TS4: Chapter 46 (Patreon)

Even though Quilla's team was not yet back at the shrine, Thorn could see the heavy defenses that had already been set up. It appeared as if the team that Quilla's family had put together had sent a significant number of soldiers. None of them wore the insignia of the Temple of Man, but instead a starburst pattern that Consecrate Kendal identified as Quilla's family insignia. The strength of the soldiers was also higher than average, with most in the fifth or sixth tier, and many of the officers in the seventh or even eighth. There was also a tier nine warrior mage who seemed to have an arcane domain standing guard by the shrine. Seeing that he had stopped, the others gathered around. Huginn was still flying high in the sky, so it was Vengef who spoke up.

"What's going on?" the tiger asked. "I thought we were going to rush this one."

"They're awfully entrenched for that," Thorn said, scratching his chin. "We might try to talk to them instead. They've got a tier nine mage and a pretty hardcore army surrounding the shrine."

"Nothing we can't deal with," Stello said, patting his sword. "I can keep the mage occupied if you want to spawn the guardian and kill it."

"The problem is that Quilla and his forces are almost back. Quilla's in the ninth tier himself, and there's another ninth tier warrior with him, as well as four eighth tier warriors and a bunch of small fry. If we rush now, we might beat them there, but they'll arrive almost immediately after, and we might get sandwiched. Better to give them a moment to establish themselves," Thorn said. "Let's just pause here."

After waiting for a few moments, Thorn saw Huginn swooping down out of the sky.

"The god beasts are on their way," Huginn said, causing Thorn's eyebrows to rise. "It looks like they're planning an assault on this location.”

“Should we head to a different one?" Skoll asked, looking between Huginn and Thorn.

Closing his eyes to think for a moment, Thorn shook his head.

"No. Huginn, how much time do we have?"

"Probably about 25 minutes."

"Alright, we're gonna try this the easy way, and if they don't like it, we'll adjust," Thorn said, “but we need to be out of here in 25 minutes. Come on."

At a slightly slower pace, he led the team forward, heading toward the shrine where Quilla's team was just arriving. Huginn had warned him of the alarm spell that the ninth-tier mage had cast, but Thorn didn't bother trying to bypass it, and instead, with a light flick of a stone, made sure to trigger it, ensuring that as he walked into the large open square around the shrine, the defenders were on guard.

Lifting his hand, he waved to Quilla. "Ascendant Quilla, how nice to see you. It looks like you have this shrine locked down pretty hard."

The ascendant's eyes narrowed as he stared between Thorn, Consecrate Kendal, and the group of god beasts with him. Stello looked like a human, and Sparky looked like a human, but it was clear that Huginn, Skoll, Boreg, Salish, and Vengef were all god beasts from their aura.

"Is there something you need to explain, Consecrate Thorn?" Ascendant Quilla asked, his gaze growing weary.

Thorn didn't play dumb, and instead smiled and waved to the group. "We formed a team," he said, "to compete in this challenge.”

“You formed a team with god beasts?"

What was funny to Thorn is that the ascendant's tone was more incredulous than upset, almost as if he had simply never thought of the idea and was now kicking himself for it.

"Yeah, why not?" Thorn said. "I'm on my own, and Consecrate Kendal is on his own, and they're all on their own, so it made sense for us to join up. Oh, allow me to introduce you to Sparky and Stello from the Seekers Alliance. Rather than fight on our own, we thought it would be a better idea to join forces."

"I'm sure the temple will have much to say about your choice of company," Quilla said, shaking his head, "but it's none of my business if you want to get yourself in trouble."

"Speaking of trouble," Thorn said, "I was wondering if you could do us a favor."

It must have been something about the way he asked the question, but Ascendant Quilla actually took a step back, his expression hardening and his hand going to the sword on his back. Holding up his hands to show that he meant no harm, Thorn continued.

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind letting us capture this shrine. I know you're keeping it as a reserve, but my thought is that if we capture it, you can then recapture it, which will take you one step closer to success."

"No."

The answer was hard and immediate, catching Thorn off guard. When he opened his mouth to argue, Ascendant Quilla cut him off with a slash of his hand.

"Absolutely not. There's no reason for us to make things harder on ourselves just to make things easier for you."

This caused Thorn to frown, and after a moment, he nodded.

"All right, understood. In that case, we are going to be taking this shrine from you."

Thorn's clear declaration caused Ascendant Quilla and the others on his team to look at each other in faint confusion. Thorn's team was only nine individuals, whereas theirs had dozens more. Furthermore, though Thorn and Stello were clearly in the ninth tier, they weren't sure about any of the others. Even if god beasts could often fight upper rank, their team outmatched Thorn's in strength, yet the Titan had declared so confidently that they would be attacking. Seeing a blade manifest from the top of Thorn's staff, Ascendant Quilla's eyebrows rose.

"Are you sure you want to walk down this path?" he asked.

"Don't know that I have another option," Thorn replied with a grin. "But if we can, I'd love to keep this friendly."

"Absolutely not," one of the ninth-tier warriors beside Quilla said, his voice harsh. "If you god beasts leave, we will not pursue you, but if you so much as think about attacking, I will bury you right here."

"Venn is correct," Quilla said, slowly drawing his sword. "We will show no mercy if you attack."

"That seems like the wrong choice," Thorn said, shrugging. "But we're willing to abide by your rules."

As he finished speaking, he stepped forward, beginning to move towards the shrine. Quilla moved to intercept him immediately. The ninth-tier mage and Venn the ninth-tier warrior, both began to move as well. The mage lifted his staff, intending to trigger the defensive spells he had already cast in the area. Before he could, there was a burst of flame in front of him, and Stello was already in his face, forcing him to abandon the larger spells to concentrate on his defenses.

The ninth-tier warrior, Venn, had just stepped forward, hoisting his axe, and was about to charge when Stello made his move. He turned to assist the mage, but before he could, Skoll and Vengef were on him, forcing him into a defensive stance as their attacks aimed for his vitals. The rest of Quilla's army let out a shout and charged forward, met by a giant ape, Sparky's Xoxtl, and Huginn's flashing talons. Once again, Salliish hid in the shadows, waiting to strike.

Quilla, his sword already drawn, rushed forward, intending to intercept Thorn before he could spawn the guardian of the shrine. His sword flashed out, carrying with it a bright golden light, and Thorn met the strike with his halberd, blocking and guiding it to the side. He never stopped moving forward, his [Titan Step] carrying him around Quilla and closer to the shrine.

Seeing that Thorn was ignoring him, Ascendant Quilla grew angry and let out a fierce shout, spinning and unleashing a wave of light that threatened to engulf Thorn. With a thought, his shadows stretched, growing up around him like a curtain, causing the wave of light to falter. Though the darkness was eaten away quickly, it bought Thorn the time that he needed, and with another step, he arrived in front of the shrine.

This shrine looked like a series of pools, five of them, arranged in a circle with a spiky pedestal in the middle. Above this pedestal was the large crystal that pulsed with light as Thorn approached, causing a beautiful woman to appear. She seemed to be a saint of some sort, carrying a wand and wearing a wreath of flowers around her head. As soon as he saw her, Thorn couldn't help but grin. Her personal strength was nearly non-existent, and it was clear that her main abilities included healing and buffing. However, Ascendant Quilla's forces had already cleared out all of the spectral soldiers that spawned, giving her no one to heal or buff.

"Don't you dare," Quilla roared, diving forward and hacking down towards Thorn.

Turning, Thorn caught the strike with his halberd, throwing Quilla back and following up with a swift attack of his own. There was a faint flash of light at Quilla's feet, and he darted backwards, almost as if he had teleported.

Across the battlefield, the ninth-tier warrior fought fiercely against Skoll and Vengef, while the mage was desperately trying to defend himself against Stello’s fierce sword. Thorn could have turned around and killed the guardian immediately, but he was currently counting down in his head. Noticing his distraction, Quilla lunged towards him, stabbing out with his sword coated in light. Thorn parried the blow, returning a strike of his own that Quilla dodged. Back and forth they fought, speeding up as their attacks clashed against each other.

At the edge of Thorn's mental sense, he caught sight of a group of god beasts heading their direction, and a small smile stretched across his lips. Quilla, expecting something, hacked at him once more. This time, when Thorn moved to block, the ascendant suddenly jumped to the side, moving away from Thorn. With a loud yell, he unleashed a blast of pure light, forcing Thorn to cast his shields. Yet the attack never landed, and a moment later, Thorn realized that it had never been aimed at him at all. With a wail, the guardian, who had been pierced straight through, fell to the ground, and Quilla's smile turned triumphant.

Immediately, Thorn's mind sprang into overdrive, everything around him fading into a monochrome gray as the world slowed. It was clear what Quilla was trying to do. By slaying the guardian himself, Quilla had ensured that nobody who was within half a mile when the shrine's crystal reset would be able to trigger it again for 24 hours. As he processed this information, Thorn acted immediately, taking a rapid step forward, his body straining heavily. To Quilla, it appeared as if he simply vanished. And a moment later, the shrine glowed brightly as the guardian was reabsorbed.

Ascendant Quilla turned, his eyes opened wide as he stared at the place Thorn had just been. Half a second later, Thorn was back, breathing heavily from the strain of using Titan Step to travel over half a mile twice in rapid succession. As soon as he appeared, his fist lashed out, slamming into Quilla, who barely managed to get his sword up. With a loud ding, Quilla was sent flying backwards, his sword vibrating violently under the force of the punch. At the same time, the crystal glowed once more, indicating that it had reset, but in that single moment when it reabsorbed the guardian, Thorn, was nowhere nearby.

And now, reappearing once more, the shrine, upgraded to level two, sent out a new guardian. This time, when the guardian appeared, she didn't lack the offensive power that her previous iteration had. With a shout, she leveled her wand at Thorn.

"Stop him!" Quilla roared, but the other ninth-tier members of his team were completely occupied and could do nothing as Thorn dodged the blast of mana that shot out of the guardian's wand and stepped forward, bringing his halberd around in a vicious arc. It tore through the guardian, resetting the shrine for the second time in only a minute. A moment later, Thorn was standing next to the crystal, his hand touching it. The rest of his team knew exactly what to do, and they began to run, distancing themselves from the battlefield.

Caught off guard by the abrupt retreat, Ascendant Quilla saw Thorn tap the crystal twice and then flash a wide smile, vanishing just as he had before. With a hum, the crystal flashed red, though nothing else happened until, with a loud roar, a large bear god beast charged into the area. The entire defensive line was in complete disarray as he arrived, and he rose to his feet, staring at Quilla and the others as he spoke in a mocking voice.

"You never expected us to attack, did you?" He had just finished speaking when the crystal, triggered by his presence, flashed once more, and a tier 9 guardian appeared behind him, along with close to a thousand spectral soldiers, all in the 8th tier and looking for blood.

In the distance, Thorn and the others were running as fast as they could, gaining as much space between themselves and the shrine as possible. Hearing the loud roars behind them as the shrine’s guardian began to attack, Thorn couldn’t help but chuckle. There was something delightful about causing chaos like this, and despite the fact that every single fight was a deadly serious matter of life and death, he was having an absolute blast. Appearing next to Skoll, he saw the Sun Wolf had a wide smile on his face as well.

“Hah, that was well played,” Skoll said, practically beaming, “we should do it again.”

“Oh, we will,” Thorn said. “Alright, everyone, gather up.”

They were far enough away that Thorn wasn’t worried they’d be attacked by Ascendant Quilla’s group, so they paused for a moment, gathering together to discuss the rest of the plan. Pulling out the map, Thorn traced his finger in a half circle, encompassing the four shrines they had yet to visit.

“This is our route, unless something crazy happens. However, we’re going to need to speed up if we want to avoid getting piled on by everyone in the ruins. Believe me when I say we’re not making any friends. The next few will need to go as quickly as possible, but we also need to gather some points along the way though we did save some points because of Quilla's upgrade. Our next target looks like it’s being attacked by Ascendant Lesior, so if we can get there in time, we’ll be stealing the kill. If not, I’ll be spawning the next guardian and we’ll be killing that one. Everyone ready? Let’s do this.”