A cold wind blew across the hilltop and the Patron shivered Then he scowled up at the infuriatingly grey cloud cover A part of him wanted to reach up and used his significant presence to burn away these infuriating barriers to his glory but he managed to resist the impulse There were several strange aspects to this place and he didnÆt wish to reveal his presence too early
Eh The Patron of the Sun blinked He hadnÆt noticed any shift but suddenly his location was different His face twisted into a scowl If he hadnÆt detected anything It was neither Aether nor Nether that had shifted him but something else A Domain
He stood at the center of a grand hall that was pitted and shattered as though a great battle had occurred here Decomposing bodies of twisted humanoid ants lay everywhere filling the space with a rancid smell High above was a circular opening allowing this streams of starlight down around the Patron In front of him was a massive crater at the bottom of which a twisted grey hand stuck out of a pile of rubble
He looked around slowly toward the thick layer of gloom that hemmed in the room and chuckled An ambush How truly peculiar This space seems exceedingly unique What sort of beings are you
A stone golem grinned over at the Patron from his seat on a broken pillar A woman shifted between a lovely young girl into a smoking and overheated cyborg and back again as he watched her stroll forward A dog sized rheumy eyed spider rubbed its forelegs together knitting a web so quickly between them that it seemed to come alive and move
A woman with long white hair and a pole length needle stood directly opposite the Patron of the Sun watching him serenely Every single one of these figures burned with a strange authority in this space that despite the differences between their images and the PatronÆs made him wary We had the same question for you sir Who gave you permission to so brazenly walk into our Alpha Cosmos
Claudette glared balefully over at Izzie and Pan daring them not to take her seriously The ground underneath her feet blackened and began to smoke as her manifestation of Clarent brought with it some of its horrible burdens upon the space The temperature continued to drop as Claudette got caught up in the intoxicating feeling of unfolding her image and flaring it toward the sky
Before the two men had recovered another part of Claudette began to hesitate Actually creating a disturbance like this might not be a good idea If I bring more attention to the presence of Randidly and Neveah
However none in the watching crowd seemed inclined to run and report her to the authorities If anything they seemed excited Claudette supposed the reverberations of her image would do their dirty work for them Instead of running after creating a sizable circle around her Izzie and Pan the spectators seemed all too willing to engage in bets on the outcome of the fight
A small part of her was incredibly flattered to observe that most people were betting on her to win against both of them
I I will abstain from this showdown PanÆs face was pale as he raised his hand in surrender There was a groan of disappointment from the audience and several people began arguing about the odds of her solo against Izzie Pan offered Claudette a half bow and tried to smile at her Let it never be said that Pan Cortez takes advantage of a la oof
Claudette tried not to beam with satisfaction as he collapsed in front of her She had ripped across the intervening space and drove a fist into his stomach Clarent radiated cold desolation which transformed into an icy black gauntlet around her hand making the blow particularly potent Pan released another wheezing breath as he stared up at her with a blank expression
A split second after that several other images locked onto her position ones much more potent than either of these two men although not quite as strong as her own Still those images worked together to blunt the edges of the desolation that she unleashed outside of the battle while allowing her to hit the two men with the full force of her attack
Ice and weird patterns of darkness began to accumulate on both their bodies while Claudette watched them both from within the icy protection of her Dead Frost Barrier However Pan quickly reacted A blue aura spread out from his daggers and he began methodically slicing at ClaudetteÆs protection
Clink Clink Clink
Izzie raised his head and bellowed releasing a pulse of that regeneration that seemed to slow the corruption of his body even as the winds around them accelerated and the snow intensified With a single bound he crossed the rest of the distance between them and slammed his fist against the ice
To ClaudetteÆs great amusement Izzie looked dumbfounded when the full force strike from his massive fist earned only the tiniest crack in the ice She felt the hungry cold condensing down above her and lashed out with it covering his bushy eyebrows in frost and send him sneezing and reeling Pan shifted his attacks and started to make deeper cuts in her defenses but at this rate the blizzard would smother them before they could reach her
Interesting a voice cut through the howling of the wind making Claudette wary Let me join in the fun
Me too
Suddenly Claudette felt her grip on the weather weaken She turned to face the first speaker and saw a middle aged woman who grinned cheekily at her Lightning seemed to flash in her eyes and when she breathed all of the surrounding air currents spun a little closer to her The woman raised her hands and began to release crackling bolts of electricity that blasted apart the growing frost on the ground
Meanwhile the male voice had come from a tall muscular man with red hair who pushed his way through the crowd He stepped onto the tainted soil without any apparent ill effects simply reaching up and pulling a heavy saber off of his back He swung the weapon smoothly his gaze fixed on Claudette the entire time not an ounce of hesitation or excess in the motion Lucifer Slash
For a brief moment sensing the growing influence of lighting from the woman and the power of the manÆs pure slash Claudette felt something tighten in her chest Can this group really defeat me Capture me and force me
No Her response came equally as quickly and her weapon blurred into motion Clarent ripped through the cold air a thick band of malicious darkness At that moment she opened her mouth and finally released the true chorus of the bladeÆs song Edge of Desolation
Her attack empowered by the primal core of her image ripped forward smashed apart the lightning and then the manÆs saber slash without slowing and headed directly for Izzie ClaudetteÆs eyes widened in horror If that attack hit him directly
Her senses barely could keep up with the next few fractions of the second
The ground in front of Izzie cracked A disgruntled Randidly Ghosthound wearing a flour dusted apron swiped at ClaudetteÆs attack with his hand which condensed into a thicker clawed hand Her released image buckled and burned him weakened by still forcing him back
And then he was gone leaving the remaining force to crunch into IzzieÆs chest and slam him into the ground
Chapter 1789
Claudette flushed and bowed her head No matter how she attempted to distract herself she couldnÆt keep the color from rising in her cheeks The soup in front of her did nothing to alleviate her feelings of guilt I apologize once again Due to this mistake I am willing to forgo the tips that I gathered with my effort You may do with them as you wish I do not deserve them
Neveah snorted Vye and Raina too looked at each other and giggled Even the subdued young girl Delilah looked up with a hint of a smile on her face But then she glanced and Randidly and shivered before returning to her enthusiastic washing of the dishes