Accidental Reaver

Chapter 207 - 206: Father's Lesson

Eldacar expanded out the natural Domain all tier 3 members of the four races had, encompassing a tenth of a mile. He condensed it down purposely. Ineffective and spread-out attacks would never work against a Diplomat. His sensitive elfish ears pricked at all the noise.

"Knew it was a good idea to spend the last day sleeping with my favorite ladies, and giving the kiddos a visit."

By now, the three of them took up a giant chunk of ground, floating up in the air. Eldacar superimposed the Domain to cover the most of it. He needed the sense advantage and the superior control over the ambient ether in the territory. All Domains amplified the class abilities and pressured those without a Domain.

The gods blessed enjoyed many advantages, overly high attributes, strong abilities and bodies, near-endless resource pools, extreme regeneration, and multiple hearts. The things in their favor outnumbered their disadvantages.

Over his many encounters against Diplomats and Envoys—Eldacar had the good fortune to never battle an Apostle yet—he learned the disadvantages even the better blessed monsters faced. The first being their lack of a Domain, there would be an extreme few exceptions to this, but by and large, only the four races unlocked a class-themed Domain when they reached tier 3.

The other, techniques. An ability outside the Interface, and therefore, as creatures more in tune with the structure that bound Ludus, all but unable to learn techniques with any real mastery. If people in the Edgelands rarely ever upgraded a technique to Expert, the equivalent with monsters, beasts, and creatures would be Apprentice. Like these two Diplomats before him, most never bothered, believing it to be a waste of effort.

On Eldacar's tundra piece, sound echoed across. His two 'guests', a golden lightning succubus and a white wingless avian humanoid demon with a trident, postured together, on guard against Eldacar. The time spent in the battle so far more for gathering information against each other than using raw power. Taking in the red sunlight, the damned lustful whispers of the succubus tried to influence his mind again.

Summoning his epic quality chain, Eldacar infused it with sound, making its very vibrations able to help him control the field. His most trusty partner. A huge reason he'd stalled two Diplomats against the odds. Holy fire seared him, cosmic swirls answered as a bulwark. Sound ripples disrupted the better concentrated Ichor and Divinity within the god creature servants. Eldacar attuned his Constellant Sphere, condensing it for better defense. It let his mastery over Sound Elementalization stay in flux with the Sphere. The echoes focused on ruining the balance of his opponents. At a horrendous disadvantage, Eldacar examined the battle.

A lesson to myself, with one demon already able to target a weakness of mine. Both Diplomats are partially freed from the Defiling Barrier's weakening effect on all god blessed monsters, with that Godking Blessed Banner Apostle Yuriel holds below. I wonder if Succoria is looking for lovers?

His lust knew no bounds. Luckily for others, even himself, the lightning succubus Diplomat, Ynara, stormed his side, landing a gash across Eldacar's chest. All thought bedding the Godqueen, Succoria, bled away with the pain.

Applying Spell Overload and Sound Elementalization on a Star Burst, that astral ability obliterated the ether between Eldacar and Ynara. She spiraled away in the air like a spinning top. The avian demon took advantage of the visual gap Ynara's body created, about to punch Eldacar in the neck.

Resonate sound bounced, interacting with his Orbital Ward. Two stars slammed down into the clawed fist. Eldacar smoothly turned his body, avoiding the strike. A sound vibrating chain ripped out his spatial storage bag, wrapping smoothly over the Diplomat, three stakes consisting of starlight anchored into the ground.

He left the first pillar for Celestial Triangulation. Soft sounds coalesced around what appeared to be a vertical slice of your usual star-lit night sky. Eldacar tugged on the chain, using the force to rip himself away from Ynara's lightning beam, while partially unwrapping the other Diplomat.

The lightning beam crashed into the barrier around Sylen, causing a fissure within it. Those garrisoned scrambled to mend the fissure. The Silver Black Tower's natural regeneration assisted at a subpar pace. Two Envoys took advantage of the opening, rushing in to the battlements, eating multiple hunters and guardians alive.

She appeared. The only living being that made Eldacar question his mastery over sound. Ophelia Cyrn's notes floated from her artifact. Nine different echoes overlapped, a beautiful harmony. Then she twisted it with a wand flick.

From nine angles, the sounds sliced into the Envoys, forcing them back out the barrier. The City Lord walked onto the air. A symphony modified her body composition. Becoming a burst of musical notes, she headed back into Sylen's interior. Voice sounding like a screech, the Avian Diplomat summoned twisting gales, ripping against Eldacar's astral projections.

It spoke. "You lack the ability to luxuriously give your attention to others, Defier."

Ynara streaked across the distance, lightning crackled around her fogging charm, turning into a pink spear. It zoomed and thundered, creating a massive hole in the middle of Eldacar's chest. A rotating star above burst apart into sound and pink-black star dust. The elf's red-white frock coat grayed, the start of him rippling apart.

The lightning succubus began to celebrate, laughing into the sky. "A pity to kill such a handsome man, I would've savored draining him." Lightning crackled from her, forming into a heart, working to shatter the chain holding down her fellow Diplomat. "Carnid, to let yourself be trapped this easily, Avarix nearly lost his token contribution."

Running his talons against the floating tundra island, Carnid scoffed, "A necessary sacrifice, to slaughter a matured Defier. Don't forget to include my contribution in his killing."

Chuckling, Ynara seductively swayed her hips as she closed in on Carnid. "Never, my handsome feathered friend." She touched the chain, still persistently tightening around Carnid, before stiffening. Her features froze.

"The Domain." Is all she said before a hyper-vibrating spiraling black hole cut her at the hip down, taking away an entire leg in its consumption.

An easy-going laugh rippled all around. "The jig is up." Starlight and sound furiously bubbled before shattering the illusion placed over the back corner of the floating land. Eldacar stepped down the pockets of sound in the air, both hands in his pockets.

"Allow the teacher in me to give a lesson even to you monsters." An austere expression replaced Eldacar's genial features. "A Domain remains active until its source dies, and," he raised a finger to the stars above, "Defiers are never so easily killed."

Ynara screamed in fury, white aura worked to regenerate her lost limb, the normally instant process was heavily delayed from sound echoes ripping her innards apart. Carnid's twisters turned into bursts of feathers. Hundreds of other avians littered the sky.

Adapting his Constellant Domain, sound rippled from every inch. Eldacar inverted the pressure vertically using the other technique under his belt, Spell Overload. The diving swarm of various birds plastered against the Constellant Domain's edges. Sensing his epic quality chain weapon about to burst from Carnid's struggling, Eldacar cast Starbind on the humanoid bird. Seven celestial bodies anchored the beast, pulling in opposite directions.

Another star-bound pillar swelled, implanting itself underneath the floating island, cracking into the tundra piece. Humming intermixed with the sounds of struggle.

The second piece is prepared. By my twelve wives, I hope I don't have to use them.

Stardust spread over the land. The Sound Defier used echoes to raise his chain. Grasping it, the vibrating chain coiled back around him, cracking apart at its core. Swirling sound fed into the metal slowly mending it, corrosive Ichor battled the sound to claim over the chain.

Cosmic swirls bloomed all around Eldacar. He bent the Constellant Domain using sound, twisting it further with the limits of Spell Overload. The pressure increased enough to make even his bones creak. Two radiant white auras battled against the Domain, the Diplomats, while ruffled were almost good as new by now.

Narrowing his eyes, Eldacar connected to the Starlit Shard hidden deep within Ynara.

He nodded. Good. A game of pure attrition is a delayed victory for them. The lust-driven man flashed a finger gun at Ynara. "Say, interested in becoming my thirteenth wife? I treat all my women well during the day and keep them satisfied at night."

Recoiling, Ynara stopped her charge. "The defiant are worthy of nothing more than to be my toy." She put on a sultry smile. "Leave your women, and renounce the Defiers. My pets enjoy their place."

Carnid rushed across the distance between him and Eldacar, a gryphon aspect spiritually imprinted behind the Diplomat. His palm smacked into the Defier, shattering bones within the elf. The off-script declaration caused the Diplomat's movements to turn sluggish afterward. He turned his head back to Ynara for an instant. "Entertaining this insect's offer? The succubi have no qualms, do they? Think with more than your—"

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"Starlit Convergence."

Each of the seven star anchors Carnid broke away from earlier clung onto him. Soothing starlight streamed into Eldacar's morbidly harmed chest cavity. Coughing up blood, Eldacar blew a kiss at Ynara, flirting. "For my thirteenth wife."

Infuriated, Ynara started to summon up a thunderstorm, choosing greater destruction over instant dispution she planned for just a moment earlier.

"Women. So easy to fluster." The Defier chuckled, serene eyes betrayed the calculation beneath the flirty exterior. Manipulating this gap into existence through wordplay, Eldacar swiftly uncapped and drank a battle elixir. The burdens around dual technique use and Domain manipulation lowered dramatically.

Reality started to split and fracture, sound waves wormed into the two Diplomats' ear canals, making them both sway. Ynara sped up, using demonic claws to reach for Eldacar's jugular.

"Too late, darling—come give your husband a hug."

Chains burst from under the tundra, tugging at Ynara's back leg, her arm extended out, missing her target by a hair's breadth. Gulping the last of the elixir, solidified sound burst from Eldacar. Cosmic swirls combated the lightning storms summoned above and tore apart the avian familiars summoned by the thousands. Always a victim to his lust, Eldacar tilted up Ynara's face and kissed her, implanting another Starlight Shard. He pulled away instantly, and Ynara gagged.

"You dare to, to—take this seriously—you lascivious man." Ynara flapped her wings, opening up distance, now afraid to come near this lustful Defier. Carnid crushed apart the star anchors completely, ending the Starlit Convergence prematurely. Carnid inhaled, all the birds entered his gullet, making the eight foot tall Diplomat double in size. His Ichor aura sliced apart the starlight and sound waves interfering with their senses and thinking.

"We're falling into his cadence, Ynara. Get a hold of yourself. Our taking this lightly from distrust in serving different Godkings is a disservice to the holiest ones."

Hand over his still half ruined chest, Eldacar dramatically sighed. "A wife should be serving her husband, Ynara. I've been serving you well. Didn't you enjoy the kiss? Who would've known demon girls prefer cherry lipstick?"

"As if I'd ever want something like that from a toy."

"Exciting, a prideful wife with such passion. How I wonder our first night will be?" Vibrations from Eldacar's voice curved, layering all around the Diplomats.

Drowning out Ynara's response, Eldacar ran his senses over the tundra island rising further into the sky—a product of his own efforts.

The Banner's influence has started to lessen with the distance. In a couple more minutes, my limited offensive means as an astralist should be enough to actually kill one of these two monsters. I'll be too drained after that. My best bet is to rely on my chain's control and mobility. My new wife is a feisty one, a terrible husband I am, having to lay her to rest myself.

Eldacar began to wheeze despite himself. The red sunlight mocked him further. Fragments of tundra pieced apart, unable to handle the clash between techniques and raw attributes. Muscle fibers tore apart from Sound Elementalization overuse.

Delightful, I knew failing to become an Elemental would come back to bite me. Tail chasing proved so much more exciting.

Swinging the chain wrapped around his left arm, Eldacar used it to change positions, avoiding the Avian Diplomat's attack. He thought he avoided it entirely until his right shoulder turned into shredded muscle. Reflexively using Starlight Swirls, Eldacar began to regenerate himself. Those two monsters had not a scratch on them, reversing the damage he'd dealt to them over the past hours. They were wearing him down.

The scent of sandalwood and his own blood followed him wherever he went. Sonic sound shielded him from Carnid's pursuit for a second. Ynara's was the speed to Carnid's power. She easily got around Eldacar's improvised defenses. Hence why he insisted on throwing her off mentally, rather than confronting her physically. Ynara hurled two lightning spears at him. Eldacar held back from detonating the Starlit Shards inside Ynara.

Not time yet.

Preemptively acting, Eldacar applied Spell Overload to one of the lightning spears. It exploded before impacting him, effectively halving the damage. In a twist of irony, the other skewered his hip—at least he kept his legs. Bringing up an arm to his neck, sound twisted around it to form a vambrace.

A leg sparked by lightning connected there, missing its original target—his neck. Eldacar grunted as he felt an arm bone snap. Diplomat's attributes made even his appearance pathetic. Normally, his techniques would make up the difference and then some. Against one Diplomat.

Fate dealt him two.

Reaching out with his other arm, he cupped Ynara's cheek, sound wormed into her brain, causing the succubus to shriek. "Domestic violence never pays, wife. It would tear our future children apart if this leads to divorce."

Lightning burst out of Ynara, reinforced by the Ichor's power. Eldacar blew back, smashing into the back end of the floating island, causing it to break apart. Smoke rising from the aftermath, the Defier dragged himself back up. Applying liquid sound to his chain, he whipped back Ynara, unable to contend with her speed. Whips struck at the sound of speed. If he adjusted the weapon to be used for containment rather than damage, Eldacar could delay enough to potentially come up with a better plan.

"I hope the new kid's having a better time than me."

Coming this far, two techniques to get around the fact I'm a utility and healing class at heart. My best fights always partner with Aloysius, or that mana-obsessed grouch, Tanniv.

Nebula dust extracted the Divinity inside Eldacar. Chain wrapped around his left arm, he got into a boxer's stance. Echoes worked with healing star swirls to mend wounds quickly enough to keep up. Their move exchanges accelerated, lightning and charm torn into Eldacar, raw bestial power tried to break his body.

In the end, he lost his right forearm. It'd come back, but certainly not fast enough for a fight at this pace. Detonating sound waves and upgrading a Starlight Swirl with Spell Overload, he created a temporary distortion in space.

No fool to Ynara's speed, Eldacar anticipated the lightning succubus blitzing around the distortion.

"Attentive as ever, thirteen wife." Chains burst up through the tundra, the top link transformed into a spike, going through Ynara's heart.

That's one.

She spurted blood, laughing. "An inconvenience, Defier." She clamped both lightning-wreathed claws on the chain, working to rip it out.

Tearing off the cap to a fourth-stage healing potion with his mouth, Eldacar knocked back the healing liquid, regenerating his stomach enough to make Celestial Triangulation possible. He glanced at Carnid, the humanoid Avian stupidly attempted to break through the sound and star distortion with brute force. Admittedly, the Diplomat would manage eventually—seven seconds or so. An eternity for a determined Defier to set an example.

Running his hand through his hair, Eldacar lifted his green eyes to the red sun. A third night sky pillar formed, just behind Ynara. Sounds shifted as the Sound Defier stepped toward the temporarily bound Diplomat. Nose bleeding and thin vessels bursting in his left eye, Eldacar overdrew from the Spell Overload Technique. He'd made his decision.

Draw it out, maybe allowing himself an opening to escape, but dooming his other Defiers to an even heavier burden, likely leading to one or two of them dying. Or…

Be the man who answered the call when he took the Oath all those years ago.

The Defier's Black Pentagram emblazoned itself on Eldacar's left cheek. Sound rose all around him. A low keening made many on the battlefield pause. A sword howl answered in respect, announcing itself as it brushed into Yuriel in the distance below, disrupting the Banner's bolstering effect. An aura whisper carrying Musai's voice broke into Eldacar's head.

"There is no shame in it, lustful tree. Be assured, the family you leave behind will be taken care of."

Ynara snarled. "Struggling to end, Defier? Carnid and I will strip the muscle from your bones and eat you in front of your kin. Each drop we drain from you strengthens our blessing." Blood seeped further when the chain in her chest warped forward, turning back to wrap around the Diplomat.

Carnid furiously pulsed, trying to burst the distortion apart. The Divinity and Ichor's aura within him rose, resisting. The Diplomat stepped, dragging himself forward. "All your organs should be crushed by now, Defier. Fall apart and be a tribute to our Godkings."

Eldacar closed his eyes for a moment to allow that piece he smothered for years to rise back to the surface. "A mistake, to think pushing me this far means any of you will live to see tomorrow. Greater Defiers than I exist. Your blessings are endless? So is the will of Defiance. Let's meet hell together, thirteenth wife."

Celestial star pillars cracked in the sky above, and from the island's bottom below. Three stars revolved, the Constellant Domain condensed, taking the territory down to just a dozen yards. Sounds and astral powers bounced around like mad. Tears in reality spread, blood burst terrifyingly from Eldacar as all his pores bled—a side effect of asking Spell Overload to magnify an ability beyond the norm.

Eyes showing fear for the first time, Ynara struggled back, a futile attempt with Eldacar's chain imprisoning her in place. Astral Power rose from three positions. An aurora formed within Eldcar's Constellant Domain. Sound danced around his apex ability, Astral Triangulation. Becoming a screeching mess, Ynara listened to her instincts, desperately trying to extract herself from the bindings. Some chain links busted on one end.

"It's no use, thirteenth wife. Our seats in hell are already warmed up for us."

"Carnid, use your bird brain! Get out of that distortion. Seconds are all I need to tear these fetters apart."

"Seconds you don't have."

Sounds screamed all around, reinforcing Astral Triangulation and amplifying Spell Overload. Three black vortexes shut Eldacar in a semi-permeable dimension with Ynara. He'd degenerated into a bloody pulp. Breathing became wet. Bones turned into splinters. The Divinity and Ichor rampaged in his body, no longer suppressed by Sound Elementalization.

Eldacar wrapped himself in chains alongside Ynara. A black starburst formed overhead them both. Ynara struck her tail into Eldacar's neck as he wrapped his arms against her. She'd nearly broken the chain, and Star Bind already shattered. All that was left was himself as a living shackle.

"This ability always had the trouble of being easily avoided but in return," he coughed, blood spilling onto Ynara's face. "Practically anything is made into dust under its blacklight."

"Let me go. Let go. LET ME-" She sobbed, apparently even centuries-old Diplomats feared death. Guess they weren't so superior after all.

A curtain of celestial night poured unending annihilation, pieces of ascended flesh vaporized. Even the almighty Divinity and Ichor burned up. A succubus' scream rippled across the Duchy. A black pentagram seared itself over the sun for a moment. Eldacar's Constellant Domain merged into him and Ynara, crushing the two—ensuring no escape.

Conceptual power beyond Eldacar's grasp slowly erased Ynara, the Diplomat. She died with a soundless scream, stolen by Eldacar's mastery, as the Starlit Shards sealed away her last means of resistance. He kissed her neck before it turned into ash.

Astral Triangulation let up. Its black maw managed to consume Ynara whole. Eldacar dropped, his own chains wrapped around him—half skeletonized. All sounds ceased, astral projections ended. The three black holes turned in on themselves. The elf's vision blurred.

It was strange, really. The thoughts of his wives and children came, as expected. But there, buried underneath the burden, was the expression of eight others, even the ever icy Ninth little brother.

His attention drifted to Carnid. The Diplomat was outside the range of Astral Triangulation. He seemed to be yelling something at Eldacar, but his hearing stopped working by now.

The black pentagram on his left cheek faded—the oath lifted with his life spent. At that signal, the tundra island he controlled in the sky started to free-fall. The Constellant Domain came apart. Shredded vocal cords denied him final words. Eldacar settled for final thoughts, then.

I hope my kids grow up well, my wives were always the better parent. Let their father teach a final lesson. My sons and daughters, know this. The road of defiance is unending. We only remain livestock until enough of us to defy our circumstances in this world.

Eldacar felt his skull crack and brain turn to mush. He happened to glance at the Western Front, the last thing he saw before death, stirred the embers of his spirit. A blizzard grew thick enough to turn the tundra and hills into a frozen wasteland. In its middle, a young man sank his blade in an Envoy's neck, his newest family member's words carried with the wind, lost to the void. But somehow, he felt it—soul deep.

Yes, take everything from them. Or they'll do the same to you, even your family, youngest brother.

Eldacar Callawood, the most lustful Defier, one to create families, to find one of his own, realized that folly in his final moment. He had a family ever since he took the Defier's oath.

He died with a relieved smile.