City of Desire-Chapter 685: Halistine’s Charge

Lord Aardwyn, Tranquill Bathhouse

"How is this possible?" I asked in shock as his power clashed against me.

It stopped me in my tracks and even pushed me back faintly.

"What is it?" asked the Prince immediately. "Silver, he burst out with power," I replied, and I could see a faint worry appearing on his face.

"Is it an artifact?" he asked. "No," I replied, and relief appeared on it.

"Then it is just desperation. Pushed through it, as long as we get two more similar-sized pieces of Velvet Garden; swallowing the rest wouldn't be a problem," he stated.

I nodded and gathered more power from the artifact. I do not care about the essence they consume; I just want the power.

I moved with the power that I could barely bear and clashed against Silver.

This time, too, he was able to hold me back.

It had filled me with shock. Yes, Silver has an aura and is at a higher level than I, but I have the power of the three artifacts on me.

Still, he was able to stop my attempt.

It made me angry, and I used that as fuel to gather more power from the artifacts and move toward him.

We clashed once more, and this time, he was able to push me back. It shook my heart, but I didn't let it distract me and gather even more, so that I felt like my mind would split.

I used that power to clash, but this time, too, he was able to stop me and push me a little.

We clashed again and again, and with each exchange, he drove me back, step by step, closer to the core of my legacy.

"Aardwyn, what is happening?" asked the Prince. "I am getting pushed back!" I replied through gritted teeth and tried once more, only to be pushed back again.

Minutes passed, and he had reached my core, where the four, including Rylan and the Prince, guarded it.

I was able to Share Authority with the prince. It wasn't easy, as I could only work with employees of the legacy. He had to be an employee and work as such.

He worked as a manager and did it with enough dedication that I was able to Share Authority with him.

There was considerable resistance, but the throne had helped. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to do that.

Now that he had reached the core, all of them leaped at him to stop him, including me.

He could stop me alone, but he wouldn't be able to stop five of us, with Prince having the power of the legacy and the weight of two artifacts behind his effort.

There is no way he will be able to touch my core.

Hun!

I had just thought that when something shocking happened. It shocked me and everybody else.

…

Caena Aris

I watched Remus as he bled from orifices. He is under immense pressure.

He is a master of the legacy, with a powerful core, and has three artifacts. Even with the ten-level edge and aura, it's not an easy thing.

I want to help him, but I couldn't; he will have to reach the core himself.

Then I'll help. I've already begun preparing. Reaching the core of the Tranquil Bathhouse—that's the task only he could complete.

…

Greltheaven

I pushed every ounce of my aura into the efforts and clashed against him, pushing him back a little.

Every time, it is only a little. I want to push Aardwyn back more, but I couldn't. His advantages aren't small; on top of a powerful core, all of it is making things very hard.

This will not stop me. I have to reach its core, or he will reach mine.

In this encounter, only one legacy will survive, and it will be mine.

So, I have to push myself beyond my limit, and I will do it.

That's what I did the next moment, pushed myself beyond the limit, and used that power to clash against him, pushing him back a little.

It would have been great if I had at least one artifact, but I didn't. The city only has two, but one is damaged while the other is connected to General Azalia.

I am unable to use either of them.

Using the one Stone has will damage it even further, and taking the one from Azalia would kill her; besides, even after taking them. I would need to connect with them, and it's not a quick process.

I clashed with him, pushing him back further and further toward his core.

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I am doing it slowly, but gradually, pushing the power of my core and my aura. Both of which I am very skilled at controlling, given my experience with them.

From what I could see, I am much better at controlling the power of legacy than my opponent.

I don't know if it's because I have conceived the legacy and he inherited it, or because, despite being the master, he never had control over the legacy due to it being a pawn.

I think it is both.

It is the same for the two artifacts; he acquired them recently and isn't proficient in using their power.

Although he is very skilled at utilizing the magical weight of the well, it gives him a greater edge than the other two artifacts.

The main reason for that is that it is connected with his legacy. He doesn't need to use any of his power to run it; he just needs to feed it an essence.

Minutes passed, and finally, I had reached near the core.

It is now the most dangerous phase, as I could feel the power of four other people covering the core.

I took a deep breath and drew more power from my core than I ever had before. I sensed pain so massive that I felt like it would break my soul.

I made it worse for me by harnessing even more aura, but still, I did it.

When I gathered enough power, I moved toward the core.

The five of them were ready, and they merged their power together to stop me. They had gathered their power together, along with the power of their five artifacts.

Making a defence that I could not breach, but that didn't stop me.

I reached closer and closer to the core and was about to clash with them when something unexpected happened. Their massive power began to dissipate rapidly.

The part of my core that they took was the Trojan horse.

A virus that went to them and became part of their core. It didn't just contain the emotion essence, but a powerful witchcraft spell.

Now, that spell had not only affected the power they were harnessing from the core, but also the Rhidon' Vitae and four artifacts, they were powering with essence.

In a fraction of a second, their resistance was reduced by more than half.

As it happened, my force clashed against theirs, and they held on.

There are five of them, with five artifacts. It would have been shocking if I had been able to break through their resistance with the first clash.

Still, I have to break through their resistance and reach the core.

That's why I began to push through their resistance, but they were hell-bent on stopping me, and I could feel their resistance growing stronger after a moment of weakness.

This is my one chance. If I don't breach it, it would be very bad for me.

There was another way I could have done this by removing the leaking essence, but I know these bastards are pushing the leaking essence away from me.

So, with no other choice but to succeed. I pushed hard.

"Ahhh!"

I screamed loudly as the massive pain tore through me, but I didn't stop and pushed with everything I had.

Finally, my power breached through their resistance and reached the core.

The moment, I did. I felt its core and the power of it.

It is vast. Vaster than the core of Vanis Tavern and powerful, I could feel the power in it that didn't belong to the Grade III legacy.

I also felt the master's scream.

At the moment, my presence touched the core, and the Trojan acted, tearing a piece of it.

It's a significant piece, not as substantial as what they took from me, but still substantial. It accounts for approximately 2.5% of the core, which is essential considering it held the power of the throne.

I took it and ran away with it as fast as I could while he attacked me with bloody vengeance.

Even in this pain, he came at me. I bore his assault and moved toward my core, while keeping my mind from getting influenced by a piece of his core.

The moment I touched it, I began to see things: images, memories, its vision.

I could see a teen elf girl inheriting the bathhouse after her family died in an accident. She was alone, with many vultures vying for a piece of it.

She didn't give them any and focused everything on the bathhouse, turning a struggling business into a prosperous one.

Seven years after she took the reins, the bathhouse had turned into a legacy. She was only twenty-three years old when it happened.

I protected my mind from it and held it tightly as it tried to get away from me.

It had nearly slipped a couple of times before I finally reached my core. Immediately, the five moved to protect me and the core.

As I reached my core, I didn't put the essence into the core like he had done.

That would be suicide.

If I did it, I could forget about ever advancing my legacy to the throne. Hell, even its power would diminish.

It is why so many people have asked me not to do that, from Archmage Tower to the Lord of Owlspring. Even the imperials don't want me to do this.

The two planets appeared.

The harnesser and holder. If it were a piece of the dead legacy, I would put it directly into the harnesser, but it is a piece of a living legacy with immense resistance, despite the Trojan spell.

I put it into the holding planet, also called the prison planet.

The moment I did, the spell lines on it lit up, and three thick strings came out. First connect to my core, the second to the harnesser, and third to the spell in the Velvet Bathhouse.

The moment it did, the planet lit up brightly.

I handed it to the five to deal with, while I moved once more to retrieve another piece.

'You will pay for that Silver!' Aardwyn spoke directly to me for the first time. He screamed and cursed, but he did it pointedly.

'Make me!' I replied and clashed against him.

Once more, I pushed him back slowly. He is coming at me like a rabid dog, but he didn't have the power. The Trojan spell had suppressed the power, and my taking the piece had weakened his core even further.

So, I pushed him back over and over until I once more reached his core.

The four helpers are waiting for me, this time more prepared, but I am also aware of their power, and, most importantly, the Trojan spell has created a weakness in their resistance this time.

I clashed against it hard, breaking through their resistance once more, and reached the core.

Like last time, the moment I reached it. The spell tore the piece of the core for me. The master tried to stop it, but it was only slowed down for a fraction of a second.

"Ahhh!"

He screamed again as I tore the piece apart, before running with it, while resisting its influence.

Once more, I reached my core and put the piece into the holder before moving toward the core of the Tranquill Bathhouse.

They resisted harder, but I still managed to take another piece.

The fourth time, the piece was larger, comprising 3% of the core. Taking it, I had effectively taken 10% of it, like it had taken mine some time ago.

It had weakened its core and host, making it easier for harvesting another piece, and another, and another, which resulted in a total harvest of around 20%.

"We will be slowing down, the holder is reaching the limit," cautioned Caena, and I feel it too.

Once the planet had taken the whole core of Halcyon, but that was a dead legacy, and on top of it, there was barely any resistance.

Here, I am dealing with a living legacy that is hell-bent on resisting it, and on top of that, it contains the essence of Grade IV.

I could feel the essence moving to my core and harnesser planet from the holder planet, but it is slow, like a trickle.

I moved toward the core with much less resistance than I thought it would be, but it was less. It seemed to have affected him.

It would be an excellent opportunity to take a large chunk, but I will get barely 1% of it.

The holder is at the limit, and I don't want to push it any further. It is under immense strain, so is Carla, and others. In my greed, I don't want to merge the part of the core that didn't align with my vision.

That would be terrible.

I reached the core and gathered the power to break their resistance, when I felt there was none. I was confused for a moment before I saw what the fool was planning to do.

"Oh fuck!" I cursed with horror on my face.

They seemed to lose their mind to do something like this, but on second thought, this is the wisest thing they could do. It is hazardous, but it gives them a chance.

But on the other hand, it turns everything into a nightmare beyond imagining.

"Are they planning on doing that?" asked Caena, with the same horror in her face. "Halistine's charge!" I replied.

It is a mad strategy; here, the master charges with their core. He will clash it against mine to merge with my core forcefully, and given his advantages, that is terrible for me.

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