Chapter 1200 – The Emperor Strikes Back 2 – vs Jevaine the Golden
“AVOID ENGAGEMENT AT ALL COSTS!” John screamed at the top of his lungs. His voice overpowered Jevaine’s laughter – which ceased the moment the last word left his mouth.
The green mist oozed out of every tiny gap in her exterior, with the sole exception of her eyes. Those were lights of gold, brimming with blinding radiance and creating rising trails of light that went several metres high. When Jevaine dropped slightly down, the shift of her head rippled up through the rising mist.
John would have loved to make a joke about how much like a Dark Souls boss she looked, had she not charged at him, Eliana and Beatrice at supersonic speed.
Two and a half metres of radiance, necromancy and sheer power were about to slam into John. He bought time with Magus Step and Skitterstep. The initial displacement did barely anything, Jevaine course correcting faster than he could think. Her Agility outclassed even his Wisdom by more than a thousand. That was the smallest gap between them.
The only reason why John was able to dodge the massive fist of the overpowered Ironborn was because he was doing the mental equivalent of input spamming. He had manifested after Magus Step and already decided to teleport again instantly. Even with that, he saw her fist in front of his eyes. Only the invisibility following a Skitterstep allowed him a brief respite.
All of that happened in the same time it took for Eliana to hastily speak a single phrase.
“To achieve what it takes, I will immolate myself – Bloodburn!”
With a screeching akin to synthesized violins, the butterfly wings of crystalized and burning sanguine burst through the back of Eliana’s robe. She dashed forward, her martial arts aura enveloping her. With both aura and Bloodburn active, her speed overcame even that of Jevaine. John wanted to warn the failed goddess that this was the only thing she had on her. The speed at which events unfolded didn’t let him get out a single world.
Jevaine twisted around, creating a gust of wind with her movement that blew John and Beatrice backwards. Nigh untraceable even by his eyes, the fists of the two collided. A second shockwave, even stronger, almost broke his line of sight. Almost, he wished it did. The imperfect union between Eliza and Thana created a waxing and waning of powers, manifested with violent intensity. Like an overripe tomato splattering, the arm of the discordant woman burst open along its length. Crimson burst out in every direction, bones and flesh were crushed into a pulp. The attack had such an intensity that Eliana wasn’t even thrown back. Anyone of a lesser power would just have wondered why her arm suddenly ceased to exist.
The wings of Bloodburn flared up, a clear sign of a shift in dominant consciousness, and Eliana screamed like a wild animal. Pure hatred guided her fist, bone oozed out of arm and shaped into an exoskeleton, then her reinforced knuckles slammed into the golden exterior. Jevaine was shoved to the side about a metre. An imprint of the failed goddess’ knuckles could be seen on the armour.
That was all.
Jevaine raised her hands, creating a sphere of raw arcane energy above her hand and throwing it at Eliana. It was the tiniest of gaps in the fight, just big enough to get one word out. “DODGE!”
Debatably because of his demand, Eliana used a martial art to disappear from the impact site. John was ripped back, her hand suddenly on his collar. She pulled him in a protective embrace, just as the explosion of the spell burst outwards. The arcane lighting danced over them, scorched Eliana’s skin and diminished the Gamer’s mana reserves. Dropping Particle Skin in this environment was not an option.
‘John, this is really fucking bad!’ Momo shouted into his mind. She served as his bird’s eye view and even she felt the shockwave of the casually conjured arcane spell. Violet and green hung in the air, resembling the trails of impurities on the surface of polluted rivers and the aftermath of an Arcana Strike.
‘W-we got this! Run!’ Gnome threw her voice in there.
Eliana landed with John in her arms and asked a simple question. “Possible?”
“No,” he answered swiftly and heard the goddess of genocide growl. With a wolfish grunt, she turned around, carrying John with her. Ripping the golden egg from his belt, the Gamer tossed it in the general direction of the fight. Stirwin manifested in his adult form. He was large, yet not even at the level of power at which he could have made a decisive difference.
“DEATH!” Eliana screamed and dropped John. Even if he could have stopped her, the Gamer wasn’t certain that he should have. They were almost literally against the wall now.
If he reinforced her, perhaps they could have drawn this out long enough. That hope was swiftly extinguished as Jevaine barrelled down on them, the rest of the Ironborn in tow. The first rays of the new day fell upon them and brought only despair.
‘Shit... shit, shit, shit!’ John thought, knowing that there was only one option now. Not even Eliana could hold both Jevaine and Arkeidos at bay. At best she would get grabbed and Reetha would emerge from wherever she was hiding. At worst, they would all die. Neither were options John could afford. ‘FUCK!’ he cursed inside his mind as he pulled the final lifeline.
Everything around them disappeared. Arkeidos, his approaching horde, Jevaine, the ravaged landscape, all of it snapped away in an instant. The levels of elevation between all of them were equalized. Eliana leapt at nothing, Beatrice dropped down, Aclysia appeared nearby, as did Nia and the entirety of the volunteer squad.
“What happened?” Ted asked, understandably confused.
John sat down, one leg extended, the other angled and serving as the rest of his arm. “I used Escape Rope,” he answered and bit the tip of his thumb. “He got me... FUCK!” He took a deep breath and grimly stared ahead. It took all he had to not break out into an unproductive tantrum. Everyone around was silent.
This was an utter loss.
They had prevented all of Arkeidos’ goals. The sacrifice of his armour was in vain, all of the invasion forces had gotten out, the curse was maintained, and the only losses were those that could be recuperated with mana and time. It was entirely John’s choice when he re-engaged with the Kingdom and he certainly would not do it before the Escape Rope cooldown was back up.
All he had lost was Claire.
Which made it an absolute loss.
“Arkeidos laid a plan and he executed it well,” the Gamer finally gave Ted a more satisfying answer. “We tried to find a path to victory, but circumstances wouldn’t allow it.” He rose to his feet, his mind uncharacteristically quiet. “The volunteer operation is on halt for at least three days. Return home.”
“Yes, sir,” Ted spoke and gave a signal with his head to his soldiers. They headed towards the door that separated the inside of the I.D. Gate from the outside. When the door snapped shut behind them, he let go.
It wasn’t anger that bubbled to the surface first. That had been the immediate emotion, the reaction to the defeat, to his injured pride. Now the full realization of what had happened hit him and it made him feel empty inside. He was too tired to even cry. “I promised her that I would show her a good world,” the Gamer’s words sounded hollow. “Then I left her to die alone.”
“Come here, tiger.” Rave walked up to him and embraced him tightly. Aclysia hurried over to embrace him as well. All of the harem congregated around him, except for Eliana. They smelled like dirt, dust and iron. The misery of the Iron Domain had seeped into all of them.
‘At least we can take a proper bath,’ he tried to cheer himself up in the tiniest of ways. It failed totally, to the backdrop of his failure. His mind was busy re-examining the chain of decisions that he had taken. What could he have done to prevent this outcome? Nothing that he could have decided without the benefit of hindsight. Arkeidos had made the necessary sacrifice to secure victory in this instance.
The intellect of the man certainly equalled his cruelty.
John’s eyes went wide. “There’s a chance...” he mumbled.