Chapter 25 #2
If he could have lain there for hours, the very night created by the mantle of fallen rocks would have healed him.
But through his Abyssal Grasp, he could feel one of the golems rising to its feet and fighting his powers to approach.
He didn’t have time. Shadowpaw hadn’t reconstituted himself enough to return. Harald had to—
The ground erupted from beneath him. Huge spears of rock thrust up to crush him against the fallen boulders, but so powerful was the Aegis that instead, the attack from below burst him out from the pin, so that pale radiance was all around him once more.
Harald fell back, only to wrench to a stop on his back, lying at an oblique angle down the mound of broken rocks—his right leg had remained trapped in a vise of rocks so that his hip nearly popped.
Harald clenched his teeth as he fought disorientation and his whole system being drenched in wrongness. Above him, the cratered hallway ceiling. The sheer violence of the two stone attacks had rattled him; his focus on Abyssal Grasp faltered, then fell away.
His Thrones focused on fueling his body with Dark Vigor and cloaking him with Veil of Shadows even as the vast bulk went into protecting him with Aegis. Which meant Aching Depths, Abyssal Attunement, and Abyssal Grasp all faded away completely.
Gasping, Harald sat up and grasped his knee.
Where was the Dawnblade? He tried to haul his leg free, but had no leverage from this position.
Grasp wasn’t feeding him the location of the golems any longer.
They had to be close. Any second now, an arc of white fire or another eruption of stone would end him.
His strength gave out, and he fell back to lie almost upside down on the side of the pile of broken masonry and boulders. Sweat ran into his eyes. Damn it! He’d gotten too greedy, shouldn’t have tried his luck against Zenith Tides without his full powerset, but think—think—
What was that?
For a moment, Harald could only stare at the slowly revolving black diamond that hovered above the broken rocks that had fallen over the dead golem, a Zenith Tide scale flickering alongside it.
Harald’s eyes opened wide and he lurched, straining to grab the diamond.
Too far.
He fell back with a gasp, and the plate of armor on his leg shattered, Aegis giving way. Harald felt flesh tear and his shinbone snap.
No pain.
Footsteps.
Coming up the far side of the pile.
One viable golem left in the fight.
An animal-like frenzy seized Harald. Like a wolf with its paw in a trap, he lurched and surged, pushing and shoving himself off the rocks so that his leg snapped again, and suddenly articulated in ways that it should never have been, slithered free with a tearing of skin and flesh to spit itself out of the cleft, raw and bloody.
Harald felt to the bottom of the pile, gasping, his body reacting to the wound even if he couldn’t feel it, but that didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered.
Nothing but grabbing the black diamond. He passed his hand through its hovering perfection, and it vanished.
A form was birthed in his Cosmos.
Not a Shadow version, as he’d grown used to with Grave Concordat.
A true Servitor.
A Zenith Tide-ranked golem.
With no time to delve down and admire it, nor even to summon his window and read the details, Harald summoned his Servitor.
The mass of masonry blasted apart so that a narrow channel appeared down its center, dust and fragments filling the air. Harald rose up on his elbows, saw the final golem raise a burning blade, and knew what was going to come next.
Only for an arc of white fire to fly over Harald and crash into the golem’s shield—no, not crash, for it was of the same substance, and thus flew right through it, to splash against great stone armor and shatter the cuirass into fragments.
Harald’s golem Servitor stepped into view, confident, certain, focused, to stand protectively over him.
No time to admire. Not even to sigh in relief. Harald twisted and snagged the hovering Zenith Tide. The scale sank into his palm, and tremendous healing power was unleashed into his body. His leg straightened out, bone healing, flesh reknitting, skin creeping down to cover, engulf his limb.
His chest unlocked, and he took a deep breath.
His blade.
Where was the Dawnblade?
The enemy golem charged, so his own did the same, and they met with a crash a few yards before where Harald lay, their blades flashing and meeting in a wicked dance, white fire splashing with each parry and block.
They were perfectly matched.
Time to tip the balance.
Harald took a deep breath, and steadied by the Zenith Tide scale, he summoned Abyssal Grasp once more.
This time, he sent forth two tentacles, both flying out wide only to converge from the flanks.
Pressed by his Servitor, the golem couldn’t fend off the attack and jerked as the coils curled around his legs.
Reflexes dulled, essence immediately drained, the golem proved no match for his mirror image, which hacked it apart with impartial focus.
Seven blows.
That’s what it took to hew the enemy golem’s limbs apart and then sever its head.
The enemy collapsed, fragmenting, and released another Zenith Tide scale.
“Finish the last one,” croaked Harald as he used the wall to climb to his feet. His body was fine, but some physical echo insisted his leg was broken. He shook it out, reassuring himself it wasn’t as the Servitor strode through the channel.
Harald pushed off the wall and snagged the Zenith Tide. He absorbed it and then walked through the ragged passage between the high walls of broken masonry in time to see his Servitor spear the remaining golem through the head even as it weakly sought to parry.
There.
It was done.
Harald’s shoulders slumped in relief. Text appeared in his vision, but he was too overwhelmed to read it—so he dismissed the message, and wiped at his face until he saw stars behind his eyelids.
Opening them, he saw his Servitor survey the hall, then look to him, its huge, bulky head expressionless.
“Thanks,” said Harald.
No response.
“Can you help me find my sword?”
The golem complied, both burning blades vanishing as it moved to the huge rock pile. Harald tried to help, but realized the golem was far more adept at this task than he was, so he moved aside and sat against the wall to watch.
The golem methodically and tirelessly shifted huge rocks, filling the air with grinding, cracking sounds.
Mind blank, Harald simply enjoyed being alive, then summoned his window to examine his new Servitor.
Artifacts: Dawnblade (Common)
Servitors: Shadow Mastiff (Uncommon), Gauntlet Golem (Rare)
Huh. Only Rare? He’d though perhaps it’d be Masterwork, or…
But no. That made sense. Zenith Tide scales were found on Levels 41 through 50. He’d found Shadowpaw on Level 27. That made sense.
But still.
Harald couldn’t resist a wry grin. Was he complaining about a Rare-ranked Servitor earned while he was still just Level 4?
Speaking of which.
Harald sat up, his old eagerness returning, and summoned the message he’d dismissed before.
The abyss approves of your senseless slaughter.
Your hunger has filled the void.
By the decree of the Fallen Angel, you are returned to the next echelon of your destiny.
Abyssal Father 5
Active Ability Unlocked: Shadow Dominion
Impose your will on the battlefield. Manifest tendrils of abyssal energy to control and dominate lesser foes, dragging them into submission or tearing them apart.
Passive Ability Unlocked: Thronebound Mantle
The abyss recognizes your ambition and crowns you with its authority. You become a nexus of power, commanding fear and loyalty in equal measure.
There it was. Harald studied his old powers once more, then closed his eyes. Listened as his Gauntlet Golem continued searching for his blade. He wasn’t worried—the Dawnblade was an Artifact, and thus virtually indestructible. The golem would find it intact.
For a moment, Harald considered his next move.
With Shadow Dominion, he could animate his fallen foes, could impose Abyssal Grasp even more potently on the golems. Thronebound Mantle would make his will even more terrifying, augmenting Aching Depths and further destabilizing the golems.
Harald pursed his lips. He had a Zenith Tide-ranked golem. Shadowpaw. An indestructible blade.
Should he press on? Or descend to Level 13, with its hordes of goblins?
Harald opened his eyes to study his indefatigable golem.
Which at that moment bent over to pull free the green stone sword. It considered the weapon, turning it from side to side, then marched over to where Harald sat, and lowered itself smoothly to one knee and extended the blade to him, hilt first.
Harald closed his hand about the handle, and made up his mind.