Chapter 70: End Of The World

First, it was the ships.

The darkness passed over our heads and blackened the skies as the water swallowed the ships north of the coast.

"HOLD FIRE!" One of the dwarves on the ranparts shouted.

"BY THE GODS! WE'RE ALL DOOMED" Another shouted.

"SHUT UP AND KEEP READY!" A third said.

"Isabella," I said.

"Right. ATTACK SUPPORT! DEFENSE SUPPORT! GRAND SHIELD ENCHANT!" She called.

I activated dual wield and some of my other skills.

"GRAND SWORD ENCHANT! GRAND HASTE! FLAMES OF RAGE!" I called out.

Both of my swords burst into flames and the golden threads attached themselves from my hands.

Something in me knew what we were fighting.

Then the black water began to shift.

A crowd of horrors began rising from the coast and charged at us.

"ENGRAGE!" Isabella shouted.

At once, all of the monsters turned towards her.

I waited for a moment and then darted in and around the crowd, slashing and destroying the monsters.

I kept this up for a few minutes while Isabella held their attention and attacked whenever she could.

A short while later, larger monsters began to spawn from the water.

These things could have surrounded us any time they wanted... Were they playing a game?

They were only arriving from one direction so far. The Black Ooze could create monsters anywhere by infecting the very land itself. What was going on here!?

The behemoth variants charged at us and Isabella held their attention. Soon, there were more behemoth variants than normal variants. Serpentine variants also began to slither out of the water.

"POWER BASH!" Isabella shouted as one of them came close. She slammed her shield into it so hard that I could feel the shockwave. The monster, unable to take the force of the hit as well as the energy her shield was enchanted with, violently exploded.

"FULL MOON SLASH!" I said.

The monsters surrounding me were sliced to ribbons.

I glanced up at the ramparts to see the dwarves on the walls cowering in fear. Unable to operate the cannons and rail guns.

"A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!!!' I screamed at them.

They shook themselves out of their daze and suddenly became brave.

"ALL WEAPONS FIRE! WATCH OUT FOR THOSE TWO! KILL THE MONSTERS!!!" Dufoth screamed suddenly.

I hadn't realized that he was up there... I regretted never getting to know him better.

At once, all of the cannons began firing into the crowd of monsters coming from the sea.

I jumped back to Isabella as she formed a barrier around us. I made sure to destroy any monsters that got too close.

The cannons kept firing for a while until...

Something flew out of the water.

Several winged monsters floated high into the air and spread their wings wide. Spikes began firing in barrages at the walls.

My eyes went wide as the ramparts, the guns, and all of the dwarves on them were instantly skewered...

Dufoth was impaled through his heart and fell to the ground.

The few dwarves left on the walls began screaming in terror as insect monsters began to rise out of their fallen comrades.

"DAMMIT!" I shouted.

I turned towards the sea and saw a massive titan rise out of the water.

"This is getting a bit crazy...." Isabella said worriedly.

"We can do this!" I said.

No we can't!

We felt an immense rush of pressure at that moment as we both looked into the distance.

An enormous smiling black dragon was headed straight for us.

We both felt a chill as its face twisted in recognition.

"RETREAT! EVERYONE BACK INTO THE CITY NOW!!!" I screamed.

Isabella and I began fighting our way back into the city gates and behind the doors.

The shadow dragon reached the coast and landed with an explosive thud.

I looked for just a moment and couldn't see anyone on its back.

Then...

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

The screaming roar caused the both of us to freeze in terror.

"BY THE GODS! WHAT IS THAT THING!? IS THIS THE END!?" A dwarf screamed.

I was in no position to tell him to stop at this point. I was just as terrified.

Several more titan variants began making their way to the city gates and destroyed the walls surrounding the entrance on the way.

As a group of them arrived, I activated full moon slash.

I used the second variant to attack in a frontal cone as to avoid collateral damage... Not that Isabella would've been hurt, anyway...

The attack was somewhat similar to Exterminatus when using two swords.

One of the titan variants crumbled to ashes as I destroyed its core and the others were damaged as a result.

Isabella used sunlight blade to destroy another and started protecting everyone from their attacks once they reached us.

Each time one of their massive fists slammed into her shield, the ground beneath her cracked heavily. Yet she took them as if they weren't a big deal.

In between their attacks, I would destroy everything that had come close to the entrance. We had successfully bottle-necked them...for now at least.

In the distance, I saw several gigantic blobs form like the one we fought on the Kalsan border.

The feeling of impending doom was overwhelming at this point...I felt like I was suffocating under an overwhelming pressure.

Nevertheless, we continued fighting.

We stayed that way for a while until...

We heard a man's voice shouting from within the crowd of monsters near the shadow dragon.

"WELL, THATS NOT VERY FUN, NOW IS IT!? HOW ABOUT WE RAISE THE STAKES!?!" I heard him say.

At that moment, I was filled with rage.

The Source was here...but before I could attack, the Ooze spread under our feet and up the walls of the city gate just within the mountain.

Monsters began spawning over and around us. We were forced to step back again.

"EXCELLENT! GAHAHAHAHA!!! MASSACRE THOSE DWARVES!" The Source screamed.

It went without saying that the absurd power I was feeling came from that voice's direction.

"Mizik! What should we do!?" Isabella shouted?

"Keep fighting! We have to keep fighting!" I said

"RUN AWAY! EVERY DWARF FOR HIMSELF!" One of the soldiers screamed. The dwarves began screaming and running in all directions as the monsters started ignoring Isabella's taunt ability and chasing them.

It was a bloodbath. They were spreading out too far and somehow weren't focusing on Isabella now.

A moment later, there was an explosion at the gate and I could see the shadow dragon smiling at us from just beyond the walls. It had fired its breath attack to widen the entrance.

At this point, Isabella and I were being pushed back far more than before.

We were doing everything we could to fight back, but this was a losing battle.

Both of us were starting to feel tired from all of the fighting... It had been too long since we'd done any real training and we were beginning to feel it.

"AWWW! GETTING WORN OUT!? I'M GOING EASY ON YOU TWO!!! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING YET!!!" The Source yelled.

I gritted my teeth in rage as we ran from the entrance of the city. Eventually, we stopped and I turned back to the Source.

"DROP DEAD, YOU FUCKER!!! YOU GODS-DAMNED MONSTER!!!" I screamed.

"MIZIK! STAY BEHIND ME!" Isabella screamed.

Then I saw it.

An incredible amount of Black Ooze began rising out of the ground by the entrance. It formed into the shape of a seven-headed dragon.

"Mizik...isn't that...?"

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!" I screamed.

The dragon that killed my father now sat within the city cavern. It was much bigger than what I remember, however. Likely due to shifting its size to match the space it had.

At least I assumed that was how it changed size...

"GRAND THUNDERBLAST! GRAND FIREBLAST! ARCANE BALLISTA!!! FLAMES OF RAGE!!!" I called out my attacks on rapid succession and they each impacted the dragon. None of them had much of an effect on it, unfortunately.

"GRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

The seven-headed dragon let loose with a mighty roar just before flapping its wings to cause a destructive shock wave in the area.

Then all seven heads began charging energy in their mouths.

"AEGIS BARRIER! DEFENSE SUPPORT! MIZIK! GET DOWN!" Isabella screamed.

I ducked behind her shield as all seven heads fired black lasers at us.

The ensuing explosion caused severe damage around us.

Once the attack had finished, Isabella dropped to one knee while breathing heavily.

The attack actually pierced her defense. She was wounded now.

I could see her health drop to well below half.

As the dragon reared back, I could hear it laughing at us.

LAUGH IT UP! NOW ITS MY TURN!!!!

"EXTREME RAGE OF IRATUS!!! WRATH POSSESSION!!!"

I felt myself being controlled by the spirit of Vengeance as I lept towards the dragon with all my might, both swords in hand.

["VENGEANCE DEATH CURSE!!!! EXTERMINATUS!!!!!"]

My body moved on its own as the energy impacted the dragon.

Immediately, I let loose with an incredible combo of flaming sword strikes towards the dragon.

I sliced and diced it. Each of the heads falling to the ground as I heard it roaring in anguish.

As soon as the attack finished, I rapidly shot through the battlefield killing everything in sight.

"ATTACK...SUPPORT...!!!" Isabella shouted as she raised her sword.

I could feel more power coursing through my body as her power cloaked me.

Moments later, the seven headed dragon began to reform. As soon as I saw it, I decided that enough was enough.

SCREW THIS!!!

I ran over to Isabella and grabbed her arm, pulling her away from the battlefield.

"GRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

The seven headed dragon roared mightily as we retreated.

"MIZIK! What are you doing!?" Isabella shouted.

"GETTING THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!" I shouted back.

After that, she composed herself and ran with me...

Isabella, however, was tired and wounded. She was having difficulty keeping up with my speed.

"Take the armor off, NOW!" I shouted.

She stopped immediately and her armor and shield disappeared. After she put her sword away, I swept her up in my arms and ran full speed ahead.

I jumped up onto the rooftops of the buildings in the city and Isabella gasped as she saw the destruction.

The Black Ooze was spreading rapidly as people were being slaughtered left and right. They were being eaten alive as the Ooze obliterated the dwarven capital.

"MIZIK! WATCH OUT!!" Isabella screamed.

A moment later, two beams of black-purple energy shot at us and I just barely managed to dodge them. The dragon was firing at us...like it had a personal grudge...

Considering what I just did, it made sense.

As I lept off the rooftop, I activated grand haste again to increase my speed.

Once I was on the ground, I kept running. Isabella was cradled in my arms and clung to me, tightly.

Eventually, we reached the house and I set Isabella down. Once she was standing, we went inside and locked the door tight.

"What should we do? Why did we run away?" She asked.

"I'm stubborn. I don't want that bastard dragon to have the satisfaction of killing both my father and me. Let's get to the basement. Our final stand will be there. With any luck, the Source himself will greet us and we can ambush him."

Isabella nodded and we went down into the basement.

As soon as we did, I locked the door and we moved towards the back of the room with the relic.

Already, I could feel my head hurting being so close to it.

"Mizik, should I get my weapon ready?"

"Do it. We're going to defend this room as long as we can," I said as I readied Vengeance.

Isabella readied her sword, armor, and shield.

We faced the door as we heard explosions and screaming above...

Our happy life had come to a catastrophic end...

"Hey, Mizik...I love you! I really love you more than anything! I don't want to die... I don't want to be away from you!" Isabella said with tears streaming down her face.

She was still wounded and having trouble standing up straight, but looking at her filled me with a desire to live.

"I love you too, Isabella. Forever and always."

There must be something! If we can kill the Source, all of this will end! We can save Avernia! It doesn't have to be this way!!!

I knew I was kidding myself...

Eventually, we heard thunderous footsteps nearby.

"GRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

The seven headed dragon had arrived.

That bastard....that piece of shit dragon!!!

I felt a strong buzzing sensation as I thought about how much I hated that dragon, then turned around to that damn arch.

I wanted to break this thing so badly.

I wanted to destroy it for disrupting my peace in the final days of our lives. But as I thought about this...

I saw the runes nearest to me lit up. I was standing at the edge of the platform that the arch rested on and the runes on the stairs were glowing faintly.

"Isabella...are you seeing this?" I asked as I approached the stairs. The runes began glowing brightly as I stepped up onto the platform.

"What...what's going on here?" She said.

As soon as I stood in the center of the platform, I could feel the searing pain on my hand again. I put Vengeance away and stared at my hand as it trembled in pain.

There was a rune on the center of my palm.

I looked up and saw the small pillar next to the arch had the same rune glowing on the flat surface.

"Isabella, come here. Now."

At once, she was standing next to me. She continued facing the stairs leading up into the house. Her sword and shield at the ready.

"If something happens to me, just know that I love you. I'm going to see what this thing really is."

Isabella nodded and I placed my hand on the small pillar. Once the runes on the pillar and my hand aligned, every rune on the platform began shining brightly and energy began forming within the arch.

"By the gods...what the hell is this thing!?" I said.

The two of us watched as a window opened in the energy of the arch.

Just beyond, I could see blue skies...a mountain in the distance, a forest of trees and a crystal clear lake just below.

"What are we...looking at...?" Isabella asked shakily.

There was a rumble and suddenly, the ground shook hard. We heard a crash upstairs.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

The roar of a behemoth variant rang out as its heavy footsteps shook the house.

The window in the arch rippled and I touched it. As soon as I did, my hand went through. The other side felt warm...like the air in summer.

I pulled my hand back immediately and the arch began to shake. Cracks formed on the stone panels.

As soon as the cracks formed, the window flashed and rippled slightly. The ripples became slightly more intense with each passing second.

Whatever this was, it was causing far too much strain on this old relic... If this function was what it was made for, it wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer.

A moment later, the heavy footsteps came to a halt outside of the basement door.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAGH!"

"MIZIK!" Isabella shouted.

Alright. Let's take a chance here.

I grabbed Isabella's arm and bolted through the window.

* * *

I clearly wasn't thinking about how I would deal with this.

Understandably so, however. We were in a pretty intense life or death situation.

As soon as we reached the other side... As soon as both Isabella and I were fully through the window, I looked back as I could see the door in our basement explode open.

And then...

It closed.

The window disappeared completely without a trace.

All of that happened within the split-second that passed after we went through.

Unfortunately...

The window gave us a bird's eye view for a reason.

Right after the window disappeared, we plummeted straight down into the lake below.

As soon as we hit the water, Isabella's armor disappeared and she started flailing around, violently gasping for air.

I sank like a rock in my armor as I came to a horrible realization...

DAMN IT ALL! I NEVER TAUGHT HER HOW TO SWIM!!!

As I sank, I had to stop myself from panicking.

Think! THINK!!!

"GRAND WATERBREATHING!" I said.

As I spoke, water flooded into my mouth, but it didn't matter.

I wasn't going to drown now.

Next...

Sorry, Gordon. I'll never forget you...

"ARMOR OBLITERATION!" I said.

I pulled Vengeance back out of my inventory and brought the sword's hilt into my chest... Effectively shattering my own armor.

The impact actually hurt my chest too, but I ignored it.

I swam straight back up after Isabella fell below the surface of the water and grabbed her.

Luckily, she put Bravery away before sinking as well.

I swam back up and made sure to hold her above the water. I wrapped Isabella's arms around myself and kept her on my back.

Then I swam to the shore of the lake.

A few minutes later, we were on the shore and I had laid Isabella flat on the ground.

She was unconscious, so I started pumping her chest and giving her air just like my dad showed me how to do when I was younger.

After a minute or so, Isabella started coughing violently and grasping for breath. I rolled over onto the ground next to her out of exhaustion and breathed a sigh of relief.

She continued coughing up water as I felt my consciousness dip in and out...

We were somehow alive... In an unknown location, but alive..

I stared straight up at the sky.

It felt unfamiliar.

Something about it was so different from Avernia...

Where the hell are we...?

Several thoughts danced in my head as my eyes closed and I passed out. Eventually, I couldn't even hear Isabella coughing anymore...

END OF PART ONE: ORIGINS IN AVERNIA

EXTRA CHAPTER: SOURCE OF THE OOZE

As the Source walked through the city with his bodyguard, he smiled to himself.

"Once again, my conquest of this damn world is completed. Isn't that right?"

"Yes..." His bodyguard said.

She spoke without emotion. Without any feeling at all.

The screams had finally died down as the last of the living people were consumed by his armies. The silence brought him peace.

And once the Source arrived at that particular house, he surveyed the damage caused by one of his soldiers.

He slowly walked through it and several of his minions bowed down.

When he walked down into the basement, he smiled as he saw the collapsed arch of the relic that sat quietly.

"All according to plan...mostly. There's been something of a wild card this time. She never survived before... I wonder how that will change things. What do you think?" The Source said as he turned to his companion.

"I...do not think..."

The Source smiled.

"You watched him, right? Did you think to tell him to leave Hakumo?

"I...watched... I...do not think..."

"You're so damn cute! Obviously, you should have warned him! But oh well. That idiot wouldn't have listened anyway. They escaped, so it's irrelevant."

"..."

The Source looked at the collapsed relic as his bodyguard approached and stood at his side.

"Stay right where you are, Mizik. I'll come see you again...just as I always do. I wonder...will you beat me this time? Or will I go back again? I love it when things are interesting!" He said.

And as the Source spread his plague over the dwarven city, the entire world became fully consumed.

"There...all done. Take us home for now. We have a lot of preparations to make before we attack the next one," the Source said.

"I...obey..."

And with that...the Source left Avernia.