Until death?

by Andur

  Now we have a nice little space around our fortresses, which is safe from enemy teleporters. If Margerie hadn't invented something like that, our fortresses would be useless. The Council could just board our vessels and we would have to fight them the traditional way.

  Neither will they be blown out of the sky, like my old fortress.

  Of course we thought about many other scenarios too. To tell the truth, I think we are still greenhorns. We never fought a war between gods. I have almost no idea how the reality will look like.

  Probably the only ones who have an idea how to fight is the Council. They have an experienced army, unlike us. Of course our people aren't inexperienced either. We fought ourselves for long enough. But we never fought a war as gods, that's new territory for us.

  I hope the Council's army got rusty during the eternity of peace under their rule. They shouldn't have had much chances to train their skills.

  “We are ready to shift, your Majesty!”

  A technicians voice wakes me from my thoughts. “Activate the engine.” I order with a cold voice.

  After a short feeling of zero gravity, both of our fortresses reappear above a certain planet.

  This place is called the Centre of all things. A blue sun is dancing with a black hole. Around them travels a world of Crystals. And on this world is the Council's city.

  We appeared right above their heads. Perfect!

  “Begin to descend and start the bombardment to wake them up.” I lean back in my chair to watch the inferno. Our fortresses are unleashing incredible powers. Lances of energy stab down into the atmosphere and orbs of light howl down to the planet.

  Unfortunately, it will be nothing more than a greeting. I know from Tjenemit that the Council possesses the technology to shield their city. Combined with their mana-crystals, they should have more than enough energy to stop our attack.

  On the other hand, we have a hidden card. Nobody is allowed to talk about it until we had the chance to discuss the situation with the Council.

  Descending through a layer of clouds, I get a nice view at the Council's city. It's marvellous to behold.

  Smaller towers of crystal intertwine with each other and in the middle, a single slim crystal tower almost stabs the clouds.

  Like I assumed, our weapons aren't doing much to their shield. It's lighting a little. That's all.

  ***

  The Council's city:

  “Where did those things come from!” El Shaddai screams with all his might, while the ground shakes a little under our feet.

  I look up at two beautiful ships. They are made out of mana-crystals like our city. Weren't it for the shaking ground under my feet, I wouldn't believe that their purpose was a deadly one.

  Seria. What have you unleashed?

  “Marvellous! They copied the crystal-tec! They are even able to build ships!” Amaru's eyes sparkle like he just found a new toy.

  “At this rate, they will never get through the shield.” Enyo tilts her head while she is looking up. “Send the infiltration troops. They are stupid to build something like this.”

  A General at Enyo's side nods and starts to give orders to others.

  The others aren't inside the city. There is much work to do if you have to govern the multiverse.

  I look down to my feet. I will have to decide soon....

  Suddenly a rather big explosion dents the barrier above us, but the barrier is instantly restored. Our city has almost limitless mana reserves.

  In fact, Amaru explained to me that the city is somehow able to tap into the mana flow of the planet itself. That's an immense power.

  A few minutes go by, then Enyo's general receives a new information. “We lost the infiltration troops.”

  “What? How?” -Amaru

  “Apparently all pathways to the ships are blocked. Our troopers tried to get there, but they lost their connection to the pathway and reappeared a few kilometres from the ships. They were immediately taken under fire. Only a handful could escape.”

  “Incompetence!” Enyo screams at the general.

  At this moment the bombardment stops and a loud voice booms over the city.

  “We are the Void. Come out of your city and hear our terms. If you don't resist, this won't have to end with your reincarnation..... No dear! It's not like I want to scare them..... No! I am trying to make an impression!..... No! You can't have the micro....schrrccrrrcrrrr ......... ........Meet us five thousand meters above your city. NOW!”

  I turn and look at El Shaddai, who is taking all shades of grey and silver.

  “Is this is a joke? Are they not taking us serious!? They are giving terms? TO US!” -El Shaddai

  “We should go and speak to them.”-Amaru

  “I will go!” El Shaddai spits on the ground. “I will go and tell them what will happen if they don't surrender now!” He blinks away.

  I concentrate too and search the airspace above our city. When I encounter a strong source of mana, I teleport too.

  I reappear in the air. Amaru and Enyo are already besides El Shaddai.

  Across from us are two people. A man and a woman.

  The guy has a staff of crystal in his left hand. His menacing slit pupils seem like they are looking right through us. He is wearing a strange armour, which makes him look like a mixture of knight and mage. On his head is a crown and the short black hair emphasizes the golden metal. Two black horns grow from of his head, heading backwards to complete the look of a devil!

  The woman besides him has fiery red hair, which is pinned up with several ornamented hairpins out of crystal. She looks like a succubus and has a very alluring figure. Just the wings are missing. She is wearing a female version of the guys outfit. A slit skirt shows one of her legs and a tail slowly waves from left to right behind her. On her head are branching out horns, which encircle it like a tiara.

  But the strangest thing is the little girl, riding on the guys shoulders. She looks like a little version of the succubus. And then the girl waves at us and speaks.

  “Hi Guys! Did you like our little greeting? Lada! Long time no see! How are you doing!?”

  65 - Diplomacy!

  It's humiliating to carry Seria on my shoulders during a diplomatic meeting! But the faces of those people are priceless.

  The Buddha-guy should be El Shaddai. The guy with the monocle is Amaru for sure. And the walking armour could be Enyo.

  “Hrm. You are right, I am Lada. Should I know you?” The woman starts to speak.

  “Boooh! Don't you remember your best friend? I am Seria!” The jaws of the Council's members drop.

  “I should have brought a camera. Those faces are priceless.” I whisper to Celes.

  “S...Seria!? Why do you look like that?” -Lada

  “B..Blasphemy!” -El Shaddai

  “Gods having kids? Yuck!” -Enyo

  “Tjenemit killed me and I reincarnated. I have to introduce my parents! That's daddy, his name is Angrod, formerly Ascathon.” Seria pats my head. “And that's mom, the name is Celes, formerly Myrm.”

  “Are you joking with us? First this message and now this? WHO DO YOU THINK, YOU ARE!” El Shaddai screams at us.

  “Hrm. I am Angrod. I am the king of a world inside the void. It's populated by a few hundred million gods. All of them are behind me. We are all people, who were rescued by Seria. And now, we are here to fulfil her wish.” I smile while I tell them the story.

  “And that wish is?” -Amaru

  “To crush the Council. So would you be so nice and disband today!? We will make sure to keep things in order for you.” Celes smiles at them.

  “Are you out of your mind? Lay down your weapons and surrender now! Do you think we ruled this long because we would cower down before a joke like you!?” Enyo's voice is really poisonous.

  “Well... we already found out that you aren't almighty. Tjenemit was a tough bastard, but in the end he lost. It would be smart if you give up now. I would hate it to damage the city under us. It's a valua
ble historic artefact. Maybe the only one, we will ever find.” I give them the facts.

  “What did you do to Tjenemit?” -El Shaddai

  I grab into one of my pockets. Then I pull out the Tjenemit globe and show it to them.

  “DEEMONS! DON'T BE MISLEAD BY THEM! THE ARE DIRECTLY FROM THE INFERN....”

  I shake the globe a little and Tjenemit bobs up and down inside. “Shut up. Prisoners don't talk. They answer questions!”

  “HEELP MEEE! NO MORE SHAKING! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE! WHAAAHAAA.......”

  El Shaddai gapes at the Tjenemit-globe. “H... W... This won't be over fast! I will tell you how this will work! You will lay down your weapons within five minutes, or we will crush you!” El Shaddai vanishes.

  I put the annoying globe back into my pocket.

  Amaru and Enyo disappear too. Only Lada stays behind with a concerned look in her face.

  “Hey Lada. Wanna come with us? It will become very uncomfortable down there soon.” Seria points down to the city.

  “I still can't believe you pulled a stunt like this. This feels unreal. And you even got a new life? A new body? How does it feel?” Lada looks down to the City.

  “Don't worry! I am still me! Though I lost a few memories and if you ask my parents, they are of the opinion that my character is a little different too. But if I look back at my memories, I think that my old self would do it again.” Seria gives Lada a thumbs up.

  “You are a little different. But in a good sense. The old Seria wouldn't have felt so earnest, while saying that.” Lada smiles at us. “Then I will come with you now. It's the best time to desert, the others didn't even think about me.”

  I grab Lada's shoulder and teleport us back to the command centre of the Ragnarok. Arriving there, Seria hops off of me, runs up to Lada and hugs her.

  “So you are Lada. The other Council members are really trusting you. Getting you out of there was easier than expected.” I sit down in my command chair while the bombardment starts again.

  Rays of energy start to stab upwards from the city now. Our shield takes care of them. The floor is shaking a little, but it's manageable.

  “It's less an issue of trust and more one of undervaluation. They ignore me, as long as I don't get in their way.” Lada smiles bitterly at me. “You should retreat. The city under us has the energy resources of a whole world.”

  “Well, some of my smart tacticians expected that. We are just bombarding their city to find it's energy core or something similar.” -Me

  Lada tilts her head. “If you mean the main-grid for energy distribution, it's four kilometres to the west of the Council's tower.”

  “Hoh? That's interesting.” I wave for a technician to search the area. “How do you know about this?”

  “Once I took a tour through the city with Amaru. He is our technology geek and he talked about nothing else than the marvellous process of draining mana from the planets core.” Lada shrugs her shoulders.

  “The enemy's army is on the move! They have created a shield together and are moving in our direction. About fifty thousand.” An officer informs me.

  “Increase the distance. The Nomad can hold position and continue to search for a weak point.” They are really insane to try this against us.

  It's like running barehanded into a tank! “Can we see any big weapons?”

  The technician shakes his head. “Nothing we can identify.”

  I start to hum while I think about the situation. “This is far too easy. Did the Council really not bother with creating some big and nasty god killing devices? All those years and they just leaned back?”

  “I never saw something like this ship before. During the great war, everyone fought with their own power. We captured the crystal city in the war's final stages. The previous owners didn't even know how to control it. Amaru invented those laser-cannons, which they used to counter attack. He hasn't created anything ever since. I don't know why. And on top we had the black hole to seal uncomfortable individuals.” Lada gives me some vital information.

  Another clue that Amaru never knew how to create seeds. He just used the existing ones. Though I don't understand why he never managed to find it out? Hmm. The seed is pretty complicated and it requires soul-magic. But that's still no reason. He had so much time!

  The globe of energy approaches us. Maybe they used the sphere of sight and went directly for me? “Seria, go home.”

  “What? But I want to stay here!?” Seria complains.

  “Your powers are unstable and I don't know our enemy's capabilities. You will go now, or you will be punished!” I glare at her.

  “No? All this is my responsibility!” Seria continues to refuse.

  “Your responsibility ended when you died. Celes! Help me.” I look at my wife. And Seria looks at her too.

  Celes looks down at Seria and forms a voiceless word with her lips. Seria's eyes become big and round. A second later she is gone.

  “What did you tell her? That was effective!” -Me

  Celes smirks at me and crosses her fingers in front of her chest. “That's a secret between mother and daughter. Men have no right to use this technique.”

  “She has changed for sure. I never knew someone, who could get her to obey that easily.” Lada smiles at Celes.

  “Like I said. It's something only mothers can do to their daughters.” She smiles at us.

  “The enemy is closing” -Technician

  I concentrate on the screen again. “Then start to show them our weaponry.” Beams of light stab into the enemy formation, but they pass right through.

  “No damage! It's as if they aren't there!?” “It has to be an illusion!” -Technician

  “Use our energy weapons to search for them! Fire blindly!” -Me

  “That's a favourite tactic of Enyo. She will set up such an illusionary decoy and approach hidden from another direction.” -Lada

  “Any idea how to break the spell?” I ask her hopefully, but she shakes her head.

  Sigh. Yep. I already said that this was too easy. So I give the vital order.

  “Prepare for being boarded!”

  66 - Victory?

  I watch in silence, as the beams of our energy weapons continue to lance out into all directions. Waiting for a battle to start is pure torment. During the battle you have no time to think about your actions.

  It's just before and after the fight when you start to question your decisions.

  “You have any idea how they will attack? Will they come from all sides or use a single direction?” I ask Lada, who is standing beside me with a complicated expression on her face.

  “I am sorry. I just remembered Enyo's strategy because she used it in the last battle of the great war. I am sorry for not being of any help. Maybe we should run? Can't this ship teleport away despite blocking someone from boarding with teleportation?” -Lada

  “It's okay. I don't really want to run away. We might just have a crew of twenty five thousand, but we have the advantage of being the defenders. Nullifying any unauthorized teleportation is another great advantage to us.”