Chapter 29: The End of Everything
Author's Note: Whew, things are getting intense this chapter. Took me a while due to some real life stuff I had to do but I managed to find time and get it done. Chapter 29 and well...the end cometh soon but when? Only I know the answer...read on viewer as the chaos increases even further. This is TheFoolOfTheNoon signing off again! Hehehe.
/
Ankha's P.O.V.
Our trekking through the sandy plains seems to go on forever, endless acres of sand that reminded me of home. The warmth of the ground reminded us that we are close to the end of journey here. I was beginning to feel him now, he is close and after passing a large dune we found something standing in plain sight. In a circle we see a pile of large boulders arranged in a circular pattern with strange archaic writing on the floor underneath them.
("He's here, the ground is as warm as it can get,") We made our way down to the strange monument. We looked around and inspect the monument. I began calling out Nacho's name, hoping that he would hear me and reveal himself. However, something else responded to my call. The ground shook and suddenly three objects shot out of the ground and landed behind us with a loud crash.
Our eyes widen as these strange twilight-colored pods began opening up on the ground and three crustacean-humanoid looking creatures revealed themselves. Bladed arms and metallic sheen bodies implied that they have tough defenses as well.
"Intruders, detain them! Protect our lord!" One of them shouted in a commanding voice as they engaged us. Seeing diplomacy thrown out the window like a rock we retaliated and engaged the guardians. We outnumbered the monsters, but they immediately proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Zipping around at high speeds, shooting energy blasts, and trying to ram and slash us.
Their coordination is on point as they covered their weaknesses as we tried to attack them. The moment we see an opening on one, another rushes in to block the attack. Their agility makes it hard to know where they are going next. It was clear close combat is impossible with them, of course none of them focused on me and thanks to that I am able to watch the monsters carefully. They looked to be skating across the sand, so they are still touching the ground and I also noticed that the times the group uses spells on them, especially wide range spells they retreat into their pod like bodies. Yet their reactions while they are still open is at their fastest when one of my fellows aimed for their thin limbs.
Clearly that is a weak point we can attack. But we need to create an opening. I seen Anippe attempt to throw water into the sand to create mud, but the heat of the ground dried up the mud before it can be used. So, we need to time it, I shouted out to the chosen of Sobek. Quickly telling her my plan as I joined the battle, together with Bakari and Kunamet's light magic we are going to trip up one of the creatures into a mud pit that we created together and with Senura's help we will dry out the mud before it can get out and trap it for attacks.
Plan ready to go we immediately went on the attack as Anippe and I immediately blasted ahead of one of the guardians. Bakari unleashed a flashbang spell that blinded the monster and as expect it tripped and fell forward into the mud. It flailed a little wildly but immediately following
up with Senura we solidify the mud, trapping it and opening it up for attack.
Bomani and the other fighters managed to run in closer as the remaining guardians ran in to aid their comrade. There was only two of them though and Lucky managed to slip through and cut off one of the arms. Violet blood leaked out as it squirmed more in the mud trap. I watched Lucky place a hand on the dismembered arm and drain it of its mana. The two guardians looked at him only to be blasted away as a sandy maelstrom erupted from his arms. With distance on our side my faithful sworn brother proceeded to slash the other limbs from the monster, leaving it helpless and unable to move as it bled out.
The remaining two monsters gave out raging battle cries as they are enraged by the death of their comrade. Adapting to the cause of death, they began floating across the ground by expending energy to lift themselves. Seeing this means we needed a new plan; the monsters are going to adapt to fight us better and now down one member they are going to become more desperate. Proven when they zoomed passed us and a bladed wave of energy nearly slashed us all into two. Surprisingly the duo stopped in place and began to talk to one another.
"Watch it! Don't hurt the mate of our lord!"
"She'll get in the way, we need to keep her away from the battle."
"Then we shall…"
I narrowed my eyes as I felt the duo looked at me as they flew at us once again. We all got ready to defend ourselves before suddenly kicking up the sand. Obscuring our vision as they blasted through and I suddenly felt myself being carried away. Once I was out of the cloud I saw that one of the guardians was carrying me away from the battle as far as it can take me. Without a hassle it just gently dropped me onto the sand on my feet.
"Stay here, we don't want you to get hurt."
"You say that, but that was one heck of a reckless charge at the beginning," the monster turned back to me and stopped itself from leaving.
"An impulsive movement on our end. Could have cost us our lives if you were harmed," The creature looked at me with an inquisitive eye; well…all six of them, "I know you are the one who coordinated the attack that killed my comrade. The lord wishes you to be unharmed so why do you fight us?"
"Because your 'lord' needs some senses knock back into him. He is not in the right mind and I need to save him from himself."
"I don't understand what you mean, this land. Our lord plans on creating these…'Gardens of Eden' across the lands in creating a home for his mates. That means you and one other, the one called Isabelle. He does this for you, what 'sense' does he need?"
"As much as I would love a place for just ourselves, I would not take it if it means the world would be destroyed!"
"That is simply the cycle of nature. The old world dies so a new one can take its place, new life must replace the old and new dominance must be established."
"Funny you say that considering I am his oldest treasure, I suggest you choose your next words carefully," I pointed my weapons toward the guardian, blades glistening in the light as I physically showed him, I wasn't backing down.
It stared at me and growled. Clearly not wanting to waste more time with me as his comrade is struggling with the battle with the others. Immediately he left me alone as he flew towards the battle. Seeing the distance between me and the others I sighed as I looked over to the arranged boulders. I need to stir up Nacho somehow put an end to this fight. I took a deep breath and activated my speed boost and ran across the sands. The distance was made trivial as I zoomed towards the boulders as the battle rages on. The guardians took quick notice of my presence before one of them in the distraction was killed by Bomani as his spear pierced through the unarmored neck of one.
I heard an audible gasp as the remaining guardian turn to face my comrades and cry out in rage as it was the remaining one left. I tried to ignore the event going as my attention remained on Nacho as I got to the center of the boulders and found a large marking on the ground. I brought out my staff and began charging it with magic energy. The idea being that if I said a magic jolt through the ground, it would get his attention. Before I could though, a loud crash and shockwave sent waves of air past me and interrupting me. I look over to the side and saw the remaining guardian had changed into a larger, beefier, and sleeker form. Wielding a shield in one hand and sharper arm blade. It gave a loud pained cry as it immediately went on the attack. It's attacks more violent and vicious.
This motivated me to act faster as I charged my staff with pure magic. It took a few minutes before I gained enough charge, and I slammed its base into the ground. A powerful shockwave of magic blasted around me as a pillar of light shot out from the top of my staff and the ground below cracked. I heard a loud bestial muttering as suddenly the arranged boulders lifted up from the ground and immediately changed into bladed tails and head appendages. Revealing that Nacho had sensors above ground the entire time. The heads looked at me before turning their attention to the battle going on.
Immediately the tails began swiping and slashing at my friends while the heads were shooting fireballs and lightning bolts. It was pure chaos as the upgraded guardian already pulled out of the encounter to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
"Nacho! Stop! Can you hear me?!" I shouted among the chaos, but the tentacles did not react to me. He couldn't hear me while he was still underground. I have to get him to come out somehow. The tentacles kept up their attack but seeing them gave me an idea. He's using them to sense us and if we managed to cut him off from them then he would be forced to surface. The problem being breaking through the tentacles rocky shell.
("Ankha! What's wrong? How come Nacho didn't stop yet?") Senura's shouts were barely audible in the chaos, but I was able to respond to her.
("He can't hear me! He is still underground; we need to provoke him into coming out! Senura I need to you to use your strength to break one of the segments in that rocky armor! Once its broken tell the others to cut through the exposed section!")
("Are you sure? That's going to hurt him!")
("I know but we need to do something now!")
("Okay! Just be careful!")
Didn't need to tell me that as I did my best to stay out of the way of the crossfire. After some time, I saw Senura rush through the air and after summoning massive power she destroyed one of the rocky armor segments of the beast. This did nothing to stop the rampage of the tentacle, but now the smooth flesh was exposed. Immediately after doing that she got to work on the next tentacle and the next after. Following her was Bomani, Anippe, Asim, Lucky and Donkor's blades ready and drawn. In a collective effort they managed to cut through each tentacle cleanly, one after the other. I felt Nacho's pain but resisted the urge to cry out which I knew would aggravate him a lot more. The gigantic tentacles fell over and crashed into the ground, causing earthquakes with each landing. Eventually the last tentacle fell, and the stubs retreated into the ground.
That did it, the ground shook, swell and cracked as Nacho moved under the ground. The floor began to depress as his large body moved away from the area. I managed to avoid being sucked into the sink hole by using the tentacles as a foot hold before clearing to safer ground. Everybody else managed to keep a safe distance as we saw the ground cracking in a line as the sand being kicked up turned around and headed our way. I took deep breath as I waited for the worst to come, and eventually it came. Large claws broke the surface and stopped in place, we watched in horror as a huge mound of sand and earth rose up and broke apart as a near mountain sized beast stared at all of us with pure rage.
Nacho has evolved, his scales now sporting a metallic sheen and a bone like crown connected to his single horn. His fur flowing like fire itself as embers and sparks of electricity came off of it. He gave off a dominant roar and shook the earth itself as he gave one swing of his wings and a mini gale that created a minor sandstorm.
("In the holy name of Ra! It changed!")
("Has the beast not reached its true form?")
More cries of panic as I saw the beast eyeing my team and growled. The intent to kill clear in his eyes and I needed to stop him before he can attack. Invoking my speed boost again I immediately closed the distance between and him. I saw his eyes widen as I appeared between him and my friends.
"Nacho! Don't hurt them!" I shouted with all my might as immediately he listened. His stern gaze softening as he looked at me. This intimidating monster who dwarfs me in size responded to my voice and leaned in to look at me. I extended my hand and reached out to touch his snout. His fires of destruction dulled a bit as he allowed me to slowly caress his face. My hand looked so small against his blacken scales. Despite the metallic look, the scales felt smooth and warm in my hands. His eyes closed, no doubt losing himself to my touch.
"Nacho…can you hear me?" He opened his eyes and looked at me. He made a small low non-threatening growl as he nodded his head. I felt some relief as I hugged his face, nearly crying on the spot, "S-Sorry, its just I'm glad that you still recognize me. Nacho I know…that you are doing this for me and Isabelle's sake. I understand the intent, but this needs to stop here. You are hurting the world and destroying many lives. Maybe in your brain you somehow reasoned that you are making a safe haven for us, that having a place where we can be together without worry seems like a great idea. However, I don't like the cost."
He tilted his head at me. Confused at my displeasure from his efforts as he made a concerned sound. Hearing this only told me that Nacho's mind, while responding to my voice is still thinking like an animal. Still, it is a start, and I am taking it as I keep my hand on his snout.
"Yes, this isn't good for the world. You are destroying an entire ecosystem in this world and killed many people. I love you Nacho but please this ends here, okay? Let's just go home and pick up Isabelle while we are at it. She misses you and honestly, I just want some time away from all of this. Does this sound okay?"
Nacho seem to ponder about what I said for a while before nodding and was about to nudge me with his snout. I was relieved, ecstatic even that things were moving this smoothly. That is, until I heard a whistling sound in the air. My eyes widen with horror as I saw in the short moment as it whizzed passed me, an arrow coated in powder. It was all in slow motion as the arrow pierced Nacho's eye and exploded. Causing him to let out a harsh roar as his fur ignited in pure fury. I was helpless to stop him as I tried calling out his name again, but more arrows exploded on his body and in turn he ran towards the source. I turned around to see a couple of people in familiar armor with bows drawn.
I wanted to tell them to stop that it was under control, but it was too late. A large cloud of sand was kicked up as shouts of pain and agony was heard. I barely could make out multiple voices as explosions, clanging and even the sounds of metal meeting flesh rang out. The remaining guardian joined his lord in the fight, and I could hear even more chaos coming from the cloud. The earth quaked, fire rained from the sky, lightning crashed, and even large tornados were created. It was Armageddon in a single package and no doubt many lives are being taken in the intense battle.
The thought of running in there to attempt to try and stop Nacho before he can cause even more damage crossed my mind. However, Lucky stopped me as it was too intense to try and break though the wall of whipping winds. There was nothing I can do but wait for the fight to die down. Those people who attacked him are monster hunters, the same people Nacho associated with in the past. I don't need to think too hard on why they are after him, but what I do want to know is how did they make it in here without suffering from the virus in the air.
No sooner that thought came across my mind, I heard someone screaming and looked up to see somebody flying straight at us. I told Lucky to quickly grab the person before they crashed. He nodded and quickly leapt into the air, grabbing the person before rolling and sticking the landing. We all checked up on the person Lucky caught and very quickly I realized who it is, it's the Guildmarm herself Sophia.
"Ankha?!"
/
Isabelle's P.O.V.
"Isabelle take point! We're going to break through that formation!"
I nodded as I pulled my shield up and charged forward at Lavi's shouting of 'Charge!' as nature magic covered my shield and emitted a large wooden barrier that helped blocked magic projectiles and knock away any foe in our way. Many cultists laid dead in the raid as we are backed up by the local guild and region police force. They set up a defense before we busted in but it was all for naught as it came crumbling down and we began breaking their numbers. It was chaos for sure, but our numbers were slowly overtaking them.
I myself was helping make paths through formation lines and keeping our forces healthy. One by one we ravaged the rooms and corridors in the base. It was huge so it took a while to get from place to place, assuming we knew which room was what. Priests that were with us were purifying as they felt the presence of evil within each area. I felt it too, my body sending off signals that tell me that this negative energy needs to be removed and or destroyed.
We busted through more rooms before finally finding the big reason for our raid. We found a large room with an even larger pit of black sand in the center. There were already bodies strewn about and standing in the center of it all is Adofo looking a little worse for wear. Me and Lavi's group stopped everyone from attacking as the lion warrior looked at us with a smile.
"Forgive me for the mess, I had years of stress to work out," he took out his sword from a dead cultist and sheathed it, "I'm too exhausted to continue, but Isabelle and all of you with connections to the holy. I must ask you all to purge these cursed sands so Apep can never be summoned here!"
He collapsed onto one knee and immediately the priests went to work and began spreading holy sand, dust and even water into the pit while chanting holy prayers. I did what I can by throwing a couple of seeds into the pit and used my magic to grow a plant that began filtering the negative energy from the sand. Our efforts began to cause the sand to shake and shift as if it was breathing creature. It was unnerving to say the least as I saw some form of serpents riling in there. As we kept going the sand began to lose its black color and began purifying into the grainy reddish yellow color.
Everything was going well so far while everybody else was making sure no stray cultists will interrupt the proceedings. After almost an hour of fighting with the dark sands, eventually the sand was completely cleaned of negative energy and exploded with one magical poof that signaled that the job is done. We all took an easy breath as the biggest threat in the land has been cleared along with the avoidance from activating another trigger to Ragnarök.
My friends came and gave each their own congratulations to me, even though I was probably the least powerful of these people. Still, I took the thanks.
Adofo walked towards us, limping a bit as he wasn't completely healed, "Thank you all, if it weren't for your efforts, I doubt I could have halted this entire operation myself. Still, I have one more problem to attend to."
"Your master Aten right?" the concern in my voice did not go unnoticed by him as he looked me in the eyes with a tired look.
"Yes…he must not be allowed to harm anybody again. He's still regenerating in his sarcophagus; he has been for most of this week. I dare not looked inside as I didn't want to see the mess his body was turned into."
"Alright, lets go face him together then," I gave him a warm smile to which he returned as we followed him to the room where Aten rested.
It was a rather ornate room with his sarcophagus sitting in the middle. This entire time I could feel a large amount of negative energy being emitted from the sacred coffin. We carefully stepped towards it with Lavi taking the lead. He is the first to reach the sarcophagus as he pulled out a dagger for defense.
"Whitney, can you set up a protective field?" She nodded to his words and gave a few taps of her staff onto the ground which caused runic markings to appear along the ground. Some of the negative energy has been suppressed and I felt my own physical being reinforced. Everyone got ready for a fight as Lavi pushed open the sarcophagus lid almost too easily off. Almost immediately a dark purple cloud erupted from the Egyptian coffin and pushed Lavi back. It washed passed us and for a moment I had no idea what was going on. I kept my shield up but it was pointless as I heard a dark voice.
"What do we have here…? Are these the people the brought Aten so much trouble? Hmm…"
I felt something slither pass me and breathe down my neck. Seeing a serpentine body moving in the shadows of the cloud. It was almost dead silence from all of us as a great pressure was pushing on all of us. Glowing ember eyes lit up in the cloud before pushing it to the side. Dissipating the cloud and revealing a truly horrifying form, a fusion of a jackal and snake. Blacken scales with specks of darkness emitting from them, it was like looking at a living shadow. His upper half remain humanoid but where was once fur now is scales and his lower half nothing but the serpent's body. Despite just reawakening, the body looks to be somewhat deteriorated with clear ribs showing up under the skin.
"No…no no! Apep?!" Adofo shouts woke me up as the being that formerly was Aten summoned a serpentine staff of darkness.
"Yes, dear Adofo, that is my name. Not in the full flesh however, I am merely possessing this body for the time being. Aten has been a wonderful chosen of mine, however it appears I must step in for him."
I felt him eyeing me just before Lavi leapt in behind him and stabbed him in the neck with his dagger. Black blood leaked out but instead of pain he only sighed in annoyance. Lavi quickly backed off while drawing his sword as the evil god pulled the dagger from his neck and dropped it to the floor. The wound healed almost immediately, and he looked over to the warrior with a bored expression. He wagged his finger in front of him, his body language telling him not to do it again. His face turns back to me and I nearly shivered in fear.
"Canine…I understand that you have an awfully close connection to the beast. Maybe I can use you to draw him here."
I was thrown off by that comment. Me having a close connection to the beast of calamity? That does not sound right to me, but in that moment of confusion I felt myself being magically pulled towards him and it was too late to try and ground myself. Everybody tried to stop him, but he simply tapped his staff on the ground and generated a shockwave that pushed nearly everyone back. Whitney managed to push through the magic wave and fired icicle bolts at him. He glared at her and waved his staff to create a barrier to block her spell. Though it left him wide open to which in my surprise a new figure leaped out of the darkness and fired a blade of water straight at him.
The attack impaled him and earned a small surprise of pain from him. I felt his hold on me disappear. The new figure shouted at me to run and so I did. I do not know exactly what Apep needed me for, but if it involves the beast then it cannot be good.
/
Exhaustion began to take me as I managed to reach the entrance of the base. So many confused faces looked at me as I ran by, but I couldn't answer them. I had no time and only now that I am standing out here in the open, I realize the question of where should I run? Is there really any place for me to go from an evil god?
"Tired now, are we? You shouldn't have run from me, believe me that I take no pleasure in the pain I am going to bestow you. However, in order for a new world to rise I need the beast of calamity. It responds to you in distress and with it, not only will I sow chaos, but I will have the strength needed to fulfill one remaining trigger."
"Remaining trigger? What do you mean? We stopped you from being summoned!"
"I'll admit, your efforts here aren't wasted. However, purifying the sands here will not stop my summons into the world. I had thousands upon thousands of years to think of my plan, to have one summon altar would be foolish. No, I have several more to assure my arrival. Now, bring me the beast!"
I felt his magic take hold of my body and lift me into the air. Desperately I tried to fight against the hold, but I could not break free. All the while Apep was simply looking at me with dead eyes that only see this as a simple task. Before I knew it a magic needle appeared in front of me and shot me in the arm and embedded itself within. It was so quick I barely had time to register what happened before feeling a surge of pain begin to overwhelm me. It was so painful that I had to cry out. I just couldn't take it!
More and more needles kept being stuck in me and even more pain surged. I'm not sure my heart could take it! Nacho and Ankha came to my mind as I wished they were here to make this pain stop!
"NACHO! ANKHA!"
/
Ankha's P.O.V.
"Whaaaat?! That thing is Doodle?!"
"Yes, and I was close to calming him down until your hunters fired upon him!"
"Oops…uh…this is bad…we even brought a portable dragonantor coated with Wystone."
"What?! How do you even know that is even going to work on him? All these hunters are going to die trying to fight him!"
Sophia was taken aback and sheepishly began scratching the back of her helmet. Even more so when she noticed the others the were with me. All shooting her angry looks to which she back away from. Poor girl, as much as I dislike her for her history for sending Nacho on dangerous missions she probably only had little to do with the attack. What's done been done and so far, there is no way to break through that barrier of wind. I was ready to try and find another way in until suddenly I felt a sharp pain shoot through my body briefly along with another one that felt like something shot me in the heart. While the pain was brief it was intense and forced me to the ground.
For a moment I thought the pain originated from Nacho, but I shot that idea out of the window as I can still feel the first feeling of pain coating me. No…it was Isabelle! She was in danger! Nacho must have sensed it too as I heard him roar violently as the wind barriers died down. Past the wall of fading winds, we all bear witness to a furious Nacho who was glowing with burning twilight as visible red veins were trailing from his claws into his body. However, the most horrifying thing about this visage is the drill like machine stuck in his chest. That must be the Dragonantor the used on him and against all odds it managed to penetrate his chest. I am reminded of that sharp pain I felt hit my heart and feared the worse.
Of course, the hunters kept fighting as the beast grabbed the contraption and broke off the spear from the rest of the machine. We only stood and watch as Nacho grounded himself before giving an almighty roar that not only emitted a large orange cloud but also cracked the walls of reality. I couldn't believe it, Nacho was able to crack the walls of reality just with a roar alone. Another wave of pain hit us both and the beast grew more angry as it ripped out the spear in its chest and expanded his lungs before giving out another almighty roar that caused the orange dust to explode and consume all near the battlefield. With it I heard something shattering, as the sands cleared I saw the crack is now a full blown hole.
"Im-Impossible! He broke the wall of reality?!" Sophia shouted with eye popping surprise, "Doodle Beast is something else! No other monster on record can do that!"
"You can save your excitement for later; he's trying to leave through that hole! I know where it leads too…" I look over to Lucky and he nodded to me as I activated my speed boost again. I needed to go with him or else he will spread his destruction to more locations! Taking Lucky with me I look back to the other chosen and their guardians, ("I'll follow Nacho! The rest of you help these hunters and make sure most of them return home alive!")
("Alright, just stop that beast!") Sekker shouted back at me as I ran with Lucky to chase after Nacho who was already stepping into the hole in reality.
With no choice we managed to grab onto his tail as he passed through. The passage through the hole between worlds was incredibly rough as it felt my body being pulled apart. No wonder a portal is needed to cross through worlds! A normal person wouldn't be able to survive such a trip, but a beast of calamity and some immortals? Well, I figured out firsthand that its possible. After what felt like a minute the pressure and pull being applied to my body subsided and now a new setting was in our wake; Ser-Shinn.
Buildings broke and crashed as Nacho forced his way into the new environment with surprisingly no screams as there was no civilians as we broke through. We tried to climb up Nacho's tail but lost our grip and ended up rolling out of his way as we discovered our new situation and cause of Nacho's new anger. My rage grew as I saw what looks to be a horribly malformed Aten and an unconscious Isabelle. The beast noticed Isabelle and leaned down to gently prod her with his snout. He was trying to get a reaction out of her, but she would not move. She is alive but as my earlier observations proved she was unconscious.
Nacho gave a tender growl as he gently picked her up with his non crush claw arms before turning to Aten with a hateful scowl and an intimidating growl of rage. Strangely instead of immediately attacking him as I thought he would, he turned his attention to me. For a moment, I saw a little bit of the old Nacho in his eyes as he placed Isabelle into me and Lucky's care.
"Interesting, compassion. So, you are not fully a mindless beast, still I doubt that compassion extends to others. Tell me beast when you look at me what do you see?"
Nacho's body glowed in response; his fury returned. I saw a smile on Aten's face before floating up with his magic and flew away at a reasonable pace. However, this infuriated Nacho as he began to crash through buildings and reduce them to rubble in pursuit of Aten. It was going to be dangerous following him, but I had no choice. I need to get him to heel or else he is going to destroy everything that is in his way just to get to Aten again. I gave Isabelle a gently kiss on her head before leaving her in Lucky's care as I ran after Nacho.
Buildings crumbled, the ground cracked, and the skies darkened. He was creating a trail of destruction that was hard to miss. Once proud housing reduced to rubble in seconds. I had to use my speed boost again to catch up to Nacho, the extended use of it already burning through almost all of my stamina. Still I managed to catch up and leap onto Nacho's tail, grabbing onto his burning mane which was actually pretty soft and warm to the feel. Like curling into a bunch of blankets that came fresh from the dryer. As much as I want to get lost in the feeling I had a job to do. Unlike my last climb the distance from his head is further away and already he already leveled an entire city block.
"Is that all you got beast? I expected more, if you wanted to kill me then you could at least try harder than this!"
His goading enraged Nacho more, he must have been holding back because of Isabelle, but now he was back in full force. Firing fireballs and gusts of wind the devastated even more of the city. The wind pressure threatened to pull me off Nacho and made it near impossible to keep climbing. The conditions forced me to stay at my current location on his body as suddenly I felt the environment shift around me. The winds died down and I looked up to see that we are now in a new location. It was heavily forested, and I could see various tree houses and the like, but also I could hear blood curling screams. Looking over I can see a squirrel like race running for their lives and trying to keep their neighbors and loved ones safe as Nacho destroyed everything in his wake. Aten's taunting and floating in the direction of buildings, causing them to get caught in the crossfire when Nacho attacked.
I never got to meet them yet and already we are changing their lives. They were minding their own business and we just suddenly showed up. Leaving a trail of destruction and ruined livelihoods in our wake. We only remained for a minute before another portal opened up and we passed through once again. I was horrified to realize that Aten is taking us on a tour across the world. The next land we ended up was one populated with dinosaur people as far as I can see, and it looked to be a capital city. More screams rang in the air and I had to force myself to keep going on climbing Nacho. Ignoring the death and destruction as we traveled through another portal.
More and more lands and cities became ravaged by Nacho's rampage. It was insane, they had no chance to react to the danger. Many races almost brought to their knees in a near instant. Many more lives rested on me getting to Nacho as soon as I can. I climbed as fast as I could, I was already at his upper back at this point and was near his head.
"I can tell you are very persistent chosen of Bastet. I've done sufficient damage to this world already thanks to the beast's help, but there is one more land I must send the beast before I can let you have him again."
His voice spoke loudly and clearly and that is when I noticed that it did not sound like Aten. It was somebody else, however I could not get a word in as a loud crack was heard. Nacho's roar followed and then once again the walls of reality cracked again. I only got a brief look before holding on fiercely to his hair; we were heading towards Egypt on earth.
/
Modern Egypt, I never really visited this place since the fall of the Egypt I once knew. While some familiar monuments remain, it really was a shadow of its former self. Even then it was heart breaking to watch Nacho crash into a heavily populated city. A force they do not understand destroying their way of life. Terrible flash backs danced across my vision as I finally got to Nacho's head.
"Nacho! Stop it! Your no monster! Please! Listen to me!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs just so he can hear me above his destruction and carnage. My elation when he began to slow down and start turning to avoid civilians. He was still shaking his head as if he was resisting something, but he was coming around.
"Yes, Nacho it's me! Please just stop and lets go back to Isabelle. You don't need to rampage anymore!"
"You are quite a nuisance Ankha but I respect your tenacity."
I looked up to see 'Aten' looking down on me, however just feeling the aura he gave off told me all I needed to know. I stared at him with daggers in my eyes to which he only raised a brow at me. It was infuriating but I wasn't in a position to fight him.
"Apep…I never thought I would run into you."
"Neither did I Miss. Ankha but as you can see, I'm not truly here so to speak. I am merely borrowing Aten's body to finish the rest of my goals. Having your lover who is the beast of calamity rampage is part of my goals. Granted he done so much for me already, breaking through two dimensional walls to separate worlds already works in my favor. The destruction and devastation of innocent lives? Well the people will be looking for a scrape goat and I plan on making one. Starting with the gods of Egypt…"
The venom that dripped out of his last sentence gave me chills as I tried to bring out one of my swords. He just sighed and immediately blasted me with a concussive magic blast that sent me flying off of Nacho. Immediately though one of his tentacles shot out and prevented me from falling. There was no constriction only a gentle grasp as I righted myself.
"That was a cheap shot Apep!"
"So, you say, but I am merely wanting a end to this conflict as quickly as possible. Apparently though, it seems like that's not going to happen."
"If you knew what I been through up to this point, you'll realize I don't yield easily."
"Then let's see what you truly got…but first…"
Apep turned over to Nacho who was ready to strike him but before he could the evil god blasted a reddish haze into my lover's head. He shook violently and roared viciously as a dark aura began to glow around his head. I cried out his name, but it was no use as Apep looked over to me and suddenly we were both taken to a dark arena. It slowly fading into existence around us as the world outside vanished. We were standing on a large circular platform surrounded by a dark abyss with only a golden outline of a landscape and sun, like an eclipse. There is no turning back now, Apep is only an obstacle in my way.