Free Web NovelThe distraction, however brief, was costly.
The Mountain Manifestation seized the opportunity. Its massive foot descended with the speed of a falling meteor. It came down with terrifying force. Not just on Lady Kaelan, but on the very peak she was reeling above.
And Lady Kaelan was too injured to be able to evade the attack...
KA-BOOM!
The sound was less of a sound of collision and more of the sound of explosion. One that tore the veil of reality.
Lady Kaelan was already weakened and disrupted by the Sword of Purity. She had no time to escape. The Mountain's foot enveloped her. Crushing her into the rock. The pale light of the sword was snuffed out.
A moment of impossible silence descended. The mountain's foot remained planted. Then, a blinding, dark crimson light erupted from beneath the stone. It wasn't the searing orange of Lady Kaelan's usual fire. It was a furious, demonic-looking crimson.
She knew she was dying. And she was taking everything with her.
Jack recognized the signs instantly. "She's going to self-destruct! Everyone, brace for impact!"
He drew two spellcards and activated them one after another. [Sanctuary Field] and [Force Shield]. A double layered energy barrier instantly appeared. Covering the team with its protection.
Reina immediately flipped her grimoire and brought up another layer of shimmering barrier of mystic energy around them.
Leon slammed his wings together in front of him. Creating his own draconic wing shield. Even Chloe instinctively conjured her modified [Layered Wards], with Sparkle whimpered in her hugs.
KA-BOOM!
The explosion that followed dwarfed every previous attack. It was definitely a cataclysm. A wave of force that was so powerful that it felt physical. It slammed into their protective barriers.
The air itself shrieked loudly. A pillar of dark-crimson fire shot hundreds of feet into the sky. Followed by an expanding dome of pure concussive energy.
The ground beneath them bucked violently. Trees hundreds of yards away were ripped from the earth and hurled like toothpicks. A large part of Mt. Shipmount's peak simply ceased to exist. Replaced by a searing, glowing crater.
When the light faded, and the dust began to settle, a new landscape was revealed. The entire area where the battle had taken place had drastically changed.
It was transformed into a grotesque, blazing environment. The air rippled with extreme heat. It might even be hot enough to melt steel. There was no trace of the Mountain Manifestation.
It might have been utterly annihilated by the force of Lady Kaelan's final, desperate act. Or, it had decided that its task was done. After all, Lady Kaelan herself was gone. Consumed entirely by her own self-immolation.
And in the very center of this inferno, where the mountain's palm had been, Aella lay unconscious. Her void flames were now almost completely diminished. Barely flickering around her. She was a vulnerable, small target in a sea of fire.
"Wait here!" Jack commanded. His voice was sharp and urgent.
He didn't wait for any response. He took a small object from his Spatial Backpack and launched himself from his still floating hoverboard. Passing through the [Sanctuary Field] layer, the only surviving protective barrier that still remained.
In mid-air, as he tumbled towards the scorching earth, his form began to shift. It was the [Incarnation Shift]. His skin darkened. Thickening into a dense, reddish black color. His hair thickened and lengthened, turning into a dark and thick mane. His frame bulked up. Muscles were coiling and expanding rapidly.
When he landed on the ground, he was no longer human. He was a Black Buto. A hulking rakshasa. A fiery armored creature of fiendish strength and resilience.
The blazing environment would have incinerated a normal human instantly. However it had no effect on him. Especially in this form. The extreme heat that washed over him felt just like a warm breeze. Molten rock that splashed against his armor and skin sizzled harmlessly.
Jack started running. His powerful legs ate up the distance. Crossing the superheated earth with incredible speed.
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His target was Aella. He could see her. A small, dark silhouette against the glowing, molten landscape. He ignored the residual energies, the toxic fumes, the lingering death miasma. His only focus was the girl.
He reached her in what felt like seconds. The void flames around her were almost gone. Flickering weakly. He scooped her up gently.
She was tiny. Light. Her face was pale and streaked with ash.
Without hesitation, Jack took out a small hand mirror he had prepared and activated his [Mythical Mirror Realm] power he had. Quickly opening a portal to his Mirror Mansion. A safe, personal dimension accessible only to him.
He stepped through the mirror portal and placed Aella carefully on a pristine, comfortable ben within one of its bedrooms. She would be safe there. Isolated from the danger. Recovering.
Jack emerged from the Mirror Mansion moments later. The hand mirror returned to normal. His eyes scanned the immediate vicinity. Everything else seemed to have turned to ash.
The remnants of the syndicate members, Lady Kaelan’s physical form, even the mutilated corpse of Aella's mother that had been used as bait... They were all gone. Incinerated into fine ash. The destructive force had been absolute.
But then, his keen eyes caught something. Amidst the swirling ash and cooling slag, he could see a glint of something that was not blazing hot.
It was the hilt of the Sword of Purity. The blade itself was gone. Likely vaporized by Lady Kaelan's suicidal explosion. But the hilt, containing some residual energy, had survived. It glowed faintly. A beacon of failed fanaticism.
Jack strode over. His heavy rakshasa boots crunching on the brittle, scorched earth.
He knelt and his massive hand reached out. His fingers closed around the hilt. It was cool to the touch. Despite the infernal surroundings. A surge of... something familiar flowed into him.
Then, the hilt dissolved. It didn't burn, didn't melt. It simply faded away like smoke. Absorbed into his very being.
Immediately, a familiar notification panel flickered into existence before his eyes. Superimposed over the desolate landscape.
[OBJECT OF POWER DISCOVERED!]
[NOT ENOUGH POWER INTENSITY. ABSORBED AND CONDENSED INTO 6 ARTIFACT SEEDS.]
[DETECTED THE HOST POSSESSING 11 SEEDS.]
[AVAILABLE CONVERSION OF 8 SEEDS TO A PERSONAL ARTIFACT.] CHOOSE ONE:
[GU CREATION JAR]
[MYSTIC VOODOO DOLL]
[SANTET BALL OF FLAME]
Jack stared at the panel. His mind, even in the rakshasa's blunt form, was swift and analytical. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Six seeds from a cultist's artifact. He'd already had five seeds in his system inventory before. This pushed him past the threshold required for a new personal artifact. Eight seeds for one. He had enough for one personal artifact.
However, before thinking about the choices, he fell into contemplation about this artifact seeds and personal artifacts. Why didn't many other artifacts he encountered previously trigger this notification? Why couldn't they be converted into seeds or personal artifacts?
Was there any requirement for an artifact to trigger this system notification? What was different? Well... anything that could be turned into seeds or personal artifacts seemed to disappear or turn useless afterward.
And, did his human's secondary class affect this? Did anything that had resulted in spellcards become invalid? Did his unconscious desire affect the existence of the notification?
Many unanswered questions appeared relentlessly in Jack's mind. He shook his head. Nothing he could do about this for now.
It would probably be better to think about the choices. The system was offering him a pick out of three choices.
[Gu Creation Jar]... [Mystic Voodoo Doll]... And... [Santet Ball of Flame]...
Jack stared at the three options. No further information. Just like usual. Just a string of text overlying his vision. He concentrated and tried to decipher them. It was a habit by now.
He frowned. His brow furrowed as he mentally poked at the options. He felt a distinct distaste for the theme. They were all instruments of affliction. Tools that were meant for curses.
"Curse?" He muttered dejectedly. "Why does it have to be curse?"
He sighed and analyzed the options.
The Gu Creation Jar... It brought to mind ancient Asian legends of insects devouring each other until only a singular, toxic monstrosity remained. Not exactly an appetizing image.
The Mystic Voodoo Doll... He recalled the concept of a doll tethered to a target's soul. It was a trope of low-budget horror flicks.
The Santet Ball of Flame... It should be like his first taste of supernatural in this world. A concentrated projectile of spiritual agony that buried itself into the distant targets and tortured them from the inside.
None of them was interesting enough for him. With a flick of his mind, he selected randomly. The chosen one was the... voodoo doll.
He could feel an object materialized in his system inventory. He didn't summon it. Instead, he channeled his energy, activating his [Eyes of Judgement], and accessed his system panel.
He focused the power on the new entry in his inventory.
[Mystic Voodoo Doll. A conduit crafted from the essence of a forgotten martyr and the stolen breath of a curse-weaver. This doll does not merely reflect physical pain. It creates an intangible tether to the target's spiritual core. When the user binds a sample of the target (hair, blood, or a personal memento), the doll allows for the manipulation of the target's sensory inputs. It can either significantly increase or decrease the magnitude of what can be felt by the target's five senses.]
Jack's eyes widened slightly. It wasn't just a torture device. It was a sense manipulation device.
He could force a hostile target to experience enhanced level of pain. Or he could use it on friendly target to numb the pain. And it wasn't just pain. He could significantly enhance or suppress one's sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.
It was, in a word, precious. A wide grin appeared in his face. This was much better than his expectation.
He didn't waste another second. The mountain was silent, save for the crackling of cooling stone. He turned and ran back to where his team was waiting.
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