Chapter 274: Divine Spark
For what purpose did he need power? What was his goal? Coop had his current answer at the forefront of his mind, immersed as he was in developing his mastery over Inheritance of the Mists. There was nothing he wanted more than to smash his current target - simple and to the point.
Every fiber of his being was focused on his current action. Despite all of his combat sense, the messiness of the surrounding battle, his broader concerns for his allies, his own progress, the state of humanity, and all of the other pressures of the event, for a fraction of a second only he and his target existed. The rest of the world was shrouded in a self-imposed veil. Any attempt to break his concentration would be for nought. No enticements and no temptations could shift the Revenant’s fixation away from its prey.
He wasn’t sweeping an army away, nor was he becoming the harbinger of death and destruction. It was one swing. An isolated action necessitating zero guidance.
Time slowed as yet another possession took place. Coop maintained his immersion, engrossed in the singular crushing action, aiming for a demonstration of power that went beyond overkill. He had something to prove with regard to his skill usage.
The ethereal morning star was raised above his head, securely grasped with both hands, as he leapt up and toward a skittering raid boss. His knees were bent as he flew through the air, abs stretched, and back curved in preparation for whipping the weapon down upon his target.
In contrast to his taut muscles, his expression was calm. He looked down at his target, eyes locked in as his breath escaped his lungs. His consciousness expanded, while his focus pinpointed into his motion, fully entering the zone.
Dozens of Elite Primal Constructs were frozen in place beneath him, desperately reaching for their soaring adversary, but falling short in every possible way, like a dramatic renaissance painting. They couldn’t even succeed in subduing his attention, let alone suppressing his actions, as he rose above.
Bolts of energy were fired from the orbs at the ends of twisted metal staves, physical projectiles shot from arm cannons, blades fiercely snapped up into the air, and polearms jabbed at the Champion, all sluggishly sliding in his direction before revealing one of two fates.
Either the attacks would miss and their ineffectiveness was never realized, or they landed true and were forced out of the way by sheer momentum, like hollow twigs being used to stop a speeding semi truck, bouncing off his armor and layered defenses as wisps of mana flickered across the surface. For a single attack, he had become the personification of vehemence, asserting his will on the battlefield.
A noticeable amount of abyssal mana trailed the spikes of the mace. The dark mana mixed with the more familiar ghostly mists, painting the solid manifestation with patterns of inscrutable black energy that were mirrored from within his set of gladiator armor. The patterns flared as the defenses in his equipment contended with Construct attacks.
Instead of 1 out of every 100 wisps of mana, a small enough amount to go unnoticed by someone unfamiliar with the regular designs, the abyss was making up closer to 10% of the effluence after his level of Reverence ranked up. The darker streaks stood out against the cool backdrop of aquamarine vapor that normally accompanied his manifestations, all trailing behind his aggressive motion, transforming him into the ethereal gladiator he had established within the assimilation.
Despite revealing the growing fusion between his affinities, the newer color still seemed primarily decorative. Coop had already stopped worrying about it. So long as it didn’t negatively impact his combat fitness, he didn’t mind the aesthetic change, though he suspected it was slightly more than purely cosmetic. Another line in the obscure damage formula devised by the system was irrelevant to him as long as his enemies were defeated when he struck them.