The Forsaken Hero

As the two shot away, I sent a stream of soul speak into the Nexus, communicating the plan to the rest of our team. Only Luke responded, and despite the situation, I found myself taking a deep breath, relaxing in the familiar touch of his soul.

”Is that wise to engage now? We’re just starting to wear him down,” Luke asked.

”We can’t afford to drag things out any longer, or it’ll be us who are worn down, not him. Korra and Gayron won’t be able to keep that up for much longer.”

There was a flicker of dissent in his thoughts, but he finally agreed.

”I can help them, and everyone,” R’lissea cut in, ”we’re just pressed a little hard right now. These sun things don’t let up.”

The frustration in her voice was evident. My gaze swept toward her, a frown creasing my brow as I found R’lissea and Borealis encircled by what seemed twice as many of those glowing puppets as anyone else faced. The disparity was striking, forcing her into a frantic dance through the air—like a hummingbird darting between swaying stalks in a gale, constantly evading the blinding flashes of light and sweeping energy blades that followed her every move.

”I’ll cover you,” Luke said.

Her reply was terse. ”I just need enough room to cast some spells.”

A blaze of violet and shadow cut through the sky, lancing toward R’lissea’s position. For a heartbeat, Luke vanished from my sight, reappearing amidst the ranks of the summoned soldiers. One of them crumbled, his sword in their chest, while his curses reached out to the others like tentacles, stabbing into their substantial bodies. Luke let out a shout, and his soul surged, sending a current of mana through the curses. The light soldiers convulsed, their forms destabilizing as they detonated in a chain of blinding explosions, clearing a space around R’lissea.

”Thank you,” she said, her relief palpable. She immediately began chanting, and a massive, verdant circle, nearly as wide as those used for Arboreal World, spun into existence beneath the arbiter.

But the arbiter had already turned, its entire focus now on R’lissea. Gayron plunged his blade into its shoulder, but it raised its sword, and the hilt of the blade glowed with a blinding light. A beam of pure sun mana shot toward her, a spear of incandescent white.

Luke threw himself before the beam, taking it full on his chest. The light washed over him, the force of it flinging him a thousand feet through the air. I gasped as my soul burned red hot as Adaptive Resistance flared, stretching thin across the gap between us as it struggled to absorb the raw power of the archon’s attack.

The pain in my chest faded as the archon’s attack died, and Luke emerged from the scouring light unharmed.

”Celestial Grace!”

A wave of light erupted from R’lissea’s circle, magnified by the ambient mana of Arboreal World. It enveloped everyone in the sky in its warmth, an aura of soft gold laced with green. As it reached me through the Nexus, it flushed the exhaustion from my limbs and reinforced my soul. I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding, as a profound sense of peace settled over me. Across the nexus, I felt the same relief from my friends as it reached them.

The arbiter’s sword cut through the light, headed for Korra, but she easily flipped out of the way, landing a swift kick on his arm as she passed. Gayron, still harrying him from behind, slashed across his back. Their surprise colored the Nexus, as if they themselves couldn’t believe the blows had landed.

”What kind of magic is this?” the arbiter asked, echoing their shock. He flew back a hundred feet, buying a second for his wounds to knit together, burning only a little of mana to do so. He raised his hand, as if he could touch the receding light of R’lissea’s spell. ”Light and Fate mana as one...? I wasn’t aware this world had developed such magic.”

At the moment he turned, searching for R’lissea with narrowed eyes, Selena and Victor struck. Selena waved her hand, and a ball of verdant mana shot out, striking him in the chest. Vines erupted from the light, crawling around the arbiter’s body, binding him. Before he could break free, Victor’s Justice Armaments struck with meteoric force, bordering on the peak of eighth-level.

”Feel the weight of the law!” Victor cried, arriving himself, wielding his justice armament blade like a sword.

The arbiter struggled to move, but Selena’s spell kept him in place, straining beneath his muscles. He still succeeded in twisting, taking Victor’s sword on the side. Golden ichor sprayed out as the blade cut through the armor, and the light of Victor’s ability condensed around him.

”Light of Justice!” Victor cried.

The Arbiter paled as the weight of his sins crashed down on him, an eternity of guilt and regret compacted into a single, crushing instant. He gasped, his struggles against Selena’s vines weakening as he pressed a hand to his chest, his soul quivering. A look of concentration came over him, and the light began to waver, flickering as the glow of his soul intensified.

”Hurry!” Victor cried, ”It won’t last long. He’s too strong!”

Luke materialized behind the angel, sword outstretched, a tail of shadow trailing from its tip, passing right through the arbiter’s chest. His curse, filled with the remnant of his strength, burrowed to the core of his soul, sapping directly at his mana itself, preventing it from burning through Victor’s light.

Gayron and Korra didn’t hesitate, throwing desperate attacks at him. Korra triggered what few threads of mana she’d accumulated on his body with Crashing Waves, and Gayron’s sword left deep, blood grooves across his chest.

But it was Selena that everything depended on. Raising her hands, she fell into a state of pure concentration. The very air around her seemed to still, mana converging on her soul in a visible river. Her mana spiked, drawing deep on Celestial Grace, and circle after circle appeared around her.

I stared in awe, losing count after they surpassed fifty. Was this the power of a ninth-level mage? I couldn’t summon half as many, much less hope to control them. What’s more incredible is that less than half of them were life magic. It looked like she was casting every combat spell she’d ever learned at once.

The sky shimmered with their combined presence, making it seem like an entire ocean stood above us. The arbiter’s struggles grew as they began to resolve, firing lightning, flame, and ice at him. They were low-level at first, failing to breach his wards, but as the maelstrom grew, the air thickened with high-level spells, finishing one after the other. A static crack broke the roar of magic as his wards failed.

Selena let out a low cry, the last of her mana evaporating into a single eighth-level magic circle inscribed on the earth far below. The ground twisted together, forming a lance of rock, corpses, and scorched trees. It came like a mountain, rising up like the black obsidian spire of Blacksand. If the arbiter sensed it coming, he failed to respond, and the spear, tapered to a singular point, pierced his chest. It emerged out of the other side in a shower of golden ichor.

Selena collapsed, her wings dispersing as her eyes fluttered shut. Victor let out a shout, pinwheeling his arms as the magic that kept him aloft failed as well.

A silver streak crossed Selena’s trajectory as Fable caught the falling pair. He accelerated, darting to the ship and depositing them on the deck.

I started to move, running to Selena’s side, but Fyren caught my arm.

”What? I need to help...”

I trailed off as I caught him staring at the arbiter, eyes narrowed. A tremor caught my heart.

”He’s not...that didn’t...” I stammered, my heart dropping. ”He’s not dead?”

Fyren’s grip tightened on my arm as I stared, horrified. The arbiter’s body shuddered, and a low groan rumbled from his chest. His eyes shot open, glowing with a lustrous light that made my skin crawl. With a sickening squelch, his wings flared, and he began to move. The gaping, two-foot hole in his chest bubbled with golden light as he pushed himself free of the spire. Golden flesh knitted together beneath our very eyes, the terrible rend in his armor slowly closing as if it had never been.

Perhaps, as he was healing, it would have been the perfect time to strike, yet none of us could, shocked still by his apparent resurrection.

He coughed, spitting a glob of blood, and turned, his gaze sweeping over our entire party. ”Impressive, mortals. Truly, I haven’t had this much fun in...well, a long while. I’m glad you convinced me to lower my realm to match your own. You even have me wondering if I’ve underestimated you, and if so, that makes you a threat I can no longer overlook. It’s time I stopped holding back.”