Cypher had dodged at the last second, avoiding streams of fire, ice bombs, wind blades, earth spikes, and even a spectral spear. The impact crater of all those attacks was still glowing with energy as his feet slid across the ground kicking up dirt. “Hahahaha! Well, well, well! Look who happened to cross our path!” A large thickly muscled man wearing crystal-like armor stood on top of a building on the edge of the square.
Cypher caught a glimpse of him as he had moved out of the way and now he faced him down defiantly. The armor seemed to gleam a diluted version of the color spectrum as the light from the fires danced off of it. The man’s shaggy black hair was held in place by a steel headband adorned with two sets of sharp horns.
Each one curved up and out to the sides in a wicked manner. In his hand, he held a thick iron whip covered in small razorblades from hilt to tip. To the untrained eye, it might appear to be a Chainblade, but Cypher saw that it was only a powerful whip. Still, it emitted an insatiable blood lust.
A solid black cape flowed from the man’s back, attached to a spiked shoulder guard on his right side. It carried the symbol of the Order of Eternal Night, and Cypher could sense that his power was equal to that of a Rank-four in the middle tier. Cypher braced himself as he examined the man.
He was clearly in charge here and was most likely an Order Captain. His deep black eyes showed no compassion or mercy, only a wild lust for battle. However, he was also accompanied by four more dark-haired men who wore armor similar to his, yet less grand and intricate in design.
“I am Gaizeal Borealis, Captain of the Farnor Chaos Cell, and you’re going to have to come with us,” he sneered, his voice deep and booming. Cypher chuckled as he pointed his saber at him, swallowed his fear, and replied.
“If you think it will be that easy, come and try to take me!” Cypher realized that the man was very clearly a berserker type, and stepped forward to make the first move. However, before he could even take a step Gaizeal was behind him, his bladed whip at Cypher’s neck.
“Pitiful. That was far too easy a task. All bark and no bite it would seem,” said Gaizeal with a smug authority in his deep voice.
Cypher smiled, “That’s what you think!” Cypher’s Duality Shield formed in an instant and tried to force Gaizeal away. However, that idea didn’t perform as well as Cypher thought it would. Instead of the man being thrown back by the sudden expansion of the barrier, he had managed to hold his ground and keep a grip on the shield by wrapping his whip around its borders. He gripped tightly, using the whip as an anchor to stay in place and the barrier deformed a bit as it was squeezed tightly around its edges.
“Yes, I’ve heard about this little shield. Doesn’t seem to be much of a threat if you ask me. Just what was that supposed to do?” Gaizeal asked as he began to rain down blows with his free hand. The impact of each hit seemed to flow through Cypher as he realized that soon, the hulking man would break through his barrier.
‘Invincible shield my ass Elaine,’ thought Cypher. It was true that the Duality Shield was impervious to almost all attacks, and it was certainly the most powerful of barrier magicks. That said, it had quite a few limitations. When facing an opponent on the same level or below it was truly invincible.
However, the stronger the opponent, the easier it then became for them to break through the barrier. With Gaizeal so much more powerful than he was, the Duality Shield would reach its limits rather quickly. It didn’t take Cypher long to realize that he desperately needed to think of a solution quickly.
Given that his body had advanced completely, Cypher was technically a Rank-two Conductor, but his Orrium and mind still lingered in the first rank. As he thought about the current situation, Cypher could see that Gaizeal’s henchmen were smiling as they stood by watching. They had moved in to corner him even more as their Captain attacked. They stood at a distance but were still close enough to cause problems.
Being cornered like this was not ideal. A lot of things could go wrong in a situation like this. It was already bad enough that he was this heavily outnumbered. Single-target spells wouldn’t help either, and with Gaizeal raining blows down on his barrier it wouldn’t be wise to risk letting one of those heavy punches through. Cypher knew he had to act fast.
He began to focus his Zight on five spots around the Duality Shield. He knew that by using the Performance of Radiant Chaos he would lose a lot of valuable energy, but he figured that at five beams instead of twelve, he would still be able to keep fighting.
He shuddered again as Gaizeal’s hits on the dome of the barrier continued and he chanted the spell.
“ᛐᛡᛂ ᚡᚮᛁᛑ ᛍᛡᛁᚿᛂᛍ Þᚱᚮᚢᚵᛡ ᛡᛆᚡᛂᚿ ᛆᛍ ᛑᛆᚱᚴᚿᛂᛍᛍ ᛂᛜᚢᛚᚠᛍ Þᛂ ᛍᚢᚿ. ᛐᛡᛂ ᚡᚮᚱᛚᛑ ᛍᛡᛁᚠᛐᛍ ᛆᚱᚮᚢᚿᛑ ᛉᛂ, ᚿᚮᚡ Þᛆᛐ Þᛂ ᚠᚮᚱᛌᛂᛍ ᚮᚠ ᚿᛆᛐᚢᚱᛂ ᛆᚱᛂ ᚮᚿᛂ. ᛚᛂᚿᛑ ᛉᛂ ᚤᚮᚢᚱ ᛉᛁᚵᛡᛐ ᛁᚿ ᛉᚤ ᛡᚮᚢᚱ ᚮᚠ ᚿᛂᛂᛑ, ᛆᚿᛑ ᛒᛂᚿᛑ Þᛂ ᛚᛁᛉᛁᛐᛍ ᚮᚠ ᚿᛆᛐᚢᚱᛂ×ᛍ ᛂᛉᛒᚱᛆᛌᛂ! ᛍᛔᛆᛌᛂ, ᛐᛁᛉᛂ, ᛡᛆᚡᛂᚿ, ᛆᚱÞ. ᛚᛆᚡᛍ ᛌᚮᚿᚡᛂᚱᚵᛂ ᛐᚮ ᛍᛁᛜᛚᛂ ᛔᚮᛁᚿᛐᛍ ᚮᚠ ᛐᚱᚢÞ ᛆᚿᛑ ᛡᛂᚱᛆᛚᛑ Þᛂ ᛒᛁᚱÞ ᚮᚠ ᚿᛂᚡ ᛂᚿᛂᚱᚵᚤ! Waltz, Verse 5, Performance of Radiant Chaos!”
He opened his eyes just in time to see another hit coming, and the wall of the barrier cracked a little as it made contact. Still, the spell was already cast, and the dark rays began to dance as they had the first time. However, Cypher was now taking advantage of the confusion and began to gather more energy for another wave should this one fail.
It was at that moment that he realized that somehow, his reserves of Zight were still at their previous level. His Orrium still contained around 70% of its total capacity. Instead of feeling drained, he realized that he was growing in power. Shock took him as he discovered that his armor was glowing brightly.
His mind raced as he examined the armor that encased his body. Its connection with him informed him that as he fought and used up more and more Zight, the armor would gather the residual power of both his spells and those of his opponents. Essentially, the longer he fought the stronger he would become. Even now he could see the remnants of energy from the previous spells being drawn into the core of the Ark Cradle.
Those thoughts, however, were interrupted by Gaizeal’s booming cry of agony as the man stumbled back.
“GYAHH!! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!!” Cypher saw that two of Gaizeal’s men were lying on the ground in pieces, and Gaizeal’s arm twitched at his feet next to a destroyed whip. “YOU’RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS WITH YOUR LIFE!” he bellowed.
Cypher took advantage once again and lowered his barrier. He spun on his heels and charged at Gaizeal with his saber in hand, flooding his Zight Stanza with energy to boost his speed and strength. As the armor continued to bond more and more with him, he funneled some of the Zight into his saber.
“Take this!” Cypher yelled as he slashed at Gaizeal’s side, ripping through the armor down to the flesh. The sound of cracking glass, followed by another grunt of pain filled the area.
“ARGHH!” Gaizeal cried as the pain hit and great globs of his blood sloshed to the ground. The hulking man moved to return an overhand blow to Cypher, but he easily rolled out of the way. Cypher had managed to deal a decisive blow to the Order Captain, and another examination of the armor showed that his battle prowess was continuing to rise.
His normal strength was about what you’d expect from a Conductor at Cypher’s level, although he did have a more powerful Orrium than most people. That said, his current strength was quickly pushing past the early stages of the third Rank
Because of that, Cypher felt something he hadn’t when he was in the warehouse. It was as if his Conduction level was rising to match his father’s, despite Cypher’s centers of power still being well below those levels. Was this armor really that powerful?
Cypher couldn’t be completely sure. He had used the armor during his attempt to save Alex and Melodi, but he hadn’t been in a position to think much about what was happening with his attention on his surroundings. That situation had been hectic and his main goal had been to protect his friends and escape. Then of course Nuadha and Aylynah had appeared and that changed everything.
He might be in the middle of a battle right now, but in this instance, he wasn’t distracted by the threat of his friends being killed. Only his own life hung in the balance and that resulted in a lot less stress on his mind than back at the warehouse. Still, if he had to guess, that battle back then with such chaotic and powerful energies had somehow ‘awoken’ the armor from its slumber, and now it was aiding him in ways he never thought possible.
