NOVEL NEXT Blood and Ichor Pt. 3
Uncle Nox slumped to the ground in an unnatural way, completely limp as he
just collapsed onto the ground. No, no, no, no, no, no. I needed to rewind
time! There was a barrage of shimmers around replica Nil as multiple
<Rifts> manifested in front of us which Krahinn used plates of <Dark
Nebula> to block them. The entire area looked almost underwater, the air was
shimmering so much. What was going on? Uncle Nox! He wasn't moving as blood
just seeped out of him. Uncle Nox wasn't moving at all; he just laid there on
the ground motionless.
Krahinn! Please turn back time! I pleaded with him. There was a
limited window to save him.
I'm trying to. <Automaton> you is completely choking out all time
<Magic>. Krahinn shot back. That was possible? How?
He's going to die! I snapped, wanting to save my uncle.
Nil, I can't forcefully turn back time when the clone you is oppressing
all other forms of time <Magic>. Brace for the worst. I understand this
is difficult and upsetting but now is not the time to be feeling these
emotions. Krahinn warned me. Why would I develop some kind of time
lock <Spell>?
How is he jamming it? I wondered, knowing we had moments left to turn
back the clock.
The fact he has pure <Spacetime Affinity> with all his <Mana>
makes it hard when he's actively stopping it. Krahinn retorted as the
shimmering intensified.
Is there something you can do to defeat <Automaton> me? I asked
desperately, knowing the chance to save Uncle Nox was almost over.
I'm trying, wasting some of my <Backlash> because I was not
expecting this follow up is making it quite difficult. Krahinn informed me
quickly.
How did Nyx even do this? I snapped as I saw Uncle Nox on the ground.
She inlaid the work into the copies of Ryker because no way could she
make this flat out because of how destructive and lethal it is. I'm not sure
how she made something this monstrous without violating the <Veil>. Krahinn
explained in a heavy tone. The air was difficult to see through it was
shimmering so much now.
Before we could react, the world seemed to vanish as all around us was now
gray. How did he pull us into a <Null Space>? Wait, he only pulled copy
Luna, Papa, Mama, Dad, Uncle Nez, Duke Dawnsfield, and me into the <Null
Space>. Uncle Nez looked like his soul was crushed as he kind of just
collapsed to the ground shell shocked; there was no time to mourn as the
<Automatons> had no intention of slowing down their attacks. The two of
them continued their assault as <Automaton> me seemed to be moving even
faster as he seemed to just be wherever he wanted to be in the space. Attacks
were appearing out of nowhere as a deluge of <Spells> and sword strikes
rained from behind him as he was able to attack everyone all at once. How was
he able to conjure so many attacks simultaneously?
Dilating time and queuing the attacks to then release them all at once. Krahinn
informed me as he created an array of <Magic> to deflect the attacks.
Can you separate from me to fight them? I inquired, hoping to do
something to change the tide.
It wouldn't help as much as you'd think, having access to your <Arcane
Eye> and <Spacetime Affinity> are helpful. I'm also not sure I can
without you dying, and if I have to pick on who to keep alive it is going to be
you. Krahinn answered in a frustrated tone.
Is it the strain from what I did to Ryker? I checked trying to bury
the dark sensation boiling up.
Partially. We need to focus on the problem in front of us not what
decisions we made. Krahinn replied as another maelstrom of attacks launched
towards us.
My family resumed their defense and trying to counterattack the
<Automatons>. I could feel Krahinn mentally refine our approach on
something with a bit of dread. What could we do to turn this around? To turn
the tide in our favor? Krahinn seemed to have some idea that he was debating
the efficacy of. I was willing to try about anything at this point; I didn't
want this to get any worse. What was giving Krahinn pause? What idea would Krahinn
dread? He generally had no qualms with most of his ideas which made the one
that gave him pause weigh on my mind a bit.
Hey Nil, how much do you trust me? Krahinn checked after a few
moments of thinking. That was not a reassuring question.
Quite a bit, why? I answered as I wondered what prompted that
question.
I need a more concrete answer than that. I have a dangerous gamble that
might work, but you need to not panic. Krahinn clarified for me. If Krahinn
called it dangerous, that meant this idea was something truly risky.
I won't panic. I assured him. What qualified as dangerous to
Krahinn?
Remember, remain calm. Krahinn stressed as I saw
<Automaton> me slashing down on my dad.
Before I could ask follow up questions, I suddenly was in
front of the swinging sword. Krahinn used my <Lord's Eye> to dilate our
perception of time as I could see the full speed swing slashing down towards me
with two soulless eyes boring into me. I clenched my teeth as the
lightning-fast sword froze in the air less than a millimeter from my skull. The
<Automaton> pivoted into a kick to my head and launching several spears
of <Void Magic> at the others, where I learned how rapidly Krahinn could
move me around. With time dilating he managed to put me in the path of nearly
all of them close enough to force the <Automaton> to stop the attacks.
This was definitely an idea of all time.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"What are you doing Krahinn?!" Dad snapped at him.
"Slowly down the assault; they are not allowed to hurt Nil." Krahinn replied
calmly, sounding a bit relieved.
How did you know the attack would stop? I checked as I was steeling
myself for what was about to happen.
I didn't. It was a guess. That attack might've caved your skull in if not
killed you. It was a last ditch attempt to see if it would remotely slow them
down because it would maim me and probably kill you if they didn't. Krahinn
answered which was not comforting.
Why didn't you try it sooner? I wondered as Krahinn moved me in the
way of as many attacks as he could.
Intentionally trying to put you in the path of an attack that would
likely incapacitate me temporarily and has a good chance of killing you is a
horrible idea but as we got forced into a <Null Space> it was time for
desperate ideas. Krahinn informed me. This was such an awful idea.
For the first time since the attacking began, <Automaton> Nil finally
stopped attacking as it mulled over how to keep attacking. My family realized
the clones finally gave a small pause which they released their own attacks to
put pressure back on them. The downside of the strategy was made readily
apparent when rushing towards the copy of me because it was difficult to put me
between them when the gap between my family and the <Automaton> was less
than an inch. Unfortunately, replica me was able to rapidly rotate and pivot in
its defense which sounded like thunderclaps from how hard it was hitting my
family. Copy Luna assisted in defending against the family counterattack while
<Automaton> Nil adjusted to a more compact fighting style, not using the
more arcing sword swings and keeping distance for <Magic> to wielding the
sword by the blade as the gauntlets of the armor stopped the blade from cutting
him with compact swings. I almost questioned how that could possibly work until
I heard the sound from it connecting with Mama.
Her eyes went wide as she got launched by the force, struggling to stand
back up as her breathing became shallow. Her chest plate was crushed in like
the strike was done by a hammer with a center more caved in where the pommel
dilating the space the sword is in so when it connects it is moving at a
massive rate of speed. Just how many subtle things was I missing? A lot.
I winced a bit as Krahinn was correct because I was struggling to grasp
just how much <Magic> was occurring in front of me. This is over two
decades of practice and dedication you are witnessing, but that is not
important right now. Papa and Duke Dawnsfield kept fighting the
<Automaton> of me while Dad took the chance to fight the copy of Luna.
Krahinn put me between the two of them, using our <Magic> to keep him
from intervening. Unfortunately, Uncle Nez was completely still as he seemed to
be reeling from Uncle Nox sacrificing himself to save him.
<Automaton> Nil was getting visibly annoyed that he could not protect
Luna while Mama finally recovered and joined the fray against copy Luna. Copy
Nil began shimmering heavily making the <Null Space> begin distorting
from his <Magic> which made Krahinn enshroud him with <Dark Nebula>
plates to try and keep him contained. They all shattered as I felt my face
explode. My ears were ringing while the world began spinning around me as
Krahinn moved me out of the way of the follow up attack. I was seeing multiple
copies of replica Nil again, but they were different this time because my head
was ringing. I then noticed a new sensation: pain. I could feel pain slowly
slipping back into the numbness I had felt with previously as my body was
screaming at me. Did he hit me hard enough to make False Immortals Serum wear
off? What was that? I didn't even see when he attacked me. I realized Dad was
bleeding profusely as well as Duke Dawnsfield from large slashes that appeared
from nowhere; my vision was slowly coming back into focus from whatever hit me.
Mama and Papa were battling the copies still while Krahinn moved me into the
fray as the damage was piling up on both sides.
Krahinn was activating my <Arcane Eye>, finally succeeding in unraveling
the <Null Space> to drop us all back in Tenebrae. The city was still bent
in a massive sphere before I noticed I felt unparalleled wrath; I felt the
world begin to shake as all the water in the city seemed to be gathering in a
massive ocean in the sky. Actually, more water seemed to be pouring out of
nowhere as I saw something. What was I seeing? In the city was a
monstrous, scaled beast larger than the castle rushing to bite the <Automaton>
Nil in half. There was a massive sea creature with numerous rows of serrated
teeth with a copper-colored map, six silvery blue eyes, large tendrils on their
chin, two massive dragon like arms that went into large claws, several serpent
tails, two massive sets of fin like wings, and a row of dorsal spines that were
webbed with something resembling fins. It was bleeding a bit, and I noticed the
blood was green which contrasted greatly against the platinum scales. Wait. My
mind instantly flashed back to the fact Nautilus had green blood.
Correct, Nautilus is a <Deep Sea Leviathan>. Krahinn informed
me as her <Anima Magic> was shaking the city hard enough to make the
buildings crumple.
Her entire body was covered with projected armor, dragon arms, and her
buffing hymns stacked so high the air vibrated hard enough for me to feel it in
my bones. She unleashed on copy Nil, unleashing a maelstrom of dragon arms,
water jets, ice spikes, and spectral chains trying to rip him apart. Papa, Duke
Dawnsfield, and Krahinn began assisting Nautilus in her assault of
<Automaton> Nil while Mama and Dad resumed with their efforts to get rid
of the Luna replica. My copy tried getting near her which Nautilus retaliated
with blocking his entire vision with her dragon-like claws to swat him back.
The sound made my ears nearly feel like they were bleeding as several buildings
shattered from the shockwave that erupted from her swing. Unlike before, I
noticed he dilated the space to give him time to stop as he recovered and made
an <Air Step> to catch himself. Nautilus rushed towards the
<Automaton> instantly, stabbing at him with tails, swinging her fist, and
projecting countless projections to give him nowhere to dodge. He appeared in
front of her, swinging his sword with enough force to try and cleave Nautilus
in half. Her <Anima Magic> caught the blade, but the force of the swing
was strong enough to lift Nautilus up. Papa came from behind, for the first
time actually connecting with the <Automaton>.
Progress! I cheered mentally, seeing <Ichor> seep from where it
was stabbed.
Don't celebrate yet, there's a long way to go. Krahinn sighed as the
replica turned around and swung like the sword in the shoulder was a scratch.