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A Hero Tale {Complete}

As expected, the energy that Jenso released into the ground was quickly gobbled up by the amassing entropy beneath. Dacer sighed.

"If she's not playing around, I don't think her Entropik energy is going to show any signs of weakness," Dacer complained, "It's true that the more she has out, the weaker her control gets. But, without her mind split across several hundred sentient clones, something like that won't be easy to accomplish. Really, though, all we need to do is hit her with one good attack." Dacer nocked another stream of energy as the tendrils flailed below them. "I can access One With Gaia for a short while, but my flicker Dash has been losing duration, and getting increasingly more powerful the more I use it. I could reach her, but if I dash one more time, there's a chance I won't be able to actually do anything afterwards." He grunted. "Jeff might be fast enough to speed his way through that goop too, but if he gets too close, she might just bubble herself again. Hell, if she sees any sort of attack coming, she may just bubble herself. She can change the density of her goop in an instant. Unless you can somehow throw her off her game, or create an opening that'll last for more than a second, there may not be a way past all that purple shit." Dacer looked up at the sky as the castle robot was being pulled down. "Then there's the matter of that up there," He pointed at the sky with his arrow, "If we don't get to Yzeira before long, our world is fucked, anyways." Dacer jerked his arms down and fired a Ki arrow directly at Ada. Suddenly, three tendrils rose to block its path. It pierced the first, shrank through the second, and failed to penetrate the third. "Penetrating attacks work best, but even then, she can use multiple layers to dampen them... That's all I really know."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Dacer winced and swatted Jeff's arm away, but his expression quickly changed as his body recovered. He turned around, and took a double take as Jeff pulled some stupid pose. "Faith doesn't take down giant..." He paused and looked up at the giant castle as it shifted and turned, changing its form rather quickly. "Oh." The castle took its new form, and Dacer's head tilted to the side. "Huh. Yeah, that might do it," He quipped, releasing himself from Dacer's support. He looked back at Ada, and then back to Jeff's castle. The attacks that flew out towards each tendril tore them apart, but they quickly began to reconstitute themselves without Delay. Ada watched, not amused, atop her giant podium of purple goo. Her brow remained tucked downwards, and her eyes glowed intensely. Before the robot could follow up, several massive Tendrils erupted from the ground underneath it, and apprehended each of its four appendages tightly. Dacer summoned his bow and began unleashing a flurry of Ki arrows at one of the four tendrils, quickly tearing it apart and freeing the castle robot's left arm. That's when Oz started shouting Orders. Jenso of course, acted before any sort of plan could be developed, launching a flame wall towards the tendrils. A giant wave of ooze rose above it from Ada's primary position, and consumed it with sheer mass, not allowing it to do very much damage before getting snuffed out. Dacer looked towards Oz and sighed.

"Guys, I don't want to rain on your parade or anything, but you ain't gonna overpower her sludge with brute force," Dacer insisted, knocking a stream of energy onto his bow as he watched Jenso's flames get consumed. The goop only spread more and more, like an ocean. Unlike the army, it didn't have much sentience to it. But what it did have, was quantity. "As pretty and dandy as your super cool combo attacks might be, it's pretty clear that her goop is an absolute defence. If we just try to power through it, we're going to expend all of our stamina before we get anywhere near breaking through." Dacer pointed his arrow at Ada. "You gotta get her, head on. And you need to be fast about it. Those eyes of hers let her see in all directions,
like some kind of magical kaleidoscope or some shit." Dacer lowered his bow and paused.

"That's how she explained it, FYI. I don't even know what a kaleidoscope is."

Smaller tendrils rose up from the ground all around Oz, Jenso, and Dacer, lashing towards them from multiple directions, and popping up continuously, in an effort to make the entirety of the ground unsafe to stand on. Dacer immediately hopped upwards, and fired his bow downwards to propel himself towards Jeff's castle robot.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 183 ~

_{No More Games, No More Tricks, No More YOU!}

"This is absolutely unprecedented!"

Ada's psychic voice rang out, angered and crippled by a ghastly tone. From her mound rose a sphere of dark violet liquid, bend and squished like a stress ball. A tower of ooze rose it high and tendrils rose all around Jenso, Dacer, Jeff and Oswald. The sphere slowly melted away, to reveal Ada, her left arm completely drenched in blood from the shoulder down. She didn't say anything else, glaring at Oswald from across the battlefield with her piercing purple eyes. The ooze beneath her began to spread outwards, with no signs of stopping as it filled the chasm that separated them with a lake of sludge. Dacer looked up the performance and kissed his teeth angrily.

"Great. Fucking great," He barked sarcastically. Tiger hopped down from his shoulder and turned around to face the man as he struggled to stand upright. "Just... FUCKING GREAT." He turned to Jenso, and then looked up at the tear in the sky. "And with so little time to spare. This is literally the best fucking day of my entire life, I feel like a goddamn king. Roll out the red carpet for my beautiful ass, because I am just so fucking eager to greet my number 1 fan." He turned to Jenso again and pulled at the man's head. "How 'bout you? Enjoying the view?" He pointed towards Ada's gathering mass of meta goop and smiled. "As you can see, I'm rather astounded by this magnificent display of fine art." He chuckled nervously and jerked his head to the side. "I especially like how the focal point of the piece lines up oh so nicely with her rack." He paused and shook his head. "Fuck me."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Yzeira's eyes twitched.

"Jenso will be allowed forward. Anyone else who proceeds will be killed," He announced, turning back towards the darkness behind him. "Take what little you can, lest you lose everything." He stopped dead in his tracks, a few steps away from the shadows in front of him, and turned his head back towards the two heroes.

"And do hurry. I am not a patient man." Yzeira pointed upwards for a moment, and the entire ground began to shake. A feeling crept forwards as Yzeira's energy faded, the universe itself was on the brink of collapse. Yzeira continued forwards, and disappeared into the darkness of the doorway, pulling his notebook from his coat as his figure faded.

_{"Abnormal Ki growth is consistent in at least three of the subjects. Threat levels have risen dramatically, but still pose no real danger. Jenso's potential continues to have no ^parallel."}

The ground shook again, this time to a different effect. Outside of the tower, across the entire battlefield, purple tendrils rose up, cracking the earth and creating an array of danger from one side of the grassy plain to the other. The mound where Ada was hit by Atlas' hammer began to bubble up, and a familiar voice shrieked across the minds of everyone for miles.

---

~ End Of Chapter 182 ~

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Yzeira blinked slowly at Bruce's words and looked away, waiting patiently for Alvios to respond. And that he did, slightly more confidently than he had hoped a moment earlier. The tall man rose his middle finger to the bridge of his well-defined nose, and pressed lightly, with his eyes closed. "Right," he moaned under his breath, turning away from the two men as he did so, and walking towards the blackness the filled the door next to Vale's body. Before leaving, however, he spun around quickly and rose his index finger, with his hand partly clasping at the air, as if loosely holding an apple. "You have two options. I don't care to hear you prattle on about your idiotic notions of victory, revenge, or whatever you so desperately cling to as not to bring the business end of your blade to both wrists..." He paused and lowered his hand to his side. "You can convince Jenso to surrender himself. I will take him, I will seal the dimensional fissure, and your universe will be spared. You will never see me or my family again. All issues, all dangers, all of it- All of it will be swept under the rug as an unfortunate event in history. It is the most reasonable, and least selfish option, as far as I'm concerned. Alternatively-" His hand began to thrum with a subtle red aura, and the atmosphere of the room shifted ever so slightly. Bruce's blades, despite their radiance, were especially affected by the sudden shift in energy. In a few moments, they shrank, until they were completely gone. Yzeira's meta energy began to bear down on the room like a thick fog, emitting from his body, with no intention to kill, but enough presence to dissuade any further Ki manifestation while it was active.

"You may take the petty, and ultimately futile option." Yzeira's eyes narrowed even more.

"Wherein I simply kill you all, and erase this pitiful world."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"Shaidra doesn't wander off on her own as often anymore. Not after that," Yzeira said, still writing away, "I don't know whether to thank you, for teaching her some measure of caution-Or... Reprimand you, for destroying a part of her that she will never get back." His scribbling paused, and he brought the butt of the pen up to his chin for a moment, before returning to his note-taking. "I do not forget. My mind is, unfortunately, incapable of such a feat. I remember you. I have learned much more about you in recent times, as well, Alvios." He stopped writing. "Despite my repitoir of knowledge, and unparalleled intellect... I still find myself misspelling the word parallel, even now." He touched the surface of his notebook's paper with the tip of his thumb, and corrected his mistake. "Perhaps it's because, I've never known such a thing." Yzeira slammed his book shut and looked up at Alvios.

"A parallel, that is." Yzeira looked at Bruce, and put his notebook away, still addressing Alvios. "I remember you. My fascination with Jenso on the other hand, is none of your business." His eyes slowly moved towards Bruce's swords. "I would strongly advise against that, Bruce." He looked back to Alvios. "Your friend displays a much deeper urge to attack, and yet, he has not prepared himself so thoroughly. Why is that, Alvios?" Yzeira's eyes narrowed. "Do you already know, it would be pointless? Are you afraid? Or..." The man cloaked in red took a step forwards.

"Perhaps it's all that, and more?"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Yzeira scoffed at the term 'patriarch' rather abruptly. "I would prefer it, if you'd avoid using such silly labels when referring to me," He said quickly, "I am Yzeira. If you insist on subscribing to Damien's nonsense, then I suppose patriarch holds some level of accuracy. I am the creator of this tower." His eyes looked past Bruce, through Alvios, and out into the battlefield. "I presume Jenso has not yet decided to take me up on my generous offer, considering the condition of the vampire, and Ada." He paused and looked back to Bruce and Alvios. "That is unfortunate." He reached into his coat and pulled out a small notebook, and a pen, using his left hand. With his eyes shifting between both Bruce and Alvios, he thumbed the book open, grabbed the pen in his right hand, and began scribbling something down on the paper, eventually moving his pupils to follow his pen strokes.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 182 ~

_Hello.

Yzeira wiped his mask clean with the tip of his thumb, slowly drying the slight imperfection in his composure. He looked at Bruce's weapons, and then towards Alvios. His eyes locked onto Alvios for a moment, looking more intensely at the light-wielding hero.

"Hello," He said quietly, looking back to Bruce.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

His eyes flickered, pulling both pupils back for the briefest of moments when Bruce felt the need to summon his weapons of choice. Vale glared at Yzeira, his brow creased viciously. Yzeira looked back to him, and took another step forward. When Alvios entered the room, though, he turned his head, as to peer over with one eye. Vale chuckled.

"He's on alert," the vampire mused, snickering uncontrollably. Yzeira closed his eyes and sighed, turning back towards Vale. "What's the matter? Verbatim, 'visual prowess like mine' wasn't it?"

"You showed more promise than this. I was right to botch your mark," He breathed, stopping a few feet in front of Vale. "Know that in his final moments, that Gaian that you'd grown so fond of cowered himself into his own unconsciousness." Vale stifled a giggle, but couldn't help himself from bursting into full out laughter, kicking his legs and continuing without any sign of stopping. His laughs echoed through the chamber loudly. Between his fits of laughter, he managed to squeeze in one last sentence.

"Your lies echo louder than my laughter ever could, even now!"

"Believe what you'd like," Yzeira said quietly, focusing his gaze on Vale, "It will not dampen your knowledge." Vale's laughter stopped, and his eyes began to glow a bright silver. He and Yzeira shared a glance for a moment, before Vale's body went limp. But to Vale, it felt like he had relived his life, from beginning to end. A tear rolled down the pale man's cheek, and in his final moments, he managed a sincere smile. "You showed... More Promise than this," Yzeira said one last time, turning towards Alvios and Bruce, with a nearly identical teardrop rolling down his mask. Vale's head fell to the side, but his smile persisted. His eyes struggled to focus on Bruce as they went foggy.

"I'm glad... To... have..." He whispered, finally free of his immortal curse.

_{"Interrupted..."}

---

~ End Of Chapter 181 ~

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Vale's laughter was weaker this time. Even now, moments from death, the vampire managed a toothy grin as his head lay back. "I suppose you're right. I've never been much afraid of death myself, or any consequences at all." He paused and his smile vanished. "I'm not telling you to run away, nor do I seek to eviscerate your indomitable little spirit. I offer you, only a warning, and some friendly advice." Vale struggled to raise one of his hands towards his shredded cheek, pointing to it with a finger that shook more violently than a spastic rodent. "His eyes," Vale started, "His eyes see everything. They're unlike the eyes of his children, unlike the visual prowess that already keeps you and your little hero brigade on the ropes. His eyes see all." Vale's arm dropped limply by his side. The wound that Bruce caused finally clotted. "I stepped into his study, guided through this mystical maze by the little black creature, with the intent of killing him. I may not be nearly strong enough to perform feats like the Gaians, or clever enough to manipulate people like Geode, but I pride myself on my knowledge. And, in one outcome, I saw myself killing him on my own." Vale took a moment to breath deeply, even though he didn't need to. His breaths were far enough apart to hint at that. His wasn't alive after all. Or, was he? The line continued to blur as he went on.

"It was the one moment where his eyes were powerless, when branding another child," Vale spat, gesturing his head to signify the shredded mark under his eye, "But I was sloppy. He didn't believe me." Vale's eyelids drooped and his lips began to wrinkle with sadness. "The moment didn't come."

"His eyes see all," Vale repeated. He looked back up to Bruce, and smiled, bearing his trademark smile disingenuously. "The answer is in his children. The only way to destroy him, is through his children." Vale's eyes snapped to the tower's exit. The ground shook as Ada was struck by Atlas' hammer. "They are connected to one another- To him." Vale's eyes began to glow a deep silver as he spoke that last sentence, and his smile disappeared.

"Shit"

Bruce felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, and pull him back politely.

"For a moment," Yzeira whispered, walking towards Vale slowly, "I was convinced."