God of Nothing

Rayse forced himself to move. He brandished his shield, standing in front of the shocked Lacey as he faced the newcomer. It ignored him completely, looking down on his ‘children’ in deep sadness. Brandon stood back with the wounded, taking a defensive stance with Commander Carrack by his side.

“Who did this to my children?” It asked again, plunging the cave into an even deeper cold.

His voice sounded muffled and hollow, taking on an artificial quality. It sounded eerily close to a mental transmission, but even stranger was its mouth. It moved out of sync with the words he was hearing, as if the words came out half a beat ahead of his lip flaps.

Rayse dare not answer. Mainly because he didn’t want to set off the stranger, but more importantly, he was busy rousing any remaining mana in his arsenal. He had stood in the presence of a similar being once before, and even everything he had could be insufficient.

His spear hand twitched, making him almost lose his grip. He blinked away the tears welling up in his eyes as he immediately shut off his mana heart. The numbness had completely receded from him now, and with it returned the horrible pain he felt when mana flowed through his mana burnt veins. Lacey, as if sensing his weakness, stepped up and took a battle stance. This close, he could see her trembling even more clearly, making him panic even more; Lacey was out of mana.

It was several tense moments later before the being spoke again, but this time, Rayse couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Come out, Revenant.”

As soon as it said so, steps rang out from out of the corner of the cave. Everyone turned to see the demon king walking towards them.

It was Lost, clad in her battle gear. The sheer black armor was unmistakable as she strode in their midst. She, like the being that called her, hardly gave the humans a sideway glance as she stood side by side with it. Her helmet dissolved into mist as she gave a deep bow.

“I greet you, Lord of Pride.”

The stranger, presumably the second demon king, did not return her bow. Instead, it resumed its questioning as if she had always been there.

“How could you let my children face such a fate? Your presence here would have quelled such–”, It was at this point that this ‘Lord of Pride’ finally looked at them directly, “rabble– from harming them.”

Hmm hmm hmm. A musical laughter rang out. It was far from the friendly chuckle Rayse associated with Lost, but this one carried her feelings of derision quite clearly.

“Superbia,” She said, addressing the being by another name. “Father has called for a ceasefire. The ones involved in this fight had no knowledge of that fact, and the battle had already concluded by the time I had arrived.”

“Then what of my precious heralds? Am I to twiddle my thumbs as they slaughter two of mine?”

“It is not in our place to question His wishes, dear brother.” Lost answered lightly. “The final battle commences a month hence. Father asked us to gather the remaining humans for the final offering. And such–” She held out something small. “– is why I am here.”

He threw the seed onto the ground, where it instantly sprouted into a familiar white tree. It shone with brilliant light, ready for use.

“Come, humans. This way leads to your so-called fortress city, where you have been commanded to gather until the Lord of the Abyss descends.”

Rayse looked back and forth between Lost and the portal, confusion rooting him in place. A ceasefire? What nonsense is this… His thoughts tried to wrap around the concept of demons offering a truce, but he cannot understand it. Seeing as nobody else from his group moved a step, he thought his friends were having similar doubts.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just he that thought something was off. 

“...I cannot agree to this.” Superbia interjected. The caves began to flash with lights, as the massive thing over their heads began releasing sparks. Rayse looked up, astonished to finally see glimpses of the strange object. It was a roiling ball of liquid, similar in look to the skin of the demon in front of him. A shadow of something much smaller could be seen within it in the midst of the flashes, but he had no idea what it was.

In any case, this being’s wrath is beginning to make Lost’s portal more attractive by the second. Rayse felt the temperature drop, belatedly putting his guard up as he realized that one of the flashes of light came from down where they were.

Kkkking!

He felt the hairs on his arms stand on end as he covered his eyes, blinded by the sudden attack. Suddenly, he was in the midst of an inferno, with molten rock blazing a trail from either side of him. He felt Lacey brace against him, hands up to form a wall of air around the two of them. The bright wave of fire and lightning continued to assault them until there was nothing to be seen but smooth, deep trenches where the ground had melted away.

When his vision finally recovered enough, he saw that Lost had actually deflected the attack meant for them. Her armor, hardly damaged by the beating they gave her at the capital, was bright red, superheated like the ground all around them. Even Lost would be reeling from such an attack.

Or maybe not.

“You would disobey our Father?” She growled. She looked legitimately pissed. The red of her armor returned to black obsidian, regaining its perfect, terrifying profile. The Demon King Superbia, whose liquid body crackled with electricity, was not impressed.

“Father hasn’t stirred in millenia. He has not sent any oracles my way as much as I doubt he has sent any to you.”

“Father has claimed them, brother. If you want them, you will have to take this up with Him. ”

“You,” Lost said, finally addressing them.  Surprisingly, she turned to Rayse instead of Carrack. “What is your name?”

Rayse’s mouth was still dry from his third narrow escape from death today, but even he could tell that for whatever reason, Lost had been trying to keep them alive. He decided to play along. He stepped over Lacey, who reluctantly brought down her barrier, and knelt before Lost. Be careful, she transmitted.

“Rayse, as it pleases your majesty.” He uttered solemnly.

“Well, then, Rayse. I see you have been touched by our Father. Can you tell my brother about your encounter?”

He stood up, carefully, disarming himself as he stood before one of the most powerful beings he had ever encountered.

“I greet Lord Superbia, Demon King of Pride.”

“Enough niceties. Present me proof of your claims, or be buried here with the children you slaughtered.” Though his tone was detached, his words were anything but. Rayse got the message pretty quickly. He started to recount his encounter back at the well. The demon stood impassively, not reacting to any details. Sensing his time was limited, Rayse quickly glossed over the siege on Hios, quickly getting to his encounter with Erebos.

“...It was a dark man, trying to come into this world through my master’s dwelling. He called me his, said I belonged to him, and–”

Clap!

“There you have it. Let them go, brother.” Lost interrupted.

Rayse noticed that throughout his recounting, the light on the ground stretched farther and farther. He had seen these trees’ ability to cover dozens of meters at a time, so he had no doubt that his entire squad would be in its range soon enough.

“...If it were as you say, then surely, this child bears His mark.” Superbia insisted. His body crackled with electricity again, causing the hairs on the back of his arms to rise. He figured it would come to this. He remembered what had caused Erebos to claim him in the first place, and it was not something he delighted in doing.

“Rayse. Show him our Father’s favor.” Lost urged, although even now the light circle inched closer and closer to his group. Rayse was committed to trusting her now. Whatever her game was, his death wasn’t a requirement.

He took a deep breath, recalling the moment when even Erebos himself was certain that Rayse was one of them. Bracing himself, he gritted his teeth and uttered a spell.

“Berserk.”

The being’s eyes widened a bit as the spell manifested itself. It was the first show of emotion they had ever seen from the creature. Everyone stood like that in silence, as if admiring the spell that’s destroying Rayse’s body. He felt Lacey lock her fingers in his, and gripped it for support. She didn’t dare speak, but he could feel her eyes on him all the same and appreciated her intent. Finally, Superbia relented.

“Ah. And so you are. Brother, I greet you.” His liquid body turned dark,with none of the electricity even apparent.

“… Brother.” Rayse managed to say. He trembled, acting as nonchalantly as he could as he released the spell. He briefly nodded to Lost, who nodded back. She wore her helm when she defended them, but he imagined her looking pleased. Or not. He didn’t really understand what she thought these days. 

“Now you see the truth in my words.” The area around the group began to light up with the familiar precursor to getting teleported. “Go on, humans. Conclude your affairs in the coming days. Cleanse yourselves for the coming of God, and curry His favor.”

The light grew brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire cave. Rayse gritted his teeth as his vision doubled, fighting the urge to curl up into a ball. Still he stood, staring at the back of the woman who at this point had saved them many times over, wondering what in the world she was thinking.

Splash. Splash. Splash. Splattering sounds filled the cave in the moments before they were transported, ringing the warning bells in Rayse’s mind. 

 “...Which leads us to our next matter.” 

Superbia said.

Rayse turned in surprise as he heard the voice from a completely separate direction. He turned to see a third demon king, identical to the second. And a fourth. And a fifth. Each splattering ball of liquid reformed into a similar copy to the demon king, now surrounding Lost.

“If Father indeed intends to descend, then my vessel is sufficient. Yours is a redundancy I’d wish to eliminate.”

“Like Father, Like son, is it?” Lost scoffed. 

“The honor of becoming His avatar is mine alone.”

More lights erupted from above and all over the cave, making Rayse see virtually nothing else. He felt the spell begin to take them away, but not before he heard her answer.

“I don’t really care, but I have been itching for a fight. Come at me.”

“No!” Rayse shouted, struggling to move even a step towards his friend, but they were already gone.