The darkness cleared after a few moments, and he took in his surroundings immediately. It was strange, but the magic had blocked out even his domain. He stumbled to his feet in with a groggy movement. Mash had never been drunk, but he had seen others drink heavily. The way he stumbled onto his feet would’ve better fit one of those people. His whole body still felt like it was burning. His scales managed to resist a lot of the magic, but his tongue and eyes felt like they had been pulled out of a furnace.

As bad as his condition was, the king looked even worse. The chain armor on his left side had melted into his skin, and one of his arms looked like a black piece of charcoal. Mash knew that the visible damage was actually the smaller part of the injury. His magic did more to the soul. Despite all their stats, damage to the soul bypassed most defenses, especially the natural ones. He was sure he could heal the damage with his skill, but normal healing wouldn’t do much for it. The king didn’t seem to have any specialized healing for it, and he remained on his knees. Mash might have been able to end the fight with raw strength, but he didn’t think so. Their attributes were just too large. It would be like two mountains throwing boulders at one another. Even if the mountains were damaged, a boulder wasn’t likely to break it.

“Let’s go for round two.”

Mash felt his energy plummet as he touched on the aspect of change again. The magic had disoriented them and left them in a crater. It was soo large that he could’ve built an entire city within. Mash could see a lot with his domain, but he still didn’t understand what the aspect did.

[Any ideas?]

Priscilla observed her surroundings but found nothing either. His stats hadn’t increased either. In fact, it looked like nothing had happened. The King moved a little and tried to speak though his words didn’t seem to work.

“Het who desi?”

Did the man change his language? No that didn’t make any sense. This was just a distraction. If the aspect wasn’t working, he would just try physical strength than. Mash stepped forward. Well, he tried to step forward. Instead, his body moved up and he walked up solid air. He stomped, banging his foot against the solid air, and saw a wall in the distance crack. What?

[You seemed to have changed the rules of the space.]

Mash nodded but the knowledge didn’t help him understand what to do. His domain still functioned normally, and he watched the king’s movements. The king couldn’t get up. When he tried, he fell forward and slammed his face into the dirt. That wouldn’t hurt him, but the still melted armor and soul damage would be agonizing regardless. Mash didn’t hesitate. Whatever was happening he had to attack.

His hand opened. Combining every magic again would probably kill the king, but it might kill him too. Also, he didn’t know if it would generate the same result as before. Especially with the effects of his aspect still about. He would just settle for something else. Something that would cause more pain than damage. Lightning but twisted to strike the soul. This lightning came out in a continuous stream of black bolts. They poured out of his hands like a million thin whips. They popped with noise and left black trails along the ground. They actually burned with demonic soul fire, and he felt some pain around his hands.

The pain in his hands was a stupid thing to notice with the screams of pain coming from the king. Bravado and pride only took a man so far. His levels and skills were pointless when he couldn’t protect his soul anymore. Mash stared with open hatred as the man squirmed under the lightning. Mash stepped forward. Upward as the demented world warped his path. That didn’t stop him, and he took another step. This time he bent toward the left, nearly slipping from the air.

__________________________________________________________________________

The king of chains P.O.V

The king screamed. His left arm was a rock, and his armor had melted into his ribcage. He used all of his focus to just heal the wounds and couldn’t spare anything for defense. His soul defenses had crumbled from the suicidal attack earlier, and he had nothing for this. The black lightning felt like tiny barbs. Each stuck itself in his soul, and black fire spread through it. He actually had the skill to perceive souls, and he could see his own. He sees the burns appearing on it, and he grew worried.

His soul had melted, and this attack was preventing him from healing it. He glanced at Mash and saw a soul that was doing a little better. He had braced himself and taken most of the damage on one side. Mash took it head on and his soul had melted all over. The pain was probably worse for Mash, which meant he likely had a skill or two to reduce pain. The king felt Mash approaching him, but he couldn’t move. Something had happened to the world. Every time he managed to move through the pain, he just fell in a different direction. The world was twisting around him. Each of his movements sent him in another direction like he was trapped in a kaleidoscope. What could he do?

His skills were used. He needed time to heal but wasn’t given it. And he had sacrificed all of his backup lives already. Even the throne would be nearly useless without any slaves to sacrifice. It might have been stupid to use them for some attributes, but he couldn’t help but imagine what would happen afterward. They had information on Mash’s growth ability in combat. But that was the difference. What he gained, would be his even after the fight was over. What person could stand up to him with so many attributes? He could even crush the very gods.

He stared through tears as Mash took one more step. The monster was now directly in front of him. The black lightning forced screams from his mouth. Pain consumed him as he waited for his death.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Mash P.O.V

Mash bent over and lifted the king. He didn’t stop the lightning, and let it thrum directly into the king’s body. The man squirmed violently. The king managed to force out a word.

“Please.”

He couldn’t get another word out as pain consumed his voice. Nothing else was needed. His intentions were made obvious by the desperation written on his face. Mash shook his head and spoke softly.

“I will forgive a lot. Leave a lot of bad people alive to add to my many mistakes. That sounds dumb, but I know it. Despite all that, you are not someone I will spare.”

Mash let his magic drop and activated a different skill. One that he had previously promised not to use on the living. The memory of that promise felt weak compared to everything else. Luke might hate him if he ever found out, but Mash couldn’t think of another way to actually kill him. To make sure he didn’t have some stupid skill to revive or come back.

Chimeric Reconstruction was a cruel skill. An evil one. The king’s eyes widened ever so slightly as the burning lightning changed to a twisting and tearing. His body morphed with his soul, and his limbs broke and twisted as his body crumpled like a piece of paper. The screams of pain had changed to a cry of agony and fear. Mash shut his own eyes to the sight, but his domain let him see everything clearly. Blood splashed the ground as his head dented inward. It gushed onto Mash’s own face and body.

The king died in Mash’s arms. Not as a proud king with the honor of someone who had achieved something grand. But as a man who had lived unafraid of death for so long, he became little more than a wailing child when confronted with it. He had screamed and begged and died. His head snapped up as he noticed the throne begin to move, and he moved to intercept it. There was no way. The king’s soul was gone, absorbed. So, why was the throne moving?

He came out of the ground and caught onto the throne as it tried to go somewhere. When he touched it, he felt the life of it. It wasn’t a living thing, but it had a will, a purpose. And he felt that. It wanted to go, and find a new host. Or maybe, there was someone prepared for it? An heir? Was this how kings passed down their crowns? It made sense.

The throne was tough, and he acted without much thought. It had to be destroyed, and it felt like something with a soul. In a weird way, it was a monster. He opened his mouth and bit down. The metal of the chair didn’t break. And it made his teeth hurt. The failure embarrassed him more than anything else and he tried a skill instead. Chimeric Reconstruction didn’t work on the throne either and he frowned. He felt like he needed to consume it but didn’t know how.

[Grow.]

Priscilla’s words reminded him of the fact that he could do that. His body slowly grew as the throne tried to force its way past him. The world around him was dissolving too. The sunlight and warm space where the fight had taken place were replaced by a snowy environment and a chill wind. Dozens of people were hovering around the sky around him. Several of whom were over level 150. They stared at the scene with confusion and disbelief.

Mash ignored them, as his body grew big enough to swallow the throne. He ate it like a snake and felt the throne try to tear itself from his body. It moved and struggled like a live animal, but even that slowly stopped. Once it was done, Mash felt a rush of power like no other.

Images, emotions, and power banged against his head. He felt the sudden urge to control. To dominate and force the world to adjust to his desires. That thought conflicted with his very nature, and it caused him to clutch at his head. The two forces within him pushed against one another. He spun in the air as pain spread through his body. It crawled through his nerves and soul like poison. One power an open and free flame. The other wasn’t ice, but another flame. This one didn’t burn wildly but ran through his body on a set path. The two clashed within him. As the pain stung him, Mash mustered what focus he could and tugged on his aspect.

The small tug was enough to change the balance, and the fires of domination succumbed to the flame of freedom. As his mind cleared, he took in the surroundings. His body shrunk and the scales on him receded. All those below his level stared at him. Some of them turned to flee but froze when they realized they were trapped. Mash’s stats were decreasing rapidly, but for the moment he was strong. His domain had grown with his stats, he could see far into the continent. In fact, he could even see his own home, which was hundreds of miles away at the moment.

People with better senses probably realized that they would never escape his domain. If not for his drastically increased stats he was sure the flood of information would’ve disabled, his mind. Mash turned toward the city and the people and spoke. He couldn’t control his power properly, so his words fell on the people like a stone. And without his notice, it affected more than just the city. Everyone within his domain heard his next words.

“I killed the king. I’m sorry I couldn’t save everyone, but I will free those who are left.”

He tugged on the aspect, and the power rushed out of him. It filled his domain and crashed through the land like a storm. Everything and everyone within it felt the power. Mash didn’t care or think about the consequences. After his fight with the king, he didn’t want to leave anyone else to die in bonds. His domain covered the north. He could see every city and slave. Saw them turn toward him as his power touched the world like an enormous thumb. Mash could see his own king turn. He felt the man’s throne. It was the throne of sunlight, and it tried to push against his aspect. But Mash was too strong, his stats were just too high. He dumped energy into the aspect. It was more powerful than anyone should handle, and the aspect changed the world.

Just like that, Mash had killed thousands. Tens of thousands as almost every slaver died. For all those that died, more were saved. But slaves weren’t the only ones affected. Mash felt as if the domains of gods weakened. They attempted to hold on to the link to their followers, but those threads were snapped like paper. His energy drained rapidly as the aspect suffused the space. Its touch grew denser and denser, and he began to hurt as Priscilla’s defenses began to fray. She was being wrenched from his soul with force, and she was dying. Mash tried to stop it, but the power was too great. If he couldn’t stop it, he forced it out. He pushed it beyond the reach of his domain and felt something pop.

The power of the aspect rippled out of his domain. Beyond what he could see. While he didn’t know what it would do, he had an idea. He was just relieved to feel that Priscilla was still alive. He had done something ridiculous. The world was different, and he had been the one to change it. Mash, or rather, “The Chimera of the End and the Beginning” had made his presence known in the most drastic and chaotic way. It suited him.