Chapter 627: Climbing Toward the Unbeatable (Patreon)

(While I don't have a full financial report from Audible, I have enough data to say that the release was a flop. This is one of the reasons I negotiated for a five book contract: anyone who follows the series via audio should get the whole series with the same narrator instead of getting stranded mid-way, as that's part of the contract.

It's possible that later releases will take off, but this doesn't usually happen. The most that would be statistically likely would be for the combined series to earn out the [somewhat hefty] advance so that Audible thinks it paid off, even if it wasn't an explosive hit. We'll have to see how the second book does in March.

This bodes poorly for the series, and as I've been frank about, I've been exhausted for over a year. The final chapters have been written for a while and the first saga will be getting the big climax that I've planned from the beginning, but things will likely conclude with the story of the Deadlake continents, not the worlds beyond.

Let me turn to some good news, first small and then larger. There's another bonus chapter coming out this Wednesday. Beyond that, I intend to pause/change this Patreon's method from monthly payments before the final month, so basically everyone who is subscribed will get extra content for no additional cost. Least I can do for everyone who has followed the series this far. More on this later.)

As Kai burst over the Blood Current, he occasionally dipped into the ruby waters to snatch up a monster, then consumed it as he continued flying. He wasn't sure whether his increase in strength mattered or whether he was just moving too fast, but few of the most dangerous beings in the Blood Current tried to attack him, so he could make a direct path to Rosemount without stopping.

There had been a time when entering the Blood Current was a risky maneuver they'd needed to build enough speed to escape cultivators, but now the Brightwind Sect was theirs and the Current would only slow him down. Kai didn't like these long flights between continents, but they gave him a chance to flex all of his monstrous abilities.

If he had broken through with his cultivation, they would have had even more space to grow, but he trusted Zae Zin Nim had made the right choice. Instead he focused on growing what he already had, since his maximum had increased after the Abhorroid, and considered alternative paths to the future.

An armor technique would be valuable, now that he was facing phased opponents and the Abhorroid. The problem there was that he had only two excellent defensive abilities - Bloodtail's Armor and Voidshell Essence - and his greatest fusions generally involved three. He considered all the other essence in his soul, even considered chasing down other monsters, but in the end kept pushing toward Rosemount.

Flying high above the ocean like this, it was easy to lose track of the world, so he had to remind himself that time was running out everywhere else. Deadwaste under the invaders' rule, Yangix building a cultivation empire, Jonijix likely tearing across Rosemount... he had allies who needed his help across the world.

All of that fell away at times as he continued flying. Instead he found himself thinking of the powers he'd seen over the abyss and the threat that had hung over his head ever since then. Even though he never would have wanted things to go this way, he felt as though he was finally taking steps against them. The threat of greater powers that could devastate his world had finally proved true, but in a form that he could potentially defeat, if he just obtained enough strength.

Those abstract thoughts lasted until he landed on the western coast of Rosemount. It should have been nostalgic, since he hadn't been back since he'd first come with Omilaena and Zae Zin Nim years ago. There were places he would have revisited, if he had time.

Instead, as he began to hear the news of the continent, Kai abandoned thoughts of the far future and focused on the battle in front of him.

.

..

.

Even with the council of elders agreeing, it took Omilaena several days to prepare. Physique breakthroughs didn't come every day, after all, and if she was correct in her fundamental theories, this would be a singular event that set the course of her entire life.

The others were focused on the invaders, and she hoped that she could gain the power to face them... but as far as Omilaena was concerned, this was just building a foundation for future growth.

It would have been entertaining to make the elven elders do the transformation in their fancy conference room, but they instead suggested a chamber deep underground, where elders apparently trained their presence phases. Since that likely would be beneficial if anything, Omilaena was willing to compromise on that. Where she refused to bend was demanding that all the elders participate, and wearing her own clothing instead of the ornamental elven garb they offered.

As part of her preparation, Omilaena had forged a robe for herself out of pure venomsteel: a blend of the strongest metal and poison she could manage. It was perhaps the most powerful garment in the world, invulnerable to many attacks and covered in poison that would kill almost anyone - it was also cold, unflattering, and hell on the nipples.

She wore it in order to focus her entire body on her final Physique goal, because what she was trying to do was incredibly ambitious, even by her standards. Working with the Final Metal had nearly killed her even though it normally just granted power, and now she intended to work with an Insanity that actively killed by nature.

Worse than that, she needed to merge everything into a single Physique, without it causing instability in her soul. That was why she had roped the elves into participating as well: they would pour their presence energy over her and she would use that cauldron of elegant power to fuse everything before she consumed it all. Kai would approve.

When it was finally time, Omilaena walked to the lowest chamber while gathering herself. She couldn't help but look at her soul one last time.

<

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 2007

Heart of Poison: Level 94 (658)

*Prana Jewels: Level +6 (42)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (350)

Nascent Ice (251)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 12 (180)

Physique: D-9 (245)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

Azure Core (+200)

>

She had barely surpassed 2000 Power via all her preparations, which would have been astonishing on its own, but now wasn't enough. In theory, if all worked well, she would soon see if her theories about how power fundamentally worked were correct. If she was wrong, she would probably be dead by the end of the day, because she didn't think anyone was coming to bail her out of this one.

All the elven elders were waiting for her, with varying degrees of acceptance or anger. The news of Jonijix traveling north had not been good, since he'd blasted through anyone in the Commonwealth who tried to stop him, and they were accordingly grimmer. Omilaena wiped her mind free of such thoughts and concentrated solely on herself.

"Focus raw presence on me," she ordered as she knelt down in the center of the circle of elders. "Give me everything you can, and don't stop, whatever happens."

A major part of her preparations had been isolating the poison component of the Whispering Death and eliminating the rest, so Omilaena now carefully removed the Prana Jewels. She wore the necklace and the choker, but she had used one of her earrings on the Abhorroid, so she gripped the remaining one in her cupped hands as she began.

When the elders cast their presences at her, it should have been an attack that humbled anyone, but Omilaena soaked in the power. Her entire body felt light, as if seeking to elevate itself to a higher plane, and she needed to control the giddy rush.

Instead she focused on her own essence, piece by piece, just as she'd planned. First the potion Juray had made for her, thick with mana and Kai's essence. Then the blue pill that Zae Zin Nim had imparted to her on Lostwreck. Finally she drew on the Insanity that had been purified by her Prana Jewels for so long, and placed it into the incomplete pill she had been forming for herself. She swallowed the Whispering Death whole and then drew it into her Heart of Poison.

As expected, pain racked her body instantly, because the power was too much for one ability to contain - that was just what she wanted. Instead of letting it destroy her body, Omilaena surrounded the power with her Azure Core, that pure combination of all her abilities that was supposed to represent the fusion of her fundamental self.

The Azure Core throbbed powerfully as it began to transform, but the power was too much even for it, and that would leave her unbalanced. Omilaena gritted her teeth and let it run over, soaking into her body. This was the most difficult part, because the new energy clashed violently with the metallic powers that had burrowed deep within her.

But she had been controlling poison and metal her entire life, and she refused to let them master her now. She began using Lethal Artisan on herself, knitting metal through her flesh. It wouldn't have been enough, but she drew on the Path of Venomsteel as well, a perfect balance of both abilities. Her lips parted and hung open even though she was no longer breathing, her body a statue of rigid power that barely lived.

For a moment she thought it was too much, that she would fall as a metallic corpse, but then the Azure Core radiated power through her, restoring life to her flesh. She took a breath and seemed to feel the world in a way she never had before. Her body began to soak in all the presence techniques around her, refining herself as her transformation completed.

That should have been her moment of triumph... but something unexpected surged within her. Omilaena rarely thought about her half-elven ancestry and the resurfacing flow of it surprised her now. She wasn't sure whether it was due to the elven elders or her own history, but she could feel her ears beginning to tingle. In this moment, as she changed herself, she could have changed more.

No, Omilaena knew who she was. She kept her body exactly the same and only absorbed the beauty and grace, perfecting herself as she had intended.

The process trickled out instead of ending in an explosion. All around the room, the elven elders were gasping for breath, as they had poured out enough soul energy to explode a normal person. In the center, Omilaena breathed slowly and deeply with transformed lungs.

When she looked at her own soul, she smiled in triumph.

<

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 2411

Heart of Poison: Level 94 (658)

*Prana Jewels: Level +8 (56)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (350)

Nascent Ice (256)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 14 (210)

Azure Physique: E-0 (500)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

Azure Core (+300)

>

She now had over 2400 Power, but she was even more proud of something subtle: she now had an "Azure Physique" at rank E-0. It even granted her more base Power than Zae Zin Nim, though Omilaena doubted she could compete with her wife in raw strength.

Then again, it might be fun to try. There were a lot of things that would be fun if she could be reunited with the two of them.

When Omilaena rose to her feet, some of the elders watching actually gasped, a mix of impressed by her transformation and horror at what they had created. Omilaena knew that she had the stupefying beauty of an elf now, though that was just a fun bonus compared to the power.

"Thank you," Omilaena said, running a hand through her hair luxuriously. "You won't regret this."

"You... you're going to fight the invaders now?" Elder Graveylin asked.

That was where Omilaena had lied to the elves, because she couldn't simply attack Jonijix, not without triggering a genocidal response from the other invaders. But though she had lied, she hadn't betrayed them, because this was just the first step in her plans.

"We have a lot to do," Omilaena said. "Let's get started."