I am so Sick of You not Believing in Me

The fortress center erupted into a flurry of sparks and flashing lights. In a battle between mages, Shige’s team had mastered the art of working as a team and how to utilize their attacks to minimize collateral damage and avoid friendly fire. This situation threw that out the window. Fura’s magic was directionless, as she had no way to point her aggression, and Chloe and Swell had no defenses whatsoever. Non-magical party members were not part of the game plan, so any attacks the primary engagees unleashed went wild.

“You’re not bad, kid,” Xim said. “Another century or two would make you a real contender.”

“I think I can beat you just fine,” Vel winced. “You don’t seem to be using your full potential.”

“Correct. I am very busy.” Xim shot a beam from her toes into the ground, and from its shadow, a series of demons emerged. “Please, relieve me of these wretches.”

Spellcasting and melee combat were not compatible with each other. As the demons closed in on Vel, swords swinging, Swell moved in to fend them off, but also putting herself in the crossfire. Xim didn’t care whether her fodder lived or died, but Vel cared about Swell. The deadly bolts ripped through the ranks, threatening to take a chunk out of the two of them. One broke through the defenses, heading for Vel’s head.

“Look out!” 

The catgirl smacked the mage aside, and the bolt of lightning electrified her black.

“Chloe!” Vel screamed. She tried to pull herself back up, but the demons were on top of her. She erected a barrier to protect herself. “Dammit!”

“That was unfortunate,” Xim sighed. “I’ve considered collecting beastmen before, but they’re not close enough to the dark. It’s for the best. Hmm?”

In the very back of the room, light was gathering around the second mage, the one written off as useless. It was true that her fighting capabilities were compromised, that the demon making a beeline for her was going to dice her into pieces. She knew she was a burden to her teammates, only able to provide basic healing with her disability, but it only mattered as much as her ability to circumnavigate it. After all, she had the power of a goddess flowing through her. It had to come out somewhere.

“Don’t touch my friends!” 

The beam shot out of her throat like a kaiju. While Xim was able to erect a barrier in time, the sheer force of the blast sent her carreening through the wall, then another, and another, each layer melting before she busted it apart with her powerful aura. After eight or so layers, the white cloaked witch shot out of the fortress’s airspace and far into the sky, where she floated with a delirious look on her face.

“Wow, that was something,” she muttered. “Mortals are scary when they get emotional.”

The old, young witch looked over her creation and assessed the damage. Reducing power supply, broken legs, and a huge hole in the side. This was somewhat troublesome. 

“I’ll see what the shadows can do.” She swished her hand, and the trail of darkness behind Trinity began to encircle the structure. Reinforcements climbed into the spider like even tinier spiders. “Boys, please fix my funny contraption. Heed this old lady's instructions.”

Back in the arena, Chloe was twitching on the floor, her body making strange guttural noises.

“Chloe, stay with us!” Vel shouted. “We can’t have them lose another sister!”

“I got it…” Fura flopped over Chloe’s almost corpses and used the rest of her power to release a healing explosion. 

The cat’s breath twitched as her heart started again, but her consciousness was still out. A few seconds later, Fura joined her. Their party was halved.

“Swell,” Vel looked up. “Can you get them out of here? Please take them to safety.”

“You going ahead by yourself, glasses girl?” She hoisted them up on each shoulder. “You gonna make it out okay?”

“There’s a soul I need to find myself. No matter what, I can’t leave him here.”

“Of course you can’t.” Swell prepared for her sprint to the outside, but at the last second turned around. “Hey, Ambrosia.”

“What?”

Swell made a few gestures. “Seal the deal. Otherwise, he'll never get it, okay?”

“Uh, sure.” Vel recognized the sentiment. He had to be somewhere around here, even in the depths.

Despite the length, Dige managed to get back to the rear compartments in record time. Being light again had its benefits. Now he was free, swinging his fancy axe like he never had before, leaping with a spring in his step as he decapitated demons along the way. The journey was almost over.

“Young’un,” the matriarch smiled. “You survived. We heard the fortress rumbling, and we were concerned.”

“Well, there’s no need to worry about that bastard anymore,” Dige puffed up. “We’re free to blow this place sky high! Are you ready to mosey on out?”

“Not quite.” She lifted a sack full of food and pushed it into Dige’s hand. “The detonation has to be done manually on the central brick. We set the seals that way. We came to say goodbye.”

“What!? After I dreamed up that rune!? We talked about this! There’s so much more for you all to live for!”

“Maybe live, but as what? Mutants, cowards? Do you remember how you died, Dige?”

“Yeah, as a weakling, by a monster bigger than I could ever imagine.”

“But you died honourably. You fought it to protect your home, without fear. You are a dwarf. As much as you don’t like it, a dwarf has to have his pride. I am very excited, actually. I can’t wait to see old lady Xim’s face in the next world.”

“I…” Dige had given this plenty of time to process, so even if it hurt now, it was only the last 10% to overcome. “I wish you the best. I’ll sculpt a piece of armor, for each of you, a-and a statue. I’ll never forget you.”

The matriarch smiled. This was the last time she would see this dwarf. That was for certain, but at least, she would re-earn her name. Mondfeld would have the last laugh.

0.01 seconds. Asahara activated Tempest Slash.

0.19 seconds. Asahara completed the attack, dealing 1,503,683,165 damage to all foes in the hitbox.

As the bisected bodies fell, and as the freshly cut dwarf held onto the mutant’s upper half, Akira walked into the room. The strike was so powerful that even the masonry was cleanly sliced and crumbled in a cascade that took half of the block into the shadowy depths below. The sun’s setting glow illuminated Akira’s bloodshot eyes.

“So it’s not a dwarf thing,” she said with a cold, sinister growl. “It’s just…you. It’s just you who’s the problem.”

“Akira?” Dige’s eyes were wide and bloodshot. “How did you-.”

His words were stopped by a rapid disarmament, with the matriarch’s body flying left and his chain axe going right. Akira went through his beard and grabbed the dwarf by the throat, lifting him high with ease.

“Do you see!?” Akira shouted. “I can lift your fat ass like it’s nothing! Do you know how I do it!? It’s because I’m powerful. I have the power of a god! I’ve killed gods! Many times! My stats are so high that they can break the fabric of reality with a mere thought! I’ve been wracking my brain on how you’ve been able to bypass all of that, and now I get it. Do you know what it is?”

Dige couldn’t answer, on part of him being strangled.

“It’s because you're stubborn, and dense, and stupid.” Akira couldn’t help but laugh. “You think that I’m just a normal guy. You see this, and just assume that’s what I am. That’s the big secret, isn’t it? You don’t think my power’s real. Now listen here. I am not just a guy. I’m not like the others. I am Akira Asahara, the Planet Killer. I am…me. There’s nothing else to compare me to! No gods, no cosmic beings. I am the benchmark that everyone else has to follow. I have taken the laws that govern who is strong, and I broke them, because that’s the kind of guy I am, and right now, you’re really pissing me off, because I just told you all that, and you’re still heavy! You’re such a heavy, fat piece of shit dumbass, so I’m just gonna strangle you right now, and get this over with. There’s no reviving this time. I made sure of that! So please, if you’re picked up by some other no-name goddess, tell her to call me, cause I’ll certainly-!”

With a thunk, Dige fell to the ground, Akira’s hand still firmly gripped around his neck, but less so. The rest of Akira screamed, more in anger than in pain, as a second axe strike sent him a dozen feet back. The wielder gave his weapon a little spin.

“No, he is right,” Mars grinned. “You are just a guy. That was clean through the bone.”

“Mars!” Dige coughed, removing the appendage. “When did you get here!? Did she take you?”

“Wait, you already knew I died?

“You what!?”

“I do gotta say, I don’t envy you. That hurt like hell, but it seemed like your goddess took a liking to me, too.” Mars reminisced fondly, being reborn mid swing, straight into a leviathan’s jugular. It was all very masculine, and he loved it. “She’s got some brains, and I guess I owe her my life, so here I am.”

Dige did notice the difference. His smell was off, and his dark eyes had been replaced by bright blue marbles. They rippled with her power.

“You gotta be kidding,” Akira grunted, quickly regenerating his arm. “There are two of you now!?”

“Oh, he can do that?” Mars asked.

“Ayy, you should’ve seen what I did to ‘em last time.”

“Then I guess we gotta keep cutting.”