Chapter 97: The Spoils of the World

Chapter 97: The Spoils of the World The hole in reality yawned wider and wider as they approached, but there was nothing Kai could do. While they walked within the rainbow aura they were protected and everything outside was certain death. Even if he picked up Zae Zin Nim and tried to flee, there was nowhere to escape. More monsters were crawling out of the pit at a nearly constant rate, both the slow masses and the faster ones that targeted the strongest warriors. He saw a few of the soldiers in crimson armor go down under monster hordes, but so far they had been treated as a mere obstacle. It seemed like Koleiman, whatever his goals were, would slip through the entire battle. Kai's mind recoiled against the idea of looking down the pit... but there was also part of him that was called toward it. He'd seen the vast chasm in his dreams, he just hadn't understood. Before they could arrive, someone stormed past them. The muscular blue man charged to the very edge, sending monsters flying in every direction. He let out a cry of triumph and leapt, not as if he wanted to jump down but as if there was something floating within. Just before he arrived, a slim woman winked into existence over his head. She wore rough pants and a jacket, as well as a plumed hat that somehow stayed on her head even while she spun in the air. She twisted her fingers on one hand and Kai saw three coins spinning dexterously between them: one gold, one red, and one white. The muscular man started to roar in anger, then between blinks they both disappeared. At first Kai stared in confusion, but he theorized that the new arrival hadn't simply appeared there. If these warriors could use portals to land directly on top of the pit, they all would have done that in the first place. No, more likely she had some Class - or a power so far beyond it scorned to be called a Class - that allowed her to move short distances. When he listened for human roaring over the monster noises, Kai spotted them again: both stood within the main brawl. The man bellowed and tried to grab her, but the young woman gave a playful grin and then vanished in another glittering of her coins. She appeared just above the pit and began to drop into it... only for an enormous beam of qi to encompass her from above. This one seemed to shock the young-looking woman, but her coins were still spinning rapidly. When the beam should have struck her, it inexplicably twisted to the side just long enough to arc around her and then continue on its previous course. Kai traced the beam back to the source and spotted the enchanting cultivator again - then he struck himself on the head with both hands and forced his gaze down. It was like every time he looked in her direction, something seized hold of his mind and insisted that whatever she was doing was jaw-droppingly beautiful. Trying to think about her objectively, he thought that her features were unnaturally perfect, her skin so clear it was more like a polished stone than flesh. Maybe that was beautiful to some, but he thought it was more eerie than anything. He doubted that his mind would agree if he looked up again. "And we have arrived!" Koleiman threw up his hands and the monsters pouring out of the pit in front of them transformed into showers of purple petals. All the monsters still climbing from the pit avoided the space, giving them a clear path to the edge. Distracted by the battle, Kai hadn't realized how close they'd come. Now that the hole in the world yawned before him, he could think of nothing else. From this angle, he could see more of the interior. The sides still looked unnaturally sheer, but the surface was rough enough for monsters to continue climbing into the world. The material of the pit was oddly dark... the sun shone brightly overhead, yet somehow didn't illuminate the depths, as if the light was being consumed. "Now, you first!" Koleiman cheerfully grabbed one of the southerners and pushed him to the edge. The man screamed, trying to resist the movement of his own legs, but he couldn't stop himself. When he looked down, he went entirely silent and simply stared for several seconds. Then his body crumpled and he fell into the abyss. "Interesting, very interesting." Koleiman nodded and stroked his chin. "Next." One of the women who had led the southern officials walked forward next. When she reached the edge of the pit, she looked down for only a moment before her head exploded in a shower of gore. Koleiman laughed and clapped his hands. Third came one of the hunters, then the southern Snowcaster, then... The strange tree had endured all attacks and began to glow. A pillar of light shot into the sky and for a moment Kai thought it had missed before he saw the shadow in the heavens. Even though Kai's sense for what was possible had been overwhelmed multiple times, he still gaped: an impossibly vast sphere began to blot out the sky. It reminded him of the moon, but this sphere glowed with ominous purple light. As it loomed closer he could make out the surface, thin lines resolving into mountain ranges. An entire world was being brought down on their heads as if to end the battle simply by flattening everything. Many of the warriors began to slow. They had fought on, even when companions were destroyed by various attacks, but even they stared overhead. Just when it seemed like they might all be crushed, the cultivator raised a hand skyward and unleashed a beam of qi that outclassed anything Kai had even imagined. In an instant, the sapphire beam pierced the world overhead and sundered it into pieces. Entire mountains began tumbling through the air, even the rubble from the explosion enough to devastate the continent. But before they could get too close, a new power pulsed within the pit. Some nearby warriors evaporated and an upward current of force pushed the rubble into the sky. With that pulse of power, the battlefield changed. Kai realized in horror that the fighters were finally getting serious. Before that point, they had been more focused on reaching their goal than attacking one another. The cultivator could have unleashed that world-destroying blast at any moment, she just had higher priorities. Whatever strategies such divine beings used, their focus had just shifted. Overhead, the cultivator raised both hands and glowing points of light began to flicker to life around her in an ominous circle. The blue man bent his legs and flexed the world around him. The glowing tree split open and a verdant being stepped from its heart. The slim woman finally stopped smiling and began spinning coins with both hands. Kai turned away before the confrontation could blind him. No matter how he tried to think about the situation, he couldn't come up with any way to survive. Everything he'd done to that point had only delayed the inevitable by a pathetic handful of minutes. "How dreadfully boring." The voice wasn't loud, but he managed to hear it over the battlefield. Most of the beings outside the rainbow field made distorted and slowed sounds, but the words had been perfectly clear. A man wearing all gray shuffled through the chaos. Whatever color his skin had originally been, now it was a featureless gray that matched his loose robes. His expression was weariness personified. Few seemed to notice him, not even the monsters moving rapidly. As he walked, the man looked from side to side as if that was an impossible effort. "Another pit, another cosmic battle. How dull. Tainted monsters. How tedious." One of the crimson giants loomed beside him, raising a boot the size of a house. The gray man sighed and shrugged one shoulder. An utterly colorless point began to glow above him, motionless. Then the giant stomped on him... and vanished. There was no explosion or sense of power, the suit of armor simply ceased to exist. "Great size. How monotonous. Cultivation, abilities, Dao, soul arts... downright platitudinous." As the gray man walked closer, Kai realized that something was wrong. The others were all slowing down, nearly frozen. Koleiman had become a statue: his face set in glee as his colorless body stared into the pit. The gray man shuffled through the edge of the rainbow aura without apparent effect. "And of course Koleiman the Magnificent with his research. As always, so trite, so prosaic, so bromidic..." The gray man's head swiveled to look at Kai. "What the fuck is that?" "M-me?" Kai should have been terrified to have one of these nigh-omnipotent beings finally focused on him, but he still wasn't bound in place. "My soul-" "You don't need to talk, anomaly. Well, I don't know what to make of this... it seems that random chance can still produce novelties... as a matter of principle, better eradicate it root and stem." The gray man raised a hand and colorless oblivion approached.