The Champion was a clean shaven, chisel jawed man with well-groomed blond hair that must have been held in place with either a lot of products or powerful magic as the wind had no effect at all. I was impressed that I’d noticed those features to be honest, as his most notable attribute was his size. Not his Nephilim size but his massive Ronnie Coleman-esque physique.

Despite the fact that his muscles had muscles, his gleaming silver armor fit well. I figured he must have been wearing about five tons of the stuff to cover him. The figure next to him was well muscled, too, though she was nowhere near the same size as Caana the Champion. Her armor was just as ornate, and her long blond hair tied back tightly to reveal a chisel jawed face as well. As to whether she was clean shaven or not, I couldn’t say.

Ediela MonDelosha: Level ??? Defender of Justice. Nephilim (Human III)

Behind them came an unarmored man. He was leaner than Ediela but clearly in good shape and I got the sense that he was the most dangerous of the three. All three were packing a lot of Justices Energy, but the last of them was fucking gleaming.

Vicsen MonHestra : Level ??? Voice of Justice. Nephilim (Human III)

“Just keep moving, Sania. We might have to split up here, I’m not sure, but I think these guys are on a different level to anything we’ve seen before.”

“How do you mean?”

“I couldn't affect their portal, and they have no levels shown on their identifiers,” I said, backpedaling as the three giants stared at us with mixed expressions.

Viscen, the Voice of Justice, waved his hand in our direction. Crackling energy of silver and red sprung from it shooting out toward us. I attempted to counter with manipulate again and again it didn’t work.

As the energy came within a few feet of us, I moved in front of Sania and braced for impact. It never came as the energy suddenly snapped out around me, forming a spherical shield that parted me from Sania. That part at least was a relief. She wasn’t trapped in here with me.

As she began firing at the three newcomers as I screamed for her to run. Of course, she didn’t listen. Wanting to protect me and stand by my side. So I instead focused on dismantling the surrounding shield. I couldn’t understand why my ability to affect the shield with the Singularity wasn’t working, but I kept trying desperately. I quickly saw the problem. It wasn’t that I couldn’t , it was just that the spell form was astronomically more complicated than any I’d faced before. There seemed to be different energies within the construct. The spell itself and then a number of other layers working as locks. Some, linking aspects of the cell together, others like magnets and yet others like anchors to the atmospheric Neuma. Suffice to say, I was still fucked. Pushing on those individual pieces, only warped the shape of the spell marginally, but the other parts kept it together.

Clever bastards, I thought with a horrible feeling as they approached. Sania had stopped firing now as her attacks were harmlessly deflected by the shields each of them seemed to have around them.

“Sania, you need to run!” I shouted again. Then summoned an Ethereal bullet to try and blast myself free. It made a small hole in the shield, but the resulting explosion smashed me back into the other wall of the energy sphere. It was painful, and suffered burns but it was bearable.

“Sania, you need to back off. I can survive this, but you can’t. I’m serious. Back the fuck off.” I hissed as the three wankers approached like they had all the time in the world.

“I’ve told Danivra what’s going on.” Sania said desperately across the bond as she did slowly move back. “She’s coming.”

“Tell her to be careful,” I warned.

“I don’t think I need to, Clive.”

“Ah, the sapling of creation. What trouble you have caused us!” Viscen said. He seemed to speak normally, but his voice was amplified so it reverberated around my head.

“Who are you three supposed to be, then?” I asked.

“We were interested in seeing what you would achieve. But so far, you seem to be entirely at odds with Justice, so it is time for us to intervene.”

“I’ve been at odds with Destruction, too! Be honest. You’ve both been total shits, since I got here.”

“We have done nothing to you, that you didn’t bring on yourself,” Ediela said.

I shook my head and briefly recounted the moments of arseholliness they had been part of.

“I know nothing of these meetings,” Viscen said. “We only became specifically aware of your presence when the seed awakened within you. Though we knew, a seed bearer existed.

“Ah, well that’s alright then! As long as you're just dicks to everyone. Which you are.”

“We have a dim view of those who do not carry Justice in their hearts. It is a requirement for respect.”

“How am I expected to talk seriously with you guys if you really believe that shit. How can anyone respect you guys or your god if that’s your fucking attitude.”

Viscen was speechless.

“Admit it! I’m right,” I yelled.

“Silence!” Caana bellowed. “You understand nothing!”

“Who are you guys, anyway? I can see you’re like the next level up to anyone I’ve met from Justice yet.”

“You do not know?” Ediela asked, in genuine shock. “We are the Triumvirate of Delosha! The dispensers of Justice on Falritas and you will now answer for your crimes, cretin.”

I noticed that the whole I had created from their shield was in a position where I could actually shoot an Ethereal bullet out and hit either Caana or Ediela. I held off for now, in case there was a way I could talk my way out of the situation, and I didn’t want to put Sania’s life at risk by acting too brashly.

“So what do you want!” Sania asked for me.

“You have two choices. We kill you or we come to an agreement of mutual benefit.” Viscen said.

Though it was clear from Caana’s expression, that he had only one option in mind. Ediela was unreadable.

“What kind of mutual agreement?”

“Swear allegiance to Justice. You have proven yourself a worthy adversary, now put those abilities to good use. Swear for a god who has a deep understanding of the universe and a pure directive,” Viscen said.

I almost snorted. “Join with you? While I do love a good ally, there’s no way I’d join someone who is wiping out an entire continent. For what? Remind me what your excuse is?”

“So you choose Death!” Caana said, eagerly.

“Er, no, I choose for you to stop killing people. I believe in a bit of Justice… er, not your fella though, just normal justice.”

“Do you even know of what you speak!” Caana laughed. “You are an imbecile.”

“Let me spell it out for you,” I said, feigning calm. “Treat others how you want to be treated. Not do what we say, or we’ll kill you and your families and take your homes. If that’s your definition of Justice, then, I dunno what else I can tell you. Stop killing the Neutrals of Kalabri and we can talk.”

“Well said,” Viscen said over the top of a blustering Caana. “But our very world is under threat from, the other gods, attempting to fill the void your predecessor filled. While there may be chaos and death in the interlude, our goals justify the means.”

“We already talked about deals. You could have had the fucking fort and the peaks without any bloodshed. But noooo. You had to come after us in the night, totally reneged on the deal. But now you want me to become an ally?”

“They were making sure you honored your end of the bargain and you ambushed them,” Caana shouted, back to rage now. “And you would not be an ally, you would swear to Justice!”

“Ah, nice deal for you lot then,” I replied.

“What is your answer?” Viscen asked.

“I dunno,” I said simply. In reality, I did know, and the answer was no fucking chance, but I wanted to stall until I had some back up.

“You don’t know if you want to die or not?” Caana asked, then looked at Viscen who nodded back. He looked at Ediela next, who nodded, then he seemed to vanish. He hadn’t disappeared though. Just moved incredibly fast, like a sliver blur. Straight at Sania, a huge thirty-foot sword appearing in his hand, he cut her head off in one strike. Her Constitution counting for nothing.

Sania, Soul Mate, is about to expire. Please choose from the following options:

Expire Restore

(Not available. Vital component Missing.)

Soul Store

(Store within Ethereal core. Physical Resurrection no longer available)

“No, no, no, no,” I murmured, watching her body fall through the shield. Turning to Viscen, I screamed. “You let me out of here right now you fucker. If you don’t let me save her. I’m going to crush Justice and Delosha myself. No matter what I have to do or how long it takes.”

“You will be dead,” Caana answered coldly to the side of my shield. I shot the shield point blank where his head was with an ethereal bullet. Bastard didn’t even flinch, protected as he was. The attack did a lot more damage to me, But I wasn’t finished. I shot through the hole which he hadn’t noticed. The ethereal bullet smashed him in the chest. His eyes widened in surprise as the bullet exploded on the personal shield he had around his body. It only caused minor damage, but it was enough to worry him into moving quickly out of my line of fire.

Next I focused on throwing the Ethereal projectiles at the shield around the hole I’d made in an effort to widen it. Each one I threw blasted a thin layer of flesh from my body. By the time I’d created a gap big enough to break free, I was in a mess. Blood wept from almost every surface of the front of my body. Not that it mattered. All I had on my mind was getting Sanias head and body back together where I was sure I could restore her. As I made to escape, another shield snapped up around the first one.

You have been affected by a Null Shield

No form of Neuma manipulation is possible within its confines.

Without Neuma, I dropped, landing on the bottom of the original shield. They thought they were clever, but they weren’t. That shield wasn’t protected against Singularity at all. I ripped it open, immediately diving out into freefall, desperate to reach Sania. The universe laughed again at my plans and as I was hit with Caana’s sword, and a blast of power from Ediela, I received a notification:

Sania, Soul Mate, is about to expire.

Expire Restore

(Not available. Vital component Missing.)

Soul Store

(Store within Ethereal core. Physical Resurrection no longer available)

You have ten seconds remaining to make a decision.

I was in free fall now, with the Defender and Champion of Justice attacking from both sides. Caana firing bolts, and making lightning-fast thrusts and slashes with the massive sword. Ediela hammered me with a number of different powers. My defense was almost non-existent as I wanted to reach Sania more than anything else. I managed a few deflections with my right arm, and desperately waved off spells with Singularity, though it only worked on about half of the powers these guys used. Viscen followed us down watching, content to not shield me again as the other two attempted to finished me off. My body was barely recognizable as a man’s anymore as the pair of massive Nephilim basically whittled me down into nothing. I could hardly believe I’d gone from thinking I was damn near invincible to losing Sania and having my ass handed to me so badly I didn't know which way was up.

I hardly had an answer to the onslaught I was under until a moment of reprieve came. Olata appeared out of nowhere, deflected a strike from Caana and returning a cut, though his shield saved him. Viscen attempted to cast shield around her, but missed as she zipped away again.

I took the opportunity to catch my fall with flight and begin the hunt for Sania’s body, but I’d left it too late, and slammed into the floor among Justices soldiers. I attempted to fight on under their onslaught when I received another notification.

Sania: Soul Mate has Expired.