Vir’s desire to meet demons warred with his wish to grow stronger. As frustrating as it was that they were lost within the Ash, the more time he spent here, the more he’d grow. Then again, the sooner he got out of the Ash, the sooner he’d be able to speak to Maiya again. Possibly.
“We’re moving again?” Vir asked, getting up.
“Aye. Exceptions exist, but it’s too dangerous to linger in one place more than a few hours. Never understood how, but Ash Beasts will eventually start tailing us. Some can be dealt with simply. Others… not so much. I’d rather avoid that if we can.”
Vir nodded, dusting the ubiquitous ash off his cloak. It helped that his clothing was mostly black, anyway. Anything that wasn’t, like his backpack, was quickly dyed. It was the fate of any colored item in this gray place.
They bounded in silence, Cirayus floating elegantly, and Vir Leaping, kicking up sprays of ash in his wake. One was flashier than the other, but they both moved a hundred paces with each step, allowing them to travel the vast empty plains almost as quickly as an Acira.
They needed the speed, too. As Vir was learning, the Ashen Realm was vast. Nearly incomprehensibly vast. Not only was it far larger than the Human Realm, the Ash Tears nearly all led to distant, broken places. Some entire realms unto themselves. Of course, it wasn’t as though they could simply go through one. Their inherent instability made them exceedingly dangerous to pass through.
Among them is Mahādi. The Lost City of the Gods.
Would he find his way there somehow? At the moment, Vir certainly hoped not. He’d had enough difficulty dealing with the least prana-dense region of the regular Ashen Realm. A sub-realm where prana was supposed to be so thick you could see it sounded like a death wish. Both from poisoning and from the near-immortal beasts that lurked within.
Once more, he felt his own insignificance. The strongest humans and demons were nothing but fodder here. And yet, while others might have despaired, Vir simply redoubled his efforts. Even now, when he Leaped, he stretched his body’s capacity to store prana, expanding it bit by bit with each activation. Because every moment not spent training was a moment wasted.
It wasn’t enough on its own, of course. While Prana Blade had evolved into Blade Projection—doubling the effective length of his blade—the added reach diluted its power.
In both offense and defense, Vir was lacking. He struggled to penetrate the thick Prana Armor that was ubiquitous among Ash Beasts, while he himself was unable to generate similar armor. Prana Channeling might boost his vitality, but it did nothing to allow him to weather damage, and Toughen wasn’t nearly enough on its own.
Blade Launch was the next logical iteration of his offensive armament. It was the ability Mina’s bodyguard, Kamna, had used against him. He’d witnessed its fearsome power firsthand. Importantly, it gave him a ranged attack that dealt significant damage. Vir’s chakrams and chakris had become so useless that he’d begun to consider ditching them.
Mastering Blade Launch was easier said than done, though. Vir still couldn’t channel enough prana through his body to launch a violent explosion of prana. Nor could he control that prana once it left him, which meant he had to tame that incredible power within his body, as he did with Prana Blade and Blade Projection.
It needed overwhelming amounts of prana, and it needed skill. The former was simple, the latter hard.
Vir’s mind turned to the handful of beasts he’d fought over the past week. He’d prevailed against them all, though after his second win, he started to suspect something off. The beasts were weaker than he’d expected. Not that they were weak by any means; all were easily as strong as the Brood Matron in the Human Realm, but for Ash Beasts in the Ash, Vir had expected more.
It wasn’t just because they were in a prana-weak region, either.
He’s helping me, somehow.
Cirayus had to have been intervening. It wasn’t anything as blatant as using Balancer of Scales to hold enemies back as he’d done earlier, or Vir would’ve picked up on it immediately. Nevertheless, he was doing something to restrict his opponents’ power, and Vir’s repeated questions about it had been met with firm denials every time.
Eliminating all other choices, Vir suspected the giant was opening his Crown Chakra, targeting the aura at his foes.
The scenery gradually shifted as they bounded. A dark forest came into view, and not long after, jagged peaks that soared into the dark clouds high above. Lightning struck unendingly, as if determined to level the black mountains that defied them. All while ash rained perpetually.
Much like the Boundary, there was a wrongness to this place—a feeling that had grown stronger in Vir’s mind over the past week. Whatever the Ashen Realm was, he very much doubted it was a natural phenomenon. Where did the ash come from and how could it fall perpetually? Why was there no sun here? The hideously deformed flora, the storms… It was as if there was something fundamentally broken about the world, but who? Or what?
What beings were capable of such a feat, Vir couldn’t begin to guess. He doubted even the Prime Imperium wielded such power.
There was no warning. The next thing Vir knew, he was lying face down in the mud, a crushing force pinning him down.
The force ceased as suddenly as it had come, and Vir found Cirayus next to him, eyeing the horizon. For the first time upon entering the Ash, Vir thought he saw fear in the giant’s expression.
“Stay down. Don’t breathe a word,” the demon whispered.
Vir followed his gaze. Prana Vision found it first. Off in the distance were hundreds, if not thousands, of Ash Beasts. Big ones, too. Easily as large as Cirayus. Though Vir hadn’t encountered this type before, he doubted their Balar Rank was anything less than several hundred. Each.
What are they doing, gathered up like that?
It’d be suicidal trying to get through that throng, which ripped at each other’s throats. The beasts ran the gamut of shape and size, all attempting to kill one other.
“KREEEEEEEEEE!”
An ear-splitting wail ripped through the air, and Vir knew in that moment it wasn’t the beast throng Cirayus was worried about. It was the predator that had come to consume them.
A cylindrical mass lit up pure black to Vir’s eyes, floating high in the air and nearly blinding his vision.
Prana Swarm? No. Something else.
Something no less terrifying.
The swarm he’d seen under Daha resembled a cloud, lacking any distinct shape. This was different. Easily three hundred paces long, the beast slithered through the air like a snake. Or a Wyrm.
Not like a Wyrm. That is a Wyrm, Vir realized, growing just as still and terrified as the giant beside him.
Balar Rank estimated between 12,000 to 40,000. Threat leveclass="underline" Cataclysmic.
It was among the deadliest beasts in the Ashen Realm, rumored to live only in its most prana-dense regions. Never did he expect one to venture so far to the periphery, and based on the giant’s expression, neither had Cirayus.
They watched as the beast descended rapidly, chasing some unseen prey.
Prey that had absolutely no chance of getting away.
Instead of slowing its descent as Vir thought it would, it crashed into the ground, the giant body crumbling into a million pieces.