Images. The foundation for an astral body and finally stepping into the ranks of the higher echelons of the world.

  The process of stepping into the realm of Spirit lord is one of the most important transitions in a wielder's life, a transition that was followed by an influx of immense power and a gap that put all the others behind to shame. It was also the last time a World Spirit would facilitate one's ascension.

  The process was undeniably delicate, and painful too, a situation where a single mishap could see you spiritually paralyzed at best, and dead, at worst.

  And one of the accompanying perks of stepping fully into the realm was an Astral body, illusory at first, and unable to do much. But the single purpose it served made it perhaps the greatest trump card a Spirit lord could bring to bear.

  Simply put, it was as an energy booster.

  Spirit lords were walking calamities in their base state, capable of diverting the paths of rivers and leveling entire mountains. With their astral images summoned, their powers practically doubled, and with it came forth feats of unimaginable proportions.

  The problem with Astral images, though, as Damien had painfully learned again and again, was its mental toll. At it's origin, and Astral image was a perk of opening the Crown Meridian, which was intrinsically connected to the mind and through it, to the soul. Keeping an Astral image manifested was a sink in one's mental energy, draining it like a whirlpool. Although they could be used to turn the tide of a battle, it was a rare but unfortunate possibility that could also be the cause of their summoner's death if wielded without caution.

  Summoning hundreds of feet tall behemoths, Elora and Igor rose higher and higher until they floated in front of their respective Astral images, radiating enough power that the air hummed loudly to his senses. Damien had to admit, they posed an intimidating sight.

  Elora hovered in front of a giant black snake with scales that seemed to drink in the light around it for miles. Its slitted eyes shone a glowing silver, and it bared fangs that promised a very long and painful death.

  The aura the snake exuded was that of a silent hunter lurking in the dark, unseen but felt, waiting until it was time to strike.

  Igor's was a humanoid figure made out of shadow, with two deep voids where the eyes should have been. It wore a cloak of shadow that slowly smothered the lights around it, plunging the world into twilight darkness, with a billowing aura that promised a suffocating death.

  Floating in front of their images, their mere auras warped the world around them, turning day into night and drowning the desert sands in a sea of shadows.

  Damien decided then that it was time to quit playing around and get more serious.

  ***

  While coordinating the evacuation of a city's worth of people, Ymal was beginning to wonder if they were all going to make it out of the city alive. Judging from the sounds of explosions coming from the city, he didn't think it likely.

  The soldiers he had placed to monitor the fight had reported Damien battling two combatants and winning handily, that was a relief.

  He had begun to hope that they would survive this ordeal, but all that was washed away when lady luck took away her smile and the day suddenly turned to night, and the world was drowned in shadow.

  Turning back, what he saw almost made him collapse in terror. From the screaming and raw panic that began amongst the evacuating people, he assumed some people might have collapsed.

  Two apocalyptic creatures towered over the city from miles away. A giant snake rising over hundreds of meters bared its silver fang, its silver slits shining in contrast with scales so black they drowned out the lights of the day.

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  A monstrous human-shaped thing made out of shadow towered next to it, with eyes that seemed to shroud the world in Shadows. At its feet was a sea of writhing shadows that seemed to rise like a tsunami.

  Ymal almost died from the promise of death those creatures exuded, but they were overwhelmed by the new aura that rolled over them like a heatwave, tinting the world a touch of grey

  An aura that foretold destruction.

  ***

  Floating in front of his now massively empowered opponents, Damien decided to get more serious.

  The first thing he did was summon his old trusty armor. Silver metal enshrouded his body from neck to toe, letting out a soft glow that lit up his immediate surroundings.

  He'd had this armor for years now, crafted out of a piece of star metal that had crashed onto the planet. He admired the dozens of scratches and dents in the armor, signifying the battles it had endured.

  Next, he manifested a part of his astral image, tapping sparingly into his Crown Meridian and cloaking himself in grey flames that billowed down his shoulders, drifting around his body like liquid fire on a nonexistent wind. His aura flared out then, pushing back those of his opponents.

  Powerful as he was, even he could not contend with a fully manifested Astral image without a little bit of assistance. A partial manifestation was powerful enough.

  Levitating, enshrouded in his armor and cloak made of grey flames while holding his war spear, Damien stared down on his opponents.

  His refusal to take them as a worthy enough threat to warrant his full manifestation seemed to have gotten to them, because Elora lost it.

  Dozens of daggers appeared in the sky, each meter long and radiating power enough to erase city blocks. The snake lady visibly snarled as she gestured down towards him, the essence created weapons hurling after him at her command.

  With a sweep of his spear and release of grey destructive energy, Damien wiped out half of them and dodged the remaining. He sped towards his attacker, the wind howling around him as his flight shattered the sound barrier. Before she could raise any good defense, he arrived at her position, stabbing through the black construct she hastily called up to shield herself with, and straight into her palm.

  His weapon speared through her entire arm, coming out through the shoulder. Damien smirked at this and unleashed his essence through the spear, chuckling as the woman shrieked as her whole arm exploded, spraying her face and body with her smoking flesh.

  The poison mistress gazed at him with pure hate as she quickly fled into the distance.

  Igor came in with his hammer aimed at Damien's chin. He scoffed, stopping the approaching hammerhead again with his bare palm for the second time, ignoring the shockwave that crushed every standing structure around him for a mile.

  He sent back his reply an instant later with a punch to the man's temple, slamming him into the sands dozens of meters below and creating a devastating crater. His cloak swept over the wind as if with a mind of its own, destroying the two daggers that came at his back.

  Elora decided to up the fight as power flooded out of her, the aura of her image growing to dangerous levels. It stretched higher as more energy was pumped into it, gazing down onto the city from miles in the sky.

  Damien knew what Elora was doing right before it happened, a foolish move if he had anything to say about it.

  The construct opened its huge maw, releasing a sea of poison mists towards Damien. He grunted as his cloak enshrouded him protectively, obliterating any poison that touched it. The city at his back, on the other hand, wasn't so protected, however.

  A huge swath of the settlement began melting. Stones and metal alike turned into black sludge that dripped onto the ground, emitting a strong, putrid smell that managed to reach him, where he was miles in the sky.

  He looked towards the giant snake and Elora floating in front of it, smiling like he should have dropped dead in terror.

  Damien smiled back in turn, returning in kind. He pointed his spear tip at her image and released a sea of grey flames, drowning it in destruction oddly tinted with a touch of gold. Damien paid no attention to it as he focused on his battle, watching as the image let out a hiss as it visibly burned, gray flames eating up its body.

  Elora's expression changed from happiness to horror as a portion of her foundation was destroyed, erased. She crashed into the ground a moment later as her mind failed to handle the repercussions of what Damien had just done to her.

  He swore at himself a moment later for his constant distraction. He should have kept a part of his mind trained on Igor. He paid for that when he didn't react quickly enough to the massive hammer, dozens of meters tall, that crashed into him, cracking his chest plate irreparably and blasting him straight down the sands and into the already destroyed city, leaving a large trench from his passage that turned multiple streets to rubble.

  Pain wracked, Daimen got up quick enough to dodge another strike from Igor, replying in kind with a punch to the man's chest plate. Igor was blasted back out of the city. He threw his spear after the man for good measure, a thundering shockwave striking the air as it pierced him, taking him straight into his image.

  Damien followed behind and was almost on the injured Spirit lord when a pillar of darkness rose to encircle him, sealing him in.