Return of the Fallen Volume 8 Chapter 98
The Miasma closed in more and more. It climbed from the ground up unnaturally and sank from above like thick molasses. At first, the dome of Miasma surrounding everyone was several thousands of miles in diameter. Now, however, to a mere 10. Within this range, Kazuki and the others were stuck but none were discouraged. In this space, at this very moment, lightning filled the area. Everyone stuck close to one another and none dared move out of place in fear of accidentally attracting this lightning.
As Kazuki made this lightning with his aura, he was highly focused and had absolute control over the lightning. It became like an extension of his own body and he willed it with deadly accuracy. Sam and the others knew this and they understood that while in Kazuki’s control, the lightning would never touch them. Did this mean they feared when Danny took control of the lightning. Again no. One of Danny’s elements was lightning. His skill was incredible and the safety they felt with him was equal when Kazuki controlled the lightning.
No, their refusal to move did not come from Kazuki or Danny’s fictional lack of control rather it was the time in-between. The moment Kazuki allows Danny to take over the lightning with his own aura and will, there would be a fraction of a second where neither party held the reins over the white blue serpent. In this tiny moment, none could quite predict what the lightning would do. Because of this, Asuna, Sam, and Kimi knew not to move a single step away from Kazuki’s side.
Kazuki’s aura moved faster than he physically could. Mimicking the lightning, he produced bolt after bolt like a mythical being.
Ten branches of the white whip grew to hundreds and then thousands. Thousands became five thousand and then ten thousand but this still wasn’t enough. Finally, Kazuki reached his limit. Nearly 20 thousand bolts of lightning continually flowed and cracked. Everyone’s hair stood up on end from all the static.
At this point, Kazuki had to stop. He could feel the power of his soul was depleted. This honestly was a first for him. He didn’t even realize that aura could be depleted but thinking on it now, it of course made sense. His energy wasn’t infinite.
Danny’s saber slashed at the lightning and with it, his Storm Tempest struck the lightning. He took control over a few bolts and these bolts were now filled with the 3rd sword form, the Severing Tempest. The moment he took over a few bolts of lightning, these bolts of lightning proceeded to jump from one bolt to another. Each bolt they struck, Danny’s control over them grew until he had taken them all in his grasp.
After Kazuki’s lightning came his own. Five large boulder-sized cores floated around with Danny at the center. Reaching forward, Danny grabbed one boulder at a time. The moment he touched one, his eyes would glow with a bright silver light. The core in his chest would spin at a tremendous speed as Danny began to take in all of this excess energy.
It took only seconds for Danny to drain this core. The very next moment, Danny swung his saber once more.
*CRACK KA-BOOOOOM*
Lightning ripped out of his blade-like wild chains of power. With it, the amount of lighting increased rapidly. With the decrease of energy, Danny quickly switched to a new core and repeated this process again and again and again until he had taken in every last bit of energy from these cores.
The lightning multiplied and rippled out continuously. At first, their surroundings were as black as night. The Miasma surrounding them had blocked out the sun earlier. Now things were the complete opposite. The sun could still not be seen but with tens of thousands of lightning bolts swirling and crackling all around them, there was barely an ounce of darkness to be seen.
Their world was bright and blinding but no one dared complain. Though at this time, only now did they think about how stupid it was to keep their armor on. Kimi swallowed with a hard gulp but Sam reassured her, easing her nerves slightly.
The lightning moved chaotically as it snapped to and fro but that wouldn’t last for long. Danny slashed at the world and at that moment, the lightning froze for a split second and the world seemed to stand still.
It was an eerily yet awe-inspiring sight to behold. To control so much power at once, how many people could say they’ve done the same. How many could claim to know this mighty power?
The very next moment, all of the lightning came together around everyone and formed a sphere of lightning. A cage, a forcefield a shield of protection. Everyone had their own thoughts as to what this represented for them. Kazuki knew of none of theirs but to him, this sphere meant he would survive just a little bit longer in this dangerous world.
At the same time, his thoughts naturally went to the same place. Knowing that Fera controlled the Azirian’s, Kazuki concluded that she no doubt controlled the Miasma as well.
(Fera!)
His blood boiled at just the thought.
“Kazuki, it’s time.”
For now, though, he could not dwell on his hatred. Danny’s call snapped him out of it and the five began to move.
The Miasma was now only a mile or so in distance. Danny and Kazuki were cautious though. Even with it not far away, there was no possible way they would rush into the Miasma. Coming close to the edge of the purplish-black dome of death, the sphere inched closer and closer until it was, well, inches away.
Danny didn’t move forward and instead waited for the Miasma to come into contact with the protective sphere.
The moment it did.
*Tzzt*
The lightning reacted instantaneously and the small amount of Miasma it touched was destroyed right then and there on the spot. Kimi and Asuna grew excited and started to cheer and even Sam gave Danny a thumbs up but Danny said notihng. Instead, he slowly approached the edge of his sphere and opened a small hole in it. He then under everyone’s stunned gazes, stuck out a finger and touched the Miasma.
*Tssss*
His metal finger slowly started to erode under the Miasma.
This surprised Kazuki greatly causing him to shout.
“Danny, what the fuck are you doing!?”
Danny stayed silent for a moment as he observed the Miasma. The very next moment he touched the edge of his cage of lightning and the miasma eating away at his metal finger was reduced to nothing.
“Fascinating.”
“Fascinating my ass What are you doing so suddenly? Are you trying to give everyone a heart attack?”
Kazuki now understood a little better when he messed around with Kimi earlier. Now was not the time for this shit he thought.
Danny though just shrugged his large metallic shoulders.
“Something occurred to me but right now it’s useless so I won’t bore you with it.”
Kazuki wanted to slap the shit out of Danny at this point but Danny ignored everyone’s stares and moved forward.
All at once, they vanished into the Miasma and began moving forward as fast as Danny could fly.
The moment they entered the Miasma, the cage around them constantly hissed as it came into contact with the Miasma. It sounded similar to a fat scoop of butter being tossed into a hot skillet. They all took notice of a stark contrast rather quickly. As the inside was bright and almost blindingly so, the outside was a dark purplish black. An ever-expanding sea of darkness that was swallowing them into its depths.
This brought an odd indescribable feeling as there was really nothing they could compare it to. Well, they couldn’t relate it to anything but Kazuki on the other hand felt this was all too familiar. It reminded him of the Abyssal Trench. When he fell in, he was falling into untold darkness and untold dangers. At that time he was surrounded by an oppressive aura and energy of untold magnitude. The difference then and now though was that he thought for sure he was going to die.
Not just the very moment he fell in but every second and every day afterward, he felt as if he was standing on the edge of a blade ready to tip, and anyway it fell, no matter what it would mean his death. This situation though was different this time because this time, he actually had real hope of getting out of this alive. Or at least that’s what it started off feeling like.
It only took a few minutes for everyone to notice a problem that was worsening every second. The entire sphere they were in…it was shrinking.
“Danny the cage.”
Danny nodded as he already knew what Kazuki was trying to say.
“I know…it’s shrinking.”
Kimi almost stuttered in fear.
“We’ll make it r right?”
…
Danny remianed silent.
Comment (0)