Book 4 - Chapter 68 - Grievous Harm (1/2)

Any who suffered the touch of Castigation perished!

Such an overwhelming and all-encompassing display was impossible to avoid completely. A Master Demonhunter’s mental powers were enough to maintain this nightmare assault for a long time, so trying to wait it out was simply waiting for death.

After furiously trying to find any other method, Cloudhawk determined the only way to survive was to beat their enemy as quickly as possible. So, it was basically impossible.

He was surrounded by Castigation Fire and protected by Immortal Defender. What were the three of them supposed to do?

Up til now the most they’d managed was to poke at the Crimson One and test his defenses. What they discovered was that even if they threw everything they had at the golden aura, it stood firm. So far as they could tell, there was no solution to the very deadly circumstance they found themselves in.

Meanwhile, the Crimson One’s attacks were only getting more ferocious. Attack after deadly attack was thrown their way, from the rain of fire overhead to the lake of fire below, to the scores of flaming tentacles aimed their way.

Once again the old drunk called on Dawnguard’s power to protect them, at least temporarily. He and Selene tried to break through the rapidly encroaching blockade of Castigation and thus created an opportunity to attack the Crimson One. Though it was only the second time the two had fought together, they executed their plan with stunning cooperation.

Many were the skills the old man learned from the Temple. He danced among the deadly flames like a specter. What’s more, his mental prowess was enough to protect him from Castigation. Whipping tentacles and raining fire couldn’t break his defenses, at least not yet.

Selene didn’t have the same mystical skills as the former War Saint, but she did have formidable skills of her own. Her mental abilities were practically limitless, and her Holy Vestments were able to protect her at least marginally from the deadly fires. So long as she defended a few key areas from the flame, and avoid a direct blow, she needn’t fear being devoured.

Yet despite their well-executed cooperation, it was no use. The Crimson One’s gave them no quarter, their attacks were almost clumsy to his well-trained eye.

First he released a wall of fire to keep the old man at bay. He followed that with a barrage of fireballs toward Selene.

Her retreat was cut off, so she had nowhere to turn when the Crimson One rose into the air and came streaking toward her with incredible speed. His crosier came down on her like a cudgel, but she deflected it with her two swords. The strength of the blow knocked her backward.

As she struggled to regain her footing the fires reached for her, like the abyss of hell opening its maw to receive her. Spouts of flame lapped at her vestments like the grasping hands of the dead.

Selene felt her heart seize for a moment as she lost her balance. She fell backward toward the hungry fires, when suddenly she felt herself get yanked to the side. All at once the world whipped by and she found herself dozens of meters from where she’d nearly died.

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, she felt her heart races and her chest burning. The old drunk was also forced back. No one questioned the Crimson One’s overwhelming strength, he was handily pinning down three attackers without any real danger to himself.

“Let me take a shot!”

“Don’t be stupid… you can’t break his defenses!”

Selene hadn’t even finished talking before Cloudhawk blinked out of view. When she spotted him again she was shocked to discover he’d brazenly teleported right in front of their enemy, blocking his path forward.

Putting himself in front of a Master Demonhunter was suicide!

Almost on instinct, the green fiery tentacles lashed toward Cloudhawk. But they achieved nothing!

As experienced as Sterling was, he’d never met someone who could completely ignore the Castigation Fires. However, it took him only a second to realize what sort of power this was.

Cloudhawk tightened his grip on Ardent Wrath. It was now or never, he would put all their hopes on this strike!

He leaped into the air with the sword held aloft. As he brought it down on the priest, Ardent Wrath burst into fire. The dancing red blade cleaved through the green tentacles and struck the Crimson One’s golden aura.

The Master Demonhunter hardly paid it any mind.

In his phased state Cloudhawk was immune to damage, but neither could he cause any. His attacks were useless, so why attempt it? Was it some sort of feint?

Ardent Wrath’s fiery blade passed right through the golden barrier. Cloudhawk’s attack passed through Immortal Defender’s protection like it wasn’t there.

This was the moment. Success of failure depended on what happened next.

At the risk of being consumed by the spectral fires, Cloudhawk allowed his phase state to collapse. His weapon was already through the Crimson One’s barrier and inserted in his body. The blazing sword once again entered into real space along with its owner, manifesting within the Crimson One.

“What?!”

Sterling’s face became pale and he pushed himself away from Cloudhawk as quickly as possible. At the same moment, Cloudhawk felt a bone-jarring repelling force knock him away!

This sort of dimensional attack was much different from physical blows. When an object shifted from outside of one dimension into another, it tore apart anything in the space it inhabited. If the energy it attempted to displace was as strong or stronger than itself, a powerful oppositional energy arose.

It was just like years ago, when Cloudhawk overcame Drake’s defenses with a dead tree branch. Drake was a talented martial artist, even back then. His body was as hard as steel, so Cloudhawk’s stick couldn’t even scrape his skin. Yet through his phasing ability he’d managed to shove a dead stick all the way through and seriously injure Drake. It was proof of how dangerous the combination of an attack and his phase ability could be.

It didn’t matter how strong the Crimson One’s Immortal Defender was. It could be twice as strong, and still be incapable of protecting him from an attack that didn’t even come from the same reality. A clear fissure was visible where Cloudhawk’s sword had pierced it.

The Crimson One stared in wide-eyed disbelief. His relic was one of Skycloud’s best defensive items. By all rights, it should've been all but impermeable. So long as he had any mental energy remaining it was supposed to provide absolute protection... but not against a dimensional strike.

After tearing open a hole, Cloudhawk suffered tremendous backlash in the form of rebellious energy. The fires of Ardent Wrath immediately dimmed, to the point that it seemed unlikely to do the Crimson One any real harm.