Chapter 326 - A Viable Technique (Patreon)

As disturbing as the scenario was, Zeke wasn’t one to turn down an easy route to victory. So, he raised his hammer, and without using any of his skills, he brought it down with as much force as he could muster.

And the world screamed.

The blood on the floor surged as thousands of hands exploded from the red sludge, and just as many voices erupted into a cacophony of raw, panicked screeches. The air ignited with swirling corruption, singing Zeke’s mind with a need for violence. By instinct, he embraced it, and the demonic mana sang through his body as he brought Voromir to bear. Even as a dozen bloody hands raked at his legs, trying to pull him to the floor, Zeke’s swing refused to falter.

Then, an inch from the dwarf’s emaciated body, the weapon’s path ended in an explosion of light and force that sent Zeke flying backwards. As he tumbled through the air, his instincts screamed at him, but he could do nothing to alter his path before he collided with one of the fleshy columns comprised of writhing and skinless bodies.

But it wasn’t destroyed. Instead, Zeke’s body was swallowed by a hungry and collective embrace. Claws dug into his skin as the creatures – human, demon, and everything in between – dragged him deeper into the column. In a panic, Zeke struggled, but for a long moment, he found no purchase.

That’s when the demonic mana surging through his channels took over. In the space of an instant, panic and fear – natural in that situation – were swept aside by a surging fury that practically ignited his blood with a need for pure, unadulterated violence. And Zeke was in no position to resist. After all, as terrified as he was of losing himself to his demonic side, he was even more afraid of ending up like one of the skinless pseudo-corpses trying to rip him apart. And that made it so much easier to simply give in to the only productive path before him.

With a roar, Zeke’s mind was consumed by fury, and he let loose with the fullness of his strength. At some point, he’d lost his grip on his hammer, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t need a weapon; his own two hands would suffice. Where they failed, he had a mouth full of teeth.

And he wasn’t averse to using the natural weapons at his disposal.

Zeke tore. He ripped. He bit, and he growled. His enemies never stood a chance. They weren’t powerful. Nor could they even use skills. Immobile and unarmed, they were no match for his fury, and eventually, he tore his way free. When he finally broke through, he fell forward, gasping for breath. Covered in blood, he slapped bloody hands away. When that didn’t work, he stomped, releasing some of his Will. In a five-foot circle, the hands were destroyed, dissipating into formless, red liquid, and Zeke felt his fury ebb. With that small opening, he wrenched his mind free of the demonic influence, using the last remaining drops to fuel [Cambion’s Awakening] to rapidly heal the wounds he’d sustained. Then, he cut himself off, switching over to his pure mana.

The moment he felt the soothing surge of clean, unattuned mana flow through him, he let out a sigh of relief. Just that short stint using demonic energy had left his mind and soul raw. He took a deep breath, forcing calm upon his mind. Another breath, and he closed his eyes. All around him, the screeching continued, but for whatever reason, his execution of his Will had prevented the hands from reforming. He had a few seconds to reaffirm his self-control.

More importantly, when he finally opened his eyes a few moments later, he saw that the hands had almost retreated back into the blood, and the skinless bodies had returned to their agonized moaning. It was as if nothing had even happened.

Zeke found his hammer where he’d dropped it during his flight, and he strode forward, picking it up along the way back to the crucified dwarf. Dáinn continued to mumble, begging Zeke to kill him, but he was easily ignored. Instead, Zeke studied the cross, the spikes that affixed the dwarf in place, and the chains wrapping around his wrists and descending into the blood-covered floor. Circling around the cross, Zeke found that they didn’t simply disappear into nothing. Instead, the chains continued beneath the blood, tracing a path along the floor and to a pedestal almost fifty yards away from the crucified dwarf. Upon that plinth was a familiar coffin.

It looked identical to the other boxes Zeke had opened, and yet, it felt very different. If the others had been bonfires of power, this was a star, pulsating every second with unimaginable energy. Some dissipated into the air, but a good portion of the energy was absorbed by the chains, and Zeke took a moment to confirm that it continued on to the imprisoned dwarf.

“What the hell…”

If Zeke had ever needed some guidance, now was the time. However, aside from the mumbling dwarf and hundreds of skinned people who were confined to columns of pulsating flesh, there was no one else around. Eveline’s take on things would have been useful, but then again, it would’ve been nearly impossible to trust her. After all, the final sliver of her soul was trapped in that coffin, and Zeke suspected that she would say whatever was necessary to ensure her release.

“You think so little of me,” came Eveline’s voice, and Zeke couldn’t help but flinch in surprise. He wheeled around, searching for the source, but he found nothing. As he did, Eveline’s light chuckle filled his mind, and she said, “With so much mana swirling around, I can’t manifest a visible form. But I’m still here, tucked away in the corner of your mind.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you seem to think it is,” he muttered.

“But I’ve been here all along…”

“What?!”

“Illusions, Ezekiel,” she said with a sigh. “The moment you destroyed that first chain, I latched onto your mind, and I’ve been riding…shotgun…the whole time. Did I use that expression correctly? I’m reading conflicting meanings of the word…it’s a weapon, but it’s also…ugh. Your language is so cumbersome.”

“This isn’t what we agreed.”

“But it is. Or the contract didn’t prevent it, at least. Which is the same thing, really. You truly do need to develop a bit more of a survival instinct. You tend to blunder forward, relying on your ridiculous gifts to see you through. You’ve done nothing to develop your mind,” she replied.

“I’ll get right on it first chance I get.”

“Oh, no – I like you just the way you are,” she cooed. “So malleable. So agreeable. Never change, Ezekiel.”

Zeke sighed. He couldn’t do anything about that particular problem, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. Soon, he would have time to enact his plans, but for now, he had no choice but to forge ahead.

“So, what’s going on here, then?” he asked. Meanwhile, the pitiful dwarf continued to beg for a swift death. Zeke ignored him – and the rest of the grotesque setting – as best he could, but he was only mildly successful.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she replied.

“Clearly not.”

She sighed, saying, “Such a shame you don’t have brains to go with all that brawn. The chains are a conduit. That shard of my soul is a power source. The others were as well. But it’s all meant to keep him contained. It’s actually a bit more complicated than that, and it forms something of a sympathetic loop that imprisons my soul as firmly as it keeps him on that cross, but as far as your concerned, the path is clear.”

“And it is?”

“Destroy the chain. Free me. Kill the dwarf. Reap your rewards.”

“Just like that, huh?” Zeke asked. “You make it sound so easy.”

He knew it wouldn’t be, and for one simple reason. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to keep that dwarf nailed to the cross and imprisoned within the Cathedral of Torment. That suggested there was far more to the story than Eveline had revealed. Zeke touched the ring on his finger and asked, “Why the complex setup? How strong is the dwarf?”

“At his prime?” Eveline asked in Zeke’s mind. He nodded, and she continued, “A threat to the entire realm. A peak existence primed for ascension into the Ethereal Realm. More, much like you, he is a child of two realms. He hasn’t gone so far as to develop a second attunement – his earth attunement is far too strong – but it’s enough to make him a dire threat, even to the rulers of this Circle.”

That tracked with what Zeke already knew. Dáinn and Fáinn were both incredibly powerful; the mere remnant of the dwarven king’s soul should have been enough to destroy Zeke entirely. He’d only managed to survive via a quirk of the predecessor to [Cambion’s Awakening], which allowed him to absorb earth-attuned mana. That the king’s traitorous brother had similar power was expected.

“And I’m supposed to kill him?”

“Of course.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I’ve gotten stronger, but…”

Zeke trailed off.

Eveline said, “Well, he’s not exactly full strength right now. Once he’s freed, he’ll regain his power pretty quickly, though, so you’re not going to want to wait for very long before killing him.”

“You could’ve told me all of this before we got here,” Zeke mumbled.

“Didn’t know, did I? I’ve told you about my fractured memories,” she said. “Even maintaining consciousness is a chore right now. If someone had brought me here before freeing the other pieces of my soul, I’d have been destroyed entirely.”

“That’s disturbing.”

“Indeed. So, if you would, can you please fulfill your end of the contract?”

Zeke looked around at the macabre Cathedral of Torment. He didn’t want to remain there for any longer than necessary. And with Eveline having provided some clarity, he now had a defined path. Destroy the chains, then kill the dwarf. There was no doubt that Dáinn deserved death. He’d dabbled in forces he didn’t understand, and as a result, he’d doomed his people to a pitiable fate. Eventually, the apathy that had come with their exposure to demonic energies would drive them to extinction. If Dáinn had only trusted his brother’s judgement, perhaps they would have survived with their identities intact.

Or maybe they would have been killed by the aggressive elves.

Zeke didn’t think there was a clear-cut solution, but he did know one thing: he couldn’t stomach fratricide. That alone had cast Dáinn as the villain, at least in Zeke’s mind. He was self-aware enough to recognize that everything else was mere justification for his already-formed opinion. That knowledge didn’t weaken his resolve, though. He felt sure that he was on the right side of things.

So, killing the emaciated dwarf didn’t trouble him. In fact, there was an argument to be made that it was a mercy. After all, Dáinn had never stopped begging for his own execution. It was the right thing.

Besides, now that he knew how to free Eveline, the weight of the contract bearing down on him felt all the heavier. If he turned away, there would be consequences.

“I really didn’t expect this,” said Eveline in a quiet thought. “If it’s any consolation, I didn’t know…I mean, I knew. But those memories were unavailable to me. You have no idea how…frustrating that is.”

“Tell me something,” Zeke requested, this time speaking aloud instead of in his own mind. “Why?”

“I want to be free…”

“No – not that,” he said. “Why imprison the dwarf? Why not just kill him?”

“Why else? Power,” she answered. “I can’t…remember…the details, but I know that this tower serves to feed power to someone more powerful. Perhaps an archdemon. I don’t know. But…I do…I know that I volunteered. Something went wrong, though. I never would have sentenced myself to eternal captivity.”

Zeke shook his head. He could certainly sympathize with Eveline’s frustrations. The lack of information made any route he might choose even more dangerous. But once again, he realized that he didn’t really have much of a choice. The contract loomed over him, reminding him that if he didn’t go through with his obligations, he would be censured by the Framework. And while he had no idea what form something like that might take, he knew it wouldn’t be good. At best, he could die. At worst, the Framework could strip him of his power, leaving him weak and incapable of continuing his path of progression. The former was bad, but the latter would be torturous.

So, Zeke made his choice.

He didn’t trust Eveline, but using his ring, he’d verified that everything she’d said was true.

“Unless it doesn’t work on disembodied souls,” she said with a hint of a chuckle on her lips. “Don’t forget that little tidbit.”

“You definitely aren’t helping your case by point that out.”

“It doesn’t really matter what I say. You’ve made your decision. Now, get to it. I think I can speak for both of us when I saw we don’t want to be here any longer than absolutely necessary. Those skinned people are…disturbing. Even for me.”

Zeke sighed, then turned toward the pedestal. It practically glowed with power. He strode toward it, his shoulders set. With each step, he marshaled his various powers, grabbing hold of the mana in the golems’ cores while siphoning some of the ambient demonic energy from his surroundings. As he braided them together, he had an epiphany.

“It’s all runes,” he muttered.

“What?”

“The braid. It’s a rudimentary rune,” he said, forcing the disparate powers into place. “You see it, don’t you? You have to see it.”

“I don’t know runes,” Eveline admitted.

“I do,” Zeke stated, and he couldn’t help but wonder how he hadn’t seen it before. His runecrafting path had asserted itself so subtly that he hadn’t even realized that he’d woven the two streams of attuned mana into a very specific shape. In fact, he didn’t even really understand what he’d done; it would take far more study before he could figure that out.

For now, though, the knowledge of what it was gave him a new idea. Without skipping another beat, he shifted his perception slightly so he could actively access his runecrafting path. The resulting Will flowed into him so easily – so smoothly – that he couldn’t help but gasp. Then, he used his Will to force the two powers into shape.

It worked magnificently.

The streams of energy settled, meshing together so tightly that Zeke could scarcely discern where one ended and the other began. But it was too calm. The Will associated with his path of runecrafting was too subtle. To stable. Alone, it would be useless for the task at hand.

Thankfully, Zeke had another way to express his Will.

With part of his mind keeping the braid together, he once again shifted his focus. However, the moment he tried to wrap his Force-aspected Will around the braid, a sharp pain erupted in his mind. Eveline wordlessly screamed, and Zeke very nearly lost his grip.

But he knew how to deal with pain, and with a growl, he forced everything together. Adding Force to the mix destabilized everything, but, aside from the spikes of agony repeatedly jabbing into his mind, it was still far more controlled than it ever had been before. Still, he knew he couldn’t hold it for long.

So, the moment everything was in place, Zeke hefted his hammer and brought it down on the chains wrapped around the coffin. The instant the powers hit the chains, everything went white, and Zeke’s mind went entirely blank.

It only lasted for a brief second, and when he regained his vision, he saw that the chains had been shattered. However, to his surprise, nothing else had been affected. In the past, when Zeke had used his braid, the results had been catastrophic on the environment, destroying everything in a wave of pure devastation. But it seemed that the addition of his runecrafting path had allowed him to focus in a way he’d never before achieved.

Zeke was just starting to pat himself on the back when he felt something wrap around his waist and yank him into the air.