Lindon swept in, but Fallen Blades and Steel Dust moved in perfect harmony. A Forged black blade rose from beneath him as a silver cloud closed in from the sides.
Dross sped up his perception, and Lindon projected a dome of the Hollow Domain overhead while he reached out his hand beneath him.
“Break,” Lindon commanded. It was one of the easiest commands for the Void Icon, but the Forged blade of sword and shadow madra didn’t crumble entirely before it hit him.
He caught it with his white palm and began to Consume. That wasn’t difficult. His arm instinctively wanted to devour everything; using the Consume technique was more like relaxing his control.
But the Sage of Fallen Blades’ technique was dense. The rising blade pushed Lindon higher and higher before he finished absorbing its power.
Dross opened his void key to swallow the fragments of Fallen Blades madra as he vented and Forged them into a form he could keep, but that took only a fraction of Lindon’s attention. The life Herald was barely holding his own, so Lindon began a Void Dragon’s Dance at the same time as he lashed out with whips of dragon’s breath.
Fallen Blades defended himself while Steel Dust merged with his particles and blew away on the wind, re-forming next to Lindon.
The Sage swung a mace with force that rivaled a Herald, but that force met Wavedancer.
While it had no binding, Wavedancer was a masterpiece. A perfect conduit for madra and willpower, it let Lindon channel enough force to meet the Sage of Steel Dust’s attack and deflect it.
The flying sword was knocked aside as well, but Lindon landed an Empty Palm on the man’s midsection with his left hand while reaching up to the halo with his right.
Steel Dust drifted away again, but Lindon had grabbed a handful of the Silent King’s madra. He swallowed that piece, and the Dreadgod’s will surged into him. Between him, Dross, and Subject One’s arm, they crushed that remaining will and added the compatible power to Dross.
[This madra comes with more memories than I expected,] Dross observed. [Delicious, delicious memories.]
Lindon readied himself for Steel Dust to reappear, but the man tumbled onto the war-ravaged ground and struggled with himself. After a moment, he broke the technique himself and raised up onto his knees.
Dross made a disappointed ‘tch.’
A contingent of the Silent King’s subjects noticed and launched a barrage of techniques at Steel Dust, but the Sage Forged a rapidly vibrating cloud that shielded him. He nodded to Lindon and dissolved into dust himself, blowing off into the wind.
Lindon looked forward to the day he could transport himself so easily.
A scream alerted him to the fact that half of the life Herald had been burned away by the wild Remnant of the Sun Sage, who was struggling with its own halo of the Silent King.
Lindon swept through before the technique could settle, Consuming the flame and then turning on the Remnant.
The fire madra went into his Blackflame core, the amount he could purify went to replenish his pure core, and the rest of the powers separated neatly or were Forged and dropped into his void key.
[Now his loved ones will have nothing to bury.]
Lindon wondered if Dross was trying to improve his concentration or break it as he rushed to the Herald’s side.
Fortunately, the man had regenerated already and was fighting Fallen Blades to a standstill, allowing Lindon to make the difference. Moments later, he was flying away with another Silent King halo dissolving in his veins.
Dross giggled. [From their suffering, we grow strong.]
Each halo of the Silent King was scaled to the spirit of the one it affected, so Lindon was indeed benefiting from a feast of powerful energy. His spirit and his body were both growing at a terrifying rate; his muscles were suffused with life and blood essence, his cores were swollen with power, and soulfire burned in him like a silver sun.
Dross speculated on whether he was going to set a record for the youngest in history to advance to Monarch, but Lindon spared his worry for Dross himself.
These dream techniques were mostly going to Dross, and the mind-spirit was feeling…strong. If he had a real, physical body, it would be rippling with muscle.
Lindon felt a pang of regret as he realized that the old Dross would have immediately sent an image of the spirit flexing muscular tentacles.
Dross noticed the direction of his thoughts and mused aloud. [You’re still holding on to the old me.]
It’s not important.
It really wasn’t. Moongrave was on fire.
Lindon fueled his Thousand-Mile Cloud and zipped back to the city. The battle between Sages and Heralds had tilted, but the ordinary sacred artists were in chaos. The Silent King had obviously ordered the Golds to go wild in the city, because buildings were toppling and flower groves were burning.