Enantinos came to talk to me. I knew it was him before he knocked on the door of the apartment I was using at the royal palace.
"Enter, chieftain," I said, biting my tongue to avoid putting the "former" before his occupation.
"Snowdrop," He came in, his horseshoes clicking against the polished marble floor like a clumsy Fred Astaire.
"Enantinos," I answered trying to be as dispassionate as possible.
"Are you done with the task--"
I raised a hand and glared to stop him. "Nobody tasked me with anything, much less your... BLOODY HELL!"
I became very, very flustered.
He looked at me with a start, "What's wrong?"
I made hand signs our scouts made to signal trouble back at the plains. "Come inside, chieftain. No time to dally. Troll ambush. In, now." Old habits die hard and he complied immediately.
"Trolls? Here in the palace?" He asked, still not fully believing in me.
"An ambush, not the real trolls. Here, put these on," I tossed three rings at him. They would keep him mostly safe but I couldn't guarantee his safety. "NOW!"
Now that I knew what to look for, it was easy to pinpoint them. Several figures were walking on the roof, the gardens below, and the inner palace, along with the stupid [Paladin King]. Given the focus the mages of this nation gave to mental control, I wouldn't doubt if I was told he was being controlled.
But I was so bloody pissed at the dream that I wouldn't hold back. I started a spell-song with summoned instruments, charging up all of my Energy, using strategic pauses in the lyrics to chug more potions and drain cores from my storage.
** CRASH **
The door broke into splinters and flew toward us. I had a Force wall in front of us that deflected the shrapnel. I triggered the same aura combo I had before, but this time I didn't fumble my concentration. I hugged Enantinos as I kept singing.
> Manastorm
>
> Eye of the Storm
>
> Royal Aura
>
> Eldritch Presence
>
> Muse Aura
>
> Dimensional Stability
>
> Eldritch Inspiration
>
> Mantle of Power
Through my {Ethereal Senses} I could see a magic circle on the roof and the people above channeling MP into it. The same thing beneath our window. Just like my dream.
I sent a mental order to Nenandil and she prepared to fill the space around us with super-frozen ice. Finally, I released my spell.
> Elemental Admixture (Fire / Radiation)
>
> Grand Fermata x100
>
> Overcharge Magic x40
>
> Chord (Combine two spells together)
>
> Arpeggio (trigger Chord's spells in sequence)
A dozen million Energy, after my discounts, went into this spell, probably among the top five feats of magic I ever pulled off. I could think of only one name for it.
"Force Bubble... Calamity Blast!"
The air around the bubble became hot glowing plasma before blowing up in all directions. Then we were inside an ice block. The Force spell creaked under the pressure from the explosion but held. I had made it just as strong, cutting close.
We heard roaring and crashing as the world around us burned. The ice inside the Force bubble slanted to the side as it was perfectly spherical and Enantinos was twice as heavy as me. I could feel Nenandil straining to keep it cold while I poured all my Energy regeneration into the Force bubble to keep it from breaking. The calamity still burned outside.
Once it grew weaker, I let us drop by canceling the Force bubble. The fall wouldn't kill us, that's for certain. I was also certain that the ground was way closer than the distance we fell.
Dazed, I had no idea what hit me first. The wall of kill notifications or the throng of souls rushing my way.
All I knew was that I had fucked up. A lot.
----------------------------------------
The dream had me on my nerves the whole day. Pandora helped but she could only help until a certain point. Before Enantinos came to talk to me, I had almost forgotten it but the mage ambush, the images from the dream, the mage-zombies, the tentacles, the dread I felt...
It all came flooding at that moment and all I could do to keep myself from freaking out was to...
Destroy a city.
That's what I've done. I destroyed Pekothas' capital. Surely, the spell didn't go that far on its own, but while magic could subvert the laws of physics, it also had to abide by them everywhere else. Tons upon tons of rubble and debris were shot at supersonic speeds everywhere along with a shockwave. I would later learn that the world saw its first mushroom cloud, ever.
I had tens of thousands of burnt and mangled bodies in my item box. As people and animals died, they were collected as "loot". The same amount of souls up there. Including the [Paladin King] and the mages that orchestrated the attack on me.
The ice melted. While Enantios was suffocating, he had enough Endurance to last for an hour, at least. Damn barbarians, they were good at soaking damage, at least.
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Every centaur in the capital died except for us two. At least I hadn't killed any children... I hoped. The few families with children had fled the city during the "Mad King's Bounty" event. But I had to make sure.
"System, from the kill notifications I received in the last hour, how many of them are from level zero sentients?"
> ACKNOWLEDGED. Executing query. Return value: 12.
I crashed down on the pool of hot water that formed once the ice melted. We were, surprise, surprise, in a crater. Of the palace, only the slab of the floor beneath us. The sky was dark, covered by an ominous cloud of dust. I wasn't taking any radiation damage. Enantinos was breathing heavily, trying to recover his stamina. I killed twelve children. Bile formed in my mouth. I had a hunch about those children, but I couldn't muster the strength to query the System again. But I couldn't live with this doubt.
"System, from the twelve results of the previous query, what's the maximum age at the time of death?"
> ACKNOWLEDGED. Executing query. Return value: 9 days.
Of course. In a city with this many people, children are born every day. And pregnant women on the verge of giving birth wouldn't get on a wagon and travel. Even back on Earth, the airlines refused to carry them.
"Pandora?" I called. The [Wisp of Creation] came into my field of view. It was still glowing a calming matte golden yellow. With the Energy I'd recovered, I started to search among the ghosts floating above me.
I found them. It took me an hour or two, but I had all twelve. I said a prayer of thanks that the ghosts do not bear the wounds they suffered in death. They looked as chubby and angelical and cute as they should.
It wouldn't redeem myself in my eyes, but I would at least repay some of this bloody debt. I wove silk bodies for the babies, as close in likeness to their spectral forms as possible. Fully functional silk-people bodies, with internal organs, and a brain made with crochet. No gemstones for these guys, just the living silk.
I took a canoe and laid bedding on it before putting the silk bodies comfortably on it. Only then I noticed Enantinos was quiet. Silent all the way. He was also avoiding looking at me but I kinda liked it.
When I brought Windemere back to life, I hacked the System and burned Rosewise's SP pool almost entirely. Now, with specialized perks to doing it, I only needed to spend Energy as if casting a spell. The twelve came back to life and I blessed them with my {Fairy Godmother}, granting them one level of {Head Start}, {Radiation Resistance), and {Exp Boost}. I lost 180,000 Energy permanently for that, but I didn't care. They started to cry and I used a cantrip to put them to sleep.
The centaur chieftain finally broke his silence and also my reverie. "Was this your work?" He asked looking at the crater and the small pond we were standing on.
"Yes. I was a spellcaster in a few of my previous lives. I still retain the powers I had, even though my base Class is [Berserker]."
"You don't seem to lose your mind when you fight," he said with an air of disbelief.
I found I still had little to no patience with him, "I don't. I'm immune to rage. Now, if you are done questioning me, former chieftain and now unemployed knight, help me bring these kids out of this crater."
----------------------------------------
We held each one an end of the baby canoe and walked across the destroyed city. The babies were still sleeping. I've seen pictures of cities devastated by bombs but they were made of concrete, not wattle-and-daub like most of the buildings in town. The stone structures toppled and very few bricks remained. Ashes and dust covered everything.
The magical radiation didn't leave visible lingering effects, as far as I could tell. Maybe some background radiation but there were no particles, no fission matter to create fallout. Just energy. It was like a puzzle I've seen once. It went like this,
> You've been captured by a supervillain, Dr. Ian Weevil. He will let you go if you survive his test. He showed you three pills. The first one has radioactive isotopes that will release alpha particles. The second one, an isotope that emits beta particles. And the third one, an isotope that emits gamma rays. You must pick one pill and swallow it, or he'll blow your head. Which one gives you the best chance of survival?
>
> Alpha particles are Helium nuclei. They are big, heavy, and carry little energy. Beta particles are high-energy electrons. And gamma rays are much stronger than the two formers, being high-powered electromagnetic radiation in the ultraviolet spectrum.
Since "none" is not an option in this thought exercise, the correct answer is the gamma-emitting isotope. Alpha particles are too heavy and WILL collide with something in your body, discharging all the energy they carry inside your cells. The beta electrons will be attracted by your atoms and will collide as well, knocking electrons from them, spreading more high-energy ions and electrons inside your body. One can see why that's bad. The gamma rays will cross your body at the speed of light. The amount of energy they will release inside you will still be significant, but less than the other two.
We walked for the better part of an hour before we met the first survivors. The slum dwellers, ironically, survived because they lived the furthest away from the palace. Some had a few wounds but I saw nothing serious.
They looked at us, coming out of the destroyed city, holding a canoe. Fortunately, it was high enough they couldn't see the silk-people babies inside.
I spotted a group of women and called them, "Hey you! Ladies over there. Do you want a job?"
I give anyone one guess about their profession.
"Do you want us to please your horse daddy, girl?" The one that seemed their leader, an older woman, approached.
Suggesting that Enantinos was my father pissed me. "Not really but that's up to him. Also, call a centaur a horse again and you die," I threatened with a flex of my {Royal Aura} for a split-second. "What I want from you is to nurse a few babies."
"Please, milady," she said with just a hint of sarcasm. "We meant no offense. We will take the job, our workplace got demolished. What's the pay?"
"Five silver a month, each. You can't whore yourselves while you work for me. I want you to swear fealty to me if you want the job. Your task is to care for and raise the babies."
The former red-light workers approached and looked inside the canoe. "They're made of cloth!" One of them gasped with a tiny squeal.
"Mind if we take a minute to talk among ourselves?" The leader asked. I nodded.
After they moved away, I talked to Enantinos, "Can you make sure they remain safe?"
"I can," he grumbled.
"Good. Let me prepare a storage ring for you with supplies, food, and money. I'll also get some of our brethren back... And maybe a safe place for you to stay."
I planned on putting some of the fortresses I looted on the way here on the ground. Alas, it was not meant to be. I had to answer a call from a very angry friend.
> [Administrator Hotline]
>
> CALL START
>
> Wyxnos: What the fuck did you just do?
>
> Snowdrop: Good evening to you too. Why ask something if you know the answer?
>
> W: You... nuked a city.
>
> S: Not proud of it.
>
> W: You better. Do you have any idea how many angry deities I have yelling at me? Congratulations, you pissed the entire pantheon.
>
> S: So, is there a point to this call, or are you just going to yell at me? I'm fine with either.
>
> W: We need to strip that [Radiation Affinity] from you. It is the least we can do...
>
> S: Fine. Give me a Perk voucher and I'll agree to the exchange.
>
> W: ... because we decided to not have this dangerous element on our planet, we even stripped all isotopes... really?
>
> S: Yeah, why not. I picked it only because I needed to kill that stupid cancer shark. Look, it's not like I WANT to destroy cities. I just... overreacted. Yes. I had a bad dream of this attack last night, then I overreacted.
>
> W: Are you having prophetic dreams?
>
> S: Is this worry I smell? And yes, I had one. Maybe it is a one-off thing.
>
> W: Yes, sure. It was just a coincidence.
>
> S: indeed. So. Voucher?
>
> W: I'm sending you one.
>
> S: The same rarity as the Perk, remember it. And I don't want you screwing me when you vote on what I'm going to pick.
>
> W: It was unique...
>
> S: Just like me.
>
> W: I can't.
>
> S: Then don't. Can I go now, officer? Or am I under arrest?
>
> W: People will think we are rewarding you.
>
> S: Not my problem. I don't even know of whom you are talking about. And don't tell me. I don't care.
>
> W: We changed some things to the System. Attribute boosts will now only go as high as doubling your score. They'll cost more too. And scaling multipliers will now be restricted to half your Magic Attribute.
>
> S: Okay.
>
> W: May I ask what's wrong?
>
> S: You came from Earth just as me. Can I ask where? I was from NYC.
>
> W: Mid-west. It's all I'm comfortable sharing.
>
> S: So. I nuked a city. I killed a lot of people. Including twelve babies, not a month old. How do you think it made me feel, Wyxnos? Fuck! I had no idea the spell would react that way!
>
> W: Yes, I understand.
>
> S: So, you can tell to anyone that comes whining about what I did down here, they can come and complain directly to me. I could use another Divine Core.
>
> Loki: Just give the girl the damn voucher, you sleazy weasel! You know very well the System will need her approval to do the exchange. And please, stop with the soap drama on this line! I'm cutting you off. Ah, Mr. G. sent his regards, professor.
>
> CALL ENDED
I felt so angry I might've nuked another city if I had the Energy. Luckily, I was still regenerating.