Chapter 279: Beginning Of The End

As the seconds ticked by, Jack couldn't help but feel nervous...

He never wanted to be on the receiving end of Mizik's rage...

And...well...

The bloody psychopath chasing him was also cause for alarm. As well as the gigantic ships flying by surrounded by a wall of storms. 

Nautilankt's ship had crashed into the ground. He was likely dead by now... Mizik was clearly much stronger than he used to be all those years ago...

Regardless, Jack had other worries right now. The Avatar of War, Triglavikk, had picked him as an opponent. All Jack could do was try to escape.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU DAMN COWARD!!!! LAY DOWN AND BLEED FOR ME!!!" Triglavikk roared with primal fury.

He obliterated everything in his path,

Jack was quite clever as far as the Exo-Generals went, using his Wind and Explosive Aspects from his days on Ignitus to leap over buildings and propel himself at high speeds. 

But Triglavikk didn't seem to care for it. He destroyed buildings and kept somehow finding Jack whenever he tried to hide.

And as Jack landed on top of a large, mostly-intact building, he readied his scythe, Brutality.

"Think, dammit! How do I stop someone like that!? Axiom said it was impossible, but there has to be a way..."

As the thought crossed his mind, a thunderous crash was heard accompanied by enraged screaming.

"GET DOWN HERE, YOU WIMP!!!! I'LL CRUSH YOUR SKULL INTO DUST!!!" Triglavikk roared.

Jack leaped into the air and prepared to strike. He created an explosion and launched himself straight down at his pursuer.

And in the split second before the tip of his blade could pierce his glowing crimson eye...a loud clang was heard.

Triglavikk had somehow moved his massive cleaver to block the attack.

Sparks flew out in every direction as Jack was launched into the rubble.

"FINALLY GREW A PAIR, EH!? HAHAHAHAHA!!! AFTER FIGHTING MIZIK AND GETTING MY ASS KICKED, THIS SHOULD BE REFRESHING!!!!" 

"Why am I not surprised that Mizik already beat him...? I mean...of course he did... We should have just followed Axiom's orders as soon as we got the chance..."

Triglavikk raised his sword and brought it down, creating an explosive shockwave and blasting both Jack and the crumbled building away. 

At that moment...he took his chance.

He began to flee once more...

* * * 

Ranis had fought some seriously strong individuals over the years...but his current opponent was certainly wanting for strength. 

The masked individuals were all weaker than the Avatars. This much was true. 

In fact, it was only a curiosity to Ranis as to why his opponent, Valak, even bothered to fight back.

Several turrets continued to fire upon Ranis, but were easily blocked by his steel-wood barricades.

Several massive ents also destroyed all of the abominable monstrosities he summoned to distract him.

Among them, spriggans would continuously cast nature magic to both bind and obliterate his armies.

"Are you quite finished? This is getting annoying," Ranis said.

"Tch...go ahead and try me! Unless you're scared of being turned into mincemeat!" Valak said.

"Suit yourself..."

Ranis charged through the crowd of enemies and violently slammed the end of his staff into Valak's chest, sending him flying through a building. His eye flared brightly as a gigantic tree began to form around it...then condensed itself and hardened.

"I truly don't get it. You are outmatched. Why don't you just surrender? Perhaps you have valuable information to share...that would be useful."

Just then, the tree Ranis had created began to wither and rot. A black, ooze-like substance formed on the tree as it was consumed.

"Hahahaha! Do you seriously think trees are enough to stop Corruption? Ridiculous... You have no idea what I've seen this shit do. You can't even imagine how many people have died as a result of its power. I'll show you the error of your ways! Ugh...I feel like a comic book villain when I say shit like that..." Valak said.

The dark substance spread out in a circular zone. Suddenly, the monsters Valak had spawned began acting much more erratically. They became enraged.

Finally...they began mercilessly infecting and slaughtering Ranis' army.

"Vile monster! I'll make you pay for-"

Ranis stopped dead in his tracks as he felt something in the distance...

"No... This is bad..." Ranis said.

Valak also seemed to notice a presence nearby.

His army stopped attacking and he backed away.

"What's wrong, Valak? I thought you had the upper hand," Ranis said.

"...all forces, retreat."

At once, Valak disappeared into a crowd of his soldiers. The monsters withdrew and disappeared.

"This isnt going to end well..."

* * *

I landed near Isabella and she seemed momentarily stunned.

"MIZIK!!!" She shouted gleefully.

"AHHN!!! THE FULL COURSE HAS ARRIVED!!!" Kelvastiol roared.

She crashed into the ground and charged at me. Isabella blocked her and I changed Vengeance into a pair of shotguns.

"BULLET STORM!"

"BLAST NOVA!"

Our attacks went out in unison, blowing the deranged dragon-woman away. She landed afar off and wiped the drool from her mouth.

She had taken damage, but it seemed fairly minimal.

"What's going on? Why can she attack? Isn't Nirani here?" I asked.

I looked over at Nirani and she seemed both dejected and angry.

"Apparently...my peace aura is a sound-based attack. All she did was pierce her own eardrums and...my magic became useless..." Nirani said.

"You mean...you didn't know?" I said.

Nirani seemed even more upset at my words.

"I only said it was a frequency because that's what I was told... I had no idea it was a literal meaning..."

"You'll be getting more training later for that kind of failure. Regardless, I expect you to support us."

"Y-yes...Master..."

I directed my eyes at Kelvastiol as an explosion rang out near her.

When the dust had cleared, I saw Axiom shakily stand up. A shadow appeared and Aldaril emerged in his lich form.

"Just die for me! Cease to be, you Corrupted monster!" Aldaril said in a raspy voice filled with rage.

Several buildings collapsed as another battle took place in our vicinity. 

I saw the female General, Naomi, fighting Nasuria.

She seemed to be in way over her head.

Multiple clusters of wind shuriken danced around Nasuria as they were swatted with her frost-fire magic and claws.

"NAOMI!!! DON'T BE STUPID!!! I ORDERED YOU TO RETREAT!!!!" Axiom screamed.

"RRRAAAAAGH!!! SHUT UP!!! I JUST NEED TO TALK TO HER!!!" Naomi screamed back.

"Having trouble keeping your people in line? Typical...no one wants to follow a failure like you," I said coldly.

He was shaking with fury. I wanted him to take the bait.

Instead, he took his mask off.

I saw that one of his eyes had been changed. His left eye now resembled the Void eyes that Valtheim would summon.

"I am Exo-Genreral Axiom. Wielder of Hatred and leader of the Striker unit. I ORDER ALL EXO-GENERALS TO RETURN TO ME AND RETREAT!!!!" 

His eye seemed to shift...then, multiple portals opened near his feet.

Naomi, Valak, and Jack all rose through them.

"AXIOM!!!" Naomi screamed.

Axiom responded by grabbing her by the throat and slamming her head into the ground. Her mask shattered, but he didn't seem to care.

"Listen here, you STUPID BITCH!!!! WE CANNOT WIN THIS FIGHT! WE ARE LEAVING!!!" 

I stared at Naomi's face...and felt like I recognized her. Memories began to rapidly surface of my time on Delvandal.

"Akari...?" I said.

She glared at me with seething fury.

But I just wanted to laugh at her. She looked absolutely miserable.

"SHUT UP!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! YOURS AND THAT PINK-HAIRED, CRAZY, SLUTTY BITCH!!!! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I-"

"STOP TALKING!!!! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!!!" Axiom roared.

He stabbed her in the throat with his sword and let go of her.

As she coughed up blood, her wound slowly regenerated. She then got to her feet and looked at me with hatred.

"So sorry, but we have to go. Maybe we'll meet again? Who knows. Kelvastiol, get us out of here!" Axiom said.

Kelvastiol didn't respond. She merely kept staring us down as she waited for one of our group to attack.

"Hello? Kel?" Axiom said. He tapped her arm and she looked at him. Then she closed her eyes and glanced at us.

"Come again? The magenta-haired woman uses sound magic. Make it quick."

"You act like I don't plan to follow and gun you down like a dog, Arvild..." I said.

Honestly, it was silly to just stand here. I wanted them dead, so I decided to attack.

I aimed Vengeance at the group and manifested several flaming spears to throw at the group. They were blocked by Kelvastiol's wings.

Immediately after, there was an explosion as she assumed her true form...the horrifying black dragon that Isabella and I recognized from so long ago. 

The shadow dragon breathed purple flames at us and Isabella stepped in front to block the attack. Meanwhile, the others climbed onto her back and she took off.

"FOLLOW THAT DAMN DRAGON!!! THEY'RE PROBABKY GOING FOR THE GATEWAY TO ESCAPE!!!" 

I imbued our party with haste magic and we bolted for the gateway.

Nasuria and Aldaril both followed us as well.

And...as we got closer to the gateway, I began to feel a sort of pressure.

Once the gateway was in view, I saw something that startled me...there was a woman dressed in a military uniform standing and smiling at the shadow dragon.

"OUT OF THE WAY, YOU CRAZY WOMAN!!! UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TORCHED!!!" Axiom roared.

"GO AHEAD AND TRY IT, WEAKLING!!! I'LL BREAK YOU LIKE A TWIG!!!" She shouted back.

And just before the shadow dragon could blast her with fire, the woman smiled even wider.

In an instant, the shadow dragon was shot out of the sky...and sent flying into a nearby building.

I was absolutely stunned.

Before I could even wonder about who this insanely powerful woman was, I felt Masina communicating with me in my head.

"Your Majesty! I have an urgent message from Abbadon!" Masina's voice said.

"What is it!? We're kind of busy right now!"

"He said that you need to escape the Order realm immediately! Eris is on her way to you as we speak!!!"

At that moment...I stared at the woman in disbelief as she finally noticed my presence.

The realization as to who this person was hit me like a tidal wave.

"You might be too late... Tell Abbadon that he should be quicker with his messages. We're in trouble..."

"WELL WELL WELL!!! YOU LOOK INTERESTING, GREEN-EYED MAN! WHAT'S YOUR NAME!?" The woman said.

"King Mizik Iratus, the Destroyer of Worlds," I said confidently, hoping to intimidate her even just a little.

"Eris, Avatar of Destruction. I seem to have found my prize... You're pretty impressive, you know? Wanna fight?"

"I'd really rather not. We have no quarrel with you. Stand aside...unless you want to join up with us," I said.

"Hmm...nah. Sounds boring. Oh? Is that one of my Avatars? Aldaril!? Is that you?" 

"Eh... I'm impressed that you recognize me...considering we only met once..." He said.

"I don't. I only remembered your name and sensed your power. Have you been having fun?"

"I guess...? What does-"

"Good!" She said. Then she became deadly serious. Her eyes narrowed and he tone dropped. "Stay back, unless you want to die. I'll kill you if you try to interrupt me."

"Stay back, Aldaril. We'll handle this," I said.

"Mizik? Can we take her?" Isabella said.

"I don't know, but we'll try. I'm authorizing full use of your Deus Arms against her. Nirani, I'm counting on your help as well."

"Right! I'll stop her!" Nirani said.

"Don't even try it, little weakling. You move an inch and I'll break your stupid magic. I can destroy anything in my vicinity...even magic."

I glanced and saw Nirani instinctively cowering in fear.

Something about Eris was absolutely terrifying to the other Avatars.

I truly wanted no part of this...

"Eris, listen to me. We have no reason to fight you. We only came to this place to find a means of killing Valtheim," I said.

"Valtheim? You mean that weird thing the guy in the mask summoned? That little monster ended up retreating as soon as I beat the crap out of her. Are you saying you can't even beat her?"

By the gods, this is stressful...

"I am. How the hell am I supposed to harm something that obliterates everything it touches, let alone kill it? That's why we're searching for Kestel."

"I don't really care. I want to fight you and that's exactly what I plan to do. Prepare yourself...because this is gonna be fun..."

Eris assumed a combat stance.

I looked at Isabella and Cassandra. They nodded and got ready as well.

"Then today...you face the wrath of the Cursebreaker!" I said.