by Aaron Oster
“Why. Won’t. You. Just. Die?!” she yelled, punctuating each word by blasting him thousands of feet in different directions, each attack having the power to blow his entire body into a bloody mist.
She screamed, summoning her rain of bloody blades, the sky turning red as hundreds of thousands of shards rained down upon him, driving him over a thousand feet down and turning the area into a crater over eight miles across.
More of the wall collapsed, shattering and falling in massive chunks, crashing to the ground below and causing the entire planet to shake once again. But when her bloody rain stopped, Morgan blasted up from the ground, his body burning with that same light.
Sarah dove down to meet him, throwing a punch to knock him through to the other side of the planet, but his aura intensified a hundred-fold as her fist approached, and she screamed as her arm was burned away to the shoulder.
She stepped back through the air, howling in pain as her body reformed itself. She hardly noticed how long it took, her anger and hatred for the man who just refused to die overshadowing any rational reason. All she knew was that she had to kill him. She had to end this creature for daring to harm her, and she would do it in the most painful way possible.
She shot forward, appearing at his back, but he twisted, his aura blazing once more. Sarah’s arms flowed with her blood aura and cloaked her limbs. Her punch connected, driving him back through the air, but as he flew back, she found her arm surrounded by the same orange-red sphere as before.
With a scream, she severed her own arm, leaving it to tumble to the ground below as she regrew it again. Morgan came at her once more, his body looking redder than anything else, thanks to the haze of blood surrounding Sarah.
There had to be a way to take Morgan down and hurt him as much as he did to her. But how?
Bloody spikes shot from her body, assaulting him on all sides, but his aura flared once again, burning away the attack. Then, he was inside her guard, his fist pulling back, the same burning red light reflected in those pitiless, slitted eyes as he drove it into her abdomen.
The pain was immense, but not nearly as bad as Sarah had been expecting. She staggered back through the air, clutching at her stomach and looking at Morgan, who’d suddenly taken a few steps back. His body was no longer glowing, the burning heat no longer leeching from his skin.
He was back to the way he had been before, only now, he was breathing hard, the injuries he’d taken before showing through. None of the injuries she’d inflicted earlier showed, but the ones he’d had before he’d begun glowing were back.
“Looks like you’re all out of power,” Sarah said, her sharpened lips turning up in a grin.
Before Morgan could respond, she punched him in the gut, blasting him from the air, through the wall, and into the ground on the other side. Stone blasted around him as another section of the wall fell. But despite throwing all her might behind the attack, Sarah frowned as Morgan pulled himself from the rubble.
He was covered in cuts now, and his right leg was oddly twisted, his face was covered in blood, and yet, he was still alive.
Sarah looked down at her fist, now colored a solid red. She didn’t understand. She had used her full power when she’d thrown that punch, so why hadn’t it knocked him to the other side of the planet? Why was he still alive? Was he really so powerful that he could resist the full might of a god?
No, she told herself as she watched him rise slowly into the air. That last attack nearly killed him, so one or two more should finish the job.
She grinned to herself, pulling on her core once again and further increasing her power. The mortal would fall, and she would take this world down in retribution! They would all pay for the pain she’d felt today — every last one of them!
82
Morgan pulled himself painfully from the new crater his body had made. This area was so full of pockmarks now that he was surprised there even was room for any new ones. That monster’s assault after she’d changed forms had been incredible, erratic, and had come so quickly that he’d been able to do nothing at all to counter it – in the beginning, at least.
Sarah’s attacks had come quickly, the goddess burning through so much power that Morgan had feared for the safety of the world itself! But, after being batted around some three or four hundred times, the creature had begun to visibly slow, her attacks weakening. Of course, he’d taken another several hundred more attacks before he’d been able to counter, but when he had, it had been glorious.
It had been the perfect combination of power and speed. He’d blasted her back with his aura, used the strange spheres to cause her to sever her own arm, and had burned her hundreds of times. In fact, his aura had burned her every time she’d struck him, which only hastened her own demise.
The problem was that when she had finally slowed enough for him to deliver a deciding blow, his Sunscorch had conveniently decided to run out. The following attack had been one of the most painful he’d taken since this battle had started.
His tough body had resisted a good deal of it, and he could feel it healing him even now, but several more bones had been broken, and there was some internal damage as well. Still, despite the pain he was in, Morgan was grinning like an idiot. He felt alive, but more than that, he knew he was getting close to a victory.
He was sure that Sarah had thrown everything into that last attack, hoping to blow him to pieces. And yet, the earlier attacks he’d felt, those powerful enough to blow the planet apart, were leagues above what he’d just endured — which could only mean one thing. Sarah was now a good deal weaker, to the point where he could inflict some real damage.
She hadn’t noticed it yet, but her body was regenerating at perhaps an eighth the speed as before. All he really needed to do now was keep pushing, keep hurting, and get her to the point where he could take her down for good.
He groaned as he rose into the air, breathing painfully as he pulled on his next skill. He had regenerated all of the RP after he’d used Sunscorch, which was more than enough to activate his next skill.
Sarah kicked off, her body coming at him as a red streak – but one that Morgan could now follow, where he hadn’t been able to before. Reaching deep within himself, Morgan activated Soulstream. His body was cloaked in violet light, his aura floating several inches off his skin.
Claws formed at the ends of his fingers, a long, bushy tail extended, and the aura sharpened into a bestial face over his own. In this skill, Morgan could feel the Beast King once more, though only in spirit. His consciousness was gone, blended with the Beast King’s, but the cloak gave him strength, speed, and took care of all his wounds. By the time Sarah crashed into him just a second later, he was already feeling much better.
Morgan felt the breath leave his lungs, even as he was driven back toward the ground. He knew that just because she was weakened did not mean she was weak. He slammed into the ground, his body digging a furrow as Sarah followed, unleashing a flurry of blows that broke bones, tore into his skin, and caused so much damage that if his Soulstream had not been active, he most definitely would have died.
Sarah paused for a moment, and Morgan struck, lunging forward and driving a fist into her midsection. A blast of compressed air shot through her, disrupting the blood-form she’d taken on and sending her body scattering around her, painting the ground in blood.
Morgan followed up, unleashing a quick combination of punches and kicks into her reforming body, driving her further back. Soulstream increased his might by a factor of ten and effectively made him twice as strong as he was while using his Bestial Might, with the added benefits of having his RP regenerate as quickly as he used it and having himself restored to full health.
He was back to full strength, fighting at his peak, while Sarah was weakening, floundering, and trying to recover. He had fifteen minutes in this form, and he would make certain to do as much damage as possible before his time ran out.
The two of them smashed through another section of wall,
Morgan using Expanse to its limits by creating small air pockets that would burst each time she came into contact with them, blowing small chunks from her body. At the same time, he pulled on the stone around him, sending showers of shrapnel pelting into her, pulling cyclones of sand up and from the sides, and using small rifts to pepper her from all sides.
Sarah, of course, gave as good – if not more so – than she got.
For each attack Morgan landed, she landed a dozen. Her blows were wild, but they were powerful and did far more damage than any of his individual attacks could even hope to match. Unlike with Sunscorch, Morgan did get hurt and could feel the pain — every broken bone, torn muscle, or ruptured organ, every cut or bruise, every torn limb, and every hole blasted through his body.
Pain became his entire world, but despite it all, he did not falter for an instant. After all, what was a little pain compared to his life? If he didn’t take this goddess out here and now, he would most likely never see his Sarah again. Not only that, but even if he lived, she would return with backup, the kind that he wouldn’t be able to beat, even with his Sunscorch.
He fought on doggedly, trading vicious attacks with the goddess and hoping that if anyone were within a hundred miles, they would have the good sense to flee.
***
Sarah was becoming more and more enraged with each passing second. The damned mortal had yet another skill that made it impossible to kill him, though this one seemed less about negating damage and more about quick regeneration. She fought on, trying to overwhelm the regeneration speed by inflicting too much damage to heal.
Thus far, she had been unsuccessful, even when ripping off limbs. It was infuriating and degrading, being forced to face an inferior being and throwing everything she had at him. By now, it was obvious to her what was happening. He wasn’t growing any stronger; she was growing weaker.
It was the only conclusion she could draw, especially after the dozens of attacks she’d thrown failed to do any significant damage to the world itself, in addition to Morgan. The worst part about this all, was that while she was weakening, he was not. His regeneration kept him going, that cloak surrounding him made him stronger and faster, and the skills he continually used were taxing her even further.
Every time she tried gathering a larger attack, his own would disrupt hers, causing her to falter and give him the opportunity to engage in close-quarters combat, which seemed to be his specialty. And while she was good, she wasn’t so good that she believed she could defeat him on pure fighting skill alone.
After all, the main advantage of being a god was the difference in power. Strip that away, and she would easily fall to this man. Even having to admit something like that to herself enraged her to no end, and Sarah redoubled her efforts.
She drove forward, running right into another of the expanding wind spheres. She staggered, and Morgan’s fist caught her in the jaw, spinning her to the side and through the crumbling wall. She reappeared above, trying to summon her rain, but walked right into a whirling cyclone of sand, which tore at her body, shredding the very Essence from which she was now made of and scattering it to the ground.
She hissed, pulling herself back together and vanishing, as a shining black spear flashed past, missing her by a hair. She appeared behind, then in front, then above, then back in front, hoping to confuse him with the quick movements, but it was as though he’d been waiting for that. As soon as she appeared before him, he vanished, and over a dozen small rifts opened around her.
She tried to run, but found herself encased in a whirling sphere of wind. She growled, then punched, the air blowing apart and freeing her. However, it had been enough time for him to set the same trap as before. The ground flowed up, trapping her up to the waist as shining black spears slashed all over her before slamming into the ground as they traveled through the rifts.
The stone around her shattered as she flared her power, but it was too late. The gravity increased, driving her to her knees, just before the cage of lightning sprang up around her, arcing from spear to spear and tearing into her.
Before, it had merely stung, but now, it hurt. Sarah screamed, her body locking up as the powerful electricity coursed through her, disrupting her control over her form and causing even more blood to flake off, splattering to the ground below. Her Essence continued to replenish it, even as her power was continually strained.
Smoke rose from her form, her teeth clacking against one another, and she felt that if she didn’t do something quickly, she would be in real danger. Feeling fear for the first time since the fight had begun, she lashed out blindly, pouring an obscene amount of her remaining strength into an all-out attack, blowing the spears to pieces and leaving her free once again.
She slowly staggered to her feet, breathing hard and feeling her body shrinking, resuming its normal shape. Smoke rose from her skin, her arms hanging by her sides, shoulders slumped as she glared at the man responsible.
“You’re…Gonna…Pay for that,” she panted, holding a hand out and summoning her blood scythe once more.
She would have done more, but right now, she was so depleted that this was all she could manage.
“I’m sure you’re going to try,” Morgan said, the violet cloak still burning around him. “But I doubt you’ll actually succeed.”
Sarah snorted out a laugh, not even sure she was convinced she could win. Still, she was a goddess, and he was only mortal.
“What could possibly make you think you stand a chance?” she asked, straightening to her full height and glaring back at him.
He smiled. It was disconcerting to see someone smile at a time like this. It meant they were still confident of success, even when all of the odds were against them.
Morgan held his hand to the side, and an instant later, a streak of silver flashed by her, slicing her cheek and sending burning pain radiating out from the wound. Sarah clapped a hand to the wound, more because she was shocked that she hadn’t sensed the weapon coming than the actual pain.
Of course! How could she have forgotten? That accursed spear!
“Well, all I’ll have to do is make sure that spear doesn’t hit me,” she said, trying to feign nonchalance.
“You might be able to avoid the spear,” Morgan said, nodding in agreement and giving her a small sense of hope.
Then, the spear began to melt, turning to a shimmering liquid and beginning to flow up his arm, coating Morgan’s body like a second skin.
“Yes,” he repeated. “You might be able to avoid the spear. But I very much doubt the same could be said about me.”
Sarah stared at the flowing silvery spear, now covering more than half of Morgan’s body and still flowing.
She then turned and ran.
83
Grace skidded to a halt as they finally reached the spot where the portal was, but she could already see that they were too late. One of the groups had already arrived and were lining up before the portal to block their escape. Katherine and the others, though, didn’t stop. They continued on, charging headlong into the enemy and trying to force their way through.
“Go help them,” she panted, waving Lumia forward. “They’re going to need you if we want to make it out of here alive.”
Lumia hesitated, but only for a second, then expanded to her full size and took to the air, bright crimson fire already burning in her jaws.
Grace spun back around, snapping her fingers in both directions, the soundwaves showing her exactly what was coming for them. She felt her heart begin to race as she counted up the enemy force, knowing that if they didn’t break through within the next minute or so, they were pretty much done for.
The noose was tightening, and there was only one way out.
Bright fire flashed, followed by the screams of the dying, and Grace spun around to start doing what she could. She wasn’t nearly strong enough to make any real difference, but if she could knock even one soldier out of the way, it could give them the edge they needed.
She dashed into the fray, ignoring the screaming dwarf that went down to her left, and extended both hands, unleashing her Wail Wall. Her hands expanded as she clapped them together, blasting several fighters off their feet and right into a flowing wall that Elyssa was in the middle of pulling up.
Building a wall was a smart move and might buy them a handful of seconds. More importantly, it might allow them to keep something at their backs instead of only the enemy. Grace clicked her tongue and immediately fell flat as a blade flew at her, cutting several locks of hair and giving her an unintentional trim.
“You bastard!” she yelled, flipping to her back and using Siren Scream.
The beastman was blown off his feet, and Katherine lunged past, cleaving him in two. But Grace wasn’t thinking about that. She was thinking about the damage done to her poor hair. Reaching down, she felt at the uneven cut and became incredibly angry, which was quite strange, considering that the deaths of so many tonight hadn’t elicited the same reaction. She had to chalk it up to exhaustion and fatigue, as she refused to accept that her hair would upset her more than death.
She stumbled forward, finding herself standing behind Ragnar. The dwarven king was the very definition of unmovable. He swung his massive hammer in great arcs, ignoring all attacks that came his way and roaring profanities as he fought, which was quite odd for the ruler of an entire race. Then again, the single other remaining dwarf – Ragnar’s son, if she wasn’t mistaken – was doing much the same.
Gilderon stuck close to Elyssa the entire time, his sword flashing in bright arcs, knocking away any attacks that came even remotely near her. He was absolutely covered in injures. He had so many, in fact, that Grace was surprised he was even still alive. Despite the horrific collection of cuts, breaks, and other injures, Gilderon’s eyes were alive, burning with conviction and determination to make sure his queen got out of here alive.