A thunderous ๐๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ bursted through the stone walls, chunks of flying debris smashed through the nearby settlements, the initial Shockwave sent dozens of unassuming villagers tumbling, and drew the attention of every able bodied Mage in the town. Five silhouettes appeared in the smoke, nobody could tell from which body it came from but a low silky voice commanded, "๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ง." A blur of blue and grey shot out from within the dust, blitzing towards the place where the Deacon injected his magic into. He paid no mind to anyone around him, until he closed in on ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต man. Everyone around him was either scrambling away from the explosion, or getting into a defensive stance. But he stood completely upright, not phased by their emergence in the slightest, he actually looked... bored. Then those murky bottomless black eyes looked at him, a bead of sweat formed at his forehead as he thought with his eyes wide, 'He can see me?' Just before the intruder was able to speed past Kingston, he lifted up one singular finger, pointed towards the sky.
ย "URK!" His entire body suddenly crumpled and collapsed onto the floor, like he just flew headfirst into a solid wall. Looking up dazily he growled, "What?!" But before he could regain his bearings a firm, rough hand grabbed his light assassin's armor. In an instant he was launched so quickly that the air was sucked out of his lungs, sending him barreling through shops and markets while he struggled to get a breath in. The dust around the remaining 4 attackers settled, revealing a tall, slim man with long black hair in the centre, his eyes were soft and his complexion was clean, nearly flawless. He looked delicate, effeminate even, yet he wore a set of bulky armor, decorated in his Clan's blue and grey colours. A prince maybe? He didn't seem to acknowledge the ejection of his comrade from the battlefield as he calmly gazed at the epicenter of the signal that the Old general sent.
ย "I do not see the caster." He gestured for one of the soldiers on his right to investigate. An exceptionally tall and well built woman stepped forward, she also ignored the terrified villagers around her as she marched forward. Her eyes were on the faint trace of soul essence that permeated into the air, but everyone else's eyes were on Kingston. The man who seemingly appeared out of nowhere and within a day overthrew their entire Monarchy. He'd pulled off so many impossible feats in such a short amount of time that they almost expected him to do the same to Blood Cicero. Gaius and his team stood as a barrier between the villagers and the intruders. As prestigious as they may be, they were still young and not yet powerful enough to trade blows with a Mage from a '๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐๐น๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฑ' Clan.ย
The warrior woman didn't break her stride at all as she rapidly approached Kingston. "๐ผ๐..." His hand firmly gripped her wrist before she could pass by, wisps of dark smoke spilled out from underneath his palm, licking at the air. "Who-" She spun around to face Kingston, the arrogant scowl on her face faded away after several failed attempts at breaking his grasp around her wrist. "๐ป๐๐๐ one's a little more arrogant." Her free arm ignited in shades of dark green, but before she could fully evoke her rune she was hurled back towards the broken section of wall her clan came through. The prince showed absolutely no reaction to his soldier shooting past him. Instead his lavender purple eyes bored into Kingston, a posh, aristocratic accent was thick in his voice when he spoke, "What a fascinating power. Your runic markings emitted no light, a passive ability perhaps?" The intense shade in his eyes suddenly gleamed with curiosity, his entire demeanor shifted once he started speaking to Kingston. "... By the Gods... what a monstrous amount of soul essence. You must be a Warlock- er- Ahem." He cleared his throat and moved back his hair, fixing the strands into place he spoke again but the childishly excited voice was now monotonous and baritone. "My apologies, I am Legacy Ulric," He bowed his head slightly, "I am here by order of Blood Cicero to investigate a call for reinforcement initiated by our kin." Wordlessly Kingston moved a step to the side, he made no gestures towards the dripping corpse that was behind him but the man understood immediately. "I see... fortunately for you, lessers such as that Deacon hold no value in our Clan as a whole."ย
His eyes cursored the crowd of people around them before returning his gaze to Kingston. "Therefore I shall offer you an opportunity to save your town." Extending out an upturned palm at Kingston he proposed, "Allow me to personally recruit you into our God Blooded Clan." A small smirk formed in the corner of his mouth, he originally came here to only dispose of the attacker and retrieve the Deacon. But a powerful man such as this, clanless no less could simply not be left into the hands of other Bloods, especially not the hands of their rival clans. After all, who would refuse the offer of a Legacy from a 'God Blood' clan? But the unexpected moment of silence that followed caused his arm to retract slightly.ย
The War Power remained silent, his face unamused by the offer, Ulric tried again, his voice more crass this time, "I'll not ask again, come with me and spare the lives of your women and children." Nothing. The Legacy sighed and hung his head in disappointment, letting his outstretched arm fall back to his side. Not a single sound came from the townspeople, nor did Gaius or any of his team attempt to make a move. For they knew all too well that one wave of the arm from a Legacy would indiscriminately send them straight into the afterlife. The pressure that exuded from this standoff had the entire square stricken with pure terror, not even the King's Elite were confident in shielding themselves from the impending attacks, nevermind the villagers. The Cicero Mage steadily lifted his eyes to meet Kingston's, the light purple hue in his gaze was amplified by the soul essence that coalesced, leaking out from his sockets. The spectators closest to the fight could almost feel the two auras clashing, despite them being a few dozen yards away from each other. A flash of light momentarily blinded the first few rows of onlookers, the intricately woven runic markings on The Legacy's body ignited underneath his armor. Wicks of luminous lavender flames danced up his arms, climbing across his entire body, his fingers curled into a claw as he prepared to release the attack. "Then Die-"ย
He looked up as he spoke, but before the words could even leave his mouth Kingston was suddenly a dozen steps closer than he was a second ago. Everyone could see from the utterly shocked expression on Ulric's face that he did not expect this level of speed from their newly appointed Ruler. The frustrated scowl underneath his creased eyebrows wasn't enough to mask his obvious misstep. He tried to lean away from the rapidly approaching attack but it was too late. Gritting his teeth the Legacy accepted that he couldn't avoid the oncoming blow and braced himself... but it never came. Kingston seemingly blinked directly in front of Ulric, bringing his right arm up towards his opponent as if he was going to grab his face. But he stopped just before his palm made contact and released the rune, a physical attack feint into a close ranged Magic burst. His reserved, stoic expression morphed into one of surprise when nothing except a small cloud of black mist steamed out of his hand, dissipating just as fast as it had appeared.ย
The two fighters had a brief moment of confusion before Ulric quickly regained his senses. What was that? Did his rune misfire? Did something negate his soul essence? Nothing felt off, nor did the Cicero Mage have any passive barrier active around him. So where did his attack go? Noticing Kingston's widely confused expression, a small smile tugged at the corner of The Legacy's lips as he swung his two arms together, palms open and facing Kingston. He clearly was not expecting to miss his attack, so when he did there was no way for him to redirect himself from falling forward, towards Ulric. Dodging the bright, lavender blast that was forming in his enemy's hands was not an option. What a bother, he was sure that the fight should have ended there, and he would have avoided any further complications but now he was about to have a Legacy's fully manifested rune explode right in his face, point blank. He'd never fought someone of this caliber before, so if this blast didn't kill him, it could definitely be a... good learning experience. The bright shade of purple continued to grow, he could feel the ironically cozy heat on his nose as it detonated. "Tch."
๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐๐
The thick wave of vivid purple energy sizzled out into what looked like grains of colored sand just before it touched Kingston. The remnants of the blast sprinkled onto the dirt around their feet. Both of the fighters shared another moment of perplexity, Ulric, visibly annoyed growled at his opponent, "Are you mocking me boy?" He conjured another mass of essence in his hand and shoveled it towards Kingston. The lavender crystalline daggers flew towards him at breakneck speed, but the attack once again crumbled just before it could graze his skin. "What?..." The Legacy hesitated, more reluctant to launch another strike now. Kingston seemed just as confused as he was, the young Mage couldn't be a day older than 25, yet he was prepared to exchange blows with a God Blooded Legacy. Just who is he? Was he somehow dematerializing his runic essence? The two men were still completely unscathed due to some unknown force that seemed to cancel out all of their magian energy just before it made contact with the target. Wait a second... where were the rest of the intruders during all of this? Shit, he was so invested into the fight that he completely tunnel visioned. Peeling his eyes off of Ulric he found the rest of them with surprising quickness.ย
It looks like... they hadn't moved... at all? Narrowing his eyes at the statue like mages, they were all frozen in unnatural stances, with odd expressions on their faces, almost as if... The Legacy cautiously turned his head, following Kingston's gaze, "Why are you all standing like that?" His whole body was turned towards his comrades now, "HEY!" He snapped. No reaction, storming towards the group of soldiers he shouted a slew of orders while waving his arms around to no avail. It was then that he noticed the dead silence around them, he could hear nothing other than Ulric's shouting, as he whirled around to see that all the villagers including Gaius and his squadron were also rendered motionless. Slowly he approached the townspeople who were now a lifeless gallery of statues, but it wasn't just that, the entire environment around them had seemingly been placed in a perpetual state of paralysis. Like time was frozen.
ย Kingston's senses were in overdrive, this was clearly the work of someone unfathomably powerful, and it wasn't The Legacy that stood before him. His eyes flitted around the unmoving town, the absolute lack of sound would have made it possible for him to hear the droplets of morning dew hit the ground had they not been frozen in the air. Time manipulation of this degree was not only unheard of, it was simply ๐๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ, nothing less than the Divine power of a Deity itself.ย
Just as those thoughts entered his mind, a chill ran down his spine, his eyes widened and every single hair on his body stiffened. Ulric felt it too, an approaching presence that triggered hisย instincts, screaming at him to flee. But the two mages could do nothing except stare at each other in bewilderment, moving their legs felt like walking through thick mudded waters, the impending force drew closer, the space in between them warped and twisted, like something was trying to emerge out of the air itself.ย
๐๐๐๐๐๐ย
In the quietude did it appear, the inexplicable energy that he felt stretched across the entire kingdom. An entity that transcended his state of being, its form was humanoid but so perfectly pure, floating above them as if it was too holy to set foot onto the tainted earth. Its face was covered by a white cloth that was neatly folded to fit over it's head, underneath the seemingly translucent black crown that adorned the being's head. A small opening in the cloth revealed two amber colored eyes. The rest of the entity's pearly white uniform fell graciously around it's limbs, with golden threads weaving the robe together at the shoulders. The sinister contrast of the dark crown and shadowy complexion underneath it's pristine white attire sent chills through his bones.ย
Kingston's face was strained from the multiple failed attempts of trying to activate his runes. Each vain effort ejecting waves of black mist from his body, uselessly dissipating into the air. Ulric was practically trembling, but the look of anger on the mage's face told him that it was not out of fear. He simply struggled to remain upright due to the incomprehensible amount of pressure the unknown Entity exuded. Its face was still concealed but those dark yellow eyes seemed to be smiling at Kingston. "๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ." The raspy, yet calm and smooth voice reminded him of an old man slowly trying to deliberate what he was saying. "๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ, I see you have not been able to manifest your aspect yet." It paused, its eyes were impossible to read but he guessed that it was studying him. Without changing its posture at all, the entity casually introduced itself, "๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ฑ ๐๐จ๐ฅ' ๐๐, an emissary of Godkind... the deities that your people worship." ... So an angel? He thought. It had no wings though. The Auspex floated down closer to Kingston, but from the way he couldn't move his legs it felt more like he was being pulled towards the Godly being. "How..." Sol' Ra's eyes narrowed and darkened, peering deep into the man in front of him. "...Fascinating! Truly fascinating, your elder siblings before you, all possess the Inverse of the primordial forces still could not withstand the weight of the heavens." The Angel's eyes were shining brightly now, turning from amber to blazing gold. "But you... ohh ๐๐๐. Our youngest Shepard, you will be our greatest weapon in this war."ย
Neither Kingston nor Ulric who was now on all fours, just barely able to lift his head to watch their conversation had spoken a word. They both knew that fighting wasn't a choice and fleeing seemed even more implausible. Even after receiving such grand powers all he could do was clench his fists and think. Why does it keep calling him a Shepard? Siblings? War? Surely it had something to do with his new abilities, perhaps only Shepherds were able to inherit said powers, and siblings... meant that there were more people like him? But- "You're a shrewd little one aren't you?" The Auspex was hunched over now, both of their eyes were level as it's gaze seemed to pierce right through his soul. The pure and all mighty demeanor it had was now gone, the Angel taking on a more... baleful personality. "I... knoooow, what you're thinking." It sang. "But your questions will have to be answered another day." It said in a normal voice before suddenly standing back up. "We do not have permission to meddle in this world. But due to recent uprisings... we have been forced to find compromises. Such developments have allowed our conversation right now... but I will be punished." It sighed. Lifting up it's arm Sol' Ra pointed his finger at Kingston, "Your power, is great, greater than all else. As you know... but you are not permitted to use it on this world." It paused, waiting to see if he would say anything. "Is that why you appeared? To stop me." The Auspex chuckled gleefully, pleased that Kingston replied to him. "Correct. There are many reasons for this but for now... evoke your runes only when necessary and in moderation. Failure to obey will-" The Angel flinched suddenly, it doubled over and gripped it's side in agony. Without lifting it's head up Sol' Ra continued painfully, "The power... hmff... that your people discovered, is of another dimension. It is a phenomenon that Godkind has yet been able to fully grasp. I believe that your knowledge of The Inverse will surpass ours in the future." The Auspex grimaced, bracing itself for another wave of pain but it did not come. Sol' Ra straightened it's back and relaxed it's shoulders before continuing, "War is coming Shepard, and we are not able to fight in it. You..." it jutted its finger towards Kingston, "You, your people will be the ones who will win this war for us. The other Shepherds have already made contact with us. You are the last. Unfortunately they did not... receive our message well." The space where the Angel stood twisted and distorted just like it did during its appearance. The Auspex's pleading amber eyes looked at Kingston one last time, "๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฌ๐๐ง."