Santiago stared at the daemon atop the bone tower. It had a pair of curved bovine horns, and a shorter pair of goat horns behind its head.
Its bat-like wings spread behind it, covering the entire spire.
Its right hand gripped a double-bladed great axe. Its left arm was merged with a living whip.
It seemed to breathe, inhaling orbs of dreams, nightmares, and illusions, exhaling rolling mist and minor daemons of various forms.
Some daemons rode manta rays, gliding between lightning strikes.
Others, goat-headed, stood on the shattered magma ground, staves raised, emitting bird-like shrieks.
...
The daemon's wings beat. It leaped from the spire, revealing its majestic form, previously hidden by the bone tower.
Its body was like a scorpion's. Its tail hook swung, slicing through orbs.
It stared at Santiago. Blue-purple light flickered in its eyes.
Santiago's eyes filled with illusions: Meteors streaked across the sky, blazing with blinding light.
Huge psychic crystals materialized around him.
Each was larger and more dazzling than any he had ever seen.
The natural psychic crystals of the Crystal Mirage were like stones compared to these jewels.
...
The falling meteors, the blazing psychic crystals...
All were top-tier materials. Psychic items crafted from them would be priceless treasures.
His gaze did not linger on them for a moment. He instantly ascended to the third level of the Thelema mindstate.
The scene before him abruptly changed. The falling meteors became purple lightning. The blazing crystals became barbed thorns...
His eyes flickered. All illusions, as expected. If he had reached for them out of greed, he would have been severely wounded.
As he thought, the lightning rained down, like arrows, flying towards him.
His eyes blazed with starlight. The warp-jump device attached to his power pack blazed.
He and his six COG drones vanished, appearing above a fissure.
The lightning followed, raining down like a storm.
The thorn-vipers rose, lunging.
The daemon's sorcery, in this supernatural place, transcended physical laws, locking onto his mind.
With a thought, he activated a second Warp circuit. The runes on two more COG drones lit up.
His black-armored form flickered, vanishing and reappearing.
The lightning crossed, missing. The thorn-vipers lunged, missing.
He appeared behind the daemon. He raised his left hand. The powerful ring weapon, crafted by the Jokaeros for Shadows of Order, on his middle finger, shot twelve ice cones.
Each ice cone was the size of his fist. Where they passed, orbs burst like balloons.
CRACK, CRACK, CRACK...
The ice cones struck the daemon's right wing, with a series of cracks.
The wing rapidly frosted. Its beating slowed.
The six COG drones raised their Bedrock-pattern bolters, unleashing dense, golden barrages.
The golden light, like rain, struck the daemon's back, like sparks into the ocean, vanishing.
"Santiago Borgkamp, your attacks cannot harm me." The daemon spoke perfect Vostroyan, its voice strange and shifting, like a thousand snakes hissing, or a goat bleating.
"I are Unai. I am the Lord of Illusions."
"I will devour your soul. Every illusion you have will be my food."
As it spoke, mist rose, swallowing everything around him.
He saw his body swallowed by a giant maw. Sharp teeth crushed him to pulp.
He saw himself wrapped in a blurred water membrane, surrounded by dazed, terrified souls.
Each had starlight on their shoulder plates.
He and the Shadows of Orders of the Fifth Chapter had become the daemon's food.
"Your illusions are not my future." The "Scribe's" eyes blazed with the "I came, I saw, I recorded" runes. He spread his arms.
A pure, bright light descended.
The pure, warm light struck the daemon's back, like a spear, piercing the mist.
As the illusions vanished, he saw the living whip lash towards him.
The holy light struck the black whip, opening a gash.
Unai roared. The living whip trembled, then lunged again.
Though the "Summoned Light" he had "Recorded" from a Sequence 7 "Sun-Priest" was effective against daemons, it did not seriously harm the powerful Unai.
The living whip howled. Orbs burst with cracks.
A musky scent filled the air, laced with chaotic illusions.
He reached to his belt, his hands moving quickly.
His left hand threw a green teardrop talisman. He shouted in Dunnic: "Silence!"
The ever-changing land of illusions seemed to slow.
The rhythm of orbs forming and dissolving stopped.
The lunging living whip slowed, as if caught in threads.
His right hand threw another talisman. "Worms!"
The patterns on the dual-numbered black gold came alive. Clusters of maggots rolled towards the living whip.
POP, POP, POP!
Puffs of blood mist. A section of the whip vanished.
Unai's thoughts stalled. Its eyes flickered. It realized it had lost the thousand delicious illusions it had devoured.
"Roar!" It let out an earth-shattering roar. Its wings beat. Its great axe swept down.
He noticed the Worm Talismans had not seriously harmed Unai.
He reached for another Silent Talisman. His right hand drew the black blade from his belt.
He channeled spiritual energy, turning his hand, throwing it.
"Silence!"
As green light blazed, Unai shrieked.
As colored mist rose, its frozen form suddenly accelerated.
The great axe fell!
The "Scribe" had no time to dodge. He knew Unai could counter the Worm Talismans. He channeled spiritual energy into the ring on his left middle finger.
Flames blazed. His body ignited.
The axe fell. His flaming form shattered into flames.
As the flames scattered, a black blade cut through the colored mist, striking Unai's abdomen.
The gash was only the size of a man's fist.
But paleness spread from it. Decay rapidly spread.
Unai shrieked in terror.
Tens of thousands of illusions rapidly withered, vanishing.
Green light rose within Unai.
It grew, shining through its body.
CRASH!
With a thunderous crack, its body exploded.
The scattered flames condensed. Santiago materialized. His eyes were deep.
'My Lord's black blade slew this greater daemon, ruler of a domain in the Formless Wastes, in a single strike.'
He stared at the bone tower. His gaze seemed to pierce the layers of illusions.
He could sense Unai's faint presence, flickering like a candle.
He considered whether to enter the tower, to try to completely kill the weakened daemon. Then, a murmuring whisper sounded in his ear.
"Samus. I am Samus. Samus is everywhere..."
His expression changed. He knew Samus.
The Black Emperor's data-crystal mentioned Samus as one of the most powerful daemons.
He activated his last Warp circuit. The runes on his last two COG drones blazed.
As the starlight bridge rapidly formed beneath him, a claw reached from the volcano.
CRASH!
A COG drone exploded. The claw struck the starlight.
Aboard the Starcaller, he slammed onto the deck.
He slowly rose. Only two COG drones remained beside him.
"The teleport was too rushed. One was torn apart by Samus. Three were lost in the Warp currents."
He recalled his experience in the Formless Wastes, thinking with relief.
'The daemons ruling the Formless Wastes are incredibly powerful.'
'Fortunately, I prepared carefully and had my Lord's gifts. I was able to return safely.'
....
If you enjoy the story, my p@treon is 30 chapters ahead.
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