Ashborn Primordial

Chapter 198: Strength of the Gods

Vir learned that a battle between god-entities was neither short nor simple. It was an epic, drawn-out affair.

The battle in the sky had raged for the better part of a day. If there were days in the Mahdi Realm. Which, of course, there werent, which only made the time feel longer to Vir.

The time had allowed him a nearly full recovery. The pranites had stitched his arms and legs back together after only a few hours, and after a couple more, he was walking again. Soreness remained, but at least he was back on his feet.

Also, the three surviving Ashfire wolves had rejoined him. Vir was elated to discover that the runttheir leaderwas among them.

Theyd moved to the top of a nearby roof to watch the fight unfold and had been there ever since.

As for why Vir continued to stick around The case inside the vault held two prana cores. The Yaksha guardian likewise had sources of power, leading Vir to believe that the Yaksha might have cannibalized those very cores. If it lost, there was a possibility that Vir could recover those cores.

The chances were slight; he knew. Wyrms tended to consume everything down to the tiniest bit, though from what Vir had seen, they consumed only organic matter. Would they want to eat the Yaksha? Could they?

Vir might not even have the chance to find out. The two were surprisingly evenly matched, with the Wyrm having the advantage of numbers, and the Yaksha invulnerability.

It was hard to tell from afar, but thus far, the Yaksha looked no worse for the wear. The Wyrm, on the other hand, was less than a third of its initially colossal size.

Still colossal, but less godlike. Cirayus might have reprimanded Vir for relying on wily tactics instead of confronting his enemy with his own strength, but hadn't the demon used similar tactics himself? It wasn't weakness... It was just being smart. He was sure Cirayus would agree. Rather, it was more likely that Cirayus saw Vir lacking in strength, and had harped on its importance to get him to prioritize it. Knowing Cirayus, Vir felt that was extremely possible.

Vir observed keenly, knowing that nothing came for free. Like Ashani, the Yaksha consumed energy from its prana cores.

It was a race against time. Would the Yakshas energy cores deplete before the Wyrm died? Or would the floating conglomeration of constituent worms win this battle of attrition?

Beams of red and blue blazed through the sky as the Wyrm was whittled down further and further.

Vir retreated to a more distant rooftop, barely keeping the combatants in sight. It helped that the Yaksha had grown, standing nearly forty paces in height, but at this distance, both looked like tiny specs. Vir didnt dare linger any closer.

The battle that had raged unrelentingly suddenly came to a stop. The Yaksha slowed, and froze, its six-blade arms freezing mid-swing. It shrunk back down, out of sight. The Wyrm, now barely ten paces long, hobbled away. Victorious.

Notably, Vir hadnt seen its constituent mini worms drop down to feed on the Yakshas corpse.

Vir waited ten full minutes, scanning the distant tower for any sign of the Yakshas signature, or any indication that the Wyrm might return.

There were none. The rooftop remained lifeless.

Hesitantly, he dropped down, approaching the building in which the vault sat. Vir scaled the outside with his wolves, leveraging handholds to Blink his way up.

His heart beat with excitement and fear. What if the Yaksha was still alive, biding its time? It was foolish, Vir knew, to tempt fate. Especially knowing what he now knew of the guardians full potential.

And yet, would the Yaksha simply give up like that? After hours and hours of fighting? Why expend its precious energy?

A theory formed in Virs mind. Hed already suspected the guardians mind had broken over the years. How would such a being behave? What would it want?

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Vir reached the roof, finding it pristine. The battle between the two gods hadnt so much as left a scratch on the building.

The Yaksha stood stock-still, staring off into the distance with its eyes unfocused. To Vir, it looked undamaged. To Prana Vision, it was well and truly dead.

When the guardian had mimicked the form of the wolf earlier, it had masked its signature, but even then, it hadnt been able to completely hide its twin hearts.

Now it was invisible, without even the faintest hint of prana, not even from its cores.

Vir carefully circled the guardian, ready to Blink away should it show even the faintest signs of life.

But even when he touched it, it remained unmoving. All three of its faces looked content. Their serene expressions reminded Vir of how one might look when they passed on, if they left behind a life lived without regret.

Or if theyd finally found the release theyd so long sought.

It sounded so unlikely at first, but now Vir couldnt say. Was it so outlandish for a guardian to go mad, having spent its entire life alone in this blighted wasteland? In the deepest part of the Ashen Realm, where prana poisoning was at its worst?

Vir recalled Ashanis words. Ashani is affected, but in mysterious and esoteric ways.

He thought shed just been playing around, but what if this was what prana poisoning did to Imperium Automatons?

What if it hadnt been toying with me? What if

What if it was yearning for someone to come along? To release it from its prison?

The guardian protected the vault. Vir was a clear threatperhaps the only sapient being to venture there after Ashani had. It could not leave, and yet it could not die.

Vir pressed the cold metal plate on the Yakshas back. It hissed open with a puff of steam, revealing two black orbs. Empty cores.

He reached out slowly and grasped the first one, twisting it from its receptacle.

It was only when he removed the second core that he was sure.

It was trying to die. Thats why it didnt kill me.

Perhaps that was why the Yaksha hadnt vanquished the Wyrm, either. Whatever will that lingered within it must have compelled it to fight. Had it dragged the fight on intentionally? All to drain its cores?

Rest in peace, guardian, Vir said softly. Youve served your purpose.

He stood there a moment longer, wondering what its life must have been like. Four thousand years was an inconceivably long time to live. Patrolling that building its entire life in the darkness

He looked around at the dead city. At the falling ash that now piled up on the Yakshas dead body.

Does Ashani feel the same?

Such a calamity had befallen her people. Such utter devastation. Vir now felt foolish for agonizing over his own issues. They seemed so trivial compared to the extinction of an entire people.

What did it matter if he took a few extra weeks to cross the Ash? What significance did human hatred for demons have next to an apocalypse of this scale?

Vir couldnt say how exactly, but his experience here at Mahdi had changed him. Of that, he was certain. When he left, he would not return as the same person he had been. How could he? Hed seen too much. Hed seen how gods lived. And hed witnessed their terrible fall.

How many years would humans need to construct something as advanced as the Yaksha? As Ashani? A thousand? Five? Ten?

Virs fingers tightened around the prana core in his hand. He had to save Ashani. She might have been the most precious being in all of the three realms.

Lets go. Vir called to the wolves and jumped off the roof.

Returning to Ashanis home came with more relief and security than Vir had expected. Tension that had knotted itself up into balls came undone, and he breathed easily the moment he arrived back at familiar territory.

It was no wonderhed delved deep into the depths of hostile territory, after all. The land where monstrous demigods lurked.

His relief was short-lived. The wailing screech of a Wyrm in the distance prompted him to search the sky. It was the Wyrm from the fightthe one that had nearly died.

Whyd it have to flee here, of all places? Vir thought, groaning.

Still, the Wyrm was some distance away. It hadnt noticed him. There was little he could do against such a beast other than hiding indoors.

Thank you, Vir said to the wolves, crouching downmainly for the benefit of the smaller leader. Thank you for guiding me. I Im sorry about what happened to your friends. I truly am.

The wolves regarded him silently. He couldnt tell what they were thinking. Were they judging him? Did they blame him for their brethrens passing?

If they were merely Ash Wolves, Vir wouldnt feel as bad. But these were obviously highly intelligent beings. And they were friends of Ashanis.

Their sacrifice was not in vain, Vir said firmly. They had done their part. It was now on him to make good on those words.

Vir took the lift up to the door, then made his way down to Janaks pristine white lab.

Three empty cores. Three chances to get it right. Ideally, he wanted to fill all three for Ashani, but knew hed destroy at least one in the process. There was the issue of understanding why the core hed filled had crumbled, but moreover, he needed a way of charging them even faster.

There was a risk therewhat worked at a lower rate might stress the orb too much when pushed faster.

Vir was sure that the method hed used to fill Ashanis core was similar to how he used prana to power Talents. Until hed learned Prana Channeling, which guided the prana carefully where it was needed, hed simply thrown prana at the muscles in question, without fine-tuning the exact amount that resulted in the most optimal result.

Three filled cores were a success, but two was Virs minimum. With another two cores, Ashani would have enough power to stay awake, even without her hibernation cycles.

That way, she could tour the realms with Vir, just as she wanted. He could fill her up whenever she ran low, but even if she spent years on her own, she wouldnt run out with two cores.

He laid each core out in front of him, then took a deep breath and got to work.