"Within these streets once walked He as the God of Order, now he burns its houses, maims its guards, and befouls the very essence of divinity with his heretic power, born out of righteous rage and bestowed by his Grandparents, eager to take their Son down a peg or two..."
The Mad's God Quest third edition revised (now with commentary from the Gods themselves!)
Hope stared down at Richard, thanking the luck-inclined deities she wasn't fighting Kaine, he was taller than before, no doubt a gift of the very well hidden, but still clear to her eyes by the Goddess Kaal'Duvat, she couldn't help but be at awe of the sheer strength of power the Goddess had, it made her have goosebumps all over and drool over the coming battle, such as the display of might.
His eyes shone green and blue, amber and red as Hope felt the energy infuse his very bones, this was a first she thought, it was rare for Divines to directly push their Essence into a mortal vessel to the point the body changed as a result, Lucrezia would love the new sight she reckoned, with preparations complete Richard raised his blade and the horns went off, the battle was on!
"Fall!" his voice came from above with power, Hope barely dodged out of the way before he began hammering through her Shields, the man was possessed and with another scream summoned spears of green light towards her, she had to use her own Ki to block them as they tore into her regular Aegis Spells like a hot knife through butter, it took barely a second but she felt one of her blessings scream and raised the spear given by the Hivemind to block a mighty slash.
Earth cracked under her feet, the blow was so strong she felt like her arms would break as an honest-to-gods sinkhole formed below her, Richard himself couldn't believe she managed to block his overhead attack and for such failure, he had rewarded a swift kick in his ribs. She blasted the young man towards the very edge of the arena as the crowd cheered Hope's counterattack.
"My turn" Hope spoke and summoned her strongest blessing, Magic flowing through her very soul as she decided to do Lucrezia proud, summoning a great hailstorm of bluish ice, it hummed with power as she infused her own Mana into it, and mist followed as the temperature dropped around them and with both arms raised, she chanted the true name of every Winter Spirit she knew.
Feeling bold, she weaved speed and haste into the spell, Kaine's form appearing beside her like a ghost as she recalled his lessons, soon the hailstorm was upon Richard, and with a mighty cry she released the construct of arcane power, the hail now infused by Hope's obscene powerful mana, the essence of Spirits and velocity born out of arcane weaving slammed into the young man's defenses and around him, such was the power it would tear chunks of ground off, or outright explode.
A great phantasmal hand appeared above his position, Hope gasped as she realized what divine was powering it, around her every orc in the arena cheered with such enthusiasm she couldn't help but sigh, yet she did not let go and fuel her spell more, a clash of titans ensured as Kaal'Duvat's hands threw themselves at the hailstorm, punching it away to the point Hope could feel the air vibrate around and above her.
Changing tactics but still favoring big showy attacks, Hope let the spell be destroyed and summoned huge spikes of golden-looking steel, something Lucrezia could not do as Richard's face flashed amazement, he felt the Essence of the Mad God in those spikes, to his credit he didn't stop and stared, immediately launching himself to the nearest one and chopping it down with his sword.
Alas, he was not fast enough, Hope made a simple hand gesture, her hand falling and pointing towards him with a closed fist, a singular bolt of gold lighting, powerful and beautiful slammed into Richards's form, he raised his sword and screamed himself hoarse as the energy of the Mad God tried to smite him into a smear in the arena's sandy floor, Hope's eyes widened as she saw Richard's armor peel off him and raise tiny spikes around him, forming a shell that at first tried to suck the bolt inwards, but failing that it redirected towards the ground, sending a mighty plume of sand and smoke upwards.
Magi-Tech saved him, Hope smiled and searched for Lucrezia in the crowd, finding her friend smiling in return.
"No distractions!" Richard bellowed out and rushed her, Hope barely had time to raise her spear as he slammed into her body like a slab of stone, she could scarcely perceive it even with her Speed blessing running at max potency and what ensured was a beatdown so severe she was sure he would've killed someone lesser, each punch Richard threw sent shockwaves throughout her body and together with the cheering, a cacophony of noises blossomed within the arena.
Her blessing of war finally matched the output of Speed and within seconds she was matching him blow for blow, slowly she gained ground as she weaved devastating Ki pulses into her attacks together with Mana but Richard did not relent, when he saw she wasn't taking any more damage he did the unthinkable, with a mighty kick he pushedHope's spear to the edge of the arena and grappled her!
"To think it took weeks to get you to fuck me, I should've asked for a battle before!" Hope whispered in his ear as the two of them merged in an unflattering tangle of limbs, Hope doing her best to get him off her but Gods above and below the man were not letting up, she cursed not having asked Lucrezia for training against grapplers as the woman herself was one of the very best, and no doubt taught him about it.
She felt pressure on her legs and nearly screamed in panic when she saw him wriggle his hands into her right leg, with a scream of pure terror he pulled and Hope's world went white with pain, she snapped out of it and burned through most of her Ki pool, blasting Richard away with Red Aura as the man went flying towards the edges of the arena. The bastard had almost broken her leg!
Hope limped and got up, pain flaring through her body as she took a deep breath and healed herself to full health, bone and muscle popping in horrible noises as the crowd went silent, it had dawned on many of them how powerful the woman was, as every single attack Richard let out would've not been easily blocked, or recovered even with high skills in healing magic and blessings.
But Hope was more, she was a legend made flesh and Rage made manifest, Richard got up and sighed "And she hasn't even tapped into the Rage yet" his words echoed across the silent Arena, until his friends started cheering for him, Hope snapped her head and saw the trio that often followed Richard around, Lucrezia with them as they screamed his name from the seats, more joining cheering him and Hope both.
She also saw Arthur raise a huge spectral flag with her name on it, the sight grounded her a bit, this was all for show she had to remind herself a good fight does not need to end in bitter feelings, even if she was a bit chuffed about the almost leg break...
"No breaking bones, I got the message" Richard spoke with a laugh and Hope laughed with him "Yeah, that was nasty" she replied and moved to get her spear, ready for the next about of attacks. But this time she wasn't just using her All-Father-given powers, Hope's eyes rolled to the back of her head as the world shook around her, the ground quaked and the sunlight dimmed.
Unholy power, Enemy of all that was living in the world and universe, Hope roared a challenge towards Richard and the man smiled, at the third and deepest level of the Rage-that-Dwells, Hope was now a peerless existence, and together with the power of All-Father's blessing, she felt ready to snatch that title of strongest from him, bestowed by a detestable woman sure, but in the realm of warriors, her word carried weight few knew.
But many respected.
Hope pounced and the world roared as a result, her speartip was but a glint of unknown metal due to the sheer velocity of her moves, triple stabs, sweeps, and thrusts all flowed in mind-shattering speed as Richard did his best to dodge, parry or when she sped things up, take as little damage as possible, alas the weapon she wielded was forged for God Killing, a scrap nearly broke his arm!
Richard felt the hairs in his neck raise as he dodged a sweep only to get a left hook right into his face, he had to ground himself with mana not to fly off and get skewed, an opening showed as Hope fumbled her thrust and tried to leap backward, Richard did not let that slide and pressed his attack with renewed vigor, his Goddess's form shimmering upon his back to aid him.
A blow that sounded like thunder pierced Hope right in her collarbone, Richard saw the powerful Ki shield she had erected crack under his blade's pressure, Hope cursed under her breath and tried to headbutt him away, another awe-inspiring bow came, this time aimed right at her neck and the woman had actually to block it, time slowed down as she raised her spear in a wrong form, shaft meeting crystal and steel in a mighty clang!
Locked as they were Richard could only hear his and Hope's breathing, his vision narrowing down to the singular moment they were sharing as all noise from the arena became muted, saw her smile the most beautiful smile Hope had ever shown, he knew that the bond they had was now stronger than ever before, forged anew in this battle as Richard smiled back at her.
Grabbing her spear with all of his power, Richard slammed his right shoulder right into Hope's chest, knocking her down to the ground, he felt the woman's hand grab his belly and the hot pain of a stab, but she was just the bit slower than him, fractions of seconds even as he slashed her neck, Hope's body disappearing into the waiting room of the Fields, Richard soon to follow as the arena's noise roared back into his reality, a smile on his lips as she locked eyes with Lucrezia standing proud staring right at him, hand on her chest.
Richard closed his eyes and felt the flow of Divine Energy leave his body as he was taken, opening them he found himself staring down at Hope as she massaged her neck "Out of all ways to go, getting your throat slashed isn't pretty, guess mom was right..." she extended her hand towards Richard who took it "Good fight dear, good godsdamned fight!" she closed into a hug and Richard let the woman have the moment "Oh Lucrezia will be pissed today, I can't wait to see her getting mad at you for not going all out against her!"
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"Sanctioned outsider influence?!?! Are you crazy?" The academy's dean spoke to an envoy of the gods as he watched the next fight start, Lady Vivienne was, much like her friends dressed in armor forged by the Duchess of the North, that woman spared no expense on getting her inner circle the best she could forge for them, of course, the ancient elf could feel the wrongness of Vivienne's weapon, that was no Magi-Tech blade.
"Worry not, it is not the first time, nor will be the last, the All-Father wills it and so it shall be done" The envoy spoke his piece and left, the Dean sighed and wiped sweat out of his forehead "I should look into retiring soon, I don't wanna deal with this sort of stress Gods..." he spoke his piece as the arena shook with power from the cheers, another fight with powerful individuals had begun.
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A few hours before the matches had begun, Kaine was called by his beloved for a fascinating talk with one of the Chief Divines of the realm, Goddess Fae’Zhurar, youngest of All-Father's progeny and commander of all Magic-related Spheres of Power, once Kaine had cursed himself for not being blessed by her, but nowadays he had no ill feelings towards the Divine.
Her message was not at all demanding as well, much to Gwennarius's subtle jealousy as Kaine saw a then unknown facet of the Elder Goddess, she was possessive of him, and nearly fired rude remarks of her own when he was talking with Fae’Zhurar! afraid of losing her power or did the Divine finally start caring about the members of her cult? Kaine didn't know.
Fae’Zhurar wanted him, together with Kaede of course who had the actual Greater Blessing of magic to pull it off, to start working on ways to bridge space, a new venue of trade and faith spearheaded by All-Father, apparently inspired by Lucrezia's voyage to the stars via her Magi-Tech, he would be working with obscure and archaic entities who were technically outsiders but all in good relations with All-Father and his realms.
Kaine agreed to it, as Kaede did the same and when they had a private moment together she shared her thoughts on the matter "Something is up with this, and I feel Kaine that Vivienne's new weapon is a lead, when you fight her today..." Kaede's tail twitched as Kaine smiled, that was her tell when the woman was coming up with a particularly devious plan, her face locked in thinking as he waited patiently.
"Steal it!" the young Kitsune said with cheer and Kaine nodded.
As Kaine sat by himself (Kaede had to talk with Lucrezia about the new endeavor) he thought to himself about his life so far, with this new request and other signs he had been noticing for a while he knew how some of the pieces fit the puzzle, all these events, all the absurd happenings and his role within them, powerful people and even more powerful entities moving their pieces at a pace unseen.
Who was the fulcrum of it all? the fire starter that created this roaring flame, Kaine couldn't help but smile as Lucrezia's face popped into his mind, he could picture the woman with crystal clearness now, the ridges and lines in her face, the azure eyes that betrayed deep understanding of it all, and a smile that comforted her friends, she did something, well she did many somethings and the consequences of her actions were being played out right in front of him.
But that sword...Kaine had seen it in action and he felt something ominous from it, something that he had to make sure to prepare against it as Vivienne had already told him she would not hold back, she told him how everyone in the group saw him as the most powerful, even Lucrezia was not keen on fighting him, and while he was deeply touched by the faith of his companions, Kaine himself knew he wouldn't last a minute against Hope or Lucrezia...
And so with knowledge, a bit of help from Gwennarius who was very ready to please for no real reason, and a dash of luck, Kaine prepared for the fight ahead, hoping he wouldn't be beset by any surprises.
But surprise found him first, he saw Vivienne's small frame decked out in what had to be genuine artifact armor from the Arch-Duke's vault, pauldrons full of divine enchanted charms, but no helmet, instead her hair was tied into a ponytail and on her forehead shone a beautiful faceplate, the very image of a warrior princess of yore Kaine thought to himself as the crowd roared cheers in her name.
If there was one thing he didn't think he would enjoy, it was the sheer power and hype generated by the chanting, drums, and music, it was no small wonder Lucrezia and other warriors fell into the Battle Lust, even he was itching for a good fight, and that thought made him a bit scared.
Fear not the battle, for it is the very reason your kind was made Gwennarius's voice spoke in his ears, he could feel the Divine trying to egg him on, a curious strategy by someone who often wanted nothing to do with combat, but this was different he realized, this was a show to display his and by extension Her powers, against someone powerful.
The rest didn't know, of course, She and Kaine knew, as Vivienne raised that golden sword clad in eldritch flame and humming with power from beyond, unsanctioned outsider influence, well in this case an actual display of force that...had no response from the Divines in charge of safekeeping the many borders to All-Father's realm.
"Gwennarius?" Kaine asked out loud.
Allowed by All-Father himself, steel yourself, young human, this won't be a walk in the park.
Kaine snapped his fingers, his usual attire transforming into battle armor he and Lucrezia had crafted together, complete with a helmet that folded into itself via inspired usage of dimensional magic, upon his hands he called a mighty staff of Magi-Tech, glowing with silvery threads at the top of it as the metals reacted with his Greater Blessing, Kaine kneeled and with a small prayer for good luck, walked into the arena.
"...FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE RIVER OF TIME ITSELF, THE STRONGEST MAGE OF THE CENTURY, MAKE SOME NOISE FOR KAINE!" the announcer bellowed out from the top of his lungs, his ears picking up Kaede, Arthur, and Lucrezia as they cheered together with the crowd. Still, his eyes were locked on Vivienne who performed a perfect bow "May we find honor in this battle" she spoke with her lips but no sound as the roaring of the crowd grew.
And the battle had started, Kaine felt his blessing flex and time slow to a crawl as he began to chant several spells, his hands a blur of speed and shapes, and around him, the very fabric of mana cracked with power, an extremely rare display of near total control over magic only his parents could have pulled off, Vivienne roared a challenge and raised her sword, Kaine's divination screamed for him to dodge as she brought the sword down, a beam of pure white energy slamming into his shields, blasting through the contingencies he had just set up to make it go off target, he began counting down and when the light was near him he teleported.
Vivienne's eyes widened in surprise as Kaine made himself manifest right by her side, his left hand raising his staff and with 3 downward motions that looked oddly stiff, he summoned a bolt of lighting above them, his right hand twisted as if he was grabbing a door knob and Vivienne screamed, trying to run but feeling her legs lock up as Kaine closed his right hand and teleported away.
The arena shook as the bolt of lightning slammed into Vivienne's form, yet her armor flared gold, and panes of force formed, blocking most of the attack as the crowd stood silent in awe, Kaine did not let up and with a grunt of force threw his staff upwards, chanting at high speeds again with the help of his blessings he placed both hands in front of him, glowing with power as he balled them into firsts and punched the ground in front of him.
Fists of solid rock came from the air, Vivienne had to blast both of them with another ray of whatever energy that sword was summoning from beyond, she leaped into the air and manifested wings, white as snow and radiating sickly golden glow, her eyes shone and Kaine had another scream come from his divination, with a series of teleports he dodged the instant blast of energy that left a sizeable crater where he was.
"They won't curse you for using this weapon and its powers?" Kaine asked, worried for his friend.
"No, you needn't worry about that my dear friend" Vivienne's voice had weird echoes in it, tinged with the power from the sword "All-Father himself said he wouldn't mind, I wonder why" she cooked her head towards him but Kaine shrugged, he didn't know.
Vivienne nodded and got ready, round two was about to begin with her on the offensive!
Kaine sucked in air as an explosion of outsider energy blew out of Vivienne's back, the woman closed the gap within seconds and was in melee range, with a stomp of his foot he sent pillars of earth and gusts of wind towards her, trying to create distance but Vivienne wouldn't let that happen, with a mighty chop of her blade she sliced through his magic and went for a killing blow.
"Fuck it" Kaine spoke and held his staff with both hands, she wanted a clash within melee range? fine, she would get one! With a scream that echoed throughout the arena Kaine's entire body, robes, and staff both flared as runes of power pulsated with power, powerful hasting magic made his brain and body work as fast as he could take it, dodging Vivienne's blow, then parrying the next flurry of attacks with his staff like the monks of yore.
Still, it wasn't enough, the woman's martial skill was above him, he was squarely on the defensive and losing ground every time she struck, Kaine muttered a silent prayer towards the Undying and flared his final set of enhancement runes.
Vivienne barely had time to dodge as his staff came crashing down from above, Kaine felt his impressive mana reserves burn like wildfire as the hasting effect bolted into his soul, courtesy of no small amount of gold donated to the Undying's church, training with Lucrezia and Castra-Cam and his skill in Necromancy, the crowd roared his name as he traded blow for blow against Vivienne's eldritch empowered state.
With a final push of willpower, Kaine cast powerful, outright maddening divination spells together with generous usage of his Greater Blessing, he had to thank Vivienne later, not even his mother pushed him to this state as the mage truly became one with the River of Time, he saw a grin of pure pride on Gwennariu's face as he for a few short seconds ascended to a realm above the mortal coil.
Yet Vivienne would not give up nor falter, even as the spell barrage grew to a ridiculous degree, even as Kaine fought her one-to-one with speeds unseen, he saw then in this faux-apotheosis state of his as her blade fed her power, not from one entity from beyond the cosmos, but an entire planet worth of them! Kaine sighed in sheer amazement that such a transgression was being allowed, and smiled at the fact he could face someone this powerful, a small part of his mind reminding him that this was likely how Lucrezia and the others likely felt whenever they fought hard enemies.
Minutes of pure chaos tickled by as Kaine felt his core about to run dry, and so decided to mimic a particular spell or more like a torrent of sheer energy that had defeated a particularly hard foe of his group in these very fields not so long ago, teleporting to the skies above Vivienne he forced the runes to their maximum output, pain flooded his senses and his soul quivered under the pressure, but he did not falter.
"It's Over" he spoke and pointing his staff at Vivienne he unleashed a copy of the All-Father's tear attack, paling in comparison to the sheer output of energy, but strong enough to knock Vivienne down, at least according to his calculations.
She screamed as a shield of holy and eldritch energy flared to protect her, but to no avail, as the beam of power slammed into it with a horrible noise, gasps and screams from the public were heard as the shield broke and Vivienne's form was enveloped in the blue light, Kaine's mana had finally run out and he felt himself failing from the skies, his mind dizzy and body hurting all over, oh that would hurt in the morning he thought to himself as he saw the ground.
He felt warmth envelop him before blacking out, his nose picking up faint smells of perfume as voices spoke from all sides, smiling he let himself go, it was time to rest Kaine thought to himself as he floated into blissful sleep.