Chapter 43

Michael crested the hill and found the research team standing in front of a ritual circle where a girl somewhere in her early twenties was currently lying dead on the ground. But that didn't seem to deter the team as they continued to dump their mags into her corpse.

Michael quickly ran up to the group, "Should I even ask what y'all are doing?"

But they didn't get the chance to respond, because in the next instant the world began to shake as something resembling a giant deer sprang into being, and a shockwave was sent from its body, knocking the expedition team to the ground.

The creature's body was similar to the monsters he'd come across in the forest, but there were several noticeable differences. One being that the rune replacing its head was adorned with massive antlers made from glowing sigils, and that it was absolutely fucking huge. Its height was comparable to the mountains surrounding it.

"Goddamnit."

Keith chuckled, "That's a pretty appropriate reaction considering that things a god."

"Shut up Keith."

The deer didn't immediately do anything aggressive, but the girl's body did begin to float upwards into the air. Tendrils of light surrounded her corpse, glowing brighter and brighter before unceremoniously disappearing. The deer quirked its head in confusion.

If Michael had to guess what it was doing, he'd probably say that it was trying to bring her back to life. If so, the crown had likely already snatched up her soul. So that would be a rather difficult task.

The deer turned its attention back towards the group and dropped the girl down onto the grass where she landed with a wet thump.

And then Michael felt a weight descend upon his body as his heart began to be ripped from his chest.

It was as if an invisible force was pulling on it, and he needed to actively control his flesh to keep it from being ripped from his body.

A quick glance to the rest of the expedition team revealed them to be relatively fine, although the runes on their armor and weapons were glowing a deep red.

Blackwood was currently unsheathing an old looking cavalry sword, which had a large number of similar runes etched into it.

"Is there any reason I didn't get the magical protection runes, Blackwood? I know you probably can't tell, but that thing's currently trying to rip my heart out."

"Apologies Michael, but they're rather difficult to make, and I wasn't exactly given much prep time here."

Michael glanced back towards the runes the soldiers wore and could see cracks beginning to form in them as time went on.

"Alright, you're forgiven. Everybody else, get the hell out of here. I'll slow it down."

The group didn't need to be told twice, as they all began to move in the opposite direction, but they didn't make it far.

From nothingness monsters began to form. Hundreds of them somehow being crafted from the world around them.

Michael turned towards Blackwood, "Keep them from dying for me."

With that he began to move. He shot like a bullet towards the god, where he was met with a wall of invisible force.

Keith grinned, "Ooh, is this telekinesis?"

Michael ignored the mask, grit his teeth, and pushed forward as the deer slowly moved towards him. It didn't seem to be in that much of a rush, but it was definitely interested in killing the group.

Then Michael's heart began to beat loudly as it woke from its slumber.

"Now this is a rather potent emotion. Wrath on a scale comparable to the lizard is rather rare."

Keith cursed towards the heart, "Hey, would it kill you to be awake more often? You keep leaving me alone with this asshole."

The heart ignored him, and Michael felt power flowing through his body. The emotion was incredibly similar to the unkillable lizard's, but this time it felt more manageable. It seemed his control over the heart had matured a bit.

The ground beneath Michael's feet cracked from the weight the god was exerting on him, but the additional strength from his heart was enough for him to somewhat push past it.

Step by step he approached the god, who only stared downwards unemotionally.

He forced his legs to move, muscles tearing and rebuilding themselves all along the way from the force being exerted on them. Michael's heart beat faster and faster, the emotions within slowly becoming more potent, until something finally clicked, and he smiled towards the beast.

He'd figured out what effect wrath had on the heart.

Anger bred movement, it bred action, and in rare cases it bred improvement. Michael felt the world weighing down on him, but with each step it became easier. Black muck began to leak from his skin. It was the same as when he'd first merged with the heart, but this time it didn't hurt a bit.

A quick glance over his shoulder revealed the expedition team in a heated battle with the monsters. He watched as the runes on one soldier's armor finally cracked and gave out. Immediately he was lifted into the air where an invisible force ripped his heart from his chest.

Michael cursed and focused back on his task. Every step he took created improvements in his body, flesh reforging itself in the gauntlet he was undertaking, until eventually he stood before the creature's leg where he immediately swung his warhammer into the god.

The limb was huge, but the emotions he was feeding upon weren't something that could be overlooked, nor the improvements he'd just made to his body.

So when the weapon struck, he wasn't surprised when he felt the bone splinter under the force.

Michael prepared himself for the warhammer's effect to take place, but it never came. Instead he sensed a smugness in the beast as its flesh rapidly reformed itself and its body grew even bigger.

Michael moved to strike it again with the mace when the force being exerted on him suddenly gained new strength as he was thrown roughly fifteen meters from the god.

Michael quickly stood back up and began to rush back towards the beast when his instincts screamed for him to stop.

Something was happening. Small fluctuations in the air gave rise to something greater as space split open between Michael and the god, and a man appeared from the nothingness. His body was covered in runic tattoos, and he was wearing extremely eccentric jewelry, but more importantly he looked extremely similar to Michael.

The man grinned towards him before turning towards the god.

"Gaia, you are in violation of the decrees of Order. No sentient god is allowed to initiate violence against an apostle of Order. I assume you know the consequences of this?"

Michael was somewhat surprised when the deer actually spoke, "Step aside, pest. My quarrel is with the denizens of this world."

"Oh, so you want to do it the hard way do you?"

The man smiled, "Fucking fantastic!"

He began to approach the giant, leaving a trail of burnt footsteps in his path.

"Every one of you gods is the same. Always with the blood and killing. Don't you realize that the times are changing? Your endgame is simply flawed."

Fire began to swirl around the man as he walked.

"Let me put it this way. You're too weak to stand against us. Don't worry though, I don't expect you to actually listen to my advice. You can't teach an old dog new tricks and all that. You get one blood sacrifice done in your name and you're hooked for life, but that's not the order of the world anymore."

He grinned, "We're changing it."

"Fool, your spellcraft will only strengthen me."

"No, it won't. I'm well aware you draw energy from things that are arcane in nature. Any energy you could draw from this was already spent a long time ago."

The world began to grow hotter.

"You wanna know something? The fact that all you gods are the same makes my job so much more enjoyable."

With that a wall of fire descended upon the god and was met with a wall of invisible force.

The man laughed, "You know, I'm sure this world's foundation has been wracking their tiny little heads on how to get rid of you. What was it, sixty deaths to summon you and millions to unsummon? They really lucked out crossing paths with me didn't they."

The flames tried to envelop the deer, but the force they needed to break through telekinetic wall wasn't insignificant. It wasn't the kind of thing that you could simply break through with force, but the man had time, and Michael could feel an unceasing hunger in those flames.

Almost immediately Michael knew who would win this fight, and quickly went to assist the expedition team.

Meanwhile the invisible force surrounding the deer began to wane as the flames ate away at the very force powering it.

"Being of Order, I caution you, this isn't a war your kind can win."

"I don't know, it's been a pretty close fight so far. Besides, we have plenty of promising recruits just like him lined up." The man gestured towards Michael.

"Your god is a fool."

He smiled, "I mean, yeah, who isn't? Now go ahead and burn, I got other stuff to do today."

The god stared down towards the apostle as the flames began to consume it. It didn't make a noise as the fire met its body, nor did it try to run. It knew what the flames were and what they'd done, as well as many of the artifacts the man wore.

There was no way out of this, but upon its death it would simply be put back into the cycle, and it would return so long as somebody supplied the proper amount of sacrifices.

A foolish god's crusade may have killed her, but she wouldn't truly be dead. Not in a way that mattered anyways.

Her body gave way to ash as her soul began to return to the cycle, but something stronger began pulling against her. Something unnatural, something ancient.

She began to panic; uncertainty wasn't something she was accustomed to. The world never changed, and certain laws were irrefutable. That was a certainly she had come to believe given time. So when something this...unnatural, tried to consume her she couldn't help but panic.

A crimson crown was all she could see. It eclipsed the void she found herself in, burning like a star within the darkness. It was the same one the fool who'd broken her foot had worn. It was imposing, it was horrifying, and in the next instant it consumed her soul.