The Valley of Despair had become a stage for the desperate theater of the powerful beings down below. The wretched, grey landscape was now painted further with flashes of arcane light and spurts of dark blood.
Jack and Reina watched. Silent spectators to the implosion of civility among illuminated beings. Ones who considered themselves the pinnacle of their respective factions.
Lord Lycan ignored the gaping incision in his chest. He slammed into Countess Ashworth.
The Royal Countess shrieked. A sound of fury, not fear. She met the the winged werewolf's charge with a whirlwind of deadly tentacles conjured by her grimoire. The tentacles attempted to entangle and strangulate him.
But, despite being already half-opened meat, Lord Lycan merely roared. Waving his enormous, clawed hands to tear apart the tentacles.
"Damned dog!" Countess Ashworth's angry voice sliced the air.
Cardinal Paddy, seeing the countess was momentarily stopped, lunged forward. He wasn't aiming for Lord Lycan, but at the prize. He employed a divine technique he hadn't shown before. A divine dash. A movement ability that converted holy energy into raw speed.
"In the name of the Trinity!" Cardinal Paddy bellowed. A massive golden glow of energy blasted away debris and residual energy surges. The ones hindering his path to the [Forbidden Chalice].
But the last remaining fallen acolyte from the Purity Cult was faster. Or perhaps, just more reckless. Radiating strong and corrupt psychic energy, the acolyte dashed ahead of Cardinal Paddy. His hands were outstretched. Focusing solely on the glowing, cursed artifact.
Arch Inquisitor Oakstake, however, anticipated the move. He desired the chalice, just like the others. But he would never let an opportunity pass to wipe out a heretic. He raised his massive, smoking mace. Glowing pale blue with divine power. It arced down, not as a block, but as an execution. Ambushing the acolyte from a tricky angle.
The acolyte never touched the chalice. The glowing mace crushed his head with an explosive, bone-breaking sound. The body struck the ground. Twitching once. Then, it lay still.
The forbidden artifact was still several meter away. Untouched.
"One less degenerate." Arch Inquisitor Oakstake grunted. His gaze immediately scanned for his next target. For him, the fight was pure attrition now. Survival meant eliminating the competition. Not just securing the relic.
Flame Overlord, the primal sorcerer from Night Salvation took advantage of the momentary distraction. He, who specialized in fire manipulation, didn't go for the chalice. Instead, he focused on area denial. Casting aside subtlety, he unleashed a massive torrent of crimson and orange flame. A literal sea of enchanted fire that engulfed the central ruins.
"Burn, Insects! Taste my Ocean of Fire!" He screamed over the roaring heat.
The widespread fire forced every combatant to momentarily retreat. Or employ powerful defensive measures.
Grand Scholar Oarwinter muttered some kind of spell. Conjuring a shimmering, translucent blue force field. One that repelled the fire and heat around him efficiently.
Archwitch Elfeather, his partner from the Academy Faction, took her demonic heron mount upward and away. Avoiding the flames through her flight.
Countess Ashworth stepped through the flames. But they didn't burn her. Instead, her body momentarily dissolved into a plume of shadow. Before reappearing twenty meters away.
General Primefeller gritted his teeth. As King Wllion's staunch right hand, he saw the fire sorcerer as the most immediate threat to their tactical positioning. The Royal Faction needed the chalice. And this chaotic, controlling fire was intolerable.
The general twirled his eldritch war axe, which inexplicably turned into a lance. His legs glowed and morphed. In a fraction of second, he transformed. Into a half human half horse. A centaur. An armored centaur.
"For the Kingdom!" He roared and charged.
It wasn't just a simple gallop. It was a transcendent ability that turned his movement into a projectile. He became a living, screaming lance of brilliant orange energy. Cutting straight through the primal sorcerer's own wall of fire.
It was a super fast charge. The general's eldritch lance punched straight through the sorcerer's chest.
The sorcerer gasped. His eyes were wide in shock. The torrent of fire immediately dissipated as his control vanished. He hit the ground. Dead.
General Primefeller stood over him. Panting. His heavy armor was steaming from the intense heat and the sudden exertion.
It was a perfect kill. And a fatal mistake.
Lord Lycan, having shaken off the countess, saw the opening. The sheer effort of the charge had left General Primefeller momentarily vulnerable. His transformation was dissipating. The winged werewolf didn't bother with fancy attacks. He simply dropped onto the general from above. A shadow of wings, fur and claws.
General Primefeller was still weakened despite his necessary victory. He barely registered the attack before Lord Lycan's massive claws landed. Ripping into the joints of his neck and shoulder armor.
There was a hideous metallic screech. Followed by the wet tear of muscle and sinew. General Primefeller, the mighty illuminated knight, crumpled beneath the werewolf's weight.
Another illuminated being was down.
The [Forbidden Chalice] lay near where the fire sorcerer had fallen. The remaining combatants had momentarily stabilized their lines. Realizing that brute force was creating too many opportunities for others.
From the periphery, King Willion moved. Maintaining a cool and calculated distance.
King Willion was an illuminated being trained in statecraft as much as warfare. He hadn't engaged much in the chaotic melee. He had conserved his energy. Riding high on his personal flying spear. Coldly watching his loyal subordinate die to create the necessary space.
Now the space was created.
In a sudden flash, King Willion swooped low. He didn't fire an attack. He didn't even land. His armored hand snatched the [Forbidden Chalice] on the ground, while he was still on his now-turned-into-a-mount spear. The artifact pulsed with a faint, malevolent red light as it touched his gauntlet.
"The prize is ours!" King Willion's voice echoed. Amplified by his Illuminated power. He immediately swerved his flying spear away from the central ruins. Back towards the direction of the back gate portal they all had come from.
"Stop him!" Archwitch Elfeather shrieked. She was the first to react. Urging her demonic heron to chase while she threw twin bolts of crackling void energy after the king.
Cardinal Paddy roared a curse and launched himself forward. Followed closely by Arch Inquisitor Oakstake. And also Grand Scholar Oarwinter.
Countess Ashworth, bound by her loyalty to the crown, chose to delay the pursuers. She released a torrent of controlled, shadowy tentacles that obscured the king's retreat.
None of the pursuers bothered to stop and confront her though. They evaded the tentacles with their own ways. And kept chasing the fleeing king.
This was the end of the central fight. The remaining heavyweights were now scattering. Chasing the single, fleeing target.
Jack watched them go. His spectral form was blending perfectly with the grey mist of the high cliff.
"Predictable." Jack muttered. Adjusting his high-powered steamrune binoculars with telekinesis. "They don't even stop to check whether the artifact has been tempered. Absolute morons."
Reina stood beside him. Her long black hair was flowing slightly in the thin, dead air. "What now, Dear? Do we pursue King Willion too?"
Rune, the mechanical fairy, pulsed a soft, anxious blue light. Indicating they should remain where they were.
Jack shook his head. A slight, predatory smile hidden beneath his mask. "There must be more illuminated people in the back gate. The king should be surrounded by his own loyalists. And pursued by every major faction simultaneously. It will be a traffic jam of Illuminated power near the portal." He predicted.
"Going there will be troublesome." He continued. "The cleanup, Love, is far more profitable."
He looked down at the four fresh corpses littering the ruins below. The fallen acolytes. The Flame Overlord. General Primefeller. And the long-dead Elder Keystone.
"Time to go shopping for power." Jack declared.
He activated his [Incarnation Shift]. In a few seconds, the mysterious, masked spectral figure of Jack Mystery dissolved. Replaced by a much smaller, sleeker shape... Racer Jack. The Kamaitachi Vigilante.
If Jack Mystery was the stealth master, and Judge Jack was the brute force, Racer Jack was pure, unadulterated speed.
He was now shaped like a lean, humanoid weasel standing on two legs. With razor-sharp natural blades on his arms and tail. The kamaitachi form was built for quick traversal and sharp, slicing action.
"Wait here, Love. Rune, keep watch."
The transformation into the Kamaitachi form had granted Jack the full use of his power class... [Phantasmal Rogue]. The class possessed a unique skill that allowed Jack to attempt to steal the abilities or skills of the target. Bypassing the normal, arduous process of training and learning.
The success rate was never guaranteed. Especially on the targets that had actually died. He never tried it before for such targets. Well, he had only tried it just once before. Against the Shadow Sovereign.
Jack dashed down the cliff face. In his current form, the descent was almost instantaneous. A blur of motion that appeared on the battlefield ruins almost instantly.
He could still feel the disturbed air. Still thick with the residual heat of the Flame Overlord's flames. And the metallic scent of General Primefeller's blood.
His first target was Flame Overlord, the fire sorcerer from Night Salvation. A powerful power in elemental destruction was exactly the kind of ability Jack wanted to integrate into his arsenal.
Racer Jack knelt beside the scorched corpse. The body was still smoking lightly. He extended one razor-sharp claw. Placing the tip on the dead sorcerer's forehead.
A faint, chilling whisper entered Jack's consciousness. The echo of the sorcerer's power. The knowledge of flame mastery, but not a complete one. It was a raw, forceful influx of data. But Jack's system assimilated it quickly.
[TEMPORARY SKILLS ACQUIRED!]
[FIRE BURST… ACQUIRED!]
Only one skill this time. Unlike the three skills the Shadow Sovereign generated. Did stealing from the dead reduce the number of available skills? Jack wondered. But, it was still a profit.
Jack felt a surge of latent fire affinity settle into his core. [Fire Burst]. It should be an ability that allowed him to generate rapid, explosive spheres of focused flame. Jack smirked internally. Excellent.
Next, the fallen acolyte. This one's head had been crushed by the arch inquisitor's holy mace. Jack quickly found the acolyte's corpse. Its spiritual essence was completely scorched out.
He extended his claw. Placing the tip on the crushed head. Nothing. Failed. He couldn't acquire anything. Jack had expected that.
The problem was either the crushed head or... the acolyte's faith-based power. He was a fateless being. He could never use faith power. Besides, faith-based power was risky. Especially the corrupted ones from questionable deities like Purity Goddess. He'd better skip these kinds of power.
"Tough luck." Jack mumbled. Moving swiftly to the next corpse. Elder Keystone. The old man who had caused the appearance of the monstrous Otherworld Wasp.
He also failed here. Nothing could be gained.
Jack didn't waste time lamenting. His focus shifted to the fourth and largest corpse... General Primefeller. The one skewered by Lord Lycan.
Jack pressed his claw into the General's head.
This time, the transfer was volatile. The general's lingering spirit crashed against Jack's intrusion. But Jack's [Phantasmal Rogue] power suppressed the residual resistance instantly.
[TEMPORARY SKILLS ACQUIRED!]
[KNIGHT CHARGE… ACQUIRED!]
A glorious, forceful knowledge of motion settled into Jack's mind. [Knight Charge]. The ability to turn oneself into a focused, unstoppable projectile. In General Primefeller, it turned him into a kind of centaur. In Jack's kamaitachi form, it seemed to be able to turn him into a kind of rapid rolling armored ball... No! A super fast, rolling... armadillo.
Jack pulled back, satisfied. Two major skills acquired in under thirty seconds. Added with the three he gained from the Shadow Sovereign... And the spell cards he gained from the treasures. All in all, it was a solid result for a day trip to hell.