I ran out of long-range missiles quickly.

The problem was that Tiqr was about twice the size of my home state of Texas. That meant that my targets were more than five hundred miles away.

Generally speaking, superheroes didn't fight at that distance. I still had ample ordinance that I hadn't used as materials to Craft the long-range missiles, but their range was significantly less.

Still, I was on my tower. Pylons charged and ready to create Endbringer-level forcefields of various damage negating types. Well, Endbringer-level in that they were what Uppercrust had built to protect against Endbringers. So, pretty strong, but not what an actual forcefield using Endbringer would've been able to make.

The tower also helped me use Tongue of Babel to make my projections that had spoken to the invading armies. Of all the 'novel' uses of Tongue of Babel, it was the most grandiose thing I'd ever done, but communication was communication.

Now... I waited...

Hmmm... I should Craft some more long-range missiles while I see just how the opposing armies will respond.


"Retreat!" Magus-Crafter Femithain gave the order. "We are pulling back."

"Sir!" Dellic saluted him. "Are you sure? Without an order from the council..."

"I am positive." The elected leader of the Illivere Federation gazed out over the destruction. "Twelve Golems destroyed by a single spell. We are lucky that the attack only struck our vanguard."

Or, perhaps, not that lucky. In truth Illivere's army consisted of little other than Golems at this point. More than half the [Soldiers] that should've been supporting them had been sent back to Illivere due to the Zebra Beastkin's attacks.

At least she'd seen fit to assault Nerrhavia's Fallen once the larger army had marched past Illivere's slower moving forces.

"The other countries-"

"Will either retreat as well or face an [Archmage]." Femithain got another [Message] from Savere this time... it looked like the Siren was going to keep on advancing. "We are not the only group that will fall back. I don't care what the council says, we are officially out of our depth!"

Femithain took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was being too emotional. It had been a... long campaign. He was, perhaps, a bit on edge. He wasn't wrong though. Pixel had unleashed more than five dozen tier-6 spells in what? A minute? Even the Calm Flower of the Battlefield couldn't match that level of destruction.

And Amerys had been know to wipe out opposing armies nearly single-handedly!

"Sir!" Dellic gave him another salute before turning around and issuing the retreat.

Femithain sunk in his chair and turned his thoughts to the other thing that had been nagging at his mind. The gigantic image of Pixel had just been another magic spell. But... why that form? He'd called himself the [Archmage of Cubes]. It was clear how he'd gotten that title. But the really question was, 'did such a thing exist in real life'?

A Golem of that size?

Or one made out of an assembly of cubes?

Femithain would've loved to have spoken to its creator, but that hardly seemed likely given the current state of things.


"Bring me the Storm Scroll!" Thelican shouted.

"Sir? The Storm Scroll?"

"Yes!" The [Great General] looked out at the destruction caused by Pixel's attack. "We need it."

"But... It's a strategic asset. I thought we only had it in case one of the King of Destruction's Seven arrived?" His [Sergeant] looked at him with a dull expression that Thelican would expect to see on a Hemp or Cotton instead of a Silk. "The land will be-"

"We use it now." His tone left no room for dissension.

Could Pixel be Amerys in disguise?

Possibly. Who knew?

The only reasonable course of action was to use every weapon at his disposal to kill the [Mage] before he struck again. That was how you won wars.

"Sir, shouldn't we contact the Court of Steel? Get confirmation about-"

"Silence!" Thelican roared at his other dim-witted subordinate. "I am a [Great General]! I do not need approval on how to lead MY army!"

Those stupid [Diplomats] didn't know what it was like on the front lines. How many Silk [Soldiers] depended on Thelican's Skills and experience. They'd already given him tacit approval to use one of Nerrhavia's Fallen most powerful artifacts by letting him requisition it in the first place.

It wasn't like Nerrhavia's Fallen would feel the loss. Sure, no one living could make any more scrolls of such power, but his great country had an abundance of them.

Thelican drummed his fingers while he waited.

"Sir, we have a communication from Deimos."

"And?"

"To the esteemed [Great General] Thelican of her Majesty Queen Yisame of Nerrhavia Fallen, may her-"

"Get to the point." Thelican interrupted the man before he could go through the entire list of pleasantries. "Summarize it plainly for me."

"Sir!" The [Mage] withered under his glare. "The Kingdom of Deimos is... withdrawing. Sir."

"What? Another one?" Thelican made a dismissive gesture. "Bah. Nerrhavia Fallen doesn't need their support. We will remember this when they come crawling back after I kill this 'Pixel'."

"But-"

"But nothing! You heard his vulgar tongue. Do you think that Nerrhavia's Fallen can stand by after such words?" They were more of an insult than the Hemp [Soldiers] Pixel's attack had destroyed. Could his dim-witted aids not see that a [Mage] like that NEEDED to die?

That NOW was the time to strike? That he'd exhausted himself with that, admittedly potent, display of power? Not that any [Mage] could survive a Tier Seven spell even at full strength.

"Sir-"

"The next words out of your mouth had better be that you've found Pixel." They needed a target after all, and his Ayeohies had flown in a straight line. It should be child's play to find him.

"Yes, Sir. He's on top of a monolith several hundred miles away."

"Good." Finally a smidgen of competence.

"General Thelican, Sir!" The first [Mage] returned, though everyone in the tent had sensed his approach as he had neared with his dangerous package.

The black scroll seemed to pulse with a malevolent mind all its own. The air around it was dimmer and heavier from the weight of the spell it contained. It was so potent as to be physically painful to look at.

The rest of the needed components, the giant glass jar, was outside. Both were parts of the same spell. He strolled out of his tent to confirm everything was properly prepared.

"Good." Thelican smiled. "Begin to cast it immediately."


'I have information about something you lost.'

The Message came again while I was waiting. Thankfully Ears of Babel didn't take much mana to leave up constantly, so I was ready for it. As long as the Spell was 'active' I could use Tongue of Babel to respond.

None of Wistram's Archmages had brought up 'something I'd lost' while they'd been arguing with me against intervening in Tiqr. That didn't necessarily mean the Message wasn't from one of them. It probably wasn't an easy segue to bring other things up while trying to argue the finer points of not intervening in an invasion.

Oh well, my demonstration had been just as much for them as-

Threat Sense went off. Not a lot or anything distinct yet... more a ping that something might happen. That meant that there was something that Optimize couldn't predict completely. That meant magic. I ceased my reply and began to pour mana into Threat Sense and the feeling solidified.

Then, the reason for it became blatantly obvious as lightning lit up the night sky. The blanket of electricity wasn't the only thing. The stars and the moon had also been blotted out as darkness flickered behind the bolts.

It was clearly magic, but it also obviously wasn't ONLY lightning. There was another aspect to the spell that spread out over the skies of Tiqr before converging on my tower.

Huh. Suddenly a tower doesn't seem like the safest place to be.

I teleported down to its base before looking back up into the sky. The energy was coalescing into lines and forming glowing words.

'From the Emperor of Storms to you. A gift:

[Blighted Bolt of the Forsaken Lands].'

Was that them being over-dramatic... or was this a Spell casting another Spell?

My musings were cast aside as Threat Sense gave me a vision of the future. A massive, Behemoth-worthy bolt of yellow and black would come crashing to the ground. The tower would, in fact, act like a lightning rod, but there would simply be too much energy for it to re-direct it all.

My immunity to lightning would blunt the damage, but not enough. The magic in the bolt could kill me.

I could feel the air changing as the electrical imbalance increased.

I raised my arm above my head and activated all the forcefield pylons in the tower. Layer after layer of glowing barriers appeared, and the future changed.

The forcefields were enough. The massive bolt would go through one... no, two of them, but it would be stopped.

In part.

The darkness would still fall down and strike me.

It wouldn't be immediately lethal, but it would wound me somehow that wasn't physical.

What if I teleported away?

Yes!

No.

It could work. Threat Sense flickered as visions of me avoiding the bolt completely intermixed with me being struck after I moved. It was sky-wide until it condensed into an attack. Evading it wouldn't be so easy as it could expend its energy towards where I appeared if I messed the timing up.

I could see the path, but not walk it with certainty.

In fact... I turned to look at Sibby. Could it even hurt the Siberian?

Shit!

I un-Summoned Sibby as the bolt started to descend from the sky.

I then teleported away.

Unfortunately, my reflexes weren't as fast as lightning.


Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

She couldn't believe that Kevin had un-summoned her!

She, of course, knew that he'd done it from some misplaced sense of worry. As if anything could hurt the Siberian!

She appeared just in time to see the magical darkness descend through the forcefields. Her eyes tracked it even as the lightning was blocked. Some of the darkness vanished alongside the yellow arcs of electricity as if they were somehow inexplicably tied to each other. Some of the darkness, but not all of it. The remainder of it was coating the tower Kevin had built.

Piece by piece. Inch by inch. Cube by cube. The structure blackened and twisted. The straight lines of the edges twisting and deforming as the magical power warped them.

It didn't stop the black plague as it continued downward at nearly the same speed as the lightning which had carried it.

Too fast.

Too fast for Sibby to respond with her body. She was fully capable of following it. Of responding to it with her power. But her power couldn't touch Kevin.

Her summoner stood there with his arm stretched upward from where he'd just activated the defenses a moment ago. His form looked a little fuzzy around the edges as he prepared to teleport.

A microsecond passed.

Sibby spread her power out through the ground and into the closest part of the tower. It was all one piece! She could affect it!

If... she... just... pushed...

It was too big. Sibby couldn't fully envelop something so big, and... she also couldn't touch things that Kevin had created. The cubes... just weren't 'there'.

Still... she could go around the edge of it! Where the air pressed against his creation! Up to where the darkness was falling! She could intercept it before it struck him!

Another microsecond passed.

Her power and the magical blight raced towards each other at nearly the same speed while Kevin's form grew blurrier.

The darkness reached him first.

Her power struck the cloud immediately after.

It was too much. She focused her Authority on it, but... it wasn't enough.

One microsecond. Two. She was holding it back... She fought with the bolt's power... and lost.

Sibby's form ceased to be, but the last thing she saw was Kevin also vanishing as the color seemed to seep out of his arm.

...

Sibby appeared.

Something tried connecting with her, but she brushed it away.

Kevin! Where was Kevin! She hadn't been away long, and had formed right beside where he'd teleported to.

"Sibby." He hissed at her. "Tear off my arm!"


The Siberian grabbed my right shoulder, and casually ripped my arm off.

*Error! Gamer's Body negated.
*Fatal Bleeding negated by Gamer's Body.

Huh. This felt oddly nostalgic of our first encounter. From when I'd asked her to do the same thing so I could give my limb to Riley, er, Bonesaw. Only this time my pain resistance was keeping me from rolling on the ground while I screamed.

I checked my status screen... 'Blighted' was gone.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I'm pretty sure that I have [Body of Stone] and [Reinforce Armor] to thank for my resisting whatever that was - even if it was just by slowing the magic down once it touched me. From what I could tell of the twisted remains of my tower, that black blight was pretty effective at hurting me. Even now, the arm that was in Sibby's hand had changed to black and shades of gray from the hand uo to the elbow.

Huh.

It actually kinda looks like the arm of Dark Samus now.

It had better not regenerate into-

Sibby tore a finger off and started eating it.

I stared at her blankly as she chewed. "Sibby... why?"

'It's good! Still crunchy, but also smokey? It tastes like both you and that Djinni I took a bite out of! It's really tasty!' She took another bite and closed her eyes as she savored the flavor.

Sibby DID tell me how she's able to eat magic now, so... okay? I'm still worried that a cell or two of mine might be infected, but my Status screen should show that. In fact.

I observed Sibby.

[Debuffs: None]

Not even 'Master's Control' that she'd had back when she'd been... uhm... William's projection.

"Okay."

It was probably fine. Right?

I pushed mana into Observe and tried again.

[Debuffs: None]

Yeah, so... fine. I didn't even get any odd feelings like I had from when I'd used [Instinct] before sacrificing it to Observe.

Besides, how else was I going to get rid of my Blighted arm? After the whole Noelle disaster, I couldn't just leave it laying around. I guess I could burn it? Use it to Craft something?

Would that even work? It would wind up in Sibby's belly eventually either way.

*Worry negated by Gamer's Mind.

Right, right. Sibby's tough. If she can eat a Djinni without it affecting her mind somehow, then eating the leftovers from a spell should be fine. Better than fine since it was disposing of something potentially dangerous.

I didn't REALLY believe my arm would grow into some sort of Dark Pixel... but better safe than sorry. Besides. I turned to face the East. I had something I needed to do first.

Don't focus on hypothetical future threats when there's a present one.

I un-Inventoried my Scrying Orb into my remaining palm. I reached out to it with Tongue of Babel, and then through it to the scrying network.


"Get the scrying spell working!" Thelican ordered his subordinate.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The clearly inadequate [Mage] began chanting as he tried to get the picture inside of the mirror to stabilize. It had been too long since the [Blighted Bolt] had landed. He had to confirm that Pixel was dead. The sheer power of the ancient spell had caused the image inside of the reflection to distort as the bolt of darkness had descended.

"Enough. [Replacement Supplies]." The magical mirror shifted as his Skill called up another from the armory. Sure enough, the image stabilized and Thelican leaned forward just in time to see the unbound Djinni attack the Archmage! "Hah!"

"Did she just... tear off his arm?" The [Mage]'s face paled.

Thelican supposed he could understand. While losing a limb was nothing for a Stitchfolk, having it torn rather than cleanly cut was... disconcerting.

"No blood from the stump, but some from the arm." He noted as the hostilities between the two seemed to reach a tentative stalemate as the creature ate Pixel's arm. "Femithain did say it was a cannibal."

"Sir? I don't recall it eating any of our Hemp's arms."

Thelican made a dismissive gesture. "That just proves that Pixel isn't Hemp. Or, at least, his arms aren't." There had to be a reason for his helmet. Who else but a Sitchfolk could be so casual about dismemberment? "Ah, there we go."

It wasn't a surprise to him to see Pixel consorting with the Djinni. Its departure from the front lines and Pixel's appearance the next night were too well-timed to be a coincidence. Had the Archmage bound the Djinni? That could explain the power of the attacks, but...

No. There was no way. It clearly didn't have any jewelry or other adornments that could be its bindings. It didn't even have clothes! Besides, it had attacked Pixel, if only for a moment. Bah. A [Mage] associating with a Djinni? That's probably how he cast those spells in the first place, and look at what it had gotten him!

In the orb, the Djinni tossed aside the arm and pounced on Pixel. The black stripes on its body grew thicker and darker as its tore into its former ally.

"Dead gods..."

"Hmpf." Thelican leaned back and laughed. "See? See what the other cowards were afraid of? An arrogant [Mage] thinking he's an [Archmage] just because he thought he could safely use the magic of an unbound Djinni! It's just like the [Bard]'s story: Hemplock and the Djinni!"

"Y-yeah."

"Of course."

"You're absolutely right, [Great General]!"

"Fft!" Thelican silenced them with a wave of his arm. "Of course I am! Now we need to contact the other [Generals]. Let them know-"

An explosion rocked the camp.


Looks like information warfare wasn't something in this world.

...Or I was simply better at it due to my Babel Perks.

I let my connection to the scrying network lapse as I piloted my Cawthorne over the army from Nerrhavia's Fallen, and un-Inventoried missile after missile.

The rank and file had no defense - aside from their numbers. There were thousands. Hundreds of thousands of troops. The army literally covered the horizon, but most of them were of no threat to me. Without magic or a Skill to back-up their attacks, they simply couldn't get through my resistances.

Which was incredibly good, as my regeneration was currently working towards re-growing my shoulder instead of refilling any HP I might possibly lose.

Then again, my Cawthorne armor was far more durable than my usual Samus outfit. It should protect me.

Still, I knew that Skills like [Piercing Shot] existed. Even with a forcefield covering my suit and spreading out like wings, I didn't want to risk it. Besides, there was no reason to. If I were limiting my arsenal to lasers to save on resources, it might've been one thing. However, I'd learned my lesson against the army of the dead I'd encountered back in Noelictus.

This time, I was a mile in the air and raining down explosives.

My aim wasn't very good. I'll freely admit that.

With a hand-held gun, or even the Cawthorne's shoulder mounted missiles, I could land my shots easily. Unfortunately, there wasn't a skill for pointing an un-Inventoried missile at the exact right angle so it strikes what you want more than a mile away. Nor was there one for dropping bombs.

This was why I preferred lasers. They weren't affected by wind or gravity. They struck what I aimed at instantly and effectively.

Of course, the reality of the situation was that I could hardly miss my targets. The army sprawled across the landscape and every explosion reaped dozens of lives.

*Sadness negated by Gamer's Mind.

Despite what I'd said in my speech, I didn't want to kill all these people. Having them retreat was my real goal. But, while it was true that I wanted some form of a command structure left over so the army could orderly withdraw, it was clear the ultimate leader had to die before they could order another [Blighted Bolt].

That was why I targeted the biggest and most extravagant tent I could see.

My more esoteric payloads did little against magic, but brute force could shatter almost any defenses. Ten volleys of missiles rained down on it for over a minute. That was plenty of time for the rest of the army to mobilize and launch counter-attacks.

I fed mana into Threat Sense, just to make sure there wasn't a magical attack coming that I wouldn't see. Most of them had enough of a physical impact that regular Threat Sense was enough, but better safe than sorry. Not that I could keep up with how much mana it cost for long, but once I was done here, I'd switch to a more mobile offensive. Fly-by attacks at supersonic speeds should prevent most reprisals.

Though I did still have to worry about how much jet-fuel I was burning.

This would be so much easier with Boo.


"[Causality Report]." Thelican said to himself as he peered out at the decoy tent.

His Skill provided him with the figures immediately. Thousands of Hemp dead, which only mattered in the sense of how quickly it had happened. The real issue was that the decoy tent was gone. Every [Mage], [Slave], [Soldier], and even his [Body Double] was dead.

How?

He knew the how. It was the rain of fire and explosions that had fallen on the section of his army from the sky. He just didn't know the 'How' of what had caused it. The Djinni was chewing on Pixel's corpse and...

"Show me the body!" He whirled on one of the [Mages].

"But the camp-" The idiot started to protest.

"Show me Pixel's body!" Thelican clenched his fists as he strolled over to the man. His voice left no room for dissension.

"Yes, sir!" The [Mage] swallowed before turning back to the mirror. The image switched from his army back to the empty field with the remains of Pixel's tower in the distance.

Empty?

"Where's the body?" Thelican growled. "Where's the Djinni?"

"I... I don't know, sir." The man's face went white. "It was there earlier. We all saw it!" His wide eyes darted back and forth. "There!" He pointed. "Blood! He did bleed!"

"But, then..."

"Sir!" Another subordinate burst into his tent. "The 23rd's Magic Thrower has been destroyed!"

"Show me." Thelican commanded his [Mage].

Sure enough, where the large, mobile tower had once stood all that remained was a crater.

"Follow the projectiles back to their source."

"We can't! It's above the scrying sensors!"

"Then rotate your view!" Morons. Thelican was surrounded by morons! A [Great General] should have an army to match, not a bunch of... of... morons!

"There!"

The figure in the mirror was tiny. As far above the viewpoint as the viewpoint was from the ground. "That's... that's more than a mile in the air!" One of the [Mages] gasped.

"It can't be." Another replied. "Look at the Spells! They're arriving in only... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... Five seconds! A spell can't cover that much distance so quickly!"

Thelican slapped him. "[Fast Fireball] can. [Lightning Bolt] can." Of course, the [Mage] was right, generally speaking. Most Spells didn't move... thousands of feet per second?

"[Covering Fire]. [Precision Sight]. [Mage Wall]. [Broadcast Commands]." Thelican rattled off his Skills like there was no tomorrow. "All [Archers] on alert! Aim at the magic projectiles! [Quartermasters], bring out the Magicore arrows! Anti-[Mage] tactics! [Mages] focus on defense! Except for those with Magic Throwers that can reach a target a mile in the air!"

This... was okay. They'd planned for potentially fighting Archmage Amerys. One Archmage or another, Thelican and his army had the advantage.

...

"We need to do something else." Thelican grumbled to himself.

He was a [Great General]! He had more Skills than anyone else! ...But even he was starting to run out.

"He does seem to run out of mana quickly." One of the [Mages] suggested as his subordinates bickered.

"Run out? Are you watching the same battle I am?"

"Why else does he constantly disengage?"

"That's right! We should get our circles to launch long-range magic when he's vulnerable."

"Ah, an excellent idea with just two minor flaws. One, we don't know where Pixel goes when he teleports away. And, two, even with combining our strength we cannot reach that far!"

"Yeah... It was almost a great plan..."

"Perhaps he needs to go back to get more artifacts? I think those projectiles aren't Spells at all! At least not in the traditional sense!"

"And you propose that he has thousands of sixth tier artifacts just... sitting somewhere?"

"He could be a Dragon! That would explain everything! Then he'd have a horde!"

"There are no Dragon's on Chandrar, stupid! The Shield kingdoms got rid of them ages ago!"

Thelican stopped pacing and turned to look at his underlings. What in the name of frayed edges were they talking about? Dragons?

"Silence! I need to think!" Thelican roared. "But... I have an idea."

"Is it that Pixel is a Dragon? 'Cause that's what-"

"No." Thelican glared at the Silk. How was someone of the highest caste so stupid? "Dragons are a myth, but... there are actual mythological creatures we can use. Yes..." A smile came to his face. "We'll send for a Djinni of our own."

"Sir! That's a... I mean to say, that using a Djinni like that is, erm... a war crime."

Thelican turned on him. "No, it's not. Not after one was used on us..." His grin grew wider. "Not after Pixel collaborated with an un-collared one. Yes... It all makes sense. The Djinni attacks us, then a [Mage] makes use of its powers to try in a vile attempt at defeating me."

"Uh, sir, didn't the Djinni attack Pixel?"

Thelican made a motion and his [Guards] grabbed the idiot and escorted him out of the command tent. "No, it's the only way. We can't get more artifacts from Nerrhavia Fallen's vaults in time, but the right Djinni could make it..."

"Right! We can have a Djinni courier over another scroll! That shouldn't-"

Thelican had his [Guards] remove the other dull witted fool. Who would trust a magical item to a Djinni? Much less a national treasure?

"Send a [Message] to the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy at once!" He paused. "No, I shall write the message myself." He couldn't leave such a vital task up to a subordinate. Thelican would have to use the exact right amount of pleading, praising, blackmail, threats, favors, and Skills to get what he wanted. It... would be a heavy price to pay, but there was no other way.


'Go to where General Thelican is in Tiqr as fast as possible. Then find and kill the Archmage Pixel.'

Such simple commands. He could bend or twist them in different ways... if his Master had been a lesser person. A Djinni that was owned by a [Lord] or [Merchant] would still have loopholes available. Not in what they could or couldn't do, but in small ways of protest.

Alas, Muakhai knew that 'as fast as possible' meant 'as fast as he could travel without negatively impacting any citizen of Nerrhavia's Fallen in a material and undue way'.

And, unfortunately for whomever this Pixel person was, Muakhai was VERY fast - and his method of travel did not really hurt anyone. Even if they were awake, a streak of light across the night's sky was neither material or undue.

Of course, for long trips, it only made sense for him to pause and get his bearings after every step. He stroked his trunk as he checked the moons, stars, and land below. Then, he took his next step and did it all over again.

It dramatically increased how much time Pixel had left to live, but it also didn't. It was true that he COULD'VE gone many hundreds of times quicker - if he didn't focus so much on taking the straightest path, but he still arrived in less than half an hour.

He couldn't even claim he was tired, as shifting into his element was something he'd mastered long ago.

Ah, there was the army, and the flying mass of cubes was... likely... the 'Archmage of Cubes'.

Still, it was only prudent to check.

"Excuse me." Muakhai said too faintly to be heard. "Is your name 'Pixel'?"

If he wasn't sure, then he couldn't attack. That only made sense. He would have to hunt down-

"Yes." The man slowed down and spoke to him in an equally soft voice, that Muakhai could still clearly hear.

He paused to rub his fingers on one of his tusks, but only for a moment. His body, his magic, moved on its own and lashed out at Pixel.

...And missed.

Muakhai stared in amazement, even as he concentrated more light for another strike.

Djinni didn't use Spells, not like the mortal races did. The Classes let them shape mana instinctively. Every bolt of lightning they called, every orb of flame, every spike of concentrated cold - it was identical. So, it was with a great deal of surprise when Muakhai's chest burst from a beam of light so strong that it overcame his body's cohesion.

The first surprise was at the amount of light that was contained in the attack. One of his Aspects was Light. A fundamental force even more primal than any other 'element'. To have something that shone brighter than the sun... it left him literally speechless.

The second surprise was how tightly packed the light particles were. Earthers would call them 'photons', but to Muakhai they just... were. Spells didn't pack them so tightly. HE couldn't pack them so tightly. Even in the brief moment that they tore through him, he felt like he'd learned something new about the nature of the universe.

The third surprise was how little mana Pixel's attack had contained. None. Zero. It was more like a void in the most fundamental layer of the world than... he actually lacked the words to express something so... so... incomprehensible!

It was, however, that third surprise that saved him. His form was pushed apart. A hole drilled through the center of his chest. It did not harm his mana. He was his magic. He spent himself to cast 'spells', but it was just an alteration. When Muakhai condensed his light and flung it at a target, the beam would shatter, disperse, then return.

So, while the surprising attack had hurt him, it hadn't actually damaged him.

And whatever pain he'd suffered, he'd more than gained in knowledge.

Muakhai retaliated. He missed.

Pixel shot back. He hit, but for all the strength his attack possessed, it was lacking.

Attack. Counter attack. Over and over until Pixel realized just how futile his 'magic' was, so he changed tactics. Small canisters of cubes propelled by fire or sometimes by seemingly nothing at all flew out at Muakhai. Some sought to strike him directly. Some flew around launching attacks of their own.

But, for as fast and as numerous as the attacks were, they were far slower than Muakhai. He couldn't even be overwhelmed, as the summoned helpers could not avoid his attacks with the same uncanny grace that Pixel did.

Teleporting.

Flying.

Even slightly tilting his head.

Somehow the Archmage flowed around his beams of light as if they weren't the fastest thing in the world.

This...

This was...

Art!

The way they danced in the air! The light that Pixel conjured to strike back at him! The way the Archmage moved to just barely avoid Muakhai's attacks!

Marvelous!

It made Muakhai's second Aspect sing with joy.

The masterpiece of a battle grew both more complex, deadly, and beautiful as time passed. They were alone in the sky, no interference. Muakhai's purpose was vile, but the art they made was breathtaking!

There was little Pixel could do to escape the inevitable conclusion. The small artifacts he summoned could not possibly hurt Muakhai, if they could not hit him. Admittedly, the areas of gray color were of a small concern. But even time magic could not trap Muakhai's light.

"Oh no." He murmured to himself. He could not speak to his opponent, that was a blatant loophole that had been corrected for him a long time ago. Thus, Muakhai could not warn Pixel that he'd realized the man's true nature and vulnerability.

Pixel drew in mana like the desert drank water, but his attacks lacked it. Muakhai could sense him utilizing the mana internally, but he could also feel it building up. Pixel was unable or unaware that he was draining Muakai's power faster than he could use it.

...And too much mana was a deadly poison to any who weren't Djinni. Mana was like water. One could drink it and grow healthy. Swim it it and grow strong. Or one can drown in it and die.

The fight continued after that, but it was clear that Pixel's health was deteriorating. The joy, such as it had been, was over. Muakhai simply had to bathe Pixel in light, and he would soon perish.

Then, the Archmage fled.

A sensible move, but ultimately a pointless one. Muakhai had his orders and he was bound to obey them. He took step after step as he followed after his target. No matter where Pixel teleported to, it was always withing reach of Muakhai's light.

Muakhai was his magic. He was his light.

Prey could not flee after it had already been swallowed.


*You have been inflicted with 'Oversaturated'x21.

Bios:

Muakhai - OC. An elephant-headed Djinni of Light and Art. Serves at the Hundred Thousand Tomes Academy. As such, he is around a great deal of magic and artifacts and has had much more explicit orders given to him over the years. One of the most powerful Djinni and very adept at using his aspects.