World-Tree's End

by E A Hooper

  A few angels spotted Vincent, but he made short work of them with his blade. He only halfway paid attention to them as he searched the hive mind for his teammates. No matter what happened with the war, the individual battles, or the horde of angels, Vincent knew he needed to get his team to Rosaria.

  Vincent found it easy to spot his teammates in the white void. They were the strongest ones after himself, of course, so they stood out like beacons amongst the other shadows. The connection had been broken with a few of them, letting him know they’d died and hadn’t reconnected yet. However, he still saw Jim, Quinn, Ezra, Devon, and Zhang fighting the angels.

  As he focused on finding his teammates while cutting down more angels, he suddenly felt the presence of Isaac Bell reaching out to him.

  >Isaac: Vince, can you hear me? Look through my eyes for a moment. You need to see this.

  When Vincent directed his control to Isaac’s avatar, he discovered the developer and Archie standing just outside the Ark Halo with Euclid, Bathos, Aefa, Chloris in her human-sized body, and even Lamat’s white snake form. The five Elder Gods had created a small circle together, and Vincent could see a shimmer in the air as a nearly invisible bubble expanded from their bodies. A hundred angels tried to attack the Gods, but all of the spells stopped at the bubble. Even when one of Rosaria’s lances flew toward them, it exploded away from the bubble.

  >Isaac: They’re using the power of domain to create a safe zone for your teammates to gather. As long as the angels are scattered, they won’t be able to attack or enter this zone. However, if you take too long and they regroup, even five Elder Gods won’t be able to maintain the domain. Get your team here fast, Vincent.

  >Vincent: Everyone, you need to get to Isaac’s location. The Elder Gods made a safe haven for us beside the Ark Halo where we can regroup, but we have to get there quickly.

  >Zhang: I don’t know if I can make it, Vince. The same angel has already killed me twice now. He’s zeroing in on the spot I left my Checkpoint Crystal, and I only have a couple left.

  Vincent followed the invisible connection to Zhang and looked through his eyes. He saw a mighty angel in heavy armor, wielding a mithril sword. A Paladin, obviously, but not like any Vincent had seen so far. His armor’s runic lines glowed with world magic, and his blade sent out white flames with each slash. Vincent barely had time to cast Scan through Zhang’s eyes before the angel cut him down.

  Amon the Speaker (Exotic Boss) – Monster Class: S+ | Ageless | Sex: Male | Respawn Time: One In-Game Hour | Personality: Strict

  When Vincent tried to reach through the connections to find other allies, a shudder ran through him, shattering the Puppet Strings connected to him.

  >YOU.

  Vincent heard a deep voice booming in his ears, coming from all directions.

  >I HAVE FOUND YOU.

  >THE WORM THAT BROUGHT THIS CHAOS.

  The wind whistled, and the sky trembled. Vincent could feel the angel’s presence approaching him. He knew right away it had to be Amon. The Ranger kept Silent Edge in his right hand, but he put away the Fynntech gun, knowing it wouldn’t pierce the defenses of an angel that strong. Instead, he readied a Voidfire in his offhand.

  Amon crossed the horizon, reaching Vincent in a split-second before coming to a sudden stop.

  >GREETINGS, WORM.

  >I HAVE COME TO DESTROY YOU.

  “You’re talkative for an angel,” Vincent replied. “Although it’d be nice if you moved your lips instead of screaming into my brain like that.”

  >I DO NOT TAKE DIRECTIONS FROM YOU.

  > I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE CREATOR.

  >AND IT SAYS THIS IS THE END OF YOUR JOURNEY.

  Amon rocketed toward him, and even with Vincent’s reflexes and speed he almost didn’t block in time. Silent Edge clashed with the angel’s sword, and white flames danced around them. Even though the fire didn’t touch him directly, Vincent could feel his skin peeling and flaking.

  The Ranger threw a Voidfire, but Amon batted away the black flames with his white ones while putting distance between them. Despite his power, even the Paladin seemed wary of Vincent’s attacks.

  “Are you a special type of angel?” Vincent questioned, casting a couple of Voidfires that he suspended in the air. He injected potions while the angel replied.

  >BEFORE ROSARIA, THE MOTHER STOOD ON TOP.

  >AND BEFORE HER, I STOOD THERE.

  >I RULED WITH AN IRON FIST TO MAINTAIN ORDER.

  >BUT THE MOTHER WANTED TO CO-EXIST WITH YOUR PEOPLE.

  >HER WILLPOWER SURPASSED MINE, BUT NOW SHE KNOWS—

  >I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG.

  Amon charged forward again, and their blades clashed a dozen times before Vincent pulled the floating Voidfires to them. The attacks struck Amon, but his mouth opened inhumanly wide and he let out a roar. A shockwave of world magic knocked out the flames and slammed Vincent through a cliff. Amon swiped his blade, melting the entire cliff with white flames, but Vincent sent a Greater Voidfire flying back at him. The angel easily dodged it, but Vincent recalled it with Power Launch and struck Amon in the back.

  The Paladin collapsed to the dirt as black flames burned away the hillside. His armor cracked and melted, and his fearsome pressure seemed to die down. Vincent raised his Fast Injector to his neck, hoping to get together enough mana for a killing blow, but then Amon rose and dove toward him, tackling him straight through the hillside. The angel’s blade pierced Vincent’s chest, and white flames exploded all around them, reducing the nearby hills to dust.

  When they finally came to a stop, Amon kept his sword pinned in Vincent’s half-dissolved chest. The Ranger tried to raise Silent Edge and jam it through the angel’s skull, but Amon grabbed his arm and snapped it like a twig.

  >DIE AND FIGHT AND DIE AGAIN.

  >BUT YOU WILL NEVER REACH THE TOP.

  >THIS IS THE CREATOR’S DECREE.

  >ITS WILL IS UNBREAKABLE—UNLIKE YOU, WORM.

  Amon angled his blade closer to Vincent’s exposed heart, burning the organ to ashes.

  You’ve died. Respawning at your Checkpoint Crystal…

  When Vincent reappeared, he took another crystal and buried it into the ground with Zero Field. A Gravity Bubble formed around him, and he flew toward the melted hills in the distance where he had battled Amon. The angel must’ve tracked him somehow, because Vincent felt the pressure of Amon’s power before they found one another in the sky.

  The angel came to a sudden stop like last time, but Vincent continued at full speed, and their blades greeted one another.

  “You already got your strength back?” Vincent questioned, turning away the angel’s blade before the white flames could reach him.

  >YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD WEAR ME DOWN?

  >LET US FIGHT A THOUSAND TIMES.

  >EACH TIME, I SHALL STAND WITH RENEWED MIGHT.

  Vincent unequipped Silent Edge and launched himself into Amon. Without hesitation, the angel ran his flaming blade through Vincent’s chest. The Ranger poured mana into his Gravity Bubble to send them crashing into a crater where a hill had once stood. Before Amon could burn his heart, Vincent pinned him to the ground and cast Void Bomb over their heads.

  >YOU INSOLENT WORM.

  Vincent smirked and dropped the attack atop both of them.

  You’ve died. Respawning at your Checkpoint Crystal…

  When Vincent respawned, he saw Void Bomb still exploding in the distance. He started flying in that direction to make sure Amon had died, but as the explosion dissipated he noticed the angel’s pressure had vanished.

  >Vincent: I took down that super angel, Zhang. Pretty sure there’s at least one more like him somewhere, so you all be careful.

  >Alexandria: Yeah, Quinn and I found her. She’s a real pain in the ass.

  >Vincent: Where are you? I might be able to help, but I’m not connected to the hive mind right now.

  >Alexandria: Don’t worry about it. Get to the safe zone and reconnect. If you channel a few spells through
me or Quinn we should be able to take her down.

  Vincent started toward the Ark Halo, but slowed when a few more angels crossed his path. He dodged the slower ones, cut through a handful that tried to intercept him, then continued north toward the Ark Halo. One of Rosaria’s lances flew over the horizon, but he saw it coming and went east to avoid the explosion. The outer edges of the mile-radius blast reached him, but it didn’t leave a scratch.

  As long as I don’t get hit point-blank, that attack can’t do much to me, he realized. If anything, it’s better if she targets me instead of my teammates.

  Vincent flew over miles of valleys, cliffs, lakes, hills, and even mountains of dust and blood left by Lamat’s world serpent form. As he traveled, Rosaria continued throwing lances in his direction while other angels tried to slow him. A few dozen enemies trailed behind him, and their numbers soon increased to over a hundred. He saw the Elder Gods and their safe zone near the Ark Halo, and he also noticed a few hundred angels had surrounded it. All those enemies turned when Vincent approached, and they joined the ones chasing him as he moved away from the Ark Halo.

  If I stay behind the safe zone Rosaria won’t be able to hit me. That gives me a chance to clear out this army.

  Vincent cast Void Bomb, but he suspended it in the air with a Zero Field and kept flying. The angels circled around it, keeping their distance. He injected some ultra-elixirs, turned toward them, then cast Void Bomb behind himself. Vincent let the first one explode mid-air at the same time the second bomb expanded, and then he flew directly toward angels.

  World magic attacks of all kinds struck him from every direction. Those angels converged on him, creating a sphere that blotted out his view of the landscape. The angels started scattering too late, however, as both Void Bombs continued until they almost met in the middle. Vincent knew the diameter of his attack well, and he floated in the small gap as hundreds of angels were caught in the expanding spheres. Almost half of them managed to fly away in time, but then the two spheres burst, sending a rain of Voidfire across the region.

  The rain of black flames caught Vincent, but he knew he could survive it. He watched many of the surviving angels fall from the sky after getting their wings burned. Once the raining fire passed, Vincent injected ultra-ethers and ultra-elixirs before equipping Silent Edge. He flew toward the craters, cutting down the injured angels with ease. It only took him a couple of minutes to clear out both craters and the valleys.

  After finishing off dozens—maybe hundreds—of injured angels, Vincent flew toward the safe zone where he was greeted by the Elder Gods, including Lamat and Chloris who had survived in their smaller forms. While Isaac reconnected him to the hive mind, the Ranger looked around to see a few of his teammates already waiting there. Jeanie, Devon, Zhang, and Fynn all stood readying themselves with fresh armor, potions, and buffs. Ezra was there too, but he stayed focused on his Puppet Strings.

  “What a show!” Bathos told Vincent. “I’ve never seen angels die by the hundreds like that.”

  “You’re enjoying this a bit too much,” Euclid noted.

  “Surely I’m not the only one,” Bathos said.

  Lamat hissed in reply.

  “See, Lamat’s having a blast,” Bathos told Euclid.

  Archie ignored the Elder Gods and turned to Vincent. “I’m taking Isaac back out there to reconnect with your teammates. Some of them are having trouble getting here. They’ll need your help.”

  As Archie and Isaac teleported away, Vincent focused his thoughts on the hive mind. Ezra and Isaac were barely managing to keep it together, and only a few dozen guildsmen remained connected. He didn’t see any of his teammates, at least until Quinn and Xan respawned again, and Isaac added them back to the hive mind.

  >Alexandria: Vincent, you’re connected? We really need your help with this bitch.

  >Vincent: Yeah, I’m in the safe zone. Let me see this angel that’s giving you trouble.

  Chapter 31

  Vincent watched through Quinn and Xan’s eyes as they crossed paths with a solitary angel. The angel floated downward, four of her six wings draping over her otherwise naked body. She had two smaller wings that twisted to cover her backside before folding, which caused the feathers at the end to wrap around and cover the top half of her face. Unlike Rosaria, her mouth looked perfectly human, almost pouting with a sad expression. However, a hundred eyes opened across her wings, and each one filled with tears at the sight of Xan and Quinn.

  >Why must we fight?

  Vincent heard the soft voice—not through the two women, but echoing across the connection between them and himself.

  >Again and again. You live and die.

  >Your suffering saddens me.

  >If you’d only give in and accept the creator’s gift.

  >We could co-exist, your kind and mine.

  >Just lay down your weapons and embrace us.

  Quinn punched the air, sending a Gravity Gatling at the angel. The floating enemy’s hundred eyes flashed with world magic, and the attack dissipated before it ever reached her.

  >Quinn: See our problem, Vince? I can’t touch her. She stopped my Negative Wave at a distance, and I can’t get close enough for a direct hit.

  Vincent borrowed Quinn’s eyes to Scan the angel.

  Junia the Mother (Exotic Boss) – Monster Class: S+ | Ageless | Sex: Female | Respawn Time: One In-Game Hour | Personality: Caring

  Even before the angel had appeared, Xan had readied a copy of Seventh Heaven in both her hands. Since each one could make six ethereal copies, she sent all twelve flying toward Junia. The angel raised two fingers before the swords reached her, and the blades froze in the air.

  Vincent took control of Quinn’s avatar long enough to cast Greater Voidfire. He Power Launched the spell at a high velocity, sending it barreling toward Junia, but she raised her other hand to stop it. She clenched her fist, and the Greater Voidfire dissolved into nothing.

  >Stop this, children.

  >Don’t you see the creator made all of this for you?

  >Give into his will, and you shall find peace.

  Junia’s hundred eyes focused on Quinn, then flashed with world magic. The Fighter’s body grew weak, and she collapsed to her knees. Vincent felt his connection to her sever, and he switched to Xan just in time to see Paladins flying toward them. One of the Paladins decapitated Quinn with such ease that Vincent assumed Junia had disabled her Alcubierre Shield. He tried to move Xan, only to find the connection growing strained under Junia’s power. Xan grew distant in the white void of the hive mind, so Vincent searched for the nearest guildsman still linked to their network.

  Blade-Master Lloyd was already flying in Xan’s direction with his own Zero Field when Vincent found him.

  >Vincent: Lloyd, don’t be surprised if I cast a few spells through you.

  >Lloyd: No problem. I wasn’t sure I would be much here, anyway.

  As Lloyd neared the battle between his daughter and the angels, Vincent flipped through the man’s spell list to remind him of the Blade-Master’s abilities. Lloyd had most of the void spells common to Fighters and Mages, but he also had a unique one that stood out to Vincent.

  Void Render (Requires Life Render | Requires Negative Blade) – Mana Usage: None | The user sacrifices 50% of their body’s lifeforce to cast Negative Blade, but the spell has half the range of the normal variant.

  The angel that had decapitated Quinn tried to intercept Lloyd, but Vincent channeled Greater Voidfire through him, burning the angel to dust. Two more angels came from the side, stabbing through his upgraded Gravity Shield with lances of world magic. Lloyd slashed sideways with both hands, sending Negative Blades through their heads.

  Despite likely bleeding to death, Lloyd used the rest of his mana to fly to Xan. His daughter had fought Junia to a standstill, and both looked injured. Xan only had one of her Seventh Heavens left, and the wings of her Celestial Form had been torn to shreds.

  The feathers of Junia’s wings, although damaged,
extended like blades that stretched across the battlefield in a split-second before retracting back to her. Lloyd blocked a few of the feather blades as he flew toward her, but then the angel sent twenty at him at the same time. His body tensed, expecting death, but Vincent channeled two Voidfires through the Blade-Master and let them explode in front of the blades.

  In that time, Xan injected a few potions. She restored her Celestial Form, cast another Seventh Heaven, and then sent all the astral blades at Junia.

  >Enough.

  Junia’s voice was soft yet commanding, sending a shockwave forth that shattered Xan’s astral blades. She pulled back her wings, revealing her naked body as she charged a rainbow-colored spell, but then a Greater Voidfire struck her in the back and knocked her off balance.

  “Stay away from my family!” Athena shouted, hitting the angel with another spell.

  Junia’s wings and flesh burned under the black flames, and the pressure of her world magic dwindled. She fell to her knees and sobbed.

  >You children don’t understand.

  >I’m doing this for your own good.

  All three of the family members readied spells, but Junia rose in an instant and spread her arms outward as if preparing for an embrace. Instead, a dome of phantom wings formed around all four of them.

  Vincent felt the magic in Lloyd’s body vanish in an instant, and even the Puppet Strings began to wither. He could barely see through the man’s eyes, but he thought he caught a glimpse of Xan and Athena trying to stab Junia with weapons—to no avail. The angel seemed impervious, cloaked in phantom wings like the ones that had formed the dome.

  >I’ll keep you three safe with me.

  >Until the war is done.

  >Don’t you worry, children.

  “I’m the only one that needs to look out for my girls,” Lloyd said, raising his hand. Even though he didn’t have access to his mana pool, he didn’t need it to cast Void Render. He stabbed the blade through the phantom wings, skewering Junia’s head down the middle. As his blade faded, he saw the angel still standing, despite having her skull cut in half. “Girls, it looks like I’ll have to use the other half of my lifeforce. I don’t have another Checkpoint Crystal either. No matter what happens against Rosaria, just know I’m proud of you both.”