Chapter 115 - Negotiations
Rodeo floated inches from the ground, thick leather wings spread wide, his new form laid bare to the world. He stared at his new hands with a curious look, inspecting the sharpened claws for a brief moment before letting loose a low, earthy chuckle. His eyes scanned the surrounding U.F.E. soldiers and the preparations they had made for the assault.
“Before we do anything rash, I have a prop-“
Rodeo couldn’t finish his sentence before a soldier launched out of formation. The unknown soldier's blade radiated a cool blue energy as he stepped forward and lashed out the demon, cutting a deep gash in his chest that sent a spray of black blood all over the soldier.
Two other soldiers, inspired by the action, quickly followed suit. One with a powerful swing of his mace, the other thrusting outwards with their spear. Each landed a vicious strike on Rodeo.
As the black blood spurted free from Rodeo’s wounds and covered the soldiers, they immediately fell to their knees, screaming in agony as the blood sizzled through their armor and began to burn their skin. The familiar smell of burning hair and flesh wafted over to Jack just as they were enveloped in the radiant light of healing spells cast by a nearby healer.
Rodeo, on the other hand, began to heal on his own. Without any obvious potion, casting, or even effort, his flesh reknit itself. He wore an analytical look on his face as he stared at the soldiers who still screamed in agony and grabbed at their vanished wounds despite having been healed.
“Interesting…” Rodeo mused as he stepped up to one of the soldiers, ripping off his chest armor with a casual grace.
The man’s chest was burned through, looking as if he had somehow had acid poured all over him. His body began to glow again as he was peppered with more healing spells. The soldier desperately downed a health potion in between pained screams.
The burned flesh healed, only to instantly collapse again.
“You can heal the flesh, but my blood remains. Your death is inevitable”, Rodeo blandly concluded. .” A cruel smile slid onto his face, one that Jack recognized in seconds. Rodeo had new powers, and the man was eager to explore and test them.
A jet of water weaved delicately through the soldiers and split into three streams, enveloping the screaming soldiers. The waters rushed around the three bodies with a practiced efficiency. Jack noticed as the streams took on a subtle black hue that permeated throughout Sarah’s blue waters. The waters quickly rejoined into a ball and were launched against the far cavern wall. As the water dissipated, there was a clear remnant of sizzling black ichor that continued to burn through the cavern’s walls.
The soldiers’ pained groans stopped and deep, relieved breaths took their place.
“Smart girl,” Rodeo chuckled, his dead gray eyes finding Sarah in the crowd and giving her an evaluating gaze. Jack quickly stepped in front of her and met Rodeo’s eyes with a challenging gaze of his own.
Rodeo simply smiled at Jack. The innocuous gesture turned menacing as his smile revealed a mouth full of sharpened fangs.
“Unfortunately, your efforts don’t really matter. They are dead men walking,” Rodeo said as he looked back to where his pitch back blood had burned through the cavern walls.
Everyone followed Rodeo’s gaze upward.
From the cavern wall’s three beams of ethereal white energy were creeping downwards, spiraling amongst each other as they swam through the air and found purchase in their target, Rodeo.
“Damnit,” Devin muttered under his breath.
As the reckoning magic of broken oaths took purchase in Rodeo, the man-turned-monster began to transform for the second time this fight. His body bulged as muscles tried to break free of skin that could barely contain them. In response, the black leathery scales that covered his body took on a black metallic sheen, hardening twice over and forming into deadly black spikes. His red claws grew menacingly longer and radiated deadly sharpness. His eyes took on a pitch black and his jaw unhinged to let loose a guttural scream of demonic power that blasted back anyone unlucky enough to be standing too close.
The three soldiers began to run. Two dived into the surrounding formation of soldiers who quickly scattered, betraying their comrade. Before anyone had time to react, Rodeo fell on one in a flash, appearing like a cloud of red mist around the man and slicing through him with ease. His body erupted in an explosion of blood.
Jack grimaced at the sight. Even to a seasoned assassin, seeing a body burst into a cloud of red mist, guts, and bone was hard to stomach.
The second soldier fared little better. Rodeo ripped her in half, her screams cut off by an enraged Rodeo biting into her throat and drinking her blood like water from a fountain. He threw her remains casually into a group of cowering soldiers as his eyes found the third soldier who had nearly escaped.
Rodeo took to the skies and leveled his hand at the running man. A small black spear barely the size of a pencil shot out of his hand and pierced the man through the leg causing him to stumble forward with a pained yelp.
Jack grit his teeth at that. Despite the demon’s clearly enraged state, Rodeo was still in there somewhere and he was playing with his food.
He watched as Rodeo sent a hundred pencil sized spears into the man, treating him like a human pincushion, his form only identifiable by a ghostly black outline and a puddle of blood.
Rodeo slowly descended, and as his taloned feet touched the ground the energy that sent him into his state of bloodlust fell away from him like snow shaken free from a tree. His body returned to normal, his size decreased, his scales reformed, and his claws shrank back to only mildly deadly daggers.
Rodeo stared at his hand again, flexing it. He looked up, inspecting the soldiers. Some had retreated. Some were throwing up. Others had fallen to their knees in fear.
Rodeo’s eyes landed on Devin.
“I’m ready to begin our negotiations,” Rodeo grinned, blood still dripping from his chin.
The silence hung in the air for a long moment as everyone stared at the monster Rodeo had become. Jack glanced at Gideon, who stood taut, held back by force of will, his eyes studying Rodeo.
He wants to know what Rodeo wants. Jack thought. Good luck with that. I’ve been trying to figure that out for years.
“You can’t possibly think I would make a deal with you after this sort of betrayal. You’ve doomed us all Rodeo,” Devin stammered out behind gritted teeth.
“Oh, but I do expect you to make a deal.” Rodeo disappeared in a flash into the crowd of soldiers, grabbing onto one of them and tearing them to shreds in another vicious display of blood and brutality.
“You see,” Rodeo started, discarding the head. “I can attack you. But you can’t attack me.” This time Rodeo began cackling as he took slow ponderous steps towards the commander until he was standing nose to nose with Devin.
“Go on. Attack me. I’m curious what levels of strength someone as powerful as you will elevate me to.”
What do you want?” Devin’s eyes were furious as he stared back at Rodeo.
“I have only two little requests. The first,” Rodeo turned back towards the soldiers that still remained, “I require all of you who have sworn oaths against me to break those oaths.”
“So, it’s a fight you want after all.” Devin leveled his sword at Rodeo and several of the soldiers who had yet to lose their cool followed suit.
“You misunderstand.” Rodeo held up pacifying hands, his smile still cruel. “I promise I won’t kill you. In fact, if you have sworn a soul oath against me, I will guarantee your survival.”
“How? We just watched you lose yourself to bloodlust-“
“I admit,” Rodeo cut off Devin “The bloodlust effects and the sudden power up was stronger than I was expecting, but now that I know what to expect,” he said, stressing the word “I can control it. Scouts honor.”
Devin stared at Rodeo for a long moment, his face considering.
“Why?” he finally asked.
“I’m glad you asked,” Rodeo said with a clap of his hands. “As you might be aware, I currently have a rather powerful demon housed rather unhappily inside of me.”
Devin nodded at this.
“Even now, I can feel him eating away at my soul, clawing at my psyche, screaming in my ears. I thought I had left that particular form of torture behind when Jackie boy here left his teenage years, but, here we are,” Rodeo finished with an annoyed grunt.
“In exchange for you breaking your oaths, I promise to not only leave you all alive, but leave the first floor, and take Xinnolath with me, never to return.” Rodeo had a placating smile on his face, staring at Devin as though his plan made perfect sense and he would be an idiot not to accept.
“I don’t understand. I’m not making a deal under these conditions.”
Rodeo’s smile dropped, and he let loose a snarl. He disappeared again in a flash of power, finding another target and slamming his taloned feet into them. He picked up the body and slammed it into the ground repeatedly, venting his frustrations as the soldier was turned into a human paste.
He stomped back over to Devin covered in blood and gore, his face contorted into rage and fury.
“You do not have the intellect or the luxury to understand my plans,” Rodeo screamed, spitting blood onto Devin’s face. “I am the one in control. Not. You.” He poked Devin in the chest with his clawed finger, emphasizing his point and leaving rents in his armor. “You seem to be unaware of the precarious situation you find yourself in, so let me lay it out for you in a way your feeble mind can comprehend. You can’t kill me. I have destroyed the means to do so. You can’t attack me. You and all your men have all have sworn oaths to me, so any pathetic offenses you launch will amount to nothing as they will only serve to make me stronger.” Rodeo was speaking to the soldiers this time instead of screaming in Devin’s face.
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“You are insignificant tools who have played right into my plans. I win. You lose. You should be on your knees, thankful that I’m even willing to negotiate at all. Tell me, Devin,” he said, turning back towards the commander. “How many more must I kill before you are willing to accept my demands?”
“He’s on edge,” Hannah whispered, stepping up beside Jack.
“Any idea what his plan is?” Jack asked.
“I think he needs more power to bring Xinnolath fully under his control. He wants to leverage the backlash from the broken oaths to do that I guess?”
“Is that a thing that can even be done? The power he got only lasted a few minutes. Is that long enough?” Jack turned to Gideon, who was frowning, his face contorted into a look of deep thought.
“No. You don’t just overpower a demon once, you fight it every day in an endless struggle for control. I honestly don’t know what he plans to do, or how he intends to resist the bloodlust effect,” Gideon finally said.
“Should we stop him now then?” Jack asked.
“Fine.” Devin’s voice cut through their conversation and all heads turned back towards the commander.
“I’ll go first. Prove that you can handle the lusted effects and you have a deal.”
“That a boy,” Rodeo nodded as he regained his composure in a flash, his sharp smile returning.
“Before we try, I need to know the second condition.”
“What? Oh. Right. I think you know what the second thing I want is.”
Devin’s eyes immediately landed on Jack.
“Exactly,” Rodeo chuckled, following Devin’s gaze and meeting Jack’s eyes.
“Your obsession is starting to become unhealthy Rodeo.” Jack gave the two men an annoyed look. “Are you trying to fuck me? I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but you aren’t my type.”
Resignedly, Jack sighed. The lengths Rodeo would go to ruin his life would be borderline impressive if it wasn’t absolutely supervillain psychotic.
“I won’t help you when it comes to Jack. But I won’t stand in your way, so long as you guarantee the survival of my men.”
“Dick move,” Jack complained loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Deal. I’ll handle my grievances with Jack myself once our business has concluded,” Rodeo said, leveling his gaze on Jack. “Now then. How about we finish this. Attack me. Make it count.” Rodeo laid his arms bare, completely defenseless before Devin.
Devin’s blade glowed white hot with power as he slashed at the demon’s throat, sending his head falling to the ground.
Someone in the crowd gasped as everyone looked at the lifeless head of Rodeo rolling across the cavern floor.
Nothing happened for a long moment.
Slowly black blood began to pour out of Rodeo’s neck and condense into a tentacle, flailing about wildly on the ground until it found Rodeo’s head. At the same time, another tendril of power descended from the ceiling and struck Rodeo’s body just as he reattached his head.
This second transformation was much like the first albeit with added exaggeration, undoubtedly the Tower accounting for Devin’s increased power.
Rodeo suddenly launched itself at Devin, and the commander quickly fell into a defensive stance in response.
Rodeo came to a stop mere inches away from Devin, their noses almost touching. Rodeo breathed heavily through a face contorted into barely controlled, unbridled rage as he took a slow step back. He let loose a roar filled with pure anger and agony as he fought against the effects of the bloodlust.
Rodeo held his hands out, chest high, and a familiar spike began to form between his palms. Not the black iron rods that had turned one of their own into a human pincushion. Instead it was a tarnished silver. The color of Rodeo’s mana. Rodeo’s own devastating ability. His mind spike.
The spike grew larger than Jack had ever seen, nearly two feet across before Rodeo pressed the point to his temple and pierced his own skull.
Everyone stood there, dumbfounded looks on their faces as the screaming demon instantly fell silent. He slowly raised his head and let loose a familiar chuckle.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad now, was it?”
“Did he just mind control himself to ignore the effects of the bloodlust?” Hannah asked.
“He wants to mind control Xinnolath,” Sam blurted out.
Everyone turned to Sam, who blushed slightly at the sudden attention. Even Gideon was giving Sam a considering look.
“Explain Sammy,” Hannah said.
“Well, if the demon is inside him and trying to take him over, then he could cast one of his mind control abilities on Xinnolath right? He probably isn’t strong enough on his own to pierce Xinnolath’s mind , and any mind control abilities probably wouldn’t work because Xinnolath has been around for what, a few thousand millenia? Unless… Rodeo was somehow able to massively supercharge his power. Like maybe with a bunch of broken soul oaths.”
“Your half right Samuel,” Gideon started “I don’t think mind control is the end goal.”
“What’s he doing then?” Sarah asked.
“I think he plans to destroy Xinnolath’s mind completely, not control it, but turn it to mush, so all that remains is a mindless husk and a vast well of demonic power he can freely access without any repercussions. It’s brilliant actually… terrifying, but brilliant…I just… How long has he been planning this out? He’s human and fairly new to the Tower. It’s absurd to think this many things could have fallen into place,” Gideon trailed off, deep in thought.
Jack and Hannah shared a grim chuckle between themselves, which drew angry looks from the group.
“I fail to see the humor in this,” Sarah admonished.
“Gallows humor. You wouldn’t believe how many times me and Hannah have said that exact thing about Rodeo. How? How could he have planned it? It’s honestly a little comforting, welcome to the Rodeo Shit Show.” Jack shrugged at Sarah.
“Everyone get ready.” Gideon Interrupted. “I’ll need you all to buy me some time. There’s roughly forty soldiers remaining who have sworn an oath to Rodeo. If he gets through half before I’m done, I’ll need you to stop him,” he finished with a hard glance at Hannah and Jack.
“How exactly? Isn’t attacking him exactly what he wants?” Sam asked, panic creeping into his voice.
“Just follow our lead Sammy,” was all Hannah offered. Her voice was steel. She exchanged a quick glance with Jack, the look on her facing asking if they were really about to do this.
Jack returned a tight nod.
Gideon had asked them to buy him some time. Only he and Hannah actually understood what that meant. Only the three of them were trained killers with an understanding of completing objectives by any means necessary. Often through unconventional methods. Devin, Sarah, and Sam didn’t have the capacity to understand what Gideon was alluding to. If Rodeo got through too many broken soul oaths, they wouldn’t attack him directly. They couldn’t. So if you can’t kill the target because they are too powerful, then you go after the source of their power, the thing that gives them strength.
They would kill the remaining soldiers who had sworn an oath.
Jack gripped his daggers tightly and tried to quiet his mind. Sure, he liked to kill as much as the next assassin, but this, this was murder of actually decent people just trying to survive in this fucked up Tower bullshit.
He watched as another soldier, Hank, stepped forward and slashed out at Rodeo with his sword. Events played out much like the last time. Rodeo’s bloodlust nearly taking over just before slamming a spike into his head to regain control.
After the third oath was broken, Jack felt a dangerous heat licking at his back. He glanced back at the dragon.
Gideon’s chest was glowing a deep red as burning embers crawled up his throat. He held his hands steady in front of him and slowly exhaled. A whisp of pure golden flames slid from his mouth and coalesced into a drop of white hot power between his palms. It honestly reminded Jack of his own ability and how he condensed mana.
“You are not seriously stealing my ability?”
Gideon didn’t respond, but he saw the dragon crack a slight smile. Jack huffed in response and took a step forward, the heat radiating off Gideon’s mana becoming unbearable.
As the fifth soul oath was broken, Rodeo’s transformation was becoming more grotesque. His wicked red horns had grown larger, and a third horn was beginning to emerge from the center of his head. His black scales grew in size and density, giving a look of preternatural steel plate armor. His tail snapped back and forth like a metal whip, and to Jack’s mind, its quick swishes betrayed Rodeo’s growing delight at his increasing power.
As Rodeo recovered his psyche, his eyes immediately fell to the new source of power in the room. Gideon and whatever ability he was forming.
“Oh. While the determination is admirable, I can’t let you hit me with whatever that is Gideon.” Rodeo chuckled, a devilish smile on his face. Then he looked over at Jack.
“Jackie boy. Do me a favor and stop him,” Rodeo commanded
Jack was caught off guard by Rodeo’s request, his shock causing him to fall out of his stance. He quickly gathered himself and looked at Rodeo.
“Umm… No?” Jack responded questioningly, utterly nonplussed. He was so confused by the demand that he didn’t have a clever comeback at the ready.
“I wasn’t asking, boy. Stop the dragon. Kill him. I know you need him dead. Think of this as a last little gift before I break you,” Rodeo barked, falling into a cadence that Jack was all too familiar with, having grown up under Rodeo’s heel.
Jack didn’t budge.
He glanced at Gideon who was ignoring the world around him in deep concentration, still slowly breathing out flames and increasing the intensity of the fiery orb that coalesced in his hands.
“Same as ever. Stupid dog, always needing the stick,” Rodeo complained.
Jack felt every hair on his body stand up as he prepared for an assault from Rodeo. He threw himself in front of Sarah, knowing what the man was about to do… but nothing happened.
He glanced around frantically. Rodeo had disappeared from sight and Jack couldn’t sense him anywhere.
“As foolish as ever…” Rodeo whispered in his ear. Jack lashed out with his daggers, spinning in a fury, and unleashing a blow on… nothing. Rodeo was nowhere to be found. Sarah had fallen back in surprise, pushing herself away from Jack and his daggers and closer to the powerful flames of Gideon.
“I would never use your dear Sarah as bait,” Rodeo’s voice rang out as if hurt by the accusation. “Killing her would be pointless. Broken hearts heal all the time. Sure you might be angry, furious even. But you would get over it, eventually.”
Jack slowly turned around, an unknown fear in his heart.
“Betraying the one constant in your miserable little life however…” Rodeo had his arms wrapped around Hannah. One hand had his claws digging into her chest, the other hand was holding onto her head, his claws digging into her skull. Hannah’s eyes were furious. She was practically frothing at the mouth in rage as she refused to give Rodeo the satisfaction of screaming out in pain.
“I’m not sure you would ever recover from losing our dear Hannah.” Rodeo pushed in his claws a little deeper, and this time Hannah let out an unbidden mew of pain.
“Kill the dragon, or I kill Hannah.”
“Don’t fucking do anything he says Jack. FUCK HIM.” Hannah roared between pained screams as Rodeo slowly raked his claws digging deep bloody rents into her flesh.
Jack's mind raced for an answer. He looked back at Gideon who was still charging up an ability. Sarah stood in front of him with her staff held at the ready. She looked between Jack and Hannah, clearly unsure of the right course of action.
At that moment a faint golden thread appeared to the right of Jack.
He looked back at Rodeo who had a sword buried into his skull. Sam was holding on to the other end. Rodeo dropped Hannah and stumbled backwards. Sam let go of his sword and grabbed Hannah, running back towards Jack.
“Do something!” he cried, picking up Hannah and throwing Jack a panicked look. Sam activated his chrono-warp ability with Hannah in tow this time.
He wasn’t fast enough.
A furious, freshly powered up Rodeo slammed into Sam’s back with taloned feet before he could fully activate the ability. This time, however, it didn’t look like Rodeo had manage to reapply the mind control. His eyes were pitch black and he was frothing at the mouth. Several black spikes erupted from the ground and skewered Sam, bringing an end to his frantic cries.
“KILL. THE. DRAGON.” Rodeo roared, punctuating each word by slamming Hannah's face into the ground.
Jack felt numb. In an instant he had failed everyone. He had lost. The only move left was to give in. He readied a drop of mana and turned towards Gideon.
Sarah's face was determined, but sorrowful. She would try to stop Jack. But she would fail. Jack knew it. She knew it.
His eyes fell on Gideon next. The dragon had come out of his trance, and he had a hard look in his eyes as he struggled to maintain whatever technique he had formed, a small orb of golden flames radiating power in between his palms. Jack just needed to avoid that.
Jack took one step forward, and then froze.
Gideon thrust the small ball of flame into Sarah’s back.
Sarah gave Jack a surprised look as she crumbled to the ground in a pile of dust and ash.