Chapter 346: Wind vs Lightning
Iron-Scale sauntered over to tap his silver-skulled dagger against his thigh. A mocking grin spread across his face as he looked up at Gorak. "Has the apex predator of the Seventeenth Continent completed his diaper-changing audits for the morning? I can fetch more blankets if your domestic duties require them."
Gorak leveled his newly mutated, crystalline lightning arm directly at Iron-Scale’s chest. Sparks of blue electricity danced across the crystal facets.
A booming laugh erupted from Gorak. "You lack the capacity to understand love, since couples protect each other to build a future, and a divorced lizard like yourself has absolutely zero right to lecture a Warlord on lineage."
Iron-Scale analyzed Gorak, his gaze tracking the volatile crystal fused to the right arm. Gorak stared right back at Iron-Scale to meet the silent challenge. They remained perfectly still on the broken paving stones.
Then, in the split-second, Iron-Scale drew his star-iron daggers and summoned a cyclone of emerald wind around the blades.
Gorak channeled abyssal thunder directly into his knuckles to challenge Iron-Scale’s authority. The ambient magic crackled between them.
They walked together toward the paved sparring ring to settle the dispute. The polished black tiles offered a flawless surface for combat. Iron-Scale lowered his stance and pointed his glowing daggers forward.
"Let’s see how strong you have gotten since the last time," Iron-Scale said.
"Stronger than you, that’s all I know." Gorak cracked his neck and raised his crackling fists.
Iron-Scale utilized his emerald wind core to zip across the arena on high-speed currents. Riding the gale allowed him to bypass Gorak’s frontal guard. Slashing outward, he aimed his blades at Gorak’s exposed ribs.
Gorak pivoted and threw a devastating right hook. He hurled crackling arcs of abyssal thunder from his crystal arm to intercept the incoming attack. The electrical surge collided with the concentrated wind blade.
A volatile kinetic impact blasted both fighters backward across the black stone.
Iron-Scale recovered instantly and launched himself back into the sky, propelling his body downward at terrifying speeds. Gorak planted his boots on the floor and unleashed a vertical pillar of lightning to meet the descending strike.
Iron-Scale twisted his torso to slip past the surging electricity.
The blue current scorched the edges of his dark coat as he plummeted. He summoned a concentrated gale beneath his boots to alter his trajectory mid-fall, slamming onto the tiles directly behind Gorak and driving both star-iron daggers toward the back of his knees.
Gorak anticipated the flank perfectly. He dropped his center of gravity and swept his crystalline right arm backward in a wide arc. The mutated appendage collided with the incoming daggers to send a shower of green and blue sparks across the arena.
Gorak grabbed Iron-Scale by the lapel and hoisted him completely off the ground.
"You rely too much on tricks," Gorak said, pulling his left fist back to deliver a crushing blow. "I will pin you to the floor."
Iron-Scale channeled his emerald core to generate a violent localized cyclone point-blank in Gorak’s face. The sudden burst of wind forced Gorak to shut his eyes and loosen his grip.
Iron-Scale kicked off Gorak’s chest plate, propelling himself backward to land safely near the edge of the ring.
Gulag leaned against the sandstone archway, watching the exchange while tossing a sphere of compacted dirt between her hands.
’They are burning massive amounts of mana for a simple training exercise,’ Gulag noted internally, tracking the cratering tiles beneath Gorak’s boots. ’Gorak expects to overpower his opponent completely. Iron-Scale refuses to let him land a solid hit. They will destroy the courtyard if Krug ignores them.’
Gorak wiped a streak of soot from his cheek and cracked his knuckles. He flooded his internal core with magic to surround his entire body with crackling blue electricity.
He lunged forward, closing the distance in three massive strides to throw a right hook aimed squarely at Iron-Scale’s head.
Iron-Scale stepped inside the guard, parrying the forearm with his left dagger. He thrust his right blade upward toward Gorak’s chin.
Gorak tilted his head to let the blade scrape harmlessly against his bone-plated jaw. He brought his knee up, burying it deep into Iron-Scale’s stomach.
Iron-Scale coughed a spray of blood onto the black tiles. He recovered his footing, spinning on his heel to sweep a condensed crescent of wind across Gorak’s chest.
The strike carved a deep groove through the bone armor and forced Gorak to stumble backward.
The lightning column engulfed Iron-Scale. His emerald wind aura flared to deflect the brunt of the electrical surge. Sparks cascaded across the black tiles. Iron-Scale tumbled through the air. He tucked his chin and rolled across the stone to bleed off the momentum.
’He commits too much mass to a single strike,’ Iron-Scale thought. ’I will use his momentum against him.’
Gorak charged through the dissipating smoke. He threw a right cross aimed at Iron-Scale’s ribs. Iron-Scale crossed his twin daggers to catch the strike. The kinetic impact shoved Iron-Scale backward. His boots carved bright grooves into the polished floor.
Iron-Scale twisted his wrists to disengage the lock. He launched a condensed crescent of wind toward Gorak’s face. Gorak tilted his head to let the attack sail past his ear. He stepped inside Iron-Scale’s guard and grabbed the lapel of his dark coat.
"You fight like a trapped rat," Gorak laughed.
Gorak pulled his fist back for a finishing blow.
Krug stepped into the center of the courtyard and drove the butt of his greataxe into the pavement. The resulting crack fractured the stone. Both fighters snapped their heads toward the noise.
"Sheathe your weapons," Krug ordered. He pointed toward the Temple entrance. "The Sovereign requires our full attention inside the sanctuary."
Gorak released the coat and took a step back. Iron-Scale brushed the soot from his vest and slid his daggers into their sheaths. They followed the Apostle through the grand archways.
The polished marble floorboards of the Gildreath grand hall clicked beneath Iron-Scale’s boots. He walked alongside Gorak and Gulag through the towering archways.
Krug marched at the center of the formation while carrying the naked infant securely against his chest plate. Violet sparks danced across the baby’s knuckles as the child chewed aggressively on the engineered tungsten ring.
They reached the massive crystal war table dominating the center of the room. Krax, Syra, Torix, and Novus already occupied the surrounding chairs. Kronos stood silently near the back wall.
Krug placed the child directly onto the glowing map projected across the crystal surface. The infant dropped the tungsten ring. He reached for a shimmering blue topographical marker and giggled as the digital light slipped through his fingers.
A blinding pillar of violet fire erupted above the ruined silver throne at the far end of the hall. Rubedo manifested his presence through the orbital tether. The towering silhouette of burning mana cast shifting shadows over the gathered commanders.
"Greetings, my people" Rubedo projected his voice through the room. "An urgent matter requires my attention. The system registry refuses to categorize the child without a formal designation. The child is more than a year old now, but we haven’t decided his name yet."
Rubedo crossed his spectral arms. "Submit your suggestions."
Although the game engine required Rubedo to name him, Rubedo was too bad at naming, so he threw the responsibilities to his commanders.
Krax leaned his chin on his fists. He bared his fangs in a wide grin. "Gore-Maw. The boy rips apart physical reality with his teeth. A title like that breaks their lines before the vanguard even arrives."
Syra stepped forward from a dark corner. "A deity born of the void requires dignity. We should name him Eclipse."
Gulag glared at Syra. "Call him Boulder. A strong foundation survives any attack."
Torix tapped his bladed legs against the floor tiles. "Click-Clack."
The entire room turned to stare at Torix.
"He makes that exact sound when he bites the star-iron plating," Torix explained. He clicked his own mandibles together to demonstrate.
Novus rubbed the back of his neck. He looked at the cosmic pools swirling inside the infant’s eyes. "William is a proper choice. A traditional name establishes diplomatic authority across the human settlements we occupy."
Gorak let out a booming laugh that rattled the stained-glass windows. "William? You want to name a void-eating god William? We should call him Spine-Ripper."
"Blood-Drinker." Krax rested his boots on the table.
"Sand-Flea." Gulag tapped her fingers against the crystal.
"Thomas." Novus stood his ground.
The suggestions dissolved into a chaotic shouting match. Krax and Novus argued over the tactical value of a title versus a traditional name.
Gulag and Gorak traded increasingly ridiculous biological labels. The infant ignored the noise completely. He picked up the tungsten ring and slammed it repeatedly against the crystal table.
Rubedo watched the disorganized display from his projected vantage point. He pinched the bridge of his spectral nose. The Vanguard operated with flawless lethality on the battlefield. Their creative capabilities fell completely short of basic literacy.
Kronos pushed off the back wall. He walked past the bickering commanders and stopped at the edge of the crystal table. He bowed his head respectfully toward the violet projection.
"Sovereign," Kronos spoke. His deep voice cut through the overlapping arguments. "The child represents absolute destruction. At this age, when he should be in the cradle, he can easily defeat even the most elite soldiers of the vanguards. He is the bridge between the dead pantheons and the era of the Spiral."
Kronos looked down at the infant. "Name him Eon. He marks the beginning of an endless age."
Rubedo analyzed the suggestion.
"That’s a good one. I liked Eclipse too. But Eon it is." He inputted the designation into his interface.
The system immediately accepted the parameter without returning a single error code.
The red warning blocks vanished from his administrative screen.
"Eon," Rubedo repeated. He dropped his spectral arms. "The registry is updated. The debate is over."
The baby dropped the tungsten ring. He clapped his glowing hands together and babbled at the violet projection.