By the time I had drawn a bead on the charging Bull, it was too late. The Bull’s momentum was so great that its body would have slammed into me even if the shot from my Esotech pistol was enough to kill it. The force of the attack would have been bad enough without the blast from the Esotech pistol to contend with.

In a split-second decision, I decided to fire. There was a chance that I could survive the blast, and, even if I died killing the Bull, that would be better than all four of us dying a minute later. Just as I was about to pull the trigger, a powerful sideways force pushed me out of the Bull’s path.

I rolled over my shoulder and scrambled to right my body as the Bull flew past me. When I was finally able to get my feet under me and turn to see what had struck me, I saw that Carlos and the Bull of Heaven were locked in a lethal grapple. Both of the Bull’s horns had stabbed into Carlos’s body, and Carlos’s sword had pierced hilt-deep into the Bull’s neck. For a moment, I thought that such a deep wound would surely kill the monster, but the Bull continued to throw its head wildly as blood streamed out of Carlos’s mouth.

Through gritted teeth and seeping blood, Carlos said, “Do it, Vincent. Take out… the Bull.”

Carlos’s eyes lingered on my Esotech pistol, making his intention immediately clear. Despite what he said, I couldn’t do it. There was no way I could hit the Bull with my Esotech pistol without dealing significant damage to Carlos. I had to do something to make the Bull of Heaven disengage with its target before I could fire. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t be the man who took his life.

There had to be something I could say to get the Bull’s attention. I stood there, my hand trembling under the enormity of the task before me, and the world around me continued to move.

Carlos screamed as he grabbed the utility knife from its sheath and used it to pierce the Bull’s eye. It roared in pain, but it did not disengage.

A Mithril arrow struck the Bull’s flank, piercing a few inches into its tough exterior. An instant later, Liz’s voice shouted the magic words to a spell.

“Light arrow!”

A bright projectile struck the Bull, burning its skin further, but the creature did not slow in the slightest.

I reached forward and gripped my Esotech pistol with both hands. If I didn’t fire, the Bull would kill Carlos, and then it would kill the rest of us. There had to be something I could do that would save all of us. In my terrified desperation, I opened my mouth and shouted the first thing that came to mind.

“Stop!”

A single syllable command escaped from my mouth, but the command was not in English. The word I shouted was from a guttural, consonant-heavy language that was not created on Earth. This word was from Epsilon’s language. I could tell that the language was not made for human mouths, and it was hard for me to pronounce the words.

“I command you to stop!”

The Bull froze in place as it heard me speak. As I thought, it was smarter than it looked. It had adapted to our tactics far faster than any normal bull could. There was a human-like intelligence within that gargantuan skull. The monster was confused by my utterance, but it did not immediately disengage from Carlos.

I recalled that flash of knowledge I had received from Epsilon earlier, and I remembered Hellman’s words regarding the Star Child. Epsilon was meant to be the commanding officer of the Conquering Horde in this part of the world, and I had inherited some of Epsilon’s abilities.

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“Your lord, the Fifth Star Child, orders you to disengage.”

Some fragment of information held within a corner of my mind informed me that the Star Child was supposed to be more arrogant and domineering. If I wanted to sell it, I would have to play up the villain act.

“Kneel before me, mongrel.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Bull backed away from Carlos. The others regarded me with a mixture of fear and confusion as I communicated with the Bull in a language that sounded more like Klingon than English.

To my shock, the Bull of Heaven opened its mouth and began to speak. In a slow, purposeful voice, the Bull said, “You are the Dungeon Lord? How strange. Your assimilation of that body must have been completed at an incredible speed.”

The Bull’s use of the word “incredible” was very purposeful. It subtly implied in its wording that such a thing was not credible.

“The machinations of the Elders are not yours to question, servant,” I said. Liz grabbed Carlos’s arm and began dragging him toward the car as I spoke. That was good. I didn’t know how long I would be able to keep the Bull distracted.

The Bull snorted loudly before saying, “If you truly are the Fifth Star Child and not simply a Coalition ploy, then why did you attack me? I’m here to do the will of the Elders, and your actions have slowed my labor.”

Not allowing any emotion other than regal disdain to appear on my face, I said, “I know it is not your place to think, but the answer should be obvious. Had I not interrupted you, this weak meat suit would have been caught up in your reckless destruction. Did it never occur to you that such behavior could harm me?”

“Maybe,” the Bull said thoughtfully.

Hold on. I was actually starting to get through to the Bull. I was just trying to buy time for the others to clear out of the range of my Esotech pistol, but it was starting to look like I could actually convince the Bull that I was this supposed Dungeon Lord.

[Hellman: I’ll be there in ten seconds. Hold on.]

Hellman: I'll be there in ten seconds. Hold on.

The message from the Nephilim appeared in the center of my vision, and I realized that the time for diplomacy had ended. I began to slowly back away from the Bull and scanned the horizon for Hellman’s approaching form. No matter where I looked, I couldn’t see him.

“What are you doing?” The Bull spoke in a confused tone, and its statement was punctuated by the sound of a body crashing into the ground from high up in the air.

Hellman fell from the sky above and landed with cataclysmic force upon the Bull of Heaven’s back. As he landed, the Nephilim sliced deep into the Bull’s flesh, easily severing its spinal cord. A short scream emanated from the Bull, but the utterance morphed into a pained gurgle as gallons of blood aspirated from the monster’s lungs and into its mouth.

Hellman rode the creature down as it collapsed onto the ground in a twitching, blubbering mess. With a single swing, the Nephilim had finished off the Bull of Heaven.

[BULL OF HEAVEN SLAIN! +1.2K EXP, +1.2K CREDITS]

[TOTAL CREDITS: 3,410₪]

[EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 260]

BULL OF HEAVEN SLAIN! +1.2K EXP, +1.2K CREDITS TOTAL CREDITS: 3,410₪ EXP TO NEXT LEVEL: 260