Chapter 200 - Ascension (Patreon)

Zeke and Pudge marched down the center of the street, boldly daring anyone to get in their way. Nearby, Carlos flitted from shadow to shadow, ignored and largely forgotten. Zeke didn’t have the time nor the inclination to devote to the man. Instead, he only had eyes for his destination – the headquarters of the Crystal Spiders at the center of the Nest. Already, he and Pudge had covered most of the distance, but still, Zeke was impatient to rescue Abby and Talia.

In the best-case-scenario, they wouldn’t even need saving. They were both strong enough that they shouldn’t have to worry about most mundane threats. But according to Carlos, this archer, Mykaela, was the real deal; in fact, if she hadn’t actively prevented her frame from spreading – she was an assassin, after all – she might’ve even been mentioned in the same breath as the most powerful people in the Radiant Isles.

Of course, Zeke didn’t care much about the woman’s purported strength. He intended to kill her, regardless of whatever power she might hold. The only question was how much damage he would take in the process. However, he couldn’t help but like his chances; after everything he’d done, he was rightfully confident in his own abilities.

Normally, Jariq was a busy city with streets packed full of pedestrians. Not now, though. Anyone who saw Zeke, wearing his distinctive, crimson-and-white armor. It was almost chuckle-worthy; with the aggressively horned helm, the citizens of Jariq probably thought he looked like a metal demon. That suited Zeke because it truly wasn’t that far from the truth.

Despite his initial trepidation, becoming a cambion hadn’t really affected Zeke that much. Most of the time, he didn’t feel any different than when he was a human. However, he couldn’t deny the benefits of his relatively new racial distinction, particularly his nigh immunity to fire or the ability to infuse his attacks with soul-rending power. He rarely used the latter, largely because, having been on the business end of such a flaying, he knew precisely how torturous it could be. But it was still there, all the same – a weapon that was only waiting to be picked up.

And that wasn’t even considering the changes Pudge had undergone. Because of their unique soul bond, Zeke’s own transition away from humanity had changed the bear as well. Pudge had been transformed from a mostly mundane dire bear into a wholly unique infernal bear, complete with his own set of new powers. The most prominent among them was his ability to breathe destructive fire, but Pudge was also stronger, more durable, and similarly unaffected by flames – an expected change, given that the demonic blood running through their veins.

Zeke clutched his mace, striding forward with heavy, angry steps until, at last, Carlos returned.

“Found her,” he said. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“Tell me.”

“She’s set up about a quarter of a mile over that way,” the ragged, yet handsome man said, pointing toward a slightly taller building in the distance. “Top of that tenement.”

Zeke changed course the moment he had a destination, but Carlos reached out to grab his armored arm. “Wait! I’m not done!” he said.

“What?” demanded an impatient Zeke. He intended to kill the woman who’d put Abby and Talia in danger, and every second that passed without him making headway on that goal was like a burr in his mind.

“She’s not alone,” he said. “The whole building’s been emptied, and it’s swarming with Spiders.”

The expected trap, then.

“Levels?” he asked.

Carlos shrugged. “No unevolved,” he said. “Two that are twenty-five, but they must’ve just gotten there because they’re not familiar to me. And Mykaela. She’s guarded by six people, all of them over level twenty.”

“Total numbers?” Zeke asked.

“Close to forty. Maybe more,” Carlos explained. “A lot of them have stealth skills.”

Zeke nodded, then resumed his march. It wasn’t ideal; he’d have rather been the one to choose the battleground. But at least they’d all gathered in one place for him. That would make it far easier to cripple the entire organization. The Spiders were powerful, but evolved people weren’t common enough that the assassin’s guild could shrug off the loss of forty or more. And three level twenty-fives. Even if they hadn’t abducted and imprisoned Abby and Talia, it might’ve been too good of an opportunity to pass up. After all, the guild had proven itself antagonistic on more than one occasion. He felt justified in removing them from the equation.

“Wait!”

Zeke reluctantly stopped, then, his tone one of irritation, asked, “What?”

“You can’t just charge in there!” Carlos said.

“Sure, I can. Watch,” Zeke said.

“But you’ll –”

“I’ll be fine,” Zeke stated. “You can help if you want, but I understand if you want to sit it out. I won’t blame you for not wanting to kill your guildmates. But if you stand in my way, I’ll consider you to be one of them.”

It was a simple statement, but it was said with such cold confidence that Carlos took a step back. “You would kill me, too?” he asked.

“If I have to,” was Zeke’s response. “I’ve given these assholes multiple chances. I’ve tried to co-exist.” He took a deep breath, then growled, “But they went too far, this time.”

It was one thing to attack him. He could handle it. So could Abby, if it came to that. But the assassins, they hadn’t attacked. They’d used innocent civilians to force her into surrender. They’d known she was a good person, and they had used that knowledge like a weapon. Zeke couldn’t abide that. With that action, the house of cards that was his tolerance had come tumbling down. Now, all he was in the mood for extermination.

“I…I can’t…”

Zeke reached out and clutched Carlos’s shoulder. The other man flinched a bit, and Zeke didn’t blame him one bit. After all, it hadn’t been that long ago that Carlos had revealed his own orders to assassinate the bigger man. It would have been easy enough to lump Carlos into the same category of enemies as the rest of his guild.

“I understand,” he said. “Go back to Talia and Abby. Make sure nothing happens to them while I’m working.”

For a long moment, Carlos looked as if he was going to object, but then, just sighed. “Fine,” he said. “Just…just make sure they don’t suffer. They’re just following orders and trying to survive.”

“I’ll try,” Zeke said. While he could understand the mentality – survival in the Radiant Isles wasn’t an easy thing, after all – people were still responsible for their actions. There were hundreds of different directions those people could have taken than wouldn’t have put them in Zeke’s path. Besides, he was just angry enough not to care overmuch about whether they suffered or not. Then, to Pudge, he said, “C’mon. We’ve got work to do.”

If the emotions wafting off the infernal bear were anything to go by, he seemed just as angry as Zeke felt. Not surprising – he was very attached to Abby, and he’d been getting there with Talia, as well. To him, they were all part of his family – a sentiment Zeke could easily get behind.

With that, Zeke took off at a jog in the appropriate direction, and it didn’t take him long to reach the tenement. It was fifteen stories tall, constructed of the same sandstone as the rest of the city, and bore the same signs as any low-cost housing. Graffiti decorated the walls, the steps were cracked and in disrepair, and there was more than a little trash piled in the alleys. Zeke paid it no mind, instead boldly marching up the steps and pushing through the door. The moment he did, the screech of metal against metal filled the air, and Zeke whipped around to see a stunned young woman holding a wicked-looking dagger.

Her backstab, which had been rendered useless by Zeke’s armor, had left her unbalanced, and Zeke was more than willing to take advantage of her folly. Grabbing her wrist, he brought his fist to bear, destroying her face with a devastating punch. She dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. She wasn’t dead, but she was out of the fight.

Until Pudge bathed her in fire, reducing her to a pile of steaming ashes.

That was more than a little unexpected, and it made Zeke wonder if Pudge wasn’t a lot angrier at the situation than his emotions had let on. Of course, it didn’t matter. Zeke wasn’t that concerned with keeping the Spiders alive, so as far as he cared, Pudge could burn the entire building to the ground.

Pudge perked up at that thought.

“No,” Zeke said. “You are not burning the building down. It’s sandstone, and it would take too long to melt.”

Pudge glared at him, then perked up. Murderous thoughts of dismembering assassins came through the bond. Dismissing that from his mind, Zeke pushed forward into the building to find a mostly empty lobby whose state of disrepair was rivaled only by the tenement’s exterior. The floor tiles were cracked, the walls were dirty, and there was a strange puddle of something Zeke didn’t want to inspect in one of the corners. Even so, that wasn’t what concerned Zeke. Instead, he only had eyes for the seven men and women in front of him. Or more specifically, the hulking man in the center.

Armed with a greatsword and wearing full plate armor, he cut an intimidating figure, not least because he had at least fifty pounds and half a foot on Zeke’s large frame.

“Good of you to serve yourself up like this,” said the man, flipping his visor up to reveal a face creased with age. Zeke took the opportunity to [Inspect] him:

Robert, the Dominator – Level 25

“The Dominator? Really?” asked Zeke, supposing that the man had a similar ability to the one that let Carlos adopt his alternate persona. The former assassin had explained that it wasn’t a skill, but rather a characteristic given to the Spiders upon entry into the guild. It was tied to the crystalline tattoo they all bore on their chests. “That’s kind of cringeworthy, isn’t it?”

“Mock me all you want,” said the man. “You will still die today.”

Zeke was tempted to exchange witty banter with the big man, but he was neither in the mood nor talented enough to pull it off. He’d leave the witticisms to other, more qualified people. Instead, he’d let his mace do the talking.

Reactivating all his skills, Zeke sent an arcing blade of red energy at the men and women, and for most of them, it was as effective as it ever was. However, the red energy splashed against Robert’s armor, dissipating into mist before it had the chance to do anything. With a roar, the big man ran forward, and with each step, he grew a few inches until, by the time he reached Zeke, his head was scraping the twelve-foot tall ceiling. Unslowed by his increased bulk, he aimed a heavy, horizontal slash at Zeke.

The blade whistled through the air, igniting with the white light of a skill. Zeke barely managed to duck under it, and the blade skittered across his armored shoulder. Where it made contact, the armor heated almost to the point of melting, telling Zeke that his instincts had been spot on. He did not want to get hit by that glowing sword.

Could he tank it? Maybe. But it would damage his armor to the point it would take days to repair. Plus, there was always the chance that he’d underestimated the damage. If so, it would tear him apart. Better to just avoid it altogether, and considering that the giant man didn’t seem overly agile, Zeke’s course was set.

He charged forward, his mace coming down in a sledgehammer strike to the man’s booted foot, crushing armor and bones alike. Robert howled in pain as he tried to bring his massive, glowing sword around, but Zeke wasn’t finished. With a sweeping swing of his mace, Zeke destroyed the man’s right knee before diving out of the way of the man’s attack.

Robert lost his balance, and Zeke whipped around, his mace leading the charge in a backhanded blow that collided with the so-called Dominator’s hip. Zeke’s efforts were rewarded with the sound of crunching metal and cracking bone.

And the agonized scream of his opponent.

Zeke didn’t stop there, though. This man was clearly one of the Spiders’ leaders, and so, his fate was sealed. Zeke refused to let him out of the tenement alive. Like a whirlwind, he resumed his attack, battering the now-crippled knight with ruthless ferocity until, after a little more than thirty seconds, he brought his mace down on the man’s head. Due to the agony of his mounting wounds, Robert had long-since lost himself to insensibility, so he barely made a peep as Zeke crushed his skull into mush.

Zeke stood over the man, panting, but not with exertion. Rather, as the assault had continued, he’d found himself focusing on all the wrongs the Spiders had aimed in his direction. More, at what they had done to innocent people. Not only were they involved in human trafficking and slavery, but they had been perfectly willing to sacrifice the refugees as well. And then, they had taken Abby. They had kidnapped and imprisoned her. All to set a trap for him.

And he wanted to show them – and anyone else who cared to watch – the dangers of cornering someone like him. Of threatening the person he loved. He would topple their entire organization, not only because of his anger and outrage, but because if he didn’t, other people might get the same idea. He needed an example. He needed to destroy the Spiders, root and branch.

Looking around, Zeke saw that Pudge had taken care of the other attackers. Some had been ripped limb from limb. Others had been melted by the bear’s flames. Contrary to Pudge’s usual post-battle satisfaction – which normally resulted in the infernal bear rolling around in disgusting viscera – Zeke’s companion’s mindset was as serious as it had ever been. He was determined, and his anger reflected Zeke’s own. They were of a similar mind in regards to the mission before them.

Rolling his shoulders, Zeke marched forward through the pooling blood. He didn’t even bother looting his enemies. He didn’t want their petty trinkets. All he needed was their deaths. That in mind, he found the stairs at the back of the lobby and mounted them. His feet thudded against the sandstone steps; he didn’t care about stealth. They knew he was coming, and he relished the fear they must have been feeling.

When they reached the next floor, the pair were confronted by another handful of assassins. Some waited until he’d engaged to attack from stealth, but none were strong enough to pierce Zeke’s armor. He and Pudge ruthlessly tore them apart before continuing their ascension. All the while, Zeke’s anger mounted.

The guild of assassins had committed a vast amount of resources to trapping him, to killing him. And for what? Because they were afraid? He and his friends had saved their city, and this was their thanks? It was galling enough that, by the time Zeke reached the roof, and after he and Pudge had ended dozens of Spiders, he was as furious as he’d ever been before.

There, a woman flanked by four others stood, arrow nocked and bow drawn as she aimed it at Zeke’s chest.

“Nice of you to join us,” she sneered. The woman – Mykaela – was pretty, if in a completely manufactured sort of way. Perfectly coifed red hair, immaculate makeup that accentuated all her best features, and wearing a tight, leather outfit that showed off her curves, she reminded Zeke of the influencers that had become so prevalent in the old world. But unlike those vapid examples of shallow narcissism, this woman was clearly competent, as demonstrated by her level.

Mykaela, the Femme Fatale – Level 25

He shook his head, “What’s with these names? Jesus…”

That clearly wasn’t the response she’d been hoping for, and she let loose her arrow. It scorched a path toward Zeke. He tried to dodge, but the projectile was going far too fast to avoid entirely. Instead, it slammed into his shoulder, piercing through armor and flesh alike. Then, it shattered into a thousand pieces, ripping his muscles to shreds. He roared in anger and charged ahead.

Like that, the battle began.