Transcendence?

***Nation of Mist, Fingulf's island***

***Ascathon***

“It doesn't look like the right place.” Jazira voices her doubts while she floats beside Lidith, Celestial and me.

Under us is a smouldering volcano in the ocean. It's the remnant of Fingulf's island.

Lidith points down at the caldera. “But I feel the idiots down there! They must have masked their presences somehow. It's very faint, but they are down there!”

Celestial pulls a dagger from her belt. “To hide inside a volcano. Are there even places on this world which are more uncomfortable?”

I shrug. “At least it spares them the trouble of dealing with mortals. Should we go down and ask for rent? They are staying on our world even after losing their own bet.”

“What if they fight?” Jazira stops us. “I don't want to damage this world. The tournament at the Sphere of Sous showed us that gods should avoid fighting with each other!”

“Tch!” I summon my staff. “Why do you think are they trying to make mana crystals? Surely not to make some nice convenient tools.”

“He is right. There is a point where you simply have to deal some punishment.” Lidith teleports directly towards the three presences.

I follow without another word. Inside the volcano I find a set of complicated bridges and platforms. The temperature forces me immediately to increase the output of my battle aura. I learned that using my battle aura for protection is much more convenient than casting a spell for environmental protection.

Under us is a sea of lava and from time to time a geyser of magma erupts from it. Above me is the chimney of the volcano through which the sky can be seen.

Celestial and Jazira appear at my side and take a battle stance.

Lidith is in front of us while facing Aneth, Charon and Wynne. All three of the evildoers are holding crystal weapons. Aneth has a spear, Wynne a sword and Charon something similar to a scythe.

“What the hell are you doing here you bunch of oafs? Are you guys too self righteous to adhere to your own bet?” Lidith asks with an angry voice.

Aneth readies his spear and points it at Lidith. “You are too late in any case! Justice is always on the side of the strong! And right now we are more powerful than ever!”

He charges at Lidith without further discussions. Jazira summons her rifle and Celestial dashes forward to intercept him.

“My... my... we can't have a fight on this world.”

I grab into my pocket and release my battle aura to its limit while revealing a fist sized crystal. All the free mana in the environment is immediately sucked towards my crystal, which makes even the solidified weapons dissolve into nothingness.

The shadows around me enlarge and stretch like living organisms while my aura encloses the entire volcano.

Everyone around me is forced to their knees as the strength leaves their bodies. It's a side effect of my countermeasure. You have to take very aggressive measures to break up the solidified structure of a mana crystal.

“What's this?” Aneth tries to get to his feet, but is forced down again.

I walk forward and place a foot on his head. “You idiots seriously thought that I wouldn't think of a countermeasure against my own weapons!?” A kick throws him backwards to his companions.

“This time you have crossed the line.”

I mutter as I walk forward and send an arcane lance into Aneth's foot. Barely with enough power left to protect himself from the environment, Aneth isn't able to block it. He screams in pain as the spike of shimmering energy nails him to the floor.

“Don't look down on uuuus!” Charon screams as he forces himself to his feet and charges at me.

I meet his charge with a kick to his knee, which creates an awesome snapping sound. He stumbles and I grab his hand, forcing him onwards and catapulting him over the edge of the platform.

His scream of terror is cut off as his body falls into the lava under us. A fitting end. I turn to Aneth and Wynne who look at me with shocked expressions. Their eyes turn even wider as a black and grey sphere of energy appears from the ground under me.

It circles three times around the crystal in my hand and disappears inside it.

“Ah... did I mention that this crystal doesn't capture just mana?”

I start kicking Aneth with all my might. “This time you won't get away! There are no rugby judges nearby to save you this time!”

After a while my foot starts to hurt and I switch to my second one. Aneth stopped screaming after a while.

Wynne is wailing beside him with tears in her eyes.

It takes some time, but finally an orange sphere of light leaves Aneth's body and is sucked into the crystal.

“Whew! What a workout!” I turn towards Wynne who is whimpering on the ground.

As I do so, one of the lava eruptions hits the platform we are standing on. The platform tilts just a little, but it's enough to make me stumble.

It's only a second of losing my concentration. But that second is enough to make my oppressing aura waver just a little. Wynne jumps to her feet and tackles me.

I fall backwards while she grabs my crystal and tries to run for it. The platform rocks another time and she slips too, dropping the crystal.

The crystal sails through the air towards Celestial, Jazira and Lidith who get wobbly to their feet as my crystal assisted aura disappears.

It hits Jazira dead centre on her forehead and bounces off.

“~OW!~”

“~Wa!~” Celestial grabs for the crystal, but it slips through her fingers and falls to the ground, slipping ever forward.

“~Nya!~” Lidith jumps for it from her kneeling position, but isn't in time.

The crystal disappears over the edge of the platform and is gone! “Noooo!” I get to my feet and run to where the crystal disappeared. A look over the edge of the platform confirms it.

Under us is nothing but lava! It's gone!

“What was that creepy thing!” Jazira pouts.

Lidith snorts. “I don't care. Luckily it's gone!”

Celestial pulls me to my feet. “You could have told us that you have something like that up your sleeve. Why are you looking like that?”

I snap back to reality. “Like what?”

“Like the end of the world was near!” Celestial shakes me. “What was that crystal?”

I clear my throat and take a dignified posture. “I don't know what you are talking about! A... anyway! Take that and let's go home.” I point at Wynne, who is still peering over the edge of the platform, hoping to find the crystal.

Then I turn and attempt to teleport, but a sudden jerk on my collar holds me back. I turn and find Celestial looking at me with half closed eyes and a deadly serious expression. “You are sweating!”

I try to smile. “It's hot.”

She doesn't back off and steps closer. “Not hot enough to justify this!”

I bend backwards because she is a little too close. “I just had a hard time...”

She follows my movement and sniffs at me. “I smell it!”

What!

The!

Fuck?

I try to keep my mask. “So now you smell... ?”

Celestial sneers like an animal who found its prey. “It's Fear! Tell me, husband. What was that crystal?”

I start fiddling with my hands. When I realize that this looks very suspicious, I place them in my pockets. “Ehm. I need to go to my laboratory.”

Celestial lunges at me and takes me into a headlock. “WHAT FELL INTO THE LAVA!?”

I feel my windpipe being compressed and my blood pressure rising. I am not against being pressed to her chest, but this becomes more and more uncomfortable with each second. “A SEED!”

Celestial loosens her grip a bit. “Seed?”

That's not good. I have to escape somehow! “I love you!”

“You lov...” The pressure increases again! “No distractions!”

“It's a failed seed for creating bigger mana crystals! Sugar cat. You'll crush my windpipe!”

Jazira steps closer and pinches my cheek to the point that it hurts. “And what's the issue with the failure?”

“It won't stop growing and absorbing mana unless you encase it in a special barrier! We have to get out of here! There is no time!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

As if on command, a long crystalline spike penetrates the surface of the lava sea and rises. It stabs through one of the bridges which are connecting the platforms and continues to grow.

“Shit!” I feel Celestial pulling me onto a pathway and we appear in the sky above the volcano. Though she still doesn't let go of me.

Jazira and Lidith appear at our side. They are carrying Wynne, who is dangling between them without resisting. Apparently she has given up.

Under us the volcano shudders and stops smoking. Crystals break through its surface and create a scene which resembles a forest.

“It's even converting normal matter into crystals!” Lidith gasps.

We watch in awe as the volcanic island is turned almost completely into crystal. But then the process slows down and comes to a creeping stop.

I let out a sigh. “So lucky! I thought it would transmute the entire planet. But it seems like the growth rate is slowing down. It can only grow as much as there is mana in the vicinity.”

Celestial's grip tightens again. “Honey bear?”

“Yes, sugar cat?”

“~Tomorrow we'll make a tour through your laboratory and talk about your toys.~”

I try to nod.

“~All of them!~”

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