by Riker Kane
“You’ve got a slim chance of negotiating your way out of this. Start talking.” I did my best to hold back. If Lyra was in any danger, I couldn’t risk her.
“Very good.” He stood up straight and twirled his cane around in his hand. “My name is Daleon. And I know you’re the one Balec calls Ultima. Word of what you two are doing is spreading. Trying to unite the raiders together so that we can face our common enemy.”
“Trying to defeat the Shadows that destroyed your world. What a novel idea. But maybe we should spend our time arguing with each other instead.” I rolled my eyes, not bothering to feel threatened by him.
“Amusing. But I’m looking at the big picture.”
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
“I’m one of the only few who understands there’s something more. This other world is on the horizon. It’s chasing us from Qashia to here. But we will defeat it. I have belief in the strength of our people.”
For all of his bluster, it seemed to be pointed in the right place… so far.
“But while you only see a great threat, I see what will come after.” He pointed my cane at me. “What do you think will happen when we purge this world of these ‘Shadows’? Do you expect us all to join hands and live happily ever after?”
“That’s the idea.”
“Hmph.” Daleon crossed his arms, his lips tight with a smug chuckle. “You are as naive as you are powerful. You know little about Qashians. This threat will be vanquished and all will be right. Peace will last for a time. But after that, everybody will return to their squabbles. The Warriors of the Serpent. The Nobles in the mountains. Nameno and Ceah. Every raider clan will struggle for dominance. With this other world gone, there will be someone else wanting to step up and take their place. There must always be a hierarchy.”
“That’s a bleak way of looking at things.” I smirked at him, shaking my head like I was looking at a little boy. “And I’m the naive one…”
“I am not ignorant to the ways of my people. Someone must lead our people into this new era.” He twirled my cane around then stabbed it into the dirt. “I will be the one to lead us all. And I will prove it by beating you.”
The smugness on his face slowly faded as he stared down at me. I waited for him to laugh and tell me he wasn’t serious. I looked to the other raiders but they were as quiet as him. That just opened a window for me to burst into laughter.
I nearly keeled over from laughing so hard. My stomach shook. My cheeks hurt. Even my eyes started to water. I didn’t know how long I laughed but when I finally composed myself, I saw Daleon hadn’t changed his demeanor.
“I’m trying to unite everybody,” I said. “If you want to be king, you’ll have to find another way. Otherwise, I just might kill you.”
“I insist you try. If not for yourself but for her.” He snapped his fingers and two raiders approached holding Lyra’s limp and tied-up body. She was still breathing but wasn’t conscious.
Seeing her unconscious made me hold back the anger seething in my chest. “Don’t make me do this.”
Daleon took a step back and motioned for me with his hand. “Come, Ultima. Let’s prove to all those in the Sol Lands who is the strongest among us.”
He didn’t give me another choice—so I took it.
I activated the Life Rune and my armor formed around me. The twine around my wrists snapped like soft noodles and I was back on my feet.
The raiders backed away, creating a circle in the dirt for Daleon and me to square off in. He tossed my cane to the side then motioned for me with his hand.
“Let’s see how strong you really are—”
I flew at him with a punch and caught him right in his gut, folding him over onto his knees. He let out a gasp as all of the air cleared from his lungs in an instant.
“I’m holding back,” I said as I moved away. “If you don’t stay down, I won’t hesitate to knock more sense into you.”
“I see you are strong…” He pushed himself back up to his feet and straightened up. “…But you will have to do better than that to defeat me.”
“That can be arranged.” I didn’t bother activating my abilities. I just cracked my knuckles and walked swiftly over to him. I grabbed him by the collar and reared back with a punch. Suddenly, something caught me in the stomach and sent me tumbling back.
I didn’t know what it was. All I saw was a flash of darkness and the next thing I knew, I was dealing with a thumping pain in my core.
“Ungh…” I rolled over on my knees, clutching my chestplate and noticing the small dent in it.
Daleon’s chuckling got my attention. “You see… You are not the only one with such power.”
I didn’t know what I was expecting. But when I turned my head up, that wasn’t what I thought I’d see. I squinted to make sure I was looking at it right.
In Daleon’s left hand, there was a jewel shaped just like the Life Rune. It resonated with a black and purple aura like smoke. It was too big for him to squeeze his grip around it entirely. He clutched it tight, aiming it right at me.
“Where did you get that?” I said.
“There is much power in this world. It is fate that brought our people here to Iorus. And it is fate that I found this. Do you understand now why I must lead?”
I straightened up and cracked my neck back and forth.
“You are worried,” he said, his smirk coming back to him. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“Oh, I’m worried. I’m worried I don’t have to hold back any longer.”
He narrowed his eyes at me and fired a blast from the stone in his hand. I moved out of the way and fired back at him with a Radiant Beam. A dark barrier appeared, blocking my attack. As the sparks of black and white energy flew into the air, the other raiders backed away to give us more space.
“It’ll take more than a jewel to beat me,” I said.
“Now who’s the one who’s overconfident.”
I summoned a Black Viper and sent it darting at him. My smoky familiar moved like a bullet and sank its teeth into his ankle. Daleon screamed out in pain as the snake wrapped around him to keep him in place.
I ran forward then moved like a bullet to level him with another punch but Daleon quickly raised his jewel to fire and make me careen to the side.
“You will not beat me!” he shouted. “I possess the same power as you!”
Despite the snake clutching his leg, Daleon didn’t stop firing at me. I raised the earth right from the ground and used a Rock Burst to counter his attack. The stones exploded into a mist of dirt that made everybody turn their heads. Getting some dirt in my eyes wasn’t enough to stop me though.
I put my head down and rushed through the cloud of dirt then lunged at Daleon like a linebacker. My arms wrapped around his waist as I brought him to the ground.
I immediately rushed my hands up to his wrist, trying to free his grip from the jewel. But he reached up with his free hand and began digging a thumb into my eyes, forcing me to back off.
“Fool!” he muttered. “It will take more than that—”
I fired a Radiant Beam at him while he was trying to gloat and caught him right in the chest. I burned through his tunic and at the same time, sent him rolling back. I fired a Frozen Jet right at his wrist as he recovered, trying to stop his arm from moving. He tried to fight it but he couldn’t. Eventually his arm was frozen in place with only the jewel resting on top of it.
“Don’t try anything.” I aimed at the surrounding raiders as I approached Daleon, who was struggling to break free.
I moved right in front of him but he was powerless to get away. Daleon’s eyes narrowed at me, his wrinkly brow furrowed in anger. “You are not of this world! I must be the one to lead my people!”
“Maybe you should let them decide. We’ve got more important things to deal with now—”
BOOM!
An explosion rang in my ears, accompanied by a searing heat that warmed my whole body. It crashed on the ground
and lifted me completely. I tumbled through the sky, pain surging through my body, and confusion running through my head.
It all happened so quickly, I wasn’t sure it happened.
A hard thud against my face brought my senses back to me. I realized I was lying face down on the dirt.
“Ungh… What the hell was that?”
I blinked my eyes as I pushed myself to my feet. As my hearing slowly came back to me, the ringing stop but there was something else. Thunder and lightning. I looked up toward the storm I heard but instead found something else.
Purple and black energy billowed together—another rift for the Shadows of Pandora to come through. But there wasn’t a Shadow coming down. There was a figure slowly lowering itself to the dirt.
He was tall, at least eight-feet, bigger than any human I’d ever seen. His head was bald and smooth, his face as white as snow. His eyes were empty and black, like glossy marbles. A shining silk robe covered his massive frame. Several black straps covered his upper body and waist like a dozen different belts. His entire body was covered in an aura—the same mixture of violet and black from the cloud.
I didn’t have to look at him for more than a second to know that he was another one of the Heralds the Legion was keeping tabs on. But he wasn’t sickly or frail or gaunt. No, he was just the opposite.
He raised his arm and I saw the veins running along his muscular forearm. His fingers were thick, a lone index finger pointed at me as he smiled to show off his jagged white teeth.
“So… You are the man they have spoken of,” he said with a deep, ethereal voice. “The one Kreonyx saw… The Battle God of Iorus.”
I stood my ground, trying to decide how I was going to deal with him. “Who are you?”
“I am the one sent to remind you of your place.”
“Another Herald.”
“Herald. The label your Legion has given us. Hmph. I can assure you, I am no ordinary Herald. I am Holy Paladin Romanis. And I have come for what is rightfully mine.”
“Don’t you guys ever get tired of talking about what’s yours?”
He ignored me, turning his attention to Daleon. The raider was sprawled out on the ground, barely conscious. The black jewel in his hand had rolled a few meters away out of his grip.
“Ah… There it is. The power. I understand now why Kreonyx has taken such a keen interest in this world.”
I didn’t have to think twice to know I couldn’t let him get his hands on whatever that thing was.
“It won’t be that easy.” I summoned my Light Clone by my side and we both aimed Radiant Beams at him.
The Herald slowly turned back to me and turned his head sideways. “I’m afraid it will.” His hands shot into the air and dozens of purple lightning bolts crashed down into the ground, creating a storm stronger than the Herald in Euphoria did. The booming sound was bothersome enough but the explosions rocked me back, forcing me to take to the air.
I recovered as quickly as I could and fired my Radiant Beam along with my clone. The Herald stomped toward the jewel, raising a hand behind him to block my attack with a black barrier.
“Dark barrier… Have to change elements.” I switched to a Dark Beam and managed to pierce through his barrier enough to catch him on the back.
Stunning him momentarily, I zoomed back at him as fast as I could and drove my shoulder into his stomach. The guy was massive but my momentum took us to the ground. I kept my arms around his waist to hold him down.
“Enough!” A booming explosion sent me flying back before I could do anything else.
The momentum from the blast sent my body cartwheeling through the air before I thudded back on the dirt. The pain surged through my body but I gritted my teeth to get back to my feet. Fresh blood dripped from a cut on my brow and out of my mouth. I couldn’t let that stop me now though.
The Herald stomped back toward the jewel and picked it up from the ground. “Persistence… I suppose any being must do everything it takes, even in futility. But no matter how much the ant resists against the wall closing in on it, it is still only a bug.”
I rushed at him again, flying as fast as I could but the Herald moved out of the way and raised his hands into the air. More lightning came crashing violently on the ground around me. The surrounding raiders slowly started to regain their senses and fled in panic.
Daleon stayed unconscious on the ground. I looked to the side and saw Lyra still lying there. A lightning bolt nearly caught her, forcing me to race forward and scoop her in my arms. But in that brief moment it took to save Lyra, the Herald was ascending back into the air.
“I will see you again, Ultima,” he announced from the dark clouds. “Do not disappoint me.”
The lightning kept crashing until the Herald was nowhere to be found. I stayed on my knees holding Lyra until the clouds finally disappeared.
Fires remained scattered across the ground. Daleon’s camp had been ripped to shreds. Daleon himself was still unconscious. I wasn’t even sure he was breathing. But even if he was, there were more important things to worry about now.
32: Auxiliary Measures
My arms crossed, I stared blankly at the display.
Ultima
Level 84 Battle God
Hit Points 400
Endurance 200
Earth (Strength) 25
Fire (Speed) 27
Water (Durability) 24
Life/Death (Control) 43 (+3)
“You have gained three levels since your last appearance here.”
Cybil’s voice went in one ear and out the other. Even though I was staring at the screen, I wasn’t paying any attention to my stats. The small boost flowing through me was barely noticeable.
After getting back to Haven, all of the work had only just begun. Lyra recovered from her injuries and took the opportunity to relax with Zafina and Rhiannon. Daleon had made it out alive. His ‘jewel’ was gone, taking all of his confidence with it and making it easier to interrogate him.
I made my way to Zion as fast as I could to get some answers.
“I sense you are troubled,” Cybil said.
A half-hearted smirk came across my lips. “You don’t have to be a god to figure that out.” I sighed a deep breath, replaying everything that happened in my head.
“Daleon said he found it in a canyon off to the west near his camp. I’ve got no reason to trust him but I don’t see why he would lie either. You must have sensed something like that, Cybil.”
“Unfortunately, the darkness resonating from the fortress has clouded my scans. There is residual energy all over the Sol Lands. I assumed it was the fortress itself.”
“What is it? Is it another Death Rune?”
“The power of the Death Rune was consumed when the Omnirune was formed to defeat the World Destroyer.”
“What about the Rune itself? I know you drained the power from it. Maybe it was refilled.”
“The Rune itself was also destroyed in the process.”
“Then what is it? Daleon was firing Dark Beams at me just as strong as my own.”
Cybil didn’t answer immediately. You knew something was wrong when a god had to think about what to say.
“The only thing I can say for certain is that it is not the Death Rune. It appears to be a facsimile. Where it came from, I cannot tell you.”
“I’ve got some idea.”
The thoughts of the Herald came back to me. His black-eyed stare was menacing enough I could picture it in my head with my eyes closed.
“He summoned lightning down on me stronger than I’d ever seen before—even stronger than the Herald I fought in Euphoria. I’ve read some of the reports of the Heralds in the LOD database. Even lowly-ranked Bronze Omegas have killed some. This Romanis guy… he isn’t some ordinary Herald.”
“If what you tell me is correct, Romanis appears to be a superior Herald to the ones referred to by your Legion.”
“He said he was a Holy Paladin serving Kreonyx. Romanis… Kreonyx… Do
any of those names sound familiar?”
“My archive refers solely to the history of Iorus. These names you mentioned are not recognizable.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured.” I let out a sigh as I paced back and forth.
We already had enough to deal with trying to build the Holy Light Cannon. Now some super-powered Herald shows up and has a copy of a Death Rune—a Death Rune I thought I already destroyed.
“I mentioned the names to Zafina and Rhiannon. The same for Joris and the people in Haven. Nobody’s ever heard of them. I doubt I’ll find anything if I head back to the Legion. If they knew, they’re probably already forming a plan to deal with it.”
“I would recommend you do not lose sight of your primary task. The energy resonating from the fortress to the east remains. I cannot tell you if Romanis’s appearance is related to the fortress.”
All of the uncertainty in Cybil’s details made me more frustrated. I took another deep breath to stop my emotions from getting the best of me. I knew I couldn’t stop working on the cannon, even with someone like Romanis looming in the background.
“If only there was a way to prepare for both of them… Hmm… Maybe there is.”
“Do you require any further assistance?”
I shook my head. “I can kill two birds with one stone. I’m heading out.”
“I await your return, Ultima.”
~ ~ ~
I stood near the entrance of the Central Keep, enjoying the sun as it slowly dipped toward the horizon. The smell of the soil was remarkable mostly because it was so familiar. I was back home.
The citizens of Navica greeted me warmly before returning to their business. I couldn’t enjoy their company as much as I wanted to because I had business of my own.
Sawyer stepped out of the Manaworks and approached me from across the way. The man looked the same as I remembered him, his dark hair long and shaggy and his beard just as thick. His shirt looked like it needed twice as many textiles to weave as the next person, white underneath all of the smoke and soot covering it. He greeted me with a smile and held his huge hands out to me.