Building a magic system on threat of destruction

Jack made his advance toward the man. His steps were heavy but swift. The weight of what he was doing threatened to hold him back from this course of action. He was running at Deis in an effort to subdue the god. This was the most vulnerable Jack had ever seen the figure, a malnourished, weak-looking human, rather than the domineering and powerful god figure.

As he ran forward, the cloak that now adorned Jack fluttered around him. It brushed against the ribbons of light that swam midair and caused them to vibrate and retreat away from him. At this, Deis spun, looking at Jack with wild eyes. He wasn't an attractive man, and his looks were not improved by the aged look he carried. It was as if he had been here, without food, water, or activity for years and years.

The look on Deis' face was one of anger and betrayal. Spittle flung from his mouth as he let out a wordless scream at Jack. His hands flung wildly in the air, the loose and dangling skin flapping as he did so. Then his scream turned into words, and Jack realized that the god was casting a spell at him. The speed was shocking, and Jack could feel the buildup of mana in the air as he ran in what felt like slow motion. Every step brought him closer, but he wasn't going to make it to Deis before the spell went off.

Suddenly, a bolt of electricity sparked in the air in front of Deis. It struck the man clean in the face, arcing through his body. Instead of reacting to the bolt with pain, surprise was the main reaction. He seemed momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of the magic that had struck him. It gave Jack just enough time to reach him.

Jack tackled Deis at full speed, wrapping his arms around the man and holding on for dear life. He felt a crack underneath his arm and was shocked when Deis howled in pain. Deis flailed wildly but was so weak it was hardly effective against Jack's superior strength. His left arm dangled at an awkward angle and Jack realized that he had probably broken it. His fear quickly turned to pity. This was not the all-powerful god who could smite him with a thought, this was a weak and powerless man.

Right as the thought crossed his mind, Deis unleashed his full magical power. The air around them shook, and the squiggles of light disappeared from their proximity. Jack felt like he had been punched on every part of his body. The ache of pain sprouted across his whole body as the magical power Deis used seemed to form physically. Jack could hear smashing sounds as if something invisible was writhing and slamming itself against the floor.

The force of these blows was enough for Jack to be pushed, still holding onto Deis for dear life as they were flung around the white void. Whenever Jack was sure they were going to smash into the floor after being launched, magic would emerge from in front of him or Deis and cushion the blow. Even healing magic would emerge, targeting Jack's bruised and breaking body.

It felt like it took hours before Deis finally collapsed to the floor. His breath was coming in gasps and his body had acquired new bruises and breaks from his efforts to break free. He lay defeated on the floor as Jack held him, not sure what to do at this point. A notification popped up in Jack's peripheral vision and he angled his head so that the minimized screen came down to touch his hand.

[Jack, how did you get there?]

Jack replied out loud, he didn't want to let go of Deis in order to type. "I touched the cloak he left, it sucked me and a bunch of butterflies in." Jack hadn't seen the system bugs anywhere, hopefully, they hadn't been destroyed.

[What do we do now?]

"I don't know," Jack replied honestly.

Deis began laughing. It was a cold and tired sound. "Hehehehe, is that it then? The fifth and the betrayer, come to kill their better?" His spat the words out, disdain clear in his voice.

Plexion began sending angry messages but Jack ignored them. He looked at Deis. The man was defeated, no one who saw him broken on the floor like this would argue that fact. But despite that, Deis looked at Jack with burning rage in his eyes. He did not look defeated, he looked like he was about to jump up and strangle Jack with his bare hands. The fact that he couldn't physically do that in his state didn't seem to matter to him.

"Will you kill me?" Deis asked spitefully. He started laughing again but his body shuddered and he began coughing instead.

Plexion had stopped typing angry messages. Now, a halting message appeared. [Should...we kill him?] Jack paused at the words. He had never killed anyone obviously, he was just some guy from a first-world country. But Plexion wasn't asking him to kill a man, he was asking Jack if they should kill the god of a whole world.

"What if we don't?" Jack asked quietly.

"Then I'll rend your souls to pieces, stick them in dying bodies, and kill those. I'll repeat the process until you both stop existing and then I'll eat what's left. It will be therapeutic for me." Deis spoke with confidence like he could and would do exactly what he was threatening.

"I don't want to kill anyone," Jack said both to Deis and Plexion, who was still watching from the screen. "But I'm not going to let you hurt us, Deis. Can you just...let us go or something?"

Desi shook his head, a savage grin on his face. "Why would I do that? You're at my mercy."

Plexion interjected with a message. [Your mercy? Have you seen yourself? You're a mess!]

Deis saw the words and shook his head again. "You can't kill me, you'll all die. Everyone on Drowl will all die."

Both Plexion and Jack were taken aback. "What are you talking about?" Jack demanded.

Plexion chuckled again. "I'm the only thing holding this world together. Without me, it's nothing more than a rock floating in space. No sun, no gravity, no air. Even magic will cease to exist if you kill me."

If that was true, then it was a huge bargaining chip. But the reality was that they couldn't afford to call his bluff. The fate of an entire world, all the people Jack had met as well as potentially millions of others, hung in the balance. "Well, we can't kill you then...Plexion? Any ideas?"

[Well you could stay here and just sit on him until I figure something out?]

"Hard pass."

[Well, are you like...a god now? You're in there with him, wherever that is, so maybe you can do god stuff?]

Deis laughed again, but Jack thought that the idea had some merit. He had experience using magic, so he tried to use that familiar sensation. Nothing happened. He tried exerting something, anything from his body that resembled power, but there was nothing. The only thing that changed was a single butterfly flying off of his cloak. It was one of the blue system bugs he had accidentally created, somehow it had hidden itself on his accidental Deis cosplay.

The butterfly emerged from the cloak, and then another emerged from the first. Then another, then another. Soon there were hundreds of butterflies floating around Jack, and when he tried to exert power, they moved around him, flowing to where he was trying to perform magic. Their shapes changed to match the effect he was going for, in this case shifting to look like blue flame made of screen. It was...something. But it was hardly the level of god-like power Deis had shown.

"No dice," he said to Plexion. "I don't know what muscles to flex. The butterflies seem to be listening to me, but they always did that. Just not to this extent."

Plexion took a moment to respond. [...What about his status screen?]

His screen? Jack used the [Appraisal] skill and a copy of Deis' status appeared before him. Like before, it only had 'Deis' and 'High Deity' on it. "What are we doing with this?"

[You talked about before that once skills appear on a screen, once you remove them people become unable to do what they did before. Like the [Walking] skill?]

Deis had grown very still, his expression tense. Jack continued speaking. "I remember, yeah I've tested it personally."

[Right, so we could take away a bunch of his skills so that he can't do anything. Obviously I don't know what the god skills are called, but he probably has a lot of the basic ones right?]

"But...you're talking about taking away something like his ability to think, aren't you?" Deis was completely still, staring at Jack with wide eyes, confidence no longer visible in his expression.

[It's the only way I can think of to make him harmless without killing him. At least until we can figure out a more permanent solution.]

It was horrible. Taking away a person's mind like that? But Plexion was right, Deis couldn't be reasoned with, couldn't be trusted. This might truly be the only way the keep themselves safe.

Deis didn't beg or plead as Jack altered his status screen. He simply watched, aghast as Jack slowly added and then removed skills from the screen. Every skill he had ever seen that allowed sensation, movement, or ability to act were all recorded, added, and then removed. Jack paused before the last skill. The [Thinking] skill. Ever since learning about this skill, he had been worried that removing it might break a person's mind. But this was the only way.

Deis looked at Jack and met his eyes. Jack turned away first, then erased the skill.

The old, malnourished man that had been Deis was now just a body in a coma. Jack would have to stay here with the body to make sure nothing reversed itself for a few days, just to be safe.

He felt sick, not wanting to look at Deis. "Now what? he asked Plexion quietly.

[Now? I guess we play god.]