Strands of warmth crawled from point to point on Sol’s body. She felt as if she were sleeping in a cradle. Her mind was dazed and her thoughts clouded. There were periodic glimpses of the surrounding situation and moments of clarity that processed those blips at lightning speed.
Every moment of clarity warned Sol about her current state and nearing future. Magic was flooding into her without restraint and she could tell The Unchained Queen Beast method was outside of her control. The model consumed the magic and refined it into a strange metallic material that diffused across her body.
Her consciousness faded once again and only awoke after a massive burst of magic was injected into her. Her mind was shocked awake by the burst and in her moment of clarity, saw a blood red spear disintegrating. With more will available to this awakening, Sol leaped into action to take control over the magical model.
Bits of clarity and spiritual awareness clumped together under Sol’s will. She soon found herself overlooking her soul once more, however there was another figure beside her as well. Though she couldn’t determine the intruder’s identity, she couldn’t feel any threat from it.
Her attention returned to her soul which was covered in a silver film. Soul flames raged about the film as if her refinement was still in action. Despite that, she couldn’t feel any pain. With but a moment of will, surges of magic slammed into segments of the fire and extinguished it.
Sol made quick work of the remaining flames. Each attempt utilized every effort she could muster. She felt as if she were dragging weights behind her every action. The magic saturating her system was lazy and dense. She felt as if she was slinging mud at the flames, however she was clear her actions were making measurable progress.
After nearly half an hour, the flames were put out. The soul laying before her made Sol’s eyelids twitch. The slight discoloration of her soul she expected had gone beyond those expectations. In fact, she wasn’t sure what to do with what she was seeing.
Silver. Her soul was tinted silver. The bluish hue that calmed her heart in the last refinement was replaced with a metallic silver hue. She wasn’t sure how to deal with the situation, however she felt her spiritual awareness strengthening at a rapid pace.
By all accounts, she felt the refinement completed with a resounding success. That being said, the mysterious taint of her soul wasn’t her only problem. Although her clarity was gradually gaining momentum, The Unchained Queen Beast model was still running in overdrive without her consent.
With a mere thought, her spiritual awareness turned inward to her own body. Her brows furrowed at a glance. The unidentified existence near her heart had grown in size, adding yet another problem to her list. After giving it a quick glance, she verified what she already knew, she couldn’t see inside it or detect anything related to it.
Another problem, another item for the queue. Sol tossed the growth to the back of her mind and focused her spiritual awareness around her mental domain where The Unchained Queen Beast was crunching through magic.
The infested appearance was gone, however what remained was just as confusing. Components of the old model that rotted had disappeared. In their place, geometric containers with traces of silver pulsing along the lines were placed comfortably.
The whole model was functioning as if it were always formed that way. Needless to say, the model was outside of her control at this stage. Though she tried, the model rejected her input. It continued single mindedly converting magic into the metallic material.
Sol followed the metallic substance from the model and found it was dissolving into her body. After a detailed observation, she concluded her body was nearly 5% of the material. She shivered at the revelation. It was clear the model was determined to replace her system with the material.
Just as she was about to struggle for control over the model, Sol halted her own actions. Sol recalled An’s words about Assemblers… “The potential is there, but your soul and body are still very much Human” Her hesitation strengthened after remembering his following words. “Obviously, that means you’ll be reconstructing your body over time to be better suited to storing, manipulating, and defending against magic.”
If her body was still human, and remodeling it was part of the process to strengthen her, then should she interfere with the model? By all accounts, the process wasn’t painful and An had already told her the model practiced by an Assembler determines the adjustments the body goes through. In that case, should she allow this to continue?
The Unchained Queen Beast model is obviously adjusting her body to suit the model more. Had An heard Sol’s thoughts, he would have smacked her silly. What model converts pure magic into a material substance? What model alters the body in real time? Those with altered physiques required years to adjust to it. Some over a period of thousands of years depending on the degree of change.
Regardless, Sol was unaware of this and chose to assist the model. Rather than force it to a halt, she struggled to gain control over the model and then assist it. The model required magic? Then she’d gather it. Sol could feel the outside world was currently flooding with an abundance of magic.
Unaware that the magic gathered due to her, Sol concluded the abundant magic was residuals of An’s battle. She focused her mind and engulfed the silver spire.
An and Dorothy exchanged blows with the enemy across from them. The man appeared in good shape, however he was gasping for air. Their exchange had only lasted nearly 30 seconds, however he was already nearing his limit.
Magic poured from his system as he fought An and Dorothy with everything he had. In the sky, Victoria and Romero watched the fight with caution. Twice now, An managed to break away from the fight and engage Romero. Had Victoria not remained alert, Romero would likely have been killed on the spot.
“Dorothy,” An spoke to Dorothy through his spiritual awareness. “This King will engage this guy at full strength. Those Assembler’s can’t be allowed any more time. That spell is nearing completion.” Dorothy’s eyes glanced at the magical construct flickering in the sky.
The high tier magic would have fired long ago if not for the fact the silver spire was stripping magic from it as it was constructed. Evenso, she suspected they had less than 20 seconds to dismantle it or it would be beyond their ability to protect Sol.
Just as she was about to make her move, a familiar spiritual awareness engulfed her and An. The two held shocked expressions and the man they were fighting was shocked as well. His gaze was on the silver spire.
The Assemblers on site had their spiritual awareness rush to the spire after seeing the situation change. The solid spire showed signs of collapse. Black fractures spiderwebbed across its surface and a silvery material leaked from the cracks like blood.
All members on site then felt a dreadful pull on their magic. The massive construct in the sky ripped apart as its fuel source was forcibly torn from its frame. An and Dorothy felt the pull as well, however managed to escape the main negative effects. Though Assemblers, the two were classified more in the realm of reinforcement and self buffs rather than assault types.
The man across from them was similar, though his eyes were still filled with horror. A flicker of determination raced across his face and his figure disappeared from sight the moment An and Dorothy were distracted.
The next thing anyone saw was the man appearing at the base of the spire with a glowing artifact in his hand. “Aaaarraaaagh!” Magic exploded from his body and flooded the artifact the moment he appeared. The artifact emitted a bright light and moments later, detonated. An and Dorothy erected shields and reinforced their bodies through sheer reaction. Victoria teleported from sight with only a silhouette of fire remaining behind.
Remero, drained from channing his magic into the high tier construct, failed to react in time. The blast wave struck him directly and tore his limbs from his body. Unable to handle the blast, his life was soon torn apart as well.
A far distance away, Commander Euroci of Glondal City nearly collapsed in fright at the growing fireball lighting the night sky. He and the rest of Glondal watched the dome of fire grow larger and larger. It appeared like a beast that would consume the world. Seconds later, the earth beneath Glondal City shifted.
The land crumpled and twisted under the immense force pressing down on it. Soon, the growing ball of fire consumed Glondal City as well. As the dome finished its expansion, its tip continued to reach into the sky. Soon, all that was left of the apocalyptic event was the column of black plume that appeared as if it were an obsidian stake driven into the earth.
As lightning tracked across the column of smoke, space itself ripped apart and from it stepped a young boy with red eyes. The moment his figure appeared, the world itself seemed to bend to his will and an invisible pressure descended on the region.
The boy’s eyes searched the area and an immense spiritual awareness spread out to cover the entire blast site. Within that split second of searching, he gathered everything he needed. The boy’s figure flashed and soon, he was standing at the center of a massive molten crater. Before him, was a rip in space. His brows furrowed as he felt the signature An reported was coming from inside the rupture.
