God of Nothing

Rayse looked back at Deceit, whose panting had slowed considerably. All he could think about was destroying this being. Nothing else, not even Iona, mattered at this moment.

"I saw the mess she made down below. Can you still fight?"

Not trusting himself to speak, Rayse simply lowered his stance. Muscles bulging due to Valiant, he was itching to direct all this power to the creature in front of him. Instead, he inhaled deeply from his nostrils, siphoning away some of the shadow that surrounded him for more power. Anything to sustain the layers of magic he had casted upon himself.

"H-how…" He heard Iona say before drifting off.

Deceit's silhouette was expanding at an alarming rate. Rayse could see what– or who– it was changing into, and decided not to wait before it could finish.

"Valiant Charge."

Sonia's gemstone shone brightly from his belt purse, giving him another burst of strength and propelling him forward to the giant blob of

He swiped his spear at the circling shadows, immediately dispersing them. He followed it up with a thrust that could punch a hole through solid steel.

"Hyat!"

Crash! He felt a force bat his blow downwards, destroying the densely packed dirt below. Rayse staggered forward, but managed to pull away before retribution came. He hesitated for a bit. Between Berserk and being in the Valiant state, there's not many beings that are capable of overpowering him in this state. He stepped back as something large came at him from above, narrowly avoiding being crushed into paste.

"Flashfire!" He heard from behind him, and immediately all he could see was white. Deceit was lit ablaze with a fire so hot Rayse felt it from where he stood.

"RrRrRrAHHHHHH!!!!" a voice bellowed from within the flames. He thought he recognized it, but before he could process the thought, he felt himself floating in the air. He stopped himself after a time, bracing himself against the spear that he kept in place. He hung there for a time, looking at the smoldering form that Deceit had taken. It was an unexpected blow; When Lord Vaynard fought Deceit, it shied away from the flames that his sword emitted. Iona's spell was much more powerful than anything the prince could have managed at the time. Whatever this was, it was far more resilient.

The beast's skin glowed from the flames, leaving white hot marks as if it were a piece of charcoal. A grotesque form looked up at him in rage. It's great horns and mismatched limbs left quite an impression no matter how many times he saw them. It was then that Rayse realized what form it was: the herald of Agony, the same form its subordinate took when it spied on the town a few days ago.

"Comet drive." Rayse charged forward, layering yet another spell into his body. He was covered in purple energy as he flew back towards the wall, looking every bit like a purple comet. He crossed the distance in a flash, and was right within striking distance immediately. He aimed for one spot in particular, at a point just above those grotesquely large jaws.

"ROAAAAAR!!" Deceit bellowed once again, completely dispelling the flames. It met Rayse's charge head on, striking with several of its overgrown limbs. This time, Rayse endured, pulling more and more mana from Sonia's heart as he struggled to pierce the monster's tough skin.

"Sputter!" He spat out an alarming amount of blood, showing that despite holding on, the clash had dealt him a significant amount of damage. He ignored it, only focusing on driving his spear through this abomination.

"Valiant Blow!"

He summoned even more of Sonia's power, giving more strength to his attack. He felt himself inch forward despite the fel appendages trying to hold him back. Some of them tried to pull back and rain blows upon him, but that led to Deceit being pushed back even more.

"YOU!!!! WHO ARE YOU!??" It bellowed, a far cry from the smug tone it used not even ten minutes before. A corner of Rayse's mind screamed at him in satisfaction– or was it pain? Rayse didn't care. He just kept going.

Sssk!–

Rayse's vision went dark as he felt the shadows gather in his location now, growing sharp and murderous. It lashed and stabbed at him, wounding him from all angles. He felt his skin getting wet from all the blood that he shed, but he still kept it going. He drew in one long breath.

 "!??" Agony's large gaping mouth was opened in surprise as he started to be pushed back even more fiercely. The shadows it used to attack Rayse with were getting sucked up and being used to fuel its own demise.

"THIEF! STOOOOOOP!!!"

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Deceit had abandoned defense completely now. Fierce blows rained upon Rayse's body even as its large body was tackled off of the wall.

The blows kept coming as they fell, and still Rayse tried to drive the spear ever deeper into its body. He summoned every drop of power he had left, uttering a final spell as they met the ground.

"VALIANT THRUST!"

Slam!

The spear grew large just as it slammed into the ground, its force finally piercing Agony's tough skin. Rayse stood over it, the purple hue of his body starting to wane. He looked at the herald, completely motionless now.

"Looks like I finally got you." He spat. He felt his knees beginning to tremble as the power went away from him. Valiant had already been used up, and the last vestiges of Berserk were all that kept him standing.

Not yet–, he protested, I need to do one last thing…

He staggered into the creature's open mouth, peering into it to see Deceit in its true form, stabbed in place and unable to move.

"Youuuuuu–!" It hissed, trying to pull itself out the spear to no avail. 

"Pathetic." Rayse cursed at the creature while it tried to get out, even as it desperately tried to summon the shadows to get itself out.

"Thieeeeeevesssss! You took my hornssssss and my shadowssssss!"

"Yes, you dumb bitch. You could have killed half of what you did today and it still wasn't a fair trade. Fortunately–" He pulled out a knife. Deceit's sunken eyes widened in fear as they saw it. "I know just what to take to make it fair."

"Nooooooo–!"

Rayse stabbed the Oblivion shiv right into its eye. Deceit thrashed around to try and get at him, and for a second, Rayse even felt Agony's body move. Still, he felt around for the energy inside the metal and pushed it straight into Deceit, rendering it motionless all at once.

"..."

Rayse accelerated the curse to such a rate that it consumed Deceit's mind in an instant. He looked into its empty husk for a moment, relishing in his revenge. Tears welled up in his eyes. Sonia, Miss Luna, he prayed, I hope this is enough.

He climbed out of Agony's mouth with difficulty, as even Berserk's dying embers had left him. He managed to take a few steps before completely collapsing, wondering how far away from the wall he was at. 

"Ahhh…Shit, I can't move…"

He turned to lie on his back, breathing heavily. He felt the ground tremble below him, and his mirth sank a fair bit. Shadows began to loom over him.

"You guys are still around? You've gotta be kidding me." Rayse said as he saw that harbingers had begun to surround him. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate, completely satisfied that he had at least destroyed one of the heralds. He waited for the blow to come, but what came instead was the echo of a spell.

"JUDGEMENT!"

His vision went white even through his eyelids as, with his eyes closed, he felt all hostile forces around him fall to the ground one by one. He waited for the light to subside before opening his eyes, but was mildly surprised that he could still see light in the distance.

"Morning?" He wondered. "Since when was– Oof!"

He doubled over to the side as something fell on his stomach. It wasn't that heavy, but he would have doubled over in pain if a fly landed on him. He groped around for it, and eventually grabbed a hold of it. It was Sonia's heart.

"You left this back there, kid." A familiar voice said. "Almost lost it to the crazy woman bringing down stars all over us."

"Stars? What is– wait. Lost? Why are you here?"

Through tear filled eyes, he saw the familiar boots of his unlikely friend, who was squatting down beside him.

"Didn't you escape? Why come back?" Rayse rolled back on his back as he observed her. This mysterious person has always shown up in unlikely places, and her origins are beginning to be a pressing concern.

"No reason, really…" She tried to play it off, but Rayse just stared. Eventually, she just sighed.

"Okay, one reason." She smiled enigmatically, before sharply turning to the side. A beat later, a chill air swept the battlefield. Face hidden, Rayse heard her click her tongue.

"Tsk. Two reasons, now… Dammit, how in the abyss did you guys manage that?" Lost looked back at him, and for the first time in the time he'd known her, Rayse thought he saw indecisiveness in her eyes.

"And you. Are you insane? You probably won't be able to be a mage anymore after this…"

Rayse simply smiled through the pain."Yeah? But it's worth it if I can take Deceit down. Did you see me, by the way? I immobilized the bitch just like you said, and then–" His vision went blurry, confusing him for a moment. "a-and then– sniff."

He began to sob for some reason, and just like that, he was dripping with tears.

"What a crybaby." Lost sighed. Still, to her credit, she stayed and rubbed his head, just like his dear old friend used to do.