AA. 206

Just before the cataclysm, Udit had planned a family trip to his ancestral home in India. Elizabeth wanted a few cultural and beach trips, too. So, they intended to do both in one by taking a train to the coastal city of Puri. It had golden beaches, beautiful blue waters, and two famous historic sites. The first was the sun temple built by the ancient king, Ashoka. War had devastated his kingdom’s population numbers, and he hoped to increase the birth rate with provocative sculptures and war sculptures. The other was the temple of Jagarnath, which Nil knew little about.

The monastery’s central structure matched the images of the sun temple. The wall carvings weren’t erotic but depicted some hero’s elaborate saga. Nil didn’t have the time to follow the sequence of carvings and decipher the tale. He and the team had lost the pursuing scuttlers for a moment. It was time to begin their ascent. But first, everyone took a moment to catch their breath, and Nil checked Anti-Friction Lattice’s much-awaited upgrade. 

Anti-Friction Lattice will linger for up to three seconds after breaking contact with a surface unless it's dispelled. A third body part—hand, foot, elbow, or knee—may also be coated with the energy weave.

Please pick one of the following upgrades:

• Vector Change: Burn energy to change direction without losing speed. Every subsequent vector change within ten seconds of the first doubles the cost. Only dispelling the energy weave and resting the ability for thirty seconds restores the energy cost to its base amount.

• Rapid Acceleration: Rapidly gain speed while moving using Anti-Friction Lattice for three seconds. Acceleration can only occur once every fifteen seconds. Any change in direction cancels the acceleration.

• Weaponized Weave: Wrap a touched surface in a weave that rapidly deteriorates. The wrapped target can’t slow, change direction, or slow while wrapped in the lattice. The energy costs scales with the size of the target.

Even though the prospect of moving even faster appealed to Nil, he didn’t go for Rapid Acceleration. Weaponized Weave also had its uses. He liked the idea of sending a foe sliding uncontrollably into walls or off cliffs with nothing more than a touch, but he had the means. However, Vector Change seemed most beneficial for his purposes. Changing direction without using Expend meant he could move around more reliably while Absorbing. It also gave him a quieter means of maneuvering.

“I’ve found it,” Selia informed the team. “Let me know when it's okay for me to move. I’ll set up the chains for now.”

“I’m ready,” Shawn said. “We’re starting now.”

Shieldmaster manifested a cube-shaped barrier. Iris stood within with him. Nil climbed on top. The ascent started slow as the spell-casting began. They needed to remain unnoticed for as long as possible. The Source arms lingered just outside of the cube, dimmer than usual. Nil didn’t yet have the means to control his constructs’ luminosity and climbed without them.

Several heart-pounding minutes passed without the trio getting noticed. They went slow, holding their breaths and hoping to go unnoticed for as much time as possible. There was no telling whether the fliers had any arcane detection abilities, but Nil maintained his defensive mode, ready to throw up a Shiver Shield if and when ranged attackers appeared. 

Nil didn’t know whether it was a coincidence or the minor Void Lord detected the approaching trio. Her hook-like claws lit up with a red adjacent glow. Milliseconds after Nil’s Order barrier formed, an eardrum-shredding shriek emanated through the tear. More of the princess revealing a monstrous eye. It emitted the same light as the claws. Nil was glad he had reinforced psychic fortitude and for the recent Mind rank increase. The back of his eyes hurt, and he heard endless voices screaming in unison. The mental attack lasted mere seconds but seemed to go on forever. When it ended, the fliers dove at the barrier.

“Time to go,” Iris said. One of the giant arms flew to his side, monstrous hand open. Nil hopped into the palm. It carried him away from the barrier. “Go on. Show them why they call you Godpuncher.”

Supercharged strength and Expend-powered leap launched Nil toward the swarm. He had the tail’s mental image ready and called it forth within seconds of taking off. Once at the apex of the jump, he released a powerful blast through his pressed-together feet, shaping the released energy to form a cone, gaining another vertical burst. The knuckle daggers and elbow blades formed next. 

“Hand coming into your left.” 

A hand blast moved him to the offered Source limb, and he leaped again, flying straight into the swarm. Nil held his right hand out in front of him, creating the biggest Chaos Sphere ever. It was as big as a beach ball. Crimson Lightning danced off it. He left it in place and released blasts through every palm and sole. The explosions eliminated several wings and faces while also gaining him height and putting him just within reach of Shawn’s barrier. It was the last support he received before leaving his companion’s range. It was enough. Nil had reached the Void Lord’s tentacles, and he took off, sprinting and sliding up them, picking up more speed with each blast.

Anti-Friction Lattice’s upgrade couldn’t have come at a better time. Nil used his tail to push off one tentacle and maneuvered to the next with hand or foot blasts. Not having to focus on recreating an energy weave meant he could focus more on not flying off the tentacles and plummeting into the darkness below. Swarms of flyers dove at his top, and Nil had to cut through them. A tiny slip-up would result in impaling himself on a talon, flying off the moving appendages, or getting pushed off by the giant insectoids. A moment’s loss of concentration or a single mistake would result in death or leaving his companions to fend for themselves. Fortunately, Nil successfully maintained his focus and sped higher, slicing and shredding through the enemy.

The flyers were no joke. Luminous spittle, arcane attacks, and physical projectiles shot at Nil. What he couldn’t avoid got blocked by the gauntlets or tail. A steady trickle of energy trickled through both, providing pseudo-protection. Minor cuts appeared on Nil’s cheeks, shoulders, upper arms, and torso, but it was nothing he couldn’t manage. Everyone was counting on him. Fortunately, all the surrounding creatures had consumed Cursed Ones and emanated their energy, cultivating it, helping Nil sustain himself. The output was still greater than the input, but it wasn’t anything of major concern.

Expend has progressed to Silver 1!

Brutal Battery has progressed to Silver 1!

Nil’s heart pounded, temples throbbed, and the hair on the back of his neck stood erect. But he couldn’t stop grinning. Nil felt powerful. Incredible. Unstoppable. He felt like an apex predator, and the octopus-faced giant insect in the sky was his prey.

The tentacles moved. A seemingly endless appendage swiped at Nil, talons grinding against one another. The minor Void Lord didn’t like him killing her minions, striking her flesh with Void blasts, or carving deep gouges as he continued his ascent. Vector Change activated at the last second. Since he kept Anti-Friction Lattice active, Nil didn’t fly off the tentacle. He clung to its side, still climbing upward, narrowly avoiding the attacking appendage. 

An empowered leap followed, and Expend blasts gave it more power and helped adjust his angle. Nil moved to the rapidly retreating Nil that had just tried to crush him. He used it as a jumping board to move to another. The princess’s attack forced the fliers to retreat, giving him the freedom to aerial movement to more favorable ground. He left another Chaos Lightning Sphere in his wake, disrupting a diving swarm. 

Explosions sounded below as Iris repelled attackers. Shawn successfully avoided the swinging monstrous limbs, but it was up to her to keep the fliers from damaging the barrier or blocking their ascent. He needed to maintain his focus on the barrier-closing spell. There was no guarantee that the tactic would work. Most of them expected only to slow the scuttler princess, at most, drive her back and shrink the tear, giving Selia the window to close in on the Deep Ones, take out a few, and disrupt the ritual. It was the only path to success that didn’t involve fighting an endless army of powerful insectoids with physiological enhancements and magic of near Silver-Realm Cursed Ones.

Nil didn’t have the luxury of checking on his companions. He relied on their deafening attacks and One With The Source to track their progress and ensure they weren’t on the verge of death. Beyond that, he had no choice but to focus on his own ascent and progress. 

Shawn’s spell is a bonus. We might just about succeed without it.

As Nil closed in on the tear, he got his first real glimpse of the Void. It wasn’t endless darkness as the name suggested or what he’d seen when Watcher revealed his true form but an endless swirling vortex of swirling colors, some familiar, some beyond comprehension. Brief patches of mind-bending darkness lingered in patches among the lights. It would’ve been a beautiful sight if not for the other giant scuttlers and pockets of biomechanicals spiraling behind the princess’s mountain-sized body. All were waiting for her to open the rift further and pass through so they could follow. It wasn’t just a matter of opening and passing through a doorway. A dense Source barrier also stood in the way.

Iris and the arena construct had undersold the stakes. The world and universe would be overrun if the scuttler hive took root. The greater danger would be their physical presence in the multiverse. Watcher explained that a powerful Source barrier contained all of it, and then weaker separators kept individual universes apart. The queen and biomechanicals would spread to neighboring realms, reproduce, and slowly pave the way for greater threats. 

The importance of the Cleansing and the quest became clearer to Nil and he felt marginally guilty for the demands he made of Layla. All life was in danger, and he needed to accomplish his task not only for the safety of his loved ones but also for the countless billions.

“I’m going in,” Nil told his friends. “See you on the other side.”

None of the responses registered as Nil focused all of his efforts on avoiding the more frequently attacking limbs, denser swarms, and preparing his attack. A foot-wide Chaos Sphere solidified in Nil’s left hand, and he used the right to maneuver with Expend blasts. He once again relied on his newest technique, creating a smaller sphere within and overflowing it with energy. One With The Source helped him track the stability and push the creation just to the point of collapse. 

Once close enough, Nil launched off the tentacle with all the strength and power he could muster, flying uncomfortably close to the tear. The positive of fighting such a ridiculously oversized foe was the giant target. Since the princess needed to hold the tear open, she couldn’t move either. Nil pushed the inner sphere over the top, electrified all the Balance layers, and then launched it, pouring everything he had on the move. 

At first, it looked like no different from an overactive Chaos Lightning Sphere. Energy danced from it, striking the chitin-armor-covered limb and disintegrating tiny fragments. Then, after traveling approximately twenty meters, the construct ceased moving. It was just short of the target. 

Brutal Battery’s upgrade function restored energy levels to twenty-percent and Nil used half of it into a massive blast from his hands and feet, pointing them all in the same direction and pausing his fall for a moment. He flew sideways, shooting toward the tentacles while blowing away diving fliers. Then, he threw up Shiver Shield just as the explosion ripped through two universes at once. A deafening screech from the Void princess and fragments of her chitinous limb rained around him. The stump that remained retreated, and the universe rushed to fix its damaged fabric. 

Wield The Source has progressed to Bronze 5!

Source Gauntlets have progressed to Bronze 5!

Nil plummeted into the raging swarm below, freezing and damaging all that colliding with his barrier. Much to his surprise, he didn’t fall through or far. A barrier solidified under him and Shiver Shield's kinetic energy stealing powers ensured he didn't bounce off but remained in space. He caught a glimpse of Shawn and Iris rising past him through the raging fliers. 

“My family are really not going to be pleased about me not recruiting you,” Iris commented.

“Sorry, Iris,” Selia whispered. “You’re gorgeous and fun, but I’m not into the idea of sister wives. Whatever you lot did, got a few tentacles to unlatch. I’m beginning my assault.”

“I think I can deal with the rest,” Nil told them. “I’m going back in.”

“No,” Iris said, her limbs continuing to shred all approaching fliers, not giving any a chance to touch the barrier. Meanwhile, Shawn stood sweating bullets and mumbling. Arcane energies swelled around him. “You’ve done enough. It's our turn.”

Nil ignored her and launched himself upward again, leaving behind two Lightning Chaos Spheres. Absorbing the shockwave with Shiver Shield and falling into the swarm had helped restore Brutal Battery’s stores to just above half. He reformed his tail and weapons, cutting through the swarm and using multiple well-timed blasts to get to Shawn’s barrier. Even though Iris had told him to stand down, she offered a hand, ensuring he didn't get close to the still spinning weapon-carrying limbs, and Nil used it to return to the tentacles.

The ascent was easier the second time around. Nil imagined nothing had injured the scuttler princess before to such a degree, or at least in a long time. She writhed and screeched, giving him a headache, but her focus was on the partially lost limb. He was an ant who had partially dismembered an entity that transcended his universe. After cutting through several swarms of flying scuttlers, Nil struck the princess a second time. Selia seemed to have accomplished part of her task beforehand, and the rift closed even more, suffocating the tentacles and the other chitin-coated limb. Then, Nil unleashed an even more powerful bomb on the second insect-like limb also forcing it to retreat. 

The tear shrunk further, and all tentacles dislodged from the now severely damaged monastery structure. Then Shawn got close enough to unleash his spell. The now unstable rift snapped closed, separating the minor Void Lord’s tentacles from her body. Then, the barrier containing him and Iris vanished, and they fell together. Shawn had lost consciousness.

Iris’s Source arms released their weapons. Two grabbed Nil after he used Expend blasts to control his fall and get closer, while the rest held onto Shawn. Nil tightly held him and Iris before using the last of his energy for a powerful Expend blast to launch himself toward the mountain. Then Brutal Battery’s second emergency recharge activated. He poured all his energy into subsequent, controlled bursts. Once he was close enough, an Order barrier helped ensure a secure landing.

The scuttler princess has been repelled from Eternum. All rifts have closed, and the Well of Power has been purged of all corruption and Void influences.

Team Forge has completed the Cleansing. The Intelligence and Control Words are grateful for their efforts.