Days passed, and thankfully for the band of three, nothing of note occurred to waylay their journey. The most dangerous moment had been their slow creep through a savannah of bladed grass, each blade as sharp as a knife. There had been a close encounter with a literal badger the size of a bear, snuffling about and massacring smaller, lower-tier monsters that called the savannah home. Still, they had avoided detection as Rory and co. made liberal usage of aura-dampening jewelry, or in Eia's case, an aura-dampening sombrero.

Having made it through without being forced into battle against a tier-seven monster, they found themselves at their destination within a few days.

"Well, it ain't pretty," Rory noted, looking down at where the Architect Bane had claimed. They had emerged from a tunnel overlooking a massive cliff that dropped off to what appeared to be the shore of a beach.

Except, instead of water, there was nothing but a black void, a descent into endless darkness. Hundreds of egg sacks were scattered throughout the 'shore' of black granite, things gestating within. Jutting out from the 'shore' was a pathway over endless darkness that led to an island within the oblivion sea. Dominating the peninsula's center was a massive black crystal with an orange substance that Rory suspected was the same corrosive essence that the Architect Bane had become known for. From the crystal, there appeared to be channels through the peninsula that flowed into cracks in the earth, miniature waterfalls that drained into who knew where.

"What are the chances that each of those sacks is filled with some sort of Bane Warped monster?" Apostolos questioned, face devoid of emotion.

"I'd reckon seventy percent," Rory said. "That, or they explode."

"Great." Apostolos sighed.

"Were they not here last time?"

"No, just a few Bane Warped monsters and the Chosen Bane itself."

"That's the consequence of taking so long," Rory sighed. "So, you two ready?"

Apostolos gave a short nod, Eia copying the gesture.

"Good. And you're both aware of the plan?"

"I still don't like it," Apostolos muttered.

"Yes, well, it's the best shot I've got for a sucker punch it won't see coming." Rory countered.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get this over with."

Thankful for the obscuring darkness, the trio descended the cliffside. Eia was coiled around Rory, which made Rory appreciate the benefits of a superhuman body once more, that such a massive snake wrapped around his body several times over was roughly as cumbersome as a thick wool sweatshirt.

Reaching the bottom, several hundred feet below, they flattened themselves to the ground.

"So far, so good." Rory mouthed to Apostolos and Eia. The initial part of the plan was to sneak as close as possible without being detected, something only possible through the numerous aura suppression rings and bangles, which they'd already burnt through several during their journey to avoid detection by monsters that would have been a nuisance to fight.

As they crawled closer, Rory couldn't help but cringe as he noticed movement. They hadn't been noticeable from their initial position overlooking the fake shore from the cliff hundreds of feet above. Still, now that they were closer, there was a veritable swarm of half-cricket, half-centipede bugs, each the size of a large dog.

They were scurrying around, crawling over the glowing egg sacks, caretakers, or perhaps hive defenders.

Glancing at Apostolos, Rory flashed a quick two with his fingers, indicating they were proceeding with the second iteration of the plan, which assumed there would be minions.

Nodding to Rory, Apostolos and Rory began to crawl to the sides as Eia shot forward, her scales darkening as she nearly perfectly blended in with the ground, the skill she had obtained upon reaching A6. Rory had no idea what exactly it did, but it was very obviously a camouflage skill. Minutes turned into nearly an hour of quiet crawling as Rory veered around the leftmost flank of the 'shore', whereas Apostolos came from the right. Meeting back up on the opposite side and just short of the overhanging pathway leading to the peninsula jutting from the faux shore, they proceeded to wait for the go-signal.

What precisely was the signal?

After waiting a few minutes more, a chorus of noise erupted. From the center of the spawning area, a massive shockwave of pure kinetic power radiated outward, quaking the ground beneath them. Seconds later, arcs of lightning began blasting outward as a phantasmal snake the size of a redwood reared up, a titanic roar that belonged to a dragon more than a snake, the roar ringing loud and clear.

"Go time." Rory mouthed to Apostolos as they stood and shot down the pathway leading to the Oblivion shore peninsula.

"So, when do we know when to go?" Apostolos asked as the three sat gathered around a small campfire.

"Eia, that's going to be on you," Rory said, turning to the snake. "And for that, I made something."

Taking a small gem, he quickly placed it within the snake's sombrero.

"That would be one of the most potent gems I've ever made. Four thousand convergence points, it's an Illusion Gem. Also, unlike our suppression rings, your hat doesn't just discreetly vent off that excess aura. It stores all that energy, allowing for a one-time big boom. Do you think you can cause a stir between the two of those?"

The snake gave a downward nod, understanding Rory perfectly.

"Good. As for the rest of the plan…."

Darting across the pathway, Rory fought back the temptation to look back. He trusted in the snake; she was damn powerful, only inferior to the likes of a Territory Alpha of the same level.

But that was a lot of monsters that she would be holding off.

Racing across, Rory gave Apostolos a sharp nod as the younger man pointed the butt of his scythe toward the dominating crystal at the center of the peninsula island. A powerful orb of glowing sunlight appeared, growing brighter and brighter before reshaping itself into an arrow that began to harden into solidified sunlight. Not waiting for Rory to give the go-ahead, the arrow of solid sunlight raced toward the giant crystal. Just before impact, space distorted as the arrow was torn apart by a hole of darkness, from which a creature emerged a moment later.

"There you are," Rory muttered as the Architect Bane emerged.

It had changed once again. It was angular in a way a living thing shouldn't be, all sharp angles and jagged lines that made it look like a stick figure had been crossed with a pair of scissors, with a dash of spider aesthetic for the cherry on top. It wasn't much larger than they were, at least compared to its original appearance, eight or nine feet tall, with gangly triple-jointed blade arms. It had lost its tail entirely, but the 'elbow' joints were now pockets of orange wax that would likely work fine for splashing its corrosive orange mix everywhere and anywhere.

It was also clearly annoyed at their appearance, the hostility radiating off like killing intent.

"Didn't like being made to wait and then being turned back when you attempted to get the jump on us, did you?" Rory mocked, brandishing his battle standard.

A shrilling noise like a million rustling razors escaped the monster as it stared them down with hate in its eyes.

"I think that's a yes," Apostolos chimed in.

"Probably. That or it's pissing its pants." Rory laughed without ever letting any mirth show on his face.

The mock was the final straw. Whether it understood what Rory was saying or not wasn't what mattered; it could feel the derision in his comment. Shooting forward, it moved like a glitching character in a video game, flickering there and back before popping back to where it just was as if space was struggling to define where exactly it was in general relation to the rest of the world around them.

Between the erratic movement and its general speed, Rory could barely keep track of it with his split thoughts. Apostolos, meanwhile, wasn't quite so lucky. One instant, it barely had its blade-like arm blocked by Rory; the next, it flickered into existence in front of Apostolos, its bladed arm striking through his shoulder before reappearing in front of Rory. There was a pattern to its erratic spatial movement; Rory recognized that much but couldn't quite determine the details.

A bladed arm swung in a side-slashing arc as Rory swung his banner in front of its face, momentarily disorienting its strike and waylaying the blow.

"Apostolos!" Rory shouted in warning. The Architect Bane vanished, appearing behind Apostolos, who swung his scythe toward the monster. Spinning through the air like a deftly dodging spider, a bladed arm stabbed downward, again catching Apostolos through his shoulder, eliciting a yell of agony from Apostolos.

Needing to build space for Apostolos, Rory raised his left arm, his hand making a finger gun as several bullets fired at hypersonic speeds. Crossing the distance instantly, they slammed into the Architect Bane, albeit doing barely more than a scratch or dent into its armor; it was enough to drive it back as Apostolos staggered, holding his shoulder.

"You okay?" Rory shouted, Apostolos's reaction worrying him.

"Something's wrong," Apostolos grunted with barely constrained pain. "Every hit feels like it's drawing something out of me."

Stolen novel; please report.

Rory wanted to say something, but there was no time as the Architect Bane once more appeared in a flashing barrage of sword-like arms. Slamming the banner into the earth, Rory brought his arms together as instantly a shield appeared, projected from his Mind Palace.

The sword arms struck hard against the shield, driving Rory back several feet before the Architect Bane was pushed back by the shield, exploding outward in its face.

Whipping his hand forward, a wire lashed around his banner as he yanked it back, twirling it as the Architect Bane attempted a second forward assault. Again, the banner flashed in its face as it barely missed, with an unmistakable look of confusion as it found itself missing an attack that should have struck home.

Its confusion lasted only a split second longer as it flickered out of existence, striking at Apostolos from his blind spot. Still in pain, Apostolos barely intercepted the attack with his scythe before returning fire with a volley of sunlight beams.

Instinctively Rory knew it was about to do nothing, which is precisely what happened, the sunlight sucked into the black chitin armor of the Architect Bane.

Just being near Apostolos, whatever had changed about the Architect Bane seemed to slow the younger man down, draining the light from his eyes and making every return stroke a pathetically neutered attack.

The situation came to a head when, after Rory defended yet another strike from its sword arms, the Architect Bane appeared behind Apostolos before driving forward with all four arms, stabbing directly through his chest. Eyes widening, Rory swung the banner through the air, lights, sound, and a cacophony of chaos erupting like an unleashed flash bang as he slammed the butt of the weapon into the ground, a cocoon of confusion surrounding the Architect Bane. It tore itself free within an instant, putting distance between them as Rory raced to Apostolos's side.

"You okay?" Rory questioned, not letting his composure break mid-battle.

"Fuck no," Apostolos grunted, a weak half smile on his face. "It's adaptation. Figured it out. Dark Space. It's my literal anathema."

"Figured," Rory muttered. "About what we suspected might happen."

"Yeah."

"About the Architect Bane." Apostolos suddenly questioned; the three had just finished putting the bladed savannah behind them.

"Yeah?" Rory responded.

"You said it changed from the first time around and adapts. What do you expect we'll see?"

Rory was silent for a moment before nodding to himself.

"First time around, its main weapon was its physicality and corrosive acid or whatever. After it nearly got killed by being chained in place, it gained the ability for spatial flickering and a clear space theme. As for my guess about its most recent adaptation? Well, first, what do you think?"

"That's why I'm asking you." Apostolos retorted. "You stabbed it through the head, so I don't know, maybe something to do with your projections?"

"Not a bad assumption, and one we should consider as a possibility," Rory answered. "But, no, something was far more impactful during the siege. And that was you. Or more exactly, the suns."

"Really?" Apostolos seemed surprised as his eyebrows rose.

"Yeah, think about it. What handled a huge number of the siege monsters? It wasn't us; it was the Solar Coils. Then how did we deal with all the invading Void-Walkers? We blasted them with a conjured sun. If I had to guess, I'd reckon it would sooner adapt to sunlight than my projections."

"Go," Rory said after a single split second of thought.

"Go?"

"You're a liability in this fight," Rory added, not mincing words. "If just its presence is enough to weaken you, you'd be better off helping out Eia."

"No, wait, I can still help you-"

That instant, the Architect Bane reappeared, driving its sword-arms toward Apostolos again, only to be fended off with several perfectly timed projected bullets from Rory.

"The fact that you're struggling to react to these says it all," Rory said, finally cementing the killing argument.

"What about you?" Apostolos winced, glancing apprehensively at Rory. "Can you really handle it when it is fighting at the level of a high-tier-six? One misstep, and it's over."

Rory paused for a brief instant before grinning.

"Nah," Rory said confidently, puffing his chest out. "I'd win. Now get, before you get in the way anymore."

Weary but not willing to stubbornly ignore the obvious, Apostolos finally gave in, nodding curtly to Rory before turning around and running away.

Like a haunting specter, the image of Architect Bane appeared behind Apostolos just as he turned his back. The sword arms aimed for the same spot it had stabbed through.

Only to be yanked backward as a steel-like wire wrapped around its feet the instant it appeared.

"Predictable fuck," Rory snorted, yanking back once more as the Architect Bane gave up on striking a backstab into Apostolos.

Of course, that meant it appeared right in front of Rory, who was still grinning, the banner blocking the strike meant for his head.

"A pattern is a pattern, regardless of how erratic it may be, and patterns I'm great at noticing." Rory cackled before his elbow jerked upward, striking beneath the Architect Bane's jaw and snapping its head upward. Taking a more diminutive form, the Architect Bane was far easier to physically disrupt.

With its attention affixed solely to Rory, the fight resumed in earnest. As much as it flickered around, Rory was unfazed, having figured out the pattern. Every odd tenth of a second, it would vanish and reappear. Then it would reset, switching to every even tenth of a second, then every other. Erratic, but a pattern nonetheless.

While figuring out its pattern was all well and good, Rory was finding himself pressed heavily, as the Architect Bane figured him out in return. Every time the flag of his banner waved, it would blast the Architect Bane with a disorienting burst of light or sound or just a simple trick of the eye. Having deciphered the truths of the illusions, it was being distracted less and less often, as it had realized what was happening back to when he'd trapped it in an illusion of a cocoon that it had torn free of without any physical resistance that a real cocoon would have provided.

Worsening the problem, its physical movements were only speeding up as if it were getting warmed up. It was almost easier to deal with its teleportation than its raw speed as the fight progressed, forcing Rory more and more into pure defense.

Striking low at him, Rory leaped over the blades only to be shoulder-checked and thrown into the air, slamming into the large crystal dominating the peninsula's center.

"Christ, you're a real asshole, you know that?" Rory groaned as he got to his feet, facing the Architect Bane down. In the distance, he could hear the sound of battle. Eia, now joined by Apostolos, was holding back the horde of monstrosities on the other side of the land bridge.

Waving the standard in circles overhead, storm clouds appeared, and moments later, a barrage of lightning slammed down toward the Architect Bane.

Rather than dodge, the Architect Bane remained exactly in place. Rory swore he saw it grin at him as the lightning did absolutely nothing, the lightning nothing more than conjured illusions.

"Figured you wouldn't fall for that," Rory muttered, annoyed.

Say what you would about the Architect Bane, but it wasn't stupid.

Starting at a jog, Rory quickly shot forward into a sprint as the Architect Bane likewise raced forward to meet him, vanishing at the last second only to appear above him, dropping downward with its sword arms aimed at his neck.

Surprised by its appearance above him, Rory reacted by throwing his arms overhead, his banite ring glowing as he used it to expedite the projection of another shield.

The good news was, he wasn't skewered.

The bad news was that he was flattened into the earth, a pain in his shoulder telling him that he'd broken something in his collarbone.

Atop Rory, the Architect Bane attempted to slam its blades through where the shield hadn't covered. Reacting, Rory flung several crystals upward that exploded in its face. Unstable crystals, they were just stable enough to be carried around, but not stable enough for any Gem Crafting projects.

Blown back from Rory, the Architect Bane skidded to a stop as it slammed its arms into the earth and arrested its momentum. Rory, meanwhile, reached into the satchel slung across his back, yanking out and throwing several knives. The Architect Bane reacted by sweeping a deflecting sword arm toward the flung projectiles, only for the sword arm to pass through the knives as if they weren't there.

Because they weren't, they were nothing more than the most basic projections from Ghost Image, only enough Pneuma pumped through them to make them look real.

Taken off guard, it was yanked from its feet when a wire whipped through the air simultaneously, lashing around whatever qualified as ankles for the monster. Taking advantage of the downed monster, Rory leaped forward, driving the spear point of the standard downward, only for the Architect Bane to disappear as it flickered through space.

"God, you annoying asshole!" Rory shouted, redirecting the downward strike into a forward stab as the Architect Bane reappeared. Catching the haft of the banner, the Architect Bane almost flowed over the shaft like a skittering bug as it slammed one of its appendage joints into his chest, tossing him away.

Regaining his awareness midway through his impromptu flight, Rory turned the momentum into a backward roll before flipping backward and onto his feet like a scene from a kung-fu movie.

A glance downward found Rory nearly snarling.

"You… damn piece of shit," Rory growled, watching orange-colored acid burn through his gear. It was a testament to the quality of the rare-grade 'armor'; the same acid that had been capable of burning straight through some of their walls years ago barely ate through a tenth of an inch before losing its strength.

With a blur of speed, Rory clashed with the Architect Bane, pitting the strength and speed of his dual-processing mind against the literal speed of the Architect Bane. Even as quickly as he could process a scenario, it wouldn't have been enough to survive the battle with the Architect Bane, the gulf between their physical attributes too vast.

Of course, that was why it helped that Rory had two mental threads running full power the entire time: one for focusing on the flow of battle and the other for simply predicting its movements in real time.

Again and again and again, they clashed, perhaps the most even battle the two had ever shared. Its raw attributes had grown, sure, but Rory's gear had improved, and so had his overall skill. Was he the same sort of martial-minded folk as Apostolos, Violet, or Marcie? Hell no, but he'd also been around for longer than any of them, and there came a certain degree of practiced skill originating from nothing more than experience and age.

And yet, Rory wasn't an idiot.

It was a losing battle. Inch by inch, he was losing ground. Knicks, scratches, and even broken bones were beginning to accumulate throughout his body. In contrast, the damage he'd done to the Architect Bane was superficial.

He was losing, and there was nothing he could seemingly do but look for a single needle to thread, the path to victory.

Gritting his teeth, Rory twirled his standard overhead, the flash of disorienting illusions barely distracting the Architect Bane for even an instant. Exploding knives, entangling bolas, lashing wires, towering shields—nothing seemed to break the deadlock.

And worst of all? He could feel himself burning out, even using his banite ring to reduce the mental and physical toll of continuously channeling Pneuma for his projections.

Rory could tell the Architect Bane was beginning to feel more confident as it pushed him back, driving him toward a crevice in the earth where the orange acid that flowed from the centermost crystal spilled away to who knew where. In the same vein, Rory was beginning to feel increasingly desperate. Without combat skills, he was limited to his projection magic, physical combat prowess, and powering Eye of the Architect to the max as he used it to enhance his cognition further.

And yet there was nothing, no avenue for victory appearing, no magical answer.

Desperate for a chance, Rory gambled on chaos theory as he hefted the banner and threw it with all his might. In the same instant, blood burst from his nose, ears, and eyes as two twin blades appeared in both hands, forcing a stored projection past his safe limit. The flag sailed past the Architect Bane as it vanished, flickering into existence a foot forward and out of harm's way of the spear.

Armed with two disarming blades -they had teeth meant to chew through opposing blades rather than sharp edges- Rory rushed the Architect Bane. He hoped he could dismantle its sword arms and shred them thoroughly enough that it would lose its main offensive strength.

The Architect Bane was more than happy to meet him head-on. The twin-disarming blades slashed into one of the blade arms, catching like the teeth of a key in a lock before shattering the chitin that formed its arm. The Architect Bane was happy to pay the price as three counter-strokes ripped through him, slashing deep cuts into his chest straight through his cloth-like armor, disrupting the flow of his mental threads for a single instant.

Rory forced the pain aside as he attempted to disarm another of its arms, the Architect Bane, down to three arms.

Rushing to strike out again, Rory suddenly felt his world turn upside down, something amiss.

The answer was, of course, obvious. There, on the ground, lay one of his arms. It had been separated from his body when his thoughts, disrupted for an instant, had lost track of its teleportation pattern, allowing the Architect Bane to flicker out of existence and strike from behind, removing his left arm from his shoulder.

Desperately turning to face the Architect Bane, it was too little, too late, as pain erupted from his gut. Looking down again, Rory was reminded of the sight of the blade arms piercing through Apostolos.

Except, unlike Apostolos, his body was anything but spiritual.

Coughing once, blood splattered onto the chitin blades.

He had lost.

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