Crimsoncrest (The Weirkey Chronicles Book 10), page 21
Theo had tried to send stones into the air for a bombardment, but the enemy had enough spare soulcrafters that someone would always destroy them first. Without enhancing his singularity technique, it wouldn't be effective in a battle of this intensity. His actual best strategy was to rely on pure force, since he could threaten any of the enemy Strongholds except Jazin if he got any time with them one-on-one. That meant he could draw the others off the Asplundats, or even force the Dominion to attack him instead of the barrier.
He was up against the sword grappler again - the man was battered, but far from beaten. They both gathered up their techniques, streaking across the sky to collide with one another.
Before they met, Krikree launched in from the side, spears stabbing out in concert. Too late, Theo realized that his opponent was actually feinting: he turned, thrusting his sword directly toward Krikree, aiming to impale her on her own momentum.
With a cry Theo hurled himself through a portal, crossing the distance and hitting the side of the blade with a torsion punch. It went flying and saved Krikree, but there was a second trap layered within the first: a second blade whistled at his heart.
It took all he had to grab the blade between the flats of his hands before it could impale him. The force itself drove him back, leaving him unable to assist Krikree. Some of her spears had landed hits, but the enemy Stronghold endured them, reaching up to grasp one of her arms...
A dark streak tore past them and suddenly everything changed.
The sword that had been driving toward Theo's chest shattered, as did all the other flying swords. Suddenly the enemy Stronghold was falling back, slashed through the chest, utterly astonished. Theo moved to catch Krikree before she could fall, but his gaze automatically shifted toward the source.
Guchiro moved like a living shadow, not necessarily far more powerful than his opponents, just far more skillful. Two of the defending Strongholds attempted to blast him with massive techniques and he redirected both with bands of darkness, sending them back toward their allies. He didn't skip a beat while doing so, cutting through the enemy lines.
That put him up against the Tymetronese Dominion, and even Theo wasn't sure if Guchiro could win that matchup. The Dominion appeared to be thinking the same thing, because she sneered when the Ichili stopped in the sky in front of her.
"That's a good shield wall," she admitted, "and you really do feel like an Authority. But you obviously displayed a Stronghold's strength getting to me, and even if your surprise attack had worked, that wouldn't have been enough to stop me."
"You misunderstand," Guchiro said, then unveiled his soulhome.
The sun dimmed and power cascaded across the battlefield as Guchiro revealed himself to be a Dominion. Theo couldn't help but stare, realizing that he'd made the same false assumption. Guchiro hadn't spent decades at Authority because he was weak, he had been preparing all the next steps of his blueprint. During that time he must have gathered numerous materials... given how long they had been separated, it wasn't impossible for him to ascend twice, and he might have even done significant work on his Dominion-tier floor.
A moment later Theo cursed himself for being distracted, even by this revelation. Fortunately, all the others were startled as well, and many of them were shaken when the two Dominions clashed. Theo picked out an older Tymetronese man, one who fought with a large number of thorny shields that were obnoxious Stronghold-tier armaments.
Those shields didn't do much good when a portal opened and Theo delivered a torsion uppercut directly to the chin.
His blow nearly took out an enemy Stronghold, but the other side wasn't idle either: Jazin launched more implosion geodes at him, a web designed to intercept escape routes. They might even have caught him if Krikree hadn't begun hurling spears to intercept them.
Theo couldn't afford to take his attention away, not in a battle like this. He looked away from the clash between Dominions and focused on winning.
~ ~ ~
Guchiro was not particularly interested in showmanship, and did not care for impressing others. He had remained at Authority for years, allowing many to believe that he had reached a dead end in his soulcrafting, while he quietly took the necessary steps. It had not even been his intention to mislead anyone, he had simply not corrected them when they assumed he was a Stronghold.
Proving otherwise was not a notable moment for him. Still, he did enjoy finally stretching his full power against another Dominion.
Darkness clashed against bursts of demonic flame, both roughly equal - his opponent clearly had a basement. Guchiro doubted that she had a Corporeal Floor, based on how she kept at a distance when he attempted to close. He'd long ago stopped attempting that strategy and only intended to herd the enemy away from the primary battle, taking pressure off the defenders and forcing enemy Strongholds to split their attention.
Six floors of soulcrafting meant numerous enhancements and techniques, so neither Guchiro nor his opponent had revealed their full strength yet. Still, Guchiro was not particularly concerned about a direct fight. Based on his opponent's strength, he judged her soulhome blueprint to be merely above average, making her only a moderately powerful Dominion.
Throughout the years, Guchiro had observed a great many soulcrafters at that stage and recognized many potential shortcomings that he had long striven to avoid. There were no truly weak Dominions, but a few managed to stagger to that stage, sheer willpower covering over deficits in their soulcrafting. It was more common to see Dominions with six well-built floors filled with powerful materials, just no greater unity of design that would elevate them beyond.
These opponents used primarily demonic materials, which made it easy for their soulhomes to be unified. Demonic materials could display many different properties while always linking with one another, and Guchiro might have used them himself if not for their limitations in working with other materials. But there was no soulcrafting genius there, only six floors of conventional blueprints.
There was still a meaningful risk to the battle due to all the enemy Strongholds, who could still injure him if they struck at the appropriate time. Guchiro had fully exerted himself to punish the first few attempts, making sure that they were more cautious in the future.
He was assisted by his allies, who could threaten opponents who turned toward his back. The Asplundat Strongholds were of moderate use: their sphere blueprints could output strong, if generic, beams of power. Associate Theo was a greater source of support, instantly threatening anyone who isolated themselves via use of his teleportation ring technique.
Guchiro could not help but examine the unnatural outsider again. It was still odd that this man could create a blueprint to equal Ward Fiyu and even assist her. He was one of the more potent Strongholds on the battlefield, even without any of his fifth floor, and how quickly he could ascend to Dominion might be largely determined by whether he could find sublime materials for his unbalanced design.
By contrast, the Slescan... how odd. Guchiro frowned as he got a better look at her soulhome, then he was forced to ignore it as his opponent unleashed a storm of demonic fire.
This time Guchiro pretended to lunge toward her, as if he wasn't aware that she could redirect the storm. He let it wash over him, enduring the first flames and then wrapping a cocoon of darkness around himself. It resisted the heat as he cut through the storm, allowing him to burst out the side almost directly on top of his opponent.
She whipped out a weapon to counter him, but the demonic bone knife couldn't stand up to his cantae blade. It sliced through and continued, nearly catching his opponent's neck, instead slicing through part of her demonic helm.
When the enemy jerked away, she left a significant portion of demonic hide hanging from his blade. Guchiro dismissed it, letting the tatters be caught by the wind and burn away before they even touched the ground. That had been close, and his opponent shifted to a defensive stance, losing her confidence now that she had to face an equal.
Yet this wasn't enough. He had spent so long at Authority because he didn't want merely to ascend to Dominion, he wanted to reach the true heights of soulcrafting, the extremes that he and his allies feared were being restricted. All his progress and preparation had felt exceptional, until he actually reached this point.
Because defeating a Dominion from Tymetron was only the beginning: her master was allegedly Plutalgion, who stood well beyond Dominion. Even though Guchiro believed in every brick he'd laid up to this point, he was entering unknown territory. His planning had equipped him to master the host-class challenges that stopped so many, yet now he faced aeon-class obstacles that were completely unknown.
So he ventured forward, on an unknown path with unknown dangers. At such times, the only strategies were extreme caution or extreme confidence. Guchiro gathered his power and chose the latter.
Chapter 22
Fiyu was immensely impressed with Relative Guchiro, during her limited opportunities to observe him. He fought well and even synergized with Friend Theo, which pleased her greatly. Between the two of them, they had turned the tide and prevented Tymetron from sweeping the field.
Unfortunately, they still had one great disadvantage: they needed to defend a position. The enemy could always attack the mountain or the defensive barrier, which would force them to intercept or risk losing the entire position. Even with her relative and companion's strategic ability, they could not overcome such a disadvantage forever.
That was where she might be able to help. Fiyu carried the shadowlamp from the Darkwheel Traders in both hands, pouring in more of her own cantae. She had needed to argue with the Asplundat Stronghold, even fight for a moment, as he had believed her a betrayer. Now, however, she might be able to unleash the shadowlamp's full potential.
Near the top of the mountain, Fiyu knelt down and placed the shadowlamp atop a cliff. It was the most powerful general defensive measure she had encountered, and even though it had been designed for Ichil, it was still worthwhile here. When she finally sank in enough cantae, the shadows within began to stir.
Darkness flooded from the lamp, thick and dark and comforting. Relative Guchiro's mere presence had dimmed the sunlight, so the addition of the shadowlamp darkened the environment further. More importantly, the darkness roiled outward, filling the space underneath the Asplundat barrier.
When a Stronghold technique next impacted, the shockwave rippled through the shield as always... but this time, there was darkness underneath, supporting and reinforcing. The Stronghold floating over the mountain looked down at her in surprise, then realized how much easier his job had become. Now that he didn't need to devote so much cantae to maintaining the barrier, he could throw more techniques into the fray, further evening the odds and threatening any opponents who came close.
For her part, Fiyu was troubled by how much of her cantae had been consumed. It was a Stronghold-tier armament, so in theory she should have been pleased that her soulhome was efficient enough to fill it at all. Yet that didn't help in this battle, forcing her to pour more cantae in to keep the shadowlamp lit.
The advantage should have turned more in their direction, yet it had not. Fiyu examined the battlefield and realized the weak link: Enemy Wiltur. He was not stabbing anyone in the back, and he fought with flashes of red fire, yet she could tell that he was not fully exerting himself. Was he simply unmotivated, or was there something else at play?
Her senses could not fully catalog such a chaotic battle, so now that Fiyu had a moment of peace, she extended them more carefully for anything she had missed. For the most part, it only made clear Ally Homez and the other Asplundat soulcrafters who were either supporting the defensive shield or running in terror.
And there was one Authority near the top of the mountain, moving toward the marble slate.
The shape was unfamiliar and partially obscured by some sort of weak stealth technique, so Fiyu could only determine that the person was a Fithan male. She imparted another rush of cantae to the shadowlamp, then flew toward the peak of the mountain to investigate.
There she identified him: Enemy Roker. Wearing Asplundat robes and older than when they had last encountered one another, but there was no doubt. He appeared to have grown more muscular, and though his head still appeared shaved she could feel the hair regrowing.
Enemy Roker would have been an adversary simply due to his connection to Enemy Wiltur, but he was a particularly aggravating one. In the terribly chaotic battle where she had first been reunited with Relative Guchiro, Enemy Roker had been a major obstacle, even threatening Friend Nauda. Without his interference, they might not have been thrown into Slest and separated for so long.
And now he was advancing on the Asplundatcrest.
Fiyu approached under cover of stealth, trying to figure out what he was doing. She nearly attacked when Enemy Roker reached out to touch the large stone slab, but he wasn't damaging it. In fact, he didn't seem to be doing anything to it, simply touching the powerful sublime material as if appreciative. Yet she could sense the tension in his body and see the betrayal in his eyes, so she couldn't allow him to continue to act unopposed.
She longed to begin with a mortal wound, but that could be a terrible mistake. Fiyu decided that her top priority was protecting the Asplundatcrest, which mattered so much to Ally Homez. So she approached and, instead of using her cantae blade, unleashed a concentrated storm of light into her opponent's chest.
It knocked him off the side of the mountain into the sky, but he was an Authority and not so easily killed. Flaming armor lit up around his chest, managing to absorb most of her storm, so Fiyu ceased before they drew more attention. Enemy Roker stopped himself in midair and fixed his eyes on her.
"What are you doing with the Asplundatcrest?" he demanded.
"Protecting it from you," Fiyu called back. "What were you trying to do?"
"You're working with Tymetron, aren't you?" Enemy Roker cried out the words unnecessarily loudly and raised a short ruby staff, unleashing flames toward her.
As she dodged, Fiyu realized that her opponent was not so foolish as to really believe that she was trying to sabotage the Asplundatcrest. This was all a ruse, either to defend himself or for the benefit of the Asplundat soulcrafters listening. The nearest Stronghold was in the sky overhead, mostly paying attention to the battle, but it was possible that he might have overheard.
But for now, they were the only ones at the top of the mountain on this side of the defenses. Fiyu stepped in one direction, slipped her stealth technique around herself, and then moved in the opposite direction. She could disable Enemy Roker and force the truth from him afterward.
Or so she thought. Enemy Roker responded by shouting wildly and twisting his scepter, which unleashed flames in all directions. Fiyu instinctively raised a shield of darkness to block, and though the flames did almost no harm, the disruption to the fires allowed Enemy Roker to pinpoint her location.
This would not be so easy after all. Fiyu let the rest of the battle fall away, trusting it to her comrades, and focused on defending the top of the mountain.
~ ~ ~
The revelation of Guchiro's true power had made Theo's job much easier, but they weren't out of the woods just yet. It was easy to assume that the battle would be dominated by the stronger soulcrafters and start making foolish errors, which could be fatal to an individual if not the entire battle.
As the battle continued Krikree had started to slow down, though he didn't think it was due to her injuries. No, she showed an alarming ability to ignore harm to her own body and he'd been able to shield her from the worst of it here. Maybe she was just more cautious and there was less need for her to exert herself now that the worst threat had passed.
What was his next real goal? Theo looked over the battlefield, which was still a chaotic mess of Strongholds fighting around the two Dominions. He wanted to fight Jazin again, but his opponent was getting better and better at countering his portals, so that might be a tactical error. It also made sense to try to take out an enemy Stronghold, but they were supporting one another just like his side did.
Maybe it was time for lateral thinking. Everyone was smart enough to prioritize the obvious threats and objectives, so he needed something they didn't expect. Orbital strikes were still being cut off before they could start, but there must be an alternative...
Before he came up with his answer, he saw Krikree fall from the skies. She had actually been trying to retreat, but the Tymetronese woman who used the ice wand had troublingly good range. Somehow she had frozen half of Krikree's limbs in a block of ice, sending her tumbling down, out of control and desperately trying to fend off more icy blasts.
Theo cast a portal in her path, but the ice blasts were following her so closely that they got through as well. Instead of trying another portal, he grabbed Krikree's arm as she passed and pulled himself in front of her, letting the ice shatter off his back.
It hurt more than he expected, because his defenses had been worn down by all the fighting. Theo grimaced as he rolled his shoulders, breaking up the layer of ice that had formed. He'd closed the portal, of course, but the enemy Stronghold fixated on them and began preparing other attacks.
Meanwhile, Krikree broke herself free with a sour expression. [Krikree help], she emitted. It was tricky to judge anything about emotion via pheromones, but it looked like her antennae were drooping.
[Wait,] Theo sent, realizing that he'd been given his opportunity. The Strongholds couldn't ignore Krikree, but they'd grown used to treating her as an annoyance, so... [Start a feint. I'll use a portal and be the real feint, you attack after.]
[Theo-sister plan?] Krikree's antennae perked up slightly, then she launched herself against the opponent with another screech.
When the enemy's eyes flicked to her for an instant, Theo launched another torsion punch through a portal. She had grown used to that technique and reacted quickly, unleashing a freezing beam against his blow. It managed to overwhelm his torsion cantae and froze his arm in an instant.
