Wish upon the Stars chapter 377

It took me almost no time to figure out what that mask did from  context. Illusions, obviously. But despite knowing that I also knew I  had no chance of piercing through them. No one here did. Trying to  bypass B-rank perception would be pure delusion, so I didn't try.

Zeke  was far too much of a performer to let this end without a show, so I  trusted the illusions wouldn't ruin our chance to watch them battle.  Apparently, he was making enough of an impression here that the other  two were genuinely worried. The taller of the hooded Arch-Bishops  snarled. "You seek to unnerve us with your games, but you've shown your  weakness. This shield exists to protect this planet and your charge.  Should we take it down any casual attack would reduce this world to  dust."

He started to gather dark energy in his hands.  It...hurt. Just looking at it hurt. The energy Pietro had used had  looked wrong, but it was nothing compared to this. Like the difference  between a dark room before bed and the soul crushing depths of the  deepest cave in the world. It was just conceptually incomparable. Callie  grabbed my hand, squeezing it, as I struggled to tear my eyes away from  the energy.

The worst part was that I suspected the  shield was actually helping. It was mitigating the effects somewhat like  it had with the attacks. Being able to box in a pair of B-rankers by  himself was terrifying to me. Zeke was stronger than any of us had given  him credit for. He wasn't just B-rank, he was to B-rank what Abel was  to G-rank. He was a monster.

His voice echoed cheerfully  from the empty air. "I wouldn't do that. That shield is made from a  combination of very powerful abilities. The direct defensive  applications are impressive, but the secondary effects are what really  make it shine. Aside from filtering out harmful conceptual elements  before they can damage the lower rankers here the defenses also-"

The  Arch-Bishop cut him off by unleashing a TORRENT of the gathering power,  a beam of energy packing into the size of a needle, so dense I almost  threw up just seeing it. The beam struck the shield...then bounced off  it in three different directions before spearing the other Arch-bishop,  the red lightning guy, through the shoulder. The hooded figure howled in  pain and literally RIPPED his arm off his body, hurling it onto the  ground as it was consumed along with his cloak in a swirl of rotting  darkness.

Zeke's voice continued his explanation as if  there had been no interruption. "Deflect direct attacks along the inside  of the defensive perimeter. It's made for aftershocks, but if you try  to break it directly there's a backlash. It took me AGES to find that  power interaction. Most B-rankers don't focus on defense.

The  red lightning guy, who was revealed to be a large red haired man with  mutton chops and dark eyes, glared at both his companion and the air  around them. "Damn it Absalom! You have to stop doing that. This is why  we got reassigned to this frontier nonsense. You can't just overpower  everything." He looked down at his smoking shoulder. "Can you remove  this corruption? I can do it but it'll take time we don't have."

Shuffling  uncomfortably, the still robed figure took a step toward the other man  and froze. There was a shift in the air and three masked figures  appeared in a triangle formation. They raised their arms and a whirling  vortex of brilliant white flame sprung up, swallowing the figure. As the  injured one saw his partner attacked, he tried to rush to his aid.

The  four other hooded figures swirled into existence around him. Two of  them threw their hands out and dark chains lashed from the ground,  binding him in place at neck, legs, and his remaining arm. One of the  other masked figures made a drawing motion and a huge bow and arrow  coalesced above their heads. The last one pointed at the arrow and power  spilled down the length of the weapon, infusing it with a yellow glow  so sharp it almost hurt to look at.

There was a rush as  the arrow released, but the vortex burst, a flash of dark energy  imposing itself between the red haired man and the arrow. The robe of  the remaining figure was burned away revealing what looked like a  desiccated corpse with its mouth sewn shut. Dark gems were set where its  eyes should have been, and it punched the arrow head on, trying to  destroy the energy.

It wound up with an absurd amount of  power, even more than last time, and swung it in a close quarters blow  meant to destroy the attack. A blow that hit...nothing. The image of the  arrow vanished, and the corpse looking man choked, looking down at  where he'd been bisected by the ACTUAL arrow, which had been fired from  the ground where it had been hidden under an illusion.

Zeke  stepped out of thin air as he saw the corpse fall, snapping his  fingers. The three masks responsible for the white firestorm manifested  around the plummeting figure's top half, unleashing another attack on  someone far less prepared to defend himself.

By the time  the flames faded there WAS no top half left, just a pair of spasming  desiccated legs hitting the ground. Zeke clicked his tongue and turned  to the red haired one, who was staring at his partner's remaining limbs  in terror. "This is the problem with cultists. No sense of flare or  imagination. You all pride yourself on being sneaky and dangerous, but  give you an ounce of power and all you can do is slug away."

The  other man pointed shakily at one of the masks. "That's...that's an  Arch-Bishop of the Red Revenant Church. Those were flames of  purification."

Zeke shrugged. "Partly. They were amplified  by a few other powerful abilities. But they were definitely in the mix.  Theodore Stoddard. Dreadful man. Tried to have my nephews mother  assassinated so he could move up in the clergy. He did have a gift for  the purifying flame though. Comes in useful when up against Black  Sorrow's Enshrining Darkness."

Snapping his fingers, a  small flask appeared in his hand. He opened the top and there was a  swirl of crystalline energy as runes lit up along the flask. There were  millions of them on the thing, so dense I wouldn't have been able to see  them if not for my Perception. In the sky where the fire had struck, a  phantasmal outline of the corpselike Arch-Bishop appeared, a dark bluish  purple, screaming so loudly the stitches in his mouth had torn open.

The  image of the man clawed at the air as an invisible force dragged him  toward the flask. Zeke gestured to one of the masks and the same dark  chains holding the red head grabbed Absalom the corpse and restrained  him, allowing him to be sucked into the flask. Zeke screwed the top back  on the flask, staring at it for a few seconds before flicking it with a  sharp "Stop that." Then he put it away.

"What did you  just do?" The red haired man asked in revulsion. "Was that his soul?  Give it back! You can't take a soul that belongs to our Lady!"

Zeke  snorted. "Imagine only being at Indigo as a B-ranker. I think Black  Sorrow would thank me for cleaning up trash like that. Or she won't. I  don't much care. I told you morons I'd be harvesting you for materials.  Did you think I would go back on my word on a system wide broadcast? A  man's word is all he has. Would you like to struggle? I'm still not sure  what your ability is, and if you want to show off I'd be happy to allow  it."

The man looked sick. "You're a monster! Our souls  belong to the Lady. How many of our brethren have you used to create  these abominations? How many have you stolen from the Red Revenant. You  can't do something like this in front of all these people and expect to  get away with it. The cult will-"

"Do nothing." Cut off  Zeke with amusement. "I've been active for quite some time, my friend.  The Church and the Cult know about me. You think they care? If they  hunted down people for things like this I'd hardly be first on the list.  Morgan Lark can consume the very stats that make up a person, yet the  Vampire remains free, assumed to be the next being to become a god, do  you know why that is?"

The cultist didn't respond, so Zeke  continued. "Because power is all that matters. I'm strong, which makes  me valuable. If you think I'M scary, you should see my best friend. When  it comes down to it, you've played with forces best left alone. You  weren't sent by the Cult itself, you and your little buddy decided to  take this planet on your own. You wanted to prove yourself, didn't you?"

"We...we  just wanted to be recognized for our power." He said blankly. "We  wanted the respect our positions were due. There are so MANY  Arch-Bishops, and we had to work our way up the ranks the hard way. We  didn't get any of those special privileges like some of the children of  the Saints and Popes. We're members of the Cult too. We just wanted them  to acknowledge us."

Zeke just chuckled. "Of course you  did. But you have no concept of what a REAL B-ranker looks like. There  are real monsters out among the stars, my boy. You might be a cultist,  but you aren't powerful enough to interfere in high level faction  business. People like Sasha, like my buddy Elijah, they're in a whole  different world than you."

He turned his eyes on the  crowd, and somehow, I could sense him looking past them all, to everyone  watching the recordings. "This is your one warning. All of you. Elijah  Wyndham's son is under the protection of Janus. If you are of a match  with him, are willing to pit your heirs against him, be welcome. Hone  his edge. Held me mold him. But if you think you can interfere with the  candidate selection, interfere with MY FAMILY, this is all that awaits  you."

He walked toward the still chained redhead, and like  he said, he let the other man use his powers. The cultist hurled red  lightning at my uncle, and one of the masks appeared, erecting a small  clear shield that I believed was similar to the shield they were in. The  red haired man screamed, hurling bolts of crimson electricity, but none  of them even came close to Zeke.

My uncle arrived in  front of the man, with a snap, he slipped on a glove with pointed talon  like fingers that lit up with a multitude of runes, just like the flask.  Then he shoved a hand INTO the other man. Not through him, there was no  blood, his hand vanished into the chest of his enemy, and as he  withdrew it, I could see the struggling purple form as it was RIPPED out  of the body of the cultist.

When he finally tore it loose  the body slumped over to the ground, limp and motionless, breathing but  empty. Another snap brought out a second flask, and he popped the cap  with a thumb before stuffing the struggling spirit into the flask.  Dismissing the glove he recapped the flask and put it away. He waved a  hand and the bodies vanished, as did the shield, and Zeke turned and  walked out of the arena, past a staring Abel who had crawled over to  lean against the wall and watch.

The rest of the crowd  was...quiet. That had been brutal, even by Ascendant standards. Zeke had  been sending a message, and it was one that I knew came from a place of  real anger. Seeing him do that should have horrified me, and part of it  did, but it also made me proud. My uncle was strong and loyal and had  my back. Despite how brutal he could be, I was damned glad he was on my  side.