Divine Apostasy Book 12 - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ruwen dismissed all the Notifications and activated Last Breath to decide the best way to handle these attackers. Starting with where they’d originated.

Naktos had stuck Ruwen and his friends in the Spirit Realm. Thinking back on it he hadn’t noticed anything he’d consider Creation Essence, other than maybe not physically dying. Since powers in the Destruction Realm had damned up the flow of magic energy to the Creation Realm it might explain why the Spirit Realm looked like an oasis turned into a desert.

Even in the Destruction Realm the Destruction Essence wasn’t that strong near the boundary to the Material Realm. Ruwen decided he’d refer to the areas near the Material Realm in the same way everyone else did: Shadow Realm and Spirit Realm. Once past these buffer areas where the essence grew more concentrated, he’d refer to them with their proper names: Destruction Realm and Creation Realm.

Ruwen knew these leprechauns originated from the Creation Realm and likely had some Creation Essence in them. That meant he needed to avoid using any Destruction Essence unless he wanted to create a huge explosion. He considered putting on another set of Shade attire. The Armor Class and Resistance bonuses from the Stripper Ripper Title weren’t enough to convince him to jump up there and fight naked.

Risking the Inklord Armor against the unknown powers of the leprechauns was a last resort. That left the Scarecrow Aspect. With a thought the armor appeared—more revealing something always there as opposed to forming.

The armor had the same burnt orange color as Ruwen’s skin. Since he’d absorbed the armor, he should’ve guessed it would appear like that. Not that it mattered. It couldn’t get much uglier.

An idea occurred to Ruwen.

Hey Lir, are there any scarecrow related entities on this planet? Like scary ones? Preferably one the leprechauns would recognize.

There are three that meet your requirements.

Give me a short summary of each, please.

Lir displayed the image of a towering gaunt figure with a skeletal frame of twisted wood. Tattered rags covered it, and they fluttered in an invisible wind. Ruwen’s current skin condition made the wood glow orange, like embers of a dying fire. Hollow eyes, the remnants of knots violently ripped away, flickered with orange flame. He couldn’t pull his gaze away from those eyes, and he feared what would happen if the struggling flames were snuffed out. The darkness that remained would certainly suck the light and life from the surroundings.

Ruwen mentally stepped back from the horrible projection, confused on why he felt such fear.

Lir noticed Ruwen’s reaction, and the fear disappeared.

My apologies. I incorporated your newly Activated Sacral chakra into my design. Projecting emotions is a capability of Master Ash so I assume you can learn it as well.

That was intense. It’s kind of terrifying.

Farmers created these scarecrows to resemble witches, and believed they could draw evil spirits out of the ground and absorb malevolent forces. After the harvest, the farmers would burn the scarecrows to destroy the trapped spirits.

Are leprechauns farmers?

No, but leprechauns are famous for wickedness and trickery. They would recoil from any type of magic created to trap and burn them alive.

This place is kind of messed up.

The specter disappeared, replaced by another.

Lir’s next version appeared, looming over Ruwen, and he covered his nose to block the stench. Orange animal skin, spotted with dark, rotting patches, hung over a wooden frame. It twitched as if small seizures wracked it, and the sound of dry leaves and cracking branches made him uneasy. Rags, bells, and fish bones were attached with hooks directly into the skin.

Lir began his explanation. Farmers invited the mountain gods into—

Ruwen interrupted. Nope, this one is just gross.

As you wish.

Another figure appeared. Blackened straw surrounded actual bones that jutted outward in clumps like broken stalks of wheat. Teeth, obviously from different animals, created a lopsided grin.

Ruwen held up his hands before Lir could speak. This place is disturbing. I don’t want to see any more. The first one is terrifying and less disturbing, so I’m going to try and alter my appearance to match that. Thanks.

Of course.

Ruwen didn’t have time to personalize any details since the leprechauns waited above. He released Last Breath and willed the Aspect to appear like the twisted burning wood thing Lir had displayed. It wouldn’t have the same impact since Ruwen didn’t know how to project fear like Ash could, but he’d pick that up soon.

Creating a clone, Ruwen placed it at the edge of the hole, like it had just emerged, and then had it sprint forward and leap upward through the falling water. It latched onto the wall and began climbing upward.

Four of the five leprechauns took the bait and shifted their direction and attention toward the clone. Ruwen gave them three seconds to commit to following the clone before wrapping himself tightly in a harmonic blanket that trapped his magical energy for a bit. It should allow him to get close to entities that were sensitive to magic without giving himself away.

Ruwen Blinked upward and directly behind the remaining leprechaun. This was the first time he’d seen his attackers.

From the back, the leprechaun looked humanoid and might be three feet tall if it stood on its toes. The skin of its neck looked shriveled and had a sickly green tone. A tattered velvet coat, once bright emerald, now appeared faded and dusty. Threadbare breeches and a crumpled black hat that sagged to one side and mostly hid dirty red hair completed the sorry look.

No debuffs triggered which meant the leprechauns wanted to remain hidden for the moment. That would likely change in a moment.

Identify provided more details.

Target: Desiccated Leprechaun Scout

Type: Fae (Fallen)

Description: The Ceardai Clan abandoned these clansmen in the Material Realm after the femite famine decimated the Creation Realm. Millinea of forced hibernation has concentrated their anger and bitterness, increasing the potency of their forbidden chakra experiments. The recent influx of Spirit has awakened them, and they hunger for enough magical energy to return to the Creation Realm.

Tier: Semblance

Effect (Passive): Desiccated Spirit – Absorb Soul and Chakra energy with increased efficiency, reducing damage by 90%.

Effect (Passive): Rainbow Scout – Clonal communication with other scouts.

Effect (Triggered): Suppression Charm – Increased Resistance to Harmonic Mages.

Effect (Triggered): Fortune Leech – Steal 10% of target’s good luck.

Strengths: Speed, Mobility, Stealth, Tracking

Weaknesses: Durability, Physical Damage, Destruction Essence

Ruwen had never heard of a tier called “Semblance.” He tapped the leprechaun on the right shoulder.

The leprechaun flinched and slowly turned around. Ruwen noticed the other four scouts had instantly stopped chasing his clone and were returning. That was their Rainbow Scout passive that kept them all connected like members of a hive.

When the leprechaun got sight of Ruwen it yelped and jumped backward, hissing something that sounded like “Feldhexe.” Evidently this was a non-Outerverse language, or close to one, as after a moment True Name translated the word as “Field Witch.”

Ruwen spoke. “I need to kill twenty-five of you. Answer some questions and I’ll let you go.”

The leprechaun smiled evilly at Ruwen, revealing sharp teeth. It wasn’t remotely friendly. Green runes briefly appeared on its skin as it triggered both its active abilities, and two debuffs flashed at the top of Ruwen’s vision. Suppression Charm to counter Harmonic abilities and Fortune Leech to drain his luck.

“Always the hard way,” Ruwen said.

Ruwen used his Divine Domain which was an extension of his Architect Role to increase gravity under the leprechaun. Instead of turning into a puddle the leprechaun laughed and disappeared.

Activating Harmonic Sight and Knowledge, Ruwen glanced around, only briefly pausing where the leprechaun had teleported, thirty feet away. If the scout stayed within Ruwen’s Mental Domain he’d be able to detect them.

Ruwen quickly checked his log to get the details of why his attack had failed.

Gravity Manipulation Failure! Non-Material Realm Entity Targeted!

The Architect Role had also failed in the Destruction Realm. Now Ruwen knew two more things. It would fail in the Creation Realm, too, and entities from the upper and lower Realms had immunity in the Material Realm from direct attacks using the Role.

The other four scouts dropped into the chamber, landing next to the one Ruwen had tried to speak with. All of them dropped their stealth and the scout he’d spoken to produced a twisted staff from somewhere. The other four had enough physical differences that he could tell them apart. Their weapons are what differentiated them. In addition to the staff, Ruwen now faced a curved dagger, a pick, a blowpipe, and a tiny loom that floated on its own.

The other four leprechauns cast the same debuffs which caused Harmonic Sight to waver until Ruwen focused his attention on it. It appeared their debuffs stacked, and his Karmic Offset of fifty-two had dropped to thirty-one as each leprechaun captured ten percent of whatever remained.

“That’s irritating,” Ruwen told them. “Lucky for me, I’ll take it all back after you die.”

The Activated Sacral chakra made Harmonic Sight feel like a new more powerful ability, and the leprechauns contained enough Creation Essence that Ruwen could detect it now. Between the vibrant hues and the complex patterns his Sacral revealed, he found himself hypnotized by the beauty of it all.

Overlord cleared his throat in Ruwen’s mental ear, snapping Ruwen out of his trance.

As the five leprechauns raised their weapons to attack, Ruwen whistled.

The pure tone crossed the chamber like a honed blade despite the five stacks of harmonic suppression. Ruwen had chosen the note specifically. Harmony had collapsed the millions of choices down to this one sound. A perfect vibration calculated to do the most harm to the dense harmonies that filled the leprechauns.

All five leprechauns froze in place, their eyes wide in shock. A moment later all five collapsed—their heads tumbling to the ground and rolling toward Ruwen.