Chapter 55 A Different Light

My bonds flooded the moment I appeared in the temple back at Far Reach. Joel, Mal, Grigor, and Danivra were all there, waiting for word from me. As was Sania, who was now in my arms.

All I felt was relief at laying eyes on them. Whatever was happening here, one thing was certain: Far Reach still had a Sphere, and all of my people were still alive.

I told them all what had happened with a swift, unembellished recounting that left them all staring, dumbfounded in shock.

“So it begins?” Danivra said with cold certainty. “Even if Hakan is not yet here in body, his reach has arrived. We should have expected such a thing, but… but for gods to be killed so callously in one fell swoop.” She sagged. “What hope do any of us have against them, if even Destruction and Peace are running scared?”

“None,” I said simply. “But you don’t need to. That’s my job. That’s what all this has been for. I need you all to protect each other. I need…”

I didn’t have a fucking clue what I needed.

Danivra jumped in. “We should gather the Chosen of the fallen and let them know what has happened. Their people will be in disarray.”

I nodded mutely. It was a good idea, and I was glad I had other people to think about the things I had no time for.

Sania stepped back from her death hug to meet my eyes. “We need you to get that Divine Core. Now that you don’t have as many gods to help you gather it, you should consider two things. Gather all of the followers who now find themselves without a god to you so that you can benefit from their prayers. That will in turn help you get them revenge for the slaying of their gods. Secondly, but do this first: drain me of Ethereal Neuma. I have 6000EN I can give you freely, but even if it weakens me, take what you need.”

I felt my emotions roiling at her words. I took her shoulders and kissed her. “Thank you, Sania, but it wouldn’t be enough, and I need you strong and at my side. If I’m going to take Neuma from anyone, there are three candidates on the list that I’d dearly love to get my hands on.”

Mal cleared his throat to speak. “You, er, said you can beat any one of them alone?”

“That I can.”

“So you need to get one of them cornered while we distract the others and drain whichever asshole you capture like Joel draining a strawberry milkshake?”

“I don’t know about you distracting them, but in essence, yeah. If I can get one of them alone and pull the power from them, I might be able to evolve.”

Be warned, Clive,Aly said into my mind. While I can accept your draining of an enemy in battle, especially with what you have faced today, I cannot accept you draining them until death. If you do, my programming will not allow me to ignore it, and I will have to bring you into the Administration Headquarters for sentencing.

I didn’t even bother replying. I couldn’t believe I was constrained at a time when I needed to go full apeshit, but it was what it was. And while I didn’t understand how Aly worked, she’d been so goddamn helpful in so many ways that I couldn’t find it in my heart to be angry with her over it. Even as our universe fell down around us, I accepted the constraints.

On a positive note, draining any of the three enemy gods to within an inch of their lives and putting them in my void storage, where they couldn’t regain power, suited me just fine. That meant that I could have a long, painful conversation with them all. And once I’d reached Divine Core and was no longer subject to Aly’s protocol, I could execute all three of the bastards.

As my mind wandered over the possibilities, Joel’s panicked voice broke through.

“Clive, mate. I think they’re here.”

He hadn’t needed to finish the statement, as I’d felt their presence a moment later, but I was impressed with how in-tune with the Sphere Joel was. Then the notification came:

< Warning >

An antagonistic entity has attempted entry into your Sphere.

I read it as I teleported out of the room to where I sensed their presence near the perimeter of the Sphere. To my relief, they weren’t able to just waltz into my Sphere as they had the others. That was most likely because mine was an Alo-im Sphere, and while I hadn’t realized Spheres could be altered, today had taught me differently. But that would require the full range of powers.

They gave up their ministrations on the Sphere and fired at me instead.

< Warning >

Sphere of Influence under attack.

Sphere integrity at 99.92%.

That was both a satisfying and worrying notification. It should be impervious, but it was still a solid defense considering the throwers of said attacks.

I fired back through the Sphere, aiming solely for Darkness even though he had a shield up between us. As my friends arrived at my side, all firing the instant they got there, the mid-afternoon sky was suddenly awash with crackling energy that would probably kill any wildlife for miles around the attack zone.

Soon it seemed, everyone in Far Reach was out of their homes and firing up at the three gods we faced.

In that moment, I noticed Darkness smiling. He was doing something with his hands, creating a highly condensed ball of power, so condensed that I couldn’t make out what it was he’d made.

But I could dismiss what I could see. Understandably, Dark Neuma made up most of the construct, along with Void, surprisingly. I pulled them both apart, and the whole thing unraveled to reveal a central core of a different power construct using Air and Fire.

I attacked those two quickly, and Darkness grew furious. If his hollow eyes could have shot daggers, I’d have been dead.

Instead of recreating the blast, he opened up his void storage. Out of the yawning void he yanked out the corpse of Life. He dangled her there, waving her body back and forth, clearly in an attempt to anger me. I sensed he was trying to get me to act rashly.

“A worthy power boost from that one. She hasn’t been as hard at work as the rest of you. But she did side with you in the end, and she made no effort to stop you when she could have.” He finished his scathing rant about Life by throwing her body with such casual contempt at our shield, as if she was nothing more than a ball of crumpled up paper, being thrown at a trash can.

To my surprise, she passed through the Sphere without me needing to alter anything. I’d expected her to hit, as she was technically an inanimate object thrown by an enemy. Perhaps it had acknowledged my thoughts on the matter. Either way, I pulled open my void storage as quickly as I could and gathered her. Now I could at least give her and Devotion a decent burial.

“Now!” Darkness boomed over the ongoing fray. “I feel it’s time to remove you and the last two traitors from the board.”

“You not going to run away again you cowardly piece of shit?”

“Oh no. We can handle you now,” he said slyly. “So come out and bring them both with you. If you do that, I won’t rip the cores from every last living soul in that Sphere.”

I realized then that he didn’t know they were still on Onnekus collecting their followers. They must have come straight here. After a brief detour to kill Life, of course.

“I get why you want to kill me, but what’s the obsession with the other gods and goddesses? You seem more intent on killing them than you do me.”

“I have just told you Clive, they are traitors. They sided with you, helping you to get stronger. And while I have other grievances with them all, that is their greatest mistake. A mistake that cannot go uncorrected.”

His words struck me like a meteor. Or rather one word in particular. Mistake. What followed was a cascade of realizations. Of answers falling into place.

“Hakan?”

The smile, on who I’d thought was Darkness, spread wide. “You guessed! I expected to have longer, but it matters not. What was it that gave me away?”

“You were coming back, to correct your mistake. I assumed you meant me, but I warned all the gods in case you meant them as well.”

He frowned. “That was what did it? I expected something far more imaginative.”

As we spoke, the fighting died off as everyone wanted to hear what was being said. Even Light and War had stopped at Hakan’s command to let us speak.

“Those who stayed true, who didn’t assist you, who have fought you tooth and nail until my return, have proven themselves worthy to continue living. The rest of them must die for failing me so catastrophically.”

“Yeah, sounds like a whole load of bullshit, old man. But I’m not surprised you find Light, War, and Darkness worthy. They fit your profile. Arseholes with no personality who abuse their power to—”

“I see you have grown in power only, Clive,” he boomed over me. “And that weasel Darkness wasn’t worthy of my attention. He is the first I killed. Though I should be thankful to him for he facilitated a pathway for me to return here past your barriers. A deft move, criminalizing me in the Administration System. But once I regain my full power, it will avail you nothing. It only delays the inevitable.”

“How? I don’t get it? How did you get through the Great Barrier?”

He laughed a grating malicious laugh. “He sent an avatar! A conduit for me to ride all the way back here in style. He must have sent it traveling not long after I gave you my warning, supplying the avatar with power from here so that it could portal hop all the way to the edge of the Abyssal Planes to beg for forgiveness. Fool that he was. He should have known. You all should know, there is no such thing as forgiveness.”

“And I’m the child? What a wanker.”

“Now that you know, will you hand yourself over? Will you allow these good people to live their lives in gentle obliviousness until the end? Or will you fight on and delay the inevitable, the unavoidable, the inexorable! Will you allow all those you love to experience pain and misery the likes of which you can’t even imagine? Because that is all your continued existence will bring.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, Hakan. If you could beat me, you would have done it by now. Look at you, with your two cronies like a set of schoolyard bullies, puffing up and pretending to be bigger than you are.”

“If you are so sure of that, why don’t you come out and face me?”

“Why don’t you send those two away and I will?”

“Is that a promise?” he asked, cocking his head to one side curiously.

“Yep. One hundred percent. Get rid of those two, and I’ll come out there right now and I’ll fuck you up. I’ll make you wish your father didn’t have any money that night he passed your mother on the street corner.”

Darkness… Hakan’s face looked momentarily puzzled by my words, then an expression of disbelief crossed his face. “Did you really just say that to me? The oldest entity in the universe?”

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t his sister as well,” I replied, not exactly sure what I was doing but hoping I could make him do something stupid.

“I’m honestly close to speechless. What is wrong with you, Clive?” He turned to Light. “Has he been like this the entire time?”

“More or less,” she replied through clenched teeth.

I looked at Light and smiled. “Just so you know. If any of the gods are traitors, then it wasn’t any you’ve helped kill. It wasn’t Destruction, Death, or Life. It was you, all along. You supported this madman when you could have been helping me prepare for his arrival and prevent the end of all life. You’ve now chosen to follow him!”

She growled at me, but didn’t seem to be able to articulate her hatred.

Hakan looked confused again. “Choose? There is no choice. I am a Creator, Clive.”

“Yeah, I know, but if they didn’t choose… You created a servant bond over them?”

He looked disgusted that it could be anything else. “Of course! What use are the other bonds to me? I need them to do what they are told without delay. Light! Fire one of your more powerful attacks into your own face.”

Without hesitation, beyond the look of horror etched in her smooth perfect features, she raised her hand and fired a blast directly into her face. Her hair was burnt away immediately, her skin was blackened and burned, her eyes were nothing but weeping empty sockets. They all grew back steadily with the obvious application of Neuma.

Hakan watched me with dead eyes throughout the entire display. And he would have spoken if War hadn’t interrupted.

“Destruction is still on Onnekus, Creator.”

Hakan’s brow crept up in mild surprise. “You crafty devil, Clive. I suppose it is a race then if you dare leave your Sphere unprotected.”

He disappeared in a swirl of Darkness, and I almost went after him, but Sania’s hand on my arm stopped me and spoke across our bond.

“Take Light.”

I paused. It was a risky move that could cost Destruction her life if I wasn’t fast enough. But it was too good an opportunity to miss out on.

“Distract War.” I didn’t just send that message to Sania, but to everyone around me and below me who had been part of the defense so far.

The very fucking last thing I expected anyone to do was to fly out of the Sphere toward the God of War, yet that was exactly what Natom Fucking Hilgresh did. I fought a smile, and teleported behind Light, clamping onto her back in her moment of distraction at our sudden onslaught.

She screamed out in rage as I began to drain her of Neuma, and I knew at this point that Hakan would know of my attack. But would he do what I was attempting and try to take out Destruction quickly to get back here stronger? Only time would tell.

Light began to expand in a hope to dislodge me. I grew with her, but not before I created a Vortex of Dusk and Dawn with us in the center. Within seconds, we were being spun around by its ferocious power, slowly pulled down to the base, though she tried to fight it by flying upward.

I used my strength to pull her down to the bottom, and though I was weaker than her, between me and the power of the vortex, we pretty much brought her to a stop, and still I drained her.

It was never going to be fast enough. I needed to get her into my void storage before War or Hakan intervened.

And the quickest way to do that was surprisingly simple. Use her own momentum against her. I switched my direction of pulling down to flying up, and opened my void storage above us as I did so.

It was unnoticeable within the howling wind tunnel, and we shot up like a well-shaken champagne cork, out of the vortex and into my void storage. I snapped it shut as soon as we entered, hoping beyond hope that Hakan didn’t return while I was in there and punch through into my Sphere.

Then I suppressed my worry over what I couldn’t control to wrestle with what I could.

Light continued to fight and managed to get a hand on my leg. With that contact, she began pulling from me. Desperation or stupidity, I didn’t know, but I’d already shown her that I could pull power from her through her attacks as well.

I locked her probing tendril in place against my core, not only pulling her power away, but limiting her options of retaliation further.

“Let me go,” she wailed as her panicked thrashing and writhing increased in desperation.

It was like riding a coked-up bull on steroids. She managed to fire a blast over her shoulder into my face, which hurt like a motherfucker, but was just another drain on her power and wouldn’t cause any lasting damage on me. Next she summoned her sword and flailed with it over her head and shoulder, trying to score a wild hit. All the time, her efforts were weakening but slower than I’d expected.

The amount of power in her was incredible. Far more than I had suspected when compared with Desolation or Justice. And I was surprised, knowing what I knew about Hakan and his desperation for power so that he could end me, that he hadn’t just taken hers from her.

I supposed he needed her strong to fight me, and the others for now. And that suited me just fine as I finally had her right where I wanted her.

She’d begun to look notably frail, and I knew I was getting close to the end of her resources as she’d all but stopped fighting.

Aly gave me a warning that agreed with my own appraisal. If you go much further, you will kill her, Clive. Do not do this.”

The thing was, now I was here, with her at my mercy, after everything she’d done, I really wanted to kill her. If Aly hadn’t given me the warning, I likely would have, such was my hatred for the goddess.

But the warning was enough, and I let her go, dropping her as carelessly to the floor as Hakan had with my friends. Then I encased her in a Null shield to be certain she wouldn’t cause any more trouble despite her depleted state.

Then I eyed her bond to Hakan. It was a weak thing inside my void storage, but it was still an Alo-im bond, and I knew until I’d passed this final hurdle, I wouldn’t be able to sever it.