Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

If the dungeon had pulled out all the stops, Ruin decided to do the same.

He increased his Core Velocity to three thousand, and his torso burned on the inside from the surge in energy.

You have around ten seconds to bleed that off before something bad happens, Uruziel said.

Thanks.

Ruin channeled energy from his core, teleporting to the distant mound and its tunnel entrance. The dungeon tried to resist the movement, but he overpowered the dungeon with a flex of his Will.

Skeletal creatures, held together by shadow tendons, poured from the mound and those nearby paused in surprise.

Ruin didn’t give them a chance to recover. He slammed his hands together and created a powerful explosion of air.

Everything within a hundred feet catapulted away and the mound disintegrated. He poured Destruction Energy from his core into the surrounding ground, pushing it deeper with every moment.

The dungeon once again exerted its Will, this time much stronger, and tried to expel Ruin’s magic.

Ruin struck its Will with his own and shoved the dungeon and its control away. He continued channeling energy into the ground, the power spreading like roots searching for water.

Ruin, Uruziel said, concern in her voice.

I know. I can feel the pressure. I’m going to release it all in a second.

Uruziel wanted to make sure Ruin didn’t explode, and while he wanted to spend a few more seconds pushing his power deeper, she had a valid worry. He had very little experience with this Destruction Core. It made sense to use caution while learning its boundaries.

With that in mind, Ruin yanked all the chaotic energy surrounding his core and poured it into the power channels he’d created with his Will.

Ruin shouted and leaped into the air, his four wings beating with shocking force.

As Ruin burst into the air, he yanked upward on the tendrils of his power that saturated the surrounding ground.

This seemed to surprise the dungeon and Ruin suppressed its Will before it could react, creating a thousand-foot bubble where Ruin had complete control.

Polished tiles in a three-hundred-foot diameter cracked and shattered before rising into the air. The ground beneath followed and, as Ruin climbed into the sky, a hole two hundred feet deep appeared.

 The result reminded Ruin of an exposed ant hill. Beasts fell from the mass of dirt and stone rising into the air, and the hole teemed with hundreds more.

At a hundred feet, Ruin clenched his fist and the island he’d pulled into the sky disintegrated.

Ruin slowed his Core Velocity to one thousand and searched the turmoil below to see if he’d successfully found the dungeon boss.

A thirty-foot shadow righted itself as it fell. Twenty feet from the ground it stopped and hovered, before gazing upward at Ruin.

“Hey,” Ruin said with a mocking wave.

The creature’s details appeared, containing more information than normal.

Name: Erebus, Keeper of the First Rune

Power Level: Tier 3 Level 4

Strengths: Erebus can manipulate shadows to attack, defend, and traverse the battlefield. It draws power from the shadows of creatures in the vicinity, making it stronger as shadows increase and allowing it to recover from damage. It’s immune to physical attacks and can dissipate most types of magic.

Weaknesses: Vulnerable to light-based magic. Regeneration diminishes in well-lit areas.

Description: A towering, shapeless figure of darkness with glowing silver eyes. Erebus resembles a shadowy tempest with tendrils that lash out like whips. Its movements are unnaturally fast and fluid, making it a formidable foe in combat.

Erebus stretched and twisted unnaturally, growing larger as it focused on Ruin.

It raised a claw-like appendage, and shadows from the surrounding battlefield surged toward it, enveloping the creature in a fog of darkness.

Removing all the shadows from the battlefield was impossible, but Ruin could minimize their size and strength.

Ruin created an intense ball of light five hundred feet above the battlefield. It hung there, about the size of his fist, pushing most shadows under their caster, minimizing the size. Next, he created a ring with a thousand-foot diameter and placed it a hundred feet in the air. This would generate an even light from all directions, minimizing the strength of the shadows.

Overlord created thousands of Minions to battle the mass of enemies surrounding them, briefly relieving the pressure around Ruin’s core. Accessing the Storm Chaser Stud on his ear, he switched the buff to Sheet Lightning which worked better for one-on-one fights.

“Your light will not save you,” Erebus said, its voice a harsh whisper that still reached Ruin’s Divine hearing.

“I know,” Ruin responded. “I’ve already learned not all shadows fear the light. The only one who can save me is myself.”

“It will not be enough.”

A sword emerged from each of Ruin’s hands, the blue runes gaining intensity as he filled them with Destruction Essence from his core.

Ruin spread his arms. “I don’t impress you?”

Erebus’ dark fog twisted in a tight circle, climbing into the air. “You do not. A mere Archangel—and only level one.”

“Shade’s first rule—sparks ignite infernos.”

Ruin increased the frequency of the light his swords generated. The blue light from the runes turned harsh, reminding him of Xavier. The fog of darkness around Erebus withered, allowing Ruin to see the dungeon boss again.

Warping the space between them, Ruin appeared next to Erebus, his swords slicing through the air with a crackling hum.

Six tendrils appeared, two forming shields and four turning into razor-sharp claws which attacked.

Ruin parried the strikes with precise movements, his blades flaring with light as they connected.

Another tendril emerged from a tiny shadow caused by a crease in his Ink Lord’s Wrap of Shadow. The strand wrapped around his lower leg and ankle and connected to the storm of darkness in front of him.

It jerked Ruin toward the darkness, and he slashed downward, severing the shadow.

Ruin noticed the Sheet Lightning also created tiny pockets of shadow, so he dismissed the buff.

The ability of Erebus to use even the smallest or briefest shadow to launch an attack was difficult to defend against. Every movement created them. Even if he set himself aglow, he couldn’t stop his swords or clothes or movements from generating shadows.

The boss had surrounded himself with shadow to keep light from reaching him.

Ruin needed to echo that strategy to stay safe from the micro-shadows covering him.

Inner Blade, Ruin said to his friends.

Overlord immediately launched twenty Sentry Minions in Ruin’s direction and Sivart diverted six of his dragons toward Ruin. A hundred Aspect Clones appeared all over the battleground as Overlord created them in a predetermined matrix.

Compiling, Uruziel said.

Inner Blade was one of Bad Alchemy’s earliest songs. It described a blind Step Master who used the wind’s whispers to guide his strikes and the earth’s laughter to reveal the steps of his foes. The master had forged what he called an inner blade by attuning himself to nature—every rustle of leaves, every drop of rain, and every scent becoming part of his unerring perception.

“Nova,” Ruin whispered as he cast the spell. A small star surrounded him, and he lost his vision.

Overlord and Sivart fed Uruziel hundreds of different points of view, and she compiled them into something usable. Lir could produce images so realistic Ruin had a hard time telling the difference, but Lir had his hands full with running the Temples back on Grave and his project on Earth. Considering the resources Uruziel had, her accomplishment ranked close to a miracle.

Something like normal sight returned, as Uruziel funneled the proper view wherever Ruin looked.

The shadows surrounding Erebus shifted, condensing to compensate for the harsh light.

Ruin didn’t wait for the dungeon boss to act. Exerting his Will over the dungeon once again, he teleported himself and his blazing star directly into the shadow cloud’s center.

Destruction Essence, just like its Material Realm counterpart Spirit, contained all twelve essences. Five of those essences, the ones represented by the five towers, had a density and strength the other essences lacked.

Light essence was weaker in the Destruction Realm, which became obvious to Ruin when the cloud of darkness didn’t immediately disappear. It didn’t help that this dungeon originated from the Dark Tower and the boss he fought contained one of the hardening runes for the Dark Meridian.

Ruin spun his Core Velocity up to five thousand and poured all the extra power into the Nova spell. He could sense the contamination of the other eleven essences in his magic, but he hadn’t yet worked out how to filter or use his Meridian specific essences yet. For now, brute force would need to suffice.