On the other hand, his power gains were all temporary—boosted by the Ashen Realm. He held little doubt that he’d be weakened significantly in the Demon Realm. Cirayus had confirmed that prana there was even more scarce than it was in the Human Realm. That would affect everyone, of course, but it’d affect him more, given the relative dearth of Ash prana.
Still, there was a big difference now. He now had an advantage that no one in the Demon Realm would—the ability to store prana inside his body. Enough to make a difference.
If it was safe, he’d have loved to spend as much time as possible deeper within the realm, increasing his capacity further. But even with Ashani’s help, the monsters that lurked there made venturing any deeper far too dangerous.
That Janak had shown no sign of himself only proved the point—Vir wasn’t ready, and he suspected it wasn’t simply a matter of prana capacity.
As much as it irked him, he’d uncovered no leads on how to contact the god. If he could even be contacted. If Janak was in the central spire of the city as Vir suspected, it was possible he couldn’t get out.
Just like how I can’t get in. Is he trapped? Is he hoping that I’ll save him? Vir thought. If so, he definitely wasn’t ready.
Vir walked over to the ribbon, hard at work on crafting his new weapon. He’d found that his productivity was inversely correlated to the progress of the bar; the closer it got to finishing, the less he was able to get done.
It was difficult to see what exactly was happening—the swarm of pranites obscured the working. Which, of course, only heightened Vir’s anticipation.
According to Ashani, the process was nearly complete.
After a quick stretch, Vir sat down to finish charging Ashani’s other core when the goddess appeared in front of him.
“We may have an issue,” she said.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“The Wyrm is chasing one of my wolves. The small one.”
The runt leader, Vir thought. The wolf had aided Vir several times already.
“Is this the Wyrm that’s been hanging out nearby?” he asked. “The one that fought the Yaksha?”
Ashani nodded, a look of great worry on her face. “Indeed.”
“What can we do?” Vir asked. “Can we hide the wolf?”
“Wyrms never abandon their prey. Not unless they are gravely injured.”
Vir recalled Cirayus saying the same.
“Then the choice is to abandon the wolf, or to fight,” Vir said with a frown.
“We cannot fight, Vir. Not even I would survive.”
“Except, this isn’t any ordinary Wyrm,” Vir said. “It’s barely alive.”
Ashani paused. “True. I’ve never seen one this small before. But even so…”
“You said it yourself, didn’t you? There is no hiding from a Wyrm.”
“Actually, I could,” she said, placing a hand on her chest. “I can hole up in here and outwait Wyrms for years or decades. They do eventually grow bored. However, I’m afraid that is not an option for you.”
“Hmm. True. Unless…” Vir said, thinking of another plan.
“Yes,” Ashani said, nodding. “I could send him away through my Ash Gate.”
“Alright, then that’s our backup strategy. Let’s first see if we can fight this thing,” Vir said. “If not, we hole up in here until my chakram’s ready. Then we’ll both leave.”
The Wyrm slinked through the street, bent on destroying Ashani’s wolf. What the poor animal had done to offend it, Vir didn’t know. Given the broken mental state of the beasts in this realm, it didn’t take much to set them off.
Katar Launch ripped through the air, crashing headlong into the Wyrm. It tore through the beast, killing dozens of tiny worms as it did… but the beast hardly even noticed. It immediately reconstituted, not even slowing its chase.
Vir Blinked to Ashani’s side on a roof of a short spire nearby.
“Well, the good news is your simulation was accurate,” he said. “My attack really was that powerful.”
“And the bad news?” Ashani asked, her lips taut.
“Your simulation was accurate. Wyrms really are godlike. Even ones that are half-dead.”
Vir wondered how much of the Yaksha’s battle had been put on, and how much had actually been fighting for its life.
“It’s… not as small as I remember,” Vir said.
“And yet,” Ashani said, “it is the smallest of its kind I have ever laid eyes on. My turn.”
Ashani slammed her rod into the roof. It glowed with a blinding amount of Lightning prana, and a tremendous bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky.
It didn’t so much as hit the Wyrm as skewer it, instantly setting it ablaze.
Woah, Vir breathed. Its power was simply incomparable to any attack he’d ever seen. Even the Mejai of Realms’ A Grade Lightning spell hadn’t been on this level.
Thousands of its constituent pieces fell away, dead, and the Wyrm screeched, thrashing in agony.
“A few more of those and it’ll be dead!” Vir said, feeling his excitement growing.
Ashani was grim. “If only I could. My rod cannot sustain a rapid succession of such powerful attacks. It will overload.”
“How long until it can fire again?”
“Another five minutes for such a powerful blast. I can manage small bolts more quickly.”
“Got it,” Vir said. “I’ll keep it distracted until you’ve had enough time to cast it again.”
“Be careful!” she said.
Vir cracked his neck. “I got this. Trust me.”
Finally. Time to let powers loose.
Simulated enemies were nice, but was there anything quite like testing a slew of new powers against a real foe? Especially one so almighty?
The world slowed around Vir as Haste activated. He launched off the rooftop, straight down at the Wyrm below.
Prana Current lit. Vir extended his arm, and a barrage of deadly Ash prana darts short forth, bombarding the Wyrm.
Given the beast’s composition, the darts were more effective than a single, powerful attack. The darts didn’t just take out constituent worms—each pierced through several at once, skewering them. The barrage felled them by the dozens.
Each constituent worm could only generate a thin layer of Prana Armor, which meant that unlike most Ash Beasts, Wyrms were more vulnerable to weaker attacks.
Just that there were usually millions of them—losing a few thousand was but a small flesh wound overall.
Vir fired a Katar Launch the instant he landed on the Imperium road. Prana surged through his legs.
Without waiting to see the result, he Blinked away, perching on the side of a spire just as his attack hit. He grabbed onto a window ledge with his left hand, and with his right, he launched another Katar Launch. He Leaped again.
Vir jumped from tower to tower, bombarding the Wyrm from every conceivable direction, feeling the prana roar through his body.
Worms fell steadily away. The giant creature was lethal, but only if its constituent worms managed to touch him.
It couldn’t kill what it couldn’t hit, after all.
The mythical beast clearly wasn’t used to fighting such mobile, airborne prey. Vir simply moved too fast, the towers acting as his launchpads.
The Wyrm gradually shrunk, shriveling up.
Vir’s attacks slowed. While his body’s ability to channel prana had grown by leaps and bounds, he’d never used so much prana in a fight. Not since his Chakram Barrage with the Blader.
His slower pace allowed the Wyrm time to regain its bearings. Constituent worms detached from the main body, flying at Vir with terrifying speed. He dodged most, but some bit into his Prana Armor. Enough to end him, but a targeted burst of Ashani’s lightning burned them off of him.