Chapter 66

Michael looked down into the pit housing the destroyer of worlds. It almost seemed to stretch down endlessly with walls covered in thousands upon thousands of monsters that scratched and clawed their way to the surface.

No more than a moment passed before a deep grainy voice echoed from the bottom of the pit. It sounded ancient, and its voice reverberated deep into Michael's bones.

"Child of uncertainty. Leave."

Michael scoffed, "No."

"... I only offer this choice because of our shared kinship. Do not reject it. We are both children of the Scarlet King, but I am purer. You are muddled, untempered. You will fall if you oppose me."

Michael's eyes narrowed, and in the next moment he splintered the head of a monster climbing too close to him.

"You're mistaking something. You aren't my kin, I don't like you, and I won't tolerate you. This is my world, and I'm not just going to let you have it."

A deep laugh echoed from within the pit.

"Let's see you live up to those words, child."

The ground beneath Michael's feet began to shake violently as cracks spread throughout the glass. Large chunks fell into the pit as a veritable mountain of a creature stood up from within the pit.

It was covered in green overlapping plate-like scales and had a single large eye in the center of his head. Jagged teeth filled its mouth and antlers spread outward from its head. Its body easily stretched above the clouds, with them barely even reaching the lowest part of its legs.

"Well… this may be tougher than we thought", Keith said with unease laden in his voice.

"Way to state the obvious."

"Should we go with plan B yet?"

Michael paused in thought for a moment before shaking his head, "No, not yet. Calder, get over here!"

It only took a few seconds for the demigod to stand beside Michael. Black bile covered his body, but no new wounds could be seen.

"Do what you did in the village to this guy."

Calder cracked his neck and lifted his sword up over his shoulder, "I've never killed something this big. First time for everything I suppose."

The giant laughed, "Bold words fool. But let's see it. Show me the foolishness makes you so confident in the face of the overwhelming."

Magic shimmered at the tip of Calder's blade as he summoned power that wasn't his own. It encompassed his weapon and in the next instant he swung the blade, and an emptiness encompassed the space before him.

The glass and sand all but disappeared as an all-consuming void stretched forth. It rapidly spread over the giant despite his size, covering its entire body.

And silence quickly permeated the battlefield.

Until the giant's face left the void with a toothy smile, "I was born in nothingness. It can't wound me, let alone kill me. You disappointed me, as all of your kind does. You proudly use the magic of children thinking yourself gods, let me show you real magic."

The giant clasped his hands together, and in the next instant runes began to hover in the air around him. He whispered words incomprehensible to Michael, and two more eyes opened on either side of his head.

Michael could feel the magic surging up around the giant. It was palpable, he could taste it in the air as it condensed around its very being.

The duo watched in awe for several moments before Calder gripped onto Michael's shoulder. The demigod didn't take his blinded eyes off of the feat of magic before him as he said one thing clearly to Michael.

"Fix my eyes."

Michael was surprised for a moment, but didn't waste time with questions and willed the flesh that hates virus to travel through Calder's hand which still gripped tightly to his shoulder.

It spread through his body in an instant, and Michael immediately willed Calder's eyes to begin healing themselves. The virus took a firm hold over him and he could sense Calder's body clearly in his mind, the thousands of scars covering him, dozens of wounds that never truly healed, and the demigod's mind filled with centuries worth of memories with nothing but violence to fill them.

Almost instinctively he began to heal the scars covering his body, when Calder's arm shot out and gripped around Michael's throat.

His eyes were opened, he could see, and he stared towards Michael with will of his own despite being infected by the flesh that hates.

"Just the eyes, nothing else."

Michael gripped Calder's wrist and pulled it off his throat, "Fine."

With that Michael released the flesh that hates from Calder's body, and the demigod returned to watching the giant's magic.

The casting process had taken less than ten seconds. The demigod watched with awe sparkling in his pearly blue eyes as the giant completed his magic, and in the next instant ushered it forward.

Michael's runic antlers spread outward from his head and he quickly stepped in front of Calder as magic more powerful than anything he'd ever felt passed over them.

He could feel the runes making up his antlers straining as second after second passed. The ground beneath their feet began to crumble almost immediately, and the duo fell endlessly deep into the earth.

Michael made sure to hold tight to Calder as they fell. If he got outside the effects of the runic antlers he'd likely die. Although Calder himself didn't seem all that concerned with the imminent danger he was in, as he continued to give the magic surrounding him his full attention.

Another ten seconds passed before the magic began to dissipate, and Michael found several new cracks spread throughout his runic antlers.

The duo stood in a deep crater in the earth that must have been at least ten miles deep and stretched as far back as Michael could see.

Michael turned his eyes from the carnage before him and began to move towards the giant with his weapons gripped tightly in his hands when Calder motioned for him to stop.

He had a great smile on his face. It looked strange on him, too genuine, and when he spoke his tone was filled with astonishment.

"So that's real magic, huh. You're right, it's beautiful. I'm going to take it."

Calder lifted up his sword once again, and runes began to hover around him as he repeated everything the giant had down to the finest detail. Magic condensed around him with noticeable weight.

And then brought down his sword.

A blinding light spread out from the tip of the blade and instantly consumed the giant. It washed over the monster in waves that stretched upwards into the sky above.

And the demigod didn't relent.

In an instant he was upon the giant and his sword bit into the scales of his chest.

Calder laughed as black bile splashed over him, "This is glorious! Real magic!"

His eyes shimmered as he plunged his hands into the cut he'd just made on the giant.

"Get off me, worm!"

Bile suddenly encompassed the giant's entire being and covered up Calder who gripped tighter to the giant's exposed flesh.

Only for Calder's body to become little more than a shadow, his eyes becoming the only thing that pierced through the darkness of his body as he spoke once more.

"I'm going to wring every secret you have out of you, every technique, every tiny thing you know. And then I'm going to kill you, but we can't do that here."

The giants body began to disappear starting from where Calder was touching outwards at an extremely fast rate, and the giant made a quick decision as he stared down at the creature clinging onto him.

It had copied his technique perfectly. There wasn't a single error in its execution and all it'd needed to do was see it once.

He wasn't going to let this insect take him wherever it pleased.

So at a speed quicker than even Michael could perceive the giant brought his armored hand down and sliced his own body in two, and less than a second later half of its body disappeared with Calder.

Michael didn't waste time before making his move. Scarlet wings of flesh spread from his back, and he disappeared with a crack, appearing eye level with the giant in an instant.

It stood on only a single leg and was missing its left arm, but it was rapidly regenerating. It would going be a problem if he didn't do something quick, so Michael began to push soul after soul into the mace as he prepared to end the monster in a single strike.

Only for the giant to open its mouth, and a beam of energy of energy to rapidly take form.

Michael prepared to dodge the strike, but in the next instant the giant lost its footing and the beam of energy slashed along the ground below.

Michael risked a quick glance towards the earth and could make out Able holding the biggest sword he'd ever seen hacking away at the giants remaining foot like a madman.

Michael laughed and shoved more and more souls into the mace until it visibly shook in his hands.

He'd managed to shove thousands into the weapon, just for this strike, and with that he brought down the weapon on the giant's head.

The resulting explosion shook the air, and ate through the thick plate like scales making up the giants head revealing the flesh below. Layer upon layer of runes marred its flesh, each one brimming with power.

Then Michael's mace cracked.

It exploded in Michael's hands, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

He didn't get far before he felt the fist of the giant slam into his body and send him skidding along the jagged landscape.

His armor sparked and screeched as Micahel's body skidded across glass and rubble. Ragdolling across the landscape for seemingly miles before eventually coming to a stop, and only then was he able to see the giant still standing.

Michael looked up towards the monster and cursed as quickly forced himself to stand up despite his wounds.

"I could have killed it with that hit, but my arm's still fucked from that damn robot's sword. Goddamnit!"

"Sure you could've champ", Keith said in a tone that indicated he very much thought the opposite.

"But what are we going to do now?"

Michael spat out a glob of blood before speaking, "It's time for plan B."

Keith smiled brightly, "I love plan B. I actually get to do something!"

With that Keith began chanting under his breath until he finished several seconds later and Michael spoke loudly and clearly.

"We offer ten million souls. In exchange, protect us and kill that giant."

Michael immediately felt souls being pulled from his crown as purple flames consumed the space before them. A horned man wielding a spear appeared amongst the fire posing like some kind of wannabe anime protagonist.

"Who has summoned me, the great demon prince of pride! Slayer of gods, killer of monste–"

He met Michael's eyes, "Oh fuck off, not you again."