He was monitoring the surveillance screens when the alien god Mago emerged. Its steps rattled the screens miles below the earth. Dials moved to the red before sensors fried sending sparks lighting up the dark room. The entire bunker shook as massive hands dug into the mountain above their bunker. As the bunker shifted Morpheus prepared to fight the power of an unknown god. A being that absorbed the powers of the Olympians.
Before the visual recording from above were destroyed their last hope arrived. The Liberty a floating deity of war and firepower began opening fire on the giant. Just after the opening salvo the remaining visuals cut. An emp blast from Mago saw to that. Only shielded equipment like power armor, stationary bunkers, and AI controlled flying fortresses like the Liberty could handle emp.
In the black monitors, he saw the white and pink swirls of Venus' power armor. He prepared himself to comfort her. The base wouldn't last. Morpheus would have to convince her to take the personal escape tunnel. With two divine treasures and his manmade treasure the fivefold formations he might be able to hold it off. It was his burden to fight the monster above, he'd do it for her something was wrong.
Cold pain split his heart in two, he spat out blood covering his faceplate.
Chilling white aura pierced through a gap in his armor. Even colder steel pierced him through his lungs and heart. White aura coiled in his chest like a hungry dragon burning away at his own golden aura. His mind blanked as memories were stripped away.
He couldn't move but his armor was equipped with AI. Cathedrale his AI moved him like a marionette bringing his sword arm just as his other hand shot back and grasped her hand. His arm snapped into pieces from the maneuver. A hard kicked pushed her and the rapier out of his chest.
"You unshackled your AI." Venus gasped as his dragon slaying kick cracked her barrier. A light flickered out among the five within his armor. Stored aura swept through his body clearing out the white aura leaving behind ruined organs.
"You underestimated my fivefold formation and worse you betrayed the legion. Surrender and maybe I'll ask the," He blocked her rapier with his armored gauntlets. Cursed blade spells splashed against his powered-up aura barrier. Another light in his fivefold formation winked out leaving him three charges left.
With only three charges left his chances against the giant were slim to none. Another light winked out on his chest as lightning exploded around him. Golden lightning leapt up from his fingertips the motion tracker verified his target. He turned to his right and fired.
Hungry bolts of lightning leapt from his claw like gauntlets, this once he didn't regret it. Bolts of lightning ripped through her barrier and drilled through dense armor plating. The electronics in the room exploded drowning the room in darkness. "Hungry Ghost," she whispered and opened a white scroll.
He heard her laughter as her wounded body merged with the hungry ghost sealed within the scroll. Morpheus ran to the side of the room where his sword laid sheathed. Black tentacles shot from the newly made phantom. As he gripped the pommel of his Excalibur model Oblivion they took hold of his left arm and leg. His barrier plummeted to 0 before his second charge was lost. Her qi combined with the hungry ghost trapped in the scroll and quickly mutated the entity. The cloak turned white the blank face turned into a mirror image of Venus'. Complete with pink locks of hair.
She was never more beautiful than when she helped him after he killed his friend. Then she stabbed him just when he was ready to be the last line of defense. Legionaries were escaping he could sense it. The monster wouldn't take much longer to break through to the bunker. This fight wasn't over.
Within the new reaper's hand was a ying yang dial. His eyes widened, that was her plan.
The concrete floor shattered under his charge. He fought to gain enough speed to stop her. He swung his sword as a dark door opened where the reaper had been. Suddenly gravity shifted pulling as the ying yang dial turned. She moved despite the change in gravity. Monitors and electronics were ripped off the walls and pulled into the hole. Where it led only a master of death knew. She moved at blinding speeds. Her armor was restored to its former pristine condition.
His last light went out lightning and golden aura suffused his blade. A demonic emperor appeared behind him. Suddenly, the pull from a dimensional rip couldn't hold him. He swung his sword as the emperor raised his lightning charged scepter. Lightning and aura worked as one splitting and striking everything the slice touched.
Just as her body split in two it turned into shadows. The dimensional hole shattered revealing the deathly hands. She'd fused with it again and eclipsed the reaper becoming a lady of souls. He brought a coin up from his side pouch.
"All the earth's treasures belong to me. Pluto's Wealth." The coin glowed and his fivefold formation returned to life. Then from the pouch he pulled an ancient bronze spear.
"For my pride I strike you down. King of gods Jupiter spear." All five lights winked out as the spear lit up. Purple and golden bolts of lightning surrounded the spear. In his hand it had transformed into something more than bronze. It was the weapon that felled titans. He threw it feeling the power leave him as it shattered all illusions. He raised his sword and channeled as much aura into it as he dared.
The ying yang dial shattered just before the bolt struck. Venus returned to her normal state. The god spear exploded through the bunker sending light and radiation through the facility. As light blinded him. He swung his sword with all his might.
Her sword snapped before the might of an Excalibur model. He slammed his blade down shattering her barrier. The sword buried itself in the armor gap where her shoulder pauldron and her neck met. "I am love, desire, and passion. Venus' shroud." A pink scarf appeared around her neck and he felt his mind blank out.
How could he do this to her? Didn't he love her how could he kill her. He dropped his aura and began pulling his sword back. He saw a glint of white. Her hand shot up with her broken blade held.
His armor moved for him driving his sword the rest of the way. Her collar bone snapped, and his sword buried itself into her chest. The veil of Venus fell away as his golden aura spread through her body. Venus fell like a puppet with its strings cut. Her last gambit failed.
Morpheus pulled his sword free and rammed his hand into her chest. He took hold of her heart and tore it away.
"Betrayal can't be forgiven." Morpheus whispered even as tears fell from his eyes. His face plate hid his face. White aura moved from her body and into the organ. The once red organ turned white and froze the ground.
Morpheus walked to it and picked up the organ. He could feel her inside the organ. All her qi and aura were within it. Now she was a divine treasure instead of a qi expert. Why would she do this? He could destroy her and take all her power.
"I'm sorry." The words entered his mind as his aura touched the divine treasure. He punched the nearest wall shattering concrete. Steel rods remained as the concrete fell away.
"I'm sorry too." Jupiter's spear flew back, and he returned his divine treasures to his bag of holding.
"Worry about why that crazy organic attacked you later. You need to get to the armory. R&D has built us something special." Cathedral said. Morpheus nodded his head and raced across the destroyed facility.
He made it to the subterranean elevator. He pressed a button and the doors opened. Above the elevator dropped cords cut and sparks flying off the emergency elevator brakes. He leapt into the shaft and dropped. At the second to bottom floor he found the R&D department.
Technicians scrambled around the machine at the front. It stood eight feet tall with three fivefold formations one for each pauldron and the chest. Nanites were funneled into the machine as new shield projectors were placed into the armor.
"Our pilot has arrived." Janos yelled as he approached the suit. His own armor opened, and Cathedral's AI core ejected. "Quickly upload the AI our pilot needs to be ready." Janos roared.
They quickly finished uploading the combat data and AI from his previous armor. This suit opened to greet him. He laid into the suit and felt his aura flood the alternators and the three fivefold formations filled with stored aura.
Injections of entropy stimulators and essence of primal man forced his cultivation base and ramp up the amount of aura produced. Slowly each light in his three fivefold formations lit up.
"Are you sure you want to fight that thing? You're not exactly in the best of shape." Cat asked.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on producing enough aura to power up the tri fivefold formation. The mark X Eagle felt different than his Mark IX Raven. It felt dangerous, if he wasn't careful it would break him no matter how much stronger he was than a normal human.
"The system, the nanite chains, and the hard drive space. Those general AI are going to be so jealous. I'm connecting to the satellite's overhead. Even the emps aren't enough to stop me in this monster. The liberty is sending me combat data on the Mago. Morpheus, I don't think we can win this one. It won't be like the battle against Peta." He felt his heart beat faster as the building continued to shake. This fight was going to be something else entirely.
"All systems are running, no errors so far. AI integration full success. Battle data completely transferred the zenith steel frame is holding. Aura usage is stable. You are green lit." Janos said. Morpheus nodded his head and felt the technicians break him free.
He took a step forward and felt the monstrous power of the machine. The lights in the tri fivefold formation were brighter than ever before. His barrier was layered with triangular plates. This was the most powerful he's ever been.
Golden aura flowed off him as he shot through the elevator shaft and flew up. He exited a floor below were the elevator was stopped and hit the crashed stairwell. He flew up floors before returning to the main elevator shaft and through. Most of the facility was evacuated.
More entropy and essence of primal man flooded his body. More aura was flowing from his body than ever and the machine took it easily. It felt like it could take hundreds of times more aura than he could give.
Just as he crossed the last threshold the monster's hand scraped through the facility. A light blinked out in his tri fivefold formation and lightning beyond what he'd ever wielded erupted.
The sky was bathed with golden light as lightning blasted upward. Even through the flashes and blinding light, he could see it do nothing to the Mago's hand. It traveled down ambivalent of the lightning. He raced from the path of the hand. He looked down to see the hand collapse floor after floor.
As the bunker collapsed Morpheus flew higher in the sky. As he flew, he saw the struggling bodies of millions of people. "Please help us they screamed." Some pushed others down to get a better look. While they screamed and were pushed further into the monster. A father tried to push his child on top only for more people to pushed them both down. Like craps trying to crawl out of a bucket they couldn't escape. Their fellow man would always drag them down.
One opened its mouth and a flood of white worms shot from its mouth. They poured into the bunker and spread quickly. There was a weakness to this creature. Several glowing spheres filled the monster's flesh. These were the bodies of gods it devoured. If he was going to fight it then he needed to either free the deities or kill them.
The blackened flesh that covered them monster made it immune to even his strongest magic. The battle data from the Liberty spelled that out. Only solid fire power and divine treasures had any effect on it. The monster had a curse called black grasp. If he touched the monster it could immediately begin absorbing his flesh. He focused on the minor god Hecate. The monster paid him no mind as it continued to plunder the bunker.
"For my pride, I strike you down. King of the Gods Jupiter Spear." He called and threw the spear at the purple bead that was the goddess Hecate. A massive black barrier appeared around Mago as the spear drained all fifteen lights from his tri fivefold formation. The spear took the form of an eagle and ripped through the barrier striking true. The power drained away from the spear pulled into the glowing yellow orb in the creature's chest. Then the spear vanished within the monster.
The monster continued to dig through the bunker dropping worms within until it picked up a large vault. It cracked the massive zenith steel casing and pulled out a multitude of divine artefacts. They merged with the monster's flesh and then it continued to dig.
"We need to leave. Divine treasures don't affect the Mago. There is nothing else you can do." He stared at the monster as it continued to pull out artefacts stored in the bunker.
"Where will we fall back to?" Cathedral remained quiet. The train escaped but it wasn't going anywhere. There was an old aircraft carrier, but this monster had devoured Neptune. The ocean wasn't safe.
"You can't beat it now. The world is doomed. There are other worlds." He reached into his bag and pulled out the heart of Venus, no the heart of Elise. Dark power flowed from the heart and he knew what to do.
He held the heart in his hand and pushed all the aura he had left into it. A bubble of white light gathered around him and the world shifted. He was in a soap bubble rising through the universe. The heart froze his hand as it drew more power and more power from him.
End of Prologue
Chapter 1
For years he traveled, a soap bubble on the wind. Billions of worlds changed crashed together and shattered. Beings that made the Mago seem like an ant paid him no notice. He passed through the edge of existence too inconsequential to matter. Then as with any trip eventually the destination is reached.
He landed on a mostly barren world. His bubble burst and he was on earth, sort of. On an old road he traveled north until he found a sign. Sanctuary 130kilometers, unlike the vine covered and rusted remnants of other signs this one was new. Plants didn't grow around it.
If that was where there were people, then to Sanctuary he'd go. He took a few steps and then heard a click. The ground below him exploded sending him ass over tea kettle into a nearby ditch. His barrier took most of the blow, but he couldn't stop himself in time. After years traveling through the void his aura control wasn't what it once was.
"Who the hell put a sign up there then stuck landmines in the road?" Morpheus yelled.
"Sounds like something you would do. Look sharp life sign warnings."
"Awe I thought the mines would have ripped the fresh meat from the can. A woman wined. He turned his head to see a black-eyed woman with pale skin. He pointed his hand forward unleashing a blast of lightning. The woman shook before exploding raining blood everywhere. More humanoids leapt into the fray digging into the dead woman.
More humanoids rushed from the hills as Morpheus waded into the battle. He'd never dealt with such squishy enemies. He waved his sword and killed a score of them. He thought it was what a god must have felt compared to mortals.
More showed up as the ground soaked with blood. He frowned at seeing his golden armor soaked with blood. This wasn't what would make him stronger. These weaklings were worthless. Tirelessly he swung his sword cutting them down. He used to have soldiers to handle this part of the job, but he was on his own. This was his show and the rewards and consequences where on his head. He couldn't afford to waist a resource.
He'd used old battlefield rituals before. All Qi experts knew a few different branches of magic. Never had they been given the green light to use everything they learned. Few wanted to face the consequences of letting their spells get out of control.
Morpheus was one of them. He was afraid. What would his brother think of him if he let his practice get out of control? What would they think if he devoted himself to magic? They thought nothing because they were dead. He was the last and this was his show.
He slammed his sword into the ground and clasped his hands. Lightning passed through the corpses on the ground and the bodies began to rise. He directed them towards his attackers and watched the carnage. The worm infested infected fought against the newly risen undead. He'd learned the lightning of necro spell from a hunt long ago. A brother had left the legion to practice necromancy. This was the spell Morpheus had taken from him. He should have paid more attention.
Thanatos was a B grade qi expert like himself. They had similar powers. Yet Thanatos could create undead tough enough to give a A grade qi expert like Hades trouble. It was something to think about.
He floated over the ground to avoid further landmines, getting tossed about wouldn't look right. He had to protect his image as a qi expert. Morpheus focused on the gathered corpses as the lesser undead fought the living infected. With most forms of magic more time and study were needed to improve the art.
After giving his task some thought, he decided to use nothing but necromancy in this world. He would gain the power to surpass the gods themselves. That and work on his own power.
With that in mind he went to one of the nearby houses with a few corpses in tow.
Days Later
After ruining several bodies, he followed Cat's advise and drew some Norse frost runes in his cellar walls. The rooms quickly became chilled and he began to study necromancy.
"What brought the sudden interest with the undead?" Cat asked.
"A B-rank qi expert could hold off three A rank and nearly fifty B rank experts with the right spells. He turned many undead into sacred treasures and curses." Morpheus said.
"So, is that what you're doing chasing after power for the sake of power?" Cat
"No babe, I'm going to master the use of necromancy to better myself. This is only practice until I'm ready to reach for the next stage of cultivation." Cat seemed mollified from his words giving him time to think. His aura didn't melt well with necromancy. Even a little of it out of place caused corpses to explode. A smile crept over his face. It was what he needed to refine his control.
Week1 Necromancy.
Explosions were his thing. Every time he tried to jump the shark a zombie exploded. There seemed to be a method to it all. He took a few corpses attached the muscles of some lions he found in the woods and boom. Blood and guts everywhere. It seemed the mind wasn't quite able to deal with too many new limbs. There seemed to be a change in the aura requirements. It was like he needed aura experienced in undead.
After dozens of explosions painting his basement all kinds of colors, he decided to use his aura dissipating in the air. The aura eagerly merged with a new abomination and it didn't explode.
That's when he came up with a new method. Instead of using new aura to resurrect more powerful abominations, he'd used aura that existed within the bodies of undead already.
He drew aura from the half torso undead that prowled around his new base and pushed them into his latest experiment. A tall man with arms like tree trunks and a single task. Find more bodies.
Week2 Necromancy
His grave robber was slain by an infected dressed like a knight of all things. Even the horse was infected. The worms were the worst he'd name them Mago in honor of that bastard alien god. The invincible prick, Cat said that his anger was illogical. It was like being mad at a storm. The difference in this case was the fact that Morpheus could fight back.
"Boss, I'm not sure this is a good idea." One of his skeletal marksmen claimed. Cath had helped him make a fast and dirty SNF (Stationary Nanite Forge). Constructor units were moving about digging him a deeper basement. The Tom the forge AI was busily turning a bunch of scrap metal, wiring, and batteries into some dirty gauss rifles. Super magnets were easy enough to make with a few electrical spells. They would be wielded by skeletons so technically still necromancy.
"Don't you want to fight to spread the glory of the undead union?" Morpheus asked.
"No, I'd rather be on field duty." With a bit of Bottony and aura manipulation, he was mutating the plants generation by generation.
"Then who would shoot the infected." He argued.
"You know, he isn't really saying that you're puppeteering him." Cat said.
"I know but maybe someday they will be able to jovially argue with me." Morpheus blasted the unfortunate skeleton with lightning and quickly transferred the energy to a much larger skeleton.
"Undead are unfortunate. They don't have much intelligence. What they do have is desires?" He filled them with hate for the mago before sending them out.
Week3 Necromancy
The battle was one sided. The high-powered gauss rifles tore through the enemy infected and they brought back the horses and the knights. It was unfortunate that the organs of the mago were worthless. After killing the worms, he found that he could bring them and the knights to life. This gave him an unexpected boon, intelligence.
"Master for you." His latest monstrosity garbled. He'd taken up bone manipulation. A particularly difficult feet of magic. By twisting various bones and infusing them before the resurrection process, he was able to make a relatively cheap mid-low tier undead.
"You made raptors and attached lasers to their freaking heads." Cat said. He couldn't have said it better himself. It took some practice and a lot of bodies, but he'd done it.
"Those aren't lasers, their eyes just glow." They were terribly quick, efficient, and best of all intelligent. They weren't the point and shoot after preparing an ambush. No, they could be left to do their own thing. Such as guarding his lair. Which was a nice apartment with a massive necropolis underneath.
After three weeks he'd built his first trap. A sphere with multiple spells enchanted within. The language was a bit simplistic but if triggered it would unleash several hungry raptors. Basic Nordic runes and his own burgeoning enchanting language barely melded together. Another problem he's have to deal with.
A body came his way from his gravediggers. Well this one was still alive. A green eyed woman with messy short cut hair.
Rose Potter
What in Merlin's syphilis infested balls was going on here? There was a sudden disappearance of the normal infected. Normally that would be a good thing. A chance to gain some ground. That was until the skeletons were spotted. Instead of living dangerously close to a bloody Worm Lord, they now shared territory with a Morgana cursed necromancer.
She'd been sent under an invisibility cloak when the creatures found her. After squatting to take a piss they jumped her. She never had a chance to raise her wand. Then a lumber zombie tossed her in a sack and took her.
After being dragged into a surprisingly clean apartment complex she was taken down a elevator to a giant dressed in golden armor. Hovering above his clawed hand was a floating cube covered in half Nordic runes and another script she couldn't recognize. Then she saw the robots.
Giant metallic constructs worked doing Merlin knows what. She stared at them as the giant walked over to a shelf and put the cube down. It was then that she noticed the shelf was lined with the things. What was going on here? Her heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. Her eyes darted about as she looked for a way out. She was underground no wand and the giant was looking right at her. She had to get out of here. Her lungs filled and emptied as she broke out into a cold sweat.
Then she saw the bodies. Piles and piles of corpses they were stacked like firewood. This wasn't good, if he was this advanced already then what could they do against an army of the dead and the worms. She saw a creature with glowing red eyes step out of a dark tunnel. Its body was white as bone and its eyes, they were intelligent. The creature was silent, it didn't breath. It licked its mouth as it stared at her.
"Enough your scaring her." The voice was apathetic.
"You aren't infected and I sense some magic in you. Well this is a bit forward but I have a proposal for you." Was this giant creep asking what she thought he was? She gulped and thought about her brothers at home and her baby sister Lotus.
If she did this she'd be betraying every moral she had. Then again what good were morals. Most days they couldn't put food on the table. If she agreed to marry this giant well maybe looks were deceiving.
"I understand we only just met but I'm so lonely. AI make wonderful companions and I'd never give up Cat but sometimes I need another human's perspective. This is selfish of me. What do you think young lady?" She thought it must have been a lonely existence with no company other than a cat. He could do what the worms did only better. For every worm that fell he could add another soldier to their army. If anyone was selfish it was her.
"I have a condition." Rose said. He nodded to her.
"My people will you protect them."
"Yes, I will take all of them under my protection as well. You have my word." His words held such sincerity this might be destiny.
"Then I accept your proposal." She said.
"Very well, I accept you as my acolyte. I pledge to house you, teach you, empower you with my knowledge, and when the time comes spend your life wisely." His voice was over come with joy while Rose's eyes widened at every word.
"Wait I thought you were proposing to me?" She asked.
"Indeed I was proposing that you become my acolyte and you agreed. Now where is your village, I'll need to acquire the others like you." No, she wanted to scream the word with all her might. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. How could she be fooled so easily?
He walked over to his desk and picked up a fat tomb. "Read these spells and learn quickly. I have need of many acolytes for the more powerful spells." She looked at him with undisguised horror.
This vow couldn't be binding. She reasoned it as she focused all her will and horror on wandless magic. She pointed it at him and felt her magic refuse. How could this be binding she only accepted a proposal she didn't understand?
Five more of the big undead walked in with her team. They tossed them sermonically in front of the giant golden necromancer. She looked at her fellow girls and saw them look at the giant like she had. He towered over them at eight feet tall.
"Greetings, you may call me Morpheus. I have a proposal for each of you." By Merlin he was doing it again. They were going to walk in to the same trap and she wasn't going to warn them. What was the alternative? This giant had cleared out a territory from the worms. So what if they weren't going to wed him. They could win through him. Who's to say a bit of charm wouldn't tempt him later?
"What are we going to do Rose?" Mavis Longbottom asked. Her brown eyes were full of terror.
"He said our lives belong to him." Mavis said.
"No he said he'd spend them wisely." Hermione Weasley said. Her tone was know it all to the gills. She busily devouring a copy of the tome the giant gave them. The witch still had her wand but refused to attack the giant with it.
"Why didn't you do anything? You still have your wand." Mavis said.
"That armor has more magic in it than everyone in the village. There is no battle spell I know of that would harm him." She said in a matter of fact tone. Rose grumbled at that and continued to study the enchanting language. It was new from what she could tell. She wasn't much of an enchanter but she could tell it had all the important parts most languages held. Power storage, alternating states of energy, and activation to name a few parts were standard.
Week 8
Morpheus continued his research while his six acolytes played catch up. They would be instrumental in the long range spells he had planned. That was at the back of his mind now. He stood in front of a set of monitors connected to a few drones. An army of worm commandos were approaching his base. As the drones passed over he saw mortars and artillery shells in in their supply train. This wasn't the horses and mago playing at knights. This was a real military offensive.
He sent the bone raptors to cause trouble the second they entered his territory. They were gunned down quickly and efficiently. Through the monitors he watched as the aura was lost to him. So much combat data gone before it could be used for something more impressive. The skeleton marksmen only slowed them down. A few rocket launchers and fifty cals took care of most of the undead forces. Fortunately, the skeletal marksmen were able to send back some of the aura used. With it he raised two more squads of skeletal marksemen and sent them out.
Cubes set in the road like landmines went off and raptors appeared in their midst. More of the Mago died but the convoy didn't lose morale they kept going. The line itself stretched for miles. They were here to put an end to Morpheus. He grit his teeth and summoned three colossal zombies. Creatures made to soak up damage and restore their flesh with the bodies of their enemies.
He stepped away from the monitors and too the stairs down to the lower levels. A shape made from hundreds of bones, flesh, and organs rested in the bottom of his lair. It was slowly waking the battle data from his aura slowly suffused it. Never until now did he have the control needed to raise such a beast. Crystals containing the aura covered the inside of the monster. Long leathery wings were tucked away, the deathly furnace in its chest was on the rise, and nanites filled its bones. They ensured his energy was transferred properly.
Just as the creature was being raised to face the invading army the ground shook and the elevator shut down.
"It seems they were able to halt the emergence of your dragon. What will you do now Morpheus?"
"We are ready to try a spell." His acolyte said. Her voice came in through his radio. That was something that could change the battle. A field spell.