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Scorching Ascension - 2.42: Detonation
🕑 Added 2025-09-12 18:23:20 +0000 UTCA/N: Chapter went a little longer than expect. Next one on Sunday likely.
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Three concussive fireballs were already glowing above Ethanâs horns as he flew up, hovering over the wreck as the voices of the crowd died out below him. Wind rushed past him, smelling of pine as he drifted away from the settlement and as he waited for Zacharia to pull himself out of the wreckage. As expected, the man was fine, though his appearance had certainly changed.
Antlers crowned his long brown hair. His eyes had turned completely black and as he smiled up at Ethan, sharp teeth gleamed in the moonlight as insectile, almost invisible large wings buzzed him up from ground. A mist of unearthly purple and pink wafted out of them, and Ethan could see hooves where the manâs feet had been, extending out of a pair of black harem pants that [Sphinxâs Gaze] told him were another spellform. The hands were thin, sharp claws, and they glowed with the same color as what was emanating out the wings. Zacharia rose to Ethanâs altitude, drifting after him as they put some distance away from the Brotherhoodâs settlement, a grin plastered on his face. âWhat is this? Leading us to one of your friends?â
His voice was different, almost buzzing in Ethanâs ears, and his eyes narrowed. âIâve got business with you. Not the people in your camp.â
The smile split unnaturally wide. Coupled with the pitch black eyes, the man looked creepy. With his chest still bared, it made him look like some weird amalgamation of human and insect, and the voice was the worst of all. âHah. How noble of you. Reggie said you were the kind to kill first and ask questions later. Why the change of heart? Hoping theyâll join you on the off-chance youâd win?â He chuckled. âThat the people Iâve chosen and protected will just follow you without consequences? Thatâll be funny to see. And tell me, what will you do when they refuse to follow you? When they hate you for killing their friends and companions? Will you kill them too? Abandon them? Throw them in a cabin and melt the key?â
This dude talked too much. Thankfully, they were already close to a hundred yards away from camp. So Ethan was free to let loose.
The first fireball flew out, drawing a pale orange trail in its wake as Ethan burst forward after it, claws primed to tear and shred the manâs wings to ribbons, but Zacharia only waved a hand and the glowing haze thatâd been building behind his blurry wings rippled, and a thread made of pink mist stretched out to intercept. Ethan readied himself for a detonation as wind zipped around him, but it never came.
The fireball just winked out, unraveling harmlessly like a soap bubble.
âCute little spell,â said the man, and the voice buzzed in his ears again. Gritting his teeth, Ethan shot a pressurized jet at the man, only for his opponent to buzz away.
âClumsy,â he called out, voice dripping with derision, and Ethanâs teeth gnashed. It wasnât the trash-talking that was pissing him off, but there was something about the voice and magic it carried that he couldnât put his finger on. It was getting under his scales. Maybe to frustrate him?
Ethan shook his head. The fight just started. He shouldnât let the words get into his head or heâd be playing into the manâs hands.
But what else did he have hidden?
Could Ethan win this?
He banked to the side, dodging a barely visible dart that left a glittering trail in his vision, and his brows knitted as he ignited his scales for good measure. Of course he could win this. Why wouldnât he? Why would he ever doubt himself when the fight had just started.
âWhatâs wrong? Having second thoughts?â the voice echoed in his ears, and a sliver of doubt whittled at his belief that he would win this, twisting what it stole to give him the impression that the man ahead was the superior fighter of the two of them.
The thought felt foreign in his mind. Ethan had always been cautious in fights, calculating risks and advantagesâbut this creeping doubt? This wasn't tactical assessment. This was something else entirely, worming its way through his thoughts like smoke through cracks.
The realization was at once infuriating and somewhat funny, and then it resulted in a teeth-bearing scoff as Ethan activated his Prime Manifestation for beat, setting the foreign influence aflame until the doubts that werenât his own were burnt away. It wasnât that Ethan had been absolutely confident in his ability and couldnât conceive himself losing. Of course not. But in this scenario, it made no sense for him to be having cold feet not even a minute into the fight.
That wasnât him. Why would he ever consider a loss when the fight had barely begun?
Ahead of him, Zacharia seemed to have sensed his influence melt away, and his smile flickered before it returned even wider. âOh? Looks like you got some tricks of your own, then. You didnât just get to that level by being a dumb brute, I guess,â the man mused as he cracked his neck and as his claws lengthened.
Ethan wished he had an ear-spellform thatâd spare him from having to listen. But he didnât. So heâd have to settle for the next best thing.
The two concussive [Overloading Fireballs] shot forward and as he exploded after them, he began channeling three more onto his [Elemental Crown] and this time, he let them build up naturally. He needed an even mix of explosive and fire for this battle.
Zachariaâs smile dropped as he flitted away, but the fireballs had the [Homing] modifier applied to them and the two pale orange orbs swerved after him. Teeth bared, he shot another of his barely visible projectiles at one, detonating both of them, but with Ethan having had the time to charge decently wellâbut not so much that itâd slow themâthe shockwave still reached him.
Zacharia grimaced as he was violently shoved back but by the time Ethan reached him, the man was braced and ready, black eyes glinting with focus.
With two swings of his claws followed by a burst of [Scorching] flames out of his scales, it became obvious. Ethan hadnât been the only one hitting rift by his lonesome ever since theyâd gotten back to Earth, and it was showing. Zacharia was fast. Sharp. He dodged seamlessly. The flare of flames should have caught him by surprise, but as soon as the flames manifested on Ethanâs scales heâd backed off. He was cautious. Methodical.
Annoying.
A spray of darts landed on Ethanâs wing as he shielded himself and glared at the flitting figure. Ethan wanted to bring this down to the ground and if it hadnât been for the harpiesâ rift, he wouldnât have been able to keep up. But even though Zacharia was a better flier than he was, his attacks werenât doing much to Ethanâs scales though the insectile figureâs constant maneuvering was puzzling him.
Zacharia had eaten a solid punch earlier and came out mostly unaffected. Why was he so keen on keeping his distance? Was he hoping to tire Ethan out? Was he stalling? Considering how easy heâd brushed off that hit, Ethan thought he was dealing with a close-ranged combatant but so far, the man was keeping his distance.
Ethan's eyes flitted to the glittering pink and purple dust Zacharia was leaving in his wake. Was that poison? Was it something like the voice that had messed with his thoughts earlier?
He observed the man's flight pattern as he shot a few pressurized [Water Jets] in his direction, shrugging off the occasional darts. Zacharia was goodâtoo good at evasion. He anticipated every direct attack, always angling down and to the left when pressured. Always seeking the low ground when cornered.
Alright then. Letâs try another angle, Ethan thought, and with a wave of his hand, he sent the first of the new fireballs at the smirking Zacharia. The man scoffed, the nimbus behind his wing shining as he reached to dispel the fireball again, right as the two others flew out, homing on the man. Ethan saw him angle himself to fly low and with a grunt, a horizontal wall of bright flames cut the man off. Before he could adjust, four more were summoned in quick succession next, and the effort made the corners of Ethanâs eyes darken as his spirit screamed at the strain.
If it hadnât for [Emberborn Heart], the tactic would have already mana-exhausted him but as things were, he could keep going. He just couldnât afford to pull that trick againânot that itâd work without the element of surpriseâand hopefully, he wouldnât have. Because it hit his target dead-center.
With a beat of his wings, Ethan flew toward the deflagration. He wasnât letting Zacharia recover and deep in his chest, he knew things wouldnât be so simple. The man was tricky and frankly, even though his fireballs exploded close to their targetâif not directly onâhe wasnât sure what he was about to find.
With the lance in his hand, he aimed at the shape he could see through the dissipating flames, and his eyes widened when the full form of Zacharia became visible.
Smoke was drifting off of him but⌠he really wasnât that injured. His face was almost serene, and something about him made a shiver run down Ethanâs spine before he realized what he was feeling.
Zenith state. Zacharia had used his own Prime Manifestation to stave off most of the explosion.
Did he use his own? Was it something defensive? The explosions had probably taken their toll on his reserve, and Ethan could take a couple of hits still, so he opted to save up on the precious trump card for now.
With a burst of mana, Ethan accelerated, lance already glowing with an explosive charge and an instant later, the point stabbed intoâ
The world stilled as Ethan watched in disbelief as the tip of his lance slid off of the manâs stomach, and his momentum winked out as the purple and pink dust suddenly grew solid around his limb. A beat later, a set of sharp claws blurred, aiming at his heart, but Ethan twisted barely in time, and the needle-thin claws cut into his left shoulderâs scales like a knife through wet paper as the manâs voice reached his ears.
âYou didnât think itâd be that easy, did you?â the voice buzzed, mocking, pulling his arm for another strike, sharp teeth glinting in a furious sneer.
In response, Ethanâs surprised expression relaxed, and he smiled, blood streaking down his scales. Wrenching his right arm out of the glittery trap, he dismissed the lance and caught the manâs wrist with his own Prime Manifestation, the manâs magic resisting him as much as a cobweb would have. His wound closed up with an expensive pulse of [Heal], and finally, he answered. âYou didnât think you were the only one with a trick under their sleeve, did you?â
Comments
the ice man
I think Ethan is going to have to do a destructive spell with essence just to make sure Zac is very dead
the ice man
the needle-thin claws cut into his left shoulderâs scales like a knife through wet paper. think Ethan is going to have to upgrade the bronze scales to tier 4 after this if this happens
