Leveling up the World

Even since the countess had set him on the hunt, Dallion had been fearing this moment. To some degree, he knew it was inevitable. Despite her personal feelings, the Overseer was the city’s guardian, and the city belonged to Countess Priscord.

Black tendrils shot from the figure. A few of them flew in March’s direction, though most were aimed at Dallion. The countess’ orders apparently had been very specific. Dallion deliberately let several of his instances to be pierced by the attack, despite the pain, to see how serious the fight was. Without exception, all the instances received critical or terminal wounds. One was even killed outright by an instant decapitation.

It was safe to assume that the countess wasn’t sending a warning.

“I thought she’d give me a day,” Dallion said, infusing spark with his music skills. With luck, this was going to pass through the Overseer’s defenses and infuse her with reluctance and hesitation. “What changed?”

The overseer attacked, yet again, though this time a point attack from March shredded the tendrils coming from her before they could reach half the distance to Dallion. A second point attack followed, though was blocked by part of the wall collapsing in the attack’s path.

Being a city guardian had its advantages—every subsequent area guardian had no choice but to obey what was asked and when there was no guardian, the overseer could take over, just like she had now.

“Pain!” Dallion shouted, adding as much of the sensation as he could in his voice.

All of Vend’s instances suddenly vanished, leaving him grabbing his chest. The pain wasn’t physical, but it was extremely difficult to bear. Also, it affected everyone in the area, people and guardians included.

Faster than the eye could see, March dashed from her position to her lieutenant, grabbing him and tossing him over the wall of the building remains. The landing wasn’t going to be pleasant, but less painful than if he’d continue to take part in the fight.

“You didn’t use that before,” the Overseer said.

“You know who to thank for that.” Each word was infused with spark and weight, building up on the overseer. Establishing a link to the void was impossible, so Dallion changed tactics targeting the human element of the overseer—the woman who at one point had almost been like family, the one who forty years ago had been in love with his grandfather.

“Kraisten said that once, thought not to me. Seems that the cities changed both of you in the end.”

At first, Dallion thought that she was trying to music skills on him. Staying on guard, for several seconds he focused, searching for traces of emotion in the surroundings as well as himself. When no attacks followed, there was only one explanation left: his attacks were having an effect. That was both surprising and unusual. Even upon reaching this level, Dallion wasn’t supposed to have the strength to stand up to a city guardian, not after the city itself had increased a few levels.

I told you you don’t know your own power, Aether said.

You’re doing this?

I’m in your realm. That makes me part of you.

Technically, that wasn’t princely true. While Dallion had moved the skill gem to his own domain, he had done so using the Vermillion ring. The item remained very much an item, completely separate from him in any real sense. Then again, magic was the embodiment of exceptions, so it was quite possible that he’d gained some benefits. Whatever the case, Dallion had no intention of staying long enough to find out.

“March, go!” He said, then leapt to the nearest wall, then made his way towards the empty space that had replaced the roof.

A fountain of void matter emerged from the Overseer in an attempt to cover his exit like an umbrella. One point attack imbued with spark put an end to the attempt, puncturing a hole wide enough for Dallion to comfortably pass through. And just to be on the same side, he turned around and did another point attack in the overseer’s direction.

A bit harsh there, dear boy, Nil commented.

It’ll take more than that to destroy a city, Dallion said. There was no time for hesitation now. If he wanted to survive this, he had to be merciless and decisive.

All of Dallion’s extra instances vanished as he landed on the street. Even so, he didn’t stop running. In the corner of his eye, he managed to see March catching up beside him.

“Head for the main gate,” she shouted. “It’s easier to deal with the standard soldiers than what the countess has put in the walls.”

There was no telling what the last meant, but Dallion decided to take March’s word on it.

“What about Vend?”

“He’s running interference. The entire city guard and the countess’ own army are already out to get you. They’ve only stayed back to give room to the Overseer.”

Flower pots and roof tiles poured down on the street in front of Dallion. What was more, close to a third of his latest batch of instances tripped in holes and chunks of stone. From this moment on, the entire city was actively trying to kill him in any way possible, and succeeding in thirty percent of the cases. March, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any problems whatsoever, despite running a few steps away.

Whatever the countess’ order was, it involved only him, not anyone who could help him. At least for now.

“Let’s just jump over,” Dallion shouted as they approached the city gate.

At the current speed, it was going to take less than five seconds to reach the city’s exit. However, when it came to awakened, five seconds was a long time. A whole platoon of awakened soldiers emerged—not the usual city guards, but the countess’ crack troops. All of them were armed with battle gear. Even with the soldiers wearing blocker items, Dallion could feel the bloodlust of their weapons.

Ruby, are they using illusions? Dallion thought.

Yes, the shardfly replied.

That was all Dallion needed to hear.

Stay put, he ordered.

The same soldiers had been watching him the entire day. The countess had always planned to double-cross him. Something must have pushed her to act sooner than anticipated. With nobles one could never be sure, but this didn’t seem the countess’ style. It was too chaotic, too uncalculated.

Just as Dallion was about to do a point attack, March did it for him. All the soldiers burst into instances, scattering away from the gate. Wood and steel shattered, leaving Dallion plenty of room to slip through.

“Go!” March shouted.

No other words were needed. Dallion knew she’d give him enough time as possible. So far, no one but Dallion was being attacked, though given how quickly nobles changed their minds, nothing could be taken for granted.

“I owe you,” Dallion shouted, running into the field area of Nerosal.

The only thing that separated him from freedom was the outer wall. However, as Dallion knew, every good hunter set the trap before poking the prey. It could be said that he had escaped two attempts till now, but that only furthered his concern. A few seconds later, he was proven right.

An entire legion of soldiers was waiting for him, placed on the inside of the second gate. The soldiers weren’t as elite as the ones Dallion had just passed though, but they were over level fifty.

That’s a bit much for a single awakened, Nil said. Even if it’s you.

I guess that means that she knows. Dallion stopped about a thousand feet from the countess’ legion. And the only way for her to know is for the Star to have told her. He’s really throwing everything at me. That must mean he’s vulnerable.

Assumptions have been the downfall of many, dear boy.

Only those who can’t back it up.

“Dallium Darude,” the soldier in front said. Judging by his ornate armor, it was safe to assume he was the one in charge. “You’ve been declared an enemy of the county. Surrender and your life will be spared.”

“Funny.” It was obvious that the man was lying. “I’ll make you a counteroffer. Let me go through and you’ll live.”

This was the first time Dallion had made such a threat. The scary part was that it came naturally. Not only did he intend to do so, but he was already using his music skills to spread as much fear as he could.

Several of the soldiers glanced at each other. Some of them might have reacted if the tension wasn’t broken by the sound of slow clapping.

A man walked out of the guard station at the gate and made his way forward. It didn’t take long for Dallion to see the person who really was in charge: the noble who’d tried to stop him from taking Diroh here.

“So believable,” the noble said. “You have me convinced for a moment. But then I remembered that the only thing you’re good at is bluffing.”

“Wasn’t one round enough?”

The noble laughed. Unlike the soldiers, he wasn’t wearing any armor. Dallion couldn’t even see any weapon on him. Most likely, he was confident in the combined strength of the soldiers.

“You’re not even a noble.”

“I don’t have to be.” Dallion concentrated. It was time for another first. “Did you think that I wouldn’t learn new tricks?”

Every word combined music skills with zoology and herbology. The plants in the fields around ruffled, filling the air with pollen.

“All this time, I’ve been careful to play by the rules and people like you kept meddling in,” he continued. A series of new sounds were added to the rustling, the sounds of field critters. “So many things I could have done, but chose not to.”

Slowly, the soldiers stepped back as birds, mice, and other animals rushed towards them. Killing one or even a hundred presented no challenge, but tens of thousands were a different matter.

“And now that I’m an enemy of the county, I don’t have to.” Dallion drew his harpsisword.

Waves of creatures swarmed forward, each driven to attack without fear of their own safety. Some of the soldiers tried to fight them off, but they found an unusual number of clumsiness and bad luck had befallen them. Weapons would slip out of their grip, armor elements would snap off... even combat splitting couldn’t be relied on. And amidst all that chaos, Dallion calmly walked forward.

“Do you really want a round two?” He looked the noble in the eyes.

It took only a few seconds for the man to run off.

If he had gone at you, he could have won, Nil said as Dallion continued forward. All of them might have.

Dallion didn’t reply. Less than a hundred feet separated him from freedom. The moment he stepped out of the door, he’d be in the wilderness, where neither the Overseer, nor the countess would have any power over him.

Twice Dallion tapped the blade of the harpsisword in the side of his boot, ready in case the Overseer decided to appear. Two steps away from the threshold, she finally did.

“I can’t let you go, Dal,” she said in a calm voice. “I don’t have a choice.”

“I know. But the countess does.” Dallon stopped. “Every plan and creature in the city will go on a brainless rampage, as will the item guardians. You might control the area, but not its contents.”

“You’re not strong enough to command that many animals.”

“I am. I’ve had each one spread my music skills on. It’s a thing that’ll only work once, but it’ll be enough to display weakness—the noble who aimed to become an Archduke losing her own capital. She should have waited.”

“The countess knows what you’ve got, Dal. She’ll hunt you down.”

“She won’t, but she’s welcome to. I’ve no interest in her, just the Star. Unless she wants to fall along with him, she’ll let me go.”

For several long seconds, Dallion and Overseer remained, facing one another. Then the Overseer stepped aside, letting him pass.

“Thanks.” Dallion walked past. Behind him, the swarms of creatures slowly started losing their aggressiveness. The offer had been accepted, but had earned Dallion a rather dangerous enemy.