Tony came to in a flash of white light.

He went to shield his eyes, but the rattle of chains and a searing pain in his wrist informed him that would not be happening. Tony narrowed his eyes, trying to block out the pervasive shine that seemed to come from everywhere. He could tell that he was on his knees and that there were chains laid across his legs too, forcing him upright along a slab of stone.

Something was wrong.

Where's my HUD? Where am I?

"Antonious King," a voice boomed throughout the place, "you have been found wanting and have been summoned to this sacred-"

"Can this wait?" Tony interrupted.

A gargantuan form coalesced before him, pulling all of the glaring light in the place to one focal point a singular blazing eye glared at him, seven rings gyrated around the orb, all somehow held aloft by four wings made of burning white essence with at least a hundred-foot span.

"Excuse me?" the thing said.

"Can this wait? I already have one 'Divine being' out to kill me for... well for reasons that I don't know, so I'd like to get back to trying to kill him first." He explained.

Anger roiled in Tony's chest. You'd think celestial entities would be a little better at communicating this kind of stuff.

"You maintain your Vow to kill Ignacious?" the thing asked.

"What? Yeah I... wait, you're the Archon, aren't you? Talk about jumping the gun, it's been what, like, two weeks since I made that Oath?"

"Oath? The destruction of Ignacious to avenge a fallen Dreadknight is your Sacred Vow. Every fiber of your being must be dedicated to that end-"

"Oh come the fuck on... Are you serious? I've taken out two of his minions by the skin of my teeth, if I went after him like this I wouldn't be avenging anybody. Is that what you really want?"

The great burning eye blinked widening in surprise with each flip of the lid. "You... you dare to correct me mortal? Don't you know-"

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"Defying Cosmic Celestial beings is kind of my thing if you didn't notice," Tony yelled back.

One of the Archon's wings surged forward, its razor pinions pointed at the center of Tony's chest like a barrage of spears. With no HUD, he had no idea what the Archon's level would show up at, or where his HP bar would be once he was impaled.

I'm just going to have to activate Fatal Resolve as soon as I feel it... or try to. Tony thought. He stared into the oncoming attack, unwavering. If he blinked or hesitated it could all be over before he had the chance to fight back.

The bladed wingtip stopped inches away from Tony's chest.

"What are you doing?" The Archon demanded.

"What do you..." Tony started as he looked down. The tip of his Dreadblade, Legion, had sprung forth from his chest. Tony's eyes widened in shock.

Why is there no pain? he wondered.

The blade dissolved into violet and ebon flames, pouring out of him and swirling like a maelstrom between Tony and the Archon. Countless pairs of gleaming white eyes peered out from the dark depths of the tempest as a myriad of voices rang out in a dissonant chorus.

"We burn!" it roared, billowing out toward the archon and scorching its wings. The flames rolled over Antonious as well, breaking the restraints holding him to the marble slab. He fell forward, catching himself on his hands and knees.

"Wait... are you Legion?" he asked as he pushed himself up to his feet. Several of the gleaming sets of eyes blinked at seemingly random intervals. Tony almost felt like it was nodding at him. "This just gets weirder and weirder..." Tony mumbled.

The Archon roared and moved in a wide arc, building momentum to crash down on him. With a flap of its wings, a torrent of gleaming feathers rocketed toward him.

"Use us!" Legion shouted.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Tony grunted as he danced back from a feather slamming into the ground where he was standing. It let out a high pitched whine and detonated into harsh light.

That would have hurt. Tony thought. He weaved to the side as one of the Archon's bladed wings narrowly missed its mark. Tony planted his feet and jumped, grateful for the additional points he'd put in Athletics. He landed on one of the Archon's orbiting rings and clamped down on it with his hands, as another ring came around he put his foot up, arresting its motion entirely.

"You insolent, vile-" the Archon started to scream, its blazing eye boring into Tony, "you are nothing! A Dreadknight who cannot fulfill a Sacred Vow is nothing!"

Tony pushed out against the ring with his foot, "Yeah, well FUCK YOU!" he roared into the Archon's gaze, "Vae Victis!"

The maelstrom that was Legion whipped up in a thunderous frenzy and formed as the Dreadblade in Tony's grip. The Dreadknight angled the sword point down and thrust it directly into the Archon's eye.

The celestial being wailed in agony as waves of white essence poured out of the wound. Tony ripped the blade out and vaulted off of the Archon. "How's that? Taking me seriously now?" he challenged.

The Archon soared skyward, taking the light with it. Everything darkened around Tony until something popped up in the corner of his vision.

Loading...

"You've got to be kidding me..." Tony muttered.