A roar echoed across the city as a portal opened on the empty plane around the mountain. A bear as large as a house stepped through the portal with a massive humanoid man astride it his body covered in almost as much hair as his mount. The angels above began circling faster and tighter, their song rising in pitch and volume like an air raid siren. All the refugees began fleeing into the tunnels that lead deeper into the mountain.
“Stay with Aurora,” I told Guinevere.
“I can fight with you,” she insisted.
“No,” I said. “I won’t risk you against that thing; keep Aurora safe.”
She bit her lip in frustration but nodded.
Exar’kun landed beside me. “Will you deny my assistance?”
“Does Vone approve?” I asked.
“My mate is growing our child,” Exar said. “Her judgment here is irrelevant; her and our child’s safety is all that matters.”
“Then we understand each other,” I agreed.
I jumped off the edge of the temple mount and scarlet lightning wreathed my body followed by black smoke as Shadow of Judgement activated. Like a rock launched from a catapult, I headed straight for the god and his bear.
Artrix unslung a large, bearded axe from his back and its edge glowed with an icy blue light. The bear roared and I could feel my skin ripple and my bones become brittle and fracture from the sheer force of the sound wave.
Balthesa, Guardian of the Woodland Realms, Gifted- Divine-beast/bear, Demi-god, Rank: ????
Rolling through the air, I pushed past the sonic force of the bear’s roar. I activated Void Asura and all my weapons appeared in my hands. Striking out at the bear and rider, my weapons only managed to slightly cut through its hair and skin. Artrix likely had abilities like mine to make his skin harder than diamond. Artrix immediately counterattacked with his axe, the weapon traveling at speeds that were only on the very edge of my perception.
Only my Limited Omniscience let me not get cut in half immediately as the bearded axe swung at me from half a dozen directions. Balthesa slashed at me with her claws as I rolled under it to get out of reach of the bearded axe. I activated Heir of the Titans, growing in size to match the bear as I kicked up, sending it several yards into the air.
Artrix swung out of the saddle and landed on the ground, the axe crashing down next to me as I barely rolled out of the way of it in time. His next attack was spoiled as Exar’kun swept by and a wave of radioactive fire spilled over the bear’s and Artrix’s back. Exar’kun flew past and Artrix leapt into the air, his sheer strength propelling him after the dragon as he pursued, leaving me to face the bear.
--
Jeriah looked on from the city as the god persued Exar’kun. The dragon was strong, but he couldn’t face a god on his own, none of them could, but together, the strength of the Warlord gave them the power to do almost anything.
Jeriah stepped off the edge of the mountain, scaled bat-wings appearing from his back as he raced after the god and dragon. Behind him, his brothers followed him; by Exarch rank, each of them had earned some manner of flight ability. He stretched out his hand and a bolt of fire scorched the back of the god. It did next to no damage, but it was enough to momentarily distract him.
Exar turned about and blasted Artrix with his breath attack; he’d used his tokens from the event to ascend that ability beyond rank twenty, so it had much more of an effect on the god. The special nature of the tainted flames also helped to bypass any resistances the god might have had to regular flames as well.
Tobias spun past him and struck the gods knee with the maul Mordred had created for him. Though Tobias struck with all his strength, he only left a bruise. Jeriah’s other brothers all struck with him as they managed to avoid being obliterated through skill and sheer luck, but mostly luck.
--
I spun under the bear’s paws, taking long slashes along my back and chest, not enough to threaten my life but enough to push my strength up more and more with each strike. The more I fought the bear, the more I realized I was fighting a real bear. By that I meant it wasn’t sapient; it could think faster than I could, its every attribute was higher than mine, but I was smarter than it. If I just kept moving just out of lethal attacks, it could keep ramping up my strength with every wound it dealt.
As it used its abilities, its claws and fangs glowed, its hair buzzed and cut through my skin. It roared and fear effects tried to take hold, debuffs applying to me, but their duration was reduced to only a few seconds each. The bear just didn’t learn, operating on instinct and it was like fighting a video game boss as I learned everything it could do and started to be able to predict all its attacks even without the ability to see them in the future.
After another slash, I felt my Might attribute reach its threshold for where I couldn’t gain more Might than I lost per second. I could see Exar’kun, Jeriah, and his brothers fighting and not doing well against Artrix. I ducked under the swing of the bear's right paw hitting it with my shoulder and lifting it up and hurling it across the battlefield. Balthesa hit her master and knocked him flat on the ground.
“And strike!” I roared, laughing at the god.
I surged forward with Clarent, aiming to decapitate the bear. Artrix rolled into the way bringing up his axe to block. He staggered back as the force was something far beyond what he had been expecting. I struck with my spear and gauntlet sword and he took a step back. I grinned but my confidence was short lived; this was a man who’d beaten every other champion to win the game of the gods and ascended to divinity.
The axe came around as Artrix leapt back atop Balthesa again. An aura infused the bear and its claws struck at me. I instantly noticed a difference now that it wasn’t fighting alone; it was as if it were using Artrix’s intelligence instead of its own. The bear and rider were a blur as they defended against attacks from all directions. A strike from Artrix's axe took off Jeriah’s left arm and leg. A swipe of the bear’s claws opened up Normen’s belly.
My allies were quickly falling, and I was losing ground, being pushed back with every strike of the axe. Even with my size enlarged and the bonus strength from all the wounds I’d inflicted and taken I just wasn’t as strong as the god. The god and bear might have been doable on their own but together, they were a force of nature.
Exar’kun flew by, his breath-attack blasting the man and bear. He flew past, but Artrix threw his axe. It spun through the the air, striking Exar in the shoulder and sheering off his left wing. The dragon roared as he went down, crashing into the ground with enough force to send a tremor all the way to the base of the mountain. The axe spun and snapped back into Artrix’s hand; I’d managed to get a few strikes in while he was unarmed but not enough to turn the tide of battle.
“Enough of these mortals,” Artrix said, turning his attention on Jeriah and his brothers.
Form together, I commanded telepathically. Shield wall.
Jeriah and his brothers all crouched together, raising their arms. Artrix’s axe shone like the sun as he brought it down but was nearly thrown off his bear’s back as his strike—with enough power behind it to shatter a castle—rebounded off the strength of their collective shields. I stepped in and the axe swung around. It cut deep into my chest and took out one of my hearts; it had been a devastating wound, but I’d intended it to be. All the wounds my allies had taken began to close as they received healing in proportion to the damage I’d just taken.
The wound had been intentional, but it hadn’t been without cost. I had dozens of debuffs effecting me, and though they would only last for a few more seconds, with the speeds we were moving, that might as well have been minutes. The axe descended again and I was slowed too much to be able to dodge it completely; a void angel took the axe strike and I stepped back as more and more angels descended from the skies. The young void angels didn’t have the strength to contend with the attributes of a god, but they could buy me a few seconds.
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Artrix was knocked off his bear’s back and he rushed me in a rage. The scarlet blade of Clarent met his axe. In that moment, everything became clear. I blocked, dodged, and parried his attacks. My rage was still there but it brought everything into focus instead of blurring it. The whistling of the axe speeding through the air met the low rumble of Clarent in a flash of light.
Balthesa bit and clawed her way out of the pile of Void angels to rush me. Artrix jumped up, landing on her back as she lunged for me, her jaws snapping not even an inch from my throat and splattering me with acidic saliva. Before the bear could do more, Tobias slammed into its left flank, Jeriah attacked its right as he and the rest of his brothers, now healed and restored, attacked from both directions.
Exar appeared above Artrix, no longer in dragon form; he couldn’t have regenerated his wing in so short a team even with my added healing. Exar’kun spun to the side as Artrix slashed at him with his axe which Exar spun under as he retaliated with a clawed hand across the face of the god. His victory was short lived as Artrix elbowed him with enough force to launch Exar across the plains where he slid to the edge of the mountain.
Turning his full attention on me, Artrix left his bear to face the Dragonbreakers. The Void angels were scattered, and their few attacks weren’t even a distraction to the god. He slashed, cut, and hammered at me with his axe. I nearly lost an arm and a leg and I did lose a good chunk of my torso in the fight. Artrix raised his axe as it glowed while he supercharged the next attack. All my futures showed it hitting, so I could only choose the best of the worst situations. The axe bit into my side, taking out a lung and half my intestines. I didn’t really need my organs that much but the damage was stacking. I activated Void Shield and the damage I’d taken disappeared.
Voiodra, split from me, I said internally. I can’t focus on my other abilities and fighting him at the same time.
What about us? Karnen asked.
No, I need the abilities you all would use, I replied.
Voidra split off from me, floating up into the sky. Silver lightning emitted from her fingers and boulders and jagged rocks picked themselves up and began to pound upon the god and bear. She raised her hands and the light of the Void star focused, instead of shining everywhere equally, a beam of light focused on Artrix. The intensified light began to burn his skin like the worst of sunburns as it irradiated his flesh. Black stone morphed across the ground as the fallen Void Angels reformed, flying right back into the fight.
I lunged at Artrix unleashing all the damage I’d stored up from the attacks I’d taken. Clarent struck the right side of Artrix’s chest, and he screamed as it tore and burned through his skin, bones, and flesh. Golden light shone out from the wound as the divine energy was immediately seized on and attacked by the Void, the two sources of power anathema to each other.
Black veins began to spread from the wound as the Void energy took purchase. Artrix fell back, weakened from the attack he’d just suffered, I didn’t let up. I was freshly restored and I couldn’t let him regain his footing. My attacks lashed out again and again. Now that I could see this vulnerability, I opened up, hitting him more and letting the Void poison the god.
“You little brat,” the god snarled, but I could see the fear in his eyes.
“If a mortal kills a god, were they ever really a god?” I asked, my voice a threatening growl as it was amplified by Voice of Tartarus. “After all, death is the domain of mortals.”
The god turned and fled, a portal opening up in front of him, his bear chasing after him. Voidra rejoined my soul as I watched him jump through the portal.
“World Forge,” I said.
The portal crystalized and hardened, taking off Artrix’s foot as I forcibly snapped the portal shut in front of the bear. The bear turned on us, snarling, but it was without the protection of its god now.
Guinevere, come down, I communicated with her telepathically. I want you to have a hand in slaying this beast.
The fight against the bear wasn’t even a challenge. Alone and surrounded in an alien environment with no real intelligence, it stood no chance. Guinevere slashed open its throat as I pinned it to the ground with Force of Will.
15 rank points gained, split between surviving contributors.
It was honestly surprising I’d gained that many rank points considering how many Void angels had participated in the fight.
Ability Gained: Spectral Bear (Rank 1): You conjure from your thoughts a bear to fight alongside you. The bear is medium in size and can withstand up to Major damage before desummoning, and deals Major bleed damage with its bite and claws.
Cast Time:
Instantaneous
Cost:
50 mana
Rank up this ability to increase the size and power of the bear. Each rank increases your Power attribute by 1.
This ability was shit as a summoned bear in my fights would just instantly die, but I had an idea for it. Taking the energy of the freshly forming ability, I pushed it into Wild Hunt. It resisted but I knew how the System merged abilities and did the same.
Teeth in the Dark (Rank 20, Max Rank): You summon a twisted horn into your hands. Blowing on it lets out a piercing call that summons 13 beasts of shadow that will act as extensions of you. Their rank will be equal to your rank. The beasts emit a cloud of darkness in a 30ft radius around them, making it impossible to ever see their true appearance; only the silver flash of their fangs and claws will mark their presence. They will last for 1 hour and have a cooldown of 20 minutes before they can be summoned again. The thirteenth beast will be larger and stronger than the rest of the pack. All your beasts deal Severe bleed damage with their bite and claws.
Your beasts are not beings of flesh but shadow and Void; they can teleport to any shadow within 100ft of you.
Connected to the Void by your being, your summons bite inflicts the Lacerate* and Soul Rend* conditions, dealing a Major amount of extra Soul damage with each attack.
The hounds you summon have three extra heads, tripling their attack speed and damage per second.
You can select one target, placing a Hell’s Mark on them and doubling your hounds damage against that target.
*Soul Rend: On a failed Spirit check, attack causes permanent Soul Damage that will last until healed by soul healing.
Max Rank Bonus: Merely an extension of you, the Shadow Beasts benefit from all your titles, passives, and any buffs you are currently experiencing when summoned.
Cost:
320 mana
Cast Time:
10 seconds
Upgrade this ability to increase the number of hounds, how powerful they are, and the duration for which they will remain. Each rank up increases your Spirit and Power by 1.
There were changes here but they were mostly minimal; at least it enhanced a useful ability instead of adding a useless bear into a fight.
“Did you get anything?” I asked Guinevere.
“Yes,” she said. “I can control my hair’s length; it gains enhanced durability and a prehensile effect.”
Her hair instantly began flowing even longer down her back, reaching down to her ankles before neatly weaving itself into a loose braid.
“You know vanity is a sin, right?” I asked, smiling as she preened to herself.
“We decide what sins are now,” Guinevere said with false haughtiness.
“For thirty more days at least,” I said. “They’ll come after us again. We need to move Guinevere, to hunt as many Gifted as we can. It really is a race to godhood for us now.”
---
Artrix fell through the portal into his divine realm. He fell on his face as he tried to put weight on his missing foot. He looked up at the pine trees all around him and the many caves in the cliffs of the mountain range he’d made his divine realm.
“My lord,” one of his concubines said, coming over to him. “What happened?”
“He failed,” a cold voice said.
Artrix looked up as Andelar finished stepping through a portal.
“What are you doing here?” Artrix spat. “Come to gloat at my defeat.”
“No,” Andelar slowly said replied. “I’m here to clean things up.”
“Clean up what?” Artrix asked, leaning against one of the pines as his women tended to his wound. “You can’t fight Mordred for a month for your shot against him.”
Andelar looked up into the sky. “True, but you on the other hand…”
Artrix looked up at the ball of fire descending down upon them. “You bastard! You can’t!”
The asteroid hit and Andelar stood unmoving, the shockwave not affecting him in the slightest as the mountain range was turned to glass. All the bears and followers of Artrix who made up his realm were now ashes floating on the breeze. Artrix was still alive, if barely. Golden light shone out from the blackened bones and one remaining eye looked up at him as he stood over the dying god.
“Why?” Artrix rasped.
“Because,” Andelar said with a shrug. “You have something I need.”
He reached down into the glowing light and removed a glowing orb from his chest. Artrix stopped moving, the life leaving his remaining eye. Andelar watched as the divine realm started to shrink and dissolve around them. The souls of Andelar’s vassals began to disappear; they had been only kept alive by his power here just like the divine realm, and now with their god’s death, they would go to the Void.
Andelar turned and opened another portal, leaving evidence of his actions to disappear behind him.