Abel: Attention! We have guests! To the right, three o’clock!
Komtur: Who’s that? Holy crap! (censored)
Olaf: (censored)
Abbot: (censored)
A slender dark-haired girl hovered above a small plateau to the right of the raid, her feet not touching the ground. She could be called gorgeous — perfect figure, delicate features, flowing hair the color of night — if not for a few terrifying details — the arrogant mask of a Snow Queen, an armor woven from serpentine shadows, and a completely black nickname above her head, informing everyone that they were in the presence of Ananizarte, the Goddess of Darkness.
She was looking at the Colossus, which, up to its knees in rubble, still continued to destroy the Crystal. Then she shifted her gaze to the Watchers, their raid closing ranks, weapons at the ready. A slight smile crept over her lips. In a moment, she was right next to them.
With a wave of her hand and an elusive silver glow, the first ranks of the players were sent flying in all directions. The invisible blade in the goddess’ hand could cut through anything — shields, swords, armor, bodies — and killed instantly. Ananizarte shrouded herself in crimson flame that burned all counterattacks and walked forward, laughing.
There was no fighting back. The invisible blade grew longer, reaching even those who seemed to be out of its range. Unable to stand the slaughter, the surviving Watchers fled, scattering.
The goddess didn’t seem interested in chasing the escaping players. Instead, she kept glancing at the Colossus. Ananizarte stopped to do something with a ring on her finger and stretched her hand. Huge black spiders rained down from her palm, one after another, rapidly growing in size. After jumping down on the stone floor of the cave, they ran in pursuit of the fleeing Watchers. The players died one after another, caught by the many-legged monsters.
Meanwhile, Ananizarte spread her hands, creating a thin black spindle gleaming with silver. An expert on dark magic would have recognized the Spear of Darkness, the divinely powerful spell that dealt tremendous damage to a single target. After charging it to the max, the goddess straightened up like an uncoiled string and threw the Spear into the back of the unsuspecting Colossus.
* * *
The Crystal of Negation’s hit points were flashing deep crimson when I received a sudden blow in the back. It felt like a heavy hammer hitting my spine at full speed. My knees gave way, and like a ton of bricks, I crashed down on the ground, the cave’s stone floor rapidly growing uncomfortably close. The log showed one hundred and sixteen thousand points of damage. That was almost one and a half percent of my total health, dammit!
While I was standing up, controlling the clumsy monstrosity, I got barraged with several more blasts, each dealing from ten to fifty thousand damage. An invisible force was tearing huge lumps of stone from the walls and the ceiling and throwing them at me with the speed of a cannonball. That said, shooting me with those “snowballs” wasn’t exactly efficient — upon hitting me, they burst into small chunks or bounced off the metallic body with a shower of white sparks.
Confused about what was going on and bereft of my usual communication channels, I looked over the cave, trying to figure out who had interrupted our games. The first thing I saw was a swarm of black and green spiders the size of a calf scattered around the cave. They were chasing down and killing the Watchers, and going by the many lifeless bodies lying around, the raid was almost completely destroyed.
What was going on? But then, I discovered a small figure hovering right above the ground. Obeying its gestures, huge boulders rattled as they rose in the air and flew right at me. The considerate system outlined it in crimson and marked as Ananizarte, Goddess of Darkness.
Goddamn it! I was in the presence of the leader of the House of Darkness, the most powerful creature on Dorsa herself! I didn’t know much about pantheons, but everyone always spoke about Ananizarte in hushed tones, their eyes wide — she was thought to be one tough cookie. The House of Darkness couldn’t have conquered almost half of the continent otherwise.
So she came to stop me. Tormis and Ananizarte were old enemies; I had heard it more than once. I hadn’t planned on battling a goddess, but inside the body of Colossus...why not? Especially since, despite all of her efforts, she still hadn’t taken more than three percent of my health. I felt a joyful anger, some kind of panache, as a giant rock cracked upon hitting my bronze forehead, dealing less than ten thousand damage. So is that all you’ve got?
I stepped forward and used Stomp, immediately followed by Rays as I hoped to reach her. As expected, stun didn’t work, and she dodged the beams by disappearing and reappearing in another spot. I needed to deadlock her. As fast as I could muster, I sent the giant forward, slashing the cave with my fiery eyebeams while trying to trample my nimble opponent. I failed. The goddess kept slipping away, appearing behind me while continuing her bombardment. If that continued, she could kite me forever: her damage might be small, but it was constant. So what had the Ancients included in the program of their machine for such agile and fast enemies?
Slow Time! I seized a moment and activated the ability. It caught the goddess off balance, and she sluggishly flew by in the suddenly thick air, leaving a misty trail behind her. The bronze fist crashed into her, tossing her into the cave wall. A cloud of dust billowed, and a network of cracks covered the wall. I was pleased to see that my blow took almost a quarter of her hit points. Come on then, darling! Each ten minutes, I’m going to give you a good wallop. Let’s see how long you can play!
After taking that punch, Ananizarte seemed angry and decided to switch her tactics. She transformed into a large dragon, its body composed of crimson black flame. Breathing fire, the monster charged at me, going for my throat and knocking me down. We were of a comparable size; a real clash of titans. Lying on my back, I locked my hands on the dragon’s spine. We were embracing, like two fighters in a par terre.
The creature kept attacking the metal, biting and scratching at my bronze body, slashing it with its fiery tail and breathing streams of flame right into my face, but all of that seemed no more than a light tickle. The builders of the Colossus had done a good job. The creation of the Ancients didn’t give a toss about both magic fire and physical damage. And I was stronger. Squeezing the thrashing dragon/Ananizarte in my bronze grip, the Colossus stood up, pried it away, and smashed it into the wall with all its might.
Once again, streams of rubble fell down on the ground, while the point of impact was marked by a large dent surrounded by a web of fractures. Stalagmites came loose from the ceiling, one after another, crushing the brittle edra crystals. At that rate, we would bring the entire place down.
Not letting hold of the fiery body, I activated Death Rays. Missing was impossible: I was firing point-blank. The dragon twitched as I burned down its hit points, holding it in a death grip.
At last, it disappeared, seeping through my fingers in rivulets of fire. The goddess was fleeing from me over the floor of the cave, her health bar in the yellow zone.
* * *
Ananizarte knew about the Colossi created by the Ancients to battle gods, but she had never fought any of them. All of her efforts were futile — the enemy was so powerful that she couldn’t even wound it, instead losing one of her forms.
The goddess realized that raw power was useless. The Colossi were designed to battle those such as herself. They had no weak spots, and their power was unmatched. Destroying a creature such as that required a different sort of tactics.
Should she bring down the ceiling on it? Throw it into an abyss? Bury it under a mass of stone? Ananizarte’s eyes ran over the cave, easily piercing stone walls, floor, and ceiling.
She saw viscous currents of slowly flowing ellurite converging in an entire underground sea. The thick layer of rock hid a huge deposit, a vein of that substance. There was a reason why the Ancients had chosen that place. They needed energy, and they knew how to extract it from ellurite. Without it, the Colossus guardian could have n
ever stayed awake for those millenia; without it, there would be no Crystal of Negation.
As she understood that, she immediately formed a plan. Ellurite was a toxic substance that corroded everything it touched, like acid. The Colossus was powerful, but could it survive in a sea of ellurite?
Her spirits up, she soared in the air and circled around the giant, easily dodging the glowing rays shot by its eyes. Shaping Crimson Fire into a thin blade that could slice stone like butter, Ananizarte flew around the Ancient’s guardian.
* * *
I understood her plan too late. I was too carried away by my attempts to crush the goddess using Slow Time while she fluttered around like a pesky bee. A roaring pillar of crimson fire slammed into the floor, cutting through stone and melting it. It looked as if Ananizarte was using it to draw an irregular circle around me, not trying to attack me anymore.
Something was wrong, I realized when the stone surface under my feet suddenly shook like a ship’s deck. I tried to escape, but I was out of time. The islet was rapidly sinking in the depths of the earth, carrying me with it. Black melted walls flashed before my eyes. How deep had she reached?
Then I saw a liquid mass of green and blue beneath me and knew: I lost. Who could guess that an entire sea of ellurite was just under our feet?
I plopped down, submerged into ellurite, and kept sinking, trying to find an anchor with my hands and feet. Caught in the viscous liquid, I floundered, drowning under my own weight. Worst thing was, the combat log burst into a series of messages about one-point damage. Ellurite was extremely toxic, able to corrode even the Ancients’ alloy. Its damage might be low, but the Colossus’ surface was vast, and it kept stacking up. The giant’s health bar that had seemed infinite slowly started to dwindle.
So what was I to do? Ananizarte outplayed me. I couldn’t get out. I had no choice and no time, and so, I pressed “Exit”, releasing the Colossus’ body that had served me for a spell. Rest in peace.
* * *
I opened my eyes to once again see the interwoven network of glowing magicables on the ceiling of the Ziggurat. I removed the control band from my head and moved my hands and feet, getting accustomed to my own body. Getting back was weird. For instance, I still felt like I was able to smash down the wall in front of me with my fist.
The raid was dead, my icon the only green in the sea of black portrains. The Courier chatroom buzzed with dozens of voices, but I consciously turned the sound off. I couldn’t allow any distractions. The battle wasn’t over yet.
Deep inside of me glimmered a faint hope that after slaughtering the Watchers and destroying the Colossus, Ananizarte wouldn’t sense me and would crawl back to lick her wounds. In the meantime, I would finish what I had started — the Crystal of Negation was almost demolished, only a little bit of it left.
I cautiously peeked out of the arrowslit to see that my hope was in vain. She had found me. The goddess was currently walking toward me, crossing the boundary of the Ziggurat’s aggro radius. Limber metallic bodies dashed after her: two Steel Predators leaped up, their jumps long and swift. I squeezed my fists.
No. No use. I didn’t get what she did, but the first guardian fell to pieces while in the air, as if sliced by an invisible blade capable of cutting metal as easily as scissors cut paper. The second predator was shot point-blank by a burst of dark fire and got thrown back, stopping dead in a smoking heap. Ananizarte took down the second line of the attackers — spiders and gladiators — as quickly as the first one. They didn’t have a chance; her strikes were fatal. I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.
What could a player do against an entity of such power? Nothing, even with the flaming sword. Nothing at all. I checked the cooldown of Blazing Warrior and gritted my teeth — there were still twenty-nine minutes left. I was out of Lightnings as well. So what was I to do?
Having destroyed the Ancients’ guardians, Ananizarte created a sphere of crimson flame in front of her as she walked. Startled, I drew back from the arrowslit, as it was aimed right at me.
A heavy blow shook the Ziggurat. The blue veil of the Dome covering the windows blinked and faded away. The next blow wasn’t long in coming. The roof above my head consisting of massive black plates was torn off and blown away. Half of the walls were destroyed, and everything around was strewn with rubble. Less than two feet away from me, completely black flames greedily devoured the edra throne that dissolved right before my eyes.
Mocking laughter came from outside. I realized that the next blow would bury me together with the Ziggurat and straightened up. Aelmaris left its sheath. With a leap, I crossed the remains of a destroyed wall, moving to the top layer and trying to locate Ananizarte.
Just a minute before, she had been downstairs, but there she was, just a few feet away.
She was tall and thin. Her black hair streamed down her shoulders, and her eyes burned with an arrogant gaze. It was a beautiful sight. Her health bar was yellow; she had less than half of her hit points left and probably no mana. Maybe I stood a chance, after all? In any case, it was worth a try.
“One of the Seven, you are a fool!” Ananizarte said, staring at Aelmaris. “Your master is here. I can smell that coward. He won’t help you. All he will do is watch you die!”
“Are you sure I need his help?” I replied. “After all, it’s not like I didn’t give your hide a good tanning...as the Colossus!”
The goddess’ eyes narrowed. She understood me. By the way she moved her hand and turned her body, I predicted where she would strike, guessing her timing down to a second. I replied with Counter Parry.
Boom! Aelmaris buzzed angrily, having almost been knocked from my hand, and I was thrown back several steps — that’s how powerful her blow was. Apparently, the sword itself helped me out, having sensed a worthy adversary.
“A good weapon!” Ananizarte nodded. “But my Raghel isn’t any worse.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t compare swords?” I said, breathing out.
Once again, she waved her hand, and a silver fleck shone in the air with a swoosh. The invisible blade started its deadly path. I focused. Now or never!
Shadow Step! I vanished, sinking into the dull grey plane of Shadow, the other side of that world. The ability of the cloak given to me by Tormis worked perfectly. Ten seconds to exit in an unexpected spot and deal a sudden blow!
But Ananizarte was present in the Shadow Plane as well. I saw her as a colossal tower woven from swirling darkness. The white flame of the invisible sword was still closing in on me. A moment before my death, I managed to get a good look at it: it was a crescent icy silver scimitar that grew in length right as it hit.
Ananizarte, Goddess of Darkness, dealt you 4350 damage!
You are dying! 60 seconds left till final death! 59...58...57…
“Pathetic tricks of the grey swindler didn’t help much, did they?” I heard her voice. “Raghel can attack in three dimensions at once. There is no salvation from it!”
I saw her change the grip of her invisible blade, turning its sharp point downward to deal the final blow.
Ananizarte, the Goddess of Darkness, killed you! You are dead.
I lost. I was ready to see the respawn point, but for some reason, I was still there.
A message appeared before me.
The Soulbinding Stone retained the hold of your soul and may return you to life. Do you wish to respawn? Yes/No
The goddess, having lost all interest in me, turned back and stepped away, furiously yelling at the empty space,
“Tormis, you craven bastard! Come out, loser!”
Yes.
I stood back up. Only a third of my health remained, but I didn’t need any more. Just one step, one perfectly calculated strike — just below her shoulder blade, next to the edge of her flowing black mane. Aelmaris flashed triumphantly and pierced Ananizarte right through. She didn’t get the time to turn around or scream. She simply disappeared.
You dealt 3500 true fire damage to Ananizarte, the Goddess
of Darkness! Souls eaten: +1!
Attention: Ananizarte is a non-playing character of rank 8 who is unable to respawn. You have absorbed her soul! You have absorbed the soul of the leader of the House of Darkness! You receive 1,000,000 XP! You receive 5 free attribute points!
Attention: a divine entity is sealed inside your sword. Your sword gains a new ability: Night Sentinel! When unsheathed, it inflicts Dread (5/10) on all surrounding characters.
Unique achievement unlocked: Scourge of God! You receive... You receive...
Dumfounded, I watched the imploded log that showed more and more lines, unable to believe what had just happened. It felt as if the system had gone mad, immediately gifting me millions of experience and dozens of free attribute points for achievements.
A second later, a man in a brown robe manifested by my side. He threw me a probing look, and for the first time, I could see his face, usually hidden in the shadow of his hood.
“Why didn’t you kill her?” Tormis demanded.
The Gene of the Ancients (Rogue Merchant Book #2): LitRPG Series Page 34