Chapter 81 - The Giant Hand that Calls the Curtain

"I have been keeping check of your improvements boy. You have not disappointed me, you've been hard at work every day, practising your moves, making them part of your own. That being said, I hope that your little achievements do not get to your head, you are still quite weak in the grand scope of things." sounded the ethereal voice of Ego Sum.

As Nerun heard the voice of Ego Sum, he somehow stopped being frantic and regained his confidence. Maybe it was because the powerful and mysterious Ego Sum had saved him from a sure death before, or how he had managed to modify the Free Flowing Fist, allowing him to create the New Path of the Magick Warrior, both these things that could be considered true miracles in the eyes of Nerun. He just felt that as long as Ego Sum was willing to do something he could probably achieve it with extreme ease.

"Very well, lad. Let me show you now what a true technique looks like. As a reward for your efforts in growing strong, I'll teach you a new technique for each new realm you achieve. Since you have become the equivalent to a Qi Grandmaster, I will teach you two techniques. This will be the first one, and I promise that they will only grow in strength if you manage to truly master them in the future. Now, let my Spirit come upon you. Remember the feeling well. I will only show you once, so you better grasp as much as you can."

Suddenly, Nerun felt as if a boundless might occupied both his soul and body, filled with holiness. Nerun had never felt smaller and insignificant when compared to the might of Ego Sum's Spirit. Nerun could not help but wonder what kind of power was needed to make him feel like that. Legendary Warriors or Archsages were not that mighty, were they? However, he had no fear. If Ego Sum truly wanted to harm him, he was too weak to even defend himself, and it was not as if Ego Sum had much to win by taking his place. Besides, he owed his life to Ego Sum, so his life could be considered to no longer be his. Moreover, when he felt himself surrounded by Ego Sum's powerful Spirit and will, Nerun felt as if he was in the embrace of his very own parents. So comfortable and indescribable, that he actually did not want such a feeling to end.

However, the boundless might that Nerun felt was completely concealed inside of him. No one on the outside could feel anything different about Nerun. Also, since Ego Sum was going to teach Nerun how to properly use his power, he also limited his strength to the Qi Grandmaster level.

This takes a bit to describe, but since Nerun's last attack on the Sanguine barrier, and Ego Sum's Spirit descent upon Nerun, barely a couple of seconds had passed. The nobles that had come with Serena were close to despair, since they noticed that the legendary Raven was being forced to defend with no means to attack back. Soon, it was likely that he would not be able to contain Dagan anymore, and they would all perish. Even Evelin could not help but feel a bit scared seeing the "collapsing heaven" above them. 'Nerun' however took no heed of what was happening around him and turned to look at the rusty sword that was mounted on the wall.

"Nerun" extended his arm towards the sword, and this one quickly flew into his hand. The sword was not only quite rusty, but the blade was chipped, and broken in half. It was barely fifty centimetres long right now. 'Nerun' then started to caress the blade while muttering, "A replica… A broken replica at that. This can barely be considered a copy of Enkidu, the great sword of Gilgamesh. Even while praying to Dagan, the Old Duke of Gad went and copied the sword of another fake god, hehehehe. It can barely be considered useful, but the core and hilt of the sword can still be remoulded. For others, this would be a waste, barely able to use the minimum of their power with it. But for me, this is more than enough. For even at my weakest, I'm still stronger than anyone."

The real Nerun was paying full attention to the words of Ego Sum, and his every move. The eyes of 'Nerun' had at some point changed colour. They were currently whitish gold, with a holy feeling that did not allow any blasphemy towards them. 'Nerun' then grabbed the sword in a reverse grip and put it behind his back while bending his body a bit forward. "Learn it well. This is the third form of Io's Lethal Sword."

Nerun could feel how a large part of both his energies started to flow in a mysterious pattern inside his arm, and went into the broken sword, which started humming. A blue glimmer could be seen through the rust and the chipped blade. It was all condensed, and barely discernible, but Nerun could feel that the power of the broken blade had reached a powerful crescendo. Nerun was astonished that Qi and Mana at the level of a Grandmaster/Great Adept could actually have so much might.

While Dagan was attacking furiously at Raven, and was about to overcome his defenses, he suddenly felt something and looked down. "NOOOO!", he could not help but scream. However, it was too late.

[Caelum secare]

Nerun slashed towards the statue at a staggering speed. A formless, close to invisible, and immensely fast wave in the shape of a fan left the sword and extended 15 meters to the front, before disappearing almost as quickly as it appeared. Ego Sum's Spirit also left Nerun at this moment. Nerun could not help but plop to the ground, while panting a bit. He was nevertheless excited because of the new technique that Ego Sum had taught him.

The Sanguine Barrier in front of the statue bursted like a bubble. The head of the statue then started sliding to a side, as it was cut in an oblique manner. The ruby-like crystal in the eye of the statue was dissected and quickly exploded.

When the ruby was destroyed, a tremor was quickly felt throughout the ruins that made all of the fighting stop. The quake got more and more intense, while on the air, Dagan stopped attacking Raven and started screaming like a madman. His austere and dignified face had transformed into a horrible grim that was cursing non-stop. Raven looked towards Dagan, as he felt the destruction of the Ruby and felt a sense of relief. Finally it was over.

The men were trembling while feeling Dagan's loss of composure, since he was releasing unfathomable levels of might. Dagan's eyes turned red as he decided on a last ditch struggle. He extended his hand towards the ruins, and the men that had received his "blessing", such as Carlos, his mercenaries, his family, as well as Eren and the rest of the men suddenly felt their innards burning, as they bent over in pain. The power they had gained before was leaving them quick and worse yet, they were being sucked from their very beings, and very fast they were left with barely skin and bones, as the light in their eyes were being snuffed one after the other. Eren's eyes were fixated on his father, Rudolf, who kept a stoic look. However an imperceptible tremble could be felt in his hands. Sorrow was filling his soul, but he kept quiet as his son was irreversibly killed.

"No… This can't be happening. No. I was supposed to rise…" said Carlos while despair, sorrow and regret filled him. Soon he died as well.

As the people were snuffed from their lives in the blink of an eye, Dagan sucked the power into him, and transformed into a blood colored ray of light that went towards the horizon. Raven could not avoid Dagan's previous attack, since a ritual link had been established earlier, but he was not willing to allow Dagan's avatar to escape. He was prepared to open his third eye and risk it. However, he had barely gone after him, when he stopped. There was no more need to follow.

The bloody ray of light that was Dagan was flying at full speed in the air, when all of a sudden a giant hand made of stone formed in the air right in the way of Dagan's escape. The hand looked more like a small mountain and was more than fifty meters long. The hand was quickly clenched and closed itself, entrapping Dagan's avatar within. A soul rendering scream was heard, however it was to no avail. Dagan's avatar was no more.

All of the surviving men, including Nerun and Evelin, were flabbergasted while watching the gigantic mountain-like hand floating in the air. It was the first time that Nerun had actually seen such a powerful spell, and he was completely wide-eyed.

The Raven kept staring at the top of the hand, as he bowed deeply. There was a middle aged looking man, with some wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. His hair was black, and long, as was his beard that went all the way to his chest. He was wearing a loose robe with a leather belt. When looking at him, people felt that there was a huge mountain in front of them, or even, the very might of the earth itself. "Lord Titan. Thank you so much for lending your assistance, otherwise that fake god could have escaped. Master told me to send you his regards, and thank you deeply for allowing us to come and experience Ansem."

The man on top of the gigantic stone hand was none other than Rafal Sen Buran, the Titan, the Second Dragon General of the Grand Army. The one and only Arch-Sage in the Kingdom of Ansem.

"It is me that needs to thank Lord Raven for helping our Kingdom. I'm afraid things could have gotten troublesome if you were not present to delay that fake god. To think that people still know the ritual to invoke the olden ones. The King himself is deeply thankful, and wishes to make your acquaintance and make some gifts as well. We more than welcome the lords from the Great Forest of Balamur." said Rafal in a gentle manner.

"Thank you so much, Lord Titan, for the invitation, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I'm on a sort of escort mission, and after what happened, I have to go back and report to Master. After all, it has been quite long since the last time a fake god's descent happened in any of the Major Territories. After all these are not the barbarian lands. Unfortunately, that shadowy fella managed to get away." said the Raven politely. Even though he was also a Legendary level expert, and used to being quite proud, in front of Rafal Sen Buran, all of his pride meant nothing. Even among legendary experts there was a ranking of sorts, and The Titan was definitely on the top of that list.

"I see. It's such a shame then. Is that the Little Maiden of the Forest? Mmmh. What a rambunctious little lass." chuckled Rafal as he looked towards Evelin. "Nevertheless, it remains that you performed a great deed for us. Let's do this then."

Rafal extended his hand and a piece of rock got separated from the giant stone hand and floated in front of him. The rock then split apart, showing a multifaceted and colorful gem inside. There was a small sanguine dot right in the middle of the gem.

"This is the remnant of the Fake God's avatar. It can be quite helpful to you, and allow you to grow even stronger. You deserve this." Said Rafal with a smile as he let the rock float towards Raven.

Raven could not hide his glee when he received the gem. At his level, there were few things that could still be of use to him, and this gem, was one of them. The remnant of a Fake God's avatar could allow him to better understand the functioning of Heaven and Earth, and allow him to increase his rank by a bit. When people became legendary every small increase was quite hard to achieve, so he was quite happy.

Finally, the battle in the ruins was over. Nerun was feeling a little tired, but he was quickly surrounded by Evelin and the Magical Beasts. They were quite happy, since they have been victorious.

"Brother Nerun, that was an awesome fight. I managed to see some of your moves and that technique of yours using fire with your fists was quite incredible. I mean, it was almost as good as me. I see that you followed my advice of clobbering the enemy with fire." said Evelin. She was feeling quite smug, at least for a bit, as if Nerun's battle prowess and victory were because of her. Nerun could only smile at her antics. He actually enjoyed the little girl's banter. He was reminded of the brothers and sisters he had left back in Radem. Even though not much time had passed, he missed them dearly.

___

Caelum secare: Cut Through The Heavens