“Hiral,” Seeyela said, appearing next to him and Seena with a Bamf. “Loan me some gravity?”

  “I’ve got just the thing,” he said, already having sent out runic clones once he’d figured out what Seeyela was up to. A snap of his fingers turned the small army into their component runic equations, while a thought connected them all together. As soon as the circles were in place, Hiral reached out to his Edicts of Gravity and Increase. He didn’t activate them right away, though, with one more component needed to make this work just right.

  Leaning slightly on his Rune of Sound, Hiral picked out his Lost Chord of the Primal Echo, then followed it to the larger symphony at play. With six Primal Chords overlapping, it was like a symphony once he listened for it. Haunting. Powerful. It was the storm raging in the sky, the ground breathing beneath their feet, and the battle itself, all at once.

  Within it, he snagged one specific melody, the Lost Chord of the Primal Moon, and connected it to his readied Edicts. As soon as the tie was made, he activated his complex equations, and the Chord took on a deeper pitch.

  “Oh yeah,” Seeyela said, feeling it immediately, her Fangs of the Lady stretched out to either side of her, as if she were holding her arms out in expectation of a hug. A very stabby hug.

  Well, there is going to be a squeeze…

  Solar energy flooded off Seeyela in great waves, enough of it to stop the Prince’s blasting breath attacks. What eyes could look in her direction widened, before a new surge of strength—and panic—had the hydra trying to break itself free.

  “Too late,” Seeyela whispered, turning her wrists so they faced the sky, and her daggers’ points faced forward. Then, like she was trying to drive the daggers into the throat of something right in front of her—not hundreds of feet away—she swung both weapons inwards.

  As each arm moved, huge swaths of earth tore away—divots more than a thousand feet wide and deep ripped from the ground—in line with the woman’s movements. To Hiral’s eyes and his sensory domain, flashes of great spheres—great moons—blinked in and out of reality. At least, they blinked until they crushed into opposite sides of the pinned Prince of the Swamp.

  Caught between the two celestial bodies—and the gravity of them pulling on each other—the Raid-Boss roared in pain and outrage. Across its body, scales cracked, or outright popped off where they’d been damaged, and its bones ground against each other. The sheer pressure across the monster was enough to press even Tomorrow’s strongest brass paper-thin.

  It just wasn’t quite enough to squash the Prince.

  “It’s… still… too… damn… tough,” Seeyela wheezed out, her arms shaking from how she flexed to force them together.

  “We’ll help,” Hiral said, his own Primal Chord lining up at the same time he snapped his fingers. The blade of Sound that struck the Prince wasn’t enough to turn the tide of the fight, even with it being a critical hit to one of the thing’s huge eyes. The damage wasn’t really the point, though. Hiral had felt the flow of Primal Chord. Felt where it was leading him. What it was offering.

  And it delivered.

  Behind the moon on the right, the shimmer of a Greater Echo formed, thanks to the Fourth Movement.

  Fourth Movement of the Lost Chord of the Primal Echo.

  With another movement, you grow closer still to the true Chord. Now, even echoes of your greatest opponents exist within the music.

  Fourth Movement—Critical hits now have a chance to summon a Greater Echo to temporarily fight for you.

  Note: Greater Echoes are powerful manifestations of Unknown Rank opponents you have defeated in the past.

  Note (2): Lesser and Greater Echoes now last longer.

  Note (3): While multiple Lesser Echoes can exist at the same time, a maximum of only two Greater Echoes can exist simultaneously, regardless of the number of Lesser Echoes on the field.

  Note (4): Power of the Greater Echoes is based on that of the summoner at the manifestation, not the original’s power.

  A new roar of challenge and dominance shook the field. Compared to the mammoth Prince of the Swamp, the brass 0M3G4 W34P0N almost looked small, but it immediately threw its weight and power into the nearby moon. Foreclaws on the grey surface, its back legs tore at the ground until it found purchase, and then the now-S-Rank construct pushed.

  Opposite it, against the left-most moon, Romin pressed his hands and shoulder on the celestial body. Like the 0M3G4 W34P0N, his feet crushed stone beneath them until he stopped slipping, before the two moons—and the titans pushing them—began inching forward.

  The physical pressure of the assault had the huge hydra straining with every ounce of strength it had against the thick roots binding it in place. Its back end was having even less luck, the storm-cloud-claws holding the legs completely firm. It just didn’t have the leverage to free them. Of everything, the muscular tail seemed the closest to breaking free, but even that was at least several seconds away from realization.

  Several seconds the party didn’t plan on giving it.

  Another snap of Hiral’s fingers—just for the badass factor—Exchanged everybody other than Romin and Seeyela.

  Above the moon being pushed forward by the 0M3G4 W34P0N, Yanily and Left appeared, their S-Rank spears resonating in tune with each other to produce an electric lightshow between them. Despite each only being about six-feet long, the lightning arcing between them curved all the way to the heavens above and earth below, before Yanily seemed to take a step forward.

  Eloquently Enraged exploded across his body, the release of energy setting thunder and lightning off in a chain reaction across the sky. Even the Prince’s weakened semi-domain of lightning sputtered and failed before the new ruler of the sky. The Spear of the Building Tempest, and his name had never been so true.

  Borrowing power from Left’s Spear of Clouds, Yanily lifted his own spear above his eyes, the sky rumbling as it readied. Thick bolts of lightning flashed from horizon to horizon—the dense clouds seemingly weakening with every pass—before disgorging directly down on Yanily’s extended weapon like the hammer of some lost god. Positively glowing with energy, the spearman spun the weapon a single time in his hand, then hurled it straight down into the moon beneath him.

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  As soon as the spear struck the grey surface of the sphere, the whole thing became supercharged. Rivers of lightning flowed across, over, and through the moon, and though they did nothing to the 0M3G4 W34P0N, they tore at the side, back, and necks of the Prince of the Swamp. Thick scales that had turned aside other S-Rank attacks with barely more than a crack got sheared off by electricity attacking it like a savage beast.

  Worse, the infusion of energy had added even more physical weight to the moon, Seeyela’s arm on that side jerking forward with crushing pressure. The power-up was so pronounced, in fact, it threatened to shove the Prince and the other moon sideways.

  Well, it would have if another pair hadn’t appeared above the moon on the left side.

  Hovering there on planes of pink butterflies, with Ur’Thul still chained to her back, Seena’s hands burned with bright flames. Aaaaaaand she’s back to burning things.

  Lifting her arms in front of herself, palms facing each other, Seena poured power into the space between them, her own Eloquently Enraged exploding to spread flames like a waterfall across the terrain below her. Much like when Yanily had used his powerful ability, the other half of the Prince’s semi-domain crumbled until her increased control of the element. Now, every time the lava burst forth from the earth, it seemed to turn immediately to stone, it’s power—and heat—instantly stolen away.

  Stolen away for what? For the seed that formed between Seena’s hands, of course. One more pulse of power, and the woman fired the tiny projectile forward with a speed that created a small boom from its passing. Small and fragile looking as it was, it dove deep into the surface of the second moon, and nobody had to wait long to see what it would do.

  Like the birthing of a new star, the moon became a sun. Plasma roiled and scorched that side of the Prince, but that was only the beginning of its problems. At Seena’s side, the Blooded vampire had been working on a gift of her own, this one a needle of hardened blood, two feet long and nearly an inch thick. The thing radiated a terrifying amount of power, and Laseen tossed it at the burning sun with a casual flick of her wrist.

  As soon as it touched, the sun gained streaks of deeper red flowing through it, the heat and force of it multiplying. That multiplication factor only grew stronger as rivers of blood from the Prince’s injuries leapt into the air to join with the sun. Laseen’s cackle told the world just how that was going to go for the Prince.

  That just left one more member of the trio, and he wasn’t going to sit idly by while his Mistress did all the work. Even with her borrowing his power through the chains—or maybe because of it—a single syllable from his lipless mouth blew a sudden, spine-tingling chill across the battlefield. “Blight.”

  Deep within the heart of the plasma sphere, oranges and reds turned black, the life-hunting flames of the afterlife stretching for the bounty of life they sensed at the edges of the sun. Only in one direction, thankfully, with Romin neither being sought by the blight, nor harmed by pressing his face up against a sun to push it ever-forward.

  With the transformation, Seeyela’s hands squeezed ever closer to each other. Trapped between the vice of her ability, the Prince’s armored scales cracked and broke. The pressure of it popped scales off to send them ricocheting across the zone, while the sounds of bone breaking joined the twinned sizzles coming from other side of it.

  The pressure of the attack was bad, but the sun was literally melting it, one entire head and neck already consumed by the flame. On the other side, the rampant claws of lightning had left another head shredded and twitching.

  If Seeyela could hold just a little more, the fight was theirs.

  Hiral wasn’t going to let things draw out that long. Streaking down from nearly nine miles straight above the Prince, energy scarves trailing behind, his hands held tight the hilt of the Greatsword of Amin Thett. While he hadn’t unlocked the final chain that bound its true power, it was still an S-Rank weapon in the hands of a truly S-Rank wielder.

  Much like he’d done in his first battle with Vorinal—this time without using Terminal—the sword was nearly eight-hundred feet long, and over a hundred feet wide. Forged of pure white energy—almost holy in appearance—black runes floated down the length of the blade. Half the distance covered, Hiral activated two potent abilities back-to-back.

  Double Trouble+: Double the cooldown on any ability to increase the effects by 100%.

  Note: Abilities with no cooldown are unaffected.

  Note (2): Abilities can transcend traditional limits through the use of Double Trouble+

  Eloquently Enraged+: Increase all mental and physical attributes by 75% for 180 seconds (Cooldown: 30 minutes).

  Across his body, his double-helix exploded off his Coat of Amin Thett to circle around him, and what few, thin clouds were left after Yanily’s display were completely blown away to reveal the star filled-sky high above.

  Stacking buffs like he was—especially with his pseudo-aspect—Hiral closed the rest of the distance in the blink of an eye. One second, he was nearly five miles above the Prince of the Swamp, and the next, the Greatsword of Amin Thett was plunging through its back.

  Thick scales shredded like wet paper, the flesh, muscle, and bone beneath them faring no better against Separation personified. With the addition of Gravity and Energy, the huge blade passed straight through and out the Prince’s gut, to plant itself in the ground like some kind of macabre flag. From either side of the towering sword, gushing elemental energy stretched to sword as Hiral activated Empower+.

  Empower+: The strength of your allies is your own. Borrow an energy type from one of your allies to infuse into your own attacks or abilities to inflict bonus damage.

  Note: Damage and duration of Empower+ based on Atn.

  Note (2): Energy types borrowed through Empower+ have a chance to ignore resistances. This effect can be increased further.

  A little fiddling with the ability had removed its previous one type at a time limit, and the sword ignited in fire, lightning, crimson blood, and blackened blight. Add on top of that the true necrotic damage he was already doing, and the sword through the back of the Prince—along with the renewed crush from Seeyela’s ability—was pretty much fatal.

  Pretty much, because there was one more member of the party.

  Having gotten dragged behind Hiral by his scarves, Right fell like a comet two miles back, his Auroran Conqueror drawn back. Infernal and entropic energies spilled from between his clenched fingers, the kaleidoscope of scintillating lights leaving his own trailing streamers as he fell. In his chest, the Edict of Impact Hiral had attached to the double’s soul pulsed with power and purpose. This would be an impact unlike any before it.

  As he closed the last few feet, Right’s body twisted in the execution of a powerful, perfect punch. Not at the Prince itself—he was still too high up for that—but instead at the hilt of the greatsword Hiral had left behind.

  He had no interest at still being there when Right finally connected.

  And, connect he did.

  The unbelievable force of the blow destabilized the huge, fallen-star form of the Greatsword of Amin Thett at the same time it drove it deeper into the ground, like a nail beneath the world’s largest hammer. A shockwave rolled out, but it could hardly be noticed next to the greatsword becoming a burning, white-and-black cross within the center of the Prince.

  When the new, horizontal bar of the cross met the inside edges of the moons from Seeyela’s ability, it set off a cataclysmic chain reaction. In the instant before everything went white, there was the briefest image of the two moons unfurling into something far more dangerous.

  On the right, powerful legs, a scaled tail, and a long neck with a draconic maw at the end launched at the Prince. On the left, the sun split down the middle, a pair of huge wings opening to reveal a fiery phoenix that had been birthed.

  Appearing only for that instant, the shadows of the two Progenitors—Heaven’s Punishment and The Mother of Flame—crashed together as everything exploded.

  Exchange pulled the rest of the party out of the danger zone—and moved them all several miles back—as the mile-wide pillar of destruction climbed ten times that into the sky. Spiraling energy of all their types simultaneously battled against and fed off each other, annihilating everything caught within.

  Even the S-Rank Prince of the Swamp, one of the most powerful creatures still left on Genesis, couldn’t stand against the combination, and a surge of solar energy and meaning flooded into Hiral’s PIM.

  They’d done it. All that was left was…

  Congratulations. Achievement unlocked—On Guard, No More

  One of three, world guardians has fallen. Both the world and gate it protected now sit vulnerable.

  Please access a Dungeon or Raid Interface to unlock class-specific reward.

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