Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

894 - Domain Expansion

“Did you think the battle was over?”

Flung halfway across the valley by Kryonex’s ambush, Lex didn’t have a chance to respond as he recovered his equilibrium, knowing that more attacks would be incoming. The demigod wasn’t an opponent who’d settle for one blast where he could unleash a salvo, and with his link to Solvei gone, Lex couldn’t use cryomancy to augment his natural defenses.

Fortunately, he had several other spells available that offered protection against energy-based attacks, immediately casting the strongest one he had. It wouldn’t hold up any better than Solvei’s wards had against Kryonex’s powers, but after being so seriously injured the demigod would hopefully be slower and weaker than before. And now that Belligerence has that void creature’s powers, I should have the advanta-

He didn’t have time to complete that thought as another beam of gelid energy slammed into him, followed immediately by three more, all moving too fast for him to dodge.

“Were you under the impression that I’d run away back to the Plane of Ice?”

Reeling, Lex brought up a wall of condensed black crystals between himself and the source of the attacks – which immediately began to crack under the onslaught – as he tried to figure out what had just happened. He’d already taken the measure of that particular mode of attack, having seen Kryonex use it many times before; even if the first one had taken him by surprise, dodging the others shouldn’t have been difficult, particularly since his missing leg had no effect on his speed or reaction time. For Kryonex’s attacks to have become so much faster made no sense.

For that matter, even the first one shouldn’t have caught him off-guard like it had. Although he was injured, and had been distracted by what had happened to Belligerence, Lex was still a titan; his situational awareness and array of mystical senses should have detected Kryonex’s presence – along with his attack – with plenty of time to spare, despite not being able to see the demigod’s future.

Except none of those things had happened.

Instead, Kryonex had apparently grown faster and stealthier in the wake of his injuries.

And judging by how the wall of black crystals was continuing to break down, the demigod had become stronger too.

But how?

“You should have known better than to think I’d quit the field so easily,” came Kryonex’s voice from the other side of the barrier. “There’s a reason why the term ‘calculating’ is associated with being cold!”

“Your calculations have a serious error in them,” growled Lex, picking out Kryonex’s position on the other side of the wall. “Allow me to demonstrate!”

Rearing up, he called Belligerence into his grasp. He still wasn’t completely sure that it was safe to touch the weapon, but what he’d determined before Kryonex had resumed their fight suggested that it was. And since he could move it so effortlessly now, throwing it would likely present no difficulties either.

Except...

What’s happening?!

Belligerence wasn’t returning to his grasp.

He could feel the quill attempting to do so; it just wasn’t succeeding. Even though his wards were down – nor could he sense any new ones having been raised – the attempt at teleportation was failing. Worse, his foresight hadn’t shown him that would happen.

In fact, his foresight wasn’t showing him anything at all anymore.

The future was no longer visible.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?!

From the other side of the crumbling barrier, Kryonex gave a single, clicking laugh.

“The only one who’s miscalculated-”

His next attack shattered the wall completely, a renewed volley of shimmering blue beams slamming into Lex.

“-is you!”

---

In the Synedrium, Luminace’s viewscreen abruptly winked out of existence.

“Hoo!” Somehow managing to frown despite having an owl’s beak, the Unspoken turned his eyes – one having the horizontal pupil of a goat, while the other was the solid black of a crow – toward Luminace. “I mean, boo! Get the picture back!”

“I’m trying!” shot back the goddess of magic, though it was The Author that she glanced at, grimacing as she saw that the yellow-clad deity’s mask was now turned in her direction. “But I don’t know if I’ll be able to! Casting spells into another god’s divine realm is tricky!”

“I’m surprised that he was able to turn part of the mortal world into his realm at all,” murmured the Moon Princess. “The material universe doesn’t take to that sort of overwriting nearly as easily as the Outer Planes do.”

“Neither do the Elemental Planes,” noted the Sun Queen. “But Kryonex has had a very long time to grow familiar with manipulating a static dimension, so it’s no surprise that he’s able to do it here.”

“I guess that answers why he kept hanging back so much when he first came through,” yawned Kara, giving a sensuous stretch before flopping back on her divan. “Even if he’s got a lot of practice, building a realm on the Material Plane isn’t something anyone can do quickly. Especially a demigod.”

“Which suggests that it’s more of an ad hoc realm than a fully formed one,” noted Luminace, her voice distracted as she drew sigils in the air. “I might be able to use that to reestablish a connection.”

“Ad hoc or not, its still a divine realm, with all of the benefits and drawbacks that entails,” pointed out the Moon Princess. “Even if reality actively tries to aid him – and hinder his enemies – in that space, if he’s slain there his death will be permanent.”

“Which makes it a smart tactical decision on his part,” interjected Blaze, “since fighting Lex Legis now that he possesses a weapon with the powers of an anti-god runs the risk of permanent destruction anyway, whether inside his realm or not.”

“We don’t know that for certain,” noted the Sun Queen, a little too quickly. “The sacramental seal the Night Mare used to bind that creature to her champion’s weapon restricted it in a number of ways.”

“He gave it a practice swing, remember?” A glow appeared around the Unspoken’s rhinoceros horn, a matching aura appearing around his gelatinous companion, which bubbled in agitation as it was lifted up and folded into a shape roughly akin to that of Belligerence. “We all saw what happened when it struck the ground.”

He swung the goopy spear in a low arc, impacting the floor of the Synedrium...though all that did was cause the makeshift weapon to collapse back into its mucilaginous state, causing the chaos god to shrug. “Well, not that, but you know what I mean.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that it would affect divinity the same way it did before,” retorted Luminace, a distracted tone in her voice as she continued working on restoring the picture. “It’s possible that its disintegrative properties were scaled back as a consequence of its imprisonment-”

“I am the goddess of war,” cut in Blaze. “Weapons are part of my divine portfolio, and while that one might be dedicated to the Night Mare, I’m telling you that it’s lost none of its deadliness.”

“Blaze is correct.”

The Sun Queen bit her lip as she looked at Soft Whisper. “You’re certain?”

The old zebra nodded, her expression pensive. “The soil and the air both contain small lives in abundance. When Lex Legis swung that weapon, it destroyed the ones it touched, both their corporeal selves and their animating essence. Nothing was left behind, just like when that creature roamed free.”

“Suggesting that its annihilating powers are fully intact,” finished the Moon Princess grimly.

“Making it a god-slaying weapon,” concluded Blaze. “One of the few in Creation that’s actually worthy of the name.”

A heavy silence fell over the Synedrium then, broken only by Luminace murmuring an incantation as she kept trying to reestablish the viewscreen.

But the one who spoke next wasn’t one of the gods.

“He won’t...”

Silhouette faltered, withering in place as so many eyes turned to him, managing to recover only when he forced himself to ignore the others and look only at his goddess. “He won’t be allowed to retain possession of that, will he?”

Kara snorted at that, giving the butterfly-winged stallion a bemused look. “And who’s going to take it from him? You?”

“IF HE WON’T, I WILL!” bellowed Vutok. “ONLY THE STRONGEST DESERVE TO WIELD SUCH POWER!”

“Which rules you out,” snorted the Unspoken, one crab claw idly brushing away the pseudopods that his formless companion was trying to whack him with. “Though I don’t suppose the elves will react much better when they find out that our pantheon’s new titan has a weapon that can bump them off.”

“Assuming he wins,” the Moon Princess pointedly reminded everyone. “Now that the contest is happening within his realm, Kryonex has the advantage. Everything he does will be enhanced, while Lex Legis will find his every endeavor harder – or even impossible – to accomplish.”

“Wonderful,” snorted Kara dryly. “So instead of a titan who’s loyal to one of our most dedicated members, the god-killing weapon might end up in the clutches of a demigod who’s at best completely indifferent to us, at worst blames us for everything he’s gone through lately.”

“Maybe we could throw the Night Mare’s ill-gotten weapons at him,” snorted Blaze. “It’s not like she’s using them right now. In fact-”

“He’s gone!”

Honeymoon Trap’s wail drew everyone’s attention, but unlike Silhouette, the bloody bride didn’t even seem to notice that all eyes were upon her, instead pointing one hoof – covered in stained lace – toward where the Night Mare had stood. “That cute leather wing is gone! I wanted him to be my new husband!” Whimpering, she looked up at Kara. “Make him come back and give me babies!”

Clucking her tongue, Kara reached down and patted the distraught mare as though she were an unruly pet. “Trust me, Honey, that particular stallion wouldn’t have made a good husband for you.”

Straightening up as he realized that in all of the confusion – and his own shameful breakdown – he’d lost sight of the stallion the Night Mare had brought with her, Noble Bright turned to the Sun Queen. “Goddess, I’ll organize a search immediately. If he’s hiding anywhere in Soothing Meadows-”

He stopped as the Sun Queen held up a hoof, shaking her head. “Don’t bother. He’s fled the realm entirely, probably to head back to Darkest Night and organize a defense.”

“Or simply pack his bags and leave while he still can, now that the place is undefended,” cackled Blaze.

But the Moon Princess was less amused. “There is much that can be said about the Night Mare, but she’s never been one to leave her realm undefended in her absence. It wouldn’t surprise me if the entire place is already preparing-”

“I’ve got it!” announced Luminace suddenly, the viewscreen flickering back into existence.

“You were actually able to manifest a scrying sensor inside another god’s realm?” Kara raised a brow at that, intrigued. “I’m impressed. Can you show me how to do that later? There’s a few deities whose bathing chambers I’d like to peek in on.”

Giving the love goddess a disapproving look from behind her monocle, Luminace made several gesticulations as she stabilized the viewscreen. “As a matter of fact, I wasn’t able to create this inside of the area that Kryonex turned into his new realm. I had to place the sensor past its boundaries and zoom in, augmenting the audial portion accordingly.”

The Sun Queen cocked her head. “So we’re looking in from outside? I wouldn’t have thought that would work.”

“It wouldn’t in any realm that was properly constructed,” admitted Luminace. “But with how hastily Kryonex put this one together, the exterior protections are practically nonexistent.”

“Good thing, too!” cheered the Unspoken. “I really didn’t want the show to end before we got to see how it all turns out!”

“Just so long as that unmortal doesn’t break free again. If that happens, then it won’t matter who wins.”

The Sun Queen’s foreboding statement earned only a single response, as The Author moved closer to the viewscreen, mask tilted toward where the final battle between the titan and the demigod was already unfolding.

“̴͕̉̓̚T̴̨̟͈̮̞͕̿̅̾́͘͝ḩ̶̫̩̦͗̀à̷̹̥̪̮̑͠͝t̷͔͖͗̚ ̶̧̱͔̪̱̊̓̆i̷̯͒́̍̃͂s̴̡̗̫͉͍͍̿͒ ̶̪͇͖̖͉̹̋̋e̶̛̙̻̾̎̄̓́n̷̺̋t̸̟͉͈͆̍͑̈́i̶̧̛͔͚͚͑̑͘̚r̴̟͔̓̌͐̊̚͝e̸̗̞̟̪̙͗̓́ĺ̶͎̙̯͑y̴͉̟̩̩̐̅̿̀̈́̃ͅ ̵̯͓̯̜͕̉ḑ̴͕̏̑̓͒è̵̫̂̇͝p̴̗̀̃̅̃͠é̴̜͂̀́͂ǹ̵̖̙̬̔͝d̴͚͓͍̮̠̻̆͠͠ȇ̸͔͇͔̥͇̄́͌̕͝ͅn̴̬̦͔͘t̴̨͔̫͎̠̰̽ ̴̘̄͗̕͝ó̶͓͈̉̄̂͛͘n̷̰̻͒̂͆̂̕ ̶̨̟̱͂̈́͐͘͠w̸̛̺̭͍͍̋͒ḣ̸̥̟̺͗́͋͝ę̵̂̓̆̕ţ̷͎̥͓̺͒h̴̠͌͗̿̚é̸̡̠r̴̤̹͈͚̎̿̑̉̚̚ ̸̛̠͙́͛̾ͅo̵̻̲̱̝͂͛̂̚͜ͅr̶̲͓̋͋͐́̆͜ ̵̧͗͆̂̋̂͝ǹ̷̟̱̯ǒ̸̩̃͜t̷̥̺͇̓̉ ̶̛̥̦̀͒̓L̴͉̙̮̊͐̐e̵̯̙̔͛̏̅͛x̸̹͙̬͕̗̌̃̊̉̅ ̶̺͓̯͇̣̐̆̑́̆̕L̵̨̛̤̲͔͚͇͆͆̄ȩ̶̩͓͙͂͗͒̉̒̆g̴͉̳̹͇̋́̔͗̄͐͜i̷̜̹̚̚s̸͇̝̟͒̂ ̷͓̼̏́͐̎̊r̶̺̝̺̹̈́̊ë̶̗̤́̓̓̂̈̅ạ̶͕̲̺̭̇̀̍̀̎̈́l̶̘̭̮͛̄̋i̶̬͈̔̈͘z̵̻̬̆̄͠͝ę̷̢̘̥͙̠̀͘͠ş̴̲̗̇́ ̷͎̙̳̬͈͗t̵̳̱̹̋h̸̯͓̤̬̆̏͆́̈̚͜ḛ̵̡̢̞͖̅ ̸̢̠̪̣̉̋̚͜͠͝f̷̟͗ͅu̸̼̭̍̈́̍͐̓̚ͅl̶͓̅͗͑͋̚l̴̹͇̺̎̑͊͂̈́̽ ̶̡͓̤̖͂͌͒͂̌͆ͅe̷͇̳̱̺̫̟̿̎͝x̸͉̭̉͊ͅţ̶͇̲̪͔̋͘ͅě̶͓̝ǹ̷͍͙̪̑͆̅͑̚t̸̰̻̮̣͎̓ ̵̧͚̥͉̱̀̓͜o̵̭͙̩͛̆͜f̴̝̰͈͙̄͛̕͝ ̵͔̾̐͝t̸̤̮͝h̴͔̽̓̉̉ȅ̴̲̬̲́̋̚ ̵̡̛̬̥̄́̾̾N̶̢̬̳͚̤̐͛͑̚i̶̘̰͈̫͖̓͂̈͋̎ĝ̸̝̓̈h̶̠̗̍̋͘t̴͈̱̐̿̀̒͝͝ ̷͉̦̟͇̑̓̆̉Ṃ̸̒̓a̸̮͚̕r̴͉̂̔͋ë̷̦̖̝̰͙́̓̇’̵̝̑͒̽͝s̴̢͕̄̚ ̵̛̹͍̀͆͛̐͜ȋ̶͚̩͆̐̿̿̎ń̴̲̘́̐̌͘̕t̴͍͕̳̍́͐́͘ê̴̢͙͕̖͇̭̇̏̃̍̾ŗ̴̙͕̭̯̚ḟ̶͉̬̲͉̘̊̕͘̕͜e̷̡̼̘̔͋̊̈́͠r̷̥̒̊̕e̸̮̺̖͋n̴̟̞̟̜̯̓̔̕c̵̦̖̣̘͌͊̾̒e̴͈͍̼̺͗͛̓̅̇̒.̸̞͈̭̗͆̿”̶̰̘̩̖̙̖̊̈́̔͒͘

Author's Note:

Despite having gained a powerful new weapon, Lex finds himself overwhelmed as Kryonex makes their battlefield into his divine realm!

Will Lex be able to regain the initiative and put Belligerence to use? Or is Kryonex's newfound advantage too much for him to overcome?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Kryonex is really pushing his luck given th usual rules governing divine action, and Lex doesnt exactly match the template of Hero, thereby losing much plot armor?

How is Lex going to handle now actually being in a realm where time itself can be glacially slowed or even frozen giving the limited duration of his spells?

[Alzrius]

11768452 Kryonex is indeed using an unconventional method of leveling the playing field, to say nothing of bending it in his favor, and it seems to be working. An incredibly powerful weapon doesn't mean much if you don't ever get a chance to use it, after all.

Obviously Lex will try to recover Belligerence and put it to good use immediately, but given that Kryonex almost certainly knows that, will he be able to do so?

[Not so New Brony]

“You should have known better than to think I’d quite the field so easily,”

quit

So that's why Kyronex fled. I'm guessing had Lex hadn't succeeded at binding the sphere/egg, he might have come to Lex's aid...or left him to his fate should he have failed and fallen. Regardless, he is undoubtedly keen on finishing Lex off and take back what Adagio had taken from him and much more as he has undoubtedly witnessed Belligerence's new found power.

And with Belligerence not responding to his command for some reason, he'll be hard-pressed to drive back a powered up Kyronex in his current state. Though I doubt that Lex will let that stop him from taking his best shot as he's always done before.

[Alzrius]

11769256 Thanks for catching that typo; it's fixed now.

As for Kryonex, he's indeed looking to turn what's so far been an unaffordable loss of power into an overall gain, presumably by not only killing Lex but also by taking Belligerence as well. Leaving aside any potential issues with using it, a god-slaying weapon is something that can tilt the political landscape quite a bit simply by possessing it. With the prospect of taking such a thing if he can overcome an enemy he was already intent on killing, and who now seems to be further weakened, it's perhaps no surprise that Kryonex is looking to finish things.

And with what he can do now that he's made that area into a divine realm, he just might be able to.