by Lucas Flint
The laster struck Arius’ hands and Arius cried out in pain. The God Slayer was sent flying out of his hands and Beams instinctively leaped into the air, his legs powered by the adrenaline still coursing through his veins. He flew over Arius, who was clutching his burning hands with a pained expression on his face and reached out toward the God Slayer.
At first, Beams’ fingers missed its handle. Then he caught it and landed on the ground behind Arius.
Arius turned around to face Beams, reaching out toward him, but Beams whirled around and drove the tip of the blade directly into Arius’ stomach. The God Slayer’s sharp blade pierced Arius’ hard abs and went through his body entirely, the tip of the blade poking out of his back.
No blood flowed out of Arius’ stomach, but he did freeze. A mixture of pain and shock appeared on his chiseled features. He seemed to be completely at a loss for words. Beams couldn’t blame him. He was surprised that his plan had worked as well.
Then Beams yanked the God Slayer out of Arius’ stomach and stepped back. Arius fell to his knees, clutching his stomach, which again was still not bleeding. His breathing had become ragged and heavy now, and for the first time since the battle began, Arius looked as if he was in real pain.
“Amazing,” Arius coughed. He shuddered. “I should have seen that coming.”
“You’re talking pretty well for a guy who just got stabbed straight through the stomach with a freaking sword,” said Beams, lowering the God Slayer to his side. “And you’re not bleeding, either.”
Arius chuckled. “I’m a spirit, remember? I can’t bleed. Nor can I die. I can’t even be hurt … save by the God Slayer, of course.”
“So …” Beams hesitated. “Does this mean I win?”
Arius nodded. A smile spread across his face. “Yes. You have bested me in combat. That makes you not only the first challenger to ever complete the Gauntlet in its millions of years of existence, but also my son. Congratulations.”
Then Arius suddenly coughed and hacked again. “Good luck, my son, in defeating the Dread God. Take that weapon and use it as it was intended. Stop the Dread God and save the multiverse.”
Before Beams’ startled eyes, Arius slowly faded out of view, leaving Beams standing alone by himself on the cold mountaintop, clutching the God Slayer tightly in his hands.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
As soon as the Dread God poked his head out of the portal, the temperature in the room seemed to drop by a hundred degrees in an instant. Bolt, Aster, Captain Galaxy, Hypno, and even the Midnight Menace froze, watching the massive figure as he emerged from the portal like a doorway. The Starborn turned to face him, but Bolt could tell that even the Starborn were terrified at the sight of their mortal enemy appearing in their home, his eyes glowing with power and glee.
The Dread God was not alone. Graalix, the Avatar, and even the Dread Priest followed him. They stood by his side, with the Dread Priest wearing an expression of pure glee, the Avatar frowning, and Graalix looking rather impatient.
“Is that the Dread God you told me about earlier?” said the Midnight Menace. He spoke in an awed whisper and his words seemed to tremble as they came out of his mouth.
“Yes,” said Bolt without looking over his shoulder at him. “That’s him, all right. The Dread God himself.”
The Midnight Menace staggered. “I have never felt energy like his before. It dwarfs even the darkness of the Shadowlands. How does such a being even exist? It makes no sense. He shouldn’t even be alive.”
Aster was also staring at the Dread God in disbelief. His mouth hung open and he seemed to be at a complete loss for words. Bolt remembered that this was Aster’s first time seeing the Dread God in person as well, which explained why he seemed unable to speak as he beheld the massive behemoth that emerged from the portal into the hallway of the Fist.
“Uh oh,” said Hypno. “I take it now would be a bad time to run, wouldn’t it?”
“It would be useless,” said Captain Galaxy. Her eyes were locked on the Dread God and, though she was trembling, she did not run away. “There’s not a place in the multiverse where we could hide from him forever. Our best bet is to stand and fight.”
“How can you possibly fight such a thing?” said the Midnight Menace. “I have seen many strange and powerful creatures in my time as the guardian of the Shadowlands, but never have I seen any that come even close to the power that this Dread God clearly wields.”
“Which is why I suggested we run,” said Hypno, “but I agree, it would ultimately be pointless. Plus, Director Smith would never forgive me if I ran away like a chicken.”
Before Bolt could respond to that, the Dread God spoke. His voice echoed with power and seemed even more powerful than the last time Bolt had heard it. Just listening to the Dread God’s voice was a mental assault on Bolt’s mind, making him clutch his head in agony as the others did the same around him.
“Starborn,” said the Dread God. The portal behind him closed with a pop. “It has been eons since I last laid eyes upon you, yet you do not seem to be that much different from how I remember you. Have you managed to cheat death?”
“Time does not affect us the way it does ordinary mortals,” said the lead Starborn. There was visceral fear in the lead Starborn’s voice and his clawed hands shook like a building in an earthquake. “You, on the other hand, look very different.”
“It is a new body, crafted for me by my loyal followers,” said the Dread God, nodding at the Dread Priest, Avatar, and Graalix beside him. “It was an awkward fit at first, but I’ve since mastered its odd proportions and size. Now I can move in it as smoothly and easily as I could in my old body, if not even better than that.”
“Why are you here, Dread God?” said the lead Starborn. “What do you want from us? If you have come to ask us to craft you another God Slayer, then you must know the answer to that question already.”
A wicked grin crossed the Dread God’s bovine lips. “I know you will never make another weapon for me so long as you continue to breathe. Hence, I have not come for a weapon. I came for one thing, and one thing only: Revenge for the role you played in my first death.”
The Starborn did not even hesitate. As one, they pointed their hands at the Dread God and unleashed a powerful combined blast of golden energy which tore through the air toward the Dread God.
The continuous beam of energy struck the Dread God head-on. The Dread Priest, the Avatar, and Graalix all flinched when the attack hit, but the Dread God didn’t even move. He just stood there for a moment, a puzzled look on his face, before his wicked grin returned. He then started walking through the Starborns’ combined energy beam toward them, his grin growing all the while. The Starborn frantically increased the intensity of the beam, but the Dread God didn’t even slow down.
With a roar, the Dread God swung his massive fists at the Starborn. The punches hit the Starborn like a bomb, scattering them and sending them flying everywhere. The Starborn struck the walls and floor with sickening thuds and crashes. At least one of the Starborn snapped his neck, while the others all just seemed to be unconscious from the blow, although with how still they lay, it was impossible to tell just who had survived that attack and who hadn’t.
“Did he just take out all of the Starborn?” said Aster. His voice was breathless. “In one hit?”
“Yes,” said the Midnight Menace. He was now visibly trembling, his armor clanking with the trembling of his body. “He did.”
The Dread God laughed. It was a harsh, monstrous sound that sent a chill down Bolt’s spine. “I have been waiting for countless centuries to do that. Stewing in my anger, dwelling on their betrayal and what I would do to them once I got a new body … all of that has been released. Now I stand victorious and the Starborn lay scattered like leaves in the wind.”
Bolt gulped. He normally wasn’t one to get afraid very easily, but after seeing the Dread God take out the Starborn so easily, he was now starting to think that maybe running away would be a smart i
dea after all. He had already known the Dread God’s power before, of course, but seeing the Dread God use that same power to defeat the Starborn—who were much more powerful than Bolt—in one hit shook him in a way that previous displays of the Dread God’s power hadn’t.
Then the Dread God’s eyes landed on Bolt and the others and his grin became even crueler. “I recognize some of you. You were the ones I banished to another universe back in my temple on Jinkopa. I had hoped you would perish there, but it seems you are tougher—or perhaps luckier—than I first assumed.”
The Midnight Menace stepped forward. He had drawn his sword without Bolt noticing and now held it in both hands at his side, making him look just like a knight who was about to slay a dragon. “Dread God, I am the Midnight Menace, a Warrior of Shadow and defender of the Shadowlands. I command you to leave this place, you and your followers, and to never return. Or else I will be forced to kill you, as I have killed so many of your minions already.”
The Dread God chuckled. “I know who you are, Midnight Menace, as well as what this land is. But I am in no hurry to leave and your death threats are as amusing to me as the yapping of a small dog. I feel no fear, no desire to do anything but eliminate all who stand in my path.”
“You may be a god, but gods can still be killed,” said the Midnight Menace.
The Midnight Menace swung his sword. The shadows around the Dread God suddenly began twisting into monstrous tendrils, wrapping themselves firmly around the Dread God’s body like snakes. The Dread God, as usual, did not look at all alarmed by the tendrils. He simply looked down at them with an amused expression on his face, despite the fact that he was now completely immobile.
Then the Midnight Menace swung his sword again and the tendrils suddenly contracted around the Dread God’s body. This time, the Dread God actually grunted, though it seemed to be more out of surprise than pain.
“Lord Dread God!” said the Dread Priest. “We shall save you!”
“There is no need for that, my Dread Priest,” said the Dread God, his voice tighter than normal. “This is but a minor inconvenience, one I shall rid myself of very shortly.”
With a shrug of his massive shoulders, the Dread God snapped the shadow tendrils around his body. They literally snapped like rope, retracting into the darkness of the temple and leaving the Dread God standing perfectly unhurt. The Midnight Menace even stepped backward in shock, staring at the Dread God with unbelieving eyes.
“Impossible,” said the Midnight Menace. “How did you snap my shadows like that? That isn’t possible.”
“You should have done far more than merely restrain me, human,” said the Dread God. “You overestimated yourself. And that is why you are going to die today.”
The Dread God pointed a finger at the Midnight Menace. A beam of black energy exploded from the Dread God’s fingertip and lanced through the air toward the Midnight Menace, but Bolt tackled the Midnight Menace to the floor before it could hit him. The black energy beam struck the wall behind them, blowing a huge hole open that exposed them to the shadows outside, as well as blowing out a few more torches along the walls.
“Menace, are you okay?” said Bolt, looking at the Midnight Menace, who lay on the floor next to him.
The Midnight Menace pushed himself up on his hands. “I am, yes, but thanks for the save. I let my shock control me. I won’t let that happen again.”
Bolt nodded and then looked back toward the Dread God. The Dread God lowered his finger and looked at Bolt with a mixture of hatred and annoyance on his inhuman features.
“I recognize you,” said the Dread God. “You are the human who calls himself Bolt, are you not? The one who Graalix told me about.”
“Yeah,” said Bolt, rising to his feet. “I am. We’ve met before. I punched you in the face once.”
The Dread God scowled. He rubbed the side of his face where Bolt had punched him. “I could never forget a mortal who dared to assault me, even if your attack did little long-term damage to me. I should annihilate you here and now, as you deserve.”
“Wait, master,” said the Dread Priest, raising his staff and waving it back and forth. “Remember, we still need the one they call Bolt. Don’t destroy him yet.”
“I remember, my Dread Priest, I remember,” said the Dread God without looking down at the Dread Priest. “I was simply expressing my frustration and anger at the insolence of such a mortal. In all my countless years of existence, the only other mortal to deliver such a blow to me was Arius, and he only achieved that with the God Slayer. That is why I will never forget—or forgive—him.”
“Why do you guys want me, anyway?” said Bolt. “Mind letting me know? Or is it a surprise?”
“Silence your mouth, you foolish human,” Graalix snarled. “Show some respect to the Dread God or—”
“Silence, Graalix,” said the Dread God. “It is a fair question. Normally, I consider answering the questions of mere mortals beneath me, but I feel that answering the question of this particular mortal is appropriate. After all, we now have him where we want him. It isn’t like he will run away or that he even can run away.”
“Just so you know, I have no intention of going along with whatever your little plan is,” said Bolt. “Unless you need me to kick your butt, in which case I will be happy to oblige.”
The Dread God held out a hand toward Bolt. “Then let me explain: Join me, and I will make you a god. Refuse … and you will die, like every other mortal who has ever opposed me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
A clapping sound broke the silence which had descended upon the mountaintop after Arius’ disappearance, causing Beams to turn around to see Guide sitting with his legs crossed on the pile of stones from before like he hadn’t moved at all. A big, genuine smile was on his face as if all of his dreams had come true.
“Bravo, son of Arius, bravo,” said the Guide, clapping his hands together. “I simply cannot believe my eyes. You are the first ever challenger to complete the entire Gauntlet from beginning to end. Never in my whole life did I ever think I would see a true son of Arius complete the Gauntlet and claim the God Slayer. If I could cry, I would. Alas, I am but a recording and therefore cannot cry. But I can congratulate you on your victory. Enjoy the God Slayer. You earned it.”
Beams looked down at the sword in his right hand. The God Slayer was much lighter than it looked. Indeed, it moved so easily in his hand that it felt more like an extension of his arm rather than a weapon he held. Its handle fit his hand perfectly as if it had been intentionally designed for his fingers. He also sensed that it would yield to his commands just as easily as his fist.
That wasn’t even getting into the sheer power flowing through the blade. Feeling its throbbing, burning energy, Beams had no trouble believing Arius’ claim that the God Slayer was the strongest weapon in the multiverse.
The Dread God ain’t got nothing on this, Beams thought as he swung the sword back and forth a couple of times.
“So I won,” said Beams, looking up at Guide. “Now what?”
“You may leave the cave and return to Ariopolis,” said Guide. “Here, let me open a pathway back to your friends for you.”
Guide snapped his fingers and a dimensional portal opened up beside him. The portal showed nothing but endless darkness on the other side, though Beams saw a tiny beam of light in the distance, which had to be the cave mouth because the light looked like the light of the sun from Antarctica. He also thought he heard faint voices—Shade and Mr. Space—coming from the other side of the portal as well.
“Step through this portal and you will return to the cave and then Ariopolis,” said Guide. “Then you can give the necklace back to the Elder. You don’t even have to wait until you leave the cave to do that. The Guardians won’t attack you, not as long as you hold the God Slayer, anyway. The Guardians were taught to recognize and respect the Gauntlet Champion and because you are the Gauntlet Champion, they will let you go without harassment.”
“Coo
l,” said Beams. “But what about you? Now that I won the Gauntlet, what is going to happen to you?”
Guide closed his eyes and sighed. “Sleep. I will finally be able to rest. And I will never awaken again.”
Beams bit his lower lip. “Sounds depressing.”
Guide opened his eyes again, a light shining from within them. “It isn’t, not really. I have finally fulfilled my purpose of ensuring that the God Slayer is passed on to its destined wielder. For a while there, I grew depressed that no son of Arius would ever come and that I would have to spend all of eternity watching fools and reckless adventurers die horrible deaths as they greedily tried to get the God Slayer for themselves. But you, Alexander Fry, have finally freed me of that fate and now I can rest knowing that I have fulfilled my purpose.”
Beams nodded. It still seemed kind of depressing to him, but when Guide put it that way, it sounded a lot better. In any case, he didn’t really care about Guide. What mattered to him was going back to Earth and reuniting with Shade and Mr. Space. With the God Slayer now in hand, Beams and the others had a chance of finally killing the Dread God once and for all.
The only question is, will we be fast enough to stop him? Beams thought. Or are we already too late?
Beams bowed at Guide and said, “Thanks for your help, Guide. I didn’t always like your mysterious ways, but you did a good job in helping me understand these challenges.”
“Don’t thank me,” Guide insisted. “You were the one who figured out the solution to these challenges all on your own. Even I was surprised by some of your solutions. I should be the one thanking you, anyway, because now I will finally be able to rest.”
Beams nodded. “Very well. Then I’ll be going now, unless there’s something else you need to tell me before I go, like information about the God Slayer I need to know.”
