Master of Dominion-Chapter 84: Territory’s debuff

Xaphxan watched as his thunderbolt collided with the abomination that had sent a shiver down his spine, for the face it carried seemed familiar to him; yet, he quickly slipped into action, not planning on losing Rael this opportunity.

He turned towards the center of the compound and pointed his hands towards the center array as electric currents pulsed through his arms, accumulating into a tiny, sparkling ball of lightning.

He bore through the numbness that assaulted his nerves before sending the bolt towards the sigil’s moon-like control rune.

BOOM!

The bolt crashed into the ground, shattering it and sending a ripple through the connecting lines and symbols up to the fences and the dome that stood above, immediately causing it to shatter into transparent shards that dissipated before touching the ground.

The sisters were alerted by the shattering sounds of the sigil, immediately causing Ayobe to pause in her tracks and towards towards Xaphxan.

"What have you done?" she yelled in disbelief, thinking Xaphxan seemed to have betrayed them; but yet, it was just her that carried that thought, because both Yasmin and Iyvre had already taken notice of small clues that hinted at this being a coordinated plan between Xaphxan and Rael,that madman that immediately proved them right .

Rael followed the instructions on how aether was meant to be stimulated and conjured into the necessary circuits within the body; but yet, he didn’t have one, so instead he used his WarMaster’s Precision state to conjure his aether into the sword he held to his head. At the same time, he went through the process of casting the Eye of Critic spell, causing his eyes to glow crimson red as well as the sword.

But instead of the usual red hue that appears before the casting of the Blood Rend technique, a crackling red current coursed through the sword, turning it into a glowing rod of red lightning that scorched the pile of Withered corpses beneath him as well as his arms.

It would seem he had no control over whatever ever spell he’d conjured as it quickly drained out almost all the aether he had preserved, leaving him with just five percent; not only that, the spell even seemed to use him and the sword as a whole circuit.

Rael forced his arms to move through the spasms that coursed through his already failing nervous system and hauled the rod of crimson lightning towards the recovered Arzuk.

The red rod, crackling with red sparks now free and cut off from the only circuit that kept its structure from collapsing, struck the figure of Arzuk, whose dulled but active instincts screamed at him, prompting him to swat his long, razor-sharp claws to knock away the rod. However, that immediately triggered a reaction from the already collapsing spell.

kaBOOM

A tearing noise rippled from the point of contact as the rod imploded on itself, sending a resounding force outwards, with Arzuk being the sole receiver of all that kinetic force, closely followed by the aether crimson lightning explosion.

The force basically shattered the ground within a seven-meter radius, sending Rael and the Withered spawns flying backwards with so much force that it ripped the spawns apart and left Rael with several fractured bones.

As for Arzuk, not only had the force of the implosion crashed into him, sending him flying in the exact direction Rael had intended which was toward the territory,it had basically destroyed the upper half of the creature, from its torso up to one side of its face.

The trajectory of the blast had even left a deep, narrow crater that led into the territory, destroying the fences in its way and even demolishing a longhouse that was the armory.

From within the rubble, the abomination that was Arzuk felt the loss of an arm and its torso along with many of its tentacles; though it felt no pain, its fractured mind couldn’t help but feel something worse which was fear.

It felt the air tighten around it as a pressure descended upon it,a pressure that seemed to carry disgust at its nature and rejection. The invisible force even caused a burning sensation from the open gashes on its injured form. The force made it feel pain, and that feeling was new to the Withered parasite that had taken hold of Arzuk, making it shriek in agony. It forced out the little fragments of Arzuk’s memories that carried pain making it more agonizing for the creature

Its instinct roared at it to flee this area and the unseen force that seemed to be weakening it quickly, making its form even heavier

Of in the distance, Rael groaned as he climbed to his feet, staring back at his territory. He felt the tingling sensation that alerted him to intruders resounding more loudly in his mind than ever before.

Rael staggered before sending his aether into the necessary parts of his trembling body to hold himself together. He eyed the black axe that had been blasted away by the force of his failed but effective spell immediately darting back toward the territory, grabbing the axe by its handle and gripping it with both hands.

He dashed through the shattered fences into the compound and lunged toward the creature, roaring menacingly as the axe’s sharpened edge hacked into the already exposed torso of Arzuk, whose instincts were too preoccupied with fear and pain to sense Rael’s approach.

SHRIEK!

The attack caused Arzuk to screech in pain before he swung his only clawed arm around, bashing Rael away. Rael had immediately used the flat side of the axe to defend against the sharpened and clearly poisonous claws. The impact sent him backward, but he used the momentum to roll across the dirt just as another bolt of lightning collided with the abominable creature.

BOOM!

Arzuk screeched once more; this time, not only feeling the constraints the thunderbolt had caused earlier but also the sizzling damage to the spot where it landed. He stumbled from the burning pain, giving Rael the chance to roll beneath it huge form and hack at one of it hind legs.

PLIRCH!

The axe sliced through the rotten flesh and skidded to a stop on the robust bone that held the leg together. This immediately caused Arzuk to whip his poisonous tail toward Rael’s crouching figure. Rael could see there was no way he could dodge that attack, but he didn’t have to for he felt, via his Dominion Sense, a white beam collide with the tail managing to tilt the tip away from Rael’s position, causing it to stab into the ground a few feets away from him.

Rael quickly withdrew the axe before pushing himself away from beneath the creature and rolling to a stop beside Iyvre.

Iyvre stared at the wriggling and obviously unfocused eyes of the abomination before them,a thing known as a Withered Prime, an ancient entity rarely birthed during the Withered Nights. Yet, she couldn’t help but direct her gaze to Rael’s almost broken figure, wondering how he even still stood on his feet.

Most of all, she wondered how whatever he had over this compound,the same force that had once drained her and her sisters of their aether seemed to be affecting such a horrific being.

Though she had suspected Rael had a plan to draw the thing out of hiding, she had never for once thought he planned on using what she’d forgotten was his trump card.

Rael gazed coldly at the abominable lifeform that was being suppressed and preoccupied by his territory’s debuff, unable to even attack them. He wasn’t about to deny that when it had first revealed itself, a certain dread had taken over him and not just him, but everyone else except for Xaphxan, who remained within the territory making him conclude that his plan was a go.

Even though he never really planned on slaying the creature for he never really thought he could, honestly ,believing it could be a creature equal to a Rank 3 aether user when two Withered Husks had fallen under its control ,he was happy that wasn’t the case. Yet, the fact that he might not be able to slay the creature even with the help of Iyvre and everyone else was evident in its open wounds.

The rotten flesh seemed to be slowly but surely mending together, even through his territory’s debuff, and that was scary enough. With the aether he had left which he was certain would run out in a few seconds, leading to the collapse of his body he chose one approach which was to hold the creature down until sunrise.

’Which is in...’ He looked at the remaining time left. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

[Tier 4 Quest Activated]

Survive the Withered Nights

Status: Active

Objective: Endure the Withered Nights, a time when corrupted essence floods the land and sanity rots.

Completion: Two minutes, thirty-three seconds

[Reward: ???]

’Two more minutes huh,well then let’s brawl’