Manifest War: The Weapons Within

Just as the final explosion occurred, Von dashed into the thick smoke and appeared behind Azhane, ready to strike. Her remaining ethereal swords quickly moved to her back, but in that same instance he shifted and dashed in front of Azhane.

“What!?!” She said with a shocked expression on her face. He swung his spear and stabbed it straight into her stomach. However, at the last second, a single ethereal blade appeared and blocked the attack. Even though the pierce was blocked, Azhane was sent crashing down to the ground from the tremendous force.

The smoke cleared as Azhane struggled to get to her feet, gripping her stomach in pain. Before she could even remotely retaliate, Azhane felt something forming around her. It was another box-like prism crafted by Varric Clover.

She pushed up against the clear yellow box, hoping to break free from it. But despite her efforts, the prism didn’t budge an inch.

It kept her in place long enough for Von to unleash a finishing blow. Azhane sensed an enormous amount of Core Energy building above her and she looked up to see an incredible sight.

Von floated in the air and as he aimed his Manifest at her, large angel wings burst forth on his back. The sight was both beautiful and terrifying as the wings glowed a bright white, shedding silky feathers with each wing beat.

“You’ve fought well, Your Majesty! But, I am afraid you cannot win this battle!” He yelled from above as his Manifest shined an intense white, blinding those below. As he pointed the blade of the spear downwards, multiple white runic letters appeared on the ground beneath her and they began to shine brightly as well.

Azhane squinted from the light and in an instant, a massive pillar of pure white energy lasered down from the heavens. The beam was hundreds of yards wide and decimated the entire area down below, purifying the land of everything in its wake.

Varric formed a barrier around himself and was fully protected from the blast, showing a devious grin as he witnessed the power of Von’s Manifest.

The attack lasted only a few seconds, but felt like an eternity for those that saw its magnificence from afar. Once it finished, the smoke and dust faded to reveal a massive crater and tremendous amounts of destruction all around.

Von floated down to the ground, still donning his angel wings as he joined up with Varric. They looked down into the crater and were impressed by what they saw.

“Man, you really are a stubborn one, huh?” Varric yelled out, surprised that Von’s attack wasn’t fatal. Azhane was on one knee, panting heavily as she looked up at her two foes with an incredibly irritated expression.

As she knelt, you could see her ethereal swords breaking apart and fading above her body, proving that they had protected her just long enough.

Her clothes were terribly tattered and she had multiple burns and bruises all over, showing that this attack did some serious damage. A streak of blood raced down her face and dripped onto the rugged ground below, providing more evidence that she barely survived.

“I can’t keep this up much longer. I tried to see if I could beat them without using my Manifest’s final ability charge, but that was foolish. If they timed that attack better, I would have died just now…” Azhane thought to herself as she struggled to catch her breath, feeling pain racing all throughout her body.

“You seem to be approaching your limits, Queen Azhane. I suggest you surrender yourself so we can end this battle. As I said before, you cannot win in your current condition…” Von added with slight concern, showing her knightly consideration.

“Such a disappointing fight.. Why did we all think you were so much stronger than everyone else? What a joke…” Varric chimed in, crossing his arms and showing an expression filled with disapproval.

Azhane listened to their words as she contemplated her next move carefully. She struggled to stand and gave them a slight smirk, finally entertaining their conversation.

“Hmph, you guys must really have a death wish.. Alright then, I’ll show you something you’ll never forget..” She said as she slowly aimed her right palm at the duo.

Von and Varric sensed a rapid uptick in her Core Energy, feeling the immense pressure seeping out of her body. They braced themselves, getting ready for anything that Azhane fired at them. She glared at the two with her smoldering red eyes, looking at them with an almost evil expression.

Then in an absolute instant, she appeared directly behind them. Her sudden appearance was completely silent and had no possible way of being detected.

“HUH!?!” Von and Varric remarked in unison as she caught them completely off guard, surprised by how different this teleport was. It was almost as though she had been standing behind them the entire time.

“Die..” They heard Azhane softly say with cold delivery, her voice now sounding completely different. Shivers went down their spines as they quickly turned around to find themselves in a new location.

There was nothing around them, nothing as far as the eyes could see. The air was black as night, the ground completely flat and leveled, and the sky was a dull purple color.

“Where are we??” Varric asked, looking confused as he tried to make sense of this strange area.

“I think this is the plain of nothingness. The enclosed and separate dimension created by Queen Azhane’s Manifest. The High Priest made mention of this when he briefed me.” Von replied, keeping his guard up and his wits about him. As they continued to look around, Von and Varric heard a loud voice speak up from the sky above.

“I’ve wasted my time enough with you vermin. I am ending this now..” Azhane echoed, glaring down at them with her fiery red eyes and her silver hair flowing gracefully.

“Ugh! Bitch, stop with the cocky attitude!! If you couldn’t beat us out there, what makes you think you can defeat us here!? If anything, you’re wasting our time!” Varric yelled with an annoyed expression, growing tired of this seemingly meaningless show of force.

Azhane ignored his statement as she slowly stretched out her arms, closing her eyes in the process. She breathed in and exhaled slowly, opening her eyes again and looking at Varric.

“Since you’re so curious, let me show you the difference in our power.” Just as she finished speaking, the sky lit up and sparkled as hundreds of thousands of swords materialized from the void. The various weapons looked like stars, shining brightly as they took aim at the enemies below.

Von and Varric were gobsmacked by the sheer number of blades in the sky, barely able to comprehend such an ability.

“What the hell is this!?!” Varric yelled out with justified concern. Von slowly backed away before giving a worried response.

“This is her Manifest’s special ability, we must brace ourselves.” Swords continued to form, emerging from void portals all over. The sky looked as though it were alive and sentient with the number of blades moving into position.

After an extremely brief moment of stillness, the weapons started to fall from the sky at incredible speeds.

It was a torrential downpour of blades, covering every inch of this enclosed space. The duo dodged and blocked the swords, trying their best to keep the attack at bay.

However, unlike Azhane’s blades from before, these weapons were hitting significantly harder and moving at a much more rapid pace. As they tried to fend everything off, Azhane aimed her palm at Von and Varric from above.

She fired off multiple large black hole-like orbs at them, adding to the already insane amount of carnage. Each orb caused ridiculous amounts of damage to the ground below and the destruction was almost impossible to dodge.

“This is insane!!!! Does it ever end!?!” Varric yelled out, angered that the Empress didn’t tell him her Manifest ability would be this potent. This void based obstacle course was otherworldly and the description within the leaked documents did an absolute disservice explaining what the plain of nothingness would be like.

Von blasted away some of the swords with his spear and found a brief opening. His Manifest glowed white as the angel wings from before reappeared on his back. He leapt into the sky with great speed and made his way towards Azhane, swiping and slashing swords out of the way.

As he danced around in the sky like a hawk navigating towards their prey, Azhane tracked his movement with her eyes. The blades in the air followed and attacked him from behind.

Von took notice of this and he rapidly sped up, leaving the swords behind with incredible quickness. He pointed his spear towards Azhane as he careened closer and closer towards her, letting out a loud battle cry at the same time.

Just as the blade of his Manifest approached Azhane, A large, armored gauntlet materialized out of nowhere and blocked Von’s attack.

The gauntlet was all black with a deep purple trim and it was easily the size of an adult male, six or more feet in length. It’s appearance was curiously similar to the Grasp of Nihility.

“What is that!?!” Von thought to himself, stunned by yet another addition to this woman’s arsenal. Before he could even collect his thoughts, the sentient gauntlet quickly grabbed Von’s forearm tightly as his arm was still extended from the previous attack.

“Unhand me!!” Von yelled, trying his best to force it off of him. He let go of his Manifest and skillfully caught it with his left hand, allowing him to attack the gauntlet with his spear. The weapon didn’t even leave a scratch and the gauntlet began to grip even harder. Von let out a loud scream as it crushed through his armor effortlessly, breaking his arm in the process.

The pain was unbearable, and Von continued to struggle, trying everything he could to get this thing to let him go. In that same moment, Azhane floated over to them and placed her hand on the gauntlet, petting it as though it were some kind of cute animal. Von’s pain-filled face looked over and his eyes met Azhane’s.

She coldly gazed into his eyes as though enacting judgment upon him. There was no soul behind her vivid red eyes whatsoever and this began to terrify Von Melrose.

“Y-You… Demon..” He said, struggling to talk through the pain.

Azhane gave him a slight smirk, not saying a single word to him. Then, in that same moment, the gauntlet gripped him harder before tossing Von down to the ground.

He careened towards the devastated lands below at breakneck speeds, looking like a white blur as he crashed. Once he landed, a shower of blades quickly followed and exploded with immense power.

The impact created a small crater and once the dust settled, there laid Von, severely beaten and broken down. His armor was in shambles, multiple bones were broken all over, blades were stabbed in various locations, and pools of blood welled up from underneath him.

His Manifest faded away as he coughed up some blood, signaling that he could not continue on in this battle. Von averted his gaze towards Azhane in the sky and his vision blurred as he went unconscious.

Azhane turned her head to the left and saw Varric still trying his damndest to fight off the never ending onslaught, using everything in his arsenal to survive.

“Just what was that giant gauntlet she summoned?? I swear this woman has way too many tricks up her sleeve!” He thought to himself as he witnessed Von’s defeat, feeling concerned for his safety moving forward. Varric shook off his fear and continued to dodge and blast away the incoming blades, prolonging the fight even further.

Azhane gazed from the sky above with an empty stare, feeling bored of this battle and feeling ready for it to be over. At this point, Varric had been under constant fire for nearly twenty minutes and the assault showed no signs of stopping whatsoever. Varric was almost completely out of Core Energy and the potency of his attacks began to diminish.

“There’s really no end to this. I can’t keep this up.” He thought as he stood there panting heavily and realizing that his time was almost up. Varric was bloodied, bruised, and cut up all over from the attacks he couldn’t successfully block with his abilities.

Even though his body was in shambles, his face told an even darker story. He had the expression of someone afraid and backed into a corner with no way out, a far cry from his typical confident and arrogant demeanor.