Chapter 1040: Vision of Misery! (2)


    ?


    Indeed, it was a dragon.


    No. It was THE dragon.


    The masked man''s target seemed to havee to meet them all in the middle. This target and something else unforeseen.


    As countless raging gusts went berserk over the Factions rising from the waters, most unharmed by its poisonous properties, the figures of the new arrivals appeared in express detail.


    The dragon was vast. Immensely vast.


    It wasparable to thergest cities on Pelian and more, and that was without ounting for its tail, which was responsible for 40% of the aggressive, troubled winds, and its terrifying wing span.


    The behemoth was covered in countless, stone-like, foggy grey scales that looked like they had seen better days. Some were cracked, some caved in, but this didn''t immediately register to the onlookers, after all, the great beast was moving rather nimbly for its size, nearly turning into a blur at points.


    Its mighty limbs, separate from the pair of wings on its back, seemed to whip out dexterously like regr arms and legs, and the few with good enough sight saw the sted creature cast unknown abilities with its thick fingers and ws that...


    BOOOOOOM!


    Replicus could have sworn that that noise, that st just now, could have been Aigas'' foundation shattering to bits. After all, he and many others were flung to the opposite way of where the dragon sent whatever monstrous spell, charm, or st it conjured.


    ''What the hell?!'' Replicus thought as he struggled to not be dragged about by the winds alone. ''Why is this thing here? Why is the Herald here? Is it fighting the masked man already? Was he already so far ahead of us?''


    This didn''t make any sense.


    In his absence from the fleet during thest three days, surely the rest of the higher Factions hadn''t just allowed the masked man to leave them in the dust and reach Edagon, right?


    RIGHT?!


    BOOOM!


    Another violent boom echoed, and Replicus thought he heard the sound of an enormous piece of ss shatter.


    He looked up, the dragon had flown far into the skies, past the clouds - through them, actually - in an instant, to reach the muddled, checkered and bumpy skies. This was where the legendary Jiggorhaux, the Abiding Madness was said to have mended the world with his breath, leaving scars on the skies that were prevalent only on this side of Aigas.


    Yet now, pieces of his workmanship - the melded fabric of the world - far, far up fell as something bashed against them.


    It seemed the horrendous attack the dragon had used, had hit whatever it was that it was battling against, and it flown to smack hard against the skies.


    Dear Deities...


    Replicus'' mind couldn''t help but crash under the pressure of everything happening all at


    once.


    He couldn''t even decide how to feel about his subordinates at the moment, as the nature of what was happening around him – the reason behind why his abilities and those of Araeyn were unceremoniously dispelled - was starting to be clear.


    Thankfully, his people seemed alive.


    Well... most of them.


    ''ARGH!'' Replicus raged, but his mind quickly calmed. Rather it was humbled by the esction of the turbulent forces around him.


    So, this was the scale of the mission they had been given?


    This... this was what the masked man was trying to fight and conquer alone?


    Ridiculous!


    BOOOOOOOOM!


    There was another crashing noise, and it seemed the dragon jerked and descended rapidly.


    It shot down in an instant, and as itsrge, radiant turquoise eyes whizzed about, its gigantic maw opening and lighting up with a yellow luminance as impressive as that of dawn, Replicus and several others - while being crushed by the sudden explosion of gravity from the dragon''s descent - realized that there was more than one enemy battling against the dragon! What in the world...?


    Honestly, the size of these enemies seemed too insignificant whenpared to that of the dragon, and as such, they were easy to miss.


    Worse yet, the presence of the dragon eclipsed theirs by a significant margin.


    ''Is it not the masked man, then?'' Replicus asked himself when...


    ...


    His socket mes shed, flickering, alternating between bright and dull.


    ''No way...'' he thought.


    He was bbergasted.


    At that moment, his mind cleared, attempting to amodate what he felt right now; what was added to his already massive burden.


    First was a binding link that exploded within him, tied to his Nullmancer properties.


    Something linked to his powers, registered as being in his range. Finally.


    Then at the same time, a cruel, dominant surge of Null Life Essence bombarded him like a hammer!


    No. Rather than Null Life Essence, it was the presence of a Null Lifeform, quite like him. Something stronger, something superior in authority and race!


    This felt very, very simr to what Replicus felt when Araeyn was born.


    Pure domination!


    ''No way!''


    As he gaped behind his Hollow Dusk Prison, Replicus caught a glimpse of whatever radiated such a presence.


    It kicked off the air and sent a hollow cylinder of vited winds bursting in the opposite


    direction of where it lunged.


    Replicus recoiled.


    ''It looks just like...him.''


    Indeed, it looked just like Araeyn.


    The being had a pale, dry face like that of corpse, and narrow eyes that held within them ck chaos. Long creamy hair, like strands of light, wildly flew in all directions atop its head,plemented by the silver crown entangled with it, growing from the being''s temples. The creature was adorned in a dazzling ck armor that issued from its folds a golden mist. It was impossible to see at the moment, but the armor almost seemed alive. It expanded and contracted subtly, its chest te, branded with an assortment of triangr gems that burned with foreign light, proudly expressing itsck of damage after thetest attack its bearer


    took.


    Replicus molded his open hand into a fist.


    ''Ferex! That''s Ferex,'' he thought.


    His lost Apostle!


    The Apostle, as he had been told, had sumbed to his w. He had failed to beat an


    opponent without a bitter struggle, and thus, he had be a vessel for the Full Deck BoneTender, what the guidance field called a terrible Null Lifeform in the Null Verse.


    But then, the story went deeper.


    Apparently, the BoneTender had inhabited another vessel in turn; what Replicus saw currently before him.


    Whatever that body was, whoever it had belonged to. It could only be...


    Replicus saw a smaller, winged figure sh by with this royal Null Lifeform, hurtling towards


    the dragon!


    It was a feminine figure.


    Curly red hair, fine skin, vibrant red eyes. He recognized these details as part of someone he was fond of despite how extraordinary they looked nowpared to before.


    Replicus recoiled again, and his socket mes burned bright.


    Was that...?


    ''...Sty.''


    [Author''s Note] If you feel a little too confused, you can revisit Chapter 783, Inevitable Fiend, Inevitable


    Voyage