Aetheral Space

The Emerald Eyes converged.

With an Aether pulse like a bomb going off, Atoy Muzazi had managed to infuse each and every one of them in a moment -- and now, the automatics did his bidding. White thrusters blazed out from their chassis as a huge group of them were propelled inwards, right towards Mereloco, ready to crash through his shield of sand and crush him.

Uncrowned had to have limits, and Muzazi hoped that the way Mereloco had modified his ability would exacerbate those limitations. If not, he was really doing something very silly right now. It wouldn't be the first time.

Mereloco responded surprisingly late, but that made sense as well. Muzazi could hardly see his opponent through the veil of sand, so the opposite must have also been true. With him barely able to see the silhouette of Muzazi, the spherical automatics would have only been visible when they were right on top of him.

The attack didn't land, but Muzazi still got the result he wanted…

…Uncrowned.

…as Mereloco released his ability. A curtain of sand fell around him as the orbit stopped.

In the same instant, the man from the past kicked off the ground with a burst of Aether and Unchained, jumping far out of Muzazi's immediate reach. As Mereloco flew upwards, his eyes flicked around, taking in all the ways that the situation had changed. A lesser man would have despaired at what he saw there.

Mereloco's infusion advantage was gone, as Muzazi now had no shortage of mobile surfaces to plant thrusters on. The Emerald Eyes he'd sent after Mereloco originally continued to pursue him, but they were far from the only ones in play. This whole time, Muzazi had been arranging the rest.

The remaining spheres had formed platforms, six in all, floating around the arena -- and, as Muzazi snapped his fingers, massive thrusters burst into life atop each one.

Radiant Almighty -- he'd already begun preparing it. In a situation like this, with limited time for his body to be viable, Muzazi couldn't afford to hold back any strength. He'd end this as quickly and decisively as he could.

He was sure that was what Mereloco was thinking, too.

You want to blast the pillars with Unworthy, don't you? Muzazi thought, watching as Mereloco reached the crest of his absurd jump. But if you do that, you can't use Uncrowned to block the attacks coming for you.

Therefore… you'll have to do it by hand.

Mereloco kicked off the air with a flash of Unchained, launching himself towards the nearest pillar of light. As he did, Muzazi moved his hand, pointing his fingers at him. His wooden fingers.

Therefore… you won't see this coming.

I'm sorry I didn't confirm your consent, Ionir Yggdrassil said. But I assumed you would wish to be whole.

It was strange, so strange. Ever since Muzazi had woken up, he'd been able to understand Ionir Yggdrassil perfectly. The minute twitches and strange groans that before had seemed meaningless were now as clear as his own language. It seemed a wonder that he hadn't been able to understand before.

And he had these fingers to thank. Sitting up in bed, Muzazi looked down at the four wooden protrusions clinging to his knuckles. A part of Ionir Yggdrassil was now a part of him.

“It's fine,” he mumbled. “You did what you thought was best… and it was for the best.”

He moved the fingers, testing their response. Again… bizarre. It was as if he'd been born with them, as if they really were his. He could even feel things through them… heat and cold, texture and touch.

We two are now one, Ionir continued. Just as Morgan Nacht and I are. So long as my wood is part of you…

Atoy Muzazi clenched his fist.

…you shall never be alone.

White Aether flared -- and Muzazi's wooden fingers stretched out like branches, crossing the distance between him and Mereloco in an instant, intercepting his attack.

Muzazi's aim had been true. All four fingers, their tips embedded with pinpoint Aether, pierced Mereloco's body. Three skewered his chest -- and the fourth blow, Muzazi could see, had landed straight through his heart. Mereloco looked down at the branches as if he could only recognise this absurdity by sight, his eyes widening in alarm.

It's too late, Muzazi thought grimly, twisting his body to hurl his opponent. You shouldn't have taken your eyes off me, Mere --

Unthroned.

An ability was activated -- just for a moment. It wasn't even active for a second, nor for half of one. In the time Mereloco activated and deactivated an ability, one could not even have blinked. It was just that quick…

…and yet it was more than enough to rupture the world.

Each and every Emerald Eye had been torn to shreds, taking Radiant Almighty’s pillars with them. The automatics that had been chasing Mereloco were just as decimated. Even the arena, the platform that Mereloco had created for them, even it was ravaged -- as though it had been torn apart and spat out by a hurricane, retaining less than half of its original mass.

And then, of course, there was Atoy Muzazi.

One second, he'd been looking at Mereloco from afar -- the next, he was in the air with him, right in front of him, the extensions of his wooden fingers snapped into broken branches. His eyes widened as he registered the shift in position… and that was all he had time to do.

Mereloco slammed his fist into Muzazi's head, spiking him down into the ground. He landed face down in the sand, the remains of the beach's ‘ocean’ spraying haphazardly onto his body. Slowly, with aching bones, he went to pick himself up.

Nine times out of ten, this was where Atoy Muzazi would have died.

Mereloco's foot would have smashed down into the back of his head like a sledgehammer, splitting his skull like a melon. His brains would have oozed out onto the ground. His body would have twitched for a moment, home to nothing but a dying impulse, but another stomp on the offending limb would have put a swift end to that. The crowd would have screamed in horror, but victory would quickly give birth to scattered cheers -- and soon enough, the world would forget all about Atoy Muzazi and his gruesome fate.

Nine times out of ten, that was what would have happened.

But this was the tenth world.

On pure instinct, feeling the air pressure shift, Muzazi channeled the entirety of his Aether into the back of his head -- and the resulting pinpoint infusion was just enough to save his life. He was still sent spluttering down into the ground, of course, and his eyes were painted with blood -- but his heart continued to beat, and his brain continued to spark.

Another stomp, and another, and another. Each one destined to end Atoy Muzazi's life, each one countered by split-second pinpoint Aether. Again, and again, and again, Atoy Muzazi created the tenth world through will and instinct alone.

But would that be enough to save him? Even if he could parry these physical blows for the time being, Mereloco had no shortage of other ways to finish him. As Muzazi was now, he wouldn't be able to block or withstand Unchained. Lying down like this, he was a perfect target for Unworthy. If Mereloco chose to create a shredder-shield with Uncrowned again, Muzazi would have no recourse.

None of these thoughts filled his head right now, though. The future did not exist for Atoy Muzazi. The only thing, the only thing on his mind at this very instant was surviving this very instant.

And survive he did.

It was just enough to make Mereloco's eye twitch in annoyance.

Gretchen Hail couldn’t conceal her vulpine grin as she watched Muzazi get brutalized. To be honest, she hadn’t put much stock in this Mereloco guy, but he was doing good work. Gretchen hadn’t even had to do anything, and here -- Atoy Muzazi was being killed right before her very eyes!

It was a shame she wouldn’t have the chance to test out Prometheus, but you couldn’t have everything in life.

The Supreme Heir, sitting on her bed, was silent -- her lip quivering as she watched the display on the videograph. What a silly little girl. At some point in your life, you had to decide whether you truly hated someone or not. It seemed the brat hadn’t quite reached that point yet.

The armoured knight Endo Silversaint watched from his position near the door, metal fingers tapping against his metal gauntlet. His fluted helmet was as inscrutable as ever, but his voice was downcast as he spoke.

“Although he may have been an inevitable adversary…” mumbled the Silversaint. “To see the man torn apart like this --”

“Shut up,” Gretchen said.

Endo Silversaint shut up.

The grin remained fixed on Gretchen’s face as she leaned in towards the videograph, digesting the image, memorizing every detail. She wanted this moment to persist in her brain forever. This splendid moment of distant victory. The schadenfreude of an insect with its wings torn off.

I hope you’ve got a videograph in that place, Baltay, she thought. You won’t want to miss this.

This swordsman had been able to push Mereloco pretty far. He found that annoying.

If he'd been anyone else, that attack with the branches would surely have been fatal -- the pain would have prevented him from properly countering it, for one thing. Even so, it hadn't been easy to activate Unchained within his own body, diverting the wooden fingers just enough that they didn't hit his heart. It was a miracle that he hadn't inflicted greater internal damage all by himself.

Then there was Unthroned. Mereloco hadn't wanted to use that at all, but he'd had no choice, faced with so many simultaneous threats. Even using it for a split-second had been exhausting, and sweat was pouring down his face as he stomped on the back of the swordsman. That exhaustion wasn't the only thing boiling his blood, though.

This should have been over by now.

The first stomp should have finished it. The second stomp should have finished it. The third, the fourth, the fifth. Each was a coup de grace, and each was blocked at the very last instant by a rush of Aether. The attacks that should have been instantly fatal were instead inflicting minor but accumulating damage to the swordsman.

That wasn't what Mereloco desired. He didn't want a battle of attrition against a writhing fish. He wanted to be done with this.

His face a still mask, Mereloco grabbed the swordsman by the scruff of his neck and flipped him onto his back, pressing a heavy knee against his chest to keep him down.

“Surrender,” he demanded stoically.

He wasn't feeling especially merciful, but at this rate it would be quicker for the swordsman to concede.

The swordsman opened his mouth to answer, slowly bringing his head up.

“I…”

Unchained.

The smash of gravity slammed his head right back down to the ground. Nevermind. Mereloco had lost his patience. He'd just kill this guy and go home.

With contemptuous ease, he reached down and began pressing his thumb right between the swordsman's eyes. Aether broiled around the digit as he pushed, harder and harder and harder, willing with all his might that he would puncture skull and brain alike. It would be just like cracking an egg.

“Last chance,” Mereloco muttered. “Surre --”

The swordsman spat blood into his face.

Mereloco didn't so much as blink as he was cut off. He'd thought this swordsman was one of those dignified types, but he guessed that wasn't the case when he was on the verge of death. No matter. Dignified or not, he'd die all the same.

If he thought Mereloco was the type to get pissed off and stupid from something like that, he had another thing --

Thruster -- on!

The thruster, unstable and short-lived from the uneven surface, burst into life from Muzazi's blood. Like a flashbang, it erupted into light right in Mereloco's face, blinding him. For a horrifying moment, it felt like even that wouldn't be enough to weaken Mereloco's grip -- but then the chance came.

There was the briefest instant when Mereloco's strength wavered.

Radiant Lustrous!

Immediately, Muzazi ignited the spear in his free hand and thrust it forwards, right at Mereloco's face. The man from the past couldn't see the attack, but he could surely feel it coming. He moved away, leaping backwards off of Muzazi's body and back to the other side of the arena.

Hunched over, clearly aggravated, Mereloco wiped his face clean of soot with a forearm -- revealing his bloodshot eyes.

“That's a surprise,” he muttered, cracking his neck. “I thought you were the honourable type of idiot.”

Muzazi stood back up, catching his breath, Radiants already blazing again from his palms. “Perhaps I am,” he replied. “But there's a difference between honour and stupidity, Mereloco.”

Mereloco glared back at him with dull, dead eyes. “If that's what you think, that's why you'll die. Come here…” he stepped forward. “...I'll show you.”

Muzazi mirrored his stance, taking a deep breath to center himself. If things continued like this, there was no doubt he'd find himself on the floor again before too long. He was running on a time limit, too. His body could only hold out so long. He couldn't afford to play around.

The answer, he knew, rested in his pocket. The treasure the UAP had given him. The thing that could twist all of this into a victory.

But just the thought of using it seemed to fill his brain with bile. He shook that thought free.

No, he promised himself. Right here, right now, without disgracing myself…

He lunged.

…I shall defeat the past of the Supremacy.