Apocalypse Tamer

The System Apocalypse’s last day started like the first: with an ominous message.

The notification woke Basil up while he was still sleeping with Vasi lightly snoring in his arms. The System Screen was bloody red rather than blue. If Basil didn’t know better, he would take it as a deeply ominous sign.

Congratulations, Players of Earth! Thanks to your extraordinary efforts surviving this Incursion, the competition’s final round is within reach! There is now enough experience in this world to select an Overgod!

In preparation for the final Incursion and to save processing power, all low-level areas will be deleted. Individuals hiding among them—yes, we’re talking about you lazy weaklings—will suffer the same fate if they cannot evacuate in time.

Remaining areas will grow closer to make battles easier. With luck, you might select a winner before the Final Incursion!

Basil’s eyes set on one word among many; one that promised death and disaster.

Deleted. Deleted. Deleted.

“That bastard…” Basil leaped out of his bed and quickly summoned his equipment from his inventory. He was dressed for battle in an instant. “Vasi, get up.”

“Basil?” Vasi squinted as she emerged from her slumber. “What’s going on?”

“Trouble.” When was the answer not troubles nowadays?

Basil immediately rushed out of the bedroom while his girlfriend quickly followed in a nightgown. They found the Steamobile’s habitable parts empty. The rest of the team had already exited their vehicle to watch the grim spectacle outside. From Plato to Rosemarine, all eyes looked up to the sky.

“Dog,” Plato whispered, his body tense as a bowstring. “Am I dreaming?”

The first Wallace & Gromit movie had taught Basil that the moon was made of cheese, until the final battle with the Unity disabused him of the notion. He remembered quite vividly pounding Blackcinders’ face into the dirt and then watching her superweapon blow up across the lunar landscape.

His mind must have been playing tricks on him, for the moon’s surface now looked like a slice of swiss cheese.

Although the satellite was partly hidden by the star circuit glowing across the sky, the pitch black holes widening on its surface stood out on their own. Their ravenous darkness absorbed even light. They grew from half a dozen specks until they swallowed lunar craters in their entirety, before joining up and fusing into an ever-expanding sea of darkness.

Within minutes, the full moon had shrunk into a crescent.

“That’s…” Vasi chewed her lower lip, her eyes widening in dread. “That will have consequences.”

“I didn’t do it, Mister,” Rosemarine declared out of the blue. She sounded more disappointed than anything. “It’s not me this time.”

“I know,” Basil replied. Though the scale of the cataclysm gave him pause, it didn’t surprise him much. With the Unity’s forces wiped out after the Blackcinders debacle, the moon was now uninhabited. It was nothing but a drain on the Neurotowers’ resources as far as the System was concerned.

No tide rose up to swallow Athens, nor did any quake shake the city. That alone might have been more terrifying than the moon’s slow disappearance. The System’s laws and logic now pervaded reality to the point it could remove Earth’s billion-years old satellite without affecting anything else.

“Boss,” Bugsy said with a small, worried voice. Basil suddenly noticed that he alone wasn’t looking at the sky, but at the horizon. “What’s in that direction?”

Basil gazed beyond the hills of Athens and the blue hue of the Aegean Sea.

A wall of darkness had risen over the distant horizon.

A veil of shadows deep as a starless night stretched far and wide. It was taller than mountains, faster than a tsunami, more dreadful than a storm. The world was a landscape painting slowly overcome by a tide of spilled ink. Isolated droplets of baleful blackness grew and joined together into a flood of death.

The black hole the team had encountered earlier had been barely large enough to swallow a building. This wall reached the clouds and blanketed entire countries into its dark embrace.

“Turkey,” Basil replied. Bulgaria’s former historical nemesis, and a land with over eighty million inhabitants before the world ended. “It should be Turkey.”

How much of it remained?

“Partner, I keep receiving messages from our Guildmates!” Shellgirl warned, a System screen floating in front of her. “It’s happening everywhere! France, Romania… Bulgaria too!”

Basil’s blood froze in his veins. Earth had been living on life support since the Trimurti System appeared, and Maxwell just pulled the plug.

“The land is moving below our feet!” Bugsy warned. A string of tremors followed to echo his words, too weak to collapse buildings, but strong enough to be noticeable.

“Are we being swallowed by the void too?” Plato asked with a frown. “Should we run?”

“No, I don’t think so…” Bugsy listened to the ground until his enhanced senses came up with an explanation. “The land isn’t being swallowed, it descending.”

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” Vasi guessed. “The message said the habitable space would shrink. If entire pans of the surface disappear–”

“Then the planet itself is shrinking,” Basil guessed grimly. The Earth’s crust made up roughly one percent of its volume. The other ninety-nine percent were superfluous as far as the System was concerned. “Earth is shriveling up like a rotten fruit.”

His thoughts turned to the friends he had left behind in Bordeaux, Limoges, Paris, Shumen, and so many other places. The Bohens had fought tooth and nail to save thousands of lives, sparing them the Apocalypse Force’s rampages and the Unity’s slavery. Now the very ground threatened to collapse beneath their feets.

Has it all been for nothing? Basil’s fists tightened enough to hurt. Was that your plan all along Maxwell? To give us a flicker of hope and then take it all away?

Basil refused to lay down and let all the people he fought to protect perish. There had to be a way to save them all.

The sound of flapping wings echoed above the troupe. “Sir!” The angel Zachariel landed among them, sweat dripping from his feathers. He must have flown halfway across Athens without catching his breath. “Disaster is afoot!”

“Gee, we’ve noticed,” Plato replied dryly. “The giant encroaching void was quite the giveaway!”

“What about Kalki?” Basil asked the angel. It couldn’t be a coincidence that this calamity happened at the same time as when the Bohens’ allies recovered him. “Is he all right?”

“The Avatars have both been safely freed from their prison contraption,” Zachariel confirmed. “In fact, the void started expanding immediately after we secured them both.”

“Fear of missing out, eh?” Shellgirl immediately sneered. “That’s basic marketing.”

“Maxwell is putting a time limit on us,” Vasi guessed, her arms crossing in frustration. “He pushed a gun against our head and asked us to make a choice.”

“It’s working.” Zachariel cleared his throat. “Our esteemed allies asked for an emergency meeting at the Parthenon to discuss the situation and reach a decision.”

Basil didn’t need a memo. The council would decide whether to let the Avatars fuse or not, with all the cosmic consequences that it implied.

Bugsy turned in his direction. “Boss…”

“I know.” The final battle approached fast. Basil could feel it within his bones. “It’s time, Steve.”

The Steamobile let out a cloud of steam. It had been ready since the moment the team stole Zeus’ essence from Ashok’s cold dead hands.

As an animated vehicle, Steve Roadwonders was denied metamorphosis. Basil himself wasn’t sure what would happen once he pressed the essence against his friend’s metal frame. Would Zeus’ spirit reject this new vessel as Pluto’s did before? Would it overwrite Steve’s Perks and force a metamorphosis in violation of the System’s usual rules?

He didn’t have to wait long for answers.

The essence of Zeus flowed into Steve’s body in a wave of lightning. Electricity surged through the machine’s circuits and turbines. The power of thunder itself moved its gears without the need for fuel.

According to myths, Zeus would enter anything and anyone that let him in. A giant car robot was no exception. Or perhaps the situation was so terrible that the god agreed to help in any way he could?

Much like when Steve absorbed the Gearsman Titan’s runecore in Shumen, the change was nearly imperceptible from the outside. The Steamobile showed little hint of having assimilated a god’s power besides the occasional pulses of electricity coursing through its cables.

A true god did not need to showcase its power, for it had nothing to prove.

By absorbing the [Essence of Zeus] through [Improvement], Steve Roadwonders has gained the [Divine Thunderchariot] Passive Perk and the [Aegis of Zeus] Active Perk!

Divine Thunderchariot (Passive): As the Olympians’ thundering chariot, Steve Roadwonders takes half damage from attacks, is immune to [Insta-Death], and absorbs [Lightning] attacks (recovers HP equal to the damage that would have been inflicted). His [Lightning] attacks inflict 50% more damage, pierce through Resistance, and treat Immunity as Resistance.

Aegis of Zeus (Active): [Lightning], [Support], 100 SP. Steve Roadwonders can empower allies with the power of [Lightning]. All allies within fifty meters will inflict 20% additional [Lightning] damage with their weapons piercing through Resistance and benefit from temporary [Lightning] immunity for ten minutes.

Considering the Gehenna Cannon inflicted Lightning damage, Steve might now be powerful enough to blow up more than space stations.

Basil gave one last glance at his team. Every member, big or small, now wielded the power of a deity; or in Vasi's case, something close behind. A year ago, none of them would have expected to see the throne of Overgod within reach.

But here they were.

“Let’s go, Zach,” Basil said. “It’s time.”

Fate had come calling and it would not be denied.

Kalki looked healthy for a man who had been imprisoned for over a month.

Hundreds of people had gathered atop Athens’ acropolis, their boots and feet stomping a marble plaza carved under the shadow of the Parthenon dungeon. The allies that supported the Bohens through so many ordeals were all present, from General Leblanc to Cassandra and Vasi’s father. A group of four armored bodyguards, Neria Elissalde included, surrounded Kalki and a woman whom Basil assumed to be Padma. They would defend them with their lives.

The bard had lost some weight since Basil last met him, true, but he looked confident otherwise. Unlike his body, his divine spirit remained undiminished. The warm smile he offered the Bohens upon seeing them held more power and warmth than all of Brina’s fiery weapons.

“My friends.” Kalki embraced Basil like a brother he hadn’t seen in years. The bodyguards watched the scene without moving, with the exception of Neria Elissalde, who smiled at them. “How good it is to see you again.”

“The feeling is mutual, Kalki.” Basil hugged the bard tightly. “Are you well? Are you hungry? Did they feed you in that sphere of yours?”

Plato chuckled. “Is that the first you ask him? If he wants goblin sauté with harpy sauce?”

“Where?” Rosemarine asked. She salivated in her nymph form; no matter the metamorphosis she went through, she would never forget the taste of a well-prepared goblin steak. “I miss those so much…”

“I wouldn’t say I’ve missed your cooking, Basil, but I’ve longed for friendly nights around the campfire.” Kalki released the Tamer and saluted every member of the team in turn. “And the pleasure of your company.”

Bugsy avoided the avatar’s gaze. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Kalki.”

“For what?” the bard asked.

“We were there when Ashok kidnapped you.” Vasi let out a heavy sigh; she felt just as guilty as Bugsy. “We acted with too much caution, and it gave him the opportunity to abduct you.”

“I, for once, disagree,” Plato replied. “Playing cautiously cost me two lives. Being bold might have increased the tab twofold.”

“Plato is wise, as always,” Kalki replied with a kind smile. “Failure to save another matters less than trying at all, my friends. You have acted for my sake at a great cost to your personal safety. That alone earns you my gratitude.”

Basil finally realized why the bard appeared so strong in spite of his exhaustion. His presence of mind, his inner spirit, and wisdom shone through his flesh. Ashok could shackle his body, but not the inner light within.

“It is the loss of Garud and Shesha I mourn the most,” Kalki said, a sorrowful look on his face. “They fought to the death to protect me.”

Basil’s jaw clenched at his words. He and Plato had buried these two in a mass grave near Shumen, alongside a thousand others. At least he could find their pieces, unlike his mother’s remains.

“Dead is not gone, my dear,” a melodious voice replied. “You will meet them again on the next step of our journey.”

Basil turned his gaze on Kalki’s companion: a petite Indian woman a head shorter than him, dressed in simple, yet colorful wrapped garments. Unlike the bard, she had clearly suffered from imprisonment; her cheeks were creased and gaunt, and her hands were so thin that Basil could see the bones clearly.

And yet… and yet this woman was like a shining jewel nonetheless. The purity of her black eyes, the smoothness of her skin nor her lustrous black hair mattered little. No, this woman’s beauty came from within. Her smile was as warm and comforting as Kalki’s own, and an invisible aura of peace and serenity radiated off her. She felt like a kind soul who would always listen to the pleas of the helpless, who would offer compassion and comfort to all who needed it. Her beauty was not that of a model to whom men prayed out of lust, but the saintly strength of a fire that would soothe your pain in the coldest of winters.

This woman was no mortal for sure.

“Oh, apologies, I forgot to make introductions.” Kalki raised a hand as if to grab the woman’s, only for Neria to reluctantly move between them before they could touch. The bard scowled in dismay, as did his partner, but did not comment on it. “This is my other half, Padma. Padma, these are the adventurers I told you about.”

“Greetings.” The woman offered them a polite reverence. In her spite of her diminished state, her hands moved with the gentle grace of a swan’s wings. “It is my understanding that you guided and protected my dear Kalki in these troubled times.”

“And we did it pro bono,” Shellgirl mused.

Basil cracked a smile, only for a System screen to flash before his eyes. His heart skipped a beat as he feared more bad news, until he realized this screen was blue instead of red.

Main Quest: The Lotus of Love, completed! Your party gained 13,600,000 Bonus EXP (2,266,666 for you) and the [Lotus of Completion] consumable.

Oh right, Basil had almost forgotten this quest. A red lotus materialized in his hand as he read, the reward for a job well done.

Lotus of Completion

Family: Consumable.

Quality: S.

Effect: The Lotus of Completion will turn an individual’s Weak affinity into a Strong one, thus removing the associated elemental weakness. The Lotus of Completion can only be used once, after which it disappears. Cannot be duplicated.

Blessed are those who reach the end of the path, for they have become whole. Said to be blooming on the lap of enlightened sages who have achieved Nirvana, the Lotus of Completion perfects the body and mind like the blacksmith sharpens a sword.

It said something about affinities that it would take a legendary artifact to change one of them.

“Ugh, cannot be duplicated?” Shellgirl complained as she read the item’s description. Considering her special glove, this felt like a personal attack. “Why did they have to patch my new acquisition? It’s not fair!”

“I am glad to make your acquaintance, Miss Padma,” Vasi greeted the female avatar. “I can’t help but notice that you do not look well.”

“I… I feel drained.” Every word coming from her mouth sounded like the fruit of a heroic labor. She reminded Basil of a sick person learning back to speak after having her mouth muzzled for years. “Men fell upon me like wolves the moment I opened my eyes, robbed me of my strength, and then shackled my soul.”

“And now they wish to put us all in the dirt,” Neria Elissalde commented grimly. The wall of darkness had only expanded since. “Is there anything you can do to stop that?”

Kalki nodded curtly. “There is one way.”

He and Padma exchanged a heavy glance. If they were allowed to touch, their union would summon Vishnu and stop the Overgod competition. In theory at least.

“This is uncalled for,” Basil protested. “We have cause to suspect this play right into Maxwell’s hands.”

“I shared the information with the general,” Neria confirmed. “But I’m afraid we don’t have many options left.”

Not when the world is crumbling before our eyes, went unsaid.

Speaking of General Leblanc, the man cleared his throat and began to address the gathered crowd from atop a rock. The scene reminded Basil of these paintings of prophets laying down the law to their flock. The dragonknight stored the lotus in his inventory for later use and listened alongside his team.

“My friends, the hour is dire.” General Leblanc waved a hand at the void expanding across the Aegean Sea. “As you may know, we have recently detected spatial anomalies. These pockets of void, where nothing exists, were no bigger than houses before the third Incursion. This is no longer the case.”

The general was an experienced speaker. In spite of the disaster encroaching upon them, he spoke clearly and cleanly. Too many crisis scenarios had hardened his resolve.

“Three hours ago, right after we unsealed the two Avatars, these black holes began to expand.” Leblanc paused briefly before carrying on, as if he himself doubted his findings. “Since then, Earth has lost the Moon and four percent of its total mass.”

The Trimurti System had taught Basil to respect the power of numbers, but too many statistics had numbed him to such news. Murmurs spread among the assembly nonetheless.

“Four percent?” asked a soldier in the crowd. Basil couldn’t blame him. This disaster sounded too big to be real. “Why isn’t the ground collapsing beneath us?”

“At this point, neither mass nor gravity matters,” Zachariel explained. “The laws of physics are subordinate to the Trimurti System.”

“It’s video game logic,” Neria Elissalde summarized. “If the System says gravity stays the same no matter the area, then the universe obeys.”

General Leblanc carried on with his grim speech. “So far, only dungeons and the areas within their aurora’s range are unaffected by these anomalies. All probabilistic models estimate that the void will consume everything else within forty-eight hours. According to early reports, anyone the void catches up to…”

The military leader scowled. “Disappears.”

The people present exchanged grim looks. Dungeons were monster hotspots, and few were under human control. Even the Bohens’ own Guild only controlled a handful. The Apocalypse Force alone controlled most of them; the Horsemen’s destruction or defection hadn’t changed anything on that front.

Cassandra, who had listened without a word so mind, spoke her mind. “I suppose the Final Incursion is likely to begin as soon as the process completes?”

“It’s a reasonable assumption,” General Leblanc confirmed. “Delaying the Overgod competition’s final round will serve no purpose beyond this point.”

“I will be blunt,” General Leblanc said. “The longer we wait, the more people will die. Few will be able to evacuate to dungeons in time, and fewer will find a shelter among them.”

“Simply evacuate the peasants to Outremonde,” Braniño said with a contemptuous shrug. “The Level Barrier is now so porous that weaklings can come and go as they please.”

“We don’t have the logistics to evacuate everyone,” Neria pointed out.

“Who cares?” the demon king chuckled. “You only need to evacuate those who matter.”

Some sent glares at the demon king, his own daughter included. Basil wasn’t among them. As much as he hated to say so out loud, he did consider evacuating his Guild to Outremonde before that fateful moment. He could hardly judge his future father-in-law on moral grounds.

“We will evacuate those we can, but this will be a fraction of the total body count,” General Leblanc warned. “Additionally, the more time passes, the greater the risk that the likes of the Maleking enter our world and claim the Overgod throne. At which point, everyone still on Earth will probably suffer a gruesome death.”

“We have no idea what other Factions are active elsewhere on the planet,” Neria pointed out. “Our network only extends to Europe and the Maghreb.”

“This is also cause for concern,” Leblanc conceded. “We have no idea what happened in America, Asia, southern Africa, or Oceania. For all we knew they could have fallen under the sway of monsters or bloodthirsty warlords.”

Basil shuddered to imagine what kind of horrors the likes of post-apocalyptic Australia could have spawned. Neria raised a valid point. Since high-level areas and monsters converged for a final battle, its participants were as likely to be brave defenders of the innocents as ambitious warmongers eager to seize the Overgod’s throne. The chances of all these unknown individuals finding common ground were slim to say the least.

All in all, the Earth’s transformation was but the prelude for the carnage to come.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Simeon asked, turning his gaze at Kalki and Padma. “You can stop it all, can you not?”

“I… I believe it will all end once I join Padma.” Kalki nodded sharply, as did his female counterpart. “I can feel this was our purpose.”

Basil emerged from his silence. “I think this is a trap.”

All eyes turned in his direction, much to his astonishment. He still wasn’t used to being a big-shot power player.

“We have gathered information indicating that Maxwell may have planned for the Avatars to fuse,” he explained. “This will serve his ends somehow.”

Cassandra raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t he try to convince you to prevent such an outcome?”

“It could be reverse psychology,” Vasi pointed out wisely. “By forbidding us to do something, Maxwell tricks us into doubling down instead.”

“Why didn’t he force them to fuse themselves then?” Cassandra pointed out. “Why give us the chance to affect the outcome?”

“I don’t know,” Basil admitted. He had to admit that Maxwell’s behavior did confuse him. “But it smells fishy.”

Someone snickered in the crowd, though Basil couldn’t identify them. “Is that your argument? That it smells fishy?”

Basil stood his ground. “Call it instinct or whatever, but this whole situation feels like a trap.”

“There are too many uncertainties,” his girlfriend agreed. “We know Maxwell is trying to reproduce, and that his plan involves something called ‘Dis,’ whatever that means. We’re missing part of the puzzle.”

“Dis, you said…” Braniño touched his chin thoughtfully. “Mmm…”

“Does it ring a bell, Father?” his daughter asked.

The demon king nodded curtly. “I believe it was the name of a System whose creator our previous administrator warred with in ancient times. It was mentioned to my father as a cautionary tale, but he never learned more of it.”

“What else can you tell us?” General Leblanc pushed.

“Nothing,” Braniño replied, much to everyone’s disappointment. “I told you, it was mentioned to my father in passing. I doubt he could tell us anything more.”

“We still haven’t investigated Dismaker Labs’ headquarters in Malta,” Shellgirl pointed out. “Maybe we’ll find more information there?”

“There’s no time for that,” a soldier pointed out. “The planet is dying now.”

“Yeah, but if our plan works Kalki and co can recreate it back from scratch,” Shellgirl replied wisely. “I say we’re jumping the gun on this one. Never buy anything under pressure, ‘cause there’s always a hidden price.”

General Leblanc shook his head. “I have already deployed forces to Malta when the void began to expand.”

Basil frowned. “What did they find?”

“Empty fortresses and a crack in the Level Barrier,” General Leblanc replied with a sour face. “Seers and early readings indicate a phenomenally powerful creature awaits on the other side.”

He did not need to name the likely culprit.

The Maleking was waiting on Earth’s threshold, and the door could open anytime.

“Maxwell vacated his former headquarters and left nothing behind him,” Neria said. “He could be leaving the planet or preparing to do so.”

“Our world is full of gods, not all of them sympathetic to outsiders,” Cassandra warned. “The pathways that connect this planet to ours worries them. They won’t let things progress to the point our world might be threatened by outside infection.”

Simeon squinted at her. “What will they do then?”

“They will send troops.” Cassandra glanced at Kalki. “To cut down the root of the infection.”

“Better be safe than sorry?” Basil clenched his fists in anger. “They would rather destroy our world than risk Maxwell moving on to their own?”

“Yes,” Cassandra replied bluntly. “And no doubt some of you here would do the same in their situation.”

Rosemarine opened her mouth, but swiftly closed it rather than prove her right.

“She has a point,” Shellgirl whispered under her breath. “I can think of someone who wouldn’t hesitate to pull the plug.”

Walter, Basil thought. He didn’t doubt a second that the necromancer would destroy the Earth if it meant safeguarding his home. The only question was whether he would evacuate his friends first. The more we delay our choice, the higher the risks that an outsider will make it for us.

General Leblanc must have thought along the same lines, for he addressed the Avatars among the crowd. “What would you suggest?”

“I’m… I’m not sure,” Kalki admitted. “I want to help you, and I think I have the power to, but my memory remains foggy. I cannot guarantee success.”

“We will do as you desire,” Padma said calmly. “It is your world… your choice.”

“Then let us put the matter to vote,” General Leblanc said. “Everyone present, raise your hand if you are in favor of letting the Avatars fuse now. Those who would rather delay until we figure out an alternative, say nothing.”

Hands rose one after another. Basil’s wasn’t among them, nor were his guildmates’. Braniño did not move an inch, either because he didn’t care or because he wanted to support his daughter’s choice. General Leblanc too shrewdly decided to wait to gather more intel.

But almost all humans present voted yes.

“I am sorry, Sir Bohen.” Simeon raised his hand, reluctantly. “There is too much at stake if we wait.”

“I’m tired.” Neria followed through as well. “Whatever happens can’t be worse than the Earth vanishing.”

Cassandra voted yes as well, as did Zachariel; no doubt they worried more about one of their allies back home jumping the gun and killing the Avatars rather than take the risk of Maxwell’s brood infecting their realm. The soldiers that survived the battle against the Apocalypse Force and Metal Olympus overwhelmingly voted yes as well. They were weary from the constant fights, worried for their families at home, and wanted the end of the world to, well, end. Even if the odds of success were slim, they would take them.

“The ayes have it.” There was no joy in General Leblanc’s tone, only wariness. “The Avatars shall fuse.”

And so the trap’s jaws closed upon them all.