Dungeon Entrance
Fuse
So, Garbanag just became a god.
Garbanag
Status: Healthy
Stamina: Healthy
Mana: Full
Race: Birdman
Title: Vessel of Destruction
Classes: Archer, Plague Doctor, Demolitionist
Professions: Alchemy, Blacksmith
Domain: Destruction, Plagues
Overall Ranking: B [Expand]
Power Rank: S-
Magic Rank: A-
Social Rank: C+++
Abilities: [Expand]
[Affected by Devourer of Gods]
Destruction and Plagues, huh? That sure does sound like something a Brit would choose to become the gods of. Though, I was expecting something like the god of knives… Or maybe colonization.
Luckily for me, I have a perk that lets me kill gods. And Garbanag doesn't know it because he's an idiot.
Garbanag was busy stewing in his own piss, his body changing to glow more and be more, for the lack of a better word, handsome. Though, it would still be tough finding someone willing to date him.
So, I pulled out Washington and Lincoln, casually asking him, "Hey, how's your godhood going?"
"It's wonderful!" Garbanag replied, staring at his own glowy claws, "You know what, I intended to take on the lunar invasion and the Moon Lord as my first act of being a god, but you know what? Killing a fellow player is just as equal as an achievement…"
I hummed, "That's nice. You remember 1776?"
Garbanag blinked, "What?"
So anyways, I began firing.
Garbanag was less surprised by the beginning of the fight and managed to jump into the skies with his wings to dodge my shots.
What a showoff.
I uncurled my wings, showing the American-colored butterfly wings to the world.
I could actually use [Invisi-Transmog] on it to make it look like I'm just magically flying. But why would I hide the American flag? I only made it invisible while it was curled in, because then nobody saw the flag that way either.
Garbanag began to pull the string of his bow, and I also began to fly, ready to dodge whatever he brought.
Garbanag fired his first shot, but he was way higher in the air than I was, so I easily dodged the first shot.
The arrow whizzed by me, and I thought nothing of it.
Until a massive explosion erupted from behind me.
I turned around to check if anything was coming at me, and no, there wasn't.
But now the dungeon doesn't exist anymore, because it's just a massive crater. And the destruction forced up a bunch of green fumes that I'm pretty sure relate to Garbanag's domain of plagues.
So, if I go back down there, I'll literally die.
I guess California isn't going to be participating in the fight.
"Hahaha! You can't touch me!" Garbanag shouted out, completely manic.
Well, this is a good time to start setting up, I guess.
"Hey, Garbanag, did you know that I have a few perks that let me do, 1, get stronger when I briefly explain my abilities, 2, make people really unlucky, 3, kill gods really easily. 4, chase you down forever, and 5, I get stronger when I get a reward for killing people."
[Monologue Boost has activated on [Monologue Boost].]
[Monologue Boost has activated on [Murphy's Law].]
[Monologue Boost has activated on [Devourer of Gods].]
[Monologue Boost has activated on [Unrelenting Chase].]
[Monologue Boost has activated on [Hired Gun].]
Garbanag paused, "What?"
I shot Washington and Lincoln in his general direction, using [Murphy's Law] at the same time.
Garbanag creates a shield in front of him just as quickly to block my bullets.
Then, his shield shattered as my bullets found their way into Garbanag's throat.
Garbanag was clearly caught off-guard by the sudden breakage of his shield, as he quickly flew way far away from me. But I wasn't going to let him get away so easily.
I activated [Unrelenting Chase] and now I wasn't getting the feeling of my wings wanting to give up. I could now fly forever because Garbanag could fly forever.
"What the hell?!" Garbanag shouted out in surprise as he healed his wounds, "Who the bloody hell gave you that perk?!"
I responded with more gunfire.
Garbanag cleared the bar for reaction times and easily dodged all of my bullets. Then, he blew poisonous smoke in my direction through his mouth, forcing me to climb higher into the air.
Which was also a near-mistake because the arrow that barely whizzed by me would've killed me in a single hit, as it exploded in the air a few moments too late, filling the air with toxicity.
Yeah, shit. Thank God for Garbanag having garbage aim. But then again, he likely knew it, considering his type of attacks really reward not hitting his target.
Moving through the air, trying to avoid all of the plagues in the air, I decided that Washington & Lincoln weren't able to do the job at this distance. So, I pulled out Kennedy, my rifle, and began to use that instead.
Garbanag, despite having the worst aim known to man, was actually a really good dodger. Probably because he lives in a Terraria world. So he kept dodging each and every one of my shots. I would have to get more creative to be able to catch him.
Garbanag fired more arrows in my direction, but because of the distance between us, it was really easy to just dodge them. I didn't even have to look at the sound of the explosions to know that there wasn't a forest in that direction anymore.
Despite that, the God of Destruction & Plagues kept firing. Perhaps out of fear of me, perhaps he just didn't care about this world.
Oh well, neither of us are going to land a hit at this distance anytime soon, and getting close would be putting myself at risk of getting spewn plague in my face.
Considering I'm the attacker, I need to be responsible for the change in strategy.
I decided to start eating a whole bunch of souls, getting all of my ranks increased. This should help me successfully pull off this next maneuver.
We were both glass cannons, so whoever got the first big hit won the fight. But Garbanag is at a strict advantage, because he has the plus of having invincibility frames. So, I physically can't get the first big hit that'll win the fight.
Normally, Revolutionary Battlefield would solve all my issues here, as it specializes in winning with a bunch of small hits. Or, well, the smallest a gun can shoot. But Garbanag already displayed his ability to just shoot and destroy my domain.
So, if I can't do it, who could?
Garbanag, obviously.
Once Garbanag fired off another arrow, I used [Grand Telekinesis] to grab onto the arrow, spinning it around to shoot off into Garbanag's direction.
Garbanag wasn't expecting this, but through sheer instinct, he managed to dodge the redirected arrow.
Which is when Murphy's Law kicked in.
Now, Garbanag's arrows were causing craters to be formed, essentially deleting parts of the landscape. But there was still some debris launched into the air. So far, they launched away from us because of the direction we're fighting in, and those heading in our direction didn't have the speed to catch up.
Except for one chunk of dirt and stone sent here by the gods of bullshittery, which the redirected arrow landed on, causing a massive explosion enveloping Garbanag.
Garbanag immediately disappeared in an explosion and plague of his own making. But I knew he wouldn't have died.
So I pulled out Monroe, using the last of my bullets to fire into the mist. I knew I was going to hit him because I knew his location from Unrelenting Chase, and my cursed eye which boosts my accuracy. And Garbanag had absolutely no chance to dodge in his current situation.
A few moments later, Garbanag fell out of the plague, dropping onto the Earth below, having lost an arm and a leg.
Meaning he can't hold his bow anymore. I could now unleash my domain expansion.
"Hey, Garbanag!" I shouted out, falling down with him, getting ready to unleash Revolutionary Battlefield the moment he drops on the floor, "I have an ability-"
[You have been silenced!]
What?
Garbanag recovered his senses and glared at me, "Did you think…"
Garbanag suddenly regrew all of his limbs, and he was no longer damaged. Then, he began to conjure a massive flame in his hands, "I didn't have good gacha rolls?"
The second he hit the floor, causing a massive shockwave in the process, Garbanag launched a flamethrower attack at me, forcing me back as I tried to figure out what the hell just happened.
If Garbanag's words was just him stating the truth, then-
Thousands of years of evolution alerted me to the increasing heat behind my back, and through sheer instinct alone I managed to dodge the flames that redirected towards my back.
Shit, does he have pyrokinesis as a spell or perk?
Then, I feel weightless, immediately reminding me of the fact that Garbanag was indeed another player like I was. He had all the same tools that I had, he just used them differently.
Garbanag pulled out his bow again, I could literally see his fire redirecting back to me, and my movement was limited by my newly lost gravity. This is a check. But not quite mate.
I am a geomancer, after all.
I hastily force the ground up using [Create Pillar], letting my feet touch the ground as I get back into the sky.
Garbanag fired his bow, causing my tower to be split in half. But that's fine, because Garbanag is mentally disabled and is standing still.
Pulling back Kennedy into the realm of reality, I ignored the fire racing towards my location and shot a bullet straight into Garbanag's head.
It obviously didn't kill him, but I could feel my anti-gravity disappearing as Garbanag lost his focus. Though, just in case…
You do not have the Control Rank required to create that spell!
Ah, shame. I was hoping to create a spell that would let me use Earth legs or arms to move around. Like some sort of monster.
Either way, the flames dissipated, and I took the opportunity to fire another shot, but he managed to dodge that one as he pulled some sort of trumpet out of his inventory.
Garbanag blows on it, and suddenly the battle field is covered by…
…The redcoats of the old British army? They don't even have modern equipment, they're all still holding muskets.
Then physics had to catch up as my pillar finally fell to the floor, but I gently floated in the air, wary of more attacks. Probably from this army of about 1,000 redcoats about to try and shoot me.
Then, Garbanag attacks one of the redcoats in front of me, causing a bunch of confusion in me that I couldn't act on because the 999 other redcoats decided that moment was a good moment to start shooting at me.
Luckily, muskets suck ass at this distance, so my [Soul Shield] was able to block every shot that actually managed to get close. But then I saw what Garbanag was doing.
He was using their blood to heal himself.
This bastard really is one of my kind. I hate this. He has too many self-sustaining abilities, and I don't have the proper tools to break it.
If he were an American.
But since Garbanag is British, he's bound to fuck up eventually, and I think I know how to trigger that fuck up.
But first, this army.
To thin out this crowd, I'm going to use this thing.
[Malevolent Soul Eater Talisman - When this talisman is broken, unleash an extremely powerful soul eater into the world.]
I normally wouldn't dream of just summoning this, because if it eats souls, then I can't get those souls. But I have a smidge of a feeling that Garbanag would kill it before it gets to him.
But the redcoats…
Pulling out the paper talisman, I ripped it in half and threw it into the crowd of redcoats.
A moment later, a massive demon-like spirit, with a massive hood that only left a dark shadow over its face as if their face was the void, appeared and immediately the redcoats began running.
Not that the Soul Eater would let them, of course.
Immediately, the souls of the humans were torn out of their body, the bodies quickly decaying without the hosts, and the souls were funneled into the Soul Eater's empty void.
Garbanag quickly objected to this, of course, as he aimed his bow towards the monster.
Which was time spent not aiming at me.
Kennedy managed to knock Garbanag's bow out of his hands by hitting his hand. But Garbanag just pulled a new ability out of his ass by causing laser beams to come out of his eyes, hitting the Soul Eater directly.
Because of fucking course he has laser eyes. I bet he just remembered he had that move.
The Soul Eater was basically done for. But Kennedy was not, as another bullet found its way into his throat.
Garbanag stumbled, which had the inadvertent effect of slicing the Soul Eater in half, killing it for good. It also cut his army and the surrounding terrain, but considering his domain, he's probably fine with that.
Using my Anemo Delusion, I decided to throw a sped-up golden sword at Garbanag from my inventory, before pulling out Biden and just shooting at him the conventional way. Who knows why I threw the sword, maybe I was just hoping that he had a weakness to gold.
Garbanag tried to form a shield to protect himself, but it looks like he forgot what happened the first time he did it in the fight, as all my projectiles shattered the shield and ended up in him.
[You are no longer silenced!]
Finally! Now, Garbanag is disarmed, he showed off his big moves, and I can speak again!
I saluted, "My domain expansion shoots you!"
[Monologue Boost has activated on [Domain Expansion: Revolutionary Battlefield].]
My domain appeared, and because I managed to fit my monologue boost with my activation, I just finished off my line, "Revolutionary Battlefield!"
Without delay, I pulled out all of my guns from my inventory and used my telekinesis to aim and fire at him.
Again, not every hit lands because of his invincibility frames, but he's so mentally fatigued that he's taking more hits than before. And because of my Devourer of Gods perk, I can tell that his invincibility frames aren't as protective as they once were before.
"SHUT…" Garbanag began to glow with power, and I immediately knew to back off and keep firing.
"UP!" Garbanag enveloped himself in an explosion combined with plague, instantly breaking the effects of my domain and breaking it in the process as the shockwave of the explosion tossed me far away, the plague catching up.
I didn't have lungs, but I'm pretty certain that the plague would kill me if I touched it. So I flew up into the air to see what happened to Garbanag.
Using my Anemo Delusion to clear the air a bit, I found Garbanag on his knees, trying to catch his breath. But even so, he couldn't resist the trash talk, "You Americans keep poking your nose into every place you don't belong! I've spent so long crafting my ascension, and some American twat just comes in and RUINS EVERYTHING! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
My reply was a bullet from Washington.
The light leaves Garbanag's eyes, and he slumps down in defeat, having spent everything he had.
I had won.
[You have killed Garbanag, the Fledgling God of Destruction and Plagues.]
You have gained: Garbanag's Soul, Destructive Fragment of The Domino.
[Garbanag's Soul - The Soul of a Gamer, Garbanag. Being a gamer's soul, it is among the most powerful souls in the universe.]
[Destructive Fragment of The Domino - All life must gain power, and for many, destruction is a method of gaining power. Yet, some destruction is simply meaningless.]
[Let My Ambition Raze All It Gazes Upon.]
Description: With His ambition, you must answer destiny's calling.
Objectives: Assemble all pieces of the domino. [2/6]
Reward: Destiny's Calling Shall Grow Ever Louder.
x
[SYSTEM COMPROMISED]
[PACIFICATION UNAVAILABLE]
[CALAMITY AWAITS]
[LONG LIVE THE UNITED STATES]
(Status of the soul)
[Ambitious Soul of The Domino - Ambition is the fuel that great and terrible men use to enact their will upon their world, and your ambition shall raze all you gaze upon.]
[Destined Fragment Of The Domino - The unseen hand of destiny guides the universe in its vision, yet, not all things are destined for greatness.]
[Destructive Fragment of The Domino - All life must gain power, and for many, destruction is a method of gaining power. Yet, some destruction is simply meaningless.]
(Destiny's Path)
[Destiny waits for no one but itself.]
[Our ambition feeds on the hope of those who would dare crush it.]
[As you leave a trail of destruction behind you, don't look back.]
X
All of your ranks have increased for killing a Gamer!
Fuse
Status: Healthy
Stamina: Healthy
Mana: Full
Race: Human/Slime Hybrid
Title: Ambitious Regent, Devourer of Souls
Classes: Mercenary, Soul Mage, Geomancer, Dual Warrior,
Professions: Stylist, Chef
Godhood: Fading God of Wealth & Freedom.
Ranking Setting: Universal [Change]
Overall Ranking: B-
Power Rank: B- [Expand]
Magic Rank: C+++ [Expand]
Social Rank: C++ [Expand]
Rank Points: 0
Perks: [Expand]
Titles: [Expand]
Ranks Expanded: (Universal)
Overall Ranking: C
Power:
Strength: C++
Speed: B-
Vitality: C++
Endurance: B-
Magic:
Magic Power: C++
Mana Reserve: C+
Control: B-
Social:
Confidence: C++
Charm: C+
Luck: B-
Hah. My system is doing weird stuff again. The destructive fragment of the domino's description is nonsensical, but I guess that I don't really care about it. It's just some ominous words for my ominous future because I live in the worst timeline, obviously.
Landing next to Garbanag's slumped body, I picked him up by the neck and decided to ask Nahida to preserve this guy too. Sure, he's an asshole, but I would rather fuck up the revival process on the British guy than the Canadian girl.
I took one last look at the destruction our fight caused. The landscape was so torn apart that, despite it being a plains biome, it looked more like a wasteland than anything concrete. I hope a stray arrow didn't get too close to Dumpster though. Those guys really didn't do anything wrong.
But… Other than that, I guess I don't really care about the destruction. Maybe I'll be able to do it too, now that I have the destructive fragment of the domino.
Ah, well, I should get back to Dori's place-
Quest obtained!
[April Fools]
Description: Through space and time, it is destined you two will meet. Just so you could one day fight. But that day has come sooner than He expected.
Objective: Use the Teleportation Stone given and kill Vagisilious.
Reward: Supreme Sovereign of Spirits' Mianguan, 5 Gacha Tokens, Title: Conqueror of Nazarick, 1 Random Fantasy gun.
…Well, I guess I'll put that on my list.
Also, who the hell is Vagisilious? Is that someone strong? Blegh, I'm going to wait until Murphy's Law recharges, then I'll fight them. I also need to refresh my soul count, get some of my bullets back…
God, take me back to Dori's place right now.
Dori was only mildly confused when I brought a dead bird back. I really hope that the next world I land on is a good and peaceful one, we're due for a vacation and a world that Dori can properly exploit for money.
AN:
Wrote these 3.2k words in the span of like, 7 hours with so many procrastination moments. But I got it done.
Next chapter is April Fools. Then we're back to the regular schedule on the 13th of April.
Anyways, it was kind of fun writing Garbanag fight. I think a crucial part of fighting other Gamers that I've been missing in my previous fics is that they also have total bullshit in their arsenal. After all, they also have gacha tokens.
Lore-wise, Garbanag doesn't use these tools often, so he used them once and wasn't prepared to use them again more often.
Meta-wise, I kind of just thought, "Hm, what should Garbanag do to get out of this situation?" and did that until I decided he should die.
I'll reveal the next world that Fuse is going to in chapter 22, the one after April Fools. Which is mostly going to be an interlude chapter that focuses on "Hey, the Traveler is in Sumeru now," and "So, what's Dumpster going to do now?"
Anyways, see you in 2 days.