Azaria 2-30 (Patreon)

Good Morning! This is the last chapter of Azaria Book 2. I will be switching to finishing Chaotic Anomaly before working on Book 3, though I will be posting a chapter here and there so it doesn't go as long as it did last time without an update. I hope everyone enjoyed the ride of Book 2.

Chapter 30: The Return

Azaria

“To the top floor,” I said once it looked like the summoning was over. I waved my hand and teleported us all there. For a split second everything went black. A different sort of black than that of closing my eyes. It was like everything ceased to exist then reappeared in less than a split second.

I lurched forward as a massive headache ripped through my skull, or was it core? It faded but something was kept nagging me that I couldn’t put my finger one. Unable to figure it out, I turned back to the crack in the sky was almost as wide as it was wide. I couldn’t get an accurate measurement, but I’d place it at around a few miles. The sky which should have been pitch black by this point was still dyed with an eerie blood-red light. I found Starburst gripping the window frame hard enough that his knuckles were turning white.

“What is it?” I asked concerned about anything that could make it react like that.

“I hope you finished making something that can fight, we’re going to need it. Sanguela Demons are coming.”

“Sanguela demons?” I repeated back the strange word.

“Blood demons. More than a little hassle to deal with. I think your people liked to call them vampires,” Starburst explained. Vampires? Seriously? Would be werewolves next? Well, it probably wasn’t the strangest thing I was going to have to deal with. “You really tapped into one of the worse realms.”

“I don’t think we’ll have much to worry about. None of us have blood,” I said looking past him. A group of people were starting to gather near the tents, the Aether they were giving off making my mouth water. I quickly shook the thoughts that were trying to take root. I took a closer look and found Neo along with the woman in golden armor. Her face was blurred for some reason.

I narrowed my eyes trying to see past whatever was causing the interference but only got a headache for my efforts. A man moved next to her and took her hand. His face was also blurred out. Something about them was familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. A few other high level Aether wielders moved near them and I took a moment to observe as much as I could. I might have to deal with these people on a much different playing field.

“Looks like all the top guns have gathered,” I commented to Starburst.

“That might not be a good thing. Depending on the breach, they might just be lambs to the slaughter,” he replied shaking his head.

The sound of cracking pulled our attention back to the sky above us. Like a plane of glass about to shatter, cracks ran over the surface as far as the eye could see. That only lasted for a few moments before the glass shattered. A hole opened in the sky that revealed a blood red moon. There was a boom and large blood-colored chains suddenly flew from the hole and soared through the air until the impacted the ground.

They were powerful enough to tear their way through entire buildings as a skyrise was nearly pulverized. Neo jumped into the air with a boom and attempted to knock one off its course, but even he was knocked aside from the energy contained in the chains. He careened through the air and slammed into the ground, forming a crater. I couldn’t tell if he was actually harmed from here though.

One of the chains slammed nearby inside my field. I zoomed over and checked out its energy. Attempting to absorb it did little but pull some of the rust off the surface. If I had a physical form, I would have kicked the bloody thing. A scream drew my attention back to the crack where roots of some sort were growing along the chains. At this rate, they would reach the surface in a few minutes.

The energy I absorbed from the chain suddenly grew in my core. I had less than a second before a pulse ripped from the center of my core and washed out from my field. I dropped to my proverbial knees as the energy ripped through the chains like paper and obliterated the roots into ash. With a scream, an explosion of energy tore through my dungeon and arced into the sky.

I was in so much pain that I could only watch as everything happened. The condensed Aether slammed into the hole in the sky and like shattering glass all over again, quite literally blasted through the hole. The beam of Aether only lasted for a few seconds before an entirely new wave of energy washed back along the beam and slammed into my core.

For a second, I truly feared for my life. The glowing energy that made up my core split with hairline sized cracks before it healed as it took in the excess energy. If I had a physical form, I would be beating my head on the ground or the wall, something that was hard and could make the pain stop if I hit it hard enough.

After what felt like a year, the energy flowing into my core finally ceased. Vaguely, I could hear Starburst calling my name as if from the end of a long tunnel. Gasping for air that I did not need, but truly wished would help. I carefully opened my eyes. For some reason, my dungeon’s field had expanded to encompass the entire city and a large section underground. Much more than the Barbie city. I was sure the area easily covered the entirety of land under the city.

“What… What happened?” I asked looking at Starburst with worried and slightly scared eyes.

“I’m not sure, but whatever you did, sealed the breach,” he replied pointing at the sky outside the window. I looked with my actual eyes and saw that he was right. The breach had been sealed and only an aurora of light remained.

There was a crash behind us, and we spun to find Zaria collapsed on the ground. Blood, or her magical equivalent leaked from her eyes, mouth, and ears. I rushed over to her and helped her up. “Zaria! What’s wrong!?”

“Ab…Absorb… Absorb me!” she pleaded. I feared that this was some sort of limitation that was built into the ability to keep it from being abused. If she was in this much pain than I had no choice but to relieve her of it. I would be sad, but it was better than forcing her to suffer through this pain.

“Alright. I’ll miss you. You were like a sister to me,” I said  quickly trying to suppress my tears, grabbing her hand and squeezing. For the first time since I created her, I saw her smile with almost human like emotion. I really would miss her.

Concentrating, I pulled the Aether that made her mind and body back into my own being. Memories that didn’t make any sense rushed into me. I screamed as the world both went black and rushed out around me.

~~~

I jerked awake. A strange thing in and of itself considering I hadn’t technically slept since I became a dungeon core. I looked around and found that my consciousness was centered back in my core. I didn’t spend much of my time near my core as it was a constant reminder of what I had become.

Sighing, I closed my eyes again and quickly noted my surroundings. We were back in Earth. I had all my memories, plus Zaria’s of the last few days. Our plan had worked with only a very strange hiccup, albeit a good one. I reached into my core and pulled out the device that had caused all of this madness. A cube made of thousands of smaller objects that was constantly shifting slightly appeared in my hands.

I took a deep breath and exhaled as a smile formed. Terleza better guard her heart, because I’m coming for it. The Earth is not food for some planet in a different dimension. We would not go quietly. Just like we would rather die than become food or slaves. First, we needed allies and to grow in strength. A few of the failed worlds would be candidates for allies. Those that had already turned to the gods would make good food for a growing dungeon.

Gently lowering the cube back, it fused with my core. With it safely out of sight, I sighed in relief. Now, I needed to collect Lance. She was a big help in crushing the queen core if my memory served me right. She should have just finished up taking control of a gang in the city and originally, I would be calling her right about now.

“Well… All in good time,” I said to myself. I tapped my chin then smirked. “I need to tease Thomas some. A bit of revenge for lying to me.” I laughed then flew through the ceiling. I made for the roof to take in my new field. A sudden flash drew my attention as Terleza appeared.

“What have you done?” she demanded.

“I’m not sure what you mean?” I asked with a tilted head. I put on a curious face much like a child would.

“We detected a dimensional breach,” she said flatly while looking around.

I pointed at the aurora in the sky. “That?” I asked with mock innocence. She turned her glare at the sky then narrowed her eyes even further. Much more and she would just be closing her eyes. “A skill I used earlier caused a line to appear. Then something happened and it closed on its own. I don’t know what it was, but it hurt.”

She returned her glare to me. The best lie was one that had most of the truth. She walked over and placed a hand over my head. “I see you’ve met my goal. Don’t disappoint me.”

I had to resist raising my eyebrow. I was surprised she wasn’t saying anything about the fact that my field covered the entire city now with only the spots that the other dungeons resided being holes. Even the magical changes that I made to allow the city to fly were still present. Whatever the case, I just dropped my head. “I won’t.”

Chapter 31: The Split

Lance