Death: Genesis

Lenu, the Primordial of Life met the black cloud going too fast for Zeke to track, and when her fist cracked into the thing, the mist parted, revealing a sight he would never forget. The individual pieces were easily catalogued. Claws. Tentacles. More eyes than he could count. But sight of the roiling mass of vaguely humanoid flesh sent Zeke’s mind reeling, and for the briefest of moments, he felt truly afraid for the first time in a long, long while.

Coupled with that jolt of terror was a wave of confusion, and in its wake was a blank nothingness of thought that, even in retrospect, he couldn’t quite extinguish. Then, everything suddenly came rushing back into him as the army of monsters – each one more hideous than the next – crashed into him.

He skidded backward, hitting the now-closed door with a massive thud, and he was nearly knocked from the platform. However, he barely managed to regain his senses in time to arrest his momentum by increasing his weight by a shocking degree. Suddenly, the wave of monsters couldn’t move him, which gave him just enough time to straighten his thoughts into some semblance of order.

When he did, he took stock of the situation. The floating platforms that created the three-dimensional maze were absolutely packed with monsters. They varied in size, but most of them took on similar shapes, looking like some mad scientist’s blend of octopi, demons, and a host of other monsters Zeke couldn’t identify. The eldritch beasts seemed to have stepped right out of a Lovecraftian nightmare. Even looking at them for too long sent a bolt of fear through his mind, though after what he’d experienced looking at the larger creature in the sky, it wasn’t difficult to ignore.

Zeke remembered to use [Inspect] on the closest creature, though he did not get the result he expected:

Unidentifiable Denizen of the Abyss – Level Unknown

That was not encouraging, though identifying the nightmarish creatures was not necessary for him to fight them. In fact, the battle had already arrived, so however the Framework chose to classify them was completely irrelevant. It wouldn’t change anything about what he had to do.

Thankfully, he was already in his titanic form, though even it was incapable of resisting the clawed tentacle attacks that had descended upon him. Great gashes had already been ripped into his form, and the weight of a hundred abyssal monsters pressed down on him, threatening to crush him beneath their sheer numbers.

That would not do. So, without further hesitation, he shoved mana into [Touch of Divinity], mending his wounds as quickly as the monsters could inflict them. Then, he burst forth with all the might he could bring to the battle. It was considerable, and in only a moment, he’d broken free of the pile of nightmarish monsters, sending many of the to fall over the edge.

But that didn’t help, because apparently, they could fly, propelling themselves through the air like octopi swimming through water. The only difference was that, where those sea creatures were symmetrical, the monsters were anything but. That asymmetry didn’t seem to hinder them, though, and they flew through the air with surprising grace.

Zeke didn’t have a chance to appreciate it, though, because the monsters crowding the platform once again surged. He met them with his hammer, using Voromir’s ability to extend his reach as he swept a crimson copy of the weapon through their ranks. As he did so, he also embraced his Will, channeling a wisp of the Path of Arcane Destruction into each attack.

He worked like a lumberjack, smashing through the shockingly durable creatures. They seemed completely devoid of bones, which meant that his blunt-force attacks lacked some degree of efficacy. Still, he was strong enough to make up for it, and on more than one occasion, the monsters exploded like overfilled balloons.

Meanwhile, Talia’s claws had no issue slicing through the rubbery skin, and wherever she attacked, creatures turned to rot. They didn’t immediately fall, but all around him, Zeke saw tentacles flopping to the ground, having decayed so thoroughly that they detached from the body.

Which was a shame, really. If they’d stayed where they were, perhaps the monsters would have been more affected. However, as it was, they had plenty of limbs to spare, and they weren’t afraid to sacrifice a couple if it meant getting a good shot at the pair of interlopers in their midst.

As Zeke and Talia fought, steadily pushing forward all the way, Lenu fought against the abyssal creature in the sky. Their battle sent shockwaves of mana crashing through the entire space, and if they’d been any weaker, Zeke and Talia might’ve been disintegrated, then and there.

Once, Zeke had felt something similar in the Battle of Min Ferilik. But back then, Zeke had barely even begun to level, and as a result, he’d nearly been overwhelmed by their power. Similar, though, didn’t mean the same, and the entities in the sky were to the wyrms as Zeke had been to Mykaena and the Blood Wraith. So, even if he’d gained quite a lot of power since then, the gap certainly had not shrunk. If anything, it was even wider than before.

That meant that Lenu far exceeded the limits of the Eternal Realm. Zeke was certain of it. Perhaps she was even on Oberon’s and the Sun Goddess’ level. Whatever the case, he couldn’t think on it long before he was once again swamped by monsters. So, he continued to fight, wading through the creatures as he pummeled them into permanent submission. Knocking them around was fairly easy, but killing them – that was difficult enough that he felt a jolt of excitement when he managed to put one down.

Still – the rewards matched the difficulty. Each time one of the monsters died, he received a surge of kill energy that pushed him ever closer to his next level. If he’d had to guess, he was getting more per kill now than he ever had before. That spurred Zeke on, and he continued to slaughter the monsters as quickly as he could.

But he knew it wouldn’t last. It couldn’t. For every monster he killed, two more took its place, and he knew Talia faced similar issues.

Suddenly, a voice exploded in Zeke’s mind.

“Fear not, child,” came Lenu’s overbearing voice. “It is not my intent to harm you. You must focus your efforts, or it will all be for naught. I will assist you.”

Then, a series of beacons lit up across the maze of platforms. There were seven of them, with the closest being only a few hundred yards away.

“There are seven dangerous creatures buried within the horde. You must kill them, or they will dismantle the underlying power structure of my realm. If that happens, I will be weakened enough to give the Abyssal Primordial the upper hand. Help me, please. You are my only hope.”

At first, Zeke was a little upset that the primordial had invaded his mind, but he quickly got over it. Having some direction was very much appreciated. Without it, Zeke would be rudderless amidst a sea of monsters. He could kill them, but it would make no real difference with so many other joining the fight with every passing moment.

So, he raced forward, aiming not to kill the monsters, but rather, to carve a path through them. Once he reached a crossroads in the floating path of platforms, he turned to the right and continued on. The abyssal monstrosities tried to stop him, but once Zeke got moving, his momentum was incredibly difficult to bring to a halt. As he went, Talia followed behind, using her abilities to infect everything nearby with death and rot. She took a few hits, but her speed was high enough that they were never more than glancing blows.

Finally, Zeke reached the first beacon, which was attached to a much larger monster than all the rest. It was at least twenty feet tall, and its tentacles were more than four feet in diameter. More, it moved with a truly intimidating level of quickness, which Zeke discovered when it launched itself at him, latching on and wrapping those enormous tentacles around him. Its claws dug into his body as he was crushed under the immense pressure it brought to bear.

Thankfully, he wasn’t alone.

Talia fell upon its back, throwing a black beam of death directly into its torso. That carved a furrow into its back, which she dove into without hesitation. The sound of squelching meat filled Zeke’s ears as he tried to escape the monster’s constricting tendrils. Gradually, even as black spots began to dance at the corners of his vision, Zeke overpowered the tentacles by ripping one free. It came loose with a shower of black gore.

But the fight wasn’t over.

The monster went wild, screeching in agony as it pummeled Zeke beneath its tentacles. He took each blow with equanimity, vowing to endure long enough for Talia’s rot to do its work.

And finally, it did. The monster fell apart after a few more minutes, dissolving into a putrid puddle of pure rot.

“One down,” Zeke said, sweeping his hammer out to clear the platform. The other monsters had given the larger one a wide berth, but now that it was dead, they’d once again flooded in.

Zeke continued his assault, tearing through them as he looked for the next closest beacon. It was nearly half a mile away, which meant that he had his work cut out for him. To Talia, he asked, “Are you okay? Do you need me to heal you?”

She was covered in black gore, but she shook her head. “I am fine.”

“Good,” he said. Then, without further hesitation, he set off for the next beacon, repeating his actions from before. As he plowed through the abyssal monstrosities, he reached the threshold between levels, then ticked over. That was an astonishing feat, considering that it hadn’t been that long since he’d gained his last level. But at the pace he was gaining kill energy, he knew it wouldn’t be long until he hit the next level.

The next beacon’s monster was even larger than the first, but it fell all the same. It took longer to kill them, but that was to be expected. It didn’t require any changes in tactics, though, which was good because Zeke wanted to save his big attacks for emergencies.

After killing the second, they moved on to the third. The horde of monsters was even thicker, but Zeke’s momentum was undeniable. He did manage to catch a few with [Center of Gravity], killing a handful of extra monsters that would’ve otherwise flown away. Each kill made noticeable difference regarding his levels, and he suspected that if he managed to kill everything, he would gain at least a few more levels. Maybe as many as five. Which was completely unreal, given the requirements to gain levels.

He was tempted to simply use [Wrath of Annihilation] and kill them all, but he knew that would put both Talia and himself – not to mention Lenu – at risk. There was little chance of survival, at least for the non-primordials in the fight. So, while it would gain plenty of kill energy, it was not a viable strategy.

“Smart not to do the thing that will get us both killed,” Eveline remarked. It wasn’t her first contribution since the battle had begun, but Zeke hadn’t paid much attention to her flippant statements.

Zeke fought on, wading through the monsters until he found the fourth beacon. It was the largest yet, reaching an intimidating height of more than fifty feet. However, Zeke wasn’t going to let himself be dissuaded, so he threw himself at the monster with the same ferocity he’d employed throughout the battle. Rather than try to wrap him in its tentacles, though, it swatted him. Zeke tried to hold his ground, but the thing was far too strong, and the blow lifted him from his feet, sending him flying over the edge.

It was a terrible feeling, not having anything beneath his feet, but despite the panic coursing through Zeke’s mind, he harnessed his concentration and used [Center of Gravity]. The huge beacon monster slipped to the side and over the edge. It could fly, but that was the point.

When its flailing tentacles came into range, Zeke latched on, riding the thing as it righted itself. Then, even he reared back and slammed his free hand into the rubbery skin. Such was his strength that he managed to gouge a sizable divot out of its flesh. And that was all the opening he needed.

Because of his position on its back, the monster couldn’t reach him with its tentacles, so Zeke had free rein to continue to dig his way through its body. And he used that to great advantage, ripping black flesh free as he tore further and furth into it. Eventually, he reached a few organs that looked important, and he destroyed those as well. Over the next few minutes, he kept going, and finally, after a few minutes, the thing went still. Zeke basked in the kill energy that drove him toward his next level.

Right up until he realized that he was right next to another beacon.

And the monster attached to this one wasn’t just a little bigger than the last. Instead, it was well over a hundred feet tall and at least twice that thick. Its tentacles were as large around as an eighteen-wheeler, and judging by its screeching charge in Zeke’s direction, it was clearly unhappy with him.

Zeke climbed free, readying himself to meet the charge.

But then he saw another beacon charging toward him from afar. A third one wasn’t far behind it.

“I think you got their attention,” said Eveline.

“Yeah,” Zeke stated, barely even noticing the thousands of other, smaller monsters coming his way. “You know what I’m going to have to do, right?”

“I do.”

“Try to take cover,” Zeke said, already embracing [Wrath of Annihilation].