“Wh-what?!” No one amongst the Fiends was more surprised by the announcement of Jaid’s betrayal than the woman herself. She stared at Drim, hoping to catch some glimpse of an explanation, but his face remained firm and unyielding with his accusation. So The Paladin’s eyes darted around, trying to uncover some insight from the others, but they were just as confused and caught off-guard.
Even Tize, her biggest antagonist throughout it all couldn’t quite believe it. But still, they had no reason to doubt their leader, so their own gazes steadily drifted towards the knight, ready to take action as needed.
“Subdue her at once!” the king gave the order, and Jaid quickly found herself surrounded. Itsy grabbed her arms and wrenched them behind her back to secure her, and a few more clasped their hands onto her sides, with someone she couldn’t see grabbing onto her feet.
“Cover her eyes,” Drim followed up with another command. “She’ll use her clones to try and escape, but she can only make them where she can see. Though she’ll still be able to make them connected to herself, so watch out.”
A moment later, Phon approached the woman, brandishing the ribbon from her hat, and she began to wrap it around Jaid’s eyes. But before The Paladin’s vision was caught off entirely, she caught more glimpse of Drim. While he’d been giving these orders, the man had been steadily backing away from the group to a particular corner of the room: Rathe’s workshop that had stayed entirely unmarred by the ravages of battle.
Suddenly, the knight understood what he was trying to do. That mawhging bastard! In the instant before her eyes would have been sealed away, she did just what her king was trying to prevent. Jaid made a clone directly behind him while removing the original that had been captured.
“Don’t let him!” The new knight screamed as she swung the flat of her sword at the man. Suddenly attacking their leader wouldn’t help her case, but she had to stop him no matter the cost. Her opponent whirled around in time and deflected with his own blades
But before Jaid could swing again or explain even further, she found herself tackled to the floor by one of the other members. Who it was, she didn’t even try to look. Her eyes never left Drim for even a second. Of course, he was using the opportunity to get away from his assaulter, but it was all just a ruse, a diversion. And though it pained her to admit, it was wise for him to choose her as the scapegoat—the only one who knew the truth. But she wouldn’t let him get away with it.
“Don’t let him touch it!” The Paladin screamed again as four new clones spawned around the man and attempted to subdue him. Only the one directly at his front managed to make contact, clashing again with Drim’s weapons. The rest of the group captured the other three before she could even make an attempt, and once more, she found herself on the floor.
The king didn’t even try to hide his aversion anymore. As soon as he got away from her again, he made a mad dash towards the workshop, repeatedly bursting with Gatrim’s borrowed speed to get there as quickly as possible.
He truly was a mawhging bastard for treating her like this, using her as a scapegoat to fool them all. She should hate him for it, but all Jaid could think of was stopping him, saving him from himself. Tears streamed down her face as she cried out once more. They had to know, they had to hear her! She had to get through to them so that they could put an end to it if she couldn’t!
“Don’t let him touch it! He’ll die!!!”
Drim arrived at the workshop and shot out his arm, with one final push it would be all over. He reached towards the new opening in the wall that hadn’t been there before, one that had only been revealed upon Rathe’s death. His hand started to close, mere inches away, but as he tried to grasp the object inside, he found himself clutching only air.
“What’s she talking about, Drim?” the leader suddenly found himself back in the middle of the room, face-to-face with his sister. And her eyes were unamused. Clearly any lie or deception he tried to pull was something she wouldn’t believe so easily.
The man found himself glancing away, suddenly overcome by guilt. And he wasn’t talking either, refusing to elaborate on the matter, because the words were too hard to even speak aloud.
“Jaid?” The Vixen turned around and gestured for the others to set her free. “Care to explain?”
“Yes,” the knight took a moment to find the right words as she was helped to her feet. “It’s complicated, and it will sound convoluted, but please believe me. And don’t let Drim out of your sight, or he’ll try it again. I’m sure of that. This comes straight from Cosmos.”
◆◆◆
“There is something important you need to understand about demigods,” god and creator of all, Cosmos, led the two Fiends into their final conversation amidst what remained of Hower’s secret bunker. “First, let me allay a potential concern. Yes, they can be killed. Currently, your friends are finding this task difficult, though they are still on the right track.”
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“For a young demigod such as yourself, Drim, since you still possess a flesh and blood physical body, destroying that beyond the point of regeneration would be what is required to kill you. But for ones such as Rathe, who have become intertwined with a planet, you will find a direct physical approach fairly inefficient, though not fruitless. Since if you don’t destroy the entire planet that comprises her existence, she can always recover herself.”
“But demigods do not have unlimited power, and as that power wanes, her ability to recoup her losses fails alongside it. To defeat her, you must drain her of all of her energy to the point that she can no longer sustain herself. When that happens, you can well and truly consider her vanquished.”
“And as she grows weaker, you will also notice the range of her physical form decrease, unable to get too far from her core. That is what could be considered the heart of the world, Rathe’s anchor that binds her and allows her to exist. It is something that will be hidden, something that your friends have yet to find. And I doubt you will see any sign of it until the fighting is over, but when it is, if Rathe falls, so too will any protective enchantments concealing it.”
“I’ll tell you now that the core is invincible by the hands of demigods or men. Only I would have the means to destroy it. But by doing so, this planet would crumble as well. That core is the very source of all life on this planet, what holds it together and makes it habitable.”
“On its own, the core is just a fancy rock. It is only empowered and functional when it is imbued with a soul. That is how demigods come to fuse with the planets. They relinquish their physical forms and become one with the core, the world itself. But with Rathe defeated and her soul returned to me, the core will once more find itself a worthless rock.”
“I take it you are getting my point. If you kill Rathe, the world will also begin to die. The effects won’t be immediate, but over time, life will get considerably harder for all. Crops will wither, the air will stagnate, weather will become unpredictable and unstable. It truly will be an apocalypse, but through a slow bleed rather than a rapture.”
“That is unless a new soul finds its way into the core. The type ultimately does not matter. A demigod would handle the transition the best, but any soul can do it as long as they are of strong will, be it human or monster. As long as they can withstand the ascension, otherwise their soul will be destroyed in the process, completely irrecoverable with no place in the afterlife.”
“Regardless of who, it should be someone that you believe you can trust, someone you can place your faith in to run this world. Or else it may very well lead to your current predicament once more. You will have time to make your decision as I’ve said, but don’t delay for too long, or it could be several lifetimes before the new ruler is able to recover from the interim decay.”
“Whenever the choice is made, all that person has to do is place their hand on the core. Then they will either face death or be reborn anew. Now then go, with all the information at your disposal, and all the assistance I can provide. Face your maker, and take your fate into your own hands!”
◆◆◆
“So Drim is trying to sacrifice himself and merge with the world so no one else has to,” Jaid came to her conclusion. “He wanted to do it now before anyone else knew about it and could try and stop him. And he made me the target of his distraction so that I couldn’t reveal the truth to you all.”
“She’s not lying, is she, Drim?” Phon returned her confrontive gaze towards the man of the hour.
“It has to be me,” was all her brother had to say in his defense. “The merging process isn’t guaranteed, and as a demigod myself, I have the highest chance of success. Don’t even argue, because I refuse to let any of you take the risk.” The man’s posture changed, taking a stance to defend himself at the ready. “Even if it means I have to fight my way to it or stop any who try.”
“Well who says this is the only solution?” Xard cut in. “We have time to figure it out, right? So we should take advantage of it. There has to be another way. Perhaps we could build machines that could replicate the benefits that Rathe was providing to keep this planet alive. Or maybe we could create an artificial soul to embed. This doesn’t have to end with one of us dying to take her place.”
That sparked discussion all around with many different ideas and solutions, but the longer they stalled, dragged out the situation, the more impatient their resident demigod god. “Just listen to me!” Thorn shouted to cut above the noise.
“We’re on a timer that we don’t know the scale of. It could be hours, or days, or years. Yes, we could leave here today and run endless tests, make countless plans, but the longer we take, the worse it will get. There will come a point where things take a turn and lives start being lost because of our hesitation. And we will always look at that moment and feel nothing but regret.”
“My gut tells me that this is beyond science. It is a law of Cosmos’ universe that can’t be rewritten or worked around. If there was another solution, I’m confident he would have told us. And it’s not like I’ll be gone for good. If it works, I’ll be something new, I suppose, but I’ll still be me, just with a new job.”
“So please, let me do this for all of our sakes, so we can all walk out of here. Mission accomplished with everyone still alive. That was the promise I made, so let me keep it!”
The one who answered him came as a bit of surprise, and it wasn’t a peaceful answer. Rusa dashed forward and held out her cane. She flipped a special switch that caused it to twinkle and dematerialize. What replaced it in her hand was the royal sword of Archlave, which she swung with all of her might.
Sparks flew as she clashed with Drim, making rapid micro adjustments with her force and angle so that their blades would stay locked until she could finish saying what was on her mind. “You all may have only had a few minutes to process and think about this, but I’ve had hours. Look around! Cracks have already started to form on the walls near the core. The world is already decaying. So I’ve made my choice. I’ll do it! I’ll merge with the world and become the next demigod!”