Black Onyx - Phoenix Resurrection

A bright light appeared in the sky. A light so blinding, it pierced the clouds like a second sun. All eyes turned towards it as it plummeted down from the edge of space like a giant meteor, yet small enough to be a person.

Onyx looked at that light, feeling a connection as it neared.

Master...

Like a beam of pure light, it pierced through the flying mountain with such force, that the barrier might as well not have been there. Stone and molten rock were thrown into the sky at the point of impact beneath the mountain, a tremor spreading through the land like an earthquake.

The Murtsac Metnalov began to tilt and lose altitude, a large hole punched through its center of mass. The barrier was similarly shattered, pieces flickering from sustained damage, yet it didn’t seem like that was enough to fully turn it off. Instead, it slowly started recovering, the repair fast enough to be visible to the naked eye.

There was a secondary rumble, and a person shot out of the ground, stopping halfway to the flying island. It was his Master.

Onyx watched from afar as Gerald lifted his hand towards the behemoth, and then snapped his fingers.

The barrier winked out of existence, and a moment later, a fireball engulfed the island from the inside, tearing it apart as it expanded. The thunderous boom that came after was deafening. Even just observing from kilometers away was enough to nearly knock him out of the sky.

The disturbance to his magic was strong, but he managed to recover quickly, adapting to the environmental changes.

When he looked again, the flying fortress was gone, with only burning chunks of rubble falling from the sky.

Fire and brimstone. His gaze landed on his Master who was standing in the middle of it all, unharmed. Awesome.

Beautiful.

That was all I could say about the result. I blew through the barrier, crashed through the solid stone, and came out on the other side, breaking the barrier once more, before burrowing almost a kilometer into the ground. Only then did I finally stop as the pure kinetic and magical energies were finally used up.

After I flew back up, I was met with a marvelous sight. The flying island was falling, its stability compromised. Unfortunately, the barrier was already healing, so I had to act quickly. I triggered the ignition sequence again for my hidden inscriptions, but unlike before, they reacted to my call. The entire inverted mountain exploded at once, the weakened stone shattering like a ball of loose dirt.

The fireball was kilometers across, lighting up the sky. And then, it all came crashing down.

I walked among the ruins, following the signal of a single survivor.

[Well, well, well.] I stopped, standing on the smoldering earth, looking down at the man who tried to kill me. At the self-important Drow. [How you doin’ mister Antasaghar?]

The High Priest looked hatefully up at me from where he lay on the ground, his head propped up on a stone. “You know my name?” He spat out through gritted teeth.

[I know a lot about you.] I smiled.

“Ugh…” He slowly stood up, facing me. His clothes were torn and he was bleeding a bit, but he otherwise appeared fine.

I pointed a finger at him. [Irom Te Auneg Eretcelf.]

He flinched and took a step back, but not much else happened.

[No? Nothing? Hmm, alright then, it was worth a try.] I sighed.

“You… dare attempt to use our magic against us? You dare destroy this… ancient fortress forged by the gods?!” He growled.

[A fortress forged by the gods?] I snorted, nearly laughing. [Please! More like a vacation home of some long-dead fat aristocrat.]

I then shrugged. [What does it matter to you anyway? You are already a dead man.] Claws grew from my fingers and I looked mockingly at him. [Nice of you to finally come out of your shell, by the way. Let’s finish this, shall we?]

Antasaghar coughed and then smiled, a bit of blood flowing down his chin. A small blackish metallic sphere appeared in his hands and his entire body began to tremble as he grinned. “Yeah… Let’s finish this.”

I launched myself at him, my body reinforced by infinite energy and glowing claws pointed at his jugular.

Antasaghar felt his entire body tremble. It was ridiculous to think that the man nearly frozen in time in front of him was actually capable of displaying such power even after he completely obliterated the Murtsac Metnalov.

He was afraid. He was so damn afraid. He. The High Priest. The leader of countless Drow, one of the ten strongest beings of their race. He was afraid, his entire body trembling. Not even the Demon made him feel so small. So insignificantly weak.

It made him so angry. It made him mad!

How is a lowly human so strong?! It makes no sense! He’s barely in the early stages of the Spirit Realm!

But… There was no mistake. The feeling his Aura and Soul gave off, were like mountains in his mind. An entire mountain range. A limitless wall, unable to be scaled.

It should have been impossible, yet there it was. Right in front of his eyes, ready to kill him. A ridiculous notion. And that’s what made him laugh.

With excruciating slowness, he moved his hands, and the sphere moved with him. It bulged outward, expanding by a third in diameter, and then cracked open with a quake. A wave of energy spilled out, a dark red in color, with branches of black lightning on the outside, keeping it contained.

In a single instant, it expanded, covering his vision, and swallowed Gerald whole. He didn’t even react, as frozen in time as he was.

Antasaghar gritted his teeth, pushing power into the relic, forcing it to reabsorb the energy, but dragging it back in was much harder than letting it loose.

Steam escaped his pores and his fingers began to crack where they touched the sphere, but even as his blood boiled and bone began to show, he persisted, controlling the ancient artifact.

Suddenly, like closing the door, the sphere snapped shut with a boom, and all sound left the world for a short moment.

Antasaghar collapsed as the sphere slipped his grip and struck him in the chest. He lay on the floor for a moment, panting hard. His hand gently wrapped around the black sphere, and then he began to laugh.

His pained expression disappeared and was replaced with one of satisfaction as he laughed. It was slow and quiet at first, but then it escalated, and soon he was laughing like a madman as the world burned around him.

“Serves you right! Nobody messes with me and gets away with it! Hahaha!” He laughed towards the sky. He was alone on the battlefield, his greatest enemy banished from the world.

“Over there!”

Antasaghar Suddenly heard a shout from afar and quickly got to his feet. The Grand Elders hiding behind the barrier decided to finally show themselves after his flying island relic exploded.

“Damn it. Of course, they would show themselves after I’m exhausted.” Antasaghar grumbled. “Typical cowardly humans.”

M- Master!

If Onyx had eyes he would have had them opened to the max from the shocking events. But, as he didn’t have a face, his expression remained the same behind the metallic mask. Inside, however, he was in distress.

His Master, Gerald, all of a sudden disappeared in a flash of light. He was just about to kill the Drow leader when the link between them was suddenly severed. It just disappeared without a trace. Worse yet, as the other human Cultivators approached the one responsible for the attack, a grand pillar of light descended from the sky, encasing him in a cocoon of energy, and then he was gone too. No traces were left of the Drow leader anywhere.

Oh, this is bad… This is very, very bad!

Onyx nearly panicked, but then he remembered his Master had some friends who were just like him. A fragment of the old gods inside them.

He rose into the sky and then turned east, accelerating toward the secret base in the desert.

“Woah, woah, woah! Slow down there, man. One thing at a time.” John tried to get his friend’s golem to calm down. “Let’s start this at the beginning.”

He cleared his throat while the metal man fidgeted on the spot.

“You said that Gerald was killed?” He did not sound convinced.

“Yes! Or worse! The connection between us was suddenly severed and he disappeared! I tried contacting him again, but I can’t feel even the slightest thread of his pres-”

“Okay, okay! Just… wait a moment.” John turned to Alexandra for council. “What do you think?”

“Hmm.” Alexandra cupped her chin with her hand. “Based on how easily Gerald defeated the High Priest, and considering he was one of the most durable people I know… Killing him without leaving a trace seems unlikely. What about teleportation? Could he be just banished someplace far away?”

“Banished?!” The metal man shouted in their mind.

“Calm down Onyx, she means he could just be sent somewhere.” John said. “For all we know, that was the life-saving treasure the High Priest used to get him away so he could escape. You did say Gerald was just about to kill him when it happened. Maybe it was a relic that triggered automatically when his life was in danger. Most likely Gerald will come back in a few days, a week at most. If not, we can try looking for him then.”

“A week?!”

“Listen, we can’t trace him for now.” Alexandra placed a hand on Onyx’s shoulder and spoke in a soft voice. “As you said, the battlefield was destroyed and the Clan Elders are there. We can’t do much now. If there are any clues left, they will find them, I’m sure of it.”

“But… but…”

“Listen!” John spoke with a firm voice. “Gerald will be fine. If you are really worried about him, help us build the Anchor. Gerald knows the return Formation, so wherever he is, he just has to use it and he will appear here. The faster we finish it, the sooner he can return… in case he was sent somewhere really far away.”

“That is true. No matter where he is, with an Anchor to guide his path, he will always be able to return safely.” Alexandra added.

“Oh… Well… Alright. I’ll help you.” Onyx eventually said and released a mental sigh. “But if he is not back by the end of the month, you will help me look for him!”

“Of course. It will take longer than that to finish the Anchor, but yes. We will do research and even contact the three Clans for information if he doesn’t come back, that I promise you.” John swore.

“Fine! Then let’s get going. The Anchor will not build itself.”