'So he can already manage this much...'
Audun frowned slightly.
The Mutilator's power usually required a rather lengthy number of conditions to display its true strength— unfortunately however, the two most important conditions on that list were the easiest ones to fulfill.
One— there must be an abundance of appendages to control.
And two— those limbs must be of good quality.
Back in the Battlefield of Stars, The Mutilator had possessed— without exaggeration— a literal mountain of transcendent body parts.
The cunning creature had dug through the graves of thousands of constellations and killed thousands more to amass a grotesque fortune— and sadly for Audun, Caster seemed to have stumbled upon a small fortune himself.
The many faces of the Crimson Terror flew around the room and embedded themselves within the walls of the spire, each of their eye sockets glowing with faint light.
In an instant, Audun shrouded himself in starlight and Aura, barely able to fully cover himself before—
BOOOM
A blinding flash lit up the room as Audun's body was battered by the annihilating light of the Crimson Terror.
It hadn't hurt him terribly, but it had overwhelmed his senses for a moment— His vision still recovering from the attack.
In that instant of recovery, alarm bells rang in the swordsman's mind as his sixth sense had warned him of another assault.
Thud
A barrier of platinum light promptly appeared in front of him, blocking a large crimson knee from slamming into his face.
Leaping into the air, Audun avoided being grabbed by the right arm of the Terror before lopping the hand off the left— which had tried to slam him down.
The swordsman continued his invocation of the Star of Vocalization, allowing the melody to empower his body while utilizing the Star of Memory to internalize the legacy's attack patterns.
Caster's arms detatched from his body, each of them wielding blades— while his upper body donned a rather grotesque set of new armor.
The blood staining the ground began to rise up and gather around what was left of the legacy's body— solidifying into a sort of barrier that woud prevent Audun from launching any sort of attack on what was essentially his weak point.
Considering the nature of his borrowed power, unless Audun were able to destroy the sleeper's brain or heart, Caster wouldn't truly die.
He'd simply replace the parts that he had lost with new ones.
"We could've talked this out, Audun. It didn't have to be like this."
Caster's head, floating somewhere near the ceiling, called out with a sincere tone.
Audun scoffed.
"Like I'd believe the words of someone who caved to the temptations of a demon."
Caster sighed as he empowered his sword wielding limbs with his aspect, sending them flying towards the swordsman.
"I truly mean it Audun. Considering the power you've shown thus far, your future self would no doubt be quite the formidable force."
Chuckling quietly to himself as he watched Audun easily dodge his assault, Caster continued.
"Bringing someone of your calibur to our side would bring immense honor to my cl—"
Audun barked out a rueful laugh, unable to contain the words escaping his lips.
"Hah! Honor? If you don't understand what that word means, don't bother speaking it."
Swatting aside the combined assault of The Crimson Terror's limbs and Caster's aspect enhanced sword strikes, the swordsman summoned a bow memory.
The Star of Judgment shone with intense light as an arrow forged from pure starlight was nocked onto the bow string.
"Honor isn't meant to be some sort of reward— it's a creed that you pledge yourself to."
Audun let the arrow loose.
BWOOOOM
A dense platinum light assaulted the barrier of blood protecting Caster's main body.
"It's a promise to hold yourself to a higher standard— to remain steadfast and unyielding in the face of impossible odds."
The barrier shattered as Audun dashed forward, the tip of the [Midnight Shard] aimed at Caster's heart.
"Some coward who took a plea deal from a necrophilliac to make his daddy proud doesn't have the qualifications to speak to anyone about honor or glory."
A trace of annoyance bled into Caster's voice as the air began to shimmer with the annihilating light of the terror.
"You're too idealistic, Audun."
The swordsman once again was forced on the backfoot as he shrouded himself with Aura.
"Holding yourself to a higher standard? Remaining steadfast? No— True honor is about recognition."
SHAAAAAAAH
Blasted back by the light, Audun was once again assaulted by the mess of limbs.
"Respect and reverence.... A path to the top— That's what honor is."
Audun sneered as he brandished the [Midnight Shard].
"Get off your high horse you twit. If you think respect and reverence is earned through murdering an innocent girl and contracting with a mass murdering creature of the abyss— then you're delusional."
Amidst the sea of appendadges, a purple radiance began to burn brightly.
Thump Thump Thump Thump
The beating of Audun's heart rang in the air as the vessel containing his aura began to open wider.
"A path to the top my ass. Your brand of honor is nothing more than a construct used to control others."
Caster fell silent as he stared at the swordsman.
The mana in the air was dense enough that even someone like Caster, who had only learned of it's existence recently, could recognize it at a glance.
A small laugh escaped the legacy's lips.
"It seems that we're unable to come to an agreement. What a shame."
Audun shot Caster an annoyed look.
"Like I was ever gonna take a horn-sucking, tail licking, abyss fucker seriously. Let's just finish this up so I don't have to keep smelling your rancid a—"
Before Audun could finish, the light of the Crimson Terror flashed again.
SHAAAAAAAAAAAHH
------------------------
---------------------
-------------
---------
------
---
Sunny and Nephis were currently racing towards the top of the spire.
After Cassie's episode, the seer had fallen unconscious from the mental strain— though not before telling them that their teacher was currently in mortal danger.
While not entirely sure what they could even do to help, they weren't about to sit around and do nothing.
Fortunately however, they didn't have to move very far before the trouble reached them first.
CRASH
With their eyes widening in suprise, the monochrome duo barely managed to jump out of the way as massive boulders came raining down from the ceiling.
Sunny cursed underneath his breath.
"Damnation, what the hell is happening up there?"
Nephis could only spare him a brief glance before she noticed movement with the corner of her eye.
"Sunny! Look—"
THWAP
A purple comet came trailing down from the collapsing ceiling, slamming directly into the child of shadows.
Nephis blinked as Sunny let out a pained groan.
"Audun?"
Quickly getting off his unwilling cusshion, the swordsman scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"That's my bad. Didn't think the floor would cave that easily."
Sunny, having just been ground slammed by his teacher, grimmaced as he gave Audun a quick scan.
Most of his armor had become worn and damaged— marred by charred circular holes that exposed his slightly bruised skin underneath.
While he didn't appear to have any serious wounds on him, this was the most haggard appearance Audun had donned since their escape from the labyrinth.
Both Nephis and Sunny's gazes hardened simultaniously.
"Ah shit, that bastard's coming down."
Blazing purple light lit up the spire as Audun lept from the stairs, clashing with an enormous silhouette in the air.
And to their shock— the swordsman had once again been sent flying back— this time crashing into a wall.
"SUNNY, GET NEPH OUT OF HERE!!!"
BOOOOM
The stairs trembled as the enormous figure slammed down in front of Sunny and Nephis.
Over a hundred faces stared down at the pair, with each slowly forming a grotesque smile.
"Ah, Lady Changing Star. So glad you could join us."
The face in the center— despite being marred by red lines trickling with blood, was one that they were familiar with.
Caster beamed at Nephis, his mouth practically splitting the sides of his face.
Sunny stepped in between the two, a lusterless longsword grasped firmly in his hands.
Frowning slightly, the fused monster raised it's long arm, about to swat the obsidian pest away— but a flash of purple slammed into it before either of the pair could react.
The quartet of stars hovering above Audun's head shone as his realm partially manifested.
Beams of platinum light shot out towards the enormous figure— though not a single one ended up landing.
Dissasembling like a puzzle, the monster split into fragments— with each one dodging as if it had a mind of it's own.
Sunny could only blink as a hand gripped his shoulder.
"Look, I need you and Neph to get the hell out of here now."
Audun gave both sleepers a stern glare.
"That thing isn't something either of you can fight. Instead of standing here in my way— just make sure the rest of the sleepers make it out of here alive."
Sunny swallowed.
"Is that... Caster?"
Audun didn't answer for a moment.
"Barely."
Nephis clenched her fists recalling what Cassie had said before passing out.
'Please! You guys have to help him!'
Nephis gave him a disobedient glare.
"I refuse."
Audun blinked.
"Refuse to what?"
"To leave you behind."
The swordsman snorted.
"Well, I refuse your refusal."
This time Sunny shook his head.
"No, we're not just gonna leave you alone up here! Effie and Kai are leading everyone to the gate as we speak! If we fight whatever that thing is together—"
The fleshy fragments that had been dancing in the air began slowly closing the distance, weaving through the celestial assault.
Audun grimaced.
"Fuck. No time."
Before the two could react, they were shoved off the stairs.
Platinum light glew around them as they were launched towards the ground floor.
A scream built in both of their throats, but the swordsman was no longer paying attention to them.
Letting out one last sigh, Audun slammed into the reformed Caster, destroying the spire wall and thrusting both man and monster into the soul harming light of the sun.
_______________________________________________
(A/N: a few things happened to me over the past two months— so I haven't really been able to update yk
Finals were coming up, and I had to hop back on the summer national grind since this would be my last one, not to mention my parents were having a custody battle over my younger siblings that highkey forced me to find my own place to stay.
While, on the bright side, I have more time to update now— I'll be in japan staying with my grandparents for a little while since I need to figure out my housing situation now that my parents are duking it out, and I don't really know how consistently those updates will end up being.
I still do enjoy writing though, so just know that this fic isn't dropped— I'm just really busy ykyk.
[Btw for some reason grammerly doesn't work on this fuck ass writing software anymore so if you guys see any grammatical or spelling errors just comment and I'll fix it when I get the chance.]
Also here's a little painting from me of Future Audun [Though it's not finished and I'm still a little rusty]
[Here]
See you guys soon!)