Kalokaíri activated her own buffs, starting with [Maelstrom Manifestation] (-20%HP, +10% DR and +10% Damage boost) which brought her 595DPH to 655.

  She then activated [Sol Surge] (-50% HP, 2x DMG) which cut her HP from 1090 to 545 and boosted her Damage to 1250.

  Finally, she cast [Renewal Blossom] (-50%W, +50%HP) which restored her health after consuming half of her 500W.

  She now stood before Haki as a stellar object of her own right and what little focus he had to spare noticed that Chang and his Goddess had fled the scene.

  “Herald! Run back to the edge of the forest!”

  Without missing a beat, the cowardly knight led the Dragon Warriors and his men back from where they came while still carrying Kutsunga.

  Kalokaíri, politely enough, waited for them to leave before sending her Spear forth to impale Haki who deflected the attack before raising both of his swords to hack at the woman in gold.

  Kalokaíri saw this and immediately dashed backwards, letting Haki strike the ground, resulting in an impact that excavated a humongous chunk of the forest, sending it flying outwards.

  And, as if its force was too much for the world to immediately register, the impact from when Haki deflected Kalokaíri's thrust finally rippled through the ground and air.

  The splintered remains of trees immediately burst into flames and the ground was blown away like sand on a dune.

  This force was nothing to Haki who’s stone skin was unshaven by the Maelstrom created in this battle.

  [Go forth, Haki. Shape the world in our selfishness.]

  A grin grew on his face and this infuriated Kalokaíri who tried to impale Haki again but, this time, she cast [Infernal Arrow] (-15W, 55DMG) fourteen times, using up almost all of her remaining willpower to send forth a javelin that carried 770DMG bringing the total DMG of the coming attack up to 2020.

  “DIE!!!” Kalokaíri screamed and, since there was no feasible way for Haki to avoid the attack in time, he deflected the spear with his stone sword but had no way of avoiding the fiery javelin which charred his entire left arm.

  While he had avoided taking any pure physical damage, the javelin’s heat still managed to reach him and while his stone skin may have absorbed 80% of the 770DMG, he still took a mean 154DMG bringing his HP down from 707 to 553.

  Haki needed to end the fight quickly since he didn’t have any HP to spare so he swung his swords upwards to cut at Kalokaíri's arms and, while she was able to avoid this attack by dashing backwards, Haki subsequently lunged forward while swinging his swords downwards, successfully striking her shoulders and splintering her golden armour.

  This sent so much force into her body, her suit of mystical metal warped out of its once prestigious shape and all this brought her HP down to 660.

  Kalokaíri spat out a ton of blood before widely lashing out at Haki who also abandoned any hesitation as he charged towards her as well.

  [Kalo, be careful!] An unseen ā??al cried as the two combatants clashed weapons again.

  At this point, so much of the Forest of Briars had been blown away, that the ancient underground city beneath had been partly unearthed.

  The two now stood in the central plaza of the Draconic city which was cast in the dark of moonless night for what must have been the first time in an eternity.

  Haki attacked first this time, trying to decapitate Kalokaíri who blocked with her Spear before kicking Haki in the gut, sending him crashing backwards.

  [Name: Haki

  HP: 533/1390]

  Kalokaíri then tried impaling him again but Haki rolled to the side, letting her strike the ground with incredible force.

  He then kicked her ankle, toppling her over before sprinting onto his feet and straddling her only for her to try and stab him yet again.

  Haki dropped his stone sword and held the spear's razor edge while trying to slice open her neck with his remaining sword but Kalokaíri held his blade with her own free hand, meaning all they could do was glare at each other as their hands bled.

  “WHAT ARE YOU EVEN FIGHTING FOR?!” Kalokaíri screamed through a battered helmet.

  Haki winced and hissed as her Spear slowly sliced through his hand.

  “I’m… fighting for myself!” Haki grinned through bloodied teeth and this infuriated Kalokaíri even more.

  “I suggest… you do the same-“

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  Kalokaíri used the last of her strength to force her Spear through Haki’s hand, slicing off all five of his fingers before stabbing him in the abdomen.

  Haki let out a wild Roar before forcing his blade down onto her neck, decapitating her but just as her head was separated from its body, a loud shriek tore apart the air.

  ā??al then appeared before Haki and unceremoniously swatted him away with the back of her hand before wrapping her arms around Kalokaíri.

  The two then disappeared along with Kalokaíri’s spear leaving Haki on the cold hard ground as he bled.

  He still had 303HP meaning he wasn’t going to die but the pain was excruciating.

  He thought about using [Renewal Blossom] (-50%W, +50%HP) but Maranam appeared by his side and warned him against the action.

  [Should your willpower drop to zero, you will forever lose your sense of self.] She cautioned while gently resting his head on her lap as she sat with him in the centre of the excavated city.

  Haki nodded and instead chose to [Vitality Surge] (-15W, +50HP) fourteen times, using 210 of his 225W to restore 700 of his HP bringing it up to 1003.

  Haki let out a muffled cry as the hole in his belly slowly closed although it didn’t heal completely.

  He then deeply sighed while resting his head on Maranam’s soft thighs.

  “I thought… Goddesses were incorporeal. How did she manage to hit me?” Haki wheezed as Maranam gently ran her hands through his now dull red hair.

  [That was simply a Manifestation of her will.] As usual, Maranam’s voice was soft and her cold breath served to soothe the knocking pain in Haki’s head.

  So much so that his eyes began to close, and he dozed off slowly.

  “Mara…” He softly muttered.

  [Yes, Haki?]

  “I… never had a real choice up until now. But your will has always been yours to actuate. That’s why I gave you that wonderfully passionate speech.”

  Maranam silently chuckled as a smile formed on her face.

  “I want us to be free to decide what fates we ultimately suffer… even if we damn ourselves… forever.*

  .

  ..

  Haki’s sore eyes tore open and he found himself on a grand stone pedestal that sat at the fore of a gigantic cylindrical chamber of dark stone that was lined with intricate carvings that depicted innumerable dragons onto its Dome ceiling.

  Chief among them was the dragon he saw in his vision.

  The Supreme Dragon.

  Haki painfully coughed as he sat up, revealing to himself his entourage at the foot of the pedestal.

  The Dragon Warriors, Herald, the Undead Knights and a despondent Kutsunga all sat idly as if they had been told to do so.

  “Mmm…” Haki tiredly groaned while looking himself over.

  His clothes were in tatters and a large scar went across his abdomen.

  It was almost entirely healed but the burning pain felt as fresh as when it had been given to him.

  “Looks like we’re going to be on the defensive.” He thought aloud before standing with a loud grunt.

  “The champion of Vā?kkai never made an appearance?” He asked.

  “N-no, your Lordship,” Herald answered as he and his fellow knights stood attentively.

  “Mmm… and here I thought that quiet fellow would take advantage of our moment of weakness as I slept to strike. I guess he’s not the type or he’s playing at something else.” Haki mused while stretching his arms, the left of which was covered in faint burn marks.

  Haki then finally turned to his father who gave him a tired glare.

  “I’m sure this is the last thing you expected to happen, mmm? But rejoice, Father, for you are now witness to the dominion of the gods, right Mara?”

  A small cloud of white smoke appeared next to Haki and from it, Maranam appeared.

  The Dragon Warriors and Undead Knights knelt and this made Haki squint a little.

  He set aside his silly jealousy and stood up to address everyone.

  “Ahem! As it stands, we are enemies of the entire empire of Mahali and while I have long since accepted the death I am due, that doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over and die.” Haki grinned making Kutsunga roll his eyes.

  “I may have been a little… enthusiastic in setting a course for Qaya and while it is still a potential foothold, I think it would be best if we took the Forest of Briars completely. This place is supposedly the home of many a creature. Herald?”

  The knight nervously stepped forward.

  “T-this place sits near the centre of the thorny forest and there are two major groups of creatures that call these woods home. To the north, is the swarm of Moon Beetles, elephant-sized monsters that have dark, steel-hard carapaces and wield the power of Frost. To the south are the Kudamen. Tall, brutish abominations that look like a nightmarish mixture of man and goat.”

  “Oh? I’ve heard of both of them. How did they come to call this world home, anyway?”

  [They were among the many who came to be during the Age of the Dragons and while they aided mankind in taking the Ruler’s Charge, they proved far too barbaric even in the relatively civilized Age of Man, prompting the second Emperor, Lucian of House Tsuki, to drive them into the Forest Briars. The Beetles suffered a similar fate after the defeat of the dragons. True to their name, they are beings of the distant and cold moon. They fell unto this world before even the earliest recorded history and were also deemed too dangerous and so were driven here during the Hunt for the Crescent King with the Crescent King being the most powerful of the Beetles. With that in mind, the Kudamen number in the hundreds while the Moon Beetles number in the tens of thousands.]

  Haki let out an understanding hum before raising a brow.

  “So which group do you think we should meet with first?”

  [Both have at least one Emperor candidate level member so you can expect opposition to that extent but I advise that you seek the Kudamen first.]

  Haki nodded just as one of the Dragon Warriors walked up to him.

  It then presented his swords which sat in its palm.

  Haki accepted his swords before looking his stats over.

  [Name: Haki

  Race: Human

  Coalescence Level: 100

  Available Cycle Shards: 0

  HP: 1003/1390

  W: 500/500

  DPH: 720

  DR: 80% (MAX)

  Equipment: [Training Garbs] (+9%)

  Skills and Spells: [Maranam’s Breath] (-50HP, +50DMG), [Draconic Might] (+100DMG), [Stone Skin] (+80% DR), [Healing Touch] (-1W, +10HP), [Umbral Veil] (-1W)], [Vineal Snare] (-5W, 30HP (Snare health)), [Vitality Surge] (-15W, +50HP), [Renewal Blossom] (-50%W, +50%HP), [Shadow Step] (-5W), [Abyssal Grasp] (-15, 75DMG (Shadow health)), [Void Walk] (-30W), [Eclipse Sickle] (-40W, 3 hits, 100DMG), [Ice Shard] (-1W, 10DMG), [Frost Wall] (-5W, 50DMG (Wall Health)), [Frost Call] (-15W, 55DMG), [Ice Armor] (-30W, 75DMG (Wall Health)), [Wings of Winter] (-40W), [Ember Burst] (-1W, 10DMG), [Flame Whip] (-5W, 30DMG), [Infernal Arrow] (-15W, 55DMG), [Reignition] (-40W, +80HP), [Maelstrom Manifestation] (-20%HP, +10% DR and +10% Damage boost), [Orb of Light] (-1W)

  Artefacts: [Maranam’s Aruval] (25DMG + 5 for every Coalescence Level)], [Dragon Heart] (+200HP)]

  Haki cast [Vitality Surge] (-15W, +50HP) eight times, restoring his HP to MAX and bringing his Willpower down to 380.

  Haki let out a breath that was laden with vitality and heat.

  “Alright. We’re going south… but not after taking a tour of what will soon be our home.”