They didnÆt comment on the sights but a few of the Aether pipelines they passed earned meaningful glances from them
Edraine and the Patron of the Abyss brought of the rear of the column her because her instincts were tingling with the hint of danger and the amorphous body of the quiet Patron because it seemed to be a loner It seemed profoundly less interested in the surroundings and only moved with the group due to a hidden reason
They had a single exchange right after they left the Nexus Ways and started to travel quickly through space The Patron of the Abyss paused in its movements and examined her You use your body efficiently Sublime
That was that The rest of the journey was almost completely silent
However soon the Patron of the Sun raised a hand and the rest of them slowed behind him They floated at the edge of an asteroid belt far from any other celestial bodies The trace from the Patron of Feathers is emerging from up there but His words trailed off Edraine didnÆt need him to continue She felt her lip curling up from the ominous darkness in front of him
Whatever had happened to the Patron of Feathers was still ongoing
A strange power obstructed them from seeing more Part of it was a powerful image born of dark feathers a vast emptiness and patient death However there was another part that felt unnatural even beyond some of the sick and sadistic images Edraine had encountered in the Nexus Like some strange force lurked at the core perverting the natural order of the universe and obscuring the senses
Is she dead The Patron of Blossoms asked
The Patron of the Sun Shook his head Impossible She perhaps might be wounded or sealed in a different manner We will need to unravel this in order to obtain the energy we need
Velio Dunn surged forward and clenched his fists IÆm willing to head for alone to check out this strange force
And we believed that we could change the Nexus Edraine felt a tingle of dread in her heart By stealing the sealed body of this being
That was when she noticed that a change came from the darkness that supposedly was the Patron of Feathers The Patron of BladeÆs powerful Finale had split open the shroud that blocked her revealing a desiccated and fleshless body Bones and feathers that was all that remained of the Patron of Feathers Her skin was parchment stretched over uneven stone A breath of wind would fold her Any reverberations reaching her would reduce her to dust Only the slightest hint of life remained in her body
Yet Edraine found her gaze pulled by the small bone charm that the Patron of Feathers cradled The small item rolled lazily through the space above the PatronÆs palm Even from this distance Edraine could sense that this small object was the source of the wrongness she had sensed earlier It was also probably the item that reduced a Patron to such a horrifying state
And likely due to the Patron of BladeÆs attack the slightest crack snaked its way out from the edges of the bone charm It had been damaged
That small noise changed the whole battlefield because it dragged ElhumeÆs attention away You wretches Do you know
The Patron of the Sun managed to escape around the first punch finally gasping and trying to stem a flow of blood from his side The Patron of Blades directly sliced the Second Punch in half but didnÆt advance the glinting blade lights around him had dimmed a lot even in that brief conflict
Meanwhile the Patron of Blooms raised her hands with a flourish The garden around her swelled and bloomed petals unfolding and roots worming their way through space Restrict
The Patron of the Abyss coordinated perfectly with her swooping down toward ElhumeÆs face as he turned The absence spread out and tried to strangle him But Elhume just raised his hands
The Third Fist Boundless
Keh Edraine spat out a breath as an immense force bent her over Her spine shattered and her consciousness was scrambled for several seconds Whatever attack that Elhume had unleashed had hit all of them
No it had impacted everything in the surrounding area Her swimming gaze wasnÆt able to locate even the slightest hint of the asteroid belt
By the time she had stabilized herself most of the shredded bits of plant matter that tumbled through space had disintegrated The Patron of the Abyss had once more been knocked away and the Patron of the Sun sported another deep wound on his side
However everyoneÆs attention now fixated on a new figure
He was bruised and bleeding clearly as pushed beyond the limits as Edraine had been But Velio Dunn had somehow made it to within the opening the Patron of Blades created in the wings guarding that horrifying bone charm He hefted his sword the edge glowing with a slight light that bore the faintest hint of the power these Patrons wielded
He was after all a man who had made an attempt at the Pinnacle
Elhume Velio Dunn bellowed His eyes were red with madness You You and your greed This is all because of you You want this item Ha If you donÆt retreat immediately IÆll destroy it Even if I die as long as I spite you
Elhume didnÆt even seem to hear Velio The expression on his blurry face had turned into a frown but he still moved into a punching stance His attack slid forward with that dreadful perfection The Fourth Fist
Fine Velio howled as he cut down toward the bone charm Have it your way
Timeless
As Edraine watched ElhumeÆs attack shot forward Velio cut down but then his attack paused When that fist reached the halfway point between Elhume and him his sword began to creep back upward as though everything was being rewound He looked down in horror at his arm and sword Even from the distance she could see VelioÆs grip on the weapon trembling This is impossible
The punch obliterated his chest cavity His head tumbled through space through a cloud of blended viscera disbelief and unwillingness etched onto his features Velio Dunn died with his weapon held above his head without ever having been able to unleash his attack
Chapter 1817
Blood drifted out from the corpse the crimson color contrasting powerfully with the dried husk of the Patron of Feathers
Edraine felt genuine fear as she watched the drifting weightlessness of VelioÆs body Two desires rose in her simultaneously First to unleash the attacks she had steadily refined by breaking out the Patrons prove her worth on this battlefield She wondered how well she would measure up against her capable allies and the most powerful individual in the Nexus
The second impulse was to turn and flee To remain was to dance with death
While Edraine remained tensed between those possibilities the Patrons surged into action The Patron of the Abyss rushed forward rapidly swelling into a massive roiling cloud of absence that devoured the area around Elhume The Patron of the Blooms began to generate another viscerally present garden while the Patron of the Sun gathered up his power between cupped hands
Elhume raised his head and grinned at them all His blurry form flared with power Die here The Third Fist Boundless
This time Edraine reacted to his voice and mobilized her own destructive image to counter it By the time Elhume raised his fists and drummed against the fabric of the Nexus around them she was poised to meet it Edraine hissed and pain and drifted backward but her image absorbed most of the force this time
Her image coiled and flipped wanting more feedback
Her eyes glittered and she clenched her fist I was completely overpowered But this method is correct I can feel it something changing ItÆs almost as though my image is coming alive to complete itself
Only the Patron of the Abyss seemed to be staggered by the most recent attacks its body broke apart into a dozen wiggling pieces that drifted out in every direction Emptiness lightened to the purple amorphous substance and then settled back to absence The other Patrons used that same moment to strike back