Dark Matter Ascension-Chapter 67B2 - : Killing a god king
Priam was nervous as the doors to the temple opened and the trio exited onto the plateau. The large, metal bridge spanning the distance from their location to Wricen’s monumental palace seemed to stretch on endlessly. He felt his throat getting dry despite his natural acclimation to the desert climate. We’re going to kill my uncle.
The idea tore at him a little bit. His last remaining family member, and Priam was on his way to kill the man. He felt no remorse for the action he was about to undertake, no regrets, but the fact that he would be helping to kill family was difficult to stomach.
He looked over to Dee, who he had talked with about these feelings of unease, and she had simply replied, “Well, I’m the one who is going to explode him! You just do your protecting thingy. And don’t feel bad, he’s a genocidal maniac.”
Priam took a deep breath and re-took stock of everything. I’ve got Exarch’s Ward on everyone at max strength. The Seraphic Soothe set to the ‘at death’s door’ contingent. Exarch’s Blessing on all of us…Deep breaths Priam. He inhaled deeply and looked at Greg’s back.
The man was leading the trio, and his body was encrusted with rocks and spiked, jagged crystals, and a luminous, blue aura that expanded out to encompass the trio. Not only that, but he had put his damage redirect Skill on both Priam and Dee. And the glowing eye above him representing Quinn’s Skill brought even more calm to Priam’s mind.
We have a ton of things going in our favor. There’s no way we can lose! They walked along the bridge. We have this…but why do I feel so much anxiety? Something feels wrong. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
The walk across the bridge was eerily silent. Priam looked out and saw the undulating shapes of the wurms under the desert sands. From above, he could see that the area in between the three temple-plateaus was a bit of an indent, and the swirling shapes seemed to congregate in the center. Is it some type of nest, maybe?
As they kept walking, the sense of trepidation filling Priam’s chest grew more and more. Something was wrong. They got onto the plateau with the god-king’s temple; a massive edifice that towered above the trio. And, he saw the enormous, fifty-foot tall and just as wide, stone doors with a bas relief carved onto the front.
The entire history of Fernaid, laid out in stone. It had all been defaced, and instead a face very familiar to Priam was on the doors. Someone who looked just like his father. That confirms it, he thought. He felt a deep sense of sorrow at the loss of a culturally significant monument, dashed to bits for the vanity of one man.
“We’re going to get him,” Greg said as he squeezed Priam’s shoulder. “Together. We’ll get revenge for your people.”
Dee came up behind him and tapped him on the head, prompting a glance back at her chitinous face and the smiling eyes behind the eye holes. “We’ll get him.”
Priam nodded, “Thank you both. And Quinn? Thank you, too.”
“No problem. Stratagems are all a-go. Hit it.”
Priam gestured to the doors, “Greg, do you mind?”
He looked up at the entrance, “This is big. Don’t think I can open it: but I can try.” He put his hands into the crevice between the two doors and heaved with all his might: but they didn’t budge. “Nope,” he said as he stepped back, sucking in breath.
“I will help,” a voice said from behind. Spinning around, Priam saw Teeva, goddess of doorways. “This is my specialty after all.” The goddess gestured, and the stone door before them opened silently.
“Will you help?” Greg asked.
The Oslia shook her head, “I will prevent his escape. He will not leave this building. You have my word. But my powers are only useful in egress and ingress.”
Greg took the lead and walked into the building, pulling out his Bowblade and separating the object into blades. Dee followed close behind, but Priam lingered for a moment. “Thank you.”
“Of course, last of the Westerfold. Go, avenge your clan.”
Priam hustled to follow his allies, and sparing a glance back, saw a shimmering barrier cover the doorway. They were in an antechamber, and a vaulted passage expanded out before them. The stone was smooth: defaced from whatever amazing iconography was once present. They entered an enormous chamber with a throne at the far end: which was empty. To either side were enormous, twenty-foot-tall statues made of highly polished stone. They had gemstones for eyes, and stood as silent watchmen.
Two doors exited from the space: one to either side. But Priam eyed a shift in the geometry of the room. “There’s a secret passage behind the dais,” he said as he pointed out the location where the shapes of the room were ‘off’: something only an Oslia with their knack for pattern recognition would pick up.
“I’ve integrated with the System present on the world as best I can,” Quinn stated. “I’m looking at you three through the eyes of these statues. No clue what that means-”
“Golems!” Priam shouted as he turned to face one of the watching figures. “They’re artificial, magic constructs. Don’t move, we don’t know what triggers them.”
Greg stopped in place and glanced about, and Dee stopped with him, raising her hands ready to shoot off a blast.
“Oh, they won’t attack without my order,” a tenor-pitched voice said. An Oslia who looked just like Priam but older walked from the secret passage behind the dais and ascended to the throne, taking a seat. “Ah, my nephew survived the wurm’s stomach. How irritating.” He snapped his fingers, and the golems began to move ponderously towards the trio.
Priam shouted back up at the man, feeling rage flow through him. “You killed my dad!”
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“Yes; I wish I could have done the deed myself. Righteous fool.”
Priam prepared a blast of divine energy, and was about to shout out the Skill name, when Dee put her arm on his shoulder, and his dad’s hat squeezed around his head. “Don’t. Save your energy for keeping us alive,” Dee said tersely but with compassion.
Deep breath. Priam took in an inhale and slowly let it out. “Wricen! You die today!”
“Is that so?”
Priam looked at Greg, “How do we want to deal with the golems?” he asked as they continued their slow movement to encircle the group.
Greg pointed at Dee, “She’s our blaster. Ask her.”
Dee’s chitinous faceplate formed a grin, and she spun in place, cackling madly “Demolisher’s Devastation Blast (Rank 5)!” An enormous blast of caustic, deep green acidic energy spurted up from her hands: flew up to the roof: and then came crashing down. The explosion rattled Priam’s teeth as his vision became obscured with nothing but glowing, green energy that would have surely melted him on the spot.
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He saw the golems become inert lumps of melted rock within seconds of being impacted, and Wricen let out a deep sigh. “That is unfortunate. Well, prepare to die.” Behind him, a disc of pure, radiant sunlight appeared and from that aperture a neon-yellow wave of light blasted out.
It impacted Greg’s barrier, and he turned to face the incoming assault. Quinn’s Stratagem activated, and Priam’s sight became overlaid with what she called a ‘heads-up-display’. He could see the various ‘buff’ style Skills on Greg, and the slow, gradual drain of his barrier which was the most ‘external’ of the damage absorption Skills. He doesn’t know that I’m a Gigastar Ascended Power user! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have used that energy type.
As if reading his mind, Wricen gestured and another beam of purple light lanced out from another disc that formed behind his right shoulder. “I am using the power of two consumed deities. How does it feel, Priam?”
Priam saw as the meter for his barrier on Greg continued to drain. But, Greg was absorbing all of the hits thanks to his Skills: and standing firm; his arms crossed in front of him to blunt some of the impact he was doubtless feeling. Dee, next to Priam, was whispering to herself over and over, “Demolisher’s Devastation (Rank 5) [Beam].” A constantly building glow of green energy appeared in her hands.
She’s building up for a big shot. We have to keep letting Wricen burn through all of his Skills. In his vision, Quinn’s Skill: Coordinator’s Critical Gaze: showed a highlighted in shimmering, sparkling gold weak spot. Right at Wricen’s neck. I have to get Wricen to over use his Skills and drain his energy, and all those once-per-day Godheart granted Skills. I have to make him angry.
“Two godly Skills are not enough? How about twenty?” Wricen gestured once more, and eighteen more portals opened behind him as enormous beams of multi-colored light arced out and slammed into Priam’s barrier surrounding Greg. The bar above him was rapidly depleting.
Exarch’s Ward (Rank 4), Priam thought, as he saw the barrier slowly climbing back up in strength. But he could feel his energy sapping as he continued to pour his reserves into the Skill. Come on, burn the rest of your gods-given Skills!
“You are persistent,” Wricen said as his eyebrow raised. “You three will die, now.” Once more, Wricen flicked his wrist.
Darkness enveloped the room, and all of the Aspirant’s eyes adjusted to the darkness. Priam could still see his allies thanks to Quinn’s Skill: and the glowing weak spot of Wricen: but nothing else in the divine-magic based darkness. “We can do this,” Priam muttered to his allies.
Greg let out a slight chuckle, “I’m not even feeling anything so far. Just a lot of pressure holding my ground.”
Dee just…buzzed in response. Her gelatinous form shaking as her chitinous shell vibrated.
Priam began to feel that trepidation in his chest and panic took over as he saw Greg’s barrier-bar vanish: and the bar in the HUD showing Greg’s personal defenses began to drain away at an even faster rate. Greg let out a shout of pain as he took a knee. Wricen’s laugh echoed through the space. “How does it feel? The power of dozens of deities brought to bear?”
Exarch’s Ward (Rank 4)! Priam felt his energy draining even further as he re-established the barrier and struggled to keep up with the incoming damage. “I can’t hold it!” Priam shouted as he felt his body trembling, his limbs starting to lock up as lethargy whispered for him to just fall asleep where he was standing.
Greg let out a scream of rage. “Thellor’s Reversal!” A Skill that he had told Priam about, enabling him to return a singular attack, spell, Skill, or other injury upon a designated target within a set range. The darkness around the trio cleared as Wricen screamed out in pain.
The Oslia got off the throne, struggling to one knee. Divine beams of radiance still surged out from all around him, cascading towards the group, impacting Greg’s sphere, and then redirecting to the man. “You’ll pay for that!”
Dee let out a cackle, “It’s ready!” She pointed her shaking and vibrating arm at him, and an enormous kaboom emanated out from her fingertip. A beam of energy that was as wide as the dais was; colored a deep green with swirls of lighter green and blue inside.
Wricen let out a scream of rage and pain, “Everything I have!” he shouted as the remainder of his Godheart-consumed Skills were unleashed in a single beam, pushing against Dee’s. His beam began to push hers back.
Priam was out of energy, and he fell to his butt, sucking in breaths as he saw Dee losing the beam struggle. Greg ran forward: dashing up the steps towards what looked like a blind spot where Wricen could not see him.
But the god-king did, and a beam of energy split off from the mass, impacting the man and sending him down the stairs. I need to help, Priam thought weakly. I hope this god of Earth can affect him. Ishtar’s Embrace!
There was a pulse of pink and white energy that surged out from Priam, expanding through the entire structure. Rendering anyone struck incapacitated by pleasure for up to an hour. And Wricen, it seemed, was no exception. His beam vanished as he let out a weird noise: less than a second before Dee’s beam slammed into him and melted him into nothingness. The beam bore a hole through the dais, the throne, and through the building behind it.
Dee’s beam deactivated and she fell to her butt next to Priam, letting out an exhausted laugh. “We did it! We killed a god king!”
Greg walked over to where the corpse was. A mangled pile of goop. “Good riddance,” he said. “Darrin says there’s no Stardust: you overdid it, Dee.”
“You wanted him dead!” she weakly shouted back.
Greg shrugged and walked over, crouching down, “Good job, Priam.” He glanced sideways, “You too, Dee.” Standing up, he looked around the room. “Fancy digs.”
Priam pushed himself off the ground, holding onto Greg’s arm for stability. “There’s work to do,” he said as he pointed at the throne; now with a hole through it. “Help me get up there.”
Greg nodded and picked Priam up, carrying him up the dais. “What’s special about the chair?”
“The throne belongs to the strongest of the gods,” Priam replied. “Whoever is leading the pantheon. If I sit on it, I might be able to…signal to any hiding gods that its safe to come out? I don’t know how it works. Dad just said that it belongs to the strongest of the gods.”
Greg chuckled, “Maybe I should sit on it. I am the strongest of us three.”
“You wish!” Dee shouted as she lay back on the ground. “I’m obviously the strongest!”
Priam shrugged and wriggled out of Greg’s arms, sitting down in the throne. It felt warm. Like the warmth of the hot, desert winds. “So…gods? Wricen is dead. You can come out now.”
The room was silent, and Priam shrugged, hopping off the throne. “Well, we can go back to the temple and tell the-”
Ghostly figures began appearing in the room, and Greg put himself in front of Priam. But the ghosts were…clapping. Cheering. The entire room erupted in thunderous applause as dozens of voices overlapped.
The Oslia, Teeva, walked in from outside, helping Dee up as she walked towards the dais. “Priam Westerfold and allies. On behalf of the deities who survived Wricen’s wrath, we thank you.”
Xera’s voice came over the comms, “I’ve got Pulsar Coalition entering the portal to The Cosmic Corridor. They’ll work on taking control like we talked about. Mostly oversight in their role. You’ve freed Priam’s home world. Good job, everyone.”
Priam felt an immense sense of satisfaction well up within him. And a joy that he couldn’t describe. We saved my world, he thought. And I got him, dad. I got revenge for the whole clan.
Teeva raised her hands, and the ghostly silhouettes grew quiet. “We know, Priam, that the loss of your clan was devastating. There is nothing we can do to replace them.”
Priam took in a deep breath, “It’s okay,” he said as he let it out. “I knew I was the last one. But…what happens now?”
Teeva laughed, “You three get treated like heroes, is what! The rest of the deities present in ghostly form will begin making their way over from their various hiding places across Fernaid. I’ll escort you three back to the portal. We’ll do a massive feast over there!”
“What about those wurms?” Greg asked. “Those are a threat, aren’t they?”
The woman waved her hand dismissively, “They don’t have a controller anymore. They’ll go dormant again once they find out their primary food source is not longer being provided by a deity-empowered being.” She looked at Priam, “Speaking of…you used some power of a dead god, did you not? I felt it; but thankfully my barriers around the building restricted its spread.”
“Oh, whoops, forgot you were in the area,” Priam said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, a Godheart from another world I got to put to rest.”
The woman nodded, and the ghostly figures vanished one by one. “Well…I’m sure you three are exhausted.”
“Not me,” Greg said with a smile.
“Then you can help to clear Wricen’s stain from this place. Including confiscating all of his ill-gained spoils.”
“Treasure?” Dee asked as she perked up almost instantly. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
Priam sat back down on the throne, “I’m just going to relax a bit,” he said as he felt the tiredness set on him once more.
“Take a nap,” Greg said as he patted Oslia’s shoulder. “You earned it.”
Priam nodded off.
