The Gamer Chapter 1681 – Black Teeth [Aclysia POV] (Patreon)

Getting back to Merida by night had been easy. A cab called, a cab paid an extraordinary sum for the trouble. Just like that, they were back in the city. Abyssal connections had been pulled so Claire could smoothly extract Fianna from the hospital and then be driven back with her to where they had parked the airplane.

Claire, in the disguise of a middle-aged woman, had entered the hospital. Nia had disappeared to somewhere. That left Aclysia alone, standing outside of the large building.

Eyes closed, she tried not to garner any attention. Inside, she was seething. Her beloved had gone through a few very difficult days. Any and all culprits were currently at large and all she wanted to do was rip someone to shreds for the audacity of making this harem trip so much of a dangerous chore.

That was why she almost cheered when she felt herself getting pulled into a Trap Barrier.

“The instruments of this age are most interesting.” Aclysia opened her eyes to see a tall figure stand before her. Black was his chest, the colour of coal but polished like obsidian. Muscles shone in the light of this clear night. A loincloth wrapped around his waist proudly presented a pelvic curtain decorated with tribal symbols that matched the aesthetic of the Aztecs.

In his clawed hands, the man held an orb that Aclysia recognized as the reason why she was in this Trap Barrier. A Fateweaver enchanted object, something that cost quite the sum to anyone and a relatively recent invention. Perhaps more interesting than it, however, was the man’s head. Like a panther carved out of a black diamond, it appeared. White teeth were set into the mask, except for the canines. The canines were like obsidian daggers.

“I did not expect this fledgeling to attract such powerful a protector.”

The panther head was a mask, the actual mouth of the man still visible behind it. Despite that, the eyes of the mask moved as if they were his own. Aclysia remained focused on the man’s teeth. Even his human ones had black fangs.

“You are the one that infected her?” Aclysia asked, her voice a mask of grace and patience.

The two-metre-tall panther man dropped the orb in his hand into a crimson hole that opened up in the ground beneath him. “I am Tezcatlipoca, god-warrior of the dark. You are invaders in my territory.”

Aclysia’s fingers twitched. ‘As if my Master requires permission to go anywhere,’ she thought, but remained cordial for the moment. “If we promised to leave, would you dispel your diseases?”

“The rot will leave you only after you have left my realm.”

“I see. Then negotiations have failed.” Aclysia could not keep a faint smile from showing. “My Master will not be coerced to leave… but one more question, if you would entertain me. Why bother to infect her and show her that broken tribe.”

In the open maw of the mask, the man showed a ferocious grin. “To draw out the sponsor of the spy, of course.”

“Congratulations on your plan working so far, then. Let me shatter your delusions of grandeur!”

The clothes the maid had been wearing were replaced in a flash of frost. A Glacial Exoskeleton layered on top of the black scales that clad her charging form. Tiamarath manifested in an instant, adding an aura of bloody crimson to the frozen winds that whirled around her. An overhead strike aimed for the masked head of the man.

The weapon of black and white mithril slammed into an equally giant sword of fused animal teeth and obsidian. Aclysia’s strength was such that she drove back her opponent, this so-called god-warrior of the dark. In doing so, she left herself open. Only one hand held the grip of his sword, the other was lowered and gathered a mass of darkness.

Aclysia had expected a slice or a jab, as shadow magic tended to manifest when used aggressively. Instead, she felt a blunt and broad impact in her stomach. She was catapulted back, folded around the magical projectile. It was in the deep, almost electronically distorted sounds it made that she recognized this type of magic.

The impossibly dense sphere of magic stuck to her even after she had landed, dragging itself and her towards the centre of the Earth. Thinking fast, Aclysia dismissed Tiemarath. The pull of the orb got stronger now that Bloody Tarnation no longer boosted her Physical Stats. Rapidly adjusting her physical make up, Aclysia moved weak materials to where the sphere was attached to her, then sliced the region of her stomach clean off with her dagger, Salver.

Tezcatlipoca did not let her enact that in peace. The god-warrior crossed the distance. His enormous sword swung clean through Aclysia, the Reality Fracture turning her ephemeral. Confused, shouting in a rage, he cut several more times in the three seconds that the effect ran its course. During that time, Aclysia only sliced once.

The Delayed Cut activated after she returned to the material realm. The mithril carved a line through the chest of the man. A shallow line that immediately frosted over at the rim. “What is this rigid cold?!” Tezcatlipoca roared, clawing at the Black Ice.

“Your just dessert,” Aclysia answered, then went into a Cutting Flurry. The first of the three high-speed attacks carved another groove into the taller man’s pectorals. The second was swatted aside, Eclys vibrating from the strength of the attack. The third came back with a vengeance, Tiamarath claiming some of her life force to boost the attack even further.

It met with another orb of condensed gravity magic. The two combatants were locked in a momentary struggle, then a backlash of force exploded. Deep purple energies soaked into Tiamarath, turning the already heavy weapon into a tool too cumbersome for use.

Aclysia dropped it without a second thought. The black ice that had crawled up the blade suddenly formed draconic claws. Grabbing the Aztec god-warrior by the side of his head, she turned around with all of her Master-given Strength, pulling Tezcatlipoca along with the motion. Hard, she slammed him into a wire pole, causing wood to shatter.

Impressively, she had to admit, the man caught himself on his hands, pulled together like a loaded spring, and then launched a kick straight to Aclysia’s torso. She flew only half as much as she thought and crashed twice as hard.

Barely she had managed to catch herself that Tezcatlipoca was upon her. Eclys manifested in her hand. A second Reality Fracture saved her from the lunge, but her opponent had grown wise to that trick. Backing off, her enemy only waited out the duration of the effect, then was right back on.

Aclysia changed to a defensive tactic, using Eclys to deflect the many blows. The Black Ice was growing on her enemy and the glacial winds circling around her were sapping the heat from his muscles. Bit by bit he grew slower, weaker, and eventually he would be helpless before her.

A roar to the heavens opened eight portals around the god-warrior. Out of each flowed crimson streams, seeping into his skin at rapid speed. Wounds closed as muscles bulged. Black Ice stuck, but that benefit was only worth so much when her opponent’s speed suddenly increased to outclass her own.

Tezcatlipoca knocked her defences wide open with a singular precise blow. His weapon disappeared from his hand at the end of the motion and he brought his fist down on her with gravitational might. Aclysia felt the impact stick to her, weighing her down. A second and third rapidly followed, then a whole flurry of blows, each leaving an orb sticking to her that added more and more to her weight.

One final knock to the head forced Aclysia to bend. She was incapable of taking as much as a swaying step. All over her, spheres of condensed gravity magic weighed her down. Her knees trembled. She refused to drop. She would not lower herself to another man.

‘One more chance,’ she thought to herself, eyes dashing to Tiamarath, right behind her opponent.

“You are a true warrior, woman of metal!” Tezcatlipoca complimented her, while breaking Black Ice off that threatened to cover his right eye. “But you are no god-warrior!”

“Then fight one only one step below a true god!”

A standard of golden, glorious light descended from the heavens. It slammed into the ground where Tezcatlipoca stood a moment ago. The offensive brightness of the light made even Aclysia blind for a moment. Her adjusting eyes made out the sight her ears already made her expect. An arrogant horse neighed.

There sat a man atop his golden steed. His armour was a decadent thing, more ornamentations than proper plate. Deliberate gaps for the ribcage and the fingers showed naked bones covered in rings that had been fit around each joint and each rib. Rather than a helmet, this rider wore a cowl of flaming light, showing a translucent face that was as handsome as the skull visible behind it was.

“I am Zelos! I am Glory!” The Horseman pointed his flaming spear at the god-warrior. “And none shall know victory but Death! Grant upon my master what his bargain demands, reincarnate!” Tezcatlipoca charged, his sword clashing with the side of Zelos’ spear. “Are you defying the will of Death, cat?!”

“The message is clear, the deal is off!” Tezcatlipoca roared. More of the crimson portals opened all around him, feeding streams of red ichor to the god-warrior. “How did you even get in here?!”

Glory laughed and kept his weapon steady. A haughty grin on his face, he turned to look at Aclysia. “And you, servant of the new man!” he addressed her in his magnanimous voice. “You have defied the will of the Reaper! You too shall know Death’s will! You interfere with his great affairs!” Tezcatlipoca pulled back his weapon, but the Horseman effortlessly knocked even the next strike aside. His steed whirled around and reared. Spear raised high, Glory prepared to bring it down on the helpless opponent with the descent of his golden steed’s hooves. “Know that it was your pride that led to your fall!”

Aclysia had quite enough of this charade.

Juggernaut activated. Gravitational magic glued onto her simply dropped as the inhibition defying Skill came into effect. Snapping upwards, Aclysia rammed Eclys through the neck of the golden horse. Its skin flickered, the illusion failing as the Spellslicing weapon cut through and revealed the skeletal steed underneath.

Smoothly, Aclysia twisted out of the way of the descending hooves, dove under the spear, and grabbed Tiamarath. She raised the weapon just in time to block a cataclysmic strike by the empowered god-warrior.

“How ghastly!” Glory gasped, as black ice spread over the neck bones of his steed. “Black does not suit a man such as I! Have at thee, foul frigid scum!”

Aclysia threw her head back just in time to escape another thrust of the spear. Tezcatlipoca was about to capitalize on the diminished pushback on his sword, when the burning weapon swung upwards, catching the man in the chest.

There was no question to be raised by the god-warrior what that was about, no confusion about who was on who’s side. Aclysia launched herself at Tezcatlipoca only because he was the closest and easier target. “Stop covering me in your solid cold!” he demanded in Nahuatl. It occurred to Aclysia that ice was not an element often seen around these parts.

The thought was drowned in the pounding of adrenaline. Aclysia’s lunge missed the side of the god-warrior, who caught Zelos’ horse with an uppercut. The rider jumped from his steed and descended on Aclysia – spear pointed down. A swift change to Salver allowed her to activate Reality Fracture once more. The thirty second cooldown was quite generous.

Zelos’ spear extended into a new standard upon impact. A shining banner unfolded, blinding both Aclysia and Tezcatlipoca. Still, the god-warrior took his swing and it actually landed. By the time Aclysia’s eyes had once more adjusted, Zelos had crashed into a house wall. “Struck? Me? Inconceivable! I am Zelos!”

The words were mere undertone to the exchange of blows that followed. At first it was just the maid on the god-warrior, then the Horseman re-entered the fray. The constant exchange of blows shattered and cracked the nearby pavement, turning tar into frigid dust. As the fight continued, Tezcatlipoca grew stronger and stronger, but slower and slower, while Glory’s undead form seemingly made him nearly immune to the frozen aura.

“This is a waste of TIME!” Tezcatlipoca roared. A gravitational pulse caused both of his opponents to take an involuntary step backwards. That was enough time for him to start dropping through a portal. The layer of Black Ice on his torso and face cracked and burst with every motion. “We’ll meet again, intruders. No debts will be paid. No cure will be given. Our rule is at hand!”

Glory and Aclysia simultaneously stabbed at where Tezcatlipoca’s head was. The portal closed at that moment, causing wielder of flaming spear and ice encrusted sword to turn on each other; weapons clashed and quivered as they engaged in a struggle of raw strength. Aclysia felt that she would be the winner in due time.

“You’re not the target. You can just leave. I’ll be that nice,” Zelos offered.

“Provide answers to my Master’s inquiries and we can end these hostilities.”

“What would the question be?”

“Why are you here? Why are you so vehemently against us operating in this area?”

“I can’t answer the former but for the latter… because the wandering Death has an upstart to show his PLACE!” The horse suddenly barrelled into their struggle. Aclysia was trampled, while Glory grabbed the reins of his steed and swung himself on top of it. Black Ice covered half of the horse’s head, but it being half-blind served as barely an inconvenience. “This is the simple truth!” Zelos announced, pointing his flaming weapon at Aclysia. Two banners lit up the night, flanking the Horseman like a radiant general. “The Lord of the Necropolis is perfectly capable of collecting on a debt while reminding John Newman and his lackeys that there are still powers above him! We need no greater motivation than the White Wanderer’s will!”

Claire: Headmaid, in case you are stalling for time, I believe I should inform you that we are now in a car and heading for the edge of the city.

Aclysia glanced at the message, dismissed it with a thought, then focused the Horseman before her. ‘Can I beat this entity?’ she thought to herself and stared at his cocky smile. Her instincts gave an uncertain answer, slanted in one direction.

No.

The horse of Glory suddenly reared up. This time it was not a preparation for a strike, but a reaction to the wave of weirdness that crashed over the monster. The pariah standing between them lazily let her eye wander from the Horseman to her ally. “We should go,” she told Aclysia.

“Together we could-“

“The barrier to entry has fallen. His reinforcements are underway. There’s more of them than us,” Nia stated plainly, then turned her attention to Zelos. “Let us go or I will undo your immortality.”

Zelos tried to get his horse under control and failed to answer. Considering that this man was, unjustifiably, even more prideful than her Master, Aclysia considered that permission enough. She turned around and dashed towards the edge of the barrier. Slamming her fist into it, she first caused a crack, then a prismatic hole in the middle of the air.

“Thank you,” Nia said, walking out first.

“Your punishment will come!” Glory shouted. “No one defies Death!”

“The fear of death is nothing compared to loyalty,” the maid answered, returning her form to something mundanely presentable.

Then, she too stepped out.