Chương 220: 5.19 A day, born

A few more weeks passed in a similar way as the previous ones. The crusade expanding its scope did not actually change much of anything for how it operated. At most, there were a few times when they had gone to the Duchies of Black or White and Marmian had kept them out of sight for the whole visit. Speaking of, the Truth mage seemed to maintain interest in them, occasionally appearing to exchange some seemingly empty banter. But the cycle was almost routine. Break, deployment, break, deployment.

One such started out rather normally. Irwyn had not even bothered to look at the card when it had been raised by a briefly kidnapped soldier. All he knew was that it was a town in the Duchy of Yellow. As soon as they appeared, he smelled a thick odor of Rot, immediately informing the rest of their party with an agreed-upon flash of magic. Looking around, he saw houses arranged in neat rows all the way down the street. Each of them looked basically the same: Built from bricks, but well kept.

People were milling around, wearing clean and undamaged clothes, yet he saw not so much as a single trinket among them. It struck Irwyn as strange. If someone could afford clean clothing and to be in a seemingly decent neighbourhood, he would expect at least some of them to have a ring, or a bit of precious metal in the ear. It wasn't anything major, he was just briefly puzzled. Then the ground was sundered and the skies broke open. It was so sudden Irwyn did not immediately register what had happened.

Where the abovehead used to be cerulean blue, there now lingered a gargantuan scar which showed only the black of cosmical Void, the very firmament shattered. Where there used to be houses, Irwyn saw a massive wound had been torn in the ground a few hundred meters in front of them. Then the surge of magic belatedly hit them. To Irwyn, it felt like a harsh, cutting wind. Not quite to the point of being stabbed, but it was still painful as it passed over him… while inside his barriers.

They lowered the intensity, but were ultimately powerless to truly stop the overwhelming surge of mana. Desir merely flinched, but Alice fell over and her eyes and ears started bleeding, to which the shapeshifter immediately tended.

"Waylan?" Irwyn immediately asked, anxious.

"Am alright," the sneak's voice sounded, though he didn't fully appear.

"It was affecting only magical senses, I believe," Elizabeth said. She seemed outwardly calm, though Irwyn could very well tell the deep nervousness that was spreading inside her. Her eyes were looking overhead, so Irwyn followed them. There he saw flashes. Several somethings were moving at completely incomprehensible speed high, high overhead. Irwyn counted three, though he wasn't completely certain in that estimation. They were just… blurs. Even to his absurdly hastened mind, it was too much.

Nor did he dare activate All is seen, lest he witness something beyond his ability to bear. Truth mages were fighting.

"I think… teleportation is completely locked," Alice said. To demonstrate, she pointed at a large pebble nearby. A moment later, it vanished and reappeared just a few centimeters to the side. Except, what emerged was fine sand rather than rock, immediately crumbling apart.

"So is the Void. Or any other avenue of escape. An ambush," Elizabeth nodded, still watching overhead. Then a black, inhuman eye opened in the skies. Its dimensions or exact shape could not quite be perceived nor described, yet Irwyn immediately recognised it. He had once gazed upon it far too closely. It was the almighty gaze of the Duke of Black, coursing from out of the Void despite the blockade, manifesting across the battlefield.

Yet, somehow, it was not affecting their group down below with its overwhelming presence.

"At least we are separated from that battle," she added.

"The Rot must have built a barrier of some kind in advance and then just waited for us to arrive. It probably wouldn't stand up to a real attack, but it can prevent the ripples from spreading."

"Why would they protect us?" Desir frowned.

"Because they want bodies and Souls, not scattered dust." Suddenly, a beam of brilliant light emerged across the great battle overhead. A wreath crafted from thousands of strands of the purest illumination arose in between breaths, then surged towards the eye that was not too far from it. Immediately, the eye had to re-focus all of its attention on keeping it at bay. Great rumbles began to echo as strand after strand of the wreath unravelled and detonated.

Light and Void were anathema, that remained true even at Truth. Thus, the eye was able to rather quickly begin to dissolve its enemy. The advantage was always with the attacker when those sides clashed. However, it was also obvious that if the wreath could actually reach the eye, the consequences would likely be severe. But instead of approaching further, it focused on replenishing itself, each lost strand reborn just as fast as it perished. Neither seemed able to gain an advantage for the moment.

"We have to get out," Irwyn decided. Even if he and Elizabeth finally burst out with their Domains, they would still be ants where Truths warred.

"As if any avenues of escape were left to chance," Elizabeth shook her head.

"What do we do then?" Irwyn asked.

"You wouldn't happen to have a miracle in a bottle?" Desir asked.

"What kind of item do you think can affect the battle of Truths?" Elizabeth shook her head.

"No. We have to hope that the Federation was not outplayed. In the meantime, the only thing to do is take a lesson from the Rot itself, and slaughter as much as we can, while we can." There were also battles happening at the ground level. The undead did not stare dumbly at the sky as they took advantage of the surprise and panic to attack. It was just by chance that none were that close to their group.

Irwyn was cautious about looking up once his magic was active, but he could tell that when it came to Domain mages, the Crusade still seemingly had a slight advantage. It was hard to tell how the numbers were split for Conception, so it was best if they could make the difference there clear.

"We should still try to aim for the edge of the town," Irwyn suggested.

"At best, there will be an opportunity to get out. At worst, it's probably a bit farther from the fighting and any missed attacks."

"No argument," Elizabeth decided, and they were on their way. For once, the undead were not fighting with complete fearless abandon. Rather than focusing on suicidal attacks as Irwyn had grown used to, they were clearly trying to conserve their forces. Focused on inflicting casualties without losing too many of their own. Many even still maintained their cover, hiding among the panicking population to make sneak attacks or wait for the Crusade's mages to pass them by before committing to slaughter.

The streets still ran red with blood as they passed by them. A significant portion of the undead were actively converting more of the population, especially the non-mages. Irwyn saw abominations grafted from hundreds of corpses and wailing spectres of unwilling Souls in apparent agony, and many other such creatures rising in the distance. Though they could likely not equal even someone at Imbuement due to the mortal materials, they had some psychological effect even on him. It reminded Irwyn of Abonisle.

Just because the undead in this war had chosen infiltration and the human visages that went with that did not mean they could not erupt with horrors once that was no longer a priority. Their group faced very little opposition. It was like the undead were literally moving out of their way. Because of that, Irwyn and Alice could only take long-range potshots.

At first, they had tried to go along cautiously, but when it became apparent how ineffective they were being, Irwyn picked everyone up with his magic, and they soon flew at high velocity. Ambushes quickly sprouted along their way after that, but Irwyn withstood them without flinching. It was not the time to hold back anymore. While Irwyn would stop short of revealing his Domain until an actual Ravener intercepted them, he was already exhibiting power of at least six Concepts and would not hesitate to unleash more.

Thanks to that, they quickly began to catch and destroy many more of the undead along the way. It only took a few minutes to get to the edge of the town. They must have appeared near the center for it to be even that long - Irwyn did not dare to fly high enough for a proper look - and the town was a bit sprawling, not to mention the distractions in the form of concentrated groups that required a slight detour to destroy. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Once they passed the final building, Irwyn stared out at the wide open field around it. For a moment, it almost looked like rocky plains to his eyes. Then his brain caught up and realised he was not looking at soil at all. He was looking at a horde. A legion of undead of all kinds so tightly packed as to be indistinguishable from one writhing mass, spreading out for at least twenty kilometers.

Despite their apparent efforts to stand perfectly still, there were still some slight ripples of motion going through their numbers. That only made them more eerie. Then there was the barrier, surrounding the town and keeping it separate from the horde outside. It was potent beyond a shadow of a doubt. Irwyn was feeling the presence of several Domains interlaced into it, too many to identify. Maybe more than a single mage could possess. Moreover, his attempt at further analysing its nature immediately failed.

"To my magic, it seems to basically stretch into infinity," Irwyn said.

"In fact, it prevents me from seeing through it. I don't know what to filter, but All is seen perceives just endless black."

"It's an extremely stretched patch of space." Alice at least had better luck. She had quickly reached a conclusion.

"Several hundred kilometers compressed to appear like just a few meters from what I am sensing. Unless we break the spell, which I don't see how we possibly could, crossing that boundary would require us to actually travel that entire distance. Not to mention whatever other nasty effects are hidden inside. And that we would be standing in place for the purpose of any outside attacks."

"Ingenious way to protect the town from the fight," Elizabeth said.

"By adding such a distance, Finity will naturally disperse any ripples from the battle above, even with Truths involved. Direct attacks will shear right through without causing damage, like the one at the start, but nothing else will affect us, even though it's only being maintained with Domains."

"Then there is an entire legion outside," Desir said grimly.

"Even if someone can miraculously make it through, they will be instantly swarmed. I bet the undead on the outside are all relatively weak, but specialised to merge all their powers into combined attacks. Oh, and we can presume a second layer of a similar barrier since said horde is not being liquified right now, so you cannot just rush past them and hope for the best."

"We will need to concentrate our forces to have any chance of pushing through," Elizabeth determined.

"Collect every Domain mage still on our side, then push through together, holding nothing back."

"If we have the time for that," Desir pointed out.

"Marmian is fighting one against two. That cannot be good for life expectancy."

"Truth battles generally last only a few instants or a very long while." Elizabeth shook her head.

"Even if he is just desperately dodging, it is clear by now that he will not be too easily overwhelmed. Marmian is their real price, so they probably won't spare us a glance if we get out. Their absolute focus is making sure our Truth mage has not the slightest opportunity to flee. And Time mages are notoriously slippery."

"Alternatively, we could wait for reinforcements," Irwyn suggested.

"Your father is clearly aware of what is happening, if no one else."

"They undoubtedly have countermeasures in place. Distractions and large-scale attacks are probably happening all across the Federation right now, delaying any response. The Rot is confident they have enough time, otherwise they would not have committed all these forces. We cannot presume any help is coming." All of them were clearly nervous, but there was nothing else they could do.

Just as they were turning around to head back into the town, Irwyn disabled his sight magic and looked up at the decisive fight overhead. He just so happened to see one of the undead mages making distance, flying a bit away from the city as it finally stopped in place and began to visibly channel some great magic. It had the appearance of a seven-headed fleshy monstrosity, and each of its mouths was moving in a whispered incantation. At that moment, Marmian and the other undead also seemed to pause in the air.

Or rather, it almost looked like they were magically grappling. Hands outstretched against each other, the air was visibly rippling between them so intensely Irwyn thought it might rupture like cheap fabric. One visage grim, the other skeletal, as the Lich was nothing more than bones. Then Marmian's expression switched from one of sheer desperate focus to a smile. It was not like his usual one. There was no mischief in it. Just sudden calm and confidence.

In the same moment, Marmian moved one of his hands and instead aimed it at the other undead a bit further in the distance. Suddenly, he seemed able to hold them both in place despite his apparent previous struggles. Then he spoke, words flashing so quickly they might as well have all been spoken in a single breath. And yet, each of them was legible, echoing across the entire town:" A river does not sink. A river does not drown. It births anew a link, thus draws itself new crown.

In my Name, a river, the palette I proclaim Edict Intercalate" The world shook, then froze over. For a brief yet endless instant, Irwyn felt reality halt. Then a chunk of the vast everything was slowly, excruciatingly cut out, then portioned and moved to the side, with Irwyn still standing in it. By the time that was done, Irwyn could barely even recall witnessing it. When that moment ended, memory fled and the world resumed its unstoppable motion. Or at least it did in their little segment of it.

Outside, reality was still frozen. Irwyn could almost viscerally feel that boundary as it appeared. It was a jagged, imprecise wound inflicted on reality in a way that no mage could not notice. For those on their side of it, time passed. For those on the other, it did not. And it just so happened that the boundary more or less overlapped with the whole town and the barrier around it. That also meant that, besides the horde, one of the Truth-bearing undead was likewise outside. The phenomena did not end there.

Among other things, Irwyn realised that the sun had somehow been dragged across the horizon, so that it was perfectly just dawning. The sky abovehead was no longer a rip that led all the way to the firmament, but rather perfect and cloudless cerulean expanse. Not to mention that this separated reality felt… off. But Irwyn couldn't focus on that for the moment.

"How!?" Alice yelped, gaping.

"That is not Marmian!" Elizabeth burst out, laughing. A glimmer shone in her eyes. Indeed, it was not. The man still looked like the serial prankster, but his expression did not. Rather, Irwyn was reminded of another person he had met only briefly. Not that he needed to deduce anything. There was only one being who could have possibly cast that Edict. The Archduke of Teal was with them. And from the look of things, even the Rot had not seen him coming.

The two remaining titled undead immediately realised things were about to deteriorate for them. Yet while Ezax's black eye was rapidly dissipating and would not last much longer than a few more breaths, it still forced the Light-wielding figure to keep restraining it for a few more moments. That in itself was absolutely miraculous, the eye being able remain for even a second after being separated from its caster by an Edict.

Afterwards, the Light mage would be free to make the fight a two-on-one again, if the Archduke gave them the chance. From what Irwyn understood, while Named mages had a distinct advantage over those with merely Truths in raw magic, it was not completely overwhelming when not counting the sheer power of Edicts. Clearly, it would be better to not fight against multiple opponents. Intercalate seemed to share that assessment.

He moved towards the skeletal undead mage he had been facing with such incredible speed Irwyn barely noticed the motion. There were yet more ripples of their Time magic clashing, but in that burst of motion, the Archduke was able to overcome the distance separating them. He thus gently tapped his opponent on the top of his head with an open palm. Afterwards, he immediately teleported away, almost to the other side of the area cut out by the Edict.

Then he spoke again:" By time and creed, a single seed need merely bloom Ad infinitum" Once again, Irwyn felt himself be captured by an infinite moment. This one was not quite so heaven-rending and absolute as the Edict's casting, but it still rendered him only able to watch in awe and nothing else. The undead was still in the same position, seemingly just starting to move, but it too had been frozen in place. Then it was gently slapped on the top of its head again. Then again. And again. And again.

It had been a light touch, not even really an attack. Something that even an imbument mage with completely rudimentary protections would have no reason to fear. But they just… Kept. On. Repeating. Thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand. The very memory seemed to blur in Irwyn's head. As the individual gentle touches melded together into one whole across the spans of infinity. Gradually, the top of the creature's skull was opened, its bone shaved away as if atom by atom.

The taps moved the slightest bit down, smoothly adjusted for any lost matter, angling so as to not miss anything. Millions, billions, trillions. At some point, the number of taps stopped being an actual number and became more of a conceptual question. How many times was the undead tapped on the head? Enough times. A quantity that was practically infinite. For as long as more were needed, they would happen. Gentle taps which broke the skull, then torso, then limbs. Until there was nothing left.

After the undead was completely and utterly disintegrated. Only then did that stretched moment end, releasing Irwyn from its clutches. Less than half of an eyeblink had passed in the actual passage of time. He naturally reeled, almost falling over himself from the sheer overstimulation of witnessing a facet of infinity. Alice and Desir likewise staggered, leaving only Elizabeth unaffected.

Irwyn could only blame his previous life for even being able to perceive the terrible weight of what the Archduke had just done. In hindsight, he could only be thankful that he had clearly missed out on most of the Edict's proclamation. Next was the Light mage, who was just finally rebuffing the last vestiges of Ezax's power. As soon as it saw what had happened to its compatriot, the undead tried to rush down towards the town rather than face the Archduke. But running from a Time mage was easier said than done.

Intercalate appeared right next to it and stared. For his second foe, he did not even need to wave a hand before the creature literally burst into individual particles, likewise completely destroyed. Then he looked down at the town, embroiled in battle.

"CRUSADE!" The Archduke yelled, his voice easily reaching them even through the barrier.

"Today, the Federation achieves a great victory! Make your own mark upon its pedestal! Wipe out all Rot beneath my morning's sun!"