Nightmare Realm Summoner-Chapter 206 - 204: The Promise

Power exploded out from within Alex with the roar of an ocean breaking through a dam. It tore out through his body and carved its way into the world with the iron-fisted authority of a king.

The world changed.

Reality twisted as a blurry image took form all around the clearing. Rippling, hazy shapes overlaid themselves over the world. Even as shattered buildings took form, frozen midway through an explosion and their fragments suspended in time, even as the trees around them warped and the world rewrote itself, a sense of odd familiarity rang in Alex's head. Even before the snakes of purplish-red mist twisted through the air around him, he realized that he knew this sensation.

He knew where he was. Or, more accurately, what he'd brought to him.

"The Mirrorlands." Orchid's eyes widened as she took a step back in surprise. Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on her staff. "You brought them here? What kind of Soul Manifestation is this?"

Alex barely heard her.

His mind had never felt power like this. It was like holding onto a live wire. Tingling energy tore through his entire body in a seemingly endless feedback loop. It raced down his fingers and twisted through the insides of his skull like the fingers of some alien being.

The feeling was practically euphoric.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel the flow of power running from his opened gate to the reality around him. The Soul Manifestation's existence was limited. He could only hold it in reality for so long.

Orchid hadn't been entirely correct with her assessment. Somehow, Alex knew exactly what he'd done. He hadn't brought the actual Mirrorlands to 274-50. That would have been too great a task.

The Mirrorlands existed everywhere. It contained every single reality and more. Far, far more. It was a world so immense that he couldn't even begin to try and comprehend it. Trying to move the Mirrorlands itself as foolhardy.

So he hadn't tried to move it at all.

Alex had just briefly cracked the barrier between the two worlds.

Opening a pathway between them was hardly foreign to him. He'd used Berith's powers to rip Rifts open. This was just a much broader application of that. Since the Mirrorlands existed in this very same point of space, he'd just invited a tiny amount of it to spill out on 274-50.

"First you get mad that I don't use my Soul Manifestation, and now you're shit-talking it?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes. He still didn't actually know what his Partial Soul Manifestation did. The longer he could keep Orchid talking, the more time he'd have to figure it—

The huge hand of molten lava that Orchid had summoned swung down. Alex would have cursed if he had the time to waste. He felt her magic enter his domain like a needle had slid into his skin.

His influence over the areas that her magic presided in was vastly weakened. Buildings flickered in the hand's wake and faded in and out of existence, threatening to sputter out completely.

Alex didn't get a chance to ponder over just why that was happening. Orchid's massive molten hand was hurtling toward him with a terrifying speed, and it didn't look like his Soul Manifestation was about to do anything to stop it.

Shit! I need to—

The world jerked around Alex. His stomach lurched up into his throat and he stumbled. The ground his feet changed. He suddenly found himself standing on the other end of the clearing, near the edge of where his powers had twisted reality to call an image of the Mirrorlands into being.

There was a sharp tug on his soul as he felt the power flowing from the gate in his Mind Palace intensify.

Holy shit. Did I just—

A resounding crash an instant later marked Orchid's hand as the massive molten appendage slammed into the ground. He spun toward it, just to confirm that his eyes weren't tricking him.

The hand had landed on the opposite side of the clearing. It was exactly where Alex had been several moments ago… but Alex wasn't there anymore.

He'd teleported.

It was the exact same ability that the shadow monster lurking within his gate had possessed. The ability even feltthe same. A slow grin crept across Alex's lips. He was starting to enjoy this.

A lot.

"You missed," Alex called.

Orchid spun toward him. Her lips parted in disbelief, but only for an instant. She wasn't taken off guard so easily. The molten hand swung toward him once more, blurring through the sky on its path toward Alex.

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But he wasn't there anymore.

The world lurched.

Alex was gone — and then he was back again. But this time, he stood directly in front of Orchid.

He threw his weight into a punch before the mage could even properly register that he was there. His fist slammed into her jaw. Orchid's head snapped back and she stumbled, nearly tripping over her own feet.

She recovered quicker than Alex had expected. The ground beneath him ignited with brilliant orange light as lava exploded up to envelop him whole, only to find that he was no longer standing where he had been.

The world shifted once more, and Alex appeared to Orchid's left, his body already twisting as he threw another punch at her stomach. She spun to block it — and then Alex was on her other side.

A pained hiss tore from her lips as his fist dug into her side. Orchid stumbled back. The ground lit beneath him, but Alex didn't stick around to wait for her magic to go off. He teleported once again, this time appearing behind Orchid.

An unexpected wave of weariness drove into Alex like a hammer. He was horrified to realize that the flow of power coming from his gate had nearly halved. Even though he'd only teleported a few times, Alex had spent fifty percent of the power that his Partial Soul Manifestation possessed.

Orchid took advantage of his momentary lapse in attacks to call for her lava once more. Her massive hand reached out toward him as the ground beneath him cracked — but Alex's moment of weakness was passed.

He'd used half of his power. That just meant he had the other half left to wrap things up with. A few more teleports was all he needed.

The world shifted.

Alex appeared behind Orchid. His leg slammed into hers as he swept her legs out from beneath her. The mage lost her footing and fell back, hitting the blackened ground with a thud. Confusion and disbelief warred in her eyes even as the breath was knocked from her lungs.

Orchid rolled to the side as Alex drove his foot down for her stomach. She lashed out with her staff, but he was no longer in its path. He'd teleported once again, this time appearing in the direction she'd been rolling.

His foot slammed into Orchid's nose as she tried to rise. It connected with a loud crack. She rolled with the blow, skidding across the ground before digging her staff into the hardened dirt and shoving herself to her feet. Blood dripped from her nose. It was definitely broken.

"What kind of power is this?" Orchid asked, her voice nasally. She reached up to her nose and jerked it back into place without so much as flinching. "I've never seen a Partial Soul Manifestation like yours."

"Dunno," Alex replied. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. It took everything he had to keep the strain from his features. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. His Soul Manifestation was immensely taxing. But if he let Orchid know that, he was done for. "I just got it. Maybe I could have answered if you'd given me more time to figure it out. So… you giving up?"

I don't know if I've got the energy to teleport again. I might. But it'll be the last time. After that, I'm completely spent.

Orchid's lips twitched in amusement. She tightened her grip on her staff and shifted her stance. "The fight isn't over yet. Finish the job. If you can't even take me out, then you'll have absolutely no chance against Absolution… and don't even think about the Starfallen."

Figured she'd say that.

Alex cracked his neck. The huge magma hand loomed over Orchid, but she wasn't swinging wildly with it now that she knew what his powers were. She was probably waiting for him to attack so she could counter by calling lava up from beneath her.

Adrenaline pounded in Alex's head and mixed with the thrill of the fight surging in him. It fought to pull his thoughts away from the task at hand. If it had its way, he would have just reveled in the fight… right up until Orchid flattened him into a pancake because he wasn't actually thinking.

If I just teleport up to her again, she might just catch me with that lava she can summon beneath herself. She's used to my attacks already. I need something…

Else.

Alex's lips twitched. There was one spot that Orchid couldn't attack. Not without hitting herself in the process.

He drew on his power once more. And then, with a thought, he teleported.

The world shifted.

Alex appeared, not beside Orchid, but directly above her. She didn't even have a chance to look up before he drove both of his feet down into the top of her head. Her jaw snapped down and slammed into her chest as she crumpled.

The blow was nowhere near enough to actually take her out, but Alex wasn't done. Even as he fell to the ground alongside Orchid, he grabbed her staff with both of his hands. Alex jerked back as hard as he could, planting a foot on her stomach and ripping the weapon from her grip.

He felt his domain shatter before he'd even hit the ground. The twisting mists of the Mirrorlands evaporated as if they'd never been there. Then his shoulder hit the dirt. Alex rolled, rising to bring the staff around in a blur.

It came to a stop against Orchid's neck as she went to push herself up from the ground. And, in that moment, it struck Alex that the immense heat emanating from Orchid's Partial Soul Manifestation was gone.

The hand had disappeared.

Orchid stared down at the tip of her own staff that was now pressed against her neck. Both of them were fighting to catch their breath. Their domains were gone, Alex's spent and Orchid's canceled by the loss of her conduit.

"I'd say this counts as a win," Alex said. Sweat rolled down his forehead and dripped into his eyes. He didn't dare wipe it away. Until Orchid admitted the fight was over, she could still try to turn things — and if she got her staff back, it was over. "Unless you want me to finish the job to prove it. Don't try to grab your staff. Your arms have to move all the way up to it, but mine only have to push it forward a few inches."

Orchid stared up at him for a second. Then her shoulders slumped. She let her head fall back to the ground and a small, relieved smile pulled across her face.

"No. That counts. Thank the Matriarch. You win."

Alex let his arms drop. He flopped to the ground beside Orchid, fighting to catch his breath.

Never seen someone happy about losing before. Guess there's a first for everything.

"That means you'll be sticking around?" Alex asked, turning his head to look at her.

Orchid wiped the blood from her nose with the back of her hand. "Getting strong enough to push me this far in just a week… you might actually have a chance against Absolution. It might be the best chance my family has. I suppose that was the reason he wanted you eliminated. Wipe the potential out before it has a chance to grow."

"So…"

"Yes. I'll keep to my word. I suppose I'm staying."