Dark Matter Ascension

Jace was as prepared as he could be and made sure he was in a ready stance with most of his body hidden behind the Crusader's Bastion. He could hear the roar of a phantasmal crowd in his ears – guttural voices all demanding blood and death. Specifically, his blood and death. He could feel his pulse quicken as his adrenaline spiked, and he practically quivered in anticipation of the impending conflict.

A screen of black with pink flickered across his vision.

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[Mission: Put on a show! Entertain your hosts.]

[Reward: Infusion with Rarity scaling depending on entertainment value.]

[Sender: The Ancients.]

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Ollie tugged at his mind and forced his vision to the left, and to Jace's surprise he saw two figures that were not ghostly and phantasmal. They were solid. Audience members in the robes who were cloaked in shadowy wraps of starlight.

I think those are The Ancients, Ollie stated. If they did make the Vaults, which everything points to being the case, then I would assume they can see into or even travel to the Vaults and the encounters.

Jace had to rip his attention off of the two figures who his All-Seeing Dragon's Eyes were unable to fully grasp the totality of. They were nebulous shapes, and in that moment, just an audience. You want a show? Jace thought as he lowered his ready stance and assumed a more relaxed one, hopping from foot to foot like a boxer would getting ready for a fight.

The tunnel entrance at the far end of the arena cracked and splintered as a hand gripped the lip. A huge, pure-red, dripping-viscous-gore hand. The skin and muscle pulsated unnaturally, as if veins were running along the entire arm. From the shadows, the rest of the body emerged and Jace was rather unimpressed. The figure that came out was twelve feet tall, with huge, broad shoulders, adorned in armor reminiscent of the figures from some barbarian legend. Huge, matted furs covered in blood and dripping viscera were draped around the shoulders. Bronze colored protective plates marked with Runes were placed in strategically defensive locations where, at least Jace assumed, vital components were located.

The head was fully covered by a monstrous, demonic wolf head. Well, the closest thing Jace could compare it to was a wolf, at least. And the figure held a massive flanged mace in its offhand. Surprisingly, it spoke in guttural tones which Jace's Astral Translation interpreted, and as it spoke it turned to The Ancients and bowed. "I, Yroshnak, have answered the call of The Ancients!"

Jace decided to duplicate the action, and willed his helmet to recede as he turned and bowed, before raising his blazing, golden sword – which caused the two figures to lean forward slightly. "I am-" he paused for a split-second, considering whether he should use his code name or his real name. Something urged him to use his real name, and he blurted it out. "Jace Seren. And I am here for that Relic!"

Why reveal your identity like that? Ollie asked.

I don't know, Jace thought back.

Checking the logs…oh…oh…looks like The Ancients used a backdoor into your Astral System interface and I did not catch it because of how subtle it was…clever. Ollie sounded impressed and panicked.

Jace heard the loud clang of mace on metal and turned to face the Demon Lord. The figure let out a snort, "If you impress me, Dreamer, I may let you live. Do well enough, and you may seek out my real form on Layer 8, in the Blood Lakes, and fight me for real." The figure put the mace out to his right and dropped it on the sandy arena floor – the mace vanishing into a pool of blood before leaving behind a small, crimson patch.

Well, if they want a show and this thing wants me to impress it – we'll start with fists. Jace sheathed the sword but kept the shield active.

This elicited a ghoulish grin from the Demon Lord, "Ah! A real warrior!" The figure blitzed forward – faster than Jace could ever hope to keep up with – and slammed into his shield.

Jace was sent back a few feet, his feet digging into the stone under the sandy arena floor before he was pushed up and the surface mended itself.

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[Foe that is vastly superior detected.]

[Shattered Limits enabled.]

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He is Potency 8! Ollie practically shouted. I am turning it on with [Single-Minded Fury].

Jace felt the familiar sensation of power coursing through his veins as his senses were all heightened and the world slowed to a crawl – enough that he knew he could fight this Demon Lord but was still slightly edged out in the speed category.

However, he spotted something that brought a grin to his face. The shield had [Retaliating], and that spike of golden energy that stabbed into the Demon Lord's shoulder – a tiny, little speck – was enough to deliver the Void Brand. I just have to hit him and stack that, he thought. No Void Beam if I want to impress these Ancients.

The cascading torrents of white-grey Void poured from him in an aura, the zapping lines of [Voidflame Vestment] arcing out and trying to lash at the Demon Lord. Jace ran forward towards the now-in-a-boxer-stance demon. As soon as he got close, the figure let out a vicious shin-kick, and Jace caught it on the shield but was able to stand his ground as the NICIF surged down his legs, into his armor boots, and embedded spikes into the ground for a brief instant.

The stopping power of Jace's shield seemed to catch the Demon Lord off guard, and Jace used that opening to deliver a punch to the inside of his knee. It felt like he was punching a slab of iron, and despite leaving a tiny dent, and seeing the flash of gold from the impact that left behind a flickering burn.

"That tickled," the Demon Lord stated as that knee twisted unnaturally and slammed into Jace's chest, sending him bending backward as the wind was knocked out of him.

Detonate, Jace thought as the Dark Energy Mine went off. He used that momentum from being slammed backward to ensure he landed on the top of his shoulder blades, and then curled his legs under him and slammed them up into the creature's mid-thigh. Sending it skyward. Immediately, Jace planted his hands and shoved himself up after the demon, delivering a rapid series of kicks to the lower thighs, knees, and shins, before being sent back down to the ground thanks to the kicks providing enough force to counter his earlier upward lunge.

The Demon Lord grinned wickedly, "Anti gravity? Impressive. And it was not Psykinetics…this will be fun." The demon hit an invisible ceiling at the top of the arena, and pushing off of it – launched himself like a meteor at Jace.

Jace barely got out of the way, dashing to the left with a Soul Tether as he yanked himself out of harm's way. The demon slammed into the ground leaving behind a huge crater which quickly mended itself.

The flickering golden flames of Jace's Hero's Arena surged with a near-enthusiasm as the cheers of the crowd reached his ears. An Astral System message appeared in his vision for a brief instant.

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[Thus far your performance warrants a Rare Infusion. The use of Dark Energy and Dark Matter is fascinating, as is your use of Void – a highly guarded secret even by us. Continue your fight, and show us more of what you can do!]

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Jace raised a hand, "Void Beam (Rank 1) [Limited Range]." He aimed at the demon's left arm, intending to only injure it.

But the entity reacted and drew himself out of the way, leaving the beam to bore a hole through the side of the arena and phantasmal spectators. Both of The Ancient's whipped their heads to him, and Jace received another rapid-fire message.

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[Impressive. No more beams.]

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Jace pushed off the ground right before the Demon Lord would have slammed into him from a propelled charge. Even dodging sideways, he felt his leg get caught, and the demon ripped him back in an arc, slamming him into the floor. Jace's Void Shield took the impact with the floor, but the crushing pain around his leg elicited a grunt of pain.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Amplifying all of your adrenal glands and I am going to increase your anger response. Get ready for some <Wrathblade> style feelings!

Jace felt that old, familiar anger explode in his torso. He felt the heat rise up his neck and into his temples as the Demon Lord squeezed down on his leg tighter, the crushing pain mounting until Ollie shut off his ability to feel that sensation. Dark Matter Mending (Rank 4) [Vampiric], Jace thought. He began wailing on the Demon Lord, slamming his fists into the creature's hide.

The NICIF popped a message up into his vision.

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[We got you, boss!]

[Let's get this a bit more deadly!]

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Jace's fingers and armor around his hands shifted into sharp, angular claws not unlike the talons of an eagle. He began ripping chunks out of the Demon Lord's flesh as the figure kept slamming him into the ground and wall.

"You're a fun plaything," the demon said with a chuckle. "Let's make this more interesting." He pulled, hard and Jace felt his leg disconnect with a loud shrk noise. The NICIF quickly sucked back into his stump and sealed it off, while Jace kept clawing away with abandon – not feeling pain, knowing he was being healed the more he hurt the figure. A frenzy of a feral nature as every single rip and tear slowly spread that Void Brand from the demon lord's upper shoulder.

Enough that, it seemed, the demon had not noticed, the arm's tendons had been mostly eaten through. And as he whipped Jace back for another slam – the arm ripped away from the socket as the entity let out a scream of rage. Jace went tumbling into the sky, but quickly used his Soul Tether to pull himself back to the ground, next to his leg, and shoved the stump onto the torn-off appendage.

The NICIF quickly surged out, re-connected, and re-integrated the leg as Jace got to his feet. The Demon Lord, on the other hand, tried to grab his arm and reconnect it to the stump – bloody tendrils reaching out and trying to grasp for the lost limb – but could not as Void kept eating away at the newly-made connections.

Once more, a message from The Ancients flickered across Jace's sight.

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[And regeneration via nanites and serum? A true integration of magic, magitech, and technology. A universe after my own heart. That's worth of an Epic Infusion! Keep going! I want to see more!]

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"You think you're clever?" the demon lord asked, no longer sounding amused but instead irritated. He threw the arm aside and his body flared a deep crimson. Blood began to seep from him – a whole torrent of ichor that coated the arena floor, mixing with the sand which perpetually refreshed itself and making a thick slurry of iron-scented mud. "Come on!" he screamed as he rushed to Jace.

Jace manifested the Crusader's Bulwark and blocked the wild haymaker, but then had to back away as a rapid flurry of kicks, punches, knees, spinning elbows, and even body-slams were sent his way. He was able to nimbly dance around the hits, or block them with the shield, resulting in a surge of golden flames as the bursting energy from the [Retaliating] Specialization seared and flared out against the demon lord. Strike after strike, Jace was able to block.

And he noticed he wasn't suffering injury anymore. The Demon Lord was slowing, and eventually even backed off, huffing in breaths. "What's the matter?" Jace shouted, still at half energy with Primal Hide ready to go. "Come on! I haven't even used my sword yet!"

The Demon Lord let out a barking laugh. "I've been holding back for your sake, pup," he growled. Holding his stump out, Jace saw the white-grey of void that had been slowly accumulating completely vanish from the Demon Lord's body. His arm surged back – a spike of blood that quickly manifested full shape. The blood around the arena surged to form a protective encasement of armor, and as he stood to his full height, holding his right arm out, the mace from earlier rose from the blood and into his grip. "Now…you wish to see the power of a Potency 8 Demon Lord? Against a Potency 1 like you?"

A System message appeared on the battlefield in front of both of them.

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[We will ensure neither of you die or suffer permanent injury. Please, go all out.]

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In a flash the Demon Lord was across the battlefield – faster than Jace even at his full Shattered Limits could keep up with. The mace crunched into his shield, and sent Jace rocketing across the arena, shattering through the stone walls, and then into an invisible barrier. He could barely get his wits back before a hand gripped him around the chest, ripped him out of the wall, and held him upright.

A hand made of blood and sand, holding him upright, at chest level of the creature as it reeled back for a baseball-like swing – and Jace's head was the ball. Void Step (Rank 2) [Burst]! Jace thought.

As the swing came in, he vanished with an explosion of Void that blew apart the blood-mud hand, and appeared behind the Demon Lord with another explosion. Drawing his sword, the Hero's Blade surged to life with all of his Skills and Talents. The golden fury exploding in his grip as he brought the weapon carving into the demon's back, eliciting a howl of agony.

More blood-mud hands shot up, and Jace used another Void Step at (Rank 1) to get around to the Demon Lord's front. Over and over, he dodged using instantaneous warping, delivering strikes of explosive gold, and then nimbly dodging once more with another warp. But doing such a tactic was causing him to tire as his energy deleted steadily.

The Demon Lord let out a growl of frustration, ablaze with golden light and the white-grey of Void which he could not see. "Enough!" he screamed as the whole world turned red. The entirety of existence transmuted to a deep, crimson hue that bathed the entire arena in a sinister glow. Jace felt the blood in his veins sizzling – but the NICIF quickly converted that blood to nanite-infused fluid, instead.

"I don't have blood," he said simply as he landed on the muddy ground. "Nothing for you to manipulate," he followed up as he raised his hand. I want to turn this whole arena back to normal, with all of the blood removed. Archmage's Admixture.

The world pulsated with a prismatic wash of colors as the crimson vanished, the sand returned to normal, and even the Demon Lord's body was drained of its lustrous red color for a brief instant before it re-surged. "Magic?!" The Demon Lord screamed out in anger. "How many tricks do you have, hero?"

"A lot," Jace replied as he readied for the next advance. "Come on! They want a show, let's give them one! No ranged weapons, no battlefield manipulation, no warping from me – just your mace, my sword and shield, and a real fight!"

You sure about this? Ollie asked.

The Ancients seem invested in learning about my capabilities. I've shown a lot of them, but it's always good to keep some abilities hidden. Like Void Counter and Raging Cleave. Stuff that could be useful in a pinch. Plus, they promised they won't let me die or suffer permanent injury. Through the Astral System. Jace felt himself at ease. Relaxed despite the tension of the situation, the surging adrenaline, and the indescribable hatred he felt towards this entity.

The Demon Lord rushed forward and released a tremendous downward slam that Jace side-stepped before he delivered a counter-strike to the huge, meaty arm holding the mace. The blade bit in, and then exploded with riotous, golden flames. Flames that spiraled up the Demon Lord's arm and caused him to let out a grunt of pain as he used his other hand to slap Jace away – to which the hero landed on his feet and readied his shield for a follow up.

A follow-up that did not come. "Know why demons hate Psykinetics users with the golden flame?" he asked.

"Sure," Jace replied, making his voice sound as cocky as he possibly could. Which, given the ease that this current situation was being dealt with, was extremely easy.

"Because you heroes are always a thorn in our sides."

There was another brief Astral System message that flickered across Jace's vision.

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[Not just that. But those who draw upon the golden flame of heroism or its related Emotion Sources – such as your Valiance –are able to bypass the restriction inherent in the Astral System. Normally, those who are more than 3 Potency outside of each other's range, is the case here, cannot "punch up" to use a colloquialism from your mind. You can harm this Potency 8 Astral Demon, which normally you would have to be Potency 5 or higher to do. You are doing a mighty fine job keeping us entertained. Legendary Infusion worthy. Keep going as long as you can, until you exhaust yourself entirely.]

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The Astral Demon Lord of Blood thumped his chest with his fist. "I am Yroshnak! I am undefeated in battle! Slayer of billions of Dreamers! Invader of universes, conqueror of many!" He grinned with a manic delight, despite the golden flames and white-grey of Void eating away at his form. "No more holding back! We fight for real!"

Wait, he wasn't going at full power? Jace thought. Faster than he could think, blink, react to – still standing stock-still – the enormous mace appeared above him and slammed down.

Ollie, though, was an AI who could react at computational speeds exceeding thought. He activated Void Step (Rank 1), moving Jace just to the side of the mace before it would have pancaked him into the dirt. Again, he activated the Skill as the horizontal swipe came in, this time at Rank 2, sending Jace above the Demon.

I need to integrate deeper for faster reaction speed! Permission to do a deep dive?

As long as I'm me and you're you, Jace thought back.

Jace felt…odd. Pleasantly odd. Like he had just stepped into a warm bath that suddenly shifted to lukewarm before heating up again. A feeling of tingling going up his toes. Ollie's voice faded into nothingness, but Jace felt more in-tune with his body than ever before. He could feel every single nanite of the NICIF in his body. Each of them, coordinating and corresponding with his central nervous system.

Ollie was acting as the operating system, Jace was the user, and his body was the hardware. Jace was almost crushed by the next strike, but was able to move out of the way. He did see his energy dropping precipitously. It must be because Ollie doing what he's doing takes a lot of energy, Jace thought. So this is only for really dire situations like this one.

Jace was able to get a few slices in, and the golden flame along with white-grey of the Void continued to spread across the Demon Lord's form. As his energy reached near-empty, he pulled on the Primal Hide's reserves and refilled to half energy to keep the fight going. Slash after slash, dodge after dodge, blocking with his shield when he couldn't get out of the way – each time his arm feeling pulverized, but still keeping him safe.

His foe did not seem to tire or feel anything despite hatred, judging from the scowl under the wolf-hide cowl and now-armored plate covering the eyes. Despite being covered in the white-grey of Void, and the flickering golden flames, he persisted in his assault. Jace saw his energy depleting ever faster and just barely was able to hold on by keeping on the defensive. The benefit, though, is that thanks to Power Through, he was inflicting amplified damage on the few instances where he was able to strike a blow.

But the stone can only withstand the ocean for so long before it is dislodged, and Jace felt the world speed up as he ran out of energy, Ollie re-merged with his mind instead of being fully fused with his being – and the mace was an invisible blur that crunched into him and sent him spiraling through the air and into the invisible ceiling of the arena. Before he began to fall, the Demon Lord of Blood leaped up and slammed the mace into him, crushing him against the ceiling.

Jace blacked out from the pain.