The moment the Masters completed their withdrawal, the mountain erupted under the immense pressure radiating from the five Exarchs.
As they advanced in unison, the air seemed to collapse inward, creating a widening depression in the ground between them and Reigen's father. The stone itself screamed in protest.
Massive slabs of rock broke free from the mountainside, disintegrating into dust before they could even fall.
The five figures moved forward, and with each step, the mountain reacted to their approach. The stone compressed as pressure thickened around them. The atmosphere grew so heavy that distant clouds folded inward, drawn by an oppressive force stronger than gravity.
Each Exarch left no footprints; only faint distortions lingered for a few moments before smoothing out again.
The leader raised a hand and calmly commanded, "Positions."
Without hesitation, the others obeyed. They separated while maintaining formation, sliding outward into a five-point encirclement that cut off every possible escape route.
Each Exarch took a distinct angle, not merely surrounding Reigen's father but partitioning the space around him into controlled segments, transforming the ruined slope into a sealed domain.
Once their positions were established, the leader continued. "Azravel," he called out.
The Exarch who had stood perfectly still inclined his head slightly. "Maintain compression and prevent displacement."
"Nyss," he said next.
The figure who had leaned slightly earlier straightened up, rolling his shoulders as if easing tension from joints that had yet to move. "Disruption and severance."
"Keth," he continued.
From his half-step behind position, Keth advanced until the air around him thinned noticeably. "Nullify anomalies."
"Vaelor."
The casually poised figure smiled faintly. "Trajectory control."
Finally, placing his hand upon his chest, the leader declared, "Zerach, I will engage directly."
With that command issued, all of their Vessels manifested. The space around each of them warped as their weapons emerged from nothingness.
Azravel's Vessel transformed into a long segmented staff made of interlocking hexagonal plates that hovered just apart from one another, glowing softly with restrained light. Each section rotated slowly on its own axis as if governed by internal gyroscopes rather than physical joints.
Nyss summoned forth a chain-blade that moved in complete silence; its hundreds of razor segments flowed like liquid metal around his arm before occasionally dissolving into drifting strands and reassembling seamlessly.
Keth's weapon never fully appeared; instead, what emerged was a collapsed silhouette of something massive, a dark absence that bent light inward with boundaries defined only by how fog recoiled away from it.
Vaelor's Vessel materialized as a ring of floating sigils orbiting an empty hilt where no blade existed yet. Each symbol rotated independently while shedding thin filaments of condensed Reishi that laced through the air like invisible wires.
Zerach's weapon was straightforward yet striking: a sword.
Its broad blade, double-edged and pale as bleached bone, was adorned with flowing inscriptions that glimmered faintly beneath the surface, resembling veins beneath skin.
Reigen's father didn't wait for an attack; he made the first move.
As soon as Reigen's father raised his hand, the five Banes sprang into action around him. In an instant, Reigen father vanished from his spot, the space he occupied collapsing inward just moments before Azravel's compression field slammed down.
BOOM.
The ground cratered beneath them. A shockwave erupted outward, flattening the already ruined terrain and obliterating what little remained of the path. Trees miles away were uprooted and sent flying as the pressure rolled across the landscape.
"Formation," Zerach commanded.
The five Exarchs scattered like shards of a broken star. Azravel's segmented staff unfolded and locked into place, hexagonal plates spinning violently as his Shinkon surged to life. The air thickened around him, compressing space until even drifting dust seemed to slow as if submerged in invisible fluid.
Vaelor unleashed his sigils, which detonated outward and orbited him at breakneck speed before launching on intersecting trajectories. Dozens of glowing lines sliced through the mountains like threads through fabric.
Nyss vanished into motion. His chain-blade dissolved into hundreds of metallic streaks that whipped across the battlefield from every angle, some carving trenches while others exploded upon impact with compressed air, creating detonations that hollowed out the slope.
Keth raised his half-formed Vessel. The world dimmed around him; where his presence expanded, sound collapsed and light dulled. Shockwaves faltered mid-propagation, the terrain near him didn't break; it ceased to exist altogether.
Zerach stepped forward.
The distance between him and Reigen's father folded like wet cloth until they met in a clash of steel that screamed through the air.
Zerach's bone-white sword came crashing down in a vertical execution strike.
One of the Banes intercepted it with a resounding clang.
The impact detonated violently, a dome of compressed force erupted from their collision point, vaporizing everything within hundreds of meters. The upper half of the mountain face behind them disintegrated into a rolling cloud of incandescent dust as shockwaves blasted outward in all directions.
Reigen's father twisted within their clash and kicked hard, his heel struck Zerach's ribs with brutal force.
BOOM!
Zerach was launched backward like a meteor, tearing through stone and bursting out on the far side of a distant ridge in an explosion of debris.
Before dust could settle, Azravel's lattice descended upon them. The segmented staff expanded and interlocked across the battlefield, forming a massive web of compression that slammed down around Reigen's father from all sides.
The air thickened, becoming almost solid. His movements slowed as the Banes flared to life. With determination, he pushed forward. The ground beneath him buckled inward, creating a deepening depression as he drove one sword into the lattice and tore sideways.
CRRRRAAASH.
The compression structure exploded outward in a catastrophic release. The implosion sent shockwaves that detonated with such force they carved a massive hollow through the mountain's core, leaving behind a cavernous void that swallowed debris for several seconds before sound finally caught up.
Nyss emerged amidst the chaos of the explosion. His chain-blade reassembled mid-motion, wrapping around one of the Banes. He yanked and twisted, trying to tear the weapon from reality itself.
Reigen's father pivoted smoothly, revealing a second Bane in his other hand. He slashed horizontally, and in an instant, the chain storm froze before splitting apart.
Nyss was thrown back as every severed segment detonated into overlapping shockwaves that ripped apart the slope and transformed an entire nearby hill into a rising wall of dust and glowing fragments.
Vaelor's kill-lines converged on Reigen's father with deadly precision. Dozens of luminous trajectories intersected his position from above, below, and all sides at once.
Then he vanished. The convergence point erupted violently; the mountain range behind it was carved open as if by divine intervention, three peaks erased into massive circular voids that glowed faintly at their edges where space struggled to reassert itself.
Reigen's father reappeared above Vaelor just as one Bane descended with lethal intent.
BOOM.
The strike collapsed the very air around it, forming a downward shock pillar that obliterated everything beneath it. The earth ruptured violently, creating a bottomless ravine that stretched across the battlefield like an open wound cut by nature itself.
Keth advanced steadily. His null field expanded aggressively, swallowing shockwaves and devouring lingering Vis while erasing every residual effect of previous impacts.
The third Bane met his advance without producing an explosion; instead, it caused collapse. Opposing forces crushed inward with mounting pressure until the surrounding terrain began folding toward the center like molten rock.
Then came the detonation.
The blast obliterated everything in its vicinity, a vast circular crater replaced what had been mountainside, so immense its diameter rivaled that of a city district.
The shockwave raced outward across the range, pulverizing distant ridges and tearing forests into clouds while carving massive concave scars into multiple peaks.
From within this chaos stepped Reigen's father again. His coat billowed wildly amid swirling debris; each step cracked stone beneath him.
Zerach returned to battle in a blur of fractured air as he confronted Reigen's father once more.
Blade met Bane in fierce combat.
CLANG! BOOM! CLASH!.
They vanished and reappeared in a blur, their weapons clashing with rapid-fire impacts that erupted into continuous explosions, each strike giving birth to its own fiery burst.
Their fierce exchanges carved deep trenches, toppled stone pillars, and unleashed shockwaves that rippled outward in overlapping rings.
Azravel fortified his position. Compression zones slammed down from multiple angles, trying to pin Reigen's father in place.
Nyss struck from behind while Vaelor redirected trajectories and Keth closed the null field. They moved as if they were one seamless entity executing a flawless strategy.
Reigen's father was pushed back through a ridge and burst out on the other side. He brought his Bane crashing downwards. The sword strike didn't just stop; it surged forward with unstoppable force.
A massive ravine opened up behind him, splitting the land from horizon to horizon. It was so immense that entire cliffsides crumbled inward as the chasm deepened, exposing layers of the mountain that had never seen the light of day.
The five Exarchs halted simultaneously. For the first time, blood trickled from Zerach's mouth. Azravel's staff vibrated erratically; Nyss's smile faded; Vaelor's sigils flickered uncertainly; Keth's null zone weakened; and Zerach raised his blade high.
"Target mobility confirmed," he stated firmly. "Samsara Banes are operating beyond projected limits."
Reigen's father lifted his hand, aligning all five Banes as the air seemed to warp around them and the mountain groaned under their power.