The Primal Hunter

The Fallen King watched as the hunter was blasted back and gave him a small extra push so he reached all the way to where Sandy, the metal mage, and Eron were still waiting. The healer quickly dispelled whatever desolation lingered on his body before Sandy could swallow the two of them. They had naturally been briefed on the plan and were carrying out their roles as expected.

They hadn’t been given a choice, mind you, but had simply respected the King’s decision.

Turning his attention toward what mattered more right now, the Desolate Child of Loss was clearly reeling from the blast, but as with everything else, the desolation had nullified much of the attack. Not that the Fallen King was particularly bothered, as this was the expected outcome.

Unique Lifeforms and their unique skills could also grow over time. The Fallen King usually released a singular wave of soul-destroying energy whenever he used the skill and would find himself weakened afterward. However, this time, he had severely limited the explosion itself and instead channeled the same power into his current form. He had saved it as a trump card for Nevermore that he never ended up having to use. This time, he’d used that skill and even decided to go one step further, as he did not need to worry about any kind of weakness period after the skill usage.

His soul was ablaze and would burn till there was nothing left, and when the Desolate Child of Loss tried to ignore him and go straight for Jake, whom the creature seemed to harbor illogical hatred for, it offended the King. Raising his claw, it glowed golden as the creature of desolation stopped right as it tried to fly past the Unique Lifeform.

”As of this moment, you cannot afford to focus on anything but I,”the King said and clenched his clawed fist before tossing the Desolate Child of Loss away telekinetically, the creature looking confused at what had just happened.

Raising his other claw, the Fallen King released a wave of force that blasted the creature even further back before he gave chase. Behind him, Sandy had consumed both Eron and Jake, with all of them now heading down toward the Prima Vessel.

Once more, the Desolate Child of Loss tried to chase Sandy, only pissing off the Fallen King even more as he reached out with both claws and took hold of the creature, not allowing it to move. It stared at the King, utterly befuddled as it tried to dispel his hold but was unable, the King only shaking his head at the response.

It was typical, wasn’t it? For one’s final moment to be one of epiphany.

The situation was truly odd. The Fallen King had felt his telekinetic abilities be so useless during this fight due to the desolation… but at this moment, it was the opposite. His body radiated power, and his vision was filled with gold as he clearly saw the Desolate Child of Loss before him. He saw the soul of the creature, and rather than simply grasp for the physical body, he reached for the metaphysical.

He reached out and applied his telekinetic abilities directly to the soul of the Desolate Child of Loss. Rather than tossing the physical body, he tossed the Soulshape, forcing the body along with it. And as he tried more, the King felt a sense of total control as, with both claws raised, he pulled the creature toward him.

He had no fear of the domain of desolation anymore. He allowed it to infect his soul, as he knew it would not have time to consume the King’s soul before he himself burned it to oblivion. In fact, right now, the Desolate Child was the one who screamed in pain as it was forced to endure the pressure of the King’s blazing soul.

Lashing out, the Fallen King released a golden claw, tearing up the body of the Desolate Child of Loss before following up with another. Each attack tore through both the body and soul of the creature, making it scream in pain as the King gave it no time to rest.

With every attack, the Fallen King felt the intense damage he did, but his own vessel was also rapidly deteriorating. Parts of it flaked off with every passing second, turning into golden wisps that were made into gray motes of nothingness the second they touched the desolation.

He had known this would be the case from the very beginning, and it was his choice.

Despite being overwhelmed, the Desolate Child of Loss didn’t just roll over. Finally having realized Jake was out of its reach, it attacked the King relentlessly as it exploded with desolation, trying to fight back the golden soul-destroying domain of the Fallen King.

Emphasis on trying… for despite the creature’s power, it could not suppress a Unique Lifeform burning away its very life in a final blaze of glory. It did try, though, and went on the offensive, seemingly having transferred its anger to the King rather than Jake.

It stabbed forward with its spear, the Fallen King deflecting the blow with his golden claw as he fully entered melee to allow his own domain to be the most effective. Taking injuries while fighting in close combat was inevitable for the King, but he did not care in the slightest, as he dealt out more than he was given.

Even when the spear penetrated his chest and went out of the other side, the Fallen King only used it as an opportunity to entirely tear off the head of the Desolate Child. When his one leg was severed, the King used the limb as an improvised weapon to stab into the chest of the creature before making it explode with golden force.

Despite having its body blown and torn apart several times, the creature kept simply regenerating, but this time, the King saw the entire process as he clearly saw the Desolate Child of Loss’ soul. From it, he learned something quite important.

”I realize now that your body is no more than a construct. A representation of what you once were. An idea, a faint memory. You are not truly a humanoid creature, but some mutated elemental of desolation, not that much different from the Sylphian Hawk, though far more limited. Killing your physical form thus does little more than drain your energy as you are forced to reconstruct it,” the Fallen King mused out loud, regretting not having given someone a Golden Mark so he could communicate his observations… though there was a good chance it would have burned away by now.

Reaching out and grasping the soul of the Desolate Child of Loss, he twisted as the entire arm of the creature also twisted around before getting torn off.

”It makes you a difficult foe, especially with the power of desolation protecting you at all times… but all creatures, no matter how powerful, die when their soul is extinguished. You are no different.”

A massive golden claw descended as the creature stumbled, having large parts of its body torn off with every attack, with the King taking plenty of counters as his own body was destroyed at a rapid pace.

”My original intent was to buy time… to allow their escape in time, believing myself chanceless,” the Fallen King said, all this talking more to himself than the Desolate Child of Loss, who didn’t seem to have the mental faculties to properly comprehend what he was saying.

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”Now, I am thinking otherwise. That perhaps rather than fall on my lonesome, I shall drag another soul down with me,” the King said with determination as he reached forward and clasped his claw around the creature’s face before clenching, crushing it entirely as the body of the Desolate Child of Loss was getting more and more feeble with every time it regenerated. It simply didn’t have the time to properly temper itself, and the extreme soul damage also made the Soulshape of the creature less stable.

Not that the Fallen King was doing well. His vision flickered as he felt his soul waver, soon out of fuel, giving the Desolate Child a chance to counter, stabbing the Unique Lifeform yet again, the desolation spreading even further.

The body of the Fallen King was a mixture of bright gold and entirely monochrome sections, fighting each other until there was nothing left. The desolation would win, no doubt about it, but the King had never once done this expecting to walk away… the only question was if there would be two creatures dying that day.

Jake felt the warm flow of healing energy running through his body. The sensation was comfortable and even made him feel like he should just fall back into unconsciousness, but he quickly remembered the circumstances of how he had been knocked out in the first place.

Jolted awake, Jake opened his eyes and saw Eron staring down at him alongside a worried Sylphie. He instantly knew he was inside Sandy’s stomach, and through his sphere, he also saw William in the stomach chamber with them… but there was someone missing.

”What happ-”

”Later,” Eron interrupted him. ”For now, we need you to get us home.”

Trying to sit up, Jake could barely move, and a headache instantly struck him, but he had to stay stable despite everything swimming. Eron helped Jake up as Sandy spat them out, and they appeared right in front of the entrance to the Prima Vessel.

Sandy shrunk themselves down quickly as Eron helped Jake walk to the barrier requiring the keys of a World Leader to unlock. Throughout this walk, Jake’s mind was a mess, as if he was really drunk or extremely tired, but he managed to focus long enough to unlock the barrier and give them access to the teleportation circle.

It was all a struggle, but eventually, Jake made his application to teleport back to Earth. After it was promptly accepted, Jake was teleported back to Earth along with the others, everything still feeling like he was in the midst of some messed up lucid dream. He knew he had overdrawn his soul significantly, and he felt like taking a nap more than anything.

When he was back in safety, his consciousness wavered even more, and Eron kept healing him as he spoke.

”Rest. Now is the most crucial time to allow your soul to naturally recover or the damage will only get worse,” the healer said, the healing energies more there to calm Jake than actually help him heal.

Jake knew the man was right and did as told, allowing his waking mind to slip, as he knew he would enter sleep with a single thought still haunting him:

What had happened with the Fallen King?

The Fallen King attacked again, his blow weaker than before but still doing some damage as the Desolate Child wavered. By now, the King really felt it. If he was capable, he would have smiled at the emotion emanating from the creature as his voice echoed within the mind of his foe.

”Is this your first time experiencing fear? Knowing that death might claim you? How hypocritical… a creature of desolation fearing to be made desolate itself.”

With his telekinetic abilities, he reached out and tore off the arms of the Desolate Child before blasting a hole in its shoulder, its body so feeble now as it struggled to heal itself continually. Its soul was significantly damaged, and the King tried to damage it even more.

Reaching out yet again, the King tried to grasp the Desolate Child but found himself unable. The creature took advantage and sent a torrent of desolation toward the King, making him stumble and weaken. He wasn’t ready when he was stabbed yet again and tried to reach out, only to fumble.

Everything flickered yet again. The pain permeating the soul of the Fallen King was all-consuming as the desolation and feeling of burning his own life and soul clashed, and for a moment, a thought appeared as he questioned himself:

Why?

Why had he done something this foolish?

Sure, the desolation had been bad, but the King had been far from a state where he couldn't recover given enough time. Yet he had chosen to step forward without any real hesitation… and deep inside, he knew why.

The King had been the one who had chosen this planet. He had been the one who made the decision to teleport there in the first place. Could he have reasonably known it was a trap? Probably not, but just because this situation wasn’t his fault, it was still his responsibility.

He was, above all, a King. What kind of King couldn’t even take basic responsibility for the decisions he had made? Well… most kings across the multiverse would likely gladly sacrifice the lives of their subjects for their own benefit, but the Fallen King believed such a Path of kingship was flawed.

And he chose to believe his Path as a King was the right one, right to his final moment. His three forms of concepts had always been the foundation of his Path, and he had named the three force, gold, and soul.

Force represented the enaction of his power as a King. The forceful hand that made his will a reality and ensured his dominion even in front of his opposition. It was also what allowed him to defend his position and those who were beneath him or stood by his side.

Gold was status. In itself, the concept was what allowed him to strike not just the physical bodies of his foes but their souls, and the concept was heavily used when he used his actual kingly abilities outside of combat. It also just helped amplify everything the Fallen King did, and in some ways, it could be viewed as the color of his soul and the symbol of his power.

The final part was by far the most important.

Soul was everything. It was his dominion. What he was the King ruling over. The only thing all living creatures in the entire multiverse had in common was the fact they had souls. Some didn’t have physical bodies, some didn’t have any of the usual resources, and some were existences so foreign the mortal mind could barely understand them… but they all had souls. From the smallest level 0 critter to the most powerful of Primordials. Even the Void Gods had souls despite how foreign they were to the rest of the multiverse.

Most kings of the multiverse ruled over their own kind. A human king would rule a faction of other humans or at least humanoids. The natural nobles of the multiverse, such as the ectognamorphs with their Hive Queens, naturally ruled other insects… but the Fallen King had no kin. He was a Unique Lifeform. He had no kin that he naturally ruled.

Another interpretation of there being none that he naturally ruled was that he was made to rule everything. That he was kin with every creature that possessed a soul and what skills he had related to his title as King did reflect this.

All these thoughts swam around the King’s head as his life faded away, and he felt the attacks of the Desolate Child rain down on him. His remaining life was in the seconds… and he was to make them count, as the wisps that represented the King’s eyes glowed golden, and he caught the spear of the Desolate Child.

”Be proud of what you have accomplished today. Few can claim to have slain a Unique Lifeform… even if it cost them their life.”

Telekinetic power erupted from the half-broken claws of the King as he pulled the Desolate Child into his own shattered body and held him there in a final embrace as he prepared for his final blow.

”I… must… live!” the creature screamed, its body exploding with desolation as the Fallen King’s vision entirely faded, and yet he could only chuckle to himself.

”Then survive if you can.”

The Fallen King overloaded whatever was left of his body as he forcefully activated his unique skill one last time and turned what remained of his vessel into one last attack. Golden cracks formed all over his body, the light beaming out of them pushing away the desolation as the Desolate Child of Loss tried to get away, but there was no way the Fallen King would relinquish his grasp. A final vain thought entered his head as he remembered something Jake had once said and spoke a final time.

”No king rules forever…”

His entire body exploded as a giant blast of pure golden soul energy consumed the screaming Desolate Child of Loss as its desolation was overwhelmed, and the creature itself began to fall apart as its soul shattered and its entire body dispersed, blown into nothing but gray dust that fell and was scattered by the wind, devoid of desolation

”… long live the King…”

His voice faded away as the consciousness of the King disappeared, and the golden light in the sky dispersed. Color reentered the world once more as the sunlight shone down from above, and a faint breeze swept through the sky where not a single trace of the Fallen King or Desolate Child of Loss remained.

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