Volume 5 - Chapter 12 (in-editing v2)

Volume 5 - Chapter 12

If you see any typos/mistakes, let me know in the comments! Thank you and goodnight!

I'll go through and edit it/correct any typos when I wake up!

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Walking Disaster.

It was a special term used by the natives of the Third Layer to describe Apex Void Predators.

The 8 surviving Apex Void Predators were all special.

They were unique, ancient entities that thrived on chaos and violence, beings of immense age and power. They were also inherently violent, vicious creatures that were impossible to reason with.

As the Apex began charging the large Southern Reservoir, the ferocious storm clouds in the sky above began to evolve. Rain and lightning whipped through the air as the wind began to pick up…

And it was here, as Barsoth sprinted forward…

The first tornado touched down.

An eerie howl spread across the sky as the tornado spun into existence near the shattered Southern Wall. Bits of stone rubble and wooden debris were hoisted aloft and sent scattering into the sky as the tornado began to move north.

“Shin!” Micheal yelled as he jumped up high into the air and waved his free hand as he sent a bright slice of Sword Energy skyward. While his words were drowned out by the storm, his leap accomplished what it was intended to do, an agreed upon signal ahead of time.

A split second later, Shin teleported into existence next to him, and they both teleported away, landing on the roof of a nearby home.

“Stay back. One of the Knights I told you about is here, getting close to him is dangerous.” Micheal quickly spoke, yelling over the shrieking storm.

Shin simply nodded back, turning his attention towards the charging behemoth, and the human that now stood in its path.

“Watch carefully, and be ready to take us closer. On my signal.” Micheal yelled.

“This is not a fight to miss.”

.. .. .. .. .. ..

Time seemed to slow down as Yama gazed at the enormous behemoth charging him, a grim frown eking its way onto his face.

‘He’s a big one, alright. It’s about 20 seconds out.’ This wasn’t the first Void Predator he’d faced, but it was his first Apex.

It was ridiculously huge.

‘Wait… did someone cut its tail?’

Yama was a First Waver, 36 years old, from India. He never shared much about his origins, not in the records Micheal had read about the famous Knights of the Round Table. What they did tell was that Yama had been a man who lived an incredibly disciplined life, driven almost fanatically by his desire to be reunited with his wife and twin sons.  

He was a stalwart warrior and a brave leader, a human that ultra-specialized 6 of their Ability slots into a singular focus.

“On me, brothers.” Yama clapped his hands together, summoning a wave of golden light.

A moment later, 187 Clones of Yama spawned into existence as Yama activated every single one of his Clone Abilities.

White Mane Clone, Mana Clone, Mirror Clone, Elemental Clone, Ocean Clone, Illusory Clone.

Six different Clone Abilities, all simultaneously activated at the same time. In a split second, Yama became his own one-hundred-and-eighty-seven-man army.

‘Too dangerous to go any higher.’ Yama grunted as he felt the Mana in his Stage 3 Mana Heart tremble. He was so damnably close to Stage 4, it was infuriating that this attack was happening now, before he obtained Reinforced Mana.

Yama was one of only a few Knights in the Round Table that had willingly expelled his Ki and opted to form a Mana Heart. There were a whole host of reasons why he made the exchange, but most of it boiled down to risk aversion.  

Training Ki involved dangerous Heart Trials – for a human who had used up all of his Ability slots on other Abilities, it was even more risky to train without the aid those slots offered. Mana Hearts, on the other hand, offered a stable alternative, one whose training speed he could boost using his Clones.

While humans could only control 7 Abilities through their Ability slots, there was no actual, real-world limit to the number of Abilities a human could possess. Merely, any Abilities that weren't listed on a Human's 7 Ability slots had to be manually obtained, just like how non-Humans gained Abilities, losing out on the numerous benefits offered by Ability slots.

‘Spread.’ In an instant, the mental command shot out like a wave, sending his Clones in all directions as they spread out and prepared to face off against an Apex.

“This won’t be pretty.” Yama’s eyes glowed as he spread his senses to his Clones, forming almost a miniature neural network that connected each Clone back to himself.

When Yama was younger, there was a fantasy he’d often held near and dear to his heart.

‘What would life be like, if I could be in two places at once?’

One version of yourself could go to work, while the other worked out and exercised. He could have one Clone study for school, while the other lazed away or hung out with friends. Clones offered his imagination a whole world of freedom and exploration.

And so, when he arrived on the First Layer just a few years ago, and opened the Shop, his first purchase was only natural.

Elemental Clone – an Ability that cost 108, 790 Points, and allowed its user to summon a Clone created from a customizable type of Elemental Energy.

And it just so happened that…

Yama got lucky.

For most people, Clone Abilities were extremely difficult to use. They often came hand in hand with crushing headaches and confusion, with downsides varying by specific Clone Ability. Many people were unable to deal with the feedback loop created by sharing senses with Clones. There was a good reason few powerful humans utilized Clone Abilities.

Yama, however…

It just so happened that his Soul was uniquely predisposed to controlling Clones.

It was an odd, extraordinary talent to have, and even odder that he managed to discover and utilize it.

Out of the million humans summoned in the First Wave, Yama just so happened to be one of the lucky few that picked Abilities that were extremely well suited to his disposition.

“That doesn’t look like an old wound.”  Yama’s deep, gruff voice rumbled out. As he spoke, he noticed, faintly in the distance, a figure garbed in gray, standing well past the apex on the roof of a house. They held a sword in their hands, his shared superhuman senses from all of his Clones letting him pick it out, even through the rain. He watched that figure jump and cut upward, sending a slice of white energy into the sky.

‘Aaron won’t be back for another 20 minutes at best. 10 seconds till its here.’ Yama’s mind raced as he focused back towards the Apex.

It had started off as a somewhat normal day in the operations of the Round Table.

They had only recently managed to form a stable connection with Duke Armon. It was a plan many months in the making, designed at forming an acknowledged, and allowed, base within a safe City-State from which the Round Table could operate.

Twelve days ago, Yama had personally accompanied a group of Knights from the Round Table out on a cooperative mission with the Rosare Company, Duke Armon’s premier Knights stationed in Axellion.

The Round Table had slightly more than a thousand humans working within it – the largest human organization on the Third Layer, apart from the Purgatory Church.

While it was true that there were hundreds of thousands of humans scattered around the Third Layer, the sheer scale of the Shattered Plane, as natives called it, was so massive as to disperse humanity’s population incredibly wide. The Purgatory Church and the Round Table were making efforts to gather humanity together, welcoming any human they found, but it was slow going.

Most of these recruited humans worked as supporters, squires, guards, and a variety of other jobs, while only a small minority, 42 to be exact, were considered ‘Knights.’

‘We’re barebones right now.’ He resisted the urge to snarl.

This was the worst possible timing for an Apex to show up.

‘Most of the Knights are out.’  

Yama’s prior mission was a resounding success that resulted in the successful hunt of a Void Predator.

Today was to be the second cooperative mission, one of greater importance, as both Duke Armon and the Commander of the Round Table, Aaron, moved out together. It was their second major act of cooperation with the Duke, one that would solidify the local Nobles’ opinion of their Knights.

Knights, on the Third Layer, were viewed within a very specific connotation.

They were frontline fighters of great skill and strength, adorned in heavy plate armor, and practically oozing danger. Claiming to be a Knight while lacking in any of these traits was reason to be viewed with scorn and ostracized on the Third Layer. Here, reputation held immense value, the right reputation opening doors that the wrong reputation would close.

To be a Knight was to be seen as a prestigious, powerful being, and was a major reason why the Knights of the Round Table were formed.

‘We can’t let Axellion fall. We’ve almost normalized relations between Humanity and the Void Natives here.’

It was an extremely important first step.

‘We need to prepare the humans on the Third Layer for when we make the move to the Fourth.’

‘3 seconds.’

And it was here that Yama finally let his worries slip away, his entire existence purely focused on the enemy right in front of him.

6 of Yama’s Abilities were specialized Clone Abilities. His 7th Ability, however, was different.

It was an Ability he put an enormous amount of thought into, once he realized how well suited he was to controlling Clones. It had to be an Ability that synergized with having multiple clones, a power that would give him an incredible edge, to face down any foes he might find in the future.

‘2 second.’

As the Apex loomed ominously in front of him, Yama activated his final Ability.

‘Lava Ruler Type.’

187 Clones of Yama wound back slightly, a swath of red energy swarming over them, before punching forward with all their might.

“Erupt!”

A massive explosion of light shot into existence as 187 meteors of molten magma shot forward and slammed into the Apex, knocking it backwards with enough force to cripple its charge, and leaving behind a veritable sea of boiling lava.

.. .. .. .. .. ..

“You weren’t kidding, huh?” Shin yelled over the storm as he watched the massive wave of lava encompass the Apex.

“No way am I getting close to that!”

Micheal nodded back at him.

This was Yama’s trump card, and his signature move, transforming the field of battle into a vast sea of lava.

The Lava Ruler Type Ability allowed Yama to spawn enormous amounts of molten magma, and control it freely, for an extremely small energy cost. It worked perfectly with his numerous Clones, allowing him to dominate the field of battle against virtually any opponent.

‘He’s a beast.’ Micheal thought, a grim smile forming on his face as he witnessed one of Humanity’s greats.

Drops of rain hissed and evaporated as soon as they touched the lava, creating a small cocoon of steam around the entombed Apex. Even now, Yama continued to launch wave after wave of magma, burying the enormous creature in molten slag.

“But it’s not enough.” He grimaced as he saw the mound of lava begin to tremble.

With a piercing roar, the Apex broke its head free of the molten rock, stumbling as it stood back on its feet. Behind it, a second tornado touched down just a few hundred meters back, ripping a long, jagged hole through a nearby neighborhood.

As it stood up, more waves of lava rushed to meet it, weighing it down once more. The Apex screamed again as it struggled, sending massive chunks of magma soaring through the air, all while large globs of melted rock sloughed off its skin and slammed into the ground.

‘Any other opponent would die here… but Apexes are damn near immune to everything.’ Despite the brutal temperature and powerful impact, the Apex was merely jostled and forced to slow down. The attack wasn’t enough to bring it down, though it did stagger the creature, and turn it sluggish.

‘He hasn’t Evolved his Mana Heart yet.’ Micheal had to remind himself this was only the Fourth Wave. Yama was far from as strong as he would become in the future.

“Get ready to take me in!” Micheal yelled towards Shin, and got a fierce nod back.

The only true injury the Apex had suffered was from Micheal at this point. Not even point-blank meteors of magma could phase the monstrous creature’s defensive prowess.  

And it was here that Micheal’s supernatural intuition screamed at him.

Without thinking, Micheal jumped backwards and tackled Shin, flaring his Ki as he tapped on his Spatial Ring.

A fraction of a second later, a white cloud of flour shot into the air, surrounding Micheal and Shin in a large circle as he and Shin landed on the roof of a neighboring home.

‘Is it HIM?’ Micheal’s heart pounded as his senses worked into overdrive, scanning every bit of powder as it floated in the air.

“Oh, right. I should have expected this.” A woman’s voice sounded out as, from the cloud of powder, emerged a figure that made Micheal’s heart freeze over.

She was a Void Native with luscious black hair, wearing a slim, purple gown, and silver gloves. She possessed an almost otherworldly beauty as she smiled at Micheal, her eyes alit with glee. In her hands was a small black wand, a type of magic focus many Wizards used to enhance the power of their Spells.

‘Damn.’

He recognized the woman almost instantly.

A psychopathic genius Wizard physically incapable of feeling certain emotions, like fear. A Void Native famous for her beauty and charm, whose name and appearance was known to nearly every single denizen of the Atlas Duchy.

A woman who, in three years, would go on to murder her own father, earning her future namesake.

Vesper von Atlas - The Herokiller.

“Wait- wait! Don’t go!” Vesper waved at Micheal, speaking urgently as the cloud of flour began to fade, the rain and wind pushing it away. He didn’t notice any strange gaps or blank spots in the cloud.  

‘He’s not here.’ Micheal forced his heart to calm as he stared down the woman. Shin, in the meantime, kept his gaze focused on Micheal, his arm on his shoulder, ready to teleport them away as soon as necessary.

“If you go help that human out…” Vesper turned to point at Yama and the enraged Apex.

“Your friend will die.”

Her words gave Micheal pause.

‘I know this is a trap. That’s why I’m being careful. But…’ He frowned.

‘How did she know that?’

Vesper was not a Seer. There was no way information like that could’ve been kept hidden, not when she turned into a fugitive on the run in the future.

‘And why is it a trap for Shin?’

“What do you mean?” Micheal asked, choosing his words carefully. In the background, Yama continued to swarm the Apex with lava, stalling it in one place.

Vesper smiled.

“You need me. And I need you.” She stepped forward, pausing only as Micheal’s floating Mana Blade spun around and held its tip up to her throat. A small drop of blood dripped down her neck as she leaned forward, the tip of the sword just slightly cut her neck.

“As a gesture of good faith to our future together, I’ll tell you a secret.” She giggled. The rain seemed to avoid her as it fell, flowing around her body in the air, instead of ruining her perfect makeup and hair.

Despite the fact that she wasn’t yelling over the storm, her words still somehow reached both Micheal and Shin, some sort of sound-boosting Spell letting her maintain her decorum.

“Right now…”

“You.” She pointed to Micheal.

“Me.” She pointed to herself.

“And everyone on the Shattered Plane.” Vesper continued,

“We are all pawns, in someone else’s game. The world around us is fleeting.”

As she spoke, a foreboding feeling settled into Micheal’s gut. All the strange occurrences that he had encountered, the strange feeling of déjà vu, a swarm of realizations began to dawn on him.

“We’re all trapped inside a Paradox.”

A crack of thunder shook the air, accentuating Vesper’s words as the stark light lit up her face. She continued to smile, in almost maniac glee as she faced Micheal down, uncaring of the sword drawing blood at her throat.

“A Paradox?” Shin asked for Micheal, yelling over the storm.

“Yes, my dear soon-to-be friend. To be specific…” Vesper smiled sweetly,

“We're trapped inside a Time Loop.”

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