I looked at my five Sentinels with trepidation and excitement.
I'd fought each of them and tirelessly worked to overcome many of their shortcomings and limitations, arming them with so many runic attack arrays, weapons, and tools that even I was green with envy. They'd inspired some much-needed upgrades to my arsenal, and even then, my runesmithing hadn't been the only thing that had advanced in those dilated months I spent in my Domain.
My skill and status had undergone a dramatic change, so much so that my armor seemed mundane in comparison, but it really wasn't.
Name: (Dante Sparda) Axel Warren
Class: Arcane Forgemaster Lv 30
HP:15,000 / 15,000
SP:13,000 / 13,000
AE:23,000 / 23,000
DE:23,000 / 23,000
Strength:1500
Dexterity:1800
Endurance:1300
Vitality:1500
Angel Energy:2300
Devil Energy:2300
Skills
(E) Cloak of the Demon Lord (Master)
Boost all demon spells, skills, and affinities by 200%.
(T) Death Symphony (Adept)
Predator Gaze → Glimpse of Infinity: Allows you to intuitively perceive space and everything in your Perception field. Current field: 15 miles.
Death Shadow: Intuitively spot weak spots in all enemies. Attacking those spots activates a critical that boosts damage by 50%.
Demon's Guile: You have a greater sense of balance, danger, and intuitive control of your body. Your dexterity and perception also receive a 50% boost in effectiveness.
Reaper's Call → Nephilim's Aura: You now generate a passive and active Aura that suppresses the will and stats of those weaker than you by 10%. Boost the skill with 100 AE and DE to increase the effect up to 25%.
Phantom Riposte: Imperfect parries nullify 90% of all physical attacks and 50% of all energy attacks received, while perfect barriers or blocks nullify 100% of all physical attacks and 80% of all energy attacks. You can choose to return the attack at 150% effectiveness.
Feral Flow: Grants a 1% boost in speed, damage, and concentration for every attack you land. The bonus can stack up to 50% and fades in 5 seconds unless you attack again.
(T) Cosmic Promethean Body (Adept)
(E) Gravitational Touch → Gravity Control (Master)
Freely manipulate gravitational forces based on your knowledge and perception of them. Energy cost varies.
(E) Density Shift → Density Control (Master)
(T) Domain of the Nephilim
(L) Arcane Rune Magic (Master)
(E) Astral Wings (Master)
(L) Time Warp (Master)
(E) Telekinesis (Master)
(E) Runic Bomb Making (Adept)
(T) Anathema Flame (Master)
Cardinal Affinity: Anathema Flame has risen to Mid.
(E) Demonic Energy Manipulation (Master)
(E) Angelic Energy Manipulation (Master)
(E) Wind Manipulation (Master)
(E) Advanced Burst → Staggered Carnage (Master)
Release demonic energy in a concentrated burst in your next attack or action. Up to fifteen instances of Burst can be unleashed at once, but they must be charged ahead of time.
(L) Dimension Jump → Dimensional Travel (Master)
Teleport instantly to any dimension or point in space you're familiar with.
(T) Dimension of the Demi-God (Adept)
Increased Land Mass, Authority, and teleportation speed.
Increased Time Dilation:
One month of dilated time every week for Dante Sparda.
Two weeks of dilated time for visitors every week.
Yeah. I know. I'd been going real easy on Rin in our spars, but then again, so had he, considering what our armors were capable of.
Sentinel II (Personal Armor)
Devourer Physique:+1200 to all stats
Evolving Armor
Energy absorption: Current rate 92%
Regeneration:1800 boost to natural physical regeneration.
Energy Core:500,000 AE, 500,000 DE
Enchantments
Shifting Compendium of the Runesmith
Absorbed mutant abilities
Shapeshifting — Both armor design and physical appearance (Mystique)
Energy Siphon — Increased energy draw (Rin)
Metal Creation and Manipulation (Magneto and Piotr Rasputin)
Superstrength (Piotr Rasputin)
Accelerated Adaptation (Armando Monroe)
Super Speed (Pietro Maximoff)
Suffice to say, I liked my odds, but I couldn't quite shake the last of my nerves. I'd never done something like this before, take on an army this size and execute a plan this complex. Yet, I knew I'd come too far to stop now.
Michael, the leader of my Arch Sentinels, whom I'd taken to calling them that, considering where I'd pulled my inspiration from, stepped forward, noticing the distress on my face.
"Do not fear for us, My Lord," he said, his voice rumbling out of his faceplate.
He stood over nine feet tall, with a massive blade strapped to his back controlled by a localized gravity well, while a shield modeled after Wall floated by his side. It stylized him after my first armor, drawing inspiration from Igris, and made him the Vanguard of the bunch.
I didn't have the heart to tell Michael that I wasn't worried about him and his new siblings. Instead, I touched his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Is everything ready?" I asked.
"We've run the calculations and estimate we stand an 89% chance of success," Azrael said in a mellow, synthetic voice.
He was a tall, human-shaped automaton with six hands, each covered in intricate runes that fed into his body and covered nearly every inch of him, both inside and outside.
He was the most magically adept of my Arch Sentinels.
I let out a breath and looked over the rest.
Sariel, the quiet slip of an automaton who favored blades, density, mind, stealth, and space enchantments. She was my spy and assassin.
Raphael was our defense specialist, and he was built like one, too. He was massive, taller than Michael even, with every inch of him covered in complicated runes. He had a light and airy voice, a decision he'd apparently come to himself.
Finally, there was Uriel, the Runemaster.
She was my personal assistant, and in some ways the most dangerous of the bunch. She repaired and renewed enchantments when they were damaged and carried an entire arsenal with her: thousands of bullets and guns, high-velocity rods, field generators, shields, wands, and much more.
She was the most conventional-looking, almost resembling a human. She'd taken to building a convincing shapeshifting enchantment for herself at some point.
"Godspeed, then," I nodded at my motley group. "Give them hell."
They all offered me a quick bow before vanishing with a casual use of their space enchantments, leaving me alone with Uriel.
I looked at her.
"Ready to kill an Alien Warlord?"
"I have created the bombs you requested, if that is what you mean, Lord," Uriel said rather dryly.
I squinted at her, knowing full well she had a personality. You didn't design yourself a whole human body if you didn't.
"I mean, how do you feel?"
Uriel was quiet for a moment, then blinked.
"Excited?"
I sighed, shaking my head.
"Just get us in position."
Rin's POV
The world was distant, muted in the heat and hum of the star. My cells had been pumped full to bursting and then stretched again and again these past weeks.
According to Dante, I had enough juice in me to wipe out all life on Earth and then some, yet I felt no different absorbing a chunk of the tenth star than I had the first.
I wondered if losing most of my energy would change that.
"You ready?" Dante's voice sounded in my mind.
"I was born ready," I sent back, drifting out of the star.
The heat rolled off me, the temperature dropping sharply as I moved through the surface layer and then beyond.
My ring was floating a few thousand miles away.
I flared my Time Warp and crossed the distance in a few short jumps, slipping it on. Then my suit and its enchantments flared to life.
Sentinel II (Rin's Edition)
Devourer Physique:+1000 stats
Evolving Armor
Energy absorption: Current 400%
Regeneration:800% boost to natural physical regeneration.
Energy Core:1,000,000 AE, 1,000,000 DE
Enchantments
Ancient Mind Array Modified (War Gauntlets)
Ancient Time Array
Ancient Space Array
Ancient Durability Array
Ancient Amplification Runes
Absorbed mutant abilities
Energy Siphon — Increased energy draw (Rin)
Metal Shell — Vastly increased durability (Piotr Rasputin)
Superstrength (Piotr Rasputin)
Accelerated Adaptation (Armando Monroe)
Super Speed (Pietro Maximoff)
Mind Shield (Jean Grey)
"Alright then, Mr. Born Ready," Dante snorted. "Set your internal watch. Sixty Earth seconds before we make the jump."
Michael's POV
Space stretched and twisted, and we appeared, facing an armada of ships extending farther than my sensors could cover without amplification. The pre-industrial planet of Scarpico 5 floated behind us, not unlike Earth, but with far more water.
There must have been hundreds of thousands of ships out there, and at the center of it all was a massive behemoth the size of our planet's moon, armed with enough firepower and magic to lay waste to the world.
What our lord asked of us was quite the undertaking, yet we were willing—eager, even. It was why we were made.
"Raphael, if you'd please," I sent.
Raphael took his eyes off the horizon and raised a palm. It glowed with runes, and dozens of drones materialized, rune-covered and buzzing with energy. They zipped off at supersonic speeds, spreading out in a massive grid pattern that protected our front and a vast portion of Scarpico 5's surface.
"Azrael," I called to my second-in-command, the master of magic.
He raised his hands, and thousands of purple orbs shot out. They were the size of humans but shrank rapidly as density and gravity affinities were applied to the Anathema Fire, reducing them to the size of golf balls.
"Sariel," I looked over my shoulder, and she was already gone, teleporting away to begin her grisly work.
And finally, I gathered energy, grabbing my blade and shield from the gravity wells that held them. My body lit up as density and gravity runes spiked, and I activated a few bloodline enchantments.
I projected my voice to every ship with an open communication line and issued my first and only warning.
"Forces of Thanos, the people of Scarpico 5 are under the protection of the Arch Sentinels. Turn back and be spared. Persist and perish."
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