necariin
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Chapter 610
🕑 Added 2023-06-30 12:00:08 +0000 UTCEnjoy!
ToC
* * *
“The Fiend.”
For the first time, Felix felt something from the enormous woman. It stuck to him, a cloying heat between green summer shadows. Curiosity.
“You know me?” he asked.
“The Pathless does. And through Him, all things are known.” Imara brought her greatsword back around, still glowing with an intense amount of Mana. “Stand aside, Fiend. I am not here for you.”
“No, you’re here for Archie.” Felix let black scales ripple up across his chest and shoulders, stretching up his neck and jaw. “But that’s not happening.”
“The Gnome.”
The woman’s words hummed in the night, buzzing uncomfortable against Felix’s teeth. There was a weight to them, as if her words were solid and—something else. A familiar, sharp-toothed growl. A hunger.
“Why do you want him? No,” Felix corrected himself. “There’s something in you that—Why do you need him?”
The eleven foot tall warrior stared down at him impassively. “Because I am commanded to.”
“By who? The Hierophant? You don’t have to listen to her—”
“By the Trackless One Himself,” she all but shouted. “I am the Chosen of the Pathless, Fiend. A Title that holds a far greater authority than the King of Nagast.”
Felix grimaced as something beyond her Spirit pressed down on him. The vibrations of the world around him—normally ever-present—stilled for a single, terrifying moment. He ground his teeth so hard he felt one snap…but the silence faded. The world resumed.
“You.” He took a deep breath as if assuring himself that his lungs still worked. “That wasn’t you. You’re from Earth, right? Just like me.”
“I am nothing,” she stated. “And you are in my way.”
The barest shift of her hips was all the warning Felix received before a glowing greatsword slashed down at him. He dodged it, but only just—his jacket sleeve and a fair bit of flesh and blood were severed from his shoulder. All of it burnt up before it ever touched the ground, even his scales.
Dodge is level 84!
Relentless Resolution is level 96!
Felix unsheathed his Inheritor’s Will, deflecting the upward swing of her next strike, but it was so hard it split open his wounded shoulder. Imara didn’t stop however, flowing seamlessly into another swing. He flared Sovereign of Flesh, letting scales climb back over the healing wound, and met her next attack head on. The ground beneath them splintered, cobblestones tossed away from them in a maelstrom of wind.
Back!
Flaring his Relentless Resolution, Felix disengaged with the enormous warrior just as she was bombarded. A claw made of a dozen chitinous legs wrapped around Imara’s form as spears of ice and Spears of silver metal slammed into her, both of them exploding into electrical tempests before golden crescents and bronze discs followed.
Imara roared, and a corona of golden light engulfed her for the briefest of instants. All of the attacks vanished, flash fried into nothing. She surged forward, trailing golden vapor, away from Felix and toward the Ironclads and his friends beyond.
Toward the inn.
She can sense Archie, somehow! Keep her off balance!
We’re trying! Pit sent back just before a volley of Tempest Fugit spears hit her. She shattered them with a casual backhand, ignoring the lightning that chained across her armor. Help!
Felix rushed the woman, summoning ice and water to match the sizzling light and heat that hovered around her like a cloak.
Rime Shaping is level 91!
Storm Shaping is level 42!
Steam bloomed where his magic met hers. Imara pulled back, her vision obscured. “You cannot harm me with this!”
Felix kicked the back of her knees.
Imara fell, toppling like a redwood before slamming her enormous gauntlets to the cobbles. Cracks spread in concentric circles from her hands and knees, sending stone chips flying. Felix’s next kick caught her in the gut, and it sent her spinning to the side.
“Fuck!” he cursed. His silver boot and greave was crushed and mangled against his foot and shin, and dark blood oozed from one of the rents. He ripped both boots off, flexing his clawed feet against the cold street. “You’re sturdy.”
Imara stood up, hand to her gut. When she removed it, there was a sizeable indent in her armor…for all of five seconds. Mana mobilized within the metal, and it popped back into its original shape.
Damn. He looked down at his shoulder, where his Garment had already repaired his torn jacket. That’s unfair.
“Our greatest trial approaches.” Her eyes blazed gold, and that corona reappeared. A gilded disc behind her head and shoulders. “I am the rock upon which the Continent will depend.”
“Uh-huh.” Felix hefted his blade. “Kinda full of yourself, too.”
Without another word, she charged.
Dodge is level 85!
Wild Threnody is level 89!
He dove over her horizontal slash and brought his hooked blade up to parry her quick reversal. Acid Mana surged through the sword, combating the golden heat of her own before both weapons shrieked. Felix and Imara staggered back, both wincing, but Felix recovered first. He thrust, catching the woman across her inner thigh and drawing a cascade of sparks…and blood.
Imara shrieked, but it wasn’t in pain. If before her words had weight, then her scream was an avalanche. Her Spirit bashed into him and light coursed outward like a living sun.
Felix’s clothes caught fire, his movements slowed, but he struck again. And again. Six times in rapid succession. Imara met him at every one, deflecting his attacks with more technique than he had ever managed. On the seventh, she caught him square in the chest, smashing him down and back. For the first time in a while, Felix was thrown bodily by an opponent’s blows, and he cratered the ground when he landed.
Armored Skin is level 94!
“The Trackless One told me to be wary of you, Fiend. But you cannot even stand before the Light.”
A deluge of arrows, ballista bolts, spears, and chitinous conjurings slammed into the Titan, but she moved through them all as if wading through a fierce but impotent storm. She advanced on Felix, her steps shaking the earth. Her eyes shone and it was all Felix could perceive of her face beneath that full helm. They were like hollow tunnels into the heart of the sun.
“I’ll admit,” Felix groaned, spitting out a wad of blood. His chest was torn and broken, and something had cracked in his back. Things were stitching up, but it wasn’t fast enough. “You’re really strong. But you’re not all there, are you?”
The woman didn’t answer, just stepped slowly forward under the barrage, until she came up to the edge of Felix’s dip in the road. He was having trouble making his legs work right.
“I can hear it,” he grunted. “Or rather, I can’t. Your Spirit is empty.”
Imara lifted her greatsword like an executioner’s blade, and that golden disc behind her flared. “I am filled with His Light. It is all that is needed.”
“What about situational awareness?” he asked, looking behind her.
The Titan hesitated, casting her Perception backward, for no more than a half second—but such was an eternity in battle. Time enough for Felix to shove his wobbly legs beneath him and lunge.
Sovereign of Flesh!
Wild Threnody!
Shadow Whip!
With Shadow Whip channeled through Wild Threnody, Mana flooded through his palms without shape or form but with an intensity unmatched by the original Skill. The darkness briefly smothered the light as Felix flared his Will and Intent, matching Imara’s own, before his entire arm grew three times its normal size. He slammed his fist directly into her wrist. Something crunched, and the Titan lost grip on her greatsword.
His second fist came down, crashing into her shoulders, and almost buckling the woman’s knees—but the light burned through the dark.
Imara hissed and golden vapor poured from her mouth and nose.
She charged and Felix met her, blow for blow. A ripple of air tore outward from their impact, crashing into a guardhouse and toppling a tavern that had been weakened by fire. The cobblestones sundered, cratering beneath their feet before exploding into shrapnel little bigger than pebbles.
Stone Shaping!
Rime Shaping!
Green Shaping!
Cardinal Flame!
The floating shrapnel stopped, seized by Felix’s Will to flow in a flash around Imara’s limbs. His other shaping Skills congealed together, forming a matrix of familiar elements that others called Fiendstone. Blue rock, veined with red-gold, solidified across Imara’s legs, hips, and arms, holding her perfectly immobile.
“Stop breaking things!” he shouted. “And stay still.”
Felix couldn’t make out the woman’s features beneath her full helmet, but he could see some of her heavy brows and dark eyes.
“No.” She flexed, her metal armor groaning.
“Stop. That stuff is hard as hell. You can’t—”
Imara didn’t listen. Didn’t stop. The Fiendstone didn’t crack.
It shattered.
Light followed, blindingly bright, and Imara was on its heels. She swung for him and he barely dodged away, a dance through scintillating gold that stirred the air into a cyclone peppered with shards of cobblestone. Felix could see nothing, but that didn’t stop him.
Blind Fighting is level 79!
…
Blind Fighting is level 85!
Dodge is level 86!
…
Dodge is level 91!
Relentless Resolution is level 97!
Fast as he was, however, the Titan carved him up. His scales provided little protection against her might and magic, and his dark blood burned.
Sovereign of Flesh is level 96!
Armored Skin is level 95!
Wounds healed and scales reformed, but Felix’s store of Essence was vanishing fast…and Imara looked unflagging and indestructible. A lie, he reasoned, but Felix was increasingly certain a fair fight between the two of them could take hours—but the city wouldn’t.
Inheritor’s Will leaped to hand, deflecting the woman’s potent haymaker and dragging it down. She pulled forward, her other arm already moving, but Felix didn’t waste time. He punched with his left hand, and this time caught her full on in the face.
Imara’s head rocked back, but her body was unphased. Her metal-plated arms wrapped around him, turning his attack into a dire grapple. Felix kicked out, clawed feet scoring sparks against her abdomen and thighs, but it did nothing to hamper her incredible Strength.
“You are not required, Fiend,” she stated, deadpan as a corpse.
She squeezed, pulling Felix so close he could smell breath behind her dented helm. It was honeysuckle. The dents in her helmet swelled and popped, restoring itself. Felix, by contrast, was being broken down. Skin ripped and muscle tore as she squeezed. He fought back, but she was impossibly strong.
“L-look out,” he groaned around the sound of his bones creaking.
“I will not fall for your petty tricks again—”
Pit hit her like a speeding semi, Blade of the Fang held within his beak. It slammed into her lower back, yet the Titan didn’t budge an inch, and the Fang didn’t even dent her armor…until Felix pressed his foot against the bone-white blade. He hurled Essence down his channels and into the Fang, which glowed with sudden, brilliant sigils.
“Get fucked.”
Pit wrenched the Fang aside, and it cut through armor and flesh like paper.
Comments
Damon
No it makes sense... Felix kicked out, clawed feet scoring sparks against her abdomen and thighs[...] She squeezed, pulling Felix so close he could smell breath behind her dented helm. It was honeysuckle. They were hugging front to front so he just had to slid a foot behind her and since the blade of the fang is quite big it's an easy target for felix even if he's beaten up.
Amathew2
Is that last paragraph supposed to read “until Pit pressed his foot against the bone-white blade.” Doesn’t make sense for Felix to have his foot against it if it’s on the other side of Imara.
Jravid
Hey chem so basically the fang is 8 ft long sword he got after he killed the primordial in harwatch at the end of book 3 and basically whenever he imbues essence in it it makes it really sharp and basically cut through anything(well that’s what I think anyway)but pit probably had the fang on one side of her back so it was easier to reach with his foot and then just imbued the essence into the sword from his foot then pit sliced her.Now he used riptose to kill the fire mage and basically that one changes length when he channels mana through it I think and it can get like super long,like in the last book when he was fighting the high guard he was able to use it to strike at a mana ship when he was on the ground to extended it all the way into the sky to hit ships shields.also I don’t really know about the pathless part but yeah I hope I was able to answer some of your questions,Ik it can all be confusing cause the story is so big and kinda complicated but that’s what makes it good
chem
1) Her power boost is so high that it suggested, at least to me, that her connection to the Pathless is somewhat direct, i.e., that there was some of the presence of the Pathless within her. Given this, I was sort of expecting Felix's anti-divine buff to come into play. 2) The following passage was very confusing. Felix was facing her while being bear-hugged, and the blade was touching her back (it hadn't yet pierced her armor). So did Felix reach his foot around to her back to touch the blade? And how did him *pressing* the blade get it to penetrate her armor so that, when Pit wrenched it sideways, it cut her? Wouldn't Felix need to somehow *pull* the blade into her with his foot? "Pit hit her like a speeding semi, Blade of the Fang held within his beak. It slammed into her lower back, yet the Titan didn’t budge an inch, and the Fang didn’t even dent her armor…until Felix pressed his foot against the bone-white blade. " 3) That's the same blade that killed the last Grandmaster he faced (the firemage), isn't it? 4) I've noticed a surprising number of this new generation of fantasy writers misuse this word. It should be "unfazed", not "unphased": "Imara’s head rocked back, but her body was unphased."
