by Aaron Oster
One World Beast, he might have been able to handle, but three! There was no way.
Damn it, Gold, I don’t know what you’re planning, but this is not going well, Morgan thought, trying to find some way out of this.
Breaker’s head swiveled back to him, the Elder Dragon’s jaws cracking wide.
“You’ve delayed me long enough, strange creature. I will end you here and now, then be on my way. The Convergence comes, and I refuse to be left behind.”
Morgan felt his heart leap in his chest as Breaker’s jaws cracked wide, an inferno building within the dragon’s throat. He leveled the spear, Sarah vanishing back into the weapon as power blazed around him. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight, not after all he’d been through to make it there.
“So, you are alive!”
Morgan flinched at the sound of the voice, loud and angry as it echoed through the night air. He whirled, looking up into the sky to see the other Sarah standing there with arms crossed and looking more than a little pissed off.
Breaker stopped his attack, his jaws slamming shut and the flames dying out in his throat.
“A goddess,” he said, sounding confused. “What is one of her kind doing here?” he wondered.
Morgan could see fear in the eyes of the beast, but more than that, he could see something else — hunger.
Breaker had gotten his power by drinking the blood of a god, and now that another one had made her presence known, he was eager to taste more.
“I was so sure we’d killed you,” Sarah said, completely ignoring Breaker’s presence and glaring daggers through him, as though demanding to know how he dared live after she’d tried to end him.
“Yeah, well, I’m kind of hard to kill,” Morgan replied, turning to face the goddess fully.
Sarah snorted, then held a hand to the side and summoned her scythe of red energy.
No, Morgan realized, looking a little closer. Not energy. Blood.
It seemed that this woman used a liquid-based attacking style, just like his Sarah, but unlike her, who used water and ice, this one used blood. It was both disgusting and oddly terrifying at the same time.
Where did the blood come from? Did she have a stash of corpses somewhere, and if not, did she pull it from her own body?
“I’ll make sure to finish the job this time,” Sarah said, swishing her scythe through the air. “I’ll take your head, just to be sure.”
There was a burst of wind from his right, and Morgan turned to see Breaker flapping away at an incredible speed. It seemed the World Beast had decided on fleeing rather than staying and fighting. It would definitely make his battle against Sarah easier, but at the same time, he’d been hoping the Elder Dragon would attack her outright to try and get more blood.
“Take that bitch down!” Sarah yelled in his mind. “I don’t care how much she might look like me. She’s not!”
“I know,” Morgan replied, leveling the gleaming silver spear at the goddess. “I’ll do whatever it takes to bring her down.”
“Done talking to that little clone of mine trapped in that spear?” Sarah asked, “Don’t worry. When I’m done with you, I’ll make sure to stomp her out as well. Can’t very well have another, uglier version of myself running around, now can I?”
Morgan exploded off the wall, leaping into the air and bringing the spear down in a two-handed strike, aiming for the center of the goddess’ forehead. Sarah’s arms shot up unnaturally quickly and managed to catch the blow, but her arms buckled slightly under the force of the swing, and her scythe began to burn away as the silvery power of the Godsteel began to tear the construct apart.
Sarah shoved back, and Morgan allowed himself to fall back to the wall, landing easily, his knees remaining locked in place.
The damage Morgan had inflicted to the scythe was healed in an instant, more blood flowing over the weapon and filling in the gap.
“You almost managed to catch me off guard with that,” Sarah said, idly twirling her scythe. “It won’t happen again!”
She vanished mid-sentence, the last word shouted from right behind him as she swung the scythe, intending to remove his head. Morgan whirled, the spear catching the weapon and halting the tip of the curved blade just inches from his neck.
The battle had begun, and this was one that Morgan intended to win, no matter the cost.
74
Morgan shoved back against the scythe. Sarah vanished, appearing to his right, then left, then above. Her weapon flashed out in quick succession, each blow intended to remove his head, but Morgan was fast enough to keep up, the spear glittering in his grip as he spun it around in a practiced motion, warding off the powerful swings.
He had no reservations about fighting her, no moral dilemma about killing someone who was, in essence, the same as his Sarah. Right now, she was the only thing standing between him and bringing her back. Taking her out was necessary.
The goddess blinked around him, her ruby-red scythe cleaving through the air with immense speed and power, picking up as she continually swung, not giving him a second’s respite. She was moving so fast that some of her blows seemed to hit at the same time, and it was only due to the double-handed nature of his weapon that he was able to fend them all off.
Right from the outset, it was easy to see this would be a tough battle, the toughest Morgan had ever fought, yet he wasn’t as badly outmatched as he’d been fearing. So far, he was able to keep up with the goddess in their first few exchanges.
Another scythe formed in Sarah’s hands, and she dove forward, swinging them both from opposite directions. Morgan had no idea how she handled such an unwieldy weapon with such power and accuracy, but she made it look easy. Long-handled scythes like the one she was using were very top-heavy, with the weight and balance being uneven.
He could understand using the weapon two-handed, since if one just kept the blade moving, then the momentum would only help. With two such weapons, it should have been impossible. Then again, she was a goddess, so impossible went right out the window where she was concerned.
Morgan leaped back, his spear whirling and twisting in glittering arcs as he fended off the onslaught. His Perfect Aura Control warned him of all incoming attacks, giving him a perfect field of vision from all angles. When a pair of scythes cleaved up from the ground beneath, he was able to avoid them both while deflecting another incoming strike from above.
The goddess growled in annoyance as he fended off her surprise attack. He’d seen through her ruse, so she now committed fully to the attack, giving up on all pretenses and coming at him with blades whirling.
Ruby-red blades came at him from all directions, nearly a dozen now, some wielded by Sarah herself, and others, coming from the ground, air, and through space. When she swung, the air trembled, and powerful gusts of wind kicked up. Small cracks lined the top of the wall where they fought, but so far, no real damage had been done to it.
“You can’t keep this up forever,” Sarah said, sounding worried.
“I know,” he replied, projecting his thoughts to her. “I just need a little more time to get her fighting style down. Then, we can go on the offensive.”
He hadn’t really seen much of what she could do when they’d fought previously, so now, he wanted to make sure he understood her as best he could before committing to any attack.
Sarah dove down, her body vanishing from sight before appearing right in front of him. Her scythes morphed, turning into twin daggers mid-lunge. She closed quickly, but Morgan stepped back, feeling two blades pulling up from the ground behind him. He waited until the very last second, then used his first skill of the fight.
He vanished, appearing right behind Sarah using his Rift, leaving her to charge headlong into her own attack. As he’d expected, the blood-blades just warped around her, not doing any damage, but that didn’t matter.
The silver spear flashed forward, hurtling from his fingers as though he’d thrown it with all his might. Sarah twisted, her body vanishing
mid-turn as the spear slammed into the wall with a crack, burying itself nearly a foot into the solid stone. She appeared just a few feet away, gritting her teeth and moving her hand down to her side, where a shallow cut was leaking blood.
Several drops remained on the wall next to the silver spear, and Morgan called it back, catching the haft and giving her a grin.
“It’ll be your head next time,” he said, brandishing the weapon in both hands.
It was a small victory, but it was still a victory, nonetheless. He’d drawn first blood. Now he just had to make sure he drew last blood as well.
Sarah didn’t say anything, but when she turned her gaze back on him, there was anger in her eyes. Before, there had been condescension, like he was beneath her. Now, she wasn’t going to be holding back anymore. At least, not as much as she had been.
She was suddenly before him, her hand lashing out in a powerful strike aimed at his chest, a small crimson blade extending from the center of her palm. Morgan slapped down, twisting his body to the side and knocking it out of the way. He returned with a strike of his own, choking up on the spear and gripping it near the blade.
Sarah knocked his wrist aside, causing the blade to go wide, then punched at the base of his spine. Morgan vanished, striking at the side of her head, but had to throw an arm up to block a kick aimed at his own.
This was the first time he had to outright block a blow instead of deflecting, and in that kick, Morgan felt what he was up against. His knees buckled a bit under the force, his body absorbing half the damage due to his Eternal Soul trait. What was left of the blow, though, was most definitely felt. A dull ache spread through his forearm as the kick was completed.
He jumped into the air, avoiding a sweeping kick from the goddess, then thrust his spear into the air in a backward motion.
There was a scream of pain as Sarah caught the spear, stopping it an inch from her stomach. Her hands were shredded to pieces, and she appeared before him, her hands knitting back together all the while. Her fist was whole by the time it reached his face, and Morgan slapped it aside, only to feel it strike him in the lower back.
He winced as the pain radiated up his spine, but he punched upward, connecting with an attack of his own, catching Sarah in the shoulder and spinning her away. He landed back on the wall, his knees flexing as he crouched, avoiding the sweeping leg she thrown. A massive blade extended from the front of her leg, and Morgan threw his spear up in a defensive block as the second kick came in lower than the first.
Fighting someone who could move around through space so easily was extremely challenging, as not a single attack came from a predictable direction. All of Sarah’s attacks, while seeming linear at first, all ended up coming from somewhere else.
A front-kick aimed at his chest came at his left instead. An elbow aimed for his chin drove at his stomach. A scything blow from a massive blade aimed at his midsection came down for the top of his head.
It was hard, not because of teleportation, but because space literally didn’t seem to mean anything to her. When she attacked in one area, it could come from anywhere. This was a mastery of space that he hadn’t seen in anyone before, not even when he’d fought the other version of Gwendolyn, and it made Morgan rethink his strategy on winning.
In order to succeed, he needed not only to predict where she’d be coming from but also accurately predict where to place his own attacks in order for them to hit. And he had to do it all while concentrating on his Aura Field to keep him wary of any surprise attacks.
Sarah rushed in, her fist striking for his face. Morgan spun his spear around, preparing for an attack from a different direction, then felt an explosion of pain as he was rocked back under the force of the punch to his jaw.
He flipped back, avoiding the follow-up, then vanished using his Rift and appeared several hundred yards down the wall.
“Are you okay?” his Sarah asked as he felt at his jaw.
“Fine,” Morgan replied. “She just caught me off-guard.”
In truth, he should have expected that, but he’d allowed himself to be lulled into a certain pattern of attack. He had used this trick many times in the past, giving off predictable timing, only to land an obvious attack that his opponent looked too far into. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“Huh, you’re still on your feet,” Sarah said, seeming surprised that he was still standing. “That blow should have taken your head off.”
“Like I said,” Morgan retorted, standing straight. “I’m hard to kill.”
Sarah snorted again, then held her hand out and summoned another scythe, but this time, Morgan struck first. He stepped forward, using his Rift and appearing right before her, just as she had. Then, he thrust forward with the spear. Sarah’s scythe spun down, preparing to block the weapon, but a small rift appeared right in the spear’s path.
It vanished, appearing an instant later as another rift opened at her back, the spear’s thrust continuing as Morgan drove it forward.
Sarah vanished, appearing fifty feet back and reaching to feel at her spine where the spear had, once again, only managed to inflict a flesh wound.
Morgan stared at the point of the spear. The silver tip was stained with blood and pointing right back at him, extending from the small rift he’d opened for the surprise attack.
“Damn,” he muttered, pulling the spear back.
It disappeared from the second rift as he pulled it back through the first, the tip appearing and facing the correct way as he removed it. It had been an odd thing to see, thrusting one way and having the spear come the exact opposite way. He’d been hoping the attack would land, but clearly, he would need to be quicker than that.
“I was closer this time,” he called, despite the disappointment he felt. “I’ll make sure the spear bites a bit deeper when I hit you again.”
Sarah, who’d been looking over her shoulder to examine the wound, turned back to glare at him. Wounds inflicted by the blade – Morgan noticed – did not heal, unlike her hands after she’d grabbed the haft. All he had to do was get in a single good strike, and he could kill her. The problem was that the look in her eye told him that she was no longer going to be taking it easy on him.
“No more kiddie gloves,” she said, her voice turning hard.
The scythe that had been clutched in her hand turned to liquid, flowing over her arm and crystallizing into a gauntlet that stretched up to her shoulder. More blood-armor formed, flowing from her chest, stomach, arms, and legs.
Of course, Morgan could disperse the armor if he hit her hard enough, but it would offer far more protection than her skin. Additionally, her entire aura seemed to change, becoming sharper, deadlier, and far more dangerous.
A tower shield formed in her right hand, and a long heavy-bladed sword formed in her left. Morgan’s brows drew down at this choice. She’d been using her right to lead almost the entire time. It seemed she was left-handed, though, which meant that not only had she been taking it easy on him, but she’d also been using her weaker hand the entire time.
The heavy-looking armor, shield, and sword also seemed to indicate that she was not a speed-fighter as he’d previously thought, but a heavy attacker instead. If she could pull off that insane speed and space-stepping, in addition to the massive power her weapons and armor indicated, then this fight had just taken an extremely dangerous turn.
Well, Morgan thought to himself, I guess I’d better put on my big boy gauntlets as well.
If Sarah was going to start taking this fight seriously, then so was he!
75
Morgan reached within himself, activating his Starforge skill for the first time and crafting armor for himself. Unlike his Stormforge skill, which had produced shining, violet constructs, Starforge constructs came out looking quite a bit different.
Smooth black plates sparkling with tiny motes of white light flowed over his body. They radiated a glow all of their own, despite the almost complete absence of light. It was a stunning co
lor and one he had definitely not been expecting. More than that, he could feel the charge within each of the constructs as they formed, the crackling power that he could unleash with a thought. Black plates formed over his chest, arms, and legs – lighter than those the goddess wore, though no less impressive. If anything, Morgan felt that his looked way cooler. Now, the only question was how well the Starforged armor would hold up against attacks from a literal god.
He could feel the power of the spear calling to him, begging him to unleash its full might, but Morgan knew that he would only have a limited amount of time once he tapped into it and didn’t want to waste a second. He needed to weaken this goddess first, and only once he’d done that would he risk reaching for the spear’s might.
Spinning the spear in a half-circle, he slammed it into the stone, tip first. Sarah, sensing what he was about to do, called out to him before he let go.
“Please be careful, Morgan.”
“Aren’t I always?” Morgan replied, trying to keep his voice lighthearted.
Sarah only replied with a long, suffering sigh, which cut off as soon as he released the spear. He would not hear her again until he pressed for his final attack, but this fight would need to be won in stages, just as with his battle against the Beast King. Moves and countermoves, that was how this fight would be won. So long as he stayed ahead of the goddess, he could plan a path to victory.
He breathed out, then summoned a lance, the construct appearing in his hand, shining black and radiating white light.
White-tinged black lightning crackled across its surface, seeming to crawl over the construct as he swished it through the air. He could feel the intense waves of gravity coming off the weapon and his armor, pushing everything back and adding to his defense. A helmet formed around his head, a small nose piece coming down between his eyes.