Reaper(Cradle #10)(76)

He twisted, slamming the back of his fist onto Yerin’s sword as he swung a kick at Eithan’s head.

The force from that simple, mortal movement was hard for even Lindon to comprehend. It was like the Monarch had a Dreadgod sealed inside his body. Just one punch and a kick sent a storm howling through the labyrinth.

Eithan ducked back, avoiding the kick, but Yerin’s sword met his fist head-on. Madra from the collision exploded, tearing the air again, and Lindon felt the world itself ripple. The Hollow Spear scraped past Shen’s middle, vanishing into the wall.

Ziel’s hammer came in a moment later, driven by five layers of Forged script. He swung with his whole body, and while he still hadn’t fully recovered, Lindon felt the strength of an Archlord from him at that moment.

Reigan Shen still hadn’t regained his stance, but he still twisted in midair and stopped the hammer with a palm.

Which was when Lindon, blazing with the Burning Cloak, arrived at his other side. He threw a punch at the back of Shen’s head, and the Monarch spoke.

“Stop,” Reigan Shen commanded.

But Lindon had felt his authority gathering and met it with his own. Their words overlapped.

“No.”

Pain spiked through his head as his will clashed directly with the Monarch’s. It almost worked. Lindon’s fist hesitated for an instant before continuing, but it was enough for Shen to twist out of the way again.

Then Lindon found himself taking a step back again as Reigan Shen fought fist-to-fist with Eithan, Ziel, and Yerin.

Every clash between him and Yerin shook the room, but she couldn’t make him take a step back. He didn’t ignore Ziel’s attacks, but he treated them dismissively anyway, and Eithan…

Lindon found that strange. The fight had only continued for a breath, but Shen had made sure to dodge all Eithan’s attacks.

Spiritual attacks, Lindon realized.

[Agreed. I’ve sorted the appropriate constructs.]

Lindon switched to his pure core as Dross linked him to several constructs. A second later, and Lindon joined the fight again.

A sword of Forged cyan madra appeared in his hand, and he swiped at Reigan Shen, who dodged at the last second. Lindon followed up with an Empty Palm, and Shen was forced to face him for the first time.

That gave Eithan and Yerin an opening, and Yerin began Forging her Netherclaw technique as Eithan dropped stars of pure madra that speared down from the sky.

Reigan Shen blurred as he leaped, cracking even the protected stone of the labyrinth. He created distance, but Mercy had already webbed the top half of the room in soulfire-enhanced Strings of Shadow. As he broke through, a sphere of shadow expanded around him. The Dream of Darkness.

His mind and spirit would be protected from such things, but it should slow him down for a moment.

No one needed a reminder.

Lindon raised both his hands and filled the space with black dragon’s breath. Eithan launched a Hollow Spear, Yerin slashed with Netherclaw, and Ziel accelerated his hammer through several rings of script so that it cracked like thunder as it plunged into the shadows.

[Danger!] Dross called to everyone, and Lindon switched back to his pure core. The Hollow Domain erupted from him just in time.

A slash of orange light split the room in half like a sunrise, dissipating the Dream of Darkness. Reigan Shen hovered in midair despite the lack of aura in the room, a misshapen orange sword blazing in his hand. It gave off an overwhelming pressure no less than Shen’s own.

A chill ran down Lindon’s spine as he felt Dross’ alarm focus on spider-thin cracks that slowly vanished in front of Reigan Shen. He had, however temporarily, cut through the world itself.

“I’ve kept you company long enough,” the Monarch said. “I don’t like to work so hard.”

A green feather emerged from a case at his side, and suddenly the room was filled with wind aura.

None of them waited for him to do as he wished. Striker techniques speared toward him, but slashes of orange light flickered out and struck them down, though his sword didn’t seem to move.

A moment later, nine tridents appeared, shining green with death madra that reminded Lindon of the Tomb Hydras. They hovered in the wind aura, and Lindon’s heart sank. The Soul Cloak bloomed around him.

Even by a Monarch’s standards, these were no ordinary weapons. They had a powerful will to destroy that resonated with the aura all throughout the labyrinth.

These tridents were hungry.

And one flashed at each of Shen’s enemies. Dross slowed the world down, and Lindon extended his left hand to the trident spearing toward Mercy.

He could feel the will compelling the trident to seek life, and rather than oppose it, he redirected it.

“To me,” Lindon ordered.

The trident swerved and headed to Lindon, but it wasn’t as fast as the one that was already about to reach him.

This one, Lindon reached up and caught with his right hand.

Ordinarily, that would have been a fool’s move. The Soul Cloak gave him the speed and precision to catch it, but he shouldn’t be strong enough to hold back such a weapon.

The strength he’d gained from draining Crusher stayed with him, and now he was strong enough. Physically. But death madra seeped into him, eroding his life from the inside. It was trying to consume him.

So Lindon Consumed it right back.

The power of the trident soaked into Lindon, and he saw a few flickering images, pieces of the weapon’s will. It didn’t have memories, exactly; not like a living being did. But he pieced together something of an understanding.