God of Nothing

Aleph staggered backwards, eyes darting back and forth. The fight was in a deadlock. Oblivion's followers kept their distance, supporting their master from afar. The herald itself didn't seem to be aiming for a decisive strike, but was content to prolong this state. 

He leapt, narrowly avoiding a spray of venom from the insects. He had been on the defensive for a while now, unable to gain any ground, and that strange venom played a large role in why that was. Aleph had sufficient defense against Erosion, but the substance they used was highly corrosive and could even eat away at his equipment, given enough time. What's worse, Oblivion seemed unaffected by it, so Aleph couldn't even count on collateral damage.

Switching tactics, he decided to charge one of the centipedes instead. He threw his spear at the closest one, but as expected, it was able to slither away with ease. Or at least, it tried to.

"Kuaaaaaakk!"

An invisible force pinned it into the ground, suddenly preventing it from moving. Aleph redirected the spearhead to hit the creature straight through the head before recalling the weapon, demon corpse and all.

Not as physically powerful as Agony's, but they're troublesome enough despite it, Aleph noted. He studied the corpse, flicking away the residual venom as he tested its properties. 

This carapace seems quite resilient… And a venom sac? This could be useful later. 

"Grave robbing is beneath you, godling." Oblivion said. It silently observed him, as it beckoned his followers closer to fill in the gap. It suited Aleph just fine. He pulled apart the massive centipede in his hand, separating the human head from the body. The spine came away with the head, and he was left with a carcass on one hand, and the creature's chitin on the other. He sat down in the middle of the field, fashioning some quick knee and arm guards from the material. They only stuck to the cloth thanks to the demon's bodily fluids, but it should last through the battle. The enemies kept staring, eerily still as Aleph pulled out their companion's heart and stowed it away.

After a while, Oblivion grew livid out of nowhere.

"...you." it gasped accusingly. "You're immune to my Erosion?!"

Aleph chuckled. "Were you hoping I would succumb to your paltry curses? Oblivion… such a fitting name for one so naive."

"Rrrrrrraaaaaaah!!!  Enough waiting! Attack, my children!" Oblivion roared, signaling the continuation of the fight.

This was more intense than the 'fight' that came before. The herald charged at him now, attacking with such ferocity that it prevented Aleph from countering. Destruction came with each movement of the giant beast, with the gaps in its attacks being filled in by its followers. It was a seamless coordination, one that left him with no recourse. He tried to hold out, but like Agony, this herald was his superior in terms of power, and with plenty of emissary-class enemies supporting him, Aleph could only prolong the inevitable.

A massive paw found purchase, slashing across Aleph's chest. He crossed his arms together, new arm guards and all, but the attack still left his arms with deep gouges, as the blow itself sent him flying across the plains.

Aleph landed on his back, getting the wind knocked out of his lungs, but that wasn't all; a massive shadow blotted out his view of the moonlit sky, and he could only roll away before Oblivion crushed him under its heel. 

Aleph regained his footing, aiming to grow the distance between them, but the centipedes followed after him. Aleph sent his gauntlets above the battlefield, risking the lessened protection for a decisive attack of his own. The centipedes spat venom at him, instantly closing the gap he had painstakingly gained.

"Gravity Well!" Aleph commanded, causing a wide area in front of him to experience an exponential increase in gravity.

The venom splatted harmlessly into the ground along with the centipedes. wriggled on the ground, rendered immobile by Aleph's spell, but he had no time to finish them off. Oblivion was right on his heels, skirting around the gravity well to strike him from the side. Aleph was prepared though, he met it with knives drawn, attacking with his most powerful spell.

"Night slash!"

Oblivion's claws clashed with the energy that streamed from Aleph's knives, emitting sparks in every direction. Oblivion's massive body was pushed back, blood sprouting forth from where it collided with Aleph's spell. 

He himself wasn't doing very well. Aleph had two spells he was maintaining, and while the mana for gravity well was provided for by his quickly depleting Force Gauntlets, he shouldered Night Slash with his own heart. It put enormous strain on him, but he held on, supremely focused on destroying the herald and its minions.

He felt himself bottoming out, and decided to draw out the mana from the crystals on his suit, pouring everything into the night slash to keep it going.

"RrrrraAAAAAHHHH!" Oblivion loosed a terrible roar, turning its pain and anger into fuel for its magic.

A purple energy emanated from the beast, centering around his claws. It stopped getting pushed back, and eventually managed to extinguish Aleph's night slash. The creature panted, blood oozing from its multitude of wounds as it slumped, unable to move for the time being.

Aleph let him be, focused on the centipedes for the time being. He could still see them trying to wiggle free, 

"Spatial Collapse!" He squeezed out the last of the mana on the gauntlets, sending a final crushing force towards the group. 

Krshhhhhh!

The children of Oblivion were crushed into paste, no longer distinguishable from the rubble aside from the pale green stain they left behind.

Two thuds in the distance confirmed that his gauntlets were completely drained, dropping to the ground like puppets with their strings cut. Even his knives made from emissary horns turned into dust in his hands, completely sucked dry. And so too did Aleph slumped to the ground, completely spent.

"NOWWWWWW!" Oblivion bellowed. Aleph could hardly move, but his eyes swiveled towards the sign of motion. He was in disbelief as a shadow stood up from the mass of emissary paste. It was a centipede, strangely intact unlike his brethren. Or at least, he thought it was.

It slithered towards him, spewing poison of a different sort. Instead of spitting it at him, the dark cloud enveloped the centipede itself. The reason became clear moments later, when the wind blew it away, where a voluptuous woman stood in place of the battered demon.

__________________________________

Rayse observed the battle from afar, as he and Brig struggled to make it in time. They were moving as fast as they could, but the fight took place pretty far from Kyrios. Even the herald looked like a regular sized lion from this distance.

Aleph was struggling. Watching from afar, it was clear to him that his master was preserving his strength. He wasn't fighting with abandon, immediately using his most powerful attacks. Instead, Aleph was uncharacteristically defensive, up until the point that the herald called Oblivion managed to wound him.

"Ooh." Brig winced from beside him.

They were getting close, but from the looks of things, the battle would be decided even before they arrived.

Rayse's blood ran cold. The purple comet shone a deeper, truer shade of power, giving him a burst of speed at the cost of a sizable chunk of his mana pool.

"Hey, wait! Rayse, calm down!" Brig shouted, as he too sped up to catch up.

An even brigher light shone up ahead, as Aleph's most powerful spell clashed with the herald's defenses. It was an awesome display of power from both sides, each exhibiting a force of such magnitude that Rayse could not reproduce on his own.

He was close now, just in time to see their struggles end in a stalemate. Rayse slowed, going around the gravity field that Aleph used, the telltale blue light warning him just before he crossed. He admired the effects of his master's gravity well, even considering adding it to his repertoire of spells, when noticed something amiss.

"...Shit. Brig, we have a problem."

"Huh? Why'd you slow down?" Brig asked, but still stopped beside him just the same.

"Look down there. See that centipede?"

"One of Oblivion's goons? Isn't it almost dead?"

"Its blood is black, and it didn't splatter like the others."

"Black? That can't be right… Wait, that's not blood… No, it can't be. A child of Deceit?"

"A regular shape shifter would have died in there. " Rayse shook his head. "This is far worse."

"No… But there were reports of Deceit showing up at the front as recently as this morning!" 

"NOWWWWWW!" the pair heard Oblivion say from below.

Brig gasped in horror as he watched the centipede crawl out of gravity well's range, cloak itself in a familiar smoke, and emerge with a different form.

Rayse was already preparing a spell. He shut his eyes. His mind raced, searching for any way he could stop her. Oblivion looked out of commission, but Deceit in her current form was more than capable of dealing with his master.

Sunburst? No, I don't have enough mana. Plus, I've never seen Carrack cast it, nor any light attribute spell for that matter… He considered every spell he could think of. He's going to have to wing it.

"Brig, I need you to get down there and get the mister out?"

"Right, but what do we do about her?"

"I'll think of something, so hurry!"

Brig moved impossibly fast, beelining straight to Aleph. Unfortunately, the smoke would take him before Brig could, unless…

Making up his mind, Rayse's eyes split open, speaking the words to the spell he had been cooking up.

"Astral Ray!"

A beam of light erupted from Rayse's shield, showering the woman below in a blinding light.

The effect was immediate. Deceit's voluptuous features immediately shriveled up in the light, returning to that shriveled, woodlike form that he associated with her kind. 

"AIEEEEEEEEEE!" It screeched in his direction, its jagged mouth containing none of the allure of its previous form.

Rayse noticed the stumps on the sides of her head, confirming his suspicion that it was indeed the Herald of Deceit. He pushed the spell even harder, struggling to maintain the light. He even went so far as using the gem on his shield to sustain this makeshift spell.

He watched as Brig snatched Aleph away to safety, mere seconds before Deceit got ahold of him. He sped away close to the ground, evading the tendrils of smoke as Deceit tried to pull them back in. Rayse started backing away, praying his mana pool was enough for the trip back.

The light started to wane, so Rayse decided to stop feeding the spell, instead redirecting the mana into his spear, hoping it lets him return just that much faster.

Rayse turned it off completely, before making a run for it, looking more like a firefly now than a comet. Still, he eventually didn't see any sign of any pursuing him from below, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Oh, how wrong he was. 

A massive shadow appeared above his head, shielding him and a large portion of the ground below from moonlight. Rayse looked up, but all he could see was a massive pair of talons coming right for him.

"Aaaaack!" Rayse screamed as the dragon's claws threatened to crush him, and it was doing its utmost. His vision went white with pain, writhing in its grasp as he felt his bones splintering into his own flesh. Rayse desperately healed himself, knitting his bones back into place before they got crushed into pulp. It kept him alive, but it magnified the pain he felt, entering a vicious cycle of restoration and destruction. After what felt like an eternity, he suddenly felt a sharp, white pain disrupted him. The talons let go of him, and he felt himself falling, unable to move or think. He stopped just short of the ground, feeling someone catch him in their arms.

"Ray, you okay? I got you…" He heard a voice say, but he couldn't see who it was. He didn't need to though, for he knew who it was the second she spoke. The sudden relief he felt pulled him into sleep, knowing that he was safe at last.

"Thanks, Lace..." He muttered with the last of his strength, before drifting off completely.