Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 154 - Convergence

A pixie rushed him from the right, abandoning ranged casting entirely as it rushed at him with its claws extended. It was fast, closing the distance in a fraction of a second. Lumi brought the Void Sphere sweeping back toward himself in a wide arc, forcing the pixie to pull up short or be caught in the orb’s destructive radius.

It teleported up.

Lumi pointed his wand at it with a satisfied grin. He dissipated the Void Sphere. "Lance of Light!" He was still in dark mode, meaning that in comparison, light magic would do less damage.

Less didn’t mean little.

The pixie saw the lances of light swiftly head in its direction, but could teleport away or dodge at any time. Seeing his grin, the pixie panicked. Surely there must be an unseen trick! Before the lance was anywhere near the pixie, it teleported away yet again.

The lances didn’t hesitate. They smoothly changed direction to the pixie’s new destination.

"Wh-" Teleport was not able to be cast in time as the pixie was swiftly skewered by several light lances.

Another volley of green bursts came from two angles simultaneously. Lumi stepped right to dodge one, and absorbed the other across the back of his arm.

[HP -96]

On the spot, the damage became no more as a regenerative light fell over him from Lena.

The pixies were beginning to understand the shape of the problem. They were dropping like flies, and what had they done? The woman was a healer, and they both maintained a powerful mana barrier which converted the majority of the damage into MP damage instead.

Realistically, they had only managed to deplete their mana by an unknown amount.

They backed off and reconverged. This time, they all changed their sights to Lena. They charged.

If they hit her fast enough, hard enough, all at once, the heal wouldn’t matter. That was the plan forming between them without words.

All of their attention shifted to Lena.

"Void Sphere..." This time, Lumi had no intention of using the spell.

He had been maintaining Void Sphere throughout the fight. Doing so, he had been feeling the light energy flowing through him. By the principles outlined in the book, Convergence, as light was in dark, he filled himself with light by using dark...

Light: 100%

Dark: 100%

Now, with the gauges full, it was time for Convergence.

He had been waiting for this moment since the second he saw the pixies rushing them. One of his intentions for his first fight against the pixies was this. He needed to test out his new mode and skill.

He exhaled slowly.

"Convergence."

All at once, he felt his body fill with overwhelming energy. In dark mode, he had felt stronger than normal. This was not as simple as adding light, and thus feeling twice as strong.

It was a contradictory feeling, as if he was a god, and yet at the same time as if he was about to be torn apart. He glanced at the pixies, and didn’t feel the slightest bit of threat. Instead, he felt that their life and death was fully within his control.

Yet, even the contradiction felt contradictory. He felt like he would be torn apart, yet he felt stable. Entirely stable.

Despite the pixies rushing at Lena, he closed his eyes to focus. She could handle herself, but he needed to understand this new state.

He inspected his own body, and felt that he could no longer distinguish between the dark and light energies. The immense complexity of magic would endlessly awe him.

At first rank, light was simply a form created by mana to act as an attack. Then, light and dark were energies that he would retain. Now, they converged into one.

He focused on the feeling of breaking apart. It wasn’t that light and dark were tearing at each other, much the opposite. They formed a cohesion and bond of power beyond mere addition. It strained at his body, causing him to lightly grunt.

Yet Convergence would not end because of mere bodily strain. It would end when the elements could no longer sustain such fusion.

Feeling that he had already exhausted a significant portion of his time, he opened his eyes once more, glaring at the pixies.

They were about to land their strikes on Lena.

Lumi shifted his gaze up.

Lena looked over, despite the fact that attacks were about to land on her. She couldn’t help herself. Lumi was so handsome. An ethereal aura mixing light and dark appeared around him, his eyes shining bright with those energies. He tilted his wand up. "Torment."

Mana lightly shimmered in the air in front of a moving pixie. Momentum brought the pixie into the area despite it noticing.

Light and dark shimmered together, forming an orb of equilibrium at the pixie’s location. It instantly exploded in a shower of gore.

[EXP +199]

His gaze shifted to the others.

"Torment."

Pop!

Like a balloon, a pixie exploded. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"What!?"

"But how!"

"But he’s only..."

For the first time, the pixies, creatures which even disregard their lives, felt fear. They saw the situation, and couldn’t fathom a way out.

Pop!

Another pixie exploded.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The orb created by Torment was created too quickly for the pixies to reasonably dodge. The damage dealt was too high to survive even a single hit.

Pop!

The last of the pixies went down.

"Hah." A breath left Lumi as the energy left him, his eyes returning to their original form. His entire body trembled, causing him to drop down to his knees and let go of his wand.

"Lumi!" Lena ran over, worried. She held the man. "Heal!"

She examined Lumi for a couple moments, and finding no change, scowled. "Heal! Heal! Heal!" She continuously cast the spell to no avail. "Damn it! Lumi, why isn’t it working?!"

"Calm..." He had taken a moment to gather his breath, and put a hand up to stop her. "I am alright. I am merely exhausted."

"Why?" Was Lena’s instant question. She tilted her head in confusion. "Didn’t I heal?"

Lumi gathered himself onto his feet. "You should know that priests cannot heal everything."

Lena nodded. "Something like that, I’m supposing? Ok, yeah." She then shifted her gaze to where the pixies had been destroyed. The field was stained in blood. "Wow..." Her eyes sparkled, and she stared back at Lumi.

She stared straight into his eyes, getting closer to him. "I love the way you cause death. It’s so beautiful."

"Beautiful or not," Lumi shifted the conversation onwards. "Did you notice something about the pixies?"

Lena flashed a grin. "How awesome of a training dummy they were for you?"

The comment got a smile from Lumi, though he continued. "Perhaps, but what I meant was the insane amount of EXP relative to their levels."

"Oh." Lena blinked. "What were their levels again? Like...35 average? Hm." She looked down as she mentally went over regular rates. "You are right. Is that why we’re here?"

Lumi nodded. "One of the reasons. However," He raised a finger, and emphasized. "We do not attack first. After all... we must go to the pixie queen."

"Ooh!" Lena grew excited. "Diplomacy time!"

Lumi met her gaze and a grin began to form. "Nothing like that. We’re here for something you might personally find a bit more interesting. Causing a civil war."

"Woah..." Lena’s eyes widened. "Something so cool!?"

Lumi took a look at the bloodied field. Of course Lena would call something like that cool. But she wasn’t wrong. Pixies were an enemy, and killing the enemy was good. He looked at her and responded. "Yes."

Lena clasped her hands together behind her back, and rocked lightly with a grin. "Tell me, tell me~"

Lumi glanced at her. "Pixies are not unified."

"Well, obviously," Lena gestured vaguely at the remains. "They were practically competing to die."

Lumi let out a quiet breath through his nose. "That is part of it, yes. But it goes deeper than simple disregard for one another."

He began walking, stepping over the remains without a second glance. Lena followed closely behind him, practically glued to his side.

"Pixies form factions," he continued. "Small, volatile ones. They gather around individuals with slightly greater strength, or more often, slightly greater cunning. These factions are not stable. They collapse, reform, and betray each other constantly."

Lena tilted her head. "So... they’re all just waiting to stab each other in the back?"

"Yes."

"Ooh..." Her grin widened. "I like them already."

Lumi ignored that. "Under normal circumstances, these factions are kept in check by a singular existence."

"The queen?" Lena asked.

"The queen," Lumi confirmed. "She does not control them in the traditional sense. She simply exists above them. An absolute difference in power. Enough that none would dare oppose her directly."

"And we’re going to change that?" Lena’s tone carried a hint of anticipation.

Lumi nodded. "Indeed. Now, if a war broke out... who could benefit?"

"The winner." Lena replied instantly, then went into thought. They held no stakes in the conflict. They can’t win. So, how could they benefit? An idea popped into her mind.

"Mercenaries!"