Wish upon the Stars chapter 493

Obviously the first thing I did when I woke up was to check on my  abilities. I wanted to see what it looked like having two of them, hell,  I wanted to see what it FELT like. I closed my eyes, reaching into  myself and willing those purple flames to fill my vision.

Wishmaster  candidate status. F-rank. Ability: Intermediate Wish- Six times a day  grant an Intermediate wish in return for proper  compensation. Wish must  be feasibly   achievable by the candidate's own  efforts within a three  day period  with  current statistics.

Second Ability: Intermediate Path of the Doom Sovereign- A Solid Path toward a great destiny.

Might-975

Impact-35

Fantasy-500

Vitality-720

Focus-720

Perception-704

Creation-554

Progress to next rank:4208/10000

Soul strength- Azure Soul Body

Stored:7  shadow attacks, 7 shadow jump, 10 Stealth charges, 0 fire attacks, 10  triple strenth tranq blows (ten in reserve), 0 triple strength density  shifted attacks (nine in reserve). 10 spider leg attacks (ten in  reserve), 0 heal bursts, 3 gravity attacks, 2 shadow clone, 21 scan  heals (I-rank ability so Shane can hold more)

Pet- Wolf named Jin

Skills:Intermediate  Path of the Doom Sovereign, Minor Valtek Mastery, Lesser Cooking  Mastery, Lesser Inventing Mastery, Beginner Balam Mastery, Minor Piano  Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor First Aid Mastery,Beginner Paired  Dueling

DS Subskills.  Monk: Stone Limb, Moonlit Night, Consecration of Flame, Ripple Running,  State of Grace, Steam Arrow, Afterburner, Pit of Despair, Mountain  Stance.

Rogue: Mercy Kill, Double Trouble, Touch of Tears, Flurry of Blows, Heavy hands, Marked for Death

Diviner: Overlay, Song of the Soil, Rythym of the Wild, Eye of Revelation, Danger Sense

Goetia Staff Art: First form- Belial. Touch of Tears, Stone Limb, Consecration of Flames

Second Form- Mephistopheles. Consecration of Flame, Afterburner, Mercy Kill, Marked for Death.

I  felt...the same. Or maybe not? The Path of the Doom Sovereign felt more  like a part of me now. Like every movement was more attuned to the  steps I needed to take, but it also wasn't. I also felt a sense of  rejection, like I was doing something wrong. Nothing severe enough to  make me worry about my abilities, but just a sense of wrongness. I also  didn't feel the need to use my overlay anymore. I still could, but I  felt like my fate sense and my Fatewalker Path were more in tune.

The  whole thing was deeply confusing and more than a little irritating, but  I shoved it all away as I stood up to stretch and move, seeing how my  body responded. No issues. I felt like my DS Mastery would be more  flexible and easier to alter at least. That would make creating my  future staff forms easier. Maybe I could even teach them to someone.  Like Callie. At that thought my brain slammed to a halt.

I  leapt to my feet, searching for any sign of the other me, but as he'd  said, he was gone. Shaking my head to clear it, I bolted for the hut,  slamming the door open and blurring through the small wooden room to the  archway on the other side. I threw myself through it, golden light  washing over me, and when the light cleared, I found myself standing in a  large marble room.

At the center of the room was a  roaring golden brazier flickering with equally golden fire. It reminded  me somewhat of the one out at the external temple, but it  seemed...smaller. Less important at least.

When I entered,  I spotted Callie already there. She was standing opposite Billy, holes  in her coat and burns on her arms and legs. The shadows of her costume  were only partly obscuring her, and she was holding up one arm with a  dagger in her hand, the rest of her riddled with damage and burns. They  stood a few feet away from a bag lying on the ground, it looked like it  belonged to Billy, but Callie was obviously trying to keep him away from  it.

I felt our bond snap back into place and breathed a  sigh of relief as I confirmed she was ok, and mostly winning. Billy had  drawn a wicked looking knife and carved up his arms, blood was spitting  and hissing all over the place. I slowly rounded the circular room,  making sure not to make a sound as I signalled Callie not to look at me.  I was tapping the bond to use her Stealth Skill, so it wasn't a tough  message to get across.

Callie understood my plan, and  started to draw his attention. "Hey asshole, you done already?" She  taunted, flicking her hand and sending a barrage of shadow blades toward  him. They speared him through, but began to break down from his acidic  blood.

He cackled. "Don't be stupid. I've got plenty more  blood, plus I have to drain all of yours. We're not even close to done."  He started waving his arms in a frantic cascade of flailing limbs,  flicking blood all over. Callie cursed and started to weave back and  forth, doing her best not to get hit by any more, but I saw drops land  on her, corroding her skin, clothes, and the darkness around her. I  wanted so bad to help, but I stuck to the plan. Ending this was the best  way to help her.

Exhaling, I triggered Mephistopheles as I  drew my staff. Single target damage was the name of the game, and  Mephistopheles was perfect for assassination. Lining up a strike, I  wound up with my whole body like a cobra as Callie attacked to distract  him.

I expected him to dodge at the last second, to  conveniently notice the attack or somehow evade. I expected pretty much  everything except for my staff hitting his back dead center and BLOWING a  huge fucking hole in his torso, sending him pitching forward, barely  catching himself on his hands and knees.

Grimacing, I  slowly circled around him, keeping an eye out for traps.  He grasped,  choking up dark blood as he tried to get to his feet. "Well." I said  blandly. "That was...easier than expected. Good work honey, guess you  softened him up."

Callie grinned at me. "Well, that fight  was closer than I liked. He had me on the ropes before you got here."  She frowned. "Actually, I'm surprised he didn't notice you sneaking up  on him. I'd have expected him to..." She froze, her eyes snapping to  where I'd heard Billy trying to get up repeatedly. And failing. Except  he wasn't failing. He was using his blood to slide towards the bag.

He  grinned a triumphant, blood grin, managing to snag the bag and and pull  out the bottle. I flicked out my staff to deflect it, expecting him to  throw it into the brazier, but instead he tossed it back like a shot,  his body going taught as he started to scream, blackness running through  his veins and climbing across his body.

My  eyes widened in panic as I slammed my staff down hard on the ground  between him and Callie as he went from lying down to a blur of motion  nearly instantly. The explosion of black flame tore at his face before  dissolving into the air as it met black creeping darkness and went up in  a hiss of evil looking steam. I grabbed Callie and stepped on air,  dragging her away before he was able to right himself.

Letting  out a wheezing, raspy chuckle, Billy grinned at us from where he stood  as his chest began to knit itself back together. His eyes were filled  with blood, seas of blackish red as he giggled madly. "I have to admit."  He said gleefully. "This feels better than I ever expected. They told  me to avoid this little ploy unless I had no other choice. Told me it  would consume me body and soul."

"It  looks like they were right." I said warily. "I thought you needed that  bottle to complete your little plan. Won't you be in trouble with  whoever you work for? How will you trigger the transportation protocol  now?"

He  flicked a wrist, and another rain of droplets flicked out at us. Having  seen what that stuff had been doing to him, I grabbed Callie and shoved  off the air again, shoving us clear before the blood hit the ground.  Instead of steaming or hissing, the blood just...consumed. It ate a hole  clear through the marble on impact, a section of stone in the shape of  the drops vanishing, leaving behind a series of deep droplet sized  holes.

"You  think I can't spring the trap because I don't have the Lamentation  Liquid?" He laughed. "I AM the Lamentation Liquid now. It's burning me  up, using my poisoned blood for fuel. All hail Bloody Billy! Lord of  Lamentation!" He squealed with childlike glee and spun in a circle,  blood flying all over the place as we tried desperately to avoid it. A  drop hit me and ate right through my armor chewing clear through my  flesh and bone and leaving a hole in my arm.

"Shane!"  Yelped Callie as she dragged me away from him. We hid behind the  brazier, watching him. Her eyes flashed with rage and violence as she  started to pull on the shadows, but I held her back. Sensing my  question, she relaxed slightly. "But you need to think this through  Billy." She called to him. "If you die who will complete your mission.  You've got to be heading for the Royal Academy for a reason. Who will  accomplish you goal once you're gone. You're the only one who can do  it."

Her  voice was cajoling, trying to lure him into a false sense of security,  but it didn't seem to work. He leapt at us, clearing the flames and  landing precariously on the gilt edge of the brazier. He balanced on his  toes, grinning down at us both as he leaned forward. "The only one?" He  cocked his head in confusion. "Who exactly told you I was the only one?  You think they sent me alone?"

My  blood froze. Billy wasn't in charge here. We'd known that academically,  but he was the one who was making all the noise. We'd assumed, I'd  assumed, that he was some fringe lunatic acting on his own. I hadn't  even considered that he might be acting on orders, and when he'd  mentioned it I hadn't considered what it might mean. There were others  here, hiding, waiting.

I  reached up frantically to grab for him, realizing too late what he was  doing. "Billy! No! Tell us who they are. Please. You have to tell us!  Who are you working with?"

He  jerked back, overbalancing on the edge of the brazier and tipping  backwards, cackling madly. "Wait and see!" He crowed. "You won't know  them until they get you! That's half the fun!" As the screamed the last,  his whole body was swallowed by the flame, consumed in an instant. The  flame began to gutter, to snap and pop and spark. In the middle of it I  saw creeping darkness begin to boil out, contaminating the golden fire,  filling the brazier slowly.

Within  a minute, the black energy had dyed the flame and was seeping out into  the brazier itself, dying the gold a fathomless midnight black. As I  watched, the thing began to turn, the floor beneath it lighting up with  now visible symbols as it rotated, clicking into place as the fire  inside erupted into a dark column, burning through the ceiling as it  expanded into a massive pillar of flame.

I  dove for Callie, grabbing hold of her, locking my staff behind her back  to hold her in place as I pulled her close. The pillar had begin to  waver, flickering and jumping, and I could sense something coming. My  Danger Sense was screaming, had been screaming since I came into the  room. With one last wail inside my head the pillar began to expand,  exploding outward. The black flame consumed Callie and I and I pulled  her against me, determined not to get separated by the space shifting  flame. Then everything disappeared in darkness.