Alex clapped his hands together, twisting his palms and sliding them apart. His fingers hooked, catching on each other as power exploded out from within him. The gate deep within his Mind Palace slammed open with a roar.
"Partial Soul Manifesation. Edict of the Shattered King."
And then Alex was gone.
He snapped back into being a foot above the platform before dropping down to his feet, heart pounding in his ears like a thumping train. If he'd been an instant slower, the platform would have been outside the realm of his domain and he would have doubtlessly fallen to his death.
Zeal, who had already turned toward Claire, glanced back at Alex. A flicker of surprise crossed his features before a grin split his lips once more.
"You've gotten your Partial Soul Manifestation?"
Alex released his hold on the domain, ignoring the burning pain in the side of his face and the taste of blood filling his mouth. He was pretty sure the force of Zeal's punch had made him bite through deep into own cheek.
The range of my domain only barely brought me back to the platform. It looks like it originates directly from me, so if I'd kept it active below the platform, the only place I'd have easily be able to teleport to is in the open air. Hardly ideal.
Claire didn't wait around for Alex to respond to Zeal. She exploded forward, driving her sword straight for his heart. The Dhampir definitely wasn't pulling any punches — but it wasn't like either of them could afford to.
Zeal didn't even look back in her direction. The old man just shifted to the side and let the sword pass by him like a light breeze. He twisted his body and slammed his elbow into Claire's skull in a blur of motion.
A loud crack echoed out and Claire stumbled back, managing to just barely keep her feet out from beneath her in no minor miracle. Blood started to trickle down the side of her skull before she'd even completed the motion.
"Have you got one as well?" Zeal asked, turning toward Claire.
Alex sent commands to all of his monsters. He didn't re-activate his Soul Manifestation yet. The power used up too much magical energy to be activated this early in the fight. Despite Zeal's words, the man was still going easy on them. He hadn't brought his own Soul Manifestation out yet — which meant Alex had to keep strength in reserve for when things got really serious.
"No," Claire replied, jet black streaking through her veins as she blurred out of the way just in time to avoid a powerful blow that definitely would have sent her sailing over the edge of the platform had it connected. "I'm still working on getting my Aspect gems."
"Good, good," Zeal said with a knowing nod. "You wouldn't want to rush ahead with this sort of thing. Take your time. It's important to craft a domain that truly suits you."
And then he was behind Claire.
There was barely any warning. The man may as well have teleported. Claire started to spin, but as fast as she was, she wasn't nearly a match for Zeal. His fist slammed into her side.
Bone cracked. Claire folded, throwing herself back and rolling across the craggy ground with a pained hiss. She shoved herself back to her feet, digging her blade into the ground to stop herself from sliding right off the edge of the platform.
That definitely sounded like a rib. Holy shit. How much was Zeal holding back against us the last time we fought? We can't let him keep momentum. If things keep going , we're done for… and he's definitely not going to have any misgivings about killing us given that he just tried to throw me to my death.
I need to figure out what he's capable of and then look for an opening.
But an opening wasn't going to appear if he didn't make one. Alex charged Zeal with a roar, drawing as much attention to himself as he could as he ran.
Zeal turned toward him.
The old man vanished.
Alex dropped into a roll. He didn't even wait to see what kind of attack Zeal would throw. It didn't matter. He had absolutely no delusions of trying to block it.
The world spun around Alex as he threw himself back to his feet. His deception did little to delay Zeal. The old man's fist was hurtling up toward Alex's chin before he'd even finished rising to his feet.
Alex clenched his jaw.
Stars ripped through Alex's vision as the sky spun overhead, transforming to the ground and then to the sky once again. He felt the breath explode from his lungs as his back hit the floor, but his thoughts were ringing so badly that it took him a moment to even realize that he was out of breath.
Zeal loomed above him, a pleasant smile on the old man's face swimming and rippling as Alex's vision swam.
And then a massive black hand slammed into Zeal's side, driving into him like a truck doing its absolute best to isekai some bratty child.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Perhaps it was because Alex's perception of the world was temporarily slowed, but he could he have sworn he saw a flicker of surprise pass over the old man's features before he himself was sent skidding back several feet.
The ground shuddered as Princess lumbered after Zeal, all three of her heads staring down at him with death in their empty, black eyes.
"Your monster is stronger than the last time we fought," Zeal observed, not even sounding slightly winded by the powerful blow he'd just absorbed.
Glint and Spark both blurred into motion as well, circling Zeal and looking for an opportunity to strike while Alex and Claire gathered themselves and rose back to their feet.
"They've been hitting the gym," Alex wheezed, wiping blood from his nose. The world was still spinning around him, but it was starting to come back into focus.
Princess lunged at Zeal, bringing a massive, clawed hand down toward him like a wave of black death.
Zeal blurred as he shifted out of the way of the strike. It crashed into the ground where he'd been moments before, not even scratching him. Then he gave his brush a lazy flick.
A loud crack split the air. Princess' center mask shattered, split down the center by an invisible strike. Its pieces rained down to crack against the ground in a tinkling ceramic rain.
"Unfortunately," Zeal said, turning to look straight at Alex. "I have not forgotten this creature's weakness. It is surprisingly durable, but it has a very glaring opening that can be easily—"
Princess' hand slammed into Zeal. The rest of the old man's sentence was lost as he hurtled through the sky like a discarded doll. He spun mid-air, righting himself and landing on his feet near the edge of the platform as a flicker of interest crossed through his expression.
The Mirematron didn't seem to care. She lumbered toward Zeal, one of her necks weeping black sludge while the other two kept their masks trained on their target. Princess hadn't collapsed with the destruction of her mask.
A grin split Alex's lips.
Three lives. So that's the change. Who would have thought?
"That's new," Zeal said. "Very well. I'm curious. Let's see just how durable she is."
His brush flicked through the air.
Princess split in two, severed right down the very middle of her center neck all the way to the ground. Her parts slid apart, peeling like a rotted banana — but before they could pitch to the ground, what looked like dozens of miniature little hands exploded out from within them.
They grabbed onto each other, pulling Princess back together with a wet squelch. She barely even missed a step. The huge monster just brought both of her fists crashing down for Zeal once more, forcing the old man to dodge to the side.
Holy shit. She's never healed from a wound that quickly before. Good shit, Princess!
Claire caught Alex's eye and gave him a faint nod. She was ready to fight again — but there would be no more benefit to them charging in than there was for Glint or Spark. It only took a single flick from Zeal's brush to kill them. They needed to wait for the perfect opportunity.
Zeal flicked his brush through the air twice more before he'd even landed on the ground. Both of Princess' arms split away from her body, severed at the shoulder. Once again, miniature arms exploded out from the wounds and clasped onto each other. They pulled her parts back into place nearly instantly.
And then something odd happened. Princess' center neck started to bubble even harder. Porcelain white protruded up from its end as a shattered mask pushed free from within her body. It re-affixed itself in its proper place, giving her three masks once more.
"Well then," Zeal said, with a small chuckle. "Looks like I can try a little harder. That's a fun little trick. How about we get everyone in on the dance this time?"
Alex's heart thundered harder in his chest as an involuntary grin forced its way across his lips.
Princess leapt at Zeal. Glint and Spark both exploded into motion at the exact same time as the three of them attacked in a synchronized strike.
The old man made no move to dodge. He simply clasped his hands together around his brush, his eyes twinkling with delight. The tip of his brush shimmered with brilliant light.
"Soul Manifestation," Zeal said, and all the color in the world seemed to fold and twist in around the head of his brush until nothing remained but black and white. Zeal's smile grew wider. "A Dream of Light."
Pressure exploded across the platform with a roar.
Not one of Alex's monsters stopped. They bore down on Zeal, their attacks all arcing toward him in blurs —
Zeal flicked his brush.
Black lines sliced through the air all around him. It was like a thousand different papercuts had suddenly split through the white page of reality.
All three of Princess' masks shattered instantly. Spark was carved to pieces, armor and all. Glint shattered, ripped to tiny pieces of shimmering confetti before he could even lay a single finger on Zeal.
Energy flowed into Alex instantly as his monsters were all killed. They hadn't even had an instant to react. These attacks had been far faster than the ones that Zeal had used the previous time they'd fought.
The air around the old man twisted. A dragon of inken brush strokes, easily three stories tall, swam into being above Zeal. It coiled around him and opened its mouth in a silent roar. Pressure tore out of the creature in an immense wave, slamming into Alex and Claire with enough force to send them skidding a foot back.
He's jumping right to the dragon? Damn. We're on the ropes.
"Are we done here?" Zeal asked, tilting his head to the side as he turned back to Alex.
"Not in the slightest," Alex replied. There would be no more holding anything back. Zeal was going all out. Alex clapped his own hands together, and the gate within his Mind Palace slammed back open. "Edict of the Shattered King."
The world warped around him. There wasn't as sharp of a change as there had been back on 274-50, but waves of Riftwarped Energy twisted through the air to cover the platform around Alex. His domain didn't quite completely cover the whole thing, but it got a fair bit of it.
Alex wasn't done. He ripped magic from within himself and shoved it into the air before him. Then he drank deeply from his Qi and cast Encore.
All three of his monsters tore their way back into reality, but they did not arrive the way they had left.
Spark stood tall, shadows twisting around his arms binding him to the ground and twitching in anticipation. Alongside him was Glint. Two glass wings rose above the Glasmir's back and his arms were crossed before his chest like those of a mummy. Arcs of Riftwarped Energy twisted through the glass covering Glint's body and his eyes had turned to pitch black pools.
Princess emerged as well, her body even larger than it had been the previous time. Pulsing strands of Riftwarped Qi illuminated her body from within like a storm had been trapped inside her. The ceramic claws on her hands had nearly doubled in size and the sea of arms swaying on her back had doubled in length.
"We're far from done. As a matter of fact," Alex said, his eyes locking on Zeal as he drew on his magic and cast Mirror Image, splitting into four versions of himself with a flash of light. The four then spoke as one. "We're only getting started."