Ahead of Finn, Esther was floating, just like he had seen her in the Qlippothic Realm, bathed in a cone of lurid green light. Sesuuk was reaching toward the Prism of Fire underneath her.
“Sesuuk, stop this madness!” Finn shouted.
The infected Prism of Fire pulsed again.
You have been struck by the qlippothic wave for 50 points of damage.
Finn groaned, falling to the ground as a wave of nausea and pain rolled through him. He didn’t know how many of these poison waves he had already taken, and he didn’t know how many more he could resist.
“Esther!” he shouted, but it wasn’t Esther who answered.
Sesuuk half-spun in place, seeing Finn and hissing in alarm.
“Stay back, Finn of Blackwood! This doesn’t concern you! This is my birthright. The Prism of Fire will be mine!” Sesuuk screeched, turning to again raise his scaled hands toward the center of the light…
You have been struck by the qlippothic wave for 50 points of damage.
Another wave of pain, and Finn saw Sesuuk stagger back just before it hit his own body, bringing a headache and deep bone aches. There was less time between the pulses of energy now, Finn realized.
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“This is making it worse! This will kill us all!” Finn shouted, forcing himself to take another lurching step forward.
Sesuuk was determined.
“You still know nothing of the game which we play, Finn of Blackwood! The Qlippothi are on the rise, and they have moved against the very Asai themselves. I shall be on the winning side of history!”
The prism was now glowing a lurid green, and in that moment, Finn saw what had been happening.
The Asai of Shadow giving him the Prism of Shadow to infect the Asai of Time’s prism...
Sesuuk bringing Esther here to try and claim the Prism of Fire…
It seemed so obvious now. The realms held by the Qlippothi were infecting the prisms of the celestial Asai, and they were mostly using Finn and his sister, that renegade upstart realm of Blackwood, to get it done.
And when Sesuuk claims the Prism of Fire, or what’s left of it, he will be all but unstoppable…
He wished he had more Mana left. He wished that he didn’t have to do this.
He raised his blade and pointed it at Sesuuk.
“STOP!” he roared, forcing himself into a loping run.
You have been hit by the qlippothic wave for 50 points of damage.
Another wave of terrible energy hit him, but he leaped as it did so. He was closing the distance between them.
He could make it. He might be able to reach Sesuuk before the energy completely destroyed him…
Before he was forced to make that choice, however, it was made for him.
“No, Sesuuk. You will NEVER have the Prism of Fire!”
It was a voice like a thunderous god, but it didn’t come from the prism. It came from Esther.
She had twisted in her strange flight, reaching out with both hands as she pushed a wave of green energy back into the Prism of Fire. The light intensified. Finn saw that she meant to destroy it, if she could. She meant to concentrate all of her amassed energy on this thing, and Finn was terrified that she might just be able to do it, but she’d surely die in the process.
“NO!” Finn leaped just as the green fire struck the prism.
He grabbed his sister as the prism flashed and grew into a terrible, blazing white until even it could take no more.
The Prism of Fire exploded, releasing waves of its essence across the cavern.
You have been struck by the wave of celestial energy.
[CELESTIAL ENGINE ERROR!]
[Upgrade: Shard of Fire]
[Experience awarded]
[New powers added]