The Jester of Apocalypse

This place sucked.

There wasn’t a bit of precious metal or gem to be found anywhere in the forest. That was the only thing she could deduce after scouting a large area. Sure, the trees were pretty and much more rigid than the fragile twigs she had encountered so far, which was something she had learned the hard way by bumping into one and falling on her ass.

Besides that, there was little else of interest. The forest stretched endlessly in all directions and, as far as she could tell, held nothing of apparent value to her.

She wouldn’t fall for such tricks.

Particular creatures like the nasty undead occasionally used tricks and illusions to hide their valuables.

This must be yet another instance of exactly that. She wouldn’t fall for it. She would unmask wherever the valuables were hidden and exterminate whoever was hiding them.

She didn’t see it coming as a massive beam of rainbow energy slammed into her torso.

***

The Emperor could partly extend his invisibility to others. This didn’t work entirely, as it left a faint, visible outline, and a lot of spirit influence leaked outside. Coupled with Zhaore’s shadow mask, however, it could almost perfectly hide the presence of the five diamond-path cultivators.

Beanna pulled a shimmering, transparent crystal about the size of her head out of a dimension ring. Beanna, coupled with Kingean, poured as much qi as she could into the crystalline artifact. It glowed with white light, and the Emperor and Zhaore began sweating under the stress of trying to mask the energy.

Kingean focused every bit of his spirit on manipulating the qi whirling inside the crystal. Beanna released it, and Kingean managed to keep it afloat with qi manipulation alone. The wild energy slowly morphed and whirled inside the crystalline structure as it spun in a vortex of white death.

Beanna stepped back, focused for a few seconds, and a small ball of green energy appeared in her hand. The plants around them grew a shade greener. The ball began spinning, and it was soon joined by a yellow ball that made the plants dry up.

Luckily, the Emperor and Zhaore didn’t have to put extra energy into containing this move since Beanna could keep it restrained. This didn’t mean that they weren’t reaching their limits.

The foreign spirits containing their stealth spirit powers were stretched far too thin at this point, and they both hoped this better be the last time they had to use these specific spirit powers.

Kingean was covered in sweat, and his body shook.

Beanna trembled slightly as balls of blue, red, orange, pink, purple, and green energy gathered in her palm. They spun a vortex, replicating the same speed and direction of the powers contained within the crystal.

Beanna nodded, and Kingean moved the gem slightly to compensate for the golem’s movements.

Zhaore and the Emperor dropped their stealth powers as Beanna fired a twisting beam of rainbow energy into the floating gem. The gem shattered, sending a shockwave pulverizing the nearby ground and trees. The white energy morphed into the beam fired by Beanna, and they both traveled toward the myth golem almost too fast to follow.

The golem didn’t even have a fraction of a second to react to the incoming attack before it struck her midsection. Beams of different colored lights fired from the point of impact, annihilating the forest surrounding it.

The power concentrated into a tornado of wildly swirling energies, and the golem shrieked.

The Emperor pulled a shield out of his dimension ring, ready to fill in for the role Carfen was meant to play in this plan.

The wild energies suddenly imploded, and the point of impact exploded in a burst of golden light. The wave of power washed over the cultivators, all contributing anything they could to defense. The forest around them was stripped of trees and growth as far as the eye could see, and a plume of smoke rose high enough to touch upon the upper boundaries of the mystical realm.

The emperor put the now bent and partially melted shield back into his dimension ring, panting from the exertion. They watched in trepidation as the smoke dissipated. A massive crater was left behind at the point of impact.

And it stood right in the middle of that crater. At first, they assumed the worst, praying that the golem had received at least some damage from the impact. The heavens responded with the greatest blessing they could have hoped for.

Over half of the golem's torso stood empty, the rest of its body partially melted, filled with holes, cuts, and bends as it stumbled around hopelessly.

Was it possible they had killed it in a single strike?

The golem stumbled around for a few more steps and dropped. They wouldn’t wait for it to get up if it was still alive.

All of them pulled their weapons out of their dimension rings.

Kingean pulled an elegant pristine longsword out of his dimension ring. Zhaore pulled out black sickles on chains, with the chain connecting the two sickles reaching over thirty meters in length, kept aloft in the air behind him by his qi manipulation skills. Beanna pulled a green spear out of her dimension ring, and the Emperor equipped a domineering greatsword.

They charged toward the fallen myth golem without a word, all as one. Before they could even approach it, the emperor spotted sparks of black lightning and yelled.

“Dodge that at all costs!”

The golem lifted an arm, and a massive beam of black lightning passed the cultivators that barely dodged it in time. They watched black sparks vaporize tons of earth as they dissipated in the distance. The black vapor spread faster than they anticipated, and they found themselves blocking the incoming wave of smoke.

When they turned around to continue their assault on the myth golem, it was already standing back up. Its body had lost considerable mass as it had reconstructed its basic shape in a much smaller size. It was still over two meters tall and easily dwarfed all of them in height.

Then, to the utter shock of the cultivators present, it spoke.

“You dare… You dare!” Its voice sounded vaguely female, but it had a distinct metallic whistle. “You filthy flesh golems dare steal so much of my precious!” It twisted back, shakily moving its fingers over its body. “Unforgivable.”

The cultivators did not have enough time to react. She moved with impossible speed and rushed straight at the Emperor. He raised his greatsword to block her strike, and her fist left a visible imprint on his blade as it landed.

He flew back with enough force that he had to resort to digging his feet into the ground to stop himself. Luckily, the others were quick to capitalize on the golem's first move.

Kingean appeared not too far behind it, thrusting his sword at its back. It formed sharp metallic claws from its fingers and swiped at his sword, attempting to shred it. To the golem’s surprise, the sword suddenly reappeared, striking from an entirely different angle.

Kingean thrust his sword at the golem's face. The sword's tip embedded itself a little, but that wasn’t the brunt of the attack. An echo of the impact dissipated over the golem's head, spreading concentric circles around the stab.

The golem reeled back from the impact and didn’t have time to readjust for another attack. Beanna thrust her spear at its back from the other side, landing several solid stabs that left molten metal at the points of impact.

The golem whirled toward her, but all it encountered was empty air. Zhaore passed over Beanna, vanishing her presence and helping her move behind the golem again, where she took several stabs at its back.

The golem screamed and began glowing. It lit up with golden flame and prepared to blow its enemies up. Suddenly, the sky darkened a little. A skeleton wielding a scythe appeared above her and cut through the golden fire.

The golem desperately held onto its energy, but it was useless. It was like the scythe had poked a hole in a barrel, and the liquid drained out. All she could do was helplessly watch as her power dissipated around her.

Beanna stabbed the golem’s head, Kingean slashed at its arm, and Zhaore flicked his sickles like death whips.

Faint golden runes appeared behind the golem, and they quickly lit up until they shone brighter than a star. The Emperor swung at the golem with a true strike. Its body bent and contorted under the force. The knockback flung it away at immense speed, but before it could leave their range of attack, Zhaore’s sickle shot out and hooked onto its body, preventing it from flying far away enough to be given a chance to recover.

Before it could even land on the ground, Beanna shot toward it, rainbow light enveloping her weapon as she thrust her spear right at its torso. The spear pierced through the body of the golem. Beanna pulled her weapon out, and Kingean thrust at it again from behind.

Zhaore pulled the golem’s body back, reeling it in like a fisherman. The other sickle also flung at it and embedded itself in the golem’s body.

The Emperor appeared next to it again, his body shining as the image of the dragon’s descent manifested above his sword.

***

Every strike took pushed her further to her end. All she could do was helplessly flop in the air as she watched these creatures pound away at her body.

How was this possible?

Every one of them was less than a worm in her eyes, but how they used their meager power with perfect coordination left even her helpless. She should have been able to defeat them, but she had no experience fighting like this. The initial blast of energy had cost her too much strength.

And now it felt like it was too late. The world darkened in her eyes as she felt her body fall apart increasingly with each strike.

She recognized the attack that was coming next. This creature had already fought her once, hadn’t it? And hadn’t she killed it already? Could it resurrect itself?

Maybe it was a different creature from its species. Either way, it was irrelevant. She felt her core darkening with every second, already crystalizing into a remnant of itself. One they will likely pluck from her body and consume, the way all monsters treated the cores of the dead.

Perhaps this was why the surface was so barren of powerful creatures, because of sly vermin that used poisonous methods to backstab and ambush.

Just as the tremendous force of the strike was about to crush her body and end her life, everything froze.

She remained suspended in the air, observing as reality halted. She could still see things moving incredibly slowly, but at this speed, it would be hours before the attack could connect.

ҾҾҾҾҾҾҾҾ

ᏋreҾҾåҾҾҾççÞÿҾ

ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ

You dØ not remҾmber, do you?

She couldn’t turn around, yet she could clearly see the being standing behind her. Its body appeared like that of herself but much smaller, and it spoke in a voice similar to hers.

It stepped toward her body and placed an indistinct but gentle hand on her cheek.

You poor children. You had been betrayed, just like me. Yet you do not even remember.

Allow me.

Suddenly, a burst of visions flooded her mind. She saw countless fleshy creatures around her and grey versions of them. No, these were…

She winced in pain as she felt her very spirit split apart. The people around them, her…

Me?

Us?

They melted and screamed as their very essence flowed toward the–

You poor, poor children. You mustn’t forget what had been done to you.

Ever.

And you must not die before you can have vengeance.

ҾҾҾҾҾҾ

***

The dragon’s descent drained the Emperor of over half of his life force as the sword descended. But suddenly, the golem disappeared.

“What!?” The Emperor yelled as his attack missed. The landscape was torn up as the dragon flew across the ground.

Zhaore screamed.

“Careful, your majesty!”

Out of nowhere, the golem appeared behind the Emperor and landed a fist on his back. He groaned as he felt something give.

The Emperor tried regaining his balance, but a kick to his side sent him flying into the distance.

The myth golem stood and faced the other three. Suddenly, from all over her body, tiny tendrils of darkness slithered out and shot toward them. Zhaore and Kingean dodged. Beanna stood, staring at the golem with an intense look in her eye.

All Kingean could do was helplessly watch as the tendrils approached Beanna’s body. His eyes widened in shock as Zhaore disappeared from where he stood and reappeared before Beanna.

He blocked the tendrils of darkness with a veil of shadow, but they tore it apart as they dug deeper toward his body. Zhaore yelled at them to act and use the opportunity to attack. But Beanna didn’t move.

Kingean charged in, praying that his attack would distract the golem and allow the other two to escape. A wall of tendrils flew to meet him as he dodged one after the other.

Zhaore wrestled with the ethereal tentacles as they bit and clawed through his defenses. It had already been a few seconds, and he was struggling with all his might to maintain the wall. What the hell was Beanna doing? He couldn’t resist the urge to look back and check in on her, but what he saw shook him to his core.

Beanna was smiling at him.

The sight made him momentarily hesitate as he watched her raise her arm to wave at him with a cheerful grin.

One of the tendrils broke through the wall of shadow and wrapped itself around his neck. Kingean didn’t see it happen but heard Beanna scream. Zhaore stared at Beanna in disbelief as the shadowy limbs tightened around his throat. She screamed, yet the giddy smile didn’t leave her face for a second.

Kingean turned just in time to see the tendrils snap Zhaore’s neck and tear his body apart.

His attention was pulled back to the fight as one of the tentacles almost got a hold of him.

Beanna pulled a small object from her dimension ring, a white needle the size of her thumb, and subtly stabbed one of the tentacles. The needle dissolved, and the golem suddenly reeled and pulled the dark tendrils back, wrapping them around its body.

Zhaore’s corpse plummeted to the ground.

The Emperor came crawling back, only to witness Zhaores death. Beanna, Kingean, and the Emperor all picked their weapons back up and prepared to continue the fight, but shadowy arms wrapped around the myth golem and pulled it into thin air.

They stared in horror as they watched the golem disappear.

Beanna grabbed Zhaores dead body and wept over it. Kingean rushed to her and pulled her hair.

“You fucking bitch! Why did you freeze like that!? Have you no shame as a cultivator!? Have you no shame as someone who bears the weight of an empire on their shoulders!?” He was interrupted by a punch from the Emperor himself.

Kingean flew back and dropped to the ground. As he shakily stood back up, he stared at the Emperor angrily for the first time.

“You didn’t see it! She is the one who fucked up and cost us the battle!”

“And what the hell will pointing fingers achieve, Kingean!? I thought you knew better than this! The crisis has gotten far worse now, and the last thing we need is a conflict between us!”

“But… But she.” Kingean turned to Beanna. She shook and wailed as she embraced Zhaore’s corpse. He felt his anger vacate his body, “But…” He felt his body shake and tears flow down his cheeks. He walked over to the dead Zhaore and knelt beside him, “You bastard… I’ve never liked you one bit… So why…?”

The Emperor swallowed a healing pill as he observed his subjects. He couldn’t, no, mustn’t show weakness in front of them.

Dark days were coming to this continent if they did not keep it together.

But even with all his strength, wisdom, and countless years of life experience, his arm still trembled a bit.

I wish I could say your sacrifice hadn’t been in vain…