Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

935 - Off the Leash

I will see you dead!

The barbed wire that made up Lex’s body thrashed and writhed as Vystalaran approached, the jagged strands maintaining his shape even as they twisted faster than the naked eye could have followed. It was the only movement he made as the avatar moved closer, holding his standing position, forelegs spread wide in a welcoming gesture as he grinned broadly, eyes shining solid green and purple.

For your preventing me from saving Branwen, I will SEE YOU DEAD!!!

He felt certain that Vystalaran knew what he was thinking, and that the Sun Queen and Sleipnir likely did as well. Regardless of whether or not they could read his mind, Lex didn’t doubt for a second that the malevolence in his mien was plainly visible to everyone there. Nor did he care very much about hiding it; after all, they either didn’t seem to think that he’d dare to do something as brazen as attack Vystalaran, or didn’t anticipate that it would work if he tried.

Which was, of course, absolutely correct.

Lex had no way of fighting Vystalaran, let alone killing him. Even making the attempt would have resulted in nothing more than the avatar unleashing his divine aura. Lex already knew full well that wasn’t something he could withstand, even with his most potent defenses activated.

But like so many other problems that he had faced over the course of his life, that simply meant that a more creative solution was required.

And Lex had already come up with one.

It was beyond risky, to the point of being not just reckless, but bordered on madness. Or at least, that was how it had looked when he’d queried the immediate future with his foresight. But that had mattered less to Lex than simply knowing that it was possible...and now that he had confirmed that it was, he was committed.

This was no longer a matter of simply extricating himself and his people safely. Vystalaran had deliberately kept him from discharging his duty to one of his own, knowing that would result in their death.

That was nothing less than an act of war.

And war permitted actions that his moral code would otherwise hold to be unconscionable.

“I hope you’ll both agree that this puts the enmity between your pantheons to rest,” announced Sleipnir as Vystalaran reached a hand toward Belligerence. “Or at least, opens the door to negotiating peace between you.”

“A peaceful resolution is always the best one,” agreed the Sun Queen, though unlike the eight-legged stallion, her eyes were squarely on Lex. “In the aftermath of a tragedy, continued aggression can only lead to further loss, making it that much harder to heal.”

“That sentiment overlooks the necessity of redressing wrongs,” noted Vystalaran, his hand having stopped a few inches from Belligerence. His brow was furrowed, as though contemplating how to safely take possession of the quill. “Those who commit offenses against another should be made to pay for their transgressions.”

Lex couldn’t help but laugh then, the sound harsh and grating. “My sentiments exactly.”

Then, without moving in the slightest, he poured as much energy as he could into Belligerence...

...which caused the weapon to suddenly quiver, its shape becoming less distinct as it rippled and shook, as though something were pressing against it from without.

Or from within.

Vystalaran immediately leaped backward, letting his divine aura unfurl, but this time Lex was ready.

Although he’d expended all of his uses of the Charismata after what had happened with the Night Mare – or whoever it was that had sounded like her – he still had a number of divine spells at his command. More than that, he also had a large number of diamonds into which he’d stored castings of those and other spells, including one instance of divine magic specifically designed to consecrate a particular area to the goddess. It was that diamond which he retrieved and activated now.

Outwardly, there was no visual effect of his casting, save for blue fire that momentarily sprung up in a circle around him, the azure flames flaring and immediately disappearing. But to Lex’s sight – and, he felt certain, the sight of the everyone else there – that small patch of land that he was on was now sacred territory, imbued with the Night Mare’s power.

Vystalaran’s aura slammed into it a fraction of a second later...and immediately stopped.

It wouldn’t hold, Lex knew. If Mystaria could still use her god’s divine magic within the Shrine of the Starless Sky, then Vystalaran’s divine presence would definitely be able to override a simple sanctification spell. But Lex had gambled that the deity wouldn’t do such a thing so easily, knowing that to directly violate another god’s territory was a highly aggressive action...and based on what he’d said earlier, the avatar was extremely intent on making his pantheon seem like the wronged party.

That, and Vystalaran had more pressing concerns at the moment.

Belligerence was transforming, its form bulging and growing into a larger mass of absolute darkness. Even as it did, the runes along its length glowed brighter, their forms growing blurry and indistinct as they merged, becoming strands of razor wire formed of blue flames. The restraints coiled around the ebony form, halting its expansion...but neither did they force it to return to its previous shape.

Instead, the bindings and the void creature seemed to reach a sort of equilibrium, its form caught midway between the massive thing it had been growing into and the quill to which it had been confined.

The central mass hung in the air, larger than the orb it had started as, but nowhere near the massive size it had grown to after taking out a chunk of Kryonex. Semisolid tendrils hung down from it, but not nearly as many as it had created when Lex had been frantically dodging its attacks. And all across its form were cerulean flames in the form of barbed wire, sliding across it in constant motion as they restrained it from returning to its full form.

This was the future that Lex had seen when he’d used his foresight to look at what would happen if he’d poured his own energy into Belligerence, whatever connection the Night Mare had forged between himself and the trapped creature allowing his trans-temporal sense to glimpse that the result would be a weakening of the bindings that the goddess had used to capture it.

It was because of that weakening that he couldn’t see Belligerence’s future now, however, the creature free enough that its future was once again beyond his sight, leaving him with no idea of what the partially-freed monster would do or how much control – if any – he had over it.

But given how the Night Mare’s restraints were still there, albeit slackened, he was willing to bet that he had some, sending a psychic message to the thing.

Kill the elf god!

It might have been a coincidence. It might simply have been that Vystalaran was – notwithstanding Lex himself, whom it was now bound to – the closest person with divinity to the thing, with Lex already having telekinetically pushed Burly further away, and the Sun Queen having flown high into the air as soon as Belligerence’s form had begun to change.

Or perhaps Belligerence was still bound to his will after all.

Either way, the void creature immediately sped toward Vystalaran, seemingly unaware and uncaring of the avatar’s aura.

“Lex Legis!” screamed the Sun Queen from high above. “What have you done?!”

“What is that thing?!” Sleipnir had likewise fallen back, eight hooves pawing at the dirt as he stared at the black monstrosity bound with fiery blue wire.

Neither Lex nor Vystalaran answered, the former watching as the latter pointed a finger at the oncoming monstrosity. “Arrow of Solonor.”

The beam of silvery light that shot toward Belligerence then radiated so much power that Lex had no doubt that its impact had force enough to reshape a continent. More than that, it seemed to home in on its target, adjusting its flight to compensate for the void creature’s speed as it rushed at it, striking Belligerence dead center a moment later.

To no effect whatsoever, the beam being annihilated as soon as it made contact with the void creature.

Vystalaran’s eyes widened, and he waved a hand as though brushing away something in front of him. “Rhapsody of Hanali.”

Immediately, the air in front of Belligerence grew thicker, turning into a blurry mist that seemed to contain various shapes and figures within it. Indistinct voices came from within, and there was a sweet scent in the air, though Lex couldn’t place it. The entire thing seemed preternaturally inviting, as though inside it lurked some sort of hidden paradise, and Vystalaran smirked as Belligerence plunged inside without hesitation.

...only for the mist to suddenly dissipate, the voices and odor also disappearing as the void creature rushed out of it an instant later, its speed undiminished.

“You must stop this!” screamed the Sun Queen, not seeming to dare approach any closer from where she was hovering overhead, seeming to hover in front of the sun. “That creature cannot be allowed to absorb more divinity!”

“I’ll handle it!” volunteered Sleipnir, lowering his head as he began to run-

“NO!” It was hard to say if it was the sun itself that grew brighter, or if it was the solar goddess, causing Sleipnir to stumble as he immediately halted. “Lex Legis must be the one to stop it!”

She didn’t give the stallion of the Aesir a chance to respond before speaking again. “Lord Vystalaran, you must retreat! This creature is the worst enemy a god can face!”

Vystalaran sneered, despite Belligerence almost being upon him. “Nonsense. If a mere titan and his provincial pony goddess can tame this creature-”

He sidestepped Belligerence’s wild charge then, the black tendrils missing his face by inches, apparently causing Vystalaran no alarm whatsoever.

“-then I most certainly can! Panoply of Vandria!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Vystalaran was suddenly clad in a light suit of armor, one hand clutching a thin rapier. With a flick on his wrist, he sank the blade – the pointed tip of which looked sharp enough that it could have cut the stars from the sky – into Belligerence’s body, striking one of the blazing wires before pressing into the black substance of its body.

The latter hit had no effect at all except to discorporate the blade, but in the instant before that, when Vystalaran struck the length of azure flame, Lex felt a twinge come from his left foreleg.

What?

But there was no time for him to wonder about that, as Vystalaran – seeming to have picked up on his first strike not having been as futile as the second – dodged another strike from Belligerence without so much as taking a step back, frowning. “So, it’s these bindings which are key to laying the creature low. In that case...”

He took a step back as Belligerence tried again to land a hit, easily avoiding the close call without looking even slightly worried that he might be struck. Instead, he held his arms out, planting his feet as he glared at the void creature. “Sortilege of Corello-”

That was when Lex made his move.

The power that he had gained from Mei Li was truly exceptional. The ability to alter the flow of various forms of energy in his local area allowed for numerous creative endeavors to be undertaken, as Lex had confirmed while defeating Burly Brawl. But there was more that could be done than simply altering the movement of positive energy in his vicinity.

Such as altering the movement of ambient magical energy.

Which was simply ritual magic by another name.

Of course, by itself her power didn’t allow for the level of exactitude that could be used to produce intricate, highly specific effects. It was like the inverse of what Thermal Draft could do, being strong but lacking in fine precision that the pegasus-turned-doppelganger had. At most, it could have abetted or impeded certain other functions of magic, making those varieties of spells more or less effective.

But when used to supplement normal ritual practices, like the kind that Lex had been making use of since he was a mortal, it allowed what would normally have been hours of rigorous casting to be completed in seconds.

That was why Lex had used it now, his enhanced intellect easily coming up with the proper formula for what he wanted to do and immediately putting it into practice.

An instant later, the sanctified circle that he was standing within expanded, widening until it encompassed everyone around him...including Vystalaran and Belligerence.

Finding himself suddenly within another god’s territory, the elven avatar hesitated to finish his invocation, faltering for the briefest moment.

Belligerence didn’t miss its opportunity.

Plunging forward, it collided bodily with Vystalaran.

Author's Note:

Partially undoing Belligerence’s restraints, Lex sets the void creature loose on Vystalaran!

Has it succeeded in destroying the avatar? Can it be bound again now that it’s been given a taste of freedom?

Comments

[Booster Spice]

Uhoh. The Elf tought the bindings were to keep the summons on the plane. Breaking the bindings lets the summons dissipate. Trouble is, with Belligerance, thats exactly what it would do. Dissapate. Dissapate everything surrounding it.

And the only bindings left of equivalent make, infact impact one, impact the other, is that I misread what Lex had done, and that he has already done what I was expecting him to have to do next.

But it seems to be using one of the more intresting rules from DnD.

The big difference between the Gods and Mortals, is that the Gods are limited in what they can do?

[Spiritus Arcane]

11877068
It's not that he's really limited in power, it's that he's still trying to play the victim card and breaking divine etiquette would make that harder to do.

And honestly, if Lex has done anything it's to start an inevitable war faster, since if you know the lore of Everglow, you know that a pony/elf war is coming anyway. Better for it to happen while the Empire is still intact than after it collapses.

[Not so New Brony]

I'm kind of with the Sun Queen, feeding the thing that can grow by absorbing divinity is a reckless move though it is the only thing in Lex's arsenal that could harm if not kill a full on god like Vystalaran so I can get why Lex used it. Still, having a member of the Aesir witnessing such a weapon in action would paint the pony pantheon in a bad light and confirm Vystalaran's words.

Lex could be banking on Sleiphnir willing to smooth things over for ensuring Aesir's need of Fenrir for their prophecy but given how that previous gambit failed earlier, I wonder if Lex has something else in mind should his plan work and kill Vystalaran.

Either way, glad the elven prick is going to get what's coming to him.

[Alzrius]

11877068 Vystalaran's targeting the Belligerence's bindings caught Lex off-guard, it's true, and quite possibly revealed an exceptionally dangerous aspect to what he's doing with allowing the void creature to act on its own this way. Of course, knowingly letting it do so is itself exceptionally dangerous, so at least Lex has turned things around so that Vystalaran is the one under threat now.

Of course, that doesn't mean much if Lex can't regain control over that creature, which is the major threat that goes along with it consuming divinity. The question now is if Lex has made Vystalaran pay at the cost of putting the world and the rest of the gods at risk.

[Alzrius]

11877295 You have to admit that it's at least somewhat ironic, though, since Vystalaran (as part of Gladoneral) wanted a war so badly...now he's gotten one. And Lex doesn't play around when he sets his mind to destroying someone.

As for what that might do with regards to Everglow's future history, well...an avatar is only a fragment of a true god, and Lex is bound and determined to quit Everglow in favor of Equestria once he's concluded his business here. It remains to be seen if his actions here change anything in any significant ways.

[Alzrius]

11877800 Lex is definitely reaching for the metaphorical "nuclear option" here, since giving that monstrosity any freedom to act is risky in the extreme. Sure, he's turned the tables on Vystalaran, but you have to wonder how much that's really worth if the proverbial table is then itself annihilated.

Certainly, showing a member of the Aesir that he's both capable and willing to do such a thing has tremendous potential to blow up in his face, but then again it's not like the Aesir were helping him that much before now anyway, so you could argue that he hasn't sacrificed very much political capital in that regard. Though a lot of that might come down to whether or not he can regain control over the creature, since if he can't then future political problems likely won't mean much in the face of imminent annihilation.