Main Street End of the World
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Primas Jason Drahed glided through the air, a faintly silver glowing shield swirling around him, giving him the appearance of holiness. The wind tugged at his unbuttoned jacket, and his eyes glowed an intense yellow as he held large caliber pistols in both hands filled with holy power, emitting a silver light that wrapped around them like chains.
As soon as Jason's boot toes touched the ground, he immediately recoiled and shot into the air again.
BOOM!
A large fist landed where he had been standing a moment ago, shattering the cobblestones. Golem Josille immediately raised his other arm and covered his face with it to protect himself.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Shots landed on his arm, and cracks formed in the clay skin from the reinforced bullets, causing small explosions upon impact.
From the very beginning, their fight had been intense. Neither spoke, and they tried to kill each other.
Jason's group held back, chanting muffled prayers to strengthen Jason. Energy built up in the middle of their group, occasionally shooting towards Jason in a quick burst and dissipating in his shield. In this fight, the others acted only as support, bolstering Primas' defenses.
Normally, it would be wisest to get rid of the first group, but Josille was a target-focused creature. Once he locked onto his target, it was hard for him to focus on anything else.
A slight smile played on Jason's lips, and his eyes expressed a somewhat perverse excitement for the fight. Once their first encounter was over, Jason was clear that he had the upper hand in this fight. He was more agile and had more options for attacks, while Josille was a melee attacker with great strength and defense. From what Jason could see, the Golem also had a certain amount of self-repair, but he didn't see that as a problem. Jason wasn't Primas for nothing.
With his enhanced weapons, he had already created a lot of cracks on Josille's body that were slowly repairing itself. Jason planned to gradually chisel the Golem apart like a piece of stone.
Josille suddenly dug his fingers into the ground and ripped out a large block of road that he threw at the flying Jason. Primas could glide, but his maneuverability in the air was poor, so the chunk impacted on him and threw him backward. Thanks to the shield, he was unharmed, except that he spun twice on his axis before Jason regained his stability.
Josille had followed Jason across the floor, looking up at him with a still, serious face that showed little emotion. Jason hadn't even expected it; after all, he was just a Golem, a piece of earth and rock with no feelings.
He pointed his guns at him again, but suddenly, something unexpected happened. The golem's body began to shift; the round belly suddenly disintegrated and absorbed into the rest of the body, and Josille grew several elbows. The original body of the muscular gorilla now looked like that of a lanky athlete. What was important was that this brought Josille almost to the level of Jason, who was still gliding through the air.
The golem waved his hand, and Jason kicked the air with gritted teeth to get out of reach again. Worse, he started to fall again, so he didn't wait for anything and started firing again at the golem, who immediately withdrew his hands and started protecting his head. The shots were landing and breaking his clay body, and Jason realized that the head must have been the Golem's weak spot because it was the only place he always protected from his attacks. But he had no need to focus on that; his next attack would cause the complete destruction of his opponent.
Jason grinned, and the chains that hovered around his weapons began to move slowly. "Adakra avia benla. Pelinet kombaxi anap..." He began to chant, and the chains began to move even faster.
Chinking, Chinking, Chinking.
His weapons were starting to give off a brighter silver light that eventually made it almost impossible to look directly at them without the light hitting his eyes painfully.
Suddenly, the light flew out behind Jason, and huge silver cannons began to form on his shoulders, their centers glowing with a light that shimmered slightly.
"'Farewell," Jason said, a single word, and two streams of thick, heavy light shot out of the cannons, emitting a dull hum that made the hair and all the body hair bristle. The force of the shot jerked Jason backward, but he was used to it by now, so he steadied his position.
Josille shifted quickly, his size shrinking and becoming more solid, his arms becoming as thick as the trunks of century-old trees as he tried to shield himself from the impact of the energy.
"NO!" Suddenly, a loud voice shook the sky and the earth. Jason was shaken and lost his balance. The stream of light hit the huddled figure of Josille anyway and disappeared in his light.
Jason looked around quickly, but not seeing the source of the voice, he glanced again at his opponent. All he could see was the faint silhouette of a body that was disintegrating in an instant, but he also saw a new color in the light. A blue color blended into the silver light, flickering faintly before finally fading.
When the light disappeared, so did the place where Josille had been only moments before, nothing but clay debris that didn't even resemble the once-walking and talking Golem.
Jason watched the remnants of the curtain for a moment, and when he saw nothing to indicate recovery, he let out a long sigh and lowered his weapons. The illusion of the cannons on his shoulders vanished, and the chains around the weapons stopped and began to tighten around them.
"I guess I should rest for a while before I move on," Jason said as he tucked the guns into the holsters under his jacket and sighed.
*****
End of the World Palace
Caila straightened her shoulders as she heard distant gunshots. When had the fight gotten so close that she could hear it even in the palace? She immediately started searching before she found Josille and Jason fighting in her space.
She watched the fight for a moment, a wave of excitement rising in her again. Caila could see the other side's true strength here. So they could fly too? No, it was more like gliding. She could see the man gradually sinking, though he stayed in the air for quite a long time.
"Hmm... what's that?" Caila muttered to herself as she watched the silver light swirling around the pistols. "His blessing passes from him to the object? Hm... but why does it look so strange?" Caila stared without blinking, not wanting to miss any details. She looked for the center of the blessing but couldn't see any.
The man began to say a prayer. "Το φεγγάρι λάμπει και δίνει δύναμη σε αυτόν τον ταπεινό οπαδό. Μπαα Θεέ μου, φως μου, πανσέληνο μου, δώσε δύναμη σ' αυτή την ευλογία."
"Huh? Huhh?" Caila watched the struggle as the man began to say the words to the prayer, and Caila stood frozen for a moment as she realized what she had just heard. "Wait! How is that possible? Isn't that Greek!" Caila was sure it was Greek. She might not understand the words, but she could recognize the language. Caila never thought about the language she was currently using; she understood everything, so it never crossed her mind. Everyone here spoke the same language, but now that she heard another language, it was as clear as day and night.
But Caila didn't have time to delve further into her thoughts because something was going on. Energy cannons appeared on the man's shoulders, charging with immeasurable force. Even from that sight, Caila could feel a power that surpassed Josille's capabilities. It was different from the attack of the first group she had seen before.
Caila knew that this was how Josille would be destroyed, and this time, she wasn't going to let things go. She raised her hand and let the blue flame ignite, but things were progressing much faster than she thought. Cannons fired at Josille, and Caila cried out in surprise. "NO!" She immediately touched the light that belonged to Josille and brought fire to it.
The light flared with blue fire for a moment before being engulfed by a blast of silver light. Caila smelled a strange metallic odor until she wrinkled her nose. But she didn't dwell on it now; she quickly grasped Josille's light in her hands and felt the silver light sting her hands.
"Damn, why is it so strong!?" She tried to suppress the power of the other god with her flame.
Her blue flame fought against the silver light, but it was like trying to fight a pressurized stream of water. Her blue flame failed to bite properly and was pushed away by the stream.
Caila gritted her teeth, her heart pounding with urgency and pain as the silver light pierced the skin and flesh of her arms. She wanted to protect her follower, even if it was out of some hidden desire for the original Supernova. She didn't care because Caila felt the same way. How could she not want to protect these strange beings who admired, obeyed, followed, and protected her?
Brief flashes of memories flickered in her mind that belonged not to her, but to Josille. "Screw you! Is that your life flashing before your eyes or what! Don't die!" fumed Caila.
"That's it. Done," an old voice said, and a couple appeared before her eyes. An old man with a young woman by his side. The old man was simply dressed in high dark trousers, a greying shirt, and a brown cloak. The young woman beside him wore a plain linen dress, and both were visibly made of dull, cheap fabric.
The old man's hair was already white, and his face all wrinkles and brownish skin, with dark eyes that were slightly hazy, telling that his eyesight was no longer the best. The woman next to him was young, in her early twenties, and had pale skin, brown hair covered by a scarf, but her dark eyes were unfocused; she was probably blind.
"Did it work?" the girl asked.
"Hm. Let's see, Etel. We'll name him first. What about Josille?"
Etel smiled. "Younger brother Josille?"
The man rolled his eyes and laughed briefly. "I don't think the word 'younger brother' is appropriate for him. More like 'older brother.'"
Etel nodded understandingly. "Older brother Josille, then." She agreed.
The man nodded. "Your name is Josille now. I want you to protect us and our neighbors." He reached into his pocket, from where he pulled out a small clay ball with something wrapped around it. He reached out and touched Josille's face.
Caila blinked; it was a fleeting memory that quickly disappeared, only to be replaced by another.
Etel sat outside the house; it was a fairly small shack, and all the houses in the area looked similar, poor and fairly worn. There wasn't even a road; everything was just trampled dirt. "I heard that the Amanos attacked in the eastern part yesterday. There were a lot of dead. I can't stop thinking about it. Why are they attacking us? Just because we believe in something else? Aren't we all human?" Esther asked Josille, but he remained silent and gave her no answer.
The memory had changed.
The old man was kneeling on the ground, clutching Ethel's dead body in his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks, his misty eyes burning with sadness and rage. "Josille! Kill them! Destroy everything!" he shouted furiously.
Another memory came.
Everything was destroyed; fires were blazing, the painful cries of the wounded and dying could be heard. "Josille! Enough! Enough! Stop it! This is madness!" He heard the old man's faint voice, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, Josille watched soldiers in black armor and long spears running towards him with battle cries, trying to stab him. "Destroy everything." Josille spoke in a hollow voice and raised both hands, only to see a weak-looking old man, Father Etel, hold tightly to his large arm and reach a desperate hand up to Josille's face.
Caila blinked and found that the light had gone out, both silver and gold. She quickly opened her palms, then sighed in relief. Josille's light wasn't gone; it hadn't disappeared like it had when Spectra had died, but it no longer gave off any color. Neither silver nor gold, but it was grayed and looked dead. Caila wasn't sure what that meant, but the fact that it wasn't completely gone meant that Josille wasn't completely dead, right?
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was a Golem, not quite a living being.
Caila pulled her hands away and looked down at her palms, which were pierced in many places, and the edges of the wounds glittered slightly with tiny crystals that were slowly melting away.
She blinked as the last vision flashed through her mind, but this one was different. It was a dark place filled with crystals. Caila had a feeling that one of the crystals vaguely resembled someone's suite, but that was all she could catch before it disappeared, and the crystals in her wounds vanished completely.
She clenched her hands into fists, and though it hurt, she had the strange feeling that what she was seeing was somehow important.
*****
Caila returned from her Divine Space back to the present and secretly clenched her fists. Josille seemed to be saved for now, though she didn't know to what extent. Caila now faced several things that were new and unexpected to her.
Firstly, how strong the old man was. She had to consider how to deal with him. She had only watched a few fights so far, but up until now, her worshippers always seemed to have the upper hand. Not overly so; for example, when it came to the fight with the butterfly monster, they did well, but it was exhausting for them.
Josille was weaker than Zenobe and Lambert, but she considered him stronger than the woman the 'Fear' team was dealing with. It seemed that dealing with the old man was much more challenging, and now she was honestly afraid to send anyone else after him.
Another problem was the effect of another divine force. Caila understood that she had to be more careful, as her All-Consuming Flame could indeed consume things, but now she saw that it had its limitations. The blue flame spread quickly and could consume whatever it was, but it could be pulled down by the strong current without being able to spread properly. She decided to be careful about how she used the blue flame, not wanting to accidentally show this weakness to anyone.
The next problem that came up was the revelation of the Greek language. What did that even mean? Wasn't it one of the languages from Supernova's homeworld? And maybe from the world of Caila. She wasn't sure if she knew the language because of herself or if it was a remnant of Supernova. She wished she understood the language, wished she knew what the man was saying.
And finally, the strange vision she had of the crystals. She was sure it didn't come from Josille. So Caila had two theories. Either it was coming from the divine power of another god, or by contact with an alien power, something inside her resonated with it. So it could have come from the Supernova as well.
Caila propped her head up and closed her eyes as she pondered all things. After a moment, she decided that the last two things could wait. If it was the weakness of her fire, there was nothing she could do but hide it and slowly experiment to figure out how to get rid of the weakness or have a response in case of a similar situation.
Right now, it was more urgent to take care of the enemy's attack. She opened her eyes and looked at Lambert, who was standing next to the throne looking at her a little anxiously. "Liege, is something wrong?" he asked. Before Caila could answer, a hand appeared, pushing Lambert aside violently, and Zenobe appeared. Caila had no idea what she was doing; wasn't she standing on the other side? Why did she come to the other side and shove Lambert?
"We heard your scream! Oh, my Liege! Are you all right!?" Zenobe reached out as if to grab Caila's arm, but Caila immediately made an avoiding maneuver, stopped leaning against the backrest, and withdrew her hand into her lap.
"I'm fine. But Josille failed and was destroyed," Caila replied.
Lambert appeared on the other side of the throne, not about to jostle with Zenobe for the attention of their Liege. He was grim when he heard that. "Josille was not weak. His opponent must be someone with great power."
Caila nodded and stared ahead at the open door of the hall, sighing inwardly. "He is strong. That's why I'm not going to send anyone else to him." Caila decided not to risk any more lives. She supposed she could handle Zenobe and Lambert if they joined forces, but as far as the residents of her city were concerned, those two were the closest to her, and she didn't want to lose them.
Zenobe straightened up and suppressed her disappointment at missing her chance. "But that means they will arrive here. My Liege, do you want to face him alone?" She was concerned. They all knew that their Liege was not in the best of shape right now.
Caila turned her gaze to her. "Will I be alone? Yes?" She asked curiously, then looked around the hall. "Of course, those who don't fight will be taken away. The others, however, may stay. Will I be alone then?" She asked.
Zenobe bulged her eyes. "Of course not! We will never leave you, my Liege!" She exclaimed with determination. "We will fight beside you." Lambert nodded.
"Yes, my Liege!"
"We will not abandon you!"
"Uh... I may not fight, but I won't abandon you either!"
More voices sounded, not having a single thought of leaving Caila. She smiled and laughed briefly. "Haha. Glad to hear it." She fell silent again, thinking. Then she made a decision. She was going to do more than just wait for the old man to arrive.
*****
Main Street End of the World
The Primas Jason group moved on and took up residence for a while in one of the abandoned houses. Silver protection glowed around the house while everyone inside rested or ate to gather strength.
Jason was getting on in years, and his ultimate attack had taken a lot of his strength, making even support roles challenging for his people. Rest was necessary, especially if they still had a long way to go. If something like the Golem Josille got in their way, they might be too weakened in their final confrontation with the Evil God.
They all packed the dining room, as they weren't going to split up. Jason sat at the head of the table and looked over the furnishings of the house. Everything looked good and neat; whoever lived here wasn't a pauper who could only light candles. He noticed that electricity was probably wired everywhere, providing more proof of the town's wealth.
His group had found food in the house, but Jason had forbidden them to consume it. Instead, they ate their own dried supplies and drank their own water. Jason's eyes glided around as he did so, seeing the gold frame of the mirror, the silverware in the sideboard, the wood of the tables and chairs shiny and new, greed gradually building up in his heart. He had already perceived the richness of the place, but the more he saw, the more he wanted it.
But his eyes kept returning to one thing in the room. There was a small bust on the windowsill, about a cubit in size. It depicted the appearance of a rather handsome young man in a half-colored top hat. The grey stone, however, was adorned with many brass ornaments such as chains, gears, and smaller jewels.
After a moment, Jason stood up and walked over to the bust, which he picked up. Of course, he was intrigued by the ornaments, but also by the unique look of the statue. He finally turned it over to look at the base, where normally a person's name would be, but this one had strange text.
Gears rolling out of the yards, where they roll the trail stays. Tick Tock.
A muscle in Jason's cheek twitched as he read it and turned the bust upside down again. He didn't understand it, but somehow it was unsettling.
He focused on the jewels that were set into the ornaments and was about to verify their authenticity when his blood suddenly froze in his veins upon noticing the bust suddenly turn its head to look at him.
Startled, he quickly dropped the statue and stepped back.
Thud!
It landed loudly on the ground, catching everyone's attention. They all looked around for the sound and then at Jason, who seemed suddenly alert. They all stopped what they were doing and stood up, taking their leader's stance seriously, even though they didn't immediately know what was going on.
Jason quickly calmed his heart and frowned. They checked the whole place, how was that possible?
Tick Tock
A chill ran down Jason's spine as he suddenly heard a soft ticking sound, and the bust on the ground shuddered. In the context of the text he'd read a moment ago, it seemed even more chilling.
Clank Clank Clank
The bust started rolling on its own on the ground towards the window, where it hit the wall.
Clank Clank
It crashed into the wall several times in vain before it was momentarily immobilized. Then the bust was suddenly thrown violently into the air by an invisible force until everyone's chest tightened at the sight. The bust landed smoothly back on the parapet, where it shifted for a moment before settling in its original spot and turning to face the room. Then it became immobile again, and even the ticking subsided.
The tension in the room could be cut. More than one of the Order members had their talismans ready, but no one did anything until Primas Jason gave the order. However, that didn't happen. Everyone looked at him in anticipation of orders.
No one moved for three minutes when the bust suddenly moved again, and so did Primas Jason, who twitched his shoulders.
The statue opened its mouth while its eyes tinged with blue flame. A low voice came from the open mouth. "Primas Jason, will you accept my invitation to tea?"
*****
Caila made her own move. With the help of one of Zenobe's snakes, she sent out a stalker to the main group. Her snakes were strange but useful. Their size depended on how much water they ingested, so all a snake had to do was spit out some water, and it could even shrink to the size of a common eel.
It quickly slithered into town while carrying a small piece of blue flame. When they reached the barrier, Caila didn't worry about protection. The snake slipped into a nearby sewer and made its way into the house itself through a system of pipes. Caila could only mentally praise herself that the city had such a well-developed sanitation system.
The ensuing movement was slow and full of hiding, but eventually, she got to the right place. Oddly enough, it was kind of fun to sneak around enemies who had no idea she was like this. Caile found it a bit sloppy, but maybe they gained confidence after defeating Josille?
Caila found a suitable place for the blue flame to settle. The unknown man's bust was where she settled, and she found that the bust had a complex mechanical system inside, but she chose not to dwell on that for now. Instead, she focused on why this whole thing had gone down.
Getting her attention was only a matter of time now. Occasionally, she made small movements with the statue, and the old man's gaze kept returning until he finally stood up. As soon as he touched the bust, she took action. First, she needed to distract everyone so no one would notice anything was wrong, so she triggered the mechanism in the bust before sending the flame forward.
At that moment, Caila discovered a new golden light in her divine space, but this one had a silver veining like some silver-bearing.
"That's good," Caila said, satisfied. When the invaders had first penetrated her territory, she had thought that new lights would appear in her space, but that hadn't happened. Caila understood that the conditions probably weren't right for that. She didn't quite understand what conditions were needed yet, but she was almost certain that if someone came in contact with her fire, their light would surely appear.
So now she could confirm another theory, and she was sure she would use this knowledge at some point. Instead, she touched the new light, but the same thing happened as last time at Monte's.
The light had the protection of another god, and she could try to destroy it, but that might draw Bao here to her, and she didn't want that. She could, but at least that way she could get superficial information about the man, despite the fact that she would hurt herself. She'd done that a few times. Despite the fact that her hands were getting more and more injured, she was starting to smile.
"You are a pretty piece of work," Caila remarked as she pieced together the scraps of information. She already knew what to do.
*****
Jason immediately had his guns in his hands and aimed them at the talking bust, but his fingers trembled on the trigger as his name combined with an invitation to tea came from the statue. His mind and heart quickly calmed.
"Evil God, I presume?" he inquired.
"I prefer the word Liege," a quiet voice replied. "But yes, that's right."
Jason snorted. "I have no reason to do you any favors. You're as good as dead."
"Is that so? It's understandable that you got that impression after Josille's defeat." The voice spoke calmly, unperturbed by Jason's words.
Jason didn't think much of it; probably, the goddess was just feigning calm. It wouldn't be the first time he'd taken part in a hunt for the Evil God, though it was the first time he had the highest rank.
"But that's where you're wrong, Jason. The moment you entered my city, you sealed your fate. The only reason you're still alive is because my followers want to play with you. Most of the ones you brought with you will never see again. Only those who overcome the trials and make it to me will get a chance at a new life." The voice trailed off.
"You should consider it an honor. You've proven your worth already. That's why I'm offering you this opportunity. You can come straight to the palace. Of course, how you do it is entirely up to you. If you start attacking, don't expect to survive." The voice continued, and no changes could be detected in the voice.
Jason was unmoved; it just seemed like the ramblings of someone who knew death was knocking at his door. "That's really nice of you to give us a free pass," he replied, his mind already wondering how much of a trap this was.
"Haha," the voice chuckled softly. "I know what you're thinking, Jason. And I know what you want."
Jason frowned. "You're bluffing. You don't know anything." He waved her words away. How could she possibly know what he wanted when even his own god had no idea?
"Your desires are deadly to anyone who gets in your way. Your desire is to prolong eternity. Your ambition is beyond the gods themselves. That's the kind of man you are, Jason." The voice spoke a bit in riddles, but Jason understood immediately.
"What..." He started, but the Evil God kept talking.
"Why don't you go where they give you what you want? Hm? I can give it to you. You only have to look around to see the truth. This city, my followers... it's not something I've gained. But something that was built for me. Think about it. And then come."
The bust's eyes flashed, then faded. Jason was frozen for a moment, but then he pulled the trigger and blasted the bust to pieces.
*****
End of the World Palace
Caila sighed and rubbed her temple. She had never tried so hard to look like a 'god.' It's much easier to convince your followers than strangers. Plus those with intelligence and power.
"My Liege, are you really sure?" Lambert asked quietly. Caila had already briefed everyone on her plan.
"You want to drag him to our side? After what he did to Josille? Besides, if he's willing to betray his god how much loyalty will he have in you?" Lambert showed his disapproval.
Caila looked at him, then reached out and patted his head in a reassuring gesture. "Don't worry. We'll see first if he's gotten used enough to come talk." Caila smiled a little and withdrew her hand. "And it also depends if he survives." If Jason accepted, she was going to make him her first real guinea pig.