Cornelius's mind expanded through out the battle. He grasped the minds of all making them freeze in place. All enemies could not move and then screamed in pain as their heads twisted to the sides violently killing them. All defenders of the palace looked shocked and confused. Cornelius's eyes were glowing green. His opponent was frozen but was pushing through the pain to move slowly forward. 'What spell is this!' He thought taking one step at a time.
Cornelius kept his mind focused on eliminating the forces around him. His chi was dwindling and his mind splitting with pain. 'I MUST SAVE THEM ALL!' He thought as more men's necks broke. The spell was weakening and just in time for more troops to pour through the gate. The defenders broke from their surprise at staring at Cornelius and seeing him vulnerable by the gate. Shadow Cat and others lifted shields and ran across the bridge to meet the new enemy reinforcements.
Cornelius deactivated the spell falling forward on his hands. Skull Knight shook his head as the power lifted off him. He could move freely now. He gripped his sword tight and walked forward. "Valiant effort. Seriously, I'm not one to give praise easily. But sadly your just one against many. Still a rank 4 doing all that is still impressive. I will make your death a quick one out of respect" he lifted his sword. Cornelius sat up ready for death. He looked up to the sky seeing the cloud cover darken and rain falling down. He felt soothed as the water fell upon his feathers. He felt at peace knowing death was a freedom from struggle he just endured. He finally met the gaze of the skull knight. "I am Cornelius, proud leader of the Eagle Clan. My men fought for freedom and for that short time of taking our lives back in our grasp will forever be my crowning achievement. I'll lead them even in death!" He lowered his head when the skull knight hesitated. He then became distracted as he heard distant squaks, chirps, and roars coming from above. They all heard thousands of sounds layered ontop of eachother echoing over head. Then the clouds parted and all that could be seen in the light were thousands of birds, winged beasts, Garudas, and Rocs all kinds of winged mythical beasts followed behind. They were all aiming for the Green Palace. From the sky a flash of light streaked and landing in front of the knight and Cornelius. The light solidified into a sword with a green blade, winged hilt, and a wrapped handle with a crown pommel. It glinted with chi as an eye opened on the blade. Instinctually Cornelius raised a hand and the weapon then soared towards his hand landing in the palm of his hand.
He was then jolted to life with chi and his mind transplanted to an empty plane of existence. It was dark with a large cloud of green and white nebulae hovering over a being of light seated on a throne. The World stood clapping, "Well you really are full of surprises. I now see what my slayer saw in you?" The World stood walking over to the kneeling Cornelius. He looked around with confusion and surprise at the being in front of him. "Where am I?" He asked. "Oh, my apologies. I am the World" they then bowed. "You are between worlds. My plane with yours. This is where I bestow those who have reached a certain rank with rewards and wisdom. Or those I find interesting most of that process is automated. Can't be every where. So I come bearing some things for you especially. I want you to be the next King of the Land of Winged Things!" The World then manifested a green eagle mask made of lustrous green metal like the sword Cornelius was holding in the real world. "This will be your crown. With your element your mind can travel through the realm see the eyes of all and rule as you see fit. Nothing will be hidden from your extended mind. And from what I've seen you will use this power wisely" the World explained. Cornelius was speechless staring a the mask. "I have one question for you?" He asked snapping out of his amazement.
"What could of possibly made you think that the king who ruled over me was worthy of the crown you gave him? Why would I be any different! Ruling from what I've seen corrupts absolutely. Power over the masses corrupts the soul" Cornelius. Didn't see this title as good, but as something to be weary of. The World stood silently. Till they shrugged, "You may be right. I believe in being honest so I'll level with you. Yes. Power corrupts eventually. You don't think I don't have corruption seeping within me. You would be a fool to think absolute power is not without its negatives. One must change to accept the power given. To harness it you have to adapt. But you don't have to let it rule over your morals. To answer your question your former ruler was given the crown through the bloodline. His father was the one I chose. He was a lot like you. Full of a sense of justice, morality, and kindness. His son murdered him and by the law of rule passed to his bloodline. This to can pass through your bloodline. You keep your teachings alive unlike your king. He failed his realm by not teaching his son proper way to rule. Right my wrongs Cornelius be the ruler the people deserve. And root out the corruption of the land and stand firm against the civil war. Be independent this crown will give you that power. You were slave made a king and if that doesn't help give rise to change then I don't know what will?" Cornelius was lost in thought.
'Me as a king? What do I do?' He thought staring at the mask. "What price will I have to pay?" He asked. The World shrugged, "Power comes at a price. The price is what I told you to do with your legacy, or you get a visit from my King Slayer. I'll explain something to you the Slayer isn't just an executioner, judge, and jury. They are King Makers in a sense. I only send them to topple corrupted or even weak kings who abuse their power to make way for some one more worthy. Like I said power corrupts, but who says you have to let it?" The World now stood over Cornelius being taller than him. He could feel the radiant chi coming off them. Making him have a chill down his spine.
Cornelius bowed his head, "So is that the only reason a king is killed?" He asked. "No. See with this crown comes perks in the cultivation game. You leap frog close to the end working you way to the Celestial Step. Doing so leads to the creation of Primordials or Cosmics like myself. But their must be a balance. All my Primordials agree with this fact. We allow a corrupted individual like the kings who started this civil war into our fold we could see a catastrophe on our hands. They would be open to endless power. And then that balance will be shattered. War between primordials is not something good young man" the World sighed. "So we have a deal or not? You want to be king or should I send you back to die in that battle? Your choice" the World explained extending the mask.
Cornelius stared at it. 'With this power I could save a lot of people, make changes, really turn this realm into greatness. I have seen what oppression does. I refuse to oppress the people…' he then extended his hand and took the mask. He then placed it on his face as it started glowing.
/////////////////
Inside the chamber of the Heart Stone Otto and Fred worked fast. They tore apart the panel trying to rig it to work being that it was smashed up. Otto was using a time restoration spell to help recreate components while Fred put it back together. The explosions never ceased as they worked. But they pressed on working to restore power to the palace. They next attempted to fire it up and it failed.
Fred threw a wrench down, "WHAT AM I MISSING! I have reworked this whole wiring system multiple times now! Nothing is working? What am I missing?" He shouted. He slumped to his rear in defeat and exhaustion. 'Whatever that Slayer did he really destroyed the power panel so bad. I don't have time to rebuild it before this place is over run? It would take me months to fix this. Bypassing the power to that damn feast? This is karma!' He thought shouting in his mind. He knew how this was built since he was a chick. His great grandfather and grandmother both the genius engineer and architect invisioned this palace.
Building this core from the a heart of a mountain of chi minerals. They sought to bring glory to his family's name. His father talked about how this core was a bringer and protector of life. It was used to protect the figure head of the realm in turn protecting the realm from outside forces. Fred then stared up at the giant mineral. It was glowing but the wires connected to it were still dim. He followed his gaze upward looking at all the mechinations that made this function.
Otto stared with him, "There is something we could try…a spell that allows the reversing of time. Applying that on the panel as it fixes itself thus hopefully making it work. It comes with a risk factor though? The spell I would have to use will require a lot of chi" the mage explained as he lowered his head. Fred looked up at him from the ground. "What risk?" He asked as Otto sighed. "Well I would need to channel chi from that stone through me to the panel…essentially becoming a conduit. But that amount of pure chi is terrible on the body and will most likely kill me…but if I do nothing then we all die anyway" he seemed to try and think logically. But he was resigned to his fate should he do this.
Fred scowled at him, "No! I won't let you do this! I can figure this out Otto! You don't need to sacrifice yourself" Fred protested. Otto shook his head, "You asked for my help to come down here. You want this to work? Your family's legacy is at stake. Honestly, I'm no one anymore. I was a mage that served a cannibal king…I killed people for him. Hunted Bird Folk for his meals. I even stole wealth thinking I deserved it" Fred stood up, "You can't use that! We both stole things. We're both guilty of everything that has gone wrong…we have a lot to pay for" he sighed and then stared up at the Heart Stone and sunk his head. "No. The spell…how much power you need to make that happen?" Fred asked. Otto looked confused, "It's a Rank 4 spell. It will need a lot. In attempting this being a Rank 3 mage. Only got this spell from my master. He made it…he died at thirty and aged rapidly. This feeds on one's time as well…I'm a fifty year old bird…so the odds are against me" he confessed. He clapped his hands together as purple energy coated his hands. "It's been a privilege being your friend Fred. Hopefully I see you on the other side of this intact" Otto confessed extending left arm to the Heart Stone and his right focused at the control panel. He closed his eyes and sank into a focused state. He then pulled the chi from the Heart Stone towards him absorbing it. He focused on flowing the energy through his body towards the control panel.
A barrier formed around the panel creating a pocket of energy. Focusing on the time around the panel making its state shift as it started to automatically fix itself.