Chapter 37: Strikeback

Baa Domain

In a room made of black glass, a slender figure sat in a single chair. Baa had his hands resting on his knees, his suit perfectly tailored, and his position did not cause a single irregularity in the fabric.

A white mask of a handsome man was placed over his face, revealing only his eyes and a bit of grey skin around them. Despite his stillness, his eyes were slightly shaking, but no one knew that they weren't his real eyes.

Baa moved in his mind's divine space, watching the cluster of golden lights around which the silver threads were wrapped, representing his blessings. Silently, he watched as the lights slowly faded and disappeared.

The God of Moon and Darkness knew what this meant, but it didn't bother him one bit. He watched one of the lights where his blessing suddenly faded. In a flash, he was by it and touched it with his hand, and he could see a glimpse of what the person belonging to the light saw.

His vision was surrounded by blue flames through which he saw the outline of a throne with an arrogant-looking being sitting on it. "There you are..." Baa muttered as he quickly backed away before his vision was completely engulfed in flames. The light he was touching then disappeared, and he frowned.

The light didn't fade away like the others but simply disappeared. This meant something other than death, nor was it the violent taking of a believer. Baa didn't know what that meant. However, he couldn't follow the events through his worshippers too much. Spying on another god's domain like that was risky.

A hostile god could easily detect his presence, and just as if he were physically there, he could do considerable damage through his bond with the worshipper, so Baa waited patiently to catch a glimpse of his worshippers' final moments.

Baa felt no loss. In the end, he knew very well that none of them would return alive. These worshippers he chose mainly from those who were expendable or troublesome.

Yet Baa was grateful to them. He had gained much information about the Evil God's domain through their sacrifice. "An independently functioning city. Strange monsters with unique abilities. Very powerful... but how? How?" Baa pondered, watching the rest of the lights that belonged to the expedition into the Border Mist.

After a moment, another light showed unusual activity, so he moved over to it and touched it. Primas Jason and his last moments when monsters with powerful abilities were charging at him.

"What is it?!" Baa pulled back before Jason died, thinking quickly. He didn't have a single thought about Primas Jason, who he knew had a treacherous nature. Despite his power and position in the church, Baa considered him the most expendable of the group. No, in fact, he wished he had died in the task. That way Baa didn't have to get his hands dirty and could still make him useful in the end.

Now, thanks to Jason, Baa could see something interesting. "The blessing of the Evil God is different. Too bad I didn't see more." He pondered, then nodded his head. "I need to capture one of her worshippers and study it."

Another light moved, and he shifted his gaze to it. It began to glow strongly with silver light, and Baa felt a shift in his divine power. He moved and touched it to see Libertii using a powerful prayer but had great risks to use.

Baa clicked his tongue in displeasure as he gained no useful information from her view. Then he moved his fingers and interrupted the flow of divine energy towards Libertii that was resulting in the failure of her prayer.

"I don't like leeches. Just die and at least do as much damage as possible." He commented, watching as the light collapsed in on itself and faded. Baa fixed his eyes on the rest of the lights he knew would soon disappear.

***** 

End of the World

Archie ran out of the palace after a while. To his delight, this time he encountered no pressure like the first time he went in.

Once he was outside, his wings began flapping of their own accord, and he, being a completely inexperienced flyer, did an inelegant forward flip while spitting curses.

"Fucking wings dammit!" He swore, not knowing how to control them. He managed to stop the flapping, which resembled that of a chicken's wings, and fell to the ground.

Luckily, he managed to roll over properly and landed on the ground in a squatting position, avoiding further embarrassment by falling on his face.

Archie straightened up and looked back at his wings, which now remained still, but he could see a slight flutter in them as he concentrated on keeping them from moving. He then glanced down the staircase where a group of his former colleagues stood at the bottom of the stairs, having come with Primas Jason. He took a deep breath and made his way over to them.

The group quickly spotted him and began to surround him, keeping their guard up. Archie paused for just a moment before realizing that they probably didn't recognize him.

So he raised his hand in greeting. "Nothing to be afraid of! It's me, Bishop Archie Cameron!" He called, rushing downstairs. The group looked at each other and then raised their talismans, which began to glow silver.

"What?" Archie blinked and then had to quickly jump a few times as silver missiles flew towards him. "Hey! I said I'm Bishop Archie.... what... you!" He had to jump again.

"You pieces of shit!" He snapped, already angry. He understood that they didn't believe him, but hadn't he made it clear that he wasn't against them? He gritted his teeth and slammed his fist into his open palm. He was still hesitant about how he was going to convince the others, and he didn't quite know how he was going to do it until now. Now he had made up his mind.

"I guess I'll have to beat you all up!" He growled. After all, beating people up was what he did best.

***** 

Peril Harbor - Brandon's Home - Beginning of the attack on the End of the World

The day started out strangely for Brandon. Just as he was having breakfast with his parents, there was a knock on the door. They all looked at each other because it was rare for someone to come this early in the morning.

His father may have been stocky, but he was still strong as a bull with broad shoulders and strong arms, like someone who made his living through hard physical labor.

Brandon father walked over to the door, next to which a lead bat was always ready in case something happened, and called through the door. "Who is it?"

Brandon curiously peeked out of the dining room with his mother to see what was going on.

"Good morning, neighbor. My name is Marik Voss and I live on the next street. I'm one of the guardians of Leo and Dali, who are friends with your son Brandon," came the reply from the other side of the door.

Brandon's father relaxed and opened the door, behind which stood a red-haired and red-bearded man in his early forties holding the shoulders of two children aged twelve and seven or eight. "Good morning, Mr. Voss. What's the matter?" Brandon's father asked, looking quizzically at the man and then at the children.

Marik smiled a little awkwardly. "I'm sorry to disturb you like this. But we'd like to ask you a favor. My friend and I need to get away for two days for work, and we wanted to ask if we could leave Leo and Dali in your care. Of course, we'll pay all expenses and a little extra for babysitting."

When Leo heard the words about babysitting, he frowned a little but didn't protest. Dali just watched and hugged the plush rabbit.

Brandon's father hesitated and looked back to see his wife nodding her head in agreement, and Brandon again had a bit of an odd expression but didn't seem to mind.

The man then looked at Marik again and nodded. "Of course. That won't be a problem," he agreed, and Marik smiled in relief.

Later, Brandon was with Dali and Leo in his room. The siblings slowly wandered around, looking through Brandon's things while Brandon sat on the bed.

This was really unexpected for Brandon. He got along with his siblings, but he thought the Kafi family would be a better choice.

"I guess it sucks when your parents dump you like that all of a sudden, huh?" asked Brandon.

Leo turned to look at him. "Can't be helped. They're busy."

Dali walked over to the bed where Brandon was sitting. He looked at her, but suddenly she lay down on the floor and crawled under the bed. "He he..." She let out a weird laugh, and Brandon rolled his eyes at the childish behavior.

"What do your parents do, anyway?" Brandon asked Leo, ignoring the child under his bed doing who knows what.

Leo thought for a moment about what to answer, and as he did, he picked up an old wooden train from the shelf and began to spin the wheels of the toy with his finger. "Uncle Marik is an adventurer, but now he's a Monster Hunter. Mr. Hellcage is..." Leo hesitated and cocked his head to the side. "Caretaker." He finally finished, unsure of what Mr. Hellcage actually did.

Brandon's eyes lit up when he heard that one of his fathers was a Monster Hunter. He grabbed the edge of the bed and eagerly leaned forward. "Monster Hunter? Wow! Mr. Voss must be so strong!"

Leo smiled a little, remembering Uncle Marik. The corners of his mouth wouldn't stop twitching as he answered. "I guess so."

That made Brandon a little dreamy. "Monster hunters are so cool! I'd like to... aaaaggh!" Brandon suddenly screamed and jumped as a small hand suddenly shot out from under the bed holding a furry spider triumphantly.

"I found this," Dali said as she crawled out of her hiding place.

"Damn! Don't scare me like that... This was under my bed? Ugh!" Brandon calmed down and looked at the large spider that Dali was holding. Still, the three of them huddled together, examining the furry spider. Brandon was the first to think it was dead because it didn't struggle at all when Dali held it.

Then, however, she placed it on her palm and the spider stood up quickly, but other than a slight shudder, it didn't move. "What's wrong with it?" Brandon wondered.

Leo ran a finger lightly over the spider's round butt. "That spider is smart. It knows to be afraid."

Brandon raised an eyebrow, then nodded. It was probably true, after all, spiders were just small creatures that humans could easily step on. He looked at the spider again, noticing its eight black eyes that glistened like black pearls. He leaned closer, seeing their reflection in those eyes, but why did Dali and Leo look so strange in that reflection?

Before he could get a better look, Dali turned and walked over to the window, which she opened and threw the spider out. "Fly like a bee!" She squealed excitedly.

Leo walked over to his sister and patted her on the head. "Spiders don't fly, Dali."

"Oh...." Dali paused before waving her arms. "Fall like a rock!"

***** 

That evening, everyone sat around the opossum, and despite Brandon's mother's expectations, it was quiet. The two children, Dali and Leo, were very quiet and ate so orderly that she felt like spanking her husband and son to make an example of them.

But she didn't. Mostly because she was nervous for some reason. She'd heard from Brandon that their fathers were on a different level than they were. Mr. Voss was a Monster Hunter, and according to her son's story, so was Mr. Hellcage, a tall and elegant man of sophisticated manners. And from what she could tell from their children, that was probably true.

But what made her more nervous was that the older Leo often glared at her. Almost every time she looked up, he was staring at her, barely blinking as he did so. After a while, she put down her spoon and smiled slightly at the boy. He returned the smile, but instead of reassuring her, it gave her goosebumps.

"Is everything okay, Leo?" She asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Leo replied, but he didn't stop looking at her.

"You're... not missing anything?" Brandon's mother asked next.

"No, ma'am. Do you? Is everything okay?" The boy asked in return, and Brandon's mother blinked. "Uh. Yes. Of course," she replied.

Leo nodded and finally averted his eyes. "I see."

Brandon's mother and father exchanged confused looks. What strange children.

***** 

That night, Brandon's parents put the kids down and went to bed themselves a little later. Brandon's mother had been having a hard time falling asleep lately, thoughts flying through her head, her heart pounding so hard it disturbed her sleep, but eventually fatigue drove her to sleep.

Click

Click

Creak

Rustle

Whick

Every time the sound rang out in the silence of the night, a muscle in Brandon's mother's cheek twitched as it disturbed her sleep. After a while, the random sounds disturbed her enough to slowly open her sleepy eyes, her gaze fixed on the blood-red eyes.

Brandon's mother froze as she stared into the terrifying face of the puppet that stared at her with a crooked smile while it held the sides of the woman's head.

She bulged her eyes in horror and wanted to scream, but her lips didn't move. Instead, she felt a slight pain around her mouth as if her mouth was sewn shut.

She tried to move, but even that was impossible. Instead, she felt a dull pain in her chest. She rolled her eyes downwards where she saw another puppet bending over her. It was too skinny, and the paint was peeling off around its eye and face. Worse, Brandon's mother recognized the puppets as Dali and Leo.

Leo was leaning over her right now, her pajamas open on his chest, and he had his finger buried in the small cut on the side of her heart. Leo had a neutral expression on his face while he moved his finger in the wound, looking up momentarily when he noticed the woman was awake. But he didn't make a big deal of it and went back to what he was doing.

Brandon's mother had tears in her eyes, from pain, from fear, and she looked beside her where she could still see the outline of her husband. How could that not wake him up? The woman was sending mind signals to her husband, but he continued to breathe calmly, unaware of what was happening next to him.

Leo abruptly stopped moving and pulled his finger out of the wound, only to find that the last link of his finger was missing, replaced by a small blade.

"I got it," he said softly, while the woman watched in horror as thin threads suddenly came out of the small wound like hair, pushing some grey substance out with it.

The woman wanted to scream in terror.

***** 

"Aaaah!" Brandon's mother screamed and sat up abruptly, drenched in sweat and her heart pounding furiously. This startled her husband, who jumped out of bed. It was already dawn outside, and the room was drowning in gloom instead of darkness.

"What's wrong?" Brandon's father asked in alarm.

The woman quickly checked her chest but saw no cut marks, checked her mouth, but even now felt nothing special. "What... what..." She mumbled in confusion and let out a long sigh of relief. It was just a dream.

Still, she couldn't help but feel nervous around her siblings during breakfast. Leo didn't look at her this time, and Brandon's wife was beginning to think she was probably just having a bad dream because of last night when the boy was looking at her so strangely.

Towards the end of breakfast, Leo looked up once and glanced at Brandon's mother before his gaze dropped to her chest, or more accurately, her heart. His eyes could see more than the eyes of an ordinary person, and when he saw that the housewife's heart beat easily without skipping a beat, he nodded his head in satisfaction.

***** 

After Marik took the children to the neighbors, he returned home where Hellcage was waiting for him to begin their plan.

Marik sighed and walked into the house, immediately heading for the dining room, which had been turned into more of a prayer room. There he found Hellcage kneeling in front of the altar, his hat laid on the floor beside him.

He sighed and sat down, waiting for Hellcage to finish praying. Marik was rather nervous; after all, they were going to make a sneak attack on one of the shrines of one of the Recognized Gods. It was quite a risk, and he wondered if it was really necessary.

Hellcage, however, was adamant about it. Marik thus revealed another side of Hellcage that was showing itself to be quite vengeful. He was someone who wanted to strike back.

Hellcage may have said that he wanted to give the Baa God diarrhea, but Marik believed that it wouldn't be as easy as he said. He doubted Hellcage would settle for what seemed like a simple prank. Thus, Marik believed that the consequence of this strike would be much more serious, but since Hellcage didn't want to tell him more, he just let it go. Sometimes it's better just not to know.

Hellcage finally moved, putting on his hat and straightening up. He turned around and saw Marik sitting at the table, so he picked up the cane he had leaned against the chairs and walked over to him. "There really was no need to take the children away," he remarked, but didn't pursue it any further, because he and Marik had already had this discussion and still disagreed.

Marik shrugged. "It's already done. Can you stop bringing it up then?"

"Hm." Hellcage just made a sound of agreement and turned away. "Let's go," he ordered, and Marik stood up and followed him.

"How are things at the End of the World?" Marik asked as they left the house.

"The attackers haven't landed yet. Defense groups are preparing. Everything seems under control," Hellcage answered him, but Marik noted that his voice lacked its usual lighter tone.

"Are you worried?"

Hellcage hit the ground a little harder with his walking cane at Marik question and snorted. "Why would I be? Our people are strong. Unless there's someone on Apostle's level, it shouldn't be a problem."

"So are they strong? Wow. That's a whole hidden army," Marik remarked, looking at Hellcage, who was walking gracefully and confidently down the street.

"Naturally. The End of the World is not a place anyone can mess with. You'll see," Hellcage replied, lifting his shoulders slightly, his stride becoming more relaxed as his pride in his home returned.

Marik shook his head in amusement. "And Liege will be all right? Her situation is quite... unique, after all."

"You don't have to worry about that. Those wretches couldn't even step on her shadow. If they manage to see her at all, they'll surely fall to their knees before her magnificence and swear allegiance to her," Hellcage said this with conviction, but Marik naturally doubted it.

He'd seen Liege with his own eyes, and while she inspired respect and fear, he didn't feel like he'd immediately start admiring her and wanting to kiss the hem of her cloak. And even though Marik knew her better now and felt that she wasn't such a bad goddess after all, he didn't have anywhere near the admiration that Hellcage had.

So naturally he had to wonder what had happened between Liege and Hellcage to make him so fanatical about her. Marik wanted to ask about it, but somehow he felt like it was personal and he wasn't sure if they were close enough for Hellcage to tell him.

"Any changes to the plan?" Marik asked instead.

"No. It's better to keep the plan simple. We'll launch Warmseeker into the chapel, where he'll cause chaos. You, as the present Monster Hunter, will chase Warmseeker and distract the priests. I, meanwhile, will approach the altar and cast my spell. A few Wendigo will be hidden among the chapel visitors and will contribute to the panic," Hellcage explained the plan in a nutshell.

Marik pursed his lips. "What if someone notices you?"

"They won't. Security is almost non-existent at this level, with how many different races attend the chapel the alarms would be ringing all the time. And trust me. The art of stealth is something no one can beat me at," Hellcage waved at Marik in a way that said he was unnecessarily worried.

***** 

Some time later, Marik sat in the church of the god Baa, feeling rather out of place. Even as a follower of the Sea Goddess, he didn't go to church; he fell into the category of people who had no need to go there and just prayed whenever and wherever.

Furthermore, he found himself sitting in the church of a god he didn't even worship, pretending he did, and it felt a little weird, somewhat like blasphemy. Some remnants of his old life still lingered in him, making him wonder if this blasphemy was being seen and punished by the God of the Moon and Night.

Marik subtly moved his eyes and looked around. There were about thirty or so believers, among them five Wendigo. Marik easily recognized them because, even though they were in human form, he could see their antlers.

It had worried him before, but everyone else seemed to see them as normal humans. Marik had asked Hellcage about it, and he had just told him it was because of their Liege blessing. He felt relieved; he had been worried that people with blessings from other Gods might recognize them too, and if they were revealed to be Wendigo, things wouldn't be pretty.

Finally, he saw movement at the door. Marik glanced subtly in that direction and saw a strange, dirty, cloaked figure stumble through the doorway.

The figure quickly retreated into the shadows beside the door, where it shivered, but then it moved forward again and sat down in the last bench. Marik watched the figure out of the corner of his eye, and if he hadn't known what to look for, he probably wouldn't have noticed, but he did notice that the figure's shadow moved unnaturally for a moment before returning to normal. Marik assumed it was Hellcage.

Marik glanced around to see if anyone had noticed anything, but the interior of the church itself was rather dark, so hiding something here wasn't a problem. Naturally, the church itself was in the spirit of his God. Despite the fact that it was daytime, it was dark to the point of darkness, representing Night, and the symbols of the moon and stars shone with silver light.

The church itself was fairly plain; the transept was filled with pews for the praying faithful, and in niches at the sides were small shrines. At the very front was a large altar where the minister recited. Meanwhile, a few Novices walked among the faithful and talked quietly with them.

Whenever one of the Novices approached, Marik closed his eyes and pretended to pray deeply because he didn't want any of them to strike up a conversation with him. When it happened again, as soon as a Novice walked by, he started to watch him carefully because the Novice noticed a strange figure at the very back and headed towards it. Marik's heart raced with nervousness.

"It's starting," he thought to himself.