Chapter 45: Ashes To Ashes, pt. 2

Excerpts from Brief History of Xoth:

Dragon War

This war is considered one of the biggest events in Xothican history. The Dragon race from the continent of Tanin announced their intention to enslave the other races of Xoth. The races fought back but, due to the Dragons' high intelligence and power, they stood little chance of victory. It has been claimed that the Dragons' actions were so brutal during the war, that the goddess Kara abandoned them.

In the darkest hour of the war, Priests of Kara begged the goddess for an end to the war. As if the goddess answered their prayers, a battalion of soldiers appeared and quickly assisted the fight against the Dragons. These soldiers came to be known as the Crimson Warriors. They received this name due to all of their attire being red in colour. No Xothican knows where these soldiers came from and the Warriors and Kara refused to answer.

These Warriors provided new weapons and tactics that helped Xoth to turn the tides against the Dragon race. After ten years, the Crimson Warriors helped push the Dragons back onto Tanin. This long war did have its consequences. The Crimson Warriors lost many of their battalion, going from hundreds in number to a few dozen.

With the war at its end, the Crimson Warriors made one last push to wipe out the Dragon race and went after them on Tanin. They were never heard from again. Considering that no one has ever seen a Dragon since their assault, most believe that they died completing their mission. Due to their sacrifice in fighting for a people that wasn't their own, monuments were built of the Crimson Warriors. These monuments can be found all over Xoth.

Creation Of The SYSTEM

Shortly after the end of the Dragon War, the goddess Kara announced that no race will ever again hold more power than any other. The SYSTEM came into being that gave everyone, from the lowest farmer to the richest noble, the equal potential to gain strength and power. While conflict still arose on Xoth, the SYSTEM helped keep a relative balance to the world. At least until the appearance of Hastur.

The Hastur Coup

No one knows where Hastur and his supporters came from. All that is known is that in the year 855 Fourth Era, Hastur appeared in Emperor Namtara's throne room and killed him where he sat. The guards attempted to apprehend him, but they were quickly struck down. Hastur wasted little time in taking control of Almawt through overwhelming force and terror.

The only reason why he hasn't used his abilities to single-handy extend his reach around the planet, is due to the fact that he or his followers seems to lose their power the more they use them. It's due to this weakness why Soul Axes are desperately sought after.

Excerpts from Thunder's Recommendations Report

->Send academics and scientists to magic universities to learn about the principles of magic

Reason: Magic universities and colleges are a treasure trove of knowledge of magic and magical items. According to my Xothican companion Pyre, the magic university in Skysign has the largest library of books on Xoth. It is estimated to contained at least four thousand books about magic spells, history and theories.

Study at these academies will ensure that Humanity will not start its study of magic on a blank slate. With Humanity's new perspective, that we earned through science and technological development, we may be able to come up with a whole host of new uses for magic.

->Shelter needed for scientist and other important figures

Reason: There isn't enough time nor resources to build shelter for every member of the Human race. Our greatest scientific and diplomatic minds should be housed inside bunkers to ensure their survival. These bunkers should be located in a an area that is, both, on land that theoretically overlaps Xothican land, and near, or next to, a military base or outpost. We cannot allow this knowledge and experience to vanish especially when Humanity needs it now more than ever.

VVVVVV

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean

Unknown to Humanity, there is a small island in the Pacific. It was spawned by a volcano that broke the water surface and quickly went dormant. The blackened ground was covered in ferns and its surface was barely larger than several acres.

Mordiggian scanned the surface of the island and then the horizon in each direction. He saw distant storm clouds everywhere he looked. Mordiggian held out his right hand a small light came forth from it. In his hand were half a dozen Soul Axes. He tilted his hand slightly to allow the Axes to fall onto the ground. As soon as they landed, Mordiggian began chanting in a language known only to a few.

"Bug mnahn' orr'ee fm'latgh ng Y' throd ymg' ulnah l' mggoka ye'bthnk ng ahehye Xoth l' shugg llll ya uh'eog Hastur."

The Soul Axes glowed brightly before they started to change their form. They fused together and grew upwards. The structure of light grew several stories in height before the light faded to reveal a black obelisk.

Mordiggian approached the obelisk and tapped his finger against it. A wave of blue energy came out as a wave from the point he tapped. As the energy went across the structure, blue glyphs appeared as carvings. It took a few seconds before the whole obelisk was covered in alien writing.

Mordiggian looked up at the sky and watched clouds form above the island.

"H' uaaah."

VVVVVV

Thunder rushed down the corridors of the facility. Red flashing lights lit his way. He heard gunfire and explosions come from outside as he ran. Thunder saw evidence of conflict in the corridors. There were bullets holes and splattered blood. Of course there were bodies. The soldiers were caught completely off guard.

As Thunder ran, he saw a Phoenix soldier. The man was a level one soldier and he looked like he was heading towards the entrance of the facility to see what was happening outside. Thunder quietly raised his sword for a sneak attack.

With Pyre's Invisibility spell in place, Thunder would stay invisible until either the time ran out or his enemies became aware of his presence. This meant he could kill an enemy and stay invisible so long as he does it in one strike.

Thunder swung his sword and quickly decapitated the soldier. His cloak of invisibility remained active and Thunder returned to sprinting down the corridors. While running, Thunder saw signs that gave directions where major sections of the facility were located. The one he paid attention to was the sign that said "LAUNCH CONTROL ROOM".

It took minutes before he reached his destination. The corridor connected to security doors. The reinforced metal doors were blown outwards from something powerful punching through it. Thunder quietly walked through the doorway and found himself in an enormous and well-lit storage room.

From the writing on the walls, this room was used at times to store ICBM missiles. On the right side of the room was a large reinforced steel doorways. It was large enough for a large transporter vehicle to go through. Across the storage area was the launch control room. The security door, like the previous door, was torn open.

Thunder saw Rika inside the room working away at the computer terminal with her back turned to him. He drew his sword and readied for a sneak attack on Rika.

Thunder teleported right behind her and swung his sword as hard as he could while aiming for Darma's neck. He was surprised to see his blade go right through her neck with no resistance. Rika's head flew upwards before it turned black along with her body. The shadowy shape dissipated in front of him.

'Oh, fuck it was an illusion,' Thunder internally groaned.

"Shadow Puppet spell," Rika announced from an unknown location inside the storage area. "Did you honestly think it would be that easy?"

Several gunshots went off in the storage area. After each shot, a light went out. Eventually the storage area was dosed in darkness.

"I am surprised that the UNDF and you are here. I expected Russian soldiers to make a counter attack, not you. Though I do appreciate the chance to tear your throat out before the world burns. Tell me. How did you find out about this operation?"

"Does it really matter? You know how this will end. I would rather just get to the fighting than waste time listening to your crazy rants." While he talked, Thunder pulled out his grenade launcher from his Inventory.

"Should you really be in such a hurry to die? You barely survived our last fight. I have only grown stronger since then."

"You had that ambush that helped you out. Won't help you this time. I can already see the shared experience windows right now. Your people are getting slaughtered." Thunder didn't actually see any windows pop up. He was bluffing to get under Rika's skin. "You're alone here."

Thunder aimed with his grenade launcher and fired off several rounds. The red glowing red projectiles flew forward which illuminated the storage area.

"Flares?" Rika yelled.

"Goddamn right they're flares," Thunder said as he walked into the storage area.

Rika fell from a shadow she hid in on the ceiling and hit the ground with a thud. Thunder threw his grenade launcher back into his Inventory and pulled out his sword. He slid his index and middle finger across the blade to charge it with Lightning Strike spell.

Thunder slashed forward and launched an arc of electrical energy that directly hit Rika who was trying to get to her feet. Rika flew several feet before she slapped her right hand against the ground and righted herself on her feet. Thunder got in close with his sword, but Rika held up her arm and a dark blade came out from underneath her sleeve. Thunder's sword collided with the blade and made a loud clang noise.

"That's new," he groaned as he kept the pressure on his sword. Rika pushed back and forced Thunder to retreated back about ten meters.

"You may have taken away my ability to use Shadow Creep, but I can still use Shadow Manipulation," Rika explained. "I can make weapons out of any shadow. Including the shadows under my clothes." Shadow tendrils grew from both of her sleeves to create two whips. Spikes grew out of the ends of the whips to increase their damage.

The shadow beneath Rika's feet exploded upwards and sent her flying towards Thunder while she spun her whips. Thunder teleported out of her path behind her. Rika was caught off guard and ended up attacking the ground. Her whips created a large indent in the metal floor.

Seeing she was confused, Thunder took the opportunity to attack her from behind. He charged forward and swung his sword towards Rika's upper back. Just as his sword was about to connect, another Rika appeared behind her back and blocked his attack with a shadow blade.

"What the fuck?" Thunder spat out.

"Shadow Puppets don't just act as illusionary copies."

"They also act as physical beings that follow orders," the shadow copy said.

The real Rika spun around and joined her clone in the attack against Thunder. Thunder blocked the whip attacks with his sword and fired off a large Fireball with his left hand and teleported away to gain some distance. The clone took the brunt of the attack and was briefly distorted in its form before reforming itself.

Thunder applied Lightning Shield on himself and Lightning Enchant on his sword while the clone reformed itself. After quickly casting the two spells, Thunder quickly swung up his hand and casted Chain Lightning against Rika. The lightning chained between the two which made them shake in place.

He applied Fireball magic to his sword and unleashed a Surge Strike at the two. After they received the attack, Rika and her clone increased the distance between each other and ran in an arc towards Thunder.

Thunder teleported towards the real Rika and did a leg sweep to knock her off of her feet. He quickly followed up with an upper punch to her stomach to launch her into the air. Thunder grabbed her head and pushed forward to redirect her downwards and slammed her head into the ground with a combined Lightning Strike attack on her face. He had used a similar attack against a Hobgoblin in South Africa.

Without a pause in his movement, Thunder kicked Rika in the stomach which lifted her up. With his left hand, Thunder launched a Fireball which impacted Rika and sent her flying across the area. With the massive influx of attacks, Rika lost her concentration and her Shadow Puppet dissolved.

At this time, the flares Thunder had previously fired off began to dim, leaving only smoke behind. The shadows in the area grew and Rika saw an opportunity. She melted into the shadow beneath her just in time before Thunder could land another strike.

Thunder quickly retreated to the light that shown in from the Launch Control room and took out his grenade launcher. Remembering the discovery that Samantha Smith made concerning guns. So long as someone has ammo, they can instantly reload ammunition into a gun by saying "reload". Thinking the word works too.

Thunder popped open the cylinder and emptied the spent shells. While searching the area for Rika, he thought the word "reload" and the new shells appeared inside the cylinder.

"Humanity doesn't deserve to go on," Rika said while she hid.

"I don't think it's your call to make," Thunder replied back as he twisted the cylinder counter-clockwise.

An alarm went off and the area started to shake. Thunder looked up and saw Rika at the Launch Control terminal. He teleported behind her but was pulled out of the room and sent to the center of the storage area by another Rika.

"Humanity is weak. Corrupt. Evil. With time, any Human civilization, no matter their origin, given the chance to build itself up will eventually find itself oppressing another for their own personal gain. It has happened over and over throughout our history. It can end now."

"You are an ignorant moron if you think Humanity is the exact same creature now as it was throughout history." Thunder fired off a couple more flares.

"You've lived your whole life in a first-world country! How can you possibly know the darkness of the Human soul? That day in my village..."

"Everyone knows your tragic fucking backstory," Thunder groaned in frustration. He fired another flare. "Don't pretend you're some complex person who sees the world for what it really is. You are so simple it's pathetic! You were hurt by the world and now you want to hurt the world back. Now you made a deal with the devil and are now regretting it. Am I far off?"

Rika screamed in fury and came out of one of the walls as a massive shadow creature. Thunder aimed his grenade launcher and fired a flare at the creature which made it retreat backwards. The base of the creature moved away from the flare and towards another dark section of the area.

The creature reached for Thunder, but he jumped out of its way and fired another flare. Tendrils came out of the creature's arms and managed to grab Thunder by the leg and pulled him upwards.

He quickly bent his body upwards and fired the remaining flares in his launcher. Rika growled as her shadow weakened. While the flares lit up more of the room, they weren't as precisely placed as the first set which still left some shadows in the room. Rika flung Thunder across the room and into the wall. Thunder dropped the grenade launcher after he hit the wall.

The Rika creature roared in pain as Thunder's Lightning Shield caused her damage. It quickly recovered and readied for another attack. Just as it was about to strike, a large Ice Spike and a boulder struck it, forcing it back.

"Thunder, are you okay?" Tempest called out.

"Heh, yeah," he replied while pushing himself up with the wall. "You all pack way more of a punch than this sociopath."

"Before this world burns, I'll tear you all apart!" Rika roared.

"She's quite sad, really," Thunder mockingly said. He quickly turned serious. "I need you all to kill her while I try to stop the launch."

"You can count on us," Terra said as she swung her hammer on her shoulder.

"We trained for this," Aurora added as she spun her spear into a readied stance.

"You girls are the best," Thunder said as he vanished.

Thunder teleported into the Launch Control Room. Rika's rage has made her lose concentration and her Shadow Puppet had vanished as soon as it completed it task of activating the launch program. Thunder saw the countdown timer at the top of the terminal screen. He quickly went to work on the keyboard to fix the situation.

On the other side of the room, Aurora and Terra charged after Rika's shadow form. Tempest and Pyre kept their distance to provide range attacks. The shadow creature attempted to swing its arm at Aurora and Terra.

Terra swung her hammer upwards and deflected the creature's arm. Aurora went under the arm and jumped up and stabbed her spear in the creature's right eye. Pyre launched a Fireball past the shadow creature and impacted the wall next to the creature's base. The wall caught fire and light the area around it.

The creature's body dissipated as its shadow source disappeared. Rika, who was inside the shadow creature, fell to the ground. She quickly got to her feet and created a Shadow Puppet. Terra charged at the puppet and swung her hammer upwards and launched the creation in the air. Pyre quickly followed up with a Fireball that incinerated the puppet.

Tendrils grew out of Rika's sleeves and a shadow went across her face and any exposed skin. It thickened to create magical armour. Rika charged forward towards the girls while wailing a demonic scream. She leaped upwards and spun to attack Aurora. She blocked with her spear.

Rika dodged Aurora's counterattack by disappearing into the shadow that Aurora casted. Rika reappeared behind her and back kicked her away. She turned her attention to Pyre. Seeing her with only a staff as her weapon, Rika felt she would be the easiest to kill.

Darma pushed herself forward using the shadow under her feet and reformed her arm tendrils into long blades. She stretched her arms back and swung them both forward.

Pyre calmly lifted her staff up and an energy bubble appeared around her. Rika's blades collided with the shield and was repulsed.

"Surprises like that won't work on me anymore," Pyre said with confidence. She lifted both of her hands. From one hand was a boulder. From the staff was a Fire Ball. "Ha!"

Pyre fired the spells and they combined together to create a lava ball. The ball impacted Rika and melted away a large portion of her shirt and burnt her skin. Some of her rib bones were exposed after the attack.

Tempest fired several arrows into Rika's chest and Aurora and Terra got in close. Aurora yelled, "This is for nearly killing our boyfriend!" Aurora slashed her spear against Rika's chest. Terra followed up by slamming her hammer into Rika's chest and sent her flying into the wall. Rika grunted from the pain of the impact and crumpled onto the ground. The facility shook and groaned around them.

"I-I won't let it end like this," Rika muttered. Blood came out of her mouth and her face was covered in bruises and cuts. She reached into her Inventory and pulled out a nylon sac. Rika opened it to reveal it was filled with Soul Axes.

Just as Rika was reaching for the pile, a green blade of energy went through her right wrist and amputated her hand. Rika stared at the gushing stump in shock before it registered. She unleashed a pained howl.

The Wind Blade attack came from Pyre and her staff. "You will take no more souls!" Pyre hissed.

Terra went in and slammed her hammer against Rika's head forcing it into the wall. The force was enough to create a large indent in the metal wall. Aurora followed up by stabbing her spear through her stomach.

Rika vomited blood. Her vision was blurred. She looked up and saw a fourth figure walk up to her. Tempest aim her arrow directly at her head.

"You never had a chance against all of us," Tempest said as she drew her arrow.

Before Tempest could release the arrow, Thunder appeared behind them with a look of urgency.

"Th-Thunder?" Pyre muttered.

"We're leaving," he quickly said.

"But we're about to kill-!" Terra tried to argue before they vanished.

Thunder and his team reappeared outside of the facility where the UNDF was fighting Phoenix forces. Everyone stopped firing when they saw Thunder appear next to them.

"Thunder!" Garza called out. "What-?"

"We are fucking leaving, everyone!" Thunder got out before her teleported everyone again. They reappeared inside the preparation bay of UNDF headquarters. Thunder collapsed against the wall and slid onto his ass with a smile on his face.

"Did you stop the launch?" Vivian asked.

"Nope," Tom replied.

VVVVVV

Rika pushed herself to her feet and staggered towards the Launch Control Room to see what Thunder did and why he was in such a rush out of the facility. She fell against the control terminal and saw exactly what he did.

[WARNING: SILO DOORS ARE CLOSED]

[LAUNCH IMMINENT]

[ICBMS LAUNCHING IN 10 SECONDS]

Rika attempted to stop the launch but found the keyboard had a fist-size hole in it. She desperately searched for another way to stop the launch.

[9]

[8]

[7]

[6]

[5]

[4]

[3]

Rika went into a nearby shadow in an attempt to escape the facility.

[2]

[1]

[LAUNCH]

The ICBMs lit up and spew flames. They all flew upwards from the thrust and quickly collided with the silo doors and exploded. The explosion engulfed the facility. The light from the explosion forced Rika out of her shadow and she instantly disintegrated.

Outside, the Phoenix soldiers were cheering that the UNDF soldiers had retreated from the field. Their celebration was short-lived as the explosions from the silos quickly spread across the facility and consumed them.

VVVVVV

"And there's the experience," Tom sighed in relief. "Quest complete. Phoenix is gone."

Notice Due to saving the world from a nuclear apocalypse, you and everyone who joined your quest has earned the title "World Saviour". This title grants you 50 unallocated stat points.

Garza and the other SYSTEM-enhanced UNDF soldiers collapsed to the ground from levelling exhaustion.

"We need a medic in here!" one of the base staff yelled out.

"They're okay, just exhausted," Tom explained to the staff. "Get them some drinks and bed rest and they'll quickly recover."

The staffers got stretchers and placed each of the soldiers on them.

"Tom, I still don't understand what happened," Syl said. "I thought we were trying to stop the launch, but you said you allowed the missiles to explode anyway."

"Yeah, that's true," Reia said. "What happened?"

"Well, I found that Rika had done something to the terminal that made it next to impossible for me to access the controls that would have stopped the launch. So I did the next best thing I could do in that situation. See a nuclear weapon requires a very complex process to occur for it to actually go off. When a nuke is launched at a target, it activates this process a certain distance above the ground in order to maximize damage."

"So you blew up the ICBMs to prevent the process from occuring," Tala said.

"Damn, you're smart," Tom exclaimed. "That's exactly what I did. There might be some radiation from the explosion, but it shouldn't be too much."

"Nice!" Vivian cheered.

Notice Due to your unique solution towards stopping the ICBMs, your Intelligence and Wisdom has increased by 20 points.

"Everett!" Commander Steele called out as he entered the room.

Tom quickly saluted the Commander and replied, "Yes, sir?"

"Our surveillance satelites showed that the nuclear facility blew up."

"It was the only solution, sir. I wasn't able to stop the launch so I closed the silo doors to make the missiles explode."

Commander Steele looked to the Xothicans and then back to Tom.

"I'm going to need you all to come with me to my office for the debrief. We will need to speak with the UN Secretary-General. This event changes things."

"Understood, sir," Tom said.

Tom, we need to talk.

"Oh, uh, Commander, can you want a moment on the debrief? The Sage is contacting me."

"Okay, but make it quick."

Tom stepped away and walked across the room. The other watched him have a telepathic conversation with the Sage. Their only clue that any conversation was taking place was when Tom nodded his head or made gestures with his hands.

"What do you mean we lost a day?" Tom yelled.

VVVVVV

Rika's last memories were of herself being vapourized. She saw that her wounds had regenerated and she was back in the same state as she was before she attempted to start the apocalypse. She pushed herself up onto her feet and found herself in the realm she visited in her sleep.

"N-No," she yelped. "Not here. Not here!"

"Riiiikaaaa," multiple voices called out to her at the same time.

Rika looked in the direction of the voices and saw the wall of Agony. She ran in the opposition direction. Her breathing became strained as she heard the wall come closer and closer behind her.

"Riiiiikaaa."

"Riiiiikaaa."

Another wall appeared in front of her. Rika found herself trapped.

"G-Get away!" Rika held her hand out in order to use her magic but found that nothing came out.

Rika tried to run around the walls, but when she ran perpendicular to the walls, the walls seemingly went on forever. Despite this, she still ran. She ran until one of the Agony walls came close to her and a fleshy tentacle whipped out and grabbed her.

"No! No!" she cried out. "Not like this!"

The tentacle dragged her towards itself. Rika felt her foot enter the Agony. Her foot felt like it was burning, tearing and breaking all at the same time. It was a pain she had never felt before. She would have passed out from the pain in real life, but not in this realm. Rika was forced to endure every moment.

More tentacles came out and grabbed her by the wrists and one wrapped around her throat. Rika was pulled into the wall and the pain she felt in her foot was now all over her body. Her clothes fell away and she saw her skin melding with the flesh wall. Rika cried out in terror and pain.

"Such a pitiful fate," a familiar voice said.

Rika looked up and saw Mordiggian in front of her. "P-Please. I-I'll do anything for you. I'll become your slave! Anything, just please save me!"

Mordiggian got in close and held her by the chin, like a mother examining her child's face. "You were already given the chance. And you tried to stab me in the back by trying to pollute this world. A world that would belong to Hastur!" Mordiggian let go of Rika's chin. "I have already found all the help I need in this world. Though I must say. You provided the most excellent distraction while I explored this world, ransacked its graves and collected souls to enact Lord Hastur's plans. You won't be alone at least. Look."

Mordiggian pointed Rika's side. She looked over and saw members of her organization were there, screaming in agony.

"You didn't tell your followers what the consequences were for using Soul Axes. Now they are stuck here with you for eternity. Farwell, Darma. This will be the last conversation you will ever have."

Mordiggian faded away from Rika's sight.

"Mordiggian! MORDIGGIAN!"

The pain further intensified upon Mordiggian's leaving. Rika couldn't speak as every noise that left her mouth were screams. Every noise she heard were others who were damned with her. Rika couldn't feel anything but agony. Every sense was bombarded. Eventually she stopped thinking.