A Space Oddity

by J. J. Pavlov

  Tamariki draws a deep breath before spewing a burst of flames right into the god of ice's face. However, with a simple gesture, the fire turns into a cloud of frozen particles that dance in the air like dust in the sunlight.

  But in the time he spent on that, the Rangatira has already clad herself in dark crimson flames that burn away her very clothes. Pumping up her body, she raises the intensity of the fire and grins at Gelidus, who responds to it with his unchanging frown.

  Tamariki simply repeats her earlier punch aimed at the god of ice's face. This time, it seems to connect with him, but right at that moment, all the flames surrounding her body disappear as if erased. Then, the horned demon's movements come to a complete halt, and her body turns white as if covered in rime.

  Gelidus looks at Tamariki without showing any feelings at having triumphed; it was an easy victory not worth noting for him. He then steps past her frozen statue and walks toward the soldiers, who cheer at their god's victory over a powerful demon.

  That's when Asoko suddenly charges up the stairs and wreaks havoc among the unsuspecting cheering soldiers. His eyes widen when he sees her true face while she rips off a Chosen Knight's arm that was holding a staff. She then impales his chest with a spike composed of many tentacles.

  Within moments, the two dozen Electi and two Chosen Knights are reduced to a bloody mess, their viscera blooming on the dark stone ramparts. Asoko's tall but slender form is unscathed, but she's covered in blood that seems to drip off of her in viscose droplets. She returns her face to a blank mask before facing the little dark elf coming up right behind her, who stares at the remains of the humans with an expression of concern.

  "Creature!" Gelidus calls out to Asoko, who spins her head around in response. "Why do you not consume?"

  "Rotten humans may upset my stomach." A voice that would grate even on a god's nerves replies in a nonchalant tone. In truth, she knows from her other half not to eat those who could cast magic inside her. While she very much doubts any of these are still alive, one never knows what traps humans could have placed on themselves.

  The existence of explosive runes can't be ruled out when there are protective runes.

  Asoko suddenly notices Tamariki's frozen form a short distance behind Gelidus. Even though she has no face, she appears visibly surprised to see that the Rangatira lost. Raising an arm to keep Kamii behind her, the Crawling Chaos lowers her stance.

  "What have you done?" She asks, but it's not difficult to understand by seeing the result.

  "I have cooled her head." Even though his expression doesn't change, it sounds like Gelidus is cracking a joke. There isn't much room for talk between the two anymore, so Asoko raises a tentacle hand to cast a fire magic spell at him.

  "Grandor Mico Ignis Fortior!" She summons a ball of fire in front of the god of ice's face, which begins to expand. But he simply blows at it, upon which the heat dissipates without a trace.

  Not at all discouraged, Asoko grows several mouths on her split tentacles, all casting the same spell at the same time. While doing so, she focuses her gaze on points in space all around Gelidus, where orbs of heat appear one after the other in quick succession.

  Growing a shield of dragon armor from her arms, she covers the entire battlement to protect Kamii behind her before unleashing all the spells at the same time.

  However, instead of an explosion, she only hears footsteps approaching her from the other side of her shield. Quickly undoing the transformation, she finds that the air is filled with cold mist - a result of Gelidus turning even fire into ice particles.

  "If not fire, then how about this?" Asoko stomps on the ground and then raises both her arms. "In Gremium Terram!"

  The stone of the rampart distorts before rising up as two slabs like a bear trap, aiming to flatten the god of ice between them. But he doesn't even stop to take note of the magic, as the slabs become frozen in space before crushing him. They're covered in rime as if even stone can be frozen by his aura.

  "Pilos Aquos!" A thought comes to Asoko when she realizes that Gelidus simply freezes everything around him. A large sphere of water appears above him, upon which he looks up, raising his eyebrows in an expression of surprise for the first time. The water comes down on him all at once, the sound of instant freezing and ice cracking coming from where he stands before it all solidifies into a jagged ball.

  "That's only a stopgap measure." It doesn't take much to realize this, and the Crawling Chaos thinks of how to put a definite stop to him. If he can freeze even fire and stop the movement of earth, what does she have that could hurt him? Would the dragon armor's magic resistance work against a god? No, even a Fata's magic was able to pierce Kiamedras' armor, and a god stands above angels.

  A crack forms on the surface of the sphere, and Asoko stares at it wide-eyed.

  "Come on, give me a bit more time..." She mutters with a wry smile. Then the ice shatters into a curtain of tiny particles, from beyond which Gelidus emerges.

  How is she supposed to fight him? Maybe fire magic is simply not hot enough? There's a lower limit for coldness, but apparently no upper limit for heat. She only needs to find a way to offset his temperature by a large margin.

  Then an idea forms in Asoko's mind. She has felt the plasma breath from Kiamedras first-hand. That must be way hotter than fire to be able to evaporate half her body rather than just burn it away.

  But transforming into the full size of the elder dragon isn't an option on this relatively narrow wall, especially when Kamii is right behind her. Thus, Asoko turns her left arm into a miniature dragon head and neck, complete with the bony fins that ran down Kiamedras' back.

  If Gelidus thinks something of that arm, he doesn't show it on his face as he continues to unerringly walk toward her. He can summon icicles to attack with from afar, but he most likely realizes that it would be useless against Asoko's malleable form.

  With a thought, the Crawling Chaos gathers energy in the bony fins, which begin to glow blue from the inside just as it did for Kiamedras before firing his beam. It travels down the ridge and reaches the ones just behind the head, upon which Asoko unleashes a plasma beam at Gelidus.

  But even then, he only lifts a hand as if to catch it in his palm. Upon contact, steam explodes from the area, reducing visibility to zero. Still, that doesn't discourage Asoko from continuing to fire the beam; after all, that steam could be a sign of the god of ice getting evaporated.

  However, Gelidus suddenly emerges from within the steam and grabs the dragon head, which freezes over in an instant.

  Cutting off her own forearm, Asoko stumbles backward in shock. Then she realizes that the freezing effect is traveling across her body. Her regrowing left arm petrifies, and she feels her unfathomable face become rigid as well.

  "No!" Kamii suddenly shouts behind her, causing Asoko to change where she's seeing from to the back of her head. She does it just in time to see the little dark elf drawing her dagger and rushing forward.

  The Crawling Chaos uses her still mobile right arm to grow out several tentacles that grab Kamii by the waist. Then, with the last of her strength, she flings her over the outer wall.

  It's a nearly fifty-meter drop, but the walls are slightly angled, and there's shrubbery growing below. She might get injured from the fall, but that's better than being frozen to death here.

  The last thing Asoko sees is Kamii's surprised expression as she disappears over the battlements. Then her mind freezes over.

  Waves of heat assault Lenoly as she watches Rewera Rangatira exchange blows with the much shorter Fraglantia. Their fists connect with each other's rather than their bodies, and each impact creates an explosion of fire.

  It's no longer a battle anybody else can interfere in. The humans have retreated further down the hallway, using their shields and magic to defend themselves against the heat coming from their goddess. On the other side, the maids are using similar means to not end up as collateral damage in this monumental fight.

  "We need
to get further back!" Lervia shouts over the sound of the colliding fists and explosions of fire. There isn't much space behind them to retreat to, as they're near the end of the corridor. They have another line of defense set up at the junction, but it would mean abandoning their current position to the enemy if the maid leader should be defeated.

  No, Lenoly can't think that way. Even if the opponent is a goddess, Rewera is the sister of Aldeath, the man they said was close to a god himself.

  Suddenly, the Rangatira's punch finds its way into her opponent's cheek, causing the latter to stumble backward. The hit forces her mouth open to reveal that the inside is glowing just like her eyes as if she's made of lava. It's unthinkable how hot she must be when touching her directly as the maid leader is doing.

  Not letting up, Rewera chases after her and delivers a hook to Fraglantia's chin from below that causes her feet to leave the ground once again. But the goddess of fire really must be incredibly heavy, as she drops back to the floor with an audible impact.

  Using the opening that Rewera's raised arm presents, Fraglantia delivers a blow to her midsection, which causes her towering body to bend sideways from the force. The place that was hit lights up brightly before the glow dies down again almost immediately.

  "This ability of yours is quite unfair." The goddess comments in a voice that sounds like a raging fire as she looks up at Rewera with a wry smile.

  "I was born this way." Recovering from the hit, she brings down a fist from above, which Fraglantia barely blocks with her elbow. With this, they return to exchanging blows at a speed even faster than before.

  Lenoly exchanges a glance with Lervia and the other maids, who immediately understand what she wants to say. The way it looks, the battle between the two will only escalate further and further. Rewera may shrug off the attacks from the goddess of fire, but Fraglantia doesn't look like she's using her full power yet. Once she does, the whole castle could get burned down.

  But what can they do against a god? They have a maid capable of water magic with them, but the immense heat would just cause any water to evaporate before even reaching Fraglantia. Both fire and wind are out as well, so only earth magic is left.

  "Get Khuko!" Lervia seems to have come to the same conclusion. She gestures at Petrine, the werewolf maid, to run back to the perimeter before the inner sanctum. The gargoyle maid Khuko is stationed there. She's not the only earth mage in the Maid Corps, but the one closest to their location that they know of.

  "No need!" Rewera suddenly announces, apparently having heard the bakari maid's order. It would appear that she understood what line of thinking led to them needing Khuko, as she suddenly steps back from the exchange of punches and stomps the ground.

  From the ground below Fraglantia, a pillar of stone shoots up and slams into her stomach with enough force to propel her into the ceiling. For the first time, the expression on her face changes into one of surprise, as she seems to have had the air knocked out of her lungs. Of course, one has to wonder whether or not she even has any need to breathe when she's akin to living lava.

  Rewera doesn't let up and performs another stomp while bringing a fist down from above. The pillar below the goddess of fire disappears, and another one grows from the ceiling that hammers her into the ground. Turning her hands as if holding an invisible ball between her palms, the maid leader once again casts a spell without needing an incantation.

  The ground swirls around Fraglantia and quickly grows into a dome that covers her completely. She's buried alive in the blink of an eye, and all the heat in the air that radiated from her body disappears.

  "You... you did it!" Lenoly raises her staff to celebrate, and the other maids follow her example. The human soldiers on the other side of the corridor stare at the mound into which their goddess has disappeared with wide-open eyes and slack jaws.

  "It is not over." Rewera suddenly raises a hand and puts a damper on the premature celebration. As if these words were the sign, the dome of stone begins to glow from the inside. Then it starts to melt away under immense heat far beyond anything until now, which hits the maids like a physical wave.

  "That's it!" Fraglantia emerges from the melting puddle of stone, her whole form glowing as hot as iron in a forge. Her voice sounds enraged, roaring like an out of control forest fire. "I'm evaporating all of you!"

  Her whole body glows even brighter at these words, as she balls her fists in anger. The human soldiers behind her realize that they're going to be caught up in it if they stay here, and immediately run away with no regard for their honor. Dying to the fire of one's ally under these circumstances is definitely not honorable.

  "Retreat!" Rewera shouts, but her voice is drowned out by the sound of the roaring heat that emerges from Fraglantia's glowing form, which almost resembles a miniature sun.

  Lenoly's staff catches fire, and she realizes that her resistance to heat is already unable to keep up anymore before the goddess has unleashed everything. There's no way any of the other maids can survive this. They're all glued to the spot, unable to react to this overwhelming power.

  Gasping in realization, Lenoly wants to shout for the maid leader to abandon them and save herself. She's the only one who was able to stand up against Fraglantia, so what even is the point in her sacrificing herself to save weak demons?

  But just then, a shadow covers Lenoly and Lervia beside her, cutting off a lot of the heat that radiates toward them. The little bakari realizes that it's Rewera. A pair of mighty wings have grown from her back, which she uses to shield them.

  Before anybody can find an answer to this vital question, light washes over them.

  Where can they run to escape this?

  However, before she can speak, the world around her vanishes in light.

  Chapter 99 - To Dust

  An explosion rocks the ground under their feet, just as they reach a large circular corridor. Rolan stops and glances at Sigurd, but he shakes his head to signal that he can't tell where it came from as the sound echoes through the walls of the entire castle.

  "Do not worry about anything else. Your target lies before you." Numeria points to the right path around the corridor as if she knows the layout of the castle.

  She has been frowning ever since earlier when Rolan drew Roshanee to disarm the demon servants before knocking them out with the broad side of the sword. He even threatened to do the same to anybody who would kill the now defenseless demons and ordered them to bind their hands and feet instead.

  His hands aren't clean of blood, but he will no longer stand by idly while letting unnecessary killing unfold.

  Following Numeria's directions, they walk down the corridor until they come upon a closed steel gate covered in a relief showing numerous demons seemingly staring down whoever stands before them. The two wings seem to be seamlessly connected at the center, where a woman with long hair and a pair of twisted horns is standing with her arms raised.

  "That is Demon Queen Pelomyx." Numeria points at the relief. This is the first time Rolan or any of his group sees an image of the demon queen, even though her existence has exerted so much influence on their lives.

  The leader has decided to try speaking with her before letting a battle break out. To that end, he has resolved himself to draw Roshanee on the Electi and even Numeria, if he has to. He knows that after all the imperial soldiers and the champions have done to her people, she will most likely be enraged. But a part of him is even willing to offer up his own life in exchange for a peaceful solution.

  The Chosen Knight raises her circle staff and points at the gate, which is blasted open by an invisible hand. Beyond it lies a circular room with dozens of mangled corpses strewn across the ground. Everything is illuminated by a ball of light floating above a staff held by a familiar person.

  "Runa?!" Rolan exclaims, but his eyes widen as a black tentacle suddenly shoots out from the thick shadows surrounding her light and runs through her chest. At the same time, she loses control of her magic, causing the
sphere of light to shoot upward instead of in the direction of the intended target.

  The leader's mind goes blank as he draws Roshanee, practically zooming through space as he rushes to his beloved's side just as the ceiling above explodes from Runa's spell. He cuts the tentacle with a slash of his weapon and catches the half-elf as she falls.

  When time seems to flows normally for Rolan again, he finds that only her left arm was pierced. Accompanied by the sound of falling debris, as part of the ceiling comes crashing down, he sighs in relief.

  In the next moment, the daylight falling into the room from above reveals that the deeps shadows surrounding them are actually a mass of tentacles wriggling between the pillars. They appear to scatter in response to the light before and quickly rushing toward one point behind the elevated throne in the center of the room.

  Then, the woman on the relief that he saw before entering rounds the throne with a cold expression on her face. She is the Cradle of Chaos, Demon Queen Pelomyx.

  "So, it is you." She suddenly remarks in an almost motherly tone when she stops in front of the throne and looks down at Rolan, who's holding Runa in his arms while raising his glowing sword. Then she shifts her gaze to Numeria and the others, who just now run into the room. The Electi quickly surround the demon queen from all sides.

  "Queen of the demons, we shall slay you here today!" Numeria announces, shattering Rolan's wish to try talking to Pelomyx first. With that announcement, the Electi draw the circle closed while raising their shields, waiting for her move. The many corpses of their comrades on the ground are indication enough that they're dealing with an incredibly powerful opponent.

  "Wait, I-" The leader tries to mediate the situation, but Runa's voice pulls his attention down to her.

  "Rolan... what are you doing here?" She presses out those words over the pain of the hole in her left arm. It's bleeding profusely and will require healing magic as soon as possible.