Sandqueen (Rise To Omniscience Book 7)

by Aaron Oster

  19

  All Morgan got was a brief flash of warning, not even a fraction of a second long, before the blow landed. Morgan’s shield took the brunt of the force, though the actual blow drove him back several inches, his feet digging twin furrows in the ground. Even with his eyes closed, Morgan’s Aura Sense told him that the attack had not been a physical one, but had been executed with a skill.

  He knew the direction from which it had come, so when the next attack came, a violet shield flared to life, slamming down before the energy attack hit. He felt the impact on his construct, the attack driven to either side as the shield did its job. Morgan struck back before the attack faded, his fist flashing forward and a blast of compressed air exploding forward.

  There was a loud crack followed by a boom as his Compression hit something, likely a tree, and shattered it to pieces. There was no cry of pain, which meant that he had likely missed the attacker. Another attack came, driving into his back and once more testing his supermage shield. A construct appeared, blocking the attack halfway through and dispersing it. Morgan stomped down then, using his Earthen Shift and sending a ripple of spikes flowing outward from the point of impact.

  They spread in a fifteen-yard radius, protruding a good three feet from the ground before retracting. Once more, he hit nothing, which told him that none of the attackers were even daring to come near him. Another blast followed, this time coming from several directions at once, and Morgan braced himself, digging in his heels and holding both shields up to block.

  The energy was dispersed, but he could feel that the shields were beginning to wear down. A few more attacks like that and they would fail, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Of course, he could simply summon another pair of shields, but he didn’t want this fight to last forever. Plus, the longer he took, the more of a chance there was that Grace could accidentally be hurt. He knew where the wagon was, relative to him, so he was confident he could send out area attacks without hitting her. The only problem was Lumia.

  He didn’t know where she was, and if he was going to unleash something big, he didn’t want to hurt her. There was a single trump card he had, one that could give him a real edge. His Sunblast carried with it the power of the sun and may very well be powerful enough to dispel the darkness. The problem was that he only had a single shot. It was already dusk, which meant that even if he did banish the darkness, he would be unable to pull in any more sunlight. He couldn’t afford to blow his one chance just yet, so he’d have to wait until the ideal moment.

  More blasts of power came, slamming into his shields over and over, and Morgan began to show a pattern. It was intentional, of course, in the hopes of luring in an attacker or two, but it could ultimately have been a pointless endeavor. Whoever his attackers were, they had to see that distance blasts weren’t going to get through his shields, so they had to…

  A massive force impacted his left shield, slamming into and shattering the construct with overwhelming force. Morgan twisted, throwing his hand up and using Compression, blasting the air in a wide cone to disrupt whatever the attack was. It must have been a powerful skill, because he wasn’t able to diffuse it, and a second later, he felt his second shield buckle under the pressure.

  He took a step back, feeling something twisting and writhing as it tried to break through his second line of defense, small tendrils began slamming into his back, sides, legs and head. Judging by what he could feel, Morgan had to assume that this was a water-based attack, which meant that whoever was using it had to have an aversion to something like lightning. Grinning, Morgan released the spear, sending it streaking back in the direction of the attack and streaming more RP into the construct to increase the charge.

  The scream of pain, which was barely audible but still there, followed by the drop in RP was all Morgan needed to know that he’d finally hit someone. A wall of stone shot from the ground at his back, Morgan summoning it in an instant and blocking the follow-up he’d known was coming. When someone saw an ally go down in battle, they tended to retaliate, and in a way that was less than wise. This attack was a powerful one, threatening to crumble his stone wall.

  A pair of spears streaked through the air and rocketed toward the attacker. However, they were intercepted by someone else along the way, shattering into motes of light under a tremendous force. The Beast King started to grow impatient, and while Morgan might have been fine sitting and waiting these attackers out, he was not.

  Morgan took an involuntary step forward, forced himself to stop, then took another. He struggled with himself for several seconds before regaining control. But that small slip cost him, and when the attacks hit this time, they were from all sides. He was simultaneously hit by a myriad of attacks, powerful enough to shatter his supermage shield and slam into him directly.

  Whoever they were, they were strong, and though Morgan was more than capable of taking punishment, he could feel it. Hot, cold, burning, freezing, corrosion, tearing, multiple sensations, all unpleasant, drove into him, effectively locking him in place and preventing any sort of escape. In his mind, there was no better time to unleash his attack than right now.

  The Sunblast was so bright that Morgan could see it through his eyelids. The darkness was driven away in an instant, and as Morgan’s eyes flew open, he was finally able to get a good look at his attackers. There were over twenty of them, all thin, short and waifish, with pointed ears and odd-colored hair. Their matching uniforms gave them away as soldiers, which told Morgan everything he needed to know.

  He doubted Ivaldi had betrayed them, but he had a pretty good feeling that there had been a spy or two hanging around his house. The elves had received warning of their arrival and, thus, had been able to set this trap. But, with nearly all recoiling from the unexpected blast, Morgan now had a rare opportunity, which he planned to take full advantage of.

  He vanished, appearing twenty feet away using his Gravity Warp, and slammed a closed fist right into the backs of one of their helmets. The metal crumbled under the blow, and the blast of compressed wind that shot from his fist transformed the elf’s head, and everything inside, to a fine red mist. There was a cry of alarm as Morgan appeared next to another one, driving a knee into her ribcage and sending her blasting into the air.

  In quick succession, he took another two out, one by shattering the jaw and another by cracking his pelvis. Morgan whirled to choose his next target when he saw one of the elves launch the same black ball as before. He vanished, appearing right before the elf and punching him in the nose. He felt a distinct sense of satisfaction as the bones gave way beneath the punch, grinding and cracking before the pressure became too much.

  The skull burst, showering his comrades in its contents and drawing more than one scream of horror. The ball of darkness vanished before it even hit the ground, leaving Morgan free of the troublesome skill. He half-turned and saw that Lumia was fighting off another small group of elves, though she was staying in her hybrid form. She was plenty strong like that, and it gave her more mobility than her full size would. Plus, she wouldn’t have to risk accidentally injuring Grace with one of her fire attacks.

  There was a scream to his left, and Morgan turned to see an elf charging in, a club clutched in her hands. Rage was written across her face. Perhaps the elf he’d just killed had been a friend of hers. Either way, he didn’t care. He vanished, appearing before her and swinging for her neck. His hand froze halfway to the elf’s head, snagged by something long and sticky.

  She swung then, bringing the club down on his collarbone with all her might. The red glow surrounding the weapon told Morgan precisely what he needed to know, right before the blow struck. He hid a wince as the weapon shattered against him, the impact buckling his knees and nearly driving him to the ground. He snapped his knee up as the elf staggered forward, off-balance, obviously not having expected her weapon to give way under his body. But, just before the blow connected, his leg was snagged.

  He whirled to see another elf standing some way
off, long yellow strands extending from his body and keeping Morgan from moving. Gravity Warp brought him right up to the elf, and he rammed a violet spear right through his skull. The tip protruded from the top of his head, just before his entire body was fried – courtesy of the lightning he discharged as soon as it struck. He turned then, facing what remained of the force.

  There were still well over a dozen, and judging by how angry they all were, they were out for blood. Still, after having faced down their attacks, he was hardly concerned at all. That was, until they all began charging up some massive attack. Ten of the elves moved into a half-circle, all extending their hands and pouring both chi and mana into a large sphere. He had no idea how they were doing this, or how it was even possible for multiple entities to build multiple attacks into a singular. Still, Morgan knew that an attack like this would not only be able to hurt him but may very well do him in.

  He flashed forward, activating Maximum Increase along the way to try and halt the attack. The two that had stayed behind got in his way, their bodies exploding with red light and moving nearly as fast. One began throwing a punch at his stomach, while the other went for his knees. Morgan was, once again, shocked by how strong these elves were. They blocked both blows and managed to force him back. His brows furrowed as he reassessed his situation, wondering if he’d somehow misjudged the elves’ power.

  The elves didn’t give him the time needed to contemplate, dashing in and attacking with reckless abandon. There wasn’t nearly as much skill in their hand to hand as Morgan had seen from others, but their sheer power and speed made up for it, the elves driving him back as he was forced to defend. With each blow that connected, Morgan gained a better understanding of their strength, until he was able to get a full status readout on them both.

  However, that only served to shock him even further when he discovered that neither of the elves were above rank 50.

  Just what in the hell is going on here? Morgan thought as the elves were able to keep pushing him back.

  Their bodies were glowing so brightly now that it was hard to look at them. It made sense, as whatever skill they were using was powerful enough to keep even him at bay. The other elves continued pouring their mana and chi into the sphere, which was growing larger and larger by the second. He cursed as he tried to counter, only to find his way blocked. He tried to teleport away, but one of them snagged his arm as he did, and Morgan brought him along for the ride.

  That was fine, as the elf was unaccustomed to his short-range teleportation and was momentarily thrown off balance. A stone spike shot from the earth, impaling the elf through the back and shattering his spine. Morgan’s brows furrowed as the elf screamed in pain, the red light around his body vanishing and his body going limp. It wasn’t that he was surprised that the elf was dead – that much he’d been expecting.

  What he was surprised about was the fact that his spine had shattered instead of being severed. More than that, the elf’s skin was covered in burn marks, his muscle peeking through in some places in a clear sign of tissue degeneration. It took Morgan exactly one second after that to finally figure out what was happening.

  He whirled, already knowing that the other elf was coming for him, and was just in time to block the strike.

  “You’re getting weaker,” Morgan noted as the blow didn’t even stagger him this time. “I must admit that you caught me off guard, and twice no less. I’m assuming your race has a couple of unique abilities…”

  The elf punched again, and Morgan easily avoided it this time, bringing his elbow across in a vicious strike. He was careful to aim for the collarbone, though as he’d predicted, the elf’s spine, pelvis and most of the ribcage collapsed as well.

  “The first is your ability to join energy,” Morgan said to the crumpled form of the elf as he lay twitching on the ground. “But the second appears to be an ability to overclock your internal energy, giving you explosive power and speed, though at the cost of either your vitality or your very lives.”

  The elf opened his mouth before a shudder ran through his body. Then, his eyes glazed over and his muscles went limp.

  Grimly, Morgan turned away from the downed elf and faced the massive ball of swirling red and blue light. It was nearly ten feet in diameter, and though the two energies wouldn’t mix, he knew that he would have a hard time surviving if he had to face it head-on. The abilities of the elves were disturbing, and the fact that they’d taken him so off-guard spoke to his lack of knowledge about the races of Faeland.

  Did the other races have secret abilities as well, ones that he had yet to come across? What if all the beastmen could turn into full beasts, or the dwarves could all create powerful weapons like Ivaldi? There were still the other races to consider, and Morgan resolved himself to be more careful about gathering information in the future. The very fact that those two elves would have been willing to go so far meant that they were dedicated and extremely loyal.

  If they were willing to relinquish their lives just so the others could get off an attack, he had to assume the entire race, or at least those in their military, would be willing to make the same sacrifice. It was quite noble, if he thought about it, though Morgan was going to have to assure that their sacrifice was going to be in vain. He couldn’t allow himself to be killed, after all.

  Because, just like the elves, he had his own people to protect.

  20

  Morgan rose into the air, his hands extended above his head as a ball of superheated orange gas began to gather, slowly turning and swirling as it grew. The elves’ eyes followed him as he rose, yet they continued pumping mana and chi into their sphere, seemingly confident in their ability to take him down.

  The sphere grew larger overhead, blue light bursting across the surface of the sphere as his 7th Category Starbreaker grew hotter. Unlike the elves, his attack formed in just a matter of seconds, and while they had power in numbers, Morgan had power simply because he was powerful.

  Darker azure light burned across the surface of the sphere, and not so much as a spec of orange was to be seen. This attack would completely devastate a good portion of the landscape, and Morgan took one last peek behind to see how Lumia was doing. The wagon was gone, only a scattering of dead elves remaining around where it had been sitting the last time he’d checked. His eyes flicked upward, and he saw Lumia, still in her humanoid form, winging her way eastward.

  The dome was still in place, keeping them locked in, but with the elf projecting the dome being below, Morgan was sure it was a problem he would soon be rid of. Turning his eyes back on the gathered group, Morgan was just in time to see them finally complete their attack. Several of them sagged, collapsing to the ground, while others remained standing. Only one elf seemed to be unaffected by pouring so much into the attack, and he was the one who set it in motion.

  Morgan felt a wild thrill course through him as the elf launched his attack, hurling the massive red and blue sphere upward as he launched his own attack. The spheres collided, slamming into one another and detonating as they did. The backwash of power blasted Morgan back, sending him spinning through the air for several seconds before he managed to right himself.

  He then watched in absolute amazement as the chaos unfolded below. The red and blue sphere, made of pure mana and chi, fought against his Starbreaker, the skill of burning blue fire, powered by his reiki. Wind buffeted him, sending gusts powerful enough to leave cracks in the dome above his head and force Morgan to summon a full set of constructed armor as small cuts began to appear across his arms and chest.

  The armor began to strain immediately as well, and Morgan had to make a concerted effort to keep the constructs from falling apart. The elves on the ground were not so fortunate. The intense heat of his skill, as well as the backwash of power, burned their bodies to ash, their muffled screams reaching him above the roaring of the colliding skills, just before the wind carried their remains from the battlefield.

  Just as Morgan was sure the skills would cancel e
ach other out and they began to shrink down, his senses screamed at him to run. He wasn’t one to ignore what they told him, and as he turned to flee, he understood why. While the sphere was growing smaller and smaller, the attack itself was not vanishing. In fact, it was growing brighter. Only once before had Morgan witnessed something similar, and that had been before the explosion in the South Kingdom, which had destroyed a good portion of a city and left the ground barren for years to come.

  Though he highly doubted that this would be nearly as devastating, he didn’t much feel like being in the way when it went off. Morgan was very happy for his sixth sense, as the sphere exploded, not five seconds later. The massive explosion was enough to rip him from the air, tossing him end over end and shattering his armor. The ground came rushing out of nowhere, and Morgan slammed into it, bouncing dozens of times, his body turned into a high-speed projectile. He tore through everything – trees, bushes and rocks alike.

  His body was continually hammered from all sides, several bones fracturing and more than a few outright breaking as he was tossed about like a ragdoll. Finally, mercifully, he was ground to a halt after smashing into the side of a large boulder, his body now bent almost double in the wrong way, before collapsing to the ground. He winced, forcing himself to his knees and staring through the haze of pain at the crater that now stood where their camp had once been.

  His head was ringing, and he knew that he’d likely sustained a concussion. What he also knew, though, was that he needed to make sure Lumia and Grace were alright. They’d been heading away pretty quickly, but with the speed and range of that blast, they might have been caught. Smoke obscured his vision as he shook his head, trying and failing to stagger back to his feet. Morgan also found that he was having a hard time focusing.

  The concussion must be a bad one, he thought, wincing once again as he felt at his head.