“Well? What are you waiting for? Do it again!” Vuyo roared, and he kicked Jabu clear across the battlefield. He skipped like a stone, bounced off Regius’ barrier and vanished before his back touched the curtain of Dragon fire.
Jabu glanced over at his brother. Hugo picked up his severed left arm, and it disappeared. He raised his head slowly and looked up. Vuyo wagged his finger at him, with a sinister grin.
“I am growing bored, but I don’t want to kill you just yet. I hate nothing more than wasted potential.” The Demi-God said, and he turned his attention to the Candidates huddled together inside of the barrier. Vuyo scanned the battlefield. He watched Mdu wrestle Clyde to the ground, and an idea popped into his mind. Priya’s energy signature flared, and hundreds of steel plated golems crashed down with a thunderous impact. Their bright blue eyes shone through the dust clouds and the Demi-God’s smile grew wider.
*
Gloria’s damage indicator flashed, and the head turned dark red. She activated a healing technique, glanced at the grass green silhouette on the bottom left corner of her field of view and her targeting systems locked onto her opponent. A golden light enveloped Cameron, and it flashed when she charged again.
Kagiso stared at the dark blue ring around his damage indicator in disbelief. His shields had grown stronger and the numbers inside the thirty-two dotted lines, arranged into three parentheses outside of the ring, grew exponentially.
*
“Break free.” Vuyo whispered to Clyde, before he turned around and threw the spear at the last golem. The golden rod duplicated itself twice, and Priya’s eyes glowed blue. The golden spears skewered the last of her iron golems and shattered the magical rocky hearts in its body.
The slender, one-horned man roared. A surge of strength coursed through his body, and he broke out of his brother’s chokehold. Clyde flew high up into the sky before he vanished and scanned the battlefield.
“You are not like them, and you know it. We Gods have an ability that you share. Devour and grow stronger. Devour the blueprints and materials you need to build new technologies. Devour their memories and abilities. Devour their Mana and their power. Devour their souls and evolve. Devour.” Vuyo whispered incessantly in the slender, one horned man’s ears and he threw Hugo’s arm at his feet.
*
The two-horned man blinked, and the Demi-God’s claws swiped at his head. He ducked and found himself standing in the middle of an ash desert, beneath a starless night sky. Kagiso looked around. He saw someone walking over the horizon and called out to them. The two-horned man grabbed his throat when nothing came out. He shouted again and a surge of fear coursed through his body.
Kagiso spun around and parried Cameron’s next swipe. He heard the loud thumping of a heartbeat and tilted his head to the side. The two-horned man closed his eyes and a mountainous shadow crept up behind him. The darkness passed over Kagiso, and he felt the mountainous’ egg’s heartbeat.
“How is this possible? My Ascension? During my trial? Has that ever happened before? Then…has this been one big failure? Am I the one that annihilates this island? Did I make a misstep? What was I supposed to do or is this…did someone other than the Dragon King engineer this outcome? Either way, someone has made a murderer of me.” The two-horned man realised, and his heart sank into his stomach.
*
Hugo let out a mad roar and Jabu’s eyes glowed orange. He raced to his location at a snail’s pace, while Vuyo moved unnaturally quickly. He hopped, skipped and walked over to where the broken two-horned man was standing.
“No! Stop!” Jabu rumbled, and the Demi-God punched a hole through his brother’s chest. Vuyo pulled his arm out, raised his right hand and chopped Hugo’s head off with one swift swing. “Devour.” The demi-God whispered to Clyde, and he snapped. The slender, one-horned man ignored the temptation, and he threw himself deep into the ocean of rage. Silence fell and Clyde almost sighed with relief. He opened his eyes and sunk to the bottom of the dark red waters. The slender, one-horned man blinked and found himself standing in the middle of an ash desert. He stared at the disparaged Kagiso in the distance, and a child tugged at his hand.
Clyde looked down and a four-armed boy pointed at the horizon. He had dark crimson skin, short black dreadlocks and a bone mask with silver and gold olive vines inlaid into the forehead. The slender, one-horned man looked at what the boy was pointing at, and he saw the black tower in the distance. A burst of green fire erupted from the top, and Kagiso’s fleet sailed over his head.
A maddeningly high-pitched ringing grew louder, and Clyde covered his ears. He stared at the scene before him, and his vision blurred. The slender, one-horned man scanned his surroundings, and the invisible forces focused his gaze on the rising figure behind the tower. The Green-Eyed Black Dragon spread his wings and Clyde recognised him immediately. He blinked and Vuyo dragged him out of the blood red ocean of Mana. “Now, where did you just run off to?” he asked curiously.
“Stay…away…from me.” The slender, one-horned man said in between breaths. He clutched at the sides of his head and Mdu put him in another headlock. He wrapped his legs around his brother’s waist and Vuyo laughed at him. “Devour. Just take a bite out of his arm. One chomp…Devour…and you’re free. Devour.” he whispered incessantly.
“Get off! Release me!” Clyde rumbled fearfully. “I will not!” the stocky one-horned man replied, and the slender, one-horned man panicked. “I am no one’s slave, but I cannot defeat him. What do I do? I must flee. I must find a way out of this hell.” He thought desperately. “Just…one…bite. Devour!” the Demi-God whispered, and Clyde let out a loud roar. An explosion of sound and Mana broke him out of the tight hold, and he vanished instantly.
“Very well. Be that way. How about the rest of you? Will you accept my deal?” Vuyo asked, and he turned his attention to the Candidates in the barrier. They stared at him in complete silence and the Demi-God frowned. He scanned the battle-scarred terrain and hummed.
“Where is the blue-eyed one? Oh, I don’t have the time for this.” Vuyo said, with a hint of irritation. He clapped his hands, and the air sparkled. The Demi-God sub-atomically converted the air particles into the macromolecules he needed to create living cells. The brain and bone cells multiplied exponentially, and hundreds of bone plated knights materialised out of thin air.
“Witness the power of a True God.” Vuyo said boastfully, and the knights’ energy signatures swelled. Flesh grew out of the seams and the malformed knights raised their abnormally large arms. They brought them down with a thunderous impact, and the barrier did not budge. Jabu, Mdu and Clyde evaded the powerful swings, and a battalion of bone armoured monsters sniffed the air. They darted in different directions and Priya appeared inside of the barrier.
“Ha! Very clever. Why wait until you have been flushed out, hey? So…you, the one that’s maintaining the barrier. The headless one, his brother? And you. The rest can die here for all I care. However, the five of you have a very important choice to make. Choose wisely, and you may survive this hell.” Vuyo said, with a sinister smile.
The monstrous knights moved like blurs. The hypersonic booms, the scorching hot upwind and the violent dust storms battered the barrier. Priya inspected the living statues. They struck the crystal plates and the glittery inter-dimensional energy sparkled.
“Appraisal.” The blue-eyed Candidate thought, but nothing happened. She brought up her abilities menu with a thought and scrolled over to her Traits tab. “How? Can Gods nullify traits or is this something else? Is this because of the dimensional field? Is it preventing me from…no, he has had no trouble using his eyes. Then what does this…oh.” Priya deduced, and she exhaled slowly.
“The one thing all immortals fear, is death. No revival, no resurrection, rebirth, reincarnation or respawn. True Death. Few know when that True Death-”“-what are you on about?” a Candidate asked, while the blue-eyed woman stared at Vuyo’s creations.
“We are going to die. How we die is our choice. I wish to struggle to the end. Perhaps those stronger than us will save us if we do…or perhaps he will run out of time and-no, you heard his whispers. I would rather die and burn his ambitions to the ground, then be his plaything, a traitor or a slave.” Priya rumbled proudly and the Candidates breathed heavily. Their hearts raced and their stomachs lurched.
“W-what about The Darkness? We will return to the Burial Grounds. And from the Ash Lands and silence, the sons and daughters of the Void will return. Like stars…twinkling in the night sky, our fire cannot be extinguished!” the Candidate rumbled, and his fear seeped through.
“It can. Every immortal can experience a True Death. What did you have in mind?” Regius rumbled, and the Candidates noticed how much strain his body was under. His orange eyes flickered, his arms trembled, and the barrier wobbled and shrunk after each clubbing blowby. The masked men and women raised their arms.
“Wait. Not yet. We need to be as light as possible, if we are to turn this barrier into a mobile fortress. We may be lost, but we have not been forsaken. Not when we are still a part of His machinations.” The blue-eyed Candidate rumbled, with a chuckle.
Clyde dashed, ducked, hopped, flipped and vanished. He appeared behind a knight and another swatted him out of the sky. It sandwiched the slender, one-horned man between its giant arm and its ally’s chest. The monstrous bone plated statue crushed its ally and Clyde’s skeleton cracked. His damage indicator turned a dark shade of orange and damage reports popped up in front of him. He brought up his Abilities Menu, tried to activate a healing skill and a danger indicator warned of him of an incoming attack.
The proximity alarms blared, and the slender, one-horned man grit his teeth. He kicked off the ground, vanished and drifted like a ghost at mach speeds. Clyde reappeared and Mdu was right there to grab him. He scanned their surroundings and clenched his fist.
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“Predictable.” The stocky one-horned man said. He rammed his shoulder into his brother’s back, just as another knight brought its club of an arm down. Mdu crossed his arms and blocked the heavy strike. He turned his head and expected a barrage of gunfire, but none came. The stocky one-horned man then hoped a Blade Wheel could cleave its head off, but again, nothing happened. Mdu blinked and stared at Clyde’s back.
“Stand your ground. Fight and die as a War Dragon. Have you no honour? No pride? Who taught you to run from a fight? To abandon your allies and your brother? Coward…traitor, good riddance.” the stocky one-horned man wondered. His vision blurred, and a lump formed in his throat. He lowered his arms, let down his shields and waited. Regius’ barrier appeared suddenly, and it repelled the monstrous knight.
“We need your strength. Yours is not the only broken bond.” Priya rumbled sympathetically and Mdu scoffed. “Do not speak of him in my presence again.” He replied softly. The Candidates lowered their energy output and vanished. The stocky one-horned man stood up and timed his attack perfectly. He glanced at the recall technique and his axe appeared in his hands.
Mdu swung and activated the Circular Slash skill. The axe sped up and a glittery ring of nano-thin light expanded instantly. The bright white ring cleaved through everything around him. The stocky one-horned man gripped his axe tightly and his heartache turned to white hot rage. The axe-head’s blade edge burned white, before it grew broader and the shaft longer.
Jabu charged, and Vuyo dashed backwards. He laughed and dangled Hugo’s head by his short, blonde dreadlocks. His red eyes flickered, and he faded in and out of consciousness. Hugo tried to self-destruct. However, an error report popped up every time.
“This must be a joke. A hundred and eight years, only to die like this? I was so close, too. Do not let them learn what I know. Please, Jane, Mdu. The world will burn if they-“ Hugo’s head was shocked to see his brother in such a terrible state. His arms were bent the wrong way and half of his mask had been torn off his face.
“It seems they are attached to your faces by powerful forces. Ah, then I’m glad you’re all alive. It seems you will serve a purpose after all. Yes, you will make excellent practise. I am starting to understand what makes your people special. Items of power, words of power. You live a life filled with magic and…I am envious of that. So, fuel my ambition and become the stepping stones to my goal of becoming a Celestial.” Vuyo rumbled excitedly and his sincerity seeped through. He placed his fingertips against his throat and smiled uncontrollably.
*
Jane swung downwards, vanished, spun around and appeared. She then swung horizontally and cleaved two more doppelgangers in half. Hilda and her army of copies laughed, when the two-horned woman created even more.
“You’re not the sharpest sword, are you?” the Demi-God asked, and Jane laughed. “The preparations are complete and the conditions have been met. Open.” She rumbled confidently and thousands of weapons appeared around the Demi-God and her copies.
“This power can only be used as a last resort. Only after every weapon in my arsenal has failed me, can I drag my opponent to their bloody grave. Honestly? I used to be disgusted by my grandfather for stealing our greatest rival’s secret power. Now I think he did it to keep them in check, to nullify their powers should they ever become a threat to our people or perhaps to rebel if they ever came to power.” Jane explained, while the weapons hummed and pillars of light shot up into the pitch-black sky.
“You were granted a blessing, correct? Was yours the Gift of Life?” the two-horned woman asked. “Ah, Dragons and their rules. I assume that little monologue was one of your conditions. What power does it grant you in return? Wait, how do you know about blessings? Do you have something similar?” Hilda asked and Jane laughed. She raised her hand, snapped her fingers and the pillars of light constructed a glittery colosseum around them. Puddles of glittery water swelled to form an endless ocean of Mana that stretched beyond the horizon.
“Similar? You haven’t figured it out yet? You are not the sharpest sword, are you?” the two-horned woman asked, and she dashed forward at blinding speeds. “She’s faster. No, she was holding back.” The Demi-God deduced. She dashed back and her doppelgangers scattered like a gang of seals.
Jane slammed her palms together and interlocked her fingers. Her swords, daggers and spears pierced everything they had slashed or stabbed. Dozens of weapons skewered each doppelgänger, and the two-horned woman inhaled sharply. Jane waited until she was metres, before she exhaled slowly.
Hilda struggled and the magical cells embedded in the strange composite metals activated. They siphoned lakes of Mana out of her cells and rooted her to the spot. A marble sized portal opened a few centimetres away from the two-horned woman’s mask and a torrent of sparkling flames poured out. The portal shrunk, and the pressure intensified. The river of fire turned into a pillar of plasma and the Demi-God screamed. Jane incinerated her, and one of her doppelgangers’ energy outputs jumped.
“One down. Four thousand eight hundred and sixty-two to go. I always forget how deep my armoury is.” The two-horned woman said, and she appeared behind Hilda. “Fireball.” Jane thought, and the fourth orb next to the skill was greyed out. She squeezed the fireball and unleashed another high-pressure beam of magical plasma.
Hilda leapt from body to body, and the two-horned woman chased her down. She followed the surges of energy, dashed and vanished at incredible speed. The Demi-God could not keep up with her movements. She tried to delay the process, and the nearest doppelgänger absorbed her consciousness before it faded.
Jane unleashed her last Fireball. She tracked Hilda to a copy hidden a kilometre below sea level and activated her Fire Scale skill. The Mana ignited, and the temperature skyrocketed. The Demi-God grit her teeth and the scalding hot Mana boiled her alive. The two-horned woman cycled through all four abilities, before she switched to her second configuration. Eight new abilities popped up on her power wheels and Jane smiled at the three charges next to her Firestorm spell and the twelve next to her Star Shot skill.
“That’s four. She must have saved defensive abilities to her other slots. Unless she can reconfigure her settings. No, that would mean she has memorised every setting for every ability. That is insane. That’s impossible. She could be saving them to cycle through them again. Either way, she can’t keep this up forever. It doesn’t matter how many times she heals herself, if she can’t heal one hundred percent of the damage.” Hilda deduced, and the two-horned woman chuckled.
“What?” the Demi-God asked curiously. “You still haven’t figured it out or noticed?” Jane asked, and the glittery ocean sparkled and shone. Hilda’s eyes bulged, and she looked up. “The sky is falling?” the Demi-God wondered. “Not quite. I bet you thought this was a war of attrition. No, I mean to end this as quickly as possible. I just wanted to do some reconnaissance as well.” The two-horned woman rumbled threateningly and a chill ran down Hilda’s spine.
The Demi-God looked down, just as Jane’s fist touched her chin. A glittery tornado of fire erupted and the two-horned woman launched her opponents into the sky. Hilda and her doppelgängers hurtled uncontrollably and the clear blue sky contracted. They banged their heads on an invisible ceiling and thousands of stars descended on them. The celestial bodies struck the invisible partition, and they hammered the army of Demi-Gods back towards the ocean of Mana. Hilda looked down, and she saw the large body of sparkling black water in the middle of the ocean.
“I know what I need to and that should have been a sufficient warm up. Now let us have a real fight.” the two-horned woman rumbled eagerly and a giant pair of red eyes glowed ominously below her. The shadowy serpent uncoiled and the inky waters swelled beneath her. A geyser shot upwards and it dyed Jane’s hair and armour black. Thousands of black snakes lunged at the doppelgangers and Hilda’s expression changed.
“When all seems lost, I pray for your mercy…Serpens Virga!” she called out and her Mana enveloped her doppelgangers. Green and golden tattoos spread across their bodies, and they all cracked their knuckles as they fell.
*
Kagiso kicked Cameron at Duke and he punched his bell. The shockwaves shattered the Demi-God’s bones, and the cracks shone. Cameron pieced herself back together in nano-seconds, and her body grew slightly. She spun around on the ball of her foot, landed a vicious roundhouse kick and unleashed four bright white Blade Wheels with one swipe of her golden gauntlet.
“Heavenly Wheel!” the six metre tall Demi-God roared, and the glittery blades buzzed louder than any they had ever heard. Raymond activated the Spatial Distortion technique, and the Blade Wheels shrunk. The timer counted down, and he turned the dimensional field around. The three-horned man’s Mana orb ballooned and the three circular blades barrelled towards Cameron.
“Ha! You will have to do a lot better than that!” the Demi-God bellowed, and she spun like a top. Cameron swung and cut through her own attack. “Now you’re just showing off.” The two-horned man said, and she laughed. “Ha! And you are holding back. Your presence sends chills down my spine.” The Demi-God replied, and he inhaled calmly.
“Kenny! Go to your brother. I cannot sense the other Candidates, but I do sense Jabu and Clyde. If we are all to die here, then we should do so with the ones we call family.” Kagiso rumbled, and the hairs on the back of the Demi-God’s neck stood on end. Riekes’ heart sank and the imposing, one-horned man tightened his grip on his sword.
“What about you?” Kenpachi asked, and Laurence stepped forward. A determined Gloria and a nervous Mei joined him. The one horned man nodded at them, before he vanished. “Like I would let you do as you please.” Cameron said menacingly. She became a fiery comet and brought her gauntlet down at blistering speeds. Kagiso raised his left arm and his armour was dyed black. He grabbed the golden gauntlet, and his speed shocked Kenpachi.
The imposing, one-horned man raised his sword, and his Mana enveloped the blade. He swung downwards, unleashed a watery Blade Wheel that sparkled and glittered furiously. “Cosmic Wheel.” Kenpachi thought, and the inter-dimensional blade pried the curtain of fire open. He dashed forward and Riekes flew after him.
The two-horned man palmed his opponent, and she dug her heels into the ground to stop her momentum. The Demi-God dug a deep and long trench into the ground. She looked up and found the six Candidates had surrounded her, while the wall of Dragon fire slammed shut behind the other two.
*
“Well, Demi-God? You have been silent for some time now. Are you impressed…or does my limitless energy and power scare you?” Jane rumbled malevolently and Hilda understood every word. “You’re cheating! This isn’t possible! Energy cannot be created! You are breaking the laws-” the Demi-God stopped speaking and the two-horned woman laughed hysterically. She clapped her hands and her weapons skewered her opponent.
Jane dashed forward in the fraction of a nanosecond her weapons had materialised. She landed brutally violent combinations of blows on the doppelgängers within a one-kilometre radius, and their bodies exploded in the blink of an eye.
“No, but it can be generated, converted or harvested. That’s all you are doing. Oh, of course. You wouldn’t know, would you? Know thyself. I placed every stone, nut, bolt and wire in its place. I studied every particle, frequency, biological function and chemical reaction. I have developed my power over the decades, while yours was bestowed upon you.” The two-horned woman rumbled boastfully. She dashed forward, vanished and landed another barrage of blows.
Jane unleashed hundreds of glittery fire balls and Hilda looked up. Ghostly woman, that resembled her opponent, streaked across the night sky like comets. They flew towards the ceiling of stars and flipped the world upside down. Hilda kept her eyes on the black spot in the middle of the clear blue sky. She looked down and spotted the stone temples drifting millions of kilometres over the bed of stars.
“None have ever seen a Dragon’s Hearth and survived. What will you do now, Demi-God?” Jane rumbled confidently and Hilda stared at her damage indicator. “Nine hundred and ninety-eight. She’s been keeping count. Vuyo or Cameron would have been better opponents. I could have at least defeated her, if they had tired her out first.” The Demi-God deduced and her eyes bulged.
“I will bargain. I can mend all wounds, even those that have been inflicted on the soul. I can bring back what you have lost.” Hilda offered and the two-horned woman closed her eyes. She looked down at herself and saw two red ribbons dancing in the wind. The knot came undone and the two ribbons drifted away.
“No.” Jane whispered in shock. “Now’s my chance.” Hilda thought, and she charged at hypersonic speeds. The Demi-God was mere metres away, when the stars flared and the temperature skyrocketed. “No!” the two-horned woman screamed in pain. A quadrant of the field of stars detonated, and she destroyed every copy instantly. The oceans of Mana became pitch black and the number of stars increased exponentially. “I am alone. Not like this. We were not meant to part like this.” Jane whispered and she broke down quietly.