Itekan couldn't think a chain of thoughts properly, his mind was a complex mess. Seemed the countless amount of times he had had to use his shadow spirit to hear his body and brain had caused him to lose his rational.
His shadow tentacles shot like bullets at Zain, who, now prepared deflected and sent flurry of condensed gravity beams.
The two clashing sent shivers down the spine of Keel Kun, he with a last burst of energy teleported to where Avery was and sent themfar out of the ever increasing range of the attacks.
Itekan's shadow tentacles drew blood with every thrust and slash, with such an intensity it was nearly impossible to dodge but Zain wasn't dwindling either he landed just as much hit to Itekan tearing through his shadow form with his gravity beams. This was a contest of pure power and willpower that begged the question who would give out first.
Despite his overwhelming regenerative ability granted by his shadow spirit. It wasn't of the same level as one of the Denkei forms. Their body structures had been mended and remade to be able to handle the amount of SE that his SS would give at the moment. Unlike Itekan who had skipped three levels when his SE had increased exponentially, his body was not capable of containing that amount of SE.
It was a race of time, and Itekan knew he had to finish this before his body's inner SE veins were completely destroyed. It was similar to his core being destroyed. The result would maim him forever. His life as a hero which had barely begun would end.
Itekan never saw it coming, the attack that tore his body in near complete half hit him unaware, unfortunately that pause, caused him to completely lose the excess SE. Itekan fell unconscious, he fell to the ground vomiting blood and his inners.
His inside flow of SE had been reversed. He jerked as his shadow spirit tried healing him to no avail. This required a complete shut down of his SS then mending the broken barriers. This was something his shadow spirit currently couldn't do.
Essentially he was cooked. With seconds at this rate Itekan would be dead because of the overload of his SS. Zain seeing this walked to Itekan.
He saw and understood what was going on. This kid was a lost cost now, he smiled as he raised his hand to land the killing blow.
Swoop!!
He never saw it coming he couldn't. There was no was his mind could ever have comprehended what happened, one moment he was striking down, the next his head was off and upside down. He watched a pair of feets move closer and closer.
Ahh. Crap. He lost. The Lord God, Noir lost.
That was the last thing, Zain thought to himself as he died.
Carpathia was afraid to move. He did not want to confirm what he already knew was the matter, he had been lax.
As he picked Itekan up, he used his SE to forcefully stop the flow of Itekan's. Then he drained the excess SE in his SS.
He couldn't mend the fractured SS walls, that would have to be done by Itekan himself. However he could prevent the SE from overloading and burning him from inside out.
Carpathia held Itekan close, he appeared where Avery lay unconscious with Keel Kun who was barely breathing.
"C—"
"Thank you, Keel Kun. I owe you" Carpathia said his voice low and grave. Keel Kun understood what it meant to have a legend owe him and simply nodded, he was too stressed to do anything else.
With a wave all four disappeared and appeared just outside of Four Stars Academy. Within seconds Kime arrived. Upon arrival he quickly held relieve Carpathia of the stress of the bodies all over him.
"Chef C, what—"
"Noir, he's awake," Carpathia said, Kime's eyes closed in understanding.
"I see, so—"
"Yes—I have to get the gang back together"
"I know where 'Lucky' is, he never left"
"I'll go get Enasto and him—I believe he's still in the black world"
"Okay then, are you going to wait till Itekan wakes up?" Kime asked even though he already knew the answer.
"I managed to seal Noir and prevent him from desending to Earth, but I don't know how long it would be before he finds a way to break out. I need to be prepared so something like this does not occur again—"
"—I will leave him to you, Kime, please keep him safe"
"I give you my word Chef C"
Carpathia nodded and walked to Itekan who was floating beside Kime. He opened his hand and a spartial ring appeared in his hand. Carpathia looked at the sleeping boy before him.
"Love you, Son" Carpathia said and nodded to Kime who returned the nod. Then he disappeared into the shadows.
Kime turned and led them inside.
***
Mt Dekka...
Vael crawled away from the range of the boulder.
What in the monstrosities of hell is this!!!
Standing before then were gaints, literal giants, they towered over them all, like mountains did to men. And above them stood a man. He wasn't even that strong by the SST he felt from him, yet he stood command over these beings.
He had never seen something as ridiculous as this. The six Knights had been made to look as children before the gigantic rock golems before them.
There were as tall as the mountains themselves, each towering effortlessly above them. All 12 of them. Each stroke with a force comparable to 500 kilotons.
So this is the defense mechanisms of Mt. Dekka.
Kael raised his flaming sword and struck the mountain sized giant earth golem. The resounding noise of the clash reverberated through the valley.
"Brughghh!!!" The Giant's voice echoed as he brought his massive hand down at a speed that belied it's weight.
Clang!!
Boom!!
Thornis had caught one of the giant hand and was holding it with all he had.
"Garhhh!!" Thornis roared as he held on. Kael leaped atop the hand of the massive rock golem and ran up, blistering across its length.
In no time he was on it's head.
"Blistering Sun Over The Morning Skies!!!!" Kael yelled as he struck at the gap between its joints.
Those were the weak points of Golems in general.
He was fairly sure it would damage the thing. He pressed on, completely cutting off one of it's arms.
The thing about Rock golems, as long as they have a source of SE. They would always regenerate any lost body parts. Any injuries and scars would be completely healed as well.
Before he could even celebrate, Kael was smacked across the chest by another Rock golems sending him flying.
Thornis caught another golem's fist mid-swing, "You're strong, but I'm stronger!" He grunted, pushing back with all his might. He landed a blow that complete destroyed the arm of the mountain golem.
Even then the damage didn't last long, it was already regenerating.
Selene danced between the giants, her blades slicing through stone. "They're regenerating!" she called out.
Macabre unleashed a torrent of flames, engulfing a golem. "Let's see how you like the heat."
Mirael's illusions confused the golems, making them strike at phantoms. "Keep them disoriented! Kael head for the guy above—"
Vael observed, "—Yes! Their energy flows from a central source." He pointed to a figure atop a distant peak.
Dr. VonShmit stood calmly, orchestrating the golems' movements. His presence was unassuming, yet his control was absolute.
Kael shouted, "Focus on him! He's the key!"
The knights converged, but the golems formed a protective barrier. Mirael attempted to breach it with a powerful spell, but a golem's strike sent her flying.
Kael caught her, "Mirael!"
She groaned, "I'm... fine." Even as blood stained her slick leather coated armor.
Thornis growled, "We need a new plan."
Vael's eye glowed brighter, "Their energy is linked. Disrupt the flow, and we can weaken them."
Thornis nodded, "Then let's sever the connection."
They coordinated their attacks, targeting the golems' joints and energy nodes. The giants golems were pushed back slowly as they continued their garage of attacks.
Dr. VonShmit raised his hand, and a wave of SE surged, revitalizing the golems.
Kael gritted his teeth, "He's too powerful."
Selene panted, "He shouldn't have this much SE, he's not even an advanced Blue eye form hero"
"You mean he's getting SE from an external source—" Macabre asked.
"It's not impossible as long as—" Vael started, when it hit him.
'It's the mountains, the SE concentration in these mountains are of the charts, he doesn't even need to use his SE to create or control them, he'd have the power of the entire mountain if he were the Regent in the Legend Carpathia's stead.'
'So that's why!' Vael thought as he retreated from a huge boulder coming his way.
"What's the big idea, Vael, were dying here?!" Thornis gruffed as he parried and destroyed an arm.
Vael locked eyes with VonShmit, and in that second he knew they had been tricked. From the onset they already guessed they would attack the mountains in its protectors absence.
The Legend Carpathia was simply using this as a means to wipe them out without doing anything! It was scary! All along he thought they had had the upper hand.
Seems they never left the palm of his hand.
One by one, the knights fell, their strength waning. This was a battle of stamina and tenacity. Something the golems had endless of.
Vael stood alone, facing VonShmit.
VonShmit approached, "Your efforts are commendable, but futile."
Vael raised his sword, "I admit we lost but it wasn't without merit."
VonShmit sighed, "Did you think I didn't know about the receptive capacity of that eye of yours"
Vael gasped in shock, "You knew! And yet you let me capture everything that happened here! Do you really plan so far ahead!?"
"Everything has an order! This was done to show the capacity of the Mountains Dekka, so future others won't make the same choice you fools here made"
Vael couldn't help but laugh, laugh at his own stupidity, and the absurdity of what just happened.
"Well then I see—"
With a final surge, the golems overwhelmed Vael, and darkness consumed him.
Spiritual Energy (SE)
Spiritual Sea (SS)
Spiritual Signature (SST)