Chapter 386: Armor of the Sage Wolf
Every window overlooking the stage from the Arena was momentarily blinded by a wall of purple mes. They even seeped through the gaps of the cracks previously caused by the supernova and scared more than a few spectators.
Enya pursed her lips as she watched her cabin start to be invaded by these mes, and then could only watch as purple flowers began to grow on the very floor in front of her. But despite that, she continued to sit immobile, not bothering to take her distances even just to be safe.
She was the Leader of the Wan Guild and the Fifth Ranked Host. She knew that she was without a doubt, the strongest mage in all the System. Yet, here she was, feeling utterly inadequate.
Whether it was the werewolf having five tails, devouring divinity with his soul power, and singing his Cōl Lāli to manifest a Soul Marble; or whether it was the Eternal Dragon so easily elerating time within himself and casting a spell capable of ending creation at its weakest state…
She gritted her teeth. ''What even kind of spell is that…? The Original Bolt of Lightning? Ign? Are you telling me the Kind Demon created a spell capable of being considered a whole new Origin Magic on its own just like that? Could I even survive it…?''
The question was meaningless. Of course, she wouldn''t survive it. If the small tendril of electricity were to even hum in her direction, chances are, she would die without knowing. If she truly had to try and survive such an attack, she would need days of preparation at the very least.
''And that boy did it with instincts?'' She couldn''t even believe her own thoughts. ''He dodged what is paramount to an alteration of reality?''
The Sorceress Queen couldn''t help herself; sheughed. Much to her guild members'' nervousness and confusion. With a crooked grin, she gripped her armrest and stared at the ss wall, watching as the mes died down.
She already could sense both Lunar Energy and Mystic Energy wafting in the air. She would need to be daft not to understand the implications of both. ''Obsidian… no, did it ever exist? There was no such thing as an exiled or secluded Nine-Tailed Wolf,'' she chuckled.
?
* * *
?
"That''s…" Merlina stood up from her seat with a stunned expression. Even their VIP room had not been spared by the flowers and now, the mes were halfway down, revealing a picturesque sight.
A triad of stars, orbited by nine moons. A soul sea of immense beauty, with a diamond mountain erected in its waters. An endless field of purple flowers, trees made of crystal, leaves of gems, rivers of mana, a rain of ck petals, shards of obsidian spiraling in the air, a manor on a floating ind, and countless beasts roaming thendscape.
Caer remained seated next to his wife in a strangely neutral posture. His squinted eyes parted ever so slightly as he observed the scenery. In the middle of it, a torrent of lunar energy was converging into the silhouette of a nine-tailed and six-winged werewolf, standing in front of the Kind Demon''s imposing figure.
Even in this new space, the Eternal Night had not disappeared. The shadows and lightning crawled over the ground and crept into the sky. Yet, they shied away from the light of the stars and moons and didn''t dare to approach Rakna.
It was as if the soul scape had been separated in two. On one side stood the werewolf, with his soul sea behind him, and on the other, the dragon tried to drown it in his night.
"…" Kaelith was unusually expressionless at the sight. With a soft breath, she looked up at the stars and moons, smiling. "So, this is a Soul Marble, huh? First time I see one… As expected, wolfy has a beautiful soul."
Kara nced at her daughter and giggled, closing her eyes. "Indeed…"
"I see…" Kryas snorted in amusement. "As I thought, he was Obsidian all along. And he also was the one who appeared in Zero, wasn''t he? That body of his seems to function like a mass of nanites. He could easily swap appearances and gender."
"EH?! Really?!" Ciel eximed in shock, probably the only one right now who vocalized the shock that normal people should be going through.
"Céraiste…" Ceresta whispered, a small smile gracing her face. Among the many flowers of Rakna''s soul, she could see a few patches of grayish stems; the flowers he had named her after.
"Well, well, the crazy boy came a long way," a new voice suddenly startled everyone. They all turned to the source and spotted arge old hat perched atop via''s head, whose face was flushed red. The hat had folds in its fabric mirroring a mouth and eyes.
"…Wisdom of Ariv," Azheim greeted. He had been so engrossed by the battle that he had almost forgotten about Rakna''s request. "I assume you know…"
"Yes, yes," Wis brushed him off. "It''s the Jin family; their current head. He''s not the only perpetrator, but he''s the mastermind behind the downfall of the girl''s family," he said while Evelyn gritted her teeth, holding her ckening back down with measured breaths.
Azheim''s lips twitched. "I see… Thank you for the confirmation. I will make good use of it."
"You do that."
via grumbled, "You''re done. You can leave now, right?"
"…girl, you didn''t even ask me an actual question yet. I already answered this one before. Also, you really need to stop treating me like some old sock."
"Shut up! You''re embarrassing!"
"That hurts my feelings," the hat deadpanned. "Regardless, I would like to watch this. It''s not every day you get to have such a clear view of another''s Soul Marble without being inside of it."
A growl was heard from Cura''s back and Wis turned toward it.
"Oh, if it''s not His Majesty," he greeted politely. "You found yourself a wielder; how long has it been since thest time I''ve seen you in action?"
King Gulon let out a sound akin to a harrumph before falling silent.
"How grouchy," Wis snickered.
"Say, what''s a Soul Marble?" Lanata asked curiously, tilting her head.
"Uh, are you asking me?" The hat blinked at her and she nodded. "…do you even know who I am?"
"No? Why?"
Wis sniffed. "What is wrong nowadays…? A little girl just wishes I didn''t exist because she feels embarrassed wearing a hat, a crazy boy treats me like a useful nuisance, no one cares about all the knowledge I can give them, and this crazy sheep is asking me a mundane question…"
"Crazy? Me?" Lana pointed at herself and the hat nkly stared at her.
"…you''re crazier than the crazy girl here," Wis while pointing at via with his tip, whose eyebrows twitched in anger. "And that is a feat in and of itself. Well… though, I suppose it''s a… healthy sort of craziness?" He sniveled. "What am I even saying…?"
While Wis went through his midlife crisis, Nyx answered the sheep girl''s question. "A Soul Marble is the highest achievement a Soul Practitioner can attain. It''s considered a form of transcendence all on its own and is regarded as the ultimate Soul Technique. It involves rewriting the World and ovey one''s Soul Realm onto it; swap out Soul and Reality."
"Oh! It''s like my Rammy!" Lanata struck her palm with a fist while holding her sword up by folding her arm. "But Rakna is doing it without Rammy; he''s amazing," she smiled.
"Rammy…?" An repeated dumbfoundedly.
"Ouránios Kriós," Wis huffed jadedly. "The Heavenly Ram; it''s the name of her sword. Since none of you can even be bothered to ask me a worthwhile question, there you go," he grumbled.
"Are you sulking?" Marie asked and the hat harrumphed.
"How can we see this though?" Lanata tilted her head as if she didn''t care at all that her sword had been identified by someone else. "Are we inside Rakna''s soul right now?"
Wis sighed. "As I said, this is a rare asion. This is abination of several factors. One; Rakna Xiorra has a soul potent enough to overwrite the entire spatialyer. Two; the stability has been reinforced along with its viewing ports reflected on the ss. Three; Ahriman''s Existentiality has disturbed the spatial bonds enough to allow Rakna Xiorra''s soul power to creep through them to reach us. Thus, maintaining an anchor for the Arena''swork."
The sheep girl blinked and defaulted to abruptly saluting. "Yes, sir!"
"…you did not understand a thing of what I just said, did you?"
?
* * *
?
? ? ?
?
You are reacting to the Full Moon!
?
---
?
All Attributes except Luck will be tripled.
Your tails will continuously gather lunar energy and supply your skills and magic. Your rate is currently set to 4500 LPs per second due to the nine moons.
?
---
?
Your Magic Circuits are being widened by the influx of Lunar Energy.
All cooldowns ssified under Tier 1 will be reduced by 50%.
All cooldowns ssified under Tier 3 will be reduced by 90%.
All cooldowns ssified under Tier 5 will be reduced by 100%.
?
---
?
The influence of the Full Moon will instill an uncontroble thirst for destruction within you.
Ego of Lucifer has rejected the mind corruption!
?
---
?
Moon Shine of the Nine Moons is reacting!
All statistics will be doubled!
Mana & Stamina will be tripled!
Regeneration will be tripled!
?
---
You will temporarily unlock the Nirvana Skill; Tailed Pearl.
---
?
You will temporarily unlock the True Royal Luqu Wings. Your flight speed shall not be limited by anything other than the energy you put into it. Space, and to a lesser extent, time, will be distorted by your wings.
?
? ? ?
?
Thinking back, this was probably the first time Rakna had a proper look at the effects the Full Moon had on him. Everythingbined, without even considering his statistics, he could squeeze out attribute values near 3900 after having digested a high-level heart the day before.
Of course, such a number couldn''t solely be used on either Speed, Strength, or even Dexterity. But it nheless gave him incredibly high burst potential. However, in a sustained battle, constantly redistributing attributes would eventually present openings. It wasn''t a wless arrangement.
And beings like Roias, who easily surpassed a thousand, if not two thousand, for each attribute in basic form, with no skill activated, was someone who could kill him in an instant even if had 3900 points attributed to his Endurance all at once.
However, it was still a devastating ability. And with it, Rakna already had the means to face beings far greater than himself, perhaps even earning him a ce near the top in terms of power… though a fair distance away from the standard of the Top 100.
Yet… Rakna instinctively knew, he stood no chance against the dragon before him.
Arimane whistled in appreciation, admiring the Soul Realm while Ign kept giving the werewolf panic attacks as it just went around touching flowers and diving into the rivers of all things.
''…I hate that thing. I''m going to be scared of having my chest blown off every second it''s here,'' Rakna grumbled internally.
"{You can rx. Didn''t your uncle say so? It cannot target you twice. And while it seems to be able to destroy the creation of more than just you, it doesn''t apply to your Soul Marble whose creation is also yours by extension.}"
''I know… but you have to agree that this spell is too terrifying to just have around like that.''
"{…}"
"Oh?" Arimane abruptly raised his voice.
Rakna concentrated on him and saw where he was looking at; the Crystal Sage''s mountain. The werewolf narrowed his eyes at the feeling of recognition he could sense from his uncle.
"I wonder how you got the shiny guy to be part of your soul," Arimane snorted.
"…you knew him?" Rakna scowled.
"I''ve met him, sort of. It was indirectly," the dragon huffed. "How about this…" He grinned and turned to his Eternal Art. "Ign, how about you try ying with the creation of the one living over there?"
The bolt of origin hummed in excitement and vanished as if it was never there. Rakna clicked his tongue, ncing at the mountain, but otherwise didn''t react.
"You''re rather calm," Arimanemented. "If Ign kills the Crystal Sage at his creation, the lynchpin he maintains for you will copse… your Obsidian Star will overwhelm you."
For a moment, the werewolf didn''t respond but when he saw Ign reappear without the Sage''s mountain suffering any change, he showed a rare smug smile.
"I''m not so sure about that, old man."
"Hm… well, I did expect the shiny guy to resist my spell."
Rakna''s smile widened. "''Resist''? Are you sure that''s the right word?"
The dragon stilled and then skeptically looked at Ign. "Were you repelled?" He asked and the small bolt of lightning hummed as if to answer and Arimane''s eye twitched. "What? What do you mean it failed? You couldn''t find a creation point? Even the Sage shouldn''t have juste out of nowhere… that''s not possible."
Ign replied with another electronic hum and Arimane opened his mouth wide.
"Hah… Haha… Hahahahaha!" The dragon burst outughing, his voice agitating the waves of the soul sea and causing the many beasts living in the realm to stare at him in attention from afar.
Rakna rolled his eyes and waited until he was done.
"Haha, damn, I haven''tughed that hard in a while," the Kind Demon shook his head. "So, you already knew about this?" He asked with an amused tone.
"…I did. Hard not to when I''ve met the guy in person."
"I see. Oh well, that''s one mystery I''ve solved today I guess," Arimane snickered. "All right, kid, we have about fifteen minutes before I go nuclear… Try your best until then."
"Hmph, right back at you, old man," Rakna retorted and stomped the ground with one leg. Arge rune was instantly carved into the field of flowers. In the blink of an eye, dozens more appeared in a circle around the Eternal Dragon and formed a giant array. "[Great Rune Arch – Barzakh.]"
On cue, several gate-like constructs made out of marble emerged from within the runes, each with its own unique variations and designs. They surrounded Arimane, creating a barrier of light that promptly began to fight back against the shadow of Nox Aeterna.
"Oh?" The dragon smiled. "I didn''t know you were a Rune Master."
Rakna huffed and pointed his palm at the sky. Within a split second, a magic formation had both been formed and cast. "[From Above Cometh, Mystic Natcattira Vīi.]"
Dark starlight shed in the sky, the clouds of lightning banished by the runes and leaving a ce for a pir of obsidian to descend upon thend.
Barzakh held the explosion within its confines,pressing the destruction and forcing the sharp fragments of the spell to shred everything within.
Then, with a snap from Rakna''s fingers, the gates'' doors opened while Star Fall was still striking the earth. However, even when opened, the barrier still held. On the other hand, there was now a direct path to the inside of the array.
"[Star Puppetry,]" once again, the werewolf cloned himself and each reproduction of himself had a palm pointed at one of the gates. Granted orbs began to form in front of them, crackling with power. This time, Rakna wasn''t using his fingers to concentrate the st; the resulting orb was at least three times bigger and directly being fed mana from the palm.
""[Mystic Slātta Natcattira Raja,]"" they all chanted as one and the rays were fired.
They entered the gates, which then closed behind, and the star energy that still lingered inside due to Vīi was reignited with dark purple mes and energy. Per the Obsidian Star''s behavior, the spells started cannibalizing each other through transmutation.
Before long, a whole new pandemonium of magic was created and Barzakh shattered, making the entire soul scape quake from the shock. All that was left behind was a disintegrated chunk ofnd with only a perfectly semi-spherical crater to be seen.
And within its center, a pair of red eyes shone through the smoke. "Ign," the name was called and in a sh of lightning, every star puppet once again copsed and dispersed into particles.
Arimane emerged from the crater unscathed and grinning. "Nicebo. Anyone else and they would have kicked the bucket right then and there."
Rakna did not even bat an eye. "You can''t target magic formations with your spell," he stated. "But you can target conjured spells. A spell''s ''creation'' starts at the magical formation but the puppet itself is birthed at the moment the spell is fully cast."
The dragon silently smirked.
"Your Ign can harm whatever''s already manifested into the ''World'' but cannot affect something that is yet ethereal… or at least, it cannot do so for its ''creation hunting''. Your Ign inflicts damage proportionate to the power it holds in its true form, doesn''t it? Enough to obliterate holes into the heads of my Obsidian Puppets. And it''s probably fast as well. But ultimately physical."
"…correct," Arimane said and in the blink of an eye, Ign disappeared and Rakna tilted his head to dodge a seemingly invisible projectile. In the next instant, the sound of thunder resounded and arge area exploded behind the werewolf.
Immediately after, Ign returned to its owner with an oddly-pleased hum.
"Honestly, it seems your senses as a whole are far too much for poor Ign," Arimane jested and nced at his animated spell. "But… don''t underestimate it too much."
Following those words, Ign shot off at an even faster speed and where the dragon expected his nephew to react even more urgently than before, he widened his eyes when the werewolf decided to stand still and allow the bolt to punch a hole through its chest.
"Like I said…" Rakna uttered, the remaining sparks from Ign fading to reveal that even though the Third Art had managed to pierce him… it had been stopped a few centimeters in, where instead of flesh, a concavedyer of volcanic ss prevented its advance. "It''s fast. But that''s it. What more is there to say? If you can''t dodge something… then don''t."
A ck aura burst from the werewolf and Ign retreated immediately. Arimane watched with a curious gaze as Rakna''s body began to turn into solid obsidian.
The concepts of Union, Unison, and Unity Magic were known. However, there is a simr practice that is often much preferred by Hosts, low or high level. It involvesbining magic and skills into a spell. Sometimes even Traits and Nirvana Skills.
"[Unity Craft – ōnāy Mu?ivari? Kavacam.]"
Obsidian Star, Prima Alkahest Materia, and Grand Reinforcement joined as one.
Rakna''s fur crystallized and then ttened into a smooth surface with bluish tints. His tails were encased in ayer of obsidian, almost ssy in nature. His chest weed a purple wave pattern simr to his soul mes and his limbs simrly were covered in a new shell of obsidian. His ws turned into edges and his wings became static and geometrically sculpted, feathers unfettered by movement or wind, and with additions uncannily simr to the des of a turbine.
His head was momentarily confined within a mass of obsidian before it adjusted to his ears and muzzle like a helmet of which the eyes lit up with a sh of purple. Light purple, almost pink lines, simr to a circuit pattern, surged from within the mark on his chest and spread to every inch of his body, from the tip of his tails and wings to the corners of his eyes.
The werewolf now turned into a creature more akin to a mechanical and armored golem, raised his arm, and allowed Sonata to transform in his hand, quickly bing a ck and purple scythe bigger than himself.
Rakna opened his mouth, eerie scraping noises echoing, and exhaled a purple smoke.
?
? ? ?
?
ōnāy Mu?ivari? Kavacam (T.0)
?
This is a Craft born from thebination of Grand Reinforcement, capable of converting the Host into raw Star Energy, the Prima Alkahest Materia Physique, immortalized in alchemical history as the apex of all solvents, and the Obsidian Star Magic, possessing characteristics that transcend the body and soul of its user.
The ''Armor of the Sage Wolf''pletely alters the user''s body into a solid form of Star Energy known as Obsidian. It then shapes itself into an advanced armor featuring mechanical augmentations provided by the Prima Materia and the Symphony Items. It also has pure strengthening effects thanks to the Eion and Ardent mes powering it.
This armor possesses unparalleled defense capabilities and is deemed to be the Host''s body itself, thus not discriminated by resistance skills. Due to its transmutative trait, it is capable of absorbing energies and, less sessfully, physical impacts. The rules of transmutation apply to the edged ws of the armor.
?
Note: The System is unable to calcte statistical numbers for this Craft. It is also unknown if magic power influences its effectiveness. However, estimations predict ōnāy Mu?ivari? Kavacam to provide the equivalent of a 700% increase in Defensive Potential.
?
? ? ?