Inexorable Chaos

Requirements for [Undying Apparition] have been met.

[Undying Apparition] activated.

Body Integrity acceptable...

Tethering soul to body...

Suppressing mana regeneration...

Wraith Form Activated.

[Wraith] form manifested.

Effectiveness of all dark- mana based skills increased by 2155.3%

Increase mana regeneration to -1 per second

Soul will expire in approximately 17340 seconds.

As the system informs me of the transformation, I feel it take place. My mana bubbles outside my body, growing in potency and moulding the wraith body around it. At the same time, I feel my mana regeneration disappear and the degeneration begins.

I turn my attention to Umbra, who doesn't seem phased by my transformation at all, though that could very well be because his mask conceals his expression.

I attempt to open [Pandora's Shadow], but I find it still suppressed.

“You are a monster.” he declares from the shadows.

I grin at him and spread my ethereal wings.

“I am. And now you will die.”

With a flap, my body ascends into the night sky. High above him. I raise a spectral palm and point it down below.

“[Greater Corrosive Annihilation]”

I feel mana drain from my body and into my palm. The orb of energy pulses with sinister potential, then, with a thought, I launch the attack downward.

At the same time, I feel Umbra’s domain expand rapidly.

My spell blows up the forest below me with the power of a tactical nuke. Only a smoking crater remains of the once vibrant foliage.

“Well, you’re rather mobile to be able to dodge me.” I shift my perception to the edge of the crater where Umbra stands unharmed and unfazed.

I do the same spell several more times and create several more craters. Each time, Umbra is standing unharmed near the explosion. Since his domain expands the moment I attack, I conclude that he can move instantly anywhere in his domain. Considering his domain’s size, I’m going to need to cover a lot more ground.

With a thought, most of my mana disappears. The wraith form becomes smaller and less present as I begin casting.

“Let's see how you handle this. [Maximize Spell], [Quicken Spell], [Triplicate Spell], [Quintuple Cast], [Spell Encore], [Greater Corrosive Annihilation].”

From around me, five [Greater Corrosive Annihilation] orbs come into existence. Those five orbs turn into fifteen, then they double to thirty, and finally, they double in size.

“Goodbye, Umbra.”

I launch my assault at the same time as I sense his domain.

_______________________________________

Aodean, mouth agape, gazes at a massive, black-furred, growling spider as it chews- yes, chews the Earth Titan’s core in its mouth.

“That's the giant spider from Atlantis, isn't it?” he asks Franky.

Franky nods slowly, ”His name is Peter.”

The aforenamed spider ignores the curious onlookers. Instead, he keeps trying to crunch into the marble, but the damn thing’s durability defies his mighty fangs, even cracked as it is. Frantic earth elementals repeatedly pop into existence around him, but the mighty spider absently punts each one away with a hairy limb. Even the elder earth elementals are no match for the gargantuan arachnid.

“So this is a Weaver,” Belial muses, “I’d not expected them to be so large.”

“This one is a deviant of its species. Weavers do not usually grow to that size.” Ambrosia explains. The vampire [Lady] hefts her scythe on her shoulder and gazes into the distance, at something large hovering in the sky

“Right. And I suppose you brilliant [Ladies]’ll tell me why that ship is flying? And the fuck is it doing on the back of a bloody narwhal?” Aodean asks

“An angel is coming,” Belial interrupts. She raises a hand and produces a ball of black flame above her palm. “I will take care of it.”

“Don’t,” Aodean calls out, “The Aesir might want to talk.”

Belial pouts, but obliges by dispersing her black flame.

The angel descends with a beautiful woman in its arms.

“That’s Jessica! What is she doing here?” exclaims Jessa.

“Quasi’s friend?” Franky’s eyes widen, “Is Quasi actually here?” He glances at the floating ship, “That's probably his. He always enjoyed making an entrance.”

The angel floats down and alights in the middle of the group. It gently sets Jessica on the ground, then kneels beside her. Jessica looks around, and blushes at all the gazes now focused on her.

“JESSICA!” Jess screams. She rushes up and gives the woman a hug. “It’s nice to see you. How is everything? What are you doing here? It’s dangerous!”

Smiling back at the shorter woman, Jessica retrieves a goblet from her robe. “Quasi asked me to deliver this to the leaders of the city.”

“Fuck me, thats the Chalice.” Aodean curses. He rushes up and takes it out of her hands.

Before he can say more, an explosion louder and stronger than any so far deafens the entire city.

Every head turns toward the origin of the sound, only to immediately turn away from a blinding, brilliant, violet mushroom cloud.

“I need to go,” Jessica announces. She pushes Jess away, hops back into her angel's arms, and then the angel takes flight.

“It's dangerous,” Jess warns, but Jessica doesn’t listen. Her eyes are focused on the distant fireball climbing ever higher into the sky.

_______________________________________

Volpe grimaces as her domain churns around her, absorbing mana and enhancing her spells.

“[Pure-water Barrier]” she casts quickly.

The water in the air condenses into a barrier around her. Not a second later and a surge of electricity splashes into the liquid. As the electric attack hits, she quickly raises a hand behind her, “[Blazing Vortex]”

With an eruption of heat, a vortex of fire intercepts a globe of eviscerating air that explodes on impact.

As the attacks fail, Volpe expands her domain further and gathers even more mana. Ambient fire, earth, and water mana, primal and savage, converge at her will, but wind and lightning do not heed her call. The titans’ command of their native elements exceeds hers.

She steals a glance into the distance, where a purple cloud as wide as a city rises into the air. Unease fills her, for the scale of the spell bespeaks the strength of the Patriarch's foe. She wishes she could assist him, but fighting two titans takes significant concentration.

With a flare of mana from both titans, her mind flinches back into the moment. They release lightning and wind at her, and she counters with fire and water, draining the ambient elemental mana to fuel her spells.

_______________________________________

A dozen trees slither across the center of the battlefield, their roots writhe like snakes and propel the towering gymnosperms with focused ease. The trees’ heavy branches whip rapidly around themselves, shattering and destroying any and all elementals that cross their path. Even [Elder Earth Elementals], known for their tenacity, are quickly and easily dispatched as roots slither into their chests and squeeze their cores into dust.

Within the bole of the largest tree, an elven woman relaxes on a chair made of wood, perfectly molded to accept her bottom. A shroud of ectomycorrhizal cilia wrap around her, invade her, connect her to the wood. Her eyes are closed and her mana resonates with the trees, following their circulation from the soil, into their roots, and up through tracheids to the leaves, then out and flowing back to the soil, her mana spreads through the grove. She perceives everything in the grove and for 20 meters around.

Eventually, she cancels her [Forest Heart] skill and her eyes open. Two men grimace in front of her.

“You both failed.” Sylvia accuses.

“Another titan interfered.” Donovan explains. His head tilts upwards to where Coeus and Crius are fighting a woman with nine glowing tails.

Sylvia follows his gaze, and raises an eyebrow. “Is that an actual Kitsune?”

Thallum nods, “Yes. It seems they aren't as extinct as we’d thought. And before you ask, we don't know where she came from,” he points in the distance, “but my guess is that she’s part of that army.”

The elven woman blinks at the regiments of unfamiliar species fighting the elementals alongside a horde of undead. She scans the rest of the battlefield and halts her gaze on a giant crystal worm spitting out high level [Soldiers].

“You should avoid using that skill,” Donvoan observes, “there is too much change in this battlefield. Ignorance will be your death.”

Sylvia glares at the [General]. “I don't need to be lectured by a brat who’d let a woman fight two titans on her own.” she counters.

“We’d just get in the way,” Thallum excuses, “My mana is still too low and Donovan can't fly. But more importantly, that woman is preparing something. Focus on the mana under her feet.”

Sylvia looks up at the kitsune again, and this time her eyes glow with [Mana Sight].

She gasps at the phantasmal mountain of earth mana directly underneath the kitsune.

______________________________________

“[Wraith Punch].” Artyom yells as he thrusts out his fist. Ten meters away, a spectral version of his fist slams into a fire elemental’s core. The core shatters and the elemental ceases to exist. With rapid punches, the elementals around him die in droves. Even earth elementals, covered in armor and durable as they are, die just as fast, his strength shattering both their armor and core with a single strike.

By the time he stops punching, every elemental within thirty-two meters, the maximum range of his domain, is dead. A second after he stops, new portals open, summoning more elementals into the world.

Realizing that his attacks are fruitless, Artyom decides to shift his perspective. With several leaps, he sprints to Camelot. With a final jump, the ground beneath him shatters as his body ascends to the top of the city's wall. From his vantage point, he gazes at the entirety of the battlefield, and grimaces at the neverending horde of elementals. He can see the banners of four armies, all fighting against the elementals to keep their numbers in check. Even the Aesir army, which is probably responsible for this chaos, is under constant onslaught from the elementals as well. At the moment, the armies are keeping the elementals contained, but that is only a temporary measure. Without solving the source of the problem, then this chaos will not end.

He looks up at two of the said sources. The Titan of Air and another of lightning are attacking a vixen with nine glowing tails. Around her, water and fire dance to her tune, protecting her from their attacks with a spell control he’d only seen from the half-elf Szuzad.

Figuring he should help out, Artyom glances about for something to throw, and spots an abandoned ballistae. Rushing to it, he discovers the artillery piece is damaged. Its arms are bent and the bolt head is melted to the frame.

Artyom kneels down and lifts. The metal bolts securing the ballistae on the wall bend and break as he picks up the massive piece of wood and metal. With a strong man's pose, he aims the ballistae at one titan’s core.

Just before he is about to throw, the sound of cackling enters his ears. It takes him a moment to realize that it's coming from the tailed woman. A bloodthirsty vulpine grin appears on her face. She extends an open palm, directly in Artyom's direction. An enormous mass of earth mana seeps into the wall and earth under him. His [Danger Sense] goes off as the ground rumbles and lifts. Abandoning the ballistae, he hops off the wall. Not a moment later, the stone rises and morphs into a massive open palm. The vixen raises her open palm then swipes as to catch a fly, and the wall follows her motion. It rises up then darts to engulf Coeus and Crius. The titans try to flee and struggle to resist, but the kitsune’s spell is inexorable. Once the fist fully closes, the wind stills, the woman lowers her hand and several of her tails cease glowing.