Aghanim's Rubick Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Hanako’s mother must have been an amazing woman, I mused as I stared at the glowing pyramid that was sitting happily upon my desk. The barrier that formed was something she had seen in her travels, but never actually studied. She had haphazardly drawn it down after the next time she found some paper, but it had never worked.

For a quick sketch drawn from memory, it was scarily close. I only had to swap several of the characters, flip a few others and fix the ones that were upside down. That sounded like a lot of errors and to be fair, it was, the only reason I was able to get the thing to work at all was due being able to see exactly how the Magic travelled through the construct, so I could see where the errors were.

However, as I said, drawing something that was this accurate after only seeing it once was almost beyond belief. It’s no wonder Hanako feels the need to live up to her example, as the barrier mistress of her village.

Although, that title was now Head Warder of Claszureme. She had protested the appointment, stating that she had yet to prove herself, but I wouldn’t have it. She came up with the idea of the Barrier Corps, she deserved the right to put it into action.

Idly poking the pyramid, a flex of will changing the underlying spell circle and allowing it to move, I sent it spinning gently. The floating magical triangle didn’t have any mass, so it didn’t even rustle the papers on my desk, yet despite that, an audible hum was heard as it moved through the air.

I wondered why that was?

It certainly went against most of what I knew of physics, but then again if Magic didn’t do that I would be highly disappointed.

“I still don’t get how you can do that so easily.” Susuru spoke, the hum making him look up from his own work.

“I believe you youngsters call that a ‘skill issue’.” I grinned as I replied.

“I’m older than you…” He grumbled, turning to the form in front of him and letting out a groan, “I don’t know how you hoodwinked me into working this hard.”

“You complain a lot.” I hummed, “But that seems odd when I can tell you are having a ton of fun. Admit it, you enjoy this job.”

He paused, pen stopping in its movement briefly before a smile came to his face, “I do, actually. I always enjoyed city builders back home, so getting to do this is actually really nice.”

“Ew, maybe you really were a Boomer if your preferred genre of game was city builders.” I teased him, causing him to huff.

“As if you are one to talk, ‘Mr. CRPG’. Don’t you know they died off in the nineties?” He rolled his eyes.

“Hey, you shut your mouth.” I said in mock outrage, “We respect Neverwinter in this house.”

He laughed, turning back to his forms with a sigh, “Man, I wish the paperwork was less tedious though.”

“It is important.” I said, “Trust me, I don’t like it either, but we need to keep on top of what’s happening in the City.”

“You say that.” Susuru turned a sour gaze to me, “But, I have never seen you do a single form. Why is that, I wonder?”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow challengingly, “Are you saying I do no paperwork? You willing to bet on that?”

“You know what, I am.” He crossed his arms, “You delegate everything, I’m sure you get reports but I bet you haven’t signed a single form in weeks.”

“You poor, naive fool.” I shook my head sadly, opening one of the drawers of my desk and bringing out a truly monstrous stack of bureaucracy. “Mine’s even bigger than yours.”

Indeed, the titanic monument to Kafka’s nightmares was noticeably larger than the stack that Susuru had just been complaining about.

“Wha… How?!” He shouted, “You hardly ever do any of them! When?”

“I don’t need to sleep.” I preened, before frowning, “Well, more like I can’t sleep any more. Might as well do something productive with the time.”

“That’s…” He blinked in response, before his eyes widened further, “Wait, that means that at night, you are sitting here, in your office, alone, doing paperwork?”

“I don’t like how you are phrasing that question.” I deflected, narrowing my own eyes.

“Rubick…” His eyes welled up with sympathy before he asked a truly devastating question, “Did you die a virgin?”

“What?!” The out of pocket question blind sided me, “Don’t project your insecurities onto me!”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed about.” His gaze was full of misplaced understanding, “After all, isn’t it virtuous to be chaste? In a way, it’s admirable.”

“Susuru.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose, a headache feeling like it was forming despite being biologically impossible, “Please stop talking.”

“Okay.” The compassion burned, “I’m here if you ever need to talk.”

I just groaned.

---ARARAR---

Lanaya bit her thumb, staring at the recruits that lay in a defeated pile at her feet. Ever since her Lord had ascended, she had been feeling much more powerful. She was the strongest of the Guards already, but now she was almost untouchable compared to them, despite the boost that they also received.

Such a thing made her proud, but also frustrated her immensely. She wanted to be useful to Lord Rubick, but there was no one in her guards that were capable of pushing her to improve. Compared to Susuru and Lucifer, she knew she came up far short when it came to combat and while they were still useful for things outside of fighting, she hadn’t found a way to contribute that way.

Oda was a good partner, but he was also busy with his own duties as the head of Claszureme’s military. He was not able to spar with her as much as she would have preferred, as much as she needed to become truly useful to her Lord. So instead, she was forced to spar with the weaker members of the Guard which she led.

It had borne fruit, the members of the Guard had grown much stronger these past few weeks. However, Lanaya herself was not progressing nearly as fast. She was stuck in a weird limbo, where she was much stronger than her subordinates, yet still far away from the strength of her Lord’s other retainers. It caused her to not know how she measured up, as a follower of a Demon Lord.

She was aware that the other Lords would soon test her Master, sending their own followers to gather his measure. When that happened, would she bring shame upon her Lord? Would her weakness reflect poorly upon him? It frustrated her that she was unable to garner an accurate measure of her own strength.

She knew that her Lord had fought Milim Nava, the Destroyer, to the point that the ancient Legend had acknowledged Lord Rubick as her peer and friend. She had heard tales of the absurd power that the Dragon had to call her own, enough to destroy an entire country of advanced magic users. The fact that her Lord could fight a legend like that to a standstill ignited her motivation, knowing just how far she had to go before she could even glimpse her Lord’s true power.

She had sparred with her Lord after his Harvest Festival, of course, but the result was much the same. Even with her new unique skill, Certain Outcome, She was still unable to win against him. Oh, she hit him, surprising him greatly in the process as reality shifted to allow her to strike true, but unfortunately he proceeded to teach her that the defensive properties of her skill could be overcome with raw power.

He hadn’t even used magic, his raw physical strength enough to crumple her attempts at parrying his blade. Certain Outcome allowed her to block, but that didn’t help when the blow knocked her off her feet and allowed Lord Rubick to strike her before she could recover.

Truly, her lord was worthy of the title Demon Lord.

She was brought out of her ruminations by another of her subordinates approaching her, the Oni Guard named Kenji saluting before delivering a report, “Captain! We have a group of Majin wishing to speak to Lord Rubick! They claim to be emissaries sent by the Demon Lord Carrion!”

“Thank you, Kenji!” Lanaya responded excitedly, “I will go see them immediately!”

Taking up her blade, she hurriedly followed the younger Oni, eager to meet the first servants from another Demon Lord. She wondered how they would comport themselves, how they would ensure to bring nothing but glory to their master. They must have been highly trusted, to be sent to greet a new Demon Lord.

Such thoughts were swiftly brought to an end when she arrived and saw that her Guards were in combat positions, facing against a small group of Beastmen. She sped up, arriving just in time to hear the leader taunting her subordinates.

“-Me impressed. I was sure that such riff raff would have been quickly disposed of, but you managed to dodge.” The Panther Beastman spread his hand, claws glinting off his fingers, “I will not miss again.”

“Halt!” Lanaya called out, interposing herself between the two groups, “What is the meaning of this?!”

“Who are you supposed to be?” The Panther retorted, only to be spoken over by the leader of the Guard squad.

“Captain Lanaya! We were ensuring that nothing happened to our guests, when their leader stated that he ‘was bored waiting for a so-called demon lord’s permission’ and attempted to break out of our cordon!” The Blue haired Oni saluted, still keeping half a wary eye on the Panther.

“Captain?” Said Beastman was incredulous, “The Captain of the Guard is allowed to dress that way?”

Lanaya briefly looked down, her stylish purple suit clean and not creased, causing her to be confused about what he was talking about. Shaking the weird comment off, she shouldered her blade and turned to the emissary, keeping any sign of nerves out of her posture.

“Is this true? Did you assault my Guard without provocation?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Without provocation, you say?” The arrogant reply came back, “Forcing a messenger from the great Lord Carrion to wait like a peasant is provocation enough. Your Lord should be aware of his position and respect the time of his betters.”

All tension drained out of Lanaya at his words. She had been so worried about how she could handle a diplomatic situation like this without offending the other party, the situation that had greeted her only ratcheting up her nerves further. However, with the Panther’s arrogant declaration, she no longer had to worry about what to do. The only course of action was so blindingly clear that even she could see it easily.

A low, demented laugh sounded out, coming from Lanaya herself, “I beg your pardon? My ears must be hearing things wrong. I could not possibly have heard you just call Carrion Lord Rubick’s better.”

“Lord Carrion.” The response was stressed, “Be sure to say his name with respect, or else he will level this city entirely, your ‘Grand Magus’ with it.”

The Guard bristled, indignation flaring at the words, but they were stopped by their Captain stabbing her sword down into the ground, point first as she rolled her shoulders.

“Ah, I apologise. I didn’t realise I was talking to an idiot.” She responded, getting cat-like eyes narrowed at her as she continued, “Allow me to educate you.”

“Educa-?!” The question was cut off with an exhalation, Lanaya’s elbow burrowing deep into the Beastman’s sternum.

He blew backwards, his escort barely having any time to react before with a flash of steel they were all slammed with the flat of her blade, the metal flashing out in an arc that was almost impossibly fast, a silver blur to the eyes. As they collapsed, an application of Certain Outcome crossed the distance between her and the only beginning to recover leader, her sword already in motion, keeping up with his momentum easily.

Suddenly everything stopped. Her blade refused to move, the Panther’s eyes widening at her sudden appearance and his own movement backwards being stopped, the Majin suspended in the air like a puppet. His muscles strained against the mystery force that pressed on him from all sides, to no effect.

“Lanaya, I hope you have a good explanation for the state of these strangers.” Came a voice from above.

Carrion’s emissary looked upwards, being greeted by a sight that stuck in his mind, seared into his memory in such a way that he will never forget it. The creature looked like a fairly handsome human, wearing a white robe with green highlights, his black hair cut short. He floated in the air, no wings or any other sign of possible flight in sight.

Despite how he looked completely ordinary, despite the fact that he could not feel even a speck of Magicules emanating from the figure, when he locked eyes with the creature’s green irises, the Panther knew, for certain, that he was dead. He had felt this way only once before, when he had fought against Lord Carrion. That, however, was in combat with both their powers flowing freely, pit against each other in a martial contest.

This figure in front of him was not at all ready for a fight, seeming completely relaxed, as if he was merely taking a leisurely stroll. However, the danger he emanated was just as, if not more suffocating, than Carrion fighting seriously. What that meant, he was almost scared to consider.

To his shock, the Captain that had incapacitated his entire group moved easily, as if she wasn’t being crushed by the force he could feel that was bearing down on them.

“Lord Rubick!” Lanaya called, dropping to one knee as she named the creature above them, “These are messengers from Demon Lord Carrion, or so they claimed. Before I could send word to you, they attacked my Guards and insulted you, stating that making the messenger of your ‘better’ wait was justification for them to attempt to kill our guards.”

“I see.” Was the response, the creature called Lord Rubick rubbed his chin, “How should I respond to this provocation… This surely is ground for a declaration of war, such a grave insult to me and my own. However, I am new and unknown, while Demon Lord Carrion has been ruling for decades at this point. I doubt he would declare war against us in such a crude manner.”

He raised a hand, the emissary of Carrion following the movement, being lifted into the air as if he was a feather being carried on the wind.

“I have a message for Carrion as well.” He spoke, the pressure on the Panther increasing, driving every bit of air out of his body, “If he wants a war, I will give him one. However, He should think very, very carefully before he provokes me into such an action. Seeing as you failed to injure any of my subjects, I shall allow you to live and carry my message back. Neither you, nor anyone else from Eurazania will get another chance. Claszureme no longer welcomes you, begone.”

A purple void, a tear in the fabric of reality opened up above the Panther and all the other Beast men, swiftly swallowing them. Their leader was the only one awake for the experience, something that the others should have been thankful for. His senses screamed at him, He could taste colours, the purple stretching infinitely towards nowhere in front of him, a featureless, dark void that screamed brightly into his eyes. He could feel his eyes bleeding, his body being ripped to pieces and put back together over and over again, the single instant lasting an eternity, his ears bursting and melting as the skin of his body sloughed off.

Then, he was on his back on the forest floor, screaming to the heavens at the absolute Madness that he had just glimpsed, clawing futilely at the air in an attempt to ward off the horror that was no longer there. Starting, he quickly brought his hands to his face, feeling around it frantically, finding nothing out of place.

That was impossible, he had felt it, his body being broken down and destroyed, his blood vessels popping and bursting into the purple hell that Rubick had conjured nonchalantly. Yet, he was completely unharmed, the only blood on his body from his own carelessness in clawing his face to ensure he was still alive.

As the wounds wept crimson into the bed of leaves below him, his breathing evened out, staring at the blue sky above him. What was that? How was that even possible? As Rubick had said, Carrion had been a Demon Lord for decades, Rubick had only been one for a few weeks. Yet he had easily brought a battle to a standstill, one of the participants in mid strike, without even touching anyone.

Not to mention that purple prism of madness that he had conjured.

Even thinking of the experience produced a deep, instinctive convulsion from him. Whatever that was, it was wrong, in a deep undeniable fundamental way. It was not just hostile to life, he could feel it as he was sent hurtling through its purple veil, the very fabric of that place despised reality itself.

And Rubick used it as a shortcut.

Phobio regretted his decision to test the New Demon Lord, deeply.