Chapter 56: One on One With The Godblade
Lhikan grit his teeth as he stared at the enemy that had consumed Natalie. Every fiber of his being boiling as it demanded revenge for his fallen charge.
Plop…
Natalie… you were supposed to be the hope of the church.
Despite his feelings, Lhikan held his tongue and gripped his trembling hand, his head held low as he nodded his time.
Plop…
Plop…
Plop…
Jesse and Simone held their breaths, watching the massive blue slime slink slowly down all fourteen flights of stairs.
Plop…
Plop…
Plop…
Beside the sound of the slime falling onto each step, silence permeated the space.
Plop…
Plop…
Jesse looked over to Lhikan, brow raised as the slime descended down two-hundred and twenty floor steps.
Lhikan waved the man off, giving the hand sign for Wait
Plop…
Plop…
Plop…
Ten full minutes passed before the gelatinous mass walked past the rubber duck statue and stood before the three humans.
It reformed, taking the form of the Heroine Lyndis.
“State your business. Why do you trespass upon Lord Hiro's sacred ground?” The Slime demanded, her green eyes glaring down at Lhikan.
Lhikan clenched his jaw, the monster’s massive blade striking the floor beside him.
“If you keep glaring at me without answering, I'll rip out your eyes.” The False Maiden hissed.
“We… are.” Lhikan began, picking his words carefully. “Emissaries of the Church of The Keeper. Here to search… for the power of The Hero. To save our world from the Demon Queen Gisellneia.”
The woman blinked, her form distorting as the rubber duck on her head squeaked.
“You mean Demon Lord.”
“No, I mean Demon Queen.”
“Demon Lord Barborall.”
“Demon Queen Gisellneia.”
“....”
The slime lifted her blade, the weapon at Lhikan's throat.
“Tch!” Jesse shifted, hands balled but freezing as the goblins nearby readied their spears.
“Six feet tall, three red eyes, with large pointy horns.”
“She’s four feet tall with four red eyes and curved horns. Daughter of Demon Lord Barborall-”
“SQUEAK!!!”
Suddenly a pulse of mana, unbelievable killing intent flooding the chamber with even the seasoned Paladin Lhikan dodging back.
Simone lay on the ground, passed out while Jesse was on all fours, the man struggling to keep his head up.
“I will only ask once,” The False Maiden said, massive blade held against Lhikan’s throat with her crimson colored skin releasing steam. “Who is the current Demon Lord of this world?”
“Demon Queen Gisellneia... She is a tyrant whose magic prowess knows no limits! Whose generals have polluted much of the world and whose armies run rampant across each nation!” Lhikan reported as though his life depended on it, eyeing the rubber duck that seemed to gaze into his soul.
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What is this?! This feeling! I've never felt such bloodlust!
Lhikan's skin crawled, the hairs on his body standing on end as he reached for a blade that wasn't there.
A moment passed, the rubber duck visibly shaking.
You.
Then… time. It seemed to freeze, a voice pricking at Lhikan's mind.
“Hrrrn. Gaaah.” Lhikan winced, his psyche caught in some kind of vice, his head pulsing.
How many are you? The voice echoed.
Images of his soldiers. The dead piling in his mind before they were replaced by Jesse, Simone, and… Tipsy.
“No!” Lhikan snapped, refusing the touch. Yet it wasn't his to refuse.
Who are you?
Lhikan could feel a foreign presence, something pricking at him. Unraveling him. The memories of his life flashing before his bleeding eyes as a gaze unseen bore down on his life.
“I'm! Lhikan-NO! NO!”
From his childhood at the monastery, to his training as a paladin. Then, to his memories of the Thirteenth Crusade and the battle of the four fronts.
“I AM-”
A memory came to the forefront of his mind. That war torn battlefield with Lhikan and a dozen men and women surrounded by thousands of corpses and thousands of monsters.
Out of breath, out of mana, his face bleeding from the copious wounds on his body. The last commander left to defend a monastery already sacrificed to the demon hordes.
“I'm -!”
Lhikan stood hopeless. His trembling hands gripping his broken blade.
“O’Lord. Hear thy prayer.” A soft voice spoke.
A light, a magnificent light shining on his back, casting away the dark clouds that hung over his head like an executioner’s axe.
A young girl. An orphan praying, radiating such divinity it was as though God himself had descended upon the world.
“Natalie.” Lhikan groaned, falling to his knees, everything threatening to come undone.
“Stop! Get out! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Lhikan roared, discharging mana, the ground breaking from his energy seeping out. “OUT! OUT!”
Lhikan went wide-eyed, reaching out, his own mind snapping back at the entity and pulling at the invisible tether that latched onto his mind.
** Hiroyuki**
“Huh? What is this?” I looked down, eyeing my… MY HANDS! My body! “What the hell?!”
One moment I had been probing the man for information, to confirm the information I already knew thanks to their sign language and then the next-!
“YOU!!!” A voice roared, turning my attention to the old man charging, rushing me with blade in hand.
I dodged back, pivoting, striking a stance and kicking on reflex that caught the man in the abdomen and sent him staggering.
“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!” The man roared, racing at me.
I lashed out, my hand slipping past his guard and snatching the warrior by his throat, the man's feet lifting off the ground from my superior strength.
“What is this?” I hissed, anger and confusion taking root as I surveyed the shadows of our featureless surroundings.
I was in a void of no light. But also no darkness. The only thing I was aware of being me and this human who had dared to intrude into my home!
“Y-you. Lord Hiroyuki…!” The man whispered almost a whimper, wide-eyed as his tired eyes gazed upon me. “The God Blade.”
My name. I…
“Tch.”
I don't know why. But I released him. Dropping the man who fell onto his knees then to all fours, the paladin sobbing.
“What is this? Some kind of trick? Where am I?!” My mind shook, my surroundings vibrating violently almost as if reflecting my feelings.
“All our sacrifices… they weren't… They weren't in vain…” The paladin whispered, teeth gnashing. “Natalie!”
My eyes shifted, gazing down at the man.
“Please... Save us.” The Paladin pleaded, hand outstretched, palm reaching out to me as I stared at his church insignia on the gauntlet.
A cat face.
“No.”
The answer was out of my mouth before I could process his request.
“Wh-what?”
Color visibly drained from the paladin’s face, but I was done with saving worlds and helpless strangers. In the end all of my suffering had led to nothing.
Even my loss… and deaths of my companions. Nothing in this world had changed.
From his memories, I saw humans. Lying. Cheating. Stepping over one another to garner power with those in charge sacrificing innocents to protect their wealth.
Hundreds of years later, humanity, had somehow survived my defeat? Had remained strong despite the sacrifices of so many heroes.
So what… What was the point then? Why did we?! Why did we die?!
To protect the wealth of corrupt bastards?!
Just like those damn elves! There were people like them in the human, dwarfen, and beastren lands, people with the power to fight! To stand up against tyranny and fight the demon lord!
But instead they cowered! Pumped me with praise and showered me with coin until I was foolhardy to believe I could lead the assault on Barborall’s castle.
And yes. I was at fault too. I recognize my sins! My weak-mindedness and lust for glory, it blinded me enough so THAT I WAS PLAYED LIKE A GODDAMN FIDDLE!
No! The world was beyond saving! It needed to be cleaned! ALL OF IT! Conquered under my rule. The demons wiped clean! The corrupt purged! Then I would garner my power and topple every damn Church belonging to that bastard that sent me here before mounting that little girl's head on a spike!
I turned to the paladin that had somehow found himself choking in the grip of my palm.
“Please…” He whispered, a noble soul seeking aid.
“No.”
The void shifted, my body breaking into smoke as my senses returned to my rubber duck shell.
Two humans were comatose, the only one still conscious being the old man curled up.
Take them away. I ordered, a bitterness settling in my mind as I realized the humans were in no condition for further interrogation.
“Take them away.” Slimey ordered, my goblins moving the two unconscious humans with Zorin dragging off the Paladin named Lhikan.
“Please…” The knight whimpered as he was taken into a tunnel.
Gah. This feeling…
No.
From the sly sign language I observed from the paladin's in their prison, it was evident that more humans were on the way.
And from what I garnered from the one named Lhikan, an army. Six or seven platoons of paladins, scribes, and priests.
Holy warriors all marching upon my domain.
Tsk.
Damn humans.
Rally the soldiers. Gather the scouts. Our time of mourning is over. We have a castle to take over.
“Yes Master.” Slimey said.
Natalie.
An image of a young girl praying.
Gah… what is this?
Slimey.
“Yes Master?”
Split yourself, I have need of your clothes.
“M-m-my Lord! You want me to strip?”
Not… not like that you idiot. Sigh.
I have a plan. One to get more information. But I need your mimicking skills.
“O-of course my lord. Anything for you darling.” Slimey said before duplicating herself, transferring her clothes from one slime to another as she followed my instructions.
A moment passed before Slimey took on a familiar humanoid shape. The appearance of a girl named Natalie.