Chapter 112: Generals Of The Ooze

"Identify..." the woman said again.

I was convinced that my cover was blown.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"..."

No response.

She slowly held out her hand and I saw several shadows appear in mid air around her.

They opened to reveal eyes staring at me.

My mind was immediately taken back to the night before we met the shadow dragon. I was paralyzed by fear for a moment...

I instinctively dodged to the side as they shot at me and exploded when they hit the ground and wall.

When I looked back, it wasn't like the normal type of explosion I was used to...

It was almost silent. There was a sound of things being torn apart in an instant and then...nothing.

When I saw the wreckge, it was like the landscape itself had been altered. As if the ground and everything the attacks touched had been simply erased instead of blown apart.

What...is this thing...?

"What are you!?" I said aloud to her.

"..."

She readied another volley of shadowy eyes and I decided to fire a few divine javelins at her.

She didn't move an inch, but...

My attacks didn't go through her as much as they went...into her.

The javelins passed into her body and simply disappeared.

"What the...? What's going on here!?" I said.

"..."

She said nothing again.

At that point, the shadowy eyes disappeared and she stretched her hands out to her sides.

Two shadows appeared and the two male figures wielding Willpower and Compassion landed at her sides.

"Capture..." the woman said as she pointed at me.

The man holding Willpower stepped forward and unsheathed his sword.

"You. Identify yourself," he said.

I dispersed my cloaking and smiled nervously.

"Enforcer seat 8, special forces Mizik Iratus. Designation: The Warmage."

"I am General Tyras and this is General Axiom. Wielders of the legendary blades Hopelessness and Hatred reforged by our master," Tyras said.

"Who is your master? The Source?" I asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know, shithead!?" Axiom said.

I guess they aren't talking. If that's the case, this might get ugly.

I quickly contacted Isabella as I took a step back.

"Isabella, I've been found. I think the Source's bodyguard somehow saw through my cloaking... She's here and I'm about to fight two...Generals? Their names are Tyras and Axiom."

"The Source's bodyguard!? Oh no...I'll inform Leiso and get myself over there. Hold on!"

Tyras stepped forward with his sword and Axiom stayed at the woman's side.

"It's surprising...how did General Kyriel not see you...? She isn't affected by illusions, just like Valtheim..."

General Kyriel? Is that her name? And does that mean the other woman is Valtheim?

At that moment, Tyras lunged forward with his sword out.

I caught his blade on Vengeance and tried to get an idea of how strong he was...

"Tyras...capture..." The woman said.

"Yes, Lady Valtheim," he said.

Tyras' sword flashed with a menacing purple aura and I instinctively jumped back.

There was a vibration in the air where I had just been standing. As if the air itself had been sliced apart in an instant.

"Hm...impressive..." Tyras said.

"Any chance you could just leave us alone?" I asked.

"No. Our master wants to devour this world. We don't have a choice in the matter. You have to die," Tyras said.

"Fine. It's your funeral," I said.

I readied my second sword and activated lethal strikes.

At the same time, I activated a spell that would periodically attack enemies that got too close.

Tyras lunged at me again and I parried his blade. After that, I cast an explosion spell to push him away.

My arcane power swirled around me as I activated one of my skills.

"Flames of Rage."

My swords were cloaked in emerald flames.

I swung my sword and caused a massive green explosion right where everyone was standing.

Everyone jumped out of the way except Valtheim...who simply absorbed the attack.

First of all...if we're going to win this war, we have to figure out how to kill that thing! What the hell is she!?!?

Already, that was looking to be impossible...

Tyras once again reached me and I began blocking, dodging, and parrying his attacks.

As this went on, he seemed to get frustrated by my skill and a sinister dark energy erupted from him.

He swung his katana down at me and I dodged to the side. The impact created a massive explosion and sent me hurdling backward.

After I landed on my feet, I saw Tyras level his blade in both hands.

It seemed to shift and a second blade like a ghost shimmering behind the first began to phase in and out of reality.

[Willpower form two: Phase Blade. And Willpower form three: Instant Weapon. Be wary of that sword... Willpower is easily one of the stronger of us.]

I'll keep that in mind.

Tyras flashed over to me in an instant and I reflexively blocked the attack with Vengeance. I changed my swords into bladed shotguns and started shooting at him.

He leaped back into the air and I manifested a large number of divine javelins, fireballs, and lightning bolts.

I sent all of them his way and continued firing javelins at him from a distance.

Tyras flashed back over to me and I dodged his sword strike through mere prediction alone. Then I shot him in the face point blank with my shotguns.

The green explosive magic from my shotguns was enough to blast him straight down the street.

Valtheim tilted her head and looked at Tyras as he stood back up.

"Tyras...capture... I go...to Master..." Valtheim said.

"Yes...Lady Valtheim! It will be done!"

Valtheim disappeared in a haze of darkness as Tyras prepared to attack again.

He swung his sword several times and a barrage of purple blades flew at me.

I tried to block them, but they phased right through Vengeance and slashed me all over my body.

Shortly after I began taking damage, I jumped out of the way.

Now I was bleeding in several places...

After I was out of range of his attacks, I shot forward at Tyras and changed both of my shotguns to submachine guns.

He tried to slash me but I stayed just out of his range as I fired both guns rapidly at him.

"FUSILLADE!!" I shouted the name of one of my physical skills and my fire rate was boosted dramatically.

The bullets split in mid air and Tyras was overwhelmed in a hail of gunfire.

He quickly bolted out of the way, but before he could get his bearings I attacked again.

"BLAST BARRAGE!!!"

I began firing again but this time, every time the bullets impacted Tyras, they violently exploded.

Tyras leaped into the air at that point and started running along the side of a building as I continued firing.

Soon after, he closed the distance and I switched back to my bladed shotguns.

I evaded his attacks and occasionally shot him point blank with my shotguns.

Eventually, he fell back and dropped to one knee.

He was riddled with bullet holes and his armor was cracked and broken in several places.

Black Ooze dripped from his wounds and I could see the lower part of his mouth.

He looked human, but I still couldn't see his entire face.

"How are you so strong? No one should be able to stand against me..." Tyras said with a low an menacing voice.

At that point, the woman from before...Kyriel, appeared and approached me.

She unsheathed her dagger and it began to radiate a heavy purple aura.

"No, Kyriel...you cannot fight him!" Tyras said as he got to his feet.

Kyriel looked at Tyras and then at me.

"Your foolish obsession with him makes you a liability. You are not equipped to handle him. BACK OFF! AND DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK TO HIM!" Axiom shouted as he stepped forward.

"Axiom...I may need your assistance, after all," Tyras said.

Kyriel pointed at me and waved her dagger at them rapidly.

"IF YOU RUIN THIS, YOU'RE GOING BACK IN THE PIT, KYRIEL!!!" Tyras yelled.

She immediately stopped and turned around. Seconds later she swung her dagger and several streams of dark purple energy impacted the wall in front of her.

The dark magic streams carved and burned a message into the wall.

Kyriel turned back around and crouched as she silently sheathed her dagger and stared in my direction.

I furrowed my brow in confusion when I saw the message...

It was written in perfect Ignitian... It seemed that they had somehow already mastered our language.

It said...

'I LOVE YOU, MIZIK! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MY BELOVED DARLING!'

Why am I a magnet for crazy girls?

"That's...flattering... But I'm married, so..."

Kyriel pulled out her dagger and carved the wall again. I saw a new phrase.

It was the words Mizik + Kyriel inscribed within a giant heart.

Tyras and Axiom both had their hands over their faces...er...masks.

"Her affections are wasted on that man... Doesn't she know who that is?" Tyras said.

"I think it's the reason why she feels the way she does. Still, it's stupid and pointless..." Axiom said.

"Are...are you guys jealous or something?" I asked hesitantly.

"WE ARE NOT JEALOUS, YOU BASTARD!" Axiom said.

"Why'd you get so angry then?" I asked.

I saw Kyriel shake somewhat. As if she were suppressing the urge to burst out laughing.

Michael might be rubbing off on me a bit...

Axiom clenched his fists and stomped the ground repeatedly.

"BASTARD! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU SO MUCH!"

"And while we're speaking of her... Why isn't Kyriel allowed to talk?" I asked as I kept trying to stall them.

"She's allowed to talk. She's just not allowed to talk to you," Tyras said.

"Why is that?"

"Because she would run her mouth and tell you everything about us. Just...ignore her. She's insane," Tyras said.

I looked over at Kyriel and she was waving her dagger angrily at Tyras again.

Then a shadowy rift opened behind them and Valtheim stepped out of it.

Everyone immediately tensed up as soon as she stepped onto the field.

"Why...?" She said as she pointed to me and looked at Tyras.

"He's...much stronger than anticipated... We also don't have control over this world yet, so we're not at full power..." Tyras said.

"Irrelevant..." Valtheim said as she drew close to Tyras.

I could see him shaking in fear as Valtheim's masked face drew close to his.

"A-axiom...help me capture Mizik...NOW!" Tyras shouted.

"Capture!? Why can't we just kill him!?" Axiom said.

"BECAUSE MASTER SAID TO CAPTURE HIM! AND I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK INTO THE PIT RIGHT NOW!!!" Tyras screamed.

"Fine...we can hand him off to Kyriel once he's been subdued. She'll keep him safe," Axiom said as he unsheathed Compassion.

"Ahhn!?"

I looked over as I heard a noise escape from Kyriel. She perked up greatly upon hearing what they said... She was shaking with excitement.

Oh...this is getting worse by the second...

Axiom stepped over to Tyras. His shortsword radiated a foul aura of rage around it.

I could feel it directed at me.

If I had to guess, his would be Hatred. And that meant Tyras had Hopelessness.

[Be careful, Mizik. Compassion was a sword used for healing others. This one will cause your body to rot away. Compassion form two: Healing Aura is what he's using... This one will cause you great suffering if you get too close.]

And form three?

[Healing scepter. It becomes a magic weapon.]

Should be interesting...

"Where did you two get those swords?" I tried asking.

Valtheim looked at me then Tyras and Axiom both readied themselves.

"Silence..." Valtheim said.

Then the two of them shot forward at me with incredible speed.

I dodged their initial attacks and fired at them both with my shotguns.

They were taken back by the force of the attacks and I rained down light javelins on them.

They each dodged them expertly and closed in on me.

I made strong efforts to keep away from Axiom and his sword. At the same time, I fought off Tyras. But they soon began to overwhelm me with the ferocity of their attacks.

But I wasn't finished yet... I still had plenty of tricks left.

"WRATH!" I shouted.

As soon as I did, I was enveloped in extreme rage and their attacks seemed to slow down.

My shotguns turned red and still continued glowing with emerald flames.

"Ah...what?" Axiom said as he stopped.

"FUSILLADE!" I shouted as I let loose with a barrage of shotgun blasts towards the two men.

They both jumped back and started casting attacks at me.

Then the ground began to shake and several monsters began rising out of it.

I was being overwhelmed by the number of attacks from just the two of them right now, so I started casting my magic in all directions.

I threw light javelins all around me, but especially at those two.

Axiom and Tyras both closed the distance and began fighting from two separate sides of me.

I caused my magic to explode violently and sent them both back. They regrouped and attacked again.

After that, I threw another barrage of javelins at them.

This time, I grabbed them both with psychokinesis and forced them to stay still.

The two of them were frozen in place as they were impaled multiple times all over their bodies.

Their bodies began to disintegrate...but then I heard someone laughing.

There was an oppressive feeling of impending doom in the air.

"GAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! HILARIOUS! AND COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED! You really fight much better this time around, Mizzy!" A voice said.

"WHO ARE YOU!?" I said.

"I AM A NIGHTMARE TO NIGHTMARES! And from this moment on...your world is mine!" The voice said.

I looked over at Valtheim and she had morphed one of her hands into a giant, pitch-black gaping mouth full of teeth.

The voice was coming from there.

A moment later, the ground shook violently as purple streams leaked out of it.

Energy flowed out of the ground then enveloped both Tyras and Axiom. Their wounds were completely healed and suddenly, they radiated a new power.

"Wow...that didn't take nearly as long as Daser. There isn't any magic here at all, is there?" Axiom said.

"This world's barrier was almost non-existent. But remember, more magic makes us stronger in a world even if less magic makes it easier to devour. We've only gained a slight boost this time," Tyras said.

Did these assholes just get a power boost?

"I still feel a hell of a lot stronger than before. This should be fun!" Axiom said.

Their armor was suddenly covered in the Black Ooze and regenerated.

Oh hell...I need backup...