Blow after blow rained down on me. It was ridiculous. How could anyone, even an incarnate goddess for that matter, swing a silly big sword like this one, fast like that? In all honesty, each swing on its own should have been enough to tear her arms out of their sockets. The metallic sound my glaive's blade had made as it scraped across her bones came to mind though, as well as that old story about their bones being Titanium. If that was true, even if just to a degree, the rest might not be just flesh and blood either. Not in the same way as my body was anyway.

Never mind how she did it. She was able to swing that blade as she did and that was all that mattered. I dodged right and left. Every time I evaded one of the enraged goddess's attacks I made my way a few more steps down the steep stairs as well. Going back up, if I had to, would be tricky if it would be possible at all. The heavy blade dug deep furrows into the stairs with every swing, if it didn't smash them outright, sending the broken rubble flying everywhere.

I had to jump back, ducking low not not loose my balance as I landed again, to get out of range of an especially savage attack. An hour ago the idea alone would have had me laughing in disbelief. Now I had jumped backwards on the stairs, easily descending a dozen steps in one lunge. Yet we were only halfway down. A single slip up, a single missed step, would still be my undoing. The thought didn't scare me though. Quite the opposite was true. The whole experience was exhilarating! I grinned and laughed as I made a quick jab against my opponent's ankles.

My weapon wasn't deflected by Mage Armor this time either. She obviously hadn't renewed the spell. I even managed to slip my blade in between the plates of her boot and the greaves she wore. In hindsight that wasn't good. The edge of my weapon only left a shallow cut. In turn it almost got caught in between the plates of her armor though. As a result my next dodge was much closer than any before. An hour ago it would have been too close for comfort as well. Now though it only drew another laugh. That newest scrape didn't seem to slow her down either. Not in a noticeable way at least.

Even knowing that a single slip up would be my undoing, even with my opponent growing ever more furious, I started enjoying myself. The realization should probably have caused consternation but nothing like that ever crossed my mind. Instead I felt the touch of the Lover, closer than ever before. In the end I simply felt exhilarated and liberated as I kept dancing around the Devourer's furious strikes. I never before had felt alive like this.

Before I even realized it we arrived at the bottom of the grand structure. The sudden change in terrain almost cost me dearly, as my feet touched glimmering dust instead of another impossible black step. The Devourer's sword slid across my shield as I did my best to deflect it while bending backwards at the same time. It's very tip still grazed my left cheek. In a way I was lucky not to loose part of a horn again. Maybe this close brush with death should have reminded me of my own mortality. It didn't though. Instead I felt the wound, really just a nick, close again almost before the first drop of blood could touch the sand at my feet.

The reincarnated goddess must have noticed as well, as she finally broke out of her crazed berserk rage. For a moment she stared at me bewildered. The tip of her weapon lowered, touching the ground. “What? How?”

I shrugged, lowering my own weapon as well, at least a little. “Does it matter?”

That comeback almost sent her over the edge again. I could see her eye twitch. “Does it matter? Does it matter!” She let out a primeval scream, raging at the heavens above for a moment instead of directing her ire at me. “You shouldn't be able to heal that! No mortal should be! You should be on your knees, clutching at your rotting face, begging me to grant you a quick death instead!”

I snorted, nodding in the direction of her lowered sword. “Ah, one of your infamous cursed blades? Hate to disappoint you. I don't think those will work on me. Not any more. Might just be that you can't touch me at all.”

For a moment she stared at me perplexed. It was almost as if she was lost in thought. Finally she roared though. “That damned, bungling, idiotic …!” She sent her accursed sword flying. It smashed into one of the nearby ruins, getting stuck in a wall a good two floors above us. “To bad I already consumed her soul. That was entirely too easy a death for that bungling idiot.” Her hands twitched. “Let us see though if you are right and I'm actually not able to touch you.”

I had readied myself as she spoke, her every word bitter vitriol. It still came as a surprise as she launched herself at me not entirely unlike the vampire had. Except she didn't even try to evade the point of my weapon. She didn't try to bat it aside either. Instead it was torn from my hand as she impaled herself on it to get at me. No mortal enemy would have survived a wound like that. The blade of my glaive wasn't exactly fine and narrow after all. Anyone else would have spilled their guts with a reckless move like that. Not her though.

She didn't get anywhere though. Or at least she didn't get what she wanted. Probably. I smashed my shield in her face, actually distracting her with it for a moment. It didn't stop her though. She tried to tear away the gorget protecting my neck and throat but it wouldn't budge. Not even her monstrous strength was able to tear Titanium forged by one of her sisters. The metal simply wouldn't give. With enough time she would eventually still be able to peal me out of my armor though. Unless she forgot how to work belts and buckles.

Instead of pushing her away I pulled her closer though, enveloping her in a hug. For the briefest of moments she was so perplexed that she didn't even struggle. “Just stop it. You are free. The chains are broken. You don't have to keep fighting. You can just stop.” My voice was a whisper, barely audible over the wind.

She broke into hysteric laughter at that. “Just stop? Did your little mortal mind finally break? They'll just wrap me in chains again! Or do you honestly think they would let me win?”

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I held her close for another moment but as she started to struggle I let her go. “No, they won't. This isn't about you or them winning or losing though. Like I said, you aren't an avatar of entropy. It doesn't need one. It will win in the end. There is no doubt about that. It isn't in a hurry either though. Another billion billion years or more mean nothing to it.”

She snarled at me, as she stumbled a step back, pulling my glaive from her torn torso and throwing it to the side. “Is this your idea of subjugating me with clever talk? Do you really think that telling me that everything I have been fighting for is meaningless will win my favor?”

I broke into a chuckle. “No. That isn't it. But why would you keep fighting, against everyone and everything? Because you want to? Or because it is everything you have ever known? Because you were created to fight by the very masters you fought for so long? The only chains left binding you are either theirs or your own.”

I moved to wrap her into a hug again and although she stiffened she didn't pull back. Her voice was bitter. “What do you even know? I fought and won so many battles and in the end it only resulted in my sisters turning on me!”

I pulled her close, resting her head against my breast. “What do I know? Very little? Or just enough? You won all your battles. Yet you lost yourself. A little more with every victory you won. That is something I should know. I faced the kings, the pawns and monsters you threw at me after all. There was very little of your supposed military genius to be noticed. Its no wonder though, considering the unspeakable terrors you had to face. I only fought one of those things, and it was just a minor one at that, and it certainly wasn't a fun experience.”

She stiffened a little. “Oh, good, keep going like that. Tell me that I'm a bumbling idiot myself as well again. I'm sure that will cool my wrath.”

I shook my head. “Don't be daft. Do you want to keep fighting? Especially for a cause that really isn't one? Would you keep devouring everything although you really don't have to and although it wont matter at all in the bigger picture? Or would you rather stop? Wouldn't you rather just sleep and forget?”

A bitter laugh escaped her. “I can't. None of us can. We can never forget. We can never forgive. It isn't in our nature. It isn't the way we were made. I slept for countless years, wrapped in my sisters' chains. I couldn't forget though. Instead my hatred for everything just simmered and kept growing as their chains kept me constrained!”

I kept whispering in her ear as I ran a hand through her hair. “And you only ever drew the worst kind of mortals into your service. Probably none of them ever even thought about helping you. They did your bidding but none of them ever thought about really helping you. Or am I wrong? They couldn't fathom the idea that a mortal might grant you release quite easily because you yourself couldn't fathom the idea?”

I snorted. “Well, it took your sisters some time to realize that chaining you down wasn't making things better either. Now, I ask you again. Would you rather sleep and forget all these things that trouble you? Wouldn't you rather start over with a fresh slate instead of going on mindlessly like before?”

She laughed another of her bitter laughs. “Are you offering me salvation by reincarnation? You, a mortal? Me, a goddess?”

I shrugged. “Us mortals seem to be involved in the process quite naturally and I might just have the ear of a few other goddesses that would be willing to help. Please. They don't want to see you suffer just as they don't want to see you turn into a soulless force of destruction again. I can't promise you that everything will be alright. I'm only mortal after all. But I can offer you a chance. Would you take it?”

She didn't answer as she finally raised her head to look into my eyes. She didn't answer though. Instead her body, or rather the body she had borrowed, started to turn into more of the omnipresent glittering dust. Within moments her armor cluttered to the ground as the glittering remnants of the monstrous body slipped through my fingers.

I was as worried as surprised at the sudden turn of events. As I looked up I could see Gash'zur descending the stairs wearily. Her face mirrored my thoughts.

Her steps were still a little shaky as she approached, taking in the scene. “Is it over? Have we won?”

I accepted her hand, letting her pull me back up. “I hope so. I really hope so.” Then I nearly collapsed again, as a wave of abdominal pain hit me. I leaned heavily onto the giantess. “Lets get out of here. I need water, a bed, a meal or two, some hot springs, massages and a few years of peace and quiet if we can somehow arrange it.”

The giantess relaxed slightly but kept supporting me as she picked up my glaive along the way. “Sounds good to me. We'll need to get back to Gib and his comrades though for most of that as we don't have anything but water handy right now.”

I nodded. I knew. I had been involved in packing for this crazy trip after all. As we wade our way to our hidden cache one by one the Ganarl we had freed came out of hiding as well. Yep we would have to take care of them as well. I motioned for them to follow us. There were so many things we would yet need to take care off but I felt good despite that. I rested a hand against my abdomen. Hopefully things would take a turn for the better. For now though I really only wanted to go home.