Arc III: “Return of Darkness”
Chapter II: “Lady Soap”
Episode IV: “Devilish Trickster”
Good… if we manage to keep this up, then we may not need reinforcements after all, Leo thought. Then a chill slid down his spine. He turned to where Kyoto and Reito were, but he couldn’t see them due to the smoke and debris from his attack. Something’s not right!
“Worried about your cubs?” Cataline purred from behind him.
Leo jolted, spinning around to face her. She was reclined on the air as if it were a velvet throne—one leg crossed, and boredom in her eyes.
“When did you get there!?”
“Where? Behind you? Oh, I’ve been behind you the whole time.”
“W-what? What do you mean? Were we not fighting you?”
“Fighting me? I haven’t moved from this spot since you all arrived. Look.” She snapped her fingers, and suddenly the battlefield peeled away, fizzing off into a pink mist. A mirage evaporated behind her, revealing the Dark Heart’s nexus like ink bleeding through water. A rotting silhouette floated in the core. Cataline’s lips curled into a smile. “The resurrection is already halfway completed.”
“B-but… how?” Leo stuttered. “And where are those two!?” I can barely feel Kyoto and Reito’s aether signatures!
“Ah, yes. Alluring Fantasies! Undo!”
Even more pink mist steamed out from around the battlefield, but it was quickly reabsorbed by Cataline. Once it was removed, Kyoto and Reito were revealed to be lying unconscious below her feet.
“An illusion? That entire battle was an illusion!?” Dammit! Leo punched his fist into the ground, gritting his teeth.
“Now then, why don’t we wrap this up?” she said as she stood up. She formed a purple orb of aether with a dark aura in her hand. “Malevolent Light!” A constellation of violet lances climbed into the sky, then hung for a moment before collapsing toward Leo from every angle.
“RAH!” Leo’s aether flared with his roar, the pressure from his aura temporarily holding the lasers back. “Eighth Threshold: Ascension!” Leo’s golden aura and sigils bled a white glow—his hair lifting in a calm, angelic gale as purity radiated from his being.
“Oh, so you still have some fight left in you. I suppose I could entertain you for real this time while I wait for the resurrection to be completed.”
“Entertain me? You won’t think of this as entertainment once I’m through with you!” Leo closed his eyes and focused his aether. Now that it’s one-on-one, this is the perfect scenario for me to unleash it… I don’t have to worry about hurting any comrades with this move! Leo lifted his palms as gravity sang. His aura flowered into a hemispheric veil, pressure seaming the sky.
What is this… it could be dangerous!
Dominion of Gravitas: Atlas-Sphere Ascendant! “Raise The Heavens!” Leo shouted, “World of Atlas! Increase!!”
The ground shuddered as the veil took hold.
“A-a domain?” How could he possess such an advanced technique!? She felt space tilt as the nexus striated, about to pop like an overstressed glass. “W-what!” Cataline turned around to view it. Then, she too, felt the pressure of Leo’s domain—like a strong anchor weighing her down. I can feel my power weakening… what is this!? “Tell me—what did you do!?”
“Who? Little ol’ me?” Leo chuckled.
Cataline gritted her teeth.
“This technique… is modulating the gravitational pull in my domain. I can increase the force of gravity acting on everyone in them, while also decreasing it for myself. So right now, that insurmountable pull you feel, the one that’s sapping your strength, is the result of my aether.”
Cataline’s glare persisted through the crushing burden on her shoulders. Did I underestimate him?
Leo’s smirk hid the chill that was still lingering down his back. Ideally, I would increase her gravity even more. The only problem is my mark hit her mirage instead of her real body… “Oh, and don’t even bother trying to escape the domain. Even if you unleash enough aether to break it, I could change the gravity of the entire planet’s core if I wanted to. In the off chance that you manage to escape the planet, I’ll hunt you down and trap you in another domain. I won’t let you get away… Now, let me show you even more of my true power! Edict: Mercy: Gravity Shift! Decrease!” Leo lightened his load even further, the winds cracking as they swirled around him.
Cataline chuckled. “You almost got me there,” she said as her lips curled. “Your power surely is impressive… but I can escape this art easily. And you wouldn’t dare to change the Earth’s gravity. That was a mere bluff. If you were planning to go through with it, you would have done so already. But no, that would result in the deaths of millions of bystanders.”
“Heh, yeah, you’re right. I wouldn’t… but that’s just because I won’t even need to!” As long as she’s in the World of Atlas, this sealing technique should work! I’ll weaken her as much as I can, then deliver the final blow! “Writ of Suppression: Gravity Pressure!” Leo aimed his right palm at her while bracing with his left.
Cyan-black astral fetters cinched her frame, dragging down her limbs like lead.
Leo blitzed her before she could adjust to the added pressure. Draconic Kata Verse: Twin Serpent Dance: “Dragon Combination!”
A blur of elbows and knees homed in on Cataline. She managed to dodge the first few strikes, but eventually she was caught in the never-ending torrent.
After breaching her defenses, Leo backed away while slinging a multitude of gravity-attuned aether blasts. They all connected, slamming into her guard as she was pushed back.
Yes! Now I can do it! “Edict: Burden: Gravity Shift! Increase!” he said while pointing at her.
There’s more!? Her weight spiked once again, the soles of her feet digging deep into the ground.
I’ll swap her source from the Earth’s core to me! “Edict: Bind! Gravity Attraction!”
Her waist snapped forward; her feet dragged through the black sands as she was pulled towards his palms.
“Now, Shock of Periapsis: Gravity Burst!”
As his hands met her torso, a white shockwave detonated point-blank between them. Cataline was hurled back several dozen meters.
I have to end this quickly, before the flow of my aether runs out! “This is it! Halo of Crius: Gravity Disk!” He gathered an extensive amount of aether and concentrated it into a disk, its rim warping space even beyond the range of his domain. “HA!” he roared as he flung the disk.
I don’t have a choice. Cataline raised her arms and absorbed the Dark Heart from out of the nexus. Their fusion unleashed an absurd flood of dark aether, which she condensed into a dense spherical matrix. “Malignant Wrath!”
A stippled, carmine tide of aether chewed through the disk and blew straight out of the veil, causing the entire structure to crumble and dissipate into ethereal dust.
Once the dust had settled, Leo was finally able to lay eyes on Cataline.
“What the hell… is that form?”
“Heh-heh-heh! This is… the Dark Heart Demon Form!” Her aura sang like a black-rosed melody; veins of pink light crawled up her arms. Behind her midnight pupils, a pink glow shone out from her eyes.
Leo’s Edicts came undone as he ran out of aether. With weak knees, he fell to the ground and returned to his Natural State.
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“You’re finished, Caliekian! Malevolent Light!”
A large neon-pink blast tumbled forward at blistering speed.
An unknown figure flew before Leo, punting the aether blast into the sky, causing it to explode.
Leo opened his eyes, peering through the arms braced before him. “Huh? That’s… Reiko!”
“Hmph. Seems like we recovered just in time,” Reiko said, crossing his arms.
“You vermin are a never-ending nuisance!” Cataline said as she took her stance.
[Elsewhere]
“Is this it?” Kazuma asked.
Kazuma, Akaza, and Fevee had reached the lichen-skinned shrine at the Hidden Heights. There was a soft hum reverberating from the old wards set in place around the framework. Wet air licked their faces like a warm blanket.
Finally… we’ve made it, Fevee thought. It’s warm for a place so far up North…
“So, now what? How do we activate it?” Akaza asked.
“It’s simple,” Fevee said, entering the shrine. In its center, there was a crystal orb on a stone pedestal. She approached the beacon as the two boys followed close behind. “We pour our aether into this orb.” She ran her fingers against the smooth, marble-like crystal. “The more we feed it, the more power the signal will have. The orb will relay our aether to Planet Utopia, where your father should be as of right now.”
“Wow…” Planet Utopia, huh. Akaza thought. “What was he doing there anyway?” Akaza said as the three of them placed their hands forward and began pouring aether into the orb.
[Southern Islands – Reiko vs. Cataline]
“Looks like I’ll have to pull out all the stops for this one!” Reiko said. Now would be the perfect time… to see if that will work. After all, both my fathers infuse Utopic aether into their Spirit Resonance, so there’s no reason why I can’t either! I’ll achieve my own Soul Resonance right here, right now! “Alright! Witness this legendary power!” Reiko’s pale blue aura erupted as aether surged through his meridians. “HAAAAA!” His hair blinked with a white glow. As he reached Spirit Resonance, his creamy white aura spewed out from his frame. As his yield climbed, streaks of cyan aether squeezed out. As the number of blue sparks was starting to increase, Reiko’s endurance gave out, and his flow snapped. He lost hold of his Spirit Resonance and went back to his Natural State. “Tch.” Dammit! It didn’t work!
“What’s wrong? I thought you were going to show me something impressive.” If he can’t increase his yield significantly from what it currently is… then I should be able to get away with diverting some of the Dark Heart towards the resurrection! Cataline reverted from her Dark Heart Demon Form but retained the boost it blessed her with.
Leo took this opportunity to back away from the battle and began meditating to aid his aether recovery.
Dammit! Even if that doesn’t work, I still have to give this all I’ve got! Reiko unleashed Spirit Transcendence reinforced with Lightning Energy Cloak Tier Three and True Demon Form Level Three. A dark-lightning mantle hissed and crackled over his white coat of aether, his eyes and hair both glowing. He gritted his teeth as he noticed the drop in her yield. “So, you’re underestimating me…” he mumbled, “fine, but don’t complain when I beat you!” He put his hands together, channeling a great influx of aether. Then he slowly separated them, lightning discharging between them. “Catena Fulguris Umbrae: Vanishing Lightning Chain!” He Aether-Skipped behind Cataline, then threw the energy in the shape of a spear.
He's fast! She quickly turned around but barely had time to dodge the attack. She narrowly avoided it with her nimble, aerial gymnastics.
“Heh,” Reiko grinned.
The bolt turned invisible, then reappeared in front of Cataline once she stopped moving.
“What!?” She barely dodged it again. Wait, calm down. I saw this technique when he fought against Head. It may appear to be disappearing, but I should still be able to sense its aether signature. Cataline closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“That won’t work either,” Reiko laughed. “That’s because… this art doesn’t travel distance—it relocates.”
“Huh!?” Cataline shouted.
The spear of lightning appeared behind her, moving faster than she could react to.
Dammit! I’ll just focus my aura onto my back, like a shield. She gathered her aura behind her, creating a barrier between her and the attack.
“I told you—it’s useless,” Reiko said as he snapped his fingers.
The chained spear flickered again, this time appearing in front of her—piercing her abdomen with a powerful thrust.
“Gah!”
Behind them, the Dark Heart formed a solid chrysalis around Apocalypse’s fully restored corpse.
“Next up is… Recursive Night-Spark Constellations,” he whispered. “Continuous Shadow-Spark Flares!”
A midnight orb with a core of golden starlight bloomed from his palm.
What is it this time!? Cataline wondered has she had held her abdomen and gritted her teeth. Using the Dark Heart’s energy to aid her, she quickly restored her body as Reiko was forming his attack. Then once he launched it, she fired an aether blast, hoping to neutralize it.
Once the smoke cleared from the collision, the orb appeared to be destroyed.
Was that a regular art? Or is he still hiding something—
Suddenly, the afterglow of the explosion recombined into two newborn flares that homed back on Cataline’s position.
“Dammit!” She managed to evade their first run, but when they came around for the second, she couldn’t dodge them. “Malevolent Light!” She fired two purple lasers, destroying both flawlessly. She quickly regained her stance, prepping for the next attack. It’s not over, is it?
Once again, the orbs reformed in the air, but this time there were four. They quickly locked onto Cataline and rushed towards her.
“So that’s it!” Cataline said. She backflipped in the air, and while holding a matrix of aether in her hand, she fired purple lasers at each of the orbs, destroying them completely. “Your flares are duplicating themselves every time they come into contact with my arts.”
“Are they?” Reiko asked. Eight orbs reformed in the air, circling him. “Heh,” Reiko smirked. The orbs continued flying around him, rising into the air. They increased in speed, flying around like a chaotic storm. Then, like a rampaging beast, they started colliding with their surroundings, destroying the rocky formations near the black-sand beach.
Once the smoke cleared, Cataline saw an endless number of orbs in the air.
“H-how!? The orbs you had before didn’t collide with any of my arts!”
“Ha-ha-ha! My arts are reforming themselves from their own energy that leaks out on collision.”
That doesn’t explain how they duplicate themselves at full strength… and he doesn’t seem to be outputting more energy into them. If energy must be conserved, then how are they maintaining power when some of it must be lost to the explosions?
Reiko smiled again, “I figured out how to use the aether around them to form new orbs. Thanks to the aether from your attacks, as well as the thermal energy created from those collisions, my orbs can create more copies without even being destroyed. In other words, I can infinitely replicate them without your contribution. Mixed in with their homing capabilities… and it’s a pretty cool technique, don’t you think?” How do you like that, Dystopian Queen!? Leo’s been teaching me ancient Caliekian arts about understanding the flow of ambient aether! This is the power born from a combination of my lighting, shadows, and negative aether!
“I see… then there is no way for me to neutralize your attack. In that case, I simply need to avoid being hit.”
Reiko frowned. “Hey, don’t underestimate me. Avoiding an infinite series of attacks is no easy feat. Not to mention I still have other tricks up my sleeve.”
“Don’t underestimate me, boy.” Cataline pressed her palms together as if it were for prayer. Alluring Fantasies! She cupped her fingers around her lips as she exhaled a rose-colored fog.
Reiko flew back to create distance. What is that? It looks dangerous…
“Heh-heh-heh, you think that you should be fine as long as you’re not within this mist, right? Don’t worry, you’re already under the effects of my power.”
What is she talking about? “Ha!” Reiko launched dozens of orbs towards her. She made no attempt to block or dodge—the orbs exploding on contact. They reformed themselves as the smoke cleared. She’s gone!!
“Over here~” she purred from behind him with a tap on his shoulder.
“Ah!” He turned and sprang away from her.
“That was payback from earlier,” She smiled.
Why couldn’t I sense her…? Does it have something to do with that mist? “How did you dodge that attack? You didn’t tense your muscles or shift your body weight in time to have dodged that without taking major damage. And it doesn’t seem like you took any measures to block that either.” Not that I can sense her aether…
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“Fine. I can keep doing this all day.” He launched numerous orbs at her. Once again, there was an explosion, but after the smoke cleared, there was no sign of her. Reiko’s head hastily pivoted from side to side, but to no avail. “I know I felt that one connect.”
“It felt real, didn’t it?” she cooed, hovering above him.
“Dammit!” She avoided the attack again, without a scratch! And I haven’t been able to learn anything about how she’s doing it! “If that’s how we’re playing it… Then I can get cheeky too! Gate-Weave Tempest: Thousand-Mouth Squall: Shadow Storm!” Reiko created dozens of portals surrounding the two of them, spanning a wide radius. Then he sent dozens of orbs toward her, and dozens more into the portals.
Cataline continuously dodged the orbs until they caught her in detonation, repeatedly. Each time she would reappear in an unforeseen location, then be chased and surrounded by more orbs.
Find it! Find out what she’s doing. How does her technique work!? “Wait! That must be it!” That mist must have made clones of her. That’s why I can destroy them and feel my attacks connect even though no damage is being done. But in that case, why can’t I feel her aether, and why can’t I find her… This must be some sort of domain, or an art with a large-scale area of effect capable of masking her presence. Or it manipulates my senses directly… “How do I break it—this spell of yours?”
“Ah, so you’ve figured it out. Yes, this is a mirage created by my art,” she said as her body faded into mist. “But even if you know what it is… can you stop it?” Her voice echoed from all around him, and numerous mirages formed.
“Reiko!” Leo shouted. “You have to increase your yield to destabilize her art!”
“Leo? You’re back to full strength?”
Dammit, I forgot about him… I focused my technique on those brats. Even though he can’t perceive my true body, he can still perceive those two boys. And likely the Dark Heart too…
“Yeah… I was able to meditate long enough to recover my flow. Listen, we’re running out of time. It won’t be much longer until Apocalypse has been revived.”
“Alright. But how exactly do we break this spell? You said we have to increase our yield output level, but by how much?”
“I’m not sure, but together we should be able to do it!”
Huh? What does he have in mind?
“Don’t tell me you forgot already. Edict: Mercy: Gravity shift! Decrease!”
Suddenly, Reiko’s body lightened to that of a feather.
“Well, this is nice, but it’s not enough to stop this technique.”
“We’re not done yet! Leo unleashed his Eighth Threshold, bringing out his full power. I may not be strong enough either, but with your Shadow Drain—”
“Wait, you’re right! With that, we might actually be able to make up the difference!” Reiko coated his hand in dark aether and placed it on Leo’s shoulder, siphoning his flow. Then he raised his other hand into the sky.
What’s he doing? Cataline and Leo both thought.
“Heh-heh, this is another old trick we can use. Seed of First Thunder: Lightning Ball!” He fired a large ball of lightning into the air using some of the aether he received from Leo. The skies rumbled, swirling the clouds into a dark stew. “And that will create Cumulonimbus Cloud!” The heavens answered—a grandiose bolt of lightning baptizing Reiko with its surge. “Ah… that’s better.”
He was able to increase his yield that much? Cataline said with sweat dripping down her face.
“HA!” Reiko’s aura expanded, then pulsed a wave of energy outward. The pink mirage was vaporized under the wake of his aether. “Now, it’s our turn! Brace yourself! Continuous Shadow-Spark Flares!”
A field of energy orbs began hunting down Cataline once again.
“This farce again…” Cataline maneuvered around the vast number of orbs.
Now’s my chance… while she’s focused on evading Reiko’s attacks. Leo thought as he concentrated aether into his hands.
“Umbral Verse of Stellar Ruin: Shadow-Charged Star Destroyer!”
A black-blue crescendo bulldozed forward, tearing through the field of orbs as it made its way to Cataline.
“If that’s how we’re playing it… Then fine! I’ll answer you with my own judgment call.” Once more I’ll call on your power, Dark Heart… “Malignant Wrath!!” Her carmine salvo rampaged through the orbs and clashed with Reiko’s beam. “Crush them!” Her blast overpowered the beam, erupting into a brilliant rainbow-colored rainfall.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Dark Queen!” Leo said from a distance behind her. He had gathered a potent mass of aether while she was occupied with Reiko. “Try this on for size! Imperial Halo of Crius: Perfect Gravity Disk!”
“W-what!?” I used too much strength with my last attack! And there’s no time to dodge!
The rim sang with heavenly light—then scissored through Cataline’s guard. The impact flowered into white noise, a brazen luminosity flashing upon everyone.
[Next Time on Lyte of Utopia]: “The Second Coming of Armageddon”
[Yield Levels]:
Leo: 10 – 5z
- T7: 10 – 8z
- T8: 10 – 9z
- T8 + GS (GV): (-): 11z
- T8 + GS (GV): (-) + WoA (DLI): 13z
- World of Atlas (Domain Level I): x(1z + 1z)
- Gravity Shift (Grade V): (+/-): x100,000
- Gravity Pressure: x2z (Sealing)
- Dragon Combination: x1.5
- Gravity Blast: x2
- Gravity Attraction: x1
- Gravity Burst: x100
- Gravity Disk: x5z
- Perfect Gravity Disk: x6z
Cataline: 11z
- WoA (DLI): (+): 9z (Debuff)
- WoA + GS (GV): (+): 10 – 7z
- WoA + GS (GV): (+) + DHDF: 10 – 16z
- DHDF: 20z
- DHB: 16z
- Alluring Fantasies: x1 (Illusions)
- Malevolent Light: x1000
- Malignant Wrath: x5z
Kyoto: 350 – 4z
- Unconscious: 5
Reito: 300 – 4z
- Unconscious: 5
Reiko: 115 – 9z
- ST + LECT3 + TDFL3 + DP: 28.75 – 13z
- ST + LECT3 + TDFL3 + DP + GS (GV): (-): 2.875 – 15z
- ST + LECT3 + TDFL3 + DP + GS (GV): (-) + SD(~11z): ~17z
- ST + LECT3 + TDFL3 + DP + GS (GV): (-) + SD(~11z) + LR: ~18z
- Vanishing Lightning Chain: x5z
- Continuous Shadow-Spark Flares: x1z per
- Shadow Storm: x5z
- Shadow Charged Star Destroyer: x4z