Chapter 249 - A Helping Tentacle

Jiran’s eyes snapped open and he redirected one of his minds back into his soul-space. The heart, and its imprisoned glob of green anxiety, were unchanged; both still and serene, nothing showing any signs of making another attempt on his soul. 

Multiple layers of armor and protective mana couldn’t stop the cracks of thunder from making his teeth ache. He ducked, spinning to observe their aerial battlefield. Lenton and the last Templari were engaged in a furious back and forth. Streams of bright white current thick as a building connected them. Arcs of blistering plasma spit to their sides, each powerful enough to fry him. They were chewing through mana at a prodigious rate, Lenton now clearly in the lead after Jiran dumped so much mana into him.

The dead Templari’s remaining mana writhed in the air, polluted with jade-hued sickness. Ignoring the energy for a moment, Jiran fed his soulwall and his aspect sprang into being around him. He pushed the field until its radius stretched across a hundred meters. It wasn’t much, but it might slow down a stray attack long enough for him to avoid it. 

The drain on his mana was significant, so he quickly created a tube of Mana Venom extending from his palm. Enthralling Touch sucked at the mana in the air, rapidly pulling it through the venom. The green gunk left behind popped and hissed as he boiled it away with a jet of fire.

The last Templari’s eyes locked on Jiran, then slid past him to the mana he was absorbing. His voice was full of rage, only intelligible through the filter of Jiran’s aspect, “YouthinkI’llletyou!” Channels leading to his mouth flooded with mana. Before Jiran could respond, a lance of radiant fire plunged toward him. Lenton was there, absorbing the attack into the sleeve of his voluminous robe where it vanished.

They both disappeared. Not in Teleportations, just moving so fast Jiran couldn’t keep track of them. His aura was already tucked inside, Oneness activated. He snapped his head to the right as a sphere of expanding force crushed several city blocks. Hundreds of manapools winked out of existence from the brief, undetectable clash.

Jiran cursed his own weakness even as they appeared again high in the sky. Matching bolts of lightning collided, the explosion wiping the last remnants of fire from the air. Far below them, Andross was encircled by four tier nine rankers. Another seven tier eights chased down the last of the city guards whose numbers had dwindled to a mere dozen after Jiran absconded with their mana.

Andross faced them calmly, the emperors’ dagger held loosely in one hand. He beckoned with the other, and all four rankers bravely rushed forward. He lifted the dagger high and a million whips of lightning shot in every direction. Ancient and experienced, the rankers expected the trap and all four Teleported to safety as his arm was still ascending. The weapon lost a portion of its luster, and Jiran estimated it had enough energy for three more attacks of that caliber. Which assumed Andross didn’t have a way to recharge it with his own mana.

Jiran pulled the last of the Templari’s mana through his venom and into Armament. Meanwhile, Andross had vanished to give chase. He quickly arrived at one of the tier nines, the dagger stabbing forward and instantly surrounding the man with chains of sparking energy. His body stiffened as a few made contact, his mana seizing just as surely as his muscles.

The other tier nines tore after Andross who abandoned the dagger in favor of defending himself. Jiran’s eyes popped when the blade slowly and steadily advanced on the trapped ranker. Another tier nine grabbed the hilt, pulling with all her might but the nightmarish weapon continued its slow advance. The lightning kept the man bound and helpless as he watched his death creep closer with agonizing dread.

The fact the emperors’ designed it to move slow enough to give a tier nine an eternity of hopelessness was the last straw. Jiran pulled himself into a synapse, bringing his aspect with him as he Teleported. He only made it halfway to the helpless ranker. A burst of flames rocketed him the rest of the way. 

The woman struggling to control the weapon snarled, raising a hand toward him. Jiran raised his own hands in a signal of surrender, “I can stop it!”

Her attack came before the words left his lips. A rainbow colored bolt of raw elemental mana zipped toward his face. Despite its size, it held more than double his entire quantity of mana, and that wasn't taking into account her superior Concentration.

His aspect barely slowed it enough that he could have evaded if he were standing still. Unfortunately, he was hurtling toward the woman. Jiran’s aura painfully yanked at his body, uncaring of the damage he inflicted on himself if it meant getting out of the way. Armament and Elemental Castigation detonated an explosive burst at his opposite side, but it was all in vain.

Just before contact, she snapped her fingers and the hidden string of mana connecting her with the bolt flared. The little ball of death veered in an altered trajectory that brought it right toward Andross’s back. The man spun and smacked it away with the back of his hand. 

His entire arm vanished as if deleted and the bolt careened toward the city. The woman Teleported into its path where it smacked into her open palm. The outer shell of elemental energy was greatly diminished after striking Andross. The rest washed to her sides in dazzling waves, revealing a metal sphere that fit snugly in her hand. 

Its insides were crammed with the raw mana Jiran had seen, eager to propagate into more elements. If she hadn't intervened, there was no doubt in his minds that at least half the city would have been obliterated. 

The woman beckoned and Jiran's aura was surrounded by hers. She hurled him toward the dagger and he nearly blacked out from the force. A casual whip of force against his cheek caused fireworks to bloom behind his eyes. By the time he blinked once, she was at his side. Her mana tore through his body, repairing the damage he'd inflicted trying to avoid an attack that was never meant for him.

“Quickly, child!”

He didn't need to be told twice. Mana Omnis inspected the weapon. Even though it wasn't aimed at him, it chilled his bones to look upon it from so close. 

On opposite sides, two slits ran down its entire length, cleanly cutting it in half. From both, currents of dense elemental energy raged out, wrapping around the hilt and blade like a forcefield made of wind. Both sides emitted the hallmark black and white mana of Palo and Loro respectively. The two energies didn't mix, colliding at the far slits where they were sucked back inside.

All the while, deafening booms of thunder, born from tens of thousands of lightning arcs split the air, rupturing space. The ranker was keeping the environment together through aura and sheer force of will. Jiran's eyes flicked to her hands, finding freshly regrown skin. It was obvious that even trying to touch the thing would definitely kill him.

She cringed, “I'll make a gap for your mana to enter. You have one chance.”

Jiran shook his head, holding his arms out toward the dagger, “No. I have a better plan. Back up, or you might die.”

With narrowed eyes, she complied, though not nearly far enough for his comfort. But that was her problem now.

Falling into his soul-space, Jiran spun his gate and opened the path to his soul. Pitching his voice, he shouted into the dark universe beyond, “Hey! Haven't you been living here rent-free long enough?!”

A tendril of Madra's milky mana wormed its way through the aperture. Thick as his arm, it pointed in his direction, seemingly gazing at him despite having no eyes. Jiran backed up a step, swallowing hard under the intense pressure radiating from it, “Uhh, please?”

A ripple passed through its length, which he had the distinct impression was a sigh of resignation. The tendril stretched toward his tap, and a stream of mana flowed behind it. The stream turned to a gurgling river, then a storming ocean. Still, he knew it to be less than a drop of the galaxy’s worth stored in his soul.

As it raged through his soul-space, the ice heart and its prisoner quivered in abject horror. Jiran could tell that if they could move, they would have fled in a hurry. 

Quick as thought, he firmed his aura, creating a hard surface for the mana to flow across. It gushed into reality from his neck, washing down his arms to spray across the dagger. The emperors’ elemental energies fought back valiantly but were no match against Madra's might. With a pop, the bubble of swirling force protecting the weapon winked out of existence.

The nearby ranker had fled the instant her Mana Sight caught a whiff of what Jiran was unleashing. She warily watched from a greater distance, her spherical formation once more charged with deadly energies. 

Jiran didn't notice her, his focus entirely dedicated to connecting with and withdrawing Madra's mana. Like with every other time, it completely ignored his attempt. The formation and the energy housed within were enveloped, broken down, and converted, exactly the same as he would have done if given the chance.

Damn. I wanted that!

With another ripple, Madra's mana sucked itself back down his tap as quickly as it came. The lightning vanished and the ranker was released. He shot Jiran a thankful look, then vanished to rejoin the fight against Andross. It wasn't going well. Two of the four rankers were missing limbs that they didn't have the mana to restore. The woman and new arrival managed to distract Andross while they retreated.

Andross and the last two rankers were at around half power, but with the boost from the green mana, the cardinal definitely held the advantage.

This isn't my fight.

Jiran cast his gaze in a circle, finding Lenton and the last Templari fighting on the other end of the city. As fast as he could without standing out, Jiran raced in that direction.

On his way, he noticed several drained manapools with higher than usual Concentration steadily making their way out of the center of the city. Among them, he spotted Olive’s. His heart skipped a beat at seeing the gold and blue of her mana for the first time in so long. He shoved any feelings down, lunging with new purpose toward Lenton's distant battle.

He arrived to find the Templari scraping at the bottom of his manapool. Lenton hovered before the tattooed man, delivering blows so swift he appeared not to have arms.

“About time! Hurry up and do your thing!”

Jiran held in a snarky response, unused to being commanded this way and that, but now wasn't the time. Mana Confluence swarmed into the morkork bones burrowed inside the helpless Templari, finding and eradicating the drops of blood that bound them together.

“It's done!” He shouted and Lenton raised his hand, the other grasping his wrist. Mana swarmed through his Channels, combining in one palm before a small burst of condensed fire was released. It was so hot, Jiran's aspect was instantly banished and the front half of his suit melted, the metal sloughing off to drip toward the ground.

He backed away, feeling as foolish as the ranker woman must have. When the flames vanished, not even mana remained of the Templari.

EXP: + 1

Lenton appeared at his side. As if it were warm water, the old man's hand went right through the melting metal to grab Jiran's arm, “Only one left and we can end this madness.”

There was pain etched in his features the likes of which Jiran never thought he'd see. Always, Lenton had worn soft smiles, laughter, or a stern neutrality.

He's lost friends he's known for longer than I can fathom.

“Gladly,” Jiran growled, baring his teeth at Andross's distant form. Then, Lenton sucked them into a synapse.