Fighting a creature of pain and anger wasn’t supposed to be easy. This one, though, was on an entirely different level. Not only did it have the power to slice everything it came into contact with, but also used a fair number of awakened abilities, and did so rather well. If Dallion had come here a few levels earlier, or if he didn’t have his hammer, there was no doubt that would have lost long ago. That explained why the Green Moon hadn’t urged him to fulfill his promise until recently—up to now, Dallion wasn’t ready for it.

Another cluster of palm trees fell to the ground, their trucks sliced in a series of circles. And once again, the cutling stood up, not in the least affected by the experience. That was one of the things that made the fight so difficult. Since blunt damage was the only thing that had an effect on the monster, the creature used its powers to slice any obstacle it was going to crush in so as to avoid impact. Weapons got the same treatment, although thankfully, the hammer was strong enough to take it without an issue.

Gealm, get him! Dallion ordered.

The whip blade extended, surrounding the crackling. Since the weapon was indestructible, this was the perfect way to entangle the creature. Unfortunately, combat splitting made the task extremely difficult. Several times it seemed as if the cutling escaped by a hair. In truth, it was splitting and using the only instance of getting away. Watching it would have been amusing, if Dallion wasn’t in such a tough situation. Funnily enough, a year ago, he was the one fighting in exactly the same fashion. Back when he couldn’t split into more than half a dozen instances, he made sure to maximize the potential of all of them.

Lux, come here! Dallion ordered.

The kaleidervisto popped in the air in front of him. Dallion quickly grabbed it, then split into instances.

Two could play that game, he thought. From his previous experience and his knowledge of culting anatomy—thanks to his zoology skills—he knew the creature’s weaknesses perfectly. Now it was only a matter of hitting it.

While the whip blade continued to try and entangle the monster, Dallion split into twenty instances and charged forward. There was going to be considerable risk involved, but the combat splitting was going to make it more than acceptable.

Sensing Dallion’s explosion, the cutling split into five of its own. That was exactly the mistake Dallion was hoping for. Dividing up his instances in groups of four, he rushed at each of the enemy instances. In each group, one of the instances acted as bait only to distract the creature, while all the rest attempted to shove the kaleidervisto in the cutling’s mouth.

The process was extremely painful, since unlike health, the pain of the instances couldn’t be ignored. For that reason, most of the experience awakened ended the splitting the moment their echoes were hit, greatly diminishing the amount of pain they suffered. In this case, this wasn’t an option. Not only did Dallion have to suffer the pain of fifteen cuts, but he also had to choose one of those instances to become reality.

In thirteen of the fifteen instances the results were less than ideal, ending with Dallion losing his hand. In the remaining two, while the wounds were severe, all of his arm remained functional.

Here goes nothing, Dallion prepared mentally as he chose the instance to become reality. His hand entered the cutling’s mouth just as the creature was snapping at him. The timing was perfect allowing Dallion to shove the kaleidervisto in and pull his hand back barely brushing one of the monster’s teeth. Unfortunately, just a brush was enough. Every part of the massive black silhouette was capable of slicing wood and stone, let alone flesh. Rips formed on Dallion’s hand, moving sideways like tears on a sheet of paper.

Lux, now! Dallion thought, splitting into instances again.

The pain compounded, increasing tenfold. Even with a body trait of thirty-five, Dallion felt close to fainting. Despite that, he had to endure.

In ten instances Lux let out a flash of light, piercing through the body of the cutling from the inside, and in each instance that proved not to be enough to kill the creature. Incapable of withstanding the pain anymore, Dallion ended all his additional instances. The relief was instant, creating the momentary illusion that the pain had ended. Not long after, though, it built back up to a somewhat more tolerable level.

The whip blade took the opportunity to twist around the cutling yet again. Even weakened, the monster split into four instances, each leaping off in a different direction. This time, though, its action was interrupted by Dallion who threw his harpsisword at it.

Got you, Dallion thought.

While it was true that cuts only strengthened a cutling, in this case Dallion wasn’t aiming at dealing damage, but interrupting its combat splitting; and it worked. The creature’s instanced faded away like a decaying flower.

Sky silver sword fragments held together by a cord of sun gold wrapped around the silhoette’s body, tightening to the point it could no longer move.

Lift it up in the air, Dallion thought. Don’t let it touch the ground.

The whip blade obeyed, rising up into the sky.

Realizing what had happened, the cutling struggled in a futile attempt to break free, however, it was not to be. Even its body proved incapable of breaking an indestructible object, be it the one that held it, or the one in its throat.

“Finally,” Dallion whispered as he collapsed to the ground.

The moment he did, the ruby shardflies swarmed above him, determined to protect him from any further threat.

“Thanks, guys,” Dallion managed to say. “I think I’ll rest for a bit.”

It took seven additional flashes by Lux for the cutling to finally die. Each individual one slowly melted off part of the silhouette’s darkness, causing it to shrink. Naturally, the whip blade tightened each time that happened, keeping it suspended in the air, until finally it was no more.

I leveled up! I leveled up! Lux chirped, as the kaleidervisto flew to just above Dallion’s face. I’m the same level as big bro Nox!

You know we’ll never hear the end of it, Gleam grumbled. Dallion could tell that she wanted a level up as well, but for the moment he wasn’t able to do anything about it.

That was mean, big sis! Lux whimpered. You’re powerful even without leveling up!

Despite his pitiful state, Dallion couldn’t help but smile. The firebird guardian remained very much like a child. There was just no way anyone could remain mad at it for long. Also, it was good that it had grown stronger since it looked like a lot of healing would be needed while exploring this place.

Dallion was the first target for Lux to use his improved healing. The wounds on his hand healed in real time as the kaleidervisto covered it with a layer of blue flame. Onda was next. Being one who had participated the most in the fight, he had a number of small chipped bits here and there. Finally, there was the harpsisword.

You did well, Harp said, her voice a combination of soothing sounds. Rest a bit now.

I need to—

Just rest, Harp interrupted. Her voice sounded surprisingly soft, sleep inductive even.

You’re using music on me, Dallion said. It wasn’t a method he recognized.

It’ll be fine.

There was no resisting it. Dallion tried to make a mental note to ask the harprisword about the type of music she was using. When he woke up several hours later, though, the memory had faded. Instead, two Moons were shining above him, clearly visible in the night sky.

“What happened?” Dallion sat up. As he did, shardflies fluttered off him. Ruby was the only one that remained for several seconds longer, before ultimately joining the rest.

Glad you’re awake, dear boy, Nil said. Quite the fight. You haven’t been in this much trouble for a long time.

That’s because cutlings are my worst match, Dallion thought as he stood up.

The air was pleasantly cool, full with what could only be described as fragrances of the desert. That only reminded Dallion that he was thirsty. The fight had only made things worse. After some consideration, Dallion went to his backpack and gulped down one of his waterskins. That didn’t leave him a lot, which only made it more urgent to find a water source.

“Gleam,” he said, brushing his lips with the back of his hand. “Which way to the broken tower?”

The whip blade extended pointing in the distance with its tip.

“Thanks.”

Given Gleam’s strength, Dallion was tempted to ask her to carry him there. However, the sword fragments of her weapon were just as sharp as the cutling’s cuts. That was one of the obvious things that people forgot when dealing with indestructible weapons: indestructability also meant eternal sharpness.

“Guys,” Dallion said to the shardflies as he put the backpack on. “We’re going on a short run. Slice a tunnel through the jungle for me, okay?”

The creatures fluttered about eagerly.

Shall I light the way? Lux asked eagerly.

“No, Lux. I don’t want to attract too much attention.” Since there were cutlings in the area, falling trees weren’t considered anything special. Glowing blue flames, though, were certain to attract most creatures. “I need you to be ready in case another monster appears.”

You can count on me! The firebird chirped.

Taking a deep breath, Dallion rushed forward.

Running through the jungle with a dozen shardflies in front was almost like running through an underground tunnel. Being literal, the creatures sliced up everything in their path like a bag of razors, forming a path of destruction through the forest. No tree or rock was safe, and as for the sections of quicksand, Dallion’s combat splitting made sure he didn’t become trapped in any of them.

Reaching the tall structure was two hours. There was no telling whether it was worth it, but in a land of ruins, coming across something as majestic definitely could be seen as progress. Even in the moonlight, Dallion could see the amount of craftsmanship that had gone into creating this. Moss, vines, and dirt weren’t able to hide the architectural beauty. Of course, a large part he could notice that was thanks to his writing skills, which aside from languages and writing, also assisted with other disciplines such as mathematics. Back on Earth, Dallion never considered himself terribly good on the subject. Here, though, thanks to his awakened traits and skills, things were very different.

Nil, what do you think could have broken that? Dallion asked.

Magic is an option, although the destruction seems a bit too crude, the echo replied. I’d say a very large creature. You see, breaking the tower isn’t all that was done. The first floor is buried underground.

Dallion had already noticed that, just as he had noticed the distinct lack of windows. At present seventeen floors were visible, each seven following a separate motif. It was logical to assume that the actual height of the tower ranged between forty-nine and fifty-six floors. In diameter, the structure was only slightly smaller than Nerosal’s palace, suggesting that an entire city could be hidden inside. Had that been the case? There was only one way to find out.

“Guys, make some footholds for me,” Dallion said. “I’ll be going to the top.”

You aren’t going inside? Nil asked. That’s rather untypical of you.

“Oh, I’m going inside, just not from the ground.”

What? The old echo almost choked at the suggestion. Dear boy, exploring a tower from the top is almost like starting a story from the end.

“The top half is gone, so it can’t be the end,” Dallion countered. “Besides, I like starting from the end. It allows me to see the best parts first.”