“Yes. It will be your honor.” Reigan Shen surveyed the rest of them with disdain. “Well? If you’re going to attack, let’s see it.”
Lindon wasn’t so rude as to turn down an invitation like that.
The three launcher constructs on his arm fired in a set sequence. First, the Web of Silence, a shimmering purple-and-orange web from a strange Path that attacked the mind and the spirit. Then a Starkeeper’s Lance, from a Path that compressed sword and lightning madra to the utmost. Finally, the Swamp Fire, a swarm of knuckle-sized poisonous fireballs.
In a blink, all three constructs had launched, timed to land at their target together. From his other hand, Lindon unleashed a bar of black dragon’s breath.
The others had struck at the same time.
Mercy—who once again felt like an Overlady—had released a barrage of a thousand Forged amethyst arrows. The binding of Eclipse, Sacred Bow of the Soulseeker.
Instead of swinging his hammer, as Lindon had expected, Ziel also used a simple launcher construct. It looked like a wasp’s stinger, and it sent out a series of nails made from force madra.
Three people didn’t move: Reigan Shen, Yerin, and Eithan.
A web spread out to devour Reigan Shen, glistening orange and purple. Behind it, a needle-sharp beam crackling with lightning and a spray of green fireballs. Lindon hadn’t skimped on these weapons; all of them had been enhanced to the level of Archlord constructs. Meanwhile, a dark beam of Blackflame tore through the air to the side.
Gold-and-gray bolts flew from another angle, strong enough to drive holes through thick city walls. And from above, Mercy’s amethyst bolts. Reigan Shen faced techniques from every angle.
A transparent bubble expanded from the shield on the Monarch’s back.
All the techniques shattered when they struck the bubble, but Lindon could feel the impact they carried. The construct couldn’t hold out—and sure enough, the shield itself broke.
That was what Yerin and Eithan had been waiting for.
Yerin shone white and appeared behind Reigan Shen, her sword shining. Eithan stood where she had before, and he drove a Hollow Spear at the Monarch’s midsection. It was so advanced that it actually took on the image of a spear, the triangular head plunging straight for Shen’s core.
He twisted, slamming the back of his fist onto Yerin’s sword as he swung a kick at Eithan’s head.
The force from that simple, mortal movement was hard for even Lindon to comprehend. It was like the Monarch had a Dreadgod sealed inside his body. Just one punch and a kick sent a storm howling through the labyrinth.
Eithan ducked back, avoiding the kick, but Yerin’s sword met his fist head-on. Madra from the collision exploded, tearing the air again, and Lindon felt the world itself ripple. The Hollow Spear scraped past Shen’s middle, vanishing into the wall.
Ziel’s hammer came in a moment later, driven by five layers of Forged script. He swung with his whole body, and while he still hadn’t fully recovered, Lindon felt the strength of an Archlord from him at that moment.
Reigan Shen still hadn’t regained his stance, but he still twisted in midair and stopped the hammer with a palm.
Which was when Lindon, blazing with the Burning Cloak, arrived at his other side. He threw a punch at the back of Shen’s head, and the Monarch spoke.
“Stop,” Reigan Shen commanded.
But Lindon had felt his authority gathering and met it with his own. Their words overlapped.
“No.”
Pain spiked through his head as his will clashed directly with the Monarch’s. It almost worked. Lindon’s fist hesitated for an instant before continuing, but it was enough for Shen to twist out of the way again.
Then Lindon found himself taking a step back again as Reigan Shen fought fist-to-fist with Eithan, Ziel, and Yerin.
Every clash between him and Yerin shook the room, but she couldn’t make him take a step back. He didn’t ignore Ziel’s attacks, but he treated them dismissively anyway, and Eithan…
Lindon found that strange. The fight had only continued for a breath, but Shen had made sure to dodge all Eithan’s attacks.
Spiritual attacks, Lindon realized.
[Agreed. I’ve sorted the appropriate constructs.]
Lindon switched to his pure core as Dross linked him to several constructs. A second later, and Lindon joined the fight again.
A sword of Forged cyan madra appeared in his hand, and he swiped at Reigan Shen, who dodged at the last second. Lindon followed up with an Empty Palm, and Shen was forced to face him for the first time.
That gave Eithan and Yerin an opening, and Yerin began Forging her Netherclaw technique as Eithan dropped stars of pure madra that speared down from the sky.
Reigan Shen blurred as he leaped, cracking even the protected stone of the labyrinth. He created distance, but Mercy had already webbed the top half of the room in soulfire-enhanced Strings of Shadow. As he broke through, a sphere of shadow expanded around him. The Dream of Darkness.
His mind and spirit would be protected from such things, but it should slow him down for a moment.
No one needed a reminder.
Lindon raised both his hands and filled the space with black dragon’s breath. Eithan launched a Hollow Spear, Yerin slashed with Netherclaw, and Ziel accelerated his hammer through several rings of script so that it cracked like thunder as it plunged into the shadows.
[Danger!] Dross called to everyone, and Lindon switched back to his pure core. The Hollow Domain erupted from him just in time.
A slash of orange light split the room in half like a sunrise, dissipating the Dream of Darkness. Reigan Shen hovered in midair despite the lack of aura in the room, a misshapen orange sword blazing in his hand. It gave off an overwhelming pressure no less than Shen’s own.
A chill ran down Lindon’s spine as he felt Dross’ alarm focus on spider-thin cracks that slowly vanished in front of Reigan Shen. He had, however temporarily, cut through the world itself.
“I’ve kept you company long enough,” the Monarch said. “I don’t like to work so hard.”
A green feather emerged from a case at his side, and suddenly the room was filled with wind aura.
None of them waited for him to do as he wished. Striker techniques speared toward him, but slashes of orange light flickered out and struck them down, though his sword didn’t seem to move.
A moment later, nine tridents appeared, shining green with death madra that reminded Lindon of the Tomb Hydras. They hovered in the wind aura, and Lindon’s heart sank. The Soul Cloak bloomed around him.
Even by a Monarch’s standards, these were no ordinary weapons. They had a powerful will to destroy that resonated with the aura all throughout the labyrinth.
These tridents were hungry.
And one flashed at each of Shen’s enemies. Dross slowed the world down, and Lindon extended his left hand to the trident spearing toward Mercy.
He could feel the will compelling the trident to seek life, and rather than oppose it, he redirected it.
“To me,” Lindon ordered.
The trident swerved and headed to Lindon, but it wasn’t as fast as the one that was already about to reach him.
This one, Lindon reached up and caught with his right hand.
Ordinarily, that would have been a fool’s move. The Soul Cloak gave him the speed and precision to catch it, but he shouldn’t be strong enough to hold back such a weapon.