CHAPTER EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR – 894

Primordial Urge? Felix frowned. Those are two separate things.

“The stench of mortal kin.”

The figure stood, chains clinking. They appeared to be a man with pale hair and paler skin, but there his resemblance to a normal Human stopped. His limbs were far longer than normal and each was clad in jagged, rusted armor, though his head was bare. Only a tunic covered the rest of him, wrapped in single strips that were crossed in a curious pattern.

“A Human?” The being had a potent Spirit that pressed at all of them, and unlike other powerful individuals, he made no effort to hide his emotions. Suspicion and disdain were laid bare, along with a half dozen other micro-surges of feeling. “Do I dream? Of all the mortals to reach beyond the Blood Gate, a Human could not be guessed. Not by me.”

Vess held her glaive with both hands, knees slightly bent and Mana coursing through her palms.

Castarius laughed. “And she is fierce.”

Yin stepped forward, angling his body to block the being’s line of sight. “You do not deserve to face the Dragoon, creature.”

“Lo, what have these weary eyes perceived? A fledgling Dragon…and a Chimera? Long have I been denied such…delicacies.” The man grinned, and his teeth were sharp as a wolf’s. “I fear my apetite is a honed blade. Come closer and let me draw it hence.”

Felix. Pit was shaken, and the feathers around his neck stood up on end. This guy is bad news. Can we handle this?

Instead of answering, Felix walked forward, slipping between the two Companions. “Who are you? Why are you imprisoned here?”

The being leaned forward and layers of flesh peeled away from his face. It revealed someone different, with duskier skin and crimson hair. His teeth were bright and flat. “You do not know? My my my. How intriguing. Yet I believe the query most pressing pertains to you. How have you come to be, Scion of the Unseen Tide?”

“You know it.”

“Better than most, Scion. In Ages lost, she was an ally. The greatest of the Cardinal Beasts…now trapped within a Nym. Fah!” Castarius spat onto the ground. The spittle glowed bright blue and sizzled against the floor. “How does mortality taste, Veridaan? Do you savor it? Or do you chafe at the fetters that bind you so?”

Interesting.

“Castarius. The Primordial Urge of Starlight’s Fall,” Felix let his hand play on the hilt of his sword. “An Urge and Primordial. How can you be both?”

“You speak with such ignorance on your tongue, Nym and Cardinal. We are what we have chosen to be.”

Chosen. Felix chewed over that word most of all. “You look nothing like any Primordial I’ve met.”

“That’s the Spirit Tree calling the mountain tall. If I had a hand free for every time I’ve seen a Primordial walking in a mortal’s Body, you’d already be dead.”

“You’ve seen something like me before?”

Castarius laughed, and his face peeled again. His skin turned blue, his teeth lengthening into shark-like points and his eyes went black. “Once a mortal inherited the core of a Primordial. They tried to absorb its Essence and significance. They couldn’t do it. The effort burst their heart like a grape, and their Mind cooked under the pressure of their own Spirit.”

The creature shuddered theatrically, rattling his chains. “A gruesome end.”

“And what of you?” Vess asked. “Surely the nature of an Urge and Primordial would be at odds. A creature of the Cognitive, and an ancient beast cursed to warp those around itself.”

“You met my erstwhile guardians, I see.”

“We killed them.”

“A pity. Some were loyal, once. The flesh curse has a way of changing things, I fear.”

The creature’s Spirit was chaos, but Felix could plainly hear sorrow leak through the tangle of emotions. It was almost as strong as the rage that did not reach Castarius’ expression. “But not all. The rest were treasure hunters and behemoths seeking the forbidden. It is best that they died in your Quest.”

Vess signed at him. Felix lifted an eyebrow before nodding.

“Surprised? Of course I know of your Quest. Nym and Primordial, Drake and Chimera? Who else would the vaunted System send to murder me?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Vess twisted her grip, adjusting her stance ever so slightly. Felix knew the movement. She was ready for the chained creature to act. Felix just had to do his part first.

Yet Castarius didn’t act, save to fold his armored hands together across his middle. Rust stained the white fabric where it touched.

“Never have I seen a Nym risk their lives to join with a Primordial. And mad Veridaan of all of them. Were you seeking death, magus? Or has the war turned truly desperate?”

“Which war is that?”

Castarius pursed his thin lips. “...Who reigns over the Continent, Scion?”

“Which part?” Vess asked.

“Human. Speak when you’re spoken to, or not at all,” the creature snarled. “Nym! What of your people?”

“They are Lost.”

Castarius leaned back, Spirit suddenly still. “Even chained, the Ascendents won.” He cursed. “I told them. I told them!”

“You’ve been in here since the Golden Empire fell?” Yin asked.

“Since the day the Herald and her Thousand Elysians set off to bind the gods.”

Vess frowned. “You were…an ally?”

“Of a sort.” Castarius jangled his chains. “Until I wasn’t.”

“Did the Nym betray you?”

“Ask your leader. Better yet, ask him how he could be here at all, if the Ruin descended upon the Continent.” He thrust his chin toward Felix. “Was it the Cardinal? Did she promise you glory to become her Vessel? Or simply survival?”

Felix knelt at the edge of the Seal, studying it. “You know a lot. You’re strong too. I can feel it from here—you’re not holding your Spirit back…because you can’t, can you? It’s spilling everywhere.”

Castarius’ face peeled again. He looked like how he did originally; pale haired, pale skinned, with a narrow jaw and a sharp, aquiline nose. Eyes without iris or pupil stared at him, pools of bright silver in a face that was far more alien than familiar. “Too strong to kill. Too weak to be free.”

Felix stood up. “This Seal reminds me of the ones in my Territory, only less complicated. This was inscribed by the Nym, wasn’t it?”

Silver eyes narrowed. “You speak of them like you were never one of them.”

“Answer the question.”

“Yes. The Golden Empire crafted me this gilded cage.”

“Why?”

Castarius fell silent, and Felix waited. The Quest told him to kill this being, but this was an opportunity for information he couldn’t get anywhere else. Felix tried a different tack.

“Primordial Urge. Those are two wildly different creatures. Yet you’re both. I have a feeling that you didn’t start that way.”

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“Sometimes there are no good choices.”

That could mean anything. “And what were your choices?”

“An honorable death or a dishonorable life.”

“That is no choice at all,” Yin said, puffing out his chest.

Castarius bared his teeth like a cornered animal. “So the Nym claimed. Even after I bent my flesh beyond their Authority, they came for me. When I tore off the head of two Elysians, however, they learned caution.”

The powerful followers of the Herald, huh? “Is that a warning?” he asked aloud.

“A courtesy…and an explanation. The Primordial’s flesh curse was not taken on lightly, but as a last effort toward freedom. It was a way out… to return to my home among the Ethereal, where my kind once lived as one. I did not expect the madness. The hunger. When the Nym dispatched the Urge of Dark Eclipse to kill me, I did what was in my newfound nature. I consumed it.”

“And it became part of you?”

“You may have conquered your nature, Scion, but to bind yourself to a Primordial is to court Dissonance itself. Transgression is within our nature, and I am what the Nym have made of me!”

The pale figure went from still to moving without warning. One moment Castarius was held tight by his chains in the center of the Seal, and the next he stepped to its edge, clawed gauntlets slashing.

Vess fell back, arcanite armor ringing like a bell, her entire body spinning with the force of Castarius’ blow.

“Dragoon!”

Yin flashed forward, a streak of sunset in that blood-red place, his own talons matching Pit’s crystalline claws. They hit Castarius as one.

The creature stopped them with a mad grin. “I prefer my meals more tender!”

His limbs blurred, the blows coming faster than they could track—all Felix saw was that the two Companions were sent hurtling back, their sides deformed and bloody.

Both of them dropped, wheezing.

“Castarius!” Felix explodes the air around him, using Wild Threnody and Sonata of Dominance together in a fireball burst.

Castarius dodges it, but parts of his neck and jaw are charred. They healed quickly. “Shaping magic. You are a true magus, false Nym.”

Vess pierces him from all sides with her Spears. Castarius laughed, slapping the conjured Spears. “So fierce!”

“Final Glory!”

They exploded into a storm of metal and air Mana, obscuring the Seal with swirling winds and pasted pieces of torso.

Yet Castarius’ laugh did not stop.

“Exceptional, Scion. Her power is paltry, but your magic is worthy of an Elysian—”

His skeleton remained. Like the Boars, it was composed of blue light. A glowing skull fixed Felix with an eyeless stare.

“But as I’ve said,” he said through the wet noise of his flesh reconstituting before their eyes. “I’ve killed plenty of Elysians.”

Castarius' form rippled, his human-like appearance becoming thinner and sharper, as if a blade had been transformed into a person. His long limbs dragged him forward as if he were more monster than man, and savage claws burst from beneath his rusted armor as prominent canines split from between his grinning lips.

Castarius attacked. The rattle of his bindings was nearly inaudible with how fast he moved. The chains didn't hamper him. In fact, they extended as if their length had been hidden all this time.

Felix threw up an arm, Sovereign of Flesh flaring just as the Primordial Urge struck. His scales thickened into true armor, even as his face was covered by featureless midnight plates.

Surprise poured across Castarius' overwhelming Spirit as his claws stopped only an inch into Felix's arm. "You should not be this strong!”

"Sucks for you!" Felix punched him in the face.

Castarius fell back, stumbling before the chains went taut and yanked him to his feet once more. The Primordial Urge's angular face split wide, sharp teeth bared in a wild grin.

"I see now," he laughed. "I see!" He twitched his arms and the chains slackened once more. "You've tapped into the Beast!"

A flurry of blows rang out in that place, fast enough that the noise of each impact was delayed in reaching Felix's ears. Even his eyes lied to him. The Primordial Urge's movements left after-images and the creature's strange proportions gave him incredible reach. He flowed with the loping grace of a predator. Tooth and claw, Castarius brought the maddened wrath of Ages upon Felix.

Felix tried shaping magic and even his Empyrean Embrace, but the creature shrugged them all off equally. Only his fists proved useful. Armored with Sovereign of Flesh, Felix could tank Castarius' hits. His Health barely budged except on the worst strikes, and even then Felix consumed Essence to rapidly heal.

The issue, however, was that Castarius did too.

"Will we do this forever, Scion?" Between an interchange of blows, they prowled around the edges of the Seal, the bloody light bathing their forms in crimson. “Do you plan to join me here in my prison? Two immortals locked in eternal battle?”

"No," Felix said, catching the Primordial Urge across the jaw. It shattered beneath his blow, but was reassembling even before Felix could hit a second time. "I've got places to be. Vess!"

Castarius' head whipped to the side, his manic grin faltering as he spied the Dragoon at the edge of the seal. Her spectral wings were spread wide as the head of a Dragon formed over her own. "Matriarch's Lament!"

Castarius Is Ennervated!

Stamina, Vitality, And Maximum Health Is Depleted!

Duration: Five Heartbeats!

The Primordial Urge staggered, his silver eyes bugging as Vess’ roar coursed through him. Vess had clocked his weaknesses from the start; the Ennervation effect was secondary. Beneath the dark cry of a bereaved matriarch, it was Castarius’ exposed Spirit that suffered the most.

Emotions surged, woe and agony in equal measure. Castarius’ wept, overcome by something only he could see.

With a sharp blow, Felix beheaded him.

The Primordial Urge’s body dangled, held by chaints that had gone taut, while his head thumped unceremoniously to the ground.

“End…this…”

Felix kicked the head over, so that its angular features were staring up at him. Castarius’ mouth still moved, tongue working.

“Send…me…home…”

Felix unsheathed his Inheritor’s Will. “As you wish.”

He stabbed Castarius through the skull.

Immediately, something within the Primordial Urge’s Body evaporated. A silver mist poured from him, rising into the air before it was pulled away into a burst of unbearable light.

Felix flinched away from it, but it was gone faster than lightning. All that remained was a bloody Body. Suddenly, it jerked, the dead limbs fighting against the taut chains.

Right. Primordials don’t die.

The head on the ground howled, and shadow pooled around it like power drawn toward its open mouth. The air sizzeled, the flesh curse burning at them all. Even Felix felt its sting.

Empyrean Embrace!

Bereft of Will, the corpse that was Castarius dissolved beneath Felix’s Intent. The curse flowed into him, broken apart by Sovereign of Flesh even as it tried to infect his Body. It burned him, somehow more powerful than any other he’d consumed, but he forced it down. Essence, Mana, and significance poured into his channels right after, filling his reserves to bursting.

Eventually, the chains fell to the ground, finally empty.

Quest Complete!

Cleanse The Dark. Claim The Light.

You have killed the creature that haunted the remains of Aja Nadir. The Fortress Of Starlight’s Rise is now under your Authority.

You Have Gained 10 Levels!

You Are Now Level 120!

+200 to STR! +220 to PER! +220 to VIT! +260 to END! +240 to INT! +280 to WIL! +260 to AGL! +290 to DEX!

+200 All Harmonic Stats!

You Have 150 Unused Stat Points!

New Title!

Nightlord (Mythic)

You have seized the Edge of Night and secured it against the Ethereal. From here, you are mere steps from what lies beyond the dark. Do you dare seek it out?

+Increased resistance to the Ethereal Realm

+Your Authority Has Increased Over Dark Passages!

+Increased attunement to Dissonance

+You Have Authority Over The Treasures Of Starlight’s Rise!

Resistance to the Ethereal? Felix hadn’t heard of that before. Mana types he understood, pain certainly, but a whole Realm? And further attunement to Dissonance. That’s never happened before either.

You Have Defeated The Final Wave Of The Fortress Of Starlight’s Rise!

Due To Deferred Your Reward, It Has Increased In Quantity!

Random Mythic Item (x2)!

Calculating Bonuses…

You Have Eradicated All Traces Of The Primordial Urge Of Starlight’s Fall!

You Have Eradicated All Traces Of The Primordial Flesh Curse!

You Have Eradicated All Foes Within The Fortress!

Due To Your Accomplishments, The Rarity Of Your Reward Has Upgraded To Unique (U)!

Due To Your Accomplishments, The Reward Has Been Tailored To You!

A long flat box appeared in a flash of golden azure light, dropping into Felix’s hand from nothing. It was surprisingly heavy, and the black metal it was comprised of couldn’t be identified by his Skill. It was featureless, much like Silver or Gold Chests he’d gotten in the past, though this was no wider than a sheet of paper.

“That is the tiniest treasure chest I have ever seen,” Pit said, wincing as he helped Yin to his feet. They were both bloody, but they seemed Healthy enough.

Felix traded a glance with Vess and they opened it together. Inside, was a hammered sheet of bronze that took up nearly the entire space. It was marked with strange symbols and odd cuts along the edges of the sheet, as if someone had sliced halfway through it a dozen times. Felix had never seen anything like it before.

In the space left, however, was a very familiar item.

“Vess,” he said, heart thundering. He tilted the box to her. “I think this one’s for you.”

Her eyes widened. “Felix…”

“Yeah. I know.”

It was an overlarge, faceted crystal key.

An Omen Key.