Sadareth hid a smile, but she could not hide that from Kadael. She had never been a deceiver of her own kind. As far as gods went, she was as straightforward as they came.
“If one more being informs me that they made me aware of my current plight already,” he seethed, “I will break the planet myself.”
“You would perish,” Sadareth said. “The planet’s mana is not yet dense enough for you to survive longer than fifteen minutes there.”
“Oh, but what a glorious fifteen minutes it would be,” Kadael said. “Time enough for me to ruin everyone who defied me.”
“Your contract with the human forbids that,” Sadareth pointed out. “I—“
“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘did warn you,’ I swear to the Administrator that I will descend upon Earth, consequences be damned.”
Sadareth quieted. “It is a rather thorough contract.”
Kadael was long past the point of needing to breath, but he found the motion of a deep inhale centering. He had pioneered a method of cultivation through breath when he had still been mortal, and it worked to calm him now.
“It is,” he admitted reluctantly. “The human—William—is much more cautious than I was at his stage.”
Amongst other provisions, the contract forbade Kadael from knowingly working against William Li-Brown or his associates directly or indirectly. He’d also milked out as many skills as his frail bronze-rank body could take, far more than the single ability he had granted Axl. Fortunately, divine intervention was absolutely not in the cards at the stage that this cycle was in, but the human had gotten scarily close to negotiating for it.
“Caution is a flaw and a virtue both,” the Elven Mother opined. “His leans far more towards the latter.”
“So he does,” the Hunger groused. “At this stage, I suppose I have to see it as a good thing. He represents me now. Once the trial begins, I’ll need him to go as far as he can. Assuming he survives that long, but something tells me that my hopes for him to die terribly will not be met.”
“We will see,” Sadareth said. “The cycle is abnormal. The trial is taking place much earlier than usual.”
“I know that. We discussed this before.”
“Even earlier than we thought,” Sadareth continued. “I have spoken with Peace—“
“With her?” the Hunger hissed, his earlier calm gone. “Why?”
“The winds are changing, Kadael, and they will not wait for the likes of us. Corruption encroaches. The cycle breaks. The impact is coming. Bend like a willow, friend, or you will break further than you already have.”
#
Fortunately for the settlement that Lev had founded, the elves didn’t pursue them. Will figured that they were too busy fighting each other to bother with a lowly human group.
He was worried that Lily would pursue him like she had earlier, but if she was following them, she’d clearly decided to bide her time. Even if they were mostly under Bronze 5, the settlement still had a ton of people in it, and their sheer numbers would be a problem against any User, especially one who didn’t want to kill innocents.
Not that Will knew whether or not Lily actually gave a single shit about collateral damage, but he sure hoped she did.
The food was, as promised, incredible. Will had his breakfast—raptor eggs over bread that had been made with looted ingredients—with Lev and Allie. Trevor was on watch, but apart from a near-death experience with a massive quantity of poison, he was also doing fine, which Will was happy to hear.
“You seem different,” Allie said. “Even moreso than last time, I mean.”
“Is the evil still there?” Will asked.
“Uh, yeah, a hundred percent,” Lev said. “It might be worse than before, actually. I wouldn’t be surprised if you started laughing maniacally and stroking a white cat as you power up a death laser.”
“No, it’s not Bond villain vibes,” Allie said. “I’d also disagree on it being worse than before. It’s more like… it seems more focused now? Like if I say the wrong thing in front of you, I’ll suddenly find myself missing a head.”
“I got some more skills,” Will said. “That could be it.”
Skill: [Hunger Aura]
- Aura (sigil).
- Cost: none.
- Cooldown: none.
Bronze
Your aura changes, gaining elements of Kadael, the Hunger.
[Insatiable] - Enemies within the aura passively lose stamina and mana. You and your allies restore stamina and mana proportional to the amount drained. This amount can be increased with application of mana.
With the aura skill, Will’s foundations with aura control had come into play. His new aura was a powerful one and much more difficult to control than before—essentially, the evil aura from the sigil that couldn’t be suppressed had been integrated into his own. The Insatiable benefit was ridiculously powerful for a bronze-rank ability, and Will looked forward to using it in combat.
“Yeah?” Lev said. “Well, lemme be the first to say that I’m glad you’re on our side.”
“You’re definitely not the first to say that,” Allie said.
“I’m happy to fight by your side,” Will said, taking another bite of his eggs. “Damn, these are really good. My compliments to the chef.”
“Turns out we can work with the freshest ingredients when there’re monsters dropping them,” Lev said. “It’s great.”
“Wish we had coffee, though,” Allie lamented. “There’s none of that going around anymore.”
Will frowned. “Don’t you have farmers in the settlement?”
“Yeah, but there aren’t any beans in the settlement,” Allie said. “When the world ended, nobody was thinking about preserving coffee. They were just trying to survive the next hour.”
“Fair point,” Will admitted. “Does this place have a name, by the way? Saying ‘the settlement’ every time gets clunky, and I guarantee it’ll be a problem if someone else also makes a place like this.”
“Lev,” Allie said, elbowing the man in question. “You made the name.”
He buried his face in his hands. “Okay, for the record, I just suggested it while we were trying to figure out what we were going to do to survive the night. It’s not my fault it stuck.”
“Now I’m curious,” Will said.
Lev sighed. “It’s Survivor Hill. Should’ve just gone with something else, but now everyone’s using it and I can’t change their minds.”
“That’s not bad,” Will said. “Too many syllables, though. Sur-vi-vor Hill, that’s four. In a conversation—“
Lev and Allie both flinched and stood from their seats in the same moment.
Will looked askance at them, then realized.
“Ah, shit. I’m not in your hilly group chat, am I?”
“I’ll add you,” Lev said distantly. “Monsters at the gates.”
“Show me,” Will demanded.
#
Caiyeri was still asleep, but after catching a glimpse of the monsters attacking, Will decided he would only wake her if it was absolutely necessary.
There were about two dozen creatures approaching them at speed, but the bulk of them were minion types, unformed-rank stone gargoyles that stood maybe three feet high and would only present a threat if Will stood still and let them attack him.
The actual threat came from rhinoceros-like creatures with massive maws and steel-armored backs, each of which were at the higher end of bronze. They kicked up the dirt as they came closer, making the stampeding horde look like it was greater in force than it actually was.
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Interestingly enough, none of them had the marker that meant they counted as a boss to Will. Then again, he supposed he was higher leveled than all of them.
That wasn’t the case for the others guarding the wall, of course. There were four of them, and the highest leveled was Lev at Bronze 6.
“Handle the little guys,” Will said. “I’m going in.”
“Sure thing,” Lev said. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?”
“As long as nobody drops a cloud of impenetrable darkness on me, sure,” Will said.
“Trevor said sorry for that.”
“I never said I accepted his apology.”
“Oh, you piece of shit. Get going, will you?”
“I could say the same to you.”
Smiling, Will leapt off the wall. With Wind Walker, he was able to reduce the rate by which he fell until he was almost gliding.
He marked the fastest of the rhinoceros-things for death, rushing towards it faster than it could run.
Snapping Armadillo Turtle. Level: Bronze 8.
These creatures have a nasty leap and a nastier bite. Legend says it takes seven years to be digested in their gullet. The truth isn’t as horrific, but rest assured: if you are swallowed, your death will be slow and painful.
“Wow, my guess wasn’t even close.”
Will saw the moment his aura took effect on the monster crowd. Though they had been hurtling towards the walls with reckless abandon, they all flinched as he got near them, shying away from him. Only the armadillo turtles retained their speed, charging head-on towards him, but they were just a bit slower, just a bit easier to predict.
That armor looked tough. Will suspected that his slayer sword wouldn’t be able to break through it in one hit, and peak of bronze or no, he did not want to experience what that thing could do in a head-on charge.
It was a perfect opportunity to test the next of his new sigil skills.
Skill: [Hunger Phantasm]
- Spell (sigil, conjuration).
- Cost: low mana.
- Cooldown: 1 hour.
Bronze
Conjures a dark phantasm with a volume of 5 cubic feet. You have fine control over this phantasm within a short range of your body. You can control parts of the phantasm at a range of up to 120 feet. Lasts until dispelled or destroyed. The phantasm slowly regenerates while outside of combat.
[Starvation] - The phantasm doubles the effect of all drain conditions. Every attack you successfully land on a target that is touching a phantasm drains their stamina and mana, restoring yours. This also restores your health if your stamina and mana are full.
[In the Flesh] - For a moderate mana cost, the phantasm can take physical form. For the purposes of touch-range spells, you can use the phantasm.
Dark shadows poured out from Will’s body, coalescing into an eerie cloak behind him. The phantasm itself wasn’t a living being; at least, if it was, it wasn’t talking to him now. It was surprisingly cool against Will’s skin, and even though it was his own magic, he fought back a shiver as his phantasm passed over him.
Slayer sword drawn, he sent the phantasm at the lead armadillo turtle. It charged straight into the dark mist, vanishing into the shadows. Will sensed its aura shift as it suffered the redoubled effect of his aura, heard its baying as it searched desperately for a physical target.
With a pulse of mana, he gave it a target all around its body, making contact with its hard outer shell.
You have inflicted a level of [Corruption].
He’d been dying to try this out. Decaying Touch worked through the phantasm, and even as the armadillo turtle smashed through a layer of hardened shadow, corruption set in, weakening its armor and readying it for a massive blow.
Will withdrew the shadow—and as he did, a gargoyle came flying through the now clear sky. A lightning bolt burst through the air with unerring accuracy, striking the stone monster in the face and knocking it out of the sky.
“Thanks, Lev!” Will shouted, leaping high with his movement skills.
He tried augmenting them with Hunger Phantasm, but he’d barely practiced with the skill. For now, all he managed to do was cast the monsters into shadow. It made a pretty badass image, admittedly, but it wasn’t functional.
That was fine. He would have plenty of time to practice before the trial started.
Will descended at speed, bringing the slayer sword down on the dazed, confused armadillo turtle. Since he’d abandoned the Lake Monroe dungeon with Caiyeri, he hadn’t used the full charge on his slayer sword.
[First Blood] doubled the power of your attack.
[Mark for Death] increased the power of your attack.
Critical hit!
[Radiant Burst] has expended [14] charges.
As the User attuned to the item, Will was immune to the blinding effect of his own skill. The miniature supernova was so bright even while cloaked by shadow that he screwed his eyes shut anyway off reflex.
Weakened by the corruption and his strength-sapping aura, the armadillo turtle’s shell crumpled like a tin can. The slayer sword passed through flesh as if it wasn’t there at all, disintegrating the monster from the inside out.
Excess mana coursed into Will thanks to his Death attribute and the passive effects of the hunger aura, and he leveraged it to full effect. As soon as his Mark for Death reset its cooldown, he targeted the second turtle with it.
The slayer sword couldn’t make as quick a work of the second one without being fully charged, but a well-timed Chaos Transfer inflicted a level of silver-rank corruption onto the armadillo. The Bell Tolls sent the turtle into a panicked stupor, giving him the opportunity to add an additional level of bronze-rank corruption with Decaying Touch.
Around him, the gargoyles fell, stricken down by lightning bolts, arrows, and a magical gravity field that didn’t affect Will or the turtles.
The last turtle was only affected by the aura, though, and it still had its facilities. It opened its maw, stampeding forward with startling speed.
Will deftly leapt over the twitching, suffering body of the armadillo that had been corrupted beyond repair, then got caught on a metallic protrusion as he tried to turn his motion into a smooth gymnastics maneuver. He crumpled into a heap on the grass, then immediately teleported away to a gargoyle corpse with an arrow in it.
A moment later, the healthy rampaging monster slammed into its companion, splitting its corrupted flesh apart.
It was still blinded, Will realized. Though it could hear and guess where living beings were, it couldn’t tell that it hadn’t hit him, and it bit down on the corrupted flesh, messily devouring its companion. Distorted, oily black blood spilled out of the armadillo’s exposed body, meat tearing away from it in single motion. Will caught sight of what looked like a blackened, beating heart in the body before blood and smoke obscured it.
Mark for Death’s cooldown resetting told him that the friendly fire incident had successfully ended the life of his target. He marked the last armadillo turtle, then decided he wanted to experiment a bit more while he still had time.
Will had barely used the axe of despair after getting the slayer sword, but he couldn’t deny that it was useful. He just didn’t have enough hand space to use both. Hunger Phantasm addressed that issue. Though fine control wasn’t as much of an option further away from his body, he could easily swing an axe with a floating limb made of shadow-stuff.
It took him a couple of tries to get it right, but he soon got to the point where he had a lever-like arm nearly ten feet long smacking the side of the armadillo turtle with the axe of despair, inflicting afflictions as it did. On his fourth or fifth pass, Will landed a Decaying Touch.
The armadillo turtle was barely sapient. It didn’t recognize that Will was the one using the weapon, not the arm, so it kept on going after the phantasm. Will could reshape and shift the shadow quickly enough to get the monster to start chasing his axe around in a circle.
“Death by a thousand cuts,” Will said. He winced. “Jesus, I’m calling out my attacks to myself. Is that too over the top?”
Over the top or no, the strategy was effective. Within a couple of minutes, the last turtle was dead and Will was amongst the corpses, looting them for their credits.
After confirming that the coast was clear, Lev and a short Middle Eastern woman Will didn’t recognize joined him. The woman didn’t seem to want to get near him. She went around looting the gargoyles, but she looked at him like he was about to join the corpses in raiding the hill.
“Hey,” Will said, giving her a little wave. She flinched.
“That’s Nora,” Lev said. “She’s our treasurer.”
“You have a treasurer?” Will asked. “The world has ended, you’re running a Walking Dead type settlement—“
“Not Walking Dead,” Lev said. “That show is awful.”
“Come on. The first season was good.”
“You’re just saying that because you associate that with being a kid and watching it during easier times.”
“Lev,” Nora said sharply. “Wrap this up quickly. My danger sense is pinging like mad on these corpses. They’re infected.”
“We’ll be fine,” Lev said.
“My friend has an amulet that can cleanse you if you get hit,” Will said.
Nora gave him an odd glance. When he met her eyes, she looked away hurriedly.
“Anyway,” Will said. “Back to my point. You’re in the apocalypse, running a…. Fallout shelter?”
“Not them, man. If anything… Cloud Atlas?”
“Y’know, I’m not even gonna bother contesting that, but that’s just wrong. Anyway. All this, and you have a treasurer? What is this, student council?”
“Turns out that money still matters,” Lev said acerbically. “Nora’s class helps a bunch with budgeting. We get gear for everyone from the rotating shops in the area. It matters a lot for keeping us alive, y’know?”
“Huh. That’s actually pretty good. What shops are there in the area?”
“Nora?” Lev asked. “You’re usually the one doing the actual buying.”
She looked up at him reluctantly. “You’re sure this is okay?”
“I’m not evil,” Will said, chuckling.
“Oh, so when I point out that you seem evil, it gets a sigh, but when a cute girl says it…”
“Fuck off,” Will said. “This is an exasperated chuckle at best.”
Nora gave him an unreadable side-eye. “The dungeons all have shops, and the places that used to have safe zones sometimes have shops. Their gear varies day-to-day.”
“Damn, I’ve missed a lot,” Will said. “Mind if I come with you and take a look around? I just got some upgrades, and I’d love to have some more weapons to use them with.”
The expression on Nora’s face told her that yes, she very much minded.
“We can send Caiyeri and Allie with you,” Lev said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Nora lit up at that. “Sure! That sounds great.”
Will gave Lev his best are you serious face.
“Hey, not my fault you picked the most evil possible class and skills you could think of.”
“There were worse. I swear.”
“No there weren’t.”
“Yeah. I don’t even know why I tried lying.”
#
Hundreds of millions of miles from the planet formerly known as Earth, two beings of immense power watched a cosmic body hurtle in a fashion it certainly wasn’t supposed to.
“This is Ramiel’s doing,” Dread Executor Nynn said.
“Accusing an Executor is a serious matter,” said the incarnation of Peace. “You know this.”
“I make no formal accusation. We can speak freely.”
“Whether it is Ramiel’s burden or not is immaterial,” Peace said, acknowledging the Executor with a wave of intent. “The cycle will have to be shifted. The Administrator, as always, is silent.”
“The Administrator is dead,” Nynn said, stone-faced.
“You may believe what you choose to believe,” the goddess said. “It is my duty to ensure a lasting peace. It is yours to execute. I ask of you everything. There is always a choice. Will you serve?”
“Always, my lady.”
Peace did not need to answer. Nynn sensed the content within her.
He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the greatest gift he had ever received had gone silent.
You have sacrificed the [Dread Executor] class. You have initiated [Executor’s Intervention].
“A metal-tier planet,” Nynn murmured, his incredible mental fortitude protecting him from the sensation of his mana being sealed. “It has been centuries.”
“Go forth, child of Peace,” the goddess whispered. “Save them from themselves.”
[Executor’s Intervention] activated.
The world warped, and Nynn was no longer there.
In [48] days, the Trial of the Champion will begin.
A distortion. A sacrifice this great from a being this powerful, supported by a god so high up the tiers as Peace—who had never been mortal—this had consequences.
In [3] days, the Trial of the Champion will begin.
There are [1,501] valid competitors.
“Rise, champions,” Peace said. “Rise, or your world will fall.”