Chapter 124

A Rite of Banishment was a relatively simple ritual. It needed only three components to work. The first was that he who had performed the summoning had to be the one to carve the runes. This was not always possible since when spirits went free, they usually prioritized killing any who had control over them, but there were ways around it, even if they significantly weakened the end result.The second was that the summoned creature had to willingly walk into the circle. Again, this wasn’t an easy task, but subterfuge and guile often sufficed.

The last and most important factor was that both sides had to have fulfilled the terms of the summoning.

Normally, it wouldn’t be hard to determine if this requirement had been met. However, in this particular instance, the summoning had been done by four different people with different desired outcomes. While they all wanted the result to be the wyverns’ defeat, that wasn’t all the requirements they placed on the summon, whether consciously or unconsciously.

Nick was pretty sure he hadn’t accidentally fed the colossus a secondary objective, but given that it had copied his , which he’d certainly not meant to allow, he couldn’t be sure. What he did know was that the priests had wanted the original summons to possess him—whether permanently or just long enough to win wasn’t clear, but it didn’t really matter, given that had he allowed it, the divine presence would have fundamentally changed who he was. Therefore, It made sense that this twisted creature would consider him its highest priority.

All in all, this was a gamble. If the Rite of Banishment hit the three requirements, even if just obliquely, then the monster would be forcibly ejected from reality. If it lacked even one, it would not affect it.

The runes began glowing as Nick fed them the meager mana he had left, praying to whatever entity was listening that it would work.

As soon as the colossus stepped fully onto the circle, a glowing golden barrier sprung up around it, cutting it off from the environment. Nick felt the magic go to work, tearing away at its connection to the material world.

The monster didn’t seem to appreciate the surprise, as it released an earth-shaking growl and slammed its fists against the barrier, but it was too late. Nothing it could do from the inside would break the ritual until it had fulfilled its purpose.

Nick watched with bathed breath, waiting for the monster to start dissipating.

When a few more seconds went by, and nothing happened, he felt his shoulders sag, but dutifully turned and started running again. Behind him, the sound of the circle shattering as it found no purchase seemed like a death knell, but he spared it no thought, consumed as he was with putting as much distance between himself and the colossus.

A flash of lightning streaked from the opposite side; Thunder boomed, and the ground shook, but the monster absorbed the lightning arcs once more. Arthur growled in frustration and dived away just in time to avoid being snatched up by the molten limb that lashed out. He tumbled across the ground, swearing, but was unharmed as the colossus rumbled on.

Nick felt the rush of frantic footfalls behind him. Men rushed about, shooting skills and arrows at it, drawing the monster’s attention away from him. Once it had turned around, Eugene shouted, “Back! Everyone, back!”

Then he clutched something to his chest, a red amulet the size of a walnut, before smashing it against his breastplate. A dome of translucent fire erupted forth, expanding around him and most of the surviving soldiers.

The colossus roared in indignation. It swelled with dark flames, spewing death from its arms in their direction, while men scrambled to huddle behind the flame shield. Despite being in the opposite direction, Nick felt the heat on his back, and the edges of his hair crisped up. A wave of flames drifted too close to the two priests’ bodies, disintegrating them in a flash.

The red barrier flickered as the colossus hammered it with another wave, cracking at the edges. Eugene grimaced, pushing more power into the artifact. However strong the defensive enchantment was, however, it wasn’t designed to withstand an onslaught of near-divine black flame. They might have mere moments before it collapsed.

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Nick forced himself to face the single option left. He fumbled inside his tattered cloak, retrieving the small, ebony-lacquered box that Ogden had entrusted to him before their expedition.

Opening it felt like a betrayal of everything that had taught him caution with unknown arcana. But the colossus was unstoppable, driven by a savage hunger for Nick’s essence that would see it destroy them all. If this final recourse was lethal, so be it. They’d be dead anyway.

The box in his hands was small and unassuming. “Only when you’re sure there’s no other way.” Ogden had said. Well, he definitely felt sure now.

The colossus must have sensed something because it turned, abandoning its attempt despite being so close to victory. More black flames coiled around its arms, sending visible distortions through the air. The ground quaked again, and Nick stumbled, deafened by the roaring of his own blood. Swallowing, he flicked the box’s catch open with a trembling thumb.

The lid rose, revealing a small, dull green sphere the size of a large marble resting on a satin cushion—a monster core. Unlike typical cores that Nick had seen, though, this one was polished into an orb, and it bore a mesmerizing array of microscopic symbols etched across its surface. It looked almost like an elaborate puzzle box in miniature, each shape overlapping the others in swirling, fractal patterns.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Nick felt a lump of dread in his throat. Then, a static sensation raced up his arm, and the green core lifted gently from the cushion, levitating under its own power.

A feral bellow ripped from the colossus as if in protest. At the same time, it threw a raging torrent of black flame directly at Nick in a final attempt to obliterate him. There was no time to dodge, nor did he have the power to shield himself. His heart pounded, expecting immolation. But at that moment, the core flared with an emerald glow, and the black flames disintegrated midair, collapsing into harmless particles that drifted away like motes of dust. Nick was left unscathed, blinking in shock.

A calm, feminine voice reverberated across the battlefield, tinny and oddly mechanical: “Stage One: Nigredo—Initiated.” Nick froze, feeling goosebumps rise on his skin. The men cowering behind the flame shield gaped at him in confusion.

Reacting with fury, the colossus began rumbling his way and unleashed more flame. Churning black fire soared in thick arcs, each one easily potent enough to obliterate him. But as soon as they neared the levitating core, they vanished into green sparks.

The colossus roared a second time, settling into position by solidifying the molten cinders around its feet, and unleashed a plume of volcanic ash that crackled with stolen electricity—yet it, too, was dissolved upon nearing the orb.

Nick had no idea what was happening, but it was going much better than he’d feared. This likely meant the downside was yet to come, or Ogden wouldn’t have cautioned him so seriously.

His entire attention was fixated on the green sphere. The lines of runes across its surface glowed now, swirling in patterns that Nick’s senses could barely begin to parse.

Then, suddenly, it drifted away from Nick, gliding forward. The monster seemingly recognized the threat as it lurched backward, attempting to retreat enough to prepare an even more powerful attack. Crackling black streams surged from its arms, twisting toward the orb in a last-ditch effort to disrupt it. But like those before it, these, too, dissolved into nothingness before making contact. Even the clumps of molten soot that the colossus hurled at it disintegrated.

The men behind the barrier watched in stunned silence. Arthur limped to the edge, blood streaking his face and his sword hanging limply at his side, while dragging Marthas with him, whose face was twisted in pain and whose eyes were locked on the orb. It was hard to say whether he recognized the device or if he was just as clueless as the rest.

Finally, the green core hovered no more than ten feet from the colossus’s chest. The monster attempted to swat it away, but its limb simply vanished upon contact, dissolving into motes that scattered in the wind. It bellowed in rage, rearing back, yet half of its torso was gone in the next instant. Then, the orb pulsed again, and a surge of emerald light flared across the battlefield.

The colossus ceased to exist. One moment, it was a towering mass of cinders; the next, it was nothing more than a swirl of dusty air, drifting away in the breeze. There was no meltdown, no apocalyptic explosion—it was simply gone—erased from reality.

Nick choked on a gasp, struggling to process what he had seen. The orb had undone the colossus in an instant, but the phenomenon did not stop there. All across the clearing, the charred remains of wyverns glowed with greenish motes. Cracked scales and severed claws—any piece infused with leftover magic crumbled, disintegrating into faint lights. The half-buried bodies of fallen men also dissolved. Even the churning clouds circling the corners of the dungeon vanished, leaving only harsh sunlight and swirling dust.

The same faint voice reverberated again, unsettlingly calm: “Stage Two: Albedo—About to Commence.” Nick shuddered, feeling the hair on his arms stand on end. From his faint knowledge of alchemy, he remembered that in certain traditions, Nigredo was the blackening or decomposition stage, while Albedo was the whitening or purification stage.

It was clearly going to follow through the subsequent phases, but since he had no idea what that might mean, he wasn’t about to celebrate.

The orb hovered in the air, pulsing softly. With each pulse, Nick felt a gentle wave of pressure on his mind, as if it were scanning or searching. His instincts screamed caution, so he turned back to his father and the battered survivors, urging them to stay behind the shield.

Arthur didn’t heed his warning and soon joined Nick, glancing warily at the orb. “What the hell is that thing?”

Nick shook his head, helpless. “Something Ogden gave me in case things were desperate. I had no idea what it would do, but he said it’s extremely dangerous.”

“And what is it doing?” Eugene said from behind the diminishing red flame shield, staring at the orb as it levitated motionless.

Nick swallowed. “I don’t know, but I think we should leave. Now.”

The artifact was seemingly content to keep pulsing, but he wouldn’t wager on it lasting long. Sooner or later, it was going to progress, and Albedo meant purification. He did not want to be subjected to that.

A scramble ensued as the men snapped out of their stupor. Their carefully arranged packs had been scattered during the battle, and no one, not even the greediest adventurers, felt inclined to waste more time searching for them.

Just as they stepped beyond the battlefield and back into the forest, the artificial voice came again. “Preparations complete. Bringing light and clarity to the Prima Materia.”