[MA] 356. A Marvelous Tool (Patreon)

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Unlike the other "high elves," Voided Time released a sliver of its existence upon death. It was too close to the mist, and Shen couldn't reach it in time. Fortunately, there was no need for him to move.

He also crushed the sliver with his mind, and unlike its complete form, it presented almost no resistance.

Shen had just killed something with willpower alone. That was outstanding. He could explain how powerful that made him feel.

Yet, it had cost him a third of his willpower on top of any previous expenditure, totaling half of his willpower being gone. That brought three inconveniences.

First, he felt like a mortal who hadn't slept well for a few days in a row. He needed to focus more to achieve the same things as he could at his peak. And focusing harder, of course, increased his willpower consumption.

Second, a lower willpower meant an inferior defense against the Void's mind invasion. The voices would be more frequent, and resisting their allure would take more out of him.

In fact, it had already started.

'Willpower is undeniably relevant,' he thought with the Void.

The part of him closer to Absolute Power had already agreed to use the experiment's results and shut up, but he hated to hear the Void say those words. It was like rubbing salt in the wound.

That part of him didn't insist willpower was less important than raw power, but he was honestly unsure how long he could hold himself. Probably not for long. He still felt his mastery over his Laws increasing, and consequently, his stats were constantly improving. It was intoxicating.

Third, his True Self was everything he was, including his willpower. His maximum willpower was more critical to the structure of his fundamental existence than how much of it remained, but the missing willpower still affected him. Less willpower impacted how well he could resist the weight and pressure of his True Realm on his soul.

His previous five seconds of active domain usage before injuring his soul had just turned into three seconds. Not even one second had passed since the start of the battle, but it was something to keep in mind.

'Three enemies down,' he thought. 'I can kill the remaining five in time.'

He couldn't tell if the thought came from him or the Void, but he was getting used to it. If he didn't validate his ideas, that might become a danger, but for now, he could still quickly assess that there was nothing wrong with the things he thought.

Anyway, his True Realm was exceptional. It was almost like a willpower-based domain. It was incredible to think he had such a weapon now available. Whenever his domain was active, his fighting ability would be peak tier 9 despite not having C+ stats or a mastered Law.

An actual domain outside his body would take anyone's fighting ability beyond tier 10, but he discovered that wasn't happening to him. On top of forcing all things to end, the Voided Guardian's domain had also repelled Reality much like its existence did. Now, the Domain of Entropy was gone, and Reality's Axioms had returned.

Shen tried to push a qi particle out of his body but struck a metaphysical wall. Reality resisted him. Back at D-rank, using his domain within himself had caused both physical and soul injuries. Now, the physical injuries were no longer an issue, but even keeping his domain to his body would eventually harm his soul—and pushing it out would immediately crack his soul.

He was oh-so-very curious about properly using his domain! But that would still have to wait until he mastered his Laws.

'And I would master them faster if I used my domain to accomplish it, five seconds at a time,' he thought.

Shen recognized the thought had come from the Void, but it now supported the part of himself that wanted a shortcut to Absolute Power. The Void was creating chaos in his mind.

'Maybe dying would be easier than dealing with this mental mess,' he thought.

That was the first "genuine" Void thought as of yet; the Void always pushed a Guardian into dying. Shen was so relieved that he allowed himself to counter-argue instead of ignoring it. It should be easy and ease how much willpower he used to outright resist it.

Sure, there would be no worries after death. It would be easier. But he didn't want to die, so that was out of the question. The mere will to keep living sufficed for him.

That should stop him, but he had made a mistake. That alone was enough for that annoying part of himself not to hold back from arguing again.

After all, he had another easy way out. One that was exactly what he wanted. He had formed his domain precisely because he wished to improve. And at the peak of self-improvement was the Absolute Power he so desired.

'So, why deny myself?' he—or the Void, or both—thought.

That question sent a ripple through his entire True Self. It was an absolutely perfect argument. Wasn't he denying his own self by not using the domain he had created to pursue a goal that he still believed in?

'Later,' he decided, using all his willpower to quiet himself. 'I'll decide later. After I survive. After I deactivate my domain.'

'Why later?' he asked himself.

He struggled to find an answer that would satisfy him, but he did find one. 'Because my True Realm is a brand new tool, which I never examined. I developed it by mingling my domain with my willpower and, thus, my mind. My domain might be affecting me in ways I can't pinpoint until I deactivate it. My True Self should rule over my domain, not the other way around.'

That was enough to silence all parts of himself until the end of this battle, but the Void wasn't done causing chaos. It thought, using his mind, 'That makes perfect sense, and I should accept it.'

Shen had once heard the expression 'mindfuck' on Earth, and this definitely fitted the definition.

All those arguments happened in a split instant. Voided Time had just died. The mist didn't like it. It beat again and released another ripple like the first one.

Shen didn't need to counter it this time; his domain was enough to deny its influence on his body. As long as no domain or Realization was used, domains were absolute, even against the ripple that had seemed like a B- or A-rank ability. Of course, it had a cost, but it was greatly diminished compared to anything else, almost irrelevant. Domains were a marvelous tool.

Even so, Shen didn't have the energy required to foot the bill. Thus, he paid with willpower instead of qi. His True Realm was that awesome. He spent another ten percent of his maximum willpower to resist the ripple. Now, only forty percent remained.

He hoped the remaining creatures would be put out of commission for a few moments, like last time. Alas, that wasn't to be. They were as unaffected by the ripple as he.

Instead of rushing at Shen, the five remaining creatures had taken a moment to group up and get used to their new existence. Each had Earth, Wind, Darkness, Whip, or Mace as their core Law. It defined them more than the other Laws in their Paths.

Voided Earth's black fog body turned more solid and moved slower than usual. Its body also condensed, becoming half the size of the typical high elf. Not that the creature itself moved more slowly. It was still faster than Shen had been without his domain, though slower than him at his current peak.

Voided Wind was the opposite. Its black fog grew sparser and moved faster. It grew twice as tall as a high elf.

Voided Darkness's fog became, well, darker. Its body became lithe and "transparent" to most of Shen's senses, except his True Realm. Its presence felt ethereal.

Voided Whip became an actual whip, though a strange one. It was like three whips tied together on the extreme, but each had multiple thongs, each thong with numerous falls. It was almost like a web being wielded both individually and collectively by each of the previous three creatures.

Lastly, Voided Mace became even more solid than Voided Earth. It grew fifty percent taller and became buffier. A mace grew from one of its hands and a tower shield on the other.

A small round shield also appeared on the other Voided Guardians' free hands.

Their battle plan was obvious. Voided Mace rushed at Shen while the others would keep a distance. The giant shield was meant to hinder him, and the small ones to delay him if he attacked them. All the while, Voided Whip would attack and try to control him.

Voided Whip was the most annoying part of their plan, and Shen wouldn't let things go their way. He quickly developed and employed a simple but hopefully effective scheme.

He rushed at the closest non-Mace foe and swung his spear with limited strength, probing the creature. Voided Wind raised its small shield. Shen's spearhead struck and found considerable resistance but still bit an inch into the defensive apparatus.

Immediately after, Shen used the improved version of one of the first techniques he had employed after waking up in the Alliance. He Backstepped. The goal was to get behind his enemy and attack it from there.

Though the enemy was slower than him, it could still turn its body fast enough to keep facing him. At the same time, it brandished its whip his way. Seven falls came at him, each from a different direction. Simultaneously, multiple thongs and falls came from above and behind. Voided Whip was already trying to block him in every direction.

If the whip was the average weapon, he would dodge or deflect. It wasn't, though. Instead, this attack was his goal.

Unlike when a Guardian turned into the manifestation of a Law, that's not what Voided Whip was doing. Its body had "physically," for the lack of a better word, taken that form. It was too long and spread, and if Shen faced it as if it were a weapon, blocking or deflecting, his strikes would cause only minor damage. Even if he cut a few falls and thongs here and there, it wouldn't severely harm Voided Whip.

So, he had intended to attract more of its body to him. The earlier in the battle that happened, the better, or else the creature might notice the weakness of its form. Hence Shen's small scheme.

He stopped attacking Voided Wind and used his peak speed to swing his spear at every part of Voided Whip coming his way.

He had never been so fast or his spear so sharp. That was genuine Extremity and Conductivity. His movements had never been so ethereal, so Gentle like a Breeze, yet simultaneously Stream-lined. He had never held a Weapon filled with so much Killing. When his spearhead struck the thong, his Shaft firmly withstood the resulting shock.

That was True Boundlessness.

Voided Whip's body was as resistant as the small shield in Voided Wind's hand. Yet, Shen hadn't used all his power against the shield. Now, his spear cut the first thong, the second, and all subsequent ones.

Like a shredder, he instantly cut every part of the whip nearby; like a hurricane, he twisted and destroyed it with abandon.

The creature dissipated without leaving a sliver behind. Shen took advantage of his momentum to also strike against—and through—Voided Wind's shield and body before the creatures could adapt to his peak power. Voided Wind became three separate parts and also dissipated into nothingness—

It cheated death.

It was fading, but abruptly, it shifted. It returned to the exact place and form it had had and occupied an instant ago. The Laws of Time had just shone bright and reversed its destruction.

Shen had expected such shenanigans since he first felt a Law of Time. He hadn't stopped cutting, and the creature faded again after becoming only two separate parts. Its restoration had taken a toll despite its cheat-like existence. It didn't cheat death the second time around.

Unfortunately, the Voided Guardians still learned quickly. Suddenly, they all moved faster than before, blinking out of spacetime and back instantaneously. One had learned to reverse time; now, the others could easily infer how to speed time up.

Voided Mace blinked into existence before Shen and Voided Earth appeared at his back. Voided Darkness disappeared even from his True Realm's senses.

Shen guessed Voided Darkness had just mastered the Laws of Darkness and could use tricks beyond his understanding. Shen was glad he had already killed Voided Time and Voided Light because he did not want to deal with those mastered Laws.

The next instant, his proud happiness was gone. Shen felt four sharp "nothings" pierce through the invisible protections around his head, then into his skull. Voided Darkness was suddenly beside him, now with four long arms, all of which wielding a dagger.

The creature hadn't cared about its Axioms of Mace. On top of instantly mastering a Law, it had learned from him how to use its enemies' expectations against them.

And yet, through the pain and danger, Shen smiled.

Now, he would get what Sinaht had failed to deliver. His enemies were, relatively speaking, his equals. He had no extra cards to pull; his domain was the best he could do. He would triumph or fall while facing foes as good as he was at his absolute best.

'Just like the good old times,' he thought and didn't care if it came from the Void; he wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment.

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