Chapter 101: When Darkness Comes
A/N: 101 Chapters, we've come a long way. To celebrate, leave a review! Throw stones! Enjoy the chapter!
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Void shuddered sensing the overwhelming presence underneath Hellmouth.
The fractured horizon flared brighter, vermillion embers gnawing away at its seams. Signifying the beginning of something macabre.
His heart pounded.
-Badump-
Void froze.
All guardians turned pale as a foul and wicked aura gripped the battlefield paralyzing every soul present.
The Hive wizards seemed frantic, their magic trembled. Whereas the Knights and thralls stood tall and roared recognizing the presence.
Their fanatical and shrill cries choked the guardian's spirits. They could feel it too. The power of the overwhelming and tyrannical entity ascending through the necropolis.
He was coming. Crota, the eater of hope.
~Retreat Now!~ Zamyr cried out.
Void snapped out of his trance, instantly scattering a dozen remote smoke mines across the field. His eyes frantically darted around
"Lord Shaxx! Order the retreat! There's no time!" Void barked, his voice drowned out by a vile and fiendish roar.
A bout of weakness took over the guardians. Void could feel his light being sapped away.
To his despair, the next instant, archaic Hive runes shimmered. A darkness loomed over the horizon, and no light reached the moon's surface. As if banished by a higher power.
The ground quaked and the lunar surface fractured. A wicked viridian fire poured out of hellmouth. Then, a thunderous roar reverberated. Wielding his heretical sword in hand, his figure set ablaze by a fiendish flame.
Crota, the Hive's Ascendant Prince, emerged from the abyss.
Facing the World-breaker, their souls shuddered and fear overwhelmed them. His presence alone felt suffocating but as he gripped his sword, the guardians felt an excruciating pressure weighing on their chests.
Crota's Sword Logic carried a tyrannical will. Having seen it themselves, they knew it was too late.
Void's heart raced.
The Guardians, no, humanity itself would lose. He couldn't let it happen. But Crota's sword logic was too strong.
'I can't clash with it head on. I need to restrain him.' Void's face stiffened. Memories flashed in his mind and his eyes widened.
There was one way, no perhaps it was the only way.
'System, open card store: Tevis.'
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{Tevis Larsen's Abilities}
1. Shadow Shot Max Mastery: Deadfall (500,000 D)
2.Phantom Step (200,000 D)
3. Onyx Blades (600,000 D)
*Only abilities experienced by the user can be bought.
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'Purchase two Shadowshots'
He clenched his fists, a fervent violet light burned within, curving around his palms to form his bow.
Void's light erupted. His target was simple, to break whatever spell Crota had managed to overwhelm them with, he only had one chance. So he would use his strongest card from the start.
'Use them both' Void immediately consumed the two cards.
The sudden surge of aura startled those around him. They couldn't understand how Void had the power to continue.
As Void pulled the string back, light condensed into a dark arrow. But when the cards got used, the Shadowshot warped into something dreadful.
Onyx chains wrapped around Void's arm, his light compacted into a devouring nova at the arrows tip. Void felt an immense weight tugging at his fingertips.
But the Hive prince immediately perceived the sudden influx of light, his eyes turned murky black. He raised his sword, with a taunting grin. His gaze wandered the battlefield, who dared to face him?
Crota's soul weighed on Void, and as the Hive prince wielded his blade, it was now or never.
'Zamyr!' Void beckoned.
The Ahamkara wove its soul into the arrow, lacing it with its lethal presence. Void hoped to catch the Hive prince off guard, but the tactic proved to be a mistake.
An instant after the Ahamkara's interference, Crota's eyes snapped to Void and his gaze settled. The Hive prince flashed a cynical grin.
'Did he sense Zamyr!' Void's heart skipped a beat. With the arrow's surging power slowly eating away at his grip, Void's gaze hardened, he could afford no mistakes.
Despite Void's overwhelming light, Crota didn't seek to dodge, he sought to destroy. A ruinous darkness covered his crystalline blade. His face contorted with a maddening shriek.
With a swift flick of his wrist, the Hive prince raised his sword. Without wasting a second, Crota swung. His terrifying might was at full display.
Faster than sound, his sword strike cleaved the lunar surface, tearing towards Void. Facing impending doom, Void released the Shadowshot.
A dreadful Onyx arrow cut through the air, instantly colliding against the surging sword strike. Light and dark rushed to the devour the other, but their collision which should have resulted in a turbulent eruption simply fizzled out.
'He matched that power with one swing?' Void's eyes widened, Crota's power... it was far more frightening than he could imagine.
Crota and Void locked eyes once more. He could feel that the Hive prince was curious about Ahamkara's power. Something the prince had never seen before.
'He wants it' Void's eyes narrowed, his breath quickened. Void glanced around, whatever spell Crota had used was broken. The guardians were no longer bound by darkness.
The first to move were a group of elite titans. It was pure instinct.
"Protect the others!"
Those were the only words Void heard, and chaos ensued. Twelve titans rushed towards Crota, seeking to slow him down.
But the Hive were not so easily stopped. Crota's roar shook his army. Thralls and Knights leapt towards the front. It was an all out war with nothing to spare. In mere moments, a cataclysmic disaster had engulfed Hellmouth.
Shaxx watched as Crota reaped the light from one titan after another. No matter what they did, he was simply too strong.
The Hive prince marched towards the centre, with each step he took, a hundred souls perished. With each swing, he reaped their light, devouring it to strengthen his own soul.
As Crota marched, hundreds rushed in with only one goal, to buy time.
Shaxx stood, facing the destruction, a bitter taste lingered in his mouth. His hammer burned ever brighter, just as he was about to charge in, a hand clasped his shoulder.
"Lord Shaxx! We must retreat, its not possible without you!" Void pulled the titan back.
Shaxx let go of his grudge, his duty was far more important than revenge. The city needed him.
"I will gather the Vanguard, get the team and maintain a defence line!" Shaxx barked, rushing towards Zavala's direction.
Void bolted through the chaos, with a snap of his fingers, all remote smoke mines detonated creating a fog barrier.
"Run through the smoke! Now!" Void bellowed, a purple fog swiftly spread across the field aiding in their retreat.
His eyes lingered at the ones who'd chosen to fight Crota, a bitter gleam flashed in his eyes.
Across the battlefield, Shaxx charged towards the south line, towards Ikorra. But with their powers restored, the Vanguard was already retaliating in full force.
Ikorra flew towards the sky, lightning danced on her fingers. As she channelled her light, a bright thunderstorm engulfed the battlefield, smiting the Hive's army. Zavala took the exact opposite approach, conjuring a titanic shielding dome. As all hell broke loose, he sought to defend what was left.
Unlike them, Cayde chose to embrace the chaos altogether. His squad of bombardiers and rocketeers refused to back down. Aiming at the Hive prince and his Knights, they constantly shot out explosives.
Shaxx rushed inside Zavala's barrier, helping carry the injured towards safety, "Call the retreat. We've got no time to waste!"
"Zavala, do it! Tell the warlocks to rush to the back!" Ikorra continued channelling her lightning.
Zavala grit his teeth, holding the barrier steady with both hands. "All guardians, this is Vanguard Commander. Ordering a full retreat now! Warlocks, get to the back! Everyone else, cover the retreat! The City needs us to survive, we cannot fail here!"
The sudden command sent waves of guardians to the back. Though Knights and thralls were on their tail, with the aid of the spreading fog, their retreat was obscured.
But the threat wasn't over.
In the minutes that had passed, hundreds had lost their lives to Crota. The world-breaker was far too vicious of an enemy. He marched ahead, ruthlessly massacring any ill fated to stand in his way.
Mowing through hundreds of light-bearers, Crota drew on their souls to replenish his sword logic. The strange power he consumed from them, it was enticing. The Hive prince had decided that he would not let a single soul escape.
Yet, as Crota took another step forward, a lightning bolt came thundering down. From within, came a fierce warrior. She single-handedly pushed back the Knights.
A jade cong on her wrist reverberated as she punched out, her strikes erupting with lightning. Finally, she faced the world-breaker. Her eyes carried an unbridled rage.
Crota could feel the purity of her soul, that was exactly what he was looking for. A suitable target to devour. He sauntered towards her as she spoke words he didn't care to comprehend.
"I challenge you." Wei Ning barked, her voice leaden. She couldn't allow more to be destroyed.
Away from the battle, Void despaired as he spotted Crota approaching Wei Ning. He knew exactly what was to come. It wasn't something he could allow to happen. He immediately dashed towards her.
But then, an ominous sensation pricked his sixth sense. Void shuddered.
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[Lunar Horizon]
As the grim battle raged on, a stealth jumpship quietly soared above the Ocean of Storms.
Toland quietly surveyed the battle, "Hundreds dead, I guess you were right."
"My analysis is never wrong" Guren nodded.
"I suppose its time we join the fray." Toland caressed his runic journal. An eerie and wretched power rested within it.
"Where will it happen?" Guren mused.
Toland looked on the battlefield, his eyes glimmering as he spotted a few familiar faces. He hummed a peculiar melody.
"How about we finish where we left off?" His eyes burned with a wretched gleam.
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