Senseless
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Chapter 94 "Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen"
🕑 Added 2025-07-24 11:00:13 +0000 UTCIt looked akin to a beast from myth or spoken about in prophecies regarding the end of the world. The fact that it descended from the skies above, rather than manifesting on the ground gave Ler Setanta the impression that it was summoned from the heavens above, rather than the hells beneath.
This beast, was the Incarnation Of The Hunt, manifested once more as a mere Mortal; with all the strength and knowledge that came with his vast and uncomprehensible lifespan.
Ler Setanta stretched over thirty metres in length, exceeding the size of the Earthen Treasury Womb and toppling over the Malum Hobgoblin. Clad in thick, impenetrable, aegean blue scales of an indomitus shastasaurus, the enormous beast swam through the skies, four enormous claw-shaped fins allowed it to sail through the night, each razor-sharp and reflecting the golden-green light of the bodhi tree beneath it.
Adjusting its position, Ler Setanta peered downwards towards the battle going on beneath it, paused in awe from just its presence alone. Four golden-coloured eyes peered down towards Avahni, its angular mouth appearing closer towards a crocodile, lined with dozens upon dozens of rows of sharp serrated teeth.
It did not possess a dorsal fin as Shamael or Sariel expected.
Nor did it possess a caudal tail that sharks or Huo Liyu possessed.
It was shaped like crocodile with four enormous fins, each lined with claws capable of splitting a man from head to groin.
It was neither divine nor daemonic.
Not blessed nor blasphemous.
It was the nightmares of a child given flesh and blood. The fears of what dwelled beneath the waves given life and breath. An Incarnation Of The Hunt, that did not rest or tire until its goal had been completed.
Avahni felt her breath hitch as she extended her hand towards Ler Setanta.
“Through the autumn wilt and the winter death, nothing shall break this oath. Through the spring haze and summers daze, I vow this to the end of thine days.”
“Once what was two, shall now become-.”
Avahni heard a roar, feeling herself become overwhelmed with fear-natured spiritual energy. Numerous different system notifications appeared in the corner of her eye, preventing her from completing the summoning contract between herself and Ler Setanta.
[Fear Of Sound].
[Fear Of Loneliness].
[Fear Of Sin].
[Fear Of Absolution].
Wilheim channelled the effects of [Celebration Of Thou Hallowed Halls] into himself to half-resist the effects of these debuffs. The hazelnut-skinned man, riding atop that bull-sized fire swarm beetle thrust forth with the weapon that he had stolen from Jon, carving deep gashes on the flesh of the Malum Hobgoblin.
The effects of the [Fire Chevalier] Aura was not enough to resist foreign influences but did lessen the effects of the debuffs to a certain degree.
Titus Claudius possessed the inherent strength and endurance to withstand some of the blows of the hobgoblin. It was under the influence of both Wilheim’s [Preservation Of Thou Sacred Ramparts] and Metzli’s self-regenerating wood natured spiritual shield, allowing the fire swarm beetle to withstand a much greater amount of damage.
Avahni, on the other hand, did not possess the same level of control over her Mental Aquascape as Jon did over his Sea Of Knowledge. It was something that Ru Luan Di had continued to pester her about and was something that she now regretted as whispers and illusory figures started to appear all around her.
Fear natured spiritual energy started flowing through the rivers and oceans within her imaginary mental construct. Dark wisps of purple coloured spiritual energy turning the powerful streams of water into foul, stagnant pools of fear and nightmares.
Avahni opened her mouth to scream but found the effects of [Fear Of Sound] to be too much for her, forcing her to claw at her hair, unable to withstand the effects of the Spell. The lutin could feel the effects of Titus Claudius’ [Fire Chevalier] Aura embrace her, in addition to the cleansing effect of Sariel’s [Tenderness Is The Gentle Hand Of Spring].
[Fragment Of Spring]
[Tenderness Is The Gentle Hand Of Spring]
(Life, Spring, Spell, Healing, Recovery, Buff)
Effect (Mortal): Chant, while extending your hand towards a willing target. Infuse the soft, nurturing blessing of a flower bud born in the beginning of spring into the target, cleansing them of debuffs or afflictions so long as the effect remains active. Increases natural recovery rate of the target and grant them an instance of [Springs Blessing].
[Springs Blessing]: Temporarily increases all resistances for a short duration.
Although it did nothing to cleanse the Knight Ranked debuffs, Avahni did regain a modicum of focus, allowing her to lift her hand once more towards Ler Setanta.
The enormous indomitus shastasaurus peered with its golden-coloured eyes towards the green-haired lutin, observing his summoner with an unknowable glint behind its gaze.
The Incarnation Of The Hunt could not help but peer towards the other individuals scattered across the riverbank, its gaze lingering on the figure of Wilheim riding atop the Custodian Of The Fire Swarm and Jon leaning against a crumbling stone pillar, the Liver Of The Ginseng King sitting on his shoulder.
The sounds of Avahni’s voice brought its attention back towards the green-haired woman.
“Through the autumn wilt and the winter death, nothing shall break this oath. Through the spring haze and summers daze, I vow this to the end of thine days.”
The Malum Hobgoblin, hearing Avahni try to complete the chant to summon that monstrous beast floating in the skies above it, snarled, lifting Carna Ascia and hurling it once more towards the lutin.
Wilheim felt his eyes widen, and gestured for Titus Claudius to fly towards it, trying to affect the Hatchet Of Rotten Flesh with the effects of [Transcendent Castle]. The sheer amount of spiritual energy contained within the Fragment Of Weapon and Fragment Of Flesh was more than what Wilheim was able to teleport using [Transcendent Castle].
The floresiensis and fire swarm beetle both felt their hearts skip a beat as the Hatchet Of Rotten Flesh flew towards Avahni.
The woman in question muttering the final line of her summoning ability.
“Once what was two, shall now become one.”
Avahni did not even notice Ler Setanta move, the figure of the indomitus shastasaurus little more than a blur as it swung its enormous claws towards the approaching projectile. Shamael was able to catch a portion of its shadow, while Jon was able to perceive the flow of its movements in its entirety.
Two different types of spiritual energy flashed through his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes as he watched Avahni’s summon deflect Carna Ascia with a single strike. The Incarnation Of The Hunt glowed a lustrous silver as it deflected the Hatchet Of Rotten Flesh, humming with both incarnation spiritual energy and water natured spiritual energy.
Avahni had once told Jon and Wilheim of the effects of her “strongest” summon, both the human and floresiensis feeling their mouths drop to the floor as they both remembered its effect description.
[Fragment Of Ichthyosaur]
[Ler Setanta; Incarnation Of The Hunt]
(Summon, Water, Ichthyosaur, Memento, Shadow, Incarnation, Buff]
Effect (Mortal): Perform a ritual to summon Ler Setanta; Incarnation Of The Hunt. Ler Setanta was born from the cold boundless depths of the Realm Of Abyssal Blue, an indescribable mutation born within an indomitus shastasaurus. Ler Setanta dwells within the heart after being summoned.
Ler Setanta possesses a monstrous physical strength, speed and endurance, allowing it to reach near unfathomable depths through the virtue of its inherent mutations alone. Ler Setanta possesses four, large claw-shaped fins capable of rending mortal steel and teeth capable of shattering mortal defences. Enemies struck by Ler Setanta with become inflicted with an instance of [Swallowed Blue] up to a maximum threshold. Ler Setanta possesses the Memento Source Fragment [Gae Balor; Incarnated Shadow Hunt].
[Swallowed Blue]: Reduces mana regeneration. Additional stacks have an additive effect.
[Gae Balor; Incarnated Shadow Hunt]: Manifested through the combination of an Incarnation Mana Core, Fragment Of Shadow, Memento Source Fragment, complete Mortal Title [Incarnation Of The Hunt] and a Mortal Ranked spiritual ink.
Manifests an Ink Shadow Incarnation capable of attacking enemies on command. The Ink Shadow Incarnation can switch between both tangible and intangible states. While intangible, the Ink Shadow Incarnation becomes physically untouchable.
Transfers debuffs and afflictions away from oneself and towards the Ink Shadow Incarnation.
Allows for oneself to swim through the air as the shadow swims through the earth.
The Malum Hobgoblin could feel both the enormous form of Ler Setanta, in addition to the shadow that it cast along the ground surge with spiritual energy. The Knight Ranked creature did not know where to focus its attention, watching as the Ink Shadow Incarnation it produced rose up out of the ground opening its gaping maw towards it.
The hobgoblin activated its physical enhancement ability and retreated backwards as swiftly as its form allowed it to. Chanting, the ashen-skinned beast extended its palm outwards, manifesting a familiar sphere of corruption around it.
Within the span that it took to breathe, the Malum Hobgoblin completed its Spell, launching another dark-yellow orb of corruption towards the approaching shadow. The golden eyes of the Incarnation Of The Hunt observed the actions of the beast, commanding his Ink Shadow Incarnation to dive back into the earth.
Its powerful Spell, which required Jon, Sariel and Wilheim to all work together in order to resist its effects collided with the two-dimensional shadow of Ler Setanta, doing not a single iota of damage to the intangible construct.
The indomitus shastasaurus noticed several debuffs appear in the corner of its vision but ignored them, his Ink Shadow Incarnation not feeling the effects in the slightest.
“Interesting. A Fragment Of Annihilation and Fragment Of Devour combined with a Corruption Mana Core. What a boring layering of concepts,” the deep, bellowing voice of Ler Setanta echoed throughout the skies above the riverbank.
The enormous beast showed what Avahni thought was a grin, before adjusting the angle of his fins and diving down towards the Malum Hobgoblin. The Incarnation Of The Hunt slashed out with its claws, each half the size of a full grown human, laughing as it watched the hobgoblin scramble to avoid it, scrambling to overload the effects of its physical enhancement ability.
“Fragment Of Surge and a Fragment Of Acceleration combined with a Blood Mana Core? What a disappointment.”
With a flick of his tail, Ler Setanta surged forward, surprising the Malum Hobgoblin with an overwhelming burst of speed. The Knight tried to chant another ability but instead found itself screaming in pain as the Incarnation Of The Hunt severed its left arm from the elbow down.
Putrid bright yellow blood spurted out, splattering across the sands and corrupting ground beneath it. From just a glance Ler Setanta could see that the hobgoblin had neither integrated a Fragment Of Heart, or a Fragment Of Marrow, instead choosing a wasteful combination of several other fragment to produce a similar effect.
“Fragment Of Blood. Fragment Of Bone. Fragment Of Anima. Fragment Of Abundance. Fragment Of Stomach. Fragment Of Acid. What a poor excuse for a Knight you are.” The Incarnation Of The Hunt glanced towards the other humanoids scattered about the battlefield.
“At least these Mortals have a modicum of an excuse. Most lack just a single other universal fragment, their abilities and Mana Cores varied enough to promote growth when they would ascend to Knighthood,” said Ler Setanta, his gaze lingering on Avahni for a few moments.
The golden glint in his eyes changed, morphing into something between curiosity and amusement.
“Oh? And what do we have here? My own master, with a Source so outwardly pronounced she cannot help but manifest abilities with the Summon Trait. Things have gotten quite interesting since I was killed… hmm?” the indomitus shastasaurus lifted its head, turning towards Jon half-standing with his own strength.
Ler Setanta peered at the human for a few seconds, before narrowing its eyes at the miniscule figure sitting atop his shoulder. The Incarnation Of The Hunt blinked several times, before releasing a loud guffaw, flicking its tail and moving closer towards the source of its amusement.
Jon, with Ru Luan Di sitting on his shoulder, felt his mind pause and movements halt as the thirty-metre long dinosaur-looking beast floated hovered silently in the space before him. Jon was bathed in the shadow of the indomitus shastasaurus, feeling his own Hades-Sagacity Shadow brush up against the Ink Shadow Incarnation beneath him.
Even without activating [Thou Is But A Shadow Of Oneself], Jon could feel the thick aegean scales of Ler Setanta brush against his fingers. Something that the summoned companion took note of but ignored in favour of focusing on the little ginseng king beside him.
“To think that we would one day meet again… Ru Luan Di,” Ler Setanta declared.
Jon, Avahni, and everyone else present all peered towards the little ginseng perched on Jon’s shoulder. The Liver Of The Ginseng King, lacking three of his four limbs leaned against Jon’s head, looking up towards the enormous form of Ler Setanta with a blank expression on his face.
“It is quite the fortuitous encounter Ler Setanta. To think, that even someone as lauded as yourself would one day become a summon. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
