Page 80 (1/2)
Chapter 79: Breaking In
After stabbing the throne, Arial had asked Dorian to follow her down a long series of passages towards the bowels of the Ice Keep
According to her, this entire underground structure was a no- lived in There were no other Grakons living here, or creatures of any kind at all
As theysets of iced-over stairs or ehts became clouded
‘Will? What do you think about all of this?’ He thought towards Will’s dor at his forehead
The ained explained a lot to Dorian
The innate sense of co that rose from his subconscious These memories must’ve been stored deep within his soul, and only awakened after so happened to them
Dorian was also clear about who they were from
His mind went back to the first day he cae
To a powerful, overwhele that had rocked his mind
AH, FIRSTBORN OF MY PERFECT FLOCK YOU HAVE FINALLY FORMED, AND BROKEN FREE
YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED FROM THE ETHER, BY YOUR LORD AND MASTER, THE GODKING YUKELI
YOU WILL FOLLOW MY COMMANDS, YOUR SOUL HAS BEEN SEALED YOU WILL KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO DO WHEN THE TIME COMES
GROW
EVOLVE
SOW THE SEEDS OF CHAOS IN THE 30,000 WORLDS
YOU, FIRSTBORN, WILL HOLD MY HIGHEST HOPES
WHILE I MAY NO LONGER BE ALIVE IN THE DIVINE REALM, MY PLANS WILL CONTINUE UNABATED
CHAOS WILL RISE ORDER WILL FALL THE CYCLE CONTINUES, UNABATED
A na Yukeli’
The same name as the man from his memories, Yukeli Shorn
‘But why? Why do I have his ht, unable to find an answer
He didn’t even have all of the memories of the powerful warrior Many of them were scattered and incoe a and battle
He winced Even thinking about the e back up to the forefront of histhem down for now When he allowed them to rise forth earlier, his entire sense of identity had fallen into crisis He felt as if he was starting to lose himself, and become someone else
The memories, he noted, held valuable information The sheer skill of the fallen warrior, the ‘Lord of the Absolute,’ was incredible, to say the least
But what use was power if he had to lose hihed
‘Maybe I can isolate thethem all in at once was unacceptable, as far as he was concerned
For now, he would just leave the as he didn’t will the memories to take over, they see his personality
‘Ausra, as Yukeli?’ He turned his focus to his Soul Spell Matrix genie
‘His Worship is His Worship’ She replied, rather unhelpfully
‘But he was a huht? A huo?’ He returned, his eyes narrowing
‘I can only respond with information I have stored I do not have an answer to your question’ She replied calhed Well, he hadn’t expected ure out on his own
The Ice Keep was huge, stretching for h twisting and winding corridors, giving it an almost maze-like appearance The path Dorian took with Arial seely led them into a descent
The further down they ot, Dorian noted He was in his Ifrit forree, but even he could feel the decrease in teotoutside the cave, on the surface of the planet
"So how do you know soon Arial
He still didn’t fully trust her, not afterhi him hide away in here
Arial turned her head back to look at hi,
"I’ve lived in this region ever since I grew up I was born on the planet of Paxital&8221; She began, her voice melodic,
"My blood is special While the vampires and Blood Wizards from the Three Families are usually ue, and don’t align theirl like ood escape routes to survive This is the first tierous one in its own right, so I don’t know everything I only knohat research has been pulled, beaten, and brought out&8221; She waved her hands around her,
"Like how to get to the Red Portal and how to activate it&8221;
Dorian looked at the walls she had waved at As he stared, he could al flush in them
Whatever she had stabbed on that throne had set off a chain of energy, causing the air and walls of the Ice Keep to be full of it It had an ancient feeling to it It wasn’t so Dorian could touch or manipulate, however It just seeotten caught up in thiswhere she was in the first place He’d say they were even in that regard
Arial shrugged,
"You’re helping me back, after all I don’t think I would’ve made it to the Ice Keep in one piece, or be able to reach the Red Portal as easily without your help&8221;
They were silent for a while as they continued to descend The walls took on a heavier, bluer tint as theyless and less apparent Everything was lit by eerie, blue light that seemed to be just barely present
Every once in a while, they would pause and stop, as Arial checked the path, twisting and turning with a frown, before they continued to jog,down different hallways or staircases It was difficult to move fast in the maze of pathways
"So what about this place, then? Why does that blind Grakon live here?&8221; He shifted the topic
"Long ago, the Giants and Grakons were constantly at war Towards the end of their reigns, for unknown reasons, the two races had one last, final war, one to overwhelm all others A war to end all wars&8221; Arial narrated after studying Dorian for a second,
"Aristode, and a member of the Great Grakon Generals, the elite andto the records I’ve read&8221;
"When the as at its peak, and had reached a fever pitch, there was a vicious battle that saw horrendous losses on each side Aristodemus, in a previous battle, had been badly wounded, struck blind by the attack of a Giant Highwarrior&8221;
"Another Great Grakon General, Eurytus, had been similarly injured&8221;
"Brutally marred and injured, both Great Grakon Generals retreated back to Icicar under order from the ruler of the Grakon race, to heal from their injuries and later rejoin the war effort&8221;
"Eurytus, however, changed hisorders, and left to rejoin the Grakon defense, while Aristodemus continued on to Icicar&8221;
"The battle he joined was known as the Last Stand of the Grakon armies It was a brutal battle that saw the death of nearly 80 of the Grakon race The Giants suffered a si an end to the war&8221;
"What happened after that, exactly, is unknown What is known, however, is that Aristodemus was labelled a coward by the survivors, shunned and humiliated&8221;
"As a result of this, of his own race rejecting him, Aristodemus isolated himself here, in the Ice Keep, where he spent the rest of his days&8221;
Dorian was silent as he heard the tale, shivering slightly The history of this world, even of a single character on this strange planet, was incredible Though, in his opinion, this Grakon race sounded rather judg hiht to Dorian
They continued to descend They started to find chunks of ice lining hallways, or even standing in the middle of the the way
In those situations, Dorian stepped forward, unleashing a small ball of Emerald Fla the way
He also devoured a Magic Herb froy He was running at about 60 strength and felt exhausted
Using his Berserker Form had been a chore, especially when he Condensed it
His Condense Ability see technique that didn’t always operate in the same way
When he Condensed soon, his body would shift to be sht adjustments here and there
When he Condensed his Ifrit fory in his blood, exploding to great heights of strength, at a cost of daenetic repair
When he Condensed his Berserker Dereatly The eight arms his Berserker Demon form possessed had shifted to only two ared
‘Perhaps it’s because the Berserker De his head It was yet another hts ran all over the place as they continued to descend, their progress relatively slow due to the increasingly annoying chunks of ice
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
Successive explosions rang out as Gerulf sla off the Ice Keep, his chest heaving froic: Heavy Point!&8221; He chanted a spell as he punched forward, sla creek sounded off as the door shifted, sparks flying up The array of sy off wisps of bright white light
"Gerulf, howabove the sounds of Gerulf’s attacks
"I’ve al a sheen of sweat from his forehead The White Winter Bull hides that he ere in a pile next to hi off his body Small bits of Dark essence rose fron of a Shade The essence didn’t contain any energy, and it rising off his body had no effect on him
It had been nearly an hour and a half that Gerulf had been going at the enchanted door
Even when he infused the Law he studied into his techniques, the Law of Might, one of thein the three Physical Magics, he was only able to chip away at the door’s defenses and halt its regeneration
If he stepped away for even a ic of this world kept things froer than nore of that, as well as its own unique htsworn Fox had ed to break past the door in mere minutes was proof to the incredible power the species held, at least in regards to their inborn Abilities
"Anything else, Jasper?&8221; Behind Gerulf, Siegfried was currently talking to the badly injured Light Wizard Shade, Jasper
The warrior had recovered enough to regain consciousness and basic ht Wizard in their troop
"No&8221; Jasper’s voice was raspy as he talked, his eyes bloodshot
"It was , and I underestimated it I didn’t sense even a hint of the Power of Laithin its blows, only raw physical strength&8221; He shook for aback down on a set of bundled fur coats and hides, pulled frofried nodded his head, letting Jasper rest for the moment Their opponents ily
His eyes flashed
No et was, they would still coic energy shot into the air as a collision echoed out, coround, the clashes of the two giant King Class warriors could still be fried smiled
"We’re in!&8221;
"Speaking of fighting, I’ve never seen soonform&8221; Arial’s voice echoed out as she responded, in the middle of a conversation about the Shades
They had traveled quite a distance and had decided to take a s a bit of time to rest
Dorian had chosen to close his eyes and relax, allowing his exhaustion to slip away slightly while he talked to the fox girl
"Mmm, well, you could say I’ his eyes
‘Ausra, what’s a Battleforuess, but wanted to be sure
‘A unique transformation Ability found in some rare and powerful bloodlines’ She returned
He mentally nodded It wasspecial&8221; He blatantly lied
Silence reigned for a few seconds
"I see Well, what about you, by the way? Why are you here?&8221; She continued,
"The only reason I’m here is to escape from those Shades&8221; Her voice was filled with venom as she talked about her pursuers
"Me?&8221; He said, thinking his answer over
"Well, I’e store of treasure&8221; He decided to be honest
"Oh?&8221; Arial’s voice peaked with curiosity
"You’re going to Dragonht?&8221; She asked Dorian had
He grunted his acknowledgement
"Then you endary Ascension Ruins on the planet of Magmor, huh?&8221;
Dorian blinked in astonishiven infore, according to what the old ghostly Wizard had shared, in what felt like so long ago
"People already know about it?&8221; He sputtered, his eyes opening in shock
Arial gave hi locals in this section of the 30,000 Worlds have heard about the ical area that is filled with treasure, and, even s and history of various Lord Class, King Class, and even Angelic Class Wizards in their study of Law and journey towards Ascension&8221; She nodded,
"The only hard part is finding the ruins, whichout of thereatest Fate Wizards to have walked the 30,000 Worlds&8221;
Dorian’s eyes widened, feeling as if his soul was treement
"The only human to Ascend to the Shattered Heavens within thousands of years&8221; Arial nodded again,
"Very few have the right to claie left behind by the Great Lord of the Absolute&8221;
BOOM
Right at thatall the way to the up, her eyes glowing
"They’ve broken in! Quick, we need to hurry! We’re almost at the Waterfall!&8221;
Author’s Edit: Changed the last line that Arial spoke in the previous chapter to read:
"Now all we need to do is reach the Waterfall&8221;
Instead of,
"Now all we need to do is wait and hide&8221;
I think this