Chapter 51: Fallen King
Locations and Purpose of all Xothican Portals:
Portal A1: NASA Facility, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Connects only to Portal A2 and A3. After being set up, Portal A4 will connect to A1 as well. Due to the nature of the destinations that this portal connects to and will eventually connect to, this Portal is kept within a vacuum-sealed chamber which is within a bunker. This bunker is under some of the most strict security on the planet.
Portal A2: Attached to the exterior of the International Space Station. This connection allows governments and companies to bypass the need for rockets to launch satellites into Earth's orbit. Commercial space companies are currently looking into expanding facilities on the Moon, and eventually other worlds, and start looking into meteor mining.
Portal A3: Armstrong Base, Moon. A base was constructed in a crater that was suspected of being connected to a cave network due to the readings from Japan's satellite over the Moon. Upon further investigation, it was confirmed that the crater was connected to a sizable lava-tube cave network. Future buildings will be built inside these lava tubes to help protect inhabitants from radiation. Earlier samples taken of the lunar soil show strong traces of Thorium and Helium-3 which may be mined in the future to solve Earth's energy problem.
Portal A4: Reserved for future Mars base.
Portal B1: CERN, Meyrin, Switzerland. A portal reserved for scientific research. Connects only to Portal B2.
Portal B2: Same facility as Portal B1.
Portal C1: UNDF Headquarters. For future plan of rapid response of UNDF military to threats around the world. Connects only to Portal C2, C3 and C4.
Portal C2: UN Headquarters, Manhattan, United States. Allows political officials to instantly travel to other important locations such as UNDF Headquarters. Portal is under heavy guard to prevent unauthorized individuals from using it.
Portal C3: New Delhi, India. Chosen for its centralized location to allow the UNDF access to most of Asia. Transport crafts can be folded-up and passed through Portals before being unfolded and activated.
Portal C4: Sydney, Australia. It is estimated that the Demon continent will appear west of Australia. Having a nearby military presence is necessary in the war with Hastur.
VVVVVV
Private Island
While Steele and the other UNDF soldiers prepared for the mission, Tom and his team had their own preparations to make. The plan was to attack the Draig estate at night. This gave everyone twelve hours before the assault. Tom took his lovers back to his private island to give them their "buffs".
The room they were in was circular in shape with half of the walls consisting of windows that overlooked a beach. Tom was in the center of a large bed with Reia and Tala to his right and Vivian and Sylmae to his left. Both Sylmae and Tala were curled up to him.
"How long do we have until the mission begins?" Sylmae sighed.
Tom glanced over to the wall to see the clock and answered, "We have about two hours before the mission begins. Which means we need to be at HQ in one."
Reia groaned in frustration.
"I know."
Tala curled up tighter to him and asked, "Are you nervous?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. But I know that if we work together Arthur doesn't stand a chance."
Tom sat up and stretched. "Come on, we should get cleaned up before our mission." He slid out of the sheets and off of the bed.
"But I like this smell," Tala muttered while her face was pressed against the mattress. She immediately realized what she admitted and gasped, "Nyah!"
"You are a lot dirtier than I gave you credit for," Vivian laughed. She sat up and picked Tala up with her. Vivian quickly got to her knees and started nibbling on Tala's right ear.
"N-No stop!"
"Never," Vivian said.
"Alright, that's it," Tom said while rolling his eyes. He went over and grabbed Vivian around the waist and picked her up. Tom then hoisted her upon his shoulder. "We are getting a shower in before our mission. A non-sexy shower. Cold water and everything."
"But I want more," Vivian moaned.
"And we'll give you more when we get back," Sylmae said dismissively as she walked by. She rolled her eyes. "You can be so needy sometimes."
"You're really one to talk," Reia laughed. "Please lick me lower, Vi.' 'Ah! Rub them harder, Tala.' 'Tom! Tom! Don't stop! Bite my ear!'"
Sylmae's right eye twitched and cheeks turned red when she heard Reia's impressions. Tom broke into laughter at the display. Everyone looked at him, except for Vivian who just looked down his backside while on his shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry," he apologized while he tried to stifle his laugh. "It's just... Moments like this really reminds me that you all entering my life is the second best thing ever to happen to me."
"Second best?" Reia said.
"Well, about a couple years ago I found this incredible all-you-can-eat Japanese-Chinese restaurant for twenty bucks a meal and it was the best thing ever."
The girls were almost stupefied by Tom's joke.
"Beat him up?" Vivian said.
"Beat him up," the others all concurred while they nod.
Tom ran towards the washroom while being chased and Vivian pounded on his back with her fists. He internally was thankful he was able to bring them some levity in the final hours of peace they had until the fight with Pendragon, even if it did cause him some pain.
VVVVVV
Everyone who was part of the mission to eliminate Draig had gathered together in the same hangar they had met in before. They were equipped with their standard UNDF weapons and armour. Steele stood beside a whiteboard on a stand in front of everyone. On the whiteboard was a rough sketch of the overhead view of the Draig estate.
"I apologize for the sketch work, but we want to avoid any suspicions by Umbra, so computers are out," Steele started. "This is based on my memories of my visit to Draig's estate. The current name of this mission will be Operation Fallen King. Garza's team will take the south hill." Steele marked two lines behind the south hill drawing. "Petrov's team will take the eastern hill, and Azikiwe's team will have the southeast hill." Steele marked down the other two teams.
The soldiers had notepads out and wrote down notes as Steele talked.
"Once teams are in position, Tom's team will use their most powerful spells to destroy Artorius' house. We are hoping that the initial surprise attack will catch him off guard and kill him. If the initial attack fails then Tom will have to use Clarent to defeat Artorius. I am recommending that everyone stay clear of him. The power that Excalibur gives him puts him beyond everyone's capabilities here. Your goal is to keep the mercenaries that Artorius' has on his estate busy. They likely dwell in this building." Steele circled a building to the side of the main mansion. "At the time, I thought this building was a garage for sports cars or private jets, but now I realized that the concrete structure seems a little over-the-top for security for a garage. In your fight will the mercenary forces, Tom's companions will provide assistance to your teams."
"Artorius will be focused completely on me," Tom added. "As Tep said, the man loathes me. So long as no one interferes in our fight, he likely will not try to attack anyone else. I must warn everyone here. If we fail in killing Artorius, he will kill me and will enslave everyone here to ensure he has a powerful force at his beck and call. Failure would ensure his position of ruling Humanity forever."
"No pressure," Vivian joked.
"I wanted everyone here to know the stakes if they are going to join this mission."
"We know, Everett," Garza assured him. "We all took a vow to defend our world against everything that threatens it whether a monster or a person."
"So say we all," Smith added.
"We begin in thirty minutes," Steele announced. "It will be late in the night when you all get there so you have the darkness on your side."
VVVVVV
Draig Estate
Everyone teleported onto the southern hills of the Draig estate. They all took a knee and allowed Chris Jones to survey the area to make sure that they were not detected. He looked through his binoculars that had an enhanced-IR setting. The landscape was black and white. Anything that gave off heat came up as varying degrees of light gray and white.
Several soldiers walked along patrol paths around the Draig mansion. To the side were a couple soldiers that stood guard in front of the possible bunker.
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"I don't see anything unusual behaviour," Jones whispered. "It looks like they haven't detected us yet."
Petrov shook two of his fingers towards the east and Petrov and his squad got up and moved in that direction. Azikiwe did the same and followed behind Petrov's team.
"Let me know when everyone is in position," Tom said into the comm. "So we can begin the attack."
Tom's team went ahead of Garza's team so they could get a better angle of attack. They all crouched down and waited for confirmation.
"Bravo in position," Petrov said over the comm.
"Charlie in position," Azikiwe followed up with.
"All teams in position," Garza said. "Light 'em up."
"Bastard destroyed our home," Reia growled. "Time to return the favour."
Reia stood up and mentally called out Downburst. Sylmae mentally summoned Ice Storm. Their two storms fused together and a Notification popped up.
Notice By combining attacks, you have unlocked the party skill "Blizzard Downburst".
Blizzard Downburst Type Activate Mana Required 800 Rank SSS Level Beginner 1 (78%) By combining one person's Ice Storm with another person's Downburst, you both created a Blizzard Downburst.
Strong winter winds blew downwards on the mansion which stripped away sections of the structure. The soldiers that stood guard struggled against the winds but quickly found themselves frozen solid.
Vivian casted Earthquake in the area. The ground rumbled and the mansion shook and more parts of it tore off. Tala added to the attack with Supernova on the front entrance of the mansion. A massive ball of fire appeared and exploded in seconds. The shockwave blew open the doorway of the building and set the building on fire. The nearby frozen soldiers shattered like glass statues.
Tom raised his hand and casted Lightning Strike, though he didn't expect it to do much to add to the carnage the others had already unleashed upon the building. To his surprise, his Lightning Strike curved upwards towards the two storms that Sylmae and Reia had unleashed. The downburst stopped as the lightning entered it.
The storm growled like it became alive. The colour of the clouds turned shades of gray and blue.
Notice By combining three storm attacks, with two of them being SSS rank, you have unlocked the party skill "Tempest".
Tempest Type Activate Mana Required 1000 Rank SSS Level Beginner 1 (78%) By combining three storm skills (with two of them at a minimum of SSS rank), you all have created a Tempest. This violent storm rains down lightning bolts that cause massive damage.
Lightning fired from the storm clouds and caused explosions as they hit the ground.
"Holy shit!" Vivian yelled. "A Tempest."
The lightning bolts struck the house in rapid succession which blew parts of the mansion up. The lightning pound the mansion until the building was nothing but a massive fire. The ground around the building was scorched with small fires in different locations.
The storm died down, along with the other spells, and everyone waited for some sort of response from the estate. The bunker to the side opened up and soldiers flooded out of it.
"Mercs in view. Engage!" Garza yelled into the comm.
The area erupted with gunfire from both sides. The mercenaries took cover where they could. Some hide behind some of the parked cars, others hid behind rumble left behind by the burning mansion.
Before Tom's team could join the offensive, an explosion went off in the burning mansion. The front of the mansion exploded outwards. Everyone stopped their attack and looked at the mansion. From out of the flames, an armoured figure walked out. The being's shadowy appearance within the flames made it look like a devil walking out of the gates of hell.
"I was really hoping that initial attack killed him," Reia groaned.
"Sadly, we weren't fast enough," Tom said. "Join the others. I'll take him on myself."
Tom pulled out Clarent as he cautiously walked towards Artorius. As he got closer, Tom could see the armour Artorius' armour more clearly. The black armour covered Artorius completely from head to toe and emitted an energy that Tom could just see. The flames around him couldn't penetrate past this field of energy.
"How are you still alive?" Artorius yelled. "And how could you possibly know I was responsible for what happened?"
"Tep," Tom replied.
Artorius' head twitched about as he registered Tom's answer.
"No, that's not... He wouldn't!"
Tom watched his footing and went into a combat stance. Artorius raised Exclaibur and charged towards him at an inhuman speed. Tom raised his blade and blocked his attack.
"Tep told us everything!" Tom yelled as he shoved Artorius back. As Artorius slid backwards, Tom went onto the offensive and swung his sword upwards. "Umbra ends tonight!" Tom grabbed him on the shoulder and attempted to use his teleport ability, but it didn't activate. "What?"
Artorius laughed. "A magical item that creates a magical barrier on my armour. It would prevent you from teleporting me to somewhere else."
'There goes my "leave the fucker on the moon" idea,' Tom thought.
Artorius redirected Tom's sword and tried to stab him in the stomach. Tom side-stepped but received the attack in his side. The sword easily went through his armour and cut him. Tom winced in pain and quickly backed away from Artorius. The cut in his side was deep and bled out.
Even after the power increase from Clarent, Tom still found himself struggling against Artorius. With the increase in power from the swords, the difference between their base stats become a drop of water in an overflowing pale. Once again, Tom finds himself in the same scenario as South African. Skill versus level. Artorius had centuries to train himself both body and mind. Tom only had a little over half a year.
Several magical spells went off in the distance as the Xothicans unleashed their fury upon the mercenaries. Artorius looked in their direction and nodded. Tom took advantage of his distraction by applying a Heal to himself.
"You unlocked their powers," Artorius said. "I'm thankful for that. They are far more magnificent that I could possibly imagine."
"Something I think we can both agree on," Tom groaned. He pushed himself off of the ground and back to his feet.
Artorius looked him over and said, "Even with your surprise attack, you still couldn't kill me. Now your chances are nil."
Artorius' ran forward towards Tom at a frightening speed and slashed upwards. Tom blocked the attack but the power sent him into the air. Artorius jumped up after him and swung his sword downwards. Tom held up his sword to receive the attack. The attack sent him towards the ground.
Tom hit the ground hard. His breath forcibly left him and he struggled to take in a new one. Artorius gracefully landed in front of him.
"I am curious," Artorius said. "At your current level you shouldn't be able to last more than a minute against me. Why is that?"
"I guess we all have our secrets," Tom said as he pushed himself up.
"You should understand the difference between us by now. I have trained my entire long life to prepare for the coming war." Artorius pointed his sword at Tom. "You literally stumbled into power! I had the right to that power!"
A Wind Blade spell flew at Artorius which caught him off guard. The attack hit him in the shoulder. The attack didn't do much damage, but it did make him lose his footing.
"Get up and kill this bastard already, Tom!" Reia yelled. "I didn't even get a chance to use the birthday present you gave me!"
Artorius looked back down and saw Tom was gone. Artorius felt an attack on his back and he screamed out in pain. He spun around and swung his sword only to see Tom teleport away.
Tom reappeared behind him. Artorius blocked that attack by holding his sword behind himself. He turned to counter and exchanged sword blows with Tom.
"That trick won't work on me a second time," Artorius warned.
"How about this one?" Tom clashed blades with him and then lifted his hand to Artorius' face. Lightning erupted from it.
"Gah!"
Tom slid his index and middle finger across his sword. "Didn't see that coming! Surge Strike!"
An arc of flames launched outwards towards Artorius who was holding his face. The attack impacted him and engulfed him in flames. Artorius lifted his sword and swung it downwards. The wind created from the movement extinguished the flames. Tom renewed his attack on Artorius to ensure he couldn't regain his momentum. He struck Excalibur as often as he could. Eventually the match just turned into Tom furiously smashing away at Excalibur.
"Are you even trying?" Artorius growled. "It doesn't seem like you're trying to hit me!"
Tom finally saw his efforts coming to fruition. Cracks appeared on both Excalibur and Clarent. "That's because I'm not."
Artorius looked at the blades and saw the cracks. The cracks spread across the swords.
"What?" Artorius gasped.
"A gift from Tep and Lalu. Clarent. The Sword of Peace!"
Light shone through the cracks and grew in intensity as the cracks spread across the sword. The swords then exploded in a bright light that sent out a force that sent both Artorius and Tom away from each other.
Notice The explosion caused massive trauma to your system. The debuff "Shocked" has been applied to you for three minutes. In this time you will not be able to move.
Tom again found himself on the ground, staring up at the sky. Parts of his cloak was burnt away and sections of his armour was chipped away. He felt like he was ran over by a truck, that truck backed-up over him and then ran over him again. Tom checked his health and found fifty percent of it went down from the explosion.
'That fucker Tep did not mention the destruction would be this bad,' Tom thought to himself.
Tom couldn't move his limbs so his eyes looked to the side to see where Artorius landed. Artorius was on his side looking back at Tom about thirty meters away. Half of his helmet was destroyed which gave Tom a look of his furious face.
"What have you done?" Artorius roared. "With the help of the Elementals, I would have absorbed Hastur and all his compatriots into my sword. It would have guaranteed Humanity's future! Why? Why?!"
"You tried to kill me, ASSHOLE! What did you expect? Oh and there's the whole fucking with Human history thing and your tyranny. That's big one too."
"Because of you, hundreds of years of preparation has gone to waste!" Artorius reached to his side and picked up a small egg-shaped item. He held it in front of him. "I didn't want to use this. It was a gift from the Dragons when I spared their race. It grants the person the power of an Ancient Dragon. However... the effects are permanent. I have no choice. I will not die here."
"All teams!" Tom yelled into his comm. "I need immediate assistance!"
Artorius crushed the egg in his hand and bluish-green energy erupted from his hand. The energy surrounded Artorius' body and he screamed as his body changed.
The Shocked debuff finally wore off and Tom quickly got to his feet. He got out his sword, Sky's Fury, and tried to attack Artorius before he could transform. The energy repelled the attack and launched him back.
"Shit!"
Tom saw the other soldiers make their way to his location. The Xothicans were the first to show up.
"Tom, what is going on?" Reia asked in a panic.
"I destroyed Excalibur, but he used some Dragon artifact," Tom replied. "I tried to attack, but the energy around him repelled me."
"Then try using some magic!" Tala suggested.
They all raised their hands and tried casting spells, but their attacks just bounced off of him. Artorius' form began to grow and he changed from his humanoid form to a quadruped. The other soldiers showed up.
"Tom, what the fuck?" Garza gasped upon seeing the transformation.
The Artorius' form grew wings out of his back, a tail and a long neck. The energy absorbed into the body of a massive twenty meter long scaly beast was left behind. Its scales were brilliant gold in colour. Artorius roared and shook the area. With his wings spread out, he looked as big as a skyscraper.
"Dragon!" Vivian yelled.