Ackerton City, night.
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I couldn't stay on the defensive. My arms felt like jelly and I was taking damage from just deflecting his blows even when that stupid sword aura missed me. Marlowe's magic had been nerfed by something that ate his multipliers and Nenandil was running out of MP. The symphony of metal hitting against metal rang for the good part of a half-hour and I was losing {Wellspring} regeneration because people were evacuating the neighborhood.
Despair was slowly seeping into my mind. Why must these jerks always come at me? And why can't they just STAY dead? Leave me alone. I wasn't tearing their temples except in self-defense or retaliation. As far as I understood, I wasn't stealing much divinity for Loki as I avoided divine magic or prolonged interaction with the Gods. I was even helping the world whenever I could.
Why couldn't they accept me? Why did they need to be so petty as to not let a dog eat the scraps of their tables? Why the envy, the anger, the malice directed at me?
"Please, someone help!" I pleaded.
"Nobody will answer your prayers!" He threatened. "Not even the Asgardian you call patron. There are deals in place to prevent him from helping. {Avenger's Stamina}!"
There it was. This {Avenger's Stamina} was some {Second Wind} on steroids. He used it whenever it was off cooldown and it meant every thirty seconds. He was a tireless powerhouse. He knocked a dagger off my hand. Nenandil stored it.
"Anyone, please!" I cried. "I don't want to die!"
"Yes, yes!" He was grinning maniacally. "Suffer, beg for your life! Now, uncoil, snake! {Mighty Bash}!"
He hit me for about a hundred thousand damage and propelled me away from the spot. {Snake Fortress} came undone and saw the houses flying underneath me. Then I heard a sharp scream.
> Your Familiar has died. You cannot call upon her for 3 days
>
> Your contracted spirit's physical form was destroyed. You can reform him in 1 day.
"No! Nenandil!"
I crashed into some house and broke the wattle-and-daub wall. I took more damage. My regeneration was crap, less than a thousand HP per second. The brute was bounding my way. I hid inside the room, changing shapes into a black jaguar and hiding.
"Where are you, kitty-kitty? I know what shape you are using, Anomaly," he said as if calling his demon pet. "And I know where you are. It is impossible to hide from me this close!"
I used {Flash Step} and {Shadow Step} at the same time. I erupted from the roof's shadow and slashed at his neck.
> You clawed Fucking Brute for 52,860 HP of damage. (Base 27 x1.84 Strength x3.7 Skill x3 critical x1.5 Favored Enemy x3 Mana Strike x1 Backstab (negated) x1 Assassinate (negated) x1 Death Strike (negated) x3 Arcane Smite x2 Blood Sacrifice x2 Avenger Strike x3 Champion Duel x1.2 Moon Guidance x0.83 Armor (halved) x0.75 Avenger Defense x0.8 Barbarian Skin V x0.6 Claw Defense V x0.2 Anti-Ambush ) .
>
> Target is Immune to Bleeding.
>
> Target is Immune to Vorpal Attacks.
>
> Target is Immune to Maim.
Bloody damn it! I activated {Frenzied Barrage} and clawed him several times. I dealt between ten and fifteen thousand damage with each claw. He turned around and laughed.
"Ah! The cat finally shows her claws! C'mon, I got an itch on my left ankle, could you scratch it for me?"
I paused my barrage and checked. There were some white lines across his skin but... Not. A. Single. Drop. Of. Blood. I widened my eyes. He backhanded me for five hundred thousand HP of damage, sending me flying out of the building to crash on the next.
The stupid God of Hemorrhoids jumped after me. "Wanna know my HP? C'mon, {Appraise} me. I bet you'll be delighted."
I didn't want to do what he told me just because he told me, but I wouldn't miss such a strategic advantage.
> Bundi, level 200 Human Scion of Vengeance
>
> HP: 71,891,883 / 72,345,297 (99.37%)
>
> Further Status Information blocked.
My frenzied barrage took three hundred thousand of his HP and that was less than ONE FREAKING PERCENT. I whimpered.
"Delighted, kitty cat? Now, allow me. {Avenger's Stamina}! {Overdraft Health}!"
I had to look.
> HP: 90,431,621 / 72,345,297 (125%)
And despair. I hoped this {Overdraft Health} had some sort of limitation. Like once in never. I was running out of options. I couldn't even think about what to do. The confidence my previous incarnations had bordering on hubris was all but gone.
"Do your best. Or your worst. It doesn't matter," he said seriously as he raised his sword. I jumped back on my feet. "{Paralyzing Glare}!"
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
> You are paralyzed for 0.6 Seconds. (Base 5 seconds x0.75 Avenger Resilience x0.33 Unbound Hero x0.5 Slippery Body & MInd)
He raised his sword. "{Sword Art: Amputate}!"
The paralysis wore off as the blade came down. I became immaterial and dove down the floor. It still struck me.
> You were stuck for 0 damage. (Phase Defense negated all damage).
>
> Special effect [Amputate] negated. Attack didn't deal damage.
"Aren't you a lucky bastard?" He snarled. "Where do you think you are going, phantom kitty? {Repelling Force Cage}, {Dimensional Lock}."
I tried to use {Force Phasing} but the glowing cage just pushed me back, as if we both were north poles of a magnet. He really had a counter for each of my abilities. I could only stare at the eyes of my executioner. I knew I wouldn't see the next sunrise.
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Above the City
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"He won!" Watching the fight from a safe distance above, the Broodmother cheered. "She's dead! The Anomaly is dead!"
All the deities were there, watching in their avatars. More than half of them were somber and serious while the other half cheered and rooted for the former God of Humans and Other Stuff We Forgot.
Wyxnos was neutral. He would take the side of the winner, whoever they were. He was done with schemes and manipulation to get rid of the Anomaly.
"Let's bless him already!" The enthusiastic dragon goddess said.
"No," Galbarar said firmly. "The fight isn't over. His trial is to ascend on his own. Do not interfere!"
The Broodmother didn't seem fazed by the Sun God's warning. She knew both he and Yznera were spent, all their energy used to maintain the world and restore the Sun.
"Who are you to tell me what I should do or not?" She asked in defiance. "I shall bless him and bring him back into our fold now!"
She charged her hands with divinity. That's when a fishhook of all things caught her hand and the fishing line deftly wrapped around her wrists. The divinity fizzled and disappeared into nothingness.
"Hey, look what I caught! I wonder how much this dragon measures. Does anyone have a fishing scale?" Loki asked. He had a fishing pole made of bamboo in his hand.
"Release me, trickster!" The Broodmother shouted.
"Tut, tut," he whisked his finger. "That's not the way to treat your superiors. I got money running on this fight, you are not going to spoil it by cheating. let me make it clear, gentlemen... and ladies," he said with a grin and a waist bow. "Whoever messes up with the two mortals fighting down there, dies. That's how serious I am."
Wyxnos felt the hooting deities freeze. Then he felt Loki's arm wrapping around his neck. "Who do you think will win, Wyxnos? Wanna make a bet?"
"I'll stay neutral in this fight," he answered.
Loki chuckled. "After you gave the big guy a Core that was meant for Galbarar, wasting the Sun domain inside and, on top of it all, THREE unique Perks tailored to kill the poor girl? Oh, Wyxnos. Please be a good sport!"
Wyxnos cringed. All eyes fell on him. His dealings were not known to all but now this stupid intruder ruined it all.
"He speaks the truth," Galbarar said and returned to a resting position.
"So," Loki insisted, still holding Wyxnos' neck in the crook of his elbow. "Let's make a wager. If I lose, I'll depart from this Realm to never return. I'll also exclude me from the Pantheon and block the girl from draining any divinity from you. She'll still be immune to it, though."
"What do you want me to wager, Loki?" Wyxnos conceded.
Loki let him go and walked to the middle of the circle. Below, Bundeus had just knocked a panther clearly through two city blocks and into another building. None of the Gods had any difficulty seeing inside.
"Nothing," the trickster said with an exaggerated shrug. "You have to do nothing at all. I just realized I don't need you to agree to the bet. That's what I want. If she wins or Bundeus doesn't ascend, she is off-limits to all of you. And if anyone touches her, I'll kill the perpetrator."
He laughed, then cackled. "Let's watch the fight. It is not every day we have such entertainment!"
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I let Pandora assume the {Truesilver Blood Aspect} to help me recover the lost blood.
He crushed the house, throwing the debris away. The inanimate matter had no difficulty crossing the cage. "Shall we finish your suffering?"
I still had one trump card. I assumed Lakerta's form as I huddled and coiled next to a corner of the cage. He wouldn't be able to push me away and dismiss my {Snake Fortress} now. I also checked. I had enough time to reactivate {Eye of the Storm} and gain its ridiculous 97% damage reduction.
If this was my time to die, I would sell my death for the most expensive price possible. I still had one card to play. I summoned the other doll.
The doll looked at me, then at the big guy with the even bigger sword. He knelt. "My Lord Bundeus. It is such a grace to see you! It is I, Sumsar, your devout [Archmage]. I made all the collars for you to use back in Auvani, and I am ready to serve you, my lord."
"BETRAYER!" I shouted. Then I rushed to give him the punishment he deserved. "Oathbreaker!"
> Your Spirit Contract was broken.
The doll fell down and Sumsar's soul flew free. Free, his ass!
> Soul Shepherd.
I caught him and squeezed the soul to purify it. Let's see if I can gain another wisp this way. The God of Rectal Examinations just watched.
"Stupid [Mage]. You failed me once, why would I want you back?" He shook his head.
I ignored Sumsar's screams. He didn't have a hundredth of the resistance the Demon Lord had. I was thankful for that, as I didn't have that much Energy to spare either. He soon became just a flake of a soul, a thousand times weaker than Pandora. Without anything else to remove from it, I let it go.
"Brutal," the barbarian Buttcrack God whistled. "You know that if he reincarnates as a normal ant that would be too much, right? I don't even think he'll make it through the cycle. I think he'll just wander around as a fragment to be absorbed by some Dungeon."
I huffed. "Thanks for the lecture," I said with disdain.
I was frantically messing with my Status. If he was going to kill me, I would steal his prize. I hoped my cheat worked. I checked my resources, I might have enough Energy. I checked as it filled back up, I did. I went all in. Do or die. Or, more precisely, die, then do.
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"Are you ready, girl?" Bundi asked. "You'll die, I'll become a God and trap your soul. Do you prefer a book or a sword?"
She nodded, "Book, please. I don't think they wrote a 'Reincarnated as a Book' story, but the sword I've read it, and it had a black cat girl. My favorite. C'mon, this is the moment you were waiting for!"
He couldn't help but be suspicious. Was she holding onto another trick? No, he countered every trick of hers. And came out on top unscathed. All that was left was to finish the deed, earn some Divinity, and ascend with two domains. He was eager to see the faces of the Gods above. Especially Loki. Bundi hoped Loki was there so he could laugh at the Asgardian.
"Right. Any last tricks? Any last words?" She nodded again. "All the Gods are watching up there. I'm not a monster. I just want you gone. This world is mine. Yznera is crying."
"Liar. She trusts me," She snarled. "She didn't lose hope."
He raised an eyebrow and hefted his sword up. "Last chance. Speak your mind."
She sighed and then summoned her resolve. Slowly, the lamia became an ugly mermaid, of all things. She flopped over the Force Cage then braced herself to look at him.
After a deep breath, she spoke, her voice resounding all over the deserted neighborhood.
"You can't win, former Butt God. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."
He frowned. Seriously? She was about to die and she had the guts to quote Star Wars?
Bundi raised his sword and activated all possible Perks and Skills to deal damage. She flinched and transformed into a tiny gecko. The damage was in the tens of millions.
> You killed level 1 Dolphin-Mermaid. You gained 1 Exp. (Base 100 x3.05 Exp Boost x3.05 Favored Enemy x7 Vengeance x0.02 Class Rank x0.1 Species Rank x0.12 size).
>
> Vengeance Accomplished. Downgrading Classes. Converting Perks.
>
> You gained 1 GP. You did not ascend. GP above the maximum of 0 was lost.
He screamed, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"