The outcome of the duel, of course, is already decided. Even if the king were a god on the level of Zeus, his power would not be enough; I have learned far too much over the sixty thousand years of accumulated experience.

The king and I step out into the courtyard, a group of soldiers and crimson cultists surrounding us.

"Since my spear could instantly cleave through your sword, I will use a sword that you provide me to make things fair. The first person to get their opponent into a position where they could be easily killed three times wins. For example, should I get the tip of my sword touching the flesh of your neck, it would count as a win for me."

"Very well, then," says the king. "Take this blade."

I grab the sword and the duel begins. My battle with Tetrax prepared me well for any close-quarter battles, but that's nothing compared to the hundreds of lives of swordsmanship I've experienced. I easily disarm the king three times within the span of five minutes. The knights and cultists look astonished as I counter moves that would otherwise seem impossible to predict.

"Now that your pride is quelled, would you care to hear my proposal?"

The king pants on the ground, exhausted from the duel. "Very well. But do not speak down upon me, boy. Give me the proper respect a king deserves."

"Very well, your majesty. I want the summoners of your kingdom to stop summoning entities from other worlds."

"...What?"

"Oh, sorry. What did your sorcerers call it? Heroes. Stop summoning heroes."

"And why should we outlaw that?"

"You're pulling innocent souls from proper afterlife into your world for your personal benefit. It's quite literally the most selfish act possible."

"The Heroes are our main edge over The Belfry! We can't just stop using them!"

"Very well then." I place both of my palms on the kings head and construct a sort of self-sustaining psychic NOT gate around a small portion of his mind, which should permanently negate all of his thoughts on the subject. The knights rush towards us to stop me, but the king raises his hands.

"Now that he mentions it... I think it is quite possibly a very negative thing," says the king.

"But, sir!" A soldier exclaims.

"I don't want to here it! Outlaw the practice of summoning at once!"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I walk over to Leviticus. "This solution will only last around a hundred years or so, before he dies, of course. Him being more agreeable to this policy will make it much easier to appoint a cultist as the country's de facto leader."

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In the past, I quelled most conflict with quick, efficient violence. I am no murderer. I could kill everyone in this reality with Nefarium to stop the summoning, but is that not counterintuitive to my whole goal? It makes much more sense to conquer these lands rather than kill.

"So, Leland, tell me about The Belfry."

Leland looks away from the dirt path on his horse, which the king provided us with for our journey to The Belfry. "I suppose it's much like Krag. They aren't ruled by a king, but rather the spirit of a god that resides within The Belfry's bell. Whoever hears its ring is compelled to obey the god. That's why nobody goes near there." Of course. A god. I clench my fists in anger. Leland seems to notice, but says nothing.

"Then we will kill this god. What do you know about it?"

"Well," explains Leland, "apparently a group of heroes trapped it inside the bell long ago. Its name is Gloph, and its goals remain a mystery to us."

"Interesting. There is a chance I may need to retrieve the deity hammer for this battle."

A blinding flash of light stops us in our tracks. In front of us now hovers an incomprehensible sphere surrounding by rings of gold, adorned with an innumerable amount of eyes, and supported by a pair of white-feathered wings. "You will go no further," it says. I reason its voice is telepathic, and I can't read its mind. With everything I know, there is only one thing I can deduce that this creature is.

An angel.

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"I am Ananiel, and I am God's storm. You will not go any further, fiend."

I immediately realize the angel is speaking directly to me.

"Come to finish the job? Are you here to expunge me from reality?"

"I do not relish in it. Your refusal to follow God's will is a danger to the cosmos!" It flares its wings. "You refused to stay dead, so I must eliminate you."

I signal for Leviticus to lead everyone far, far away. I only move when I can no longer hear the hooves of their horses.

"According to my research, it is impossible to completely destroy a soul." I pause for a moment. "But I am well aware the power of God is capable of doing even the impossible."

Faster than sound, I socket a spell focus and point my finger at the angel. "Shortwave Cascade!" An infinitely thin beam of light cleaves the sphere in half, spewing turquoise blood-like fluid everywhere. It can't be that easy. A moment later, the angel reforms, taking shape in some way wholly incomprehensible to me. Could it be four dimensional?

The angel's eyes glow red as it releases sustained beams of energy from its several million eyes. I quickly erect a void shield in front of me, blocking the attack. I throw my spear at it, piercing its body. The angel quickly vanishes and reappears, its puncture wound completely healed. This isn't working. Something else is at play here. I only have one surefire option of attack!

"Doombolt!" I hurl a shot of dark blue energy at the angel, disorienting it and causing it to growl in pain. I throw another Doombolt, but this time it moves out of the way and retaliates with an absolutely enormous beam of heat energy emitted from its core. It's all I can do to put up another void shield, which stops the beam dead in its tracks.

I can't keep this up much longer!