TS4: Chapter 48 (Patreon)

When Thorn and the others arrived at the last of the major shrines, they found an impressive group of people waiting for them. There were a dozen god beasts, led by Haskell, the ninth-tier jackal whom Thorn had fought before. Ascendant Quilla, and Ascendant Lesior were also there, each with their teams, facing off against the god beasts. To Thorn's surprise, there were a number of other teams as well, and he spotted Tessra, the Lady of Flame, in the crowd. No sooner had Thorn's team arrived than she stepped out, her finger pointing directly at Thorn.

"There he is!" she hissed, her voice carrying over the crowds, causing them to fall silent. At once, every eye turned to Thorn, and he stopped. Blinking, he looked around innocently, holding his hand up in greeting.

"Hello, everyone. Nice to see you all gathered together here," he said. "Seems like we're about to have a pretty exciting time."

The stares he got in return were a mixture of incredulous disbelief, anger, and confusion. No one understood how he had been upgrading the shrines, and if Thorn was being honest, he didn't even understand it himself. Eve's ability to integrate with and manipulate magical systems boggled his mind, and he felt as if he had barely scratched the surface of understanding what she was able to do. What he did know, however, was that her abilities enabled him to use this highly effective strategy, one that left everyone they faced at a loss.

Before he could say anything, both Haskell and Quilla stepped forward, glaring at him. It was clear that both the Jackal god beast and the Ascendant Saint had a strong desire to beat his head in, and Thorn didn't blame them. Both had high expectations of performing well in this challenge, but he had swooped in and pulled the proverbial rug right out from under their feet, ensuring that they would get little to nothing for all of their efforts.

To his surprise, Tessra stepped forward as well. Thorn and the other three formed a rough square around the shrine, and for a brief moment, silence reigned over the battlefield as everybody waited for someone to make the first move. Seeing that the others weren't going to act, Thorn shrugged and took a step forward, causing the other three ninth-tier fighters to step forward as well. Staring at each of them in turn, Thorn suddenly smiled and stepped back, but all of them remained in place, causing him to laugh and shrug.

"Eh, it was worth a shot," he said, beginning to stroll forward.

Soon, the four of them were standing only a few hundred feet apart. If any of them took a few steps closer, they would trigger the crystal, summoning the Spectral Guardian, which would undoubtedly kick off the fight. Thorn's goal, however, wasn't to kill the Spectral Guardian and capture the shrine, though he would do that, of course, if the opportunity presented itself. Instead, he was aiming to buy time, and so he addressed the other three.

"How are we going to do this?" he asked. "One giant free-for-all, or are we pairing off?"

"Doesn't matter to me as long as you end up dead," Haskell said, his lips curled in a snarl.

While Ascendant Quilla didn't say anything, it was fairly clear from his hard stare that he felt just about the same way. The Lady of Flame let out a laugh as she slowly pulled her sword from its sheath.

"It seems that the three of us want you dead," she said. "So rather than a free-for-all, I would guess it'll be a race to see which of us can kill you first."

"That doesn't seem quite fair," a voice replied, and Thorn saw Stello strolling up to join him. The sword that Stello had been using had vanished, and the mask that had kept him hidden had been removed as well, revealing Stello's original form. As soon as Tessra saw him, she let out a low hiss, and her body shifted to face him directly, growing incredibly tense as if she was about to attack. Stello didn't seem to notice as he came to a stop next to Thorn, his longsword held in front of him.

"I'll handle Tessra," he said quietly to Thorn as he stopped next to the Titan.

Stello wasn't the only one to advance, and Sparky strolled up on the other side.

"I can take the Saint," he said, his body beginning to shift into his Xoxtl form.

"Hey, why are you guys leaving me out," Skoll said, marching forward, laughing.

Thorn held up his hand, calling for the Sun Wolf to stay back.

"Plenty of other people to fight," he said, gesturing to the crowds around them, "but let's leave this one even."

The three ninth-tier fighters each looked across the crystal to Thorn and his companions. Haskell let out a low growl, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Thorn.

"Fine," he said, "I don't need any help killing you anyways."

"It seems your confidence has grown," Thorn said with a smile, "but enough talk, if we're going to fight, let's fight."

As he spoke, he stepped forward, entering the range of the crystal, causing it to flash brightly as the spectral guardian spawned. Completely ignoring the powerful warrior that appeared to protect the crystal, Thorn summoned a blade to the end of his staff and dashed forward, aiming to cut Haskell down where he stood.

Flame, wind, and light burst into existence as the fighter’s domains began to spread, causing a terrifying blast that ripped through the area. It was rare for multiple tier nine combatants to all attack each other at once, but now there were six of them throwing themselves into battle against one another, causing a dizzying display of pure force as their domains clashed against each other.

Thorn was surprised to see that Sparky had grown to the ninth tier, and though his domain didn't spread like Ascendant Quilla's, it was clear from the shine on his scales that he wasn't lacking a whit of strength compared to the Saint.

On the other side, Tessra launched herself forward, her flaming swords hacking out rapidly, only to find them gracefully deflected by Stello's longsword. The two of them fought fiercely, their flames mixing together, seeming to grow as they encountered one another. Tessra's randomized flames burned holes in the sea of fire that surrounded Stello, but each time one of her flames appeared, it was quickly drowned out by a wave of flame.

Seeing Thorn charge, Haskell dodged backwards, clearly wary of Thorn's uncanny footwork. Dodging the first strike, Haskell responded, his fang-like blades stabbing towards Thorn's throat, but with a twist of his wrist, Thorn blocked both of them, sweeping them to the side with his halberd.

Haskell's method of fighting was much like his devouring domain, and his flashing blades bit and tore as he ripped at Thorn's defenses, always seeking a gap. Like the wind, he seemed to be everywhere at once, but Thorn's halberd wove an impenetrable net around him, as he mixed defense with offense, keeping the stabbing blades at bay. The jackal god beast fought fiercely and Thorn found himself forced to concentrate to his utmost to avoid being hit. His own domain was held tight around him, ensuring that he could block against the rapid attacks without being overwhelmed by the amount of information he was receiving. One of the things he was realizing was that each domain he analyzed brought a tremendous amount of mental stress to him as his domain immediately tried to deconstruct it. So, by keeping his power close, he could avoid becoming overwhelmed.

Thorn naturally fell into a rhythm, making use of what he had learned about the elemental blade as he fought against Haskell. The lack of progress clearly frustrated the jackal god beast and after a frantic ten minutes of fighting, Haskell jumped back, glaring at Thorn with fierce eyes.

"You're strong," he said, "stronger than I thought, but it won't matter one bit."

Immediately, Haskell's body began to transform even as Thorn summoned his arcane control of the mana around him and launched half a dozen gleaming purple spears. With a light jump, Haskell drifted out of the path of the spears, finishing his transformation into a giant jackal. Opening his mouth, the god beast let out a loud bark that caused the wind surrounding them to pick up.

Though he couldn't see them, Thorn could sense the wind transforming into massive fang jaws that lunged towards him intending to tear him to pieces. Thanks to his domain, however, he could feel each one perfectly, and his titan steps carried him out of their path.

At the same time, Haskell lunged forward, his teeth snapping together as a giant ethereal mouth opened up around Thorn and slammed down on him. With a thought, Thorn pulled the earth up around him, forming a dome of stone that blocked the attack. He could feel the giant teeth piercing through and with a shout, Thorn forced the stone outward, transforming it into an explosive storm of shards that ripped their way through Haskell's attack.

Lunging forward, he hacked down with his halberd, intending to split the giant jackal in half, but even as he did, Haskell seemed to fade away, appearing in a dozen other places. It was astonishing, but the god beast seemed to be accomplishing such a maneuver through pure speed, moving from one place to another, making it almost impossible for Thorn to predict where he was going next.

Thanks to the calculations enabled by his domain, Thorn suddenly stepped to the side, his halberd swinging over his head and slashing as Haskell appeared, almost as if he had teleported under his blade. Thorn's blade cut deeply into the jackal's shoulder, and the startled god beast let out a yelp of pain as he rapidly retreated. Not wanting to give up his advantage, Thorn followed rapidly, his halberd striking out a dozen times in a few seconds. Each attack carried tremendous weight behind it and Haskell was hard-pressed to avoid them. The last two carved crimson paths across the jackal's skin and it was with growing fear that he unleashed a loud roar, summoning his wind domain in full force to try to drive Thorn back.

Yet even as the strands of tearing wind ripped at Thorn's body, he didn't even blink, allowing himself to take the wounds, confident in his divine heart's ability to heal them. As he struck out once more, aiming to skewer Haskell through the throat, Haskell retreated as fast as possible, abandoning all attacks in favor of blistering speed that brought him out of range of Thorn's strike. A deep wound in his throat dripped blood down his chest, soaking the jackal god beast's fur in crimson as he stared at Thorn with undisguised fear.

Around the battlefield, the other fights were raging, all of them just as fierce as Thorn's. Tessra and Stello were putting on an unbelievable display of swordsmanship, their blades carving fiery paths through the ground, the air, and everything but each other. They seemed to be well-matched, though the longer the fight dragged on, the clearer it became that Stello had the advantage in swordsmanship. Tessra made up for that advantage with greater raw power and slowly, but surely, Stello's domain was beginning to fall into tatters as it was torn apart by the sporadic flames that burst to life around her. Still, her expression was ugly as she seemed to be unable to come to grips with the fact that Stello was better with a sword than she was. She was growing furious while Stello seemed to be doing the opposite, growing calmer with every single strike. Thorn could feel power building in the elven swordsman, as if his sea of flame was slowly being condensed into a single great wave.

On the other side, Ascendant Quilla was in desperate straits. Thorn didn't know how many divinities Sparky had seized in the last few months, but it was clear that the hidden god beast had grown tremendously. His exotic form now boasted a ridge of spikes on its once smooth head that appeared to form a crown of sorts, and a deep orange stripe descended down the center of his back, marking his advancement into the ninth tier. His massive claws ripped easily through the light that Ascendant Quilla summoned, and he seemed to have gained a measure of the troll shaman's regeneration ability, even in his exotic form. The more he fought, the clearer Thorn could see the two forms mixing together.

When Ascendant Quilla finally managed to land a fierce strike to Sparky's shoulder, the god beast let out a loud roar, driving Ascendant Quilla back. The wound on his shoulder squirmed for a moment and abruptly, a second reptilian head burst from it as it completely healed. The sight of a two-headed Xoxtl caught everyone off guard and when Sparky began to summon ice from thin air, Ascendant Quilla had had enough. Quickly trying to retreat, a blast of freezing air slammed into him, locking him in place for a second as Sparky leapt towards him, landing a raking blow across the Ascendant's side that caused him to grimace in pain.

Thorn rapidly scanned the battlefield and saw that the rest of the team was engaged in fierce fights as well with the god beasts and members of the saints teams. Skoll was clashing against Ascendant Lesior, wielding double axes of pure gold that tore through the light shields she was summoning, while Boreg and Vengef were pummeling a group of god beasts nearby. Consecrate Kendal was standing back slightly, throwing out spells to buff and heal the god beasts, earning him furious glares from the other saints, all of which he happily ignored. He had already received a notification that Eve had upgraded one of the lesser shrines on the periphery. Now, a second notification appeared, alerting him that there was only one more to go.

Though they easily could have abandoned the fight at this point, Thorn could tell from the look in Haskell's eyes that the jackal god-beast wouldn't be so amenable. Stalking forward, despite the damage he had suffered, Haskell stared at Thorn through crazed eyes.

"I will devour your flesh and grind your bones with my fangs," the god-beast snarled, crouching as he readied to launch himself towards Thorn once more.

"You know, this isn't the first time you've said that," Thorn replied with a cheeky smile. "You really need some new threats."

Letting out a loud snarl, Haskell lunged forward, his teeth snapping down on top of Thorn as he crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. Thorn met him calmly, his halberd tracing an S-shaped cut in the air as he took a single step back, blocking the attack. With a shout, he spun to the side, bringing his halberd down on the side of Haskell's head with tremendous force, forcing the jackal god-beast to jump aside. Their strikes were fast and fierce, and the two never paused for a moment as they attacked, defended, and counterattacked.