Chapter 195 - Innocence (Patreon)

Zeke swung his mace in a wide arc, but just before it connected, the hag disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke. The tree behind her exploded into splinters as the mace struck home. A moment later, the telltale sound of claws against metal announced that the hag had returned Zeke’s intended blow with one of her own. He spun around with a backhanded swing, narrowly missing the elusive hag. She dove backwards in a back flip just in time to avoid Pudge’s most recent pounce.

And all the while, she cackled.

To say Zeke was frustrated would have been an understatement. The hag was just as fast as him, and she could teleport as well. The result was that Zeke felt like a lumbering idiot as he tried to hit her.

But as fast as she was, there wasn’t much real danger to him. His armor was holding up well, and even when she’d attacked Pudge, her claws had been incapable of penetrating his thick hide. They were at an impasse. She couldn’t hurt them, and they couldn’t keep up with her. Something would have to change, and soon.

Luckily, Zeke had a couple of tricks up his sleeve. So did Pudge. Between them, Zeke expected that they could make quick work of the hag.

The hag cackled again, crowing, “Had enough, Chosen? Or would you like to continue this pointless battle?”

“What do you suggest?” he asked, holding his mace before him in a two-handed grip.

“What else? We go our separate ways,” she said with a broad smile that looked far too wide for a human being. In addition, her skin had taken on a jaundiced look, with ochre coloring seeping into her eyes. “This island is big enough for the both of us.”

“Is it?” I asked. “What will you do if I let you go?”

“Let me?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. That same, insane smile remained plastered on her face. “You let me do nothing. If I leave, it is because you can not stop me.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“Because I know you won’t like my response,” she stated. “I am a monster, Ezekiel. A killer. I feed off the souls of the weak. What do you think I will do?”

That settled it for Zeke. He couldn’t let her go. Not and remain true to his own conscience. Tucker – and maybe Abby, too – would have called it a hero complex. Zeke thought of it as being a decent person. The hag would go on to hunt innocent people who couldn’t defend against her. So, if Zeke let her go, it would be his fault. He couldn’t bear that.

Fortunately, he had the tools to back him up. So, he said, “I’m sorry. I know you’re just acting according to your nature, but I can’t let you hurt innocent people.”

She barked a harsh laugh that was so different from her previously gleeful cackle. It was disdainful. Dismissive. “Innocent?” she scoffed. “I have never met an innocent. Everyone has darkness in their souls. I have tasted it.”

“Even so,” Zeke said, tightening his grip and mentally changing the way his most important skill would be expressed. As he did so, he embraced his martial path, and to his surprise, his entire body began to emit a subtle, green glow. With the changes it had undergone, would it affect more than just his mace? Could it, perhaps, enhance his entire body? After all, it bore a new label. Force. That seemed much broader than it had been before.

On my signal, use your flame breath, he sent to Pudge, who acknowledged the mental order. Once she jumps, I’m going to hit her with [Life Scythe]. Be ready to pounce. After that, keep up the pressure. Got it?

Yes, was Pudge’s terse reply.

The idea was simple. The hag couldn’t chain her teleportation back-to-back; instead, there was at least a second where it had to recharge. Maybe more. So, if Pudge forced her to move, then Zeke could hit her with the scything version of his skill. If it connected, she would be weakened. After that, so long as they kept up the pressure, they could win the battle.

Now!

The moment the thought bloomed in Zeke’s mind, Pudge let loose with an eight-inch wide bar of black and red flame. It tore across the small clearing in the blink of an eye, but when it was only an inch or two away from the hag, she disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke.

Zeke was ready for it, and when she reappeared behind Pudge, he sent a blade of red energy scything toward her. Buried within that attack was the purple lightning of his race’s soul attack. It swept through the hag before she could reactivate her teleport, and she screamed in agony. As she did, Pudge turned far more quickly than his bulk should have allowed, and pounced on her. Zeke did the same, watching Pudge’s huge paw connect with her torso, carving a chunk of slightly withered yellow flesh from her right side.

That’s when Zeke arrived. With a roar, he brought his mace to bear. Green energy enveloped his whole body as he brought his mace down in an overhand strike. It connected with the hag’s left shoulder, shattering the bones beneath.

The hag disappeared in another puff of smoke, reappearing ten feet away. Zeke wheeled around, ready for an attack. What he saw was, in a word, pitiful. The hag’s entire left side was mashed into a misshapen series of lumps and protruding bones. Pearlescent yellow blood coated the wound on her other side. On her face was a look of pure hatred.

She spat a mixture of saliva and yellow blood onto the ground, where it sizzled.

“So disappointing,” she growled, her voice taking on a bestial tone. “Very well. You wish a real fight? I shall give you one. As I devour your body, I want you to remember that you chose this path. I was willing to part ways, but you pushed me into this.”

“I won’t let you hurt innocent people,” was Zeke’s response.

“Yes, because you are a hero,” she said, her voice dripping with derision. “I have tasted your thoughts. I have sampled your soul. You are an insecure, pathetic, and genocidal little man. At best, a pest that must be exterminated. For the good of all.”

“Funny,” Zeke said. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”

“I do what I do because it is the only way for me to live,” she said. “You make choices. We are not the same.”

Zeke was about to respond, but when the woman burst apart, sending an explosion of yellow flesh and blood sailing through the air, he rightly thought that it probably wasn’t the time. Because when the dust settled, an abomination stood before him.

Three arms, all of differing lengths and sprouting from a thick, muscular torso at different angles. A head of writhing, black-and-yellow tentacles. Seven stumping, skittering legs. And in the center of the torso, a woman’s beautiful, smiling face. The entire creature hovered a few inches off the ground. She let out a screech, then floated forward.

She didn’t move quickly, which was probably for the best. Zeke ran toward her, swinging his mace with every ounce of strength he possessed. When it hit, it rebounded like it had struck rubber, sending him staggering backward.

Pudge swiped at her, and his claws dug deep. But it was like carving through putty, with the wounds closing up even before he finished his attack. The infernal bear wasn’t to be denied, though, and over the next couple of seconds, he eviscerated the monster.

It did little good, though.

The hag cackled, its arms and legs rotating grotesquely as, in a move so fast Zeke could barely track it, every limb clamped down on the enraged bear. Pudge writhed and bucked, but the hag’s limbs grew, encircling him. After only a second, Pudge was encased in a cocoon of fleshy appendages.

Panic flooded Zeke’s mind. Some of it came from his companion, but the bulk of it originated from his own thoughts. Pudge wasn’t just a friend. He was more than a companion. More than family, even. He was a part of Zeke in a way nothing else could be. And now that he was in very real danger, Zeke’s fury exploded out of him.

He charged again, but this time was different. He wasn’t a man anymore. Rather, he had become the embodiment of rage. Unstoppable. Inexorable. He lived up to his armor’s name. A juggernaut.

When Zeke reached the hag, he swung. Powered by his considerable strength, as well as his martial path, the mace tore through the air with unprecedented furor. When it connected, a huge chunk of the hag came free, the gobbet of flesh splatting against the tower’s wall.

Zeke wasn’t finished, though.

The hag grew a dozen new appendages, each one trying to encircle Zeke. Some succeeded, squeezing him in a python-like embrace. He didn’t care. Activating [Heart of the Berseker], Zeke was flooded with strength and fury as he hammered the monster that was trying to kill his companion. He would have used [Unleash Momentum], but he was afraid of how it might affect his companion. Normally, his allies were immune to his attacks, but something told him that [Unleash Momentum] would be different. So, he held it in reserve, to be used only if the situation proved hopeless.

A wickedly fast limb struck out, knocking Zeke’s mace out of his hands. Another pair encircled his legs. Still another wrapped itself around his chest. His hands were free, though, and he used them to claw his way through the mass of flesh that the hag had become. As quickly as he ripped the limbs apart, they regrew – a display of regeneration that exceeded anything Zeke had ever seen.

None of it mattered. Not to Zeke’s singularly focused mind. Eventually, whatever energy fed it would fail. All Zeke had to do was keep going. To push past his body’s limits.

It would have been easy to lose focus, to let his fury fall away, if Pudge’s panic hadn’t been feeding him. But it was, and so, for hours his anger refused to abate. Gradually, the regrowth slowed as Zeke inexorably tore the thing apart piece by piece. Whatever doubts he might have had had long since faded, overwhelmed by the danger facing Pudge.

At some point, the monster died.

Zeke didn’t stop, though. He continued to rip and tear, even after he’d freed Pudge. The bear, not to be outdone, took his cues from Zeke, adding his claws to the mix. When they’d finished, the hag was nothing more than so much scattered meat.

Zeke slumped to the gore-covered ground, both mentally and physically exhausted. The battle had raged for hours; it might’ve even been days, for all he knew. Mired in a sea of rage and fury, he had completely lost track of himself and time.

He deactivated [Heart of the Berserker], and his fatigue nearly overwhelmed him. Pudge approached, dipping his enormous head beneath Zeke’s arm and offering support. Like that, Zeke rose and they went inside the tower. As Zeke did so, he removed his armor. It hadn’t come through unscathed. The greaves, tassets, and breastplate were misshapen, crushed by the hag’s tentacles and appendages. They would repair themselves, though. The battle had provided plenty of energy for that small task.

After stowing his armor, Zeke asked Pudge to fetch his mace. The bear complied, heading outside and returning only a few seconds later with the bone-hafted Voromir clutched between his teeth.

“Thanks, buddy,” Zeke said, taking the weapon and storing it. Then, he began the arduous task of climbing the stairs. He was so exhausted that he debated eschewing the shower and going straight to bed, but after looking down at his gore-covered body, he knew that wasn’t an option. So, he took some time to clean himself up, and after far too long, collapsed onto the bed.

He awoke some indeterminate time later, and before he opened his eyes, he remembered the quest he’d just completed. He pulled up the text, and though he would soon get a reward, he had difficulty feeling happy about it. The whole quest had been emotionally draining. The hag had played him like a fiddle, giving him a sob story that ensured he would do precisely what she wanted him to do. On top of that, the battle had been exhausting, both mentally and physically. So, it was difficult to take much pleasure in the quest’s completion. Still, he focused on the appropriate text:

Quest: A Sad Story

Objective: Avenge Jacie (Complete)

Choose Reward: Weapon (F), Armor (F), Accessory (F)

There really wasn’t much of a choice there. He was comfortable with his mace, and he suspected that it would eventually evolve. Replacing Voromir just felt wrong. He’d just spent a small fortune and quite a bit of time and effort on his armor, so that didn’t seem an appropriate choice either. So, by process of elimination, there was only one choice left. He selected the accessory.

The moment he confirmed his choice, he felt a disturbance in the air. He sat up to see that a white-and-gold chest had planted itself at the foot of his bed. With a sigh and a small tingle of excitement, he opened it to reveal a shimmering ring of white metal. When Zeke picked it up, he saw that the metal had pulsing, yellow veins throughout its structure. Otherwise, the surface was unmarred and unadorned. He picked it up and inspected his reward:

[Ring of Veracity] (F) – A ring of mithril, infused with the essence of a night hag. Allows the wearer to sense another entity’s intent. Not Upgradeable.

It was a strange item, and one for which he saw little use. Still, all of the other items he’d received when completing quests had been very useful, so he slipped the ring on his finger. It adjusted its size, clamping itself down until it was unlikely to move. Then, he glanced at the sleeping Pudge – and got nothing for his trouble. Certainly, he felt plenty of thoughts wafting off of the bear, but those were a normal part of his soul bond. Maybe there was something extra; maybe there wasn’t. It was difficult to tell for sure.

He would just have to wait until he met back up with the rest of his party before he could test the ring out. Even if it proved useful, Zeke was unsure if the quest had been worth doing. Not only had he been forced to endure Oda’s offer, but he’d also been manipulated by a powerful creature. He had survived, but at the expense of some portion of his trusting nature.

Maybe that was a good thing, all told. He wanted to help people. He wanted to trust them. But in this world – and probably the next – people were dishonest and self-interested, almost to a fault. And it was high time he adjusted his mindset accordingly.

With that done, he lay back on the bed and let his mind drift back into unconsciousness. Hopefully, by the time he awoke, his friends would be returned to him. Then, they could get back to the quest that really mattered.