My original body was still deep within the endless swarm of stone giants as I tore through their ranks alongside the others. Luciana's puppets moved like tireless executioners through the hordes, Jack's blade flashed in brutal slashes as he cut through rock bodies with inhuman skill, and Griselda continued raining down destructive dives from the sky while her summoned gold slowed down the advancing tide.
Other fragments of my consciousness watched over them, whispering warnings, adjusting movements and nudging their instincts moments before danger could reach them.
And then there was this battle.
Six of my physical forms stood between Black and the two figures lying behind us. One was unconscious and the other was seated on the ground with his hand pressed gently against her forehead while a faint glow signaled the activation of Memory Implantation and Extraction.
Veneri was completely still which meant the burden fell entirely on me.
Maintaining this many fragments of myself wasn't difficult. As an Omniscient, my mind wasn't confined to a single stream of thought like ordinary beings. Dividing my consciousness was as natural as breathing, and even now I could feel my other fragments scattered across the battlefield assisting the others while these six bodies focused solely on Black.
Thirty fragments was the norm. Controlling nine of them was nothing.
Black studied the six of us.
"So you can multiply."
They all shrugged slightly and spoke at the same time.
"Something like that."
The six of us moved at the same time.
Sapphire sprouted from the ground in for of pillars as two of my bodies charged from the front while the others flanked him from both sides. Black reacted instantly. His axe cut through the first wave of sapphire constructs before targeting the closest body.
His strike cleaved straight through her torso. The body split apart in a burst of sapphire fragments. The sensation rippled through my mind like a cold spike of pain.
Dying always felt the same. It didn't matter how many times it happened. The sudden severing of perception, the brief moment where existence itself seemed to snap like a thread, it always triggered that instinctive jolt of fear deep inside me.
But I wasn't a physical being.
The fragments reassembled almost immediately. The shattered sapphire pieces flowed together like liquid crystal until the body reformed perfectly intact. Black noticed.
"Interesting."
While he was watching the reforming body, the other five attacked simultaneously.
One of my forms launched a spinning kick aimed directly at the side of his head while another summoned a cluster of sapphire projectiles toward his back. Black twisted his body fluidly, ducking beneath the kick while swinging his axe backward to intercept the incoming barrage. The blade smashed through the sapphire projectiles.
Before he could recover, another of my bodies slid low across the ground and drove a sapphire-coated punch straight into his ribs.
Black staggered half a step. It didn't injure him but it stunned him. That was enough.
The other bodies immediately capitalized on the opening. Dozens of crystalline weapons formed in midair, flying towards him from a different angle. Black moved like a monster among them. His axe cut through them, shattering projectile after projectile while he advanced forward with terrifying speed.
One of my bodies intercepted him. She drove her fist forward. Sapphire coated her knuckles as the punch slammed toward his chest.
Black caught the strike. His grip tightened around her wrist and he ripped her arm off. The body stumbled back instinctively as the limb tore free. Again that familiar jolt of fear ran through me. The limb regenerated instantly.
Before the arm had even fully reformed, the same body lunged forward again with a vicious knee strike aimed at his abdomen. Black blocked it with his forearm but another body came from behind him. She launched into the air as her heel crashed downward toward the back of his neck.
He turned and caught that leg too. Then he slammed the body into the ground hard enough to crack the ground. For a brief moment the impact destroyed that physical form entirely.
I reformed the body again. Black exhaled slowly as he saw that.
"You really are troublesome."
I smirked slightly.
"You have no idea."
The six of us attacked again, moving in perfect synchronization as sapphire constructs flowed around us like extensions of our limbs. One body engaged him directly with rapid punches and kicks while the others supported from every direction.
Black was ridiculously powerful. However, he was fighting six coordinated opponents who shared a single mind. Every movement he made was analyzed instantly. Every opening was exploited.
One of my bodies jumped over his shoulder while another slid beneath his guard, driving a sapphire-coated elbow into his side while a third slammed a spinning kick into the back of his knee. His axe carved through another body's torso.
The sensation of death stabbed through my consciousness again but the body reformed.
He punched another one hard enough to shatter her skull but she reassembled seconds later. He kicked a third one across the battlefield but she landed, rolled and immediately joined the fight.
I wasn't trying to kill him. This was Elyonari's trial. My job is only to delay him. And that is something I'm very good at.
I formed dozens of crystalline blades and fired them at Black in carefully timed waves. At the same time two of my bodies closed in again, engaging him directly with brutal hand-to-hand combat. Black blocked one punch but another landed across his jaw. He retaliated instantly, slamming his elbow into one's ribs hard enough to destroy the body again. Reformation followed seconds later.
I felt the fear of death every time but I ignored it. Behind us, Veneri remained perfectly still as the glow around Elyonari's head intensified. I glanced at them briefly while another body intercepted Black's axe strike with a sapphire barrier.
My fragments would delay and protect them. I focused deep into the fragment that followed Veneri.