The Primal Hunter Chapter 1258 - A Ghastly Domain

Domain Skills could be quite strange. They held immense power and frequently served as unique signature abilities, yet they appeared surprisingly often thanks to various Legacies scattered across the multiverse. Still, much like ordinary skills, these Domain Skills differed greatly in almost every aspect except their core function, which set them apart as Domain Skills.

Casper wasn't the sole individual Jake knew who possessed a full Domain Skill. Actually, he was aware of a whole city and faction brimming with such users.

The Shadow Realm, accessible to any skilled high-grade assassin from the Court of Shadows, counted as a Domain Skill in technical terms. It fulfilled the essential criteria by enabling the user to draw someone else into a separate space that favored the skill's wielder.

Certain abilities mimicked Domain Skills without truly qualifying as one. For instance, Jake’s Pride of the Malefic Viper and the Sword Saint’s peculiar rain-summoning power altered the surroundings and twisted their nearby environments to benefit the users, but they failed to transport foes elsewhere. Rather, they merely modified sections of the current world.

The key distinction between a true Domain Skill and a mere territory-creating one lay in accessibility: others could simply step into or out of a territory's zone. In contrast, complete Domain Skills required forced entry, complete with a distinct border.

Forced entry into domains wasn't usually too tough. Entering often demanded only a touch of resolve. Escaping, however, proved far more challenging. Exceptions existed everywhere, and the Shadow Realm shone as a prime example given its mechanics.

The Shadow Realm operated separately from the Court of Shadows members, but it still earned Domain Skill status by forming a domain into which they could drag themselves and others. It scraped by on qualifications. One clear benefit was the lack of any detectable edge or entry point for intruders.

A sufficiently powerful person might tail an assassin and their target into the Shadow Realm, but against other Domain Skills, that feat ranked as exceptionally demanding. In essence, the Shadow Realm's main role was to confine targets in an inescapable area, offering the user few extra edges.

Domain Skills like Casper's diverged in numerous respects. Primarily, the domain held no independent existence. It manifested temporarily, relying completely on his personal strength and presence. Consequently, this made the Domain Skill utterly one-of-a-kind; similar versions might exist elsewhere, but no two domains matched precisely.

This held true even for Legacy Domain Skills from multiverse factions. Valhal gained renown for Domain Skills that shaped battlefields favorably, and Jake had witnessed Carmen employ a weaker form of what promised to evolve into a full Domain Skill someday. Though these domains might look nearly alike at first glance, they remained tied to and shaped by their user, never linking to a fixed location.

As Jake pondered these matters, a particular query surfaced in his thoughts... if Event Horizon marked the start of a future complete Domain Skill, what type would it be? Did the space Jake glimpsed during its use truly exist, or was it simply summoned by him? It seemed real to him, yet from everything he'd studied, Domain Skill users always perceived their realms as authentic—because, in a sense, they were.

Jake shook his head, redirecting his focus to the present while absorbing Casper’s domain. The shockwave swept across him, hauling both Jake and the B-grade golem inside as they fell within its reach.

Through his sphere and senses, Jake surveyed the unfamiliar world enveloping him now. His feet sank a bit into the damp black earth below, and overhead, turquoise clouds brimming with blight energy dominated the sky, devoid of any stars or suns.

Surrounding him stood myriad simple wooden grave markers, positioned every few meters and extending to the limits of his vision, which didn't stretch very far. Thick fog, echoing the overhead clouds but tinged darker, permeated the air, while the grave markers seeped energy.

Curse energy... far more potent than anything Jake had ever sensed from Casper previously.

Yet the graveyard's heart drew his gaze most strongly. A towering wooden stake rose like a spire, piercing the sky and blight clouds above. Upon closer inspection, a chill raced down Jake's back—the stake bore carvings of faces from top to bottom, each twisted in degrees of agony.

The scene grew even more eerie as dark liquid oozed from the eyes of those faces, trickling down the stake and drenching the soil, thus explaining the ground's wetness.

At last, Jake located his summoner within this domain. Casper knelt on the earth, hunched forward with scores of curse stakes embedded in his back, each throbbing with energy and unleashing thick curse essence into the air.

Jake opened his mouth to speak when his scales stirred. Curse and blight energies began assailing his form unbidden, the domain rejecting him outright. This highlighted another quirk of domains and their not-always-beneficial nature... few could reliably distinguish allies from enemies, opting instead to assault any outsiders present.

Luckily for Jake, he possessed a defense. Instead of repelling the energies outright, he drew Eternal Hunger and offered it a taste. The legendary weapon eagerly absorbed the nearby curse energy, carving out a protected bubble around Jake.

Not distant from him, the Aginian Crisis Protocol Golem loomed, apparently needing time to steady itself. Before it could adjust, the surroundings turned hostile against it.

Cursed spectral mist swirled about the boss, and from the soil, phantoms rose. Resembling wrathful spirits, they lunged at the B-grade, their strikes surprisingly physical as they raked the metallic foe. These apparitions shared body shapes akin to Lyra’s, but their faceless forms amplified the horror.

Jake ceased passive observation then, seizing the moment to trigger Unseen Hunter and blend into the spectral haze, gearing up for a solid strike while letting Casper demonstrate his domain's prowess.

After gaining some separation, Jake retrieved the Protean Arrow. Regrettably, he couldn't pair it with Eternal Hunger since the latter shielded him from the domain, but he'd adapt.

He nocked the arrow and began infusing Arcane Powershot, shifting his focus to the clash between Casper and the B-grade golem.

The dungeon boss countered swiftly, its frame erupting in lightning essence that obliterated the assaulting ghosts and scattered the invading ambient forces seeking to dismantle it. In this supercharged mode, its might surpassed its prior levels, and it swiftly zeroed in on Casper.

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Rushing at the Risen, Casper showed no response. He had no need to.

Double the previous number of ghosts burst from the earth, striking together and halting the golem's advance by offering their forms as shields. Even before they fully faded, fresh ghosts materialized to sustain the barrage as the surrounding energies surged back fiercer than ever.

The golem flailed its blade frantically, shattering additional ghosts while replacements spawned endlessly, yet it pressed onward toward Casper with firm strides. In short order, it closed the gap and leaped, bringing its sword crashing down.

Worry gripped Jake at the sight, but it vanished in an instant. Casper made no effort to defend as the blade struck his head, pulverizing it along with much of his frame. Yet instead of blood and tissue spraying, the golem merely dispersed more turquoise vapor.

Casper’s form started reassembling, revealing its non-physical essence clearly. The lightning-clad edge ought to have wounded him gravely, but the Risen appeared utterly unscathed.

At least initially, though Jake's extraordinary Perception let him spot how the Risen drew healing energy from the air, subtly draining the domain. Additionally, each golem strike on Casper caused nearby wooden grave markers to fracture, converting into potent curse energy to replenish the surroundings.

The ghosts persisted in mauling the golem, breaching its innate lightning shield through sheer volume. Rust-like corrosion spread across the golem’s exterior, damage glaring especially near Jake's earlier Touch of the Malefic Viper application.

All the while, the golem kept hammering Casper, dissipating his ghostly shape repeatedly as the Risen winced with each blow. Agony twisted his features, teeth clenched, yet he remained rooted, unmoving regardless of the onslaught.

Doubt flickered in Jake, but Casper's resolute expression spurred him to keep building his Arcane Powershot. Time dragged on endlessly, until Jake sensed his limits approaching. He poured every bit of hunting momentum and remaining power into the arrow before loosing it.

Targeting posed no issue, as Jake trusted the arrow's path to its mark—despite the domain's activation, the golden light ring encircling the B-grade endured, signifying Jake’s Event Horizon claim.

The golem made no move to evade, blinded to threats amid the swarm of hundreds of Lyra-resembling ghosts tearing at it from every angle. The ghosts parted slightly for the incoming arrow, which pierced through their ranks to embed in the golem's rear.

Jake and Casper had battled the golem's barrier throughout much of the encounter, and its overcharge had amplified it further. Ghosts occasionally pierced it, but reliability eluded them. Designed for potent single strikes, the barrier had thresholds—and Jake had just exceeded one, aided undoubtedly by the Penetrating Arrow trait.

The arrow sliced through the barrier, unleashing a lightning surge that vaporized nearby ghosts before burrowing into the golem's metallic core. With sections already rusting and eroding, plus Jake's hit landing opposite his prior handprints, the golem's vaunted durability crumbled.

Chunks of metal hurtled away as Jake ripped off its left flank and half its torso, detaching an arm and hurling the golem aside. It tumbled over the terrain, smashing through cursed grave markers and heaving up a dirt pile before halting.

Its structure lay partially wrecked, innards exposed via the left gap, and though it gripped its sword, the B-grade teetered unsteadily, likely from the asymmetry. Moreover, its barrier stuttered on and off, spitting erratic electric sparks.

Jake hastened to ready another bow draw to end the B-grade, but the contraption stirred first. Lightning essence burst from it anew, propelling it straight at Casper once more, determined to drag him down too.

Jake nearly laughed at first, but soon recognized the peril. As it advanced, he glimpsed its partially bared core, fractured and venting fierce lightning essence.

Jake attempted a mental message to the kneeling Casper... but shockingly, it failed. Perplexed, Jake grasped why the “Casper” before him had felt off from the start.

He glanced at the domain's central stake, now fissured throughout. Curse and blight energies poured from the fissures, and at that moment, the grounded Casper finally stirred.

Casper straightened up and eyed the oncoming golem. Reaching back with one hand, he extracted a wooden stake despite a pained flinch. The golem arrived, slashing repeatedly and scattering his form, but the Risen proceeded unhurriedly.

Gripping the stake two-handed, Casper aimed its point at his own torso. Eyes shut, he drove it into his chest, causing his spectral image to vanish.

Simultaneously, the enormous cursed stake detonated, unleashing a flood of curse energy. The domain's energies converged swiftly, merging with the black fumes from the shattered stake. In seconds, a shape emerged.

A gigantic spectral blend of Casper and Lyra materialized, diving instantly toward the B-grade dungeon boss. The golem froze as its core blazed with intense radiance, deliberately pushing to core meltdown while that irritating female voice announced once more.

“Self-destruct sequence initialized.”

Jake responded fast, raising barriers and folding his wings protectively, just as the ghost engulfed the golem's frame and it blew apart. The blast's shockwave battered Jake, blending lightning with tainted blight. It shoved him backward, unraveling the surrounding world in the process.

Casper’s domain collapsed amid the golem’s explosion, annihilating both the ghost and boss together. The domain's realm merged with reality as tiled floors reemerged below, and the Grand Labyrinth's vast walls loomed afar.

Silence fell then. Jake stood once more in the dungeon, broken only by incoming system notifications.

Even after verifying the defeat, Jake stayed alert. His sphere revealed the golem's strewn metal shards, but also Casper, slumped kneeling with limp hands on the floor. A wooden stake pierced his chest, prompting Jake to hurry closer.

“Hey...” Jake uttered, worry evident.

Casper's gaze shifted to Jake, managing only a blink that conveyed his plight. In this condition, the Risen couldn't budge.

“Should I take out the stake?” Jake inquired.

Casper's expression signaled refusal, so Jake nodded. “Alright... I’ll just stand guard then.”

In roughly an hour, Jake could administer a spirit potion to Casper, but that marked the extent of his aid. Yet as Jake pondered resting to recuperate, a realization struck.

Then it hit Jake... the goal wasn't boss slaying but revealing the Grand Labyrinth's hidden intent. Suddenly, he sensed another presence faintly, and the robotic female voice from the Crisis Protocol Golem activation echoed again, this time much clearer. Jake braced for combat, suspecting Minaga might unleash another stage.

The whole Labyrinth quaked, and a projected head materialized in the sky, peering down at them and intoning.

“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consecrator adipiscing elit...”

All threat vanished instantly as Jake slapped his forehead and chuckled. Still grinning, he observed the face fade, supplanted by the countenance of the dungeon's creator Unique Lifeform.

“Right... right, I should actually put something here to complete the dungeon in case those two actually get here and beat the boss, well, both bosses...” Minaga muttered, then brightened with insight. “Wait! That means I can do a full-on lore-dump and they can’t even escape! Oh, man, in case you two ever hear this, let me tell you, the story of this place is actually really great and partly based on a true story, so even if you don’t have a choice either way, you really wanna hear this! You see, this Labyrinth was made to... no, no, I’ll save that for last. Let’s first cover the early historic periods of the Aginian empire so you can truly appreciate how we got here!”

Jake's grin wilted rapidly, sensing Casper would have ample recovery time before the dungeon concluded.