Alterlife III

by Matt Moss

  Giology heals me from the grove of trees. “Ace, what are you doing? She’s gone. Do what you came here to do and finish the gods!” he yells.

  Davi casts a Fireball at Giology. The attack barely does any damage. Giology wags a finger at him, then returns a Fireball of his own.

  From the corner of my eye, I see a large group running towards us, breaking away from the fight with the Saviors.

  Shit.

  “Ace, we’ve got company,” Gio says, still casting Attack Magic at Davi with one hand and Healing me with the other.

  I continue to Heal myself as Xena doesn’t let up her attack.

  A flash on my HUD—Grandmaster Paladin achieved—Skill: Last Breath.

  Going on hope, I use the skill, draining my spirit bar in doing so.

  My body glows white with energy, restoring my health; the power washing over Deana’s body.

  The members of the guilds are on me now, at least a hundred of them and they, along with Xenia and Davi, attack me. Even Gela attacks me with everything she has.

  Health is dropping fast.

  Gio uses both hands to Heal me with everything he’s got.

  Health drops below fifty percent. I’m forced to use all of my remaining health potions.

  Dammit, c’mon, Deana! Get up!

  The healing energy from Last Breath courses over her body, glowing white-hot but nothing is happening.

  I can’t continue to do this. If I don’t break away, I’m going to die.

  Health at thirty percent.

  Twenty.

  I clench my jaw. “Deana, please!”

  The skill finishes, spirit bar depletes, and my body returns to normal.

  Deana’s wound is healed. She blinks and convulses for air as she catches her breath.

  She’s alive…

  “ACE!” Giology calls out.

  Health at ten percent.

  Force Push.

  I sap the remains of my Mana pool in using the spell and extend both arms to my sides—everyone surrounding Deana and myself flies through the air and away from our proximity. The gods are stunned as they stumble backwards.

  Heal.

  Health back up to sixty percent. I dual wield again.

  Back in the action.

  I help Deana stand. “Gio, get her to safety!”

  Gio runs to meet us, takes her hand, and guides her into the grove of trees.

  The ground shakes violently, as if a meteor just crashed from the sky; the sound, deafening. The war is suddenly put on pause.

  Silence resounds around Baleton.

  I turn around slowly.

  In the midst of the Gamemasters and the gods is Thal, the God of War. He kneels with a fist to the ground, his head hanging downward, still in the same position in which he landed.

  Head raises, and his eyes immediately find mine.

  Cari steps out in front of Thal and speaks to me. “Ace, you’ve failed. It’s game over now. There’s nothing you can do to stop…”

  Deana yells from behind and raises The Staff of Deity.

  In response, Thal takes his chain whip and whirls it around, cutting the heads off of five Gamemasters with one swift motion, killing them instantly. Cari and the other gods dive to the ground to avoid the lethal attack.

  As if programmed to retaliate against any threat, Xena and Davi turn their attention to Thal and, together, begin attacking the god of war. It’s like they don’t even see that Thal is being controlled by the staff.

  Cari curses, glares at me from all fours, then vanishes.

  Thal raises his giant sword and slams it down on Davi, nearly killing him with the blow.

  Davi spits blood, his body broken. “Thal… you… fool.”

  Gela turns her attention to Davi and begins to Heal him. The chain whip comes around again, its wicked point slicing through the air at blinding speed. The steel point glides through Gela’s body just above the waist, cutting her in half. Both sections of her body fall to the ground, then vaporize into particles of green light that float up into the sky.

  Screaming with rage, Xena taps into her inner strength and attacks Thal with blinding speed. Surging with iridescent black energy, she jumps around Thal like a cat, avoiding his strikes and delivering combinations of her own. Davi, refreshed from Gela’s efforts, is able to summon thick vines from the ground that are able to strangle Thal’s arms and legs, slowing his movements. The god of war tears through them and rips them away, but Davi continues to lash at him, slowing his motion more and more.

  Thal’s health begins to fade.

  Cari appears next to Davi. “Xena, Davi, stop it! Do not harm him!” she commands. Davi pays her no mind as she continues to restrain Thal with his magic.

  Weakened, Thal falls to a knee as Xena punishes him relentlessly.

  I turn back to Deana and give her a nod. She sees my signal and makes ready to use the staff again, just in case.

  Time to end this.

  I Dash into Davi, attacking from behind and dealing critical damage. He’s stronger than before, and I’m surprised that he survived my surprise attack. It doesn’t matter; stunned and with his back still to me, I deliver a lethal, ten-strike combination—the god of land and sky falls dead. His body hits the ground, instantly turning into dust.

  “NO!” Xena yells, surging with even more energy. She leaves Thal behind and turns her attention to me, her body glowing a brighter, more iridescent black than before. Her attacks are twice as fast, and her damage is dramatically increased; it’s as if she grows stronger with every god that falls. I defend the best I can, but my health still drops quickly despite my healing.

  Damn. There’s the goddess of death I’ve been waiting on.

  Giology assists with healing me, keeping his distance and staying near the tree line.

  My health levels out and stays around fifty percent.

  I dual wield once again.

  With both swords swinging with deadly precision, I lock into combat with Xena, no longer on the defensive. It’s a race to see who falls first.

  It won’t be me.

  It’s not even fair; not even close. A few combinations is all it takes. She fights until her last breath—until my sword cuts her head clean from her body. The corpse falls to its knees, chest hits the ground, and body poofs into black smoke that rises into the sky.

  Thal stands, now free. He stares at me, and I prepare myself to fight the god of war one final time.

  He speaks to me. “I know you. You’re…”

  His demeanor shifts, as if suddenly possessed. Thal turns and faces the guilds, then steps towards them with both weapons in hand.

  I turn around and find Giology using the Staff of Deity.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I ask, running up to him.

  Deana throws her arms up, helpless. “He just took it from me.”

  I stand in front of him. “Gio, stop. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

  “Yes, I do,” he replies coldly as he extends the staff towards the guilds.

  Thal roars.

  “Gio, stop it now! Those are real people out there. We’re not here to destroy them.”

  “They must all pay for what they have done!” Giology says.

  Thal lashes his chain whip over the battlefield, and it slices through the guilds like a hot knife through butter, killing thousands within the blink of an eye.

  “Stop!” I raise Thal’s Sword of Eternity high over my head and bring it down towards Giology. Arcing the blade down just shy of his face, I use the weapon to break the staff. It shatters in Gio’s hands, and he looks at me with pain and confusion.

  Thal shakes his head, regains his senses, then begins to attack again. “Die, humans,” he bellows.

  I turn to Gio and Deana. “Stay back and let me finish this.”

  “Ace,” Deana beckons. I turn back and meet her eye. She wants to help, but lets me go. She knows this is between me and Thal. “Be careful.”

  I nod, then trot off through
the trees and onto the battlefield, healing myself as I go.

  Before I reach Thal, Cari appears in front of me. “Ace, don’t do this. If you kill Thal, the virus will be unleashed upon the world. You will be the one responsible for destroying mankind.”

  Staring into her eyes, I speak the truth. “I’m not listening to your lies. It’s time to end this.”

  She loathes me with a scornful look. “You’re a fool, Ace.”

  I speak to her over my shoulder as I walk to finish the fight. “I know.”

  She tries to deceive you. Thal is the virus. He must be destroyed.

  I know.

  With both swords held out wide, I call his name “THAL!”

  The giant god stops killing and turns his head towards me. A wicked grin appears on his face. “I remember you. Tiny man. Weak mortal.” He steps towards me. “Ace. The last time we met, my Amulet saved you. This time, you will not be so lucky.”

  “We’ll see about that. I’ve been feeling particularly good lately.”

  All around the battlefield, the fighting has stopped. Everyone watches in anticipation of the duel that’s about to happen between Thal and myself. They create space around us.

  I steal a glance to my right and see that the Saviors still stand. The airship still hovers above them; Hedwig and the others watch from the deck.

  Let’s get it on.

  Running towards Thal at full speed, I see the god bring his whip around and raise his sword high to match my attack. I Dash before he can make a move and catch him by surprise. His health drops by five percent.

  Tougher than you used to be.

  I deliver a quick, ten-strike combination that takes his health to seventy five percent.

  “Is that all you’ve got?” he growls, then unleashes a combination of his own, his sword and whip moving in a fluid, lethal motion.

  I defend and only lose five percent of my health.

  Tougher than I used to be.

  Not wanting to let the pace slow, I use the Jump skill. Rising high into the sky, I see Thal jump to meet me in the air. I connect with him there—the force of my strike still dealing critical damage, causing his health to drop drastically.

  Still suspended high in the air, his whip wraps around me and he begins to sling me around; similar to the way a child would sling a rag doll by the leg. He hurls me to the ground, and I crash like a meteor from the sky. No sooner than I shake off the blow, I look up and find Thal speeding towards me. Before I can even move, the god crashes into me, driving me down into the earth, creating a crater in the ground.

  Health drops to half.

  He rains down hammering blow after hammering blow with his sword and, for some reason, I can’t get away from him. I try to defend and break free, but it’s no use. I’m stuck in place.

  “Damn son of a bitch,” I curse and Heal myself with my free hand as my other is unable to move, caught under the god’s weight. His attacks speed up, countering whatever healing I’m doing to myself. Health drops to thirty percent.

  If I don’t do something fast, I’m done for. I’ve got to get out from under this big bastard!

  As I go over my options for spells, a blue flash on the side of my HUD indicates that my spirit bar is full.

  Hell yes.

  Twenty percent.

  I tap into Unbound Rage.

  Energy surges through my body, glowing red hot, and a wave of power forces the god off of me. Thal staggers back and I jump to my feet. Dash towards him, dual wielding his swords again. With damage and speed increased now, I am able to punish the god with devastating blows. He defends and tries to hit back, but nothing he does can slow me down. Faster than I even thought possible, the Rage takes over and the furious combinations don’t stop—twenty-hit combos become thirty, fifty, seventy. Each strike in the combo is different, the attacks flowing like water over rocks. My motions, seamless; the attack stitched together like an artist’s brush strokes while speed-painting.

  Thal’s life is flashing red now, and only five percent remains. He drops to a knee, nearly defeated.

  The Rage wears off, and my health levels out at seventy percent.

  I Heal myself to one hundred percent and wait on him to power up the way he did when we first fought.

  He’s playing possum. Any moment now, he’ll rise up with renewed strength. Don’t let your guard down.

  No, he’s finished. Look at him. He can’t even stand. Finish him now!

  It is strange to see Thal gasping for breath, badly wounded and struggling to stay on one knee. In a way, it’s sad.

  Silence over the land. Nothing moves, nobody speaks.

  “You are no ordinary man,” Thal chokes out. “I curse you. May the remainder of your days be spent in ruin and despair.” He looks around the battlefield with disgust. “Curse all of you.”

  I ponder his words and think of how my life has already been put in a state of ruin and despair—with the loss of my identity and the near-loss of my son; the thought of it all builds up inside of me summoning one last surge of righteous anger.

  I Jump one last time.

  Thal doesn’t even try to defend himself.

  I crash down on him, and the justice I’ve been seeking for so long is finally delivered by way of the sound of his final death throes.

  “NO!” Cari cries and runs to Thal’s side.

  The god’s eyes are wide in shock; his face, a vision of horror. His body turns black, then crumbles into ash on the ground.

  Cari slowly stands and turns to face me with tears streaming down her cheeks. First, her head turns to ash, then her body. She crumbles and falls, now a pile of ash on the ground.

  It’s over. It’s finally finished.

  “Yes!” I hear Hedwig call out from the airship—breaking the overwhelming silence—laughing between cries of victory. “Yes!” He pumps his fists in the air.

  The Saviors all join in the celebration and cheer for our victory.

  But the King’s Blood and the Soldiers of Justice don’t see the real victory that was just won. The majority of them are still in shock, and judging by the looks on their faces, the war isn’t over yet. Any moment now, it’ll resume and I’ll be forced to fight again.

  I’m so tired of fighting…

  Patrick the Brave runs over next to me. “This man just ruined everything! Now the virus will kill us all!”

  I can’t believe this guy is still a pain in my ass.

  Deana comes to my defense and speaks to the guilds. “No. Don’t listen to Patrick. The gods were going to unleash the virus. They care nothing for humans and wanted all of mankind dead, starting with us” she says, running to my side. Giology joins her.

  “Why did Thal attack us after we were the ones who brought him back?” one man asks.

  Patrick points to me. “He was controlled by Ace with the Staff of Deity.”

  Deana saves me again. “No. That was not Ace. It was him,” she says, then turns and points to Giology. “He wanted to kill you all and end the war between us. But we are not enemies. The real enemy has been defeated.”

  A few from the King’s Blood start to move for Giology, weapons in hand.

  Gio quickly takes a teleport from his inventory and uses it to return to Thannadas.

  Before anyone has the notion to follow after him, I put my weapons away and speak to the group. “I never wanted it to come to this. For that, I am sorry. But my hand was forced, and I had to act. I hope that you can understand my actions and forgive me.”

  “You shouldn’t apologize for saving everyone’s life,” Fance says, emerging from the crowd to stand next to me. Meric, Seric, Squirt, even Hedwig come stand by my side, as well.

  I speak low so only they can hear me. “You all are the reason we won today. Thank you. Together, we are victorious.” I meet each of their gazes and speak with sincerity. If not for the Saviors, we would have never been able to win this war.

  “I wouldn’t speak so soon,” Fance says, eyeing the crowd nervously.
>
  No matter what happens now, we have won the war—the great war. The virus is no more, and the Gamemasters are gone.

  My family is finally safe.

  “What do we do now?” Squirt asks, holding tight to his weapon.

  Walk away.

  I toss both of Thal’s swords onto the ground. Shake my head and speak before turning and walking away. “I’m tired. And I’m done fighting.”

  Patrick becomes furious. Behind me, I hear him speak to the guilds. “What are you all doing? Kill him! Kill all of them!”

  Deana continues trying to make peace by pleading with the guilds. I think it’s working.

  I keep walking, praying that the war is over and that they don’t all kill one another. Hopefully they’ll come to their senses and end this madness.

  People, as a whole, are not very sensible. Especially when in mob mentality.

  It’s on them now.

  My mission has ended.

  The game’s over.

  29

  Game Over

  I take the NueView off, let it all fall to the floor, and put my head in my hands. Break out in a sob, then a laugh, then trace my fingers down my face, stretching my skin. Run my fingers through my hair and give a tug.

  I can’t believe it’s over.

  We just won the war.

  I feel like a new man. Like I’ve been given a second chance at life.

  Jenny…

  I can’t wait to get home to my wife and children. Being without them for so long, my heart aches with a longing pain like I’ve never known before.

  Upon standing, my body feels weird and I’m lightheaded. I turn around and put both hands on the arms of the chair for support. I laugh; a cry of happiness. Tears fill my eyes.

  I’m going home.

  Slowly, I straighten up and walk over to the window-wall. Press the button.

  Giovisi stands in front of his door that’s closed, preparing to step out. Tucks a pistol behind his back and lets his shirt hang over it. Opens his door and comes to mine.

  What’s the gun for, Gio? And why are you trying to hide it?

  He greets me with a smile, his arms out wide in excitement. “Ace! You’ve done it!”