March of the Kings II
Long distance calls were expensive.
No matter the time or age, the ability for communication was perhaps one of the greatest assets humanity had ever come to understand. To receive, decipher, and then act upon intel was the key that led to the rise of countless empires and paved the way for the various methods that humans used to maintain contact in the modern age.
Alec was old fashioned in that he preferred technology to magical means of communication.
The natural propensity of a godslayer's body to interfere with the intricate magical formulas required to create a device capable of mimicking a cellphone made them all too unreliable for a man who enjoyed being kept in the loop. Especially when it came to international affairs or rare finds.
Which is why losing his phone was something of an annoyance.
He didn't keep alternative methods on his person except for a one way pager. So his last resort was to make a call from a nearby airport. The bill that could come from this would be… significant. Especially because Sir Iceman had been berating him at the top of his voice for the past ten minutes.
"Of all the boneheaded decisions you could have made. This has to be near the top of the list, Alec."
"Yes, you've established that already."
"Just what possessed you to raid Mecca of all places? You know the Mohamadeans have issued a fatwa calling for your death? All of them! You may well solve their bloody schism through this act."
Alec struggled not to frown. The line might have been secure enough to discuss matters like those, but he would not be surprised if the call had already been intercepted by both mundane and mystical means.
"I was following a lead regarding one of the Witches' former contacts. Apparently they were one of the alchemists involved in the creation of the Holy Swords and many of their personal effects and research had been left entombed there." There, admitting that much wouldn't harm his investigation as his enemy likely already knew he was pursuing that avenue. "To the point that I was forced to engage several Takwin in battle, though no humans were injured."
So long as he didn't reveal the results of his actual investigation they should be fine. But even sharing this was a bit of a gamble.
There was a sigh from the other side of the line.
"Was it worth it?"
"You know I can't say."
"Quite. I imagine you're calling for a reason then?"
Iceman was as sharp as ever, as to be expected from his top collaborator. Even then, part of Alec couldn't help but churn at the assumption that the older man had in any way figured him out. It just wasn't in the nature of Alexander Gascoigne to be predictable.
Or, rather, most couldn't understand the logic and reasoning behind his actions until well after the fact.
To have one's actions be divined was an insult unto itself.
"My phone was destroyed in the altercation, and there was a contact on that list I would like you to reach for me." The admission that he'd left something behind at the 'crime scene' bit like a thorn in his abdomen. A mark that, while he'd managed to get what he wanted and escape, the plan had gone awry.
"I assume you'd also like me to send you a replacement."
Predicted again.
As expected of Iceman.
"You would be correct. More importantly, one of my contacts in Taiwan called me before the operation but I opted to wait until afterwards to hear what she had to say…."
There was a pause. It almost sounded amused.
"And then you lost your phone."
"And then I lost my phone, yes. Are you listening to me at all, Iceman?"
"Oh, very much so. I was merely… distracted by my thoughts on the matter. Either way, I will have one of your familiars deliver your spare phone. And if you'd like, share that tidbit of rather interesting information that you might have missed during your preparations for the raid."
"Operation." He insisted. A raid implied that it was his intent to brute force his way into the location with no finesse or proper planning. An operation was a carefully crafted plan with the expectation of entering and leaving without disturbance, with calculated risks and responses to them taken into account in advance.
Raids were for the unprepared and the barbarians.
"Do you want the intel or not, Alec?"
"Yes, go on."
"This concerns one of your fellow Godslayers. The youngest one. Apparently he's been visited by Luo Hao and an altercation occurred that lead to the release of a Heretic God of unknown identity as of now. Though I have it on good authority it was Chinese, had seemingly been released by Luo Hao, and summoned no less than four subordinate gods."
That was interesting. It spoke to either a very powerful spirit or a very schizophrenic one. Perhaps something that had suffered a compounding effect of dozens upon dozens of syncretizations and conflations?
"I have some of my people investigating it, but the battle was contained within a powerful field by the locals and thus only a few have witnessed the heretic in question." Iceman's words answered a few questions and begged a few more. But what he said next actually annoyed the Campione. "And I'm afraid you won't be able to visit, either."
Alec frowned but said nothing on the matter.
The youngest Campione. Some boy from the far east who somehow managed to slay a god in international waters. At the time he'd been preoccupied with an experiment and left the matter to the Eccentric of Los Angeles or the Strong Girl from China.
But to think his oversight would lead to the creation of another Campione.
'The Witch won't be pleased by this.'
That a 7th demon king was born and her plan had yet come to fruition was likely a source of frustration for that woman. Alec could delight himself in imagining her frustrated, flustered visage, but it didn't change the fact that now the political circumstances of the supernatural world had shifted once again.
That he survived Luo Hao's descent meant he'd managed to either defeat her or convince her to give up territory.
Which meant her influence would be pushed westward, towards Europe. The other two campione who called it their home would react in their own ways, and the ripples would collide with Alec's own domain.
What a frustrating lot, they were.
"I assume there's more to it?"
"Quite. While the identity of the enemy he overcame remains nebulous. One of the few pieces of information that leaked through the embargo imposed by the Japanese factions was the fact that their campione has now come upon the power of a Sacred Gear, a Longinus, to be exact."
That brought him up short.
"Are you sure of this?"
"I've cross referenced it and checked multiple sources. They all repeated the same statement. Japan has essentially declared it has nestled within itself what might be the most dangerous Tyrant in the world. Even more so, I suspect it was the one made from the soul of y Ddraig Goch."
Alec was familiar with Sacred Gears since he had plenty of them in his personal collection and amongst the belongings which the Royal Arsenal left on display in its halls.
Obtaining them was… risky and required a set of skills and circumstances that very few individuals had.
Though he was sure the Grigori was working on a way to streamline the process.
Something he might or might not have interfered with by stealing the prototype that Azazel had made. Not that the Grigori lacked for reasons to be wroth with Alec, but considering how they weren't gonna make proper use of it, he figured it would make for a worthy avenue of research. If only because he figured it would be better to find a way to extract gears without killing the host.
Even he wouldn't consider such a path forwards unless it was truly vital.
"This is too coincidental to be a leak. It is possible whoever is behind this decided to let everyone know that the Campione has a power that should be normally improbable if not impossible to obtain."
He'd done his research.
While some Campione had been recorded as having Sacred Gears, none of them could be said to have anything near the level of a Longinus. The circumstances that might allow someone with an inactive Longinus to become a god slayer without triggering its activation in order to survive were… astronomically low.
But not impossible, and if the chance wasn't zero then it was possible.
"So this is a warning, then?"
"That's our best guess. Japan is essentially putting itself on lockdown until a decisive outcome is reached. Whoever courts the favor of this Campione will become the dominant power of the land and so they will be zealously impeding entry to all but the highest rank of diplomats."
"The Three Factions, you mean."
Alec leaned back against the side of the plastic divider, casting a wary eye on any commuters who might be listening in just a little too closely.
"Those are the three most meddlesome groups. I doubt the Chinese pantheon will be making a move now, not when they have their own god slayer to worry about. Most mage associations also lack the clout to brute force their way through a blockade like this so it's unlikely for anyone but those three to get involved at this stage." Well, he could think of one more group who might be interested and the allure of a Campione with a Longinus, even a low tier one, and could be just the lure they need for that Witch's cult.
"I would like you to contact Ms. Cheung for me."
Another pause on the other side of the line.
"You're sending her into that mess?"
Alec shrugged. She was the closest operative he had on that side of the continent that he trusted not to screw this up
"Either this is a one in six billion miracle, or it was a plan carefully put together by people with both the foresight and willingness to pay the costs of creating a new Campione. Especially when failure was so much more likely than success."
Iceman made a noise of agreement.
"Then I will put together a dossier. I'm sure the HCC and the CIA have both already begun just that. But do you truly suspect an… artificiality to this boy?"
The Black prince considered his options for a few moments before deciding a simple admission would hardly compromise him. At least not any further.
"I believe it is a probability that should be explored."
And if he was insisting on spending resources on such exploration, then he was all but screaming to his ally that he suspected The Witch, in particular, was behind this situation. An artificial Campione should be an impossibility, but probably no more impossible than a Campione who was also carrying one of the Sacred Treasures of Britannia.
Even more than that, the fact that the newest Campione was Japanese, and therefore in direct contention with Luo Hao, and possessed the Longuinous most closely associated with Wales and England was painfully suspicious.
'Perhaps that they, too, are an island nation included compatibility? I could see… certain sympathetic tendencies in such a people. Both our empires were ended by the Americans, ultimately due to the second world war. Both of our nations are considered to have high concentrations of mysteries and magic. And both of our nations have long, bloody histories steeped in conflict with the mainland. Where we now find ourselves opposing rival God Slayers.'
Alec wondered, for just a moment, if his old enemy had created a weapon to end him.
"Keep an eye on my newest compatriot's movements. I would like to know, immediately, if he shows any signs of her influence. Even if we must be indiscrete."
A Small Village in México
Xochipilli thought himself a respectable Heretic God.
Not overtly famous.
Not completely forgotten.
He was right at the middle point where people would have trouble figuring out his identity, but not too obscure that it would take him too long to regain followers and the power they contained. With his authorities it should have been only a matter of time.
Between a connection with narcotics, sports, and… ahem… other enjoyable activities, all he had to do was spend some time with humans and tempt them into following him.
That was it.
Simple, sweet, to the point.
He'd heard about the god slayer who'd managed to take down Tezcatlipoca and wasn't eager to try his luck with whatever madman managed that feat. So, as a god who preferred peace to war, he figured laying low and biding his time until his strength recovered was the way to go.
'How did it come to this?'
He was a god.
A heretic, perhaps diminished, shouldn't have been beaten so easily. Shouldn't have been left hanging upside down like the catch of the day as his followers, now former followers, worshiped at the feet of some foreign woman who didn't even look like she wanted them to!
"This really isn't necessary."
"Madness, your ladyship! That false prophet was obviously here to spread lies and madness to the village. We shouldn't suffer his presence when your holiness has shown us the proper path!"
"Maybe? It's just… isn't that going a little bit overboard?"
A little bit?
They were about to ritually sacrifice him!
Biting into his gag, the ancient deity began working his abs like his life depended on it. Because it probably did.
"Listen, lady, you gotta give 'em something to do!"
"SILENCE, HEATHEN!"
One of the workers struck him in the face with a baseball bat, one that was enchanted with blood magic, for daring to speak out. Still, when he got whacked in the face it hurt more than that it bled and Xo was tough - he could take a pounding.
"Just give these idiots some order that can't be misinterpreted! It'll focus them up!"
"O-ok." He was incredulous. This psychotic Campione was actually following his suggestion!? "Everybody let's… gather up. Let's make a circle and we can decide what we want to eat for the celebratory feast we planned the other day."
"Yes, Lady Aisha!" One crazed woman cried out! "We'll roast his heart for you!" Xo remembered helping the couple conceive! Why the Hell did she turn on him?! "But we should probably decide on what greens would go well with… pork? People taste like pork, yes? So we need greens to deal with the fat, along with beans and rice."
Unsure of what to do, pausing mid crunch as the group of cultists gathered around in front of Aisha, happily and casually discussing their upcoming feast, the Heretic God could only wonder.
'How powerful is this lady? How did she overcome such immense mind control?'
Authorities might change between users, but still, this was crazy! There's no way this was all accidental… right?
'No! For later!'
Glad he never skipped on stretching, the heretic god managed to curl upwards enough to swing about and grab ahold of the robe binding his ankles. Biting through it was unpleasant, as the power channeled to his mouth caused his teeth to crack, but he would survive. And with the guards distracted, this might well be his only chance.
'Whatever they made these binds out of is crazy.'
As silently as he could, the seeming young man brought his feet under him, cursed the fact he'd left his good shoes behind, and was mostly glad this button and jeans were intact enough to avoid any further suspicion once he was out of the cave. Or so he hoped. Because he wasn't sticking around to get a change of clothes!
Sprinting full speed, pumping magical energy into his limbs, the Heretic God of the fallen Azteca Mexica proved that even a peace loving god was ready for struggle.
Sure, he was claiming captives to feed Big Brother Sun, but running away was a life saver!
"He's missing! He's gone! He's running away!"
Cries of alarm came up behind him once the lunatics probably decided he was ready for his time on the altar.
"See you later suckers!"
Leaping over a flying tackle from the right, ducking under an enchanted machete swinging at him from the left, sliding between two crazy people with sickles trying to block the door, Xochipilli couldn't help but laugh.
"I'm the god of dance! Do you really think you can catch me?"
Twirling, twisting, stomping, spinning, tossing his hips, lifting his arms, throwing his head, he managed to free himself from the last of the ropes binding his arms by stepping into a slash. Then, spinning around, he exhaled. A forceful, sudden breath, a vast stream of flowers, all of them clinging to the mortals chasing him, filled up the entrance of the cave in a rush.
"Now sleep! A nice, long nap!"
Releasing soporific spores, his summoned works of floral art left the dozen or so armed men behind him slumping over.
So merciful was he that the Heretic God even lunged forwards, snatching weapons from limp hands, keeping the men from injuring themselves as they fell… and just so coincidently, arming himself.
That was when he noticed his breath.
It was visible.
"Mr. God, please reconsider violence. It isn't the way to solve things." As if taunting him, the purity of the maiden's words were in complete contrast with the aura of cold and death that now surrounded her, ice crystals fluttering in the air as the flowers and spores around the campione died and thick lances of frozen water jutted around her like a ring of glass thorns.
Xochipilli did the smart thing.
He turned tail and ran.
"Stop him, your ladyship!"
"He's gone to spread his evil elsewhere!"
Confused, the young maiden looked around at the crowd of kneeling and pleading zealots. Unsure, she didn't seem to know whether to believe them regarding his supposed evil, before her lips set on a thin line and her eyes became downcast with sorrow.
"If I must then… for the good of the people, and the glory of the nation, I will take up the sword, mount my horse, and cast down the evil wyrm from the heavens with God's might."
Around her, the zealots seemed to glow, wisps of power, no, wisps of faith flooding from the worshiping crowd formed a swirl of golden smoke over her, all before a towering creature appeared as if it had always been there. Larger than the buildings, larger than the village itself, it's shadow loomed over them and shrouded the light of the moon.
[Jabberwock Slayer!]
Xochipilli didn't look back, he just started running, even as the titan readied itself to swing down its sword at him.
Only a singular thought occupied his mind.
"This girl is crazy!"
Parts Unknown
"Kill the bitch! Eat her fucking sou-"
There was an explosion of stagnant air when her foot struck the vampire in his jaw.
"This Luo Hao is not a female dog."
Bring her leg up and then sharply down, she axe kicked his subordinate in the head so hard the ancient wight poofed into bone dust.
"But this one will make you hers."
A knee strike led into a rabbit punch, incapacitating two of the lesser undead she found herself battling. But it took a knife hand blow to decapitate some disgusting, regenerating horror.
"Impertinent beast!"
Even that failed to destroy it.
"Die when I kill you!"
Rapidly striking a succession of pressure points, this caused multiple, simultaneous ruptures in three of the thing's four hearts. Driving a claw strike forwards, she plucked the last one out, shoved it into the chest of a Jiangshi, and then watched the resulting mess explode into a spray of gore.
"Damnit. Does nothing work? How is this crazy woman killing all of us!?"
Several circling ghouls, naked, covered in wiry hair, corpse pale and with long, slavering tongues, darted from side to side. They circled her like wolves stalking prey. Yet they had not the boldness of hunters!
Striking first, Luo Hao dashed forwards, scooping up a rock and braining the first of the half a dozen corpse eaters.
Shattering his skull, she spun and threw the weapon straight through the head of another, before transitioning into a cat stance. Each kick rose and fell with excellent precision, her foot augmented with the barest hint of Yang energy, shattering bone and tearing flesh with the lightest of touches.
'Yet my strength does not recover.'
The few drops of energy consumed in such small movements were still sorely missed. Because she had been down here for a long time by now. And since the moment she woke in a place of dark, winding tunnels and oppressive chi, the Campione had not felt the tiniest most of power be restored to her.
So even such petty fare was… draining.
"Retreat! They're all dead. Get the Hell out of here!"
Luo Hao frowned, but permitted the retreat of the zombies and other lesser undead. The energy consumed to hunt them down might well be needed soon enough.
'I do wonder how my governor and my disciple fair?'
She instructed her little eagle to keep tabs on her Little Brother's progress, though she hadn't intended on spending so much time away, the Monkey King had seen fit to banish her to whatever corner of existence this way lie. It didn't feel like the underworld, nor was it the afterlife.
Her heart was still beating, after all.
'100,000.'
That marks another day.
Keeping track of one's heartbeat, keeping count of such a number in lieu of keeping count of seconds, was only natural. For one such as Luo Hao, whose control over her own body was absolute, such skills came as a matter of course. And while it was true that this realm appeared to lack anything which could be described as edibles or even clean breathing air, the constitution of a Campione, combined with the might of an experienced cultivator, had allowed Luo Hao to operate at peak capacity despite an environment that was deadly to the living.
'This is clearly not the underworld, or the afterlife.'
There were creatures here.
But none of them could be said to be alive. They were but echoes, impressions left behind by souls that fell through the cracks and perished in this abandoned in-between fold of reality.
"Master really outdid himself."
Only the likes of the Monkey King were likely aware of this space between spaces, though she found there was little of worth to this realm itself. The echoes could be killed, but soon returned to life. The atmosphere was noxious and there was little light or space for anything of importance to be built or claimed.
It was a land where neither death nor life existed.
Only slow decay and oblivion.
Even now, as she settled to rest against the wall of a small cavern she'd dug out, Luo Hao couldn't find herself any closer to resting. Nor could she feel hunger or pain. Given enough time she was sure this space would rob her of all feeling, and eventually her very spirit would rot and be reduced to an echo.
There would be no escape.
There would no longer be a point to fighting and staving off the inevitable.
"But that's how losers think."
Her often serene smile was jagged and sharp. The pure, still pool that was her heart driven to churn angrily as the sea. Yes, even though she was trapped, alone, and running out of options, the insane young girl who had driven twin gods into their grave was alive and thriving.
"This truly is wonderful training! Clearly Master Dòu-zhànshèng-fó wished to allow me to undergo even more intense training. After all, my performance with my younger brother was pitiful. There is no good reason for me to be surprised by an unknown Campione. All such skills are within my purview, after all."
Her madness, however, was clearly not apparent to herself.
"Yes. This Luo Hao's heart is beating in anticipation! After this training, a rematch with, hmm, I did not gift my governor with a new name. Luo Bao. Yes, he shall both bring order and be the treasure of Wakoku."
And if her stomach rumbled at the thought of the plump meat dumplings she had seen prepared for Pigsy… well, that was not the sort of thing that noble Luo Hao would do. So clearly it was some illusion of this place.
But even illusions may hold a glimmer of truth.
"Luo Bao will offer me tribute after this Luo Hao properly subjugates him. He shall make some of those dumplings before beginning his training back at my demesne."
Such glorious plans of conquest were violently interrupted by beasts stinking of sulfur, the sound of claws scraping on stone, and the howls of slavering beasts. As massive, vaguely wolf-like monstrosities began charging down the cave tunnel. Their jaws dropped boiling, burning rivulets of blood, their eyes were balls of glowing white fire so bright they hurt to look upon, and their fur so black they were darker than the un-light of the purgatory itself.
Luo Hao simply raised one leg and brought it down, smashing open the floor of the area and dropping down a level.
Twisting about in mid air, she flipped over and ended up with her feet under her before reaching the ground and then coiling her body like a spring.
This gave the several dozen wailing souls around her just enough time to flee in horror before the pair of massive beasts reached the hole she'd broken in. Which she then promptly lashed up at, launching a massive slab of rock directly upwards at the monsters.
A blast of white flames shattered the stone, but the makeshift cover drew enough fire that her leaping strike was more than safe. So, now bounding directly up into the hole she'd kicked into the ground, the Campione was free to bury her fist into the snout of the first Hellhound.
"With great force and boundless wisdom, a single blow delivers judgment to evil!"
Having gripped the fur of the first beast, she twisted about its head and delivered a crushing, shattering strike with her now diamond armored free hand.
"Cease!"
With one of the monsters knocked out, the white flames of its eyes currently banked and little more than burning embers, the Campione forced the Hellhound to look at her.
"You shall serve as this Luo Hao's steed. And I desire pork buns. So you shall lead the way to the exit."
She got a snarl and a gout of fire in response, so, tugging on the monster's ears, the godslayer simply… flicked the nose of the twenty foot tall fire breathing monster wolf hard enough that it covered its bruised face and cowered.
"If you misbehave, I shall have you neutered. Now. Let us collect your friend and depart."