Gwendith’s aid mission quickly ran into trouble. Not two longstrides from the base, just as they were headed into the mountains, they were ambushed by the crimson apes. Sitting next to the driver of the transport, she grabbed her Animus rifle and raised it to aim. The weapon had been loaned to her by the Karcellians, and had been adjusted to handle a heavier Animus load. She enhanced the rifle’s barrel with her Ennoia, infusing Cold energy into it.

The Karcellian’s scientific concepts actually ran counter to her Ennoia, on the surface anyway. More than a few had protested that cold was an absence of heat rather than a specific type of energy. The way Gwendith saw it, even if they were correct, what she was infusing into the bullets was a type of construct that drew in heat. She could already do something similar on her own, draw heat away from the target and use it to hurl fire. The difference between what she could do naturally and what she was doing now, was that the construct functioned on its own after she put it there, and without a need for a continued connection. This increased her range to as far as the gun could shoot.

She aimed at the charging apes, who were coming downhill from above a steep and rocky slope. The road they were on was narrow enough that the convoy had been caught by the attack in a single column. The road wasn’t in the best condition either, with snow piles nearly half a pace high. The lead tank crunched down the powdery stuff and the chains on the cars allowed them to make their slow way through, but every second wasted had Gwendith tapping her foot impatiently. Now, they were under attack and she growled in barely restrained anger.

The rifle, as well as two Animus pistols raised to aim at the thundering apes. The two pistols were controlled by her Animakinesis, and while her reach had not achieved the level required for advancement, and neither had Heron’s, her kinesis was dextrous enough that she could handle, aim, and fire pistols, rifles, and even the machine gun mounted at the back part of the armoured car. Well, she would have if there was no soldier to man it.

Ratatatatat! Bang! Bang!

Bullet fire careened up the slope, each one gleaming with a slight investment of Animus. The crimson apes, who stuck out from the field of white, staggered as the shots hit them. Some stumbled, some tripped and fell. And those that did gathered snow as they tumbled downhill, which soon covered the hapless ape in a ball of rolling snow that grew bigger and bigger as it came closer to the convoy. Gwendith’s eyes widened when she saw the snowball had grown bigger than the tanks.

“Watch out!” someone yelled, but it was too late.

Several snowballs slammed into the forward tank and into a couple of armoured cars, including the one Gwendith was riding in. One moment, she had her rifle pointed out the window, the next, snow blasted into the cabin and buried her and the driver in the stuff. The car rocked back, and toppled sideways. The glass windshield was covered in white, and they were buried soon after.

“Ancestors!” Gwendith swore as she expanded her Anima and used her Ennoia. The cold of the snow was tweaked into heat, which she then pushed upwards and away. A plume of steam shot out, and cleared a path from the window to the surface. She grabbed the driver behind her and leapt out. Even though she wasn’t the strongest in her group, she was still at the Second Growth stage, and her physique was several times better than the mortals.

They popped out of the car, landed on the snowbank. Her eyes raked the surroundings, looking for the ape that was the core of the snowball. She found it stunned, with half of its torso still buried underneath. She could see blood seeping out of bullet holes, though it blended into its fur. Its eyes were swimming, but Gwendith took no chance. A pistol floated in front of her, and she pulled the trigger, putting a bullet between the ape’s eyes. The daemon shuddered, then fell limp. Its fur started to disintegrate, but unless it suffered massive trauma, the process could last up to an hour.

She tossed the trooper over to a side, where he tried to get his bearings. Gwendith dove back into the buried car and retrieved the other two behind her, who happened to be the twins. Braden was recovering his aplomb, but Orrin was shivering. He was wrapped up in several layers of jackets and parkas, but he was still shivering in the cold. His antennae looked frozen into his hair.

A side effect of his Chaos change, Gwendith thought.

Back out they went, and her attention returned to the battle. Only…there was none. After the apes rolled down the hill, the rest of them retreated. Thinking back, there had been only a few of the daemons, less than a dozen. Strange. The creatures hadn’t attacked in such low numbers since the start of the campaign.

The other apes had been killed, but it took several minutes before the convoy could resume its journey. The car she’d been in had to be righted, and then, quickly inspected for damage. As were all the landcraft that had been struck.

All the while, they heard loud explosions, plumes of smoke, fiery beams, and golden lights coming from the battlefield. It was at least one mountain over, farther than Gwendith expected. The earth trembled at the force of their battle, and the soldiers looked in awe and not a little amount of fear.

“Are they even human?” one soldier murmured.

Gwendith shook her head, but didn’t deign to respond. Braden raised an important point, however.

“If we go there, can we even help?”

Gwendith answered, “No, we’ll just get in the way. But I’d rather be there when she needs us rather than not.”

After a long moment, the twins nodded, and so, they resumed the journey.

Half an hour later, they were forced to stop again. There was a daemon ape standing across the way. But unlike the others of its kind, this one wasn’t completely crimson. The ape’s face looked careworn and weary, and its fur was more grey than red. It raised a hand as they approached, and spoke in clear Old Imperial.

“Parley.”

________

Even as Yuriko crossed her blades with the Remnant’s quarterstaff, at least half of her mind dwelt on how to convert Radiant to personal Animus. She had created Radiant energy from the ambient Chaos, which helped form her Ennoia. None of Damien’s current memories told her how each level of Enlightenment was meant to progress, just that the next one was called Colligia.

It was also at that level of Enlightenment that she had to be to progress past Transformation and into Manifestation. However, since she was still in Actualisation, her Ennoia’s state of Enlightenment was not really part of her considerations.

If she managed to progress, or even if she took a solid step forward, then perhaps she would have a chance against that Femorant Queen even if all else remained the same. The Remnant didn’t feel like he was at the Queen’s level, but then again, he fought in a completely different manner.

Ambient Chaos changed to Radiant energy. The reverse must be possible. The question was, how?

She fought conservatively. Using the waltz only in the moments when she saw him beginning to strike, and once she ascertained the trajectory and whether or not he intended to feign an attack, she shut it off. As such, her net Animus gain was at about one lumen every ten or so seconds. Slow going, but at least she wasn’t in any danger of running out anytime soon. Her Adamant Guardian Seals had been completed, and she had three ready to deploy.

The Remnant must be running on fumes too. He hadn’t brought out the darklight since a while ago, and was content just striking at her physically. That she didn’t remain at range probably had something to do with it. She couldn’t fight that way for long anyway, as infusing Animus into metal bearings cost her too much.

They exchanged blows for minutes, then broke off into a staredown for another minute or so. The Remnant’s staff techniques, after becoming familiar with them, turned out to be at a lower level than she expected. Once she got used to them, she realised that the patterns of attack had already repeated several times, and from then on, she could intuit where and how he would strike just from seeing which way his muscles twitched, or which foot moved first. All he had going for him was his insane speed and strength, which was a level higher than hers.

She was more agile, however, and being smaller, had more room to maneuver, especially when she closed in. The fact that she could maneuver her body using only her Animakinesis seemed to throw him off. She’d evaded several near fatal blows that way already, just by shifting herself sideways by a fraction of an inch, at just the right time to avoid a strike, and at the same time, give her an advantageous position.

She’d reforged her sunblades twice already, after they broke on his obsidian skin. In exchange, his protection was cracked and molten at several vital points. She focused her strikes on his sides, at his armpit where it would provide a clear path to his lungs and heart if she actually managed to get through. That part of his shell looked like melted candle wax that had solidified, which meant that the thickness was no longer uniform.

Neither of them spoke after the first few words they exchanged at the start. The crater of destruction had spread over a longstride wide. Burning trees lined the perimeter, and the cliff had been flattened completely.

She…was actually already losing interest in this challenge. At least with regards to weapon techniques. The only remaining thing to do was find a way to overwhelm his defences and then end him. She thought that he probably had an issue with Damien…actually, he probably hated her Ancestor enough to try this foolishness. Did Damien kill his parents, master, or something?

Damien didn’t answer, but she had a feeling that was it. The Remnant mentioned a name…but she couldn’t quite remember. With a deep frown, she forced her mind to recall, and a name did echo back into her memories. Belzarius.

Belzarius.

BELZARIUS.

Her mind jolted and she almost got her head bashed in. She leapt back as far as she could, then threw several sunshards and metal ball bearings at the Remnant, who casually swatted them away by spinning his staff.

The name reverberated in her mind, and she could almost feel the august attention turning her way. But it was a bit off. As though it didn’t quite resonate properly. The gaze slipped away, having failed to notice her, and she heaved a sigh of relief.

The Remnant noticed, however, and his scowl turned to a grin. “So. Some part of Them lives.”

“Did you not know?” Yuriko asked curiously.

“Zaru’sia is not called the Eternal Prison for nothing.”

“So why are you here, then? Surely, it wasn’t merely to fight me?” Yuriko asked.

The Remnant laughed and shook his head, “No. The orphans had broken the seal, but alas, it is already closing.” His grin widened and he guffawed. “Already, this projection’s strength is waning. You…Ancient. You are not the Slayer. Curious. I thought you were.”

“Who is this Slayer? The Lord of the Dawn?” Yuriko asked, but more to make sure she wasn’t mistaken. She did remember Damien calling himself by that sobriquet.

“Yes. But you reek like he does. But if you were the Slayer, even at my true strength, you would have killed me in one blow. Or toyed with me.” The Remnant slammed his quarterstaff into the earth. “The end of my time draws near. I have your Anima signature now. Wash your neck, Ancient. I will be coming for it soon.”

Yuriko growled. “Come at me if you dare!” She hurled the sunblades at him, but his howling laughter was the only thing left as his body stiffened up. The blood ceased flowing and he crumbled into stones the size of her fist.

He ran away! Burning Moon! Yuriko screamed in annoyance and rage, then stomped hard on the ground, which then shattered and created another crater a dozen paces wide and two deep.

Then, she dropped down and assumed a seated meditation pose, shucking her anger and irritation away. She was close to a breakthrough, and she would be swarmfodder if she let him take that away from her, too.