Ending the witch’s life was relatively simple. He just needed to keep hitting her. Easy.

The strain of the spell she used seemed to correlate to however much it needed to repair her body, and her body was beginning to fail.

She tried to speak words of magic, but he quickly broke her jaw. He wasn’t letting her weasel out of this. Energy flowed into his weapons as he continued to break away at her body.

Several minutes later she was nothing but fragments of bone upon the floor, and for good measure he poured the acid Keith had produced on her to further destroy the remains. If her body recovered from this he’d thoroughly be impressed.

With a flash he teleported to the surface. He didn’t know what help she'd thought was going to show up, but waiting at the place she died seemed like a bad idea.

Besides, he had something to do. With a flash he appeared next to the roadway signs. The ones that had led however many people to their deaths.

He couldn’t exactly just leave them there.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Several miles away a creature walked confidently through a village. Its body was made up of thousands of interlocking insects that formed the rough outline of a human. They constantly shifted, never leaving the creature in one concrete form.

It moved from house to house. Its very presence a plague upon the inhabitants of this village. They hid within their houses, fearful that he’d choose to break into their home. That was something he'd always hated about humans. They were fickle, they could overlook cruelty as long as it wasn’t directed towards them personally.

Luckily for them, hiding was honestly unnecessary at this point.

He’d already gotten what he’d come here for. Any more deaths would be detrimental to him. Overhunting was a fool's choice.

The monster grinned as he slung a large sack over his shoulder that dripped blood from its base. He began to walk, but suddenly his smile vanished altogether. He could sense the life of his creator rapidly fading. Being snuffed away right under his nose.

It dropped the sack and began to run. He could stop this, there was time. It instinctively knew where she was, but he didn’t make it four steps before feeling a burning sensation in his stomach.

Looking downwards, a small orb of nothingness greeted him. It felt like an endless void, one that didn’t care what it consumed. It ate away at his stomach and he quickly morphed his body away from it. Thousands of bugs move in unison to escape the small piece of void.

“WHO FUCKING DARES!”

Several dozen yards away stood a blond haired man who was aiming a crossbow. He looked the exact same as Michael except for his equipment.

“Yeah, I'm the one who dared dumbass. What even are you anyways?

The man fired a crossbow bolt which soared through the air at an astonishing speed. However the monster's eyes could still follow it, and it immediately shifted the bugs making up his body so that it would pass harmlessly through him.

It soared by harmlessly as he began to rush the man, but he didn’t seem to care about his approach. Surprisingly he'd already put the crossbow away on his back and was walking nonchalantly towards the monster.

The monster suddenly felt a pain in his back where the bolt had buried itself. Not a second passed before it imploded, taking a large chunk from his body. He had no idea where it had come from.

The blonde man smiled, “So where were you going in such a hurry? If you’d left just a bit sooner you’d have missed me.”

At this point the monster was seeing red. He needed to reach its master as soon as possible, he could feel her life rapidly fading.

“I’m going to kill you, rip you apart and feast on your flesh. You’re a dead man.”

“Ooh, scary.”

The blonde man sighed, “Why can’t you generic monsters ever just know your place. You spend your lives tormenting the general populace, taking what you believe to be yours. But when you come face to face with something greater than yourselves you can't comprehend it.”

He unsheathed a golden knife, “You see it as the greatest injustice in the world when your inevitably slayed.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The monster tried to gouge him with his claws, but the man deftly dodged each strike.

“You seem to be in quite a hurry to finish this fight. Maybe after I kill you I’ll go see what you were so concerned about. How’s that sound?”

The mass of insects didn’t respond, their only thoughts were of killing this fool and saving their master.

But that wasn’t to be, because at that moment he felt her die. He froze as the information settled in.

“Oh, look, something just happened. So who did you just lose, hmm? Somebody important I take it.”

He stared towards the blonde man. He was enraged, and finally focused all of its attention on the fight at hand. First he’d kill this fool, then he’d hunt down the man who’d slaughtered his master. He would taste both their blood today.

“Oh, you're taking this seriously now? I guess I should do the same then.”

Immense pain erupted within the monster as the golden knife pierced his head. This shouldn’t have been a fatal wound, he didn’t have any vitals within his body, and yet he could feel his strength being siphoned away.

“Unsurprisingly, you’re about as weak as I thought you’d be.”

Tommy pushed down on a jewel on the golden knife and the monster howled in pain as wisps of light were sucked into the knife.

“Oh quite down will ya.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small jewel and placed it upon the monster's chest.

He recited several words and smoke left its body and flowed into Tommy’s head.

He smiled, “Oh, that’s why you were in such a hurry.”

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Michael and his soldiers walked down the cobblestone road. They were all on high alert, prepared for whatever could be heading their way.

It didn't take long for Michael to sense somebody following them. Surprisingly they were made of flesh.

Michael had his soldiers take up defensive positions and sent several underground to modify some of the terrain.

A simple bolt flying through the air was the first thing to greet Michael, which he didn’t hesitate to shoot from the sky.

The bolt immediately burst into a bowling ball sized piece of void. Even with his heightened senses he couldn’t get a good read on it.

It kinda seemed like the void he’d found Dr. Scranton in, except somehow more empty. A plane that refused to have any and all matter enter it. Destroying it rather than letting it in.

That was the vibe Michael got from seeing his bullets fizzle away upon impact with the orb.

Michael could feel the man approaching, but decided to allow it for the moment. He wasn’t exactly a ranged fighter, and he wouldn’t say no to an enemy getting closer to him.

Unless they were made of fire. Fuck that shit.

Further up the road he could see the mirror image of himself, same hair, same face, same everything. Except his equipment that is.

“Well if it isn’t another apostle. Apologies for the warning shot, but you know how it is.”

“Uh huh. What do you want?”

“Well, we can start with that mace at your side, and then maybe those rings you're wearing. I’m not evil though, so I’ll allow you to keep your hammer. No man should be deprived of everything.”

“Is it gonna be like this every time I meet one of you assholes?”

“Obviously. We’re all walking treasure troves. Letting one of us walk away is the height of foolishness.”

Michael sighed and adjusted his stance, readying himself to attack the man.

Suddenly Keith spoke up, “Wait a moment, the protections upon his mind are shotty. They’d take no effort to break through. Let me take a crack at him. Not to brag, but I once convinced someone to kill themselves simply through a ten minute conversation.”

“Well that's an unsettling thing to brag about, but sure. Take your best shot.”

Michael could practically feel the joy emanating from the mask.

“Excuse me apostle, do you remember the last thing your daughter said to you before she died?”

“...what did you just say to me?”

“Oh you don’t remember? Allow me to remind you. She smiled and told you to run away as blood poured from her gut. She said that it wasn’t your fault. That you weren’t to blame for any of what happened to her.”

“How pathetic is it that the last thing your daughter said to you was a lie.”

...

“What do you think actually killed her, hmm? You never stuck around to find out did you? It could have been done by any form of monster. Her limbs could have been severed, her organs splayed for a ritual, or worse, she's still alive. Trapped in the dimension you left her in where she can never escape.”

“Do you think she hopes you’ll come back for her? It’s quite sad, because you never will.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

“Is killing all you know? Although I suppose with all of that practice you got in with killing your daughter you very well could be considered an expert.”

The apostles' eyes were turning bloodshot.

“Did you know I’m considered a god? I'm not incredibly powerful at the moment, but I am somewhat omniscient.”

Michael was about ninety percent sure the omniscient thing was bullshit, but he let Keith continue.

“Don’t you wish to know what became of her? I’d be willing to share this information with you in graphic detail if you wished.”

Suddenly Michael felt his heart wake up.

“Oh, this is something I haven’t tasted in awhile.”

The heart made a noise similar to someone smacking their lips.

“Well if there isn’t the unique taste of blinding rage in the air.”