183 (III)

Dark [II]

A spear of darkness punched through Shiv's shoulder. A growl of pain escaped him. He went Non-Sequitur once more. As more tendrils ripped into his material form, Shiv began a guerrilla war as he rushed to assist the other prisoners.

First, he found Gone pinned against the ground by a layer of shadowy fingers. He reached down and pulled up. His tides went taut, sailing in toward the ceiling. The dark bands holding Gone in place were ripped asunder, and Shiv continued on as the goblin vanished before his eyes in an explosion of speed.

He went for Kura next. The elven Chronomancer had been their bulwark against the darkness, and if he bought her some room, maybe she could be once more. He tracked her via his ability to sense life force, and he saw her kicking and writhing as curled claws of darkness dragged her deeper into the black, trying to take her out of the fight.

Shiv went after her immediately—then felt something shatter his Vitae anchor as his vitality dropped. He no longer had the full effects of his skill, so he surfaced from being out of context before he lost too much of himself, blasting across the three or so meters left between him and Kura.

He tore at the shadows that were cocooned around her and shredded them with tides and vitality. Red and white mana burst out from his being as he sapped the Ascendant once more. Harlock let out a pained gasp as a rush of lifeforce pulsed through Shiv and into the veil wrapped around Integration. The branches of darkness burst apart, and Kura was released. Shiv caught her by the midriff and tried to fling them both back, but again his Legendary-Tier Skill failed him.

"Godsdammit," Shiv cried out. He went Non-Sequitur once more, just before a needle-thin dagger was driven through his left eye, but Shiv was no longer in his body. He was dragging Kura along, fleeing toward Adam, toward several columns of fire that twisted and turned, pushing the darkness back.

But there came more cries around them. A heavy blast of gravity swept through the tunnel, and Shiv saw Adam get flung up against the ceiling. The Gate Lord slammed neck-first against a metallic surface, and his body bent in a way that made Shiv's insides plummet.

No! Shiv cried internally. But once more, Adam came ablaze and tore across the air as a phoenix. He pounded along the walls, leaving imprints of varying depth as he seemed to displace all the force that was inflicted upon him. When he emerged once more, he briefly clutched at his neck rather than collapsing in a partially paralyzed heap.

Shiv wasn't sure what kind of Toughness Skill Evolution Adam had, but he was glad he had it. Even so, that wasn't going to stop the onslaught coming for them.

From the darkness emerged prisoners. They had been contaminated like Urri was. They wept trails of blackness from their eyes, and they fought in tandem with the shadows that comprised the Ascendant. They unleashed powerful magics upon Shiv and the surviving prisoners, and suddenly, an already dire situation became near hopeless. A tidal wave of frost suddenly tore free from the dark and crashed against the whirlwind of flame channeled by Candles.

An elemental struggle took place, but the Pyromancer was driven back as billowing blasts of Dynamancy supported the existing ice magic. Just then, a pulse of Biomancy slipped free from the darkness as well. Moving almost akin to his own, it lashed out and impacted Shiv's mana hydra, and the Deathless cried out as he found himself the inferior Biomancer.

Even so, he retained one major advantage: he was unseen. He pushed his mana hydra into the other field and began trying to pin it down. It pushed hard against him, yet the way his unseen foe used their skill was ineffective. They couldn't notice where he was, and so it probably just felt like they were wrestling thin air from their perspective.

That didn't last as Shiv slammed into the shape and used his Shapeless Tides to tear it down the middle. A spray of shredded mana filled the air as Shiv gouged the mana field wide open with a shout of fury and channeled anger. He activated both his Song of the Vigilant and his Icon of the Paindrinker as he watched more shapes come into form in the dark.

A howling shriek came from the blackened depths, but Shiv ignored the Biomancer for now. With how much damage he'd just inflicted, they were likely out of commission.

He focused on the ice mage that was emerging. To his surprise, it was the automaton with the binaric crown among his group, and the numbers that comprised its headpiece were quivering with pale frost. Its chassis was cracked, and from the many rents lining its body came dollops of blackness.

Shiv muttered a faint note of apology as he slammed into the automaton prisoner as well. As he struck it, however, it vanished in a burst of noise. A loud siren filled the room, and the mechanical Pathbearer reappeared next to Shiv, barely harmed. However, its magic was halted, and so Candles struck back. A stream of all-consuming flames slammed into the automaton, and for the first time, it let out a cry.

It changed into waves of sound again and again, but sound couldn't fully escape the overwhelming and unnatural temperatures emitted by the Pyromancer. The binaric-crowned automaton emerged, its body gleaming white-hot, melting into slag. Coiling branches of shadow surrounded it, protecting it from further harm, but Shiv saw that the damage was already done.

He emerged once more as a phalanx of golden shadows pushed the darkness back, yet they only managed to create a five-meter-wide perimeter this time. The allied prisoners still on Shiv and Adam's side were far fewer than before as well. Some had been taken, some lay unmoving on the ground. The floor was slick with blood, and Shiv had no idea where Rebis had gone. That was going to be a problem for later.

"Adam," Shiv cried out, "I'm going for it."

"One second," Adam slurred as he tried to nock an arrow. He failed the first time and only managed to create an arrow the second after. Shiv caught sight of Adam's face and winced. The Gate Lord's head was half swollen. Whatever his Toughness skill did, it didn't seem to displace all the harm he suffered.

"Go!" Adam called out.

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Shiv launched himself forward, ripping free from his body. He was in the blackness immediately and gripped a sprawling rush of shadows to hold himself in place. Shiv emerged from Non-Sequitur just as the tip of an arrow struck his left shoulder. At the same time, the cold touch of the Ascendant collapsed around him. Overwhelming hopelessness descended upon Shiv once more, but that was parted by a feeling of incomprehensible pain.

It had been a while since Shiv set his own soul on fire with a dose of Necromancy. And every single time Shiv suffered a corrosive wound, he remembered why he hated it so much. His body came ablaze. A reaction between his Vitae and Necromancy triggered. A blast expanded out from him, and suddenly the darkness that comprised the Ascendant became light itself. The Ascendant caught fire. The black was no more. And in that moment, with Adam's arrow and Shiv's Vitae, Harlock learned that even midnight could burn.

An uncharacteristic howl of misery escaped from Harlock, but unlike Daughter, he didn't retreat. Instead, he battered Shiv, slamming him against the wall and striking him over and over again with sharpened tendrils. But with the darkness of fire, Shiv felt Harlock weaken, felt his blows bounce off without doing anything more than scratch or bruise. Shiv caught a hooking claw that came for his throat and held it at bay. "Seems like you don't do so well out in the light, huh?"

Shiv tried to catch sight of Adam and the others, but as the coiling darkness moved around him, as it burned and shuddered before his very gaze, Shiv found himself drowned in a new environment, one that lashed at his very spirit. He could feel himself coming apart from the inside, and it hurt like hell.

Even so, Shiv held on to the darkness around him.

He didn't care that he burned, so long as the Ascendant burned with him. And just then, a flash returned to Shiv, a moment from his past, of just before it all started, the 100th lesser vampire he struggled against. And here he was, fighting something he had no business contending with, burning just to gain an advantage.

Shiv had changed more than a little, but the world didn't change that much.

Something flickered in the corner of Shiv's vision. By the time he turned, he found a knife coming for his eye once more. But then, it was knocked aside as a Veilpiercer burst into existence before Shiv. A clash sounded, as Anthony's sudden ambush was diverted by Adam's timely counterattack. Anthony vanished once more, but Shiv frowned as he realized the Avatar was utterly unburnt. And that made him wonder if the Ascendant took all the damage on Anthony's behalf.

Maybe Adam's theory is right.

The shadows began to pull away from Shiv, seeping through the walls and gliding along the tunnels. Only a patch was burning, but still, the damage was absolute. One couldn't suffer a wound to the soul and simply walk away.

"Shiv!" Adam cried out.

The Deathless looked to his left and saw the Gate Lord hovering in the air. His azure sun was flickering in the air, flickering over his head, and Adam looked as spent as Shiv was. The Deathless tried to fling himself at Adam, but his vectors burst apart as an error took hold of the skill again. He made it halfway through before he struck the ground, and a wild cry of misery escaped from Shiv.

His body was a mishmash of burns and horrid scars. His Voidmanted armor was barely clinging to his body once more. It was dead again and probably needed to regenerate, but even so, they had repelled an Ascendant and earned themselves a reprieve.

Shiv felt someone seize him by the wrist and drag him along the ground. It wasn't gentle, but it was fast. Even so, Shiv howled all the way as his many burns were pulled against the uneven metal floor. He was rolled over onto his chest as Adam briefly blasted him with the surge of Righteous Dawn.

Until the azure sun winked out over Adam, and he collapsed to his knees as well. The Gate Lord was shaking. Blood was pouring out from his eyes, ears, and nose. The swelling that characterized the left side of his head was even more severe by this point. Adam looked like he was half-balloon. Shiv couldn't help but laugh. "Nice… forehead."

"Shut up, you bastard." Adam chuckled. "I know I look ridiculous."

"And I know I look—" Shiv began.

"Like you should be dead," Adam finished. The Gate Lord wouldn't even look at him, and Shiv knew it was pretty bad.

"Alright, help me up," Shiv said.

Bonk stepped into view and reached down to pull Shiv back to his feet. He barely managed to stifle a scream as he looked at the remaining survivors. Kura stared at Shiv with wide eyes and a look of absolute disbelief. Gone flinched away from Shiv as he took his first step. "Okay, Ascendant's gone for now, but I think he'll be back, and I think there's going to be others coming as well. We're gonna be pushing for the outside. Adam, you got another Necromancy arrow in you?"

The Gate Lord nodded. He held out a hand, and Shiv pulled him back to his feet as well. "You sure you can take another hit?" Adam asked.

"Going to have to," Shiv said. "It's all we got against the bastards. You were right, though. Detonating me inside the shadows contained the blast. If the darkness is still surrounding the cage, I think we can burn our way out. Come on."

And as Shiv took another step, he nearly fell over from exhaustion and disorientation. Many of his Skills were having problems again, and Shiv cycled between feeling like he could tear the world in half in a bout of anger to being as frail as a Pathless geriatric.

A clawed hand caught him, and his burn wounds flared with agony. Shiv gagged as nausea overwhelmed him, and he emptied the contents of his stomach all over the ground. However, they were moving. Shiv found himself being pulled along by Five and Adam at the same time. He briefly lost track of time as they passed through the tunnel, making their desperate escape. Shiv looked behind them and didn't notice any encroaching darkness whatsoever.

Maybe the Ascendant had retreated. Maybe, just maybe, they had a true moment of peace. But something inside Shiv refused to hope. It was never that easy.

And true to his thoughts, as soon as they slipped beyond the outer wall of this cube, they ground to a halt. His group collectively entered defensive postures. Shiv barely managed to lift his head. As he did, he found himself sighing.

"You managed to set Harlock on fire," a brown-haired woman standing a dozen meters before said with a breath of amusement. "That's a first. I told him that he should have let us help sooner. But you know how it is with gods. They forget they were ever vulnerable mortals in the first place, and have to relearn old lessons over and over again. Still. Burning darkness itself. That really is a first."

"Yeah," Shiv grunted. He pushed away from Five, from everyone trying to hold him up. "And that's probably going to be a regular occurrence if you don't get the fuck out of my way right now." He looked at the woman and the figures beside her, barely registering in his vision, trying to impart every bit of intimidation he could muster through a glare.

She stared back at him, and her lip curled. But it wasn't a fear; rather, it was a hint of wry amusement. Strangely, Shiv thought she looked familiar, somehow. He'd seen her earlier during his battle against the Tarrasque, but there was something about her face. "Quite a bit of your mother in you, too, isn't there, Tanner? Regardless. I'm Legend-Councilwoman Veronica Chandler, and—"

"And go fuck yourself. I don't give a godsdamn shit who you are," Shiv growled. "You teleported me into this place, and I'm getting out. Me and everyone else. One way or another. Adam. Arrow." The Gate Lord pulled back on his bow, and a corrosive glint lit the tip of his Veilpiercer. "You better leave now, Avatar. Leave, or we'll find out just how flammable you are compared to that Ascendant I just lit up."

Veronica studied Shiv for a moment, and then she gave him an unexpectedly feral grin of defiance. She opened her mouth, and from her lips came forth an inexorable command. "Well, show me how you burn, then, Deathless. Make it worth my words."

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