The strength he’d gained from draining Crusher stayed with him, and now he was strong enough. Physically. But death madra seeped into him, eroding his life from the inside. It was trying to consume him.
So Lindon Consumed it right back.
The power of the trident soaked into Lindon, and he saw a few flickering images, pieces of the weapon’s will. It didn’t have memories, exactly; not like a living being did. But he pieced together something of an understanding.
These weren’t nine weapons made to work together. This was one weapon, and it had one intention. Nine fangs flashing together.
And it wasn’t happy about having its energy stolen.
The second trident arrived as the first started struggling to pull back. But Lindon had a firm grip on it.
He swung the first trident into the second.
[It will try to dodge, but it is not a true intelligence. Just a naturally formed will. But it is a very good thing that all nine are not focused on you.]
Sure enough, the trident tried to dodge, but it couldn’t keep up with Lindon enhanced by the Soul Cloak. He knocked the second trident out of the air and vented the death madra into the air.
All the while, he watched and thought.
Mercy had used her freedom from the trident to focus attacks on Reigan Shen. Ziel had matched against his trident, Eithan had blasted it from the air and kept his attention focused on the enemy, and Yerin hadn’t even been slowed down by hers.
Why hadn’t Reigan Shen focused all the tridents?
He had kept four back to defend himself, which was certainly more than he needed. If he had sent them all at one person, he would have been able to keep them out of the fight.
[It looks as though he’s trying to preserve your lives,] Dross suggested.
Or the tridents, Lindon responded.
And that hunch felt right. Reigan Shen would not waste his prized collection.
With renewed vigor, Lindon adjusted his grip on the death trident and Consumed again. The madra channels running into his arm strained, and he could feel the binding warping under the flow of powerful energy, but he kept it up.
The trident he’d knocked away turned back to him, and Reigan Shen shot him a look of annoyance.
One of the tridents defending him from Yerin’s attacks peeled away and shot toward Lindon, leaving Lindon fighting three.
Lindon’s thrill at having his theory proved right was accompanied by an equal sense of crisis. If Reigan Shen was fighting them while trying to avoid damaging his weapons, that meant he wasn’t taking them seriously.
And the moment he did, they were going to die.
Lindon was overwhelmed for a moment, and only with Dross’ help did he manage to keep the three tridents off him. Even Mercy shot one down as it was about to hit him, and he focused soulfire and Blackflame madra into the most condensed black dragon’s breath he could make.
With that, he sliced a trident in half.
Yerin and Reigan Shen were clashing in the middle of a visible thunderclap that distorted space, but Lindon still caught the Monarch’s grimace. All eight of the remaining tridents flew back to Reigan Shen, almost impaling Yerin until she dodged.
“Enough of this,” Reigan Shen said. The tridents vanished. “Engrave this memory into your Remnants. For you are privileged to witness the Path of the King’s Key.”
Gold-edged portals swirled open behind him. Five of them; one for each opponent.
Techniques emerged from the portals like serpents leaping from the ocean, and these were not the limited techniques that had been eroded by hunger aura. These were true Monarch techniques, and they blinded Lindon’s senses.
[Processing!] Dross cried.
The scene seemed to freeze, as it often had before. That gave Lindon plenty of time to see what effects Reigan Shen had summoned from the weapons hidden in his void space.
One was a Forged hand, seemingly made of jade streaked with gold. The madra was so dense that it seemed physical, but Lindon could feel that it was dense energy of life and earth. The hand was reaching out for Ziel, and it was going to flatten him.
An orange-white line blasted out of another portal; this was red dragon’s breath, focused to such a degree that Lindon could scarcely believe it. It must have been a launcher construct made from a red dragon Herald, and it shot for Eithan.
Ocean blue tides gushed out of a third portal, with enough pressure that the water itself could crush stone. Inside the depths were glowing, flickering humanoid figures. This was a mysterious water technique headed for Yerin, and it brought an energy of suppression that struck at the soul as well as the body.
A flurry of silver bat-like techniques rushed after Mercy, carrying sword energy complex enough that Lindon couldn’t quite identify its makeup. They were possessed by a furious will, like a swarm of bloodthirsty bees. And their very presence shook his senses until he felt like he was going to bleed from the ears.
This was a technique meant to shred Heralds. Mercy wouldn’t last a second.
A massive sword, so detailed that its blade gleamed in the light, speared toward Lindon, but he paid it no mind. It was made from dream madra Forged solid, and it reminded Lindon that Reigan Shen didn’t know about Dross.
Between pure madra and Dross’ support, Lindon should be able to crack that sword like it was made from cheap porcelain. But the others were in danger.
Dross, what can we do about the technique targeting Yerin?
[Inconclusive.]
Do we have enough time to block for Mercy with the Hollow Domain?
[Inconclusive!] This time, Lindon caught a hint of desperation from Dross’ voice. That was fair, as Lindon was feeling not a little desperation himself.
What can you tell me?
[If we do not intervene, at least three of our allies will likely suffer life-threatening injuries. And I cannot hold on for much longer.]
His hold on Lindon’s perceptions was beginning to slip. The dream madra was thin here, and Dross was still weak. Lindon looked desperately from one of his friends to the other. He could throw himself in front of Mercy, but then he wouldn’t be able to reach Yerin. And what about Ziel?
With the Pure Cloak, can I make it to Mercy first and then get to Yerin?
[It depends on the exact strength of the techniques and how long Yerin can hold on. Most likely, yes. But that leaves Ziel.]
Eithan’s closest to him. Tell him to cover Ziel. Lindon had to assume Eithan had another trick tucked up his sleeve.
[That will be the last significant action I can take.]
Do it!
The world slipped back into motion, and so did Lindon.
He dashed in front of Mercy, the Hollow Domain erupting around him. The world was filled with blue-white madra.
The techniques Mercy was using to defend herself were canceled, and her purple eyes widened in panic as the Strings of Shadow lashing her to the ceiling were wiped away.
The bladed silver bats were not. They were so dense and so much stronger than Lindon that they dove into the Hollow Domain and continued flitting for Mercy.
While they weren’t destroyed, they were weakened.
Lindon slammed an Empty Palm against them, focusing his will and his soulfire on the technique. A Forged palm bigger than his body smashed into the fluttering blades, and they crashed into it like a wall.
But each one pounded against his spirit, and he felt like a window pelted by hail. Each strike left him cracked.
That was when the dream sword arrived. It wasn’t as dense as the spirits of sword madra, so it was weakened more by the Hollow Domain, but still not enough. It plunged into Lindon’s mind, and his concentration was disrupted as it struck.