Chapter 16: And every soul, it passed me by, like the whizz of my cross-bow

Hands. That’s the first thing Liahan Beiker said he recalled seeing in the explosion’s aftermath. A multitude of long emaciated decaying hands with scaly fingers of bone sprung out of the remains of the razed hospital. The young Second Lieutenant of Division Eight could only watch the birth of this chthonic entity in fear and awe, as the hands reached outward, the arms extending — and it propped itself up, pushing its weight onto the ground that its hands had planted themselves into. Root-like tendrils tore through the paved streets it stood on, as they grew outwards in every possible direction, pulsing and throbbing. In about four minutes, its tendrils had spread through every corner of Crater City.

Calling Deities of Corrosion a rarity would be an understatement. For the average PRECIPICE agent, a Deity was a figure from mythology. It was only the highest ranking agents who’d seen actual Deities — as confined specimens in shrines, or fragments of them in labs. No one in centuries had seen a real, live, deity. And, it hadn’t taken us more than a few seconds to realise that this would be an impossible task to conceal from the public. In the age of video recording technology, an incident of this scale could no longer be contained. Within minutes, small botchy recordings had already made their way onto internet forums. Captain Timothy Kyd had immediately assigned his Division to monitor the internet and expunge any posts related to the Deity.

Yang Ruoxuan was a secretive man, but Liahan was nosy. Even more so in his younger days. Through his constant persuasion, he had learnt a decent amount about Deities from his master who had been studying about them in secret.

It’s common knowledge that when a living organism’s bodily functions cease to exist, i.e. it dies, the Vitalis energy in its body has mostly become corrosive in nature. The life energy that seeps out of it mingles with the Corrosive energy around it to be reanimated as an undead Corroded. Vice versa, when Corroded near the end of their “life” span, and their soul (a loose term we use to refer to the core Vitalis energy present inside it) is liberated back into the atmos.

However there’s instances when there’s a big chunk of residual Vitalis energy that fails to escape the corpse, this is when we get an artefact. The remaining energy that’s trapped inside the corpse usually gets imbued into some part(s) of its body — a finger, strands of hair, a bone, etc. About 1 in every 10 deaths results in an artefact of varying rarity. Similar to the Corroded that we arbitrarily rank from S-tier (strongest) to E-tier (weakest), artefacts too have varying degrees of power. It depends on the amount of energy that’s trapped within it, which in turn depends on the species it was derived from. Just like how a street cat Corroded would be weaker than a wolf Corroded, which would be weaker than a human Corroded, artefact levels work the same. The only difference between the two being that unlike Corroded which are amorphous beings of energy, with only a partial tangibility to them — meaning they can often combine with one another with the bigger ones consuming their smaller counterparts, Artefacts are merely inanimate objects. They’re vessels for storing big chunks of energy within them that grow stronger with time. And Vitalis manipulators often use them during combat, or for conjuring equipment, for a rich source of surplus energy.

Now, Deities are the rarest kind of Artefacts. This is what we hadn't known back then. We always assumed Deities to be a special kind of Corroded that outclasses even the usual S-rankers. When the death of William Korspole by gunshot hadn’t resulted in the birth of a Corroded, we’d assumed that the worst was over. A deity resides in dormancy inside a corpse. If left undisturbed, it stays like that for decades — until the body has fully decomposed down to dust. It’s only when the Deity’s Vitalis core (which you could loosely refer to, as its “heart”, even though it isn’t exactly a real physical organ) is exposed to the outside atmosphere that the Deity manifests. It was us trying to cremate him that had resulted in this mess.

It was a daunting task to even look at the beast, much less to take the first step in its direction, forget fighting it. Liahan could only hold his breath as his human eyes beheld its form. The creature stood at a height of at least two hundred feet. It was a thing of ethereal beauty, even in its corpulent abhorrent form. Its hands — at least a few hundred, of all sizes and shapes, jutted out from the sides of its lengthy and obese torso in different angles, forming a circular halo of bony appendages around its back. Scaly tentacles hung loose from all over its bug-like body, and its thin angular legs — equally numerous as its many hands, ran along the lower end of its furry torso that tapered backwards into a giant stinger. The tendrils that had rooted themselves into the ground emerged from those legs like comically overgrown hairs.

Shoulder up, it had an anatomy that was vaguely human, and a face that felt to Liahan as if it embodied serenity itself. It was a familiar countenance that the Deity bore, similar to something you’d see in idols of ancient religions. I guess they had real inspiration to go off of. If not for abject fear, these unbelievable creatures of grandiose stature, evoked a feeling that bordered on submission and reverence from whoever or whatever laid eyes on it. Only an utter fool would even think of trying to fight it. Luckily for this city, our organisation is chock full of lunatics. No wonder the average PRECPICE agent only lives till 25.

Despite being an organisation with a workforce that had a concerningly high number of agents who hadn’t even reached the legal drinking age, the higher positions were mostly held by older members. Older by PRECIPICE standards, that is. Most made Major in their late 20s, Lieutenant in early 30s, and the handful that made it to their late 30s or 40s became Captains, or got promoted to the Administrative Division. It was a miracle therefore, when not one, nor two, and not even three, but four 19-20 year olds became the third in command of their respective Divisions the same year.

They were — Liahan Beiker, the Second Lieutenant of Division Eight, the Melee Combat Division; Elise Beiker, the Lieutenant-Colonel of Division Nine, the Snipers Division; Lupin Datres, the Deputy Lieutenant of Division Ten, the Explosives Division; and, last but certainly not the least, Jacob Islodo, the Second Lieutenant of Division Four, the Assasination Division. Lupin had once jokingly titled this quartet as “The Four Devas,” but Elise called it cliched, and instead christened this group “The Four Divas.” It is to be noted that Lupin despised this new name, but he couldn’t do anything about it because the other three absolutely LOVED it. Okay, pardon the digression! Moving on!!

The four enigmas of the New Generation of PRECIPICE had been the first to plunge straight into battle at their own separate fronts. Even among the crazies, these four were in a class of their own. What knowledge he lacked about the birth of Deities, Liahan made up for with his thorough understanding of their anatomy and behavioural patterns — the courtesy of his Master. A Deity’s corpus comprised three parts, roughly. The biggest part was the body, which housed a gateway into its inner realm. A Deity’s body was immune to external damage, being an intangible creature of pure energy. It could only be weakened from the inside, by venturing into its inner realm through its mouth. The second part would be its wings. The wings would sprout at the two far ends of its expanse, where they would fan up the atmosphere from both sides to create a stream of the atmosphere for it to suction into its mouth — consuming the life energy of whatever unfortunate souls lived within its feeding radius. If both wings could be broken, it would stop the Deity from further consumption, and prevent it from growing any stronger. The final part would be its heart — its Vitalis core, that would be planted at some place far away from its body. All of its nourishment passes through the tendrils on the ground that lead up from the body to the heart.

Liahan knew that the only way to “defeat” a Deity was to first break off its wings to cap its strength. The next job would be to weaken it from the inside, while its heart was whittled off from the outside. If the Deity wasn’t weakened enough, the heart would regrow to be even stronger and tougher to break. It was only when the Deity’s realm had been fully conquered from inside that its heart could be shattered — effectively vanquishing it. The remnants of its energy would bind to the nearest living creature, likely something such as a tree, where it would remain confined as long as the vessel remained unharmed. All in all, it was a four man effort. It couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated his Vitalis energy. He established a telepathic connection with the other three — Liahan here. I’m going to need y’alls help. Elle and Lupin, the two of you contact Surveillance to track down the location of the wings, and go break them. You’ll have to break both of them at the same time. Take as much backup as you can. They gotta deal with all the Corroded. Jay, I need you to take care of the thing’s heart. If I had to guess, you’ll find it in the Crater. Alright team, let’s take this thing down ASAP. Merry fucking Christmas.

The Surveillance team received calls from both Elise Beiker and Lupin Datres asking for the locations of the wings. Given the flow of the energy into the creature’s mouth, it wasn’t difficult to triangulate where the wings were at. Divisions 9 and 10 head out into the night, armed to the teeth. And they needed it — with how the streets were run amok by Corroded.

It wasn’t long until Division 8 pulled up either, ready to back their young Second Lieutenant. Liahan turned to his men as he said, “It’s going to begin the moment we initiate the attack. Are we ready for battle?”

“YES SIR!” the Division 8 agents roared in response. Liahan smiled.

“We’ve already fucked a lot of shit up, boys and girls. It’s time for seconds. Here we go!” Liahan said, as he led the charge — straight into the beast’s mouth. He strengthened his leg; Vitalis Manipulation: Warp, jumping into the air, he emitted some V onto his index finger, shooting it outwards into a small but powerful energy blast to the Deity’s side.

Without turning, he yelled to those behind him, “Plug your ears. Now.”

The creature let out an ultrasonic roar — loud enough to shatter glass. Despite plugging their ears with their fingers, a lot of the agents could feel blood trickling down their neck, from their eardrums that trembled dangerously.

By the time its screams of pain had subsided, Liahan had already dove headfirst into its mouth, pushing himself past the swarms of Corroded it regurgitated out, as he swam inside to his belly.

The agents outside jumped into battle themselves as the Deity threw up scores of Corroded lathered in its essence, making them stronger than usual. Kechvin Roplock, the Division Eight Lieutenant, stepped up as he said, “Alright, agents. While our Second Lt weakens Chthulu from the inside, we need to get rid of these pesky small fries here. Follow my lead for now.”

PRECIPICE as you might know, is divided into 15 Divisions. Divisions 8, 9, and 10 are the combat divisions. The Captain’s rank is entirely administrative, he oversees the chain of command for operations, divides work among agents, and decides who gets to go on holiday and who doesn’t. The Division Lieutenant’s job is more versatile, though it mainly involves doing paperwork. It’s a desk job for the most part, and the pay is excellent. But as a result, even though he outranks the Second Lieutenant, he still doesn’t have much agency during legwork, because the Second Lieutenant is the one who leads the troops to battle. Roplock had missed this. The thrill of battle. And he was certainly going to make the most of tonight. A chance for him to man a troop had become increasingly rare since his promotion last year. He wasn’t going to let a single Corroded escape.

—

The Central Headquarters might as well have been the Greek camp at the Trojan War, there wasn’t much of a difference. Robyn Greens had put out a B.O.L.O. (lookout notice) on Faust. The plan had been to slowly evacuate the people out of Crater City, and apprehend Faust if he tried to blend in and escape. The false sense of security that was the calm before the storm had thrown a spanner in the works. Believing that the worst was over, a lot of the Evacuation squad members had been slacking off. The Deity’s sudden appearance had caught them unaware, claiming a lot more lives.

“The official version of events is that… a huge terrorist attack happened, which was coincidentally followed up by some sudden tornado that just… What? Is that even believable??” Timothy Kyd, the Captain of Division Three said with a scoff.

“Well, the good thing is that everyone with a strong enough V-presence to perceive the Deity is probably dead by now. The ones who aren’t are still passed out. And even if someone tries to spread anything later, they’ll just get called insane,” said Nate Tomson, the Lieutenant of Division Four.

“How can you just say that Nathaniel? People are dying!” Kyd exclaimed, as he punched the wall in frustration. “Shit. This is the worst.”

“That’s not even my fuckin name Tim,” Nate said in a relaxed tone, “Also, you gotta take a chill pill, man. Look at the bright side for once.“

“I can’t!” said Kyd.

“... Well, as much as I hate to say it. Mr. Tomson does have a point. Our first priority has always been to keep the secrets of the world — y’know, secrets,” said Gregory Peel.

“Protect the secrets? We protect the people! That should be our priority!” Kyd replied, exasperated.

“Don’t forget why the government pays you, young man,” said Shree Amarnath, the Lieutenant General of Division 1.

“But sir!” said Kyd in protest.

“What’s come of the BOLO we issued on Faust, Ms. Greens?” Amarnath said, ignoring Kyd.

“No luck yet, sir” she replied.

“Hm. Unfortunate.”

“Is the internet being monitored sufficiently, Kyd?” Tobias Lodge asked.

“Yes. My agents are removing any content that even alludes to this. Every single website that allows users to post content is being tracked.”

“Have the website admins delete the logs as well. We need everything redacted down to the last detail. See to it,” said Lily Jones, the Division Two Lieutenant.

“That’ll take some time. But it is on my to do list,” Kyd said.

They turned back to the projection on the screen, observing the “Four Divas” at it — Liahan leading the charge, Elise and Lupin breaking the two wings, and Jacob fighting off the Corroded that swarmed around the Deity’s heart.

“You better give them a big raise Bonx,” Lady Decherla said with a chuckle. “The New Generation sure is promising.”

“It’s reassuring for old geezers like us that don’t have much time left. We’re leaving the agency in good hands” Amarnath replied.

“Oh cut the BS Amar,” Edward said, “Your ass is not dying any time soon.”

Amarnath chuckled, “It’ll be sooner than you think.”

When they saw Liahan jump right inside the Deity’s mouth, Lily asked, “What’s the inside of a Deity even like? It’s not a real creature, so… What lies inside?”

“The realm it holds control over. Within that realm, it is invincible,” Amarnath replied.

“But that can’t be right…” Lily said, “Aren’t you supposed to take it down from the inside? How does one do that if it’s invincible there?”

“The powers of a Deity are tied to human emotion. Emotion can never be killed. But you do have control whether you let it take over you, or not. Don’t be consumed by the Deity — prove your worth. It’s an intelligent living creature, after all.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question,” Lily said. “What’s really inside that realm of theirs?”

—

A graveyard. Tombstones stretched on either side of the field, as far as the eye could see. I found myself in this setting. I didn’t remember how I ended up here. I didn’t know what date it was, what time. It was like a dream.

The sun was light and diffused, the golden rays gently warming me up as they fell on my skin. I walked through the garden, the long line of graves beside me. I looked at the names engraved on them. It wasn’t until the 20th or something headstone I passed by, that I realised all these people had died on the same date. December 25, 1997.

Christmas Day… I wonder what sort of tragedy might have happened that year.

I suddenly stopped when I noticed a grave with flowers in front of it. This one was different, I realised. The date of death was December 24. A day before the others.

I squinted my eyes really hard. But I was unable to read the name on the grave. It was written in a language I knew I had the ability to read. For whatever reason, however, I just wasn’t able to.

I turned my eyes away from the stone to the ground before it, and then I jumped back in surprise. There was someone there! A girl, wearing a yellow dress, weeping before the grave. I could’ve sworn that she wasn’t there a moment ago.

She shook softly as tears flowed down her cheeks, and whimpers of woe escaped her lips. She was grieving, mourning the loss of her lover perhaps.

Then she stopped. Abruptly. She looked up. Right at me. She looked into my eyes, glaring. When she spoke, her words were sharp, and dripping with rage, as she said, “You… You killed him! He trusted you!”

I was puzzled. I didn’t know this woman. I was certain that I had never met her in my life. But for some reason, she also felt oddly familiar. Perhaps a memory… Not my own. Someone else’s memory.

“Are you Maria Blove?” I asked the girl.

I didn’t know who that name might have belonged to. I couldn't remember. But that’s the first name that had come to my mind at that moment.

The girl nodded, before she whispered, “No… I’m sorry. It wasn’t your fault. It was all mine.”

I wanted to say something in reply but the words stopped in my throat, forming a lump. My tongue couldn’t utter a single syllable. I turned again to look at the headstone I stood in front of.

I saw the name on it. I could read it now.

William Korspole.

August 12, 1978 – December 24, 1997.

My heart sank. It all came flooding back in my mind. That’s when I realised I was in the Deity’s realm.

“No, Maria,” I said, “The fault really was mine alone.”

“So you did kill me after all, did you? I trusted you Liahan! How could you?!”

I turned back to face the voice — except that it wasn’t Maria there anymore. Instead of her stood William Korspole, wearing the same clothes that he’d died in. The collar of his light blue shirt had been stained red from the blood that was dripping from the wound in his neck where the bullet had lodged itself.

The air grew thick and the sky went dark. The weather became colder, and colder until it was unbearably frigid.

As I looked at the graves around me, I realised who they were for.

The people who died at the hospital.

Out of nowhere, a strong wind blew a stack of papers right into my face. I stumbled back, as I grabbed onto one of them, the wind carrying the rest to some place faraway.

I looked at the paper in his hand. It was the medical record of a patient admitted to the hospital on December 24th. Someone who was probably lying in one of these graves here. I looked at the name on it.

Bespian Central Hospital

Name: Adrian Tyler.

Sex: M.

Age: 6 y/o.

Ailment: Common cold.

Discharge after a day.

[signed]

I felt something in the pit of my chest, my fingers let go of the flimsy sheet of paper. It flew off into the flowing wind like the others. It was guilt that I was feeling. Guilt immense enough to drive a person to the brink of madness, and then push them off the edge. I steeled myself as I realised that this was only the beginning of an unendingly long nightmare.