The Harvester

Chapter 426: Stellar Sage's Aura

"[Voyaging Star. Rift Shuttle. Ghost of Rupture. Quintuple Burst. Dusk Mane,]" Rakna chanted in succession and within a single breath. His body lit up with purple flames, blurred, surged with internal force, and was cloaked in a mane the color of the setting sun.

"[Triad Star Aura,]" he whispered and a black and purple aura exploded out of him into a pillar of energy. He released the full potential of it at once, piercing through the inward projection of his Nephilim powers. It thundered into existence with a rumbling sound and the werewolf promptly began to rein it in before it could damage the moon.

He concentrated carefully and slowly compressed the pillar into a bubble around him. He activated Founding Intuition to help him and overclocked his mind with Eye of Symphony.

❮ ◈ ❯

Triad Star Aura has leveled up!

Triad Star Aura as Exceled!

Rakna grinned lightly at that. Oh, he knew what he wanted to do now. He didn't exactly know what it would do, but he could do it, and that was a good enough reason for him. The Chalice on his back began to shine and his tails shimmered with purple embers.

❮ ◈ ❯

Wisdom of The Soul has leveled up!

You are concentrating great amounts of soul power into Triad Star Aura!

The level boundary of Triad Star Aura is collapsing!

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Triad Star Aura has Ascended into the Divine Skill, Stellar Sage's Aura!

Your Obsidian Star has consumed the gained divinity!

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Stellar Sage's Aura has been re-classified as an Ultimate Excelled Skill!

…Error!

Stellar Sage's Aura has been re-classified as a Personal Skill!

…Error!

Stellar Sage's Aura has been re-classified as Philosopher Craft!

❮ ◈ ❯

As soon as the notification rang, his aura suddenly disappeared. It wasn't even gradual. The bubble of purple and black energy merely vanished in the blink of an eye. But for Rakna? His grin got even wider. Only he knew what was happening and he was more than happy about it.

❮ ◈ ❯

Stellar Sage's Aura

An aura directly connected and fueled by the soul of Rakna Xiorra Blade and thus intrinsically linked to its capability. Much like the Trait, Obsidian Blood of the Sage Beast, the user's aura can be transmuted, altered, and manipulated at will. It retains the primary powers of the three Mystic Stars but gains functions residing on a much larger spectrum due to its Nephal container.

Not only can the user now transmute other elements into a new aura, but it can also be exploited at a deeper level. Auras are generally defined by the combination of Internal Powers such as Mana, Mind, Willpower, Soul, Internal Force, and Intent. The more mastery one has, the more can be mixed at once. And the more Life Force one possesses, the more effective the combination.

The Sage's Aura allows the user to sacrifice the 'combination' altogether to make one of its 'components' stronger in every way. For instance, it is possible to temporarily sacrifice aura to bolster both the quantity and quality of the user's mana.

Auras naturally possess the aspect of dampening incoming magic and, to a lesser extent, physical interference. It also acts as an obstacle for space-time fluctuations and other abilities such as telekinesis. These particular traits can be strengthened in much the same way if one of the components is sacrificed instead.

Note: Transmuted Auras will be capable of absorbing the same elements it is made of, but possess a limit that does not apply to either the Everfrost or Neverwinter Stars. For example, creating an earth-based aura will not absorb Earth Spells without limit, as they are not a part of the Obsidian Star, but a byproduct of it.

❮ ◈ ❯

Of course, the first thing Rakna did was discard his aura. None of it was needed. There was barely anything his physical body and soul couldn't deal with head-on. A battle could occasionally be won or turned around with a clash of auras, but his current target was not a valid opponent for that.

Instead, his internal force surged incredibly high and Ghost of Rupture began to crackle audibly, affecting the air itself with its 'distortion'. The werewolf's muscles nearly burst with potency and his attributes and statistics began to glitch. Naturally, he reallocated attributes into Endurance.

"[Ripple of Exodus,]" he muttered and the building he stood on began to vibrate just from being in contact with him, blurring out of view like his body did.

And finally, he breathed in and activated his most powerful skill. A tenth tail appeared on his back and for an instant, the entire moon was put under a stifling weight.

It wasn't aura or life force; it was more tangible. It was like carrying tons of weight; the physical manifestation of Ki. Once cultivated to a certain extent, Internal Force would extend outside of the body while still under control.

Rakna smiled at the notifications of his Sub-Path collecting the sentiments directed at him, and kicked the ground, flapping all six of his wings at the same time.

With the full potential of his Luquila's Wings, not even the atmosphere reacted to his take-off. The building he was standing on, on the other hand, shattered upward after a delay; as if pulled up by an inexistent pole of gravity.

Soma watched from below as his child flew at speeds he could barely follow. He smiled to himself as the Moon-Dwellers and demons around him stared in shock.

Ramsa wasn't far away as she also watched it happen. After a moment, she exchanged glances with the Moon God and they nodded at each other before disappearing in flashes of Solar and Lunar Energy respectively.

* * *

As soon as Rakna had summoned his Tenth Tail, not a single entity on the moon, and neither the Earth itself, was unaware of his presence. The half-awoken Fiend immediately reacted and many altered demons exited the atmosphere to meet the incoming enemy.

A few minutes later, after traveling a massive distance through sheer speed and several Quantic Leaps, Rakna collided with the first wave of demons.

The werewolf tore through the figure of a giant minotaur-like demon, followed by a horde of more Reverie Eaters and something called Blights; strange creatures with rounded bodies, many pairs of eyes, an armor plate of demonic energy, and tentacle-like horns that served as their weapons.

Thousands of them piled upon one another and created nets with their limbs, attempting to block his advance. Rakna was forced to slow down, even as every single one of his blows created ripples in the fabric of dimensions, popping them like balloons.

Calling Sonata into his hand, he silently swung the Guandao, transferring as much Ki into it as he could. "[Blade of Rupture,]" he whispered after the movement, and in the blink of an eye, more than a hundred demons were bisected with the sound of crystal breaking.

However, even more replaced them and the werewolf snorted. "Proliferating like rats…" He uttered and his eyes flashed, prompting the return of his aura. A blinding silver-white light erupted from around him and directly incinerated a hundred more demons.

Lunisolar Flames danced around Rakna, rising from his body as his new aura. He then raised his weapon and clenched it. "[Core – Lunisolar Blaze,]" he muttered and Sonata's blade brightened the exact same way, fading to a white and silver color scheme.

"[Crescent of a Falling Star,]" he intoned and for a brief second, star energy erupted before being consumed in lunisolar fire. The attack shot out and exploded in the demons' midst, cremating them down to purple ashes.

Subsequently, Rakna focused on his aura again. Other than its evolution, he had been wanting to do something ever since his fight with Lilia. And now? It felt like he had skipped all the steps.

Without delay between his thoughts and the action, his aura began to write lines of chant around him in blazing letters. Furthermore, he spoke those words aloud as well.

"[Shards of Clarity Abide the Star's Tyranny.]"

The werewolf dashed forward as the first line of his soul's lullaby echoed in the vacuum of space, vibrating the very fabric of space in order to make them heard.

Right after, another chant was written. "[Natcattiram Viḻuntatu,]" Rakna uttered and a cocoon of crimson and white flames encased him; the Neverwinter Star merging with lunisolar power. Like a shooting star, the spell rocketed him forward at even greater speeds.

It drew a parabola, igniting every demon it passed by, sometimes even from afar. It was only after a minute or so that Rakna was forced to stop. Before he knew it, a demon corrupted by the Fiend dashed into his course and kicked him away.

The werewolf's eyes widened as his spell shattered, looking at his right arm that had been crushed into star energy. He flew back from his attacker, noting that 'he' looked completely different from the ones he had seen on the Moon or quickly defeated on his way here.

It still had charcoal-like skin, but its clothes were only half destroyed and it had a pair of unicolor red eyes. Its hair had not fallen but had been completely bleached instead, while the horns and tail it possessed were far bigger and more menacing.

Rakna narrowed his eyes. "[Ought The Blades of Fragility Rend Your Flesh,]" he continued his chant and charged in, turning Sonata into the rarely used dual-dagger form. He had already used Crystal Sight to know what he was dealing with, and while it wasn't a foe he couldn't defeat, the strength the demon originally had was worrying.

'This guy was only level 600 before being corrupted…' He thought as he parried the demon's claws with one of the daggers and stabbed toward its heart with the other. 'But now it's strong enough to be at least two hundred above that.'

The demon swiped the dagger away with its elbow, displaying battle awareness of a fully conscious being, and then kicked at the werewolf, who calmly leaned back to dodge it. But it didn't stop there and opened its mouth, instantaneously firing a breath of red-demonic energy.

"[Field of Rupture,]" Rakna uttered and a burst of Internal Force imploded the attack. Increasing his Speed Attribute, he used Comet and pierced the demon's stomach with his bare hand. As soon as he breached the creature's defenses, the lunisolar flames avidly ate the corruption.

Soon enough, the demon was purified and left unconscious. The werewolf grunted and tossed him in the opposite direction of the Earth, writing several runes on him at the same time to keep him alive until he was rescued.

"[In a Dark Firmament, The Star Prowls the Light.]"

As soon as he was done with that, he could only chuckle when at least ten more flew at him from all directions. "Well then…" He muttered and his aura shimmered, redirecting its power to create hundreds of giant winged wolves even bigger than himself. "[Wolfen Lord.]"

The summoned wolves with eagle wings howled; their entire body burning with the flames of the moon and sun. They swarmed the demons and ripped them apart with their maws before reducing them to ashes.

"[In Eternal Redemption, The Wolf Sings and Confers.]"

"[In Between The End and Beginning.]"

Rakna flew past them, leaving a trail of white-silver blaze behind him. He slashed the demons on his way; purified those who could still be saved and killed those who couldn't. He was getting very close to Earth at that point and he was beginning to sense the absolute abomination hiding inside of it. His Lunisolar Blaze was raging to burn it.

"[Sits the Tamed Mayhem of the Philosopher.]"

"[Spilling Blood and Smothering Death.]"

Rakna sang two more lines of his Cōl Lāli and growled when he felt a field of energy push against him like a barrier. He tried to increase the output of his lunisolar flames, but it barely worked. From an outside perspective, it was as if he was being halted by something invisible.

On the other hand, Crystal Sight could clearly see the miasma coming out from the center of the planet and gushing out. He had entered its range and was now going against the current.

"…that's the limit, huh?" Rakna muttered and instead of persisting, he shook off the demons who were about to surround him and flew up. He circled the Earth until he was on the side the sun was currently illuminating.

"[Pitying Fairness and Collecting Hearts,]" he uttered the penultimate line of his incantation and raised his hand, palm open.

"{Are you going to summon your Soul Marble?}" Fray asked.

'Hah, as if. I'm confident in my soul, but not enough that I'd both manage to trap an entire planet into it and fight back against a primordial force of corruption,' Rakna retorted and proceeded to sacrifice his aura once again. 'Like I said… we blow it up.'

"[The One, They Call Harvest.]"

"[Obsidian Star Manifestation – External Release.]"