I closed the screen.
My eyes gazed at the lake of shattered pieces before me.
I grit my teeth. “That’s the last time an enemy gets my restraint.”
I was done being the nice guy. I was done trying to hold back. I was done trying to bend over and save every life possible.
I was just done.
A screech sounded through the skies, echoing in from all sides. I turned up, gazing at the dark clouds. Black forms shot down to me, plunging toward the ground. I waited a few seconds, until the creatures were in range, and then used my Analyze skill on the shadowy silhouettes.
DING!
Race
Night Bat
Level
698
I grinned. “Wonderful timing, you idiots.”
The creatures thudded into the ground. Fifty bats, each the size of a human being, stood around me, their fangs baring, their red eyes staring into my gaze. They screeched out once again and shot forward.
I didn’t have a weapon on me. But I didn’t give a damn.
I planted my foot on the ground and pulled my fist back. I smashed it into the chest of the first bat, and it went clean through. Blood splattered from the creature and it went limp. I pulled back, letting it drop to the floor, and wet itself with its own blood.
Two more bats thudded into my back, sending me down to the ground. I placed my hand on the floor as I fell and pushed up, flipping myself in the air and landing behind another bat. I placed one hand on its shoulder and another around its neck. I jerked my limbs, and the creature's head tore from its body.
I threw the head at the bat next to me, pushing it and the two bats behind it down to the ground. I leapt onto them, sending my fist between three chests at once, killing them instantly.
A great many number of bats remained however, although most of them were now hesitant to attack me head on.
And so, I took the fight to them instead.
“Asgionis! Peliosa!” I yelled. A dark flame emerged around me, and over it burned another flame of bright orange. I shot forward, my heightened agility turning me into a flickering form in the air. Bodies tore apart, and bats collapsed as I surged over the lands, smashing through every beast I could find.
In seconds I was standing before the last bat in the flock.
I thrust my fist into its chest with both hands, piercing through it. I pulled apart, splitting the beast into two halves, and throwing each side to the reddened ground.
A drizzle of blood descended the massacre, and I stood beneath it. That expression of strength had been liberating. My mind was calm, and yet my heart thumped crazy. Adrenaline pumped through me, flooding my blood. It was almost as though I’d…enjoyed this.
I’m not okay.
The bodies of fifty bats laid before me, although now I couldn’t tell there were fifty anymore, or that they were even bats. A few of them still held their features—the ones whose heads I’d torn off. The others were just clumps of black and blood. The red liquid pooled from all of the bodies, and stood over the surface. There was too much of it for the soil to take in at once.
Pieces of black, white, and purple stuck out from the blood, now coated with streaks of red. I stepped through the liquid, and picked up the pieces, my hands coating with blood every time I picked up a piece.
I grabbed onto the ones that I saw, though I knew there were many that I didn’t, or couldn’t. But I didn’t fret about it. Somehow this battle with the bats had left me incredibly calm about everything else.
Is it because of how I fought?
DING!
You have received a message from: Ijyela! Would you like to open it?
Ugh, I thought. There was a lot going on right now. And there was a lot that I myself didn’t understand. Is this really the right time to be having a conversation?
Well, I’ve already ignored Freya. Might as well pick this one up.
I tapped on the ‘Yes’ option.
DING!
Is everything okay?! Freya said she was unable to contact you ever since she came back to Ikarius. We weren’t sure if we should come over and check on you. You seemed to strongly imply that you wanted to be alone there. Please let us know if everything is fine.
Annoying. My fists clenched. However, I typed back a quick message.
I’m fine. No problems here.
I chuckled. No problems? Why not. I looked at the pile of shards in my hand, at the red still dripping from them. The wind blew past me, no longer dry, but wet with the acidic scent of blood. The smell was familiar to every bone in my body.
DING!
Alright. We heard about the Markus Goodfield Army from Freya. The Death Lord is very worried about it too. No one is sure what to do right now. Can you come back to Ikarius? What’s the situation there?
“So many questions,” I mumbled. I replied back, being more wordy with my answer this time.
The Army is gone. No clue where. I will see if I can come back to Ikarius. There is no danger here, but I still need to look into a lot of things.
DING!
The reply came back instantly.
That’s understandable. Did you see any Dark Elves at the Hexel Ruins? Heslia still hasn’t contacted me back. I’m getting a little worried now. It’s possible the Time Lord might have done something to the Dark Elves.
Good. Those two didn’t tell her about that situation. I typed back a single sentence.
Didn’t see any Dark Elves.
If Freya ended up revealing things, I’d deal with that then. I couldn’t really be bothered to care about Heslia’s situation now. I stepped through the lake of blood, and over a wrung-out body of a bat. It was obvious I wasn’t going to be the one with a bothered conscience here.
DING!
That’s unfortunate. If you see Heslia, please let me know. Ask him to look at his Ga’em messages. Also, when do you think you’ll be able to come back to Ikarius? It might sdasdasjbkk jjsdaksow asjhsjdhas
I blinked. “Huh?” I stared at the last four words. Only, those weren’t words. I replied, a little tense now.
Is everything okay? The last message you sent had a few weird words.
A few seconds passed. Then a minute. Then two minutes. But no response came back.
What the heck happened?
A voice chuckled. “I might be responsible for that.”
I turned around, and then I froze.
A dark-skinned woman walked up to me. Long hair dropped over the shoulders of her white robes, with the curled locks bouncing as she stepped forward. Green eyes locked with mine, and a smile curled onto her lips.
I stared at her, my chest thumping, my hands shaking. “You’re not supposed to be awake.” My voice was quiet.
“It’s been a while.” The woman flashed an enchanting smile. “Hello, Diablo.”
Irmeia had finally woken up.
***
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Irmeia,” I muttered.
My jaw clenched, and my teeth grinded against each other. “What are you doing here?”
She smiled. “It’s good to see you too.”
“What did you do to my village?” I asked. “Why did Irmeia’s message cut off?”
“A part of your house imploded when I broke from my capsule.”
My eyes widened. “Then—”
“Everyone else is fine. They’re all safe. Ijyela just happened to be in the middle of typing a message when it happened so her last words all turned to gibberish. I made sure she was fine. Do not worry.”
“Made sure she was fine?” I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t act like you’re my ally now.”
She stepped closer. “But I am.”
“Which is why you betrayed me back then?”
She looked up at the sky. “Time changes people, Diablo.”
“Don’t toy with me.” I shot forward, fists baring at her face.
“Diablo, you—”
I thrust into her stomach, sending her flying through the air
. She crashed down to the ground, rolling plenty before sliding to a stop. Mud plastered over her limbs, turning her skin darker.
“You need to listen to me,” she croaked.
Her health bar had her at 60% health. Which meant two more strikes and she’d be dead. How much can you take? I used my Analyze skill on her.
DING!
Name
Irmeia
Race
Eternal
Level
871
Huh, I thought. I figured she’d be stronger.
Nevertheless, I took full advantage of the fallen Eternal. I rushed up to her, gripping her by the throat before she could even react. She coughed, and I pushed down, slamming her head against the surface. “Stop messing with my life.” I hurled my fist downward.
“I know who Horace is!” she yelled.
I froze.
“What?”
Her voice shook. “I know who the Time Lord is.”
My grip eased. “What do you mean?”
“You can’t see his race tag, can you?”
Hesitation wrung into me, twisting my mind apart like a piece of torn cloth. Should I listen to her? Should I believe her? This woman had lied to me before. She’d betrayed me completely. How could I trust her now? Why would I trust her now?
But in the end, it wasn’t like I had a choice. I needed to know about the Time Lord. And this woman was offering me information. It was hard to let my emotions get in the way of such a thing.
I relaxed my grip and pulled back, seating myself on the dusty ground. She looked at me, and then sat herself up.
“What do you have for me?” I asked. “Anything useless, and that,” I pointed to the lake of blood, “is what might happen.”
She looked behind me, and her eyes widened. A smiled curled onto her face. “You did that?” Her hand slid forward. “I didn’t know you had such an…interesting side.”
Huh? I stared at her. “Get to the answer.” My voice was stern.
“You’re such a spoilsport.” She pulled her hand back. “Horace is from a race called the Ancients.”
“Eh?” I blinked. “I’ve never heard of that before.”
“Neither had I, until I first met him at least.”
“So, the Ancients were another race that lived in the old times?” I asked. “Just like us Eternals and the Ancient Dragons?”
She shook her head. “Most of the Ancients were gone by the time we came into existence.”
I frowned. “By the time we came into existence? We’re Eternals. We were born along with this world.”
“That’s what every piece of knowledge in our world had told us. But it’s all wrong.”
I stared at her. What was I supposed to say to that?
“The Ancients are much older,” she said. “We were simply a second child.”
I still stared at her. It was getting harder and harder to come up with a response to any of this.
A small smile curled onto her lips. “I was the same way when I first found out.”
“Who told you all this?” I asked. “Horace?”
She nodded.
I raised an eyebrow. “And what reason do you have to believe him this well?”
“Because I saw the race tag on him when I used my Analyze skill. He’s an Ancient.”
“He could have easily manipulated his race tag to show you that,” I said. “Why is it that you were able to see it but I wasn’t?”
“Have you heard of how the Ga’em sometimes holds information back in an Analyze screen because it’s something you don’t know of yet?”
My fists clenched. “Damn it.” I knew that was a thing, and I hated it to my very core.
“Yeah. That’s what’s happening to you. If you Analyze Horace next time, you’ll see his race for certain. Look, I’m not trying to trick you here.” She placed her hand over mine. “I’m trying to make up for what I did.”
“You hated me before.” I pulled my hand away. “Give me one good reason why I should trust you.”
Her gaze diverted to the floor. “I…I know I acted a certain way before,” she said. “But…”
“I’m waiting.” I stared at her.
She sighed. “Okay look. Yes, I absolutely hated you then. And I hated you all the way up until the end of our battle. But the Time Lord…he betrayed me, used me as his pawn. And yet you saved me from him, and you protected me, even though everyone else you knew was pretty much against it. You kept me safe in your house, even when the others wanted me gone.”
My eyes widened. “How do you know how they felt?”
She smiled. “Did you know you could still be completely conscious inside a cryostasis?”
A shiver ran down my spine. Oh god.
“I’ve watched you, Diablo.” She leaned forward. “I’ve watched you talk to your friends about me, I’ve watched you fight with them about me.” Her hand touched my cheek. “I’ve watched you watch me.”
I leaned away. “This is getting creepy.”
She laughed. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I should probably get serious.”
“Why is Horace doing this? The last time I saw him he wanted to come back to this world. He’s already done that now.”
“I don’t know for certain,” she said. “I was also only aware of that one wish of his. To return to this world. I’m not sure how he even did that.”
“He’s got a new body now,” I said. “A giant one. Full set of armor and everything.”
“Eh” She frowned. “A new body?”
“I’m assuming he managed to transfuse his spirit into it or whatever. I’m not really bothered with the mechanics. I just need to chase him out of here.”
“Wait.” Ijyela reached out to me.
My instincts took over and I instantly lashed out, wrapping my fingers around her thin throat. She gasped, but her hand tapped my forehead. A horrid mental pressure broke into my head and my limbs went numb. Flashes of green surged into my vision, and stayed there, even when I closed my eyes.
“Tch,” a voice clicked its tongue.
The pain eased away, and the flashes disappeared a second later. I knelt on the ground, gasping, watching the dust fly away with each breath. “What…happened?”
“I didn’t realize it until now,” Irmeia muttered. “Damn it.”
“What the hell happened?” I asked. “Who was that voice?”
She bit her lip. “The Time Lord.”
I froze. “What?”
“Yeah you idiot!” Nyx yelled. “The guy had me and Acnologia here sealed away, and put some weird tracking thing in your mind.”
NYX! Am I glad to hear from you. Listen I’ve—
“How stupid are you?! You should have easily figured out the guy had a hold on your mind.”
I would have. But I was dealing with something else.
“Zoran,” Irmeia touched my hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. “So, Horace was tracking me.”
She nodded. “He must have heard everything.”
“Well, that sucks,” I said. “What do you think he’s going to do now?”
“There is not much that he needs to. You knowing he is an Ancient does not affect him in any way. You would have to have found out at some point in time.”
“That’s probably is why we weren’t able to find anything about the Time Lord in any of the ancient scriptures. Because this guy is from a race that basically went extinct.”
“We went extinct too,” she said.
“Oh please,” I said. “I’ve seen like twenty Eternals over the past few days.”
“Ah. Horace brought them from the past, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. I was tracking the signatures of the Eternals around this area. That’s how we got into this whole mess in the first place.”
“I know. I heard a little bit about the Time Lord and something else. Ijyela was next to me when she was messaging you, and I heard her say you might not be okay after facing off with the Time Lor
d.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway,” Irmeia said. “You need to figure out what to do now. The Time Lord alone is more than something you can handle.”
“How strong is he?”
“I can’t read his level either.”
“Drat.” I punched the ground. “And now he has an army of Dragonborn behind him too.”
“I heard. That cannot be good. I am not sure why he wants such a large force, but we need to find out. And fast.”
“Wait, if he’s part of a race that’s older than us, then is he stronger as well?”
“That is for you to find out. Even us Eternals don’t know anything about the Ancients. I am the only one of a few who does, and even my knowledge is extremely limited.”
I raised an eyebrow. “One of a few? So, there are other people?”
“No one you would know,” she said.
“I could know them. Don’t assume that.”
She smiled. “How adorable.”
“What?”
She shook her head. “Now, what is your plan of action?”
“Don’t act like you’re my sidekick or something.”
“I was the Time Lord’s sidekick for a while, Diablo. Do you think it would be useless to have me by your side?”
“I have no—” I frowned. “Wait, do you know what the relationship between the Time Lord and the Dark Lord is?”
She shook her head. “I was not aware there was one until you mentioned it a few moments ago.”
“Figured,” I said. It was just a power grab for either of them.
Nyx scoffed. “It’s the Dark Lord. Of course, he’s an opportunist.”
The Eternal: A Boxed Set (World of Ga'em Book 6) Page 113
