Chapter 219: Friends Through The Ages.
[Curse Heart has reached Level 81!]
I reached the heart of Geonesis. It was the massive cavern of gleaming crystals and purified metal that stretched further than my Devil Eyes could see. I was taken back to a simpler time, when I first discovered this place with my friends. The Adventure Friends, as we decided to call ourselves, long after the fact. We’d come up with the most stupid schemes back then, and we somehow survived it all.
But not all of us survived to today.
I felt the deafening echoes of those feelings, and I savored their complex warmth.
Peaceful like that massive crawling worm, cunning like the bat who silently sank its fangs into its back, and overwhelming in the way of the termite swarm that devoured them both. I watched the beauty of nature at work by myself, until I finally decided to jump into the fray. To become another part of this glorious cycle!
I landed powerfully on the jagged ground. I walked calmly across this shining cavern of precious crystals. I was sure Moonwash would like plenty of them, so I started tossing some into my pack. I did so openly, without bothering to hide, unlike how we had been forced to cower the last time.
Sure enough, the monsters of this place rushed me. From giant centipedes, spiders, and more; I crushed and churned the very dimension around us, slicing them apart, and even myself! Through my arms, my torso, and even my face; I suffered a dozen cuts that quickly healed!
My armor wasn’t quite as healable, so I stopped doing that before I could irreparably damage the metal. I haven’t even found a proper fight yet! Instead, I switched to just creating an impenetrable maze of space around me. My enemies were turned around to collide against each other in their clamor to reach me. At the same time, my brains worked together to bring out my hellfire, and give all the monsters here a taste of that torment. The flames that forever consumed the sinful, and there was no existence without sin.
Most of them died quickly to the sinister heat. Even their bones fell apart into ash. The tougher ones only suffered longer, further confused by the twisted space around me. They tore each apart in their madness, without me ever having to use my curse magic.
The ground not too far away suddenly exploded upward. A gorilla covered in rugged earthen skin pulled itself out of a pit and roared. It drummed its chest in a war beat.
I grinned at the creature and let out both my aura and my glare, to drive away all the worthless animals who would dare interfere. A Level 160 creature, a Geonesis-ranked monster, had finally decided to answer my call! It was even the same species as the one who drove us away the last time we were here. Maybe I would’ve gotten to adventure more with my friends had it not interfered. We could’ve plundered so much more treasure in this place. I would have more memories of my grandfather.
My minds throbbed from the building rage, and I indulged in it. I cursed this world in a thousand different ways. The magic roiled all across my body and my sword. It was finally time to see this battle to its conclusion!
The goreterra made the first move. Its massive fist was already right in front of me before the world could even react. The air had yet to scream out its pain. I was the only other existence in this one frozen moment. My three minds visualized the endless motion of blood and the boundless potential of curse, to throw my body out of the way!
I dodged. I was nicked by its fist, and I was sent careening just from that. My armor was heavily dented by the glancing blow.
An insignificant setback!
I stabilized myself with my wings, and turned with my tail. I charged back into the fray. The monster’s other fist came bounding forth, but this time I moved out of the way before the punch could even be thrown. It whisked past me, and I twisted around with powerful force to slam my Atrocity upon the trunk-like arm that rushed past!
The blade broke past its hard skin, sliced through a great mass of flesh, before finally being stopped by the bone. But not without at least cracking its surface!
The goreterra howled! It shook me away, and I flew with the force. I tossed myself back to the ground, and charged forth once more. I slipped past the creature’s clumsy punch, leapt over the follow-up kick, before then getting to rake my greatsword through its thigh!
I was already gone by the time the monster turned around.
I immediately returned for another round. The environment broke and shattered from the force of our charge. A massive shockwave blew across the enormous cavern upon the cataclysm of our collision. I unleashed the confluence of curse upon my opponent’s fist!
The monster shrieked and pulled its arm back. The flesh was outright flayed from most of its hand. Bone turned brittle, and fingers outright fell off. The monster stared so hard at its own broken limb, that it was barely able to react once I pressed the attack!
The goreterra whined. Slash after slash landed across its legs and torso. It tried to pry me away, but this time I dodged its strikes without falling back. I reacted with much greater alacrity than this creature an evolution above me. I stuck close to it to force an endless exchange of blows. I bent the space around its next strike, but the monster’s sheer power just punched through most of it. I miscalculated, and ended up being hit by its powerful fist. It wasn’t full-on, but it was still painful, and I was sent shooting away!
My wings came back out and I once again stabilized. The pace of the battle had shaken the goreterra so much that it had taken a second too long to pursue. I tossed away my crumpled armor, and healed the broken bones and ruptured organs. The monster leapt up to crush me, but I only dodged by sending myself crashing to the ground. My wings returned inside my back, and I charged towards where the goreterra was about to land. Its broken hand swung across nothing but air as I once again easily got inside its guard. This was my preferred range, for here the full weight of my Atrocity could be brought to bear. Its heavily injured arm moved much slower, and I only broke it further whenever the goreterra tried to use the limb.
I opened my mouth and made a proclamation.
“Hellfireball!”
Amid this fast-paced battle, a genuine ritual was formed. It impacted the goreterra’s side, and the powerful monster shrieked from the pain. Its attacks grew even clumsier as I closed in on the kill. I aimed for its savaged legs, and with one powerful swing, my Atrocity blew right though its knee!
The goreterra buckled, by the confluence of my curse. The bones snapped, and then crumpled into different halves. The meat on its shaking thighs fell off, before ultimately severing the leg!
The monster fell to a knee. It gnashed its teeth and swatted at me with hate, but I avoided its ire like all the other times.
“Hellfireball.”
Blood formed another ritual, and hit it right in the face. The goreterra instinctively swatted away at the hellish sensation, thereby giving me the opening I wanted.
Confluence of Curse.
I slammed Atrocity upon its back and shattered the spine! The monster’s tough skin curled in on itself, revealing the rotting organs within. Desiccated, gnarled, and ripped apart by uncontrolled tumors. Even now its body was in active collapse. The goreterra’s skin had proven more resilient, but my evermore powerful blade had been delivering its insidious curse for every slice I landed this entire time.
The goreterra did good surviving all that, really. Even now it twitched as it tried to drag itself over to me.
It was a good fight, and an excellent start to my hero-ranked life.
I put the creature out of its misery.
“I’m trying!” I complained after the monster survived the second slash in a row. “Just die! For your sake!”
The next hit shattered its neck, and finally severed its head.
“Whew. See? That wasn’t so hard!”
[Ritualist Brain has reached Level 81!]
[Rapid Combat Nervous System has reached Level 81!]
[Curse Heart has reached Level 82!]
[Demon Arms has reached Level 81!]
~~~
“I can’t believe you. This is too much!” Elfrafim gushed as she looked over my recent haul. I’d taken home the goreterra’s entire corpse, along with so many of the crystals and metals pried loose by our cataclysmic battle. My much improved mana-gorged teleport was powerful and amazing! Moonwash had already been stuck in her workshop for the past few days just going over all the Materials, doing experiments, and making cool shit!
“Well, believe it! Because this is just the start!”
My long-time friend giggled. “Yeah. I’m sure it is.” She looked up to meet my eyes. “From that weak little imp of back then. I can’t believe how much you’ve grown! How powerful! I’m no match for you any longer. Something this Level… Wow. I remember how frantic and scary it was when the five of us Adventure Friends ran away from it!”
I patted her on the back. “Don’t worry. You’re immortal. You’ve got forever to catch up.”
“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right!” She did a cartwheel as she ran back to Pandemonium’s courtyard, the goreterra’s femur in her hands. “Actually, are you immortal now?”
“Uh. I don’t know. How would I know that?”
“Err, if you don’t age? It depends on species, but you’re the first of yours.”
“Right. So how do I know!?” I chased after her.
“I don’t know! Maybe you’ve been immortal all along already! You don’t look old!” We parkoured around the black grass and gnarled trees. We had this conversation like that for some reason…
“That’s a good point. But I’m only 56! I don’t think someone my Level would look old at that age anyway.” I flew and then tossed Elfrafim up the roof. “160 is guaranteed though, right? That sounds about fine.”
“Yeah. It’s basically guaranteed. Never heard anything to the contrary,” she stopped and perched her strange feet onto the edge. I joined her in sitting down.
Just then, Berry walked below and made sure that the cursed grass we’d trampled regrew properly. She’d actually gotten nature magic to work after all this time. She wasn’t all that powerful with it, but her persistence paid off. That was never a guarantee.
I was glad she was here. I appreciated my friend sticking with me all this time. Too many people from back then had already died, long before their time.
Elfrafim looked at the same person, but with a different fondness than mine. That was her lover. My elven friend spoke with a sad smile, “Lifespans, huh… I wish sometimes that she was stronger. She’s weaker than literally any elf would be after just existing for a few decades!”
I looked at her, and then back at Berry. Now she was dancing to the beat as pandemonium shook the ground. Heh. “Yeah. Life’s not fair.”
“It isn’t.”
I enjoyed the moment of silence that followed, until we were suddenly interrupted!
“I’M BACK!!”
I turned my head and then smiled broadly when Arx walked into the manor. It’d been months since I last saw the guy.
Elfrafim leapt right off the building as I flew over to meet him.
“Hey Arx! How’ve you been?” I gave my inhex friend a hug. It was less awkward now that I was bigger, though still not the most comfortable.
“Hi Haell! I’ve been fine. Mostly. Sort of.”
“That’s great!” Elfrafim jumped atop his carapace. “Any fun adventures?”
“Well… not exactly fun. But they certainly were adventures.”
“Oh? What were they like??”
“Well…”
I watched this interaction happen, and actually caught on to how he did not want to talk about it.
“We can talk about that later!” I very subtly changed the subject. “It’s been a while since you came. We should go play!
“Hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!”
Arx happily bounded into Pandemonium, and we dragged Berry along too.
“Hey Arx! Long time no see.”
“Yeah. Long time. Glad you’re doing well.”
“Yeap!”
Pandemonium opened a larger entrance just for us, and we spent the whole day just goofing around.
Arx looked at all the new books we had in stock. We ran across the shifting tunnels of Pandemonium’s underground looking for ‘treasure.’ We competed in the silliest board games, some uniquely commissioned. We went down to Moonwash’s workshop, and made the stupidest comments about her works.
“That looks like a testicle.”
“Ewwww.”
“Hehe.”
“It’s the appendix of the goreterra,” she actually explained, which only made us laugh harder. “It’s still a mystery what this organ is supposed to do.”
“Yeah. It was a mystery back on Earth too,” I said after I was done laughing. “I think it’s some cosmic secret that will unlock the secrets of the universe.”
“It could be,” she agreed. Oi! Don’t take it so seriously!
“Or it could be a cosmic prank,” Arx suggested.
“Oooooh. Spooky.” Elfrafim liked that.
“If the cosmos can make pranks then that’d be very interesting.”
“Huh. You’re right,” I agreed.
“Oh, oh!” Elfrafim then waved her hands from atop Berry. She was remarkably light for her Level, because as it turned out, elves actually did have the hollow bones Mutation! It was a waste if you asked me, since they couldn’t even naturally fly. I’d much prefer the power and protection afforded by the additional weight. “What cosmic pranks do you think the galaxy or the universe has pulled?”
“Pineapple pizza,” I said confidently.
"Nah. That's actually pretty good.”
"Yeah. It's delicious."
"Bah! You guys have no taste. Only I have taste in this world! I was reincarnated and got to achieve my dreams, but everyone else has shit taste!"
"Haell, I saw you put hot sauce on chocolate last week,” Moonwash mentioned.
"It's a new thing! You don't get it. You’re not with the times.”
“What about soul feats!” Elfrafim then mentioned her cosmic joke. “I finally got one, but it’s bullshit how much you have to do to get one.”
“Huh? Really? I didn’t notice.”
“You… You… CHEATER!”
She jumped me and squished my face.
“Ah! Agh! Moonwash help!”
She only joined in the squishing.
“Oi! Why!?”
“It is bullshit, Haell. How you have so much of it,” Arx explained.
“Eh. You just need to git gud!!”
That got me squished harder.
“You’re the biggest cosmic joke!” Arx pointed his two big claws at me, as he also joined in the squishing with his dextrous middle limbs.
“Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!! So you’re saying I’m a naturally talented comedian!?”
“NO!”
“Nah…” My voice came out distorted. “You are! You so are! Admit it! Berry help!”
“I can’t relate with any of this.” She was eating popcorn now! Where’d that come from!! “The biggest cosmic joke in my life is taxes.”
“Just get Granuel to do it for you,” I shrugged while pinned down. “They did suck back on Earth, but I rarely ever did my own here. And why are you squishing me harder! None of you do taxes either, dumbass!”
“Yeah! They sound super stupid! Glad we don’t have any of that shit!” Elfrafim boasted.
“I’ll give you an exception,” I offered to Berry. “Come on. I’m surprised I haven’t already. As the Demon Queen–”
“No!” Berry rejected, a little too strongly.
“Uhh… What? People would literally kill to get exempt from taxes…”
“...I know. It’s so tempting,” Berry admitted. “But it’s the responsible thing that people do. You guys overpay me anyway! I’m happy to give back.”
Yeah… I really should know better how those taxes are being spent in my territory.
“Well, have fun with that then!”
“I’m not that crazy!”
I laughed. We continued to play and smile together as the conversation just seemed to have no end. It was the best, to spend time with your best friends.
~~~
“So. How have things been going?” I asked Arx as we sat on the rooftop, alongside Pandemonium’s many eyes that watched the world above. It loved stargazing.
“Hmmm. Good, technically. I’ve been helping New Grandera conquer more lands. It’s just been difficult. And I feel a little drained. It’s nothing compared to how drained my people have been for centuries now! But the logistics couldn’t keep up, so I got to take a little break…”
“And that’s great,” I said with conviction. “You don’t need to apologize for getting to spend a lazy day or nine.”
“But… I’ve gotten so strong for precisely this reason. To wage war against Angelore. And I don’t even really have an excuse, as I could’ve just gone north and helped them instead…”
“They’re assholes,” I scoffed.
“They are,” he admitted. “But they’re still our allies, you know?”
I scratched my head. “Well… Do I know that…? Hmmmm…”
“What?” Arx boggled. “What did you do?”
“Why do you gotta immediately assume I did something!” I huffed. “But yes, I did.”
My friend laughed.
“Seriously though. What is it?”
“Well…” I explained to him how I ended up killing a duke, and everything else that happened after.
He breathed, wincing. “Oof. That’s… a situation.”
“It sure is.”
“Well, they really shouldn’t have been treating people like that…”
“Right!?”
“Yeah… Yeah! That’s exactly the same kind of thing the angels did to us. And if it wasn’t nipped in the bud, then our history would just repeat itself on a different target.”
“That’s true. So, I was right!”
“Ah… Yeah! Sure!”
“Nice!”
“It is!” Arx grew more convinced. “I have seen some of it myself, honestly, and I wasn’t sure what to do. So I’m really happy that you thought of something! You’re willing to take on such a difficult role! That’s so awesome!”
“Err… Yay. I don’t think it’s anything quite that honorable.”
“Huh? How come? You’re willing to hold even your allies to account. And I think stopping all these atrocities from happening is a very good thing, no?”
“Atrocities that I myself have committed,” I sighed. “I’m really just doing this now for my own self-satisfaction.”
He took a moment to think of what to say. “I… wasn’t really against you, when you did the Burning of Gardine. It’s my fault too.”
“Oh don’t you fucking dare,” I growled. “Maybe you should’ve said something. I don’t know. But that’s clearly incomparable to me who actually did the thing!”
“...Okay. That’s fair.”
I huffed. “As long as you understand.”
An uneasy silence passed between us, until Arx broke it with a shout.
“WE WON! EDENGAR DOWN! FUCK YOU QUEEN EDEN! FUCK YOU ALL! ROT IN THE ABYSS WITH YA!!!”
“Whoa,” I said. “What the fuck?”
My inhex friend scratched his head bashfully. "Sorry. I’ve been meaning to say that… but I really should not have brought it up after that, huh? I just… I feel like it might have been long enough. The road to get to this point has been harrowing and filled with so many sacrifices; but our goal has been to get rid of Edengar, to get rid of Angelore as a whole. And we’ve accomplished a good chunk of our goal. So I just thought… well, it might be fine to celebrate it a little. We never got to. I want to.” He buried his inhexian face under his big frontal claws. “AaaaahhhH!! Sorry! Sorry, sorry! Forget it! It was really insensitive! It might always be too soon! I never really got to know Angerly or Luine all that well either. But of course the victory cost too much to celebrate!”
I stared at him. I blinked. My emotions mixed in a confusing mess.
I took a deep breath myself, and shouted, “FUCK YOU EDENGAR! FUCK YOU EDEN! ADAMO, EVEL! YOU WORTHLESS ANGELS! WE WON! YOU ARE NOTHING! LITERALLY NOTHING NOW! AND ANGELORE IS NEXT! JUST YOU WAIT!!!!”
Arx stared at me, mouth agape. He would’ve been wide-eyed, if his beady eyes could do that.
“Haell?”
“What?” I asked. “You told me to celebrate, and I agree. I’ve already mourned the losses. I’ll continue to mourn them. But I should also take the time to piss on Eden’s grave.”
“Ah. Whoah. That’s deep.”
“It’s a deep grave.”
“And we piss on it!”
“YEAH!”
“GET PISSED ON EDEN!”
““WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!””
“If that’s what you’re into…” a cringefully familiar voice said from below. “But don’t do that on the roof!”
“MOM SHUT UP!” I threw a tantrum. “I’M A BIG BAD DEVIL NOW!!! I PISS WHERE I WANT!!!!”
“That’s right! You would know all about that, you Piss Hunter!” Arx added, and we both stared at him for one eternal second.
I dropped from the roof and guffawed all the way down.
My century-old mom shrieked and ran after the massive inhex, all the way to the rooftops!
I could not stop laughing.