Book 3: Chapter 87: Challenge and Partner
Lone walked up to the very intricately and ornately designed doors of the Matriarchal Hall with Breena and the two SSS-ranked guards by his side - one guard on either side of himself and Breena.
The doors, and by extension the entire hall, were laced in something that gave him a feeling like they were alive with power. Likely defensive enchantments of some sort of formation plates, maybe. Hell, it could be a new power unfamiliar to him, but still, it interested him more so than the beautiful carvings and paintings of foxes and fire did.
'Their culture seems to lean heavily into the fire magic predisposition they have and not their racial skill. Makes sense, I suppose. Don't exactly want to advertise that you can mimic the appearance of others with inherent illusions, do we now? Yes, just think of us as the silly little foxes who have an unhealthy fascination with Fireball, not the foxes that can wear the flesh of your loved ones,' Lone thought as the SSS-ranked guards opened a door each, allowing the light behind his back to pour into the Matriarchal Hall.
'Let's do this. These old ladies won't kill me for being a little bit rude, so let's try to earn Magnetic Appearance, shall we? The other ways to earn it would be too tedious but commanding the very presence of a room full of people significantly more powerful than me, both in rank and politically speaking, should do the trick if that stupid etiquette tip book is to be trusted,' Lone nodded to himself as he walked forward, unbothered by the two guards or the stares of eight powerful X-rankers.
He kept walking forward as he looked within himself and spoke to his aura, 'You were useless against Divine Dragonsworn's aura. Now's your chance to make up for it. Show yourself and endure the pressure of eight X-rankers. You've your own ego now so show me what you're made of.'
A powerful growl rocked his soul. That very same growl then actualised in the real world as the massive bus-sized living corpse of a golden fox that was his aura manifested standing over him, looking hungrily at the X-rankers.
Gilbert looked amused, Lossa looked heartbroken, while Breena didn't react. Most of the elders looked either disgusted or offended.
"I, Lone Immortus, Immortus the Immortal, offer unto you, the elders of the Crimson Foxkin Clan, a challenge," he announced as he flared his arms grandly. "My aura, tempered by X-ranker Xer'rava, Guided by Divine Tethered, and shattered by Divine Dragonsworn, is so very, very hungry."
As if to agree the profoundly injured and blinded aura fox roared loudly enough to shake the floor tiles before it started glancing between the seated elders with an endless avarice in its empty eye sockets.
"I ask that before we discuss anything, you prove your power by assaulting me all at once with your auras. I stand confident that my B-ranked aura can endure your X-ranked ones. Do you accept, or do you put my request which Divine Dragonsworn accepted as beneath yourselves?" Lone taunted, a smile on his lips.
The elder sitting upon the highest chair in the hall looked towards Gilbert and asked, "Does he speak true? His aura was guided by the ever-elusive Divine Tethered?"
Gilbert nodded. "He does."
Another elder who looked suspiciously like Lossa but has a nastier look in her eyes said, "I don't see why we should entertain such a foolish request. We are here to talk with him, no? Look at the state of his aura. Even if he had a lucky encounter with Divine Tethered, that poor thing would likely shatter against the wind, nevermind Divine Dragonsworn."
Lone's aura rushed forward with a powerful growl and a wide mouth, clearly intent on swallowing the X-ranked elder with a resemblance to Lossa in one bite.
The elder flashed a panicked look on her face as she fumbled with her hands, intent on casting some sort of spell or skill.
Lone smirked and put his hand out before yanking it back towards himself. A leash made of his aura appeared that forced the aura fox back to his side.
"Sorry about that. Damn thing's feisty. I think you insulted it. Well, it's no bother. I didn't expect much from a council that covers up its own mistakes. Cowards do as cowards are. Let's just forget this all." He patted the side of his aura's head and spoke words of comfort to it, "I'm sure the guard Divine Dragonsworn promised us will use their XXX-ranked aura on you as much as you want. Prince Keining will do it too, won't he? And hell, when we go see Divine Tethered again she'll want to see how much you've improved so I'm sure she'll let you wash the embarrassment of Divine Dragonsworn's aura away from your past."
The elder who resembled Lossa looked absolutely incensed and like she was ready to claw Lone's tongue out to stop him from speaking any further. Lossa herself looked worried but there was no hiding the hints of mirth in her expression.
One of the elders looked slightly amused as well while all but two others looked a bit angry. Those two being an unfamiliar one and the elder who likely ran this show.
Speaking of her, she frowned and asked, "Divine Dragonsworn promised you a guard? Why?"
"As compensation for me crippling his XXX-ranked brother, Gilbert's great-granduncle," Lone replied happily, dropping the temperature in the room by several degrees.
All eyes fell to Gilbert who was shaking his head and sighing. "He isn't lying, but context is missing. my Great-granduncle Timos was trying to use the mind magic spell Mental Subterfuge on Lone during his meeting with my great-grandfather. Lone noticed and resisted, causing the skill to backfire, crippling my great-granduncle's mana organs, making it conventionally impossible for him to ever perform magic again."
"Honestly," Lone sighed. "War Leader Clari is lucky I decided to back off. I mean, only half a weak ago I murdered an X-ranker in less than a few seconds just for trying to use some magic on me in a relatively friendly conversation."
"... He's telling the truth," Gilbert said, exasperation in his voice thought it was mixing in with hints of pride that didn't go unnoticed by Lone.
The silence that followed was deafening. All of a sudden, that beyond enraged elder's presence and expression has been controlled so much that it was difficult to acknowledge they were even present in the current meeting.
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The highest seated elder narrowed her eyes. "You've made your point. You are to be feared. As a B-ranker, your claims are nigh impossible. You must be a hero with an incredible unique skill, that, or you are truly Void and you have somehow managed to control yourself. Though being a hero makes the most sense given the disappearance of your race from this world. Very well. We cannot allow the insult of us being labelled as cowards to have merit behind it, given you have proven your own strength. However, we shall lay our aura pressures upon you one after the other with two-minutes of interval between each new added aura, not all at once. I will stop the process should it seem to be too much for you to handle, and this shall be considered the end of the matter with War Leader Clari since you wish for this. Do you agree?"
'What, want me to beg for mercy and for you to stop after a couple of auras? Dumbass. You're helping me, not making things more difficult. You'll be eating good today, aura,' Lone though to which his aura growled softly. "Yeah, that sounds fine and fair. Weakest to strongest?"
"No, youngest to eldest. First I'd like to ask Matriarch Lossa to use her SSS-ranked aura on you. I don't doubt your prowess any longer, but it only makes sense to see how you fare against an aura much greater than your own but much weaker than that of us elders," the highest-seated elder said. "Will you do that for me, Matriarch Lossa?"
'Not even asking my opinion, huh? What a waste of time. Hey, partner. I don't want to feel a scrap of pressure on my body. Make sure you absorb it all, from both Lossa and the elders. You're strong enough to do that, right?' Lone communicated with his aura.
It turned to stare at him with a grin that said 'I was planning to do that anyway'. Having an aura with an ego had its benefits, that was for sure.
Lone was only aware of its ability to do this because his aura had tried to brunt all of Divine Dragonsworn's Divine aura for a brief millisecond before it got shattered, but in that moment, he hadn't felt any pressure whatsoever.
He didn't have the foggiest idea how to go about doing something like that, but if his aura just instinctively knew how to do so, he wouldn't look a gift fox in the mouth.
With Lossa and the first couple of elders, he wanted to test a few things. First, how strong his aura was and how much it could block for him, and secondly, if his Aura Pressure Resistance would still level despite him not feeling the pressure personally.
The aura fox was a part of him, after all, even if it had a personality.
'Partner... partner is weak.'
It knew it was ignorant and that it was young, but it also knew its sworn partner was weak for rejecting it. Why did Partner care so much about its appearance?
Pain made it grow and growing made it strong. There was no shame to be found in strength yet Partner insisted on being ashamed of how it looked, of its scars, mangled flesh, and missing pieces.
It could make itself look perfect like Partner did but why would it? These wounds and injuries were proof of the pain it had suffered and the growth it had earned in the process. This was its true self, and nothing was stronger than the truth.
It expressed its feelings once more just as a soulless being much larger than itself tried to attack its partner.
'Come. Me show Partner is wrong.'
It jumped in front of Partner and wrapped him with its five complete tails and its four half-severed ones. It then licked its lips and expressed its excitement in a powerful growl.
The larger soulless being of a similar nature to itself tried to press down upon its partner but was instead absorbed by it instead.
It had tried to do something similar to that being a few days ago but that had been an exercise in futility. It thought it had been erased then, well and truly. Thankfully, however, it seemed it couldn't die.
It didn't know how it knew what dying was but it loved not being afraid of it ever happening to it. So long as Partner lives, so too does it. This was the truth.
It growled in pleasure. Even though this being was stronger that itself, it was much weaker than the baleful sky-like presence from a few days ago.
'I shall consume you!'
Its knees threatened to buckle when the being clashed with itself in an attempt to resist the consumption. It reached deep within itself and it smiled. It could endure this much with but a little modicum of effort. It had been through worse even before its birth.
It poured all of its will into standing straight. It could not collapse here as it had a few days ago. It must show Partner the value of pain and the proof that came with enduring the unendurable.
Moments that felt like its entire lifespan several times over passed before the being attacking it retreated in defeat.
It felt slightly stronger from the clash and the fleeing being looked smaller, even if only slightly. Its manic smile only grew.
'Yes. Retreat in weakness while I stand in strength!'
It moved its tails, revealing its partner who looked as perfect as ever. With an admirable smile on his own lips, Partner walked to the side of its head and patted it gently again, and despite not being a physical being, it felt the warmth of the gesture and growled softly in response.
"Now, with the pointless test completed, shall we move on to the aura of the weakest elder? Which one of you would that be?" Partner taunted.
While it hated Partner for his refusal to embrace his battle scars, it loved his willingness to challenge those so far above himself. That was the sole reason it served him and not the other way around, or so it thought.
It ignored the next few moments of exchanged words. It could barely understand them after all. It could understand the emotions of the beings attached to the Partner-sized creatures in the room much more clearly, and most of them were seething with rage.
'Good. All come. Will eat you all!'
And then its world darkened. A being so vast was rushing towards its partner. Without hesitation, even knowing it would likely be destroyed in the exchange, it jumped in from of Partner and brunted the full force of the assault.
It exploded entirely the moment it made contact with the being. With great struggle, it roared as loudly as it could and fought a war within itself to reform.
'Must protect Partner! Can't fall at first of eight!'
It needed more power. Partner was strong but not strong enough of a well to draw upon to fight this monster. It would be destroyed here and then Partner would follow if it didn't do something.
It didn't take it long to come to a decision. It reached within its partner and pulled from the place filled with odd buildings.
'What the- You cheeky fucker! Lone! Stop it! Your aura is trying to steal our power!'
'How is it doing that? Its taking from Void as well...'
'Don't be curious, Death! Be worried, and be enraging! Lone, stop it right now!'
'... I'll allow it.'
Its idea had worked. The pressure was much more manageable now. Its body reformed in its broken glory and while it was still losing, it was actually putting up a fight against the aura now.
And then, as if a dam had been shattered by a forceful explosion rather than the erosion of centuries of wear and tear, its power soured to the very heavens.
Lightning, fire, air, earth, water, illusions, blood, and all other sorts of things spewed out of its mouth constantly like a stream of smoke while at the same time a suit of chinked and tattered bone armour wrapped itself around its body. Its half severed tails were completed with ethereal halves, one of deep purple, one of murky grey, one of pure blue, and the last of endless black.
'Yes! Now endure easily! Come! I will consume!'
The powerful being attacking it was now trying its best to invade its armour to kill it but was failing to do so.
"Well ain't you handsome, eh? Master rank Aura Pressure Resistance has done a number on you. So, shall we add the next elder? I'm not even breaking a sweat here," Partner asked in an inciting tone.
It growled in agreement.
'All come! All try! All fail! All be consumed!'