ROD - Chapter 129

Chapter One-Hundred-Twenty-Nine – Lightning – Part Three

There is nothing scarier than a man with nothing to lose. I pity the fool who makes him like that.

-UWO Colonel Greymore-

It’s nearly time for me to pick them up at the airport, my hands are admittedly a little full though. I'll need to find a solution for that. Balancing a goddess’s attempts to increase her power on Earth, while also shutting out a very insistent system entity. One that is tapping on the proverbial glass wall that I have erected. One that isn’t keen on me keeping it out.

I need to finish this quickly before it arrives. Looking in the distance I see Ajax weeping with hollow eyes as they kill him again. Daggers through the eyes. The worst part about his auto resurrect is that it resets his nerves. Each time they kill him, he feels it without any dulled senses.

He screams for mercy, but he will find none. For we are not merciful to those who try to kill the Earth. We eradicate them with prejudice. As this goddess will soon discover and so too will any admin if they are foolish enough to step upon the Earth without permission.

Ajax’s deaths are more than punishment, they put a massive strain on Jaledi. Because she is not of Earth, and he already has a bonded god amongst the Nine. Even if they don’t care about him or the Earth’s fate, she must pay a toll to access their chosen.

On top of that, she’s being punished for trying to override Earth’s natural laws. One’s that I’ve been siphoning her power to amplify. A trap that feeds itself. Efficiency at its finest.

The ground tremors with the laments of retribution as Mira demonstrates why the System is wary of Drakaroth. Jaledi’s hair is a mess of tangles, smeared with mud and brick dust. Her once elegant dress is little more than charred pieces of fabric that barely cling to her body. She tries to fight, but it is hopeless, the very air she breathes on Earth is a tax on her divinity. Each moment she grows weaker, the Earth grows mightier.

“What’s wrong, you fucking cunt… not used to being the dirt beneath the boot?” Mira asks, dragging her up by her hair.

One of my wards pings me, the one on Fisban’s room… my auto heal runes I learned from Carl activated. Turning to look at Ajax’s portal, I see the luster of gold is lacking as it flickers.

“Make your peace, Mira, it’s almost time to finish this,” I say.

Even a hundred paces away she hears me, her savage red eyes flicker pink as she nods. Dust plumes with ash as she pummels again. Mira screams obscenities at the woman who ruined her childhood. Expressing regret at the actions that she was made to do.

I never knew that Mira had a side like this. Seeing the tears and the remorse for what she was made to do… it endears me to her. I can’t help but feel sorry for what she has had to do to survive. She may be unhinged in some ways. But in others, she’s beautiful and caring without meaning to be.

Thoughts fall away as I see Fisban limping through the rubble two hundred paces off. Seeing her walk again, even with atrophied leg muscles. It stirs hope in me.  

The Ley Line acts as the fuel as I move myself closer to her rapidly.  

“Jimmy…” she begins, confused as she looks at the carnage around her, “What’s happened?”

“Long story short,” I point in the distance, “Go help Clayton and Zero kill the shit out of that Marauder.”

She blinks then turns to me confused, “I don’t…”

I put my hand on the back of her neck gently, “Carry the torch.”

“What the fuck…” she says looking at her interface.

“Roll fast, and don’t worry, I’ve boosted your luck and added a line to force balance your stats. So you won’t get rebound sickness.”

“How… how are you…”

“Less talking more shadow stepping, Earth’s fate depends on it,” I say, porting from her back to where Mira is.

So close… Jaledi is nearly there. Strangely the System admin that was knocking has grown silent though… ominous.  

No matter… it’s time to begin.

My steps are measured as I step along the Ley Line toward Jaledi and Mira.

“It’s time, Mira.”

She turns and nods, then turns back and punches Jaledi one more time before moving from my path. Like fire in a dry forest, my hands flicker and spread runes faster than should be possible for a mortal.

Jaledi dares to rise, her shoulder sliding back into place as her knee turns the right way around. She does not cower as I thought she might. Gods and their pride, it runs deep it would seem.

“What have you done to me?” she demands with a snarl, “What have you done to her?”

“I leveled the playing field,” my head tilts at her, “What, you didn’t enjoy a fair fight?”

She spits blood that glows on the ground in front of her, “You’ve tampered with the System, they will burn your world for this.”

“Will they?” I query, stifling a laugh, I point to the ground, “Did you think this was my world?”

She squints at me.

“No, no, I made a deal with Seraphine, her Prime world is now where I call home. Ergo, the System, even if it did find out what I did, it would have to ask her permission to punish me.”

Jaledi’s eyes are wide, “She can’t just…”

“Oh? You want to talk about what a goddess can and can’t do, that’s rich, considering you shouldn’t even be here. Though I must thank you for coming, without you and your divine power, to be honest, this would have taken much, much longer to do.”

“As if I would help you with anything…” she seethes.

I smile, forming the last of the required runes.

“Did you know that there was a Jimminite that wondered if gods could be reduced to pure energy. Fascinating theorem really.”

“A Jimmiwhat?” she asks, squinting again.

“Why you ask,” I begin.

“I said what… not why?” she turns her head at me strangely as energy begins to vibrate around me… unnaturally.

“Why… well it’s simple really,” I say, looking up. A grin rolls across my face as I say, “That Jimminite was curious if they could be absorbed… thus skipping the required rites and stepping directly into… well… godhood.”

Jaledi’s eyes widen and she begins to scrawl some kind of encirclement runes around her.

“Too late for all that,” I smile.

Chains of light spiral up and wrap against her skin, energy flows directly in pulses from her and into me. Light blooms in my irises as the first pulse of her authority becomes mine.

“You… you can’t do this!” she yells frantically, “Mortals aren’t allowed to become gods without permission.”

My smile deepens, so too does Mira’s.

“Darling…” she whispers with fervently glowing pink eyes.

“They will hunt you down and kill everything you love!” Jaledi screams.

“How did that work out for you?” I ask with a shit eating grin that I’ve fucking earned.

“It’s not too late… I can give you power, I can… I can make you a demi god… please,” she turns to Mira, “Please Mirathane, do not forsake me, I am like a mother to you… do not let him do this to your mother… Mira!”

Mira does not reply, she watches silently with a smile as burns form on Jaledi’s skin. Her beauty begins to wane as her power threads away. Most of it goes to the Earth, because my mortal coil would explode if I tried to absorb it all right away. It’s fine though, the Earth can act like a battery for me. Until I’m ready to claim all of Jaledi’s offering.

Sound becomes estranged from my ears as light dulls and I am swept into the tide of the pulses of her power becoming mine.

This is what it feels like to become a demi god… it’s like extasy as I feel every cell in my body drinking deep of the ambrosia of power. Within an hour I will be almost ready to expand into that title.

Just as I get used to the rhythm of the power that flows steadily, I feel something else…

An entity breaching the magic of Earth, one unlike anything I have seen on Earth before. An admin is physically here… on the edge of my spell I feel them approaching. Magic sways from their path as they place their own authority against mine. A swell of energy condenses as they begin to bore a hole toward us through the barrier.

Shit…

I need time.

Clayton, Zero and Fisban come closer, dragging the very dead body of Ajax behind them.

“Godslayer, he um…” Clayton pauses, looking at Jaledi crying,  “What the fuck is this?”

“I’m harvesting her. He didn’t respawn because I’ve cut off her ability to do anything except feed the Earth, and me.”

“Harvesting… a god?” he asks, blinking then swallowing, “The System is not going to like that.”

“She’s a… a… a god?” Fisban stutters, turning to look at me with wide eyes.

Jaledi’s cries of pain become stifled with a venomous smile, “They’re… going… to… kill… all… of… you!” she howls against the onslaught of pain she is undoubtedly in.

“Jimmy,” Fisban begins, “What have you done?”

Light flickers in my irises as the process continues, “I’m giving Earth a chance.”

“They told me what Mythren said, but this… this is madness,” she explains with a worried expression.

“I know you didn’t sign up for this,” I begin, looking at each of them, “And I won’t judge you harshly if you leave now, but I assure you, this is the path. There is no other one now.”

Fisban swallows but nods, “What can we do?”

“There’s an admin on the border, a blue one I think, based on the power fluctuations. I need you to distract them long enough for me to partially ascend, then I should be able to fight even a purple for a time.”

“A purple…” Fisban says, “The kind that rule over the games and can destroy solar systems?”

I nod.

“Right, I’m in, are we going to be okay at level one hundred fighting a blue admin?” Clayton asks, stretching his neck.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Boost me, boss,” Clayton says with a nod, “Don’t care about the side effects, just want to have a world to call home in the morning.”

I look at each of them and they all nod, my hands extend and I shift the spells I have on their necks. Making each of them at Mira’s level.

“One… one thousand,” Fisban says blinking three times, “Okay then.”

“Don’t worry about claiming skills, you won’t have time to master them anyways,” I say, pointing in the distance, “Clayton and Zero, that’s your target. Buy me as much time as you can.”

“Roger that,” Clayton says, holding my gaze for a few moments, “In case we don’t see each other again, it’s been an honor, Godslayer.”

My heart pangs from his words, but I don’t intend to lose anyone today. Zero gives me a solemn nod and they both depart, their pace increases dramatically as they claim their levels.

“Mira, bring me Sylfie, I’m going to boost her levels.”

The air cracks as she leaves, within a breath she returns with her dragon wide eyed and coughing for air.

“Fisban, I need you to guard my body if they fail or if another shows up.”

She nods.

“What about me, Darling?” Mira asks, looking at Fisban then me, “I can protect you.”

“I know, but I need you to protect and bring back the others that aren’t here. They're landing in New York soon.”

Her face sours a little with disappointment, but she nods.

“You are the strongest on our team, I need you to protect the weakest.”

“Darling…”

Pink blossoms in her eyes as she fights a smile. My hand grasps the back of the dragon’s neck, “Carry the torch.”

The air groans and rubble presses back as Mira throws Sylfie into the air away from us. She explodes in size so rapidly it creates mini tornados that spin up the ash and soot.

She’s fucking colossal… maybe I shouldn’t have made her level 1,000.

“Fucking hell…” Fisban says, craning her neck to look up into the clouds.   

“Follow the scent of Tran and protect all of them, do this for me.”

“Of course, darling, do not worry, I will protect them,” Mira says softly, “I just hope when this is all over, you won’t discard me.”

“I won’t.”

She smiles widely and skips with glee for three steps and then disappears in a flash.

I was going to teleport her to the Ley Line in New York, but I guess at her current level she can get there fast enough anyway. Probably should have led with that instruction first. Oh well.

Sylfie flaps her wings so hard it levels the remaining buildings in the area creating hurricane force winds. How she takes flight with her size is a marvel of physics and magic.

Where I sent Clayton and Zero, the lights begin to create cracks as System magic battles what Carl called True magic.

The final battle is approaching… the last symphony is playing so loudly I can hear it between the pulses of power that reshape my mortal coil.

“You’re all going to die here,” Jaledi says weakly, her face is sunken and her once lustrous golden locks are now grey and fading, “Mortals cannot fight the System.”

“They once said that mortals couldn’t slay gods,” I turn and look at her, “I like my odds.”

Hope fades from her eyes as she sees the confidence growing in mine.