“Look at you.”
The voice rolled through the forest like slow thunder.
A massive shadow circled Velkorr.
Its body was dense but not fully solid—dark mass shifting like compressed smoke wrapped around enormous weight. Each step sent deep vibrations through the soil.
The imps loved it.
They were everywhere.
Shrieking.
Laughing.
Clapping their claws together.
Some hung from branches. Others bounced from tree to tree, screaming encouragement as if they were watching a performance.
“That was a fall you took days ago,” the creature continued in its deep voice. “That ship of yours must have crushed the hell out of you.”
The towering shadow began to compress.
The enormous figure shrank until it stood roughly Velkorr’s height—fifteen feet of dense black mass.
It circled him slowly.
Examining the armor.
“LOOK at this armor,” the creature said, tilting its head.
“Why?”
It leaned closer.
“You are very durable anyway.”
Velkorr didn’t move.
The imps grew louder again.
The creature suddenly turned.
“SHUT UP!!!!”
The forest exploded with scrambling claws.
Imps scattered across branches and rocks, though their whispering laughter continued in the background.
The creature turned back toward Velkorr.
“Where are you from?”
Silence.
A long pause.
“Mute?”
Velkorr’s rifle snapped upward.
Before the trigger could fire, the weapon was ripped from his hands and hurled into the forest.
“No,” the creature said calmly.
“Not here.”
Its arm began to change.
Shadow condensed into a long ghost blade, the weapon forming out of swirling black energy.
“Dissecting you will be fun.”
The blade lengthened.
“But you are probably like the rest.”
The creature tilted its head again.
“Some big brute that landed on this wasteland of a planet. Thinking he can conquer… rule…”
The ground erupted.
Dark veins whipped out of the soil—thirteen… fifteen… seventeen tendrils of black root-like mass snapping upward and wrapping around Velkorr’s arms, legs, and torso.
They slammed him into the ground.
The blade extended.
“Don’t worry,” the creature whispered.
“How I kill…”
“There is no seeing your god.”
It rushed forward—
“ZEAL YOU LOST DEVIL! WAIT!”
The voice came from deeper in the forest.
“You know Zaren has to analyze before you do your thing.”
Velkorr’s helmet shifted toward the voice.
The towering creature froze.
Then slowly stood upright.
Its body expanded again—stretching back into its full towering form.
Three hundred seventy-five meters of dense shadow rising above the forest.
“Zar,” the giant creature growled.
“I don’t know why we need you.”
“The little devils did better hunting this creature than you.”
Another figure emerged from the trees.
Zar.
“We are exiled on this planet,” he said calmly.
“I do not have to be within proximity to you for all eternity. Use the little devils for the hunt.”
Velkorr’s gaze shifted.
Zar carried pieces of Velkorr’s equipment.
But they weren’t equipped.
They were being collected.
Examined.
Catalogued.
Velkorr had been unconscious long enough for them to gather it.
The imps began shouting again.
“GRIZZZ! GRIZZZ! GRIZZZ!”
The giant shadow roared.
“ZAREN, I WILL DISPOSE OF THESE ANARCHISTS MYSELF!”
“They NEVER stop making noise!”
Behind Velkorr something exploded from the forest.
Birds—
No.
Bird-shaped creatures choking on blood as they fled the trees.
Then a third figure stepped from the shadows.
Zaren.
Scaled down to Velkorr’s height.
“This…”
“This is him?”
Zaren looked between the two towering figures.
“Oh.”
“Oh this is magnificent.”
His eyes glowed brighter.
“His energy is wildly complex.”
Zar asked calmly,
“From this universe?”
Zaren shook his head slowly.
“No… no no no.”
“This universe does not have much to offer besides the Center Axis.”
He stepped closer to Velkorr.
“I cannot place a finger on what is happening with him.”
Zaren leaned closer.
“Let me analyze…”
Silence.
Then he whispered,
“He is entirely displaced.”
Zeal slammed his fist into the ground.
“NO MORE MONOLOGUE.”
His arm reshaped again into the ghost blade.
“I BUTTCHHERRR!!!”
Zeal charged.
Velkorr moved.
The vines shattered as he tore free and drove a brutal hook into Zeal’s jaw.
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The impact launched the giant creature across the clearing, carving a massive trench through soil and stone.
Behind Velkorr another sound rose.
Metal.
Zar drew his weapon.
But the blade wasn’t metal.
It screamed.
Souls poured from the weapon as it left its sheath.
Thousands of voices whispering through the forest.
Zar stepped forward.
Velkorr ignited his energy blade.
The fight began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zar moved first.
The ghost blade slid from its sheath with a long shriek.
Souls poured from the weapon.
Hundreds of whispering voices filled the forest as the blade entered the open air.
Zar stepped forward.
Velkorr raised his energy blade.
The weapons collided.
Except they didn’t.
Zar’s blade passed through Velkorr’s weapon like mist.
Then through Velkorr’s chest.
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Velkorr staggered backward.
The blade had not touched his body.
The weapon cut deeper than flesh.
It cut the soul layer directly.
Most beings died instantly when that layer was severed. The soul collapsed, and the body simply followed.
Velkorr remained standing.
Zar paused.
“The hell?”
He stepped closer.
“Most beings cannot handle a soul slit.”
Velkorr straightened.
The damage had landed.
But it had not destroyed him.
Zaren’s voice exploded from the forest.
“Absolutely fascinating!”
“He has multiple operational layers!”
“I cannot determine which existence tier he is functioning from!”
Zeal dropped from the sky.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
The massive shadow shrank mid-fall until it matched Velkorr’s size again.
The ghost blade arm extended.
Zeal swung downward.
Velkorr caught the blade with both hands.
The ground shattered beneath their feet.
Zeal’s eyes widened.
“You should not be able to do that.”
Zar moved in immediately.
The ghost blade lashed forward again.
Velkorr blocked.
The blade passed through his weapon again and clipped his soul layer once more.
Velkorr stepped back.
Recovering.
Calculating.
Zar attacked again.
A horizontal slash.
Velkorr ducked.
A vertical stab.
Velkorr deflected with the flat of his energy blade, though the ghost weapon partially phased through.
The mechanics of the blade were clear now.
It existed partially outside the current plane of existence.
It cut the soul first.
Matter second.
Zaren shouted again from the darkness.
“He is adapting!”
Zeal charged again.
Velkorr reached into his pocket.
A small ring flicked upward.
It landed perfectly on his finger.
Soul lightning erupted.
The ring activated instantly.
The energy surged through Velkorr’s armor and into the weapons touching him.
Zar’s blade was the first to receive it.
Electric soul energy shot up the ghost blade.
Zar was thrown backward.
The surrounding trees exploded into splinters as the discharge lit the entire clearing in violent blue-white light.
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Zeal swung again.
Velkorr caught the blade.
The electricity surged again.
It traveled through Zeal’s ghost arm.
Zeal roared as the energy detonated across his body.
Before he was thrown away, Zeal drove his boot directly into Velkorr’s chest.
Both bodies launched in opposite directions.
Velkorr smashed through a cluster of trees.
Zeal cratered the ground several dozen meters away.
Zeal rose first.
THOOM.
THOOM.
THOOM.
Each step shook the forest as he charged.
Velkorr stepped from the rubble.
As he ran, small devices snapped into the ground behind him.
Wire traps.
Soul snares.
Zeal triggered the first.
The trap detonated.
Souls erupted from Zeal’s body like geysers of screaming light.
“LET US FREEEEEE!”
The souls clawed outward before being violently pulled back into the weapon system that imprisoned them.
Zar dropped from above.
Both hands on the sword.
He drove the blade downward.
Velkorr slid aside.
The sword struck the ground.
The impact split the terrain open.
Zar ripped the weapon free and began swinging wildly.
Rapid slashes.
Horizontal.
Vertical.
Diagonal.
Each swing cut through trees, terrain, and occasionally an unlucky imp that had wandered too close.
The imps screamed and scattered.
But many still cheered.
“GRIZZZ!”
“GRIZZZ!”
“GRIZZZ!”
Zeal tore the soul wire from his body.
Zaren floated down beside him.
“I should like to examine—”
Velkorr launched forward.
His shoulder smashed into Zaren’s throat.
The impact drove the analyst into the ground hard enough to crater the soil.
Zeal immediately grabbed Velkorr and hurled him through three trees.
Zaren rose again.
Telekinetic pressure slammed into Velkorr.
Voooooooooooom.
Velkorr froze mid-motion.
Pinned in the air.
Zaren hovered above him.
“Enough.”
“Dissection time.”
Zar stepped forward.
The ghost blade plunged into Velkorr’s back.
Velkorr grunted.
But made no sound.
White dissection light erupted from the wound.
Zaren leaned closer.
“I cannot trace where he is from.”
“The system at which he is constructed is too intricate.”
Zar pulled harder on the blade.
“Let me kill him.”
“He is going to break free.”
Velkorr’s helmet shifted slightly.
Inside Zeal’s shadowed mass floated the Amulet of Shii.
Zaren continued speaking.
“When anomalies like this appear… I begin to understand why we were exiled.”
Zeal laughed.
“No.”
“We were not exiled because we were destructive.”
“We were exiled because we wanted inheritance.”
“We wanted knowledge.”
“The Ghrizzath did not see our vision.”
Zar growled.
“Focus please.”
The imps began chanting again.
“GRIZZZ!”
“GRIZZZ!”
“GRIZZZ!”
Zeal roared.
“STOP!”
The dissection light intensified.
Velkorr endured it.
He waited.
The moment had not arrived yet.
He still needed the amulet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zaren studied the glowing wound carefully.
“This being does not collapse.”
“His layers operate independently.”
Velkorr moved.
Suddenly.
His hand snapped upward.
He grabbed Zeal’s leg.
The move was explosive.
Zeal lost balance as Velkorr yanked him forward.
Velkorr surged upward.
Running directly up Zeal’s body.
His armored boots slammed into Zeal’s chest as he climbed toward the floating amulet.
Zaren reacted instantly.
Telekinesis seized Velkorr mid-air.
Velkorr froze just inches from the amulet.
Zaren’s voice sharpened.
“No.”
“You do not move without permission.”
Velkorr’s arm moved anyway.
His armor compartments opened.
Every stun grenade deployed at once.
The forest exploded with blinding flashes.
Flash.
Flash.
Flash.
Sound bombs detonated.
Shockwaves ripped through the clearing.
Zaren screamed.
“CURSES—!”
His telekinesis faltered.
Velkorr dropped.
He crashed directly onto Zeal’s chest.
The imps rushed forward.
Clawing.
Scratching.
Tearing at Velkorr’s armor plates.
Behind him—
Zar moved.
Like a corpse rising.
His sword thrust forward.
The ghost blade drove through Velkorr again.
This time the weapon erupted.
Ghosts exploded from the blade.
Thousands of hands clawed outward.
Screaming.
“HELP US!”
“PLEASE!”
“DON’T LEAVE US HERE!”
The souls grabbed Velkorr’s armor.
Pulling.
Begging.
Meanwhile the imps clawed deeper into the seams of his back plates.
Zaren staggered backward.
“My eyes!”
“My eyes!”
Soul energy began pouring from his eyes like liquid light.
He shot upward into the sky.
Screaming like something from a nightmare.
He slammed directly into the exile barrier.
The invisible wall rippled violently as he struck it.
Zaren howled.
“EVERYTHING WILL DIE!”
His body expanded outward.
Dark energy stretched from his form as he began constructing a massive soul orb.
Millions of trapped spirits began gathering inside it.
The sphere grew larger with every second.
Back on the ground—
Velkorr moved again.
He grabbed Zar’s ghost blade.
And ripped it out of Zar’s arm entirely.
Zar screamed.
Souls poured from the severed limb like a violent storm.
“HOW!”
“YOU KEEP—!”
Zar collapsed, rolling across the ground as the sword-arm separation destabilized his structure.
Velkorr seized the moment.
He grabbed the Amulet of Shii.
Zeal rose immediately.
His dark mass reformed around Velkorr.
“Our weapons do not exist in this plane,” Zeal growled.
“So how in the hell are you touching them?”
Dark veins erupted again.
They slammed Velkorr into the ground.
Zeal began punching.
Each strike shook the forest.
Stone shattered.
Trees collapsed.
Zeal stepped back.
The ground glowed.
A circle formed around Velkorr.
The Butcher Field.
Axes began rising from the soil.
One after another.
Swinging.
Stabbing.
Piercing.
Blood ran down Velkorr’s armor.
Zeal shouted upward.
“ZAREN!”
“COME DOWN!”
Above them Zaren screamed.
“I CANNOT SEE!”
“I AM USELESS!”
Zeal fired hundreds of soul spears into him.
Zar roared from the ground.
“ZEAL!”
Zeal looked down.
Velkorr was raising the amulet.
And the air began to move.
Void tornadoes formed.
First one.
Then two.
Then four.
The suction began pulling everything inward.
Trees.
Imps.
Weapons.
Rubble.
Zeal encased several tornadoes in soul fields to contain the pull.
Velkorr rolled free of the Butcher Field.
And the battlefield descended into chaos.
~~~~~~~~~~~
The forest convulsed.
Void tornadoes ripped through the battlefield, tearing trees from the soil and dragging screaming imps into the sky. Rocks, weapons, and splintered trunks spiraled upward in violent funnels of gravitational collapse.
Zeal roared.
His shadowed mass surged outward as he wrapped several tornadoes in dense soul barriers, forcing the suction to stall.
The strain showed.
His attention fractured.
Velkorr moved.
He burst forward.
Zar lunged to intercept him.
The ghost blade slashed downward again, the weapon shrieking as thousands of imprisoned spirits clawed along its edge.
Velkorr slipped past the strike.
Another slash.
Velkorr ducked.
The blade carved a deep trench through the forest floor.
Zar pressed harder.
Wild swings.
Desperate.
Souls continued pouring from the severed limb where Velkorr had ripped the blade free earlier. The loss destabilized him. His mass flickered, shrinking slightly with every passing second.
Velkorr shifted direction.
Running.
But not away.
Zar followed.
“RUN!” Zar screamed.
“RUN WHILE YOU CAN!”
Velkorr led him straight toward Zeal.
Zeal realized it too late.
BOOM.
The two Ghrizzath collided.
The impact collapsed half the forest around them as both bodies slammed into the ground.
The soul barriers around the tornadoes shattered.
All suction returned at once.
Everything lifted.
Imps screamed as they were dragged into the sky.
Zeal struggled to stand.
Velkorr had already moved.
He burst across the clearing toward the ghost blade arm he had torn from Zar earlier.
The severed limb still writhed.
Still alive.
Velkorr grabbed it.
The blade screamed.
Thousands of souls burst from the weapon as Velkorr drove forward.
Zeal stood.
Velkorr hurled the blade like a spear.
The weapon passed through Zeal’s skull.
The force of the throw carried the massive shadow body backward—
Straight into one of the void tornadoes.
The funnel collapsed inward.
Zeal vanished inside the vortex of imploding gravity.
Zar screamed.
His body had shrunk dramatically now, the loss of souls bleeding from his severed arm reducing him to a distorted, unstable form.
He looked almost like an oversized imp.
Velkorr walked toward him.
Zar tried to stand.
Failed.
Velkorr lifted him.
Then threw him upward.
Directly into the growing sphere of souls above.
Zaren’s orb.
The analyst screamed from the sky.
“THIS PLANET WILL BE DUST!”
The sphere continued growing.
Millions of souls churned within it, swirling like a dying star.
Zaren hovered behind the mass.
His eyes still pouring streams of spectral energy.
Velkorr raised the Amulet of Shii.
Then crushed it.
The artifact shattered in his hand.
Instantly the surrounding air collapsed inward.
A void sphere began forming.
Small at first.
But expanding rapidly.
Velkorr threw it upward.
The sphere traveled toward Zaren.
Growing.
Expanding.
Devouring light as it moved.
Zaren stared at the incoming collapse.
“NOT ENOUGH TIME!”
He hurled the soul orb downward.
The two forces collided in the sky.
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Void.
Soul.
The impact lit the planet.
For a brief moment the entire barren world glowed like a dying sun.
The soul orb held.
For a moment.
Then the void sphere consumed it.
The sphere surged forward.
Straight into Zaren.
The analyst screamed.
The void collapse tore through his body.
His limbs stretched.
His form unraveled.
Millions of imprisoned souls exploded free as the void devoured him piece by piece.
His scream echoed across the planet.
Then stopped.
The sky darkened again.
The tornadoes collapsed.
The forest fell silent.
The imps fled into the darkness.
The air felt lighter.
Cleaner.
Velkorr stood alone in the ruined clearing.
He gathered the remaining pieces of his equipment.
Far away in the crater where it had fallen—
The Harrow’s engines began humming again.
Power restored.
Velkorr turned toward the ship.
All he needed now…
Were coordinates.
