Chapter 6:
We All Lift Together
"Pragmatism, and most importantly of all obedience. These are the things that The Order of The Godclaw will expect. Anything less will mean that you will receive a disciplinary course of action. The Hellknights are not the sort of people who will allow for insubordination but reason is important. Creativity and cautiousness are rewarded if they serve the mission, but if in doing so you disobey a commanding officer? There will be lashes. On the very same day you are given your due. They will acknowledge your contribution but they won't let you forget that you took a risk in your initiative. You could have jeopardized everything by not relaying your plans to a superior. A break in formation affects everyone in the unit, and a lack of proper communication can lead to unnecessary deaths."
- Regill
The Black Swordsman was there to meet them when the monsters arrived, and it was only The Skull Knight who stood beside him in this moment. The plan would be simple. They would distract the enemy forces, and I would use my magic to evacuate those in the tree house. I would have to bring everyone to safety. Then after I was certain of that? I had to return, and help them.
The problem was that the whole forest was surrounded by these demons. Which means even this evacuation may not go smoothly, and I will have to take certain measures.
I looked at the group of people in front of me. I had to take a crash course in learning who they all were. I immediately recognized one person in particular. Her dark complexion was something I could not mistake. It was the woman that Guts had wanted to protect more than anyone else.
Casca was her name but as she was now?
She was just Elaine.
Her mind was a broken mess, and I was tempted to do something about that. I had a few tricks that could fix it but I would need permission before trying anything. Her body and mind had already been violated. As for her soul it was broken. I didn't want to make it worse.
I also didn't know how that mark on her neck would react to my magic. The
Brand of Sacrifice as The Skull Knight called it. It was powerful, and unpredictable. It had somehow created the hell hound that existed inside of Guts, or to be more precise it gave the trauma that was already inside of him a tangible form.
Then there was the fairy. Puck. I had no words. I had never met a fae that was this grating on my nerves. Ivalera was far more pleasant. The only problem was that they both called themselves elves.
They were most certainly not.
Schierke of course was beside her mentor. Flora couldn't get anywhere fast. Her advanced age made sure of that.
Serpico and Farnese?
It was peculiar but I could see a similar physiognomy. Some of their features made them look as if they could be brother and sister.
That couldn't be the case though. The way Farnese looked at him? That was no way a person should look at their family. If I had to guess? They were lovers in the past.
Then there was the one I liked the most. He reminded me of a certain tiefling I knew. Isidro was just like Wolfjif. A rogue in the making no doubt. I could tell he had a talent for theft. Unlike most members of The Order of the Godclaw I saw a purpose in miscreants like him. They made for excellent spies, and even better assassins.
"This magic I am about to use will transport us just outside the forest. The only problem is that I do not know how many of these monsters will be there. I doubt they sent their entire military force just to pillage one hearth. They no doubt left some of their grunts behind to cover their rear. Which means there will be a lot of them, but they will the disposable ones. The small fry. Which means you all will be able to--" I stop myself at that. No, a lot of these people were children and some of them could even fit in the palm of my hand. These were not my crusaders. They were just non-combatants. "
I will be able to handle them."
It would have to be that way. I didn't know what these people could do. One of them was even a mad woman.
These were not soldiers.
"Sir, if I may interject?" It is Serpico who speaks. "What do you expect to do? It does not look like you have a way to defend yourself."
"I would like a blade of some sort but I lost mine." Radiance had disappeared when I found myself here. The enchanted sword was one of the finest on Golarion. A light in the darkness. Not unlike The Sword of Valor which protected Drezen. "I will make due. I still have my magic, and unlike the young witch who I owe my life? What I can weave into being can be quite devastating."
The most powerful spells in my arsenal could rout entire armies, and conjure forth angelic beings from the celestial spheres.
I had to be careful though. If these people got caught in my attacks? They would surely join our enemies in death.
"Stay close to me, and never get in my way. Cover my flank because if you obstruct my forward charge? There will be no tomorrow for you." I am frank about it. "Anything caught in my cross-hairs will die."
I could see the sweat began to form on his forehead. Serpico knew that I wasn't speaking in jest.
"I understand. I will watch your back."
"That is all you need to do."
This person was probably the only one here who could fight. Well, besides myself that is. He carried himself like a duelist. He wasn't quite an Aldori Swordlord, but he definitely knew how to handle a rapier.
I am reminded of another fencer that had been part of my party at one point. An aristocratic half-elf with particular predilections that involved cannibalism. Unparalleled fencer. Complete psychopath.
Hopefully that was not the case here.
"I am sorry but I must ask you something. Serpico... do you happen to have a taste for
people?" I almost seem to teleport as I materialize in front of him. I was uncomfortably close, and glaring at him in disgust like I just caught him plowing Farnese.
"N-No, I do not! Why do you ask?" He sounds nervous at that. As if I was about to execute him.
"I had a friend who was much like a chameleon in that she was an expert at pretending to be just another haughty aristocrat. In truth, she enjoyed torturing and murdering the innocent. After which she would dine on their corpses. I caught her in the act, and then I proceeded to unleash a horde of thanadaemons on her. Who in turn feasted on her." I say it in the most casual way possible. "I don't have to do that again... do I?"
"I hope not!" If he was nervous before? Now he was terrified. "I am not a lunatic!"
Farnese meanwhile was shaking like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Lord Vorlesh, is it? Serpico is no such monster." She gulps at that. "However, to my shame I was once a bit of an arsonist."
"That's relatively normal by comparison! Unless of course you derived sexual gratification from people being burnt alive but that would be ridiculous, right?" It would be positively absurd. The chances of meeting another person as insane as Camellia would be...
"..." Farnese looks guilty at that, and that's when I see her desperately try to avoid my gaze. An obvious indication that she felt some measure of shame.
"Oh." I realize just how horrible my luck was. "Oh, I see." Day one, and my entire party is already a group of mentally unstable loons. I never was going to catch a break.
Elaine chooses that exact moment to catch and eat a butterfly that had been buzzing around her head. Her dead eyed stare, and the sound of crunching breaks me out of my malaise.
"Is anyone here not insane?"
"I am!" Isidro waves his hand. "Completely normal!"
"Good. That's good." I nod my head. I had to take my victories where I could. No matter how
small they were. "What about you fairies?"
"I like to hurt people." Puck says it without a hint of irony. "It makes me feel alive!" Then he starts to giggle. "Just kidding, but don't worry. This is normal for us."
"That's funny. Great joke! If you do that again? I am going to introduce you to my Belt of Discipline. It's been a while since I used it!" I menacingly reach into my bag of holding, and begin to pull it out. Unlike a Belt of Physical Perfection? The only thing it granted others was excruciating pain.
The fairy becomes as white as snow before covering his mouth. Hoping that would be enough to placate me.
"I like him already!" Ivalera had such a wonderful smile. It put my heart at ease.
"Alright, let us get down to business! What I am about to cast is a spell known as Dimension Door--"
"How exactly does it work?" Flora finally speaks, and I could realize why immediately. I wasn't a witch like they were at all, and it made her curious.
"It will conjure a hole in the fabric of reality, and lead us to a particular destination. In this case it will be the outskirts of these woods." I take a deep breath. "Since this is not something any of you experienced before? I must warn you. The first time will make you queasy, and you might involuntarily empty your bowels."
"That's a joke, right?" Isidro looks worried for a moment.
"No." I answer him "It is not a joke."
The young man scrunches his face in annoyance.
"It
rarely happens even to those who haven't gone through it before, but there have been a few cases. Usually when a person has an irritable stomach." I do my best to comfort him. "Just remember to stay calm. The sensation is worse when you're panicking."
"I got it, chief."
I freeze at that. Just wondering for a moment if I was hearing things. I quickly regain my composure. It seems that my intuition hadn't failed.
Isidro was just like Wolfjif.
I focus on the magic within me, and that magic which existed in the ley-lines around us. I weave Mage Armor for all of them, and it wraps around their bodies. It was a comfortable but secure fit. It couldn't be seen normally but it was there. An invisible force that would ward against any danger.
I open my eyes, and that's when I open the portal.
"It is time for us to leave."
<<X>>
Guts gripped Dragon Slayer tightly in his hands. I had given him back the parts of his body that were stolen from him, and for that he would be forever grateful. However, that was not the greatest gift I had granted him.
He could
accept that the hell hound existed now. That part of himself had to be dealt with. Just like The Falcon of Light.
Just like his brother who betrayed him.
Griffith had to pay, but these people? The ones that helped him get this far? They had to come before anything else. They were his responsibility.
He had a family again.
His quest for vengeance had to end. Instead he had to seek this "justice" that I revealed to him. Griffith was just another monster, and he would be treated like one.
Dragon Slayer would drink the blood of a demon lord. A god in all but name. Dispassionately? Guts would unravel the hawk's dream. Guts would take the only thing that Griffith loved.
His kingdom.
Almost as if pleased by this line of thought? His sword begins to hum. It was not just a weapon. It had something of an essence. A spirit if you would. Not unlike my Radiance. Which had the wrath of the righteous nestled within it!
"All that talk but here you are! A slave to a master!" Guts held nothing but contempt for Nosferatu Zodd now. "Where is your pride? I thought you were something else but now? I feel nothing but disgust." The Berserker Armor seemed to resonate with his words. "Just another cowardly apostle like all the rest."
"..." The apostle does not dare to speak. There is truth in The Black Swordsman's words. He knew that much. When his horn had been taken? He had been humbled by The Falcon of Light. A
dream was all it took to best him. Griffith did not even need to appear before him. That was how weak he was. "Where is the witch?"
"Out of your reach." The Skull Knight answers him. He would stand by The Black Swordsman. "They have escaped already. There is nothing for you here except death."
"It's time to see if that's the case!" Zodd nods his head, and reaches for his sword. There is something in the way he says that. He was already beaten. What he had left was this duel.
It was his only chance of dying with some semblance of dignity.
He quickly moves to attack The Skull Knight but he stopped by The Black Swordsman. His sword fails to even budge as it is caught in his grip. Guts did not even bother to use his great sword.
"What?" He couldn't even force the sword free of his hold. The Black Swordsman wears a condescending smirk as he clenches his hand into a fist, and the blade breaks into pieces. The apostle isn't given a chance to retaliate before another balled fist plunges into his gut, and hurls him backwards.
The power of that blow was unreal! He grabs at his stomach, and retches. Instead of puke there is blood. The Black Swordsman had ruptured something inside of his body with his bare hands.
Impossible!
Did he have to transform already just to survive?
"What is that armor?" It looked like the same armor that The Skull Knight wore a thousand years ago, but it was not this powerful before! The monster just had to wonder who
precisely was behind this change. His rival couldn't have done this!
So, who exactly did?
"A gift from a friend!" Guts just had to smirk. The adrenaline rush was incredible!
The chimera rolls out of the way and narrowly dodges an elbow drop that would have perforated his brain. This
wasn't the same person he fought before.
He growls before his body begins to transform. Gone was that facade, and now it was replaced by the beast he truly was. His mighty wings. His razor sharp claws. His fangs which glistened. His only horn now that the other was taken from him.
He was Nosferatu Zodd! He was not weak! He was a legend! He was the
greatest warrior this world had ever--
"Pathetic!" Guts shakes his head. "I remember when I almost died because of you, but now you're just somebody's errand boy!" He stabs his great sword into the ground. No, he would not need it.
Not against a mongrel like this.
The beast goes into a frenzy, and haphazardly charges at him. He would not forgive this insult!
Guts snorts, and assumes a stance. The moment Nosferatu Zodd attempts to bite him? He grabs his lower and upper jaw, and then twists him around. The chimera twirls backwards into the sky, and hits the ground with a resounding crash. It is only blissful unconsciousness that saves him from more humiliation.
Grunbeld who had been watching from a distance begins to sweat.
A mortal doing that to Nosferatu Zodd of all people? It was unheard of. If it had been The Skull Knight? It would have made sense.
Instead it was The Black Swordsman.
"This is most peculiar." The Skull Knight is just as surprised. The Berserker Armor shouldn't be this powerful, and not only that somehow The Black Swordsman retained his reason. "
Arlan Vorlesh."
That witch had done something. Just who was I? That is what drew the wraith's interest in that moment. He had to figure out what sort of mystery I was. If I was truly an ally, or just another enemy.
There was something he did not know, and for the first time in many centuries he was perplexed. Then there was the shadow. That other who followed my every footstep.
These questions needed an answer.
"What are you all gaping at? Help him!" Grunbeld chastises the apostles under his command, but it only betrays the fact that he is too afraid to fight Guts himself. "Do it, or I will butcher the lot of you!"
"Sorry, but I am not in a hurry to die!" One of his apostles, who looked like a mass of tentacles and eyes, scurried away. There was nothing they could do to make him commit suicide.
"Coward!" Grunbeld throws his hammer at the fleeing apostle, and it bisects the deserter. After quickly retrieving it from the corpse of the demon? He looks towards The Black Swordsman. "I will do it myself!"
The Great Flame Dragon doesn't hesitate, and leaps towards Guts. He would claim the head of this champion!
Guts doesn't even try to avoid it. He
headbutts the hammer. Instead of his skull bursting open like a watermelon, and his helmet imploding under the force of the blow? The hammer cracks before bursting like it had been hit by a bomb.
It was Grunbeld's turn to gape. "H-How?" That was his
favorite hammer. "What are you? You can't be a mortal!"
"Don't act so surprised!" Guts was enjoying this a lot more than he should. "All of you bastards think that there's nothing we can do! That we're all just lambs to the slaughter! Well, here's the thing that you monsters
always forget! We're never alone! We're not like you! When we can't tackle something by ourselves? There's always somebody who can help us! We support each other! When there's something we can't lift by ourselves? We all lift it together!" He slams his balled fist against his chest. "This armor... it's a testament to that fact! I wouldn't be able to do all of this without it! Arlan Vorlesh is one hell of a mage!"
Grunbeld is taken aback by the sermon. This passion. This courage. It reminded him so much of himself!
When he was mortal...
"That is how it is." This would be the day he dies. "I understand." The apostle had to smile. He couldn't find it in himself to be angry at this Black Swordsman.
Edward, Benedicte, and of course Sigur.
He would see them soon.
Guts walks towards Dragon Slayer, and hoists it over his shoulders. "Well, what are you waiting for? Show me what you
really are! You god damn monster!"
"If what I heard was true that great sword of yours is called Dragon Slayer?" Grunbeld knew that much at least about The Black Swordsman. "It should
earn that name." He was resigned to his fate.
The apostle lets loose a roar, and that's when the giant of a man bursts out of his armor. In his place was a mighty dragon. A beast of myth. A creature whose body was forged of corundum, and refined in the flames of hardship.
"You're right! It should!"
<<X>>
It was an army.
"This was more than I expected." They circled around all of the woods. There had to be
thousands of demons. "Why do they want you this badly, Flora?"
"..." The witch can do nothing but look at the horde. In part it was due to horror. Then she glances towards Schierke. The rest was concern for her ward. "It is what I know. It is because of that I have to die."
"Knowledge can change everything." I nod my head. What she knew of the Astral Plane could lead to more problems than it was worth. That's why The Falcon of Light had to have her head.
"Griffith, huh?" I murmur to myself. He spared no expense. "I will put on a show!"
What a grand theater this would be. The stage was set.
If they are this desperate? They deserve to know.
Just precisely who would take
everything from them. These Godhand who dare to profess at being divine?
They will see how brightly a mortal can shine!
Those rubies that were my eyes glimmer the brightest crimson, and I glare at those apostles that would dare stand in our way.
"I am Arlan Vorlesh! I am the second son! The Knight Commander of the Fifth Crusade! This is my declaration of war!" I cast the spell
Ear-Piercing Scream as I speak. Then amplify it with
Conduit Surge. I draw on the power from nearby ley lines to break every limitation prescribed to it.
There is not a person on this globe who
doesn't hear what I am about to say. In the Kingdom of Midland? As far as the Kushan Empire in the deserts past it?
They would all know. Which was the idea.
If these Godhand are as
attached to the people as The Skull Knight said they were? Through them they would learn of me. I can't exactly begin a crusade if nobody knows I exist.
"Hear me, Ubik! Hear me, Conrad! Hear me, Slan! Hear me, Femto! Hear me, Void!" It struck like a bolt of lightning. It echoed like the thunder which would follow it. "Hear me, Godhand! This is the beginning of the Sixth Crusade, and who better to be Knight Commander than I?"
"..." The shadow is quiet as he witnesses what I am about to do. In this moment even he dared not to interrupt. This wasn't just Arlan Vorlesh. It wasn't just me.
It was The Knight Commander! A symbol of hope for those who spurn the Abyss!
The
pinnacle of what it meant to be mortal. Their weaknesses and their strengths coalescing into a single being who emphasized them all. There was no one who was as much a mortal as Arlan Vorlesh.
As I... flaws and all.
"Bargain! Beg! Hide! Retreat! Do it all! It will not save you!" I step forward towards the army of demons. "I only grant you this tribute! This
example! These apostles you have sent to destroy these people who saved my life! Those who I would call friend! I will send them all back to you in a casket! These worms you have granted immortality! I will squash them all! I will become death! I will become their end!" As if to punctuate my edict the weather begins to change.
I had used the grand hex known as
Natural Disaster. Thunderstorms began to gather overhead before lightning bolts struck the ground, and the earth began to shake violently, making many of the demons lose their footing.
There is not one of these animals that does not feel dread. What manner of mortal could do this? Only their masters could have this kind of power. It simply wasn't possible!
"As for those who would join my cause! Who would become my brothers and sisters! Those who live in squalor, and who were forgotten! I will give you glory! I will give you power! I will give you a world where you need not fear tyrants! Instead they will fear the people as they always should have! Where kings and queens are held to a standard whether they like it or not! Where evil is punished! Where good is celebrated! Where wars are fought not for the sake of conquest or bureaucracy, but instead for what you
believe in!" I conjure forth what these beasts think is a miracle, and through the use of a
Meteor Swarm?
The stars begin to fall.
Meteorites crash into the earth. Hundreds of apostles die immediately. The flames cauterizing their wounds. They could not heal from this! This mortal had brought down the
Sword of Damocles.
This was just the beginning!
"Serpico! At my back now!" The young man was in awe of me. It took several seconds before he realized what I said.
"Yes!" A
spark had ignited a fire within his heart. "Yes, my liege!" In that moment there was a change. A fundamental one that he couldn't ever turn away from.
He had found a lord. He had found someone of
worth following into battle.
"J-Just who is he?" Schierke whispers. This warmth... it filled every part of her body. It
sang to her soul. It put her mind at ease. There was no doubt. There was no conflict. There was merely a certainty. "What kind of person can do this?"
I would change everything.
"My child..." Flora was left just as speechless. "...I do not know." When they found my corpse at her doorstep? They had all thought I was a
curiosity at best. "I do not know!" Beside herself that's when she notices that she had been crying.
Is this what a miracle looked like? A
real one? They had given up. The Skull Knight, and all those who followed him? They accepted that they could only delay the inevitable.
This was not what they were expecting. None of them were!
"Incredible..." Farnese looked at these flames, but for once they did not light a fire in her loins. Instead
inspiration had struck. Her mind was alight with possibilities. Did I mean everything I said? Did I just declare war against the world?
How outrageous, and despite that she did not question it.
I could do it. Arlan Vorlesh could do it!
"I thought people like him only existed in stories." That's what this was.
He was a hero. A chosen one not of this world! A champion of the gods! "It's ridiculous but that's the only explanation!"
"The time has come..." Puck murmurs. He completely changed in appearance. When before he was as hairless as a babe? Now he had a full beard. Instead of being lithe? He had a toned physique. Not unlike that of a body builder. The magical energies that were being released in this moment had drastically transformed him. Sensitive as he was to the Astral Plane? Being a creature of fantasy? He was shaped by those around him.
"Puck! Are you alright?" Ivalera just
barely managed to avoid being engulfed by it. Glancing at the other fairy she had to count herself lucky. How in the world was she supposed to attract anyone with a beard?
"I'm better than alright, and the name is not Puck!" He spits on the ground. "It is
El Puck!" He torpedoes through the air, and shoots through a dozen apostles. The practically explode as he flies through them. "This trash is nothing!"
"I am with you, Knight Commander!" El Puck blasts through every demon in his way. "It is time to teach these
pansies a lesson!" He grabs the horns of one apostle that looked like a minotaur, and throws him as hard as he can. Instead of simply being thrown over his shoulders? The minotaur rockets through the enemy forces before bursting into flames, and collides with another apostle that looked like a griffin. The resulting explosion of gore causes shrapnel of bone to tear through many more beasts in the horde. They scream as pieces of their own allies pierce into them.
"Well, you don't see that every day!" Isidro was looking through what remained of the apostles that El Puck had destroyed. Did they have any coin on them? He whistles as one apostle tries to attack him from behind but the moment it tries to bite him? An invisible force seems to stop it.
"Why? Why can't I eat you?" The apostle, which looked like an overgrown rat with bat wings and horns, growls in frustration as he latches onto the young boy's head, but he only succeeds in breaking his own teeth. "I
hate this so much!"
"That Mage Armor sure is something else..." The rogue ignores the creature, and despite all the attempts it doesn't give. "Oh, gold! I'm going to be rich!" The brat begins to cackle, and amidst the laughter
? The apostle hanging on his head starts to cry.
"This is not fair! This has to be cheating! We're supposed to win! We're
always supposed to win!"
"Tough luck! Who ever said only people had to have bad days? It's about time you demons got a taste of your own medicine! Isn't karma a beautiful thing?" Isidro mocks the furball before grabbing it, and throwing it to the ground. He glares down at it. "It's always the same. You thought you had all the protection in the world! Just like those fat nobles I used to rob! You had god on your side! Well, guess what? Now we got a god of our own!" He stomps on it. "I am loving this!"
Serpico pushes through the horde. He could feel it! This power! It was coming from his liege, but now it was also his! Never before had he encountered a person who would share power instead of coveting it. A dozen apostles stood in front of him, and before any of them could even blink he had already removed all their heads.
I was ahead of him. Electricity crackled around my hands, and a bolt of lightning tore through the monsters. It bounces from one of them, and then to another! Jumping to-and-fro until another hundred of them died!
Chain Lightning was always useful against numbers.
At the start of this there had to have been at least five-thousand of these curs. Now they were
barely two-thousand.
When I feel several hundred of them surround Serpico? I focus my magic on him.
"W-What?" If Serpico thought he knew power before? He was proven wrong now.
I cast
Heroism, Greater on him. He becomes carnage incarnate.
He raises his slyph sword, a look of confidence, of bravery and hope, dances across his face, and the moment he swings it at the demons surrounding him? They are blown hundreds of miles into the air. They scream into the
tornado that begins to form around them, and which hurls them into the vacuum of outer space. Then their screams are heard no more.
This army of demons had underestimated these mortals. They were being routed!
"Retreat..." One of the more humanoid apostles backs away from the battle. "Retreat! They cannot be beaten!" He tries to run away but it is too late. He gurgles, and that's when he notices something. There was a
heart on the ground in front of him.
Death Clutch always had a use. Especially on the battlefield.
"Retreat?" I mockingly repeat after him. "After everyone you murdered, all the children you feasted on, women you raped, and lives you destroyed? You want to
retreat?" I laugh at him. He falls on his stomach, and crawls towards his heart.
Maybe. Just maybe. If he could grab it, and shove it back inside.
That would fix it!
"Almost..."
I crush his heart beneath my heel. Just as he is about to reach it.
"If you had bothered to show any restraint, any mercy... I might have
spared your ilk. That's never the case with your kind though." I look down at his corpse. "I will be the
boogeyman. I will be the monster. The thing that you know lies waiting underneath the warmth of your bed."
I slowly turn my gaze to look at what remained of the enemy force.
The sneer on my face was positively
devilish. Asmodeus himself would be proud.
"Is that all you have? All you sacrificed? Everyone and everything you loved, and here you stand
petrified by a mere and meager mortal..." I shake my head.
Pathetic.
"Dιʂαρρҽαɾ ϝɾσɱ ɱყ ʂιɠԋƚ."
There is power in my words, and in that moment? The remaining monsters begin to collapse. Their souls being ripped directly from their bodies, and cast into the depths of the Abyss.
Power, Word, Kill.
"Serpico
..." I do not turn towards him when I address him by name, but I know he is there.
"What say you?
" When I do turn towards him? He is on his knees. His head bowed low in reverence.
"I swear! On my name, and my life! I will follow you into hell! I will see those who would harm you dead! I would see your dreams come to fruition!" He looks back up, and meets my eyes.
"I would be your servant!
"
"I don't need a servant..." I smile down at him, and give him my hand.
"Be my brother instead."
"Y-Yes!
" He starts to cry.
"Yes!
" He grabs my hand.
"I will be your brother!
" It didn't matter what world it was.
I would have my family. I would have my crusaders.
"Onwards, my crusader. There is
much to do."
"..." Elaine looks at us from a distance. This reminded her of something from her past.
Of the
Band of the Hawk.
What she saw when she looked at me?
I was everything she had
thought that man was. However, there was one difference. There was something she could
recognize in my eyes. That she could not see in The Falcon of Light.
Love... and not the debased sort. Unconditional beyond anything else. There was a purity in it.
A sincerity that did not exist in the poisonous viper who took everything from her. The hawk that took her Guts, her dignity, and then finally he even took her son from her.
The hot tears begin to flow, and in her clarity a vision comes to her.
Of a
Light of Valor.
"Behold my champion, Casca! He will give you back what you lost..."
I am shocked when I hear it. That voice couldn't have been!
"Iomedae?"
I only see Elaine.
"Hearing things?" The shadow speaks at last. He couldn't help but bask in it. The afterglow of victory. What happened was something he had to admit was beautiful.
"I always hear things." I poke fun at him. "What do you think of these people?"
"They need your help." I couldn't believe what I heard for a moment. The shadow was
encouraging me?
"I thought you didn't want me to get involved in another war?"
"I did, but things have changed."
There's something
cheeky about the grin on my face.
"Oh no! Don't say it!"
"Caelum Vorlesh the
bleeding heart! What a compassionate guy you are!"
"I am not a bleeding heart! I am a necromancer!"
"Whatever you say, brother."
He grumbles in frustration.
"There's one more thing I must deal with, Serpico." I am thrust back, and out of my mind. My crusader was in front of me again.
"Guts needs our help.
"
"Of course!"
<<X>>
The Falcon of Light had heard it. That booming voice brimming with power.
"A rival."
This was unexpected. The plan was almost complete but now nothing was certain. There was a piece on the board nobody was prepared for.
"Femto, what do you make of it?" In his private chambers, Ubik was there alongside him. Of course he couldn't be there in person. However, there were ways around that where Ubik could project his uncanny likeness. It couldn't
physically interact with anything but it could communicate with anyone.
"I cannot say, Ubik." Femto would never admit it, but he held a particular hatred for Ubik. As far as manipulative and conniving snakes went he was the worst. He couldn't hold a candle to him in that category. "I know nothing about this."
"Oh, really?" Ubik murmurs. The near deity didn't believe Femto for a second. How many times had The Falcon of Light conspired against the rest of them for more power? He had lost count. "It is
different to say the least. I don't even believe Void has encountered a problem like this in the past, and as you know he has always been."
Out of all of them Void had the most experience, and he held seniority over them all. As well as the favor of
The Heart of Darkness. None could challenge him.
The problem was that even he was taken aback by this.
"Well, as they say Femto. The enemy of my enemy?"
"..."
"Come now--"
"No, go to Slan if you want one of us to
whore ourselves out. I already lost thousands. This is the time for me to replenish my reserves. Not waste more of them on a lost cause."
Ubik frowns but eventually he relents.
"Very well. I will handle it."
<<X>>
Grunbeld felt overwhelming satisfaction. This was what he had been waiting for.
A death he could be proud of.
Guts grits his teeth, but he does not relent. Both his arms break but as soon as that happens? The armor forces all of his bones back into place
. The bleeding stops as a soothing absinthe envelops his body, and closes all of his wounds. Any moment he would receive a wound? They would heal themselves.
Arlan Vorlesh did not lie.
"He didn't lie about the pain either!" It was excruciating but it had a meaning behind it. He
refused to be used by that hell hound. This was his battle. This was his war. "It's the
worst I have ever felt!"
If this was the price to be himself? He would gladly pay it.
He swings Dragon Slayer, and it tears through a gout of flames that was expelled from the dragon's maw. It is blown away by the gust of wind.
They had heard it all. The declaration of war. This did not stop them. They did not have the privilege.
The only thing they could focus on was each other.
"What is your name?"
"Guts!"
His great sword clangs against claws. That dragon's hide was nearly indestructible but it was beginning to crack. He just had to keep on hitting it. It was about to give.
"I will remember it!" Grunbeld catches The Black Swordsman in his claws, and throws him into the air. He takes a deep breath, and breathes a swathe of flame that engulfs everything it touches.
Instead of hearing nothing? Grunbeld could swear he heard someone curse.
"Catch this!" The Black Swordsman throws his great sword at the dragon. It pierces through the flames. It spins through the air, and then crashes against the dragon. This time it breaks through!
Grunbeld roars, and looks at the stump where one of his appendages used to be. That was one arm gone.
Guts lands on Grunbeld's forehead. A Black Swordsman wreathed in transcendent flame. If it wasn't for the recycling form of
Regenerative Sinew his body would have fused to the Berserker Armor.
Instead of hampering him? The pain made him remember who he was. Where his journey would lead to. The day he would have his justice! When Griffith would pay for
everything he did!
Grunbeld on the other hand can't help but remember his mistakes. The day he was made a monster. If things had been different! They would have been comrades!
"This is the end!" Guts shoves his fist into Grunbeld's head. The conundrum breaking from the force of the blow.
"Sigur..." Grunbeld could rest at last. He could see them again. "What if--"
The last words are lost as he vomits his own intestines.
The Great Flame Dragon died, but even as his soul began to leave his body? There was something stopping it.
"No." A voice seems to whisper. It was coming from the Dragon Slayer. "I will not let the Abyss have you." The soul seems to be sucked into the blade. "Brave Grunbeld! Join us, and have your justice!"
"Do I even deserve it? After everything?"
"I have no doubt!"
Guts can't help but guffaw at that. Did his great sword just talk?
"Things just keep getting weirder!" Arlan Vorlesh was an anomaly, and an
infectious one. It's as if everything I touched ceased to make sense. "I kinda like it though..." It was a good kind of weird.
One that made Guts feel--well, not
exactly happy--but content at least.
Is this what the world is supposed to be like? Is this what life is like?
Is this what a world with
hope means? These miracles...
"They're wonderful."
Guts remembered a moment in his childhood. The one instance he could remember when he was happy before everything went wrong, and he experienced betrayal. Griffith was not the beginning. There were others who hurt him. The man who raised him. Who sold him to that animal.
A mercenary had given him a book. He couldn't read it but in it he saw a picture. A hero standing over the corpse of a mighty dragon. He was about to fall to his knees, and he was exhausted; but he had prevailed. He had won!
This was what it meant to win. This was what victory tasted like. Through trial and tribulation. Through struggle!
"W-What?"
A hand had pierced through his chest from behind. This couldn't be Nosferatu Zodd. He was taken care of! Then who could have done this?
He looked towards The Skull Knight. Who had beaten him? His horse had been killed, and there was a hole in his chest. In the same exact spot.
"Bastard!" Guts pukes blood, and it runs down his mouth. "Who are you?"
It was difficult to see. There was blackness encroaching on his vision.
The creature, or whatever it was, seemed to be made of
starlight.
"An imbalance." The voice seemed to echo in his mind. "A disruption. A disorder. One life must be taken! The coin must not land on the edge!" It speaks in rambling nonsense.
"
Aeon." I recognized it immediately. This creature hailed from Maelstrom. It existed as part of The Axiomite Godmind. "This is not what you think it is!"
The Monad.
"It is!" The aeon could see it, and he could see
through me. "Anomaly! Anathema! You do not belong here!"
I didn't have time for this. I need to heal them both, and I need to do it now!
"Look at me, aeon! Look at
everything I am!" I grab him by his head. I force him to acknowledge my existence.
That's when I cast the spell.
"₦Ø!"
In that moment
Prediction of Failure showed him every defeat. All the ways he could fail.
The
Enforcing Gaze of his kind made them all real. For anyone else they would merely be prophetic visions. At worst it would take away their sanity.
For an aeon like him?
All of those moments became a reality.
"ฬђคՇ ђคשє ץ๏ย ๔๏ภє?"
I couldn't bear to look. As every
potential defeat happened to him all at once.
He died, and then he died again. He would
keep on dying forever. Until every star in this universe blinked out of existence.
"I had to do it." I shake my head. It was just my luck. The worst that ever was. I made a splash, and now? "I had to save them."
It had become a tsunami.
[] I am going to ignore the fact I probably made an enemy of The Monad. It will be fine.
Probably. I need to focus on Casca. What in the world was happening to her? Did a connection develop between her, and Iomedae?
[] I need to tend to Guts, and The Skull Knight. After a getting a beat down that severe from an aeon? There is bound to be some unfortunate problems for the both of them. They're both alive thanks to my intervention, but who can know what else is going on with them?
[] I cannot ignore a freaking aeon! I need to reconnect with my patron deities. They are the only ones who can negotiate a treaty with The Axiomite Godmind. I had other problems to deal with. I didn't need an aeon smothering me in my crib. When I was still a baby! How the heck can baby Arlan Vorlesh handle that?
[] It will be fine. You know what I need? A vacation. Okay, seriously. There is another person who could help me. I think I drew her attention. At least I
think it's her. The problem is that she's kind of a demon lord, and I am not sure how she feels about me making love to one of her brood. After I turned her down no less for a position of consort.
