Divine Apostasy Book 7 - Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Ruwen held up his hands and walked slowly toward the three Aspects. They turned their attention to him, and he spoke. “I want to make a deal.”

The Aspects remained silent, studying Ruwen as he approached. Not one of them showed any fear or concern. He considered using Harmony now and trying to nullify their shields. But if he did affect their shields, it gave them time to react. He wanted to save Harmony for a surprise when he stood near all of them.

It took three strides, and Survey displayed all three Aspects sat within the fifteen-foot radius of Ruwen’s next Relic Mark. He stopped and began the one second cast of Scrub. Right before Scrub finished casting, he extended his middle finger to match his pointer. With a flick of the wrist, he activated the Five of Wands Relic Mark and triggered First Move, a one second stun for up to five enemies.

At the first hint of coldness on Ruwen’s right wrist, he channeled twenty Energy into Scrub, and leaped at Poison.

First Move’s stun kept the Aspects locked in place, and as Ruwen approached he felt the resistance of Poison’s shield. Using the level three Worker ability Third Hand, he grasped Poison, pinning himself to the Aspect. Poison’s shield continued to try and push Ruwen away, but Third Hand kept him anchored in place.

The Worker textbook Ruwen had carried since his Ascendancy Day detailed basic Worker spells. It contained a table for Scrub detailing what Energy and spell levels should be used for various materials and stains. He had consulted it when cleaning the Leaf Dragon Silk for Fluffy. Starting at spell level one, anything over ten Energy per second would cause severe damage to skin. He slammed his hands against Poison’s shield. His hands vibrated with twenty channeled Energy, the maximum amount the level five Scrub allowed.

The intense vibration of Scrub created a tingling sensation in Ruwen’s fingers but caused far more significant problems for Poison’s shield. It took less than a second for the damage caused by Scrub to overwhelm and collapse the shield.

The one second stun ended and Sift landed next to Ruwen. The three Aspects slumped as Sift triggered his Relic Mark for the Ten of Wands, creating an Exhaustion debuff on all enemies within fifteen feet.

Ruwen sensed an immediate pulse of magic from War’s Aspect likely a reaction to the debuff and some defensive measure to cleanse the harmful magic. Whatever the spell, it worked, and the Aspects recovered. Tarot had told Ruwen that the effects of Relic Marks could not be resisted, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be diminished once active.

Ruwen used his last Relic Mark, the Reversed Fool, flicking his wrist outward with three fingers extended. Warmth covered his body as the magic increased his Critical Strike damage by twenty-five percent at the expense of half his Armor Class for five seconds.

In such a dire situation, Ruwen didn’t wrestle with good and bad or right and wrong, instead he struck at Poison’s neck. The strike, under normal conditions, sent a surge of blood to the victim’s brain, and depending on the power of the hit, would cause everything from dizziness to death.

Ruwen struck at Poison’s neck with all his Strength. The armor of Poison’s Aspect successfully stopped him from being decapitated, and an invisible link between Poison and War surged, causing War to groan, as he absorbed much of the damage to Poison. The horses Poison and War sat on disappeared and as Poison dropped to the ground, he opened his mouth and vomited black sludge, spraying Ruwen’s face and chest.

Before Poison hit the ground he disappeared. Stone Echo detected the Aspect fifty feet away, on top of the outcropping behind the Masters. As much as Ruwen loved using Blink himself, he hated when others did. Poison didn’t immediately move back toward them and Ruwen hoped the Aspect had taken fatal damage.

Overlord, send a Fallen Hero to check on Poison.

Understood. Gate runes still aren’t working. Should I come help?

Keep trying.

Ruwen transitioned into Harmony and felt the balance of the space surrounding him, including the shields around Drought and War. Unlike the straightforward balance of elements and the Founders’ soul magic, these shields fluctuated, constantly shifting the force they applied to the environment. It wasn’t immediately clear to him how to balance such an advanced construct.

Drought attacked Sift, and Ruwen sensed the surge of magic as Sift triggered his last Relic Mark, Fortitude, adding five hundred to Sift’s Strength for ten seconds. Drought felt it too, and stepped backward, giving up ground to avoid the onslaught of Sift and Ruwen.

War pointed his sword upward and used a thumb to press the back of a silver band wrapped around the sword’s hilt. The front of the band pointed at Ruwen, and it held three glowing red stones, just like Drought’s ring had. A surge of energy erupted from one of the stones.

Ruwen captured the spell with his Void Band and immediately released it back at War. If he could remove War with his own spell, it would greatly improve their odds of surviving this. But the spell vanished as soon as it contacted War’s energy shield.

Disappointed, Ruwen stopped channeling Scrub and launched two Crazors out of Inventory and into his palms. He activated Glow, maximizing the brightness, but kept the ability to just his palms. A four-foot red beam of Energy materialized from the number three Crazor in his right hand and a two-foot beam from the number two Crazor in his left.

He struck at Drought’s shield with both.

Sift with the five hundred extra Strength, easily overcame the repulsive resistance of Drought’s shield, and attacked as well.

Rags covered Drought’s dried leathery skin, and his face, little more than a skull, contained large cracks. The Aspect smiled, splitting the skin of his lips and revealing worn teeth. A surge of channeled energy erupted outward and a debuff appeared under the group portrait of both Sift and Nymthus.

Focusing on the debuff Ruwen read the description of what likely affected the entire class of Masters.

Dying Thirst: Severe dehydration. 50% decrease to all Attributes. 75 damage per second while channeled.

Sift visibly slowed. Nymthus wouldn’t survive ten seconds of this debuff, which meant most of the other Masters likely had similar Health points and would die as well. If it wasn’t for Ruwen’s Bonfire tripling their natural Regen, and the relic mark’s Endurance buff, they likely would have died in seconds.

Sift groaned and tripped, and Drought laughed.

Everyone collapsed here, Overlord said.

Attack War with two Fallen Heroes, we need to keep him distracted.

We just lost the one I sent to find Poison. I think that means he’s alive.

Seven seconds remained until Drought’s debuff killed everyone, and Poison it appeared would soon return.

Ruwen continued to strike at Drought’s shield, but the Aspect fell back, pulling Ruwen away from everyone and allowing the shield to survive longer.

Did you see if Poison had a red ring with three stones, Ruwen asked.

Let me check my memories. Yes, he does.

Five seconds until the unthinkable occurred.

Sift collapsed to the ground. Ruwen touched Sift with a foot and cast Massage for one hundred fifty Mana. It would heal thirty-two points of damage per second for thirty seconds and keep Sift alive awhile longer.

Drought’s channeled spell covered too large an area for Harmony to neutralize, and manipulating the air or stone into an attack would fail miserably against the Aspect’s armor. The only hope for the rest of the class was if Ruwen could reach Drought and physically stop him from channeling Dying Thirst.

We lost the two fighting War, Overlord said. Should I go?

Having to rely on the Mana versions of the Fallen Heroes spell made them far less effective for fighting Diamond Cultivators. Ruwen’s spirit versions would have lasted much longer. Keep trying the gate runes. Only go if he moves toward or attacks the Masters.

Three seconds remained.

Ruwen cast Net for one hundred Mana, and the instantaneous cast covered Drought in a glowing yellow net. The fine mesh constricted and anchored itself to the ground, trapping Drought in place.

Stepping close to the momentarily trapped Drought, Ruwen jammed the Crazors into the shield. He stomped the ground with his right foot, and behind him, the stone under War’s feet rose and encased the Aspect up to his shins, delaying his attempt to help Drought.

The Health bar under Nymthus pulsed yellow and then red. Two seconds until she died.

Drought’s physical protection shield collapsed, and Ruwen stepped forward. The Aspect destroyed the Net trapping him and held out a fist, pointing a ring with two glowing red stones directly at Ruwen.

Ruwen swept both Crazors around in an arc as he turned to face War.

The debuff on Sift and Nymthus disappeared.

Drought’s body dropped forward like a slow falling tree. His head and left hand striking the ground first, followed by the headless body. Killing such a vile creature filled Ruwen with joy. Drought, a Gem Fortified Cultivator would not revive in one of Lalquinrial’s infernal tubs. This despicable creature had died the true death.

Locking eyes with War, Ruwen bent and removed the red ring before, just as he expected, the Aspect automatically returned itself and the wearer, to their Infernal Bind point.

Ruwen read the ring’s description.

Tring!

You have found…

Name: Infernal Banishment Band of Physical Protection

Quality: Legendary

Durability: 66 of 66

Weight: 0.29 lbs.

Charges: 2

Restriction: Infernal Aspect.

Restriction: Desecrated ground.

Restriction: Triggered effect’s maximum range is ten feet.

Effect (Passive): Personal Space - Creates a five-foot bubble around wearer repelling physical attacks equivalent to ten thousand damage.

Effect (Triggered): Infernal Confinement – Wrap target in dimensional orb and banish them to Infernal Realm’s dimensional prison.

Description: Platinum band with three infernal rubies. With rubies pointed at target, press thumb against bottom of band.

The Aspect’s odd behavior made sense now. With Plague’s warning that they had prepared for Ruwen, he should have realized capturing him had been the real purpose. The Aspects had told him they searched for the Infernal Crossing Rings, and that might also be true, but only as a secondary goal. From the beginning they had orchestrated this to capture him.

It explained why the Aspects had not aggressively attacked him. They didn’t want to kill him. What they needed was for Ruwen to attack them. To get within ten feet so they could trigger a ring they all wore and send him back to the Infernal Realm. Likely in a much stronger dimensional prison.

Shelly was banished to the Infernal Realm, not hurt, Ruwen told Sift. Their dimensional prison won’t be able to hold her. So don’t worry.

Sift remained on the ground, the heal slowly returning him to normal. Thanks.

War ripped his feet free of the stone. The dented and scratched crimson armor he wore revealed a ready stance, but not one poised to attack. He wanted Ruwen to approach him.

Survey confirmed all the Masters remained on the ground. Ruwen counted thirty heart beats and internally felt immense relief. He had temporarily gotten rid of two Aspects, and just, hopefully, killed another. That left War and Poison to deal with, but now that he understood their plan better, he felt confident he could avoid any of their traps to banish him. A spark of hope flared to life. He could still save everyone.