Challenge Series CH40-57 (Patreon)

Lotus flew high over the clouds to peaks beyond even the tallest gods had ever witnessed. Her body flowed over the warm updrafts, gliding to save energy as she watched the world below. She flew forward beyond the forest tribe’s lands to give her master an advantage that only she could give. No banshee could fly as high as she could or as fast, and none of them had her connection to him. While her master used lesser undead, it was understood that Lotus was the most important. She needed an early sign, and her master would recognize her. Her body vibrated as her mind lost itself in the fantasy of earning her master’s favor.

She was lost in her mind when her upper jaw opened. Her mind targeted thousands of birds all at once and fired. The necromantic dragoness flew down to catch those little treats in her jaws to chomp and lick back their mouth-watering blood and deliciously crunchy bones. She shivered as she tasted the delicate flavors of foreign qi slide down her throat.

It was tempting to dive after the remaining birds to fill her belly. But, the fleeing birds were enough of a sign for her master. He had mobilized preparations for less. It was cute how prey-like he acted with all his preparations completed or as complete as possible.

“Master, see what I see,” Lotus said, and she felt her master suddenly give her his undivided attention. He looked through her eyes as the birds fell around her like rain. She banked and shot through the clouds before shooting to the side.

A trail of burning hoof prints littered the ground, and a tapestry of multicolored feathers fanned the monster’s back. It smiled at Lotus, revealing massive blocky teeth in a horse’s grin. She hissed at the feeling of the god in the flesh as it took a single step at a time approaching her master.

“So, the foreign gods are chained.” She looked around to see chains of bone hanging from the god’s body. They entered one section and tore through another.

“I didn’t expect them to chain the gods down literally. Do you sense anything from the chains themselves or see any other gods?” Her master asked.

Lotus couldn’t see a thing through the fire god’s giant green and blue feathers. What kind of horse was also a peacock? She gained some altitude from an updraft coming from the fire god’s body and saw many more. A black dolphin swam in and out of the sand, and massive insects glowing with various energies bound in chains. Various lizards made their way forward with tremendous heaving stomps. Bone chains covered their bodies.

“So, the enemy also practices necromancy. Should I get closer to see if I can manipulate the chain?” Her master had already suspected how those creatures worked and reacted accordingly. They had only marched out here to deliver these gods as trophies for her master, utterly ignorant of who was really in control.

“No return immediately; you’ve given me everything I need.” Her master said.

Undoubtedly, he already had a brilliant plan, and revealing his power might make the foolish elves surrender. But, no one liked prey that just gives up; the thrill of the hunt makes bringing down powerful prey worthwhile.

She turned and flew away after catching another cushy updraft. If there was one god they should keep, it was the funny-looking horse god. Its fire powers were easier on her wings.

…

Lotus flew down over the forest tribe and landed at the only treehouse with a continuous plume of black smoke billowing from its yellow fire brick chimney. The sounds of hammers pounding and an elf cursing filled her ears with their familiarity. She crawled through a large open window. Lotus enjoyed life here with her master and his mates. She approached a room covered in quickly sketched pictures stuck to a wall. They resembled the many visions she had shared with her master.  If not for the invasion coming soon, she would curl up for a nap after her long flight. But her master needed her.

She felt a powerful presence like a storm hovering over a calm lake. Her master stood an easy 6ft tall and was practically the shortest person in the entire tribe. He wasn’t an elf but could throw elves around like toys. While his muscles weren’t absolutely bulging, they looked titanic compared even to the skull tribe elves. Her master’s chest was broad as a barrel, and she could feel waves of overwhelming power waiting to be unleashed.

“In two days, the pantheon will finish off the skull tribe and head straight for us. I don’t think there is anything the skull tribe can do to stop them.”

Every god she had seen had been sketched and their possible abilities listed. Their power levels were recorded, proving her master’s senses were amazing. She couldn’t detect the strengths of others with any accuracy through her master’s eyes, but he could through hers. The numbers he listed were spot on from what she could determine.

Comparing them to her master wasn’t fair. The mule god’s 700PL might have been nearly 20 times greater than her master’s 40PL, but he still wore his weights most of the time. She always suspected her master liked to hide his real strength for just the right moment.

She watched him stand in front of the sketches and shake with excitement. What else could her creator feel about a battle against gods? He was truly beyond her understanding. If she were the one in his place, she would have fled. There was no way she would be strong enough to fight something like a single god, much less many gods on the warpath.

…

Valigael believed in the cause of her Khan. As she led her band in the great army that had conquered the great Ugal plains, her confidence in her leader grew. Few could have held so many of their tribes together and led them to sack the silk slippered lords of the North, the barbarians of the west, or the hardy skull tribe of the south. Those elves were so ugly that not even the most beautiful of them could compare to a Plains Tribe girl. Destroying them would do the world a favor, and it was possible with the pantheon.

She rode on the back of her trusty steed and kept her bow on target. Another band retreated in their direction, and Valigael raised her bow. Without a word, the rest of her band did the same. Their tactics had been ingrained into them by the teachings of their khan and experience on the battlefield. The skull tribe might look big and tough, but they were soft on the inside.

When she saw the whites of their eyes, she opened fire. The tired skull tribesmen fell like wheat before a scythe. Every arrow struck home, and her band advanced over the corpses of the ugly skull tribe. They usually tried to take the most beautiful of the other tribe and offer them to the great khan, but there was no point. The skull tribe was a bunch of ugly barrel-chested barbarians.

A scout rushed in and stopped beside her. “I have news Valigael; you can’t let the others know about this.” Her band got in close to listen to the scout’s words.

“Just beyond the skull tribe lands, there is a forest full of the most beautiful young elves. Each has skin as supple as any noble or princess, and they are all as white as ivory. Some even glow in the dark. The great khan would reward us if we captured some. I’m going to report right now. Do you want me to suggest your band be added to the escort detail for the ambassadors?” The scout asked.

“The last group was butchered by the skull tribe, and their hand and feet were sent back to the khan,” Valigael said.

“These aren’t savage skull tribe but a gentle ivory forest tribe. Once they see the pantheon, they will beg us to join. I’m sure they will give themselves to you to sweeten the deal.” The scout said.

It had been a while since she had any. The skull tribesmen were ugly with their flat chests and angry eyes. She preferred to fill them full of arrows and call it a day. However, the vision of a tribe of beautiful elf maidens with ivory skin and gentle hands pleased her.

…

I stood over a deep hole in the earth filled with seawater and floating golden river lilies. Like stone gargoyles standing atop a tall building, dozens of forest avatars remained frozen as they sucked in starlight and fed that power to their master, the forest god. The corpses of hundreds of different silver animals stared back at me from the bottom of the hole. A few elves even laid at the bottom forever, a part of something more. Some of them moved connected to each other in an unfathomable way. Unfortunately, the forest god wasn’t something I got a handle on quickly. Instead, bark and fish scales grew across the edges of the pit, revealing the true nature of the hole in the ground.

Even if God only meant really strong here, I wasn’t at the level of these gods. Try as I might, my power level only increased by increments.

I could feel the monster as it slowly adapted to the power of the sea god. It wasn’t just adding a little power to itself; it had adapted all of the sea god’s potential. Once the forest god awoke, I estimated its PL could be between 500-700, by what I felt. That power increased a little every day until this last week. I had grown a hundred points in a day. If I wanted to get a handle on it, maybe it would be better to kill it while it’s assimilating the power. But, of course, the hundreds of avatars guarding the forest god made that impossible.

That’s where my problem comes in; how was I supposed to kill it. It wasn’t the same as when I saw it last. The god’s body wasn’t a collection of trees any longer; it had become a hivemind of living beings who shared in its power. Moreover, the avatars had begun stealing elves from the village and tossing them in the pond. Did that mean the forest god was ready to emerge, or did it need more time?

I envisioned a plan that could work, relying on Zosimael’s potions and the stolen flesh of multiple gods. A smile threatened to break across my face. Once again, I would rely on my regeneration to see me through the day.

“Leave my father be and follow close. I won't defend you if you trigger my father’s macro immune system.” Uriel said.

The avatar had agreed to help me since it wouldn’t affect his father. “Why do you even want a piece of that god’s useless shell?” Uriel asked.

“I think it could make a powerful weapon with the right amount of tempering,” I said.

“Don’t bother using it against father; he consumed the god that shell belonged to. The only part he couldn’t eat was the shell.” Uriel said.

We arrived to see a half-buried tree-covered mass of metal only partially glowing. I grabbed ahold of the mass and pulled with all my might, but it wouldn’t budge. My hand hurt a little, but other than that, nothing. Finally, I punched it with island obliterating fist, and the metal sang a long sad tune. Still, it didn’t so much as dent, much less crack. I turned to see the 6m tall tree man cross his arms in pure smugness.

Another blow capable of rocking the shell knocked a few beetles off it. Before I punched again, I saw something odd. The beetles had the same silver color shell as the metal. I gave the metal a closer look to see that it was covered in thousands of beetles, slowly eating away at it. That gave me an idea.

Instead of trying to take the metal itself, I knocked down a bunch of beetles and took them instead. Once they were safely in my inventory, I relaxed a little. While beating the gods still felt impossible, I might have a cool sword to improve my odds.

“Even if you manage to get the metal out of those beetles and make a weapon. You are still just an ant before my father. So remember to be humble before your betters.” Uriel said.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. My power had increased, but I couldn’t bridge the gap between mortal and God. Avatars were one thing, but I needed more time and another factor to fight a god and hope to win. But I didn’t have to beat them myself; all I had to do was guarantee the gods would fight one another.  They were heading this way, and the forest god would fight for its territory. Unfortunately, as intelligent as those kaiju were supposed to be, they were limited to instinct, just like any other animal, including humans.

…

Steam crackled in the air with the death of hundreds of beetles. A mass of silver metal hovered among the coals, hot and malleable inside the forge. A pair of iron tongs gripped the mass of molten steel, slowly lifted it from the coals, and placed it on an anvil. It didn’t rest long before Samael ponded it with a hammer. With every hammer bang, the mass of metal looked less like a pile of bugs and more like a lump of steel. I watched her shape and bend the metal before reheating it.

Numerous training videos, thousands of SP for equipment, and time for training took Samael from a tribal to a competent blacksmith. Finally, after thousands of failures, a few halfway decent spear tips, and some good knives, she worked on what could be my god-slaying weapon.

She slowly worked runes into the metal as she beat the metal into the shape of a sword. It lengthened with every fold as she thinned the metal. When the weapon was set, it would channel qi better than any normal metal weapon.

“You really know how to make me work; you know I expect you to rub my back after this. I’m not talking about a little rub either you’re going to use the oil you bought me and rub me for hours. Just the thought of getting rubbed down makes me want to hurry up.”

I glared at her.

“Of course, I won’t; this can’t be rushed.”

“Did you hear about the ambassador party?” I asked.

“Mother asked them to come to dinner. I think the ministers plan to jump ship and sell the rest of us into slavery. The warrior minister won’t be found until tomorrow; well, pieces of her will be.”

“So, no one wants to give in to the great Khan’s mercy,” I said.

“We’ve heard tales from the dolphin girls about what kind of badass the Dao Khan is said to be. She’s the type of bitch who would kill us all for betraying my mother. Because who could trust women who sold out their leader. If we all decided to join them, that would be a different story.”

“So, what’s the plan? Are we going to offer tribute to the Great Khan and hope they don’t decide to just take us over? With the number of gods they have under their control, surrender may be the only option for this tribe.” I said.

“You’re defective; they would kill you. Then, Elorael and I would be fucked and castrated,” Samael said.

“What does that involve?” I asked.

“The great Khan would have us castrated to ensure we wouldn’t impregnate any of her other flowers. Then, she would breed us like a moose in the rut until we were pregnant. After that, our children would become the equivalent of governors in this territory.” Samael said.

I nodded my head. “That’s what I thought, so it's best to remove the temptation from their hands then. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this. Please have my sword ready in the next few days. I’m going to force the great Khan to attack me with her full strength.” I said.

…

There weren’t many actions more disrespectful to an ancient society than killing their ambassadors. But, of course, how I killed them would also matter. Even if they had a whole pantheon of gods chained to themselves, they were still a primitive race. Their weapons were tipped with rock or bone, and their sentries were just as drunk as the others. A few forest elves gave the rough riding elves of the plains some company. The sounds of lovemaking were in full swing when I made my way to their camp.

I grabbed the sentry's face, and for a second, she froze before I snapped her neck. My wet work continued with knives over throats drawing red rivers, and my steel blade cut clean. Samael had lovingly strapped my leather-wrapped handle to make it tight with no slippage. As a result, I could cut hundreds of throats and never slip once on my weapon. A few runes drawn into the blade made the blood drip off the weapon.

While I was busy, I hobbled the horses and planned to use them for breeding my own calvary horse. An arrow impacted my back but failed to pierce my Kevlar vest. I turned to see a tipsy Plains Tribesman fumbling to draw another arrow.

I crossed the distance instantly and delivered a gut-wrenching blow to her stomach. She puked and choked on her vomit. Someone ran out of the tent, and I threw a knife catching them in the side. I heard something shatter and knew my target wore ceramic armor. I watched her run for a horse and threw another blade. Just as she climbed up the saddle, my knife buried itself to the hilt in the horse’s neck.

At a glance, my visor read her PL at 10. The one who shot the arrow had a PL of 13. While that was powerful, it still wasn’t a threat. I kicked the elf’s legs out from under her and watched her fall. She glared up at me.

“The Great Khan won’t be fooled by the treachery of the skull tribe. She will see this for what it is, a sad attempt to stop the inevitable and end your rebellion against the ruler of this world.” The elf said.

The ambassador gave up taking a horse and ran bowlegged for her life.

I flicked another knife and watched the blade hit just a little wide of the ambassador’s head. A click from my tongue was all the frustration I allowed myself to show. I had one more knife, but it wasn’t for throwing. So instead, I pulled my bow from my inventory and fired.

The arrow flew true and hit just where I wanted it. While it missed anything vital, it would still slow the ambassador down. Once I was sure she was gone, I continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

“That would also work in my favor. Really the only thing I don’t want is peace. It would be great if I can make the Great Khan mad enough to charge.” I said.

“What are you, a degenerate mutant. Your ears aren’t pointed, and I don’t see any scarring.” The elf said.

I slit her throat and moved on to double-check the survivors to make sure I didn’t miss anyone and collected my steel knives. After blabbing my plan, the worst thing I could do was not do a thorough job of making sure everyone was dead. Some people might say my actions make me a monster. But if everything falls apart and I don’t get a single kill, it's my ass on the line. Besides, getting the Great Khan to charge down my throat was the easiest way to ensure the pantheon joined into the attack.

Once I was sure everyone was dead, I stacked their heads into a pyramid. While that was monstrous, it would drive my message home. The forest tribe would see it and realize there was no going back, and without someone to blame, we would legitimately go to war. So now all I had to do was make sure the skull god died. The last thing I wanted to do was let the thing slink away.

…

I yawned and stumbled towards the door to the familiar sensations of Mekael’s qi. The second I opened the door, she barged in and slammed the door behind her. The woman paced back and forth before growling and shaking her hands. She plucked mango-looking fruit from my kitchen table and took a bite. Mekael still hadn’t said anything, only ravenously eating more of the fruit. When she grabbed another, I started to feel a little worried.

My schedule today was rather full. It was still early though Samael hadn’t come to bed which meant her message came before anything else today. She wouldn’t let me off the hook just because she was tired. I wasn’t about to skimp on rewarding her after beating my sword together. I just hoped the calcified forest god wood made a good handle.

“Can you hear me; I said the ministers have fucked us.” I nodded my head. Everything was going according to plan. They would try to hold on to power, panic, and force the civilians to usurp them in a bloody revolution just before a battle for survival against the pantheon. But of course, I still had to ensure the skull god died first.

“Who did those idiots give dementia to now?” I asked.

“That’s been neutralized. Zosimael finished identifying the moth whose scales cause dementia-like hallucination. Teams of warriors are moving throughout the forest to kill them all as we speak. The colony within the tribe has been neutralized as of last night and burned. Unfortunately, the poisoning of our elderly by a joint plot between the priesthood and the ministers is the least of our concerns.” Mekael said.

“The ministers either killed the ambassador party or the skull tribe are invading because we listened to the party. Which is it?” I asked.

“I’m afraid it’s the former. We could survive a skull tribe attack, but a whole group of gods ruled by the whims of a single elf is beyond us. The ministers denied it even under torture. We managed to track down the ambassador, and with her dying breath, she claimed a mighty warrior from the skull tribe attacked them.” Mekael said.

I couldn’t help but think Mekael was lying to me. My arrow hadn’t hit anything vital, especially not on a cultivator. She shouldn’t have died that much was certain. Mekael would only give me misinformation if she suspected me. Or someone could be feeding her misinformation. There was also a slim chance I made a mistake.

“I want to see the body,” I said.

That would settle things easily enough. If the ambassador had been decapitated, then the body wasn’t that of the ambassador, which would mean Mekael was going against me. On the other hand, none of the guards still had their heads, so everything should fall into place once I saw the body.

My eyes widened at a sudden realization. What if I hadn’t counted the bodies correctly and one managed to sneak away while I was distracted? She could have snuck away and heard everything. The body Mekael was about to show me would have to be a fake no matter what. If it wasn’t decapitated, then it had to be the ambassador. There was also a chance she died from an animal attack.

…

The body had been found by a young warrior’s patrol; in other words, girls no older than 15 found the body and quickly reported it. If the young warrior's patrol found the body, the ambassador hadn’t made it very far, bowlegged and shot. My arrow was nowhere to be seen or omitted from the report I was given. All they needed was my arrow, and they could prove I killed the ambassador. There were claw marks all over her body and several bite wounds. The ambassador had stumbled upon a nest of raptors who fled when the warrior guiding the young warrior patrol stepped in their territory.

My arrow might have been dislodged early on, leaving it on the ground for anyone to find. But, we killed the ambassador of the Plains Tribe, and our path has already been decided. Mekael didn’t want to say it, so I would.

“We should aide the skull tribe. It doesn’t matter that we didn’t kill them at this point. No amount of wishful thinking or tribute will matter now. If we don’t stand firm with the skull tribe now, we will fight the Plains Tribe alone.” I said.

Beating back the Plains Tribe wasn’t my objective; so long as I saw what the pantheon could do and the skull god died, I would be satisfied. Then, all I had to do was keep my eye on the prize and stay out of most of the fighting.

“That won’t work; the skull tribe is already done for. Before we can gather our greatest warriors and march them out of the forest, the skull tribe perish.” Mekael said.

“Then let's send scouts to observe the battle; I’ll join them to ensure the information gets back,” I said.

Mekael wasn’t having it. The elf’s face blushed pink before she turned away.

“With the ministers under house arrest and the chief still recovering, Elder Zosimael is running things. I use her authority when I make decisions. She wouldn’t want you to throw your life away just to get some information.” Mekael said.

I reached out and took her hand. She let me hold her while I ran through the possibilities on the inside. At the end of the day, I didn’t think they suspected me, or if they did, they were willing to overlook it. Honestly, if there were no survivors, it was likely the ambassador's death could be blamed on the skull tribe. That would ruin my plans.  I needed to not only do some damage but humiliate the Great Khan.

Of course, if Mekael wouldn’t let me follow the scouts, I would go myself anyway. I couldn’t afford to let this opportunity pass me by. Mekael was a mighty warrior and a great training partner. By fighting her with my weights on, I gained more training in a few months than in years. She knew the meta and what tactics worked, and which were useless. That meta changed when the Plains Tribe was involved. Long-range God Light techniques became very viable, along with a rune buff to boost my damage. I could, under the right circumstances, even hurt a god.

If the Khan’s information team was any good, using a God Light technique would expose our side in this battle. That would make showing my hand worth it.

…

It was hot, and ashes constantly fell in the skull lands. A venomous lizard nearly took a scout off, and it still followed us. Even after we washed out the girl’s wound and wrapped her leg in a clean bandage, she grew weaker. It wouldn’t be long before she fell, and the lizard got his meal. Every step forward weakened the girl and slowed the rest of us down. Finally, I turned to see more lizards gathered, following just close enough to keep their eyes on the little elf scout.

“Maybe we should go back; this venture was cursed initially,” Sulimael said.

She was just another scout and now second to most useless. Traveling with a group of elven scouts slowed me down by a day already. I could sense the battle between the skull god and the pantheon. It would be over if we didn’t move quickly, and our trip would have been wasted.

I pulled out my bow and put an arrow in each of the lizards as they ran for it. While a few scattered, I killed more than half of them.

“If you want to leave, then go. We are two days away from the village and one from leaving these lands. If you move quickly and reach the forest, the lizards shouldn’t bother you. The panthers alone would make short work of them.” I said.

An elf girl stepped into a hole, and the largest spider I’ve ever seen snapped her up and dragged her down. She didn’t even have a chance to scream before she was gone.

One elf collapsed on the ground, and another fell into hysterics. I forgave them for being young and never seeing something like that before. Slowly I pulled my own shaking hand from my chest. My heart was hammering in my chest until I could hear it pounding in my ears.

“We can’t slow down; we have a job to do for the tribe. Be sure to stay away from any holes.” I stepped too close to a hole, and another spider grabbed me. The scouts froze, and I kicked the spider. A shriek filled the air as I stabbed into its abdomen with a steel-tipped spear. My hotkey added my long spear to my left hand in time to kill another spider before it could snatch up the captain. I felt like an old machine moving too jerky to be fluid, doing my tasks mindlessly.

One of the elves pointed her finger at me. “You could have saved Jalimael.”

“Don’t be stupid. I didn’t know about the spiders until after she was taken. None of you knew about them either or could feel any qi from them.”

“Presence concealment,” an elf muttered.

“What was that the rest of us couldn’t hear you?”

The captain sighed and stepped forward. “A century ago, there was an attempt to end the skull tribe once and for all. Two hundred warriors entered skull tribe lands, and only a hand full returned. None of them even made it to the capital. Many of the animals in this land naturally use presence concealment. It hides their qi making it impossible for us to sense them.”

“This land is cursed, and we’re cursed for coming here,” Sulimael said.

“We need to get out of here, or none of us will make it.” An elf said amid a stream of muttering confused voices.

“The Skull Tribe isn’t undefeated because they’re strong or brave. All they have to do is flee behind their walls, and eventually, the wilderness will take care of everything. But we aren’t invaders when we reach skull tribe lands; they will welcome us as allies.” The scout captain said.

When we began, there were 20 scouts, and now, we were 19. If those two dissenters left, we would be only 17. Worse, we were two days out by our current speed from our destination. The more we lost, the worse off we were. Predators that would have avoided us due to numbers would become bolder.  Rations wouldn’t last much longer either. Even with cultivation, food and water were just as necessary for elves as humans.

One of the elves upturned the last of her water, which was for her. She didn’t have enough water to make it back, so she was dead unless we found another water source. Although my inventory water wasn’t something, I stockpiled. If we didn’t find a clean source of water soon even, I would be in trouble. My water supply was down to half, and we hadn’t reached our destination yet. I could make it if I ditched the elves and ran for it.

We didn’t make it far before a snake bit another girl, and she died a few agonizing hours later. At night when we made camp, we started a small fire with what little brush we could scavenge.

It was disturbing hearing the creatures move around just outside our firelight. I couldn’t sense their qi relying on my new sense in the skull lands would only get me killed. The elves weren’t doing much better dehydration had set in on a few. It wouldn’t be long now until our numbers dropped again.

The following day 3 elves didn’t wake up. Instead, we found several fat ticks on their bodies and horrible purple splotches all over their bodies. Wounds crusted over with yellow puss leaked from several welts on their bodies. They were the ones farthest away from the fire.

“We have to get out of here; forget the skull tribe. I won’t be killed by bugs.” Sulimael said.

“We have a job to do, and it's too late to turn back now. But if we can make it to the skull tribe, they can show us how to survive here. So everything will be ok if we make it to the skull tribe.” The scout captain said.

I pointed out into the distance, where the ash pour died down. “That’s our destination.” Giants battled atop the active volcano. Sunlight glinted off the mirror shined finish of a god made of bone. Its skull was that of a dragon, with the curled horns of a ram and glowing golden eyes. It opened its mouth, and flames gathered within before it spewed forth a wave of its breath. Even tens of miles away, I broke into a cold sweat.  The skull god was near twice the size of the forest god.

The dolphin emerged from the mountainside and blasted a black soot wave into the skull god’s face. Once again, the battle was obscured, and there was nothing we could do to change that. I didn’t dare risk Lotus at this stage; she was my greatest means of escape if everything went south. There was still time to kill the pantheon after the skull, and forest gods were beaten.

“We contacted the enemy and know they have already engaged the skull god. So this is our best chance to leave.” Sulimael said.

The scout captain disabused her of that notion. “Our mission is to contact the skull tribe and coordinate a retreat with their remaining forces to our lands. If we leave now, we fail the mission, and the lives we lost would have been for nothing. I can’t let that happen.”

“If the Plain’s Tribe has already made it this far, then odds are there are no skull tribe warriors left to ally with,” I said.

“That isn’t a chance we can take. If there is even one more ally we can get for this fight, our lives are worth it. We’re only scouts.” The scout captain said.

At least the scout captain wasn’t lazy; I could respect her for that. But I knew the difference between an entirely mounted force and the defensive skull tribesmen. The odds were good; the horse archers would fool the shield wall out of formation with some false retreats and whittle their numbers down. Or I could be wrong. The horse archers might have had as terrible a time getting through this land as we did. But, honestly, I underestimated how shitty the skull lands could be.

We made our way towards the base of the volcanic mountains, and one of the scout’s ears twitched. She turned her head to the side. “I hear hooves nearby.” The elf said before an arrow lodged in her throat.

In moments we were surrounded, and one of the riders charged me. An arrow bounced off my neck as I ducked out of the way of a swipe from an ax. I returned with my hotkeyed long spear and stabbed the rider in the side before swapping to my ax to take out one of the horse’s legs. The beast fell and rolled on its rider while blood poured from its stump. More arrows hit me uselessly. Their stone arrowheads were weak enough for my qi strengthened skin to shrug off. Moreover, unlike the forest and skull tribe, their weapons were sharpened stones instead of broken razor-sharp obsidian.

I threw a knife and caught one of the horses in the neck just before one charged into me. Then, more riders charged me, brandishing their heavy stone axes. While their blows could hurt me, every one of mine was deadly. Hooves smashed down on my stomach with nearly 2 tons of force, and instead of tearing my stomach into a bloody mess, I might get a bruise. Axes swung down in low decisive chops but bounced off or broke on my body. I punched and kicked, ripping through flesh and bone as I fought to get back up. While it might sound insane, my training had slowly taken me from a little above average to well into superhuman territory.

When I made it to my feet, a rider tried to get away. It felt familiar, like when I hit the ambassador with an arrow, and the wildlife finished her off. The wildlife in the skull lands was more deadly, if anything. I used my bow hotkey and pulled back an arrow. Before the rider vanished into the smog, my arrow flew.

More scouts from the Plains Tribe found us, and I started losing my elves one after the other. Finally, when the captain died, morale broke, and the elves mostly dispersed. Only Sulimael remained a flat-chested tomboyish elf with sandy brown hair and eyes so brown they appeared black.

I tossed her one of the water skins I found from the Plains Tribesmen.

She drank greedily while a question burned in my gut. “Why didn’t you leave with the others?”

“I’m a scout, but that doesn’t make me dumb. We were sent here so Mekael could show she was doing something while the warriors prepared. I don’t mind being a sacrifice for the tribe but don’t treat me like I’m too stupid to know what that means.” Sulimael said.

I felt a little like a dick bringing them with me. Mekael kept insisting they come, and I didn’t know the land. I’ve always been terrible with directions so letting them come along was a no-brainer. I didn’t think the land itself would be such a barrier.

“Sorry, I didn’t want any of you to come with me. This would have been easier if I had gone alone. Then none of you would have to die in this far-off land.” I said.

“Are you saying we would have died in our homeland instead?”

“You’re smart for a scout; how old are you fourteen fifteen?”

“I’m 13 and new to the role. Mekael chose me for my skill in stalking prey. I’m the quietest hunter in our tribe.”

“In just another month, your captain would have made young warrior and been out of the scouts. Most elves your age would still be initiates; how did you make scout early.”

“You could say I wanted it more. I thought I could keep the edge if I advanced faster than everyone else. Until you came along, I was going to become Mekael’s apprentice. That fell through, and now we’re at war.”

I nodded; I flapped my wings and caused a tsunami without meaning to like a butterfly. The world has limited opportunities and resources that I take someone else won’t have. At this rate, she was going to die. I wasn’t going to kill her, but I couldn’t take care of her and get her back safely; I could barely care for myself.

My reply couldn’t be anything but hard. “Don’t expect me to apologize. Thanks to Mekael, I gained a lot of power in a short time. Without her, I wouldn’t have become nearly as strong as I have.”

“With the amount of time she gave you, a hundred initiates could have become warriors. She trained with you some days from morning to night and hunted with you in the evenings. You could have trained someone after your duel, but you only sought to raise your strength even more. Now, look at us. We need an army of well-trained elves, and all we have is one powerful degenerate.”

“Life isn’t fair, and we didn’t know about the invasion of the Plains Tribe until recently. Maybe we would have been better off focusing on the young instead of ourselves. We’ll never know this isn’t that timeline.” I said.

“I don’t know what that means; your words aren’t making any sense to me,” Sulimael said.

Explaining timelines and multiverse theory to a primitive without a written language or context would be impossible. So, I settled on what I could do to help Sulimael survive. “Keep up, and maybe you won’t die. But, I can’t make any promises because I have a job to do.”

The ground changed from hard black soot to a porous black rock lit up by slow lava flows. The charred bones of dozens of horses dotted the lands, and the eyestalks of strange creatures poked out of the deep lava pools. Sulimael grabbed my shirt and tugged it on. I grabbed her and leaped higher into the mountain away from the trail.

A rider galloped down the mountain, only for the monster in the lava pool to leap out and catch her horse’s neck in its giant pincer. The smaller claw went to work, first killing the rider then tearing away chunks of horseflesh. In moments bone was visible. When I felt like we could relax, the hoof of a giant horse crushed the crab into paste. Hundreds of smaller horses, each with riders, followed the god up the mountain. We stared up as hoof over hoof, the giant horse made its way up the mountain. If everything went well, this would be the end of the Skull God, and an objective would be complete without me having to lift a finger.

I grabbed Sulimael and ran for one of the horse god’s hooves. Each hoof was roughly the size of a supermarket, and each step shook the volcano and exposed lava flows. As the horse god climbed the mountain, more lava flows poured out, giving me little choice. Without my weights on, I was relatively light. I could move much faster than a horse at full gallop. Elves, on average, with their breathing techniques, could run around 30mph with near-endless stamina. One could jump nearly 12ft high from a standing position. I could triple that with ease. When I ran and jumped while holding Sulimael sack of corn style, I traveled nearly 100ft.

We smacked hard into the horse god’s leg, and I barely caught a handful of the horse’s hair. My elf companion jolted off my shoulder but managed to grab my leg. I froze between reaching out to help her and holding my own grip. After a moment, I realized she wasn’t falling and grabbed ahold of the horse’s hair with both hands and began climbing up.

“Where are we going?” Sulimael asked.

“The easiest way to kill a god is from the inside.”

I stared at the chains running through the god’s body even as I said that. There was something about them that felt off even for God controlling chains. I couldn’t put my finger on it, so I climbed closer to one. Fortunately, we were less conspicuous than a flea on a horse’s ass.

A giant flea leaped from beneath the horse god’s fur and bit me on the side. I crushed it, and more came. Even as I killed them and climbed towards the closest opening, more attacked. They were no bigger than my hand, but they bit like a Pitbull. Finally, we walked up the thigh just under the folded bouquet of green feathers. There sealed with one of the chains was the horse god’s giant black vagina, and above that round and puckered shut was its giant horse ass hole. Above it, grey and plump were several massive golden ticks fat from god blood.

I tossed my knife at one and watched the blade bounce off its target. Then, after biting my lip, I formed a new plan. I gripped the horse god’s fur with my toes and stood up. My heels rested against the horse god’s skin, and I pointed two fingers at the ticks and held my arm steady with my other hand.

A bright green light gathered at the end of my fingertip. I engaged my qi actively, powering up my PL from its normal 20 to 60 as the qi at my fingertip stabilized. Just holding the power at the end of my finger, it felt like the power could blast me back. I gripped the hair between my toes tightly and aimed for the ticks.

God light techniques had a lot of kick behind them, especially if they were long-range. Usually, only priests and the chief’s family could use those techniques reliably. They also had a massive stamina cost and took years to perfect. Most elves couldn’t use the technique more than once or twice a day. I was different. After taking multiple potions and eating the flesh of gods directly, my cultivation potential had significantly increased. When my senses developed to the point where I could sense light and practice the technique, I could already use the technique three times. After months of using it, my number had increased from 3 to 5, and soon my number would increase again.

I fired my beam and held my ground as the air roared. Greenlight cut and scorched the ticks as gallons of blood poured out of them and vaporized as my technique burned everything it touched like a death ray. When I finished, the parasites were burned up, leaving slowly healing skin in their wake.

The horse god’s anus twitched as its tail fanned back and forth. Soon the wounds from the parasites were gone, and I took out my phone. I made sure to get myself in the picture and took a selfie with the horse god’s giant divine ass and pussy in frame.

Thousands of SP rolled in after that. It seemed there were a lot of fellow people of culture online. If those numbers kept going up, I might be able to afford some of the excellent stuff. But, of course, I wasn’t done yet; there were plenty of pictures that could be taken.

Sulimael and I took a path of the tiny hairs leading to the horse god’s cunny. This was going to be something messed up.

“I’m tired. I don’t know if I can do this.” Sulimael said.

“You’re breaking my heart. The last stop on this crazy train was at the volcano's base. If you had left, you would have had the same chance as the others to get back.” I said.

“This is insane; how can you take done a god much less several gods.”

“Gods are practically invincible when fought directly. They’re massive mobile fortresses of flesh and bone. Attacking them from the outside is impossible. But if you attack them on the inside, we can take them down. They aren’t so tough if you know where the strike.” I said.

“I don’t have your faith. To me, the gods are impossible to beat.” Sulimael said.

We made our way towards its large vagina, where the giant bone chains ripped through its flesh. I touched the chain, and the entire situation changed. I looked closer at the creature that bound the horse god with my visor on. The glasses were connected to the system, and they read pantheon. Suddenly everything made much more sense.

I pulled free another knife and sliced into the white flesh of the god parasite. The wound opened, and tentacles burst out of it; I sliced them off with my knife then grabbed ahold of the parasite. But, unfortunately, I only had one god light technique and nothing else to do any real damage to the slimy feeling monster.

“Disgusting, it feels like a slug,” Sulimael said.

That was an interesting idea. I reached into my inventory and pulled out a five-pound bag of salt. Then I sliced open the parasite’s flesh and poured salt into the wound. The white flesh of the creature bubbled and dissolved before my eyes before dripping down the black flesh of the horse god. A tentacle lashed out of the dying god fragment and hit Sulimael. I caught her hand and grabbed ahold of the massive labia in front of me. The massive organ clenched, and I threw Sulimael into the labia.

“Why did you bring salt but not water?”

“I always keep some salt in my hunting kit.” Which wasn’t entirely wrong. Before, I had misjudged the distance and hadn’t bothered to bring extra water. If I had traveled alone, I would have been fine.

After she moved deeper into the horse god’s sex, I moved the labia a little aside and took a picture of myself in the massive labia. If I thought I had a lot of SP before, my numbers instantly increased by 10k. The second we took a step deeper into the massive horse god uterus, the organ squeezed down on us.

“It's pulling us deeper.” The elf girl cried.

“Don’t panic; it's probably an involuntary reaction.” So while on the outside, I tried to put on a calm face on the inside, I wasn’t feeling quite so chill. I struggled to get up or move, but the slimy walls kept shifting and knocking me back down. Using a weapon to tear my way through would just leave a bloody mess, and as it turns out, I don’t have to kill this god, just the parasite invading it.

“Greeting mortals, are you the ones who freed my backside from the parasite’s control.” A voice said from all around us.

“How can we hear you?” I asked.

The squelching sounds and the screaming elf girl drowned out all other noise. From my perspective, I shouldn’t be able to make out anything.

“You are inside me, and through what you call qi, a resonance can be created between living beings. While normally my body moves while my mind is trapped, you have freed a small part of me. If you could free the rest of me, I would be forever grateful.”  The voice of the horse god said as we came upon a tiny orifice covered in a layer of mucus. “Crawl through and slay the parasites inside so it can no longer feed on my children; it will enable my immune system to activate its macro defenses.” The deity said.

“How can something so weak control you?” I asked.

“The same way parasites can control you. Some can shut off parts of our immune system, stopping our ability to defend ourselves from larger invasive species. They are a malediction we can’t defend against. Controlled by a woman who doesn’t understand the powers she’s playing with. I was once the god of her people, and like other gods, I slew those who invaded my territory. She infected me with a parasite's egg and used me to infect other gods. We were bent against our nature and made to work together and become a part of Pantheon.”The horse god said.

“I get it you’re not in control of your actions, and you would help me if you were. So fine, I’ll help you. Just don’t tell anyone I’m crawling around in her private parts.” I said.

“Most mortals are incapable of hearing our voices. Our qi is too different from theirs, far too sophisticated. You are on the threshold of communication. Your mortal companion can not understand me.” I turned my attention to Sulimael. She was screaming and clutching her head.

I squeezed around her, and the flesh around us undulated. “Careful, or after you free me, I might keep you in my private place as you called it.”The horse god said.

I pressed my head through the cervix and into the womb. After stumbling in a new larger, less cramped area, I shined a light through by channeling god light to my fingertips. A green glow revealed the monster before me.

What looked like a massive bone chain with eyes wrapped around two giant floating tubes stared at me with a milky gaze. Without missing a beat, I shot across the womb and slashed open the parasite. One of its chains smashed against me like a striking snake, and I flew careening against a wall. The fleshy exterior stopped me just as the horse god’s body shook.

“Be quick. I’m battling a god of bone and can not wield my full strength while being a part of the pantheon.” The horse god said.

My hotkey put a bow and knocked arrow in my hand, and I fired repeatedly. Even after I filled the monster full of arrows, it didn’t affect me much. Only salt seemed to do it any lasting damage. Tentacles sprang out of the monster’s wounds and formed into smaller worms. I knew then what it was trying to do. A tidal wave of tiny worms fell upon me, and I equipped more sold and threw handfuls of salt at the worms.

One crawled up my leg, and I struck like a snake when I felt it near my ass. Greenlight exploded around me, vaporizing the closest worms, including the one in my hand. I sucked in a breath and let it out. I watched the worms fall limply on the ground; heat did the trick. I just needed a lot more heat, and after that AOE god light technique, I pulled out of my ass; when my ass was on the line, I felt ready to drop. My stomach rumbled, and the parasite in my hand smelled pretty good.

I could tell the qi within it was quite special. I sniffed the worm to ensure it was ok; it smelled like bacon. My glasses were ready nonpoisonous, so I took a bite. After the bite, my qi changed as I chewed and swallowed divine flesh. It wasn’t pills or potions, just raw ingredients not enough to transform my body but enough to add another layer of complexity to myself.

The parasite attacked faster than before, unleashing long whipping tentacles. I put my hands up and kept my body small.  A whip flashed, and I ducked almost too late. One slammed into my arm, and the force stunned me.

Several tentacles moved in unison and hit me from every direction. All I could do was keep my head protected and move forward. The only way I could win was to get close. A hotkey put a long spear in my hand, and I dipped the tip in salt on the ground and charged. I stabbed my spear into the deity’s center of mass, and its long tentacles wobbled in the tubes it circled. I flung a bag of salt on it, and the creature knocked me back.

Pieces of the monster melted away as the womb walls squeezed down on us. As the salt melted away at the pantheon parasite, its strength dropped. With the womb shrinking, the salt slurry on the ground mixes with the monster, and it writhed in pain.

From my phone, I ordered a barrel of salt. The SP spent was nothing compared to winning this fight. I tore the barrel’s lid off with an ax from my inventory and lifted the barrel high. The creature attempted to hoist itself out of the slurry, and I chased it using the squeezing womb walls to climb. When I ran in close, I threw some of the salt out of the barrel. It hit the monster to a cacophony of sizzling, melting flesh.

I reached out and gripped the mass of tentacles while holding the barrel over my shoulder and braced my legs. Then, the parasite slipped out of the hole. Salt spilled over my body and melted the tentacles when they attacked me. I dragged the monster out of the fallopian tubes and threw it into the salt and flesh slurry below. It sunk under then burst out, scrambling up the squeezing womb with melting tentacles. I dumped the rest of my barrel on it and watched the creature melt.

From the tubes above, man-sized round crystalline creatures poured into the womb.

“My former macro defenses won’t do. You’ve given me all the sodium I need to make defenses capable of dealing with the pantheon.” The horse god said.

I watched the round creatures slip through the horse god’s flesh as more filled the womb. At least from what I saw, she would be ok. But, in a few hours, her new defense would destroy the pantheon in her body.

“You have done for me a great service, and I would like to repay you in kind. I would give you some of my blood and flesh. But the pantheon will never be defeated until Dao Khan falls. So take a bite of my flesh and climb out of me and up my back. Riding on my head, you will find the great khan.” I nodded; winning here will make it much more difficult to kill the forest god. Though I could still ask the horse god to help me kill the forest god.

I walked over to the slowly clenching womb and searched for a wrinkle with a vein. By taking in this god’s flesh as well, even if it wasn’t enhanced by a potion, I could increase my power a little bit more. I took a bite from the horse god’s womb, chewed and swallowed the flesh, and drank her blood until the bleeding stopped. Moments after I bit her, the flesh had already healed over.

After thinking about what I wanted to say, I gave the horse god a suggestion about her battle against the forest god.

My god light technique continued to bathe the womb in green light and helped me find the cervix. Once there, I poked my head through and slowly made my way through the mucus plug separating me from the uterus. I crawled over the passed-out Sulimael and made my way back to the entrance. I gripped the labia, slowly climbed up to the anus, and leaped to her feathered tail.

I stepped through the feathered forest to see a long back and what appeared to be a crown between the horse god’s ears. The horse god reared up, and I quickly grabbed ahold of the fur below with my toes. A mighty hoof smashed into the skull god, nearly caving in its skull. The horse god grabbed the side of the skull god’s head with its teeth and began shaking and ripping. Yet still, the crown remained between the horse god’s ears. The skull god was sent hurtling down the mountain with a jerk while other gods chased it, blasting the skull god with lighting or massive fire blasts. Finally, the earth dolphin blasted the falling skull god with a blast of soot. When the horse god’s hooves returned to the ground, I charged across its back.

The horse god jerked after running just past its withers, and I nearly flew off. The horse god’s feathers spread wide and made a rattling sound. A golden glow covered the horse god, and I ran for the head. The once white fur turned golden and began to heat up. If I didn’t’ get to the crown soon, I would burn up.

I ran flat out on my toes, barely touching the ground long enough for gravity to take hold before I was off again. Thoughts of equipping shoes crossed my mind, but I would have to fiddle with my inventory, and I burn in the meantime. As the intensity rose, a massive halo of light appeared around the horse god, and I didn’t know if I could make it in time.

“Dive beneath my mane; it will protect you from the blast.” The horse god said. I had just reached the mane and dove under the golden strands when the blast hit. While it didn’t burn me to a crisp instantly, the course scorching hair of the mane burned me the whole time. Then, for a couple of seconds, the blast exploded outward, hitting the skull god.

At this point, the objective the kill the skull god was complete. I stumbled out of cover and made my way up the mane over the neck where the great khan sat. The being who sat atop the horse god’s PL read 300; that was the highest I had ever read from a mortal or avatar. I check my own PL, and it only read 23 after eating the meat of two other gods.

I tried to lower my PL as I approached but then turned its head to the side and met my eyes. Her eyes were blue, and her hair was a deep auburn. Her skin was pale to the point I could see her veins, but there was unmistakable hardiness to her. Even at a rested state, she could destroy me, and no amount of powering up would change that fact. Her chest was flat as a board but not barreled like the skull tribe. She wore a golden crown on her head and long flowing robes. Most surprising was the whip in her hand and the eyes of the parasite. Thorns covered the handle, and she wasn’t shy about letting them pierce her skin. Spidery black veins covered the areas where the thorns poked through.

“If you want to kill me, you’ll have no better chance than now.” Dao Khan said.

“Dao, can I call you Dao? You’re wrong; killing you right here would leave me at a disadvantage. But, I will admit it’s an interesting decision to kill the skull god instead of taking control of it.” I said.

“Interesting, so your qi sense extends quite far, rare among mortals. You are strong, almost like a young avatar instead of a mortal.” Dao Khan held out his hand. “Join me and become one of my generals, and I’ll give you a harem second to mine and control over a god.”

“You are generous, but you are already in the palm of my hand. Have you received any reports from the ambassador you sent to the forest tribe?” I asked.

“No, but you are a stranger, and anything you say must be measured and weighed. Tell me what you know, and I will listen.”

A smile spread across my face. “I killed your ambassador and their guards and blamed it on the forest tribe ministers.”

Her eyes narrowed into slits. Then, faster than a blink, the whip struck, and I caught it between my fingers. “You have quite a lot of qi, but your body is frail. However, I’m sure you’re fast compared to mortals and avatars.”

“Are you concealing your qi?”

I placed a finger from my off-hand to my lips. “Now that would be telling. Qi can enhance your vessel, and there are techniques to enhance yourself further. I’m a warrior of the forest tribe, and our god is mightier than the skull god. Come at us with everything you’ve got; our trees are the size of mountains, lizards the size of avatars stalk our woods, and we have had plenty of time to prepare for you.” I said.

A powerful aura surrounded Dao Khan, and she charged her whip with a crimson buff. Incredibly sharp crimson needles surrounded her weapon before she lashed out. One of the needles grazed my skin, and a wound opened and gushed out blood. More blood than I’ve ever bled before poured out on the spot as I stepped back to get some distance. It took a few precious seconds for my regeneration to stop the bleeding. She cracked her whip again, and I threw myself to the side but felt a wound open on my chest and bleed profusely.

Even with my regeneration and strong body, her qi was still a big fucking number when brought to bear. The crimson aura that covered her whip surrounded her body. I knew the buff would either increase her speed or make her strength something monstrous, probably both. So I pointed my fingers and unleashed a beam of God's light.

The smiling face of my opponent distracted me from the whip coming from my right. It seemed acting like a badass in front of the insane 300PL enemy was a bad idea. PL didn’t equal physical strength; it was only the raw amount of qi she had at her disposal. If she had the right techniques to bring it to bear, I would be in trouble.

I made a mistake. Allowing any enemy to stack buffs was a bad idea. She seemed to teleport in front of me as I struggled to adjust my vision to her new speed. An ax appeared in my left hand to parry the lash from her whip, only for a blade of crimson energy to extend from her off-hand. I swung up a knife from my inventory, but the blade cut through the metal. I backed away; I felt her slash bite into me from elbow to shoulder.

Pain lanced up my arm as another lash from her whip bit into my Kevlar vest but failed to puncture too deep. I tried to stimulate my qi to its highest limit and felt my PL rise to 80. A green aura surrounded my body before expanding outward. The horse god’s hair around my feet scorched, and the skin seared. She seemed to phase out of my view and appear a few feet out of my blast zone. My qi sunk lower than what it had been before.

Dao Khan held her off-hand up, and the qi blade she used to slice my arm turned into a lance. I felt something ram through my chest and looked down to see her spear had extended several feet. Strength left my body as the spear vanished and blood gushed from my wound. I slipped backward and started to roll.

…

The second I was off, the horse god Lotus swooped down and caught me in her talons. She flapped her wings and took me to the corpse of the skull god. Steam and smog filled the air heavy like a curtain falling on a play. Dao Khan could probably sense my qi even from the horse god. If she pursued that, was it for me. Then again, why couldn’t she sense us before? I killed a couple pantheons, but she didn’t say anything about that.

And I thought I was being ballsy. So, Dao Khan knew we were near and destroying some of her pantheon parasites, but she didn’t care. Her power was near enough that of a god in mortal form. Dao Khan was arrogant. If she let me get a bite out of the skull god, who was I to turn down a free lunch.

“What if she can’t sense qi?” Lotus asked.

“If that’s the case, she was arrogant not to have any allies to assist her, or maybe that was why she offered to make me one of her generals,” I said.

The second the skull god came into view, countless pantheon worms slid through its crispy burnt-out body. Lotus’s upper mouth opened, and several beams of negative energy blasted out, striking the worms present. I felt her suck in a breath, and the power of her mana engine revved up higher. Several Plains Tribe soldiers aimed their bows up as she unleashed a powerful ice breath. A blue glacial beam blasted the ground, and a frigid mist expanded out from the beam. The mounted archers froze to death in a moment.

Lotus dropped me down on top of the body, and she found her place on the softer side of the skull god. We had to each what we could from the skull god’s corpse and add some of its power to our own. The more types of god flesh we consume, the stronger we become. I cut into the wound one of the worms made and tore a piece of still sizzling flesh away.

After eating my fill, I added some flesh to my inventory. Zosimael could make a potion with the rest and increase its effectiveness.

The same could be done with the piece of the pantheon parasite.

I stared down at my chest to see the pink scar from my earlier injury. Eating divine flesh should help my regeneration; I would have died if not for all the divine flesh I’ve eaten.

That probably meant Dao Khan was also hard to kill. I didn’t have any bleed or cursed weapons. Well, besides the undead, I planned to summon. That would have to wait until the right time.

“Have you eaten your fill?” I asked.

“I can eat God's flesh all day, and I love how it was cooked. Ya know, not that I’m complaining, but you made me an ice dragon.” She said.

The massive empty sac of divine testicles clued me in on what parts she liked the most. The massive, blackened labia and vulva didn’t do so hot either. Large dragon-sized bites covered those parts of the skull god, leaving only oozing bloody holes.

“I’ll remember to learn some fire spells in the future to cook God flesh just the way you like it. We better get back, or the Plains Tribe will get there before we’re ready.” I said.

Spellcraft was something I hadn’t invested any time into yet. It involved a complicated magical language that had to be encoded with magic. So it was complicated, especially compared to something simple like qi techniques. But, on the other hand, techniques only required a certain amount of divine flesh from the god from whom the techniques originated.

The second I hopped on her back, she took off and flew for the forest covering dozens of miles in moments. Whenever large birds of prey flew close, Lotus’s second mouth opened, and beams of negative energy blasted the interlopers. She was amazing; her auto-detect negative energy curse worked like a dream. I’m glad I managed to fit that rune code into her AI.

…

We arrived, and I ran to the forge. Samael was still working on my sword, banging the handle with a heavy iron mallet. She had already used a grinder to sharpen the blade, and I honestly couldn’t wait to try it out, but Hulu had taught her a strange way to test her weapons. Once the handle was finally on, she took the weapon out of the clamp and glared at me.

“You can’t have this baby until it's finished. I don’t care if you’re in a hurry; I still have time to polish and work the handle.” She said and held up the blade.

I whistled. “She is beautiful. Are you sure she isn’t ready?” I asked.

“Not ready, don’t make me give you a steel weapon and keep this one for myself. Or with the way you’ve wracked up SP, you could probably buy a premade weapon.” Samael said.

“Darling wouldn’t make you go through all that trouble just to buy a sword,” Elorael said and tossed me a white mango from our orchard.

I took a bite of the fruit and sighed as the sweetness filled my mouth. “That is too good. I’m glad I delegated farming the orchards to you.” I said.

“We needed something to do that wasn’t fucking and fighting. You hunted more than enough for us and did plenty of dueling. If we didn’t find something else to do, we would have gone insane. But, honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t take our balls away. Weren’t you scared we would impregnate each other?” Samael said.

“I’m not interested in maiming you. But I need that sword ready soon; the leader of the plains tribe is as strong as a god.” I said.

“Darling, you have to be exaggerating.”

Elorael met my eyes with her own, fell back against a wall, and sunk down. “That shouldn’t be possible,” Elorael said.

“This isn’t a sword; it's nearly as long as a spear with a heavy handle. It took a lot of work to balance the weight. I made the blade thin because this metal is far stronger than steel.” Samael said as she slowly wrapped leather around the handle and held it with an adhesive.

She walked over to a boar held upside down on a stand by some chains. She bisected the animal with a single slice, easily cutting through the backbone. Samael followed up with a piercing stab to the blade’s T guard, pulled the blade out then sliced the hog from the groin down. The hog separated and hung from the hooks holding it up.

“It will kill,” Samael said with too much cheer.

Her next test was something I honestly didn’t want to put the sword through. She had set out her first anvil for the hardness test. “In this test, I don’t care about what the sword does to the anvil, only what the anvil does to the sword,” Samael said with a grin.

She stood back, hefted the massive blade over her head, and swung down with all her might. The blade sliced through the iron and dug into the hardwood floor. Samael sucked in a breath and let it out before holding the sword at an angle and cutting into the side of the anvil. This time the anvil stopped the blade halfway through. Samael withdrew the sword and chopped down again. A heavy chunk of the anvil fell away, leaving only 3 quarters of the anvil remaining. She checked the blade for any damage then looked the handle over.

“There are no chips or rolls on the edge. Now for the final test, let's see if it will cut.” Samael said.

I stared at the anvil she cut to pieces and then at the hog hanging in two pieces by hooks. Finally, she walked up to my prized t-rex skin and raised her blade high. That was the last straw. I moved in behind her and took the blade before she could slice down and ruin the skin. My blade went into my inventory on my number 1 hotkey.

Samael smiled at me innocently like she didn’t know what she was about to cut. “How will we know if it cuts right without the final test?”

“I will have to test it in battle. And not on my T-rex skin that should be at the furrier's.” I said.

With that being said, I put on my silver ape skin overcoat and felt my ability to absorb light triple. It had a little protection to it, too; maybe if I had worn it against Dao Khan, I could have won.  That thought was cast aside immediately. A fancy coat wouldn’t have helped me in that fight. I was unprepared, and I wasn’t fighting to win. My goal had been to figure out how Dao Khan fought and ensure she came our way next.

A boom rocked the world, and the air suddenly heated up. I looked out the window, and half of the village was on fire. “Get to safety. I’m going to visit Zosimael for some final preparations.” I said.

I rushed out into chaos. Elves ran around on fire, sections of the great treehouse complex fell to the wayside, and people panicked. Even as the dolphin rose up from the ground and opened its mouth wide, I made my way through the fire. Hundreds of sword-like black teeth filled its mouth, and white worms poured out from its gums. It was just as infected as the horse god had been. I’m sure the horse god was biding its time for its chance to get rid of the Dao Khan.

Instead of blasting us with soot, the worms flew out, grabbed some elves, and yanked them back. For a moment, I was stunned as the worms worked to collect elves and fling them down the dolphin god’s throat. Then, I shook myself back to sanity and moved. There was no reason to kill any of the gods under the pantheon’s control until the forest god died or was taken under control.

Logically there was no reason for me to attack the dolphin god. My sword was in hand, and my muddy feet had already planted themselves on the dolphin god’s massive tongue. I was like a goldfish in an actual dolphin’s mouth. I moved to the side of the god’s mouth and stabbed through its neck. Before the monster knew what was happening, I roared and tore through the dolphin’s flesh. Blood poured down as I cut, searching for the dolphin god’s veins.

Soot filled the dolphin god’s mouth, and it spat me out like a geyser of blood and smog spewed from its mouth. Green aura gathered and exploded around me, stopping the pressurized soot stream long enough for me to step out of its path. The dolphin god opened its mouth wide as dozens of pantheon parasites emerged from its mouth like the heads of a hydra.

I used my god light technique multiple times already, and I could feel it taking a toll on my stamina. I had two maybe three god light techniques left, and they wouldn’t work on the parasites anyway. So I put some salt on my hotkey.

The dolphin lunged, and I threw a barrel of salt at it. It bit into the barrel, and salt poured into its mouth. All the worms that moved to its mouth immediately started dissolving. I moved at my full speed while it was distracted and jumped the distance, landing on the dolphin’s head. Then, I pierced the god’s skull with a single thrust and twisted my blade. The god froze, not dead but stunned.

I let myself fall down its body, stabbed my sword into its abdomen, and sliced. I saw the worm after slicing open the god’s womb. Another barrel of salt smashed into the worm and began melting them on the spot. If the dolphin was anything like the horse god, then when the worms were free from its womb, it could begin countermeasures against the worms. I cut a piece of the dolphin’s flesh free and stored it in my inventory.

With a few leaps up the dolphin’s body, I backtracked through the village, running for Zosimael’s house.

…

The house was on the other side of the village and avoided most of the initial damage. In the distance, the horse god blasted the forest with another fire blast. Golden flames spewed forth from its halo, covering the forest and spreading forest fire. Avatars rushed through the forest, and crushed horse archers were found until the riders of avatars appeared on the scene. Small scale flame halos made short work of the fire vulnerable forest avatars.

I entered Zosimael’s home and closed the door behind me. She faced me with a caldron prepared.

“Are you sure you want to take more potions? They are hard on your body.” Zosimael said.

“I haven’t noticed. Hurry up and mix the potions; we don’t have much time.” I pulled the flesh from the dolphin, skull, pantheon, and horse god. She quickly added them to four different cauldrons. “This won’t be the same as eating the flesh of gods; potions concentrate the power within their flesh.”

She worked on the potion for another hour until the flames crept near the house. Then, finally, the house shook, and a giant lizard ripped the roof off like opening a refrigerator. “Done, the potions are done,” Zosimael said as the giant lizard’s eyes fell upon us.

I moved to the potions and chugged them down one at a time, even as the boiling potions seared my throat. My head spun for a second as my regeneration took its time healing the damage to my body. Zosimael met her death with dignity as the monster opened its mouth, and its sticky tongue shot out and snatched up the elf. I could only hold my head as the world spun around.

The lizard closed its mouth, and I could hear a terrible crunching sound even from afar. Zosimael’s qi signature vanished like a snuffed-out candle. But the whole time, all I could do was hold my head as the potions flooded my body. I heard the roar of the forest god in the distance as it finally got off its lazy ass. It went through a similar process to fully absorb the power of a sea god.

I glared up at the monster, the god that killed my mentor. My head pounded, and my power rose as I felt myself adapt to my new strength.

Once again, the lizard’s tongue fired, and instead of dodging or slicing it off, my green aura rushed out and repulsed the appendage. My head began to throb, and all I wanted to do was hit something. I moved, and the lizard god seemed to be caught in a pool of molasses. When it moved its head and started searching for me, I closed the distance. I punched the lizard in the chest, and its flesh exploded. Streams of green qi moved through the lizard’s body and shone through with its own light.

The massive wound opened in the lizard’s body, and it collapsed. I engaged my visor to see my PL had increased to 120 at rest. A second later, I reread it at 122. My power was slowly rising after taking those potions, and there was no telling where it would settle. I held up a piece of the lizard’s flesh and cooked it with a concentrated burst of green aura. Once the meat was good and charred, I took a bite. I walked past the lizard’s body to wear its head started moving. I punched it again; its head erupted in a green light, and its flesh disintegrated.

A large crack opened on its head, and I punched it again. The crack on its skull traveled quickly, shedding pieces before exploding. Then, at the tip of my finger, a green ball formed. I lifted my thumb like I was making a finger gun and fired. Light exploded from the lizard’s skull, and its brain boiled before evaporating.

I rechecked my PL and read it at 134. While it continued to rise, I definitely had a chance. More techniques would have made things easier, but power was helpful too. Tonight would be the end of my challenge and time in this world. I put off asking messages if they could come with me mainly because I thought this part would never come. My habit of procrastination took over. I had too much fun training like a Dragonball character and banging my elf girls.

“Message, can I bring my companions back to my world with me?” I asked the system.

“Oh, baby bird, you have learned to soar, but you're still asking momma for permission. You can use SP to purchase companion cards but can only use 60 at any time. So, think carefully about who you choose. For example, gigantic beings require Kaiju class cards. In contrast, human-sized beings only require the starter set of humanoid class cards.” Message said.

“Thank you, that clears everything up. Why did you give me a challenge to defeat the gods?” I asked.

“I am the challenge system, and what would a challenge system be if not challenging. Besides, you didn’t like any of those gods or gods in general.” Message said.

“Well, thank you for that.” So I said and downloaded a card app and quickly purchased a kaiju body storage card, two humanoid cards, and one kaiju card.

I didn’t have to buy a card for Lotus because she was considered my familiar. So she could be stored in my inventory. This was excellent because kaiju class cards started at 10k and went up depending on the qi or mana of the target.

After using the body storage card to snag the lizard god’s corpse, I made my way to Elorael and Samael’s qi signatures. They looked surprised when I took out the capture cards and stored them away. While the pantheon battled the forest god, I packed up what smithing equipment survived the initial attack. Grinders and auto hammers were expensive if bought with SP or actual money. Once the equipment was put away, I moved the orchard and picked everything up.

Uriel crashed near me while I collected the orchard's mangos, peaches, and pineapples. “Why aren’t you fighting?” Uriel asked.

“Would you believe I’m waiting for an opportunity to jump in?” I asked.

The avatar growled and stood to its full imposing height of 6m. I raised an eyebrow and scanned his PL at 100. Avatars could sense the qi of others, and it must know I’m much stronger than it, so why would it risk annoying me. Was it trying to die gracefully?

I considered that for a moment and realized that in this ancient world, honor was paramount. “Do you want me to do this bare-handed, or would you rather die by my sword?” I asked.

Uriel glowed with the same golden power the forest god displayed. It buffed itself and moved in a blur to human eyes. I turned my head and followed it as it made several feints designed to leave after images and fool my monkey brain. I punched forward with the intent to kill. My blow hit the massive avatar and shattered its body. Greenlight erupted from its body even as it tried to absorb my power.

“You are powerful,” I said and punched with my dominant hand. His body exploded into pieces, and I shook my head. “Now, you won’t have to see the death of your father and the end of the forest tribe as you know it,” I said.

I walked at a sedate pace towards the battle, where the horse god ensured the forest god would be in the clearing I made. Laser beams of qi flashed across the battlefield, cutting one of the insect gods in two but were too slow to catch the agile horse god. Smoke from the forest fire filled the air and made the stars and moons vanish. There wasn’t much light for the forest god to draw upon. One of the lizard gods drew in close but died from a blow equal to the island obliterating fist.

Another halo appeared around the horse god as it prepared to unleash a might fire blast. Except for this time, the forest god reacted and life its hands. Water from the sea rose until, even from the ground, I could see the tidal wave peaking over the land. A warning from me brought Lotus down to me just in time. Just as I climbed on her back, the wave fell.

A tidal wave swept through the burning forest dousing the flames and claiming many more lives. Finally, the seawater reached the forest god and rose to meet the halo of flames just in time. When the flames vanished, the waves swept forward and swept away three of the opposing gods. That left only the weakened dolphin god and the horse god. I realized then that I wouldn’t get a better chance. Sometimes, it was more beneficial to be fast and opportunistic on a battlefield. I had a set plan, but I was scrapping some of it now.

Lotus banked, and I leaped from her back and landed on the forest god’s head. At that moment, I felt like Mario was about to stomp bowser. The forest god was a mix of fish scales and rippling bark of wood and flesh to form a new, more terrifying entity. It was terrifyingly powerful. I checked with my visor, and it read 1000. That was the highest PL I ever read. My PL I was just 150.

It was also tired from using energy and will to summon and control the sea. I reared my hand and punched down on the god’s head with all my might. A boom echoed across the forest as the god took the blow and its head ruptured. Vines shot out all around its skull, and I equipped my sword and sliced them all apart, reared back, and punched again.

The god collapsed to its knees and barely caught itself with its forward-facing hands. The god looked like a mix between a bearded old man and Godzilla. Unfortunately, the monster stepped out of the oven a little too early. Its head was soft, and with the right amount of cracking, even I could break it open. I punched its skull a third time, and its head slammed into the ground, and I stepped off it and turned around.

Chest deep in seawater, I clapped my hands and activated the ritual circle. I activated the body collection card with a flick of my hand and dumped the dead lizard god on the ground. The ritual took over and made use of the lizard’s bones. Massive, sharpened bones erupted through the lizard’s flesh pointed at the forest god. They fired like giant rockets and pin cushioned the forest god before pumping its body full of rot.

It failed to pull the massive god bones turned necromantic artillery spears from its body, only for its fingers to rot away. I summoned the three banshees I summoned originally for the final battle. Lotus grabbed my shoulders with her talons and yanked me out of the water before her aura could give me hypothermia. Of course, her aura on the ride up to the horse god did an excellent job.

Lotus dropped me down just as a barrage of arrows slammed into me. The silver ape couldn’t handle steel arrowheads, but its fur did fine, even soaked, against stone-tipped arrows. So I equipped my sword and dashed forward and sliced through armor, limbs, and weapons without care. Qi really was something unique without it, I would undoubtedly have hypothermia.

“These poor fools never stood a chance.” One of the banshees said.

“Why did you summon us if you didn’t need us? You didn’t want me to sing another song, did you?” Banshee 1 said.

“No, there is an enemy I have who likes to buff. I would like you three to disrupt her plans.” I said.

This time, I made my way up the horse god’s back, sans the fire, and stepped up to the saddle-like palisade. There a furious Dao Khan stared at me with her beautiful blue eyes. She moved fast and pushed her hand against her weapon. “Now,” I called, and banshee 1 screamed.

Dao Khan gripped her ears and failed to buff her weapon. Even though the scream shouldn’t affect qi, elves had extremely sensitive ears. I closed the distance and swung down with my sword. She raised her whip, and the pantheon parasite managed to block my attack. No, my blade sunk into its flesh, but something hard within stopped my blade from cutting through. My fist struck out under her guard and punched her hard in the stomach.

She didn’t break into a gory stain, but she did dry heave as I moved closer. “No, it’s my destiny to unite the world under one rule. It was foreseen I’m to be the new god.”

I returned my sword to my inventory. “Give up; you aren’t even worth my blade, and you think you can call yourself a god, pathetic.” A smile played across my face. This was getting good. I could really feel the final boss vibes rolling off her. What crazy shit was she going to do next?

She gripped her whip and pulled it off her handle, revealing a crimson-colored needle. Blood dripped from the massive needle, and I realized the parasites weren’t pantheon. Instead, they were infected with Pantheon and used as a medium to control the other gods. Or that was my running theory.

“This is the symbol of my godhood.” She raised the spear up to stab herself. I moved instantly, equipped my sword, and sliced her arm off or tried to. The same hardness that kept me from cutting open the needle was in her bones. “You won’t stop me.” She cried as I lifted my blade and chopped at her neck. Dao Khan screamed as my blade stopped again, and she plunged her spear down. I caught her wrist with my blade and kept her from piercing her chest.

I pointed my fingers at her eye and charged a green qi beam. “Stopped you,” I said and blasted her in the eye. Greenlight blasted out from her eyes, and she seized. I continued to power the beam until her skull melted away and cracked appeared in it. Only when her skull shattered did I let the beam die down. “World, say what you want about me, but I am thorough.” I stumbled backward and fell on my ass.

My eyes closed, and I waited for a sign that my challenge was complete, but none came. I turned my head to look at the corpse only to see the hand moving. “No, I did everything right. I didn’t just sit here and let you power up.” I yelled, then blinked as a plan came together. I searched through my inventory and found a pair of smithing plyers. Then I rushed over the corpse, grabbed its leg, twisted once, and threw the body off of the horse god’s body and back into the clearing.

“What’s the plan now, summoner?” Banshee 1 asked.

“I’m going down there to fight it with a home-field advantage.” I pulled some fruit from my inventory and consumed it quickly. My qi barely recovered at all, but it was better than nothing, and the sugar from the fruit gave me some energy. Then, I felt a sudden spike of qi from the forest below and ran for the edge and jumped.

Lotus read my thoughts and caught me just in time. We flew down to meet our enemy, and just as a glowing crimson being of qi and power appeared, Lotus’s upper jaw opened. A laser of negative energy struck the pantheon godling and knocked it on its ass. I was banking on the blow, at least making a crack in its body but no dice.

It turned towards the forest god’s corpse. I saw it merging with the body to gain its sweet 1k PL on top of its already ridiculous current 500 and rising and wasn’t having it. I activated the ritual circle again; the forest god’s corpse began dissolving rapidly. The monster made a run for the corpse, and I threw a knife catching the monster in the knee. It stumbled for a few precious blinks giving me the time needed to close the distance and the ritual circle time to dissolve the corpse. Energy suffused the circle with potential energy to do several necromantic things. But, mainly moving the energy from one place to another, there wasn’t anything in place for another summoning.

The monster ran with all its might, and Lotus blasted the ground just in front of it with ice breath. I watched the monster’s body suddenly heat up and knew the ice wouldn’t slow it much. As I ran, I cursed myself for going with the traditional massive sword instead of something practical in this situation, like a war hammer. Then, I remembered a weapon I had almost forgotten about in the inventory. I swapped my spiked logs over to my hotkey and threw them at the monster. One hit it square in the back, slammed hard into the ground. Another massive log appeared in my hand, and I slammed it down, sandwiching the godling between the two.

I heard a crack and didn’t know if it was from the godling or my logs. More of the forest god vanished into the ritual circle just as the godling erupted out of the logs. A crimson aura radiated from the being even as cracks spread across its body. Tiny needles glowing with crimson qi covered the monster’s body, and I stumbled back a step.

My hand moved to my phone, where I quickly booted up a farming app and bought a 20lbs sledgehammer. The hammer appeared in my hand, and I swung with all my might. The hammer smashed into the godling’s head and knocked it back into the log. It roared, and the needles covering its body blasted out. I closed my eyes and tried to cover my face. The needles hit hard, cutting through me in several places. Blood poured out of my wounds from my arms to my chest and even my thighs and groin.

I opened my eyes to see the monster running for the forest god. It was too damn close. More than 50% of the forest god remained, and even that was more than I liked. 500 added to the godling’s already high number would be ridiculous. So I activated the ritual circle and turned the bones in the forest god into artillery spears. They fired out to random parts of the forest, leaving only the flesh behind.

The godling dove into the remaining flesh of the forest god. All of the remaining flesh turned crimson and flowed into the godling. I could feel its power rise even higher than the amount of flesh should allow. It was closer to 2000 instead of 1000 or 1100. It seemed there was a component to this that caused an exponential increase.

Lotus landed beside me and helped me stand. Blood continued to pour out of me from the many hollow needles the godling fired into me. Really at this point, there was only one thing to do. I active the ritual circle and pushed all of the power collected from the forest god and the lizard god into Lotus. In the form of necromantic energy.

Her body spasmed, and blue lightning bolts danced across her glacier-white scales. The ground froze, and even the few trees around us froze solid and shattered. Lotus managed to keep her power from freezing me solid as well. The second the godling transformed into its new form, Lotus’s upper mouth opened and unleashed a massive blast of negative energy.

The godling’s body cracked as Lotus opened her main maw. A powerful beam of blue and negative energy gathered before blasting forth. The wave hit the crimson godling bathing its body in cerulean blue before the cracks in its body widened until it nearly shattered. I worked to remove the needles in the meantime.

After taking them out, my wounds finally began to heal. Once the breath attack ended, the godling fell to its knees; its body cracked. I stepped forward on stumbling feet and raised my hammer high. The godling looked up at me with vacant eyes. I slammed my hammer down, and it shattered into pieces.

I stumbled and fell into the ice all around me and began shivering. “Ya know, if I could use fire, I could warm you up.” So I swapped my silver ape coat out with another one and still nearly froze.

Challenge 4 Slay the Gods Complete

Rewards:

Forest God Slain: 10 Red Pills

Skull God Slain: 10 Blue Pills

Plains Pantheon Slain: 15 Green Pills

When I recovered enough, I made my way to the horse god. “Are you yourself,” I asked the giant horse god.

“Who else would I be.” She said as she grazed on the remaining trees eating monkeys and squirrels with the leaves, nuts, and fruit.

“You’re going to eat the entire forest down to stumps if you keep this up,” I said and looked around. Most of the forest was basically gone at this point. Not even 10% of the once lush forest remained.

“That would be a problem if it was my land. I’m sure another god will come by and make this place their own. The plains are where I belong, with rolling fields and endless prairie to roam.” The horse god said.

“I thought you might come with me as my companion. Why do you sound normal like I’m talking to another mortal." I asked.

She snorted. "Um, your closer to a god than a mortal or an avatar by far. And why would you want me to be your companion? I’m much too large. I might step on you or any children you have without meaning.” She said.

“You need a name. I can’t just call you horse God, and I don’t think that will be a problem. I have an awesome way to transport you.” I said.

“Very well, show me how you plan to transport me, and we will think of a name for me later.” The horse god said with a sigh.

I held up the kaiju class card, and I felt her body digitize for lack of a better word and flow into the card. When the process ended, the horse goddess was gone, and I had a card with her as the art in my hand. I tucked her away in my inventory and stretched my back.

I unlocked my phone and looked at the transportation tab. Return to earth was open again, and I clicked it immediately.  My body vanished from the world of Xion back to earth.