MM - Chapter 242 - THE WILL TO PROGRESS

After being cast into a void without substance or sensation, questions emerged in the silent expanse of Raine’s mind: Is this what it feels like to die? Nothingness, no sense of self, of time, of physical reality.

The thoughts echoed dully, swaddled in nothingness as he was, unable to even see his interface had he desired to summon it. He was a phantom reduced to but a few wisps of intent, a bank of memories without nerve endings to confirm its own existence. Except, Raine knew better. None of it was real. He was very much alive, and the Phoenix Elites were doing their best to kill him.

I’ve got moments before the potion fades; every second counts.

Despite the seemingly dire circumstances, Raine was precisely where he wanted to be. He had expended considerable effort to isolate Torune in the direction of the Phoenix Elites’ formation. He had been careful to show them what they wanted to see, cycling through different skills in rapid succession. To any observer, it would appear as though he had exhausted his arsenal, leaving himself vulnerable. His unique class ability, which rendered cooldowns all but meaningless, remained a vital secret. And most importantly, gave his enemies the courage to surround him.

Had they not taken the bait after such a painstaking performance, he would have been thoroughly disappointed. Lacking a mentor who understood the path of mental abilities, of domains, this was the only way for Raine to take the next step down his path. He would never again call another his master, leaving little choice but to leap into the jaws of his enemies, where he would either drown, or thrive.

As the first second ticked into the next, more thoughts echoed.

What is a domain? How do they function? Why are they fundamentally superior to a standard mental ability? 

The answers would not be found here, in a darkness woven by his enemies. Beyond the fragile thread of his consciousness, Raine had one other sanctuary: an inner world that could not be stripped from him short of a true and final death. His mind’s eye opened wide, peering beyond the void, where a crimson lake of blood, and the lust for power beckoned.

KakaruNeko

- Central Silvergate Highlands, ZionLine -

Hiding with her Superior Stealth, KakaruNeko watched with grim satisfaction as Alaric took the bait and sprinted directly into their trap. They surrounded him in a flawless ring, and the instant their domains converged, a glassy, unfocused look claimed the dangerous man’s eyes. His momentum faltered, body stiffening before he pitched forward, collapsing face-first to slide through the mud-slicked grass.

They were on him in an instant. Behind, a harsh, mad cackle tore from Torune’s throat. He reversed his panicked retreat, Leaping high into the air. He twisted, arms extending to aim the tip of his spear at the back of his hated enemy’s vulnerable neck. “Die! Die! Die!”

Yet, as Torune descended, a sequence of events unfolded that no one, least of all the Halnugen, could have predicted. 

When Raine had last upgraded the Soul Flame of Amanesh, he gained absolute control over the demonic fire that passively radiated from his armor. Through a constant, underlying exertion of will, he had kept the potent flames suppressed. Now, with his consciousness locked away in darkness, his mind unable to issue commands or access his interface, that control vanished.

[Horns of The Infernal Haskaahl (Plate - Head): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (Health +156) (Defense +51) (Demonic Power +55) (PTC +62) (ACU +62) (Durability 250/250) (Flame Resistance -15) (Innate Passive - Extreme Immolation: The fierce blaze permeating this helmet inflicts agony equivalent to 20% Demonic Power to all those nearby)]

[Dark Plate of The Infernal Haskaahl (Plate - Chest): (Marvelous Gold - LVL 25) (Health +300) (Defense +60) (Demonic Power +55) (PTC +50) (PHY +50) (Durability 250/250) (Flame Resistance -15) (Innate Passive - Extreme Immolation: The fierce blaze permeating this chest plate inflicts agony equivalent to 20% Demonic Power to all those nearby)]

The air around Alaric’s prone form warped with heat. Without a sound, a torrent of violent, purple-black flame erupted from the seams of his armor, swirling into a searing pyre. Torune, helpless in his descent, fell directly into the inferno. His armor glowed cherry-red well before impact, and the flesh beneath it boiled and cooked. A scream that would have shredded his own throat was burned to ash before it could form. [-612] 

Pain flooded his awareness. Upon landing, he scrambled to Lunge away, but the new skill system betrayed him. Instead of escape, he was met by another tick of damage as the hellish flame cut through skin and fat to incinerate the muscles beneath. [-612] Tears sizzled on Torune’s cheeks. With a desperate, animalistic heave, he flung himself out of the fire’s reach, rolling through the blissfully cool mud. [-612]

In only three seconds, his health plummeted into the orange. He looked back in horror to see that the Halnugen had not retreated. They stood firm within the blaze, their expressions masks of strained agony. Torune understood at once. If they broke formation and fled, their domains would separate. Alaric would be free, and then they would all be dead. The man was an anomaly, a cheater who was impossibly, unfathomably overpowered in this world. But whatever artifacts he used to achieve such strength would drop upon his death.

Torune scrambled to his feet, the will of a peak master shoving the agony to a distant corner of his mind. “Kill him! Kill him now!”

KakaruNeko’s face contorted in a pained snarl as she rounded on the insignificant worm. “Bring more healers, now!”

“Just kill him!” Torune shot back.

She was in no mood for backtalk with the horrendous fire’s burning away at her sanity. “Silence, fool! Do as you are told!” She threw a dagger, not at Alaric, but at Torune. Arcane Arc turned the flying weapon into a crescent of pure energy that struck so quickly the man could barely perceive it beyond a flash of light. His arm was severed at the shoulder, and his health plunged into the crimson; barely a sliver remained.

As a genuine scream tore from his lips, she withdrew a Medium Health Potion. Her allies were right behind her in downing their own potent elixirs. It would not be enough; they needed more time to complete their plan.

Thankfully, they had prepared for a protracted fight, and a key contingency was on standby. Peak Master Lavigne Monroe, her face a pale mask, gestured hurriedly to her prepared healers. They rushed forward, spreading out to support the Halnugen. They darted in and out of the blaze, casting Healing Bursts at close range while others channeled restorative rays from a safer distance. Combined with the potions, it was just enough to stabilize the Halnugen’s rapidly draining health.

Six of the ten elites, faces grim with determination and pain, withdrew identical scrolls and activated them in unison.

[Array of the Caged Beast: (Marvelous Gold - 6 Users) Creates an offensive debuffing sphere that reduces enemy attributes by 20%. Loot drops within the field: +2]

A translucent sphere of crackling energy snapped into existence around Alaric, its fifteen-meter diameter more than enough to contain the threat. The damage from his armor’s passive flames immediately diminished.

“Do not attack recklessly,” KakaruNeko commanded, her voice tight. “There is no telling what other traps he has laid.” Intending to test that theory herself, she summoned a ball of arcing electricity in her palm and unleashed it at Alaric’s unmoving form. The others were right behind her.

Raine KongRu

- The Internal World -

The inner realm beckoned, inviting Raine deeper into himself. His existence became the very essence of bloodlust’s lake, where each drop represented a life taken by his own hands. The crimson expanse had grown in the short time he was away, and the barrier he once struggled to even perceive was now starkly visible. It was not so much a wall as he first thought, but a massive, shimmering dome that contained the entire lake. Beyond it was a writhing, chaotic sea of inky darkness.

There was another change. In the center of the crimson waters, a great stone jutted from the surface. Upon it, sleeping peacefully, was the tiger.

If he were capable of emotions at the moment, Raine would have been flooded with relief that he could still enter this place while under the effects of multiple domains. Had this failed, he would have been forced to take drastic measures. He also knew full well that he was on a clock. The Halnugen were not weak; they would kill him if he didn’t take another step down his martial path in the next few seconds. But that was precisely the pressure he craved.

Having already devised a plan before allowing himself to be caught, Raine got to work. He reached into the blood waters of his inner world—a realm where willpower reigned supreme—and pulled, sucking the waters together. He’d tried this in the gym with the girls and failed. Under the threat of death, of losing Bhima, and possibly the Heart of Plutus with its overpowered Fractions, he had all the motivation he could ever need.

Okay, Primal Energy, don’t fail me now.

His will sharpened like never before as he not only gathered the blood, but compressed it. A massive sphere formed, hovering over the rapidly emptying basin. He squeezed it tighter and tighter. Gouts of crimson essence leaked from the construct, splashing back into the lake. He pressed on, focus absolute.

The internal realm shook from the effort. Roused by the disturbance, the tiger opened its eyes. It stared at him, and a silent, primal threat of true death blasted into Raine’s awareness—the beast’s version of a warning growl.

Piss off! he cursed it in the language of pure thought. It’s not like I have many other choices right now!

Raine gritted mental teeth and pushed harder. Realizing he could not contain it all, he shifted tactics and allowed the stubborn excess blood to slough away. It fell to refill over half the lake. With less pressure on his focus, he used the remaining, highly compressed mass to form a distinct shape. First legs grew from the quivering orb, then arms, a torso, a head—his head. He knew his own body in exacting detail. After all, one could not command internal force without a profound understanding of the self. He knew every muscle, tendon, organ, and blood vessel.

He recreated it all.

Working with a speed born of desperation, yet with the thoroughness of a master craftsman, he forged a new body from the very blood of his victims, a new home for his consciousness in this place free of reality’s laws.

The idea had occurred shortly after facing a domain for the first time. His mental ability needed to be more, but also fundamentally different. He knew he had the raw mental strength required after easily overcoming the stigmallage that existed beyond her domain. If only he could take the first step into the world of the domain, he could win: whatever that meant. What he knew for certain was that bloodlust’s current form—a placid lake—was insufficient. He needed to go beyond this place in force if he was to challenge them on equal terms, for beyond represented the ability to affect the real world.

The entirety of the lake’s weight had only been able to form tiny cracks in the barrier, which leaked but a few drops of blood before sealing. All of that effort had only been enough to rustle his hair and shift a few nutrients through his body. Even if the lake grew large enough to fill this entire space, it wouldn’t have enough mass to break through completely. He needed something else—a weapon, and there were no weapons in either world that Raine understood better than his fists.

He completed the physical form, a perfect crimson duplicate of himself, but it remained inert. It stood there, a mere statue held together by his constant effort. Growling in frustration, Raine did the only thing he could think to do: he roared at it.

Get your shit together!

Something clicked. The form snapped into being, solidifying in a way that not even its creator fully understood. As its eyes opened, his frame of reference shifted. He was no longer the disembodied will of the lake; he was inside the new blood-being. There was no time to marvel at the cascade of unfamiliar sensations that bombarded him. By his own estimate, based on his overly buffed Defensive attributes, he had maybe five seconds left to overcome their domains before they chewed through his Greater Werewolf’s Regeneration and killed him for good.

He took one look at the colossal barrier in the distance and knew his current strength would still not be enough. He jumped from the stone, intending to dive into the lake and drain more of its power to fuel a single, decisive punch. As he fell, the tiger’s eyes locked onto him. A pulse of its intent swept over the lake in an instant and crashed into Raine. He was sent skipping across the surface like a stone, not stopping until he smashed into the now-dark barrier.

Ouch…

He stood, mostly unharmed but having lost a noticeable portion of mass. There was no heat in his tone as he yelled at the beast. “What was that for? I’m trying to get us out of here. If I die, you die with me!” 

They both knew it was a lie. A death in ZionLine was not the end. However, he was not wrong either. If he failed to take this step now, and a peak master like Torune found him on Earth before he knew how to counter a domain, it truly would be their end. 

The tiger snorted at his mundane concerns before its eyes drifted shut again. Raine tsked, approaching the edge of the lake. Intending to be less greedy and manipulate only a little by dipping his hand inside. Faster than thought, the damnable beast blinked a single eye. Raine was sent flying again, crashing into the barrier with enough force to shear off nearly a fifth of his blood-mass. In a beautiful defiance of physics, the lost liquid sloshed into the air before forming a stream that rapidly rejoined the lake.

Dickbag! Raine thought, then paused, head tilted. Or maybe… is it helping me? There’s so much I don’t understand. I’m like a child grasping in the dark. Was I about to do the mental equivalent of sticking my fingers in an electrical socket? He sent me to the same exact spot of the wall both times… is there something I can do from here? Something that will help without destroying myself?

With a last look at the hulking, muscly monster, Raine turned away. He looked out past the barrier, at the roiling, inky chaos beyond. He couldn’t fight from here. And last time, releasing only a trickle of the lake’s energies had done nothing against their domains. He needed to gather as much strength as possible and break through completely to have any chance.

He had assumed he lacked the necessary force, but he was no longer a gently sloshing wave. There was nothing left to do but try. Taking a low, solid stance, Raine flooded his semi-liquid body with Internal Force. The blood construct’s muscles spasmed with contained power. He drew back a fist, condensed as much of himself into his knuckles as he could fit, and punched.

A massive crack snacked across the barrier, and he was promptly sucked outside, into the unknown, where the real battle could begin.