Leveling up the World

Chapter 770: Chainling Combat

Music, Dallion thought as he slashed at a chainling ten feet away.

The harpsisword vibrated during the attack, sending strands of sound at its target. There was no longer the need for Dallion to hold it like a guitaronce he had freed his mind to the possibilities, the number of options had exploded.

The strands barely made contact with the void matter that composed the entity, but during that moment, the spark was able to cause significant damage. From the side, it seemed as if the sword was sending out bolts of lightning.

CRITICAL STRIKE

Damage has been increased by 200%

A purple rectangle popped up for a moment before swiftly fading away.

Keeping up his momentum, Dallion twisted in the air, slashing the space with his aura sword. Spell circles emerged as he did, sending a rain of projectiles at the already stunned target.

Jets of void matter shot out from the chainling, in a desperate attempt to form a protective bubble of blackness around it. While some of the aether projectiles were swallowed by the sticky surface, the rest ripped through, causing holes in the creature behind.

Shrieks filled the air. No longer aiming to attack, the being pulled back in its attempt to flee. However, it was already too late. Combining a slight spell with a speed symbol, Dallion thrusted towards his enemy, slicing him in two with a spark infused line strike.

CONTRADICTION

(+2 Body, +2 Mind)

Spark and magic generally dont mix. Thats why using them both in battle is such a sight.

The achievement bled through into reality thanks to Dallions magic trait. It remained slightly concerning seeing awakened elements in the real world, though the rush of adrenaline drowned that fear, making him ready for more.

Are you the new Star candidates? Dallion asked, twisting around in the air, avoiding the multitude of tentacles that shot at him.

The attackers initial attempt had been to surround him on all sides, then tighten the loop, leaving him to defend against attacks from every direction. There were a few moments during which the distance between them had been uneven, and that proved more than enough for Dallion to focus and destroy one of the trio. The unfortunate creature had mistakenly believed that the otherworlder was attempting to escape, and moved further forward to prevent him from doing so. As was evident, that had turned out to be a mistake.

Swords danced in front of Dallion, combining spark and magic. The harpsisword slashed through the black tentacles, while the aura sword cast dozens of spellsin this case, aether barriersbehind it.

Are you even hopefuls? Dallion added some music threads to his voice as he spoke. After all, it wasnt only objects that could be imbued with spark. His entire body overflowed with it. Or are you just hired help sent by Grym to stop me?

Bolts of lightning flew out of his mouth, zapping at the chainling pair. These two were a lot better prepared, easily topping his attacks with their shifting void matter.

A bolt wrapped in blue flames split the air, hitting one of the chainlings straight in the back of the head. Although far less efficient than Dallion, Lux, too, had joined in the fight. Following its masters orders, the guardian would keep its distance, shooting its single bolt at the entities. Usually, the blue flame had allowed the bolt to pierce through void matter, then fly back. Not this time, though.

Careful, Lux. Dallion immediately severed the link between the bladebow bolt and his realm. We dont want a realm invasion.

From all his time spent as a hunter, Dallion knew to always focus on the most scared prey. There was a time when he thought that to be counterintuitive, but as he had seen when it came to real life, time was always of greatest importance.

Coating his sword with spark, Dallion thrust it into the black form of the chainling. Eyes appeared all over the creatures surface, moving wildly in pain.

Vibrate, Dallion whispered. The blade of his harpsisword reacted. The spark protecting it from the effects of the void, it ate through the entity within a fraction of a second, causing it to burst like a water balloon. Blotches of void matter splashed onto Dallion, attempting one final attack. The protective coating of magic threads quickly incinerated them before they could do any harm. It was one-on-one now.

Briskly, Dallion turned around. He expected an attack to greet him, but that didnt happen. In fact, there was no trace of the last creature.

Lux, any idea where the last one went? Dallion split into instances.

If this were a forest or even a hilly area, he could accept the chainling dashing out of view. In the probably flattest place in the world, that seemed exceedingly unlikely.

Its nowhere, boss, the firebird replied.

It cant be nowhere. Flying higher up, Dallion used his magic layer vision to examine the ground for magic threads. Like in most of the wilderness, they were pretty much non-existent. It was quite possible for the chainling to have gone underground. For all Dallion knew, it could be running away right now. If that were the case, he would be rather pleased. Unfortunately, something told him that it wasnt over.

Waving his aura blade along a circular arc, he cast thirty aether blade circles, each raining dozens of purple weapons onto the ground below. Such weak attacks were by no means capable of doing any damage whatsoever, but with a bit of luck they could stir things up, causing the chainling to react.

Seconds passed. Dallion waited for the spells to end, then examined the ground again.

Any advice you can give me, Harp? he asked.

Dont leave yourself unguarded, the nymph replied. She sounded slightly taken aback by the fashion in which the chainlings had approached as well. One of the key principles of the world was that while in an awakened realm, time in the real world remained still. Having an exception changed everything to its core.

Have you seen anything of the sort before?

No. Never.

A chill passed down Dallions spine. Could it be that he was too late and Adzorg had already completed his device? If that were the case, there was nothing anyone could do. At best, all existing mages could gather together and establish a city in the sky. Once again, the cloud forts would become the only places of civilization, while the land was overrun by Starspawn and cultists.

Youre not too late, Harp said in a calming fashion. If the void had broken through, there would be no sky.

Thats a relief. And yet, if three creatures had managed to achieve what they had, others would as well. Maybe it was safe to avoid entering realms for a while, at least until he figured out what was going on.

Suddenly, a cone of void matter burst up from the ground. It was no more than fifty feet highnowhere near to reaching Dallion. Alas, it didnt emerge alone. A hand of stone, the size of a town, followed, breaking through the ground as if it was the crust of a pie.

Bursting into Instances, Dallion flew further up, observing the scene from sixty different perspectives.

A second hand shot out some half a mile from the first. Both extended upwards, then slammed down, grabbing hold of the barren earth.

Oh crap, Dallion whispered. Before his very eyes, a colossus was pulling itself out of the soil, and not the human-sized variety either. The only times Dallion had seen anything similar were during his awakened trials. The difference was that in this fight, he wouldnt be getting any assistance from the Moons.