142 One Against Many

No one answered Yawm since he held us in place. Yawm put his hands behind his back, interlocking his fingers. He walked up to me, "You fought against my words for so long. I failed to break you after months. How you've endured is a feat I've seen in no one else. You should be proud." He turned towards Althea, "This one broke after a few sentences by comparison, as did the bird. To have such weak-willed friends...it does you a disservice, Harbinger. We'll rectify that over time." A chill ran down my spine. He turned back to Ajax, "You know, molding you with the spear might be my greatest mistake. I trusted you as an equal, Ajax. I wanted us to fight alongside each other. Doing so proved impossible. You grew greedy. You wanted more from the spear. You wanted absolute freedom and zero responsibility." Yawm shook his head, "You turned from my greatest friend into one of my most hated enemies. I'll be taking back the spear I integrated with you. I'll mold it with myself this time. Obviously, you don't deserve to wield its power. Giving it to you was like giving a grenade to a child." Yawm spread out his arms, a bitterness leaking into his voice, "I wish I could hear what retorts you have. I truly desire to listen to you and your concerns, but if I release you for even a moment, you will disappear forever. I never wanted this, but you forced my hand. You begged for the spear. You begged on your knees for that power I gave you." Yawm's hands shook with fury, "I give to you, and now you use my gift against me. I will never give again." Yawm turned away, walking up to me, "At least I understand your actions against me. You even gave a half-hearted attempt at rescuing me. It wasn't nearly enough to ensure my survival, but you were protecting yourself. I empathize. Even then..." Yawm sighed, "You refuse to turn your back on Schema. You've plotted against me since you've come. I saw through your lies and deception. You are no master of words. Reasonable attempts mind you, but nowhere near enough." Yawm shook his hands at me, "What we could have been given time...I cringe at the thought of losing your potential. As a warrior, you are tremendous. You mirror my own progress, a being beyond normal sentients. You throw it at that automation's feet. That absurd potential is wasted in his hands." Frustration leaked into his voice, "I warned you. He would use you until you died. You still refused to listen to me. You were meant to be molded into my arbiter, a force against Schema. In the end, you chose a machine over flesh and blood. You chose greed over reason. So be it." At this point, listening to him became infuriating. Hell, I tried saving his ass. He was trying to break my mind the whole time, yet he's acting like I betrayed his ass. We didn't even attack him. Ajax, the newly named mister dumbass, did. Finished speaking with me, Yawm turned towards Hod, "You'll listen over time, unlike the Harbinger. You will make a fine follower, if a bit dull." Yawm grabbed his own chin, "I'm curious about what kind of being you are exactly...I sense you utilize eldritch energy as Althea does, yet it doesn't overwhelm you in the same manner. You lack the same deformation. It's as if your biology stabilizes it better. Intriguing." Yawm tapped his chin, "It's like a potent medicine for you, and when taking too much, it acts like poison. Studying your unique species may give me unique answers. Look forward to it." Hearing that made my stomach sink. Hod was trying to find a safe place for the Eltari. Having his entire race in the hands of a madman...Well, it couldn't feel good. With supreme confidence, Yawm turned back to me. He tilted his head, "In all honesty, you are the creature I'm most curious about. Your resilience disregards all norms and expectations. Since you're useless as a soldier, we'll explore the properties that allow for such tenacity." He shrugged, "The contract we signed only forbid killing one another after all." He turned to Althea, "You know, managing our comradery was an actual struggle, Daniel. It's been some time since I formed a genuine relationship with someone else. Lying and manipulating you proved impossible." Yawm tapped the surface of Althea's barrier, sending a ripple through it, "Every time I felt as though I gained your trust, your doubt resurfaced. Indeed, you embody the word 'stubborn.'" He walked over to me, tapping my barrier as well, "I believed you'd finally understood my reasoning after the incident with the Old Ones. Planting those agents on us both required a great deal of trouble, I assure you." Yawm let his hands flop against his sides, "Even after noticing your sense of gravity and using it against you, you never lost your conviction against me. Once more, I schemed with the contract. Here I imagined you'd summon Ajax for escape." I winced. The whole time I was right. Being right felt pretty damn bad. Yawm raised a single finger, "Once more, my plan fell through. I couldn't tell if you discovered my plan or not. I'll assume you did. Even then, my persistence finally came together with this deception. The results I aimed for finally materialized." At this point, dread rushed through me like jumping into cold water. Yawm raised his fists, "Now I've lost nothing. I regained all four of my followers. You all are much more powerful than my previous subordinates. Each of you is an enormous boon to my research as well. My situation could not be better." My mind raced with options. Torix's mana streams still flowed to me, as did Amara's mana. The legion was coming. With our numbers, maybe we could break Yawm with a war of attrition. Preventing Yawm from obliterating them was the problem. Yawm understood how trivial armies were against him just as we did. He rubbed his hands together, glaring at me, "You, in particular, will prove worthy of my study. The tenacity of your metal flesh will hold together even under...unfavorable circumstances. You also can channel mana into the cipher." Yawm laughed, a bit of his inner madness leaking out, "I'll learn your secrets. I'll learn all of your secrets. Once I have, we'll see what the Tears of Etorhma will do to you. I pray you don't disappoint." It was like Yawm's mask was taken off in full, revealing the demon underneath. He steepled his fingers together in excitement, "Our contract won't let me kill you, but after all, you're no use to me dead. You're far more valuable in other ways." In the distance, a rumbling surged across the ground. The legion was coming, a group of several thousand soldiers. Torix trained, armed, and led them. If Yawm so much as touched them with his magic, they'd perish. If they reached us, we had a chance. Otherwise, Yawm would have his way with us. I winced at the thought. The legion reaching Yawm seemed unlikely. As the legion's thunder sounded louder, Yawm turned towards the source of all the noise. He spread out his arms, "So this would be the other intruders then? Considering the number of them, it must be the group that escaped my grasp because of that pestering lich." Yawm clapped his hands together, sending out a shockwave. "They await another demonstration." Air popped, and the ensuing green aura integrated into Yawm's palm. He clasped it, and our scenery changed. Atop a low lying building, we faced the oncoming legion. Many of them flew across the sky on eldritch, jetpacks, or helicopters. Others raced across the ground on monstrous steeds of all different sizes. Many rode Torix's summons, covering the rough terrain with ease. All the eltari flew with grace. They were doomed at this rate. Yawm raised a hand at the group. Knowing what would come next, I tried moving. As I expected, I couldn't even budge. Trying out option two, I reached out with mana. It affected the inside of the stasis, but it didn't change anything outside it. This prison froze me in place to perfection. Yawm glanced at me, "Trying your magic then? Good luck with your attempts at escape. This power over stasis was a gift from Etorhma. I have no idea the principles it uses to operate, but I do understand what it does. None of you will escape, not even Ajax." I charged my mana, keeping it flowing through me. If Yawm stored a burst of mana in his body, why couldn't I? After a few seconds, the mana saturated my blood, bones, and muscle. A fundamental bloodlust came over me as the mana leaked into my head. I kept holding it in, the pressure growing. As I charged myself, Yawm consolidated mana until it turned crystalline. The visible grain of mana sat on his palm. It looked like an emerald grain of sand. Stored within was an atomic power. In the hands of Yawm, it meant genocide. With a casual air, Yawm hummed a cheery tune while preparing his attack. I could only think of one way to stop him. As the storming feet of Torix's army rushed down nearby streets and over the city, Yawm reared back his hand. Yawm whispered, "It's a shame...Yet another skyline is consumed with fire." As he pushed his hand forward, I used every bit of mana I stored up at the last minute. I even dipped into my health, leaving about 71% of my health remaining. The millions of mana burst, creating a gravity well. I condensed the well, compressing it. At the edge of the emerald barrier, it collapsed. The resulting implosion cracked the green forcefield, launching me forward. I propelled to the front of Yawm's hand as he released his attack. As I appeared in front of him, Yawm's eyes turned wide. He murmured, "What?" His attack destroyed the barrier, erasing me from existence. Everything turned white. No sensation. No thoughts. Nothing. I sat in that peace for a few seconds. As I opened my eyes, Yawm and I laid at the bottom of a massive crater. Around us, several buildings collapsed. Further beyond, three green orbs lodged in the concrete wall of a parking deck. Each of the force fields cracked under the shockwave of Yawm's attack. Even then, none of the others escaped. I sat up. The only reason I survived was because of my Invincibility tree. If I took over 70% of my health, I would live and store the overkill damage. Charged with that overkill damage, I glanced at Yawm. On his chest, bark skin flaked from burns. Half the skin on his face was gone, wooden fibers lying under it. I raised my hands, orienting myself. The cosmic energy in my hands amazed me. Twice already the tree saved my ass. Wielding that otherworldly strength, I stood up. I dashed towards Yawm. As my feet thudded against the ground, he sat up. He rolled his eyes, raising a hand at me. Using the last bit of glow in his chest, he created a green sphere over me. With that, his chest no longer glowed green. It was a dark yellow color, like snot. Yawm grunted, "If you believe I'll fall for that trick once more, you're sadly mistaken." Once more in stasis, I watched Yawm push himself up. He shook his head, shaking off his confusion. He raised a hand to me again, building mana. He sent out another pulse. My legs disintegrated. Yawm turned his arm, destroying my arms after. He lowered his hand, "Let's see you utilize your magic in that state." Yawm turned towards the others in their cracked green shells. He sighed, "I can only imagine what I'd do if Ajax actually escaped. Death would be the least of your worries, I assure you." He raised his palm. After a series of cracks, he placed mana into his hand. Before casting his spell, roots ripped out of the ground. They wrapped around his arm, pulling it downwards. A path of green forcefield formed as his arm moved. Yawm squinted at the roots, "What in Baldowah's name is this...Amara." More roots came out of the ground from the world tree. They smothered Yawm, covering his entire frame. He roared in frustration, tearing the wood apart as it formed around him. "There will be legends told of your suffering, Lost One. You will be remembered." In the distance, other roots wrapped around the cracked orbs. Althea, Hod, and Ajax stood still as the wooden tendrils squeezed down. Fissures spread along the sphere's surface. Amidst the turmoil, I charged my own mana once more. Yawm swatted through the abundance of roots. Along the edge of the crater, the legion arrived. A thick wave of troops ran down the side of the slope towards us. Yawm turned to the oncoming soldiers. He turned towards Ajax and the others. He lifted his hand again, coalescing power. At the same time, he resisted the pull of the roots. Before he finished his spell, four eltari dived down from the sky. They crashed into him, their talons flared. Yawm roared, "So the bird has allies I take it?" He waved his arm, rending an armored eltari apart. Guts and blood splattered out, and Yawm laughed, "Frail. Weak. Like waving away mist." As if squashing bugs, he minced the eltari into slush. Beside Yawm, several vanguards landed from above. Coated in heavy power armor and hydraulics, they charged towards Yawm. With each move of his hand, Yawm killed one after the other. Several of these vanguards landed blows on Yawm. They did no damage whatsoever. He tore them asunder. They bought time, however. The other troops reached us in a massive wave. Yawm fought off roots, diving eltari, and the charging cavalry all at once. It was chaos. Dozens of eldritch were sent flying with each of Yawm's strikes. A machine of war, he broke them apart. When he lifted his hand and tried magic, a flurry of attacks from all sides stopped him. Within minutes, he killed hundreds of soldiers. It gave me the time I needed though. With another gravitational implosion, I cracked the green barrier once more. I launched myself right at Yawm's back. As he turned around, he struck my forcefield off instinct. His attack sent me flying backward. I rolled, crushing soldiers and eldritch alike. After bouncing for a few seconds, a bolt of ice crashed into the sphere. A plume of icy wind crashed over me, wind brushing across my face. I smacked on the ground. I coughed into the dirt, my limbs regenerating. Even in this state, I shivered with stored energy from the Invincible tree. I still contained the dormant power from Yawm's earlier blast. I intended on using it. As I gained my limbs and armor back, I pushed my face up off the ground. A bony hand appeared in front of me. I took it, keeping my pull to a minimum. Torix grunted, "By Schema you're heavy." I lifted up, seeing his smiling, dry face. I grinned, "Damn is it good to see you again." With a curt nod, Torix pointed towards Yawm, "You as well, disciple. There's no time for greetings, however. Ready yourself. This is our last attempt at slaying him." I turned towards Yawm. I spit my words a bit, "I need an opening. I can injure him." Torix nodded, opening a portal. From it, several ogres came out. Covered in scales and holding clubs of stone, they charged at Yawm. Torix opened another portal, "I'm going to free the others. Show the eater of worlds why you herald calamity." I shook my head and banged my fists together. With hundreds of legion members running past me, I dived into the ground. I drilled for a few seconds. With a detonation of my runes, I exploded out of the earth. Yawm turned towards me, dragging his fist behind him. He swung it overhead. It collided with my own fist, unleashing a shockwave. In a thirty foot radius, soldiers and monsters alike flung aside like sand in a wind tunnel. My own bones groaned with effort, but they somehow held. Yawm's own bones somehow didn't. His fist cracked under pressure, my armor more durable than his skin. His upper arm bone split, stabbing up through his shoulder. He stayed standing, but the arm went limp after taking on the attack. It flopped against his side as useless as Kessiah in a fight. Alright, that was a low blow. Anyways, I still took damage. Even though my own arm held up under the punishment, my body absorbed the shock of it. I'd never withstood the brunt of an impact like that. It rocked me to my core, fractures going through my bones and skin. Blood exploded from my mouth, my eyes bleeding. My nose turned stuffy in an instant, filling up with god knows what. My knees wobbled as I took two steps back from the point of impact. Yawm boomed out a warcry, swatting his broken arm at me like a club. The broken limb flashed before my eyes. I blacked out. I woke up, flopping into the side of a skyscraper like a ragdoll. Glass shattered. Concrete splintered. Dust from crushed stone erupted. Dazed and confused. I pushed myself out of the side of the building. I wobbled on my feet, running right back at Yawm. I may not be as strong as he was, but he wouldn't catch me giving in. I wanted to give him a demonstration on being relentless. I reached the fight once more. Yawm didn't seem as eager for the battle. He glanced around, an inkling of panic showing on his face. He found Torix floating on a ball of black mana. The lich cast scorching, elemental magic onto the sphere holding Althea. The orb was more crevice then forcefield at this point. Yawm raised his hand, but once more a swarm of soldiers covered him from head to toe. Eltari jabbed their talons into him. Vanguards struck out with hydraulic fists. Yawm shouted in annoyance, "I own goals that I must accomplish. Begone." He lifted his fist, slamming it into the dirt. Another explosion sent soldiers outwards. With the second or two of an opening, he lifted up his hand at Torix. Before he could finish, I slammed into him like a speeding bullet. Yawm fell to the ground, rolling from the crash. From inside my armor, I pulled out the tip of Brim's spear that I stole earlier. Using the arcane blade, I stabbed it into the back of Yawm's neck. He lifted me up. I gouged the edge of the knife deeper as he did. Yawm shook his back, shaking me like a tire swing in a hurricane. Using gravity, my grip, and molded armor, I held on by the breadth of a hair. I reared my fist back, punching Yawm three or four times in the face. Yawm looked around unfazed, growling out his words, "I'm going to tear your insides out and wear that skin of yours." He grabbed my head with his right arm, the only one still functioning. He pulled me from his back, pieces of my armor snapping. He slammed me into the ground. Tectonic impacts rippled outwards, the pavement launching out like shrapnel. Using me as a club, he swung me at approaching soldiers. They splat against me, soft as playdough. I grabbed Yawm's arm, digging my armor into his flesh. I concentrated Event Horizon over his arm, enhancing the effect. Yawm spun me around over his head then tossed me away again with a loud roar. I crashed through two skyscrapers, landing hundreds of meters away. Facing the sky, I looked up at my own foot. It bent the wrong way, along with one of my elbows. Using my armor and gravity streams, I snapped my bones back into place. With tendrils of my armor and gravity wells, I hobbled back onto my feet. I created pillars of armor over my leg and arm like makeshift splints. Ishuffled over chunks of broken rock and concrete towards Yawm. I raised a hand, using a bit of my mana regen. I pulled myself along, speeding up as my bones healed. Once fixed, I dove into the ground, racing back towards Yawm. Once I got there, Yawm busied himself with harpoons from Althea, magic from Torix, roots, and soldiers. When Torix and Althea reloaded or recharged, soldiers dog piled Yawm. The world tree helped amplify the effect of both. Yawm's composure was cracking under the onslaught. With his usual nobility gone, he swung out in desperation. He looked for opportunities to strike back with his magic. The recharge rate of his magic prevented him from doing so. With a vicious grin, I dashed into the fray. As I did, Yawm turned towards me. His eyes widened, and his shoulders slumped, "How do you still stand?" When I reached him, he swung out with his arm. I jerked myself from his blow using a well of gravity. He charged towards me, but I dove into the ground, evading his grasp. I lifted myself back up out of the landscape, striking at his back. He backhanded me, his hand landing on my right arm blocking my side. He crushed the arm, cracking my ribs like twigs. I shot into the sloped side of the crater he fought in. As the dust settled, I pushed myself from the pile of broken rock and dirt. I stumbled on my right leg, my left one broken. I pulled my left leg back into place. I hobbled forward with my right arm looking like a slinky. Yawm stood gawking at me in amazement, "What are you?" I didn't answer. I was too busy putting one shaky foot in front of the other one. It felt like running with someone else's legs. No one had time for me to wait until it was easy to move. We had a world eater to kill. I wobbled back and forth, dashing downhill at Yawm. Above me, Althea and Torix rained down hell on Hod's green sphere. Soldiers drowned Yawm when he tried stopping them. As I reached Yawm again, Hod's sphere shattered. Hod dove down like an eagle, his shade form condensing over him. Hod landed on the shadow of the building. Without any noise, he fell into the shade like a still pool of black water. From behind Yawm, he rose. I tackled Yawm's front while Hod struck his back. Yawm swatted a hand out at Hod, but Hod disintegrated into Yawm's shadow. Taking advantage, I swiveled on my heels, launching a massive uppercut at Yawm's gut. With gravity aiding my power, it left cracks in Yawm's bark skin. Yawm swung his fist over his head, slamming his knuckles into my forehead. My neck broke. My teeth shattered. I crushed into the ground. From behind me, Hod jumped out of my shadow and sliced at Yawm's arm. His claws left three umbral streaks of fire. Yawm swatted his hand at Hod, but I jerked the bird from Yawm's grasp with gravity. Two bolts from Althea stabbed into Yawm's back while he was distracted. A fireball detonated on him right after. I laid there, crushed beneath Yawm. Bruning from two different kinds of fires, Yawm no longer panicked. Yawm turned towards me, lifting his foot. He stomped my chest, my torso caving in. Yawm lifted his foot again, harpoons jamming into his neck and head. Yawm absorbed the damage and continued stomping. The crater we fought in deepened with each strike, shockwaves rippling out. Hod appeared behind Yawm again, ripping at his legs. It didn't matter. Yawm ignored the incoming damage, stomping me over and over. After ten stomps, my health dwindled. I lifted my arms, blocking another two stomps. He broke my arms under his heels. This must be what Korga felt like. As my health reached 10%, my body was mush. I gurgled, "What about the contract Yawm?" Yawm wheezed in between stomps, "I'll. Endure. The. Consequences." Yawm lifted his foot for a final time. Before he lowered his heel, I remembered the arcane blade lodged in his neck. With a burst of gravity, I shifted the edge. It cut through Yawm's neck. At the same time, I moved it into the trajectory of one of Althea's bolts. The harpoon smashed into the arcane blade, slicing through 80% of Yawm's neck. A fountain of yellow gunk spurted from his neck. Yawm stumbled sideways, grabbing at his throat. He was trying to hold in his blood. It was far too late. Yawm fell onto his side. Hod picked up the arcane blade, jumping on top of Yawm. He sliced at him, stabbing with brutality. Althea fired bolts into Yawm's head. Yawm's arms twitched as he struggled, weakened by blood loss. He choked out, "I...I can't die...There is so....so much more...I need to do...Schema...eldritch..." Yawm's hand quivered, "Mother...father...no more..." Yawm's hand thumped against the ground. When everyone ceased the slaughter, Yawm was nothing but mush. I splinted my neck with my armor, letting me heal. As sat up, I turned towards the others. A deafening silence passed over the battlefield. We all looked at Yawm, disbelief spread over everyone. It didn't feel real. Everyone was thinking the same thing. He'd come back at any second now. After the silence stretched, it was apparent. A series of notifications appeared in my inbox. Yawm was gone. We killed the worldeater. We slayed Yawm of Flesh.