Fang Yuan summoned his mace as he braced himself for the lunging creature. His champion summon her minions, swarm of fireflies or to be accurate flaming feathers. She sent them forward to delay the monster.
The nightmare creature got swarmed by the fireflies. But it was like a frey train. It ignored the fireflies trying to cut into it's body and went for Fang Yuan with mad frenzy.
Thankfully the flaming feathers managed to delayed the monster for a moments and he summoned his mace and braced for impact.
Thud!
Fang yuan was shot back for dozens of meters. The monster was about to tear apart him, but the Sister took away it's attention by slicing off one of the monster's limbs.
She started fighting the Fallen creature. The Fallen creature's mad rage on her. They started fighting like a whirlwind as they got swarmed by the fireflies.
Fang Yuan shaked his hand, his left wrist is broken. Although his armor is buffed by the Dawn Shard and it didn't even got a dent, but is his flesh and bones isn't buffed by anything. Now he can't really use his mace.
Few moments later the Fallen nightmare rushed out of the swarm. It's wings burning and torn by the fireflies. Burnt wounds and deep cuts all over its body. The creature lunged at him.
Fang Yuan also lunged forward with cold eyes as an ethereal sword manifested in his palm.
Two of the beast's remaing five front limbs swiped forward, deflecting the sword. Two more shot at the attacking human, forcing him to duck down and maneuver the creature's limds in a deadly dance while barely evading death.
The Ultra Sense and his hundreds of years of battle experience came into play as he danced the dance of death while leaving behind shallow cuts in his wake.
The Nephilim also cought up and joined the battle. Fang Yuan and his champion joined arms to slay this creature. They can already fight efficiently with each other. They had developed their synergy in the labyrinth, they had even killed an Awakened Devil in the Labyrinth, fighting together.
One by one they cut off the limbs of the creature. One deep cut after another, blood and black sand splashing in the air. It's jaw muscles got stabbed, neutralizing it's beak.
In a last desperate action, the creature managed to get hold of him. Although Fang Yuan's mind gave the command to move his body, he body couldn't just keep up with it. After all, he just a mere Sleeper and it's a Fallen creature.
It charged towards the foot of the unfinished statue. This beast wanted to chash him into meat paste. Fang Yuan remained calm as the foot of the statue meters away. He dismissed the sword and manifested it again. He calmly looked into the creature's frenzied eyes and dove his sword into it's eyes.
The frenzy in the remaining eye of the creature disappeared as they crashed into the foot of the statue.
BANG!
a fog black sand scattered as the spell whispered into Fang Yuan's ears.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Cursed Herald.]
[Your soul grows stronger.]
[You have received a memory, Dusk Shard.]
"Another Shard!...."
Fang Yuan thought as he was being rescued his champion. His legs are under the Fallen Monster's corpse. He has broken a few ribs. It will take him a few days to recover and his bones to be fixed.
Fang Yuan rested his back on the cold stone as he closed his eyes.
"Guard me, Nephilim!"
---
Few days later, Fang Yuan was seating on the ground with a talon and a soul shard on his lap. He was carving the talon with his sword. He is trying refine the talon into a memory. He had found out their is no citadel here.
He carved the talon into the shape of a dagger. He placed it and the soul shard together. He drew blood from his finger and started to write ancient runes on each of them. After finishing the runes, he pressed the shard against the talon and broke it.
Mystically the fragments of the soul shard got absorbed into the dagger. The talon disappeared into a rain of spark.
A small smile appeared on Fang Yuan's lip.
"Finally, I have succeed after months of trying and failure."
The spell also congratulated him on his success.
[You have received a memory, Cursed Talon.]
"Satisfaction only comes from success."
[You have unlocked your Aspect Legacy.]
Fang Yuan quickly summoned the runes.
Aspect Legacy: [Refinement].
Refinement Mastery Level: [1/7].
[1.Amateur,
2.Adept, Master,
3.Grandmaster,
4.Great Grandmaster,
5. Supreme Grandmaster,
6. Sacred Grandmaster,
7. Divine Grandmaster.]
First Relic: [Claim].
Second Relic: Unearned.
Third Relic: Unearned…
Holding his breath, he concentrated on the runes describing the first relic and whispered:
"Claim."
As he watched, the runes glowed brightly for a few seconds, and then changed.
First Relic: Claimed.
And a moment later, the Spell spoke softly into his ear:
[You have received an Aspect Legacy Relic.]
[You have received a memory, Drop of Ichor.]
"Dorp of Ichor" Fang Yuan was quite amazed. He quickly summoned the runes.
Memories: [Lamentor], [Mantle of the Night], [Dawn Shard], [Dusk Shard], [Cursed Talon], [Drop of Ichor].
Fang decided to be patient and look through his memories.
Memory Name: [Dusk Shard].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: II.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Forged from a shard of a fallen star, this shield contains the weight of the heavens. Depending on the heart of its wielder, it can be light as a feather or heavy as regret.]
"A shield."
Memory: [Cursed Talon].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: I.
Memory Type: Weapon.
Memory Description: [Talon of a Fallen Monster known as Cursed Herald.]
"Well, I didn't knew what was I experting. Now it is the time for the last memory."
Memory Name: [Drop of Ichor].
Memory Rank: unknown
Memory Tier: unknown
Memory Type: unknown
Fang Yuan held his breath for a moment.
"What is this? This thing transcends the spell's ranking system."
Fang Yuan made himself to read on.
Memory Description: [Before, there was only boundless, eternal void. From that dark abyss, the -unknown- were born. Just like chaos itself, they were endless and everlasting, vast and forever changing. But then came desire, and with it came direction. From it, the gods were born.
When gods appeared, the void was not eternal anymore.
When gods appeared, the darkness was not endless anymore.
When gods appeared, the chaos was not orderless anymore.
The gods appeared, and brought with them war. This drop of divine blood was spilled by War on one of the battlefields of that war, before the void was bound.]
Fang Yuan kept reading it over and over.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What kind game are we playing here? The void, the gods and the unknowns. This world... Is truley... horrifyingly amazing."
Fang Yuan's eyes got covered in shadows.
"I see! There is truly a path towards immortality. Nothing makes me happier."
[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?]
The spell whispered.
"Yes."
[...So be it.]
The golden drop got manifested in front of him which then shot toward his chest. The radiant droplet entered his Soul Core and disappeared, dissolving into the abyss of his soul.
The fog surrounding his core exploded with motion, and at the same time, the sea water became restless.
He felt something entering his bloodstream, a cold and unfamiliar energy that brought with it both pain and euphoria.
Then, something strange happened.
As the lineage of War God flowed through his veins, it suddenly surged, too. But its behavior was not at all normal, or caused by Fang Yuan himself. It was acting of its own volition, and felt full of ominous, dark intent.
…And rage.
The blood of War reached his heart, the confrontation began. He felt like a beast roared in defiance as hundreds of swords surrounded it.
The beast was wounded and weak, while the swords were realising powerful auras.
Two forces started fighting for control over his very being. One was the lineage of War God, and the other was depleted bloodline of the Moon.
The swords sunk their blade into the soft flesh of the wounded beast and started tearing it apart.
…And before he knew it, it was all over.
The cold energy of Moon God's lineage was gone, disappearing from him, and now in his veins runs the blood of War, vigorous and full of vitality.
The Spell said:
[Blade of Struggle has been destroyed.]
[You have gained an attribute, Crowned of Struggle.]
[Spark of Divinity has evolved.]
[...Your Memory has been destroyed.]