Nightmares Paradise [LITRPG System Integration]

Jon released a short, shallow breath. His eyes darting towards Eis figure half obscured by the enormous foliage his Spell had sprouted, still holding onto Aerilayna's half-frozen figure.

He should had known his first encounter with another organized group within the System Introduction would result in some sort of conflict. Holding one of their companions as a hostage did not do him any favours either but was a chance that Jon knew he could not take right now.

Not with Avahni still unable to move on her own.

Not with a Memento Source Item sitting on his face.

Not when he was now so close to Knighthood that he could almost taste it.

His Sea Of Knowledge churned, producing thoughts and ideas from each clash of wave against tide. Sea foam frothed up from the ocean depths, each one containing a possibility that Jon could consider.

'I don't trust these people for a single moment. Hell, if I was in their situation I would just kill me and be done with the whole thing. Giving this woman is leaves me with no leverage. But getting Avahni to safety takes priority more than anything else.'

'The Hastor-Yellow Horrors can be used as a distraction. The Fragment Of Annihilation can buy me time after getting to Avahni. And then a single Violet Door will take me all the way back to camp. Three easy steps to not dying.'

'What did Dad used to say? Something about maximum effort?' Jon thought with a grin, manifesting his Fragment Of Horrors beside him.

[The False Weave Of The Yellow King].

His Hastor-Yellow Horrors flickered into existence, as if a static-glitch in an old-time television. The presence of his fear-mutation did not unnerve him, merely nodding back at him as it sprinted in the complete opposite direction where Avahni and Ru Luan Di had been hiding.

Jon sprinting out in the direction towards his summoned companion, muttering the chant for his Fragment Of Annihilation. The exact moment the Hastor-Yellow Horrors exited the imperial wood barrier, did Jon feel a surge in multiple mutations all around him.

Three heart mutations.

Two marrow mutations.

One foot mutation.

And two eye mutations.

The sound of a small explosion echoed out from behind him, before unfamiliar voice speaking in Nain shouted out.

"I think I got him!" someone shouted, prompting Jon to furrow his brows, rushing towards Eis' figure, dismissing Luin as he picked up Aerilayna's half-frozen figure and tucking her under one of his arms.

The blonde-haired lutin's eyes widened, being manhandled in such a manner. Despite her attempts at overloading her own Fragment Of Marrow and Fragment Of Veins, Aerilayna found herself unable to muster the strength to break the ice-barrier that she had was imprisoned within.

Each step that Jon took caused her to bounce within his grip, uncomfortably jolting her head from side-to-side. Aerilayna tried to tilt her head backwards in order to glare at Jon, but he noticed this and rolled her so that her head was facing the ground.

"You'll only have one shot at using your Fragment Of Annihilation Jon. Make sure it counts," Eis said through her mental connection with Jon, prompting him to nod, allowing the White Lady Of The Winter Castle to dissipate into tiny motes of ice natured spiritual energy.

Despite his shrinking reserves of spear natured spiritual energy, Jon continued to overload his Seir-Glacial Heart and Murmur-Glacial Marrow, propelling himself forward over two metres with each step he took. He had not bothered to obscure the sound of his footfalls as he raced towards Avahni, hearing someone shout something out behind him.

"I see him! He's over there!"

The presence of approaching mutations brought a smile to his face as he adjusted the woman beneath his arm. In the corner of his vision, at the base of a particularly large tree Jon spotted the familiar figure of the Liver Of The Ginseng King.

The little ginseng king lifting his head up, sensing Jon's presence in addition to the approaching sources of spiritual energy trailing behind him.

Beside him, Avahni laid, eyes opened but expression half-dazed, still recovering from the sheer amount of blood natured spiritual energy and lie natured spiritual energy coursing through her system. Considering just how many debilitating effects she was under, Jon was not surprised that she had yet to awaken.

His attention turning towards the little ginseng sitting beside her, missing three of its four limbs.

"Ru! If you don't want to get left behind, then return to Avahni right now!" He shouted, skidding his feet across the soft earth, extending his free arm forward and manifesting a spherical construct of chaotic ice natured spiritual energy.

A single instance of his Fragment Of Annihilation required fifty percent of all the spiritual energy within his Ice Mana Core. Jon knew he would not be able to keep either his heart mutation or marrow mutation active while continuing to sustain Eis' physical existence.

The effects of his Fragment Of Heart and Fragment Of Marrow came to a halt as Jon felt his knees buckle while he hurled his Spell towards the approaching figures.

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[Frozen End Art; Envelop Seas And Mountains In Ice And Snow].

With nothing but his Fragment Of War and Fragment Of Superbia to sustain his physical capabilities, Jon was forced to dig his back foot into the ground, feeling an immense pushback from the Spell activation. His Minerva-Sagacity Eyes watching as the sphere flew through the air, forcing his pursuers to scatter feeling the presence of chaotic spiritual energy.

"Watch out!" The man's voice shouted out, eyes widening as his companions halted their chase, activating their Fragments Of Wall and Fragments Of Shield without hesitation.

The exact moment Jon's Fragment Of Annihilation came into contact with the ground, did the entire world turn white, ice natured spiritual energy illuminating the world around them. Frost sprouted across the earth; stretching is freezing tendrils further and further with each passing second.

Chaotic glass-like pillars of ice and snow bloomed across the forest, sharp and jagged thorns of frozen air shooting forth in random directions striking against stone, dirt, wood, and even spiritual constructs.

One unlucky target had their thigh impaled upon one such chaotic ice thorn, the weight of their manifested shield unable to withstand the debilitating effects of Jon's frozen end art.

The leader, a man clad in darkness natured spiritual energy swiftly moved to protect his companion, releasing a crescent-shaped wave of sword natured spiritual energy to counter the growing ice. A high-pitched melodic whir echoed out as the sword wave slashed through the ice thorn shattering it into motes of white-blue spiritual energy.

Even with the inherent offensive qualities of sword natured spiritual energy, the chaotic ice construct continued to expand, polluting the ambient spiritual energy with an overwhelming amount of cold, sapping the motion of anything and everything around it.

'What the hell kind of fragment did that guy integrate? I thought my Fragment Of Eradication was strong, but-.' The leader felt another burst of spiritual energy echo from across the forest, urging him to lift his head noticing the figure that had taken Aerilayna.

With the soft glow of ice illuminating the forest, he was able to get a good look at the individual who had taken his second-in-command.

His eyes widening as the familiar expression of said woman smiling back at him, waving gently at him as she manifested a door-shaped construct of spiritual energy. The face of Aerilayna Laedrum winked at him, pushing open the Violet Door and stepped through it.

One figure draped across their back.

While another hung frozen beneath their arm-.

"Aerilayna!" The man shouted, reaching his arm forward as if to grab her before seeing her figure disappear through the [Violet Doors Of Janus Quirinus]. His breath hitching for a moment, gazing at the space beyond the door before-.

The soft creak of a squeaky door echoed through the forest.

The unmistakable sound of a door handle clicking shut resulted in the dissolution of that strange spatial construct, dissipating into motes of tiny purplish-white spiritual energy. His eyes unable to tear themselves away from the spot where Aerilayna once stood, his arm still extended forward unable to do anything for the friend that he had just lost.

Break

Jon on the other hand, collapsed the exact moment his free hand slammed the [Violet Doors Of Janus Quirinus] shut, burdened with the effects of [Mortal] frailty now that the effects of [Light Bringer] had ended.

The debilitating effects of [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] stacked on top of this unescapable debuff, reducing all of his physical qualities to half their original might.

With Avahni on his back and Aerilayna under one arm, Jon fell down onto one knee, panting heavily as physical capabilities were reduced to that of an uninitiated mortal. His Memento Source Item vanishing into his Source, returning his physical appearance back to that of his usual self.

The long-blonde coloured hair of the lutin that he had transformed himself into had changed back into his brown, shoulder-length hair. His feminine features had regained their masculine qualities, and his eyes had recovered their golden-green tint to them.

Jon did not fail to notice the soft gasp that escaped Aerilayna's lips, as he glanced towards the captured lutin beside him. Schwarz Eis not yet manifesting her physically due to a lack of ice natured spiritual energy.

Although did not need to, knowing that her summoner was now safe. The sound of several different voices entering his ears all at once.

"Avahni!"

"Jon!"

"Are you two okay!?"

"You're back!"

The sound of Wilheim's, Sariel's, and Shamael's voiced entered his ears, bringing a small smile to his face. Both the floresiensis and the green-skinned lutin activating several of their abilities in close succession, noticing how faint his spiritual energy had become.

[Celebration Of Thou Hallowed Halls].

[Blessed Lake Art; Graceful Overflowing Pond].

[Glorious Forest Art; Hopeful Cloud Sapling].

[Thou Art The Monarch Of Lakes And Tranquillity].

[Tenderness Is The Gentle Hand Of Spring].

[Ninth Verse Of Life].

[Thou Art The Monarch Of Lotus And Dreams].

Half-a-dozen different types of spiritual energy saturated his flesh, blood, and Mana Cores, suffusing him with the nurturing essence and gentle warmth of castles, lakes, life, and lotuses.

Although the debilitating consequences of [Helel] were unavoidable, Jon could feel his Ice Mana Core and Spear Mana Core regain a fraction of their maximum spiritual energy. The presence of his friends brought a smile to his face, causing him to cough, shaking his head as he struggled to stand up on two feet.

"You got Avahni back Jon! How did you manage to-." Wilheim pausing as he noticed Jon grin back at him gesturing towards his chest with his thumb.

"Multiple incarnations," Jon replied, coughing with each word spoken, "Costs lifeforce though."

His short, hazelnut-skinned friend raised an eyebrow at the admission, muttering something about the differences between integrating a Fragment Of Incarnation or a Fragment Of Avatar at Mortality when compared to Knighthood.

Schwarz Eis manifested herself beside him, allowing Jon to lean some of his weight onto her shoulder. The sudden manifestation of the winter demon spirit caused some of Avahni's other summoned companions to take a half-step backwards, perturbed by the presence of the White Lady Of The Winter Castle.

However-.

A certain lightning fey remained unmoved by the presence of a descendant of the Angel Of Ice.

The Second Sister Of Destruction stepping forward towards her summoner's half-conscious figure kneeling down beside her. Ortlinde's eyes scanned Avahni's figure, her shoulders slumping in faint relief as she turned towards Jon, giving him a small nod of her head.

"Thank you." Was all she was able to say before allowing herself to return to Avahni's right arm, vanishing into motes of lightning natured spiritual energy.

In fact, most of Avahni's other summoned companions did the same, returning to the shared placed amongst her organs or other conceptual characteristics.

Xochitl. Totlechatl. Metzli.

Cadhla Medb. Annwn Boann.

Titus Claudius. Huo Liyu.

Lucia Zenobia.

Toci.

Ortlinde. And Tlaloc.

With the exception of Ru Luan Di who had already returned to Avahni, only Ler Setanta continued to remain physically manifested, still laying beneath the shallow waters of the lake beside them. With no-one but the White Lady Of The Winter Castle still manifested, the attention of everyone present slowly turned away from Jon and Avahni and towards the additional person that Jon had brought along with him.

Multiple pairs of eyes turning towards Aerilayna causing the blonde-haired lutin to go still feeling everyone's attention focus on herself.