Chapter 51 - Revenge and Ravening

Echo had to deactivate his speed amplifying Abilities as his Quintessence ran out and he began drawing on the reserves in the Brightsteel.

Tiberius chuckled and pointed the bone blade at him as he flapped backward, “It looks like we are evenly matched. A welcome surprise!”

“You’ll pay for what you did!” Echo shouted as he resumed his assault, slashing furiously at Tiberius who parried the blows.

But this was not like in the tunnels those years ago. This was evenly matched. Tiberius was barely keeping up with Echo, and he suffered multiple lacerations and wounds that did not regenerate due to the Blightsteel.

“You hurt Fumi!” Echo screamed, bashing Tiberius’ face with his shield over and over.

“Yes!” Tiberius responded as he grew another bone blade to put the two back on even footing. “Now you only have each other! The perfect pair of monsters.” He picked up his assault and Echo felt himself pushed to the defense – which he was able to sustain without any effort, but clarity began to return to him as the haze of fury slowly faded and curiosity at this man’s intentions took over.

What does he mean?

Tiberius grinned and flapped backwards as Fumi jumped up to Echo’s level, standing on the air next to him in a ready stance. “Did you really not think about it? Why would I change your Evolution Instinct?”

Fumi’s face screwed up in confusion, “It was you?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t rip each other apart in the tunnels. Some Ability I did not know about, no doubt. But when you were about to kill each other, I interceded.”

Echo strode forward in the air, slowly closing the distance. “Why? Why do all of this?”

Tiberius cackled maniacally, “Well, I loved watching your violent sexual encounters. Really, my pleasure to watch. But more importantly, to prove my friend wrong. He thinks that Gods are the pinnacle of what we can achieve.”

He shook his head, “I know better. Gods are strong, but you know what is stronger? A creature that can eat even the Gods themselves.”

He gestured to the two monsters, “You two will never stop growing if you keep breeding, albeit without offspring – I had to put a limiter of some type on you two.” He cackled madly and gripped his head with one of his hands, “And I have unleashed hundreds of stronger monsters than those you have faced across Heimfold. From the depths of the oceans to the tops of peaks.” The hysterical laughter turned to mania, “The world will burn unless you eat them all!”

Fumi growled behind Echo, “I’ve heard enough.”

Echo gestured to her to wait a moment, “I have one more question.”

Tiberius calmed almost instantly, his head tilting sideways as he grinned, “Go ahead.”

“What happens when you run out of monsters?”

Tiberius cackled, “Well, we’ll just have to find out, won’t we?” He raised his blades. “I think that is enough talk. Come, Monster of the Guild and Maven of the Blade. Let us finish this.”

Echo glanced at Fumi and nodded, and the both began their assault.

Tiberius grinned and gestured, “Incinerate all within sight, Firestorm!”

Fumi opened her mouth and inhaled as the fire surged into her mouth and she swallowed it down. She glowed with bright green energy as her Quintessence was recharged – Slate’s Blessing showing its use.

Tiberius looked on, shocked, “How?”

Fumi, fully renewed, activated Overcharge, and closed the gap with extreme speed, pouring more and more Quintessence into not only that – unlocking Achronerate – but also activating Gori Rage as her muscles bulged and her strikes became like a falling mountain. Tiberius barely kept a defense as his bone-blades were shattered and new ones regrew to replace them.

Echo followed behind her, not able to eat flames to restore his Quintessence, but able to circle around and under Tiberius, forcing him to grow bone spikes out of his back to deal with the two-front assault. As quickly as they carved into him, spikes of bone would grow out of the wound until he looked akin to a porcupine, all spiking protrusions pulsing with brown veins.

“Reshape to my will, Transmute Substance!” Tiberius shouted from within his spiky cocoon as the spikes turned from bone into some tarry substance and exploded outwards, coating both monsters in the ichor.

Echo vomited as his enhanced Feral Senses were overwhelmed with the foul sludge. To his horror, the sludge started to climb up his form and towards his mouth and eyes. “Transmute Substance!” He shouted, using some of his dwindling Quintessence to turn the sludge into water that slipped harmlessly from him.

Fumi, thanks to being in Achronerate, was able to easily dodge the flood of sludge and hit the now-vulnerable Tiberius, carving off one of his wings as he plummeted. She deactivated her Immovable Object and began to fall, activating her strongest Ability as she raised her blade aloft, the green Quintessence sparking crimson as she yelled out “Rift Strike!”

She brought the blade down onto and through Tiberius’ body, and he split into two halves that fell in separate directions. Fumi pointed to one of the halves, “Get that one!”

Echo followed her, letting gravity pull him down, and diverted course to chase the right-half of Tiberius as the madman fell – somehow still laughing and cackling madly.

This is it!

Tiberius grinned as he felt his consciousness fading. He had a few precious moments of clarity as his body began to split in twain from Fumi’s Ability.

Now!

His body exploded in brown ichor.

Echo shielded his face as Tiberius’ corpse exploded. He felt the searing pain as a brown wave of cascading fire and acid burst into him. He felt the redirected pain from Fumi being impacted as well.

And as the ichor hit him…something changed.

He felt ravenous.

His stomach felt like a black hole that needed to be filled. He had to eat something.

DEVOUR!

He descended to the battlefield, “Transmute Substance!”

The spell activated, and every monstrous corpse, every skeleton, every single body, every dead or dying creature compressed into a singular point. The hearts separated from those with one, and formed two points in space. An orb of flesh, and one of nothing but the hearts of the creatures.

The spherical mass compressed until it was the size of a small ball, and glancing sideways at Fumi, he saw her ravenous hunger as well.

The two of them greedily grabbed for the heart-orb, ripping it in two, and furiously shoved it down their gullets.

Rose sat up – her body having mended due to her phylactery despite the prodigious fall – and she glanced about. The Overlord and his army’s eyes were fixed upon a sight in horror. She looked where they were looking at.

She saw Fumi, cradling Echo as he thrashed about. Going through the pain of forced evolution for the two of them. There was an enormous orb of flesh similar to the cube that was previously constructed when the horde was defeated.

“Oh, it’s just that,” She muttered as she stood up and dusted herself off.

The Overlord glanced over at her, speaking in Common. “They killed them! They were injured, and they killed them!”

Rose shrugged, “They’re monsters. Be thankful they don’t have a desire to eat-”

Wait.

“Say that again?”

His voice trembled with rage and fear, “Our men! Pulled into that thing!”

Rose felt her dead heart tremble in fear.

Tiberius, what did you do?

Tiberius breathed in the sticky, green liquid as the valves opened, and he collapsed onto the floor, prone, coughing out to clear his lungs as the tube released him.

“It worked!” he coughed out, cackling.

He stood up and glanced down at his new body. Created using his life Affinity, he had made an improved version of himself that he stashed away. And with a contingent spell, his soul and mind fled to this new body once his old one expired. “Now to see how things are going.” He cast the Greater Seeing spell and looked through the sensor.

The two monsters had changed; he could tell with his new Ability-enhanced eyes. He watched with grim satisfaction as Echo’s transmutation spells ripped the hearts out and distilled the corpses into a fleshy orb.

I’ve finally done it!

His goal for centuries was to create a monster that could endlessly evolve and grow to stronger heights. And he finally achieved it. It took building up massive amounts of Quintessence in his own body, and layering contingent spell upon contingent spell…but he did it.

“Malvir!” He shouted to the roof of the cavern, “It worked!”

No one responded. He was alone in this lair. His first lair. Deep in a forgotten tomb. Tiberius chuckled and made his way to the wardrobe, pulling out a long set of robes – and retrieving the three items he had transported here previously; The Aether Shard, the Sunburst Lantern, and most importantly, the Mimic Cube.

“Now…to force you to my will.”

He put the Aether Shard on top of the artifact and forced his will upon it. His sickly brown Quintessence overflowing out of his improved physical form as he forced the artifact to greater powers. The power of two Aether Shards imbued in a single artifact; a feat heretofore untested. Creating artifacts was considered to only be possible by the Gods themselves…but Tiberius was not making a new artifact, simply subverting it further.

Tiberius lifted the cube reverently in front of him as it flickered with brown and purple energy, rearranging shape and symbols until it was not recognizable as the same Mimic Cube. He cackled as he left the chamber.

Now, he could even warp the minds of new monsters. No more random chances, no more luck, no more waiting for the perfect candidate. He could produce thinking, humanoid monsters – imbued with Evolution Instinct – just like Fumi and Echo. Not only that, but if he neglected the mind, he could make even strongermonsters subservient to his will.

But those two had attained much power. He saw no reason to make a new candidate like those two – they were already on the path to getting him his revenge. Revenge against the lady of light who forced him and Malvir off the world centuries ago.

My monsters must grow more.

They had further to ascend.

To the pinnacle of evolution.

Echo hated this. He hated the feeling. The ravenous hunger that threated to consume him from the inside. The hunger he felt in his past life when he was living on poverty wages and went to bed with that pit in his stomach almost every night. The pain of stomach cramps as the body tried to eat anything that could provide it with sustenance.

DEVOUR.

The pain itself was not that horrific. He had experienced worse at the hands of Tiberius’ Mimic Cube. The hunger was a different story. It was endless, abyssal, threatening to swallow him whole. A black hole within his guts.

Eventually, the hunger settled, and he felt satiated. Looking up at Fumi he smiled as she grinned down at him. They were both rejuvenated, filled with vigor.

“Feeling better?” She asked gently as she caressed his face.

“Yeah. Really good.” He sat up and looked across the battlefield. “Where’d everything go?”

Fumi frowned slightly, “I don’t know.”

Rose came running over, “Are you two okay?!”

Echo nodded, standing up with Fumi’s help. “Feeling better than ever. Why?”

She pointed back at the Overlord and his troops who were gripping weapons and growling in anger. “They are quite upset. I told them to let me talk to you first.”

Fumi’s face darkened, “What happened?”

Rose summarized the accounts of the various Gori warriors who had watched the battle up above – recounting Tiberius’ exploding and the whole battlefield – the dead and the dying – all being pushed into a meaty singular point – minus the hearts. She gestured to the fleshy orb as it pulsed with the last movements and death thrashes of those compressed together.

Echo leaned over and heaved as his stomach churned. He felt the worst revulsion since becoming a monster. “I…ate…people?”

They were still alive. They weren’t monsters.

He shook his head. It could not be real. There’s no way he could lose control like that.

Could he?

Fumi’s face turned stony and she turned back to the Overlord. “Fucking fantastic.”

This shocked Echo enough to bring him out of his self-loathing. Fumi had never cursed before.

She shook her head and shrugged, “They were as good as dead the moment they were defeated and lay injured on the battlefield. I’ll remind my new Clan.” She strode over to the Overlord and engaged him in conversation, seemingly resolving the tension as she shouted over their arguments.

Rose put a hand on Echo’s shoulder. “Let’s see what he did to you.”

Echo complied and pulled out his identification, feeling defeated despite having obtained his revenge.

Name   (Race / Rank): Echo Asheron (Advanced Monster /   SS)

Strength: 80,000

Agility: 80,000

Fortitude: 80,000

Defense: 80,000

Offense: 80,000

Magic Resistance: 80,000

Magic Potency: 80,000

Equipment: Brightsteel-Kevlar Armored Clothing (Blightsteel   Imbued), Titansteel Shield, Skysteel Bastard Sword (Blightsteel   Imbued), Pocket Dimension Ring, Short-Range Teleport Bracelet, Physical   Protection Greave, Magic Protection Greave, Aether Shard Housing (inner   thigh)

Active Abilities: Alacrity [Overcharge]  <Achronerate>, Animus Aura, Bulwark, Enhanced Regeneration, Gori Rage,   Guardian’s Embrace, Splintering Strike

Innate Abilities: The Blessing of the Artificer, The   Dragon God's Blessing, Damage Immunity (Cold, Electricity, Sonic), Damage   Resistance (All), Darkvision, Detect Abilities, Detect Magic, Disease   Immunity, Eternal Youth, Evolution Instinct [Primal Consumption], Far   Sight, Feral Senses, Immovable Object, Perfect Casting, Perfect Defense,   Poison / Toxin Immunity, Regeneration [Regrowth], Tideborn, Wallwalk

Affinities: Earth, Electricity, Fire, Poison, Protection, Shadow,   Sound, Transmutation, Water

As Echo passed his finger over the plate as the function of the Primal Consumption Ability filled his mind. “Any heart…”

I can eat any heart for power. Not just monsters.

Echo felt sick. He had just eaten the hearts of Gori warriors. Not monsters. People who could have been saved. People who he had spoken with over the past week. People with families, children. “It’s just like Bertram all over again,” he whispered.

The ramifications jolted through him. What if he felt his Evolution Instinct every time he met someone? Every person, animal – anything with a beating heart.

Could I even resist it?

Rose smirked, “Let me deal with the corpses. Improve upon my form, Siphon Strength.” Her icy-blue Quintessence flowed over the undulating, fleshy sphere as it necrotized into dust and ash.

Echo shook his head, “Why would Tiberius do this?” He couldn’t think of any reason for it. It made no sense.

Does he just want to torture me?

Rose shook her head, “I don’t know. The man is a mystery.” She glanced at the pile of ashes left over from her spell, “He’s dead, now. I wish I could have trapped his soul. I would have tormented him for eternity.”

Fumi came over and glanced at Echo’s identification before pulling out her own, and Rose did the same.

Name (Race / Rank): Fumi Medrana Xulatar (Advanced   Monster / SS)

Strength: 110,000

Agility: 110,000

Fortitude: 55,000

Defense: 55,000

Offense: 110,000

Magic Resistance: 55,000

Magic Potency: 55,000

Equipment: Skysteel Katana (Blightsteel Imbued),   Brightsteel-Kevlar Armored Clothing (Blightsteel Imbued), Short-Range   Teleport Bracelet, Physical Protection Greave, Magic Protection Greave,   Aether Shard Housing (inner thigh)

Active Abilities: Alacrity [Overcharge] <Achronerate>,   Enhanced Regeneration, Gori Rage, Resonating Thrust, Rift Strike, Spatial   Sever, Unseen Predator, Voltaic Slash, Waveblade

Innate Abilities: The Blessing of the Flames, The Dragon   God's Blessing, Damage Immunity (Cold, Electricity, Fire, Sonic), Damage   Resistance (All), Darkvision, Deathless, Detect Abilities, Detect Magic,   Disease Immunity, Eternal Youth, Evolution Instinct [Primal Consumption],   Far Sight, Feral Senses, Immovable Object, Perfect Casting, Perfect Offense,   Poison / Toxin Immunity, Regeneration [Regrowth], Tideborn, Undergrounder,   Wallwalk

Affinities: Air, Fire, Space, Wood

Name (Race / Rank): White Rose (Undead / SS)

Strength: 15,000

Agility: 15,000

Fortitude: 150,000

Defense: 60000

Offense: 10000

Magic Resistance: 150,000

Magic Potency: 150,000

Equipment: Whitestone Scepter, Ring of Veiled   Undeath, Short-Range Teleport Bracelet, Flight Choker, Physical   Protection Greave, Magic Protection Greave.

Active Abilities: Control Undead (Mindless, Intelligent),   Touch of The Void

Innate Abilities: Damage Immunity (Cold), Darkvision,   Detect Corruption, Detect Life, Detect Magic, Detect Undeath, Disease   Immunity, Mental Immunity, Paralysis Immunity, Phylactery, Poison/Toxin   Immunity, Sated, Vulnerability (Light, Life, Fire)

Affinities: Death, Ice, Reanimation, Spirit

“Impressive improvement,” Rose commented. “Approximately five hundred fifty thousand cumulatively.”

Fumi tucked her identification back under her armor, putting a hand on Echo’s shoulder. “We can control it.”

Echo shook his head. Glancing over at the gathered Gori he felt his new Primal Consumption activate, and he ground his teeth as the push to consume threatened to launch him against Fumi’s new Clan.

Devour…

Someone help me.

He thought a silent prayer to anyone who would listen. Then it dawned on him.

Why ask for a God’s help when I have the power of one already?

In a frenzied, panic state he channeled all of his Quintessence into the Aether Shard along his thigh, feeling the shard grow warmer and warmer as the divine Heat was generated. The hunger continued to build, and he could see the tension in Fumi as well as she turned towards her Clan with a hostile intent.

Stop our hunger.

He willed the shard to activate. The pulse of Heat flooded through him in a silver burst of radiant energy, jumping over to Fumi as well.

The hunger went away. The divine power having sated him. But it was there, lingering, under the surface just barely held in check. Glancing at his identification he confirmed that he had not removed the Innate Ability.

But if I can control the hunger, then I don’t need to worry about eating people that don’t deserve it.

That last thought shocked him. And yet…it made sense, in a sick way. People who stood up against him and tried to hurt him or Fumi deserved death. And if he gained power from eating their heart? All the better.

Is my personality changing because I’m getting more monstrous?

He shook his head. They would have to repeat this miracle with the Aether Shard consistently which would put a damper on their available Quintessence. It was either that or let himself fall prey to the instincts.

What if I’m in a huge population center?

The idea that he may be pushed to using all of his Quintessence or fall prey to this new Primal Consumption shook him.

Fumi grinned and held Echo’s hand, “You figured out a fix.”

Rose raised a quizzical eyebrow, having felt the surge of Heat but not being affected by it. “Well, shall we?” she gestured to the Clan that was leaving the battlefield to return to their Clan stronghold.

Fumi shook her head, “No. I am still considered part of their Clan, but they do not want me in their stronghold.” She looked off to the Northeast, “I’ll fight for the Overlord in the next Choosing, and keep my word to come to his call when a Sanctioned War is called for.” She returned her gaze to Echo, “But they do not want me there.”

Echo forgot about his own predicament as he made eye contact with his soul mate. She was on the verge of breaking down again. She may have found a new Clan, but she was also an outcast from it. Not truly exiled – the worst fate beside dishonorable death for a Gori or Ogo – but prevented from finding family once more.

He hugged her tightly.

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