Lowly Ascent

The wind blew as two people glared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

Cain was the first to act, taking out his daggers and charging at Julius. In response, Julius took out a vial and opened it, spilling its contents on the ground.

The spilled liquid began to evaporate and formed an ethereal wall between the two.

"So your focus is on alchemic spells!"

Cain bashed into the wall and was astounded that he couldn't break through. On the other side, he could barely make out a smile on Julius's face.

Taking out another vial, Julius threw it at the wall. As the two collided, the wall began to turn into orange-like flames. Cain saw this and grinned; he planned to take it full on.

The wall seemed to come alive as a fiery mouth came into being and attempted to swallow Cain whole.

Cain cut his arm and drew out some blood, which began to evaporate and clash against the wall. Reacting, the fiery mouth began to crack and lessen as it was slowly enveloped by the wall.

"Well, if you can take out that, then try this," Julius said, taking out a small knife made from some blue material. He threw it at the mist, and a truly frightening reaction occurred.

As the knife touched the mist, it released a cold aura that froze the gaseous weapon into a solid form, falling to the ground and shattering.

"So you know my weakness, but I know yours!"

Cain charged at Julius and put his daggers away, taking out his maul and bracing himself. "You won't escape," Cain snarled, swinging his weapon in a relentless flurry.

Julius began to dodge a flurry of swings coming from Cain; one after another, he would dodge as Cain attacked from every angle.

This became repetitive, but that was Cain's plan. He immediately switched up his attacks, twisting and turning his body precisely and instantaneously, as if he was calculating where Julius would be. His attacks, one after another, inched closer and closer to the Emperor's body.

By now, many of the Royal Guards were at the scene but could do nothing, as the fight before them was something beyond their control.

Cain's reaction speed seemed to breach time itself as he increased the calculations of his many brains and accurately hit Julius, flinging him across the garden, which had now become a barren arena.

Julius felt his body crumble as he flew back into the Palace, breaking through the walls and pillars on the way inside. He sat hunched in the rubble, taking out another vial and drinking it. His wounds healed in a split second, and he got up to find Cain.

The vials Julius had were of his own design. Through glass making, he created a substance that was clear and, when cooled, became resilient to most attacks, but it had to be in a certain circular or cylinder-like form to have this effect, similar to Prince Rupert's Drop.

As he left the Palace, charging back to Cain, he was met with pools of blood. He stood before Cain, covered in blood and surrounded by bodies. Even his hair, which was almost as dark as the black dot in the sky, was dyed by the blood of the surrounding soldiers.

Cain looked at the Emperor as his maul hummed, and he charged with a crazed smile. Julius attempted to create distance, but Cain smashed the ground and shook the earth. Julius couldn't find his balance, and Cain took the opportunity to get close.

The maul was raised high into the air, eclipsing the white moon's light. Julius braced himself, his heart pounding, but in an instant, the maul descended upon his shoulder with bone-crushing force.

The Emperor screamed as his entire shoulder was crushed and destroyed, now nothing more than a bloody mess. His arm couldn't be moved and was close to falling off, now just a mangled decoration.

"How did your attack happen that fast?"

The crazed smile on Cain's face crept up more, now almost reaching his ears. It was unnerving and frightening. "I simply bathed my weapon in your people; it seems they became a liability and will now be the cause of your death."

'Highest-grade runic weapon,' Julius's mind screamed, as he knew that weapons that could bend the laws of the world could only be called highest-grade runic weapons.

Runes could only reach what was called the highest grade. This only counted for weapons, as such runes have never been tried on armor.

Highest-grade weapons are created through runes engraved in obscure ways and hold the ability to warp reality in some way when used. In exchange for this, something must be given.

For Cain's maul, it is the blood gained through battle, in turn, making his maul stronger and lighter as if he was swinging air.

These weapons were incredibly rare, and even the Royal Family only have 2 in its long line of existence, waiting for the time to become an empire and eventually become what it is today.

Cain didn't know what he held in his hands could buy Salazar City 10 times over, but he knew they were powerful weapons no one else had.

"How did you get that weapon?"

"What this? I got it from the Union Vault, if you must know, the Yurombi are from there as well. Though even me telling you that doesn't matter since you'll still die here. no matter what"

'He has two weapons that can morph laws. How am I going to kill him?'

Julius took out another vial and drank it while whispering incoherent words. Like before, his body healed in just a few seconds.

He only had a few more vials; these were the ones he kept on him around his waist, and Cain could see just how much he had left. If he hadn't picked it up when he left his chambers, he would be dead by now.

'This is annoying, if I had time to prepare, he would be dead by now! I only have one chance left, or I really will die here!'

Julius then took the remaining vials, all except the healing ones, and mixed them together in an empty one. He controlled the ratio as his hands moved like blurs; he had perfected his sleight of hand.

Cain watched as Julius worked on his last lifeline. He drooled at the thought of taking on this attack fully. Cain wanted to watch as Julius broke down in despair. He stood there and laughed to himself as Julius worked and ignored him.

After a minute, Julius shook the vial around before he smiled.

"I will give you my life if you can survive this spell!"

"Bring it on!"

Julius was what was called a potions master, a form of alchemic mage who did spells through potions. He was a genius in this aspect, and his most powerful creation was held in his hands. He threw the potion as it whistled through the air, destroying the vial that housed it and taking its own form.

It became a massive eagle made from gaseous flame, almost like a phoenix. It rode the air as it collided with Cain's flesh and surrounded him. The spell entered through Cain's every crevice and began to ravage his body, destroying everything.

As the spell tore through Cain's body, Cain began breaking down and reconstructing himself in a grotesque dance of agony.

His eyelids liquefied, and his eyes were forced from their sockets, leaving empty, bleeding holes. Amidst the flames, his bones seem to resist the disintegration, the only thing remaining to show he was once human.

The phoenix continued to burn, its fiery form diminishing with each passing moment. In the end, all that remained of Cain was a pile of mush on the ground, reminiscent of when he was in that alley so long ago.

Julius stared at the gruesome sight, overcome with a mix of relief and madness. He looked up to the sky and screamed, his voice echoing through the desolate battlefield.

"I avenged you, Augustus! I did it! I killed that monster who took you from me!"

'Not quite,' a voice echoed in Julius's mind.

Julius became alarmed and turned around, finding himself standing on top of an ocean as the sky seemed to look like the heavens, with bright white clouds and beautiful rays descending onto him. It was like a dream, but it soon turned into a nightmare.

"I didn't wish to resort to this with your mental state and all, but that spell was definitely something. My body was disintegrated even with it being practically immortal."

The heavens seemed to fall as a red light corrupted them, and the ocean began to bubble as bones surfaced, turning the water blood-red. In the sky, the clouds parted to show a single red eye peering down at Julius.

"What are you? How are you doing this? Stop!"

"It is too late, goodbye Julius Salazar, Sun of the Empire. Your death will not be in vain."

The eye's pupil enlarged as Julius felt like he was entranced by it. His body didn't move as corpses came from the ocean and slowly pulled him under.

All that was left in his mind were thoughts of his family 'I guess this is okay. I will get to see you again, sister, Augustus... I'm coming home.'

Julius disappeared into the bottomless sea, and Cain was all that remained. Opening his eyes, Cain quickly cut off his arm, as the takeover wasn't completed yet. That arm still contained Julius's blood which was the key to the black box.

He quickly regenerated his arm and searched the pile of charred flesh that was his old body, collecting his things, but this time not transplanting the corrupted skeleton as it was now mush.

'Numineer must think I died. With this, I can secretly return and continue my plans. But first, what does this little black box hold?'

Cain got the arm of Julius and squeezed; a funnel of blood poured out and covered the box. It glowed with a golden light, and the gold line became red and separated the two sides. Cain then took a quick peek.

Even though he has never seen it before, he already knew what it was just from the feeling in his heart.

'Hahahaha! Who knew you were hidden in here! My luck is impeccable hahaha! I wonder what I can gain from you!'

Cain quickly closed the box and escaped from the scene, leaving the damaged Royal Palace and returning to Carc. Laughing hysterically the whole way there.

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NOTE: If you don't know what Prince Rupert's Drop then look it up. Interesting stuff. Also I know I haven't talked much about Alchemic mages so I will go over it now.

Alchemic mages use mediums to create spells, there are different branches like potions master but it is a rare profession overall.

This path is not only expensive but you need to be talented, and with the death of many and the Union's end I would say there are less than 5 alchemic mages total left. So they are basically extinct.

Not to mention it's not mainstream as augmentation and just controlling the pathogens you yourself, instead of using mediums.

That is all, if you want a full breakdown I will make one.