895 - Ice Breaker
Reality itself had become his enemy.
That was the only answer Lex could come up with as he tried to mount a defense against Kryonex’s furious assault.
Everything he was capable of now, all of the powers that he’d gained as a titan, were either severely blunted or failing altogether. His foresight was completely disabled. His speed and strength – while still far beyond mortal limits – were a fraction of what they’d been only a minute ago. Every spell he cast was enervated, all aspects of their efficacy diminished.
And he still couldn’t teleport Belligerence to his side, despite repeated attempts. Nor was that the only form of dimensional manipulation he was incapable of now; the folded space where he’d so foolishly returned all of his spell-imbued diamonds had become completely inaccessible, leaving him entirely bereft of the arsenal he’d spent the previous night creating.
To make matters even worse, his losses were mirrored by how much strength Kryonex had gained, despite the severity of his injuries. At first Lex had thought the demigod’s newfound vigor was illusory, only seeming mightier because of his own reduction in power. But he knew better now; whatever was holding him back was also bolstering Kryonex, leaving a disparity in power between them that Lex was beginning to realize was – in his current state – impossible to bridge.
That he’d fully expended what his tulpa was capable of, as well as used up his entire capacity of supplemental energy for overcharging his magic, and lost the Charismata – and with it, his connection to Nenet and Solvei, along with the powers he’d gained from them – only made the dire situation even more grim. As it was, he could see only a single path to victory: reclaiming Belligerence and using it against Kryonex.
The problem was that the demigod could see that path as well, and was doing everything in his enhanced power to keep Lex from taking it.
That was aptly demonstrated by the massive glacier that Kryonex had dropped onto the pitch-black quill, preventing Lex from approaching it through the thick layer of ice. It couldn’t keep him from telekinetically drawing it toward him – the weapon’s newfound ability to annihilate whatever it touched making any obstacle meaningless – but Kryonex had countermeasures for that.
Mostly by way of an unceasing bombardment of heavy attacks, forcing Lex to put everything he had into defense, rather than telekinesis.
But those defenses were rapidly crumbling.
“Your struggling serves no purpose.” Kryonex’s idle comment was accompanied by three of his legs lashing out, and Lex only managed to imperfectly block the first – destroying the last of his thaumaturgical wards against cold and coating his remaining foreleg with ice – before the other two struck him in succession, sending him stumbling back. “As you are now, I can eradicate you with a thought.”
“Then do so,” snarled Lex. “Will me into nothing if you think you can.”
Giving ground, he cast another spell at the demigod, one designed to ensnare extraplanar creatures and keep their movements restricted to a relatively small area. It wouldn’t prevent Kryonex from attacking him at range – in fact, it probably wouldn’t last for more than an instant or two – but if it could just buy him even a few moments, he could pull Belligerence that much closer...
But the boundary he’d created might as well have been a single line of caution tape for all that it held Kryonex back.
“You mistake my pointing out the futility of your actions for a declaration of intent,” noted Kryonex conversationally even as he rushed forward, his two foremost legs stretching out to hit Lex in the face with twin energy beams from less than ten feet away. “Your death is now a foregone conclusion. The manner in which you perish should therefore make little difference to you, even if it means a great deal to me.”
Despite the fact that he could barely stay upright after that last attack, Lex managed to sneer at the wounded spider. “Which is your way of admitting that if you expunge me from reality, you won’t be able to take control of Belligerence.”
Even as he spoke, he was casting a spell, one designed to slow an enemy’s movement through time, effectively hampering their speed. While he had no doubt it would do little against Kryonex, it might be enough to make an opening. He only needed a little more time to bring Belligerence closer!
But Kryonex barely seemed to notice his effort, eyes flashing as he froze the spell, shattering it in an instant. “Belligerence. Is that the weapon’s name? I’ll have to remember that for later.”
The storm around him intensified, and again Lex felt a thousand flakes of ice tear into him, shredding skin and muscle faster than his innate restorative powers could keep up. “But yes, you’re correct in your assumption. I saw you demonstrate how your weapon now has the annihilative properties of that creature. Since you possess the means to telekinetically manipulate it, that means that you’re the key to claiming it for my own.”
“I’d be happy to give it to you,” spat Lex, the glow around his horn sputtering as he tried to pull the quill just a little closer. “Point first.”
A massive leg struck him from above, knocking him to the ground. “Your offer is unnecessary. I hypothesize that once I’ve extracted all of the divinity I can from your dead body, whatever bond you have with that weapon will be transferred to me.” Lex tried to rise then, but a second strike sent him back down. “And if that doesn’t work, then perhaps your corpse will suffice. A glove made out of your skin might let it be safely touched, for instance. Or maybe a handle made from your bones can be attached to it.”
“You still...have to kill me...first...” groaned Lex, creating a spike of black crystal directly underneath Kryonex.
The demigod didn’t even try to dodge the attempted impalement, allowing the stalagmite to shatter as it struck the underside of him. “Indeed. Your soul is quite tenacious in its attachment to your body, pulling in positive energy to rebuild your corporeal self even despite my having set the rules of my new realm” – Lex’s ears twitched at that – “to disallow connections to other planes.”
Another pointed leg came down just as Lex changed into a shadow, skewering him before he could fall back. Just like before, the demigod’s body wasn’t something he could move through, and Lex couldn’t free himself as Kryonex raised him up to be right in front of his damaged face.
“But that just means,” continued the demigod, eyes darkening, “that if I freeze your soul itself, it won’t be able to continue repairing your body.”
Hissing, Lex returned to physical form, raking his remaining fore-claw over where Kryonex’s leg was protruding from his abdomen even as his horn glowed, pulling Belligerence closer. “Not if I tear-”
He didn’t get a chance to finish as the leg he was impaled on released a blast of gelid energy directly into him.
Instantly, Lex froze from the inside, his blood solidifying even as the sinew between his bones fused into total rigidity.
His eyes blazing as he found himself a prisoner in his own body, Lex turned his will toward Belligerence, his horn flaring brighter-
And another pulse of cold halted that as well, the aura around his horn – as well as the spectral flames of green and purple emerging from his eyes, along with his eyes themselves – frozen solid.
It was only because of his nature as a titan that Lex was still able to think, struggling to come up with a new plan even as he felt the cold spread further, sinking down to a metaphysical level. It was enough to dull even his supernatural perception, turning his thoughts into a chilled morass as he realized that he was dying...
“Even against a titan imbued with power akin to an avatar, I didn’t expect to lose so much winning this battle,” murmured Kryonex, eyes lightening as he kept pouring a steady wave of cold into Lex. “But even if I can’t recoup the divinity I’ve lost, Belligerence will more than suffice to make up the difference. I really must thank the Night Mare for creating it, perhaps with a personal visit.”
You...aren’t...worthy...to...say...her...name...!
The demigod’s one remaining pedipalp twitched again. “You needn’t worry about protecting her honor. Very soon, she’ll be a forgotten goddess, slain by the very artifact that she helped create.”
...how...
“Ah, I almost forgot you weren’t aware,” replied the demigod, continuing to freeze the titan. “I’ve been reviewing your thoughts for some time now. That was part of why I had such trouble building a new realm here. Suppressing another divinity’s powers – such as whatever it was you were using to shield your cognition – was easy enough to design.”
...how...did...
“But I was sure you would have felt it if I’d looked into your mind directly, so instead I came up with a much more esoteric functionality. Specifically, freezing the psychic impressions that unguarded thoughts leave behind after they’ve been comprehended.”
...how...did...you...
“Normally, those impressions fade away immediately, but by glaciating them, I’ve been able to inspect everything you’ve thought only a few microsecond after the fact. It really was quite difficult to set up, though eminently worthwhile, as it let me easily keep you from regaining your weapon.”
...how...did...you...manage...
“Hm? How did I manage what? To come up with such an intricate plan? To outthink you even after taking so much damage?”
...how...did...you...manage...to...survive...this...long...
The demigod’s eyes darkened. “What?”
...when...you’re...so...easily...duped...!
“You-”
The demigod’s question didn’t have time to finish speaking as Belligerence shot zipped toward him, coming not from the glacier, but instead up from the ground-
“NO!!!”
-and severed the leg holding Lex.
“HHHRRRAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!”
There was no telekinetic aura around the weapon. Nor was it moving under its own power. Instead, it was gripped in a spectral claw, one that was a ghostly replica of Lex’s own. Despite his near-death state, Lex couldn’t help but smile inwardly at the sight, recalling when he’d used this same spell during his fight with Lirtkra and Monitor back in Vanhoover, so long ago. But whereas before he’d used it to deliver a spell without them knowing, this time he’d used it to grasp Belligerence – like his telekinesis, the spell could safely touch the quill – without Kryonex realizing it, carrying the weapon down and around to attack from an unexpected angle.
Of course, a large part of his having taken the demigod unaware was because he’d made sure to keep what he was doing out of his thoughts. That had been easy; he’d been practicing that level of mental discipline ever since he’d been a colt, teaching himself to think in a way that would let him build the mental architecture necessary to develop thaumaturgical spells. Once he’d felt his dark magic’s mental shields begin to degrade – something he now knew was because Kryonex had made this place his realm – it had been simple prudence to disguise his thoughts.
Not to do so would have been unforgivably careless, since he’d berated Adagio for exactly that failing a few hours earlier.
Even so, Lex couldn’t help but appreciate the irony of the situation. For all the powers he’d gained – the Charismata, his new body, titan ascension – it had been the personal discipline and simple magic that he’d cultivated in his youth that had proven decisive.
That, Lex decided as he hit the ground, his titanic resilience already working to repair the damage dealt to his body and soul, and the Night Mare.
Directing the spectral claw to bring the weapon back to him, Lex worked to move his foreleg, flexing the talons of his remaining claw as he reached upward to grasp the weapon-
“I WON’T LET YOU!!!”
And Kryonex’s eyes flashed, freezing the spectral hoof just before it could bring Belligerence within reach, the weapon stopping in midair now that there was nothing to move it.
Gritting his teeth, Lex’s horn lit up just as Kryonex fired another beam of gelid energy.
Swinging Belligerence into the path of the massive blue ray, Lex focused on the power that the void creature had used before, trusting that his goddess would have wanted to keep such a useful ability...
In his telekinetic grasp, Belligerence seemed to pulse, negating the ray.
It was enough to bring Kryonex to a standstill-
Negate his teleportation instead!
And again the weapon pulsed in his grasp, Kryonex faltering as his attempt to escape failed.
Now, draw him in!
Even before he’d finished giving the command, the demigod was already retreating, his enhanced speed putting considerable distance between him and the weapon.
But that wasn’t enough to let him outdistance the vortex that formed around Belligerence then.
Clawing and scrabbling at nothing, his ability to teleport still abrogated, there was nothing Kryonex could do as he was pulled closer to the weapon.
As was Lex.
Just before he came within striking range, Kryonex witnessed Lex take hold of Belligerence at last. He saw the talons close around the ebony quill, saw the blue runes momentarily flare brighter. Then he saw their glow flow back up into Lex, realizing with a sickening rush of certainty that it was returning some of what had gone into its creation, giving back a surplus of divine energy that the titan’s goddess had likely intended for a situation exactly like this one.
Then he saw the light move to Lex Legis’s left shoulder.
And the titan’s missing leg restored itself.
But not as flesh and bone.
Instead, the entire limb was composed of barbed wire, the strands of metal churning and writhing exactly the way his whole body had before, when he’d failed to will his foe out of existence.
Then Lex Legis grasped Belligerence with both of his claws – wire and muscle gripping the artifact equally between them – and drove it into Kryonex’s head.
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I actually predicted that Lex would get a facsimile of a leg back fashioned of barbed wire, it seemed only fitting, would make for a good weapon in a pinch too. We all know why barbed wire on a bat, is a good idea after all.
I can't see this being the end, in actual fact I think that Kryonex that he attacked is just a frost clone, although the scales seem to have been balanced, Jujutsu Kaisen eat your heart out.
Kronex used SPECTRE/Meltdown attack?
Imma gona havta dig into The Vault for this one but at first signt it seems viable from various tech announcements over the decades.
Bigbys Grasping Hand?
I wonder if Kyonex is going to use Substitute in an illegal manner?
At least Lex has his leg back though I wonder if it will turn into his flesh and blood limb like it did with his body before or if will stay that way or if it will only manifest when he wields Belligerence? Though I suppose that's a question best left for later after Kyronex is truly dealt with though this does bring up another question, if Belligerence can absorb divinity, does it empower the quill or will it be transferred to Lex as its master?
11770803 It's possible that Kryonex can still fight after this, though given that Lex has managed to recover Belligerence, the demigod is likely to find himself in a very bad position very quickly. It helps that Lex has seemingly regained his leg, sort of (though kudos to you for having seen that coming! Hopefully Lex won't name it after Sonata or Aria now.
)
11770887 In point of fact, this was a spectral hand spell. It's actually a point of ambiguity as to whether or not the hand can grasp things; while the spell description says that it's incorporeal, that doesn't really address whether or not it can manipulate things which are solid to incorporeal beings. Plus, that it can touch characters kind of makes it awkward to say it can't interact with anything.
11771592 Lex's having a leg made of barbed wire is an open question for the moment, much like his completely having completely turned into that form before. If he wins, which thankfully seems much more likely now, he'll hopefully have some time to explore what that means. Ditto for Belligerence now; while the Night Mare may have sealed that anti-god into the weapon's form, the fact that it grew stronger by absorbing divinity leaves unanswered the question of what will happen when it's turned against divine opponents from now on.
Of course, given how this chapter ended, we might find out the answer to that very soon.