A Bloody God’s Performance

“I suppose I must relinquish life from the whimpering dog first,” Vioshmight announced. “The other two uncultured girls can live with the experience and view of real art. It is not like killing them will amount to anything. The goddess of goodwill will sprout up again, just as I will continue to win battles. There is no possibility that they are worthy of adding a weapon to my body. Hmm, the pointless critter likely is worthless as well.”

[What is he referencing?] I promptly asked Asa.

[If Vioshmight senses that you are a capable contender, he may create a weapon out of your bones and essence after he vanquishes you, so that he will have a memory of the “art” you have resembled and provided. Of course, he can use their likeness as weapons to fight. I heard if he fancies your weapon or character, he may permit you attempts to penetrate his skin while he stands undefended. That is the extent of his ego.] Asa said.

What manner of psychopath were we facing? I felt my face lose the last of its color as I buried it in my hands.

I looked up as Viatrix sighed and gave me a forced smile that couldn’t reach upwards. “I slipped up, Chuck. If you get the chance to get your hand on Gwydion’s transformation powers, transform into some breathtaking creatures for me, kid.”

“Oh, Gwydion, what have you done?” Viatrix mumbled. "I shouldn't have wasted the majority of my daily transformations. This task ended up being a lot more than Gwydion started with. If I see a tomorrow, I'll force that jerk to make my emblem go up once more to reach its final level."

He swiftly darkened and transformed into a hind leg standing bear and snake hybrid with various animal eyes embedded into the grey metallic fur. The two yellow snakes were latched once again on his back. The majority appeared to be compound eyes. I had no knowledge of what combination of animal eyes he had chosen. His new form had no semblance of his human shape to witness anymore. I only saw a bizarre shapeling out of a horror flick.

“The scaly-foot snail incorporates iron from its hydrothermal environment in the Indian Ocean to form an iron shell,” Viatrix proclaimed. “A breathtakingly unique construction of nature and the atomic elements. I’ve scavenged weapons across this realm to formulate my own iron-fitted fur, borrowing the snail's ability. You may be a god, but just like me, you were once a human. As such, we both evolved from a mere fish, and I won’t let myself go out like a coward against no fish.”

Vioshmight snickered as he dauntlessly approached. “Maybe your power gives you a spine after all.”

[I don’t like the look of this. We should leave before he changes his mind after killing Viatrix, Asa.] I telecommunicated.

[It is precisely because we can leave that we can’t. He’ll sense it as weakness and a rejection of his art. It will be difficult, yet we have to watch.] Asa stated.

Damnit. Curse it all. I was not ready to see this.

And so we sat.

They met in the center, one with a scowl, the other with a bloody red sneer. At once, Viatrix and Vioshmight threw their tremendous arms at frightening speeds at each other’s torsos, not bothering to stop their flurry of blows for anything. Viatrix's snakes tried desperately to bite into Vioshmight to no avail; they could not penetrate his skin. Both appeared impervious to the damage as the first minute passed. It wouldn’t last.

In mere heartbeats, Viatrix had the back foot physically recoiling. Viatrix decided to switch his approach to wrestling. Both pushed their arms into each other in a forceful stalemate like a scene from Sumo wrestling.

Viatrix drew upon two white, revolving emblems on the ground for support. He must have visualized them. They had symbols and indecipherable language, not much different from Asa’s. The end result? Summoning magic!

Two clouds puffed and then cleared. Out of them, a redhound and a hunting hawk leaped into attack. At once, Vioshmight affixed a razor red aura that pierced the horizon and stunted my breath.

It had done more for the animals. Their souls ceased to exist without a trace. It was a grisly and despicable sight to view their limp features. For all I could tell, the summons were real animals.

Viatrix played his final card, going in for a bear bite directly at Vioshmight’s head. Frighteningly, I saw a splatter of blood and an implosion of a steam cloud. It was Vioshmight that gnawed into Viatrix’s throat through his iron armor! He pulled apart his muscle with his dagger, like black teeth leaving a devastating gap to peer into Viatrix's strange, tan, knitted-together flesh. It must be some result of his emblem.

Ugh, I felt beyond sick. I knew he was a god and this was the divine realm and all, but this was inhumane and ruthless.

Viatrix fumbled over on his back and, as his last act, unleashed the most distasteful and cursed sound I’ve ever heard. It was as if thousands of animal species had been simultaneously tormented at once, and the source was his vocals.

I cuffed my hands over my head, yet it still sounded over and over as if reminding me that I was a spectator to a tragedy. Meanwhile, Vioshmight was savoring his victory, standing over the body, not eating Viatrix, but not spitting out his bounty either.

Just as I relaxed, he marched to where we stood, clearing his mouth's contents to the ground on the way. The prospective clamor of what could be considered a human made my skin writhe.

He didn’t speak. He wouldn't budge until he leaned down and took a firm hand to my chin. He craned my neck up to an uncomfortable degree. It was the only way for my eyesight to truly reach his. He glared and licked his lips with a perverse expression and curling tongue. I felt like I was going to break. I felt like I was prey. What did he possibly want?

“You know you're not that bad as a man either,” Vioshmight said, staring into my soul. "If you weren’t tainted by this abominable woman’s likeness, I would take you myself. Take care, you have a fraud masquerading as a goddess on your hands. To me, a peacekeeper is the one you should trust the least."

I was paralyzed. It seemed like Asa was going through the same, only managing to scoff at his statement. I felt like apologizing and begging for my life at the same time. It was an expected response to overwhelming authority.

Vioshmight crouched dangerously lower. The overflowing mass of muscle encompassed my sight. He played with my nose and wrestled my hair with obvious wicked ecstasy. I shivered like someone left out in the cold till frostbite.

“Bah, get on with it. Go!” Vioshmight commanded with the air of a general supposedly growing bored.

I arose and promptly stumbled back from whence I came. My legs were rubbery and alien. I ended up scraping them on the floor thrice as I attempted to follow Asa’s pace.

I recognized that she wasn't running. She was scouting attentively. She was taking this with much more stride than I. We made way in silence.

Thus, Viatrix was dead. He set out to kill Asa and then me, but I felt an added weight in my steps. Could it be because this was my first time witnessing death in this new world, or did I really see him as someone I could have gotten along with under different circumstances? I liked passionate people, perhaps he was too bloodthirsty for my tastes, though.

I saw his final moments as an unending violent simulation in my head as I tried to force it out. I was squeamish and traumatized; it was good that the majority of the world would pass through life without ever seeing anything like this in person.

Ugh. Maybe I should have tried to recruit him in the same way he tried to recruit me? His personality would make him a good frontliner for our party. He could pretty much transform into any combination of bulky and fierce animals, as I understood it. Besides that, he could fill many other roles as an innate specialist due to his ability to change into any animal.

How much should I treat this like a video game? I'll have to discuss this with Asa.

If I made an unsound choice, and my final save was screwed and forgotten.