Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Interlude - Conclusion

Conclusion

The three attacked, and Zach It was so quick, will that made the Essence around him shake and twist. Ryun couldnt understand it, something was different about him. He changed, got stronger, and yet how? In the three days that they had been imprisoned? And the way he spoke, the things he said. Something was wrong.

There was no time for him to try and figure it out. The fighting started and the amulet on his neck was getting hotter.

He will hold them, he sent to Selia. We need to go after the Dome Leader.

Selia moved immediately, a silver disk made out of Qi formed beneath her feet and he sensed her activate her Evolved Form. Then, she spoke as the disk raised her in the air.

Go after Hastur, now!

Everyone followed. Ryun ran after her, on the steps he created, gaining altitude. Over Zach and his fight with the three who had been taken, and immediately they were attacked. Black tendrils, made out of will but having no less substance because of it, attacked them. Ryun dashed into the air, lessening the pull of gravity on his body. A hundred spears made out of Qi flew through the air, heading for the Dome Leader. More tendrils grew out of the ground, slapping Selias attack away.

Then, a pillar of void fell from the sky right on top of Hastur, engulfing everything. A moment after the attack ended, Ryun saw and sensed tendrils wrapped around Hasturs body, protecting him. Ryun was about to activate his Evolved Form, but then realized that he couldnt take the amulet off. It was hot now, enough so that he could feel it through his robe, and the temperature was increasing. In his Evolved Form, his body was made out of the Void. Items could generally change size, rings and amulets at least, though changing shape wasnt possible. Even if the amulet could remain around his neck, it would not survive touching his skin, not for long at least. He couldnt use one of his strongest perks.

He was certain that the only reason why they werent under Hasturs mind control now was because of what Eratemus did before. They had to finish this fight before the amulets crumbled, and his sense told him that the material would not handle this for much longer. The other amulets were the same.

Selia, we cannot delay this, he told her. The amulets are not going to last for much longer.

He felt her fear, and her conviction. She relayed his information to the others as Ryun moved to get a better position in the air above Hastur. While Selia and Vryull attacked Hastur he got higher, and took the opportunity to drink more potions from his storage. His mental and physical stamina were drained for some reason, and the effects of all the potions that he drank before they exited the Ethereal Realm was gone. They had been here for a while it seemed, though by the state of his body, he knew that it wasnt longer than a few days.

His sense told him that the city around them was empty. There was nothing living or dead anywhere within the walls, there was nothing even beyond it. The fort outside on the hill was abandoned too. It was strange, and it posed some questions, but there was no time for them now.

After he drank several stamina regeneration potions along with a couple stat boosting ones he turned his attention back on Hastur. He moved his stats to his wisdom, and prepared; then used his {Avatar of the Reaper},creating a copy, he had it craft {Void Armor} and did the same. Then he immediately sent it away. Each cube-step that the avatar created to move through the air drained his core, but he still had his Essence to replenish it once.

While the others fought with Hasturs tendrils, trying to get closer to him. Anashi was doing something that made the tendrils slow, but she couldnt do it on more than a couple of them at the time. He knew that she couldnt get into the Ethereal, and he knew that a lot of her powers relied on that. She did have some powers that could manipulate space, though, which he assumed she was using. But he could tell that she was barely holding on without access to her full power.

Ryun studied their opponent. Hastur didnt move, but his mask was cracked, Ryun could feel the flesh beneath, or at least something that had form. He couldnt penetrate beneath the skin though. The state of their opponent was interesting, but he didnt have the time to try and figure out the reasons, he had to figure out if it gave them any type of advantage.

His avatar reached the place where Ryun wanted it and both he and it pulled on his Qi, shaping a technique. He followed the battle, the Void blasts thrown by Vryull and the pillars that came from above, Selia throwing spears while Erdania stood in front of her, battering the tendrils away with her great staff.

He triggered Total Knowledge and saw how everything moved. The tendrils and the air, the attacks of everyone else. He saw an opening and pointed his hands at Hastur, aimed with |Target Mark| his avatar doing the same. A moment later he released his {Void Beam}.

Through the chaos, two beams passed without anything blocking their way. Hastur saw, somehow. He moved, new black tendrils rising from the ground to block. His void burned through them, will against Qi, his Qi won. His avatar missed, tendrils stopping the beam for long enough that Hastur managed to get out of the way. Ryun followed, Hastur was too slow, his beam hit the Dome Leader in the shoulder, getting through the robe and flesh beneath. Every tendril around went wild, smashing without control, more grew out of the ground. A dozen appeared beneath both Ryun and his avatar, rising high and grabbing. Ryun jumped, getting out of their reach with |Pouncing Rush|, his avatar wasnt fast enough.

The tendrils grabbed hold of it and squeezed, crushing through the {Void Armor} after less than two seconds. He lost the avatar and a big chunk of his Qi, but now he knew how long he had if the tendrils caught him. Hastur was glaring at him, even as his tendrils fought the others. Ryun could feel his attention, a will that was focused on him. His amulet shook. For a moment, Ryun worried that targeted focus on only him would be enough to crack it and break through. But then Maleatus appeared in the air above Hastur.

He had one hand pointed down, and the very space below him trembled. Ryun couldnt explain exactly what happened, only that for a moment his sense of that area went insane. Then a building, a two story house, occupied that space. It fell down, faster than Ryun knew it should. He realized that Erdania had increased the pull of gravity on it somehow.

Tendrils rose to stop it, even as one manifested beneath Hastur and then it launched him away. The building smashed into the ground, but Hasturs body had already reached the edge of the square, and he landed among the buildings. The tendrils around them fell apart into nothingness, and everyone moved. Maleatus disappeared, and Erdania leapt after him, while Selia flew on her disk and Vryull landed near Anashi who did something to space in front of them to make them faster.

Ryun launched himself through the air, leaping from step to step after the Dome Leader.

Building on your left, Ryuns sense told him exactly where Hastur was, and also He is slow injured? He sent to Selia.

Hasturs physical ability so far hadnt been high. His tendrils were strong, but even made out of will, they werent something that they couldnt handle. Was it that he was just focused on mental powers? It seemed that way. They had to end the fight before he had a chance to break through their protections.

He saw Erdania speed ahead, her body growing. Her Evolved Form. In just a few seconds, she towered over the buildings. Selia yelled at her, relaying the information and Erdania smashed into the building. Tendrils rose from all around grappling with her, but she was stronger. She ripped through them, a sphere the size of a bus orbiting her and smashing into everything around her. Selias spears flew around Erdaina, hitting the ruins and exploding on impact.

Then, there was a roar, a tone that made Ryuns entire being tremble. He felt something pulling from him, not from his mind but soul?

It formed next to him, too fast for him to react. He turned around, and shaped a wall. Too slow, too weak. Lightning smashed through the wall and hit him head on, his armor cracked, and then it was in him. Burning him from the inside. His core drained as he regenerated the damage from within, dipping fast. He raised his right hand, hoping to add at least some more protection, it burned through it, the Void inside bursting apart, his hand disappearing in moments. He burned through his Rapid Regrowth in order to save Qi, and just as it regenerated fully he smashed into the ground. Just before he hit, his eyes saw the shape far above him. He recognized it, but now he saw.

Avariel: Lord of Lightning

It was stronger than he remembered.

Selia

She felt something pulling from her, and then, before she even had a chance to fully comprehend something came for her.

She sprang into action immediately. She activated Projection Armor and a suit of armor surrounded her, silver and layered. She placed Improve increasing its durability and then spent one charge of her Boost object to increase that durability by another 30% then she used Reinforce increasing the total durability by another 200%. From her Construct Library she pulled a design and then used Recreate. She fashioned a tower in between herself and the attack, it rose from the ground. She was trying to get out of the way, but it didnt matter. A tail smashed through the tower and then hit her, sending her flying from her disk and to the ground.

She smashed into the stone, cratering it and sending debris flying. Her armor held, but she felt her bones crack. But with Sanguine Silver flowing through her veins her regeneration was greater, she was already healing when the second attack came.

Her Qi moved through her body, preparing several techniques. Her Evolved form allowed her to use up to 8 techniques at the same time. She released the same technique, eight times.

Then;

Presence of the Eternal Huntress

Twenty four spears formed above her as she used {Sanguine Silver Spears}, her attacker spread his wings, tried to bank away as she focused her will on the Sanguine Silver Qi of the spears and fired them up at it. It evaded most of it, but a couple pierced the fold of skin between his left wings. The monster fell to the ground, her aura hit it as it rolled before coming up to its feet.

Familiar eyes glared at her, and she narrowed her own.

Derkol: Cloud Guardian

The dragon was the same one that she had helped kill long ago. But that attack with its tail was far stronger than it should have been. The dragon was undoubtedly stronger than it had been. Behind it, she saw Erdania being pulled by dozens of tendrils the size of houses, trying to take her to the ground. Vryull and Anashi were attacking something among the buildings, and Maleatus was above them, removing buildings and tendrils by switching space.

A screeching and the sound of thunder came from behind her, but she couldnt look. From the bond she could feel Ryuns surprise. He was fine for now, and she had her own opponent to deal with.

She couldnt afford to waste time.

She shaped technique after technique, filling the air with spears. The dragons body was twisting, clouds forming around it as it prepared an attack that she remembered.

She sent the spears flying, the dragon blocked with a plume of cloud like breath. She jumped out of the crater, shaped another disk and used her will to control it. Then, she used {Inner Body Forging} increasing her wisdom. She shaped a single spear, then layered a technique on it from her secondary path. {Pulsing Impact} filled it, and then she sent it flying. She let her class armor go and formed another one with her class as she flew behind the spear. {Sanguine Silver Armor} covered her and she unleashed her fruit technique {Goddess of Metal}. All of her spears on the ground, near the dragon and her, moved. Everything following her.

Her spear hit the dragon as it tried to evade, and then it pulsed sending the impact deep. The dragon was thrown to the ground, impaled. She arrived, landed near it with all the metal of her spears above her. She let her branch technique out, and with {Inverted Sanguine Silver Sphere} the metal moved. It hit the dragon from above, a spherical storm that shredded it to pieces. It turned to black mist and dispersed.

She had expended more Qi for that than she shouldve, than she needed even. But they had no time. The amulet on her neck was so hot that it burned her now. She layered her Aspect Manifestation: Sanguine Silver Cloak over herself. It protected her mind, but she knew that it wasnt enough. She only hoped that it would help keep the amulet whole for a moment longer.

She glanced back, and saw a birdlike monster in the air, throwing black lightning down at Ryun as he reached out to touch it. She took a step to help him, but then the ground shook, and a few seconds later a sound unlike anything that she had ever heard filled her ears making her grimace in pain. She turned her eyes around at the fight with Hastur, and saw insanity.

Ryun

The monster was definitely stronger than it had been when he fought it last. Its Essence was tainted with the black substance that the Hasturs tendrils were, will of the King in Yellow.

Ryun grimaced, his robe hadnt survived the attack, its effects no longer worked. He unequipped it, then equipped a different copy from his forge. Then, he recreated his armor, this time in its mist form and dashed away from another attack. His sense told him that the fight with Hastur was still going on and that Selia had been attacked the same as he. Far behind them, he felt Zachs fight, and even though he couldnt focus on it, he knew. Something had changed with Zach, something had made him far stronger.

He pushed that out of his mind as Avariel attacked again. He dodged, but the edge of the attack hit him, his armor defended him, but a chunk of his Qi was depleted in the process. He moved, shaping steps as he ran up to the monster. He charged his technique, and dodged attacks coming from above.

After his technique was ready, he switched half of his wisdom to other stats, preparing in case he got hit again.

He was close to Avariel, and it screeched, lighting forming all around it.

Ryun took an [Inevitable Step] then;

Presence of the Eternal Hunter

He caught it, his stats rose. His opponents lowered. He was close enough to touch Avariel, he used his item. A spherical barrier surrounded them, blocked Avariel as the monster tried to beat its wings and get away. The feathers on its body released lightning and he let his {Staggered End} go.

Lightning filled the area the same as the Void did. The two Essences at war. He got scorched, his sense filled with noise so much that he couldnt tell what was happening. His Qi dropped as his armor protected him and then his Qi ran out. Lightning ate his body, his Essence as he tried to limit the damage with his will, lowering how much it could hurt him. The second and third wave of his Void exploded out of him, and no lightning touched him again. The barrier burst, and he was falling. His body nearly destroyed. He converted the Essence in his core to Qi, filling it back up, then healed.

Half of his core spent to heal all of his injuries. He turned mid air and then landed on a shaped cube. His amulet was glowing white now, burning his robe and skin with every moment that passed.

And then everything changed. A sound filled the air that made him tremble, but it was what his sense told him that made him feel fear.

Hastur grew, his body turning into a monstrosity that towered over buildings, over Erdania even. Tendrils and tentacles, and all kinds of other different appendages appeared over it, each with hooks and claws and talons. A dozen massive tendrils, like those of a squid, were at the bottom, each the size of a house. All along the body were smaller ones, tendrils that were thinner, but still filled with hooks. He turned his eyes and saw a being not made out of Essence, but He didnt know. It was as if he had his old vision back, that was how clear the monster was to him. And it was madness. A shape of odd angles and a thousand eyes, a thousand maws. And with a scar running down the middle. He moved, a tendril the size of a house smashed a rooftop where Vryull and Anashi were attacking him from.

The Voids Sphere

Ryun saw and felt a flash of the Void, but then the tendril landed, and he could no longer feel them.

Erdania struggled as tendrils made out of will were joined by those made out of flesh.

Hastur reached for the sky where Maleatus dropped chunks of stone on top of it. He grabbed one of the falling pieces, and threw it back up. Then, his will billowed out, like a giant cloud to envelop Maleatus. Ryun felt his shock, the widening of his eyes as the stone smashed into him and sent him flying into the sky. For a moment, Hasturs will had to have stopped him from teleporting away.

Erdania pulled on the tendrils that were biting into her. Hooks ripping through her skin, her blood flowing like a stream down her body. Then the ground beneath her feet cracked as if she suddenly weighed several times her usual weight.

Then;

Reflective Harmonization

The entire area around her fell into a crater, as if a hand of god pushed them all down. Hasturs massive body fell, but only for a moment. The black mist that was somehow tied to his will flashed over his body, and Hastur stood and caught Erdania with more tendrils.

Ryun fired beams of void, too far yet for his aura to reach. His attack hit the tendrils holding Erdania, wounded them, but not enough. Selia was close enough that her aura touched Hastur, Ryun felt himself get faster. He ran as she crafted a spear the size of a tree above, a moment later more appeared, each an exact copy. A thousand spears that fired down. They hit Hastur, tearing chunks of, the tendrils were pierced and stuck to the ground, spears stuck into its flesh.

And then they exploded, the entire area filled with power.

Ryun saw chunks of Hastur missing, but it wasnt enough, he was too big. He moved, throwing himself on the massive tendrils beneath him, faster than Ryun had thought possible for a being of that size. Erdania followed, dragged by tendrils that were squeezing her, piercing her. Hastur went for Selia, and she wasnt fast enough. A smaller tendril caught her, hooks pierced her and let her blood out. He wrapped a tendril around her arms and torso, one around the legs, and last around her head. Squeezing, but her armor held for now.

Ryun knew that he couldnt damage the tendrils fast enough to release them, not before Hastur broke through and crushed them.

He ran, faster and faster, moving stats. And then he was close enough for his aura to reach. His stats soared and he blasted through, firing void beams to cut the tendrils holding the two of them even as he shaped armor around himself. Hasturs will billowed out, and black smoke covered them, protecting them. He knew that he could burn through, only he could feel Erdania struggle, losing too much blood. He could feel Selias armor starting to crack.

His step came back from cooldown and he stepped as he charged his technique. He arrived next to Hastur, and tendrils tried to grab him, two touched him, and he pushed all of his stats into his wisdom. So much that he felt that he would nearly break his core. His own and what he stole from Hastur.

{Staggered End} exploded out of him, blasting the reaching tendrils to nothing. Hasturs body disappeared before Ryuns eyes. A giant hole in the monster that was the size of buildings, other smaller ones marred his body, inflicted by Selia. He saw and sensed that Erdanias attack had flattened parts of it, that some of its tendrils didnt move. They had all wounded him, wounded him terribly, but It wasnt enough. He shaped and jumped, into the gaping hole in its body. His Qi was nearly all gone. He used his perk; Field of a Thousand Cuts straight inside the monster.

Space twisted and cut, tearing chunks of the monster from the inside.

Something caught him and pulled him out of the hole.

He saw a last glimpse of a gaping hole in Hasturs side. Too small, too little damage compared to its side. A tendril wrapped itself around his neck, around his torso and legs, and squeezed. The armor on his head cracked, a hole opening up that let him see out. See a thousand eyes staring at him, each eye different, each showing a glimpse of something that instilled madness.

He sensed Selia and Erdania, knew that they were close to death. He would follow close behind. He knew that it wouldnt work, that he couldnt do it, he tried anyway.

Conclusion Dominance

Another perception blossomed in his mind, and he knew. His will was not enough. He tried to touch the string of the tendrils holding them, and knew that it would take all of his will just to make them stop for a second. It was not enough. His ideal was not suited to fight against the monster whos will was the core of its being.

A crack appeared deep inside his amulet. A moment or two more.

They lost.

Then, someone blinked close, just above Hastur. And Ryun turned his eye up, and met Zachs gaze.

One of his arms was in ruin, his armor gone. His blade was raised high above his head, his will blazing around it like a sun.

Hasturs attention turned to Zach, and Ryun saw his tendrils reach up for Zach.

Ryun focused his will and his Qi, one last time.

Zach

The monster, King in Yellow, Hastur, unmistakable even in its current form. Its will was the same. It was holding the others. Killing them, they wouldnt last for much longer. But Zach saw the one whose name he remembered, Ryun. He couldnt die, he needed him, needed his memory.

Zach blinked across the distance, up above the monster that was the size of a small mountain. He had nothing to stop it, he raised his blade anyway. He saw the flaws in it, the wounds, needed to end it quickly. It was squeezing the othersRyun. His armor was cracking.

Hasturs will billowed out, striking at Zachs mind. It did nothing, the time it could trap him was long gone. Even the amulet around his neck would not change that. The tendrils were closing in, but Zach focused his will on the blade.

Hastur saw that its attack wasnt enough, it knew, somehow, what Zach planned. And it was afraid. He saw it change focus, its will filled its tendrils. It was going to kill the others before could do anything.

NO.

He needed him, need to know what he knew.

I NEED TO LEARN.

He triggered Time Stop, focused. His skill was not enough. Three movements too much, took too long. He needed one, fast, strong. He needed more, he needed to reach through time, to this person that knew the origin that he had forgotten long ago. His will trembled, not fast enough.

Time resumed. Tendrils reached him.

Ryun

Zachs blade was flickering, and Hasturs tendrils nearly reached him. The Dome Leaders attention wasnt pointed at Ryun anymore, his will was focused on Zach. Now was the moment, he could cut the strings of the tendrils holding the three of them, free them. And Hastur would catch Zach.

The three of them were injured, they they wouldnt be able to finish him.

But Zachs will was

Ryun made his choice.

He let his technique out, a hundred shaped Void spikes hit Hastur from all sides, piercing and keeping him in place, depleting his Qi fully. His will sharpened, he reached for the strings heading for Zach. And he snapped them. For one moment, his will was greater.

The tendril around his torso cracked his armor, squeezed his flesh and tore him in half. No Qi, no regenerating. The tendril around his neck smashed through the armor there, tearing his head off.

The last thing he saw was Zachs blade come down.

|I Strike Through Time|

His blade came down. A line appeared over Hasturs entire body, splitting him in half. The edges of the line frayed, then fell as if turning to dust. The monster fell apart, two sides falling to the ground, flattening buildings.

Zach watched, as the wind carried him down. He touched the ground, and closed his eyes.

He wasnt fast enough.

He died before his eyes. He would never learn what he knew.

A bright light caught his eyes and he turned, seeing the man he had fought stand to the side. He looked at the dead monster, then met Zachs eyes. He was still tainted with black. A moment later he burst into fire and disappeared.

He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder and he turned. Naha was standing there, her expression not something that he could identify.

You did it.

I failed, Zach said. He died, and I will never learn what he knew.

Ryun? Naha asked. He had immortality, I didnt see the monster pull his soul from the Ethereal. He will come back in time.

Zach tilted his head. Immortality. Yes, he had something like that too.

The others approached. Two women that the monster nearly killed, holding each other. Two more, then one.

Something intruded on Zachs vision, a box filled with words, and he frowned.

Selia

They had nearly died, failed in their mission. Ryun had She couldnt tell a lot of what happened at the end, but they had done it. She looked at Zach, he she didnt know what happened, but he was not the same.

Ryun was his immortality would save him. It might take a few years but he would be back. She could still feel him through their bond, so she knew that he was alive. His emotions were as if he was sleeping a deep slumber. Muted.

They returned to the others, and she saw that all of them had survived. It was more than they couldve hoped for.

A notification flashed in front of her eyes, through her filters, and she read it.

Hastur the King in Yellow defeated.

The spread of corruption limited.

Kill achieved:

Eratemus Prideborn The Lord of Death

Zacharia Gardner

Ryun Nacht The Witness of Journeys End

Selia Ha Jhan Mistress of Sorrow

Erdania Xi Jhan Mistress of Gravity

Vryull Klaar The Voids Chosen

Maleatus Enis Master of Area

Nahamassa Plainrunner

Anashi Vekos Mistress of Paths

Rewards granted. The Gate to Rlyeh is now open.

A light flashed behind them, and Selia turned. She saw a tower appear where Hasturs throne used to be, tall and with a large gate set in its center that was filled with blue light. There was always more. She turned around just as chests appeared around them, each with a lock on it and a symbol, exactly nine of them. One for each.

She sighed and leaned her head against Erdanias shoulder.

It will be okay, Erdania said. We will go to the sect and wait for him.

Selia gave her a smile and nodded.

Then, someone spoke.

Something is wrong, Selia raised her eyes and saw Anashi holding a white orb in her hand, a Far-link Orb.

What is it? Selia asked.

Anashi turned her head to meet Selias look. No one is answering me.

Selia frowned, and pulled her own orb. She tried it, hoping that Sigmund would hear. She tried for several minutes, and there was no answer.

Eratemus

His soul traveled across the world, nearly instantaneously. A grand teleport. He couldnt create many scrolls, because of resources, and also because most of what he did gather he used for his vessels. He couldnt have his soul travel for a long time.

He filled another vessel, back at his home. His fortress welcomed him, and he opened his eyes.

Then, the formations activated. Messages stored, filtered through, and he frowned. Too many. He scanned through them then felt fear. He stood and walked out of his grand chamber, into one of the side chambers.

A notification arrived, and he felt elated. Hastur was dead, the others had succeeded. He glanced at his interface, the messages there. He turned away from them and accessed his fortress and realized the truth.

They had prepared, they had a person able to influence it. And still, it had been

The trip through Ethereal, he whispered to himself. It took us three years.

Three years for Hastur to do whatever he wanted across the world.

He glanced at his messages again, and saw. They didnt save anything.