible in the centre of its chest humming with a chaotic mana, pulsating as though it was about to-.

  Word natured spiritual energy snapping into place.

  [Silent Word Art; Threading-Mind Connection].

  “Scatter! Now!”

  His subordinates did not need to hear him twice, activating their Fragments Of Movement and Fragments Of Agility to dramatically increase their movement speed. Four, black-clothed figures darting out in all directions as the epoch-heart dragon unleashed a searing destructive torrent of weave-natured flames.

  Threads shaped flames brushed against the earths surface, expanding outwards as though a yarn haphazardly thrown to the side. Weave mana, transformed to possess the characteristics of flame and heat, singed the very foundations of the earth, forcing the approaching humans to activate their defensive abilities.

  Jon raising an eyebrow, detecting the activation of war natured spiritual energy, alongside one mana nature that he had never felt before. A reflexive activation of his Minerva-Infiltration Eyes discerned that the mana nature was in fact-.

  ‘Self-natured spiritual energy!?’

  Sea Of Guf continuing to focus on the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge, which his Sea Of Tehom focused on the approaching Knights. Just from their conversations alone, he could see that their target was in fact the Sixth-Honoured Lord, perhaps looking to obtain the fragments and Mana Cores that would drop from its corpse.

  ‘If only it were that easy,’ Jon thought to himself, allowing two of the figures to circle around him, swiftly sprinting towards the unmoving beast. Summoned swords and summoned axes held tightly in their heads, watching closely as the pair of them activated their Fragments Of Annihilation.

  Storm natured spiritual energy gathering into the form of a swirling, black thundercloud.

  Volcano natured spiritual energy swirling into a single, condensed point as the illusory shape of a crimson-brown mountain top manifested around them.

  The visibly regenerating flesh of the hydra-turtle continuing to grow with each passing second. Hydra natured spiritual energy was regenerating the damage done but also accumulating some unknown effect, in the same way that his Fragment Of Spellfrost Destruction accumulated [Requiem Charges].

  He could detect the presence of a prana-based mutation within the Sixth-Honoured Lord, boosting its natural lifeforce and recovery rate to the nth degree, keeping it alive despite lacking two limbs.

  Ocean natured spiritual energy condensing within it, alongside the familiar presence of immortal natured spiritual energy. Another mutation boosting the effectiveness of its lifeforce.

  Although Jon wanted to end this fight as swiftly as possible, [Bestial Intuition] informed him that it would be dangerous to approach the Lord right now. His instincts screaming at him to move backwards every time he took a step closer towards the hydra-turtle.

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  ‘It is a Sixth-Honoured Lord after all.’

  ‘It would be far too disappointing if it died after just a single Fragment Of-.’

  [Piercing War Art; Vengeful Cries Of The Legion].

  Phantasmal soldiers formed from war natured spiritual energy thrust themselves towards him, illusory in appearance but possessing physical substance. Jon felt his brows raise almost imperceptibly, watching as a dozen different soldiers, wielding a dozen different weapons slashed at his armoured figure.

  Another figure standing approximately seventy-metres to his nine o’clock, extending their hand forward and activating another unfamiliar fragment.

  [Immortal Prison Art; Heavenly Boundary Cag-.

  Carcosa-Form Horrors tightening the grip its tendrils possessed around their Fragment Of Mind. The horrifyingly unpleasant sound writhing and squirming in the back of their mind, crushing memories and experiences without regard for their contents or importance.

  Swallowing feelings and emotions without concern for the damage that it might cause.

  “Strider!” Another voice shouting out, coming from the one who birthed the phantasmal soldiers. The one Titled Midnight-Lunar Strider screaming out in pain, as Jon again activated his Fragment Of Carnivorous Alnus-Viridis.

  [Alnus-Viridis Wood Art; Vast Mouths Of Thorned-Green].

  Dozens of dragon-sized wooden jaws erupting from the ground before him, swallowing each of the phantasmal soldiers in the blink of an eye. The Dissonance Of The Vengeful Word gritting his teeth, extending his threads of word natured spiritual energy towards his subordinate, hoping to overpower whatever mental attack this ‘unknown’ had sent towards Jordan.

  The corners of Jon’s mouth curled up ever-so-slightly, as Tabitha Assail expanded, stretching itself towards the lone Third-Veined Knight.

  The man in question, the one that he had identified as Leonard Schrift, swiftly moved from his original position, expending more wind natured spiritual energy in order to avoid Jon’s thrust. His hand reaching towards it, gripping onto its length as he attempted to pull Jon closer towards him.

  Overloading both his Fragment Of Heart and Fragment Of Marrow in order to do so-.

  “Shit!” Leonard visibly recoiled.

  Verdant-coloured thorns erupting from the length of Tabitha Assail, specifically where his hand gripped around the length of said spear. Curved thorns, reminiscent of a fishhook pierced through his hand, preventing him from both pulling back or healing the damage inflicted without potentially losing said hand.

  “You shouldn’t touch things that don’t belong to you.”

  A voice spoke to him, whispering to him from the back of his mind. Leonard Schrift barely had any time to react as an enormous force slammed into the side of his head, shattering one eardrum and knocking him unconscious.

  The summoned weapon in his hand, the one that Jon identified as the Star-Cursed Dirk, vanished alongside him, dissipating into motes of star natured spiritual energy. Jon’s white-armoured figure ignoring the injuries he had inflicted onto the Dissonance Of The Vengeful Word and Midnight-Lunar Strider, instead focusing back onto the Sixth-Honoured Lord.

  Arms crossed and spiritual energy swirling as he observed the remaining two Knights activate their Fragments Of Annihilation.

  Storms thundering and volcanoes bursting with an explosive amount of heat and electricity.

  [Imperial Storm Art; Sky-Piercing Thunderbolt].

  [Sunless-Volcano Art; Imperial Ash Destruction]

  Jon raised an eyebrow, detecting the presence of a dual-fragment pathway.

  Ignoring the swirling currents of storm natured spiritual energy above him, he focused solely on the growing concentration of volcano natured spiritual energy, shooting upwards into the night sky, illuminating the airport in a glorious red-brown destruction.

  Molten earth launching itself upwards, arcing though the skies towards the hydra-turtle. Trails of ash and soot carving a parabolic lines through the air, poisoning the earth and air. Noxious flames corroding even the electric-yellow thunderbolts released by their companion, causing Jon to hum appreciatively in response.

  The foundations of the earth rumbling as annihilation wreaked havoc throughout the land.

  ‘Powerful, perhaps even more so than my vajra-spears.’

  ‘It lacks synergistic effects but still, it might even give Mael a run for his money…’

  There was even more destruction that when he used [Imperial Spear Art; Vajra-Spear Extinction]. Enormous chunks of stone and concrete melted into a superheat pool of molten earth. Entire sections of land transformed into a foul, imperfect glass, combined with grass, asphalt, pebbles and dirt.

  Puddles of tar laid scattered in between mountains of ash.

  Clouds swirling above their heads, obscuring the light of the stars and the faint shimmering of the moon. The scent of burning flesh filled the air, and the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge remained unmoving and unbreathing.

  His eyes momentarily flickered towards the retreating helicopters, unable to continue hovering within the presence of thunderous storm clouds and searingly-hot ash and soot. There was one helicopter that attempted to land nearby, although were swiftly intercepted by groups of human police officers, preventing them from approaching any closer.

  Mael, Igraine, and David quickly moving to his side, all having drunk either Life-Blood Potions or Life-Will Potions to regenerate damage done to their bodies or spirits. Smiles marring their faces, despite having just fought a Sixth-Honoured Lord and nearly dying in the process.

  “… Damn, to think, that you would end up back here on Earth with the rest of us Jon,” David muttered, grinning as he patted the younger man on the back, “I can’t believe you stayed back in Australia, I thought you would have been amongst the first to meet Delila in Edinburgh.”

  Jon just shook his head, not responding.

  His eyes firmly locked into the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge, tightening his grip around Tabitha Assail. Although beneath Lethe and Glaucus, Jon could not help but flash a smile, enjoying the presence of his three companions around him.

  “Unfortunately,” Jon started, “The battle isn’t quite over.”

  Immortal natured spiritual energy erupting in a visible pillar of green-white light, stretching towards the skies and piercing through the gathering of clouds and darkness. Jon furrowed his brows, sensing a shift coming from the Primeval Ruler Of Violent Deluge.

  Transforming, in both flesh and spirit; activating the Fragment Of Ambrosius-Vita that it had concealed away within its Immortal Mana Core. Fragments Of Ritual, Fragment Of Life and Fragments Of Rebirth congealing together to form a Lord-Ranked ability with but a single effect!

  Adaptive rebirth!

  [Ambrosius-Vita Immortal Art; Archaic Sacrifice, Assimilative Rebirth]