The Beginning After the End: Book 7: Divergence

by TurtleMe

  Elijah snarled as mana gathered around his lower face. Black fire roared from his mouth as he bellowed like a dragon. The hellfire grew stronger as it approached, consuming the black spikes as fuel.

  I was about to initiate Static Void to maneuver past the black fire, close the distance, and finish it cleanly from behind. Even if I couldn’t land a killing blow, I could injure him heavily enough to change the tide of battle.

  But Sylvie’s voice screamed in my mind. ‘Arthur, the gate!’

  Sharing our thoughts, I could sense Sylvie shifting back into her draconic form while Tess, Madam Astera, and Nyphia fought off the remaining Alacryan soldiers.

  Trusting her, I held my ground and released Thunderclap Impulse. The tinge of electricity around my body faded and I pushed my mana into my next attack, holding my sword close to my body with its tip pointed at the approaching fire. White fire ignited along the blade, shining like liquid pearl as I imbued more and more mana into the weapon to fuel my attack.

  A concentrated blast of pure mana shot out from behind me, enveloping Elijah completely and interrupting his continued expulsion of the dark fire. The hellblaze he’d already conjured no longer grew in size, but continued its fast approach.

  Gathering as much power into my spell as I could, I waited until the last moment before thrusting my sword forward, releasing the white flame with a burst of cold that covered my clothes in frost and froze the ground around me.

  A swirling cone of white frostfire ripped out of my sword and clashed against the raging black inferno.

  The resulting shockwave of force pushed me backwards even as I used wind magic to try and keep myself steady. The golden blade of my sword shattered from the stress of conjuring the spell, but my frostfire ate away at his hellfire until both spells were gone.

  Is everyone okay? I asked my bond.

  ‘Yes. No one was hurt… on our side.’

  I glanced back to see the scope of the damage from Elijah’s spell. The black fire hadn’t been able to move past me, but the spikes reached all the way to the teleportation gate. All around the gate, the bodies of the Alacryan guards hung from the black spikes like ghastly fruit.

  Can you guys reach the portal? I asked.

  ‘No. I can break the black spikes but even then, it’ll take some time to make it to where the portal was buried.’

  I needed to get Sylvie, Tess, Madam Astera, and Nyphia away from the battle, but if I used a spell powerful enough to clear the forest of black spikes, I might also destroy the teleportation gate. But I couldn’t just wait for more Alacryans—perhaps even a retainer or Scythe—to show up while we tried to fish the gate out.

  Suddenly, a blast of black fire exploded into view from the crater where Elijah was.

  With a hand clad in frostfire, I parried the sphere of hellfire, deflecting it into a nearby building, causing the entire structure to collapse. The fire ate away at the rubble, growing larger until everything was consumed.

  Elijah walked out of the crater, apparently unharmed.

  “Who are you?” I asked, thinking about his first words to me.

  Elijah sneered, an expression I couldn’t recall seeing on his face before. “You’re smarter than that. I guess the years of living comfortably in this world have made you soft.”

  Elijah lifted his hands, but before his spell could manifest, I was already within arm’s reach of his face.

  Weaponless, I swung my wind-infused fist downward. Another black spike jutted out to protect Elijah’s face from my blow, but I didn’t stop. With wind propelling my swing and pure mana strengthening the force of my blow, I crushed through the damned spike and landed the punch right on Elijah’s jaw.

  The sound of crashing thunder resounded through the streets from the impact of my blow, and Elijah’s body was buried into the ground.

  “You’re not Elijah, so I’m going to ask this one more time. Who the hell are you?”

  Elijah stood back up from the hole his body had created in the ground. His jaw had been shattered and most of his teeth were gone, but smoky black embers were burning across his face, and the injuries that he had sustained were recovering.

  Of course he has regenerative abilities, I thought, grimacing at the pain radiating from my fractures knuckles.

  My frustration grew as scores of Alacryan soldiers came rushing towards us from both sides. If things progressed like this, I’d have to fight hundreds of soldiers as well as Elijah.

  “Arthur!” Tessia yelled from behind me. Sylvie and Tess were running towards where I stood.

  “Stay back!” I roared, my voice carrying an otherworldly power as Realmheart Physique’s effects grew stronger. I released an arc of lightning at Elijah before he could fully recover, trying to keep him down in the crater.

  ‘Elijah won’t kill Tessia,’ Sylvie thought. ‘He could’ve killed her multiple times before we arrived but he didn’t.’

  There are more Alacryans coming. It’s still too dangerous—just get her out of here!

  Sylvie’s anger exploded like a hot iron in my brain.

  ‘No! Why must you always go about life-threatening situations on your own! I am your partner, not some gopher to escort your princess to safety.’

  Sylvie, please, I pleaded. I couldn’t let either of them get hurt, and Sylvie knew that.

  ‘We fight together, and we get out of this together,’ she said resolutely, her uneasiness leaking through our connection.

  Realizing it was no good, I shifted my gaze to Madam Astera. A deep crimson aura encased her sword as she and Nyphia slowly but surely began hacking down the hundreds of black spikes that stood between us and the teleportation gate.

  Damn it, Sylvie. Fine, you and Tess keep the Alacryans away. We just need to hold out until the others can make a path to the portal.

  ‘Good plan.’

  “Elijah” and I were roughly equal in terms of power. I was faster and stronger physically, but he was more than able to make up for it using the black spike magic that Uto had used, alongside an even more powerful black fire—the same magic that the Scythe who killed Elder Buhnd had used.

  I dashed towards Elijah. Friend or not, I needed to stop him.

  Seeing me approach, Elijah conjured another volley of obsidian spears and fired them at me.

  I can do this, I thought. Elijah’s control over the black spikes and the speed with which they were formed wasn’t on the level of Uto, and I had gotten much stronger since my fight against him.

  With mana pumping through my veins and coalesced around my body, I easily dodged the spears, keeping my movements minimal. Then a wave of black fire shot out from Elijah’s palms.

  Not willing to waste mana on confronting the hellfire head on, I leapt over it.

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see the fight going at the edge of the crater. Golden lights flashed from Sylvie’s attacks while tendrils of green whirled and whipped around Tessia.

  Comforted by the fact that they were holding their own despite the overwhelming numbers against them, I focused on my opponent.

  Rather than going for raw power like Elijah, I used my mana efficiently. Still in the air, I coalesced different attributes together to form several condensed bullets of varying colors. With a burst of blue fire, aided by wind magic, the five bullets shot through the air, visible as streaks of light like multicolored lasers.

  Three were blocked by the black spikes, but one grazed his leg and another hit him squarely in his arm, burning a hole through his limb.

  I landed in a forward run, frost accumulating around my arm as I closed in on my opponent.

  “You’re no match for me in this world, Grey,” Elijah snarled as he jumped backwards and conjured a thin layer of smoke around him.

  With Realmheart active, I could tell that this spell was similar to the very first retainer that I had fought, who was able to conjure and manipulate deadly toxins and poisons.

  “Don’t let that gas touch you!” Tess shouted from the edge of the cra
ter.

  The gas wove together and snapped out like a serpent striking at its prey.

  Skidding to a stop, I used the ice-attuned mana surrounding my arms and slashed at the air. A shimmering crescent-shaped blade of white fire tore free from my swing, cutting through the air and leaving a trail of frost in its path.

  The spell sliced through the snake-like formation, freezing it solid. The icy crescent nicked Elijah in the shoulder, leaving behind a patch of blue-white ice, which immediately began spreading, freezing his left arm.

  Elijah thrust his right palm forward. Four black spikes erupted from the ground around me, only two of which I managed to avoid. One had pierced through my ankle and the other grazed my side.

  I buckled, unable to support myself on the injured ankle. Meanwhile, Elijah’s arms, one frozen and another with a charred hole through it, were both healing.

  Damn it! He can heal so fast, he’s willing to sacrifice his limbs just to give me injuries.

  My wounds were healing as well, but the spikes that had pierced through me were coated in poison, and it was interfering with my own regenerative abilities.

  I looked for an opening to use Static Void once more—I needed to end this soon—but Elijah seemed to be conscious of my abilities. He had positioned spikes around himself in such a way that I couldn’t get into direct range without him being able to react. His black fire directly countered many of my spells, while his spikes were able to conduct and redirect my lightning.

  His weakness was hand-to-hand combat, but he was shrewd. Elijah was playing a game of tactics, keeping me in range while slowly whittling me down despite my superior speed and strength.

  I have to assume that his mana pool is greater than mine, based on the amount of magic he has thrown around. If I want to win this fight soon, I need more power.

  I struggled to think of a plan. I wasn’t sure what I could throw at him that he couldn’t counter, and he didn’t need to defeat me, only to keep me here until reinforcements arrived. As my mind whirled, a cool and comforting sensation resonated from my core. It was from Sylvia’s dragon will.

  It told me to let it take control—Sylvia told me to let her take control.

  252

  His Name

  Frustration, anxiety, doubt, and fear—all of those emotions faded as a shroud of black lightning crackled around me. I let myself sink deeper into the cold embrace of Realmheart; the feeling reminded me of Lord Indrath, Sylvie’s grandfather. He had that lofty, detached air around him, as if he wasn’t a part of this world but above it. I started to realize why.

  As aether continued to coalesce around me, weaving its ethereal tendrils into my body, I could see the runes spreading and connecting with one another along my arms. I felt calloused—numb—as the power from Sylvia’s dragon will flowed freely for the first time. It was an intoxicating feeling.

  I was a king in my previous life, and I stood as one of the pinnacles of strength on the continent of Dicathen in this life, but what I felt now was true—divine—power.

  ‘Arthur! Stop! You’re hurting yourself,’ Sylvie begged, but I pushed her fears aside. I was tired of losing battle after battle. Uto, Cylrit, the Scythe—I had lost to them all.

  Not today, especially not against this fraud who had possessed the body of my closest friend.

  The tendrils of lightning shifted in color as they coiled around my body. I could see the aether being drawn to me, turning the black lightning a dark, dark purple.

  ‘Arthur!’ Sylvie roared, her voice farther away now.

  Confident and ready, I took a step. The earth shattered beneath my feet, and I found myself standing behind Elijah, although he was still looking at where I had stood before.

  I extended an arm and the aetheric lightning shot out like a whip. Elijah barely managed to shift his black spears in the way of my attack, but he flew back from the impact, crashing into the side of the crater where Sylvie and Tess fought the Alacryan soldiers.

  Taking another step, I cleared the distance in an instant and hung in the air above him. The shroud of lightning around me lashed out in all directions, arcing and forking towards the Alacryans closest to me and piercing through their armor and bodies as if they were made of paper.

  Several Alacryans retaliated with spells of their own, but the blasts of fire and shards of ice and stone shattered against the lightning protecting me.

  My eyes gazed down at the hundreds of Alacryans looking up at me like a god.

  ‘...hurting... sto—’ My brows furrowed in annoyance. Couldn’t she see what I was capable of now? I could stop them. I could kill them all.

  Suddenly a black inferno roared outward, enveloping me in a shadowy vortex.

  The shroud of lightning and aether around me grew, striking out at the whirling darkness. Embers clung to the lightning tendrils, some sticking to my body, but they didn’t bother me.

  With another thought, the shroud of lightning was replaced by a nimbus of purple-white fire tinged with aether. The black fire sizzled out of existence at the frostfire’s touch.

  I made a slashing motion with my arms and a ripple of white flames undulated outward, freezing and shattering everything in its path. With another flick of my wrist, a pulse of white aetheric fire burst forth, engulfing Elijah. He was smashed back into the frozen ground. As the mist and dust subsided, I could see him again, clothes and hair disheveled, arms crossed over his face, and the remains of frozen black spikes scattered around him.

  He looked back up at me, brows furrowed, sweat beading on his forehead… biting his lower lip in a grimace.

  A twinge of remorse burrowed through the veil of apathy that hung over me at the familiar sight. Elijah looked so familiar, yet so unfamiliar at the same time. Why?

  The question fell away as soon as it formed. It didn’t matter. I needed to defeat him… to kill him, if I could. He was too dangerous to live.

  As more and more of Sylvia’s dragon will flowed out of my core and through my veins, the old dragon’s voice became clearer. Memories of my time with her in that cave began to surface, and I began to trust in that voice more and more.

  I let the otherworldly power take control over my body and my mind—whatever it took to kill Elijah and get Tess and Sylvie to safety.

  Had I broken through past the white core stage? Was this Sylvia’s message to me—to destroy anyone who posed a risk to those precious to me?

  That had to be it. Why else would I be hearing Sylvia’s voice right now? What other explanation for this sudden influx of power could there be?

  ‘Arth—plea—stroying—ody…’

  I pushed away my bond’s voice. She didn’t understand; she didn’t know. She didn’t know of Sylvia’s promise to me—that she had a message for me once I had broken past the white core stage.

  My vision was tinged a shade of lavender as aether gathered around me. The motes of purple danced as if celebrating my ascension to the throne.

  I truly felt like a deity… like an asura.

  Shifting my attention back to Elijah, I noticed his gaze kept flitting off to the side as if he expected to see something there—or someone.

  I let out a breath and the motes of aether fluttered in front of me. Raising an arm completely enveloped in a golden aura, I flicked my wrist. The blade of wind whistled as it cut the air, aimed at Elijah’s chest. As it flew, aether molded around it, causing the razor-thin crescent to glow purple.

  Rows of black spikes, ablaze with hellfire, erupted from the ground in front of him, but the silvery-purple crescent sheared through the rows of black spikes like they were made of butter.

  Elijah, realizing that his defenses were useless, barely managed to throw himself out of the way, but not in time to avoid the spell entirely. He let out a howl of pain, clutching what was left of his severed arm. Even then, he dared to launch another attack at me.

  I smirked as I took a step in the air. With control of spatium, the motes of aether converged into a bridge in front of me, an
d that single step cleared dozens of yards instantly and without using any physical strength. It was as if the very world had folded in front of me.

  Elijah’s eyes widened in shock as I held out a hand. Aether converged around the stub of his right arm, where his hellfire was currently regenerating the lost limb. Under my influence, the black fire turned purple, and rather than heal him, it began to eat away at his flesh.

  “Not a match, you say?” I mocked, my voice ethereal to my own ears.

  Elijah bit his lower lip harder, stifling a scream. He wasn’t broken, though, I had to give him that. My old friend spit out a mouthful of blood and scoffed at me. “I knew you’d show your true face. Whatever name and appearance you take on, you’ll always be the same, Grey.”

  My eyes narrowed but the cool blanket of apathy diffused the loathing carried by his words. Only one thought pounded like a drum within my mind: that this person—Elijah, my once-close friend—was trying to harm Tess.

  “Goodbye,” I said softly, raising a hand to finish the job.

  ‘Arthur! Dodge!’ Sylvie’s voice suddenly screamed in my head.

  Pure instinct took hold and I kicked forward, pushing myself back just as a blazing black pillar erupted from the ground where I had been standing.

  I berated myself for becoming so hyper-focused on Elijah, to the point where I didn’t notice the fluctuation of magic even through Realmheart.

  The black flame barely grazed my left foot but the difference in power was evident. The intensity and speed of the conjuration was on a different level from Elijah’s black flames. Even with aether currently surrounding my body like a protective shield, I felt a scalding pain radiating from my foot.

  Following the trail of mana fluctuation, I shifted my gaze to my right and up in the sky. A slow, hungry smile spread across my face, and I could feel Sylvia shake in anger and anticipation inside me, as if even her will knew who was responsible for her death.

  My body, bathed in an aether-tinged golden light, glowed brighter and stronger. This time would be different from the castle.