CHAPTER 106: ELDRITCH BOLT, ELDRITCH WARHEAD

From a rift in the air, Samael drew a massive arrow—three meters long, its shaft forged from exotic materials harvested from the Eldritch City Xenorealm.

Blackened crystal veins ran through its surface, pulsing with a faint, sickly glow, as if the arrow itself resented being summoned.

Oizys’s shadowy tendrils, writhing like fleshy tentacles, coiled around the arrow, shaping it into the heart of a spectral ballista.

The weapon formed rapidly, its frame a grotesque fusion of divine steel and void-forged sinew, its strings humming with latent energy.

Oizys’s fingers lingered on the bolt, her eyes softening. "It’s a shame, you know. This Eldritch Bolt... I’ve grown fond of it. It feels wrong to fire it so soon."

Samael’s deadpan face cracked into a smirk, her eyes glinting with mischief. "You’re practically married to it with how you’re caring for it. Poor Kivas, betrayed by a glorified arrow."

Oizys snorted, her tendrils tightening around the ballista’s frame. "That’s a stretch, even for you. I just appreciate fine craftsmanship, especially of my own achievement. Unlike someone who’d toss such a fine piece into a storm without a second thought."

Samael leaned closer, her voice dropping to a teasing lilt. "You’re stroking that bolt’s ego like it’s a pet. Next, you’ll name it and write it poetry."

Oizys grinned, her sadistic edge surfacing. "Maybe I will. ’Ode to the Bolt’ sounds better than your unsophisticated appreciation. Speaking of which, should we fire this now?" She jerked her thumb toward the Nihil, its crimson maw now swallowing half the horizon, its presence a grinding pressure against their senses.

"Maybe a little bit later," Samael rested her chin on her hand. "I’m thinking of letting the Monochara’s bastion experience more of the explosion, more than just seeing it."

"You’re sadistic."

"I know."

With Director Cayame missing and Vervendi Monarcha’s blood still staining the streets, the Karasu forces scrambled in disarray.

The New Vaingall Consortium’s presence was sparse—only a handful of Limbo Tier Divine Constructs stood ready, their glyphic shine casting faint light against the gathering dark.

Samael and Oizys had essentially left to their own devices, carrying the weight of Vaingall’s whole reputation on this ridge.

"If you think about it, we’re right on time to witness Monochara’s falling apart," Oizys muttered, her fingers tracing the ballista’s strings. "No director, no noble, not even officials who cared to prepare that a Nihil is approaching them just because we’re here to do some miracle for them." She patted the Eldritch Bolt, its surface thrumming under her touch.

Samael’s smirk widened. "Good. Less obstruction for the massive recompensation—I mean, glory that we shall receive when all of this is over."

In the same Monochara’s monochrome lounge, Kivas reclined against a nearby velvet chair for a new pace of sensation, her halo casting soft light across the polished tiles.

The towering window framed the city’s gothic spires, their ironwork curling like skeletal fingers against the storm-lit sky.

Blanchette lounged opposite, her ever-present smile sharp as a blade, eyes glinting with playful malice.

"So, divine ruler," Blanchette purred, tilting her head. "What’s your grand plan for that monstrosity out there?" She gestured toward a different window, where Nihil’s crimson glow bled into the horizon.

Kivas’s fingers tapped the armrest, her voice calm but edged with ruthless confidence. "I’ve got something experimental to pass onto those two lunatics of mine. After some consideration of its origin, form, and creation process, I decided to call it the Eldritch Bolt. Simple, effective, and ready to crack that storm open like a jar being struck by a granite stone."

Blanchette’s smile widened, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Eldritch Bolt? Truly, Kivas, your naming genius knows no bounds. Did you spend hours crafting that masterpiece?"

Kivas’s lips quivered, unfazed by the jab. "Names don’t need to be fancy when the weapon speaks for itself. The Bolt’s a goddamn warhead, Blanchette. A bundle of miracles forged from Xenorealm materials—crystalline alloys, void-flesh fibers, even a Nuelith’s core. It’s designed to detonate with a divine signature that comes with maddening energy to anything that was hit directly by it."

Blanchette leaned forward, her eyes narrowing with mock curiosity. "A warhead, as in a vessel of destruction that one lobes onto their enemies? How quaint—barbaric, even. And here I thought you’d just pray the Nihil away with your halo’s glow."

Kivas chuckled, her voice carrying a hint of villainous glee. "In my former world, prayers mostly serve to increase your willpower and resistance to the amount of bullshit that the world throws at you. Prayers, or in this case, divinity, in this world—is raw power. I can simply manifest something that shouldn’t exist or happen as long as it fits Fathomi’s preference, and that I have enough fit to actualize it."

On the ridge, Oizys’s tendrils pulled the ballista’s strings taut, the Eldritch Bolt locked into place.

The Nihil’s eyes swiveled toward them, even from far away, as if sensing the threat.

Samael raised a hand, her divine constructs aligning behind her, their frames shimmering with glyphic light. "Ready," she said, her deadpan tone belying the spark in her eyes.

Oizys grinned, her fingers lingering on the bolt. "Let’s make it quick. I want to mourn this thing properly later..."

With a flick of her wrist, the tendrils released, and the Eldritch Bolt streaked into the sky, a comet of blackened crystal trailing void-shadows.

The bolt pierced the Nihil’s edge, vanishing into its crimson maw.

For a moment, silence reigned.

Then the horizon erupted.

A blinding flash of divine light tore through the storm, followed by a shockwave that rattled Monochara’s spires.

A mushroom cloud of pure, radiant energy bloomed, its edges laced with writhing tentacles of void-flesh, as if the Nihil itself screamed in defiance.

Back in the lounge, the explosion’s roar shook the windows, the floor trembling beneath Kivas and Blanchette’s feet.

Glassware rattled on a nearby table, and the lounge’s lanterns flickered wildly. Kivas froze mid-sentence, her halo pulsing in sync with the distant cataclysm.

Blanchette’s smile faltered, her eyes widening as the shockwave’s afterglow painted the sky outside the window with white and gold.

"Well," Blanchette said, her voice dry but tinged with awe. "That’s... excessive for a ’warhead,’ don’t you think? Did you plan to level half of the continent?"

Kivas leaned back, her expression a mix of amusement and surprise. "I didn’t expect it to hit that hard. However, I could figure Samael and Oizys tinkered with it. They probably thought my design wasn’t big enough." She shrugged.

Blanchette laughed, a sharp, mocking sound. "Big enough? You three are lunatics. That thing could’ve swallowed Monochara whole."

Kivas’s grin turned sly, her halo glinting. "Good. If the Nihil’s still standing after that, it deserves a round two."

"Do you have another Eldritch Bolt ready?"

"No, that is the only piece we have managed to create in such a short amount of time."

Blanchette stayed still for a moment to realize something. "You’re promoting your technological prowess to the Karasu Association and making the Consortium’s presence known by those who will catch the divine signature...

"And in a way, you’re also exposing your own divine signature to spread your influence, and eventually impression and faith from faraway lands and curious beings."

"I don’t plan that far," Kivas simply said with honesty. "I just have a thing with giant explosions."

On the ridge, Samael and Oizys stood amidst the fading echoes of the explosion, the mushroom cloud towering before them, its divine radiance pulsing with Kivas’s infused power.

Screams and eyes writhed within the cloud, dissolving into ash as Nihil’s crimson frame flickered.

Oizys crossed her arms, her sadistic grin returning. "You overdid it, Samael. Injected too much essence into that bolt. Look at that pure of an absolute mess that we beheld—pure chaos in every angle."

Samael’s deadpan face broke into a rare chuckle. "Not enough, if you ask me. A proper explosion should’ve cracked the sky open." She gestured at the cloud, its edges still burning with divine fire. "Kivas’s miracles might break the normal rule of skills and spell concocting, but it still doesn’t have the raw power that the two of us have."

Oizys rolled her eyes, her tendrils dissipating into shadow. "You just want to make yourself as dominant as possible between you and Kivas.

Samael’s smirk returned, her constructs humming behind her as if showcasing her own emotion. "Don’t talk like you’re not the same."

Oizys laughed, her voice carrying over the ridge. "Fine. But I’m still mourning my bolt."

In the lounge, Blanchette leaned back, her smile returning but sharper, as if she’d caught a glimpse of something beyond the explosion. "Samael and Oizys are lunatics indeed," she said, her voice laced with mock admiration. "You built a weapon to end a astion, and they made it louder. I almost respect that."

Kivas’s eyes glinted, her halo pulsing faintly. "They’re my lunatics. And, the Nihil’s not done yet. Round two’s imminently coming, Blanchette. Care to join the fun?"

Blanchette’s smile widened, her fingers tapping her chin. "Tempting. But I’ll let you maniacs handle the fireworks. I’m just here for the show."

"Lazy ass."

"You didn’t order anything, so the vow doesn’t act—"

"Go contribute and repel the Nihil for me."

"As you wish, my sweet, beautiful sister," Blanchette said with a pained smile.

Outside, the Nihil’s fractured eyes glared through the dissipating cloud, its crimson maw pulsing with renewed hunger, as if daring Vaingall’s champions to strike again.