I hoped you know?
For these few days, I really had hope. So foolish.
I hoped, that maybe, just maybe - for once, the awkward twist of fate could bring me something joyful. That appearance of Kim could be actually something meaningful. That I would have someone to carry this burden with, to discuss darkest desires, temptations that were always there, scratching from within, demanding attention.
Voices that I tried to silence drowning in hedonism. Good food, sweet treats, passionate nights, challenge-full fights, and pride of becoming someone remarkable within society.
I didn't give a damn about society itself... it's just so nice when you are being looked at with respect...
I thought that maybe if I would let Kim "grown-up" a little he would become a person closest to my heart, closer even than Giselle, because we would have that "connection".
How naive of me...
It's almost as if I never learn. Or maybe I chose to fool myself on purpose? Like in my previous world - the fool watching magician show. A kid that knows that the stick doesn't levitate on its own. A kid that chooses not to lift the curtain, behind which a man is moving a machine.
And here I had to face my ignorance.
- "Kim. I am sorry..." I said with trembling voice "... I thought that what I did would bring benefits to you... to both of us. Instead, you are no longer there, aren't you?"
The creature that possessed Kim's body charged at me shifting on its way. It swept its arm forcing me to dodge.
- "Fear not, brother!..." the monstrosity yelled with the voice of dozen creature "... We shall carry on our legacy! ONCE YOU BECOME ONE WITH US"
Another charge onward, he leaped in the air and raised his colossal now hands above his head preparing to smash me into the ground.
I raised my palm.
- "The arrogance of yours... the bigger they are, the stronger they fall..."
I gathered my focus at the top of my palm.
The creature's eyes sparkled with understanding. Within a second he brought his limbs closer to the body and shift once again, turning into some strange mixture of turtle and nightmares,
- "Mana shock wave!" I yelled moment before mass of armored press managed to turn me into a pancake.
He knew that movement. It watched me training with Giselle. By now, it would know most of my spells. That made my situation a bit more difficult.
Impact of spell didn't damage him, merely pushed him aside, Still in his "armadillo" like stance he got up and started spinning in my direction. On his way up, his armor grew few additional scary looking spikes.
No spell nor martial art could manage to stop it... in that case, I just had to show him which one of us is a bigger fish.
You chose pre-defined avatar [Titatnium Tyranis], are you sure you want to proceed? [Yes] [No]
Don't ask silly questions a second before impact, will you!?
My body changed just in time, turning into a few meters tall beast. Kim - mostly because he couldn't see in his current stance, didn't change his trajectory. I just stretched my arms and braced for the impact.
Being held still in my grasp, he didn't stop rotating
You took [1] dmg
You took [2] dmg
You took [1] dmg
You took [3] dmg
He merely kept on scratching the skin on my palms.
[Claws Augment] in process
My "nails" started growing longer and slightly curved. Once it was done, I corrected my grip and dug them deep into Kim's body.
My claws were ripped off by the mere momentum, but just alongside a few of Kim's scales. Even more, a splash of blood ensured me in a statement, that I pierced something important.
My "brother" jerked his body away and jumped aside, gathering distance and checking the damages done.
- "This is why giving the control to the voice is foolishness, Kim, you see, these voices are but an echo of creatures you devoured - creatures you killed, either by outsmarting or overpowering. You are being commanded by weaklings and idiots."
Kim couldn't grow cores, because of that he couldn't grow "sins" that could keep his emotions in check. If I would annoy them a little bit more, the chances were high that they would lose to the anger and later made a mistake.
Just as I thought, the "in-charge" didn't like my nonetheless on-point remark and hissed in answer changing their body.
Its torso became longer and slimmer, like a lizard, though I must say i have never seen a lizard with a human-like face. Eyeless.
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Don't get me wrong, it had eyes, just not on its "face" - if you could call it like that. It had a collar around its head, just like agamas. Bastard decided to place its eyes all over them.
What for? What kind of improvement was that supposed to...
... of course.
No improvement. The "DNA" of his meals was liquefied, literally flowing within his body - lack of cores. He couldn't;' completely control his transformations.
It marched on me, in a zig-zag pattern.
- "Kim, if you are unaware of enemy possibilities, you should remain in defensive state, learn its pattern before acting. Are you that overconfident that you keep on charging? Or are the voices were the ones forcing you to do so?"
Kim saw most of my spells at work.
Most.
I waited patiently, preparing to attack when the moment would be right, and, I didn't have to wait that long. one of his feet landed on it - invisible sigil that activated my fire rune. Poor thing didn't manage to react and his limb was torn away.
I pounced shifting my form, into a more agile one.
You chose pre-defined avatar [Werewolf-ish]
Years ago I managed to gather quite a lot of wolf-kin essence, not enough for a complete transformation, atop of that I didn't have time to waste to adjust the "missing bits". The opportunity had to be used! Or so I thought.
The weirdly-human-ish face opened and spat a greenish mist toward my face.
It stung, badly. Withing second I lost my vision, then I felt something piercing thought my chest.
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What, in the name of Mother justified rage was happening!? - the shaman and rest of the beast-men still gathered atop of the mountain, though in the safe distance - were asking themselves.
One moment they are living a miserable life as slaves, then they are being rescued by their long-awaited messiah, then a creature addressed as an "older brother" of their long-awaited salvation cames, their savior admits he wishes to destroy everything - with them included - and the two starts fighting. Oh, and apparently the "older brother" is indeed an actual "older brother". In blood. In flesh. In destiny.
They watched the impossible showdown, carried on at the speed that they could barely register. They watched as "Kim", or "Allfather" as he addressed himself lately, turn into a mass of armor and charged onward with the power that should shatter mountains!
And they saw the "elder one" effortlessly stopped that charge with his bare hands!
This pure might. The way they traded blows! Their sheer speed was cutting thought the air, making it whistle and cry as if smacked by the whip!
These creatures... were certainly not on the mortals level.
They saw as "Kim's" leg was being ripped by a spell so sophisticated, that not even shamans could sense it, as "the older one" jumped into the air as a wolf-beast preparing to land a finishing blow...
And how he was blinded.
Lizard-beast twisted in place, morphed, changing its tail - growing an exoskeleton like a razor at its tip and piercing through his brother's chest.
- "Charging blindly? No, Baiting his enemy to make a mistake? Yes..." thousand of voice yelled from the lizard-beast humanoid face.
It slowly approached the lying, bleeding body, opening his mouth to savor its first bite...
But the wolf beast pushed his fist into opened jaws - with fire spell prepared.
The explosion tore part of his lower jaw away.
- "Were you trying to teach this lesson...who? Kim, I wasn't born yesterday." The creature got up from the ground, his chest was no longer bleeding, bah! there was no wound over there, to begin with "... I already knew that you have some healing abilities, Kim, unfortunately for you, mine is better."
- "I devoured forest trolls! I should win all the damage trades!" it howled in anger
- "World one big river, child, if you think troll regeneration is superior... you already lost this battle. For my armor is stronger, my claws are sharper and my d... no, the last one would be inappropriate."
Jests? At such a moment?!
- "Tell me, Kim, are we done with pre-warmup?"
- "...you asked for it! Behold, my strongest form!"
And then, he changed again. Into spider. With wings and an additional pair of limbs raised up like a mantis.
The creature that was known as Terror of Omega Forest.
The other's body changed as well - it shrunk. Its muscles were almost completely gone. It looked like some kind of insect, with extremely thing torso, his eyes became blank, dull, huge and grey, like ash from a burned-out fireplace.
It grew something from its back, one could consider them to be rolls of blue and grey materials waving on the wind... but, there was no wind at all that could force them in motion.
He was levitating in the mid-air, curling his legs - equally thin to his arms, taking a meditating lotus position. His hands clasped together as if he was praying.
- "Are you... taunting me, brother?"
- "Kim. In that short battle of ours, I have outpowered you and outwitted you. I have also proved to gathered more and stronger essence than you, now, this is my last lesson. My last gift. My thank you, and I forgive me. I will show you, once again, that out there exists the power much more formidable than pure brute force or agility."
The shaman had to shut his inner eye down. He could no longer stare into condensated magic.
- "G-grandpa! What is going on!? We heard loud noises even in the tune..."
Two kids entered the peak. Much to their misfortune, the entrance happened to be exactly between two fighting creatures.
And much to shaman's terror, these were his grandkids!
- "Mia! Kro! RUN!" He decided to leave his cover and run toward them, to cover them with his own body. They were the future of his blood-line. Since the day his son together with his wife died, he had only them left. They were the only life he had.
- "OFF THE WAY, INSECTS!" the Terror yelled, shooting few spikes off his legs.
If he could just get in there on time...
He jumped and managed to land on both of them, pinning them to the ground. He only prayed that the projectiles would not pierce thought his body!
Yet, the impact never came.
- "Targeting younglings, Kim? What for? It's wrong on so many levels, even according to your twisted ideology. If YOU really wanted them dead, you should at least wait for them to mature, to gather knowledge... as for me..."
Only now the shaman noticed that projectiles were stopped mid-air. Literally - they were hovering about one meter away from them stopped by an invisible force.
Grotesque, thin creature descended from the air, just one step away and kneeled down. In the meantime, his youngest managed to "pop out" from under his cloak, and now all three of them were paralyzed in fear.
The creature though just lied his slim, long, bony fingers on kids heads and patted them gently.
- "To me, kids are only not-corrupted creatures on this world. Too innocent to truly hate. Too naive to be corrupted. They would treat you the way you are... We should let them grow, don't you think? Kim?"
- "Wolf doesn't care if he eats the adult or the lamb!"
- "Kim. You still didn't realize the position you are in?..." creature once again lowered his head "... take these kids and go away." he ordered the shaman in a surprisingly soft tone
- "Mercy? You are merciful!?"
- "No, Kim, being merciful means that I chose not to kill when I want to. I just don't feel like carrying on pointless slaughterers... Bur for you, I will make an exception, because, you see, we are no longer fighting. This, is but an execution."
Hundreds, no, thousands of same projectiles were lunched from spider's legs, each of them flew toward "the older one". He didn't even move from his spot, simply, none of the attacks managed to hit him, they would just fly past his head and land behind him.
- "Something wrong with your aim, Kim?"
The monster snarled, kicked te ground causing lots of dust to fly in the wind, and then quickly hitting his wings he forced the mass of sand toward his nemesis.
The sand floated around him in a weird pattern, showing the awkward flows of the wind,
- "You ain't as dumb as you look..." another mockery
- "If ranged attacks won't work..."
Once again, it pounced onward rising its mantis-like sickles preparing to strike. With a sound and power that could strike down gods from the heaven!... just to be stopped by an open palm. The creature kept on pushing onward thought, adding more and more strength.
Or not palm as per se, but a small hexagonal barrier raised atop of it.
- "Your attacks are nothing more but brute strength. A force with a vector... When object A puts pressure on object B, Object B reacts with exact same pressure but opposite vector, tell me, do you know what this barrier does? Obviously not, otherwise, you would take your limb away..."
The hex-barrier broke, and so did Kim's sickle. And arm, and part of his torso.
Without one leg, without arm and shoulder, the beast again was pushed back, yet it still refused to give up and run away.
- "What's wrong, Kim? Aren't your instincts kicking in? Shouldn't you run away and heal up?"
- "No! You are weaker! Your motivation is wrong! You are limiting yourself! It's impossible for me to lose! If I would lose then I... Then... I? I? Brother?"
- "Is that you Kim?"
- "I... Don't know? Who... is Kim? Kim... is Kim... NO! We are the perfect being! Some damaged immature single being can't waste labors of the cluster!"
- "Don't ask what society can do for you, but what you can do for society? What's next? Seizing the means of production? Stopping the bourgeoise? There is something you must know about the ideology of yours, it never works, regardless of the universe too, apparently..."
- "B-brother... it's scary in there... they are so loud... please... make it stop... SILENCE! THE HIVE MUST KEEP ON GROWING!... it's like thousands of bees in my brain! WE MUST KEEP ON EATING! THIS HUNGER... MUST BE... make it end... please..." a single tear escaped his eyes "... kill me..." last words were but a whisper.
A powerful pressure force the creature on the ground, it was so powerful, that even stones under its feet were pulverized few centimeters deeper.
- "WE CAN'T LOSE HERE! WE HAVE SEEN THE GATES OF DIVINITY! OUR JOINED MINDS CUT THROUGH THE TISSUE OF REALITY AND SAW THE PERFECTION! BEHIND THE STARS! BEYOND THE REALMS! IN THE MULTIVERSE WE WERE MEANT TO CREATE!"
- "Sorry, your level must be higher to unluck this region.
As at the beginning so in the end,
Eternal fire your body has fled,
Your flesh will vapor,
Your life will dim,
Nothing shall remember,
That you have ever lived.
Embrace serenity,
And let it our go;
So the white fire,
Could purge out your soul.
Angelic flame!"
But a single spark was slowly descending a top of spider-like beast's head, like a snowflake. The creature was still restricted by gravity press, unable to move. It was still trashing in place, desperately trying to escape, yet, to no avail.
And once it landed atop of it, there was no explosion, no glow nor burning marks. The flame just perished, and so did life in Kim.
The "older brother" approached now dead body of "chain-breaker".
- "I am sorry, Kim. I should have been there with you, protect you from temptations of this corrupt world. I should have to keep an eye on you... I was a terrible older brother, wasn't I?... But, Kim. I will make sure that you will see the world. I refuse to give up on this egoistic dream of mine - to see your smile."
And then he did something so much different from what he just said. So terrifying and disgusting. The person he was addressing so gently, with so much affection in voice...
He ate him. He turned into colossal snake monster and literally swallowed him whole.