Trapped On A Death World - Chapter 23

I had to keep moving. I’d killed thousands in a bowl and the eviscerated bodies rolled down hill. Gore covered ground thick like mud, wet enough to suck the boots off my feet, and deep enough to swallow me to my knees. It was a rotten soup seasoned with entrails and offal. One misstep could leave me off balance and despite my improved gear and resources.

Fats oozed from the bodies and glided over blood before freezing before the blessed one in front of me. It reminded me of sour cream dolloped atop red chilli. To my nose the mess around me wasn’t dissatisfying.

What did this blessed one that claimed to be a part of Gwen think?

This blessed one was different from the last one. Doppel Gwen hadn’t hesitated to stuff her face.. She was a predatory instinct the hardwired drive of a mind flayer to hunt. Every kill Gwen ever committed to feed herself was pushed by this force. Without Gwen to temper her Doppel Gwen devoured an entire town.

She had no impulse control or was just learning it. That’s what I hoped. If I killed her what would happen to Gwen. For some reason, I thought of a poor small Gwen ripping a piece out of her own head to get rid of her predatory instinct. What did that mean for her ascension? How did it allow her to maintain her levels? Did this Doppel Gwen tell the truth or was it all a lie?

Doppel Gwen lvl35

Rank Pleb

“You should have brought a shield.” Doppel Gwen said. I moved my blade and countered a swing aimed for my wing. My Aura rush was running full blast, I bought the next three levels in the technique and felt as if I’d just rapidly built on a still drying foundation.

My aura erupted and my speed increased to +200%. I got some distance and made use of my longer blade. But when I moved my vision blurred.

Despite how fast I’d become she had a weapon made of air agitated into plasma. For every one of my swings, she could swing five times. My feet were faster and despite our difference in weight, I could move faster. I raised my hand and fired three javelin’s.

In that short exchange the ground completely froze. The fat gliding over blood grasped out over the frozen crimson liquid like a china doll’s hand. It reminded me of a page I saw in the black text.

The javelin’s rotted away at everything they touched. They turned the white and red battle ground black with rot.

Using Dawn was out of the question. It would leave me vulnerable and what if it missed or I couldn’t get out of the blast zone. There was also a chance I’d get caught in it. Then there was my chainsaw it hadn’t done well against plasma. Diabla held up well against the spell, I couldn’t feel any weakness in the blade.

Doppel dispelled her blade and clapped her hands. Seeing an opportunity, I shot across the battlefield sword ready. If this was my chance, I’d take it. The distance vanished between us. I focused only on bringing the edge of my blade to her throat. Then she placed her hand on the ground and the world warped. Tentacles emerged from the corpses and linked together. Ten tentacles fat as hogs snapped up to block my slash.

Blood, bone, and visceral erupted from the prehensile limbs. Yellow eyes opened along my path and I felt a beating vibrate from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. My horns buzzed with the racing rhythm below me. The second the last tentacle was cut Doppel came in for another round. She was too close.

Tiny slashes scarred my chest, legs and stomach followed by an intense pain before a numbing sensation. Not a drop of blood was spilled. Each cut cauterized itself leaving only burned flesh. Two tentacles wrapped around my legs before I could get away. “Wyrm,” I shouted. A burning snake made of molten metal and hungry flames gathered around me. It screeched as it took the hits.

Daibla appeared beside me. “Your faster than her. Its your senses, they can’t keep up with your speed.” I looked down to see a yellow eye watching me from the ground. Tentacles rose up and speared into the coils of the wyrm. While the tentacles fell Doppel stabbed through the coils. I dodged to the side and grabbed her wrist.

Her eyes widened in shock. She couldn’t get out of my grip. “I’ve decided not to save you.” “Wyrm, Wyrm, Wyrm,” three giant snakes appeared from my aura and expanded into large metal scaled snakes. I slashed down and drove my sword into her shoulder.

She screamed and the ground below me went nuts. Tentacles erupted and yellow eyes glowed until they exploded. I revved my chainsaw and she erupted with purple and yellow light. A telekinetic repulse knocked me hard against the frozen ground. I felt something snap in my wing before another force followed up. At the edge of the bowl, I clawed at the ground trying to find my knees.

I found them then leapt up to my feet and swung my sword at the incoming tentacles. Every swipe of my blade sawed through bone, visceral, and bone. She pushed her hand out. Air displaced and I dove to the side. Tentacles to my right shattered to a wall of pressure. Tentacles erupted from the ground and flowed towards me. I jumped up and used one wing to push myself back to the ground. Every slash cut through reused flesh.

Tentacles from the dead flowed into her wound and stitched her back together. My wyrms bit into tentacles and breathed fire on flesh but that wasn’t enough.

I looked over to Diabla. She was covered in soot but otherwise fine. “What’s going on with her. Gwen can’t do this.” I asked.

Sam chimed in from my aura. “It’s the Elder Spawn’s life cycle. They gather the brain matter around them and bear fruit containing seeds. When the fruit drops the Elder Spawn die and everything connected to them die as well. This predatory instinct is the avatar of the Elder Spawn. They are powerful but their lives are short. Those seeds will grow into parasites and go dormant. When enough life gathers here, they’ll infect a new host and restart this process. Mind flayers are a mutation of this parasite. Gwen must have removed this part of her to evolve further.” That was a lot more information than I expected.

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“The AI who monitored my prison was into xenozoology. It often bragged about its vast knowledge.”

“Diabla we need to deny her resources, or this won’t end.”

Ping!

Diabla Skill Tree Infernal

Infused Flames I: +1000 Soul Fire DMG passive.

Cost 100,000

Tender In The Flame I: +1 Soul Fire DMG per enemy slain.

Cost 1m

Scattered Embers I: +1% inflict Soul Burn Status

Cost 10m

Underworld Dragon’s Wrath I: 100,000 SF DMG Active Area effect

Cost 100m

Fire Soul Core I: +100% FS DMG

Cost Fire Soul Elemental core

Diabla: Infused Flames X, Tender in the Flame V, Scattered Embers III, Underworld Dragon’s Wrath I

Blue Flames erupted over Diabla’s blade. I’d barely tapped into the skill tree and I felt its power threatening to overtake me. Diabla’s upgrades drained my BS at a rate not even the mace could match. I held my blade with both hands and stabbed Diabla into the ground. Blue flames erupted across the battlefield. Flesh blackened and burned to ash.

I shot across the battlefield like a bullet. Doppel shot waves of telekinesis across the battlefield. My eyes could barely track the ripples in time to dodge. From side to side, I dodged while she rushed to repair the damage I’d already inflicted. I stabbed forward.

“Why did she reject me?” Doppel asked.

“I think it was because she valued you that she had to reject you. It wouldn’t be a sacrifice if you had no value.” I said.

“Then it was because of you. She cast me out to ascend. She valued you more than me. Why, I knew her first?” The soul flames erupted through her body melting the flesh from her bones.

“If that’s the case then she needs to value herself more.” I said as Doppel died.

Ping!

Quest Completed: Thin Herd IV Kill 500 Zombies 50 Special Zombies 10 Fusion Zombie 1 Blessed Zombie

Rewarded: +223INT

Ping!

Quest Completed: Thin Herd I Kill 1000 to all Zombies 100 Special Zombies 20 Fusion Zombies 2 Blessed Zombies

Rewarded: +100INT

273

AP 20k

Ping!

Level Up

Level Up

Jacob lvl20

HP and AP restored

+60 HP and AP

+6 to all stats

The green light finally crept completely over the mountain of junk. Doppel wasn’t dead, I hadn’t destroyed her true body. What I destroyed was a body she created and piloted. I had to kill her one more time.

I wondered what would I find in the town of Tensmith? Could I kill her one more time?

I flew up high and was met by the many flyers merged with the felsh of other zombies. Sword in hand I began cutting my way across the sky towards the village. Every life taken increased the heat of Diabla’s flames. I pushed Aura rush harder than ever and blitzed my way to the town wall. Atop the wall I stood over the town and under Doppel’s light.

“Will that light help fix your Halo?” I asked.