An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) Read online

  (Letting torpedoes detonate near you is not recommended underwater… or anywhere else)

  “Well then, how about we return these to them?”

  I reach out with Neptune’s power, use the surrounding water to grab hold of the tails of the torpedoes, and slowly turn them around. I release the torpedoes and let them fly—or swim, back to their launchers where they explode on impact with the dome. Done with the shenanigans, I propel myself full speed through the dome.

  As I cross the threshold, switching gears to fly so I don’t fall, I notice that Ao Run’s palace is the same style as the eastern palace, but these crystals are clear in color instead of azure. There are about a dozen military buildings placed on a compound that is about a mile from the palace and about one hundred yards below me. Also beneath me are around a hundred dragons, most armed with unfamiliar assault rifles that remind me of the Steyr AUG and are pointed skyward.

  “I am Feros! You kidnapped my friend Ryuji, and I’m here to take him back!” I announce.

  I consider giving them the chance to surrender, but they’ll just shoot at me anyway, so what’s the point? Instead, I point my left hand downward and start blasting them all with the hydro-electric cannon. I have to say, I’m thankful to Hades for using this on me because I probably wouldn’t have thought to use it otherwise; I’d just be spraying them down and then zapping them. The dragons start firing at me while I hit them; the majority of the bullets miss me, but the few that do hit me don’t get through.

  Since the dragons aren’t submerged, the lightning doesn’t kill them, but it does incapacitate them. I fly down and pick up one of the unfamiliar assault rifles: Chinese made Type 95 that uses 5.8x42mm rounds in a 30-round magazine with a velocity of 3100 ft/s and a fire rate of 650 rounds per minute.

  With the last of the soldiers dealt with, I fly towards the palace. I land in front of the giant door like the one at the other palace and I’m slightly surprised when it opens for me. I enter the large foyer and see that not only does the foyer have thirty foot ceilings, but the large hallway in front of me does as well. I cautiously head down the hallway in front of me, noticing a source of light coming from the only open door down this hallway. Since they obviously want me to go this way, I do so.

  “Welcome to my palace, Feros.” A voice greets as I walk through the door and exit the hallway.

  The room that I enter is enormous; one hundred yards long by one hundred yards wide with the same ceiling height as the hallway. In the room are a total of ninety-four dragons: three dressed in white, blue, or red regalia in the back of the room with a bound Ryuji, and ninety soldiers in front of them that are organized into three different groups and dressed in colors coinciding with the regalia. All of the soldiers appear to be armed with Type 95 assault rifles; however, unlike the soldier dragons I’ve been fighting, these ones have bronze outlines.

  “I believe that you are here for your friend; however, we need him for our war with the tigers. We promise that we will return him when we’re finished.” The dragon in the white regalia calls out with a light accent and a fake smile; since he called it his palace, this must be Ao Run.

  “Right, like you’ll let a black dragon just walk away when you’re all scared shitless of a stupid ass prophecy.” I reply and Ao Run’s smile widens.

  “We will make you a deal: you eradicate the tigers for us, and you leave with your friend. Or, I can always just kill your friend, blame it on the tigers, and get our support that way.” Ao Run offers and I take a step forward.

  “Move and your friend dies!” Ao Run shouts while pulling a Beretta 92 9mm pistol from his white regalia and pressing it to Ryuji’s temple.

  “The same goes for porting!” Ao Run adds.

  I slowly raise my hands into the air while thinking over my options, if there are any I have now that I didn’t when in this exact situation with Addie… then I notice something missing from this scene that was present with Addie.

  The hammer of the Beretta 92 in Ao Run’s hand isn’t back so there is no round in the chamber of that gun.

  I don’t let my face show as I continue thinking over what to do next. Even with my speed, I most likely wouldn’t make it the one hundred yards before someone takes action, which would slow me down and give Ao Run the order for someone else to shoot Ryuji. I can port over there, but then I’d have to deal with fighting my way out while protecting Ryuji. For some reason, my gut instinct is to shoot him myself, kill everyone in the room while they think that their bargaining chip is gone, and then fix the damage to Ryuji after, but there has to be a better way to do this… and since my guns might still have water in them, firing them may result in a ruptured barrel.

  “What is your answer, Feros?” Ao Run asks.

  There’s only one option.

  “You know, I just realized something about your prophecy.” I reply as a prickling sensation takes over my left arm, spreading across my chest and shoulder blade. I feel a mild prickling sensation in my right thigh, but it might just be my imagination.

  “That prophecy never specifies that a black dragon would be the one to destroy the Longwang.” I add as the prickling sensation reaches my face and an enhanced awareness of my surroundings comes to me.

  A Void tendril shoots out of my left hand and heads straight for Ao Run. Ao Run sees it coming and pulls the trigger of the Beretta 92 in his hand, only to have nothing happen. He looks down in confusion at the gun before the tendril finds his face. Ao Run’s head disappears into the Void, leaving a decapitated body behind that starts squirting blood everywhere. The dragons react by shooting at me, and I respond by laughing as Void tendrils mow through the legs of all the white-colored dragons.

  Red and Blue teams seem to realize that the bullets aren’t working so a few of them drop their guns; do they think that will save them? I realize why they dropped their guns at the same time that I realize why this palace has thirty foot ceilings.

  The dragons that dropped their guns start warping into… well, dragons… but the twenty foot tall, Chinese variety, which look like giant, winged-skinks with deer antlers instead of giraffe-like lizards with wings like the European variety, if they actually exist. I start questioning the laws of conservation of mass and how this is happening scientifically… for about three seconds before I’m overcome with joy at the concept of dual-wielding swords against a bunch of giant lizards, in much the same way as a child who discovers Disneyland for the first time is overcome with joy… unless that first time is when Disneyland is being torn down.

  ‘Better make that fire breathing giant lizards!’ I think in a giddy fashion as I flip to the side to avoid a jet of flames.

  While hanging upside-down, I pull the Diamond swords from the sheaths on my back before landing into a crouch. I launch off of the ground, jumping through the air at the neck of the nearest red dragon before scissor slicing through the two foot thickness of his neck with both swords. Blood drenches my clothing as I laugh and continue through the spout of blood coming from the severed neck, using flight to assist my lack of momentum due to the sword force needed for the decapitation.

  I land on the other side of the room, next to the two remaining Longwang and Ryuji.

  ‘Did I say two? I meant one!’ I think as I slice the blue regalia-donned dragon, who is probably Ao Guang, to pieces. The six blue ‘dragon-form’ dragons in the room roar at me, probably for killing their master.

  “Don’t feel bad! YOU’LL ALL BE JOINING HIM SOON!” I shout and laugh maniacally as I rush forward.

  A blue dragon swipes a set of foot-long claws at me when I get close, so I take the time to stop and chop his paw off before sprinting around the length of his fifty foot body to chop off all of his other appendages.

  “There! Now you’re a snake! Hahaha!” I laugh as the dragon roars in pain and starts thrashing around, spraying blood across the floor and splattering his comrades.

  “How about I kill whoever gets covered in blood!? Now there’s a fun game!” I announc
e and hack the head off of a nearby blue dragon in human form.

  Laughing all the while, I sprint around the room and make good on my promise as I slash apart any human-dragons that have blood on them, which is a little difficult to tell because of the red dragon soldiers’ armor. By the time I’m finished, the dragons that are left have warped into their giant lizard form, crowding the room with a surplus of twenty fire-breathing lizards with deer antlers protruding from their skulls. A blast of fire threatens to roast me before I jump out of the way and proceed to decapitate another dragon.

  “You know, I wish that it was the size of the antlers that counts in deer hunting instead of the number of points, because all you fuckers have six points or less! The guys at the lodge will just laugh at me if I bring your pansy-ass antlers in as trophies!” I yell while laughing.

  Jets of fire start erupting around me as I notice the last Longwang getting his shit together and making a break for Ryuji, looking comical with foot long claws where his hands should be.

  “What is this, a lame Mario game? Come on girls! You can do better than this! HERE’S A LITTLE MORE INCENTIVE!” I shout as a Void tendril shoots out of the side of my left arm and hits the red Dragon King when he’s six feet from Ryuji.

  The red dragons roar with the fall of their master while I laugh and slice off the head of another dragon.

  “You know what? I’m kind of bored with this, so I’m just going to end you all now!” I announce as I sheathe both Diamond swords.

  Ten Void tendrils extend out from my left arm at different heights. I swing my arm and tendrils like a wall of giant swords as I walk around the room, slicing all of the dragons into bits with each swing. The giant lizards lie in large strips by the time I’m finished. I walk through the carnage and over to Ryuji’s position.

  “For those of you that are still alive, count yourselves lucky! Spread the word that Feros will not tolerate anyone threatening to hurt his friends!” I announce to the room in case I missed one.

  I bend down next to Ryuji and free him from his bindings. Suddenly, I get the urge to grab his head and slam it repeatedly into the ground. I fight the urge, but it doesn’t recede.

  What’s going on? I’ve never had this urge towards those that are close to me before, if I don’t count what happened with the Greek/Roman pantheon, which I didn’t because I just assumed it was a result of my compromised state caused by Tia’s death.

  (It’s a side effect of the Void. You already had a taste of it five years ago)

  “What do you mean, Airi?”

  (Five years ago, during your fight with Illapa, I introduced the Void into your system. It was a small dose and your blood had to be used to offset the cost, but that’s the reason that Illapa was paralyzed when the silver tendrils were in him. It soon became apparent that you weren’t ready for it as the Void started affecting you with certain sadistic tendencies. Luckily, we got a redo when you died)

  I think back to when all the sadistic tendencies I had started and realize that it was immediately after my fight with Illapa. I thought it was because of my Drive, Bhairava, having merged with my consciousness, mainly because that’s what Airi initially told me.

  “What do you mean ‘we got a redo’?”

  (The Void was only present in your old body, not your aura. When I kept your aura ‘in play’ after you died, I instructed Shiva to create a new vessel for ‘me’. Once Parvati put us into your new body, we had a fresh start. Were it not for that, had you remained in your old body, you would have reached this stage several years ago)

  The incident with Sara and the knife pops up in my mind and I realize what Airi means.

  “So what can I do about it?”

  (My suggestion is to get away from everyone when you get like this)

  “We need to get out of here.” I tell Ryuji in a strained fashion.

  I grab his wrist and port us to the sitting room of the tigers’ base. We land in the sitting room with Cheza, Kanta, Nagi, and Jeremy behind us.

  “Did you succeed? Are the Dragon Kings dead?” Jeremy asks as Ryuji stands up.

  I drop down to my hands and knees, clenching my eyes shut. Part of me is seeing everyone in this room as a target to be destroyed and it’s slowly winning… I just have to hold out for forty more seconds and I can port away from them. A prickling sensation in my right thigh moves upward, accompanied by a burning in my chest that increases the more I resist the urge to kill until it feels like I’ve been swallowing plasma.

  “Cheza… help.” I practically whimper and she’s at my side in a flash.

  Cheza cups my face in her hands and brings my head up to look into her eyes as she cools her hands. Her frozen lips meet mine as she wraps her arms around me and squeezes tightly. The burning in my chest cools down and I feel the Void on my face receding. Once the prickling finally stops, Cheza pulls away from me, looks into my eyes, and gives me a sad smile.

  “Let’s go home.” Cheza whispers and I smile in response.

  “The Dragon Kings are all dead and any dragons left alive at the base know that Feros was responsible. Kanta, can you tell my brother that this situation should be taken care of?” I request.

  “Yes, Lord Cole—I mean, Cole.” Kanta replies.

  “Thanks. Well Ryuji, let’s get you back to Naia.”

  Chapter 19: Offing Oneself is not Acceptable

  “Ryuji? RYUJI!” Naia exclaims in a flurry of tears as she runs to Ryuji when we appear in Jason’s living room. Last I remember, Naia had gone to bed; she must’ve woken up and come down here to watch TV.

  “I’m back.” Ryuji replies and hugs Naia.

  “This is touching and all, but I’m really tired so I’m going to go get some sleep.” I announce and head for the stairs.

  I walk into the bathroom across the hall from the bedroom and step into the shower. The water washes out some of the blood from my clothes before I take them off and scrub myself up. I cinch the towel around my waist after drying off when the bathroom lights suddenly flicker.

  “That was pretty close. I thought I was going to have to send Sydney in to kill Ryuji to kick you into a Void state again, but then you did it all on your own! You need to throw yourself into the Void with reckless abandon.” Loki says in the bathroom mirror.

  “And why should I do that?” I ask.

  “Because I’m really tired of waiting to see what will happen! It’s excruciating waiting for this when you only have a few more nudges to go before you slip in completely! And since I’m so tired of waiting, I’ve come up with a solution!” Loki exclaims.

  “And what is this solution?” I inquire with annoyance because I want to go to bed.

  “Why, it’s the next ‘event’ of course! I’m quite proud of this one. I’m just going to go ahead and warn you that this threat cannot be beaten without using the Void!” Loki explains in an excited fashion.

  “You should look forward to it! By the way, how does it feel to know that you’re responsible for the death of your sister?” Loki asks.

  Anger flares inside me and I lash out at the mirror with my left fist. The mirror breaks, but instead of dividing Loki amongst the broken pieces, Loki is only in one large shard and laughing at my outburst.

  “I’ll give you a little bit of time, but come New Year’s, the game is back on.” Loki says with a broad grin before disappearing.

  (It seems that the years have not been kind to his mental health)

  “Cole!? What’s wrong!?” Cheza asks as she rushes into the bathroom and sees the broken mirror.

  “Loki appeared in the mirror again… taunting me about Tia…” I grimly reply.

  “Come on… let’s go to bed.” Cheza gently says while grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the bathroom.

  Cheza pulls me into the bedroom and shuts the door behind us. I get into the bed while Cheza strips out of her suit before climbing in after me, snuggling into her usual spot against my right side.

  “Cole… you already know, don’t you?
The thing that I’ve been trying to tell you for the past couple of days…? That’s the reason you felt weird, like you did when you fought Venus, at Nagi’s house and with the tigers, wasn’t it?” Cheza thinks and I remain quiet for a few moments as I feel Cheza’s anxiety increase.

  “If it’s a girl… we’re naming her Tia…” I whisper and Cheza squeezes me tightly as a few tears drip down onto my chest.

  “Okay.” Cheza happily replies and we drift off to sleep.

  …

  [December 28th]

  I wake up at noon the following day to find Cheza in the bathroom, puking once again.

  “I’ll be fine, just do me a favor and leave.” Cheza requests so I head downstairs; if she keeps sending me away even now that I know about the pregnancy, I think we’re going to have to have a talk.

  “Hi Uncle Cole!” Alice waves from the couch in the living room when she sees me.

  “Hey sweetie; are you hungry?” I ask as I sit down next to her on the couch.

  “A little.” Alice admits.

  “Did you eat yesterday?” I inquire.

  “No, you weren’t around…” Alice replies.

  “It seems her initial bloodlust is wearing off. She’ll be down to feeding once a week pretty soon.” Reyna tells me as she walks in from the kitchen with Alice’s lunch.

  “What happened to the blood I bottled?” I ask.

  “What blood you bottled?” Reyna replies with an uninflected tone and quickly leaves the room. I guess that answers my question…

  “How about you finish your lunch and if you’re still hungry, you can have some blood?” I suggest.

  “Okay Uncle Cole!” Alice replies and shovels a spoonful of mac and cheese into her mouth. I sit next to her and watch cartoons while she eats her lunch.

  “I’m still hungry, Uncle Cole…” Alice tells me once she’s finished.