Chapter 101 - Void Ether

Upon activation, the purple skill wisp disappeared from Vivi’s core. It didn’t dim out like Thorn Sword or other skills. Death Sense broke apart completely. Her second skill slot was freed, as if nothing had ever been there.

Vivi was prepared for the skill to cast explosions. But nothing seemed to happen. Vivi’s sword didn’t gain a coating, and nothing crumbled to bits around her. She didn’t ascend, and she didn’t gain flying daggers around her. Nothing at all happened outside her body.

The effects took place inside her consciousness. Something weird happened within her core. The skill turned into dark and ominous wisps of ether. The weird wisps radiated the same feeling that monsters gave. The wisps flowed within her, quickly making home in her veins, filling her with power.

Uundref’s attack was still coming for Vivi. Solace was about to cut her head off. Vivi couldn’t see or hear the attack. She could feel it through a sense she couldn’t explain. She knew she was in danger.

Instinctively, Vivi activated Thorn Sword and raised her sword for the block. She defended. Her movements were swift—far more fluid than her practice should have allowed.

“Vivi…” Lucius said. “That skill… It did something weird.”

She could feel it. The dark ether provided by the skill was different from the balanced wisps Lucius used to empower her.

Uundref must have sensed a change too. He stepped back and observed Vivi's change. This gave Vivi a calm moment to examine what the skill had done to her ether core.

Or rather, her cores. On top of her usual core—the one thousands of ether in debt—another smaller core had been opened up. The core was dark and hard to examine, though its presence was surprisingly natural, as if it had always been there, just shut off and hidden from Vivi’s consciousness.

Inside, the core contained more of the weird dark wisps. Around a hundred of them. They brooded in darkness, awaiting to be called out into the world like an army of deadly assassins.

Lucius? Vivi asked. Is that… Void ether?

Lucius didn’t respond. He was just as confused as she was, examining the core. Vivi struggled to read his emotions. The new core, whatever it was, was powerful. They could both tell that. But was it dangerous? Could Vivi wield the ether without losing herself?

Her opponent gave her little time to consider. Uundref was faster now, intending to bring her to heel for real. He wielded Solace with two hands.

Vivi channeled more void ether into her veins. Their powers pushed Lucius’s ether aside, overwhelming Vivi’s veins. Her eyesight worsened, and the sewers became dark. Sounds became muffled, and the scent of sewage disappeared from her head. The void ether took away her five senses.

Her sixth sense improved exponentially. A mental map formed around her. Ether visualized within that space. She knew exactly where Uundref’s blade was coming from. The concentrated ether of his attack was a threat to her life.

She swung at the attack, matching Uundref's speed.

The Steward’s expression was hard to make out. She couldn't see his expression anymore. However, Vivi could feel a switch in Uundref’s ethereal aura. He was cautious now, no longer emitting an aura of total dominance.

Vivi found herself on the offensive. Distractions were gone from her head. She had only one sense now. Within that sense, everything was clear. Uundref's attacks grew readable, and Vivi's body moved to match.

Her sword, too, had a presence in her mental map. Her sword was dangerous. Not to herself, but her opponents. She swung, hitting her nix sword against Solace. The shockwave made Uundref’s clothes flutter.

Quickly, however, the ether in her sword wavered. The nix sword wasn’t built to exchange blows, but to counter Uundref’s portals.

Right now, Vivi wasn’t fighting Uundref’s spectral abilities. She was dueling against Solace, her own two-runed sword.

She placed her nix sword into spatial storage and switched in Abyss Destroyer. With Thorn Sword active, Vivi’s three-runed sword far overpowered Solace. Each blow pushed Uundref back.

The Steward attempted to counter. Vivi sensed his attempts before they’d even started. With void ether in her body, Uundref’s intentions were clear as light. He was slowly growing concerned.

Vivi slashed with Lucius's claws in between swings. She could imagine a grimace on Uundref's face. He struggled to defend.

With one last blow, Vivi hit Solace at just the right angle. The katana flung off of Uundref’s arms, flying at the wall.

The Steward didn't sit to wait. He pulled daggers from within his coat, blocking Vivi’s next attack. He said something; Vivi vaguely heard words in her ears. But her body was so utterly filled with void ether, she couldn’t make sense of his speech. The world around her was nearly black. Vivi merely senses a space around her. That space had danger and ether.

Uundref must have known she wasn’t listening. His movements became swift, now two daggers in hand.

Vivi’s danger signals flared for real now. The void ether’s death sense regarded Uundref’s daggers as the most dangerous ethereal presence in the room, even overpowering Abyss Destroyer.

The daggers came fast. Vivi knew exactly where, but they were fast, far faster than she could move her larger sword. Uundref quickly forced Vivi to the defensive.

She panicked, trying to block every attack at once. Uundref’s daggers were like spikes trying to pierce her from all directions. He only had two daggers, yet it seemed like three or four blows were coming at her all at once.

Uundref wasn’t a swordsman. He was an assassin. And at full force, it immediately became clear why he was the strongest of the Stewards. Vivi's sword couldn’t reach every attack; she had to use the claws to block. Each time a dagger made contact with claws, her left hand was blown back, and her stance wavered. Uundref’s daggers were overwhelming.

No, those aren’t his daggers… Vivi thought. The daggers didn't have a spectral aura, nor did they leak ether to the air. Uundref was wielding Alisa’s daggers!

Her own creations, gifted to a friend, were stolen, now used in an attempt to force Vivi to bow.

Vivi sped up her pace. I have the range advantage! she told herself. Uundref didn’t want to kill Vivi, and he didn't want to get himself killed. Even if Vivi opened her guard slightly, as long as she had a window to kill Uundref alongside, she’d win. The Steward would never trade his life for Vivi's.

She swung, this time more fearlessly. Uundref immediately reacted to the change. His aura grew more cautious.

The bone-faced, disgusting creature—he was afraid.

Vivi was back on the offensive, but she couldn’t make progress. Uundref was as proficient at defending as he was attacking. Vivi tried to throw claw-swipes to throw the Steward off balance, but the ranged claws were too weak to cause a real threat.

The exchange continued. Vivi’s arms were starting to burn. Her perceptions started to come back. Blurry vision, the smell of sewage. Her attacks slowly withered. The void ether was fading, dimming back to their core.

She only had twenty void wisps remaining. It wasn’t enough to defeat Uundref. Her regular wisps were dwindling as well, and her muscles were screaming beneath it all.

She gritted her teeth. Was this it? If only she had more resources. If only she hadn’t fought a Death Tyrant prior to this. If she just had more strength, Vivi knew she could have defeated Uundref. She just needed a final push, something to land a final blow to Uundref. Her claws were too weak, and her sword too slow.

Vivi was losing speed. Uundref's daggers grew overwhelming. She could barely read them. A few more exchanges, and she would fall.

No, it’s not over.

Vivi did something stupid. Something Lucius certainly wouldn’t have liked.

She pushed her remaining void wisps into her left hand, and into his claws. The claws reacted immediately, turning black with charged ether. Lucius fell into shock.

With the void wisps gone from her body, her senses returned, though everything was hazy. Vivi made out Uundref’s blurry figure. She no longer sensed the daggers. With only her eyesight, defeating Uundref was impossible.

She swiped in his direction, releasing the black concentration of void ether from her claws.

The black projectiles, concentrated with dangerous amounts of power, shot forth with speeds far faster than Vivi’s ordinary claw-swipes. Through the blurry mess of lights and bones, Vivi saw Uundref's glowing eyes grow wide.

The attack landed. It didn’t kill. But it did blow Uundref off of his feet. The Steward was knocked backward, landing on the steel gratings, the back of his head hitting the ground.

Vivi growled, Abyss Destroyer in hand, and prepared her killing blow. An overhead swing to crush the last of Uundref’s defenses.

A portal appeared beneath Uundref. The Steward was trying to escape!

Vivi reacted immediately. She raised her left hand, as if to throw something. In the middle of her throw, she summoned her nix sword, tossing it down at Uundref’s portal.

The sword pierced the portal. Suddenly, the portal lost its light. It became inoperational, trapping Uundref inside. His lower body had traversed through. His upper body poked out, head staring at Vivi in a panic.

Vivi took a step forward. She stumbled on her feet, nearly falling on her face. The wisps of void ether were totally spent. A few haphazard wisps of Lucius’s ether kept Vivi conscious, but no more was flowing in. She limped toward Uundref.

“Wait,” Uundref said, his voice surprisingly calm. “I have more to offer.”

Vivi was about to pass out. Lucius was already gone. She could weakly sense his presence within her.

“I have the power to turn you into one of the most respected beings of the lower levels,” Uundref said. “Work with me.”

Vivi gritted her teeth. Her vision blurred. Uundref’s words barely registered. She knew, the second she relaxed, she’d fall unconscious. And the moment she wasn’t there to fight back, Uundref would change his offer.

“Listen, human,” Uundref said. “Let’s talk about this. I can—”

Vivi slammed down her sword. Abyss Destroyer crashed weakly on Uundref’s head.

The swing was powerless, but her sword was still a runesword, filled with ether. Uundref’s skull cracked. The glow in his eyes dimmed.

The Steward was dead. His corpse sizzled with ether. Vivi quickly collected everything the Steward had dropped, taking her debts to minus 8601 ether.

Vivi collapsed on the ground and passed out.