Heretical Fishing
Author: Haylock
Book 5: Chapter 44: Riddles
The god-empress couldn’t see the speaker, so she ordered her divine spears to disperse. Most of their power returned to her core, and she readied it, preparing to launch another attack the moment she caught sight of…
“Bad Fischer!” a young woman said, slapping a man on the shoulder. He was wearing a weird suit. “You’re supposed to let everyone else do it!”
“That didn’t count. The battle hasn’t started yet. And she destroyed our dock! Who does that?”
The god-empress took in the crowd of people on the shore in an instant. They stood on the sands just south of Tropica, a stone’s throw away from the rock walkway separating the village from the ocean, and within firing range of the god-empress’s Divine fleet. There was a medium-sized tree behind them, its canopy swaying in the breeze.
There were three at the front of the crowd, positioned a step before everyone else. Odd, considering all three were children. They wore shorts and sleeveless, buttonless tops with a red banded collar that extended up the bases of their necks. On the children’s flank stood a frightful bear. It had terrible canines, and patches of needles that grew from its elbows and neck, all glowing an ominous crimson. A man and woman stood on the bear’s other side. They ignored the Divine Fleet in favor of staring down at a bundle in the woman’s arms.
Finally, there were the two that had been bickering. God-King Fischer and God-Queen Maria. Their marks were unique yet undoubtedly paired. They resonated with her own. The god-empress couldn’t help but sneer as she considered the woman Fischer had chosen as his wife. Maria wasn’t worthy of her title. She was a slight thing, with the build, complexion, and even the clothing of a peasant.
Drab as Maria’s outfit was, it was leaps and bounds better than Fischer’s. The god-king wore something resembling a suit, but his jacket was open, revealing a sleeveless top and short leg garments made of rich material. Possibly silk. If the sand-colored outfit didn’t fit him so well, she’d have assumed he had plundered a set of pyjamas and a suit jacket from a king’s wardrobe. It was undoubtedly tailored to his body, though.
As she tried to make sense of it all, her Prime Cadre reached for their power, preparing a volley that would tear through their enemies. She raised one hand to stall them. Something was wrong here. She couldn’t sense a single drop of abyssal chi from the forces before them, which was the only reason she hadn’t yet launched her own attack. She needed more information.
“Detection formation,” she said, not taking her eyes off of the enemy god-king.
“Checking out the threads, huh?” Fischer asked. The man waggled his eyebrows infuriatingly, and the god-empress considered striking him down after all. “Can’t say I blame you. This was what I wore to my wedding. My two pals here are our tailors.” He nodded toward the well-dressed man and woman at his side. “They made it for me and hid a secret effect in the jacket, the scoundrels.”
“We worried you’d think it was controlling,” the man replied.
“I mean, yeah. The description makes it sound absolutely cooked, Steven. I…
”
“Yes?”
Fischer pointed down. “Why are your hands orange?”
“Oh. I was doing some painting. The pigment seems to have stained my skin.”
Fischer nodded sagely. “Was it fun?”
“The painting?”
“Yeah.”
Steven smirked. “It will be, God-King.”
“I see.”
“You do?”
“Nope. Not even a little, but I do like the cut of your jib—”
“Silence, heretics!” Evan’s body shook with fury, his voice was firm, filled with every ounce of divine energy he could muster. “You will properly address God-Empress Aletheia Victus, rightful heir to the throne of Phostheia, Chosen of Heaven, who rides atop the Prime Vessel Theoris, divine galleon of—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Fischer’s thunderous voice made Evan’s throat seize, interrupting him back. “Breaker of chains. Mother of dragons. Whatever, homie. She just tried to level my village. I don’t give a frack what you want me to call her.”
The god-empress didn’t know what to say. Normally, she would have been incensed, but this man didn’t seem stable. Nor did he possess abyssal chi.
“Anyway,” Fischer continued. “We were talking about my jacket. Lovely results, despite how dark the System made it sound. I assumed you could manipulate the effect, but you can’t. It really does only show true feelings.” Fischer glanced up at the god-empress. “I can show you. Here. You should be able to see it for yourself with your level of cultivation.”
She no longer saw him as a threat, so the god-empress indulged her curiosity and let her eyes get drawn in.
She dismissed the words. When she saw the smirk on Fischer’s face, she realized she’d made a mistake.
“You knew, then?” he asked.
“Knew what?”
“That I’m a Maker. You didn’t react at all.” His smirk got sharper. “Have you been watching us? Is that what those two relics behind you are for…?”
She took an involuntary step to the side, placing herself between him and the artifacts.
“Don’t worry. I’m not after your goodies. What I’m after is
”
Aura pulsed out from him. She braced herself, ready to manifest a spear and cut any trickery to pieces, but none came. It was coming from his Matrimonial Suit of the God-King. If its description could be believed, it would broadcast his true feelings for her. His aura saw her as a potential friend. He really was looking for friendship. He didn’t want to battle. If it came to violence, he would fight tooth and nail, but only if there were no other option.
His smirk turned into a frown as the artifact’s secondary effect kicked in and he sensed her feelings in return. “Damn. You’re kinda complicated, aren’t you?”
“
complicated? You openly wear a jacket that claims to manipulate my feelings.”
“Well, it sounds bad when you put it like that…”
“If you really want me to believe you, why don’t you take it off?”
“Whoa. Are you trying to make me undress? I’m married, lady.”
The god-empress felt her jaw grow tense.
Fischer raised his hands to forestall her. “That was too far. My bad.” He patted his chest. “But I can’t take the jacket off. It holds my trump card.”
“Your what?”
“Oh. Did that get lost in translation? A trump card is like a secret weapon. An ace up my sleeve, if you’ll forgive the wordplay.”
“Yet you showed me the description, giving away any secrecy?”
“Uhhh, yeah? That way, you know feelings are genuine. Pretty straightforward.”
She scoffed. “Do you take me for a fool, heretic? You are amusing, but don’t think for a second I believe you, or that anything you’ve said has come across as
—”
“Told you, Fischer,” the ruby-haired woman beside Fischer interrupted. “Steven and I are good, but not
good.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Rubes.” Fischer pointed at his loose-fitting leg garments. “Speaking of shorts, these are a testament to your brilliance. They don’t leave much to the imagination, but there’s nothing better on a summer’s day. You should feel the breeze up here! It’s like having Mother Nature’s nourishing fingers reach into your jocks to tickle your b—”
“Fischer!” Maria slapped him on his bare shoulder. “I don’t care how evil that lady is. I am
okay with you telling her about you ba—”
The one called Rubes dashed over and slapped them both with her free hand, the god-king on the back of his head, then the god-queen on her shoulder. “Language!”
When Rubes had dashed, the bundle shifted in her arms, letting the god-empress catch sight of a small face. Was that a baby? They’d brought an infant to a battlefield…?
“Hey!” Fischer rubbed his head. “I was gonna say bits!”
“That’s not any better! And don’t call me Rubes when I’m angry with you!”
“Okay. Sorry. My bad, Ruby. Can you stop giving me that look? I’m not used to having Fin around yet, and there’s, like,
going on.”
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“No! I
stop giving you that look! You need to watch your mouth around her! Who knows how impressionable her little brain…”
They continued bickering, yammering incessantly as they had been the entire time. The god-empress tuned them out.
The god-empress’s mind raced to absorb it all. He had chosen an infant as his champion? Why? Why was he conversing casually despite his impending annihilation? For that matter, why hadn’t she attacked him yet? Was it the jacket’s influence? Or was it the strangeness and novelty of these enemies delaying her hand?
How had they subjugated the ursine spirit beast without abyssal chi? And where were the rest of the spirit beasts? Had the intimidating bear somehow defeated the others? It didn’t look
strong. She reached out towards it, finding that
it—he—was at the third tier of cultivation. His ideal was related to… aggressive protection? The bear glowered back and shifted closer to the three children, his head lowering, his spikes bristling.
Fischer was blissfully unaware. He was busy being berated by an irate mother. Even if he wasn’t as powerful as the god-empress had feared, he was still a God-King, yet he stayed silent as Ruby chastised him. A god-king, someone closer to the heavens than the lower realm, was letting a lowly cultivator dictate how he conducted himself.
They were insane. All of them.
Had the god-empress come all this way, gathered all this power, only to face a complete madman and his equally insane posse? She knew not how they’d survived her initial volley, but that didn’t matter now. This upstart god-king would soon fall.
“Where are the rest of the spirit beasts?” she demanded.
Fischer paused in the middle of his fifth apology to Ruby, then turned towards the god-empress and gave her a quizzical look.
“Do not play dumb with me god-king. You have a single bear by your side. We know Gormona was attacked by a cadre of different creatures. Where are the birds? Where is the beetle? Where is the rat who shoots lightning?”
Fischer choked back a laugh. “Lady, you are
lucky she isn’t here.”
“So they’re gone? You killed the other spirit beasts? Or are you claiming you drove them away? You really expect me to believe you have that kind of power?”
His quizzical look returned as he considered how to respond.
She pushed her advantage. “Where is your fleet? Where is Bob the Boat?”
“Wait, how do you know about Bob?” He leaned closer, his brow furrowing. “Just how long have you been monitoring us…?”
“Your Holiness,” Evan said. He was kneeling at her side, his gaze locked on their enemies.
She stared death at him. He was supposed to be scanning their surroundings. Her ideal stirred from within, reminding her of her purpose. If his words weren’t of vital importance, she would end him. “Speak.”
“The tree, Your Holiness. I believe a spirit beast dwells within. It’s hiding by flooding the world’s chi from the leaves above, making it difficult to sense.”
She focused on the tree behind Tropica’s forces, and her eyes went wide. Evan was correct. There
a spirit beast concealing itself within—
“Wrooong,” Fischer drawled, interrupting her train of thought. Anger coursed through her.
“I can sense it, fool! Or are you so daft that you didn’t realize?”
He blew air through his lips like a petulant child. “I know the tree is Lieutenant Colonel Lemony Thicket is a
spirit. Not a spirit
Put some respect on her name. Tell ‘em, Lemon!”
The tree grew another limb and waved hello.
Tree spirits were rarely mentioned in Phostheia’s royal library. They hadn’t been seen for thousands of years before the gods’ departure. Even when they
still lived, they weren’t creatures to be ordered around. It had to be a trick. Her theory was confirmed when the ‘tree spirit’ extended a root from the ground and smacked Fischer on the behind. Tree spirits were benevolent beings. Allies of the divine. On the rare occasions they turned on cultivators, it was because the cultivators deserved it. And the punishments tree spirits doled out were far more…
than a soft smack on the rump. To earn their ire was to earn death.
The god-empress made a disgusted noise, unable to hide her contempt for such a blatant lie. It was one thing for this ‘god-king’ to debase himself. It was another thing entirely for him to besmirch the memory of those majestic spirits.
In response to her disgust, however, the branch started radiating power. It was ancient. Pure. And undercut by a scent like decaying leaves, the aroma banishing any hint of the ocean they sailed on. Her divine essence responded to it, telling her the truth. This was no ruse. A tree spirit had allied itself with Tropica.
“How…?” she asked, genuinely curious.
Fischer shrugged. “The power of friendship, obviously. You should try it sometime. I have all manner of weird and wacky pals. Check this one out.” He pressed his fingers between his lips and let out a deafening whistle.
Cracks formed in the air beside him. Within moments, a purple portal had formed, and a spirit beast leaped from it.
“Borks!” Fischer knelt down to its height. “How did you go? Gather em all?”
The dog barked at him, its blond tail wagging violently.
“I knew you could do it. Who’s-a-good-boy?” He started fussing the dog all over. “Who’s-a-good-boy? You are! Yes you are!”
The god-empress narrowed her eyes as waves of contented chi radiated from the creature. Much of it was indiscernible, just as Fischer’s was, but a hint of something familiar dwelled under the surface. Had she experienced it before…?
Beneath her direct gaze—and under the scratching fingers of its insane master—the beast transformed into something long and lithe and covered in midnight fur. Savage canines glinted as it rolled on its back, a tail wagging that wasn’t a tail at all, but a serpent.
Suddenly, the chi’s familiarity made sense. She’d read about it when researching enemies of the divine. The book had described the essence of this realm as dark, sulfuric, but not unpleasant. There’d even been an illustration of the beast before her. This fel creature belonged to Hades.
“Hellhound!” The word tore from her throat of its own accord. “To me!”
She flung her arm forward and summoned a golden spear that flashed through the air toward the spirit beast. Except it didn’t. She glanced down at her hand, wondering why it hadn’t loosed the spear. What was going on?
Fischer had rocketed to his feet, as had the hellhound, both watching her with glowing eyes of shimmering white and hellfire red, respectively.
The Seers and the Prime Cadre appeared at her side, all gathering their power. Her thoughts cut off immediately when she saw the other pair of glowing irises on the shore. For the first time since she’d donned the mask of a ruler, true fear washed through the god-empress. Fin, still bundled in her mother’s arms, stared into Aletheia’s soul with eyes the same shimmering white as Fischer’s.
Fin, Chosen of Fischer, was a cultivator. She had to have been born as such; the System wouldn’t awaken children, even partially, before their fifth birthday.
“Ne…” The god-empress licked her lips, willing her throat to cease constricting. “Ne—”
“
” Eustace asked from her side. “They have a
” Laughter oozed from her, the sound anathema to the horrified faces of Anius and the Prime Cadre. “Now
something you don’t see every day.”
“Nephilim?” Fischer repeated, expression dubious.
“Nephilim is the title of children born awakened, their bodies enhanced in the womb. They are abhorred by the heavens, and all records suggest they should be kill—”
“Enough.” Fischer’s command slammed into them with force rivaling a god’s, cutting Eustace off and redoubling Aletheia’s fear. “What is your name?”
Eustace croaked. “Seer Eustace, Your Holi… uhhhh.”
Fischer’s expression softened, but his will didn’t. “Sorry, Eustace. I don’t wanna hurt you, so don’t use any violent language if you’re talking about Fin. My bond with her
didn’t like that. It told me to throw you into the sun.”
Eustace smiled at that, but Aletheia hardly noticed. As Fischer’s will had pressed down upon her, his eyes swimming with pearlescent light, Aletheia had finally understood why she hadn’t been able to sense his aspect. The god-king didn’t have one.
Impossible.
Anyone attempting to wield pure essence shouldn’t have survived past their first breakthrough, let alone become a god-king. The records told of pure-chi cultivators destroying entire cities when they lost control… and those were base-level cultivators. Just how much destruction would the man before her cause if he were to implode? He had to be eliminated.
No wonder the System had sent her after him.
So why couldn’t she attack?
Her entire arm shook, her ideal warring with Fischer’s will. Her divine chi could tear his bindings apart, yet she didn’t move, something within telling her not to. She furrowed her brow, seeking the answer.
Her internal state had been slipping since she got here. Was it his jacket after all? If that were it, he wouldn’t have shown it to her. Come to think of it, why had she agreed to inspect it? She’d stopped seeing him as a threat at some point—clearly a mistake, given all she now knew.
He had allied with a spirit beasts. He had won over a tree spirit. He had chosen a
as his
for heaven’s sake. On top of all that, he channeled an impossible power, which was strong enough to divert her volley golden arrows.
In response, she had let him talk. She had watched as he spoke of useless things with his followers, all the while having a quest to
them. Then he’d done the same with
followers. Eustace had shown incredible insubordination by talking to the man, and for some reason, that hadn’t bothered Aletheia.
The god-empress’s eyes flew wide.
When had she started referring to herself as Aletheia agai—
Her unseen enemy chose that moment to strike. It all happened in an instant.
The spirit of Aletheia slammed into the god-empress, seeking to burn away the mask she wore. The young woman had escaped the internal pit and slowly retaken parts of the god-empress’s body, seeking to eject her.
“Fool!” the god-empress screamed. She unleashed only a fraction of the chi from her core, forming a golden column that raced down from the mask and slammed into the girl she used to be. Her ideal empowered it, and Aletheia let out a wordless scream as she was blistered, burned, and forced back down toward the pit.
The god-empress didn’t spare the metal seal; it clearly didn’t work. She wouldn’t need it after this anyway.
Aletheia, propelled by the column of divine light, struck the seal. It melted, fusing to Aletheia’s form as the princess careened down into the bottom of the pit, never to rise again.
The god-empress opened her eyes. Her body was once more her own, and she summoned a second golden spear, drawing back the one in her right hand, aiming it for Fischer.
“Damn,” the god-king said, wincing. “I was hoping the other you won tha—”
It was her turn to enforce her will.
Fischer stumbled, as did Maria. Ruby, Steven, and the infant Fin remained upright, protected by Fischer’s shimmering essence. He had shielded them, but not himself. Everyone else on the shore had fallen to their knees, but the Bear’s red aura surrounded them, letting the children hold themselves upright.
She didn’t let that anger her. What did she care? So what if the insects momentarily defied the heavens. But then she noticed the hellhound, who had subverted her order by rolling onto his back. He grinned up at Fischer. His tail was wagging. That made her blood boil.
She drew her right arm farther back and doubled the golden chi filling the spear. “If you have any last words, speak them now.”
Fischer forced himself to smile. “Gladly.” His eyes flicked to her left, examining Elegos for a second before returning to her. “Looks like we’ve wasted enough time.”
She didn’t fall for the obvious ploy.
“My last words are a question,” God-King Fischer continued, then paused. “Well, more a riddle, really. But what’s the diff—”
“Sheesh, lady. I was getting to it.” He stood upright, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck, somehow defying her command. When his eyes met hers, his smile was no longer forced. “What has an exoskeleton, very-pinchy claws, and rhymes with tarnation?”
A young girl screamed from behind and to her left.
“Bad Fischer!” a young woman said, slapping a man on the shoulder. He was wearing a weird suit. “You’re supposed to let everyone else do it!”
“That didn’t count. The battle hasn’t started yet. And she destroyed our dock! Who does that?”
The god-empress took in the crowd of people on the shore in an instant. They stood on the sands just south of Tropica, a stone’s throw away from the rock walkway separating the village from the ocean, and within firing range of the god-empress’s Divine fleet. There was a medium-sized tree behind them, its canopy swaying in the breeze.
There were three at the front of the crowd, positioned a step before everyone else. Odd, considering all three were children. They wore shorts and sleeveless, buttonless tops with a red banded collar that extended up the bases of their necks. On the children’s flank stood a frightful bear. It had terrible canines, and patches of needles that grew from its elbows and neck, all glowing an ominous crimson. A man and woman stood on the bear’s other side. They ignored the Divine Fleet in favor of staring down at a bundle in the woman’s arms.
Finally, there were the two that had been bickering. God-King Fischer and God-Queen Maria. Their marks were unique yet undoubtedly paired. They resonated with her own. The god-empress couldn’t help but sneer as she considered the woman Fischer had chosen as his wife. Maria wasn’t worthy of her title. She was a slight thing, with the build, complexion, and even the clothing of a peasant.
Drab as Maria’s outfit was, it was leaps and bounds better than Fischer’s. The god-king wore something resembling a suit, but his jacket was open, revealing a sleeveless top and short leg garments made of rich material. Possibly silk. If the sand-colored outfit didn’t fit him so well, she’d have assumed he had plundered a set of pyjamas and a suit jacket from a king’s wardrobe. It was undoubtedly tailored to his body, though.
As she tried to make sense of it all, her Prime Cadre reached for their power, preparing a volley that would tear through their enemies. She raised one hand to stall them. Something was wrong here. She couldn’t sense a single drop of abyssal chi from the forces before them, which was the only reason she hadn’t yet launched her own attack. She needed more information.
“Detection formation,” she said, not taking her eyes off of the enemy god-king.
“Checking out the threads, huh?” Fischer asked. The man waggled his eyebrows infuriatingly, and the god-empress considered striking him down after all. “Can’t say I blame you. This was what I wore to my wedding. My two pals here are our tailors.” He nodded toward the well-dressed man and woman at his side. “They made it for me and hid a secret effect in the jacket, the scoundrels.”
“We worried you’d think it was controlling,” the man replied.
“I mean, yeah. The description makes it sound absolutely cooked, Steven. I…
”
“Yes?”
Fischer pointed down. “Why are your hands orange?”
“Oh. I was doing some painting. The pigment seems to have stained my skin.”
Fischer nodded sagely. “Was it fun?”
“The painting?”
“Yeah.”
Steven smirked. “It will be, God-King.”
“I see.”
“You do?”
“Nope. Not even a little, but I do like the cut of your jib—”
“Silence, heretics!” Evan’s body shook with fury, his voice was firm, filled with every ounce of divine energy he could muster. “You will properly address God-Empress Aletheia Victus, rightful heir to the throne of Phostheia, Chosen of Heaven, who rides atop the Prime Vessel Theoris, divine galleon of—”
“Yeah, yeah.” Fischer’s thunderous voice made Evan’s throat seize, interrupting him back. “Breaker of chains. Mother of dragons. Whatever, homie. She just tried to level my village. I don’t give a frack what you want me to call her.”
The god-empress didn’t know what to say. Normally, she would have been incensed, but this man didn’t seem stable. Nor did he possess abyssal chi.
“Anyway,” Fischer continued. “We were talking about my jacket. Lovely results, despite how dark the System made it sound. I assumed you could manipulate the effect, but you can’t. It really does only show true feelings.” Fischer glanced up at the god-empress. “I can show you. Here. You should be able to see it for yourself with your level of cultivation.”
She no longer saw him as a threat, so the god-empress indulged her curiosity and let her eyes get drawn in.
She dismissed the words. When she saw the smirk on Fischer’s face, she realized she’d made a mistake.
“You knew, then?” he asked.
“Knew what?”
“That I’m a Maker. You didn’t react at all.” His smirk got sharper. “Have you been watching us? Is that what those two relics behind you are for…?”
She took an involuntary step to the side, placing herself between him and the artifacts.
“Don’t worry. I’m not after your goodies. What I’m after is
”
Aura pulsed out from him. She braced herself, ready to manifest a spear and cut any trickery to pieces, but none came. It was coming from his Matrimonial Suit of the God-King. If its description could be believed, it would broadcast his true feelings for her. His aura saw her as a potential friend. He really was looking for friendship. He didn’t want to battle. If it came to violence, he would fight tooth and nail, but only if there were no other option.
His smirk turned into a frown as the artifact’s secondary effect kicked in and he sensed her feelings in return. “Damn. You’re kinda complicated, aren’t you?”
“
complicated? You openly wear a jacket that claims to manipulate my feelings.”
“Well, it sounds bad when you put it like that…”
“If you really want me to believe you, why don’t you take it off?”
“Whoa. Are you trying to make me undress? I’m married, lady.”
The god-empress felt her jaw grow tense.
Fischer raised his hands to forestall her. “That was too far. My bad.” He patted his chest. “But I can’t take the jacket off. It holds my trump card.”
“Your what?”
“Oh. Did that get lost in translation? A trump card is like a secret weapon. An ace up my sleeve, if you’ll forgive the wordplay.”
“Yet you showed me the description, giving away any secrecy?”
“Uhhh, yeah? That way, you know feelings are genuine. Pretty straightforward.”
She scoffed. “Do you take me for a fool, heretic? You are amusing, but don’t think for a second I believe you, or that anything you’ve said has come across as
—”
“Told you, Fischer,” the ruby-haired woman beside Fischer interrupted. “Steven and I are good, but not
good.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Rubes.” Fischer pointed at his loose-fitting leg garments. “Speaking of shorts, these are a testament to your brilliance. They don’t leave much to the imagination, but there’s nothing better on a summer’s day. You should feel the breeze up here! It’s like having Mother Nature’s nourishing fingers reach into your jocks to tickle your b—”
“Fischer!” Maria slapped him on his bare shoulder. “I don’t care how evil that lady is. I am
okay with you telling her about you ba—”
The one called Rubes dashed over and slapped them both with her free hand, the god-king on the back of his head, then the god-queen on her shoulder. “Language!”
When Rubes had dashed, the bundle shifted in her arms, letting the god-empress catch sight of a small face. Was that a baby? They’d brought an infant to a battlefield…?
“Hey!” Fischer rubbed his head. “I was gonna say bits!”
“That’s not any better! And don’t call me Rubes when I’m angry with you!”
“Okay. Sorry. My bad, Ruby. Can you stop giving me that look? I’m not used to having Fin around yet, and there’s, like,
going on.”
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“No! I
stop giving you that look! You need to watch your mouth around her! Who knows how impressionable her little brain…”
They continued bickering, yammering incessantly as they had been the entire time. The god-empress tuned them out.
The god-empress’s mind raced to absorb it all. He had chosen an infant as his champion? Why? Why was he conversing casually despite his impending annihilation? For that matter, why hadn’t she attacked him yet? Was it the jacket’s influence? Or was it the strangeness and novelty of these enemies delaying her hand?
How had they subjugated the ursine spirit beast without abyssal chi? And where were the rest of the spirit beasts? Had the intimidating bear somehow defeated the others? It didn’t look
strong. She reached out towards it, finding that
it—he—was at the third tier of cultivation. His ideal was related to… aggressive protection? The bear glowered back and shifted closer to the three children, his head lowering, his spikes bristling.
Fischer was blissfully unaware. He was busy being berated by an irate mother. Even if he wasn’t as powerful as the god-empress had feared, he was still a God-King, yet he stayed silent as Ruby chastised him. A god-king, someone closer to the heavens than the lower realm, was letting a lowly cultivator dictate how he conducted himself.
They were insane. All of them.
Had the god-empress come all this way, gathered all this power, only to face a complete madman and his equally insane posse? She knew not how they’d survived her initial volley, but that didn’t matter now. This upstart god-king would soon fall.
“Where are the rest of the spirit beasts?” she demanded.
Fischer paused in the middle of his fifth apology to Ruby, then turned towards the god-empress and gave her a quizzical look.
“Do not play dumb with me god-king. You have a single bear by your side. We know Gormona was attacked by a cadre of different creatures. Where are the birds? Where is the beetle? Where is the rat who shoots lightning?”
Fischer choked back a laugh. “Lady, you are
lucky she isn’t here.”
“So they’re gone? You killed the other spirit beasts? Or are you claiming you drove them away? You really expect me to believe you have that kind of power?”
His quizzical look returned as he considered how to respond.
She pushed her advantage. “Where is your fleet? Where is Bob the Boat?”
“Wait, how do you know about Bob?” He leaned closer, his brow furrowing. “Just how long have you been monitoring us…?”
“Your Holiness,” Evan said. He was kneeling at her side, his gaze locked on their enemies.
She stared death at him. He was supposed to be scanning their surroundings. Her ideal stirred from within, reminding her of her purpose. If his words weren’t of vital importance, she would end him. “Speak.”
“The tree, Your Holiness. I believe a spirit beast dwells within. It’s hiding by flooding the world’s chi from the leaves above, making it difficult to sense.”
She focused on the tree behind Tropica’s forces, and her eyes went wide. Evan was correct. There
a spirit beast concealing itself within—
“Wrooong,” Fischer drawled, interrupting her train of thought. Anger coursed through her.
“I can sense it, fool! Or are you so daft that you didn’t realize?”
He blew air through his lips like a petulant child. “I know the tree is Lieutenant Colonel Lemony Thicket is a
spirit. Not a spirit
Put some respect on her name. Tell ‘em, Lemon!”
The tree grew another limb and waved hello.
Tree spirits were rarely mentioned in Phostheia’s royal library. They hadn’t been seen for thousands of years before the gods’ departure. Even when they
still lived, they weren’t creatures to be ordered around. It had to be a trick. Her theory was confirmed when the ‘tree spirit’ extended a root from the ground and smacked Fischer on the behind. Tree spirits were benevolent beings. Allies of the divine. On the rare occasions they turned on cultivators, it was because the cultivators deserved it. And the punishments tree spirits doled out were far more…
than a soft smack on the rump. To earn their ire was to earn death.
The god-empress made a disgusted noise, unable to hide her contempt for such a blatant lie. It was one thing for this ‘god-king’ to debase himself. It was another thing entirely for him to besmirch the memory of those majestic spirits.
In response to her disgust, however, the branch started radiating power. It was ancient. Pure. And undercut by a scent like decaying leaves, the aroma banishing any hint of the ocean they sailed on. Her divine essence responded to it, telling her the truth. This was no ruse. A tree spirit had allied itself with Tropica.
“How…?” she asked, genuinely curious.
Fischer shrugged. “The power of friendship, obviously. You should try it sometime. I have all manner of weird and wacky pals. Check this one out.” He pressed his fingers between his lips and let out a deafening whistle.
Cracks formed in the air beside him. Within moments, a purple portal had formed, and a spirit beast leaped from it.
“Borks!” Fischer knelt down to its height. “How did you go? Gather em all?”
The dog barked at him, its blond tail wagging violently.
“I knew you could do it. Who’s-a-good-boy?” He started fussing the dog all over. “Who’s-a-good-boy? You are! Yes you are!”
The god-empress narrowed her eyes as waves of contented chi radiated from the creature. Much of it was indiscernible, just as Fischer’s was, but a hint of something familiar dwelled under the surface. Had she experienced it before…?
Beneath her direct gaze—and under the scratching fingers of its insane master—the beast transformed into something long and lithe and covered in midnight fur. Savage canines glinted as it rolled on its back, a tail wagging that wasn’t a tail at all, but a serpent.
Suddenly, the chi’s familiarity made sense. She’d read about it when researching enemies of the divine. The book had described the essence of this realm as dark, sulfuric, but not unpleasant. There’d even been an illustration of the beast before her. This fel creature belonged to Hades.
“Hellhound!” The word tore from her throat of its own accord. “To me!”
She flung her arm forward and summoned a golden spear that flashed through the air toward the spirit beast. Except it didn’t. She glanced down at her hand, wondering why it hadn’t loosed the spear. What was going on?
Fischer had rocketed to his feet, as had the hellhound, both watching her with glowing eyes of shimmering white and hellfire red, respectively.
The Seers and the Prime Cadre appeared at her side, all gathering their power. Her thoughts cut off immediately when she saw the other pair of glowing irises on the shore. For the first time since she’d donned the mask of a ruler, true fear washed through the god-empress. Fin, still bundled in her mother’s arms, stared into Aletheia’s soul with eyes the same shimmering white as Fischer’s.
Fin, Chosen of Fischer, was a cultivator. She had to have been born as such; the System wouldn’t awaken children, even partially, before their fifth birthday.
“Ne…” The god-empress licked her lips, willing her throat to cease constricting. “Ne—”
“
” Eustace asked from her side. “They have a
” Laughter oozed from her, the sound anathema to the horrified faces of Anius and the Prime Cadre. “Now
something you don’t see every day.”
“Nephilim?” Fischer repeated, expression dubious.
“Nephilim is the title of children born awakened, their bodies enhanced in the womb. They are abhorred by the heavens, and all records suggest they should be kill—”
“Enough.” Fischer’s command slammed into them with force rivaling a god’s, cutting Eustace off and redoubling Aletheia’s fear. “What is your name?”
Eustace croaked. “Seer Eustace, Your Holi… uhhhh.”
Fischer’s expression softened, but his will didn’t. “Sorry, Eustace. I don’t wanna hurt you, so don’t use any violent language if you’re talking about Fin. My bond with her
didn’t like that. It told me to throw you into the sun.”
Eustace smiled at that, but Aletheia hardly noticed. As Fischer’s will had pressed down upon her, his eyes swimming with pearlescent light, Aletheia had finally understood why she hadn’t been able to sense his aspect. The god-king didn’t have one.
Impossible.
Anyone attempting to wield pure essence shouldn’t have survived past their first breakthrough, let alone become a god-king. The records told of pure-chi cultivators destroying entire cities when they lost control… and those were base-level cultivators. Just how much destruction would the man before her cause if he were to implode? He had to be eliminated.
No wonder the System had sent her after him.
So why couldn’t she attack?
Her entire arm shook, her ideal warring with Fischer’s will. Her divine chi could tear his bindings apart, yet she didn’t move, something within telling her not to. She furrowed her brow, seeking the answer.
Her internal state had been slipping since she got here. Was it his jacket after all? If that were it, he wouldn’t have shown it to her. Come to think of it, why had she agreed to inspect it? She’d stopped seeing him as a threat at some point—clearly a mistake, given all she now knew.
He had allied with a spirit beasts. He had won over a tree spirit. He had chosen a
as his
for heaven’s sake. On top of all that, he channeled an impossible power, which was strong enough to divert her volley golden arrows.
In response, she had let him talk. She had watched as he spoke of useless things with his followers, all the while having a quest to
them. Then he’d done the same with
followers. Eustace had shown incredible insubordination by talking to the man, and for some reason, that hadn’t bothered Aletheia.
The god-empress’s eyes flew wide.
When had she started referring to herself as Aletheia agai—
Her unseen enemy chose that moment to strike. It all happened in an instant.
The spirit of Aletheia slammed into the god-empress, seeking to burn away the mask she wore. The young woman had escaped the internal pit and slowly retaken parts of the god-empress’s body, seeking to eject her.
“Fool!” the god-empress screamed. She unleashed only a fraction of the chi from her core, forming a golden column that raced down from the mask and slammed into the girl she used to be. Her ideal empowered it, and Aletheia let out a wordless scream as she was blistered, burned, and forced back down toward the pit.
The god-empress didn’t spare the metal seal; it clearly didn’t work. She wouldn’t need it after this anyway.
Aletheia, propelled by the column of divine light, struck the seal. It melted, fusing to Aletheia’s form as the princess careened down into the bottom of the pit, never to rise again.
The god-empress opened her eyes. Her body was once more her own, and she summoned a second golden spear, drawing back the one in her right hand, aiming it for Fischer.
“Damn,” the god-king said, wincing. “I was hoping the other you won tha—”
It was her turn to enforce her will.
Fischer stumbled, as did Maria. Ruby, Steven, and the infant Fin remained upright, protected by Fischer’s shimmering essence. He had shielded them, but not himself. Everyone else on the shore had fallen to their knees, but the Bear’s red aura surrounded them, letting the children hold themselves upright.
She didn’t let that anger her. What did she care? So what if the insects momentarily defied the heavens. But then she noticed the hellhound, who had subverted her order by rolling onto his back. He grinned up at Fischer. His tail was wagging. That made her blood boil.
She drew her right arm farther back and doubled the golden chi filling the spear. “If you have any last words, speak them now.”
Fischer forced himself to smile. “Gladly.” His eyes flicked to her left, examining Elegos for a second before returning to her. “Looks like we’ve wasted enough time.”
She didn’t fall for the obvious ploy.
“My last words are a question,” God-King Fischer continued, then paused. “Well, more a riddle, really. But what’s the diff—”
“Sheesh, lady. I was getting to it.” He stood upright, rolling his shoulders and stretching his neck, somehow defying her command. When his eyes met hers, his smile was no longer forced. “What has an exoskeleton, very-pinchy claws, and rhymes with tarnation?”
A young girl screamed from behind and to her left.