Law, page 26
The purpose of this structure was made clear when one of the cultists stepped onto the elevated podium, spread his hands out, and started yelling at the top of his lungs while the rest knelt behind him.
“Divine Mistress, hallowed be thy being!” he hollered. “We, your faithful servants, bring with us a wretched unbeliever! We beg of you – open this foolish creature’s eyes to the glory of your One Truth!”
The smoke-like mist began to stir and bubble over before it suddenly erupted like a volcano. A mountain of sickeningly green gas rose above the platform, the silhouette of a woman’s upper body visible within. Though the shape appeared human, she was so impossibly tall that she dwarfed the podium the cultist was standing on. Her towering frame was punctuated by two eye-shaped crimson lights peering down upon the humans. The people prostrated themselves immediately, faces overcome with even more awestruck expressions. Probably because they saw something significantly less ominous.
More specifically, the image of a beautiful blonde goddess in a luxurious white robe that could be found in nearly every church of Teresa.
“Show me this… unbeliever.”
The powerful, deep voice swept over the congregation, making them shiver and sweat as the Mistress’s words bore themselves into their skulls.
“Of course, Mistress!” the one who spoke earlier replied. “Brothers Hubert and Jordan have her!”
He directed the massive figure’s blood-curdling gaze towards the bound and gagged Xera, who had been tied to a stake and was still faking unconsciousness. The Mistress instantly saw through the ruse, given the way her eyes flickered as soon as they focused on the demoness.
“You fools!” she bellowed, her wrath making the cavern tremble. “Do you realize what you’ve done?!”
“W-what?” the leader stammered. “But, Mistress, it was you who-”
“You worthless maggots brought in a spy!”
“Finally noticed, did you?” Xera spoke up with a shit-eating grin. “You know, for someone with so many followers, you sure suck at management.”
The cultists looked on with surprised disgust as what they thought to be a human revealed her true form. A few flew into a murderous rage and tried to strike her down, but the djinn dissolved into her Mist Form before their weapons could connect. This freed Xera from her bindings and allowed her gaseous shape to blend in with the heavy mist pouring out of the pit. Or, in the cultist’s eyes, the sparkling spray of water hovering around the Pool of Purity. Either way, she had essentially vanished into thin air.
“Find her, you idiots!” the Mistress commanded. “Do not let her escape!”
“I wouldn’t put too much faith in these people if I were you,” a calm, deep voice rose up from the crowd. “Loyal they may be, but effective they are not.”
Both the people and their titanic leader started frantically looking around, but couldn’t locate the source of those words.
“To be honest, if anyone’s to blame for their incompetence, it’s you.”
The voice echoed all around the cave, confusing their ears.
“Good help is hard to find. Believe me, I know. However, you are ultimately the one responsible for your subordinates.”
It was as if it was both everywhere and nowhere.
“And if this sorry lot’s the best you can manage, I think it’s safe to say your recruitment skills are in need of some serious work.”
“I will not stand for this mockery!” the Mistress bellowed. “Show yourself so that I may devour your worthless soul!”
“Sure, let me just leave my hiding spot.”
The towering woman saw the glimmer of something falling down from above. However, it was so small that it wasn’t until it was passing right in front of her mist-shrouded face that she was able to see it was a small, twelve-sided crystal. The Mistress had no idea this was the product of the combination between Crystallize Magic, Power Overwhelming, and Dark Explosion. She was nevertheless about to find out why its creator nicknamed it ‘the Big Bang Ball.’
“Said nobody ever,” Boxxy added.
A tiny thrown pebble then smacked into the conjured object, coaxing it to unleash its arcane payload.
*KAPONNNNNNNNNN*
The resulting burst of destructive magic dispersed the thick column of mist dominating the center of the chamber. The gathered cultists strained and buckled from the noise and pressure released by the detonation, most of them falling to the floor and a few even passing out. The only one still standing was a certain priest who hunched forward and threw his arms out. Dozens of whip-like tendrils erupted from under his religious garb, each gripping another armed Spell Crystal. Several seconds and many scattered explosions later, every human in the room was dead. Those that survived the omnidirectional assault were quickly and efficiently finished off by Xera, Drea, Boxxy, and six Mirror Images that the shapeshifter slipped into the crowd during the long walk.
Naturally, the elevated altar they were all standing on had taken quite a bit of damage. The floor was riddled with cracks and a few edge pieces had already broken off. Any other structure might have already collapsed, but this one stubbornly stood as the rabble were being dealt with. It would also appear the surprise attack had missed the intended target as there was no sign of the womanly shape that the toxic-looking gas seemed to obscure. Boxxy feared it might have been a touch too hasty as it hadn’t actually confirmed whether this Mistress was, in fact, there.
For better or worse, this was only a momentary concern.
“That’s it! My turn!”
A deep, snarling, almost bestial voice echoed from that gigantic pit. It was completely different from the haughty yet clearly feminine tone from before. The owner of both emerged from the obscured depths with a single beat of its titanic wings, revealing a two-headed creature unlike any Boxxy had seen or heard. It boasted a barrel-chested, muscular body wrapped in rough green skin that looked far too orc-like for it to be a mere coincidence. Both faces elicited the same feeling, with their enormous underbites, broad-yet-pointy teeth, and generally unflattering features. However, despite this obvious relation to the greenskins of Velos, this abomination’s hands and feet were covered in dark red scales and boasted terrible black claws that could only belong to the most fearsome of beasts – a dragon. The same went for its wings and twin club-tipped tails, not to mention the peculiarly curved horns on either head. The half-orc, half-wyrm practically radiated power, and not just because of its intimidating size. Its exact dimensions were difficult to pin down due to its over-abundance of limbs and hunched-over posture, but an initial estimate placed its size at around twenty five meters. Twice as much if one counted the mace-like tails, and even more with the wingspan.
“RRAAARHARHAA!” the right head roared with laughter. “Come, mortals! Face the wrath of-!”
“Idiot!”
The right head was just about to spill the beans when the feminine-sounding left aggressively bumped horns with it to shut it up.
“Watch it, hag!” he bumped back.
“Told you to think before leaping out!” she yelled at it. “Now these fools know our true form!”
“So, what!? I’ll just crush them!”
The creature dove forward, its aim directed at the group of monsters and demons that were focused on finishing off the cultists while they had the chance. Its massive form spun around and swung both tails in a blinding-fast sweeping motion, though the obvious declaration of an incoming attack had given Boxxy’s group just enough warning to get out of the way. The shapeshifter and the stalker employed their superior agility and leapt off the pedestal while the djinn dissolved into mist. The bone-tipped appendages missed all three of them, but not the Mirror Images. Those mindless puppets lacked the wits and reflexes to dodge the sudden strike without express direction. All six were struck and either died on initial impact or went splat against the far wall. This outcome was a cause for concern. Boxxy’s body doubles weren’t all that bright, but they still boasted a significant fraction of its power. Seeing them get annihilated in one hit proved this ‘dragorc’ thing boasted immense strength. Trying to block or deflect blows of that magnitude was… ill-advised.
“Stand still! RRRAH!”
Thankfully, the enemy turned out to be a moron incapable of efficiently wielding their power and just hurled himself at the fleeing targets in much the same way – so obviously telegraphed it might as well have scheduled an appointment. This allowed the shapeshifter to avoid the titanic fist that came down at it even though it didn’t have much of an edge in terms of speed. The much smaller monster was therefore barely able to evade a string of six consecutive blows. If this was everything the enemy had to offer, then this battle was already settled. Of course, it never was that easy.
“Rise, maggots!” the creature’s female half yelled. “Rise and serve your Mistress!”
Things instantly got worse when, despite Boxxy’s best efforts, the humans’ corpses began to stitch themselves together and stand up again. Unfortunate, but not at all unexpected. After all, their Mistress was the origin of the ‘Immortality Curse’ that made her followers so gods-damned persistent during their attack on the Morgana household. If it could be done by proxy, then it would be ludicrous to think it couldn’t be used point-blank. On the upside, the shapeshifter now had confirmation that it had found the mastermind behind that debacle. It also had plenty of time to figure out how to counteract this unfair trick.
It didn’t matter how unkillable a pawn was if it was physically incapable of reaching its target.
“Snack, do it now!”
“Yes, master! … Meteor!”
Just like when she first entered Ambrosia’s tree and encountered the termite infestation, Xera conjured a massive ball of flame and rock that fell down the height of the vertical space. The flying abomination easily dodged out of the way with a mocking laugh and an annoyed hiss. This was fortunate since that immense bulk happened to be in the way of the Spell’s actual target. The left head, clearly the brains of the operation, noticed this a little too late to stop the Meteor from crashing into the ziggurat-like structure. The elevated stone platform buckled under the explosive impact, causing it to collapse into the gigantic pit along with all the people still on it.
While the immortal minion problem was dealt with, it was decidedly minor compared to the unknown creature before Boxxy. It used a combination of the Meteor’s impact and Snack’s follow-up Inferno Spell as distractions that allowed it to back off and collect its thoughts. This enemy was shrouded in too much mystery, and the shapeshifter’s attempts to glean some information with Eyes of the Dead God had proven… less than successful.
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It was the first time its pilfered Hero Skill had ever given it such a result. It wasn’t just the incomprehensible gibberish, either, but the fact that there were three lines hovering over the thing. Usually, the target’s name would be on top and their HP underneath, so what was the extra third one supposed to be? Either way, it was clearly not dealing with ‘just a big monster,’ nor was this Mistress demonic in nature. Nor did such things matter. Though illegible, the second line of floating gibberish unmistakably twitched and shifted every time it took a hit. It was safe to assume that this obscured information most likely represented the two-headed dragorc’s vitality. This meant the enemy was indeed taking damage, which signified the creature would expire like any other once its HP reached zero.
Admittedly, ‘hit it until it dies’ was not much of a plan, but it was the best Boxxy could muster. It had expected the Mistress to be someone who relied on guile and trickery yet not have much in terms of raw power. What it found instead was some incomprehensible abomination that swung its fists and tails with enough force to make its spine tingle every time it dodged them. One option was to retreat and concoct a more devious scheme, but there was no telling if it would get another chance to take these two down. Besides, though it may have been due to its tainted ego, the mere thought of running away after all the trouble these two put it through didn’t even cross its mind.
“Puny little gnats! You dare resist?! Bow and beg forgiveness, and I might just allow you to serve me!”
“Fuck off, hag! They’re mine to crush!”
“They are not, idiot! We require them as pawns!”
“I’ve had enough of your pawns! I’m tired of hiding and sniveling!”
“This, again?!”
“Yes, this again! The world should fear us, not the other way around!”
The irresponsible way they bickered during a fight, the arrogance of that megalomaniacal left head demanding servitude, the abysmal form of the right one’s attacks, that unfair and unearned level of power – every single aspect of this creature was like an egregious insult. It may have been just a little, but Boxxy now understood how Edward must have felt upon realizing that he had been outsmarted by a box not even a year old. Admittedly, the dragorc had a decent scheme going and a relatively impressive network of underlings. While hunting them down it found cultists embedded in a number of civic and religious organizations, but the whole thing just reeked of amateur hour. None of it would’ve held together without that unfairly efficient brainwashing. Their physical abilities had a similar note to them – enormous potential but terrible execution. Between Boxxy and Drea’s speed and Xera’s elusive magic, the only thing these so-called masterminds accomplished with their titanic strength was to damage their own lair.
“Alright, fine! We’ll do it your way!”
“Yes, about time!”
It would appear the right’s mounting frustration made him finally agree with the left.
“We will not be made fools by some insignificant insects!”
The pair shouted in unison. A gigantic wave of magical force emanated from their body, slamming the smaller monster and its pet demons against the cavern’s wall and pinning them there. None could break free as their bodies sank into the cracking, crumbling rocks behind them. The torrent of energy was so oppressive that they could hardly even breathe. It was especially bad for Xera, whose body was the weakest of the three, not to mention her Mist Form was useless against such a large scale magical attack. The winged abomination finally landed, its massive arms and hands pressing against the ground as if they were a quadriped’s forelegs. The creature calmly walked over with rumbling steps until its faces loomed over the restrained trio.
“You made me use a fraction of my great power, and for that I commend you,” the left continued. “I will also admit, you had a point, strangeling. Good help is hard to find.”
She leaned forward and extended a single claw towards it, as if to stab the Sandman-shaped monster in the face.
“Wait!” the right snarled, one hand pulling the other away. “I don’t like the smell of this one.”
“Hm. Yes,” her glowing eyes flickered. “For once the idiot is right to be wary, but it is no matter. It will serve all the same.”
Boxxy went wide-eyed when it realized exactly what the female half intended to do, but it managed to keep its demonic corruption from running wild. This was not a good time to lose one’s cool.
“Sorry,” it grunted back at her, “but if you want my services, you’ll have to pay, and I don’t think you can afford me.”
“Hah!” she scoffed at this. “And what makes you think you have a choice? Do you even comprehend what it is you’re dealing with?!”
The dragorc beat its mighty wings, producing a terrible gale that momentarily deafened the creature already getting slowly crushed to death.
“Not exactly, no!” it yelled back. “But I’m a clever box! I can work it out if you give me a chance!”
“Do you honestly believe me stupid enough to do that?!”
“Honestly?! Yes.”
The left one seethed at this insult and raised her hand yet again while the right grinned maliciously at her expense. Both were so thoroughly distracted, so confident in their apparent victory that neither saw it coming until it was too late. A bright blue beam of concentrated energy punched a hole clean through the creature’s other arm, staggering and confusing it. Moments later, a blur of white and yellow fell upon the left head at the same time that something black, red, and angry all over landed on the right like twin bolts of heavenly retribution. A pair of powerful avian legs and a half-dozen armored fists worked in unison to smash the unbalanced half-orc, half-dragon’s titanic upper body to the ground with earth-splitting force.
The sudden simultaneous assault proved enough to break whatever hold the loud-mouth had on Boxxy, allowing it and its two familiars to move freely once more.
