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The Exalt - Act 4: Fallen Heaven - Chapter 708: Assembled Again
🕑 Added 2024-05-17 00:18:05 +0000 UTC'Finally, it's my turn.' Demon manifested in a Duality body and unsheathed his sword, the blue flames glinting like sapphires down the edge. Several heads slid off the accursed's pale necks, the fresh cuts charred to a fine black that sealed their foul blood from spurting out. The sword swept across without resistance as Demon culled them down, flowing to the next kill and then the next, carrying on swinging and slashing. The few days of inactivity during the final night had not dulled the clean strokes of his sword, sharp and precise as ever.
An abomination seemed to regard Demon as a threat and lunged in a straight dash, stomping over the smaller accursed. A single arcing slash parted the wings off their bases, but the abomination grabbed them and responded in kind, slashing straight down. Demon swayed to the side and jumped with the rebounding momentum of the fleshy wings crashing onto the ground. Over the grotesque head of dozens of faces, he flipped and drove his sword deep inside its forehead. It jolted and growled, clawing at its own body that began to swell and smolder. Blue flames burst outward and left only ashes behind.
'Don't go too far, you pretentious ego.' Erden, clad in sapphire armor, transformed into his human form, an azure warrior with teal eyes gleaming sharply within the visor of his helmet of antlers. The flames surged and then retracted back inside Erden's body, but the stillness and silence that surrounded Erden's form made Oscar feel a far greater sense of danger. A single armored punch touched an abomination, driving elbow deep inside it, and the monster was flung a great distance, howling in a low wail until it crumbled apart. The Prielapos's true power focused on concentrating their Ein and power inside their bodies, not to emit a speck outward, vastly improving their physical strength, becoming the embodiment of their element and Ein.
Perhaps that aspect of them was why Oscar achieved the perfect Reis body through the Blood Transmutation. However, his theories would have to wait. Oscar didn't have a moment to waste and entered the Pseudoguise. He flipped over an abomination using the flow of Reis as it swung a heavy fist down. His shield bashed in the head, and he impaled it with a platinum drill. Surprisingly, the convulsing abomination managed a punch up, landing squarely on his head. His Eirin worked hard, reinforcing every bit of his muscles, skin, and bones against the blow. Before it could have another chance, Oscar stuck it full of scarlet-platinum blades and left the burning carcass behind, joining his brothers in the fray.
A large flower erupted and bloomed from the ground, thorny vines extending from its stem. These barbed tendrils coiled around several weaker accursed, lending Oscar and the others uninterrupted time against the many abominations. A floating page, glowing with soft Ein, attached itself to his chest and flooded renewed Ein into his core. Avril rushed beside him and laughed, flickers of joy emerging as dimples at the ends of her smile. He could hear Avila shouting for her, but she clearly ignored them. "Her heart can't stop dancing. Even though it's such a scary night, she can't help but smile. It's been a long time since all four of us fought together."
"Aren't you supposed to stay back and support us?" Oscar received another heavy blow that landed on his shield, his feet slightly forming cracks in the ground. In return, he sent a low kick, concentrating a Shattering Wave with the sharp drill protruding from his foot. The lower half of the abomination was torn off and reduced into a puddle of blood and flesh. Avril swung her staff down, extended a thorny vine that attached itself to the scroll unfurling from the bejeweled tip, and coiled it around the abomination's neck, pulling it off in a forceful tug.
"Why should I stay back? Three of them are fighting forward, and they can't miss the last member. She feels this place is the safest." Avril cheered in the midst of battle, the vines extending overhead and covering her from unwanted splashes of black blood. Seeing her delight in the harsh night, Oscar felt it coming but couldn't stop it, laughing to the bottom of his stomach. No doubt, this was what he had been missing for so many years. No matter what, her reactions and actions were always a joy for him to watch. Looking back, the Exalts and beasts assembled in a great formation and marched out, using defensive spells to stall the accursed and counter with fierce melee blows.
"Fine. Then, stick close. If it's like the old days, we'll be fighting until we can't move anymore." Oscar threw his shield and released a powerful Shattering Wave, flinging scores of accursed away. In a pull, he grabbed his shield and huddled with Demon and Erden, keeping Avril as support in the center.
"It's been my job to take care of you idiots once you do," Adam descended, lightning crackling and burning out of his Pseudoguise and brass knuckles. One stomp burst a thousand arcs of lighting that pierced and incinerated the accursed. His maniacal smile of bloodlust and pride was still unsettling yet quite reassuring at this moment. Adam had a peculiar way of fighting, always opting to exchange blow for blow. As an abomination hit him in the face, Adam countered at the same time as if pain drew more strength out of him. Covered in black blood, Adam laughed, "It really is like old times. Though, that brat, Quinn, is nowhere to be found."
"Then, may we fight alongside you as part of the current times?" Marcus's voice boomed out as a scaly half-dragon diced several accursed with a flurry of his black scales that spun and flew out. Behind him, everyone had gathered except Auren, who was locked away for the time being to work on a formation. Restel dipped into Kragg's shadow, the lightning lion emitting light from every pore. Santen severed rows of accursed, swing after swing of his long arms. Astrid simply walked and froze the encroaching accursed, carrying a faint smile on her cold lips. Eve remained back and watched Marcus's every move, her eyes serene as if waiting for something.
"Alright then. Follow me, you reckless fools." Oscar strode forward, Volten's sword emitting a soft light that only worked on the accursed several dozens of feet out. The army behind him erupted into a boisterous cheer and marched ahead, culling the accursed. The bridge held on and had to continue to be held.
After several hours, Oscar retreated and swapped with Helen, Serit, and Avila, giving them a harsh nod. There didn't need to be so many manning the walls since Ruvin and the other winged beasts could fly over the steep cliffs and stop the accursed climbing from the lake of lava. Instead of water, the calming elixir quenched his thirst and stilled the dark thoughts on the edges of every thought. They lingered as if foreboding a storm in the sea of his mind, but the elixir held them back. The bridge was too similar, already soaked in blood and filled with his people, his soldiers. The fear of a familiar scene playing out made his heart chill.
"Show them why you still live! Why you still draw breath!" Oscar shouted and received their warcries of affirmation, many shaking around, not from fear but from the blatant excitement on their faces, eager to fight for him.
"Boy!" Hector snapped his fingers. "No time to dilly-dally in your daydreaming. The Gravitarams are spent."
"What…." Oscar followed the short-legged Hector to the stationed Gravitarams. A horrid stench of burning sulfur fumed from the war machines, their wheels slightly shaking and clattering on the uneven ground. The muzzles of their cannons glowed red-hot and hissed like melting metal. They were like tea kettles, whistling and steaming as the insides boiled. He shook his head and cursed himself and the others for cutting corners. The original designs of the Gravitarams required far more elemental ores and cores, but even with Volten's treasury, he didn't have enough for four, perhaps only two.
"We were too delighted to see the problem. Stretching the materials thin to make four was too forceful. These wasted buckets of no good are one use away from exploding and taking all of us with them." Hector grumbled and stopped himself from doing his usual slap on a Gravitaram. Any trigger may worsen the conditions or prematurely explode them. He complained, "I told you we needed more. But we had to use the rest for the Champions and the elemental armaments for eight hundred people. Damn it."
"Everyone needed one. I refuse to compromise on that." Oscar crouched and studied the Gravitaram, clicking his tongue at the immense heat rising from the metal shells.
"Well, good for you. But now, we have no Champions, no cannons, and no Gravitarams." Hector always spoke brazenly without a filter. He rubbed his scruffy beard and seemed to ponder as he waved his hammer at one of them. "I'd like to take them apart and see if we can't put a good one together, but it's more likely we allow all that violent Ein out and kill lots of us."
The delicate balance they had for several days now appeared to be falling apart. Oscar had to come up with something. An idea formed, and he chuckled lightly, annoying Hector, who grunted and asked for an answer. He turned and grasped Hector's shoulder, having to bend slightly. "Throw them."
"Throw them?" Hector murmured and didn't look convinced. "Are you saying we blow up the bridge? We can't do that." His worry was not unfounded. The accursed were drawn to life but strangely followed a set of rules, always gravitating toward the easy entrances and pathways to reach the living. However, if an easy way could not be found, they'd find one. Oscar recalled the accursed digging down to reach him in the tunnels since they had no other way. The bridge's purpose was to keep the accursed's focus on it, not to dig under and pop up inside the outpost.
"Fly it over and drop a Gravitaram right near the bridge. Kill everything that would cross it." Oscar said.
"And who's going to do that?" Hector coughed.
Oscar waved over Erden, who understood the plan and mounted him. "We'll wait for another few hours when the next rotation happens. We're switching to a four-group shift. Handle dividing the men."
"Crazy lad. Don't get caught in the explosion. This thing–!" Hector nearly hit the Gravitaram but grabbed his hand, halting it and sighing in relief. "-I can't tell how hard it'll hit."
"Just get it done," Oscar trotted away and watched Renn and Gloria fighting in the second group alongside Avila and Serit. Their purpose was obvious, which was to prove themselves without requiring his protection. Behind him, Hector hurried to the resting first group and arranged them into two smaller armies. Oscar looked down at Erden and stroked his friend's head. "Afraid?"
"Please. We've done crazier." Erden chuckled. "Glad to see you're more like yourself again."
"And I wasn't before?" Oscar asked, raising a brow. Erden yawned in return, not answering.
A few hours later, before the next shift change, Oscar lightly kicked Erden's side and flew off across the bridge, groaning in pain as he held a hot Gravitaram. The scalding heat burned even his Edureisclad skin, and sweat beaded down in droves like a waterfall streaming on his skin. Erden flew a few feet above the ground, turning and swerving abruptly to dodge the extending grasps of the accursed. Oscar grunted and clenched his legs on Erden's sides, focusing on holding the Gravitaram as delicately as possible without falling himself.
"Here!" Oscar gritted his teeth and tossed the Gravitaram up, giving him a few seconds to retreat fast before it fell harshly on the plains before the bridge. His hands didn't bleed, charred as blackened flesh flaked off. He looked back while Erden bolted away, eyeing the falling Gravitaram. A loud clank resounded the moment it hit the ground, a gaping tear split open, and an immense Ein poured out. Oscar and Erden endured the first shockwave that blasted away the air. Flung away, they spiraled out of control and slammed straight into the wall, hitting the barrier.
His grunts of pain were drowned out by a single sound akin to a high screech, and everyone reeled back, clutching their ears, even the accursed stumbling and screaming inaudibly. Not even a storm over the ocean or the eruption of a volcano in the Burning Valley came remotely close to the thunderous birth of this explosion. Oscar widened his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing. A crater didn't form from the explosion. The Ein surged out over the surface like the waves of an ocean; countless accursed vanishing in a flash.
Dragging his body off the barrier and entering the walls, Oscar leaned on a pillar and watched the accursed halt as if they had been affected by the emotion of shock. He could only mutter out, "Gol-4, you maniac."
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