The cavern reverberates with the collective assault on the shifting old man. Nearly a dozen of us, allies and erstwhile foes alike, converge on this bastard. He teleports frantically, appearing and disappearing with disorienting speed. Eli Weiss manages to force us to friendly fire each other, but it is not enough. All of us want this asshole dead.
No matter how many artifacts he pulls out, he will die here. We all sense that as he steps back further and further into retreat. Still, he is dangerous. Very, very dangerous. In one hand, he blasts outwardly with that cane while the other hand pulls a tiny spine from his pocket, the whole structure having to come from a miniature figure.
Nevertheless, it possesses a magenta glow upon its fetters. The moment the spine is revealed, everyone surges into double action, striking Eli with all we can.
Lennon unleashes a half-hundred slashes, Kwakiteh stabs with Demonsbane and Mie's mind, Bonfire blasts enormous infernos, Sylvia cuts the wires with her blade and frosty edge, Virgil swings his scythe at opportune times, and I release a Ballista at the old man after using Burdenless. Even with Tyler's odd boon, we still aren't able to put the old man down quickly. We're faster, swifter, and more deadly, but it's just not enough.
The battleground is nothing but a storm of chaos, with Arcas and Angels firing off domineering forces. Slowly, Eli is pushed through the halls of the underground cavern. The baby spine finally meets Demonsbane head-on as Eli is abruptly cornered, and a bizarre wave of Ether is released, freezing Kate in place. It is a cruel manipulation of time that locks her in a motionless stance. The only reason I even know the element of the Arca as the bone shatters to nothingness is that pieces of sand fall off Kate like those Tyler bestowed.
Yet she is still frozen, even if she is slowly being freed. Regardless, the old man's desperation becomes apparent; he cannot seize the advantage, for the rest of us press on with relentless attacks.
Lennon guards the woman fiercely as if protecting his goods as a merchant. There is no kindness or care on his face, only a future desire. If I didn't know him better, I'd worry he would do something unsavory. All that man wants is a fight. He cares for nothing else. Though, they are fairly close, closer than anyone else is to the monster, at least. It's not impossible he does it out of compassion.
Eli Weiss, once the epitome of mockery and superiority, is now utterly silent. No words, no moans, or groans escape him as he fights to survive. His focus is singular, and his every move is a calculated response to the onslaught. Even as blood drips from his body and sweat slithers down his flesh, he is serene. It's a stark contrast to his previous demeanor. This is the real him. This is Eli Weiss. The most extraordinary mind in the world. The focus he must be able to reach is unrivaled.
Despite being outnumbered, the old man doesn't only lose footing. He lands attacks, damaging everyone in his own way. My ribs are crushed in during one particularly nasty shot with his cane, but Blodwyn recovers them after a few moments. Virgil gets a hand broken, Sylvia has her scalp ripped open, and Bonfire is hit with a kick that sends him into the floor.
As time passes, I only grow more and more impressed with the old man. I thought, after all the other Angels I've met, someone like this, calculating, deceitful, and creative, would be weak in a fight. Didn't Marshall say he was stronger than Eli, too?
Wait... he probably was, at least at his peak. Undoubtedly, in his final moment. Not one of us, not even Lennon, has quite reached Marshall's final punch, but still... this isn't what Marshall alluded to.
Eli's ability to contend with a far larger group is both awe-inspiring and vexing. Between the Arca, Coiled Steam, the cane, and his vials that are constantly supplementing him, he is far greater than what Marshall must have thought him to be.
He hid his strength not just for days but for decades. He might not be Marshall's match in a one-on-one, but with his tricks and manipulations, he is perfectly set for such a war.
Yet, as the battle wears on, the relentless barrage takes its toll. Weiss gradually slows, his movements becoming more sluggish as the vials that sustained him begin to empty. The tubes that delivered healing, speed, and strength begin to break, one by one, and the old man's once-invincible facade crumbles. The relentless assault has depleted his reservoir of tricks, leaving him vulnerable. His teleportations slow, his landed strikes fall in number, and the ones that strike true of ours grow in number and lethality.
Still, he doesn't fall quite yet.
That doesn't mean he won't soon, though.
I dive forward, the bones in my left hand shifting under Blodwyn's focus into a spear as he hides our Ether. Lennon darts to Eli's front as I go to the side. The Bladeless Monster swings a formless sword, cutting through the last of Weiss' syringes. The old man stumbles back even while retaliating with the cane. As he does so, I jab toward his side. The Underground Tree reacts wildly, thrashing the cane toward me, but a shadowy form catches it with his hand. Virgil. Open-mouthed, gasping for air that doesn't exist, my friend bears the weight.
That leaves my bone spear sinking into Weiss's side. It's not the first wound that he's taken today, but it's certainly a meaningful one. Eli brings forth a final object, sweltering with an aura that nearly blinds me, one in the shape of a pendant attached to a pitiful string.
It rests in front of my eyes for only a fraction of a second, but then the pain arrives. The pure, unrivaled agony of glimpsing into a God's true might. I thrash and fall backward as Eli sputters out a quiet laugh.
"Knew you could see it."
While I'm contemplating the best way to gouge out my eyes and what the hell that thing was, I hear Weiss get skewered by another. Sylvia.
"You bastard! What did you do to my cousin?"
My vision only begins to return as Eli is tossed backward, blood showering the Slick Slider, only for Kwakiteh to join in. She removes his left arm, the one carrying the pendant. Mie must have noticed its importance. At least the two of them are back in the battle now. I didn't think that artifact would last forever, but it went on for too long.
Nevertheless, I keep my right eye closed, the one that has peripheral vision of the pendant, while Kate swings for Eli's head. Yet the swordswoman misses.
The Underground Tree unexpectedly falls to his knees, gasping for air mid-dodge, a revelation that beneath the veneer of his formidable mind, beyond his tricks and over all his artifacts, he is still just an old man.
It's a moment of realization, a testament to the inevitability of mortality. The once-silent cavern is now filled with the echoes of a relentless battle that quickly dies down to nothingness. We all stand around his kneeling form for just an instant..
The fractions of seconds that pass are not enough for anything meaningful to take place as we are all repositioning or preparing to attack, but a voice cuts through nonetheless.
"Would you like some help, Weiss? I can call my father here if you would seek his help. You would only have to serve us for the rest of your life. Leviathan can make the contract."
Above, upon the ceiling, rest Timemi, Anodra, and Natos as they stand on structures created by the Pygmy's metal. Immediately, Lennon swings upwardly with only a nod, but Anodra, clad in Natos' light from the demon's outstretched arm, deflects the hastily made formless blade.
Eli glances up as he coughs out blood, catching Sylvia's lethal blow with his remaining palm. The blade cuts deeply, nearly severing the hand, but he endures the weight successfully. Standing, I come closer to finish him off, but as the man speaks, a wave of pressure fills the air. It brings me to a stop, and it originates from the pendant beside me. It is pure, raw Ether, brought forward without form or function but authority nonetheless. It simply exists and brings all to their knees, except for Eli, as the old man tosses Sylvia's Claymore aside.
"How could I make such a deal? At my side walks hope, hope, that humanity will surmount all its adversaries. In the face of all that insists I turn back, that I betray, or that I kneel, I carry on. This… this is my oath. I have been a coward my whole life. Here? I will make a stand. If I do not... what authority would I ever wield? That of a coward? Of a rat?"
Blodwyn beats my heart in a continuous rhythm, heightening the pressure instant after instant, but it doesn't matter. I can't move. Squinting, though, I find Lennon gradually getting up. His knees are creased and shivering, but they are moving. Looking even closer, I see a translucent aura around him, his very chains expanding in a gaseous-like state.
His soul. No... his Dominion. That's what's letting him move under this!
Again, I try to move, only to fail. Instead, Eli Weiss runs a hand over the open hole beside his heart. The old man stands and walks toward Kwakiteh. His steps are slurred, feeble things, but he reaches her before Lennon regains his footing or the old man loses his own.
"I spent all my life earning riches, but when I die, I cannot take anything with me. Wealth and bought power are nothing but dust when the winds come. Death cannot be stopped. Wealth does not matter, neither do the tools we use. We leave the world empty-handed after the most precious treasure is dealt unjustly: time."
The old man bends down and taps his fingers on Kate's forehead. And the moment he does, I see that same translucent aura cover him as it does to Lennon, only Weiss' is far, far more extensive and more condensed.
It encompasses Kate like a bubble as a second one covers her head. Kwakiteh's eyes widen as it seems like something has happened to her, but it is now that Lennon stands wholly. As with all other times, he swings no blade, but the air moves in accordance.
However, Eli has nothing else to protect himself with. No more tools, no more artifacts.
But it doesn't matter.
He raises his hand and clenches his fist.
I see his Dominion shift just as Lennon's does. And the two clash, both souls intertwining as Eli's soul does something peculiar... It moves just as Mie's Power does. Can Eli also manipulate things with his mind?
Makes sense, I suppo—
A sudden shift in the old man's Dominion sends invisible shockwaves through the cavern. As it engulfs me, I see a mirror block out the entirety of my vision and shatter into a million pieces. In that fragmented reflection, I witness a lifetime of struggle, failure, and determination unfold before my eyes.
The mirror projects the silent oath Eli Weiss once made to the world—the promise of a naive young man that he would make it better. But as the awful scenes play out, the oath becomes cracked, shattered, and twisted. The young man, once full of hope, discovers the harsh truth of reality—cold, dreadful, and near-hopeless.
Dead bodies line Eli Weiss' past, stacked up more than any person I could ever imagine. It is a literal mountain of people who have died for him to reach this point. He had little talent. Far less than even Lennon Hull. He could hardly even sense Ether, let alone use it. Only through decades of experimentation, struggle, and sacrifice of others did he reach this point. Unlike Lennon, he did not brute-force his way to power. He schemed, lied, and cheated every step of the way.
The negativity of all that death swims around me. Pain clouds my mind, rendering me utterly still. I'm trapped in the reflection of the shattered mirror, drowning in the weight of the old man's torment. The onslaught of emotions and memories becomes overwhelming, threatening to consume me.
Yet, in the midst of the darkness, a blackened hand emerges, pulling me out of the swirling abyss. The touch is a lifeline, grounding me in the present. I grasp onto that hand, and blink away the echoes of the old man's past, returning to the ground of the cavern.
"Focus."
I nod to Blodwyn as I realize he is the one who saved me. But at the same time, I find Lennon against the rocky wall, his neck shrinking as if being choked by an invisible force. Opposite him, Eli stands with a raised hand.
My eyes flitter to Kate as she is still frozen, her mouth agape and nearly comatose. Looking at her, I remember Kate's Power. And Mie's Power.
Mirror and Shift.
Eli just used both of them.
Oh... oh no.
Is that?
Lennon sputters out air, gasping for life as intelligence returns to his eyes. The fucker broke out of Mirror all on his own, even when bolstered by Eli being the one to use it. At least I had Blodwyn to save me. What a... monster.
Still, he's against the wall as spiderweb-like cracks emerge along the rocks from the sheer pressure Lennon is under. Eli's mind breaks bones and shoots blood out from the swordsman's body. This is going bad. So fucking sideways.
I clench my teeth and try to stand again, only to fail, my muscles not just refusing to move but being unable to. Not like this, dammit! It's that fucking pendant! It's outputting so much Ether with that weird feeling that it is able to keep anyone without a Dominion from even moving!
What can I do?
Bonfire and Virgil are both still out of it. So are the Pillars and Slumberers. Even the non-humans have fallen from above to land on the marble floor of the cavern. What can I do that they can?
Glancing around, I see the dense Ether suppressing everything. It even suppresses Lennon and Eli, but their souls are able to prevent the Ether from affecting them in the way of their Dominions.
Souls.
Souls.
Living Manacles.
I reach for the skill, giving birth to the slithering chains from my flesh and soul, but they can't even leave an inch from my arms. It's not enough.
I need more power. More condensed Ether. Living Strand is not enough. I don't think Plasmic Ether would be either. This Ether... it's almost fucking solid, like a blanket over us all.
My eyes catch on my surroundings once more.
There is condensed Ether all around me, huh?
Eli steps toward Lennon, choking the man to death as the Underground Tree's sliced-off arm flies to him. It attaches to his amputated arm as sewing needles come from a pack. While executing Lennon, Weiss performs surgery.
"You... I thought Maddox would be my greatest threat as I could easily see him reaching a Dominion under the Primare's effects. But you... exceptional doesn't even begin to describe you. Your sheer existence breaks what I once knew. You have given me the internal strength to fight against death. Against Death."
The Underground Tree stands right before Lennon as he raises his other hand. It clenches slowly as the surgery isn't complete, but the pressure on the armless swordsman missing a leg nearly doubles.
"I must thank you, Lennon Hull. The human who shattered every limit. Broke each and every rule. Not even my dear friend Desolation can boast that he withstood the Primare as a Power. You are a once-in-a-millenia talent. No... that is disrespectful. This was not talent. This was... there are no words. Truly. To describe what you have done in words is impossible. Seeing you rage, war, and beat yourself against reality, against fate, and against your own cards has given me the courage to overcome my own."
I inhale a deep breath as the man speaks, siphoning as much Ether as I can into my lungs. I immediately cough and choke as it's like breathing in logs of wood, but I continue, even as my chest burns in pain. My lungs contract again, siphoning even more air. Lennon's death isn't something I necessarily want to prevent. The man will surely come after me eventually, but he cannot die now. Eli said it himself. He's the biggest threat. He's the second-strongest person here, even missing three of his four limbs.
With all of them, there is no doubt. Eli would already be dead.
"What have you named your Dominion, Lennon? I would like to know. A final respect, if you will, from a man who rarely practices such things."
Eli Weiss lessens the force for a moment, allowing the Bladeless Monster to speak. And he does so, even if he rages with each of the two syllables in defiance.
"Dia."
My lungs attempt to push out the Ether as it tastes and feels nasty, like something I shouldn't touch. It's not invasive, only far too dense and powerful. But I don't care; I grasp it and yank the Ether toward my chains. I contort it, forcing it to obey me, not taking no for an answer.
Pain explodes within my skull, and yet, I continue. As Eli breaks into laughter, thick, knotted, and curling chains come from my skin like malformed bones.
"That is so fitting! The name of your first sword, correct? I see... I see. They should be meaningful as they come from our deepest parts. Hmm... I shall call her Icarus, then. It is after my daughter, Lennon. You can cut anything, but me? I can do so much more. I just have to be careful not to reach for too much, lest I blow."
My worry and paranoia of his Dominion explode as I toss my chains not toward the man himself but, instead, the Primare. Inhaling even more as I feel my brain practically implode, I wrap the warped Living Manacles around the pendant.
I command the fetters to weaken the thing, to tighten around it, to allow the others to move and fight. Before I even do so, as if in preparation, Shiver ominously contorts my whole body into the fetal position.
Still, I wrap the chains around the pendant without faltering. The pendant, a source of Ether with freakish allure, seems to resist my efforts. It retaliates, not out of conscious decision but as if driven by an ancient force—something far, far more ancient than any artifact I've ever seen.
It makes Aniwye's few hundred years of life seem like a baby.
As I struggle against the pendant, the world fades to black, and in the void, a colossal creature emerges. It's a crocodile of unfathomable size, a behemoth that towers over me to such an extent I'm not even sure how large it is in this void. Nevertheless, its scales glisten with a muddy sheen, reflecting the eons it has weathered, and its eyes blaze with an intensity that hints at oceans of knowledge.
The crocodile's presence is both majestic and foreboding, something I recognize instantly to be a God. Or from a God.
The pendant, I realize with a shudder, is not just a mere trinket; it is an object hewn from the corpse of this thing after it died. Every scale, every ripple of its powerful muscles, seems to exude an ancient authority that transcends the boundaries between mortal and Godly. The chains strain against the weight of the pendant, an attempt to shackle a force that predates the very concept of mortality.
I practically fall to my knees as it merely stares at me. The force of the Ether from before multiplies, and I stumble all the way prone. Even my eyes sink to the ground from the weight.
Yet, the chains hold. The force is towering and absolutely unstoppable, but it has no master, no mind, and no direction. It simply is.