I couldn't tell whether the thoughts were mine or bleeding over my Sasrir. My body instinctively rejected facing such a terrible foe, since the novel had hammered it into me time and time again the discrepancies between Ranks. 'Yet, that didn't stop them, did it?'
...yes. If Sunless, that mangy dog with Stockholm Syndrome, and Nephis the IQ Burner could break G3's own system, why couldn't I? I didn't even belong here for Christ's sake, I was practically...an error.
...No, I was a Visionary.
...Or was it the Hanged Man?
....No, none of that. I was....
Or... or....
ę̸̢̢̨͕̤̮͈͖̱͖̦̻͈̭̬̫̟̮̖͓̠͚̻̩͎̻͈̰̬͖̪̮̰͉̀͛́̍͌̋̍̈́̋́r̵̨̡̢̭̣͓̙̣̬͎͎̫̳̘͉͖̯̻̻̟͍̮̺̟̒̇̉̾̂̂̑̾͆̍̆̉̓̀͒̔̌̄̎̈́͑̏̑̓̈́̓̊̀͑̇̀̈́̋͝͝ͅȓ̸̢̛̖͙̱͑̔́̐̃̀̍̓̀͂̔͌͒̒̐͑̈́̌̏̆̑͘͘͝͝o̷̯̩̝̳̞̙͍̜̺͈̖̱̳̩̿̎̓̊̃͌͜ͅr̶̛̛̬̣̠̙͈̳̦̯̥̐́̔̇̈̌̀̌͊͒́͌̏͗̒̐͛̓̇͛̐̽̍̓̂̊͊͆̇̍̒͐̉͐̀̈͊̔̐͌̏͘̕ ̸̢̡̛̺͖̣̯̪̤̰͇͎̱̫̲̺̲̗͚͚̪͉͖͙͚̳̣̭͔̗̣̤̳̭͔̻̮̬̠̙͖̲̖̻͙̓̃̈́̅̓͌̈́̒͐̈͗͂͌͒͆̑̓̆͐͋͊͛̊́̓̅̇̊̽̄͌̂̎͛͂̒̋̀̎̔̚̕̕͘̚̚͠͝ȩ̵̫̖̺͎͙̝̝̹̦̗͎̣͕̘̘̝̣̼͇̒̂͜͜ŗ̶̡̡̨̛̛͍͈͉̻͙͓̣̲̥͎̙̬̳̯̫̜͕͉̱̫̙͎̅̇̓͌̾̌͗̉̾̉̌̎͋̄̓̿̃̄̎̍̇̎̒̾͑͛̓̂͆̽͛̊̕̕̕͝͝͝͝͝ͅr̴̡̢̢̬͙̣̲͓̻̱͖͇͔̲͍͔̩̤̮̫̪̯͉͚̉͛̐̑̃̒̅͛͛̃͊͑̔̏͒̊͗̌̅̌̆̋̍̒͛̍̎̊̆̊̓̑̓̊̽͋͂̋̐̐́͛͊́͜͠ơ̷̡̩̪̘̱̼̯̥̘͓̺͙͚͈͓̲̥̩̘͖̮̩͎̱̣͂̅̅͆̃͑̆͊̚͜r̵̨̧̨̛̜͎̫͖̬̲̠̗̖͓̱͙̪̣̬̱̘̜̻̟̳̱̗̺̪̗͓̝̣̜̝͉̘̦̪͕͖̗̮̗͉̖̓͆͐̃̀̓͒̈́̊̐̎̚͜͝ͅ ̶̧̡̠͍̺̲̟̭̺̳̲̱̞̥͔̦̭͔̥͍͉̭̣̣̪͎̙̦͓͙̜͚̫͎͔͈̼͖̟̼͍̱͍͚͉͚̓̎͑͆͂̈́̊͛̅̂̽̎͊̈́̈́̏̑́͑͌͗̆͊̀̉̄̄̋̐͘̚͜͝͝ͅe̵̜͇̞̜̱̳̗̻͓̟̼̜̜͚͔͑͆̎̔̍̍̈͜͠ͅr̷̨͖̘̖̭̤̯̱̪̥̩͖̺̞̭̺̠̲̤̙̹͓̜̗͕͙͔̈́̓̃̓̋̉́̋̑̊̂͑̈̈́̈͊͒̏͒̇̇̓͛̒͜͝ͅr̶̨̨̛̮̫̺͕͉̥̀̒͒̓͗̊̈́͂̿̋́̄͋͛̿́͗͒͑̾̈̓͌́̄͐̒̒̔́̈́̓̑̅͒̋̋͆̈͌͠͝͝͝ơ̵̛͈̹͌͊̃̀̍͋́̆̆̀̈̓̏͒̈́̔̒̉͂̒̓́̂̄͐̎͛̀͛̚̕r̶͙͚̹̭͓͈̬̦͕̥̤̱͖̰̻̲̜̫͉͚̦̭͗̂̾̄̓̑͆̌̆̂͌̋̔̿͌͑̌̓̕͝͠
"ADAM!"
The voice was followed my a painful slap, jolting me out of...whatever the hell that was. I looked up in shock, nursing my reddened face, to see Sasrir kneeling only afoot away, concern etched into his face. "What the hell happened to you? You started zoning out, then your eyes rolled up and you began convulsing on the spot. Nothing I did except for the slap could get you out of it."
"I...I don't know" I confessed, rubbing the bridge between my eyebrows. "My thoughts just became static, and everything faded away. But..." I took a deep breath. "I've decided you're right, we have to bend the board to our will if we want to survive here. We're outsiders, and the rules of this land have no purchase on us. This," I held up the Unshadowed Crucifix, "is the best proof, as are our very bodies."
Sasrir stared in silence for several seconds before nodding and moving back. In that case, let's start hunting while we still have the majority of the day behind us. Grab onto me, I'll bring you down." With that, he transformed into a shadow layer again, and I found purchase in his folds. That sounded wrong, actually...
We swiftly moved down the Statue and began to circle around its' feet, looking for anything that stood out. Sunny described it as a glade full of broken swords and weapons, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Lo and behold, after close to two hours and spreading out our search radius with the Azure Blade's help, we spotted it.
The glade was less a meadow and more a grim, metallic graveyard. Dozens—maybe a hundred—rusted and broken steel weapons were thrust into the hard ground like headstones, a silent testament to countless Legionnaires that had presumably followed the Slayer and his Cohort to bring back their sun. And at the very back was the guardian we had to slay.
It wasn't a creature in any normal sense. It looked like someone had taken an entire weapons factory and smelted it into a single, horrifying mass of jagged steel, twisted edges, and broken blades. It vaguely resembled a monstrous, golem version of the Iron Throne, hunched over and utterly still. It seemed inactive, dormant.
But Sasrir's face was set in a deep scowl, his body tense. The constant, maddening whisper of the Labyrinth was clearly worse here, concentrated around this... thing.
"A Fallen Monster. Use the Crucifix," he ordered, his voice tight. "Buff us. Now."
No arguing. I summoned the Unshadowed Crucifix, its weight solid and comforting in my hands. Focusing my will, I channelled not its destructive power, but its supportive light. A soft, golden radiance spilled from the relic, washing over both of us. I felt a surge of strength and clarity, my senses sharpening. Next to me, Sasrir let out a sharp breath as the holy energy likely dampened the worst of the psychic static screaming in his head.
The Unshadowed Crucifix, I had found out, was a pure Sequence 4 Characteristics-meaning, it lacked all previous Sequences. It could still use the powers, of course, but if I had Envisioned Aucusces as a Saint then he would be stronger than this Memory. Still, it would do the job here.
Sequence 9-Bard: A melodious and clear tune vibrated from the Crucifix, causing the glade to rustle as the various blades, and the monster at the back, began to stir.
Sequence 8-Light Supplicant: A golden glow settled on both me and Sasrir as the blessing took effect, instantly easing his expression as the negative influences were blocked out, and his shadow seemed to grow darker
Sequence 7-Solar High Priest: As the majority of the blades in the glade had now unearthed themselves, and the steel golem in the back had turned its' face-a real nightmare, that-I quickly recited a quick prayer, directly boosting Holy damage and defence.
As a result of stacking three buffs from progressive Sequences, the spikes on the Crucifix suddenly surged and impaled my right hand. A wave of dizziness overpowered the pain as it felt like all the blood in my arm was drained away instantly. Funnily enough, the process was quite similar to the Radiance: while still present, the Essence drain was actually less than the blood cost.
Sasrir waved his hands and a scimitar of shadows appeared in one, while a jambiya knife, but with a more elongated blade, appeared in the other.
He rolled his shoulders, a predator readying itself. "Good. Let's see what a blessed shadow can do to a pile of scrap."
.....
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