Deicide: To Kill The Gods

“Diana is not coming with me!” I snapped at Meryll, holding up Diana, who was making a cute face on purpose, eyes wide and glimmering with light. I turned away from her face, wrestling with the urge to take her into my arms. The woman appeared to be using her to attempt to soften me, but I hardened my heart and stood firm in my beliefs.

“It is too dangerous for her. She will stay with you here, where she will be safe.” I said, folding my arms and tilting my chin to one side, looking at both of them out of the corner of my eye.

“Kyuu!” Diana's voice sounded, and I left out a sigh as my arms fell to my sides, leaning over before drawing myself back up to full height. There was nothing I could do to stop her from coming, as she'd cling onto me, no matter how hard I tried to remove her.

My body twisted to face towards the door, picking up the satchel Meryll had given me, carrying a waterskin and enough food to last me the day– though our trip would likely take me longer than that.

I was dressed in a white shirt and leather pants that tucked into a set of boots that fastened to just above where my heel ended. The shirt was covered by a black tunic, tied with a belt that contained my blade, and a gorget that fit snugly around my neck. Meryll had placed a few braids into my short hair, ending with beads ‘for good luck’. I didn't know how much that would actually help me, but I appreciated the gesture.

I outstretched my arm. As though we had been doing it for years, Diana leapt from Meryll’s arms onto my forearm, padding up my arm to rest, perched on my shoulder comfortably, head held high as I felt her weight pressing down on me.

As I pushed the door open, facing the unknown, I raided my hand.

“I’ll see you there, Meryll.” It was all I needed to say. She would keep herself safe. She was a strong sage– I was sure of that much. Just what kind of person did one have to be to gain a stigmata from the Guardian of the Forest? But before that, I wanted to figure out what kind of person Xiăo was.

As I closed the door, Meryll got to her feet, and made her way towards the window, watching us walk into the distance.

“I wonder whether Xiăo will be happy that Mother has returned.” She mused.

The journey through the forest went smoothly. We stopped infrequently, only whenever we got tired. And whenever we stopped, I was sure to train my soul core for the trials ahead. Diana slept beside me as I focused on purifying my core. Getting stronger. Strong enough so that I wouldn't lose to traitors.

If what Jasper had said was right– although he had betrayed us all– then Hua's siblings were after her life.

What siblings they were.

Nonetheless, I needed to get stronger in order to reunite with her in the first place– and the family I had as well. I'd tear through whatever this damn Guardian threw at me, no matter what it was.

My teeth tore through a large chunk of meat– as apparently, Elysian Beasts were edible, I'd noticed–, Diana scarfing down every last bit on the bone, before eyeing mine with what I could only translate to a coy grin.

“Kuu…?”

I sighed, chewing the chunk I had ripped off. I wasn't too hungry anyway, and she was growing. It was best for her to have it. Placing it down, she squealed excitedly, and I let out a slightly suppressed chuckle, a hand running through her fur.

The stars glittered above. Random, yet organised all the same, as though some divine being had carefully placed each and every one of them there upon a black canvas.

“Thanks for being here, Dia,” I mumbled. As much as I'd been scared to bring her in the first place, for fear she'd come to harm or slow me down, I appreciated the company. If it weren't for her, I'd likely have been driven insane– or worse.

“Kuu.” She responded, and I supposed she could understand me– or the sentiment. I couldn't tell which one, but it was good enough. I curled inwards, wrapping her in an embrace, attempting to ignore the hard, cold ground beneath me as I hugged her, trying to sleep.

The night was cold– but I drifted off to sleep peacefully, the birds chirping in the distance adding to the ambience of the situation.

—

Our journey continued on, until we came to the very heart of the forest– or that's what I thought it was. Diana had been sniffing out the way, using the tracks of many dead adventurers to gauge the direction we were going in.

The trees parted unnaturally, their trunks bent off to one side as though an invisible force was pressing them aside. Growing close to the centre of the clearing, I was met with a semi-translucent, circular dome barrier. My palms rested on it– and I couldn't properly see what was inside. It was more like a bubble, if anything– the light from outside refracted off of it in rays of brilliant light, forming a rainbow spectrum all across the barrier. The barrier felt popable, yet hard as a rock all the same. No matter how hard I pushed, I couldn't seem to find a way through.

Diana, on the other hand, could pass through the barrier with ease, stepping in and out of the space, before wagging her tail, gesturing to me to grasp it. I did so, and she made her way through the barrier– and this time, I was able to pass through.

Before I could fully take in my surroundings, a voice rang out through the void. I wasn't listening to it. It was inside my brain and all around me– it was omnipresent. I could only remember hearing such a voice once. From Isabella, in that void.

“Come.” It spoke weightily, the voice alone enough to force me to my metaphorical knees.

“You have enough arrogance to face the Trials– as a child, let alone a seasoned adventurer. Come, for none who have entered have left. Your bones will be a fine addition.”

I clicked my tongue in annoyance as the voice dispersed. My limbs still trembled from its weight, the crushing force innumerable. Had such a being been before us whilst speaking, I would have no doubt crumpled to the floor simply because of the pressure exerted by its soul.

Finally gathering myself, I took a look around the space we were in. Turning on my heel, I approached the barrier– but there was now. The only thing behind me was a wall made from marble with no doors or windows. The barrier had transported us to a completely separate area in space-time.

Before us stood a long corridor, pillars lining the walls with shadows dancing in the corners. With every step I took, a candle on top of a lampshade set aflame, causing the shadows to retreat further into the corners of the room. Approaching the wooden door at the end, it had large, golden rungs– presumably to pull it wide open. My hands rested on them, before gripping them firmly.

A bead of sweat trickled down my forehead as I pulled. No luck. Allowing my soul to run through my veins, cladding and reinforcing my strength, I tried again. To no avail, I tried over, and over, and over again, until my soul core was emptied of its contents and I let out a frustrated growl, kicking the door with all my might. It didn't shake, but my foot did in response to the impact as I bit my lip to attempt to stop myself from screaming.

Hopping around for a bit, I didn't notice Diana scratching the door, before padding I've to me and tugging on the leg of my pants, leading me over. The edges of the rounded door had runes inscribed in them. Runes. Soul energy. Magic.

That was the key– I hoped. It appeared to be. Diana leapt up to my shoulder again, and I took a deep breath in, unleashing the different elements into my palms. As I placed my hands upon the rungs, the runes on the door glowed brightly, and I sucked a breath in.

Soul reinforced my entire body, not just my arms, and I pulled. The door groaned as it opened, and I cursed.

“Shit.” I was met with an immediate barrage of arrows, piercing through the silence. However, after squinting my eyes, they weren't… arrows. They were tiny, thin bolts of sharpened ice. Eyes widening, I raised my hands.

[Airwall]

A barrier of fast-moving wind streams was set up between Diana and I, and the ice shards.

What the hell was going on?

–

Despite the barrier, quite a few bolts of ice got through. My body curled around Diana’s, protecting her as the ice embedded itself into my back, the sheer cold spreading into my system. Even though my body was enhanced with soul and adrenaline coursed through my veins, the pain was still evident.

Warm blood trickled down my back as with shaky hands, I snapped the ice arrows clean half, watching the shafts fall to the floor. My vision swam, and Diana squealed.

“Get… behind me.” I hissed out, not wanting her to get hurt. Kneeling, before me stood a circular-shaped room. Lining the walls stood statues on pedestals– there were at least ten. Twelve, perhaps. They stood still for a moment, before their carved faces twisted and cracked, revealing a set of gargoyle-like beasts inside. Their faces were twisted into smiles, before their mouths widened into grins. With red eyes and yellow sclera, they were bloodthirsty and I could feel it.

Four held spears. Four had bows, two had swords, and the final two held staffs.

My body pressed up against the wall. With every moment I spent in there, I could feel my soul being drained faster than I could use it. Unless I could find a way to utilise–

Whilst I was thinking, I was met with a sword-wielding demon nearly slicing my face off. My body weaved to one side as I leapt forward, their blade crashing into the ground. With a flurry of slashes, stabs, and fists, each attack was met with a near-perfect defensive manoeuvre, perfectly parrying my blows and forcing all the recoil onto me.

My muscles ached as I spotted a gap in its defence, feinting it out with a jab before attempting to stab it in the forehead. With no soul to reinforce my blade, not even a dent was left behind after my attack.

“Damned statues,” I growled out. As I stalled mid-air, Irrelevant Sword Demon No.1 made the decision to grab me, claws digging into my leg, and throwing me into the marble wall.

The wall cracked and I let out a cough, blood smearing the wall as I slipped down, cracked rock scraping my back to ribbons. Vision swimming, I noticed Sword Demon No.1 readying blade to stab me directly in the head. So it did know how to make things quick. My vision swam with dizziness and my limbs felt weak. If my body was already damaged, I could damage it a little more at this point.

“Bring it on,” I grinned, blood staining my teeth. It stabbed forward, and I charged into the oncoming blade, watching it get stuck in the cracked wall. I was counting on that. Slamming my shoulder into its stone stomach, I tripped and fell, taking it with me. We hit the floor with a crash, but I didn't let up. I couldn't lose the momentum I had.

‘Kill it.’

A voice whispered, from the very darkest corners of my mind.

My fists slammed into the statue's face, dealing blunt force damage. I couldn't feel the pain anymore, too focused on smashing the damn thing.

‘Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. KILL. KILL. KILL. KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL.’

The words filled my mind from an unknown source, until the thoughts which weren't my own became them. The chaos was mirrored in myself, resulting in an outpour of the desire to cause destruction and death.

My fists continued in a flurry of rage. Its arms desperately tried to fling me off, but I had already pictured it. Jasper's face. My knuckles were bloody, down to the bone. Until it's arms fell still, yet I kept punching. Punching until the man's very memory was gone from my mind, painted over with his own blood. I had lost all sense of time, until Diana tugged on my wrist, dragging me from my rage-filled trance.

“Kuu!” She squeaked, nodding to the rest of the statues approaching. My back was numb from the rest of the ice arrows still stuck in, and my vision was just as wobbly. I dragged myself up to a standing position, using the wall as leverage, before pushing myself towards the door.

“Go!” I uttered, and Diana bolted through.

Another arrow nailed me in the back, and I slumped.

“Crawl.” I growled, cursing myself and these damn statues. “Fucking crawl, damnit!” My fingernails dug into the floor, cracked, broken and bloody. Managing to pull myself through the entrance, another arrow pierced my leg. Sitting up, I used the last of my strength to slam the doors shut.

Rolling over, I felt Diana sit on my chest. Just as I was going to remove her– for the pressure on my chest was making it hard to believe– she began to glow a soft white. Soul energy began to be transferred from her body to mine, healing my injuries and alleviating my pain. The arrows were pushed out of my skin and clattered to the floor. I gazed at them. If one could transfer soul–

Why couldn't I steal it?

Picking up the ice bolts, I crushed them into chunks that could fit into my mouth, before eating them. To absorb the soul, I needed to ingest it. Sitting in a meditative stance, I got to work.

My body broke down the chunks into particles of soul, before channelling them through my veins. Because of my impure core, most of the soul from each ice bolt was wasted. Just another reason to increase my strength– I needed to absorb more of it.

My eyes opened. I felt stronger than before, and grinned at Diana, turning back to the door. Those beings could use soul, which meant they contained it. Were imbued with it.

The Trial of the Flames was hard both because of the enemies, but also because the domain sucked the very soul energy from you at the rate you replenished it, leaving you dangerously low. The Trial of the Flames was built to be unbeatable– unless one condition was met– a being could devour the soul of anything that contained it. Spells. Elysian Beasts. Other living beings.

As I placed a hand on the door, Diana gave me a look that effectively said:

‘You aren't going to fight them again… are you?’

“Of course not.” I replied.

“I'm going to kill them.”