Book 7, Chapter 28-1 - Three On One

Book 7, Chapter 28-1 - Three On One

The War God was somewhere between four and five meters tall, covered in head to two with jet black armor. No light was reflected off its surface except for pulsing veins of red that wrapped around it like lava flows. The being wrapped itself in a hostile aura, but its true power was hard to determine.

One punch dissuaded Cloudhawk’s attack. In his vision he saw that the god could tear his arm off with hardly any effort.

What sort of terrible strength did it possess? The War God was famously strong – enough to level mountains and redirect rivers. In terms of straight physical capability, it was ten times stronger than the average god or demon!

Different races had different limitations. Dragenmere’s Siegebreaker, Skycloud’s Skye Polaris, Ash Farran, the old drunk… they had achieved the pinnacle of human martial ability. Only the very best a human could achieve was still nothing compared to the gods.

Cloudhawk was also listening to the hum of relics and was surprised by what he found. The War God’s relics weren’t coming from outside of its body. With the exception of its frightful armor, Cloudhawk’s foe wasn’t carrying any other equipment. The resonance he sensed was coming from the god’s very bones. In other words the War God was likely using a fusion relic like Castigation Fire or the Blood of the Phoenix.

Blood of the Phoenix took up residence in the bearer’s own blood, allowing it to spread all throughout the body. Any injury was healed at a shocking speed. The War God, by contrast, did not have a relic in his blood – but in his bones!

The Dragon God was similar in size to its counterpart but built much larger. A pair of impressive dragon wings spread from its shoulders densely covered in scales. It certainly made the creature stand out. Through the Eye of Time Cloudhawk saw that it was capable of taking a direct blow from Godslayer and shrug it off. That meant the Dragon God had defenses that would be tough to crack.

Attack was the realm of the War God. Defense belonged to the Dragon God. The two generals together were a complete and formidable fighting force. Cloudhawk knew that he couldn’t fight without a plan. If he did, the future he’d seen would only be the beginning. Thankfully the Eye of Time had recovered at the right moment. Without its help it would already be too late.

Boom-boom-boom!

Explosions sounded from outside Sky Fortress. His allies from Skycloud had arrived, the cavalry was here. With the Cloud God, Frost and Selene perhaps they would stand a chance.

For the moment the two gods were also still. They were taken aback by this mortal’s gall in attacking them. In their hubris, they never imagined this might come to pass, especially once the Sword of Sumeru had been completed. For this reason they did not get involved even after the Gods of Light and Lightning discovered Cloudhawk’s presence.

Common sense dictated that the Light God – who killed any opponent in the blink of an eye – and the unkillable Lightning God were enough to stop a single mortal. What’s more, they had to be cautious. What if it was a feint, meant to draw them from the Temple? So they remained in the heart of their fortress and watched.

But the Lightning God and the Light God couldn’t defeat Cloudhawk, even together. Alas, one was killed and the other wounded! It seemed outside the realm of possibility, but they had watched it happen.

The War God carefully measured this troublesome mortal, paying special attention to the silver eye. Even the divine general was cautious around such a relic.

“That is the God King’s eye. Wielding this power, it is no secret how you were able to defeat the other Supremes.” It was the Dragon God who spoke first. “But how far can your eye see?”

“I can see your death.” Cloudhawk responded calmly.

The gods were not troubled by his inflammatory words. Such talk might get under the skin of mortals, but to gods they meant nothing. The threats of insignificant creatures like humans were discarded.

He who strikes first gets the advantage, so Cloudhawk raised Godslayer and rushed at his enemies. A trail of black lightning followed in its wake like a dragon’s tail. Hi silver eye flashed as the Eye of Time helped to anticipate changes and dangers on the battlefield. Teleporting across space, Cloudhawk appeared before the gods to deliver his attack.

But the War God was faster!

Every bone in its body began to vibrate. Without moving a muscle the god was launched into the air at incredible speed. In a flash it caught Cloudhawk mid-charge. Its right fist, bearing suffocating pressure, came bearing down.

Even before it landed its fist caused the area all around to buckle. Air was squeezed into a liquid state. It was a potent sign, showing that the blow could level a mountain range.

Fast, and strong! It was the only thought Cloudhawk had time to form. He teleported out of his enemy’s range then swung his sword once more toward the Temple.

Cloudhawk’s aim wasn’t to defeat the two Supremes. If he could destroy the Temple then all of Sky Fortress would collapse with it. The other four realms would no longer be a threat to his people. As for the two gods? Maybe they went with the Temple, maybe they didn’t. Right now it didn’t matter.

While preparing for the strike another scene was revealed through the Eye of Time…

Half a second. A flash of golden light moving too fast for him to follow. Distracted with attacking the Temple, Cloudhawk doesn’t dodge. Like a knife, the flash catches him at the waist and cuts him in two…

He held back a portion of his strength and teleported. He vanished and in that moment there was the briefest flicker of gold. All it managed to cut was the lingering shadow of the Demon King’s successor.

“The Light God?”

Cloudhawk didn’t need to see his attacker to know who it was. Only the Light God could attack with speed like that. Although the War Gods speed was explosive and intense, he could at least mostly follow it.

Once again the Eye of Time had saved his life.

When the light flickered into nothingness an armored figure stood in its place. The glimmer of its armor was erratic and it stood on unsteady feet. The God was in a very bad state.

The Light God had taken a direct blow from the Sword of Sumeru. Cracks spread all across its armor and some pieces had fallen free. Like an ancient clay figure that had barely survived the element, the Light God was on the verge of destruction.

A large portion of the helmet had broken off, revealing that it was not a part of the creature. Rather, like a parasite it stuck to the skin beneath like a second layer. With the armor destroyed, a small section of a strange face was revealed.

He couldn’t see much, but what was visible didn’t seem human at all. Was this the true face of the gods? Stories claimed that the gods and demons had come from far beyond the stars and this seemed to confirm it. Of course questions remained: What was their history? Why didn’t any of them remember where they’d come from? Why were the gods barred from knowing the truth?

But these philosophical questions were for another time. The Light God might have been badly wounded, but now Cloudhawk faced three Supremes. His situation was only getting worse as time passed. So to try and even the score, he turned Godslayer on the wounded deity. From his weapon a storm of dark lightning belched forth in an attempt to finish it off.

Just as he released his power something strange happened. It all just… stopped. The lightning hung in midair as though gravity had taken hold. Half a breath later it was wrenched to the side and slammed into the body of a godly general. The full force of it was absorbed into the creature’s body.

Cloudhawk stared in alarm as the Dragon God streaked toward him, bearing an eight-meter long spear.

BANG! The spear struck Godslayer and in that instant Cloudhawk felt his energy draining. The Dragon God wasn’t just a shield. It was able to leech mental energy from its foes!

Their contact lasted only a second, but Cloudhawk felt a fourth of his strength vanish like smoke.

He was preparing to counter when his eye activated again. He quickly activated his gauntlet’s defense just as the War God’s fist came crashing down. He was blasted backward from the impact.

The War God gave chase, appearing from the void with a deadly follow-up strike. Again and again the punches came, each one causing the area to shudder. Cloudhawk teleported to avoid the worst of it, utilizing the Eye of Time to keep himself from being obliterated. However the Dragon God was catching up, and the Light God was preparing another attack.

This is bad! If this kept up the Eye of Time wasn’t going to save him.

Cloudhawk’s expression was darkening. He hadn’t recovered from the first fight. He couldn’t keep up with the War God’s speed. The Dragon God and Light God were providing aid. Three Supremes against one mortal – the outlook was grim.

Suddenly a voice intruded on his mind. “Finally, I’ve found you. We’ve caught up at last.”

“Wolfblade? How are you talking to me? Are you close?”

“We’re still far, we won’t be able to get to you quickly. But you have a chance.”

Wolfblade’s voice was being projected to him through the Cloud God’s expansive psychic power. Cloudhawk was as shocked as he was impressed. The fiend only grew more powerful as he aged. He had to have a plan to fight back. If this was too much for Cloudhawk he could mark their location, retreat and regroup for another assault.