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Chapter 116 - Use the Force
🕑 Added 2019-02-16 06:59:45 +0000 UTC
Kamii Side
A small arrow-head like form appears from near the equator of the gray sphere that's floating above the city and blotting out the sun. It quickly drifts down toward the city and seems to be heading straight for the ziggurat atop which the ritual was held.
The Varanida monks standing watch around the wooden stands immediately surround Empress Teoyohticacoatl and Itzcoatl, while those near the platform rush to protect the Hueytetotopixqui, who only stares up at the flying fortress with a blank gaze. Even the great priest doesn't know how to react in such a situation.
"Alverost?" Rolan mutters, remembering that Runa was taken away by the Mage of the Beginning after the battle in the demon castle. Back then, he felt strangely compelled to let her go, even though he would have never done so under normal circumstances. Maybe the god put a suggestion into his mind when his defenses were lowered due to the relief of having defeated Demon Queen Pelomyx. "What is he doing here?"
"It doesn't matter." Kamii stands up from her seat and looks up with a strangely unconcerned and determined expression. "We'll capture him here and bring him to Onee-sama as well."
"Capture a god?" Terog stares at the little dark elf with round eyes, but they become even bigger when he sees that she's serious.
"How would you even go about doing that?" Zancrax looks at the arrow-head form slowly descending toward them and then the big sphere looming in the sky.
"That thing is flying down here, so it should be able to fly back up." We'll take it and get inside that big thing." Saying it in a matter of fact tone, Kamii points at the smaller flying object and then at the fortress.
"Opposing one of those newcomer gods from the northern city-states that call themselves the Empire of Terminus now?" Sazi asks, and Gram looks at her with a questioning gaze. How old must she be if she considers these ancient gods to be newcomers? She notices his gaze and tilts her head. "What?"
"Nothing." The big man quickly shrugs and looks back up at the small floating object approaching them. It's now close enough to make out all of its features, revealing it to be a light gray ship-like vessel with two wings and a fin on top. The wings fold up as it nears the large open platform near the stairs, and two chutes open, from which feet-like structures extend.
It lands with an audible thud, and the loud buzzing sound and the wind it's kicking up quickly fade away before a ramp opens from its underside. The Varanida monks don't hesitate to run toward it and ready their weapons to attack anybody who might emerge from this strange flying ship.
But to the shock of Rolan and Gram, the person walking down from it is someone they know. Standing at a height even taller than the minotaur beside them, a brown-skinned man with the mane-like green hair and bushy beard of the same color emerges with his head lowered so that he doesn't hit it on his way down. His empty white eyes don't show where he's looking, but when he turns his head, it's clear that he's sweeping the surroundings with his gaze. Wearing a confident grin, he crosses his arms and looks down at the lizardfolk temple guards.
"My, it's been a while." Oinos, the Walker of the Wild, says to nobody in particular. Then he spots the sacrifices lying on the altar from which the great priest is staring down at him with a fearful expression. "Nothing seems to have changed about this place in all this time. Always nice to find that it's such an institution."
Then he turns around and looks up the ramp, from which a group of menacing soldiers clad in shiny black armor emerges. They wear full helmets with a skull-like motif, their eyeholes covered by what appears to be reflective glass, which obscure all of their features. Judging by their physical characteristics, they must be humans but considering they're under Lord Creator Alverost they could even be automatons.
They line up on two sides of the ramp, facing down the lizardfolk that are unsure of how to react and await orders from either their great priest, the prime minister or the empress. Finally, another person whose face is visible walks down the ramp. He wears white robes and sports wavy white hair. Even though he looks like a man on the eve of his life, his inquisitive green eyes hold a youthful shine reserved to the immortal.
"Alverost!" Ireyo exclaims when she sees him and attempts to jump over the spectators sitting in the stands to charge at him. She seems to have a history with him, as she was also the first to recognize that the flying sphere above them belongs to him.
"Wait." But Kamii grabs her out of the air with her crab claw and pulls her back. "Let's first see what they came here to do."
It doesn't look like either of the two gods standing in front of the flying ship noticed the rabbit demon's attempt at rushing toward them. If the reason for their visit is related to the Suncaller Ritual, then they shouldn't suspect that the little dark elf and her followers are here and out to get them. With that, they'll at least have the advantage of surprise on their side.
"Don't even think about it." Rolan mutters to Kamii when he realizes her intentions. "That's Oinos, the Walker of the Wild. He's far stronger than even Chandra."
"How do you know that?" The little dark elf raises an eyebrow and asks in return.
"I told you that he came to get us from Chandra's fortress so we could join the gods, right? He fought her to free us." The former leader explains while glancing at the dark-skinned man towering in the center of the platform. "And he overpowered her just as easily as the demon queen did."
And as they all know, Chandra easily beat the four of them even when they fought together. While the bard didn't do much beyond creating some distractions, it was still four on one. Then again, now they have Zancrax, Terog, and Ireyo with them, so maybe they stand more of a chance...
"I know what you're thinking." Rolan quickly stops her from continuing the train of thought she began spinning. She looks up at him with an eyebrow raised again, skeptical that he could tell. "I believe Oinos could defeat Tepeyohuatl."
He doesn't need to say out loud that even with all of them present, they knew they couldn't achieve the same.
"Then what would you have us do?" Scowling, Kamii turns to face her former leader fully. "Just watch?"
"Yes. For now, we should observe what they came here to do." He isn't entirely comfortable talking about trying to fight two gods when he's missing an arm. And neither Roshanee nor Kamii's cursed arm did that much damage against Chandra even while she was treating their serious attempts at killing her as only sparring, so he doubts they could hope to put a scratch on Oinos when trying to kill him.
"Who are you?" Itzcoatl comes down from the wooden stands and represents the lizardfolk as one of the few who speaks their language. "How dare you disssturb our sssacred ritual!"
"You forgot about me? Last time I visited in an official capacity was when you were still a little newt." Oinos turns to grin at the old minister. "Guess you hadn't been nurtured to your position yet, so we didn't talk back then. But I never forget a face, even if it's one like yours."
"Name yourself!" This time, it's Empress Teoyohticacoatl who speaks up.
"I am Oinos, Walker of the Wild." He replies in a laid-back tone despite knowing that she's most likely the empress of the lizardfolk. But if it had been Zenlith, he would have taken offense at being spoken to in this manner even by someone of her position.
"A human god?!" The old minister looks shocked, most likely wracking his brains to think of how best to deal with this situation. He understands that nobody here could ever hope to fight him.
"I don't know about being human, but humans do seem to worship me as some kind of nature god." Shrugging, the Walker of the Wild talks as if it doesn't concern him.
"What have you come to do?" Itzcoatl sounds far less confident than he did a moment ago when he finally confronts Oinos regarding his motives for coming here.
"Ask that the old man." Flippantly pointing at Alverost, who watched the exchange with amused curiosity, the green-haired god directs his scaly conversation partner to the man in the white robes.
"Why are you always so disrespectful to your father." Despite his choice of words, the Mage of the Beginning is smiling as if mildly reprimanding a naughty child.
"That's the only freedom I have." Shrugging once again, Oinos steps aside and hands the stage to his father. Shaking his head, Alverost turns to the prime minister of Zohigal.
"When I heard you were going to conduct a Suncaller Ritual, I just had to come and witness it." Speaking in an ironic tone, the Mage of the Beginning points at the massive flying fortress looming over the city. "After all, I would love to meet Tonatihuatl."
"Our goddess is not for a human god to meet as they please!" Flaring up, Itzcoatl points his staff at Alverost.
"Oh, but I have met her before." The latter replies with a smile as if regarding a child. "She is my mother after all."
Chaos Side
A small shuttle separated from the sphere and landed in the city hidden under the trees. Even while I approach the flying fortress, there are no signs of any defensive mechanism activating. Maybe they're invisible from the outside, and a whole swarm of fighter jets will come out to shoot me down at any moment.
And just as I predicted, dozens of hangar doors open around its equatorial trench, and a whole fleet of small flying saucer-like crafts come shooting out.
"Oi, those two don't go together!" Senka does the straight man act, but I have more important worries than what franchise which knockoff before me belongs to.
"Please fasten your seatbelts." I announce across the ship and automatically fasten all their seat harnesses; just a belt won't be enough for the g-forces they'll be experiencing now. "We will be experiencing some turbulences."
The moment I finish, I roll the jet plane sideways and avoid a volley of green plasma-like projectiles. While in my current state I'm most likely indestructible through conventional means, I still don't want to try my luck when the Old Humans are involved. These could carry weapons specifically made to circumvent the Imagination Engine - provided that's even possible. But they do have the upper hand when it comes to knowledge, and I didn't exactly have time to talk to Exla about it in detail.
"Ugh." I hear Hestia make and create an avatar next to her.
"Is this too much for you?" The g-forces from my sudden barrel roll may put a huge strain on her body. Aurelia is obviously fine, and Tokomaha seems to have a really sturdy body despite appearances - and a sturdier stomach. Vitalis is almost entirely made of water which is incompressible, so she doesn't really feel anything.
"No, I am f- ugh." The angel girl tries to assure me but has to suppress the urge to vomit.
"You're not fine. I'm going down right now and let you off. Then I'll take care of these pests." I say while taking several hits from the plasma fire. Luckily, they bounce off the dragon armor coating I applied to my entire exterior, causing only some surface burns that barely tickle me.
"I am so-" Before she can apologize, I pull her and everybody else inside my body where the laws of physics don't apply, as I have to perform an especially sharp maneuver to dodge a giant laser coming from the circular crater-like structure above the equator of the flying fortress.
Turning my shape into that of the Chaos warhead, I watch the path of the straight laser, as it cuts across the sky and melts a massive hole into a mountain in the distance.
"Thank you." I turn around and look up at the looming sphere, a grin playing across my lips. "I learned that one now."
Extending a palm toward the fortress, I picture myself shooting such a weapon. Then I remember that if I shoot it down, it'll most likely fall onto the city. Stifling the light gathering in my hand, I click my tongue.
"Alright, back to the original plan then." Dropping straight out of the sky, I disappear among the trees of the jungle. There, I expand my size so that people can come out of me, and bring forth Hestia, Aurelia, and Tokomaha. Luckily, I had the presence of mind to plan ahead for such a situation and packed plenty of water inside me. This way, I could place Vitalis inside a large pool instead of enveloping her with my body.
She emerges with a clearly disappointed expression, but I can't have her melting on me right now.
"Go secure the city and find Kamii. If you see an Old Human, stay back and don't fight them." I point in the direction of where I feel the greatest concentration of life forms. The members of this team are all composed of girls I've had intercourse with in one way or another. To think I'd be able to fight alongside all of them at the same time is an incredibly endearing thought.
And Kamii should be somewhere in Zohigal. Since I didn't have the Chaos senses when I last saw her, I don't know her unique life signature; I'll have to find her the conventional way later.
"I'll achieve air superiority." Looking up through the canopy of trees, I fix my gaze on the sphere. It doesn't seem to be moving to train its laser on me, but the swarm of small fighters is flying in a wide arc to come around for a strafing run on our position. "Go now."
With these words, I fly straight up and pull the attention of the UFOs, which immediately move to intercept me. Then I grow an extra pair of arms and turn each of my four forearms into seven-barreled rotary cannons.
"Scatter." I mutter and unleash a stream of plasma pellets that cut through the approaching fighters like lasers. But unlike a laser, these single projectiles have a far larger spread, causing them to hit targets in a wide area.
After a few seconds, only half a dozen UFOs are left. They appear to be manned, as they turn tail and retreat towards their home base, clearly afraid of being shot down.
"You're not going to survive this anyway." I zoom past them and straight toward the openings in the sphere from which they emerged earlier. The closer I get, the more I realize just how big this thing is. Obviously, it's not at the size of the battle station this is based on, but it must still be more than ten kilometers across.
Just as I'm about to cross the threshold to the hangars, a wall of light covers the hangar bay, and I crash straight into it. I'm completely fine as my body is practically impervious to impacts these days, but it was still a surprise to be stopped short like this.
It makes sense that there would be a shield to keep would-be intruders out, but I doubt the designer took my existence into consideration. After all, a normal plane wouldn't be able to stop in midair and most likely also lack the firepower that I bring with me.
Landing on the smooth metallic surface of the flying fortress, I return the shape of my forearms into normal human hands. Then I create something that resembles a flashlight in each of my four palms.
"When in Rome..." I mutter, knowing that Senka will be panicking again; this is skirting dangerously close to the invisible line that she seems to have drawn between what constitutes a reference and what would be a copyright violation.
Where light would normally come out from, straight blades of plasma emerge. Considering my current shape, this is much closer to Beam S*bers than L*ghtsabers, so it should be fine. Sticking them into the gray wall next to the energy shield, I begin to cut along it.
I'm not trying to cut out the entire doorframe and have a specific goal in mind instead. After a few meters of cutting with all four blades stuck inside the wall at a different height each, the energy shield suddenly cuts out. I must have hit one of the shield projectors, if not the main one.
Where used to be only the rhythmic din of the battle station's engine that allows it to fly, I can now hear an alarm horn coming from inside the hangar. Either it had been on before, or it activated when I breached its defenses. Jumping over the barrier and into the fortress, I'm faced down by hundreds of what look like copy-pasted goons in white armors with helmets that feature skull-like motifs.
They wield black rifles, which are all pointed at me.
"Hah, you won't hit me anywa-" I get the evil empire goons they reference and laugh at them, but they open fire, and I'm pelted by hundreds of laser shots that burn away at my skin. Unlike certain space knights with magical abilities, I can't deflect them with my plasma blades as I don't have psychic abilities.
Creating the shield of light I should have used more often throughout my battles so far around myself, I make an opening to think up a solution to this problem. Then I remember something interesting, and a grin inadvertently creeps onto my lips.
I can cheat psychic abilities. After all, just like the adage concerning technology and magic, manifestations of physical skills inexplicable to humans are often explained as psychic abilities. My body is already capable of superhuman feats including incredible strength and speed; now I only need the senses to match them.
And I have the perfect template for that, collected not so long ago from the lovely maid with the translucent wings: The vision of a dragonfly. Recreating the visor-like eyes that she has into something sleeker - a pair of shades - I begin to perceive the world in slow-motion, just like I read somewhere.
I have to try this during a nightly session sometime; I'm sure it would look breathtaking.
The onslaught of projectiles slows down noticeably - even though they're lasers and should move at the speed of light - and I begin to swing my plasma blades like baseball bats to deflect them back.
But reality doesn't live up to fantasy, and instead of hitting what is essentially just concentrated photons using plasma, the light projectiles go straight through the blades and continue to pelt me.
"I was lied to!" I exclaim and cover myself in the shield of light again.
"It wasn't meant to be." Senka comments drily in my head. "The others have entered the city. When the lizardmen guards at the gate and on top of the walls saw Aurelia, they prostrated themselves and immediately opened up. Considering the motif of this culture, they must see her as some kind of goddess."
"She really is one." I reply with a dreamy thought back to my time with her in bed. Then I catch myself and return to a more serious tone. "I mean, that's good to hear. Keep me updated on what's happening in the city."
Licking my lips, I undo the four-armed transformation and return to the shape of my pristine high school self. Looking around as the light shield keeps out the laser shots, I consider my options. These goons may be humans or robots, but it doesn't matter to me either way.
Bursting out into my real appearance, I lower the barrier of light to give them a good look of myself. It takes them a second to realize that what emerges from behind the shield isn't the armored girl with the four arms, but a monster made up of countless black tendrils and tentacles.
Then the usual happens; some break down instantly, others start screaming and running away, while the braver ones shoot at me. My face cracks open into a toothless grin that gives them a glimpse into the abyss.
Without any warning, I charge forward and effortlessly push one of the soldiers down, before crushing their helmet and its contents under my foot. The one next to him is grabbed and lifted into the air, where I separate their upper from their lower body, letting the blood rain down onto me and color my surface red.
The harrowing screams echo throughout the hangar, as I rampage through their ranks like it's all just a videogame. It's their own fault for dressing like faceless goons when there are existences in this world akin to heroes.
Not that I'm one of them.
Finally, the hangar is lifeless except for two soldiers I captured to interrogate. They both missed my initial reveal, and their minds weren't completely broken. Returning to my human form but keeping them wrapped in my tentacles, I turn to the one on the right and take off their helmet, to find a middle-aged human man with brown hair and green eyes underneath it.
"Where is the bridge of this thing?" I ask him with a cold smile. He opens his mouth in bafflement, looks to the other soldier in my grasp and takes in a breath to speak.
I crush his body in my grasp and drop him carelessly before turning to the other goon. Taking off the helmet, I'm surprised to find a woman with long blond hair underneath it. Good thing I didn't do it the other way round, or it would have been a waste of a surprisingly beautiful face.
"He was going to lie to me. I can sense people's intentions." I lie, as I don't have such an ability at all. But the intimidation factor should be enough for her to tell me the truth now. "Tell me what I want to know."
"I-I don't know. I'm j-just a simple s-soldier. T-that man you k-killed was the c-captain. H-he was the o-one who k-knew." She prattles down while stuttering in terror. Normally, I'd be reveling in it, but her words put a damper on my mood, when I glance around at the bloodbath I caused. No survivors except for her, so nobody else who could know.
"Are you serious?" I loosen the tentacles around her and put her back down. "So I have to go search on my own?"
"I-I am sorry." Falling to her knees, the female goon apologizes with her life on the line.
"Get out of here. I'm taking this thing down, so you better be gone by then." I point at her nose before floating up into the air. My Chaos senses pick up different concentrations of life forms gathered in various places throughout the flying fortress. One of those has to be the control room.
"Vitalis just called me. She fears Hestia may be planning to do something to Kamii when she finds her." Senka's voice suddenly echoes through my head.
"What do you mean, do something?" Frowning, I come to a stop and turn around. The female soldier flinches and stares up at me in fear, thinking I changed my mind about letting her live.
"You're the one who thinks she's a yandere, you tell me." The doll girl replies, a hint of concern in her voice.
"She wouldn't..." I start, but then remember that the circumstances are quite chaotic. She could kill Kamii when she finds her and then say that it was one of Alverost's followers.
But would she really betray me like that at this point just to eliminate one competitor for my affection? Even though she should know that there isn't even any competition in the first place - I love them all equally.
"Why does Vitalis think that?" I can't leave my task here on just a hunch.
"She says that it's something in Hestia's eyes. They look anxious but also filled with loathing while muttering Kamii's name." Senka's answer is enough suspicion for me to act on, even if it's not conclusive evidence. I'd rather not risk anything.
"Alright, I'm coming right away." With these words, I shoot out of the hangar and dive straight down toward the city hidden under the jungle canopy. The flying fortress won't be going anywhere soon anyway. "You better not do anything dumb, Hestia."
