Yavin’s Crossing
5:15 P.M.
Izanagi stood in a train car with General Dogwood and the three S-ranks traveling with the Greycloaks. He had removed his demon mask, and it was clear from his expression that his concern was growing with every passing second.
Character Sheet
Name Izanagi56 Level 16 Blood Points 134/160 Mana Points 8/28 Race Revenant Fortitude 16 Strength 18 Agility 17 Wisdom 10
Attribute Modifiers: Strength Training (4), Agility Training (2), Mana Training (3)
Izanagi’s name in the Old World was Jonathan Romano. His paternal grandfather was born in Italy, but he was born in Brooklyn. Izanagi had been interested in video games and anime ever since he was a kid. When Ninth Oasis was released, Izanagi quickly became the greatest katana specialist outside of Japan. The list of people in the world who could beat him in a sword fight in Ninth Oasis were in the single digits. Ashcroft and Izanagi had fought each other ten times in tournaments, and Izanagi had won seven times.
Physically, Izanagi was about six feet tall and weighed about two hundred pounds. He must have been doing significant exercise ever since the game started, because he had a much more defined muscularity than most Revenants. Compared to Tantalus, Izanagi’s hair was lighter, and his skin was a shade darker.
Inside the train car, Tantalus inspected Izanagi’s pistol with his left hand. The handgun was a LP08 Luger artillery pistol. It was chambered in 9x19mm parabellum, and it could carry up to eight rounds. Compared to most Lugers, Izanagi’s pistol had a longer barrel. Guns like that usually had an optional stock, but Izanagi didn’t have one. Izanagi had brought ten extra magazines filled with ammunition in his backpack.
“So, you mean to tell me that a man in a grey cloak has been shooting anyone who leaves New Arcadia?” General Dogwood asked.
“Yes,” Izanagi responded. He idly pressed his thumb against the hilt of his katana as he spoke. “He tried to kill me two days ago. I was able to get within fifteen feet of the sniper before a shadow passed over him and he disappeared.”
“Shadow Magic, I see,” Dogwood said.
“Wait,” Tantalus interjected, looking up from the Luger he held in his hand for the first time in the conversation, “I think I saw something similar when the man in sunglasses approached me last night. It was like you blinked, and he was gone, right?”
“Exactly,” Izanagi pointed at Tantalus approvingly.
“I didn’t mention it yesterday because I didn’t want to raise the alarm before the operation, but…” General Dogwood took a deep breath, “that is definitely Shadow Magic. The only entities that can use Shadow Magic are the God of Machines and incredibly powerful Revenants. It is absolutely impossible for a Revenant to gain enough mana to use Shadow Magic within six days, so there is only one subset of Revenants that could possibly use Shadow Magic at this juncture: Dark Apostles.”
“What!?” Tantalus and Izanagi said almost simultaneously.
“What’s a Dark Apostle? Hell, what’s a Revenant, exactly?” Tantalus demanded.
“Consider yourself lucky that these are irregular circumstances, Captain,” General Dogwood chuckled. “Though, I suppose someone should explain to you the nature of your existence. To begin with, the Dark Apostles are technically a subgroup of Revenant. You see, every human’s soul is aligned with either the God of Civilization or the God of Machines. Every person you have met so far is soul-aligned with the God of Civilization. These people are called ‘Imperials.' Those aligned with the God of Machines are called ‘Cognoscenti.'"
Izanagi spoke up and cut off the General’s explanation. “And what does this have to do with Revenants and Dark Apostles?”
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“I’m getting to that,” Dogwood waved off Izanagi’s interruption. “Anyway, certain magic works differently depending on whether it’s cast by an Imperial or an Cognoscentum. Both Imperials and Artificers can create a limited number of Revenants. Imperials can create up to 33,333 Revenants, while Cognoscenti can only create up to 13 Revenants. In return, the Revenants created by the Cognoscenti are significantly stronger.”
“So… the Revenants created by the Cognoscenti are the Dark Apostles,” Tantalus surmised.
“That would be the gist of it, yes,” General Dogwood said.
“What can these Dark Apostles do, exactly?” Tantalus asked. He reached for his notebook to start taking notes before remembering that the fingers he needed to write with were on the floor of a motel bedroom.
“Their strength, speed, and fortitude are essentially ten times greater than that of any mortal man, and they are born with a full mastery of Hermetic Magic and Battle Aura. Luckily, a Dark Apostle has never taken to the field of battle within the first year of a Deluge,” the General finished confidently.
“That’s good to know,” Tantalus said without confidence.
Colonel Maria Feldrast entered the train car, and the conversation came to an abrupt halt. “We have completed construction of the land bridge over the river,” she said. “We can cross over once we have constructed a railway over the bridge.”
“Excellent,” Dogwood clapped his hands together. “I’ll go out to help.”
The two generals exited out of the train car, but the four S-ranks stayed.
There was a long moment of uncomfortable silence before Tantalus spoke. “I’m keeping your Luger.”
“Hey! You can’t just take my stuff!” Izanagi shouted.
“Yeah, well, you took my pistol and trigger finger,” Tantalus said coldly. “Give me your pistol, holster, and ammunition, and then we’ll be even. You can get a brand new 1911 from any Greycloak on this train.”
Izanagi thought this over for a moment before sighing. “Fine, whatever,” he paused for a moment. “A 1911 is a better gun anyway.”
“Also, I want you to explain to me exactly how your special ability works,” Tantalus said as Izanagi removed his trench coat, revealing a left-handed holster under his right shoulder.
“Spatial Cleave is a Very Rare skill that allows me to imbue a weapon I hold with an aura of null energy. Anything I hit with Spatial Cleave is cut on a molecular level. From experience, I know that the object created by [Spatial Cleave] disappears after about an hour,” Izanagi explained.
“Any downsides?” Tantalus asked.
“It costs ten mana to use,” Izanagi grimaced, “and I only have twenty-eight mana.”
“So, you used all of your mana trying to murder me,” Tantalus said. “I’m flattered.”
“It’s a funny coincidence, when I think about it,” Gator interjected. “My special ability, Lucky, is a Rare skill, and so is FullDan’s. I’m pretty sure that Tantalus’s secret ability is at least Rare.”
“Correct,” Tantalus confirmed without saying anything more on the subject.
“You said earlier, Tantalus, that the NPCs refer to the four of us as Heroes, and all four of us have Rare special abilities. Clearly, we’re being built up by the System, but why?” GatorKing asked.
“Have you ever played a Total War game with Hero mechanics?” Tantalus responded with a question as he holstered the Luger in its shoulder holster.
Gator looked around at the other two with uncertainty. FullDan shook his head and Izanagi shrugged.
“Heroes in Total War games like Three Kingdoms or Warhammer go out into battle alongside the standard levy soldiers,” Tantalus continued. “They can kill the standard enemy soldier just fine, but the primary job of a Hero is to fight against enemy Heroes. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
GatorKing sighed and nodded his head. “You’re saying we’re going to have to fight the Dark Apostles.”
“That’s my assumption,” Tantalus muttered.
“How certain are you that we’re going to have to do that?” FullDan asked.
“Right now,” Tantalus bit the tip of his thumb as he thought hard about FullDan’s question, “I’d say there’s a 75% likelihood.”
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By the time the NPCs were done rebuilding the train tracks over the river, night had truly fallen, and they were lit by nothing but starlight. General Dogwood ordered the Vanguard Unit to wait and rest at Yavin’s Crossing for the night.
Ashcroft’s Knights and Mander’s Templars arrived at Yavin’s Crossing an hour after Dogwood had ordered everyone to wait. The caravan of SUVs had been hampered by dozens of fallen trees and several destroyed roads.
Once Ashcroft had learned that Izanagi was present among the Greycloaks, he tried to start a duel with the melee specialist. FullDan had to step in to stop them from killing each other.
In the morning, the caravan continued its long journey to New Arcadia.