Blasphemous Martyr

Spell Soldier Akamori Shinjo watched as his mixed attack magnitude four spell bolt crashed into the lead mage of the enemy squad on the third level of the pyramid he had to climb to face judgement by the air goddess, Anazi. The spell detonated in spectacular display. A powerful tornado erupted, engulfing the entire enemy squad. It then wreathed itself in crimson and orange flames. The grey stone of the fighting level darkened with soot. The tornado lasted several seconds, then rippled out. Akamori didn’t want to channel the AP to keep the spell active, just looking to score a big hit on his targets and gauge the damage.

As he expected, none of them were dead, but their armors were in various states of damage. Many sported burns. One clutched at his arm, marred in cuts that were cauterized from the heat and flames. He made a mental note to try mixing the void into the spell later. That would be interesting to test out. An experiment for later. He turned back to the mage squad who’d recovered from his attack.

“Is it time?” Frank asked at Akamori’s side.

Akamori glanced down at his Aether gauge. It was ready for him to start channeling soul attacks. He held Thanton out, the tip of the long blade resting softly on the stone of the pyramid’s floor. He channeled his void magic and created a shaft of void crystal down the blade, a curved scythe blade growing at the end of the crystal rod. The legendary blade channeling its soul.

The squad of elite mages before him hesitated for a moment, watching Thanaton undergo its metamorphosis into an obsidian crystal scythe. Lead mage with the spell blade gripped his weapon tightly in both hands. Dense air magic congealed at the blade, sizzling into lightning that danced and writhed, bathing the wielder in a soft blue glow. The rest of his squad readied spell rifles and a staff. The mage in the back cast a ward spell on the warrior with the sword.

Akamori grinned, eager for the challenge, but also nervously awaiting the engagement. He wasn’t so much cocky as he was excited. He knew his limits, and while he had skill and power, he wasn’t so foolish to think he was invincible. All it took was one wrong move, one ill timed mistake, and it was over in an instant. He’d been the arbiter of that exact change of karma more than a few times for his enemies.

The air stilled in the tension between the warriors. Then a gentle warm breeze teased at Akamori’s skin. Warm and sweet, for a moment he thought he could detect laughter in the distance. Then the tension snapped as the combatants crashed into each other.

The enemy warrior’s sword pinged off Akamori’s black crystal scythe as he used the shaft to block the attacks and followed with a shallow slash. The crystal blade devoured the warrior’s spell armor, carving a deep furrow and biting into the meat of the man’s shoulder. Air exploded between them as the mage used a burst spell to create stand off room to recover. His squad picked up the slack, lobbing concentrated spell fire and forcing Akamori to evade and block. Spell bolts crashed into Thanaton as Akamori spun the weapon to block and parry. He checked his soul gauge, counting how many attacks he’d need to make before he had enough gauge to enshroud.

He only took a moment to gather himself, then gave himself to the combat completely. Thanaton thrummed gently in his hand as weapon and master became one. A whirling dervish of death and darkness that carved its way across the stone surface of the pyramid. The enemy squad adapted well enough, but the enhanced reach of his weapon still caught them lacking. He first sought to disable weapons, but wasn’t against kill shots if the opportunity presented itself.

The Soul Gauge in Akamori’s peripheral vision progressively filled up with each attack made. Once it hit 50% he triggered his Enshroud. A gust of void magic detonated outwards from him, staggering and stunning the mages nearest Akamori. A thick smokey cloud settled out, as it did, rendering Akamori’s enshrouded form visible. He looked like a demonic version of himself. Hard chitinous armor, for flesh, and a ragged black cloud that billowed silently on a breeze only it was privy to.

At his new appearance, the mages exchanged uncertain looks. His eyes glowed red as Frank’s soul and power merged more fully with his own. The changes manifested physically. The lead mage scowled, spitting at the stone.

“He’s merged with a bloody void sent.”

“He’s not even worthy of the march.” Another commented.

“Let’s just put him down and be done with it. We’re not getting paid by the hour here.”

Akamori canted his head to that last comment. So these were hired guns. They weren’t even true riders.

“So. That’s how it is. Who’s filling your pockets then?”

“No business of yours.”

Akamori shrugged indifferently, giving Thanaton an experimental twirl. “Alright then. Shall we resume?”

The lack of response was all he needed. He blurred into motion again. Blades clashed, and spells fired. But he was faster, stronger, and with his debuff spell, more dangerous this time. Thanaton carved angry furrows in spell armor and blood flowed freely to the stone.

The enemy squad did their best to retaliate, but they couldn’t match the caliber of the squad he’d trained and served with. A few higher magnitude spell bolts flew his way, but his void coated attacks dissolved clean through them, burning away the magic like sunlight drying up a small puddle. Akamori ducked and wove his way through the squad, jabbing with the bottom of Thanaton’s snath and slashing with the blade. Blood, shards of metal, and fabric splashed across the surface of the temple. All of it being slowly absorbed. The latent aether being sent back to Anazi. Offerings made to the goddess.

The spell warrior with the blade rushed Akamori, forcing him to evade the electrically charged attack. As if in slow motion, Akamori slid out from under the charge. A heavy boot kicked at his head as he slipped behind cover. A gigantic explosion knocked him over. His vision filled with sparks that faded when the world snapped back into focus. The enemy mages with their spell rifles very nearly getting the drop on him. His armor blunted the worst of the shot.

“Really rang my bell with that shot.” Akamori groused.

“Our skin is tougher than that. Between it and your armor, we can push on.” Frank said confidently.

So he did. Channeling a swift blink spell, the void opened up, swallowing him. The enemy squad scanned about frantically, trying to reacquire him.

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“What’s going on?”

“It’s a blur! He just vanished!” The leader shouted at the rest of the squad.

“He used our own tactic against us!” one yelled back. “But damn it if he didn’t do it better than any of us ever could.”

“Don’t panic,” the leader scowled, looking around wildly for something to calm himself down. Then his eyes landed on Thanaton. The void crystal scythe cleanly removing the spell warrior’s head from his neck. The strike drew pained cries from the rest of the squad as a hail of spell bolt fire rained in at him from the other four targets.

“You know what? This might work after all!” one of the spell soldiers smiled viciously as they unleashed another volley. They had already run out of mana by then, and it cut their spells short.

Akamori swept Thanaton wide, creating distance between him and the rest of the squad, then he flicked a quick magnitude three void bolt into another soldier, coring their heart out cleanly. The limp body fell dead before it slowly sank into the stone. He twirled Thanaton in a blur of black crystal. The remaining three mages regrouped, their confidence wavered now.

“Well played, asshole.” One muttered quietly under her breath while she tried to reacquire Akamori. Her gaze shot up when Thanaton’s blade took off half of one’s arm instead. The disarmed mage fell to his knees as Akamori spun around the man, using him as momentary cover from attacks before swinging Thanaton around, the curved blade sunk into the female mage’s stomach. Her spell armor stained red with blood as she slid off muttering curses with her last dying breath.

He turned to the last mage, a wiry guy armed with a spell rifle and no hope. Akamori saw the weapon trembling. Thanaton’s blade held just above the floor of the pyramid. It yearned to claim the mage.

“You could just give up. Walk away.”

The mage’s eyes went watery. “You killed them. All of them. You couldn’t just die. You had to be some demonic voidsent didn’t you?”

The Enshroud wore off, the chitinous void armor blowing away like smoke, leaving just Akamori and his black armor.

“You were hired to kill me, weren’t you?”

The spell soldier blinked, his brows furrowed. “Well, yeah.”

“So you came here on payment for my death? And expect me to feel bad for defending myself? All I want is to reach the top. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just in my way. Live or die, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Akamori blinked as the words left his mouth. Something, or someone else, was speaking. But those words, they didn’t feel like words he’d have chosen.

It is your true soul self speaking. There are rumors that a warrior can reach a state of mind in battle. A trance of sorts where one’s soul bears true. You are beginning to experience such phenomena, Thanaton purred. A note of pride in its voice.

“So I’ll say again. Live or die, it matters little. Personally, we could each save ourselves the trouble and just go our separate ways.”

“Fu-” the mage started before his words cut short as his head peeled freely from his neck. It rolled back and tumbled off the side of the pyramid as the body fell into the stone. Blood dripped free of Thanaton’s blade over the pyramid’s surface. He looked up the fourth level’s stairs. A pair of dragonborn hatchlings sneered at him. A mage and warrior combo. One was a white scaled hatchling bearing a massive hammer that crackled with electricity. The other bore green scales and robes. While young for dragons, they were far older than he and no less dangerous. Dripping with power.

“Come brother. Let’s put this blasphemous martyr down before he brings ruin to this world with his dark corruption.”

“Tor, be careful. There is great power buried deep in this one. Do not underestimate him.” The green scaled hatchling cautioned.

“You should listen to your brother.” Akamori slowly prowling up the stairs like a big cat. “I’m in no mood for fools and I’ve got a lot of work to be about.”

The white scaled one grinned. “The Sauridius will reward us handsomely for putting down the red devil.”

Akamori blinked. “Wait. Hold on. Timeout. Is that what you guys call me?”

The white scaled hatchling, Tor was it? He shrugged, hammer drooping. “Well. Yeah. You’re hair is red and you fight like you’re possessed by a devil.”

Frank snickered. “Well, he’s not wrong.”

“Shut it you.” Akamori barked at Frank.

Frank held his hands up placatingly. “Don’t kill the voidsent.”

“Actually, that’s exactly what you do normally.”

Frank rolled his crimson eyes with a sigh and pointed at the hatchlings, who looked confused at Akamori.

“Do you often lapse into spells of talking to yourself?” Tor asked. Scaled brow arched.

“It’s a thing, you know what, let’s focus.” Akamori said curtly. “We have a fight to be about, and I’ve got an appointment with an air goddess.”

“Not if I commit your soul to the cycle first.” Tor grinned through razor sharp fangs.

“Before taking me out to dinner? I think not. I’m a classy three dates kinda guy.”

Tor blinked, not catching the joke, and Akamori sighed, waving the matter aside frustratedly as the green scaled hatchling snickered into his palm. At least that one got it.

Akamori rolled his neck and twirled Thanaton, assuming a ready stance. He held a hand out and gestured for the two dragonborn to attack first.

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