The pain was near unbearable and the frustration of having been so close even more so. White hot rage surged through Eik like lava.

"What are you doing, you wretched imbeciles? Disable the fracture! Now!" The guttural voice of Oru, the Devouring Maw was muted and muddled, as if Eik was hearing him from under water.

With no more than a split second to decide, Eik clenched his teeth and conjured the sharpest blade of toxin he could muster with his control. And that was nothing to scoff at. Before he lost his nerve, he brought the wicked edge down and severed his own leg at the thigh. He groaned in exhausted agony as the dimensional forces pulled him all the way through.

Although he was supposed to be completely used to fracture travel at this point, his injuries and weariness must have made his body body weak enough to be susceptible and give in to nausea.

And the worst part… this ordeal wasn't over yet.

Even as his head spun, he retrieved two small badges from the depths of his rucksack of holding. He had held on to both ever since they had gone to save his father, Rasmus. One connected directly to Mikla, and one connected to Andihar Dayarunar's Earth forces.

It had been a good decision to ask for spares, just in case, although getting himself saved from a kidnapping by the Moon Shall Swallow cult wasn't exactly how he had imagined using them. His fist pulverized both of them as a robed figure appeared at his side. "You're injured, brother," a gentle voice said.

Initially, Eik looked up at the young man with the expression of a confused amnesiac, blinking blood out of one eye. Then he remembered that he was wearing a set of cult robes as a disguise.

"I think that's a fair conclusion, yeah," he replied dryly. A glance down at his leg told him that he had indeed been successful in cutting it off at the thigh. Great…

He immediately began circulating Backflow ala Panacean Quintessence, applying liquid to any direct injuries, like the stab wounds in his abdomen. And a generous dose of green mist provided near instant pain relief. Three cheers for this life saver of a trait.

"What happened? Is Luna under attack?"

Luna? Ah, right, the capital city of the cult was called Luna. "Something like that, I suppose. My attackers will probably come through the fracture before long. Can you close it up for me?" Eik asked.

Already clearly shaken by the news of an attack on the capital, the youngster now looked up at him with deep shame. He had probably realized that, judging by personal power alone, this injured man who had just stumbled through the fracture must be leagues above him within the cult.

"I can only apologize. I have neither the skill nor the authority to grant your request. I'm just here to register arrivals and departures." He looked genuinely frightened of Eik.

He probably should be. Eik groaned and sat up.

They were in a small windowless room. The walls were hewn stone and the floor some kind of shell laid in a decorative pattern. A single table and chair stood in the corner by the only door in the room. A large ledger lay open on the table.

Weren't his pursuers supposed to be here by now? Oru was definitely hindered from going through the fracture or he would have been here already. But what about others?

"What's the power limit on this?" Eik asked, nodding at the fracture.

"Oh, uuh, B-rank, I believe."

A confident smirk stretched across Eik's lips. "That's perfect, thank you. You've been very helpful."

"I'm just happy I could be of assista—"

Faster than the young man's brain could even register, a serpentine spout of blue liquid hammered into him and carried him bodily across the room to pin him against the wall. He did not even have time to scream before it enveloped him completely and crystallized all around him like a living mummy buried within a glittering sarcophagus. His gentler side showing, Eik opened narrow holes to allow airflow to the young man's nostrils.

He managed to prepare seven dreadful spears of toxin, all of them hanging freely in the air around his shoulders. They spun languidly around their own axes, waiting.

When the first cultist stepped through the fracture, a spinning, high-powered spear pierced her straight through the eye socket and shot out through the back of her head before she could even become aware of her new surroundings. She died instantly, collapsing in front of the fracture.

Two more came through, seeming almost to have been shoved through by a force on the other side. They too received a fatal spear through the head each. He didn't even have to use Accelerant and could simply reuse the same spear again, keeping the number at seven.

If only B-rankers were coming for him, he needed no more than that. He could remake them near instantly if they broke and they were deadly. By the time another five cultists or varying ranks had come through to die, Eik had recreated his own leg down to the knee.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 119]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 73]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 74]

The next cultist out literally stumbled over the corpses piled up in front of the fracture, proving that he wasn't B-rank right off the bat. A spear took him through the top of the scalp and launched out through the back of his neck to impale two more cultists as they came through.

Eik didn't understand what the hell Oru, the Devouring Maw thought he would realistically get out of this show. Eik was a known powerhouse for his level and had established himself on this side to a degree that they couldn't know back at the capital. What was the point of sending these cultists through to die?

Four more died to Eik's flawless ambush. More levels trickled in on his arm as he finished up his ankle joint.

[Acquired Profound Toxin — Lv. 120]

[Acquired Monarch's Will — Lv. 72]

Deciding to focus wholly on the reconstruction of his foot, Eik deployed a host of Living Manifestations. They counted forty six individuals as they swarmed the next two cultists through the fracture.

Empowered as they were by Monarch's Will, the Living Manifestations shut their enemies up before they could even scream, invading their systems in an instant. Utilizing their ability to crystallize at will, one squad of the little guys completely immobilized their victims while another squad went on the offensive.

Maintaining the languidly spinning spears as a precaution, Eik glanced up for a second to check on the work by his subjects. Totally unable to defend themselves, the cultists died horrible deaths, slowly succumbing to death as their skin became discolored and their organs shut down, killing their bodies from the inside out.

It was gruesome. Eik watched with detached disinterest before returning his attention to the limb. It was nearly complete.

Five more died like that, Eik sending out more Living Manifestations as the level ups increased the number that could be summoned simultaneously. Was this the first time he had left a fight entirely to his summoned soldiers. They were extremely effective and allowed him to focus on other stuff. He had promised himself to practice and level them up, and that

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 48]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 49]

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 50]

An additional message followed the level up notifications and pulled Eik's attention from his shaping work.

[Skill evolution available. Skill available for evolution: Living Manifestation]

[Choose one]

[Living Manifestation — Eyes of the Manifestation]

[Living Manifestation — Ruler's Governance]

Eyes of the Manifestation was already pretty obvious by the name alone. It would allow him to see through the little guys' eyes. But like he had thought when it had previously been offered, what he needed more than anything right now was power. Clean and simple.

Ruler's Governance, eh? Perhaps it would allow him to better control the Living Manifestations. Open up the possibility of more detailed and thorough orders maybe?

That the word 'ruler' was mentioned was something worth noting. It might be nothing but a coincidence, but it seemed strange that that would show up almost right after he had gotten a skill called Monarch's Will. Was there any significance to that or was he overthinking the whole thing? It was always difficult to tell when it came to the system.

Well, the choice felt obvious enough.

[Evolved skill Living Manifestation. Skill acquired trait Ruler's Governance]

Seemingly out of nowhere, Eik felt something inside him expand. Closing his eyes for a moment, he reached into his reserves and let out more Living Manifestations than his level should have allowed. His skill level dictated a limit of fifty Living Manifestation, but what stood ready to murder anything that came through the fracture had to be more than a hundred and fifty.

Eik shivered as an incredulous smile snuck onto his lips. Moments later, four of the same slender Profound Toxic beast he had encountered on his last trip to the Profound Realm stood around him protectively. A couple of dozen of the small basic troops were still left over as well.

The moment another cultist came through the fracture, one of the four guardians whirled into a blur, instantaneously taking off the newcomer's head at the neck, arterial blood spouting freely into the air.

Eik petted it on the snout when it returned to his side. "Good boy or girl," he praised lovingly. Then he stood, his new leg and foot complete and ready to support him. His fingers could wait now that he was mobile again. He just needed to survive a little bit longer.

Receiving a distress signal from him, a long lost ally of theirs, surely Mikla and Andihar Dayarunar would act quickly to come to his aid. Right?

As two more cultists came and perished without Eik having to lift a finger, a knock that could be described as polite echoed through the small room. Both Eik and his minions eyed the door silently. Another knock.

"Eik?" a voice called.

"Andih—" was all Eik managed to get out before a blood red ripple slashed through the building entirely. Eik and three of his large summons ducked but the fourth, nearly as large as a full grown stag, was cut cleanly in half at the shoulders. The building came down around them, the Profound Toxic beasts covering Eik with their bodies.

He shifted into Toxic Liquefaction and crept out through the rubble unseen. Or rather, he thought he had been unseen.

"There you are, finally!" said a voice he now recognized with sickening familiarity. "I thought we had been separated forever, but then what do I find out? You disrupted our venerable oracle's divine delivery and fled!" Gih the Madman's playful voice shifted smoothly into unfiltered malice.

Eik's arm burned as he reverted to human form.

[Acquired Living Manifestation — Lv. 51]

More little guys poured out of him, reforming the fourth high-tier Profound Toxic beast along with a fifth. The Eik that had feared Gih the Madman was long gone. He was a different man today.

The Earthling stared down the armored cultist as he cracked his blood red whip through the air.

An army of cultists waited behind Gih, Oru clearly missing. And behind them hung a fracture.

The awkward and prolonged outpouring of cultists inside the fracture house had been nothing but a distraction to keep him from noticing the buildup of cult forces just outside. What a fucking blunder. He had been distracted just as they had been distracted by the raid during the Championships. And Sonja and many others had paid with their lives.

Well, this time he would make sure to obliterate these bastards once and for all.

"You're coming back with us, Eik, that's a given;" Gih giggled. "But shall we dance a little first?"

"I'll dance on your corpse, bitch," Eik growled.

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