[Outer-Sector: Outskirts of Corzox]
"Huff... Huff...", panted the exhausted Dragon King Varcielle. His body bruised and battered. His eyes swollen and bleeding. His hands were sore and his mind was weary. His chest heaved as his wings flapped tenaciously.
He kept glaring at [Hermes] in his mighty draconian form. [Hermes] stood alone in their fight surrounded by Varcielle's clones, grinning. [Hermes] was fast, exceptionally fast. Varcielle kept healing himself using [Reconstruction] but his recovery could not keep up with [Hermes'] relentless attacks.
He lost count of how many time [Hermes] had ripped his heart out, how many times he had torn his wings apart. He could not keep count of how many times [Hermes] had struck his head, concussing it. [Hermes] was fast, too fast for him to keep up. But Varcielle had no choice. He had to confront [Hermes], for he was the only one among his people who could do it. Varcielle was the one who stood between his people and their utter annihilation. He desperately clung on to his life.
To make things worse, many invaders had already gathered at the border of [Corzox]. But none were too keen to begin their attack. Varcielle knew if this continued, he would fall eventually. He knew if he failed to lure in the invaders, his strategy would fail and his home would be doomed. For this reason he continued to fight.
Varcielle and his clones tried to encircle [Hermes], they tried to trap him in. [Hermes] kept evading them, tricking them with his afterimages. Varcielle unleashed several beams of pure energy, only for them to be deflected by [Hermes]. Several mutated arms sprouted from Varcielle's body as he grabbed [Hermes], desperately trying to restrain him. His clones also grabbed onto [Hermes], as they successfully encircled him.
[Hermes] looked at the pathetic state Varcielle was in, he sighed.
"Just stop.", [Hermes] told Varcielle, with an apathetic tone. "Your struggle is futile. You cannot harm me, you know it. You have no means of harming a concept, of harming an [Incarnation] from [MYRIAD]. In fact, you have no means of harming any member from any Supreme Faction."
Gazing upon Varcielle's resolute face, [Hermes] sighed. He broke free from Varcielle's grasp and grabbed his throat. The clones still held on to him. But [Hermes] just ignored them, for even if he killed them new clones would sprout from their dead remains.
"I grow tired of this.", he continued, glaring at Varcielle. "I know you have sensed the presence of other invaders gathered here. I know you have sensed the Demons from [HELL] as well. Surrender yourself to [MYRIAD], tell your people to stop. And I shall ensure no harm will come to them or to you. In exchange, the [Outer-Sector] will no longer exist, the [Source] will be unraveled. But you and your people will survive. It will all be good as long as you get to live another day."
Varcielle ignored [Hermes] as he charged his breath and unleashed another beam of energy upon [Hermes'] face. Varcielle escaped from [Hermes'] grasp by dislodging his neck and tearing it apart from his body. Simultaneously, Varcielle's clones lunged towards [Hermes] with their maws wide open, snapping and biting him.
Varcielle quickly healed his neck, as he saw his clones biting, snapping, slashing and grabbing [Hermes] as they encircled him.
"ENOUGH!!!", [Hermes] roared, as he destroyed every clone encircling him with sheer speed. New clones sprouted from the dead remains of the old ones. [Hermes] heaved in frustration. As he was about to lunge towards Varcielle, he heard an immense roar.
RRRAAARRRGGH!!!
He turned his head only to see huge boulder heading his way. Clenching his fist, he casually struck the boulder. It shattered in a peculiar manner. The boulder broke into many slabs, held in place by by an array of intricate pale blue constructs. These slabs arranged themselves around Hermes, effectively encircling him.
Right as [Hermes] had shattered the boulder Akelus lunged from behind, striking a punch on his face. [Hermes] crashed onto one of the stone slabs that encircled him.
[Hermes] got back up, his patience wearing thin. He glared at the masked Akelus.
"And.. who might you be?", he asked searing with frustration.
"Kid Now!!!", Akelus instructed Xylus, telepathically.
"Mijar Al Valtoruk!", Xylus invoked the Guardian.
An ominous spectral aura shrouded Akelus' robes along with his weapon, the Stygian Blade. The Spectral aura seeped into the pale blue constructs inverting their color to flaming orange.
Akelus remained silent, hovering in place. He was waiting for Hermes to make the first move. His eyes were gleaming brightly.
An azure silhouette outlined [Hermes], highlighting him-
Akelus had used [Pathfinder] on [Hermes]:
[Pathfinder] is Akelus' innate ability that helps him perceive and analyze the influence that any entity has over him. This includes the influence of Gods, angels, demons, giants, so on and so forth. [Pathfinder] enables Akelus to see the world for what it truly was, a bunch of patterns and sequences. This innate ability revealed the collective influence [Yggdrasil] had over him. Akelus subconsciously perceived these influences analyzed by [Pathfinder] in the form of sigils, markings and arrows.
The arrows demonstrated the path of how different sequences for a situation would play out. The sigils portrayed how a scenario would affect him. Markings showed which areas, spots or points would trigger the sequence. The colors define how favorable a situation or an influence of an entity is towards Akelus. Generally, gold would mean ideal, red means dangerous, grey means inconsequential, black means demise. The interpretation of these colors can be vague and outcomes are not absolute. The colors heavily rely on how a situation escalates or de-escalates and the outcome of a scenario highlighted by [Pathfinder] will only occur, if Akelus triggers the sequence of arrows, markings or sigils displayed by [Pathfinder].
Now, after his ascension Akelus could perceive how other entities got collectively influenced by [Yggdrasil]. He could read and analyze the sequence of their actions, he could see the outcome of a situation as well as the pattern it would follow. Akelus was the only one who could perceive these markings, arrows and sigils through [Pathfinder]. Hence, he could anticipate and prepare for an action before [Hermes] even considered thinking about it. That was his primary advantage over [Hermes], unmatched perception.
Therefore, as Akelus used [Pathfinder] on [Hermes] several marks appeared around Akelus. There were many red marks and few were gold. The red marks showed Akelus where [Hermes] would have trouble escaping his formation, while the gold marks showed Akelus where [Hermes] would most likely try to escape from. And according to these markings Akelus rapidly kept re-arranging the stone slabs around him, in order to successfully encapsulate both him and [Hermes].
After the array of constructs had successfully encircled [Hermes], Akelus quickly rearranged them further into several concentric rings that were assembled together forming a sphere around the two [Incarnations]. The arrangement of each ring resembled a roulette wheel. Akelus and [Hermes] were at the center of the formation. Each construct had a corresponding sigil assigned to it by [Pathfinder] that constantly kept changing it's color based on [Hermes'] intentions of attacking or retreating. Akelus kept moving the stone slabs accordingly, in a peculiar manner. Whenever a sigil turned gold in the formation, Akelus would quickly make a stone slab jump to that construct by warping it through a series of consecutive constructs. From outside, it appeared as if the concentric rings of the formation were rotating instead of the stone slabs. This formed the outer perimeter of the formation, which prevented [Hermes] from escaping.
One thing to note about the outer perimeter of this formation was that, there were some empty constructs that did not hold any stone slabs. These constructs served the sole purpose of transporting stone slab across boundary of the formation, making it semi-permeable.
Second part of the formation was the interior which utilized the reserve stone slabs that were not used at the boundary of the formation, a construct was assigned to every reserve stone slab. These slabs were held by the constructs in a periodic manner forming a lattice, which were heavily concentrated around Akelus. This acted as his primary mode of defense against [Hermes] within the stone slab formation. Each construct inside the formation was connected by an extremely thin yet visible strings of Golden Qi, all of them snugly coiled around Akelus' body. There were some empty constructs in this lattice as well. Akelus set this formation up right as [Hermes] reoriented himself.
The lattice of constructs within the stone slab formation sprung to life as they started moving in a bizarre fashion. The extremely thin yet visible strings of Golden Qi that connected every construct within the lattice together, started spinning in a circular manner. This caused each construct to revolve around each other in pairs. In one half of the revolution, the constructs would grab stone slabs from the previous constructs and in the second half of the revolution, delivering the same stone slab to the consecutive constructs. The Golden Qi String linking the constructs together elongated and contracted randomly. This action kept randomly rearranging the stone slabs that were held by the constructs around Akelus and collectively formed a protective layer around him.
This formation was constructed within a fraction of a second and it collectively amplified the use of Akelus' exceptional perception while limiting [Hermes'] speed.
[Hermes] straightened himself up, keenly gazing at the ever-shifting slab formation around him.
"How much more time to decipher the location of the [Source]?", he telepathically communicated with Phobos.
"It's almost done.", Phobos replied.
Akelus unleashed his presence at [Hermes], shrouded and hidden by the ominous spectral light and Xylus' primeval energy. He held the Stygian Blade against [Hermes], taunting him to strike. His eyes were gleaming brightly hidden behind the Jester Mask, his body brimming with anticipation.
Akelus used [Pathfinder] on himself while simultaneously locking onto [Hermes] with it, an azure silhouette highlighted them both.
[Hermes] glared at the arrogant figure hovering before him. He then steadily hovered towards Akelus. With a burst of movement he charged at Akelus, simultaneously unleashing his presence.
Several sigils appeared around Akelus, each sigil was assigned to a construct of the lattice inside the stone-slab formation. Some were grey, some were red. There was a black trail of arrows between [Hermes] and Akelus. Ending with a sigil that marked Akelus, shrouding him in an extremely pitch-black hue.
Akelus channeled his energy into the Golden Qi Strings that had coiled around his body, assuming control of the formation. The formation now directly responded to Akelus' thoughts without any lag or delay. The inner lattice of the Stone Slab formation rapidly re-arranged itself, immediately swapping Akelus out with a stone slab in his place. Likewise, [Hermes] also changed the trajectory of his attack following Akelus' switch in position. This caused the trail of black arrows between Akelus and [Hermes] to shift in it's trajectory accordingly.
Consequently, the colors of the sigils assigned to the constructs of the inner lattice of the Stone slab formation changed accordingly. Akelus through his mind, quickly re-arranged the Stone slabs of the inner lattice haphazardly along the Black trail of arrows between him and [Hermes]. [Hermes] tried to ram through these slabs but the constructs containing the slabs dispelled most of the impact from the attack, leaving the stones intact. [Hermes] groaned in frustration as he made his way towards Akelus while avoiding the slabs.
"How long till communications are back up?", Akelus inquired Bangshou, his Dice Spirit.
"The robes are almost repaired sir, Communications will be back up soon.", Bangshou replied.
Akelus still had the pitch black mark hovering over his head, warning him of his impending doom. He calmly looked at his formation where the sigils constantly switched colors, he then looked at [Hermes] who was relentlessly charging at him.
[Hermes] was well within the inner lattice of the Stone Slab Formation now. With all the stone slabs teeming around him constantly rearranging themselves to obstruct [Hermes], these slabs were effectively slowing him down. Under Akelus' precise control and forethought, the slabs could be positioned to abruptly intercept [Hermes] by anticipating his moves before he even considered them.
"Then Shou, you know what to do.", Akelus commanded, as Bangshou the Dice Spirit latched onto one of the Qi strings coiling around Akelus and rapidly made his way towards the Dragon King Varcielle.
[Hermes] was slowly losing initiative in this chase as Akelus kept intercepting [Hermes] with slabs while distancing himself. Akelus kept moving in a irregular manner, while deliberately leaving an open trail between him and [Hermes]. [Hermes] consequently picked up on that trail in pursuit of Akelus.
But, [Hermes] never managed to get close to Akelus due to the slab formation.
Meanwhile, Bangshou managed reach Varcielle who was rooted in place catching his breath.
"I am Bangshou, good sir.", The spirit spoke as He latched onto Varcielle, his voice echoing inside Varcielle's head. "And we can help you with your current Dilemma. There is no time to spare now, My good lord Akelus is in dire need of your help. We can deliberate about the why's and how's later. Currently, all you need to know is that our interests align. So what do you say?"
Varcielle gazed at the bizarre slab formation, his eyes turned resolute. Without saying a word he sped towards the formation.
"I presume that we have agreement, then.", mused Bangshou, as he relayed a message back to Akelus. "The Dragon king has locked onto [Hermes], oh Great Master."
"Good, monitor him in battle. Intervene when necessary.", responded Akelus, who was still being chased by [Hermes]. But, [Hermes] was struggling to keep track of Akelus who kept evading him in a peculiar manner. He felt as if his movements were being directed by Akeus. He couldn't seem to power through the stone slabs that kept abruptly obstructing him, they simply dispelled the brunt of his attack. And, it seemed as if these slabs could anticipate and prepare for any move he would make. All he could do was fly along the open trail left behind by Akelus, and this frustrated him a lot. Even though he could chase after Akelus, he simply could not lock onto him.
Meanwhile, Varcielle and his clones had almost approached the Slab Formation.
Akelus calm and resolute, allowed Varcielle and his clones to enter the Slab Formation. [Hermes] was fuming in frustration.
"Fuck...", Hermes groaned, as he saw Varcielle glaring at him. "This is bad."
Once inside, Varcielle vigorously generated a huge amount of clones, while lunging at [Hermes]. His clones spread across the formation, as they kept multiplying in numbers.
[Hermes] was getting desperate. He was losing his grip over this fight. He was getting countered by Akelus and Varcielle. He wasn't able to suppress Akelus who had him trapped within the Slab formation and fighting Varcielle was a deadlock because of his clones and terrific vitality. Akelus opened the shortest paths for Varcielle and his clones towards [Hermes] within the slab formation, while simultaneously impeding [Hermes'] movement and speed.
Varcielle and his clones intercepted [Hermes] and locked him down in battle. With this [Hermes] couldn't keep track of Akelus anymore. He couldn't see Akelus, he couldn't chase Akelus.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Akelus quickly moved out of the inner lattice of the formation.
"Sir the communications are back up, the robe is fixed.", Bangshou prompted. "Re-Establishing commune with [The Covenant]. Established. We are good to go, oh Great Master."
With a devious smirk, Akelus spoke in pure ecstasy:
"Good, Good... All pieces are falling in place."
"Adrian", Akelus spoke in a resolute tone. There was telepathic static crackle, but no response.
Akelus took a deep breath and spoke again.
"Adrian can you here me?"
"Yes, Yes, Yes we can hear you", there was a response. Adrian frantically replied, as he sighed in relief.
"I have a way in.", Akelus replied, pausing for a moment.
"But there is an issue.", Akelus continued, with a frustrated tone. "For some reason I am fighting Hermes."
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