Gerriey desperately led everyone who remained away from another cactus. They kept sprouting out of the sand like weeds, and their shadows ran along the ground like black snakes, itching to smother the group.
It was a miracle that the Troops and the House Heads were still alive. Even with the enhancents from Kintar, which had funneled them with great strength, there were many instances where all of them should have perished without even realizing it. One such instance was Pherdanta’s sudden eruption and the chugging force that it expelled.
Now, however, no one had that card left.
Shortly after the Troops and the Heads were blown back by the shockwave from Kintar’s transformation into a fiery hurricane, they all felt her empowernt through Elental Overdose leave their bodies.
That did not bode well.
Even now, as Gerriey scread at everyone to climb up a dune, she couldn’t help but agonize over possible, gnawing realities. Chief among them was that she had nearly died by the masked man’s hand just a few seconds ago; everyone could have.
A few of the other Troops had been sniped by the Rias clones before they could even think. Gerriey and the rest continued to draw breath only because Uyuniya and Aurolio had bought a few monts with their attacks.
Gerriey didn’t want to count on more miracles like that, however. She didn’t fear death. None of the Stark Troops did. They only feared dying here; sowhere other than the ultimate battlefield they were training for.
...And that was why it was so hard for everyone to stomach the reality that Pherdanta and Kintar – chief officers in the Stark-Soul Orders – were already dead.
"The Commander isn’t dead, and neither is Kintar! Hold fast! There’s a plan, rember?" Gerriey shouted at everyone behind her.
No one except the House Heads allowed their fear that the two won had indeed perished to bleed onto their faces.
The waning of that supernatural strength from earlier doubled down on their doubts
anwhile, a re three kiloters from this group, another was staring at Aimon ruefully.
"Ashema. If we all perish here, there will be no greater disgrace to Lord Boron," one of the remaining Generals said. "He restored you and praised your efforts. You, at least, should not die here, else that would make Lord Boron a fool."
Ashema was rotting inside with his own guilt. He had done nothing, nothing at all since leaving the Under. He had not imagined that there would be a human enemy even more troubleso than Pherdanta to contend with. Unlike that woman, the unmasked man had no conflict within himself – no falter of will. He didn’t lack strength either.
"What do you propose we do? Other than Amras, what else do you have to fight against that monster?" he asked his peers.
Another General answered. "There are other ans to defeat a powerful Divine. We do not need Andori or Treasures. And a single blow will suffice. For this particular man, that one blow has to count or he’ll beco immune. However, you have a part to play."
Ashema agreed without hesitation.
*
Rias watched as Uyuniya turned pale and dashed away, escaping the range of the projectiles flying from Aimon. So lted into nothingness before touching him and so exploded into colorful, harmless showers, as though to celebrate Rias’ restoration... and more.
The unmasked man didn’t bother chasing after Uyuniya. It didn’t matter now.
He smirked when he heard Aurolio ejaculate a devastated, "FuuuUUUUUUCK!" from the distance.
That was warranted.
It was Rias’ undisputed win, after all.
Indeed, when Pherdanta’s arm blew up, her life energy lingered only a mont longer before disappearing. Rias made sure despite being convinced just by the sheer scale of the explosion that she had perished. Even now, a heavy sandstorm and a dust mushroom were churning around the horrific crater left behind in the detonation’s wake.
And indeed, Kintar was dead. Once she froze off and was broken apart by Rias’ clones, her life energy had also dimd and vanished. For good asure, one of the clones had crushed her frozen head. The hot sands were greedily drinking Kintar’s brain blood even now.
Elita was the latest victim.
She was taking rapid breaths and coughing hard.
After the initial shock from the surprising blow, she had co to her senses and mobilized as much Voided Death Essence as she could to combat the influence of the shadows dyeing the area around her. Her eyes were bulged in terror and panic. Or perhaps extre focus. The agony from her sliced flesh and the odd feeling of her lifeblood pouring in swathes onto the sand did little to help her maintain her concentration.
Rias’ figure stepping into her view and staring down as though she were as aningless as one of the grains of sand only worsened her situation.
"The world really has a way of revolving around Fulgardt, doesn’t it?" said Rias. "There’s sothing unnatural about him. I’ve always known. That’s why I broke away from being a dependent of his – a pawn – as soon as I could. Besides, I’m more of a disciple of Death than that of that monster."
Rias knew.
Fulgardt was an ever-changing man. At first, he needed Rias’ powers, to be sure, in order to complete his goal, but the more ti Rias spent around the Immoral, the more he discovered that he (Rias) would soon be obsolete. In just a few hours, Fulgardt’s interest in a man who could conjure anything conceivable had waned significantly. The Imagining Technique no longer piqued Fulgardt’s interest.
When the Immoral ntioned a relationship with Void and hinted at so grand course he was planning that seed awfully detached from the one he had made clear he was pursuing – the one about finding more Fulgardts – Rias had known that was his cue to start preparing an exit strategy; he had begun to forge the idea to create this place.
This odd domain was not a world or a Territory despite seeming like one.
Rias did not imdiately earn benefits from conjuring it, other than being able to toss and turn it this way and that. If anything this odd space was rather fragile. It didn’t look it from the inside (especially since Aimon expelled it as a bubble), but it had a thin, vulnerable shell on the outside. That was a trade off for making everything within it as complex as it was.
...And that was why Rias thought of it as an egg and even nad it as such: the Egg of Future Dawn.
Everything that fell within the egg beca an ingredient for perfecting it.
What the perfect final state of the egg was supposed to be, even Rias didn’t know. Sowhere along the way, he got the idea that the plan for this construct was hijacked. All he knew for certain was that he needed to feed the egg as many quality ingredients and Undeath energy as he could get.
Indeed, Undeath energy was a necessary component. Unlike actual Liches, Rias didn’t have access to great reserves of it. If he did, he would have conjured more Death Knights to end this battle earlier. That was why he turned the two Generals he killed directly into his Undead minions, but didn’t have them fight for him; the one that remained beca fuel for this place.
The cacti sprouting within the egg’s space also sacrificed the life energy from surrounding living beings into Undeath energy for the egg’s quota. Nothing quite produced a burst of Undeath energy more potent than a fresh living organism, after all.
And fresh living organisms were also good for providing the greedy sand in the egg ideas. It learned the more of them it consud – blood, flesh, bone. That was why Pherdanta’s slashes were becoming a trait that the egg possessed, as well as Kintar’s "magic". Soon, it would be like their very essence was part of the Future Dawn.
Rias pressed his foot against Elita’s throat. She gurgled and then struggled silently while glaring at him with bloodshot eyes.
"I wonder what your blood will give ," said the unmasked man. "I sure need a heck of a lot more than just slashes to kill Fulgardt if the need arises don’t you think, Saint?"
Elita coughed so blob of blood onto his foot. She might have ant to spit on him as a last desperate offense.
Rias scoffed. His eyes slid to the right. He sensed restlessness all around him.
Of course.
"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!" Aurolio was crying aloud while charging towards him and Uyuniya had sohow gotten a hold of Clusterfunk’s wheel.
The two were planning sothing, but...
"What can you even do?" Rias said to them and he prompted the egg to attack.
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