Collide Gamer

Chapter 1018 – The mystery of the Death Zone Finale – In the arms of an angel

John was on his last leg, almost literally. In the past couple minutes, his situation had gone from dire to hopeless. Salamander had been taken out first. Out of mana and options, the endflame elemental had engaged into melee. One misstep later and she had been confined and torn apart by several of the Lorylim. Siena had found her end soon thereafter, in a similar fashion. Third had been Sylph, who was first hit by a stray projectile and then trampled. In an attempt to help her, Beatrice had gotten herself in an isolated position and followed after holding her position on her own for a solid minute. Gnome had been buried under the subsequent tide of bodies and died just a few seconds ago.

Now it was only John, Metra, and Undine. He was alive because the strategy was to protect him, Metra was alive thanks to her Astrotium armour and Undine was alive because she was still infused into Purgatory. John was low on HP, out of mana, and still getting the ticking damage from Thana’s aura. Deploying Stirwin was the last lifeline he could pull, but there hadn’t been enough of a charge to make that worthwhile. ‘Can we make a run for it?’ Metra asked. If there was any benefit to their diminished group size, it was that both him and Metra had the ability to teleport. There was no one left abandoned if they turned tail now.

‘I don’t know,’ the Gamer told her. They had made a dent in the enemy’s forces, but more than half still remained, attached to that vile Swarmhost that kept empowering them with blood. Those trees were also why John had no definitive answer, as more branches had grown out and obscured vision of the outside. ‘Not like we have a choice though,’ he added, as the Lorylim charge continued.

John teleported once, then used Skitterstep to throw off the pursuers. He repeated that process two more times, bridging a sixty-metre distance in two seconds, and found himself outside the confines of the trees. He didn’t look back and started running. Metra used his vision to open her own portal, spending her last mana.

Unsurprisingly, they found themselves among a crowd of Lorylim hosts. The good news was that these ones weren’t part of the amalgam’s swarm. Slower by a huge margin, the Gamer and the First of Wrath could dodge their attacks with minimal effort and keep running. They weren’t quite sure where to, but anywhere was better than there.

There was a distinct rumbling behind and under them. Doubtlessly the Swarmhost was on the chase. Where the subterranean main body burrowed itself through the earth, its attached organisms followed the survivors over earth and pavement. The sounds of their maddened moans came closer and closer, no matter how much John pushed his body.

“[Intimidation]”

The negative sound carved itself into John’s perception, just as the intense weirdness washing over him caused him to shudder uncontrollably. He dared look over his shoulder, seeing Nia stand before the swarm of Lorylim, straight and staring them down. As if pushed back by a magnetic field, the creatures refused to advance any closer toward her.

“Delaying the inevitable,” Thana commented, still following them and watching from a close distance.

John didn’t care if she was right or not, the relief he felt both at the momentary safety and seeing the pariah was immense. He would have kept running, since that was clearly the intended strategy, if it hadn’t been for the pillar of tar exploding before him, branching out into a teeth-thorned bramble wall. He and Metra instead retreated to Nia’s position, as the other Lorylim encircled them.

“Magus Step?” Nia asked.

“I’ll have two in a couple of seconds, we’ll see how far that gets me.”

“I see.”

“You can return from the other side, right?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps you should fade here then.”

“Yes.”

“…Will you?”

“No.”

John clenched his jaw and fists. He wasn’t done fighting yet, but their chances of victory were practically non-existent. “It’ll take a miracle,” he mumbled. The intimidating aura shrunk. His instincts cheered at that fact, but his mind knew that this was their last lifeline. “Anything up your sleeves?”

“Can you conveniently summon an ocean?” Metra asked, half joking.

“Would have done it earlier, if I thought that was an option.”

“Then I’m out of options.”

“If we can run, I found a potentially safe destination,” Nia said.

“Seriously?”

“About a kilometre further west.”

The Lorylim crawled a little bit closer. John glanced up at Thana, who growled and fidgeted on top of a broken wall. As unhappy as the goddess of genocide was, she also seemed determined to suppress all inclinations to help them. The aura shrunk a little bit further. Then John saw something move in his periphery. A vast writhing massing and a streak of golden and funky light. The latter approached much faster than the former. Then the streak was suddenly there.

John noticed the changes to his girlfriend immediately. The overt ones, like the claws of hard-light on her left hand and the geometric shapes shining through her arm, and the supple ones, like her cat ears being blue rather than the usual, transformation-induced copper. His mind raced to the obvious conclusion, fusion with Copernicus, only to hear her say, “Ya seem to be in a pickle, tiger,” in a voice and tone completely unchanged.

‘Quarter-fused, the hell?’ he wondered, but confusion about that and the deformed head in her right hand had to be put aside for later. All that mattered was that Rave was not only a living miracle – she was a living miracle that could save their lives in this situation. “Seismic Step and then we run, further plans on the way.”

“Roger that!” Rave immediately followed his command. She ignited her golden Aura and Nia dropped hers to remove interference. The Lorylim rushed forward. Rave raised her left leg, foot dangling loosely. Rex Magnar cried out in jubilation, as it cleaved the skull of the fastest Lorylim, its prismatic glory running with the gore of abominations. Rave brought down her foot. The earth caved.

John teleported a split second before the shockwave could threaten his balance. There was a deep, disgusting scream, accompanied by an equally disgusting belching sound. The bramble in front of him transformed into a geyser of Lorylim matter and blood, raining down on everyone and everything around. John had no time and no care left for this, he was covered in spores and filth anyway. Instead, he teleported the second time.

First, he only concentrated on running. Then, when Nia, Metra and Rave caught up to him, he followed the pariah. The First of Wrath and the Lightbearer continuously drove back their pursuers. The earthbound pack was immediately weakened by the death of the Swarmhost, but the wind elemental amalgam was still on their tail and an issue.

“Want me to take care of that?” Rave asked.

He wanted to ask if she could, but that was a redundant question. The amalgam was around the same level as the last two, almost a hundred underneath his girlfriend. Of all the jumps in power, this one was by far the most ridiculous. “If you can.”

“Might have to have someone carry me afterwards,” she warned.

“400 metres,” Nia said.

Already John knew what Nia had meant with a potential safe place. Among pits filled with the weakest of the competing Lorylim hosts and fields growing only large mould stalks was an intact church. It didn’t radiate a holy glow and neither had the passage of time inside the barrier left the wooden walls in a pristine state, but among all of the ruin and rot, the place of worship stood out.

“Go for it,” John said and watched his girlfriend’s hair turn as gold as her aura. ‘Metra, you carry her back,’ he told the ancient weapon needlessly. Already, the First of Wrath was hurrying after the feline Lightbearer.

John and Nia stopped at the entrance of the church and turned around to witness what happened next. They were too far away to hear the words, but John could see it from a distance – the moment her incantation finished, she turned into a nova. The straightforward punch he was used to had been replaced by five slicing energy waves.

‘No, that’s not quite it,’ the Gamer analysed, the movement of the attack burning itself into his retina. ‘It’s more like the aftershocks of Copernicus’ blessing applied to the slicing motion of the attack. The mechanics remain the same, a superpowered physical attack, reinforced by extremely hot light magic, but the aftermath is channelled into specific trajectories.’

John sighed, feeling the slightest bit of relief. The third massive amalgam fell to the ground, sliced into several flaking chunks. Observe told him that some of its components had survived, but they weren’t quite so threatening individually. Soon enough Rave and Metra joined them at the church entrance. While the feline Lightbearer was able to cross the remaining distance, she clearly was tired. “I’ll watch your back,” the First of Wrath assured, nodding towards the last couple of Lorylims still on their tail.

“You might not have to,” John said and walked into the church.

The air inside was stale, but largely spore free. The abandoned benches still stood in rows, the altar and a modest cross intact. John walked up to it and lowered his head. He wasn’t about to kneel before Jesus. Even if Christ was real, which John wasn’t convinced of, the prayer that followed wasn’t directed at him. Outside, Metra’s weapon screamed guitar riffs and Lorylim screeched.

‘Not sure if you can even hear me this way or if this is something Gaia let’s you do. If you can and if she will, if you care as much about peace as I’ve been informed you do, then I implore you to protect us.’ He felt what little mana he had regenerated drain away and the holy glow did descend on him.

Manifesting before the cross in the shape of a glowing humanoid, Lucifrena appeared before him. Her balanced hourglass figure was richer for a select few more details. Her white hair was shortly cut and disorderly, having almost lost the supernatural flickering and flowing. She had nails now, which looked a bit odd on her otherwise golden, metallic body. Her verdant eyes had more detail surrounding them, and a pair of soft lips sat underneath a cute nose. Still, her facial features had something manufactured about them, as if he was looking at a mannequin.

“Only here.” He heard her speak discernible words for the first time and it made his ears bleed. Her voice was tranquil and beautiful, but the power within too much for his eardrums to handle. Gamer’s Body fixed them up within moments. He averted his eyes as well, as he nodded. They started to burn.

Six wings manifested behind her as she hurriedly walked outside. ‘Get out of the line of fire,’ John advised the First of Wrath who obliged and retreated into the church. They stood there, waiting. First there was silence, then there was a familiar, predatory scream. ‘Oh no,’ the Gamer thought and hurried outside.

He was almost blown back by the shockwave that greeted him. The space around the church was littered with crystal crosses and among them Thana clashed with Lucifrena. The goddess of genocide was obviously the stronger between the two, but the angel could put up a fight. A fight between the two was almost as dangerous to be near than the past couple engagements had been. “Stop!” he shouted.

Lucifrena flew up. If it hadn’t been for the effect her voice had on people, John had a feeling that she would have said something like, “I do not wish for any bloodshed.”

Thana hissed and looked over to John. She smiled, then slapped herself. “You should have died,” she growled.

“Probably,” the Gamer conceded and stepped aside, inviting her into the church. “Whatever we do next, you’ll want to watch, right?” Whatever Thana currently thought of him, it being complicated was doubtlessly an understatement; that she wasn’t willing or able to be the source of his demise was clear. Aid in it, sure, but even then only to a limited degree. All the proof he needed for that was that she took the invitation and that the aura of humanity’s bane was deactivated before she even started walking.

John himself wasn’t completely happy about having her around. Minor help or not, she had contributed to several of his girls losing their bodies and himself standing a couple of metres away from death’s door. If he treated her like dirt, that was only likely to repeat, however. More importantly, she shared Eliza’s body and the last thing he wanted was for his pretty little psycho to regain her consciousness and be alone.

The other three girls in the room seemed to understand the thought process. Undine separated from Purgatory, bringing their headcount up to five in total. A moment later, Rave’s shining marks drained towards the fingertips. Strands of hair flew out and conjoined into Copernicus. The solar jaguar was seemingly unchanged, although Observe disagreed.

“Just… how?” the eclipse elemental wanted to know.

“The power of friendship, duh,” Rave said and winked.