Two chapters in the same day? Yes! to make up for last week's one that I couldn't post.
Hello Scrolls and Nazarins, I hope you like this chapter of my fanfic: The One Who Came Back.
"SHUSHARNA" has returned and will judge an entire city.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 58: Death Arrives
"WHO DARES TO ATTACK MY SERVANTS?"
Everyone looked through the windows; people on the streets saw the black clouds forming and gathering until the gigantic figure of the Sorcerer King emerged.
"TODAY, PEOPLE HAVE WITNESSED THE PERFIDY OF HUMANITY, SAW THE COWARDLY ATTACK ON A KING AND HIS ENVOY."
The crowds had heard the entire speech and the attack through the magical words projected through the streets. Upon seeing the gigantic figure, they murmured his name.
"Surshana... Surshana has returned," everyone moaned.
"PEACE WAS OFFERED TO YOU, AND IT WAS REFUSED. INSTEAD, THRICE YOU SOUGHT WAR! THRICE YOU ATTACKED! THRICE YOU ARE GUILTY!"
"DO NOT FEAR! IT IS ONLY AN ILLUSION! IT IS NOT REAL," Dominic shouted.
"NOT REAL?" the giant replied, and with a swing of its arms, it struck the top of the cathedral.
Despite being an image, the more potent the summoner's power, the more substantial the illusion could become, solid enough to destroy things. It was like a karate chop slicing the top of a bottle; the entire roof of the church rained down outside the city walls.
"I AM AINZ OOAL GOWN, JUSTICE OVER ALL THAT LIVES. FOR YOUR SINS, TODAY, I BRING DEATH TO THIS CITY. ONLY THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN ME AND BEAR MY SYMBOL SHALL LIVE!" he declared, pointing to the sky before dissipating into clouds again.
Everyone gazed at a small point that appeared, which was, in fact, a massive portal opening tens of kilometers in height. Shalltear floated beside this gate, smiling as a gigantic rock fell through it.
The rock was high enough to reach terminal velocity and ignite like a meteor. Chained elves in the streets, upon seeing the glow descending upon them, thanked their gods.
"Finally, it's over," they said, tears streaming down their faces as they smiled.
The enormous rock struck the cathedral, and the force of the impact and its shockwave spread for dozens of blocks around. A massive crater appeared in the heart of the city, and when the dust settled enough, something moved, something very large. Over thirty meters tall and twenty meters wide, with arms so long they almost dragged on the ground.
It was Gargantua, the guardian of the fourth floor, now tasked with crushing everything in its path buildings, houses, churches, people, or soldiers.
From a smaller portal near the ground, hundreds of Death Knights fell and pursued their bloody fate, killing whoever was nearby. Shalltear relished the scenes.
Gargantua headed towards the Pontifex Palace, walking in a straight line. It only deviated from its path when it encountered the church of a certain god.
Death spread through Kami Miyako, but not for everyone. When a woman protecting her son was about to be killed by a Death Knight, she raised the symbol of Surshana, a crudely carved wooden profile of a skull. The creature stopped, changed direction, and sought another target. Similarly, the churches of Surshana were not invaded, nor those of the Earth God, whose doors were painted with the death god's symbol by TW's friends, the same symbol on the doors of various houses.
Meanwhile, outside the walls, a crowd of thousands formed. Every few seconds, dozens of elves were spat out of the shadows, and hundreds of Shadow Demons diligently performed their service, evacuating the elves at the impact point before they were hit. They then spread throughout the city, removing captives. After the Elf Kingdom is of no use if half its population is chained in another location.
No one spoke; everyone was afraid of what would come.
"Here, gather," Sylvia said, lifting her bandages and showing her healed ears the only one with intact ears. "Someone will come soon. We need to stick together."
Then a portal opened, and a boy, a dark elf boy with king's eyes, emerged. Everyone fell to their knees.
"HI? This again? Get up, come on, everyone stand up," the elf ordered without success.
Fear took hold.
Aura was already annoyed by this, so she blew a light smoke that spread over the crowd calming pheromones.
"Now that you're calmer, get up and enter the portal."
"Where are we going, Your Majesty?" an old elf asked.
"You're going back home to Crescent Lake."
"NOOOOO! I'M NOT GOING BACK. I'D RATHER DIE THAN LIVE UNDER THE ELF KING. I PREFER TO STAY HERE AND DIEEEE! I PREFER..." a hysterical elf screamed.
Aura approached her and slapped her, or rather, she didn't even hit her. The shock of the wind produced the same effect.
"Calm down, Decem. The Elf King is dead."
The crying elf holding her face stopped immediately.
"Dead? Someone killed that monster?"
"Did you hear the announcement? My brother is the new king, and you're going home. YOU! Bandana girl!"
"M-me?" Sylvia said, falling to her knees.
"Yes, you. Now you are... hummm... The Supervisor for the Settlement of Elven Citizens, that's it. Ensure they have lodging and food when they arrive," Aura said, disappearing into another portal.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Sylvia said with a look of conviction that she wouldn't disappoint her new lady.
So they slowly began to enter the portal with apprehension and many fears. Upon exiting, they fell into tears there was the elven city, long forgotten by them.
On the other side, a crowd formed upon seeing the strange portal appearing. No one had informed Crescent Lake's population about what was going to happen. Tears started flowing as their old relatives emerged one by one from the portal. All were receiving the blessing of their new king.
In the churches of the God of Death or the Earth God, the scene was different. The crowd was in panic, wanting to escape and search for their parents, relatives, or just hide even more. However, they were stopped by unknown people wearing necklaces with the carved skull of Surshana.
"LET US OUT... WE WILL ALL DIE... MY PARENTS."
"STOP! STOP! WE ARE SAFE; Surshana WILL NOT HARM US!"
"WHO ARE YOU? Surshana? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"MY NAME IS BRON, Ahann... my name is Bron. I am a follower of Surshana, like you. Let me ask you something: what did we come here to do today?"
No one understood the question.
"What do we do every year on this day?"
"We pray to our god," the priest replied.
"And what do we ask for in those prayers?"
"His return?"
"YES! THAT! Well, it worked! Surshana has returned."
"WHAT, LIKE, NOW?!" the priest exclaimed.
"Yes, he has returned. You saw it; he came back as the Sorcerer King," Bron showed the symbol of Surshana next to a coin from the Sorcerer Kingdom with the effigy of the king, they were very similar. "Do you remember this? The rumor of Surshana's return in another kingdom, they forbade us from talking about it, tried to hide it from us and lied to us. But now you've seen it with your own eyes; you've seen him in all his greatness. He returned as we asked, and he came to judge the sins of this city. We are protected from his wrath if we keep his teachings in our hearts."
"But what about the others, those who..."
The priest shook his head negatively; few cried, perhaps only the children.
In the Pontifex Palace, the first accent of the Holocaust scripture observed. He was a Godkin and knew the city would die.
"Captain, we need to do something, fight, destroy that thing."
"With what? That looks like a golem, the size of a mountain, but a golem nonetheless. It's different; I've never seen anything like it. What we faced in the lands of the beastmen was not remotely similar to this. It must be immune to almost everything."
"But not to water! The weakness of stone is water," the high priest said.
"Then go, my friend, we'll be right behind you, brother, and we'll destroy that thing together!" the first accent said with a smile.
So, the priest and his acolytes flew out; the Captain didn't move.
"Aren't we going to help them?" Quintia asked.
"They're already dead," said grimly. "Look."
The priest cast what should have been his most powerful spell, a third-level magic, a water jet so pressurized it should be able to cut through rocks. The jet spread across Gargantua's surface without piercing it, only drawing its attention. With a swifter motion than expected from something so massive, Gargantua pulverized the priest and his followers.
"Reinforcing weaknesses is basic strategy; that thing must have a lot of protective magic. The Sorcerer King is no fool; he cannot be underestimated as they did. Let's go."
"Where to, Captain?"
"Out of here."
"And the treasures of the gods?"
"Even if there's still some in the vault, we don't have time anymore."
A crash echoed through the palace; outside, the giant golem pounded the walls.
Few know or remember how the Pontifex Palace was constructed. The six gods gathered their magic, and each summoned a fortress of the same kind Ainz had created in the Arzelizias Mountains. They were so close that they seemed like a single circular tower. After several years, the palace was built, but its internal structure resisted little more than a few blows before collapsing.
Far away, sitting on a plateau of a large mountain, Antilene drank a red potion poured onto her lips.
She opened her eyes and saw the elf's face watching from afar; then she realized she was lying in his lap.
"Lord Mare, I apologize; I didn't mean to take advantage..."
"I know, I-I put you here. Look, Gargantua reached the palace," Mare said excitedly.
Antilene turned her head and saw the towers falling.
"You did well; you fulfilled what was ordered. My master says good service should be rewarded."
"Can I ask for something?" she said, sitting up.
"Yes, but you can't kill your father yet! NOR ASK FOR ANYTHING DIRTY! Maybe you want to leave?"
"I wish that if Lord Mare wants, I would like to know if I could... get a kiss."
Mare pondered and replied.
"Alright, close your eyes."
Antilene closed them and puckered up, expecting it. That's when she felt the kiss on her cheek. When she opened her eyes, she saw the elf boy hiding his face, completely red.
'OHMYGODHEISSOCUTE!'
A little higher up, on a rock, Aura and Shalltear watched everything the burning city, the dying screams, the Death Knights reaping, Gargantua crushing, and the young couple sitting side by side below. Then Aura whispered to Shalltear.
"Alright! I admit, it really is a romantic scene."
...
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello, as you noticed Ainz is confusing him with Shusharna again and he will keep this lie as long as he can Gargantua made a cameo appearance.
And this was the end of the Theocracy as we know it.
Antilene has her first kiss, as does Mare.