Threshold City

12:50 P.M.

A staccato of semi-automatic fire joined the echoing song of Redgrave’s rifle a mere moment after Tantalus made his hurried declaration. All of those save for Tantalus and GatorKing hesitated for a brief moment after the shot rang out and the Dark Apostle fell to the ground. The Revenants knew of the Captain’s plan to assassinate one of the Dark Apostles at the negotiation, but the news that Svenheim was a person rather than a soulless NPC had made them all assume that the assassination plot had been canceled.

Three bullets flew from Tantalus's Luger and hit Talwar, the Second Dark Apostle, like a zipper. The first struck him in the stomach, the second struck him in the neck, and the third hit him in the middle of the eyes. Most people would have hesitated to kill a person, Tantalus thought dully, but he did not have the privilege of indulging in such thoughts.

Each bullet slammed into the flesh of the Dark Apostle and ricocheted off with bright sparks of light. It was as if the bullets had struck a thick sheet of cast iron. Talwar’s head jerked slightly as it caught the Captain’s bullet.

Talwar did not immediately react. His eyes were locked on the bloody crater in Svenheim’s skull. The right side of Svenheim’s skull had been opened by Redgrave’s bullet. Blood and brain matter decorated the pavement near Svenheim’s open brain pan.

The look on the Second Dark Apostle’s face transformed from confusion and sadness into vengeful rage within seconds. He turned to the ten Revenants and Imperials in front of him as two high-caliber bullets from Gator’s rifle struck him in his midsection. Talwar couldn’t immediately tell how they had done it, but he knew that they were responsible for the grievous wound that had just been dealt to Svenheim.

GatorKing’s mind never strayed from the Captain’s initial command. He knew Tantalus was rational to a fault. The Captain’s plan would not falter even if it required them to kill human beings. Gator did not allow himself time to seriously engage with the morality of his actions; he merely let the training take over.

Seeing two of his shots have no effect on the Second Dark Apostle, Gator adjusted his aim. Talwar was doing something to make himself immune or otherwise highly resistant to gunfire. The sights of GatorKing’s rifle fell instead on the Orc Captains that were present in the center of the town square. While he raised his rifle, the Orc Captains’ sights were set on the remaining Dark Apostle. Instead of immediately returning fire, they were waiting for further orders. This hesitation would slow their response by about a dozen seconds. To someone like GatorKing, that was more than enough time.

Hammering down on the trigger as fast as his finger would move, GatorKing shot at the orc captains. His Garand still held six shots, and he put all six through the chest plates of the five Orc Captains. The .30-06 bullet had no trouble penetrating the armor, and the Holy blood coating the bullets easily bypassed the enchantment on the Orcs’ skin. Before any of the Deluvians could react, three of the Orc Captains were dead on the ground, and the remaining two were seriously wounded.

Like the victim of a crime identifying their assailant, Talwar pointed a finger at Tantalus and the other Revenants arrayed around him. His face had taken on a red tint of rage, and a mouth filled with spittle opened to speak.

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“Spatium secarus!” Talwar roared loud enough for his voice to carry over the symphony of gunfire. He had cast a spell that no one else had ever heard, and his target was Tantalus based on the direction of his outstretched finger.

The Captain’s eyes flashed yellow as the four other Revenants dove to the ground. Tantalus did not attempt to dodge the spell. Instead, he continued shooting at Talwar. Two bullets struck the Second Dark Apostle’s face as he recited the spell’s incantation. The bullets ricocheted off harmlessly.

The spell was activated, and space itself was torn. In two places, Talwar grabbed the thin layer of reality that overlaid the stream of data that kept Ferrum running. With the strength afforded him by his new god-like form, Talwar pulled reality in two different directions. A two-dimensional fault-line the size of a city-block formed in space-time. Everything on one side of the fault-line was moved about three feet laterally, while everything on the other side remained stationary.

Among the people of Ferrum, this spell was heralded as the spell that could cut the sky itself. It was called the Sword of Heaven.

The Revenants on the ground just barely ducked under the effects of Talwar’s spell, but General Dogwood’s group was not as lucky. Feldrast and one of the NPCs with the group dodged far enough backward to not be struck by the sword strike of an almighty war god.

General Dogwood and two of the other NPCs fell to the ground in a pile of severed meat. The fault-line formed diagonal to the ground. Dogwood, who was standing to the front of the group, was severed at his thighs. The two other NPCs who stood behind the General were cut at chest-level. The screaming of dying men joined the cacophony of violence.

Any building struck by the effect of the Sword of Heaven collapsed as its structural integrity was instantaneously compromised. A faint, almost invisible seam had appeared in one of the clouds above as if it had been cut through by a massive divine sword.

At the epicenter of this gargantuan attack stood Tantalus, completely unharmed. Despite making no effort to dodge, he was completely untouched by the spell.

“Izanagi, attack!” Tantalus shouted as he slapped a new magazine into his Luger.

The man with the demon mask rolled onto his chest and sprang to his feet. Though he reacted with some hesitation, he moved toward the remaining Dark Apostle with significant speed. Izanagi did not draw his sword as he ran, but he kept his right hand near his sword’s sheath. As he ran, Izanagi kept his stance low to the ground so as to make himself a much smaller target.

The surviving Deluvians finally decided to attack once they witnessed Talwar’s spell. The two surviving Orc Captains raised their rifles toward Izanagi, but they were both swiftly cut down by a hail of gunfire from FullDan. One of the Ogres stepped forward to interpose itself between Talwar and Izanagi.

“Sen drast ignis!”

A woman’s voice shouted the incantation, and a high-velocity ball of fire exploded against the Ogre’s upper body. Everything above the Ogre’s waist was completely engulfed in flame, burning an unnatural blue color. Its guttural scream of pain was echoed by a woman’s scream as its huge green frame lumbered backward away from Izanagi. The Ogre fell to the ground screaming.

Free from all impediments, Izanagi rapidly closed the distance between himself and Talwar. In one smooth and lethal motion, Izanagi drew his katana and brought it flying toward Talwar’s midsection. As the blade flew through the air, it was trailed by a deadly black crescent of annihilated space.