Chapter 90: The Choosers of the Slain

Chapter 90: The Choosers of the Slain

Daniel’s heart is pounding in his chest. This is probably the most terrifying moment of his life so far in either world; Earth or Zenkon. He doesn’t like to constantly ponder what all he has done since coming to Zenkon because he would find it hard to believe, and he lived those moments.

And yet, many of his most prominent achievements, such as defeating dragons, defeating the feral feldrok, and even defeating the Devourer, were accomplished by unprecedented technology for Zenkon and the element of surprise utilizing them.

For the first time since coming to Zenkon, he’s up against someone who seems to know just about everything about Daniel, thanks to whatever method he has been using to spy on Daniel and his allies, and his opponent, Brosjak, is aware of the battle they are about to take place in; a duel.

Brosjak is a true greater mage; one who brought down four dragons with seeming ease in a single battle. The offensive power of his magic is at the peak of what’s known for this world. And, Daniel’s primary defense against magic is a sword that is no longer cooperating with him.

Daniel, on the other hand, has become notorious as ‘the strongest sorcerer in the world’ because of how quickly he eliminated so many powerful figures in the world, including most specifically the Devourer, which the entirety of the Demon Covenant was unable to defeat. Though the specific person who did so has remained mostly a secret, it would be ludicrous to assume it was anyone else other than “the Harbinger of Calamity”, as Daniel became known following the battle of Fort Peony. Many demon-kin fled the battle after Daniel’s edgelord performance, which was a portion of what he wanted. But, virtually everyone very quickly came to know him and the Harbinger as one in the same.

Brosjak has the natural advantage, and he knows it. He is watching Daniel like a cat eyeing up a mouse about to be toyed with before being killed. His toothy grin is unsettling and full of malice, revealing a dark personality.

Brosjak offers with a malicious ‘warmness’, “Feel free to take this opportunity. I won’t attack you.”

Daniel takes his hands, which were resting on Nemaisol’s hilt and scabbard in a failed attempt to draw, off as he relaxes. “If I intended to simply surrender, I wouldn’t have walked into the circle. Sorry for wasting additional time.”

Brosjak begins laughing once more, and just as Daniel grips the lead canister loosely hooked on his pocket, the archoneldwyn warrior mage snaps his hand up, firing an icicle spear at Daniel without warning.

Daniel was expecting something, though, and he lunges to the side, nearly fumbling the canister as the spoon snags on his pocket thanks to his violent movement to avoid the icicle that nearly went through his neck, and which shreds through Daniel’s jacket and lashes his skin, splattering blood more violently than it actually was. Several gasps surround them, but he has to ignore his companions.

Daniel brings his hands together, hooking his left index finger through the ring of the pin. He pulls the pin out, releasing the spoon just as quickly. The spoon flings away from the canister, and Daniel notices Brosjak watching. A smirk forms on the mage’s lips. It’s subtle, but is exactly what the mechanic is looking for. Daniel is keeping track of his ‘cooking’ time, the time the fuse has been burning. The lead canister is a grenade, and he won’t be able to throw it very far. But, he’s not aiming especially far in this case.

Daniel pulls back and throws, halving his strength at the end of his throw, following his own body’s momentum to continue in a turn to shield his face and neck with his back and arms.

Brosjak fires a small spark spell, which hits the grenade in midair with impeccable accuracy. It never had a chance of reaching him.

The grenade explodes powerfully, casting smoke and powder in a cloud that quickly engulfs Daniel and pelts his back and tears his jacket with shrapnel. He’ll have to be mindful of making sure he doesn’t get lead poisoning after all of this. Or, for that matter, polonium poisoning.

Daniel takes a breath and exhales once he’s comfortable that the risk of inhaling too much of either is minimal.

Brosjak chuckles, taunting dryly, “I’m well aware of your explosives, human. Bottles of lightning, stones of thunder, cans of poison. All of which have to be thrown into the proximity of the target. Otherwise, I wonder what happens to the ‘caster’.” He chuckles, amused by Daniel’s scratched and bleeding back.

Wenlianna cries out, “Daniel!”

“I’ll make it,” calls out Daniel. His skin on his back burns, and his shoulder is starting to ache, while a cold sensation is pricking at him in various spots where blood trails are making his skin feel cold. He’s still well-within his ability to withstand the pain, though.

And, he just gave himself a chance.

Daniel stands up, taking a few breaths. “Feel free to take this opportunity. I won’t attack you.”

Brosjak cocks his head with a disbelieving look, while Daniel carefully draws his pistol and checks the breach for a chambered round. The gun is loaded and ready to fire, and he takes aim at Brosjak.

The archoneldwyn smirks with a scoff. “Your demon wand? This is just pathetic.”

Daniel pulls the trigger, and the pistol fires with a thunderous report, startling a few of the onlookers. The bullet shrieks as it ricochets off of a magic barrier, which Brosjak summons without issues.

Though, the bullet going at an angle through the barrier, rather than deflecting back towards Daniel seems to startle him, as a bullet might through a heavy pane of glass. It didn’t hit the intended mark, but it also wasn’t stopped.

It’s Daniel’s turn to smile. He has three extra magazines on the outer surface of his holster, and an enemy that isn’t ready for him.

Daniel fires in slow succession, trying to focus on getting his shots to go towards Brosjak as the archoneldwyn mage sucks his teeth, defending flawlessly, but also obviously frustrated that his magic isn’t stopping Daniel’s attacks well enough.

It seems the powder is too thin. I wonder if keeping the mass of individual pieces would be more effective. Though, I was expecting changes in reactivity to be a factor.

Daniel fires, counting off his shots as he draws closer to Brosjak, mainly so that the effect of the polonium, a radioactive material with a very short half-life and decays into lead, will be closer to the mage.

The slide locks back on the pistol, and Daniel fluidly pulls a fresh magazine out as he hits the mag eject button on the pistol, flicking his wrist to launch the spent magazine out. Time is of the essence.

And, Brosjak responds as one might expect. He snaps his hand up, chanting as he summons a powerful swirl of blue fire around his arm, which coalesces into a ball about the size of a basketball in front of his hand. He rears back, throwing it at Daniel.

The human Mechanic flinches, ducking his face to the side, but otherwise helpless for the moment.

He can feel the rush of heat and crackle of flames as fire bursts around him, sweeping on both sides of him, but dissipating quickly. Some of the embers reach him, but the bulk of the fireball has already dispersed in a flashy discharge of energy.

And, Daniel is only lightly singed.

Daniel exhales in relief, and Brosjak is speechless for a moment.

This leaves him open to a second volley of pistol fire, and he recoils back as his barrier crackles and wavers. He doesn’t understand.

To him, Daniel is a force of magic negation approaching, but he looks at Nemaisol. The sword is still firmly resting in its scabbard, and everything Brosjak has heard indicates that Nemaisol, the ancient sword of legend known all around the world, even if it is a bit obscure, has no effects when it is in its mysterious sheath. Even destroying the sheath doesn’t cause Nemaisol to function as if it’s drawn, as the sheath regenerates almost immediately after. And, likewise, even just a little bit of draw would allow Nemaisol’s magic negation to take effect, which only Daniel seems to have been able to do since the time of the hero of legend, but it’s not drawn. Otherwise, with his hand off of it for so long, it would return to its sheath.

Could she be helping him anyways? No. That’s impossible. My spy indicates that this human has enough magic now to no longer be able to use Nemaisol. This can’t be.

Still, one of the bullets rips past Brosjak’s ribs, tearing his robes as the truth is sent home. Whatever Daniel is doing, he is successfully negating Brosjak’s magic.

Brosjak leaps far off to the side, rolling back to his feet after gaining some distance on Daniel. He can feel his magic strength returning. Daniel isn’t truly a sorcerer. That much, Brosjak is certain of. Daniel is putting up a fight against a mage so far out of his league, and he always seems to have a new trick.

But now, Brosjak knows the trick. Or at least, he knows of its existence.

He wanted to use weak magic spells to annihilate this false mage and embarrass him in front of his ridiculous harem. But instead, he is managing to make a mockery of a true mage, and the true strongest mage in the world of Zenkon.

Brosjak begins chanting, summoning all of his magical energy. He had no trouble taking down the dragons because he has been studying in secret for decades, honing his precision and control. They grew hubristic, and even Daniel’s protections did little to help them.

The time has come. He will annihilate this heretical sorcerer once and for all. No more holding back.

Daniel.

The voice causes the mechanic to twitch as he nervously watches the magical energy swirl around Brosjak. His pistol will do little at this range, since Brosjak’s magic was only faintly weakened by Daniel being close -or specifically, the radioactive polonium powder Daniel coated himself in using his grenade, thanks to Brosjak detonating it so close to him.

The direct effects of a magic spell should be dissipated before entering Daniel’s proximity, but as with the stray embers of the fire spell or shrapnel from something like stones or telekinesis, Daniel would still have to avoid the impacts, as only the force and creation of material is magic, not the physical state of the substance.

This time, a bunch of magic circles appear around Brosjak as he desperately screams spells out, firing all kinds of elements at Daniel.

“Child’s play,” remarks Nemaisol’s voice only to Daniel. Many of the spells evaporate around Daniel, and he fires on the solid spells, like rocks and ice, exploding them or their magic circles with the magically produced bullets Nemaisol is firing. The bolt cycles quickly and easily, and the recoil is almost nothing compared to a normal rifle, so Daniel has an easy time cycling each shot as fast as possible with very few misses. And, even if he does miss, the bullet carries Nemaisol’s ability, so close misses still negate the magic and drop the stones or ice to the ground around them.

Though he has been caught off guard, Brosjak doesn’t lose his own composure. Instead, he scrapes by with a glancing blow that does take flesh, but he heals himself rather easily, smirking at Daniel.

Daniel has no idea why he’s smirking, and it buys him time to aim and fire, taking out the archoneldwyn mage’s leg. Brosjak yelps, toppling to the ground. But again, he is able to quickly heal himself after summoning a golem to fight Daniel, which buys him a moment’s peace.

During Brosjak’s healing, Daniel feels a sharp pain in his leg and drops to a kneel, and when Brosjak looks up, he begins to chuckle. Still, Daniel is able to focus and aim at the golem, firing to destroy it with ease. After all, Nemaisol is currently in an anti-tank rifle form. Few things should be able to withstand the shots, even if it is a slower attack rate.

Brosjak sits up, completely healed. “Feeling the pain yet, human? As you can see, you are an absolute fool. A weak and inferior creature that can’t even identify magic spells before him.”

“Wh-what have you done!?” shouts Hekate. “You cheated!”

“I did no such thing. The human agreed to the duel,” replies the archoneldwyn mage with a devilish humor. “He should have objected when he had the chance!”

Vaergraes explains, “Daniel! The circle is trapped! I’m sorry, I should have noticed sooner! It’s rigged so that any damage the first person to enter suffers is reflected upon the second.”

Brosjak laughs. “I guess you’ll have to kill me, human! But of course, I have a spell to revive after dying. Do you?”

Daniel remains silent, thinking.

“What’s wrong? Are you thinking about how hopeless it is? How you won’t be able to save your precious dragon? I’ll let you know how she’s doing. She was easy to defeat, and once I did, I mutilated her. I tore every organ out of her and caused her to suffer. You wouldn’t recognize her now. Not in any form. It was possibly my life’s greatest work.” He begins laughing.

Daniel looks at Nemaisol. Nemaisol, assault rifle, please. Let me know if you can’t keep firing.

“Hah! Who do you think I am? I REALLY hate this guy.”

The former sword now transforms again, taking the form of an assault rifle reminiscent of a SCAR-17H, and Daniel fires in bursts. Brosjak, now knowing that mobility and constant healing are his allies, uses teleportation to avoid the shots, as well as causing Daniel to pivot constantly while in a kneel. He still takes several hits, and Daniel can feel piercing pain through the identical points that bullets hit Brosjak.

Daniel loses sight of him for a brief second, realizing too late that Brosjak teleported above him. Daniel tries to aim and shift out of the way, but the magic spear comes down, slamming Nemaisol out of Daniel’s hands. The magical assault rifle clatters across the ground, shifting back into a sword.

Daniel isn’t done yet. He kicks up to his feet as he snatches the shaft of the spear during the extended stab Brosjak just made, and Daniel uses his full body weight for leverage, ripping the spear from its owner. He spins in a circle as he positions the spear better in his own grip, and he stabs Brosjak in the kidney region with the spear tip.

Brosjak cries out, lunging back as he quickly heals himself before his mana drains. He’s a little wobbly on his feet, but he is able to close the wound. He begins laughing again. “Look at you! A pathetic human who doesn’t even belong in this world. Everything you do is a desperate attempt at survival. You are helpless to actually save the white dragon. Now show me the faces you can make. Show me your despair and rage as that hopelessness sinks in! Cry for mercy and for your beloved dragon! Hahahahaha... ha... ha?” It’s then that he notices that Daniel is still barely wounded, even after all of the individually maiming hits Daniel has delivered on him.

Daniel takes notice of his surprise. “So, that wasn’t my imagination. The problem is, you’re right. I’m not a real sorcerer. I’m still far too weak in magic for your trick to really affect me.”

Brosjak stares at him, dumbfounded. Meanwhile, Nemaisol dissolves on the floor, reappearing on Daniel’s hip.

The archoneldwyn mage snaps to his senses, shouting, “It doesn’t matter! I haven’t even gotten serious yet!”

He tries to surge magical power, especially because Daniel isn’t currently holding Nemaisol, but he tosses the spear aside. It seems his polonium also lessened the effect of the spear’s sealing ability, meaning Brosjak is still a powerful magic user, just with less mana than before. Considering how much he has, that’s a moot point from Daniel’s perspective.

He quickly draws Nemaisol again, saying out loud in his hurry, “Shotgun!”

Nemaisol transforms instantly, already in the form of a shotgun by the time Daniel places his hands in position on her foregrip and rear grip, taking aim.

She didn’t turn into just any shotgun, however. Daniel is now holding a magical equivalent to an AA-12 assault shotgun, which combines the advantage of an assault rifle -fully automatic fire- with the firepower of a shotgun.

Brosjak is just trying to summon a laser beam at Daniel, but Daniel fires a barrage of shotgun blasts at him, which nullifies the attack and sprays the archoneldwyn mage with magical buckshot. He stumbles back, screaming in pain, trying to continue healing himself.

Now, though, it’s Daniel’s turn to speak his mind.

“You know, I absolutely HATE ‘suddenly shounen’ characters.” He blasts Brosjak in the left leg, toppling the mage as he nearly loses the leg. Daniel feels like a kick hits him in the same spot, but he is able to keep marching towards Brosjak.

“They show up suddenly in an otherwise grounded and mature story, bragging on and on about how amazing and smart and great they are, and they laugh all ‘maniacally’ like they’re supposed to be some genius allegory to one of the greatest villains of all time, the Joker.” Daniel fires again, interrupting a spell and crippling his opponent’s right arm. Daniel rolls his right shoulder to loosen a sudden ache.

“Then they love to say ‘I haven’t even gotten serious yet.’ Like that’s supposed to be impressive, rather than just annoying and padding out the run time.” Daniel fires again, this time taking out the mage’s right leg, and Brosjak screams, unable to keep up his healing with the damage Daniel is doing, even during the lulls while Daniel is ranting.

Brosjak finally begins begging, “Please! I beg of you! Stop! I surrender! I surrender!”

Daniel only mildly stumbles from a sudden pain in his left leg, but he keeps closing the distance on the archoneldwyn mage. “But instead, the character is a pathetic and hollow veneer of the Joker at best, a trash edgelord cartoon character like a cheap Halloween mask of the Joker’s face, and then the suddenly shounen villain loses spectacularly pathetically to the protagonist, only for them to ‘escape’ or simply be let go by the protagonist because the author wants this garbage clown of a character to return because they’re ‘so powerful’ or ‘cunning’.” Daniel blasts the mage’s left arm off completely, and he screams, still choking out pleas for mercy. “Please stop! I surrender! I can’t... I can’t roll over!”

“Meanwhile,” continues Daniel, completely and mercilessly ignoring Brosjak’s pleas to shake his left arm from numbness and pain, “The story dies on the vine because it suddenly turns into an annoying garbage cartoon, and the well-established systems and rules of the story are tossed out the window for this annoying and uninteresting character, who simply defies those systems and rules because of lazy or careless writing, or the protagonist bends his own character into pretzels to allow it to happen.”

Brosjak tries one last ditch effort to spring an attack with magic, screaming out a spell in a language Daniel can’t understand. He’s focused on another voice whispering in his mind, and it tells him everything he needs to know.

Daniel simply jams the barrel of the shotgun, burning hot with the heat of the shots fired, into the underside of Brosjak’s chin, silencing him as he gags on the pressure on his throat. He chokes out, “Please... Mercy...”

Daniel crouches down, still looming over the archoneldwyn with a cold and unfeeling expression.

“Y-You can’t... If you kill me... Y-You’ll never see... her...”

“See what I mean? ‘Suddenly shounen’ characters. They’re written to think they’re in control, even to the bitter end.”

Daniel presses his knee to Brosjak’s chest, leaning his weight on him. He just recently heard another voice in his head, one that has unshackled everything about Daniel.

“She’s not... in storage. She’s... suffering... in agony...” croaks out Brosjak in a last ditch effort to make Daniel hesitate.

He informs Brosjak of what Ryukana just whispered to him a moment ago. “Absolutely ridiculous. You already lost. We found her a long time ago, and she’s safe. The contract is removed as well.” Daniel only thinks the word Revolver, and Nemaisol switches to a .45 LC revolver, which uses longer .45 bullets with more powder than typical .45 caliber pistols. He aims it directly between Brosjak’s eyes. “You hurt people I love. A lot. You completely lost, you pathetic ‘suddenly shounen’ clown. Just die already.”

Daniel pulls the trigger, and Brosjak’s eyes roll back, his life slipping away with one last failed scream drowned out by an unnatural clap of thunder, his soul being exhaled from his body to be absorbed and repurposed by the Citadel or Hekate.

And, thanks to Nemaisol being directly pressed to his forehead, it’s unlikely his supposed self-revival spell will be able to take effect.

Daniel doesn’t feel great, but he watches with pain in his heart and head.

He just killed someone, and he’s not sure if it’s the act itself that makes him feel this way, or the fact that he doesn’t feel anything but contempt for the soul he just erased.

***