Chuck hummed to himself as a fresh breeze swept through the area. Looking up at the alien spaceship high in the air, he brought one of his hands up.
A notification pinged up in the side of his vision, and he clicked his fingers together.
The rounded shape of a figure in dark clothing appeared and bounced across the ground in front of him, rolling up to two sharp feet.
“A space-cockroach, how original,” the Architect said, shaking his head.
“Who are you, that you think you can pluck my vessel from the great sea without paying the price?” Ash’var clicked his mandibles together. Four blades of dark metal spun into his hands from his belt.
Chuck smiled. “For you, I am death. An exterminator, if you will.”
“Fool. You’ll be number eleven for my collection, once-druid.”
“You don’t have anywhere to put me, though.” He tilted his head and raised his right hand fully extended toward the sky.
Up above them, the dark metal of the large ship bloomed into light as a criss-cross pattern of amber lines spread across it. They brightened to a piercing bright white, before the whole ship exploded. Dark clouds erupted from the fiery inferno as the shockwave thundered throughout the area.
With the swipe of his hand, any debris, smoke, or evidence the spaceship had even been there was erased - leaving a plain blue sky once more.
“My… ship. Pet? PET?” Ash’var shook, his dark eyes ablaze with fury. “How? In all my life, I-”
“Easy, really.” Chuck yawned and relaxed. “You were using the magic ritual we had designed, so I just gave Theo a skill that made him immune to the effects. Something that prevented his skills being removed, and then a group teleport. The last one was more of a failsafe really, originally I was just going to blow the ship up with everyone on it.”
“You show more contempt for your people than even I!”
The Architect tilted his head. Maybe respawning on this scale wasn’t common in the greater cosmos? Or this bug hadn’t come across it often enough to assume his friends wouldn’t come back if he killed them off. Still, some dramatic flair sounded nice right about now.
“Certainly. Now imagine how much contempt I hold for you.” He raised his hand toward the collector.
Who promptly vanished in a burst of black energy.
Chuck looked at his watch. Seemed he had some time to bide.
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Sally stood with her arms crossed. “And those are the ten reasons I think we should let Cross live for now.”
“That was a list?” Claude pulled a face. “It sounded like you just started rambling about whatever first came into your head.”
“Convincing, right?” She grinned.
[Poppy: We’ve already come to a decision.]
Kristov nodded. “Things may be dire, but the goblin will not expire. At least... while we stand, it will not be by our hand.”
“While we do not trust him,” Claude explained, “we would like an explanation before justice is served. More the fool us if we were to destroy him when he had an easy way for us to progress.”
[Poppy: We don’t want to be murderer murderers…]
[Poppy: Because then someone might murder us!]
“Violence is an endless cycle,” Sally agreed, partly wondering when she would get her just deserts. More than usual, anyway. Plenty had tried to murder her, some even because she was a murderer. On this world… well, she was just glad they hadn’t tried to kill Cross.
She kneeled down beside him and put her hand on his head. “Hear that, bud? As long as you’re helpful and don’t get us killed, then we’ll let you live on.”
“Puh.”
With a sigh, she stood back up and looked at her gathered Party. “Must be late afternoon, but I am exhausted.”
[Poppy: It has been quite the day.]
Easily six encounters, Sally was sure - although she wasn’t really counting. They’d just had a short rest, so it would make sense to press on. She turned to see that the manticore was no longer there - clearly way too convinced by her long list of Cross-saving points to need to stick around.
She wondered why Bernice was okay with destroying Dungeons if she had been part of putting them in place… but perhaps they still needed the full picture.
“Alright, let’s get back to finding more daggers.”
----------------------------------------
Ash’var flashed into being, now somewhere dark - in the caverns of a mountain. Cursed the overconfident human for destroying the spaceship and sending pet to ashes. Without his vessel, he…
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
His dark eyes turned to further down the pitch black hallway he was in. A small flame of crimson bloomed in the distance, followed by the sound of… metal hitting the stone ground.
Torches surrounding him suddenly bloomed into life, burning at his eyesight. He lowered his arms to see the noise was a figure approaching him at great speed. The flames behind a crown-wearing skull bloomed brighter, as the Death Knight brought his large sword up to use.
Ash’var cursed under his breath again. Without the ship, his teleportation had a much longer cooldown, and there was nowhere off-world he could target. With few options, he used [Dome of Silence] to create a bubble encompassing the rocky cavern so that Humphrey couldn’t use any abilities.
Still, the force from the first strike of the greatsword almost knocked him to the ground - and the Death Knight was already moving to follow-up. He darted to the side to avoid the blow and lashed out with his own blades.
They bounced harmlessly, and without sound, from the metal plating of Humphrey. He went to move again, but wasn’t able to. Looking down, his legs had become wrapped by lengths of linen - his eyes darting behind saw the Mummy that he failed at collecting, her eyes blazing with anger.
The greatsword struck him just as his teleport activated.
Vertigo through darkness, and then he was rolling across something cold and bright white. His black blood leaving an inked picture behind his journey.
“Cursed Outsiders,” he growled, righting to his feet as his hands clasped at the wound through his shoulder. He blinked his eyes as the snowy surroundings grew brighter and more garish.
“Do you think we are cursed, Theo?” A voice came from behind him. “This seems more like a blessing.”
Ash’var spun to see his previously collected demon and vampire standing together.
Crimson light bloomed within Theo’s eyes as he lifted up a large warhammer to his shoulder. “Waiterrrr, there’s a bug in my soup.”
----------------------------------------
[Poppy: Two more here, Sally!]
“Hmm? Oh, thanks - sorry, I just got another notification.”
[Theo: Guessss who’s ba-acck!]
[Theo: At Sanctuary. Job DONE.]
[Sally: Show off! Sounds like you need sleep though, pup.]
[Theo: yess yess y]
[Sally: Anything exciting going on there?]
[Theo: my lawyer has advised I make no comment]
[Sally: …]
[Theo: …]
[Sally: Edward is your lawyer, I assume?]
[Theo: Everyone you know is safe.]
[Sally: Go sleep!]
She sighed and shook her head. Getting the messages had both tugged at her undead heart, but filled her with some confidence. His words might have been oddly put together, but she felt reassured. When she settled down for the night, she’d give the Outsider Chat a prod.
The thought of being back home… it would be nice to be among her usual friends again, and away from the random spikes of damage and struggle here. She bet it was so nice and peaceful back there. Oh, to see the goblin village again...
----------------------------------------
The collector dropped out of teleportation to land on wooden floorboards. Splatters of blood fell from his torso as a shaking hand brought up the last of his healing items. One broken arm, this wouldn’t do. How unlucky for his teleport to take him right in the way of…
He raised his head to see a small figure standing ahead of him. The little goblin. His mandibles clacked back and forth - perhaps things were going his way now.
Then a heavy boot slammed into his side with a crack, sending him sliding across the floor. The collector struggled to get into a sitting position as a dozen other figures had been waiting in the shadows. More goblins - led by one almost the size of a man and packed full of muscle. Each of them was armed with an assortment of small weapons.
“Do you realize how much money you’ve lost me?” The small goblin hissed, bringing out her own knife. “Break his kneecaps, Jaxk.”
----------------------------------------
Chuck exhaled through his nose. Eyes closed, he enjoyed the peace of the empty starter island. Wasn’t long before it would be bustling and thriving - but for now, it was a place of solitude and calm.
He opened his eyes to look at his watch. Well, at least for the next twenty seconds it would be quiet. Maybe that’s what he could use the island Theo had acquired for. A small slice of being away from all this. Everyone needed a holiday, after all.
And a way to blow off steam.
With a pop of dark energy, the collector appeared and dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Right back into the place he had left from.
His pained eyes looked up at the Architect. Anger and confusion welled up and looked for a way to explode. “But how? Why?” he hissed.
“Everyone thinks of me as a good leader. Pragmatic and good natured. I’ve created a near paradise on this world, and constantly strive to make it the best place possible for all who have the misfortune of being placed here.”
Ash’tar struggled to get up on unresponsive legs, instead just leaning back as he tried to shuffle away.
“You had the audacity to come here and try to ruin that. To hurt my friends and undo everything I had worked for.” Chuck put his hands behind his back. “Honestly? I just wanted you to suffer. You are not a part of this ecosystem and never will be.”
“Your threats are w-weak,” the bug hissed, blood running from his mouth. “I will show you the might of the Ll’akro.”
With a pulse of energy, his back carapace groaned and then split open, large wings blooming out, covered in sickly mucus. A wash of air and he pushed his broken and bleeding body up into the air. “I shall bring a plague on-”
The ground cracked and a large hand of pure blue light surged out and gripped the body of the escaping insectoid. He struggled against it, but in front of him the Architect started to grow as flickering blue-green flames lapped around his robes.
Chuck towered over the captive, now almost a hundred foot tall, his body shimmering with blue light. He tilted his head and thin vines of blue energy whipped up around the summoned hand and encircled the wings of the bug like constricting snakes.
With a sickening burst, the vines went taut and pulled the wings from Ash’var, tearing them from his back so that they dropped inert to the ground below.
“Any last words?” Chuck asked, his large hand rising into the air.
“It’s too late for you,” the collector spluttered. “The beacon has been sent. My brethren will find your world and come in droves.”
The Architect loomed forward, his face getting closer to the held bug. “Let them. They will burst against our walls and become ash and forgotten. You think vengeance is possible? You have just offered up a feast for those of us hungry to beat out all odds.”
With a shake of his head, he stood back up straight. “I would tear the universe in half to keep the Outsiders safe. To keep everyone in this world safe. To be the Architect of such a community is like tending to a garden. Warmth and soft nourishment to those who need nurturing to flourish. Unrepentant destruction to those who threaten to undo all that we have bled for.”
He held out a giant hand, palm facing Ash’var. “You might be the first, but nobody will remember you. This world will hold no record of your existence. You failed.”
Red lines circled around his hand as the captive squirmed and tried to free himself from the grip of the magic restraints.
[Erase]