Tales of the Old World Demon Lord
Chapter 51 - A realm above the heavens
[Eternum Calendar 1972]
“Dear child, do try to avoid disappointing me any further than you already have.”
Despite Errick Rommel not possessing any sort of an expressive, physical face, it was painfully clear to Dagda that he was being mocked. Simply with that condescending tone of voice it was enough to drive him to the point of insanity. Yet before that there was something that needed to be brought into question.
“Bastard… why are the hell are you still alive?!”
Dagda shouted as his face contorted with rage and shock. If he couldn’t be defeated even after all of this then what was the purpose of those past one hundred years? Was he that inconceivably strong?
Yet before he could further explore into that enquiry, Dagda started to cough and spew up blood. He had almost forgotten from the shock of the enemy’s revival but there was a foreign object stabbing through his back and into his chest. An intense bout of pain rushed all throughout his body as those cold metallic hands grabbed at his very essence.
A thick trail of blood trickled down from his chest and mouth, sliding down the iron grey carapace skin of his. It painted the grounds beneath them with a deep wine color. Dagda had confidence in his own regenerative capacities and knew that they were far beyond anything in this world. That being said, however potent they may have been, if there was still a foreign objecting sticking out from within him them a direct recovery was impossible. He needed to remove Errick’s hand, yet found it impossible to muster up enough strength to do so forcefully. ‘More… more, I need to move! Get away!’ in a desperate attempt Dagda flung himself forward.
A sharp pain ran down Dagda’s back as his very being was shocked to the core, literally. He could feel it, the cold mental hands of death grasped at his still beating heart. He understood his own body enough to know that even if his heart was crushed here he would still probably be safe. He couldn’t die and self-regeneration was boosted to an extraordinary degree.
Time was running out and the options available to him were starting to become more and more like distant fantasies. If his heart was crushed he would be ‘killed’ only for a brief moment but even then it was an unknown length of time. During the time of his submission it was a gamble as to what Errick might try, so a little precaution was in order.
"Bastard...!"
He was unable to muster enough physical strength, thus thought to enhance his attack with a combat skill instead. Dagda took a step forward, quickly removing Errick's hand away from his open wounds and then instantly stepped back in for the counterattack.
Clenching his fists as tightly as he could he hurled the first punch. Blazing with a bright blue and intense inferno, Dagda’s hand burned in a benign flame. Yet despite the serenity of its color scheme it was anything but. Aiming for the ‘enemy’ Dagda connected all of his body's momentum to his fists and launched a counteroffensive.
As fast as he possibly could, Dagda threw his fists towards the enemy's face and for a moment it seemed that even Errick didn't understand what was going on. However as his fists neared its target, it was extremely quiet, but in that moment Dagda heard something.
"Hmph... [********]"
A shallow mocking scoff accompanied by words he could not understand. Errick's head moved only a few short inches to the side yet that had been enough to completely avoid the burning fist. In an instant this immortal monster had made such a precise movement look as though it was the easiest and most natural thing in the world. 'He's faster...?!' Dagda thought to himself, he could no longer even properly track the enemy's movements with his eyes. Before he had even finished his own movement, Errick reacted and once more reached for his heart.
"Kuh...!"
A knife sharp pain stabbed at him, shocking Dagda at his very being. Blood started flow out from his mouth as though an uncontrolled fountain. The taste of rusting metal compounded by his blurring vision overwhelmed his other senses.
Dagda's heart had been crushed. Unable to breathe, unable to hear and unable to see... the very world around him sank into the depths of the abyss. Not by another god, not even by a living being, but a by just a possessed suit of armor, his strength and very reason of existence was undermined. Yet this fact was not a point of grief or depression for Dagda, but a joyous moment; to know that there was an even greater height that he could strive for and eventually defeat.
Dagda couldn't help but smile as everything sank further into the abyss. He would be back, his hyper regenerative ability would undoubtedly revive him and he would continue to fight. His final thoughts as his consciousness escaped him, were about how wonderful it would be for this fight to drag on into infinity...
...
[Overload].
It was a technical skill that dramatically increased Errick’s physical capabilities along with his overall speed and reaction time. Of course the drawback of using such a high leveled skill was immense physical feedback, sometimes to the point of death on most organic bodies. However rare exceptions such as fully mechanized beings did not suffer these drawbacks, that being said their human minds were still vulnerable to the adverse affects of prolonged usage.
The soundless and nigh frozen world that Errick had spent the past few minutes, which felt like days, had finally returned to its original state. This time it was Dagda’s temporarily deceased body that hit the dirt floor with a quiet ‘thud’. Errick lightly touched at his own chest, everything was repaired and functioning perfectly. With disdain he turned his gaze, to stare down at the enemy that caused him to suffer damage. His sacred body that was forged from the lost technologies of the Old World; it was not something that primitive beings of this world should come close to even scratching.
It was simply blasphemous and presumptuous of them to do so.
‘This child is causing too many problems too quickly, it would be best to get rid of him now,’ Errick sighed metaphorically. Reaching into the air he chanted the foreign words of the Old World.
“[Weapon Code 6813M9Q2, Matter Reconstruction].”
Several small, highly mechanical orbs appeared in his hands. Making subtle clockwork noises as they activated themselves they started to float about Errick for a short period. As though a conductor he moved his hands to direct them and the orbs flew into place, planting themselves firmly into the ground. ‘This should be enough to hold him in place,’ he nodded.
It had been a long and arduous day, to even go so far as to provoke Errick to invoke the ancient powers; Dagda was truly a threat that needed to be taken care of.
“I… is it over?”
A small pained and stuttering voice asked from a little further ahead, a boy probably no older than in his late teens. Beaten to the point of near death, it was both simultaneously a sad and valiant sight. The boy struggled to grasp at his shoulders from his torn off arm, obviously he was suffering from immense pain.
“No, no it is not. However I will make sure that it is so. As for you, you will need to get as far away from here as possible.”
Seeing the boy almost about to pass out from the sheer blood loss and fatigue, this was all Errick could do for him for now. The boy contemplated for a little while before letting out a resigned sigh, it was painfully clear that his pride had been shattered by Dagda’s overwhelming nature.
“I understand…”
The boy staggered up and started to move away from the battleground. Yet before he completely vanished from the scene he stopped and asked Errick one last question.
“I’ve not been a Praetorian Knight for a long time but being from the capital a lot of information gets passed around. I pride myself in being able to master the flow of that information and have a generally good grasp of what’s going on around the country and what kind of entities inhabit it. However it is the first time I’ve ever seen or heard of someone like you. Someone who’s so immensely powerful yet so hidden away… just who, what are you?”
Though he did not have a proper face, the boy could tell that Errick was making some kind of a metaphorical smirk. He bowed with utmost elegance, even in the midst of a battle against a world ending god he did not lose an edge of grace.
“Confederate Upper Echelon, Rank 6, Errick Rommel. At your service.”
…
"This... isn't good. I can't seem to walk in a straight line."
Due to the blood loss, Nicholai's vision and sense of balance where failing. Yet somehow or another, with haggard breaths and uneasy stagger he managed to find his way back to the village.
Entering from the front gate he had attracted a lot of attention, a good thing as it would mean that he would get medical attention that much faster. The people were a little cautious at first but quickly came to his aid and helped him move to the center of the village.
"NIcholai?!"
As soon as he arrived it was his old friend, Leon, who had come to take him. As Leon was about to call for medical assistance, a member of the medical team tagging along with the Tetrarch in his visit, rushed over to heal him. A young woman with light brown, almost caramel colored hair with serene and distant blue eyes, rushed down to Nicholai's aid.
She too was part of the elite unit known as the Praetorian Knights, though not on the front lines, rather supporting from the back. A Praetorian Knight Cleric by the name of Yudina Dragonov, being around a similar age group as Nicholai and Leon, they were all naturally close friends.
Crouching down near him, Yudina started to softly chant under her breath. A small magic circle forming beneath them as it surrounded the two in a serene light blue glow. The pain coursing through Nicholai's right shoulder slowly faded away and in a matter of seconds he was able to regain much of his composure. Nicholai sighed as he gazed at his own missing right side.
"Yudina..."
As Nicholai was about to thank her she flicked his forehead.
"Seriously, I know it was for Leon but did you really need to be so reckless? Knowing you, I'm sure you could've come up with at least nine different ways to handle that situation."
To her criticism Nicholai had no retort, truthfully as she said, it would have been possible for Nicholai to come up with a more sounder plan that a suicide rush, but at the time his mind was in a completely panicked state. Under immense pressure and a limited amount of time this was the best he could come up with.
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"I have no excuses."
Yudina could only shake her head and sigh at his meek response.
"However I have to ask, why is milord still here?"
Nicholai shifted his gaze back to Leon, his sharp eyes almost piercing through the prince's very soul. Simply dawdling in this village was not much better than staying in that forest, it was for the reason for his escape that Nicholai sacrificed everything.
"To ignore the plight of loyal subjects, that is to truly be unworthy of the ruler's seat."
It was not Leon who came to answer that question but the Tetrarch himself, Aidus Crow Xix Ariadyne. Accompanied by a small squad of heavily armored knights he presented himself with grace befitting his station. Standing tall and commanding yet also calm and accepting.
"Your grace... but it is far too dangerous to stay here."
Aidus nodded.
"That is precisely why I must stay to see to it that these villagers are not harmed."
Nicholai could only hold in his frustration at this overzealous father/son combination who regularly disregarded their own positions. Their constant flirtation with death were more than just frequent and they couldn't understand Nicholai's desperation to see that no harm befell them. Yet even so, this dilemma was his cross to bear as was theirs to ensure the prosperity and safety of the nation's citizens.
"Well, don't make that kind of face Nicholai. We get that you're worried about us and we're grateful for your constant caution. However right now we can't just ignore the villagers here that are in directly in harm's way."
Leon tried to ease Nicholai’s worry, gently tapping him on his stiff shoulders. Nicholai sighed as he nodded, ‘I suppose it’s impossible to change their core nature after all. Well, they wouldn’t be the people I’ve come to respect if they weren’t like this.’ Taking a quick glance it was obvious to him that the Prince and Tetrarch Aidus were planning to evacuate the villagers.
As powerful as he was, it was unlikely that Dagda came alone, so the most reasonable assumption in this case was that the armies of the Southern Tetrarchy were discretely moving in the background. If Dagda happens to lose then the opposing army would probably retreat for the time being but if Baron Rommel loses then all bets were off. Worst case scenario the West Tetrarchy would lose its Tetrarch along with the heir to the throne.
“Moving with the villagers would be too cumbersome; if there's an enemy army then they will easily catch up with you.”
Nicholai coldly analyzed, propping up his half shattered glasses.
“About that, before he left apparently Baron Rommel left behind some directions to a secret bunker that the villagers can temporarily take refuge in. I’m not too sure how secure it is but it’s our best shot for if the enemy does break past our southern borders.”
Answered Leon with a thumbs up.
“Is that so? Then how long until we’re ready to completely evacuate?”
“About an hour.”
Nicholai thought for a moment about the logistics of moving an army. Navigating a large force through foreign terrain would require a bit of effort and time so the estimate of an hour should be more than enough time. Yet just as Nicholai’s guard was about to drop a loud scream had alerted everyone in the small town. A high pitched scream of a female villager, coming from the direction of the village’s entrance, ‘can’t be Dagda… who?’ Nicholai couldn’t come up with any answer.
It was impossible that the enemy army was already here.
“What was that?”
Yudina immediately stood up and glanced to the direction of the village entrance.
“Whatever it was, we won’t find out by just standing around!”
Leon exclaimed as he was the first to dash out to the origin point of the horrified scream.
“Milord?! Dammit! Your Grace, please find shelter for now I’ll be sure to bring back the prince.”
Having very little choice, Nicholai and Yudina quickly followed after him. The remaining Praetorian Knights heeded Nicholai's advice and guided the Tetrarch to safety.
Arriving at the scene of the crime it was a horrendous sight. A river of blood spewed all across the entrance of the peaceful, countryside village. Deceased bodies of former inhabitants had been strewn about the place as though they were mere rag dolls that were disregarded by a bored child.
Only a single figure stood, reveling in the blood and gore. This figure alone was the only ‘clean’ thing surrounded by a reddish wash of a wine colored field. However this grotesque and brutal sight was not the thing that had truly brought a shock to Nicholai, no, what truly surprised him was the identity of this person.
He was supposed to have died; Nicholai himself was the one who dealt the finishing blow.
“Tch, are you a cockroach? How are you still alive? ...Nazarym.”
A subtle but psychotic smile, the white figure surrounded by a sea of red looked back at him. Knife sharp facial features, gazes that felt as though it were stabbing through his soft mortal flesh, Nazarym almost seemed truly happy surrounded by chaos and death.
“Still alive…? Ah, so then you’re the one who killed ‘me’.”
Nazarym smiled as he replied, in a tone that implied that he had forgotten who it was the killed him.
“What are you…”
As Nicholai was about to further the conversation Nazarym had suddenly vanished from the spot. Only a small puff of dust remaining in his stead, ‘what speed…‘ before he could even finish the thought in his head, Nazarym appeared mere inches away from Nicholai. With a black dagger in hand so sharp that it could part the air themselves as they arc down towards him with frightening speed.
“Nicholai!”
Impulse, desperation, friendship, duty, etc… it didn’t matter what it was that propelled him, but at that moment in time Nicholai saw Leon jump in front, intending in full to receive the fatal attack in his stead. He wanted to shout to object, to stop the prince from doing what he was doing right now, ‘what are you doing?!’ he wanted to reprimand but the words didn’t come out fast enough.
A guillotine; the howling black dagger of death fell at lightning pace. Yudina and Nicholai reached out to intercept, but they both helplessly understood that they would never make it in time. Yudina pre-emptively started to cast her healing magic circle beneath them and Nicholai was getting ready to rush in for a point blank counterattack on Nazarym.
They couldn't stop the attack so they both instinctively understood that the next best thing was to remove the threat then focus on healing Leon.
Of course all of these predicted series of events did not go accordingly for any of the individuals involved. Just before the dagger hit the prince, Nazarym ceased himself, as if to suggest it was just some kind of a joke. However from the struggling and burning expression on his face it was unlikely to be the case. Petrified? Fear? Hesitation? Nicholai tried to figure out why but none of those suggestions really made sense.
Indeed, Nazarym had stopped in place, almost as though he were petrified, however that wasn't exactly the case. Nicholai, Leon and Yudina simply looked back in confusion as to why he was acting like this, but their speculation time was cut short as an extremely dense black miasma started to envelope Nazarym’s entire being. Soon a large black sphere was the only thing in front of them.
“What’s this?”
Leon asked as he stared deeply into the abyssal void of the black sphere.
The black sphere twitched and soon began to violently shrink in select intervals. With Nazarym still trapped within, the black sphere shrunk down to about half the size of a normal person. The process of shrinking was not instant but cruelly gradual as if to prioritize suffering over a clean execution.
Nicholai could only imagine the extreme horrors Nazarym was currently going through. Terrifying and trauma-inducing sounds leaked out from the abyssal sphere, accompanied by the acoustics of crushing bones, ripping flesh and excruciating shouts of pain.
The black sphere shrunk again.
And again…
And again…
And again…
And again…
And again…
It was now the size of a golf ball…
And again…
And again…
The sounds of crushing bones and tearing flesh… the brutal shouts of intense and cruel pain… none of it sounded anymore. For a brief moment there was only total and utter silence as the three looked on with a mixture of disgust and nausea at the implications of what was going on inside the sphere. Yudina was unable to bear thinking or watching and turned to hide behind Leon. She even tried to cover her ears and shut her eyes but the brutal imagery rushed through her mind.
From the small black sphere gently hovering in mid air, now no bigger than the size of a small pebble, grotesque yellow fluids started to leak. It dripped to the floor at a slow and methodical pace. Once a small puddle was made on the dirt floor the black speck fell in, bubbling up for a few milliseconds before nothing else happened anymore.
A bone chilling silence.
Nazarym had died a second time…
It was then that Nicholai felt some sort of exotic and immense pressure from above them. Shifting his gaze up towards the sky he saw a small figure of a child shadowed by her back against the sun, hovering midair similarly in the manner the black orb did. Most of her features were darkened by her own shadow but he could see clearly through all of that.
A pair of gleaming blue eyes, completely void of any sort of emotion or sympathy. She looked down at them as though she were watching mere ants, however they were not the same empty eyes as those arrogant fools, this time the vast superiority was very genuine.
“Goddess…”
That was the word fleeting from Nicholai’s mouth; his true thoughts about her. It was the only way he could ever accept the existence of such a supreme being without going insane.
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A bit of a delay in release, but in exchange the chapter is slightly longer. =X