"ENOUGH!" I bellowed and sent a wave of attributeless mana as dense and concentrated as I could in the brief moment between two lightning strikes.
The mana wave engulfed the courtyard and highlighted all the splicers and the spell sigils they were casting. Making a rash decision I used my mana siphon ability to drain the mana from all the sigils and causing them to shatter mid-cast.
I was already in the middle of a mana overload and knew the mana that I was absorbing through the mana siphon would only worsen it. Before the mana could be fully absorbed I started casting an axiom spell sigil.
"Hark and heed the call of loss, let hope beget to delirium and salvation to devastation! Cry, fallen angels! Sing laments to sadness and odes to longing and broken dreams! Be sieged by Phantoms of possibility and wonder, murdered by the twin plagues of reality and destiny! Scream against the void, rage against the cruel, the unjust, and the merciless! Prostrate to the obscene and accept the judgment of anguished, so viciously taken before their time..!"
As I chanted a second axiom spell sigil formed beside the first, another offensive spell sigil formed around each spell sigil before fusing together into a golden spell sigil. This spell sigil appeared on the ground under my feet and expanded to cover the entire grounds of the Sadamas center.
"…Star's Chosen: Fours…"
Blood welled up from the crags and cracks of the ground, covering the courtyard and lapping at the feet of the splicers and American soldiers. Hands emerged from the blood and grabbed at the feet of the splicers and soldiers, pulling at them and dragging them to their knees. Blood soaked bodies emerged from the bloody ground, scratching and clawing at my enemies.
The Simon Caldifax and his splicers tried to fight back but found that they couldn't cast spells thanks to Star's Chosen: Fours mana negation effect. Logan and the American soldiers with him were at least able to fight back using their guns. The blood specters were able to be damaged and even killed by the bullets but as soon as one body vanished another took its place.
Under the constant assault the number of splicers dwindled quickly and the Americans numbers dropped too. The less experienced in combat getting overwhelmed by numbers or too shocked by the impossibility of what was happening to react rationally.
'Something's wrong…' Fours consciousness thought. Emerging from the recesses of my merged mind for the first time.
I felt a splitting headache and winced, grabbing my head and dropping to one knee. Fours voice in my head getting louder and more pronounced, Chase's voice started crying out as well, intensifying my headache.
'I feel less stable…what's going on?!' Fours cried out frantically.
I tried to stand up only to feel my knees locked in place. I looked down and saw that my legs were covered in purple crystal. The crystal started creeping up my legs, covering my torso and arms in a matter of seconds.
'The mana overloads, they must have cut the duration of the fusion with each one.' Chase's consciousness thought.
As the crystal covered my head I saw the Star's chosen spell start to break down thanks to the being that casted it rapidly disappearing. I felt my mind splitting or rather getting torn apart as Chase's and Fours consciousness separated, bringing me to an end…
***
Chase
The crystal cocoon that enveloped me shattered and I was thrown to the ground, rolling several times before I came to a stop. Though the Star's chosen spell had ended and the waves of blood had receded the ground was still wet with the remnants. It stained my clothes and covered my face.
I felt weak as I tried to stand, my mana pool was at critical levels. Single digit percentage. It took all my strength and mental fortitude to keep myself awake. Every movement of my joints and limbs felt like I had several ton weights attached, threatening to snap at the slightest pressure.
'Gunshot…' I thought as I crashed to the ground. I felt something else falling on top of me, covering my body. A sharp pain radiated through my chest, only the pain didn't coming from my nerves but the mental connection between myself and Fours. My eyes widened as realization dawned on me.
"Fours!" I yelled and tried stand only to have a hand press into my back to keep me from standing. Several more gunshots rang out, each one causing more pain to flood the connection between me and Fours. "Fours stop! Get off!"
I looked ahead and saw a squad of soldiers standing ten yards away and firing at Fours and I. Though with Fours covering me with his body they could only hit him.
I slammed my hand on the ground and channeled magma attribute mana. The ground in front of me for about twenty yards quickly heated up and turned into bubbling magma. The soldiers shooting at us had their feet and lower legs enveloped by fhe magma and burnt off. They went tumbling face or back first into the magma, killing them quickly.
I quickly pushed Fours off me, rolling him onto his back. I scrambled to my knees and looked over at the gravegyle. Fours had more than ten gunshot wounds all over his body. The most concerning ones were the one near the center of his chest and the one that nicked his neck. He was bleeding severely from all the wounds, the amount of blood sending my panic rocketing to new heights.
"Fuck! Fours! Hold on! I'll stop the bleeding!" I yelled and started frantically writing runes on my arm. Fours reached up and grabbed my arm to stop me.
"Fours if I don't stop the bleeding you will die!" I all but screamed. Fours looked up at me, his tilted his head to the side while his breaths coming out in strangled wheezing.
"I have to try! I can't lose you! I CAN'T LOSE ANYONE ELSE!" I screamed and placed my hand on Fours chest. Fours clawed hands gripped my wrist tightly before I could start channeling mana. I locked eyes with Fours and saw a determined look burned in his milky eyes.
"P-p-please…M-m-mas-s-ster…" Fours said. His voice was guttural, alien, unlike anything I had heard before. I was stunned by his voice and then the impact of his words hit me.
"Master…?" I muttered. The corners of Fours mouth tugged back into what could be counted as a smile for the evo.
Four said softly.
"You never needed to repay me for that! You're one of my evos! Part of my family! It's what I'm supposed to do!" I snapped, fear and anger making my voice shaky and crack.
I opened and closed my mouth like a fish, trying to force the words that I knew I needed to say out. Fours just pressed a clawed finger to my chest right over my heart, his hands shaky and unsteady. His eyes, while I knew couldn't really see me, seemed to burrow into my soul.
Fours words were abruptly cut off by a gunshot. A bullet piercing him through the heart. My eyes widened in horror as the light in his milky eyes faded and he let out one last strangled breath.
"Fours…" I breathed, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Godsdammit! You American idiot! Do you know how rare a gravegyle is!" I heard Simon Caldifax yell, though his voice was like a loud whine compared to the cacophony of voices screaming in my head.
Bone-lasher, Alpa'Nagia, Grimm-Guard, Empress, Jiggles, Bellial, Mzazzi, and Bahamut all roared and screamed over each other, demanding to know why Fours presence was gone. However I couldn't begin to answer them, all I could do was stare at Fours corpse. My mind struggling to accept the reality that Fours was gone, dead, and there was nothing I could do to bring him back.
I blinked and suddenly it wasn't Fours corpse in front of me but Grandma Lulu's. I was back in the ruined yard of the Spirit Technologies factory. My Grandma's bruised and crushed body laid out before, my father's cold and calculating eyes staring at me over my shoulder. I started breathing heavily, hyperventilating.
I ran my hands through my hair, blinking again and the scene shifting back to Fours at the Sadamas center. Tears started welling in my eyes, the salty tears stinging them, forcing me to blink rapidly. Each one jerking me between the past and the present. Between the sacrifices made for me and the anguish I felt for each.
"The mighty Chase Kingston, crying over a stupid evo…pathetic."
I felt something slam into my nose, knocking be backwards and sending me careening into the present. Logan stood over me with a rifle held in a way that indicated he hit me with the rifle butt. His face twisted into a snarl as he looked down at me in the same way he had our entire life.
"A MONSTER DOESN'T DESERVE TO CRY!" Another voice roared.
I felt a pain in my ribs like they'd been doused in fire following a deafening snap as I was kicked by another soldier. One of the Sycophants that served under Logan. He kicked me with all he had, again and again, each kick fracturing or breaking another rib.
"REAGAN AND ANDERS WERE MURDERED BY YOU! AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO CRY FOR A FUCKING EVO!" The soldier screamed while he kicked, occasionally adding stomps.
I couldn't move to defend myself, my body refusing to listen to any commands. I felt more join in my assault. Over a dozen pairs of feet stomping on my legs, arms, chest and face. My mind registering the damage, allowing me to feel the pain but the meager mana I had left didn't start healing the wounds. As if it was stuck behind a dam.
"Stop it! If anyone is going to kill Kingston it will be me!" Simon Caldifax yelled.
"Why the fuck do you get to kill him?!" I heard one of the Americans yell.
His protests were silenced by the sound of a crystalline structure shattering. A dark shadow loomed over the mob of soldiers stomping me causing them all to jump away instinctively reaching for their guns.
I was unsure if what I was seeing was the past or present. The Ascended thrad was standing over me, staring hungrily down at me. I blinked several times and it didn't disappear nor did the scene change. I was in the present, I was actually seeing the ascended thrad.
"YOU!" I screamed and tired to stand up only to find I couldn't. My legs were broken and bent at a odd angle, arms snapped and laid useless at my sides. Regardless I thrashed and snarled up at the creature responsible for the single worst tragedy in my life.
"Ah! I see you recognize this evo…" Simon Caldifax said, he stepped into my line of sight. A twisted and self assured smile spread across his face. "…as you should, after all you helped in its acquisition. There was a great cost to you though was there not."
Caldifax smiled devilishly at my rage as I tired to thrash around and roll over. He reared back and kicked me in the ribs, the pain forcing any air I had in my lungs. I gasped and coughed while Caldifax crouched down and smirked at me.
"I bet you're wondering why your evos haven't come to save you? Why you're still here alone? The answer is simple…I had my ascended here control all the thrads the Americans brought and let them swarm over the evos you have in the center ruins there." Caldifax said then looked over at Fours corpse. His demonic grin widening. "Yule, im sure you're hungry after commanding all those thrads. Why don't you have that gravegyle as a snack."
The ascended looked down at Fours then reached one of its enormous hands out and scooped up Fours corpse. My vision flashed and I was back in the past, looking up at the ascended thrad scooping up my grandmother. Another flash and it was Fours the ascended was lifting up above it's head and dangling over its open mouth.
'No! No! NO! IT KILLED GRANDMA LULU! IT WON'T DESICRATE FOURS CORPSE!'
A flood of emotions surged through my veins: Rage, anguish, sorrow, loss, and determination. I felt time slow to a crawl as my farm crystal glowed a bright gold, a surge of mana filled my mana pool to bursting and my broken bones and wounds healed instantly. Without another thought I channeled shock attribute mana and popped my claws, they instantly were wreathed in lightning. I jumped to my feet then leaped up above the ascended, raising my claws above my head as I fell and brought them down in a sharp chop, slicing off the ascended's arm.
I grabbed onto Fours corpse as I fell to keep it from falling into the bastard's mouth. Time began to flow at a normal rate as my feet touched the ground. Logan, Simon, as well as the American soldiers and military splicers were stunned to see me standing in front of them with the severed hand and of the ascended and fours corpse behind me.
"HOW?!" Simon screamed over the bellows and cries of the ascended as it flopped on the ground, cradling its wrist. I ignored his question and channeled mana into my void pocket ring. I pulled Fours body free from the ascended's hand and gently placed Fours into the pocket dimension.
"Rest in peace Fours…" whispered as I closed the portal then turned to face Caldifax, my brother, and the soldiers all there to kill me.
My farm crystal was still glowing gold, just like it did the day my grandmother died. Only this time it didn't have control over every evo in the area, I didn't feel a connection to all of them either. I did however feel a connection to something else: Hoshi. I looked down at my hip and saw the katana was no longer there. The sash I had made for it was torn, probably ripped off when I was getting stomped on.
'Doesn't matter…' I thought as the Logan and his soldiers all aimed their guns at me.
I channeled accelerate attribute mana throughout my body. Feeling my cells vibrate at speeds that outpaced the world around me, time seemed to slow down to a slight crawl as Logan and all the soldiers fired their weapons. I saw the muzzles of their guns flash as their bullets were pushed out the barrel. The bullets seemed to travel in slow motion as they flew towards me, though there were thousands of them I knew I could easily dodge them.
I stepped forward, each step ringing like a bell inside my head that tolled with a low and dangerous timber. My eyes locked on one person in particular as I moved, Simon Caldifax. I side stepped slow moving bullets, spinning on my heel as I weaved my way around the hailstorm of ammunition. I knew to anyone looking at me it would seem that I was moving too fast to track.
Within five steps I was standing in beside Logan, he too moving in slow motion thanks to my speed. I only spared him a sideways glance before stepping around him and his soldiers, making my way to Simon Caldifax. Simon was standing at the head of the now much smaller platoon of splicers, who were stationed behind the Americans. A look of terror and horror plastered on his face.
I popped my claws and pointed them at his head, the tip of each claw nearly piercing his eyes. I had been feeling a flood of emotions, too many to count, too many to process, so I was pushing it down under a veil of calm. I knew however that veil wasn't going to last much longer and that last shred of rational thought I had left was going to disappear.
"You're getting off easy Caldifax. You won't see this coming…" I muttered then reared my arm back and channeled void attribute mana into my claws along with accelerate. I brought my arm down in a clean arc as I slashed at Caldifax's neck, the black hole infused claws cutting so cleanly not a mark could be seen on his neck. I stopped channeling accelerate attribute mana and time flowed naturally.
"Where did he…?" I heard one of the Americans call out just as several of the splicers in front of me got startled by my sudden appearance in front of them.
"Lord Caldifax watch out!" One of the splicer screamed. I lowered my hand and sheathed my claws. The moment I did Caldifax collapsed, his head rolling towards the Americans at the back of their formation's feet.
"Congratulations one and all, you've managed to do the one thing no one has been able to do, and in doing so...done the one thing nobody should ever do…" I said. My voice was soft and controlled despite the near madness inducing rage I felt bubbling beneath the surface. "…You managed to kill one of my evos and by doing that…YOU MADE ME MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"