Chapter 151: Face-to-Face with the First Ranked Witch
The first chain was like a spear. Black-metal links flew at Levi’s chest. The Sovereign Domain’s golden barrier flared.
The chain struck it and recoiled with a shriek of metal, several of the links snapping.
More chains appeared from every side. They came from the plaza floor, from the towers about it, from the base of the spire itself. Some were thin and fast. Others were as thick as tree trunks and came with crushing weight.
Levi stood his ground. The Sovereign Sigil on his chest gleamed a bright gold.
[Sovereign Domain: Enhanced Barrier]
[Cost: 3,000 Aether]
The golden light around him deepened and pushed outwards. It blackened and broke any chains that touched it. Broken links scattered across the living metal plaza with hollow rings.
Blade out, Lucy moved to his right. A slender chain was lashed about her neck. She made a clean cut. The cut end whipped about on the ground and then lay still.
Serakel threw up both hands. Her third eye opened wide. A wave of residual northern cold spread from her palms and slowed three heavy chains long enough for them to freeze mid-strike. Levi’s barrier finished them a moment later.
Coming close behind them were Isha and the Reverend Mother Superior, the golden marks on their skin glowing in response to Levi’s domain.
Vespera stood slightly apart, living eyes fixed on the moving chains that had once answered only to the Mother.
A thick chain whipped low across the plaza, aiming for their legs. Levi stepped forward and caught it bare-handed. The metal burned cold against his palm. The Sovereign Sigil flared harder.
[Expending 2,500 Aether]
[Direct Domain Override]
Gold light raced up the length of the chain. The links shuddered, then reversed direction, coiling back toward the spire like a living serpent turning on its master. Several other chains recoiled as if in pain.
The assault intensified. Dozens of chains rose at once and slammed down in a coordinated wave. The plaza shook. Living metal cracked under the impact.
Levi pushed the barrier out again, Aether burning constantly from his core.
[Aether cost: 800 / min]
[Holding barrier]
[Warning: Primary domain authority focus]
Lucy sliced another chain that fell off the edge of the barrier. Serakel froze two more.
Isha’s slime covered a third of it and dissolved the outer links before it could reach the Reverend Mother Superior.
Vespera spoke without looking away from the spire. "She tests the strength of your mark. The real ones have not moved chains yet.
Levi stared at the black metal doors at the base of the tallest spire. "Then we stop giving her time to test."
He moved forward. The golden barrier moved with him, shattering every chain that tried to bar the path.
The five women followed in the space it created. Broken links and twitching metal littered the plaza behind them.
From the towers above fell a last series of chains, forming a solid wall of black metal between the group and the doors to the spire. The links snapped shut with sharp clicks, sealing the way.
Levi halted three paces from the wall. He lifted one hand. The Sovereign Sigil throbbed hard, once.
[Spend 6,000 Aether]
[Sovereign Domain: Rule of the Unrated - Concentrated Break]
A pool of golden light formed in his palm, then shot forward like a condensed spear. It hit the middle of the chain wall.
"Metal," he yelled. Links exploded out in a shower of black shards. The wall opened out wide enough for six abreast to pass.
Levi did not hesitate, and walked thru the gap. The others did. The other chains lashed at the edges of the barrier, but could not close the way again.
They came to the black metal doors. No handle. No seams. Only the heavy coils of chain that lay about the base of the spire and crossed the entryway.
Levi pressed both palms against the metal. Cold crept into his palms. The city thrummed more strongly against his skin.
He said, ’Open.’
The Sovereign Domain pressed on. A gold light spread over the surface of the doors. The chains that held them snapped taut and started to smoke.
One by one the links broke and fell. The doors were shaking itself.
There was a voice coming from all directions at once. She was a woman, calm, older than any of the witches he’d ever claimed.
You break my outward bonds as if they were a thread. Interesting. Enter. Sovereign. The higher chains are not so weak."
The doors parted in two and groaned inwardly with a low metallic sound. The spire spewed cold white light from the inside.
Levi was first. The five women followed closely.
The inside of the spire was a great shaft that went up higher than the eye could follow. A broad spiral ramp of living metal climbed the inner walls.
In the open space in the center hung chains of all sizes, some still, some swinging slowly like pendulums.
Many had souls tied to them, dangling at different heights. Some were still alive. But most didn’t.
The white light was coming from the metal. It throbbed with the city.
At the far end of the entrance hall started another flight of stairs to make the long climb to the summit. No more messengers waited, bound. The Mother of Chains had ceased to speak thru others.
Lucy’s voice was low. "How high?"
Vespera replied. High enough for the air to be thin, and the chains thick. "She’ll be up top."
Levi started up the spiral stairway. The golden barrier held the group tight. In the central shaft the hanging chains revolved their links to see them pass. None hit. Not yet.
With each level they climbed the domain pressure increased. Levi’s Aether was hurling ahead. The mark on his chest was steady and hot.
[Aether cost: 1,100 per minute]
[Outward wall in constant stress]
[Host Status: Stable]
They climbed without talking. There was nothing but the crunch of their boots on the living metal, and the soft squeak of the chains moving in the shaft.
The group went by, and the bound figures hung motionless. Some looked about. One or two unclosed empty mouths, but the Mother gave not her voice again.
It was a long time before the ramp opened out into a broad landing. In front of them was an archway, blocked by a curtain of interlocking chains thicker than any they had seen outside before. Beyond the curtain the white light brightened.
Levi paused. The five women fell back behind him.
The curtain of chains parted of its own accord, and the links slid to either side with deliberate slowness.
On the other side was a wide circular chamber. The walls were solid black metal. The floor was the same stuff, one sheet of it, polished to a mirror finish.
In the middle of the room a throne of tangled chain rose from the floor. The links were alive, moving and drawing tight without pause.
She perched on it.
The chains’ mother.
Tall. Paler than any of the witches under her. Her hair, the hue of burnished iron, hung perfectly still past her waist. Her eyes were all white, with no iris or pupil.
Her collar was a living chain, the ends biting into her skin, disappearing under a gown of the same black metal, which seemed more poured than sewn.
Full breasts rose and fell with slow breathing. Her hands were on the arms of the throne, her fingernails dark iron nails.
She looked at Levi and smiled with her mouth shut.
"You went higher than before," she said. Her voice was the same quiet tone that had spoken thru the bound. "Come close, Sovereign. Show me the mark that broke my sisters.
Levi went into the room. The golden barrier was still in operation around him and the five women who followed him.
He came, and the Mother of Chains looked up at him, but did not get up.
Neverland had begun its last claim.