Dao 4 Chapter 29 (Patreon)

“It’ll be okay.” Dar found himself trying to comfort Neko, who was clinging tightly to him in his inner world.

“No. Dar don’t go. It’s dangerous. Neko just knows.” She stared up at him with green eyes so full of emotion that they melted his heart.

Dar shook his head. “I started this. I need to be the one to finish it. Besides, I have so many powerful women surrounding me. They boost me up.”

Bai was in his inner world along with everyone else. The only ones missing was Sha, who was flying them to Kindrake, and Valdis, who was still cross legged under the dao tree concentrating.

“Do not worry, young Neko. I will protect him,” Bai promised the small cat girl with a pat on her head.

Dar gave her a nod of approval. Over the time hunting Mo, they’d grown closer, and she was clearly making an effort to fit in with his harem. When the immediate chaos was settled, he was open to a more serious look at her joining his harem.

“Thank you, Bai. We’ll have each other’s backs.” His eyes tracked the rest of his harem. “That doesn’t mean that your help won’t be valuable, so please be ready.”

Amber and Marcie nodded firmly. “We will be your shadows.”

Sasha was fidgeting with the gloves. “I know I’m not—”

“Your role is essential. You’ll be helping run Hearthway and making sure that the harem is ready if we need them,” Dar interrupted her. He wasn’t about to hear another excuse about how she wasn’t fit for something or other.

Sasha nodded after a heavy breath. “Understood. Neko will keep me company.” Sasha pried the cat girl off of Dar and held her protectively.

“If Neko didn’t have kittens to protect, Neko would destroy crack person.” Neko swiped at the air.

“Of course you would.” Cherry rubbed Neko’s head as well as she walked over to Dar and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “It should be getting dark. Good luck, we’ll keep everything here in check.”

Dar couldn’t help but glance over at the village that had no idea what was happening outside his world. They were concerned with getting crops in the ground, not knowing that the world outside was almost apocalyptic.

“Love you all.” Dar kissed them each in turn before fading from his inner world.

Outside in the real world, the hole in the sky was continuing to suck up huge chunks of land from the world.

“Terrifying, isn’t it?” Sha said, noticing that he’d woken.

“Absolutely,” Dar agreed. It felt like the planet itself was in trouble.

The sun was fading behind the horizon and plunging the world into a giant shadow. “Come into my inner world. I can travel the rest.”

“Want me to land first?” Sha asked as Dar just tugged her into his inner world. After a moment, she relented and allowed him to take charge.

The sand beneath him was released from her power and fell apart, but Dar was already ready.

He plunged into the shadows, feeling himself split into a thousand pieces and scattered over the world. He wanted to practice the travel more, growing stronger at it in case he needed it. But it did require massive amounts of focus.

Going within his line of sight was one thing, but traveling across the country required him to have a crystal-clear destination.

Dar remembered the sight of the granite cliffs that had towered over Hearthway every day and locked the idea into his head as he slipped along the giant shadow that was night.

He could feel his mana draining rapidly as he slipped across the surface of the world. Shadows all around tugged at his attention, beckoned him to stop, to leave his consciousness there while his body traveled ahead.

As time stretched on and he continued, his mind felt like it was splitting into a thousand pieces, with every inch threatening to rip his mind away from him.

But he was resolved to keep it together. There was no other option for him. He needed to reach the anomaly and help the other celestials. The issue was escalating, and they had been there, trying to end it. If celestials were unable to fix the problem, it was now up to Dar.

Dar reached the end of his mana before he got to the cliffs, and the shadows took their price. As his mana became weak and his focus faltered, pieces of his body were left behind, ripped from his body as he finished the last distance.

As soon as he emerged from the shadow he collapsed to a knee, he summoned both Bai and Sha.

“So you do— holy shit.” Bai went from teasing to concerned in a flash. “You look like you just got out of a tussle with a bear.”

Dar tried to stand, only to realize he had no balance.

Sha caught his shoulder and helped him back to a kneeling position. “Best not do that. You pushed yourself too far.”

Dar grunted and just breathed, focusing on the huge channels he used for mana. He tried to absorb more from the world to speed his recovery. Finding what he needed, he shoved it into his dao of regeneration and tried to make himself whole.

“We’ll watch over you for a minute.” Sha turned her attention out towards the land, or more specifically, the lack of it.

The land that Dar had once known was gone, replaced by hollowed out brown, rocky terrain like someone had taken a giant pick and started mining the land.

But as The Deep One slammed into the earth, Dar realized they were marks left from his previous failed attempts. As the Deep One hit the ground, the impact sent huge chunks of dirt and stone into the air. Dar watched as those chunks of earth floated and slowly drifted up towards the hole in the sky.

Bai sucked in a breath at the sight of The Deep One bloodied and battered. “What is doing this?”

“Up there.” Dar pointed with his chin when his arms failed to raise. “See that figure?” In his head, he called it the only name that seemed to fit, Pandora.

A dark figure stood against the blue sky. It struck Old Jin next, sending the gold dragon back down to the ground, though the gold dragon landed far more gracefully.

Something shot down from Pandora, and Old Jin dodged it, seeming to know what it was. Around him, the earth exploded, and a small canyon formed as something plowed through the earth.

“This is why celestials don’t fight. We’d destroy the very territory we sought to protect.” Sha kept a hand on Dar to keep him steady.

“Don’t think Pandora much cares,” he replied.

“Pandora?” Sha looked at him for explanation.

Dar shrugged, wincing at the pain. “A name I made up. Everything needs a name.”

A huge column of fire lit up the dimming light, attempting to swallow up Pandora. Dar watched as Hong in phoenix form circled the sky. Meanwhile, more attacks shattered through the clouds.

“We need to join the fight. They are weakening.” Bai threw off her fur coat as a look of seriousness crossed her face.

“Dar, can you summon someone to help you?” Sha asked, creating a platform of sand for herself to ride on.

His two maids appeared immediately and Amber grabbed onto him protectively. “Go. We’ve got him.”

“Fantastic maids.” Bai clicked her tongue and then she changed.

Out of the eight-foot-tall woman uncoiled a giant white dragon that grew to the heavens and wound around herself as she roared and flew into the sky.

Sha exploded into a giant living sandstorm dozens of meters high as she flew into the air to join Bai.

“Milord. This might be a fight above your level. They can all fly.”

Dar continued to draw in mana and restore himself. “I know. But I can fly too.” He smiled up at her.

“Messily,” Marcie added. “Very messily.”

“Hey now, I’m getting there. But regardless, as soon as I can stand, I will be joining this fight. This ends with me.” Dar had a conviction in his voice that brooked no argument.

“Think if we cut off his legs we can get him to hold still?” Amber asked Marcie, sounding a little too serious for Dar’s liking.

The mousy maid shook her head. “Doubtful, he’d probably just run in on the stubs. Or attempt shadows again and destroy his body further before it’s healed.”

“Shame,” Amber sighed.

Dar rolled his eyes at their byplay and tried to stand again, feeling strength in his legs returning. “Getting better.” He summoned his black armor and wrapped himself before summoning the black axe. “Now, get back in my shadow. I’m going to fight.”

Amber stepped in front of him and put a hand on his chest, staring into his visor. “Do not for an instant think you get to die out there.”

“Never,” Dar reassured her.

She gave a sharp nod and grabbed Marcie’s hand, pulling both of them into his shadow.

Dar wished he was as comfortable as they were moving through the shadows. He told himself they didn’t go far distances, but they’d also just had so much more time to practice with the dao.

Dar drew on his dao of storm and leapt high into the air, throwing himself into the fray. Turbulent winds at his back threw him up to the figure that was fighting off both Bai and Sha without much issue.

But the combined attacks were shattering the world below them.

As he grew closer, he got a better view of their opponent. He now knew that she was decidedly female. She had a cold, almost bored expression on her face with deep red eyes.

Pandora wore a black, body-hugging suit with gold details and a crown with a large ruby inset into it. She turned at Dar’s flight and threw her hand to the side, focusing on him over even the celestials.

The ground exploded as a pitch-black blade shot up from where it had been thrown at Old Jin. It was a replica of the blade that was shot down from the sky.

Dar was working to try to control the storm, which meant that he wasn’t able to do any fancy maneuvers as he reached her. By the time his axe was swinging down to cleave her in two, she had the black blade in her hand striking back.

As their blades met, the hit was jarring. It was like running into a cement wall at full steam. Pandora’s strength was terrifying, and her blade was unaffected by all the enchantments on Lilith’s.

There was a moment where Dar hung in the air after the hit, but then the momentum of her hit met him and he rocketed back down to the ground.

He crashed through the ground, sending more of it up into the air and the whole in the sky. Dar laid for a moment with the wind knocked out of him, willing his body to get up once more. There was work to be done.

His dao tree came to his rescue, filling him with characters. A flood of dao crossed through his mind, and he felt more in tune with the entire world around him. Mana began flowing to him more easily than ever before as he restored himself.

Dar sat up even as he felt his ribs reset, staring down at his armor-clad arm. He’d been harmed even through the black armor. He couldn’t help but laugh.

If blocking one of Pandora’s attacks brought that much dao, how much could he learn through a battle with her? The dao tree continued to pulse inside Dar, as if begging him to continue.

“Yeah. Let’s do this.” Dar pushed off the ground, exploding the rocks around him as he charged Pandora.

The woman swung, but Dar was ready.

He dropped his axe and used the storm dao to spin midair as he summoned another black blade from his inner world. Her sword hit his axe and sent it flying off into the distance as his sword inched closer to her.

But she was fast. Pandora moved, blocking with her forearm. Dar’s enchanted blade stopped dead against her before she snapped a kick in his chest and Dar found himself once again flying back to the ground.

A sand storm wrapped around him and caught him that time.

“You might not be her match,” Sha stated quietly, her voice hollow as a living storm.

“Can we bring her to the ground? I don’t have the advantage in the air,” Dar replied, feeling a greater dao forcefully form on his body as the lesser dao started to gather. The dao tree pulsed inside of him.

Sha deposited him on the ground and stayed there with him.

Bai lost another exchange with Pandora before retreating to their side. “What is the plan?”

“See if she comes down?” Dar hazarded.

That wasn’t much of a plan, but he had to figure out how their team could be stronger. Pandora was fighting off five celestials at the same time. And Lilith’s enchanted weapons were no match for her.

Pandora followed their lead, dropping from the sky and landing on the ground. Earth shattered for miles as she stood.

“Feels like all we are doing is feeding that hole in the sky,” Sha commented.

Dar agreed, curious where all the land was going. But for the moment it would have to wait.

Dar rushed forward over the broken ground, his black sword out and swinging again.

The dao tree was pumping him full of dao with each exchange, like there was a connection between it and Pandora. Every time Dar got close to her, it blossomed, and he was filled with more dao.

They clashed blades again, Pandora’s face calm as she blocked, though she didn’t knock him away.

“You will lose. Just as the other Drasil have. Because you have the seedling of one in you won’t make a difference. You’ll die like all the rest. Then this world will die with you.” Her voice was chillingly neutral as she promised death and destruction.

She flung Dar back the way he had charged before she raised her sword and swiped down at him from a distance. The ground between them erupted, and Bai stepped forward, catching the blast on her head.

It hit her hard enough that she staggered backwards and a huge crater appeared before her from the shockwave.

Bai stumbled a few steps and shook her head. “That was rough.” Her eyes weren’t focused even as she said it.

Dar felt the dao characters inscribed on his body rotate and move, coalescing together into greater and greater dao. He was sure now that he knew all of the lesser dao inscribed on his body. And they seemed to be forming greater dao, even a few grand dao from his recent exchange with Pandora.

“Thank you, Bai. I’m growing stronger with each exchange.” Dar held onto his sword even though his hands were feeling numb.

“Then might I advise you try and grow faster,” Sha added from his side. “Because while we are fresh, the others don’t look well.”

While they were taking a reprieve, Hong and The Deep One attacked Pandora again. Hong flit about like a flickering flame, but The Deep One was battered and bleeding everywhere. The colossal shark was in bad shape.

Pandora’s blade cleaved off one of The Deep One’s fins before she grabbed him and tossed him back onto the earth, shattering it further.

Dar was back on his feet, rushing in again. His runes were alight. He could feel all the dao calling to him, flowing through him. He ran along the broken surface as rocks lifted up into the air, being sucked away, but he didn’t miss a footing as he charged Pandora again.

The woman whirled, catching his blade with her own before snapping his sword in half with a flick of her wrist. Pandora grinned, meeting Dar’s eyes as she flicked her sword to the side.

It caught The Deep One in the face, distorting the giant shark’s face and blasting out his side.

Dar was horror struck, watching the Deep One die right in front of him.

“Useless.” Pandora stepped forward faster than Dar could dodge. She stood on Dar’s foot and put a hand to his chest.

Immediately, the chest plate of his black armor exploded into dust. Before he could do anything, she flicked her wrist and the rest of his armor burst off him into dust that was sucked up into the hole in the sky.

Dar’s skin was exposed, and the dao characters on him were alight and shifting all over his body trying to rapidly create new and greater dao.

Pandora watched for a moment as she raised her hand, still holding him pinned by his foot. “You will die.”

Her black sword shot into her hand, and she raised it like an executioner’s blade.

Dar grabbed her arm, but her skin burned him. It was like trying to touch the sun.

She sneered and Dar felt his life flash before his eyes, but he kept his hope. He was made for this. He could feel it in his core. There was more within him still. He was on the cusp of something even greater; he just needed a little more time for his dao tree to finish.

Two figures shot out of his shadows. Amber and Marcie flowed low to the ground and stabbed Pandora from each side.

Their blades punched into the terrifying woman, but her only reaction was a small grunt and step backward. But they’d done their job, granting him a moment of reprieve.

Dar kicked off the ground. “Girls, back.”

Dar felt like he was on the cusp of forming his first celestial dao, and he needed a moment as his body vibrated with potential.

He could feel it about to erupt, keeping his body where it was as Pandora’s blade was faster than Amber. It pierced through Amber’s chest as Marcie wailed.

“No!” Marcie lost it and charged back in, only for Pandora to catch her arm.

His maid screamed, and Dar tried to rush forward, but his body was locked up in the change.

Pandora’s face was cold as she pulled the blade from Amber and swiftly stabbed it through Marcie. As her blade came away, Dar felt like the world had frozen over.

Both of his maids floated in the air, their faces fixed in death as they were drawn up towards the hole in the sky.

Amber…

Marcie…

Dar’s brain tried to process what he was seeing.

Images of Amber waiting on him, the way she had a teasing smirk near constantly these last few weeks after he gave her permission to do as she wished. And Marcie, his quiet follower. She’d never complained, never wanted anything more than to serve him and learn from Amber. They’d been completely devoted to him.

Dar wanted to hold them just one more time; he hadn’t had enough of them.

Dar turned his attention to Pandora, emotions coursing through him. She’d always been the enemy, but in that moment, she was something more. He would destroy her.

Dar couldn’t hold back the tears as they flowed and his first celestial dao burst forth. Power filled him and Dar had to focus it, run it through the channels in his body, enlarging them, making them even bigger than before and filling them with mana.

Dar felt the world gather around him, filling him with dao and mana as he grasped at it to improve himself as much as he could. He would avenge his two maids and the destruction to his new world.

Dar watched as Pandora battled Bai and Sha, who had stepped in to try to protect him as his body had gone through the shift. Pandora was batting them aside, still focused on reaching Dar.

While he was growing stronger, Dar couldn’t help but feel overwhelming doubt that they could succeed. Even while Dar was growing to a celestial immortal, he was surrounded by celestials that couldn’t defeat her.

His eyes flickered back up to the two maids floating up in the sky then back down to the woman walking his way with a sword that swallowed all of the light.

Pandora grinned and pointed her sword at him as it shot out of her hands.

The black blade grew in his vision as it hurtled straight for him, and he couldn’t move as his body shredded itself and reformed, growing stronger with his ascension to a celestial.

AN - Getting close to the end here. We have a few more chapters and then 2 epilogues.