I came to in a world of pain. My temples throbbed in time with my heartbeat, and my mouth felt like I hadn’t had a drink in days. “Fuck me with a metal cactus.” I groaned, rolling onto my side. What the fuck had happened? The last thing I remembered, I was facing off with the howlitzer ape. Then. Then. What then? A bolt of agony coursed through my brain, and was answered by three bits of burning fire in my chest. THAT’S IT! “AAAAAH!” Inspiration and agony struck me at the same time, and I remembered that I had something hit my chest, through my shield. Soft hands started stroking away the sweat on my forehead.
“Shhhh, Sean. It’ll be ok. The last of the magebane should be working through your system soon.” A gentle voice spoke blessedly softly to me. Before I could place it, there was a massive metallic clang from nearby, sending another spike of pain through my head.
“Listen up slaves, orders from your new masters. You are to obey the orders of anyone wearing the emblem of the Blackened Shield. You are forbidden from hurting yourselves or others. You are not allowed to escape.” The masculine voice yelled at us, sending spikes of pain through my head with each word. I tried to curl into a ball, but something was restricting the motion of my neck.
“Easy Sean, easy. The pain will recede with the poison.” That soothing voice was back, and things started making sense again. Elendria was rubbing my back, and I could faintly hear others shifting around. I was on a stone floor, and it was incredibly dark. Faint flickering light. Not only that, but there was an overwhelming sense of despair.
“Wh. What happened?” I tried to speak, but my voice only came out as a bare whisper. I struggled to sit up, barely managing it even with Elendria’s help.
“Here, a sip of this.” A small cup was placed against my lips, and I tried to drink down the stagnant tasting water like it was ambrosia. “Easy, easy. Little sips for now. I know you feel thirsty, but too much and you will overload your system.”
“What happened?” I managed to croak loud enough for others to here.
“Ambush.” Alex’s voice came from across the way. I tried blinking my eyes open, but could only see blurred outlines. “Easy there. Don’t rush things, and let Elendria explain.”
“The place we fought the howlitzer ape was a setup. The ape had a slave collar, and it would attack when we entered the ambush area. Metal poles blasted us with lightning. Once we were incapacitated, bandits came in and slapped slave collars on us. We didn’t realize until we got back here, but they hit you with three magebane darts. They have a poison that neutralizes magic and paralyzes the target. That’s why it got through whatever defenses you managed to put up.”
“So.” I said, panting from the effort to remain sitting. “Where are we? What’s our situation?”
“We’re fucked.” Alex said. “No injuries, but we all have slave collars. We don’t know where we are, other than some dank cell, and there is something that is wearing on our will to resist. Nobody knows we are here, and only Father Frank knows we are late getting back. Oh, and they took all our gear and gave us these lovely rags to protect ourselves.”
“Shit.” I groaned, laying back into Elendria’s chest, my head resting on her shoulder. “You ok holding me like this?”
“Of course, silly.” She chuckled a bit. “Though I suggest you check your system notifications. Thing’s aren’t as dark as Alex believes.” Mentally shrugging because I lacked the energy, I checked my status and notifications.
System notice!
A slave collar has been forced on you. Since you have been freed from such magic in the past by a guild master, this collar will have no effect on you.
Name: Sean O’Carrol
Age: 33
Titles:
Chosen of Ariana (hidden)
Blessed by Lokir (hidden)
Otherwordly traveler (hidden)
Summoned Hero (hidden)
Grandmaster Sage
Attributes:
STR – 6 (+11)
AGI – 12 (+4)
DEX – 7 (+12)
INT – 27 (+21)
WIS – 28 (+21)
CON – 15 (+3)
END – 12 (+3)
Health: 71/140
Mana: 1917/13290
Health regen: 0.090/min
Mana regen: 383.39/min
Spirit: 0/27
Spirit regen: 0.96/hour
Class: celestial sorcerer (10,000/10,000)
Available classes: priest (0), Advanced elementalist (18 subs), mender (300)
Secondary class: Advanced elementalist (XVIII) (86,000/90,000)
Unfinished classes: 3/10
Profession: Camp Cook (13)
Available professions: slave master
Secondary profession: Spearman (9)
Finished classes: True elementalist, celestial sorcerer
Level: 25/25
Exp to next level: NA
“I take it you got the same notification about the collar?” I whispered.
“Indeed.” Elendria nodded.
“Good. I’ll need your help, but we should find out more about what is going on here. This pressure, it feels familiar somehow. Those damn darts are making it a bit hard to think.”
“That will go away soon. Just relax for now, there isn’t much we can do.”
I let some of the tension flow out of me as I sat there. It was probably safe to assume that only the demons and Elendria would be able to help me. Even then, it was iffy on the demons. They didn’t have their collars removed by a guild master after all. I sat there, in that filthy cell, for nearly an hour. As I did, things started coming back to me. My mana finally filled up, and the pain drastically reduced. That let me finally place the pressure of the place we were in. It was exactly like the divine particles of the world the shadows come from!
“Elendria, Carrigan, everyone. Do you guys trust me?” I asked after another half hour. I wasn’t at full health, and it was probably a good thing I only had one spirit that I quickly got rid of.
“With my life.” Elendria replied.
“Definitely.” Carrigan said.
“Even without Lokir’s orders, we would follow you.” Both demons replied.
“You’re a good sort. I’ll trust you.” Alex replied, getting nods from the other two.
“Thanks. Please, just play along then.” I said, having made sure beforehand that nobody was listening in. I stood up, and put a hand down to pull Elendria to her feet. With the slightest twitch of my magic, both of our slave collars fell to the ground. I summoned my mage armor, but this time it wasn’t my normal set. Instead, I warped it, thanking myself for thinking of this idea so long ago. Instead of simply covering me, or turning it into a set of ornate plate armor like a paladin, I went the opposite. Cruel barbs erupted from random areas. Spikes thrust backward from my elbows, making them much more powerful attack points. Each knee received a small spike as well, and a bit of magic let the eye slit glow an ominous red. Taking inspiration from our opponent, each part was covered in snake scales, and on my chest I had a black snake reaching out to eat a dimming sun. The finishing part was to hold a portion of the divine shadow particles in the general area. It halved my mana regeneration, but that was fine. What it also did was make it seem like I was emitting the particles through an aura that had a limited range of several feet.
“Gods above, what the fuck is that?” Martha screeched, slamming her back into the bars as she desperately tried to escape. The rest of the Eagles had copied her, while the others were simply staring at me with faces pale.
“Stay here. I’ll be back.” My voice rumbled out, and an acrid odor let me know someone had lost control of their bladder. Perfect. Confident, I strode forward. The door seemed to open for me, though it was simply a matter of mana tendrils picking the lock and opening it for me. I closed it behind me, locking it again. I walked down the hallway, coming into a guard room with two grubby bandits playing some dice game.
“Incompetent imbeciles. Take me to your leader.” I thundered, turning up the amount of light in my glare.
“What the FUCK!” One shouted, immediately reaching for a knife while the other spluttered in fear. Using the armor like a mana tendril, I shot my ‘hand’ out and grasped the one with a weapon by the top of his head. I then slammed him into the wall hard enough that he went limp.
“You.” I said, pointing to the other bandit as my arm returned to normal. “Where is your leader?”
“A- a- a- apologies darkest one.” He stammered, bowing to me. “I’ll take you to h- h- him r-r- right away.” The bandit scurried to open the door and lead me deeper into the complex. Furthering the snake motif, the tunnels were rounded and the bricks for reinforcement were carved to look like snakeskin. I purposely kept my pace slow and measured, forcing the bandit to slow down and wait for me. Others who saw us walking down the hallway immediately made room for us to pass, and I could hear them scampering away as soon as they were out of my sight. Soon we passed by a chapel, and I could feel the dark altar was the source of the energy I was harnessing. That would have to be destroyed at some point.
“Boss. Visitor.” The bandit said, before turning tail and staring straight at me. I had closed the distance between us, and there was very little room to scoot by me. I stood there, staring at him to really ramp up the discomfort. He finally couldn’t take it, and nearly plastered himself against a wall as he slid by.
“Who the fuck are you?” The boss growled out, slamming his chair forward as I walked in. He started to reach for a blade, but stopped midway.
“For someone who just made such a monumental fuckup, that’s the smartest move you have made all day.” I growled out. “Now I don’t have to bother replacing you, since you apparently are capable of thought.”
“Apologies, sir Viper. Your presence merely caught me off guard. Do you think you could suppress that aura just a bit?” When I didn’t, he shrugged and settled in. “Right. So, how did we fuck up? We’ve been following the dark priests plan.”
“And yet you captured my group and had the gall to try and enslave me.” His face paled at my words.
“My deepest apologies sir! We had no idea-“ He started to blather on, but I interrupted him.
“Of course you had no idea, fool. I was undercover, building up my reputation. Now I have six enslaved adventurers that were a part of my group that I have to figure out what to do with. Not only that, but I need a damn good reason why myself and my attendant weren’t enslaved with the rest of them. I can’t just go around telling them that I am immune now, can I?”
“Of course not.” He agreed. “But the dark pries-“
“I DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THAT WEAKLING’S PLAN! MENTION HIM AGAIN AND I WILL FLAY YOU ALIVE, SOAK YOUR SKIN IN SALT AND REATTACH IT!” I used a bit of magic to really amplify my voice, enough that bits of dust were dislodged from the walls and ceiling. “Keep testing my patience with your pathetic excuses, worm, and I will show you hells of pain you never even dreamed of.” I snarled in a much lower tone.
“Yes sir.” He said, sweat pouring down his face. “How can we help you fix this?”
“What’s going on here- by Apophis, a Viper!” Someone shouted behind me, and I turned to see someone who must have been the priest. He had dark robes of green and brown, and a staff of some exotic black wood that gave off the slightest hint of divine presence. The top of which was shaped like a hooded cobra with two glaring red eyes.
“Priest. Enter and tell me of your plans.” I ordered, barely making enough room for him to slip by.
“Of course sir.” He said, voice oily. If I hadn’t already loathed him for his choice of god to follow, the sound of his voice alone would have kindled an unrivaled hatred. “We have enough followers to take over the town, especially after we have captured so many adventurers.”
“And the priest of Shalora?”
“You know of Frank? Of course, Apophis slithers unnoticed in many places. I shall force the priest to summon an avatar to defend against ours, and Apophis will consume her. The loss of power will give us the ability to take everything we need from the town, then slip back into the protection of the jungle.”
“I see. A bold plan. I approve.” I nodded, getting a beaming smile from the priest. “However, you are lacking in certain knowledge. The Silver Eagles were not the only group to make their way out here. My attendant and I will go with your group to offset this unexpected development. Are the other plans proceeding on schedule?”
“Last I heard, we should be ready for the assault on Outpost within three months. Our allies are out gathering the stronger beasts, but it is slower going. At least the enchanted collars are easier to make.”
“Excellent. Have them keep up the good work. Apophis will be pleased.”
“Of course sir. If there’s nothing else, I’ll go ahead and prepare your room.” The priest said. I waved him off, and turned to the bandit leader.
“Now, do you have the guildmaster authority?” I asked, looking at the bandit leader.
“I do, why?”
“Because I’ll need to rebuild some goodwill with these people before I wipe their memories. They can stay in the cages, but you will remove the collars.”
“Of course sir.” The leader said, slipping out and leading back to the dungeon. I followed along, not bothering to speak.
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“Make sure your men know not to do anything stupid. I need to resume my disguise. You will act as if under a powerful illusion, apologizing to the Vipers for the collars and the terrible accommodations.”
“What if they ask questions?”
“I’ll answer.” I said. “Just do as you’re told.”
“Yes sir.” He said, finally entering the dungeon. I didn’t spare any glances for the jailer that was just now recovering from his impromptu nap. “My deepest apologies, Vipers. I’ll have those collars off and their effects removed immediately. Alas we don’t have any other place to put you.” The bandit leader said, entering the cell. I very obviously put some magic covering his ears, so the others knew that he couldn’t hear us.
“He can’t hear us, but please just go with the flow. Do not attack, and don’t try and escape. Elendria will come with me. Tomorrow the base is going to be emptied. Break out at that time and see what you can find. The most important thing is to destroy the altar in the basement if you can. If not, find your way back to town and bring Father Frank.”
I let the block drop, and continued talking. “Elendria will come with me, but the rest of you will have to stay here. I’ve seen their bunks, and believe it or not this is actually cleaner. It wouldn’t hurt to rest for two days before resuming our journey. Tomorrow I will be unavailable, as I will be helping our hosts with an important task. Questions?”
“None, sir.” Alex said, standing and saluting though he already had his collar removed. I nodded in thanks at him, glad they were willing to let it play out.
“I knew I could count on you. Just so you know, this mishap will prove beneficial. As a guildmaster is removing your collars, never again will their magic work on you.” The group smiled, eager for the bandit leader to finish. Once he was done, Elendria followed us out as the guildmaster started to close the door.
“Leave it for now, and return their equipment.” I ordered.
“But sir, we have already spread it out amongst the men.” He pleaded.
“Did I stutter? These have far more use for us than your men have, and with me helping them you won’t require the added protection.” I said, leaving no room for argument. “You have an hour.” I strode off, leaving the bandit leader fuming mad. Luckily for me, the priest was waiting for us.
“Sir Viper, Miss Assistant. If you would follow me, I took the liberty of giving you a room next to the chapel.” He gave us a deep bow, then strode forward with confidence. We wound our way deeper into the complex, stopping by a room just across the hall from that chapel. “Will you be needing anything else sir?”
“Bring us dinner and our gear, then leave us alone. We need to meditate.” I said. He scuttled off, no doubt to bring us a much better dinner than what the rest were going to be getting, and Elendria followed me into the room.
“Can you soundproof the room?” I asked. I had a thought on how to do it, but it would also trap all the air in with us and would give a definite time limit to things.
“One moment.” She said, tracing a few runes onto each wall. She had one on each, as well as one on the ceiling and floor they all flashed with a cold blue light. “There we go. So, what is our plan? Please say you don’t have to don that armor again.”
“Sadly I am going to have to. Tomorrow we are going with them to fake an attack on the town. We are supposed to take out the second adventurer group that came with us, but instead will attack the group they are bringing with us. Before that, what do you know of avatar battles between gods?”
“Avatar battles? Oh no, this is bad. This is really bad.” She said, pacing the room. “Avatar battles are incredibly fierce. Each priest literally conjures an avatar of their god to fight, and until the god is defeated the priest is invulnerable. The live of the priest of the losing god, as well as however much of their divine essence the priest was able to channel, will be lost.”
“Damnit. Well, can we intervene in any way?” I asked.
“No. The priest is immune, and unless you have a way to injure a god there isn’t anything we can do. Shit, someone is coming.” She waved her hand, and the barrier dropped.
“Apologies for interrupting, but here is your dinner. Lacon, the leader here, is still in the process of reuniting your gear.” The priest said, setting two plates on the table. Both had massive steaks, as well as a surprising set of grilled vegetables as well.
“Better fare than what we were hoping for.” I said, giving the priest a nod.
“Only the best for the Vipers. We were lucky to acquire a slave with a cooking profession, and Lacon wisely refused to sell her.”
“Her?” I asked, eyebrow raised. “I do hope he gave orders that preclude any type of poisoning, and that they are treating her well. Lest she lash out in the most destructive way she can.”
“He was smart enough to order that the men aren’t to take advantage of her slave status to order her to do any, unsavory acts.” The priest smiled.
“Good.” I nodded. “Despite my initial reaction, it seems it was wise to curb my anger. Now, leave us. We will leave the plates outside the door when we are finished, and our gear had better be there in the morning. Do not disturb us.”
“Of course, sir.” He said, bowing and heading out. I nodded, and Elendria reactivated her barrier.
“Gods but I hate that man and can’t wait for a chance to kill him.” I said, sighing as I methodically ate the food. Not that it wasn’t good, but that I really didn’t feel like eating.
“I know. Let’s eat, then see if I can’t massage away some of your troubles.” She said, rubbing my shoulders as she passed me to get her own food. “And thank you for getting me out of the dungeon.”
“No problem.” I said. “I just wish I could have done something for the others.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
We woke up early the next morning, Elendria curled into my chest. “You awake?” I asked her softly.
“I am, but I don’t like this.”
“I know, and neither do I. But I will need help, and I think you are the most believable one to be my assistant.”
“Because I’m a woman?”
“And beautiful.” I said honestly. “These are bandits hun. They aren’t going to care about how proficient you are with your skills, or how devastating your attacks can be. They’re going to see a beautiful bed warmer for the leader, something he claimed as his due. And we are going to make them pay for that foolish assumption.”
“At least you don’t think that way.” She grumped. “Alright then, tell me the plan.”
“We get there, and let the priests call the avatars. As soon as they do, our sides are likely going to start to fight. We will be slightly ahead of everyone, and I will use my claymore spell to blast the group behind me. While they are stunned and looking at me, I need you to clean up the rest of them. I’ll have to get rid of the aura and try and convince Father Frank not to attack us.”
“Think it will work?” She asked.
“Fairly positive.” I shrugged. “They don’t have the gear from the Silver Eagles anymore, so that should help us out a good bit. I also didn’t see much in the town for defense when we were there, so it wouldn’t take much for the bandits to counter. But I still expect a few to survive my initial assault, which is why I’m counting on your backup.”
“Good, because some of these bastards have been undressing me with their eyes, and I am looking forward to their end.” She growled out.
“Right then, well let’s go ahead and get started then.” I said, and Elendria cancelled her privacy spell. As we stepped outside, we found all of our gear was there, including my spatial ring. The bastards had stolen the provisions, but it wasn’t something I could really call them out on.
“Give me a moment.” I told Elendria, then headed in to the chapel. I calmly sat and looked toward the altar, so that anyone looking would think me praying or meditating. In actuality, I was forcing a stockpile of divine shadow into a small container, so that I could fake having my Viper armor later. Twenty minutes later, and I felt that I had enough. The best part about them was that they didn’t really dissipate or get absorbed by human souls nearby, so I wouldn’t have to constantly release them to maintain a certain level. That would be an absolute pain in the ass.
“Alright.” I said, walking back out and giving Elendria a half hug. “Everything is ready. Let’s get this over with.”
“Gladly.” She said, and we headed a few doors down and knocked on the door. “Lacon! LACON!” By the second shout, the door was flung open and he stood there, pants only half on.
“I am here to serve!” He said, fumbling with his clothes.
“Relax. We have everything prepared, are the men ready for the assault?”
“So early in the day?” He asked. “Surely nearing night would be better for the priest?”
“Are you implying Apophis might lose to the puny gods here?” I asked with a growl.
“O- Of course not!” He stammered, paling.
“Good. The timing is actually in our favor. Their god will be overconfident, and more prone to make mistakes. Apophis will defeat her, and emerge stronger. Now gather the men, and have them eat a small breakfast. I don’t want anyone throwing up or becoming sluggish in battle because they couldn’t control their gluttony.”
“Right away sir!” He said, then took off down the hall.
“We also don’t want them fully awake and with a lot of energy, hmmm?” Elendria chuckled when we were alone. “I must say, you are fairly devious with those orders Sean. On the surface they seem like legitimate concerns, but all the while you are undermining their chances.”
“I’m no master tactician, but these fools can make anyone seem like a genius.” I said, slowly walking down the hall. We stopped by the dungeon, seeing the two guards from yesterday. Both immediately started shaking. “You.” I said, pointing to the one who was actually helpful. “Go and fetch breakfast for my associates. You. Go and ensure that everyone traveling for the raid has everything they need.”
“Yes sir!” They chorused, saluting and darting off down the halls. Elendria gave us a weaker privacy seal, and I continued in to the dungeon.
“Hey guys, everyone sleep ok?” I asked as I entered.
“Just fine. What’s the deal?” Carrigan asked.
“Sorry I couldn’t tell you more last night. These idiots are going to try and force an avatar battle and then destroy the town. Elendria and I have a plan to put a stop to it, but we are getting ready to move out now. There’s also a secondary plan to attack Outpost in three months. If for some reason the two of us don’t make it, you guys have to get word back to the city. The attack will come from the forest, and likely involve enslaved monsters.”
“Damnit, just what we didn’t need. Ok, we will be searching for information on all of this. Where’s the leader’s room?”
“Not sure for the priest, but the bandit leader is the room at the end of the hallway just past the chapel.”
“Incoming.” Elendria hissed, dropping her barrier before I could explain more.
“We don’t expect any attack here, but you will provide any backup they require. Questions?”
“None sir, we won’t fail you.” Carrigan said as the priest entered.
“I thought we were waiting until the afternoon?” He asked.
“Change of plans. We attack now. Catch them off guard. Hopefully that other adventurer group is still hungover. They tend to drink a lot more than they should anytime they enter a new town.” I said, sweeping past him. “Don’t worry about things here. My associates will handle things in your absence.” With that, I headed out only to stop at the tunnels. “Lead the way.” I ordered.
“I thought all vipers were gifted with tunnel sense.” He said, narrowing his eyes at me as he stroked his staff.
“Indeed. But when you are carried through the tunnels while unconscious and under the effects of three magebane darts, tunnelsense doesn’t do you any good. Lead on, and be thankful we need you in working order. Lest I decide to punish you.”
“Of course, sir. My apologies.” He said, head bowed.
“Accepted.” I said, following him. He led the way up, and each step was better as we got out of the influence of that damned shrine. A few minutes later, and we were in the clearing by the creek where we were ambushed.
“Seriously?” I growled out, stalking over to Lacon and the priest. “You idiots have the ambush point right outside the entrance to your hideout? How fucking stupid are you?”
“It worked well enough, didn’t it? Besides, this way we can respond in force in a hurry.” Lacon replied.
“Idiots. The next hideout you set up, you will not have any set ambush sites within a half mile! Even then, you put a small rotating group nearby to watch the trap with a speaking stone to contact the hideout if they need reinforcements! That way if someone finds the trap when it is unattended they don’t immediately find your base!”
“Of course, we defer to your wisdom in this.” The priest said, cutting in before Lacon could say something stupid. “Everyone has five minutes to get ready before we head out. If you are late, you will miss in the glory!” Lacon luckily wandered off to check on some of his men, and to make sure everything was ready.
“Priest.” I said, getting his attention. “I need your input.”
“Oh?” He said, voice rising in surprise.
“Yes. What do you believe will be more intimidating to the enemy. Having me lead the army out there, or having the army there and then I walk through them, letting my aura announce my presence.”
“The second one. I’ll call their priest out, and let them know I have a surprise for him. You should probably be a few rows deep, and release your aura as you summon your armor. I must say, I am enjoying working with you. I had a few doubts about the attack at first, but Lacon told me your arguments and then this. You truly seek to utterly dominate the enemy, don’t you?”
“Of course, that is the way of the snake. Strike unseen, as hard as possible. Wrap the prey so they can’t retaliate, and crush them with overwhelming force.” I replied, clenching a fist as I spoke.
“Exactly. Now, let’s see about striking hard and fast, shall we?” The priest responded with an evil grin, one I matched.
“All right everyone, let’s go kill a goddess! FOR APOPHIS!” The priest shouted, raising his staff to the sky, where it glowed with an ominous black light.
“FOR APOPHIS!” The group responded, though Elendria and I remained silent. Hand in hand, we allowed ourselves to be swept away in the current of bodies. While the trip out took the better part of two hours, our return was much swifter. Plants were crushed underfoot if they weren’t cut down with blades, as the bandits carved a fresh trail through the woods. All attempts at stealth were useless in these numbers, so they didn’t even try. Less than an hour later, and we heard sentry cries going up from the town.
Ten minutes later, and our group was standing just inside the area the town had cleared the forest back to. Arrayed against us were the majority of the town, something we seemed to outnumber nearly two to one. At their head was Frank, bearing a staff that appeared to be a living branch from the apple tree that was the center of his cathedral.
“I should have known you would turn traitor Lionel. You were expelled from the church for good reason!” Frank shouted as the bandits arranged themselves into a few haphazard battle lines.
“Frank! I can’t tell you how honored I am that I get to preside over your final day! Soon you will be nothing but sustenance for a god far more powerful than your pathetic Shalora will ever be!” Lionel called back. “But I would be remiss if I didn’t give my old mentor a retirement present. So tell me Frank, do you like your surprise?” At the word surprise, I unleashed the particles I had stored, taking extra care that they didn’t come into contact with myself or Elendria and annihilate. My black armor formed, and I stepped through the parting lines, Elendria at my side. I took a few steps forward, so that we were even with Lionel.
“Bah, summon all the foul demons you wish from your master. We will cleanse them with righteous flames and cold steel!” Frank shouted, rallying his troops.
“So you say. Shall we begin?” Lionel asked, and both priests slammed their staves into the ground and started chanting.
World eater
Life bringer
Endless hunger without end
Boundless love without reservation
Your servant calls for thee
Your servant calls for thee
Come forth, and devour the heavens
Become our shield against the heathens
DREAD APOPHIS, MY LIFE TO CONJURE YOURS
BELOVED SHALORA, MY LIFE TO EMBODY YOURS
GODLY INCARNATION!
Elendria and I both had to take a half step back, as the sheer force of the magic both priests were conjuring was blasting against us like a gale. Once it calmed down, everyone was stuck as we beheld what the priests had summoned. Two figures, each at least twenty feet high, stood facing each other. One, a lithe beauty with twin swords that glittered in the sunlight. She was clad in a white leather armor that one could barely discern some silver designs on, but the colors were so close they seemed to shift with each movement. The other was a man and snake fusion. His head was more snakelike, complete with an extended cobra hood. He forwent armor, instead trusting to his black scales that seemed to drink in the light. He walked on two legs, though a snake tail still trailed behind him. Instead of twin swords, he held two karambit knives. Each curved blade exited his hand at the pinky, with the point curving toward the fingertips.
Knowing that this moment was the one I was waiting for, I made three claymore mines and arranged them in the air above my head pointing slightly downward. They were at a very slight curve, maximizing the devastation. I gave Elendria’s hand a slight squeeze, and detonated the spells while sending all of the aura ripping through the group as a massive wave of despair. The results were gruesome.
As soon as the despair hit, the group dropped their guard. Weapon tips and shields lowered, arms hung slack at the sides. Immediately behind that were conjured spheres of metal that I had heated to white hot. Steel spheres at 2500 degrees F cauterized wounds as they tore gaping holes in muscles. Bones were shattered, and barely had the force to deflect them unless it was something as thick as a femur. The closest lines simply had their head disintegrate, while those slightly further back took the majority of the damage to their upper chest. Arms dropped in amputation, or even worse hung on through a few strands of muscle. Most died instantly, and didn’t even have the chance to scream. Those on the edges of the blast radius were tossed aside, moaning in agony as they clutched at horrid wounds. Elendria and I both vomited, unable to stand the sight and sickly sweet smell of the carnage.
“It appears that one of yours isn’t quite as loyal as you would think Apophis.” A sweet voice cut through the air.
“What care I when fodder dies? With such a feast arrayed before me, it matters not.” He shrugged, slowly lowering into an attack posture. “You really should give up Shalora. Hell, join me and I could even make you my consort. You have to know that you’re going to lose anyway.”
“None of our pantheon will ever bow to you, snake.” She snarled.
“Pity. Well, then I’ll do to you what I have done to countless worlds. I will eat your gods, and place one of my scales in your sun, turning it into yet another black hole. Sure, I will end up siphoning off a good portion of the energy, but the rest will go to nurture my young. Soon enough, one of them shall hatch and give birth to the devouring snake of this universe, thus sealing your doom.”
While they were bantering, Elendria and I had made a wide circle and were halfway towards joining with Frank’s side, though they were looking at us with distrust.
“Don’t press our luck.” Elendria said, grabbing my arm. “Let’s stay here for now, until Frank and Shalora deal with the snake.”
“Right.” I said, taking a knee as we prepared to watch the fight.
“That will never happen on our watch!”
“Idiot, that’s the point.” Apophis replied. “Very well, I suppose we have to do this. Come, let me show you despair.” With that, the two titans clashed. Shalora had the advantage of reach, but with each interaction it was starting to become far more obvious that Apophis was far more skilled. He easily swiped away her blades with his much smaller knives, taunting smile on his lips the entire time. Shalora unleashed a flurry of combinations, flowing seamlessly between attack and retreat, but it was all for naught.
“I do believe it is time to crank things up a bit.” Apophis muttered, dashing forward and past the thrust of Shalora. With contemptuous ease he knocked the blade away, reaching forward with his left as she tried an overhand slash only to catch her wrist between the back of his blade and wrist. “My turn!” He hissed, jabbing her several times in the stomach with his right blade. His left suddenly dropped her wrist and slashed across her chest, leaving a line of red to mar the white leather.
“Not good.” I muttered, looking at Elendria. “I have to help her out.”
“How? Do you really think you have a spell that can hurt a god?” She hissed at me.
“Have to try.” I said, taking aim. With my now expanded mana pool, I created the densest, most powerful bullet I had ever created using nearly five times the mana of the original spell. Before the gods could resume their incredibly fast attacks, I launched it at the heart of Apophis.
“Truly? You believed you could injure ME?” Apophis hissed as the bullet shattered on his scales, not even leaving a scratch behind. “I’m a god you idiot. You’ll have to do far better than that. Not that you’ll ever get the chance. Once I’m done with your goddess here, I’ll consume your soul so that you never have a chance to reincarnate.” Shalora tried to take advantage, and launched an attack mid rant, but Apophis had never let his concentration waver. He blocked and parried her blows with ease, laughing all the way at him.
“Damnit.” I growled, slamming my fist into the ground. “Alright, if I can’t do it with mana alone, then I’ll have to fuse spirit with it!”
“I didn’t think you could do that yet.” Elendria said.
“Well, I haven’t managed it just yet, but I’ll just have to get it right this time.” I said, bringing out a small bit of spirit with a much larger cloud of mana. “Surely ten to one is the right ratio.” I muttered, slowly bringing the two clouds together.
“SEAN! WATCH OUT! Oof!” I lost control of everything as something violently impacted me from the side, just in time to see a scaled tail swipe through where I was. I rolled a bit to see Elendria rolling away from the impact of the tail.
“Are you truly so confident you can beat me?” Shalora said, staring at Apophis.
“Oh whatever. Even if your system will send some sort of tribulation at me for attacking a mortal, yes. I’ll still be able to beat you.” Apophis laughed.
“Elendria?” I whispered, watching her body come to a rolling stop. Her right elbow was bent the wrong way, and her forearm had been snapped. I scrambled over to where she stopped. “ELENDRIAAAAA!!!!!”