Volume 5 – Chapter 22 (revised) (in-editing v6)

Volume 5 – Chapter 22

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(I'm really settling into a rhythm - I'm going to try to get Chapter 23 out on the 27th.) 

(If I make any mistakes/typos or forget anything, please let me know in the comments!)

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Previously, several hours ago on the outskirts of Axellion…

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“Don’t even think about it.”

“Come on!”

“Absolutely not.”

“It’s an Apex, Lux! An Apex!”

Lux kneaded his forehead as he glared at his companion. The duo were standing atop one of the taller buildings, a sort of inn and bar combo, on the outskirts of Axellion near the Southern Wall.

“Rex-

“Just think of it, Lux! The Apex of Earth, my tyrannosaurus form, versus the Apex of…” Rex paused, taking a moment to consider his surroundings.

“The Void?” He shrugged. This world, or ‘Shattered Plane’ as the locals called it, was strange enough in its own right.

“We’re not doing this.”

In the background, the Apex Void Predator the locals had dubbed ‘Barsoth’ roared as it began to attack the city. Dozens of blazing red fireballs and bolts of green lightning rose to meet the enormous creature as it challenged the city’s walls, setting off a series of cascading explosions.

After his talk with Constantine, a great many things had changed for Lux. Even now, it still felt slightly unreal to him.

For one, Lux found himself relieved of the burdens of leadership, as the Beasts of Providence had officially dissolved.

A normal organization might expect to face some degree of internal strife as its leadership structure collapsed and underwent significant change. For the Beasts of Providence, it was as any other day, despite the enormous shifts in grouping, missions, and goals.

It was a testament to Constantine’s masterful control that such a massive organization could split apart so smoothly, as if it had been planned from the very beginning. Which, it hadn’t. Lux knew that, at the very least, for certain.

The majority of the Beasts of Providence had left the Third Layer, with Lux no longer able to influence them, climbing ahead onto the Fourth Layer. The main group aimed to rejoin Constantine on the Fifth. A new organizational structure was formed, led by the strongest members of the King Division.

Those without Seeds, who had been influenced by Lux's Dark Dominion Ability, had been Seeded, drawing on the spares Constantine had left with the Revolutionaries.

No longer did they call themselves the Beasts of Providence – now, they were known as ‘Dusk,’ an elite group of highly skilled humans trained and ready to face anything the 7 Layers could throw at them. Lux was a fan of the new name, personally. It honored the fallen Shadows, whose deaths were a tragedy that he was still processing.

Lux watched impassively as an armored Void Native leapt forward, slamming two glowing greatswords into a leg of the hulking Apex. The impact sent a wave of energy out in the middle of a small shockwave, blasting away a cloud of stone dust.

“The Southern Gate’s done for.” Rex commentated from the side. Rex had an eye for battlefield strategy, a talent somewhat belied by his boisterous personality.

Rex was the sole teammate Constantine had deigned to allow Lux to keep, while the rest of the Beasts of Providence marched on ahead. Lux had managed to argue his way into including Rex in his path to freedom, lobbying that his longtime companion was a necessary component to maintain his efficiency.

'My luck has truly turned.'

“Think this attack is caused by our guy?”

Lux frowned as he stared at the giant creature, his eyes narrowing.

“Perhaps.”

Ever since his conversation with Constantine, Lux had felt a new fire take spark in his chest, a purpose once lost now regained.

‘Freedom, he offered me… for a price.’

Lux had accepted, obviously. Only a fool would decline such a bargain, and Lux was no fool.

Ever since he had been Seeded by Constantine, Lux had thirsted for freedom like a man lost in the desert thirsts for water. It was a thought that had threatened to consume his every waking moment, the desperate urge to be free.

In truth, he had given up at one point not that long ago, after sequestering a tiny shred of his consciousness into one of his Deathless Clones and abandoning it to die.

He had used that opportunity to let others know about Constantine’s existence, which was, in his opinion, fair turnabout. Humanity had a right to know that one of their own was running about, mind-controlling people in great swathes.

That death, however, had hit him hard, leaving him unable to resist the influence of the Seed. Lux had assumed that would be the end of his dreams for freedom…

Until now.

‘And now my goals are twofold.’ Not just for himself, but for Rex's sake as well.

Another explosion shook the air as the Apex whipped its tail around, slapping the impudent Void Native away. The enormous creature then began to lumber forward, moving down a side street that bordered the Southern Wall.

“Keep your Shroud up, Rex.” Lux commanded, his eyes never leaving the Apex. The enormous creature was a dangerous threat, even to someone with stats as high as his.

The duo were currently hiding with the help of an Artifact known as a Light Refraction Shroud, an expensive Limited Artifact that did exactly as its namesake implied: refracting light around them in a tight barrier, making them effectively invisible, all without limiting their vision.

The invisibility wasn’t perfect, it was more like a faint distortion in the air, but in a chaotic situation like this, it was more than good enough.

The duo watched as the Apex let out a deep and guttural howl, before it swatted its tail out, sending a clump of Guardsmen flying. The creature’s sheer physicality was impressive.

Rain began to patter down as a storm whipped up, magically wrought into existence by one of the Apex’s unique abilities.

“It’s about time something interesting happened.” Rex grumbled.

Lux ignored Rex, his thoughts turning inward.

Two last missions had been assigned to him.

Complete them, and he would be free.

The first: Find the Titled Deity that was traipsing about across the Third Layer.  

Constantine believed Lux’s inherent luck would prove useful in finding the entity.

It was a mission he was more than willing to accept.

An entity on par with the one that murdered the Shadows could not be allowed to exist on the Third Layer, not when humanity was still taking her first steps in establishing herself here.

‘This so called Deity is supposed to be active somewhere in the southern half of the third Layer.’

The Revolutionaries, as Lux came to learn, had a newly formed ‘Fortune Teller’ Division, a research think tank formed from humans that bought certain types of esoteric Abilities in the Shop. This information about the Deity came from them.

To narrow that region down, Lux had let his luck guide him, shutting his eyes and hurling a dagger at a map. That dagger had landed spot on here in the City-State of Axellion.

‘It’d be helpful if the Fortune Teller Division had more members.’ Lux had been stuck, waiting around in Axellion for several days now, as he failed to narrow down the Deity’s location.

Abilities that could allow one to scry for information, to peer into the future, to grasp at the unknown – the one thing these Abilities all had in common was that they were Limited in the Shop, with users few and far between.

Constantine’s Seeds had snatched up a large portion of these Abilities, but he wasn’t the only large group with that idea in mind.

The Purgatory Church, led by one of their original founders, a First Waver from China named Zhu Tian, had also formed a research group focused on matters of the occult.

It was an odd dichotomy, research and religion.

The Purgatory Church had been founded during the First Wave, largely as a way for other humans to cope with the supernatural horrors they now faced. It was one of the first human organizations formed on the 7 Layers, as mankind found common ground in advancing forward for their own survival.

‘As I understand it, they’re currently undergoing a schism. Maybe Constantine will snatch a few of them up.’ Lux thought sardonically to himself.

The Church was a known entity on the Second Layer, especially after its leadership was subsumed by the Nirvana Saint.

That man was dangerous, incredibly so, in Lux’s opinion. He was a born leader with a silver tongue, who gained an immense amount of influence in a very short period of time. The only reason he wasn’t considered a threat on par with Orion was because he was also a human, fighting for humanity’s sake.

‘The research division of the Church recently fractured and went independent.’ Lux didn’t have all the details on why, just the information Constantine was willing to share.

Lux’s thoughts were interrupted as he watched the Apex leap into the air in one giant, eerie motion. The massive creature settled down on a series of homes, crushing them underfoot as it wrought destruction in its wake.

‘We can’t be seen interceding.’ It was imperative that they remain undercover while hunting for their target.

A loud explosion shook the air, catching Lux’s attention as he whipped his head around.

An incandescent, glowing white slash of raw energy flew through the air and slammed into the chest of the enormous Apex Predator that was currently invading Axellion, sending it tumbling to the side.

‘That was Sword Energy. High level stuff, from inside the city. Only a Grandmaster can do that.’ Lux’s eyes narrowed.

‘Maybe our time wasn’t wasted here after all.’

And it was here that something truly unexpected caught Lux off guard.

“HEY BIG GUY!" A loud voice cut through the air.

"WHY DON’T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE?!”

“GIAAAANT!”

Lux watched in disbelief…

“PUNCH!”

… as a decidedly human figure appeared out of thin air, morphed his left arm into a giant, black metal monstrosity, and then punched the Apex in the face.

“…”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about! Hell yeah!” Rex cheered from the sidelines.

“My man! Give it the business!”

“…”

‘This can't be a coincidence.’

Lux’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the human, watching as he teleported away, transfixed.

The target of his second mission just so happened to have a blonde-haired male comrade that had a metal arm and could teleport...

‘He’s here... and if he's already here now... then he must know.’ It was the only thing that made sense, for that man to show up here.

The same man that had disrupted Lux's plans on the Second Layer.

‘They must already know about the Titled Deity.’

Lux’s first mission was to find the Titled Deity hiding on the Third Layer.

His second mission, one that Constantine placed so much importance on to the point where he offered Lux his, and Rex's, freedom should he succeed...

He was tasked with befriending a possible Regressor.

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