Bastion was starting to realize that following the words of that untrustworthy ghost was a mistake. This wasn't the first time he had thought that. As a matter of fact, if he had an ether crystal for each time he cursed that ghost over the past three years, he could fill an entire treasury and swim in it. This heaven forsaken maze was really getting old. That ghost was to blame for his plight.
Everything in this place looked the same. The walls, the ceiling, and the floors. An unending series of tiles, all covered in ritual, and array markings. Miles and miles of confusing tunnels with seeming no end.
It was a shame Zee wasn't here as he couldn't make heads or tails of those markings. He sighed. No matter what corridor he went down, all of them looked the same. On the bright side, he had stumbled across one of the imperial heirs after a month or so here. Nothing more than a corpse. Sadly, it was a looted corpse. A true shame. More curiously, the corpse of the woman had an ax wound in her skull, hinting at foul play.
Bastion had no idea who did the deed but wasn't too heartbroken about it. His untrustworthy allies were no good now that they were all lost and separated in this maze. That was probably for the best. Traveling with the heirs for months on end had made him more than a bit relieved to be separated. In fact, this was an opportunity.
They were in a maze, where no one could see, and who would notice if some of the heirs disappeared. Over the first months, he had run into a bunch of different people, from imperial lackeys which he avoided, to other heirs. Bastion really wanted to reconnect with his team, but had a job to do.
Most of his targets, tasked to him by the emperor, had come along on this expedition. What better time to deal with these unsightly matters than now..
After all, what people didn't know couldn't hurt them.
Moving on his own, Bastion was like a terror of the maze. He roamed the tunnels searching for targets of opportunity. Strangely, this was easier than he expected. Escape was hard, but it seemed the maze wanted him to find the others. By now, he had already made the tunnels run red with blood. For a bit there, he could swear he had even fallen into a murderous haze. Now he was broken free as a loud bell tolled, and the roof of the maze crumbled away.
His jaw nearly hit the floor as he looked up at an bronze statue hovering high in the sky. The statue was enormous, chiseled from bronze and strikingly beautiful. Holding a wicked spear in one hand, and a silver bell crackling with lightning in the other, it peered down at him.
Bastion felt the urge to kneel to the godlike figure floating against the backdrop of the cosmic river and the endless storm.
With a booming voice that shook the world river it spoke. "The trial has been completed, and a victor has claimed the ultimate prize. You are all free to go," the statue said.
Bastion was more than a bit relieved as the tunnel walls crumbled away, revealing miles of flat rock. He could see quite a few people scattered about, clearly having been trapped in the maze as well.
One of the other contenders didn't seem to share his thoughts and spoke up, their voice seemingly right next to him.
"You are telling us to just go? After all we went through. Is there not something for us? A lesser treasure perhaps?" the voice asked, clearly belonging to Mercy of all people. Bastion had been looking for that brute for a few years now, and was more than a bit peeved he hadn't found her. Probably for the best he hadn't, as she was a tough one. The statue didn't say anything for a few long seconds, but eventually nodded.
"Master agrees with your request. But first, you must prove yourselves. Come forth, and show them your power,"
With several blindingly quick stabs of its spear, the statue conjured dozens of shimmering portals which formed across the barren landscape. The ground he was standing on rumbled, and his hair stood on end a hoard of monsters spilled out from the portals.
Most were middle beast kings, while more than a few were late beast kings. There was even a single peak beast king with a sinister aura in the mix.
As if uncaring of the slaughter that would ensue, the statue spoke again. "To the winner go the spoils. You may run if you like, but the sole victor will be awarded a supreme quality natural treasure," the statue said.
As if to ensure even more people died, the statue conjured said supreme treasure next to it, where everyone could see and feel its exquisite aura.
Bastion's eyes gleamed excitedly. Things were looking up, but it wasn't all good news. Bastion had the disturbing feeling that the statue wasn't just talking to all the people who were stuck in the maze minutes ago. No, it was also talking to the hoard of hundreds of monsters, each of which roared in excitement at the proclamation.
He swore. Mercy really screwed them over this time. That brute should have just kept her mouth shut. Cursing the woman, Bastion disappeared in a blur of motion, frantically scanned the battlefield, searching for familiar auras.
Members of his team should hopefully be around. If they wanted any hope of surviving this mess, they needed to regroup.
Problem was, the hoard wasn't just in one place, as more gates opened, spreading them out. Not even ten seconds in, he was forced to fight for his life as a rock elemental tried to smash his head in.
His body turned to a blur as the ground exploded under his feet. The best parts of a large-scale battle was that there were plenty of moving objects around, and he made use of that fact.
Bastion might not have flashy skills like a certain pyromaniac, but he was good in a melee. His momentum based skills were incredibly useful in this kind of brawl.
Anything in range of his aura could be affected, and after reaching D grade, the range of his aura was quite large indeed. His poor wallet still hurt from purchasing a peak quality momentum based treasure. Thankfully, he was probably the wealthiest person on the expedition, so he had been able to bully all the other patrons at the auction with his wealth.
Still, just because he ranked up, didn't mean would just let a supreme quality treasure slip through his fingers. Securing that thing for himself could make him filthy rich.
To think, maybe he could buy that estate sized bank vault he always wanted, fill it with gems, and swim in it. The thought was exciting.
With a gust of wind, Bastion vanished, reappearing next to the stone elemental, and punched it in the side. Most would break their fist by punching literal living rock, but for him, it exploded. Chunks of rock flew everywhere, with a glimmering gem in the mix.
Curly black hair waving in the wind, he snatched the monster's beast shard before it could hit the ground.
His eyes gleamed he felt the dense energies within. Well now. This changed things. These monsters were not the calamity he first thought. Sure they were still just as dangerous as before, but this beast shard would sell incredibly well. His eyes excitedly scanned the hoards of hundreds of monsters running wild throughout the battlefield, attacking friend and foe alike.
Lets see, about seven hundred of them, each with valuable shards. Multiply that by a hundred for size of shard, and density of energy, and he was looking at about seventy thousand ether crystals ready for harvesting.
His nervousness was washed away, replaced by outrage as a clump of monsters were consumed by a pillar of blinding white hot fire.
What was that pyromaniac doing? Bastion spread his aura wide, robbing momentum from all those around him as he shot through the battlefield like a loosed arrow.
It took him precious seconds to reach that hot head, in which time she had already turned over a dozen monsters to a crisp.
He slid to a stop next to a smoking crater, scowling at the white haired swordswoman.
"Stop setting their heads on fire, you are burning money!" Bastion said.
The air rippled with scorching heat as the flame mistress turned, her face hard to read.
"Oh, there you are Bastion. It's about time you showed up. You are the last one, tardy as usual," Allison said.
Bastion scowled.
"Not tardy, i just got lost is all," Bastion said, giving the others a dashing smile.
They were all here, in a loose formation around Allison. Taylor, Greg and Yukna were in the middle, with Malden taking up the rear, and Allison at the front.
Malden hefted his gore covered hammer onto one shoulder, grinning a toothy smile. "I thought you kicked the bucket lover boy," Malden said.
Bastion scoffed.
"Did you really think that crappy maze would be enough to do me in?" Bastion asked.
"I almost hoped it would," Malden said.
Bastion grinned widely. "You just don't want to pay back that loan I gave you to buy that treasure. I still haven't forgotten you promised to pay three hundred percent interest," Bastion said sweetly.
Malden's ears flattened.
"I thought you were joking. That's highway robbery. You might as well just harvest my organs and sell them on the black market," Malden grumbled.
"Don't feel so bad Maldy. If you keep saving for the next few decades, and budget properly you might be able to pay some of it back," Bastion consoled.
There was a blinding shockwave, and waves of heat and smoke washed over them prompting him to look over at Allison. As he did her sword glowed brightly and a crescent of white hot fire shot out, cooking an approaching monster to a crisp in seconds.
With her usual cold expression she glared at them.
"Are you two done?" Allison asked.
He and Malden shared a glance, clearly coming to the same conclusion. They both nodded in unison Neither wanted to be toasted like that poor mole rat thing from a few seconds ago.
Not needing to be directed, he fell into formation. He was the mobile guard, protecting the flanks, and giving Taylor, Yukna and Greg room to unleash devastation.
Greg's arrows were streaks of darkness that were hard to track as they whizzed by with shocking speed hitting monster in vitals with deadly accuracy.
Yukna was not idle either, with a swarm of her hunter killer drones flying around them, unleashing devastating explosions whenever they struck a monster.
At the heart of the squad was Taylor, a cloud of blood swirling around him. The smell of iron was thick in the air, a shimmering haze around each of them shielding them. It was incredibly comforting to know he had a healer watching his back once again.
A bloody sheen covered Bastion's body, deflecting claws, projectiles and even repairing wounds at a visible speed. With all of them being D grade, they were a devastating combination.
Despite being away for a few years, Bastion fell back into his old position like he would a well worn pair of boots. With over a decade of cooperation, they were a well-oiled team, anticipating and reacting to each other's strengths and weaknesses. Working together they were far stronger than apart. It was a good thing too, as the hoard of monsters were ripping everything they could get their claws on into pieces.
After over ten minutes of carving the monsters to pieces, they were finally noticed.
That peak stage beast king was like a one monster calamity, laying waste to everything in its path. It smacked through a group of imperial soldiers, and one of the heirs like they were children, ripping them to pieces in no time at all. The creature was a type of monster he had never seen before shrugging off every attack the group had thrown at it.
A calm island amidst the chaos, their team was like a beacon to the creature. Swallowing a bloody chunk of flesh from the poor man it just killed, its murderous gaze locked on their group.
"It's coming for us!" Greg shouted, an arrow arcing out several hundred meters to hit the monster right in the face. Like water, the shadowy arrow splashed against the oversized lizard's scales. It did absolutely nothing.
"Try regular projectiles, i think it's resistant to energy," Allison said, bisecting a giant frog like monster that leapt at her.
A regular arrow quickly followed, carving a bloody line between one of the monster's scales.
'Your were right. But that didn't do much, all I did was piss it off," Greg said, his arm a blur as he peppered the approaching monster with more regular arrows.
Allison frowned. "Keep harassing it anyway, if it's angry it might do something stupid. Aim for its eyes and mouth. Everyone, fall back, retreat, we need to draw it away from the hoard. We can't fight this thing if we are being swarmed," Allison said.
Despite its bulky size, the oversized lizard charged at them like an out-of-control cart rolling down a hill.
At this rate it would be on them in seconds.
Malden seemed to come to the same realization. Appearing from thin air, a giant sand hammer slammed the monster in the side.
The ground trembled from the force, but
Malden's finisher skill hardly even slowed the monster.
"This damned lizard is just like that one from back home," Allison swore.
"It's coming to fast. What should we do?" Malden asked, his voice more than a bit concerned.
"Let's see how much punishment it can take. There is no way it's completely immune to all types of energy," Allison said.
As if to punctuate her words, she leapt forward, and unleashed the skill she acquired upon reaching D grade.
A tsunami of fire covered the land, a wave of fire that consumed everything, melting the rock and turning the field monster corpses they left behind to ash in seconds.
It washed over the approaching monster covering it completely in a sea of blinding white fire.
It was utter devastation. Just like the first time he witnessed her inferno skill, Bastion lamented the unfairness of it all. The universe really wasn't fair. Having reached D grade, Allison's class was disgustingly powerful, with skills that could reap hundreds of lives in one hit.
Even that sand kitty had overly flashy skills with a huge impact area. Bastion, on the other hand, had no such thing. None of his skills had anywhere near that kind of widespread destruction.
He had to kill everything the good old fashion way, one by one, up close and personal. No cheating like the others, and using long range destruction to kill their enemies.
As if in defiance of all expectation, the oversized lizard burst through the wall of fire, its scales only slightly smoking. It hardly looked phased by an attack that could wipe out part of a city.
Well, so much for that idea. Hissing in triumph, the lizard pushed through the flames and swirling sand which was turning to molten glass. Seeming more angered than anything it charged forward. Well, it looked like it was his turn.
Bastion cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders. When flashy skills didn't work, all you could do was deal with it with your fists.
His aura blanketed the area in front of him as his body turned to a blur.
He was at its feet in seconds, its form looming thrice his height and just as wide. Large and powerful, it could crush him with a single blow, and immediately tried to.
He sidestepped a powerful swipe, its dagger-like claws narrowly missing his side. His energy churned, and he reached out finding nothing... Bastion frowned and was forced to leap back out of its reach as it tried to bite his head off.
What was with this monster? Why couldn't he steal its momentum? This creature was far beyond the norm. It seemed to be completely immune to all sorts of energy, and outside manipulation.
Well, that was okay though. There were plenty of other moving things nearby. Like the hoards of monsters going nuts and killing each other.
His energy churned again as he stole boatloads of kinetic force from those creatures.
It was all potential force, now flowing through his body. His muscles and bones strained to contain it, his body like a coiled spring as he struck.
Leaping from the ground, he performed a picturesque roundhouse kick, his boot colliding into the side of the lizard's head. The force was incredible, the lizard head rocking back. All of that gathered kinetic energy was focused on his leg. As it turns out, it was not immune to being kicked in the head.
Like it was just a play thing, the lizard tumbled head over heels to one side, its body creating furrows in the rock. Bastion lit softly back on his feet, his body already aching from channeling so much kinetic force. Well, that was easy.
Just as he had that thought a very disoriented lizard scrambled back to its feet. It's angry hiss echoed through the chamber as it glared hatefully at him. Blood leaked from the cracked scales on the side of its head, showing it wasn't completely invulnerable. Physical attacks obviously worked, which was fine by him.
Bastion smiled.
"Good to see you can take a love tap like that. It would have been no fun if you keeled over from one little kick," Bastion said.
The lizard seemed more than a bit insulted, as if understanding his words. It bared its teeth and charged him, its claws clicking loudly on the melted rock.
It seemed faster than before, and more focused, seeming to take him more seriously. It leaned its body low as if to pounce, but instead, its spiked tail striking forward over its shoulder like a spear thrust.
The attack was shockingly quick. The tail carved a bloody like on the side of his neck, narrowly missing him. If not for Taylor's barrier slowing it and his quick reflexes, he would have died right then and there.
Ignoring the close call he stole more kinetic energy from the surroundings, pushing his body hard to keep up with the monster. As if tapping into its own stores of energy, it matched his speed, a feat that was shocking for something weighing ten times more than him.
Juking side to side, he weaved and dodged, narrowly avoiding being bisected by those razor sharp claws. Bastion was doing his best, but without the others helping, he would have already been grievously wounded. Sand flooded around its legs, giving it uneven footing, while arrows streaked in whenever there was an opening. The monster was forced on the defensive as well, constantly forced to dodge the projectiles trying to blind it.
His heart raced wildly as he pushed his body farthing and further, frantically trying to keep up with its increasing speed. Its tail was like a striking snake, grazing him more than once. Bastion was constantly on the move, knowing that if he slowed for even a heartbeat he would die. This creature really was at the Peak of D grade, the strongest monster he had ever fought. It was quick, agile, and strong to boot.
His full force kicks and punches left narrow cracks in its scales, forcing him to hit the same spot repeatedly to cause any real damage. Worst of all, the monster was smart enough to know this, fiercely protecting areas he had already struck.
The strain of maintaining this kind of speed, and kinetic energy was pushing his body into unsafe territory. He had trained rigorously to be able to withstand these kinds of forces, but still, his body had a limit.
This stalemate couldn't continue. He couldn't dodge forever. When Basiton finally slipped up, the monster was ready. It finally boxed him in, and monsters spiked tail shot forward, darting in to skewer him through the chest.
There was no escape, no way to dodge or block the attack. It left him no choice. Everything froze, the spiked tail freezing not even a foot from his chest.
He hadn't tapped into more momentum, but instead, his bloodline talent. It was called eternal moment, or as he liked to call it, time thief.
With it, he could steal a moment in time, at a terrible cost. He could sense over a decade of his lifespan going down the drain.
This was the terrible price for his gift. There was a cost for cheating the river of time. Eternal moment was the bloodline talent he awakened after absorbing that thing from the ancient box the emperor gave him.
He could use it as much as he wanted, but with each use, a decade of his life would be lost. The cost was incredibly steep, but the effect was marvelous.
Everything but himself was frozen in time, allowing him to move out of the way of that killing blow.
All it cost him was a decade, a bargain if he did say so himself.
Thankfully, he was in the D grade, with at least five to seven hundred years of lifespan. With each rank up he would also gain more, but that didn't mean he would use this ability willy nilly.
He didn't want to look like an old man before he was one. Plus, Zee probably wouldn't want him anymore if he looked like an old geezer.
Bastion pushed aside those distracting thoughts, not wanting to waste what he had already paid for. He had just thrown away a decade of lifespan, and he needed to make it count.
Stepping around the tail, he leapt almost straight upward. Using his stolen momentum, he flew over a hundred meters into the air. Reversing his own momentum, he fell with tremendous speed, spinning in a wheel kick as he came down.
A tremendous explosion rocked the field as his full forced kick struck atop the monster's thick skull. To everyone watching it was incredibly weird. One moment it looked like Bastion was going to get run through, and the next he was driving the monster head into the ground like an anvil would a nail.
Now inside a deep crater, Bastion leapt off the monster's head, blood staining his boots. It was clearly still alive, but he had rung its bell, knocking it clean out.
Bastion was going to finish it off with a follow up curb stomp, but was forced to leap back as the ground started shaking. It wasn't just the ground, but the sky itself.
Tremendous pressure washed over the rocky plain forcing people and monsters alike to pause killing each other. Bastion looked up to where the statue hovered, his eyes thinning as he realized the statue was no longer alone.
An old woman floated beside the statue, her thin frail frame dwarfed by its towering frame. Despite the huge size disparity, Bastion had the distinct impression the old lady was the real titan. After all, it was her aura alone that was causing the world to start shaking.
The old woman was hundreds of meters above them, and yet when she spoke, he could easily hear her.
"I'm sorry to cut the fun short, but things have progressed quicker than expected. All those who have gathered in anticipation for the main event ready yourselves. The keyholder will soon finish her task, and once heavens wrath dissipates, the eternal throne will emerge," the old woman proclaimed.
Bastion's eyes widened with alarm as a figure appeared next to the two in the sky, floating in a haze of energy. Zee's long red hair danced in the wind, her body glowing so bright it was hard to look at. She was like a shining star against the backdrop of clouds that rapidly formed above. Bastion's mouth ran dry as heavens wrath descended. Thick black clouds with white lightning covered the sky in seconds, a boundless wrath oozing from within.
At the center was Zee, who was like a radiant beacon in the heart of all that chaos. She looked beyond exhausted, but still unsheathed her sword and faced the first bolt of lightning head on. The first bolt was a wide as a house, making the world shake as blinding fury crashed down.