Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Four: Odyssey’s Outset: Verse One-Hundred and Ninety-Six

Cypher opened his mouth to chant the words to his spell, but before he could, Aylynah’s own attack hit the barrier. It moved with blinding speed and struck with deadly force. A massive series of cracks spread out through the barrier, and it flickered before reforming. Even in its reformed state a large crack still remained.

Aylynah began to crack her mace against the barrier repeatedly. Each impact shook Cypher to his core and caused the barrier to vibrate so violently, that it etched lines into the stone floor of the warehouse. A wide smile lingered on her face the entire time and Cypher didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up.

He tried to use the Waltz again, but each time her mace impacted the Duality Shield, the energy gathered in the twelve points dispersed, and he was forced to try again. Aylynah was relentless in her assault, and Cypher began to feel a strain on his mental energy as his connection to the barrier was threatened.

He struggled to maintain the connection and gritted his teeth. He pressed harder on the inside of the barrier, his focus falling on only keeping the connection in his mind stable. He absolutely couldn’t let things fall apart now.

If it died, they would be completely overwhelmed. Aylynah wasn’t a Relic Ranked Conductor, but she was still at the peak of the heroic ranks. There was nothing Cypher or anyone present could do at their current level. Even if they did manage to somehow defeat her, Nuadha was still watching and would no doubt step in to finish what she could not.

Cypher, in his panic, dug deep and caused a shockwave to spread out from his Duality Shield. He had timed it so that Aylynah would be in mid-attack, and the shockwave caught her off guard and launched her into the distance. She only giggled as she got to her feet and dusted herself off.

Cypher took advantage of that moment and quickly chanted the spell for his Waltz. The spell activated and the twelve points of light shone brightly, however, they only sputtered out a few weak beams of the shining darkness. Aylynah walked forward toward the barrier giggling.

“Aww, seems like someone is about out of Zight. Such a shame. Poor little Cypher. Where did all that bravado go to? I thought you were going to kill me?” she chided. Cypher hated it, but she was right, her attacks had stressed his connection with the barrier, and in order to compensate, he had used his Zight to maintain the structural integrity of the protective dome.

Her attacks were deceptively powerful and each blow had sapped a quarter of his total remaining Zight. She gently tapped her mace against the barrier and licked the end as she tilted her head to the left. “Looks like only another attack will do the trick. Do you have any last words before I kill you?” Aylynah said as she bit her lower lip and her eyebrows rose in excitement.

“Cypher’s hands were numb, and his Orrium was shaking violently as the last of its energy slowly slipped away. His throat went dry as his mind ran out of ideas. But he wouldn’t allow it to end like this.

There had to be something he could do! He wracked his mind struggling to think of anything that could possibly help. There was nothing. The power gap was simply too large. All he could do was defend, and poorly at that. If only he had more time, more energy, more Zight!

It was then that his thoughts clicked into place. ‘The Arkstones!!!’ he thought. Cypher had completely forgotten about the many Arkstones embedded in his father’s armor. He quickly drew all of the energy into his Orrium and his condition improved instantly. Power returned to his limbs as he converted Zight into physical energy, and still, his power levels increased.

Aylynah was smiling as she reared back her mace and prepared to attack. She was enjoying the helplessness of her prey. Alex and Melodi were holding hands and gripping Cypher’s calves. They were prepared to die together, and they both worked to funnel mental energy into Cypher. Together, the three of them fully restored Cypher’s energy reserves and even surpassed them.

Normally that kind of power flowing through one person would be enough to cause them to burst, but Cypher was funneling all the excess energies into a singular goal. He was reinforcing the Duality Shield with his Zight, opening a new channel to the Balance Arks with his mental energy and using all of his strength to press against the inside of the barrier.

He was afraid. Not of dying, certainly not. Death wasn’t something to be afraid of because it marked the end of struggles and hardships. Instead, he was afraid of losing his friends. Death might mark the end of struggles and hardship, but not for those left behind.

He couldn’t allow the visions he saw of their deaths to come to pass. Not after how hard he worked to change the course of the future. If he died, the sacrifice of his father and the isolation of his mother would have been for nothing.

His Duality Shield began to resonate with his emotions as well as the Great Balance Arks. His will saturated every inch of the barrier and without even a chant, the twelve spots began to light up.

BANG!!

A shockwave burst through the room as his body broke into the second rank and he felt his power surge even higher. Through his connection to the three Great Balance Arks, his body was flooded with even more power, this time though, he was ready for it. Instead of letting the energy run wild throughout his body, Cypher focused all of it toward his Orrium.

With his newly advanced body, he could handle more stress. Thanks to that, he was able to formulate a desperate plan. Under any other circumstances, this might not have worked. He would have lacked the focus, drive, or simply sheer desperation to survive. As it was, he was facing the fight of his life and none of that was an issue.

A continuous loop began then, power was funneled from the Arkstones and the Balance Arks into his Orrium, then it was converted into physical energy keeping him in top condition, then the remnants of that physical energy were reconverted back into Zight which poured into the Duality Shield.

Any excess energy was then returned to the Arkstones themselves, which began to vibrate and hum as Zight was flooded into them to capacity. They glowed brightly and even let out high-pitched ringing noises each time they were restored to full power. Normally the stress of such a thing would have caused them to shatter several times over, but thanks to the protective spells of the armor, they were functionally invincible.

His Orrium was emptying and refilling at a rapid rate. When the Zight was focused into the Duality Shield, the organ would compress almost instantaneously. After a few cycles of that, a loud whirring noise filled the area, followed by the loud crackling of energy. Cypher’s Orrium also suddenly advanced, reaching the plasma stage.

With a new source of concentrated, even purer Zight, the Duality shield began to glow even brighter. Two advancements back to back were impressive beyond compare. Not many people ever achieved such a thing, and there was a reason for that. Cypher was now a Rank-Two Conductor. Only his mind trailed behind these new advancements, but not by much.

However, even with his newly advanced body, the stress on his centers of power was immense. Time began to pass strangely for Cypher at that moment. Pain became nothing to him, but it was still there. If all of his efforts hadn’t been concentrated on the task at hand, he would have been crippled by the sheer amount of torment his body was going through.

Aylynah was swinging her mace downwards, Alex and Melodi were frozen in place, and Nuadha stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. But for Cypher, he was moving at high speed. His heart rate slowed to a crawl, the energy loop came to an end, and then, the twelve spots of the Duality Shield sent their energy to a single point. The target of Aylynah’s attack.

As Aylynah’s mace struck, the single point of energy fired its payload. A blinding flash of light began to consume everyone in the room. It was as if the world itself was being erased by that bright light.

Aylynah was launched out of the warehouse at insane speeds and shot into the distance, only the handle of her destroyed mace remained. Nuadha jumped back, a confused look of shock on his face as he saw his subordinate flung away but he was quickly consumed by the bright light.

Alex and Melodi went wide-eyed as they too were consumed by the all-encompassing glow, and Cypher remained focused on saving them and himself. His mind eventually went numb and faded out. His body began to glow and afterimages of him spread out on either side, as if he was standing in a hall of mirrors.

The last thing he could remember was the shattering of glass as the barrier crumbled around the trio; The blinding light of a massive explosion; The feeling of reality being shifted all around him, and then, darkness as his mind faded away into black nothingness.