I felt the sting of Bundeus' sword on my tail as he shaved a steak off of me. Two million-ish damage after mitigation. I could barely think about strategy, acting, and reacting as the God dictated the pace of our engagement. A huge list of Perks had that problem. I had to remember what I could do what Skills and Powers I gained throughout my lives. The easy path of the [Assassin] made me complacent and dull against an enemy I couldn't just bite the head off.
"JUST DIE ALREADY!" He whined. "YOU WILL NOT WIN!"
I can't afford to lose either. I knew this fight was taking its toll on the God. He wasn't as spirited or as eager to strike as he was before. My {God Slayer} free attack every minute was shaving his "GP", whatever that was. God Power? Godly Points? I didn't know and didn't care. My current theory was that it was a fourth resource Gods had and one he needed, dunno, to be a God. And he didn't have an endless supply of those.
Maybe it was linked to worshippers. That could be the reason he was enslaving people.
I threw some {Force Wall} spells between us to catch a breather. On one corner of my sight, I had my Perk list open. I was trying to see what I could use against him as well as finding Perks I hadn't used in a while.
He bashed the walls and I didn't supply extra MP to keep their durability. They grew spiderweb cracks. My eyes rested on my [Champion Perks]. I hadn't ana active {Champion's Duel} after that prince died. I was missing a forty percent mitigation.
"{Champion's Duel}!" I shot at him.
> Contested Willpower test failed.
>
> Contested Ego test passed.
Oh, yes. Bundeus had all Attributes at the cap. Because why would a GOD not have everything maxed out? "{Champion's Duel}!"
> You already have an active duel. Win of forfeit that one before you can issue another challenge.
Right. The willpower test is only to force the target to attack only me. I had to keep my wits about me or I'd die for real.
"I AM INEVITABLE!" He was in way over his head.
I fired a barrage of {Force Javelin} without overcharge or any additional costs to keep him busy. I had to regenerate my HP. Putting some distance between me and the God, I kept one eye on the sky. Something felt odd. If Bundeus had a solution to bind me, why wouldn't he work with the other Gods to do so? I knew two or three of them were at best neutral toward me but the majority of them would love to see me gone. I mean, look at that dragon-looking lady goddess. She was fuming smoke and scowling as she glowered with me with golden eyes. I would bet a Benjamin, that one was the Broodmother.
Bundeus struck again, without the arcane energy. His smite was on cooldown. I kept dodging and moving, using the vast terrain to my advantage. I would fire an attack here or a barrier there, conserving MP and switching to SP, keeping my usage under my expenditure. Let's see who runs out of resources first. Too bad my Wellspring doesn't have anyone...
Anyone around to bounce MP regeneration off of? Oh, my Gods. I spring away and turn off my Manastorm, opening the Wellspring to any and all creatures except Bundeus. There are about thirty deities around us, doing nothing but watch. I bet they have awesome levels and Attributes, if they aren't using their MP, why not let me borrow it?
I can't help but laugh.
Bundeus stops and taunts, "HAVE YOU GONE INSANE, ANOMALY? LET ME HEAL YOU OF ALL AILMENTS! THE DEAD SUFFERS NOT!"
Yeah, buddy. But the living? Life is pain. I fire more javelins to distract him as I build a new spell in my head. A different version of the spiked heat tunnel I created at the Dungeon's mouth, one more personal. As the image became clear in my mind, I {Overcharge} the effect by forty, for sixteen hundred times the base cost, one thousand MP. Apply {Overcharge} again to strengthen the effect, the Force barriers' resilience. At three million two hundred thousand, here she comes.
"{Forcefire Maiden}!"
A sarcophagus of Force materialized a handspan around the God. Filled with sharp spikes, it closed in the blink of an eye as the air inside superheated enough to emit visible black body radiation. Bundeus was stabbed by thousands of spikes and BURNED.
> Force-Fire Maiden stabs and burns Bundeus for 299 million HP and GP. (Base 2,000 x2.52 Willpower x3.36 Skill x2.92 Backstab x40 Overcharge x3 Mana Strike x1.5 Force Affinity x1.4 Moon Magic x2 Avenger Strike x3 Champion's Valor x4 God Slayer [defenses ignored] ).
>
> Bundeus is afflicted with Bleed (x1000) for (...)
>
> Bundeus is stunned by Stunning Bleed for 5 seconds (...)
A massive amount of energy drained from Bundeus and into the siphon, inbound to feed Loki. It felt like a hundred Demon Lord cores.
After the first tick of damage, his defenses came back and the damage dropped to less than a million. Less than ten seconds after I trapped Him, Bundeus had enough.
"{REPULSION}!"
He blew the Force sarcophagus with his ability. A burst of hot plasma washed over, vitrifying the ground fifty meters around Him.
Scarred, scorched, bleeding from a thousand stab wounds. I probably got two-thirds of his HP pool on that one. His weapon dropped to the ground and I rushed forward to store it. I could get stuff from seventy-eight meters away now. Bundeus laughed.
"FOOL. YOU CAN'T KILL ME IN MY AVATAR. MY SOUL WILL RETURN TO MY DOMAIN UPON MY DEMISE. I'LL BE BACK."
Oh, no. You don't get to flee.
Bundeus stood there, gawking at me. I was glad to wait for my HP to regenerate and my MP to refill. I got around ten thousand MP a second from the Gods around me. An absurd amount. It would repay the ridiculous spell I used in five minutes.
"WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!" He stared at his still-bleeding wounds. "WHY CAN'T I RETURN?"
It was Galbarar, now shining like a sun that answered. "Finish your duel, Bundeus. Destroy the invader to our realm. We won't allow you to leave until you've done so."
He fell on his knees. Bundeus grunted and growled as I kept my harassment by skewering him for minimal damage with unenhanced javelins.
"CURSE YOU, ANOMALY. {LAST STAND}! {FULL HEAL}!"
I could sense the amount of MP spent on that spell. But while I could damage him again, {Last Stand} was bad news. All his Skills would rise by at least forty points, and he would double his damage while only taking half from me.
Stolen novel; please report.
He rose from the makeshift pond of blood, unscathed. His eyes glowed and he held his hand out. "{RECALL WEAPON}!" From my side, the sword ripped itself out of my dimensional storage and flew back to his hand. Nifty trick, that one. Before I could shake my bewilderment at his weapon's retrieval, Bundeus was upon me "{FLASH STEP}! {ARCANE SMITE}! {SUPREME CLEAVE}!"
> Bundeus slashed you for 79,284,316 HP of damage. Mana shield burned 19,295,840 MP and 7,132,278 SP. Magic Gourmet restored 15,186,528 MP. (Base 255 (-38 prismatic skin) x6 Strength x4 Size x5 Skill x30 Arcane Smite x3 Enchantment x3 Mana Strike x2 Last Stand x3 Flash Step x2 Blood Sacrifice x3 Mighty Strike x5 Supreme Cleave x0.6 Magic Eater x 0,75 favored defense x0.55 Water Elemental (halved) x0.75 Magic Resistance x0.6 Honorable Duel x0.75 Avenger's Resilience).
>
> You have 11,731,732 HP of unassigned. Eldritch Body triggered. You took 5,865,871 MP of damage. You have 0 HP left.
A quick check at my resources showed that...
> HP 0 / 67,552,584
>
> MP 9,320,659 / 22,395,840
>
> SP 292,002 / 7,424,280
Yup, I was fucked.
I dropped to zero HP and MP before {Magic Gourmet} restored fifteen million. I almost died by less than three hundred thousand MP. I had to return to my normal form. His arcane strike ignored most of my elemental form mitigation. I needed time to regenerate my resources. A few hours, if possible. As if Bundeus would give me that much time.
"{FLASH STEP}! {FINAL STRKE}!". He was on me before I could think of a strategy. His sword came down as my tail rose to parry his blow by reflex. The sound of metal striking a hard surface rang and I was pushed a few meters back by the momentum, unscathed.
> Hardened Scales prevented all damage.
Fuck, I got this. Get my head in the game, dammit. I drew Alloralla's daggers and sprang toward him as a snake would. Spit venom, cloud his sight, slash him. Bundeus struck with an amazing level of skill. But I was in my territory. My build was geared to fight creatures bigger than me, wielding bigger weapons. And climbing on their own bodies.
I stabbed Bundeus' thigh and pulled, using the daggers as handholds. I wrapped my tail around his leg and climbed him as easily as I would walk over a stone pavement. Bundeus shook and slashed but his big weapon was now a liability. I stabbed his flank and back as I moved, using {Wild Wrangler} along with other Perks and Skills to whittle down his massive HP pool.
His {Repulsion} was on cooldown and I had to use all the time I had before he pushed me away. I sensed an awkward swing and tried to disarm him.
> The target's Skill rank is too high.
"GET OFF OF ME!"
I had to focus. Keep my mind on a single goal. I used Apricot's {Compartimentalized Mind} to give me a laser-edge single goal.
"My name is Lily of Tambrillia. You killed my mother. Prepare to die."
The minute was over. My next strike would ignore his defenses with {God Slayer}. As I prepared myself to strike, I noticed he had no divine energy for me to drain. What I was getting were the ambient emissions from the pantheon, wisely keeping their distance as to not feed Loki too much.
Bundeus was running on an empty tank. He was fresh out of GP and did not recover any. I had no idea why but I thanked whatever the reason for that in my heart. Without his divine energy, he might be mortal. Killable.
I knew what I had to do. The oldest trick in my book. "{Force Bindings}! {Overcharge Magic x20}!" Bundeus was paralyzed for a few seconds as he was strong enough to break these bindings. It was all I needed. "{Death Contract} {Assassinate} {Vorpal Bite}". The {Force Maiden} showed me that without defenses, he took even debuffs like {Stunning Bleed} for the first time.
> Assassination Successful. Contract Fulfilled. Duel Won.
>
> For killing level 200 [God of Humans], you gained (...)
"{REVERSE FATE}."
The Brood-Bitch spoiled my fun once again. Bundeus' body went into storage when I killed him but now he reformed in front of me from out of thin air. He {Flash Step}-punched me away before I could react. I rolled several dozen meters away and came to a stop.
He picked his sword from the ground.
"The favor was repaid," The Whore-Mother stated with a smirk. "You are on your own now."
All I had to do was to kill him again. "My name is Lily of Tambrillia. You killed my mother. Prepare to die. {Champion's Duel}!"
> Contested Willpower test failed.
>
> Contested Ego test passed.
A single-mind focus. I had to kill that God today. For all I suffered. For Rosalinda's memory. For the sixteen mothers I didn't meet. For Lorna. His curse stole the peace of my last years with my wife.
We exchanged blows. When I climbed him, he allowed me to do so too easily. Predicting what this moron would do, I shifted into my water elemental form and engulfed him. The bastard fell for it.
"{REPULSION}! AAAAAAAAAARGH!"
With a shower of divine blood from the vitrified pool underneath us that spread everywhere into a fine mist blanketing the whole clearing, I was flung off of his body by that absolute pushing Skill but I took a pound of flesh along as tribute. Most of his skin came off of his body again as the surface I clung to was inseparable. His skin went into storage.
"{FULL HEAL}!" Bundeus didn't display a single ounce of patience. "{FLASH STEP} {SUPREME CLEAVE}."
I tried to dodge. This time he was faster. I was in water elemental form and even without the smite power he still managed to slash off a million MP of damage through my water elemental body. My {Eldritch Body} Perk would only deactivate once my HP pool rose above half.
We weren't in the Forbidden Lands, but I had a colossus to climb back on. With a groan, I slithered up his body again. This time, I used {Drain Longevity} on him. I had no idea if a God even had a lifespan but I could feel his lifeforce feeding me. It was exhilarating and inebriating like the sweetest ice cream straight from the lips of the most beautiful cat-kin girl.
I felt his inner divinity diminish. He lost his status as God of Humans and was demoted to a demigod as he flared as a ping in my {Detect Favored Enemy}. I felt a massive amount of spiritual energy descend into his body and he became more... real? Yes, more real. He already lost, now I just had to put the last nail in his coffin.
How does one fight a water elemental engulfing themselves? Whichever was the answer, Bundeus didn't know. He struggled and sometimes hit himself with the sword while he could only wait for {Repulsion} to come off of cooldown.
But {God Slayer} recovered faster. I bit off one of his arms. it went to storage but I let the sword fall to the ground. He could retrieve it anytime he wanted.
"CURSE YOU!"
His arm wasn't regenerating. I stayed on his body where was safer. Blood poured from his severed arm as the bleed debuff kept eating his massive HP. Time was on my side and I kept draining him. He had not a single ounce of divinity in his body and I kept sucking his lifeforce using my Banshee powers. Each second meant my death was eighty thousand HP and ten thousand MP further away.
He struggled and I kept carving his back with my daggers. The damage was minimal but I kept him busy. His body staunched the stump's bleeding wound. A minute passed and I severed his other arm.
Bundeus groaned and staggered around the clearing. The Gods watched with grim faces. Another minute and I cut his leg off. He fell down on his stomach and rolled. He couldn't crush a water elemental, although I might become a mud one if he kept at that. It didn't matter. I claimed his fourth leg.
Rage, despair, reproach, disgust, failure. All those emotions flared in Bundeus' eyes as he fell on his back and stared at me.
Bundeus spat. I dodged. "FINISH ME, ANOMALY. KNOW THAT YOU DOOMED THIS WORLD."
I had no words but one line. "My name is Lily of Tambrillia. You killed my mother. Prepare to die."
Or not. "The world will be fine, God of Nothing. But you won't be around to see."
** CHOMP **
> Assassination Successful. Contract Fulfilled. Duel Won.
>
> For killing level 200 [God of Humans], you gained 68.6 quadrillion Exp. (Base 400,000 x3,05 Exp Boost x10,000 Fast Learner x2,44 Champion's Spoils, x7,59 Favored Enemy x7,59 Death Contract x4 Size x100 Class Rank x100 Species Rank)
>
> You killed Bundeus, God of Humans. The {Human} divine domain has no holder.
>
> All of Bundeus' divine energy is siphoned to [Loki, Asgard]
>
> You gained the title {God-Slayer}. The reactions of deific entities and their clergy toward you are lowered one by step.
I quickly assigned my Exp. I needed any edge I could, seeing that I had an angry pantheon watching me.
> You reached Frost Lamia [Ice] level 20.
>
> You gained 8 human perks.
>
> You reached Royal Lamia Avenger level 19.
>
> You gained 5 perks.
>
> You gained 220 Skill Points.
>
> Reassigning Attributes above the cap.
>
> Appraiser reached level 74.
>
> Cartographer reached level 74.
This Exp progression was bullshit. I had to tweak down my professions to have enough Exp to rank up my Species. I felt it was more important than the Class at this point and it gave me one more Perk than the alternative.
I put nineteen Attribute Points in Willpower and three in Mind.
> You gained the Perk: Pinnacle of Willpower (very rare): Your magical effects are 50% stronger and twice as hard to dispel or break. You are immune to mental and memory manipulation as well as psychic damage.
>
> Your curse Forgotten Identity (rare) was removed.
I remembered everything about my life on Earth, too late. It was one face among a dozen now. The base for my identity, sure, but no longer more important than any of the existences I experienced here in Yznaria.
> Level 159
>
> Strength 71+3 - Dexterity 72+3 - Endurance 72+3
>
> Mind 89 / 135 - Willpower 100 / 135 - Charisma 80 / 135
>
> Magic 160
>
> Ego 160 - Luck 160 - Soul 160
>
>
>
> HP 82,988,100 (regen 109,632 HP/s)
>
> MP 26,922,240 (regen 2,653,392 MP/h)
>
> SP 8,649,360 (regen 790,159 SP/h)
I had Perks to pick but I think the audience wanted to talk to me. I just dumped my Skill Points in {Defensive Roll} and {Karate}. Then I closed my menu because I had a few Gods surrounding me.