The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 925: Overload

Eventually, the reaper moved further into the air, looking to bombard Karl from above. That forced him to use [Swims Through Air] to join the creature in the sky, where their battle became the focal point of both sides of the fight, despite not being the highest powered or most intense ongoing fight.

That honour went to Oathbreaker, who was methodically tearing apart a pair of Mythic Ranked Mages who fought as a duo.

Soul attacks shrieked through the air, a dozen ethereal blue skulls racing towards Karl, who hurled [Void Blasts] at them. The mutual destruction rained black and blue energy down on the battlefield, where both unfortunate Demons and mages burst into a hellish version of soul fire that no amount of water could put out.

Karl tried to move the battle away from the armies, but the reaper was having none of it, and preferred to fight directly over the front lines.

[Cara, can you help with the fallout?] Karl asked as he formed a plan to deal with this undead menace.

[Got it. I will put out the fires.]

Karl varied his attack patterns, sending a second wave right behind the first, and finally landed a strike on the reaper. Not much as far as damage, but the Haint Claw immediately latched on, and began stealing power from the undead, which howled in rage, but appeared helpless to stop the siphoning of its life force.

That turned into a battle of wills, with Karl channelling mana into the Haint Claw to increase the siphoning speed, and only putting in the minimum effort to defend himself against the reaperʼs attacks.

It was becoming weaker by the second, but Karl could feel the sense of expectation growing from beneath him, where the Necromancers were watching the battle. Something was off, and he didnʼt know what it was.

A final [Void Blast] dissipated the Reaper, and a massive surge of power flowed into Karl.

{Negative State: Overload} Soul Energy and Mana increase uncontrollably

[Do we dispel that?] Cara asked.

[Not yet.]

The Haint Claw was already saturated with power, unable to take more, and the Blade of Champions surged with Ghostfire a hundred metres long as [Ghostfire Body] attempted to channel all the excess energy that Karl couldnʼt contain.

It was invading his mind, and Karl could feel his memories fading until he closed his eyes and focused on his sense of self.

That brought him to the mental space that Monk Chen had trained him to use to meditate, the one with the ghostly golden dragon scale. That was where Karl focused on putting all the excess energy that he was receiving as he floated in the air above the battlefield, a beacon of golden light and ethereal Ghostfire.

The scale absorbed the power as fast as Karl could pour it in, but the faster he transferred it, the faster it arrived. So, this was the final strike of the Reaper. An uncontrolled power surge that would destroy the mind and body of anything that dared to go against it.

Karl was so focused on dealing with the influx that he hadnʼt even noticed that Cara was frantically trying to dispel the effect, with no luck at all. In fact, the spells only seemed to add to the influx.

Far beneath him, Delilah landed next to Tessa and slumped down with her massive draconic head on her front paws.

”Will he survive that?” The War Cleric asked the ancient dragon.

{Probably. The favour of the gods is strong on him. Besides, look how terrified the undead are. Theyʼre already fleeing the city, and the Ghostfire hasnʼt even touched the city walls yet.}

She had a point. The whipping tendrils of fire from Karlʼs overloaded spells were tearing furrows in the earth and lighting up the sky, but even the heat from the flames seemed to tear the souls from the undead and add them to the growing ball of power that was Karl.

”What happens if that spell succeeds? Are we in range of whatever explosion will follow?” Dana asked.

Delilah patted her on the head with a claw. {It wonʼt explode, it will implode. His mind will shatter under the power, turning him into an instinct-driven brute. Then his body will be destroyed, and he will become some sort of undead. Most likely an impressive one, given the amount of power that will be condensed into his new form.}

”You seem rather calm about that.” Dana complained.

{Well, this is war, and Iʼve only known you two days. I like you all, but war is not without casualties, and nothing I do can stop that spell.} The dragon replied.

”Damned practical answers.” Dana muttered, while Rae patted her.

”Have faith. The Karl isnʼt that easy to kill. Besides, there is so much free power for us, how could we say no?” Rae consoled her.

Dana wasnʼt sure which was the more disturbing outcome. An undead Karl, or an overloaded insane Totem Ranked living Karl. Both were terrifying outcomes, and a Karl without allies meant a whole team of beasts who might not maintain the same alliances either, as his new commands bled through their link.

{Skill Master 5 Activation} [Mental Fortitude] has advanced.

{Skill Master 5 Activation} [Mental Fortitude] has advanced.

Karl focused on keeping his thoughts intact as the power flowed through him. He shared it to the spaces, the golden dragon scale in his mental space, and then let as much as he could overflow.

[Ghostfire Body] was completely out of control, and the effect was beginning to spread to other spells. [Demonic Oppression] was surging, and the [Oppression] effect was hitting everything on the battlefield except Karlʼs team and the small group of Demons that had a Battle Alliance with them.

Both sides were beginning to retreat now, unable to stand the side effects of the overloaded War Champion.

Far in the distance, Lord Bomgon watched the scene with amusement. It had been millennia since he had seen anything like this spectacle. If it wouldnʼt have drawn the Lord of Drodh, he would have gone to get a better view. But even from his current position over a hundred kilometres away, he could pick out the smallest details of the situation.

Perhaps he would have a new War Champion at the end of the day. Or perhaps the overload effect would force the War Champion to adapt. That could cause absolute chaos within the living, especially those greedy Necromancers who still thought that they were the masters of the undead, and would see it as an opportunity.

In short, there was no way that he lost out.