The Web of Strife in the city intensified as the Nighthawks, initially focused on exterminating demons and stamping out corruption, went on the offensive. They forced their way through Olympia’s streets, fighting off probing attacks from the Riss Clan as they made their way towards the city’s most mysterious organization, the Order Phantasia.

Lawrence wasn’t the strongest member of Sorin’s group, but when it came to traps, ambushes, and ironically, non-lethal intervention, he was one of the best. The Nighthawk advance slowed to a crawl, buying Sorin much needed time to hunt down Agents of Disease and incorporate the eighth form of corruption into his poisons.

The first three agents, Sorin located without trouble. They fell after a token resistance. Disease entered Sorin’s body after every kill, depleting the stores of Death in his body, and eventually leaving tiny slivers of vitality that infiltrated his flesh, his bones, and his blood.

It was after the fifth agent that Sorin finally realized that incorporating Disease would be more trouble than initially expected. He tried his best to contain the surge of life force that animated his poisons but was unable to suppress them in time to save a small cluster of humans less than thirty feet away.

The melting bodies wore distorted smiles, making it clear that it wasn’t the disease previously infecting them that had killed them but Sorin’s now-living poisons.

Despite this setback, Sorin pressed on. Incorporating Disease might mean collateral damage as he grew used to controlling them, but failure to do so meant Death. Not just for himself, but for anyone his poisons eventually touched.

Within his mind, Sorin could already sense a new focus developing. Killing became a normal thing in his mind, a very necessary part of Pandora that he would gladly bring into existence.

This disturbing fact was motivation enough to find the sixth Agent of Disease. By the seventh, his mind had grown number to the inevitable collateral damage. Fortunately, this agent was ready and waiting for him.

“I know that I cannot resist you, Herald of Unity. Please incorporate this lowly servant into your grand working as you bring balance to the disparate forces that would drive our world to oblivion.”

“As you wish,” said Sorin. He attacked with a single poisoned finger, fully intending kill the man before his nerves registered pain. It would be a death more perfect than anyone could ever wish for.

Yet before his finger could land on his target, Sorin felt a tinge of fear. He pulled back his finger and swatted away a burning arrow.

Sorin turned to look the new arrivals. “Michael. Charles. To what do I owe the honor?” Both men were glowing with more energy than he ever remembered them having.

“It’s nothing personal,” said Michael. “At least in my case. Hand over the Agent, and we’ll forgive your interference in matters most holy.”

Sorin smirked. “So, I’m the villain now, am I?”

“What else should we call someone who unleashes devastation every time he slays an agent?” asked Michael. “What was the count, Charles? An entire city block? Dead before they even knew it, all because Sorin didn’t have the decency to isolate space?”

“Actually, I don’t think he can isolate space yet,” said Charles. “He’s different than us, Michael. Haven’t you noticed that while the power he wields is strong, he has no control over Life and Death like he should have?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’re supposed to paint him as a villain, Charles. We should at least be justified in stealing his prey.”

Charles shrugged. “It’s much more to poke at his weaknesses. For example, his energy control. Death is slowly eroding his mind, and he probably doesn’t even realize it. What were you saying earlier? First disease, and then death?”

Michael grimaced. “Let’s just stick to the program, Charles.”

Three more arrows shot out from Michael’s bow, so quickly that Sorin could have sworn they were fired at the same time. Three serpents shot out as Sorin pierced upward with Nemesis to pierce through a half-complete spell circle that threatened the Agent of Disease.

If their target is the Agent, all I need to do is kill him first. Sorin reached out with a gauntleted palm, only to find himself entangled in a poisonous web.

It took Sorin only a split second to melt the web away, but in that time, a beam of concentrated sunlight had appeared overhead. A winged Michael flew overhead, shooting arrows that Sorin could only intercept while blocking the ray of sunlight with his body.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

If I can’t kill the agent with a physical attack. Serpents will need to do. A dozen serpents rushed out of Sorin’s body, only to melt away as they encountered the combined aura of two God Seeds. Pernicious poisons and sunlight combined to melt away Sorin’s adaptable poisons before they could reach their target.

Their auras clashed and tangled. The result was surprisingly a draw. “I know we’ve established that he’s not a full God Seed, but he punches above his weight,” said Michael. “And he’s not even an Olympian.”

“What can I say,” said Charles. “Grandpa always had a soft spot for him. Helped him sanctify to 60 percent and even strengthened his poisons far beyond that level.”

Annoyed at Charles’s condescending tone, Sorin decided to unleash his secret weapon. “Lorimer, kill him, but don’t eat him.”

“Reee!” A blazing rat shot out of Sorin’s robes and made a beeline for the confused Agent of Disease.

“Not so fast,” said Charles. A poisonous web sprung up to intercept lorimer, delaying him ever so slightly as a spider rushed to execute the agent.

But the rat was not so easily stopped. An intense force of devouring erupted from him, eating away both the spider’s webs and the auras locking the area down. He tackled the spider before it could bite the agent, then went for the jugular with a bloodcurdling scream.

Yet before he could reach the Agent, a burning raven pierced through space arriving a step sooner than Lorimer could.

“Dance of the Tail Biter.” Sorin closed the gap first and annihilated the raven. Poison surged out from his body, filling the nearest hundred feet.

Somehow, the blast radius came up short. The Agent was no longer right next to him but an impossible distance away.

“Parlor tricks,” said Sorin. He took three steps forward, each time melting through the spatial barriers the two God Seeds had erected. He arrived just in time to pierce through, yet another spell circle meant to entangle the man. “Michael, I understand your motivations. You are accumulating significance by slaying Disease, leaning on Appollo’s mantle of Healer to complete divine missions by proxy.”

Sorin twirled his spear, deflecting yet another beam of sunlight heading towards the Agent. As he tried to stab the Agent yet another time, the remnants of Charles’s destroyed spell circles came to together to restrain Sorin. “As for you, Charles, I have no idea what you’re up to. I found it odd that you weren’t at the alliance meeting, but it does make certain sense for Grandpa Hargrave to diversify.

“Still, are you truly satisfied with being a lackey?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Charles. He groaned as he tightening his grip on the spell circle, slowing Sorin to a crawl. “Me and a few trusted subordinates from the Hargrave Clan have defected. As for your accusation of being a lackey, it’s obviously garbage.”

Sorin raised an eyebrow. “And what exactly are you here for, when your divine missions have nothing to do with eradicating Disease?”

Charles grinned. “For spite, of course. Spiting others is a reward in and of itself.” Coinciding with his words, a few more shattered spell circles came together, restraining Sorin just enough that he was unable to intercept an arrow. It pierced the agent of disease, slaying him instantly. ‘This is but one of many, Sorin. You should get used to losing!”

He cackled as the duo retreated and made a beeline for the nearest target.

Sorin tsked as he retrieved the smoldering Crystal of Disease from the Agent’s corpse. It was degraded, but not beyond redemption. “Ree ree ree?” inquired a confused Lorimer.

“I believe they’re still under the misconception that I have divine missions to complete,” said Sorin, absorbing the crystal. “Though Charles does have a point. I might not be able to control space directly, but Dance of the Tail Biter is not a simple skill. I should be able to modify its application.”

As diseased poisons erupted from his body, Sorin took a through the void. He landed in his former position, superimposing his past and his present. His poisons pulled back as a result, giving Lorimer enough time to consume any stray vapors escaping the area.

Once the bulk of the crystal was digested, Sorin took a step took him to a devastated corpse. Ten percent of its crystal was destroyed. The duo that had killed him was long gone.

Sorin collected the core before teleporting to the next location. The energies were even stronger than they’d been in their last encounter, confirming Sorin’s previous theory; both had grown stronger from eliminating the agent and denying Sorin benefits.

I could split off to hunt down separate Agents, but then I’d allow them to fully deny me cores. Their growth would accelerate, and my own growth would lag. I can only follow behind them like a scavenger, pilfering the damaged cores before Sunlight and Healing can erode them.

On the bright side, this approached saved Sorin time. It effectively doubled his hunting efficiency. And with the way karma worked, Michael would receive a great deal of credit even though Sorin consumed the cores. In the end, Michael had killed the agent and arranged from Sorin to pick it up.

“Layers within layers,” muttered Sorin. They could have destroyed the cores, but they hadn’t. On purpose. This meant that they knew that Sorin was only after the cores. They had been left behind to eliminate any incentives to hunt them down.

The idea was instead to delay him while extracting benefits for themselves. They were an annoyance, not an existential threat.

Helpless at their machinations, Sorin rushed off to the next site and picked up another smoldering crystal. He monitored the Web of Strife as he moved, noting Gareth’s position respective to Astley’s, Daphne’s lacking presence, and Stephan’s growing potency.

These things were well in hand. Things at the Kepler manor were equally tame.

What worried Sorin was instead the tangled and confusing web screening the actions of Benjamin Riss, Andree Phoenix, and Mesa Payne. They’re masters of strategy, so confronting them now would be a mistake.

The only way to pull ahead would be to grow stronger faster than his rivals.

To that end, he took a step and scavenged another crystal. It wouldn’t be long before the warring forces in his body reached equilibrium.