Chapter 162

Ajimal The Great

Crumbling

Ajimal awoke to find his body sprawled out in a crater. Dirt filled his lips, and idly he wondered if he passed out drunk again. Though it had been years since he last drank so much that he passed out in an open field. It had been years since he was able to get drunk. Now he found that he had not only passed out but had a splitting headache.

Closing his mouth, he found that his mouth was parched. Again, everything spoke to the fact that he passed out, but how? He was immortal, the strongest warrior ever, nothing could stop him. Yet somehow he found that he was stopped. He not only didn’t remember drinking, but he didn’t remember the reason for drinking.

The more he tried to remember, the more he remembered the three curses placed on him by the Gods. The curses that had he gotten them removed, surely would have been a reason to celebrate. Yet, when he checked, he still felt the internal rot like he had before.

When he checked his Status the three Curses and their removal conditions remained, plain for all to see.

Curses Bestowed: Unappealing, Poison Tongue, and the worst of them all Echelon Drop.

All three curses were still there, still active on him. Seeing the curses, he remembered the flash of insight he had gained. All the curses spoke of being removed only after he completed certain tasks. But he was here, at the place where he was supposed to go. The place where the Gods demanded he go. But for whatever reason he was still cursed. At the very least he figured the Unappealing curse should have been lifted.

Though in a way he realized, he still needed to search the area. A quick inspection showed that there had been a huge battle after the fact. One where forces beyond his comprehension fought and struggled against each other. Worse, he saw a black charred corpse of a monster that sent chills down his spine.

He looked at the monster, and then even went to touch the alien sea creature that walked on land. Tentacles formed on its face, and it was far larger than most any human that Ajimal had ever seen.

The moment his foot made contact with the alien creature and felt its solid form under his foot he was met with a message.

Curse Removed: Unappealing. Unappealing: The Gods have seen your actions and found them to be adequate. Your body no longer gives off the sickening smell of rot.

The only problem, he still had two curses that he had not met all the conditions of. With the first step of investigating the site complete, this only meant the last two could be performed by meeting that man. The monster in beggar’s clothing.

At that realization, the memory of what happened came back to him. He remembered the rage he felt when his own sister had been struck down.

Then he remembered how the world went dark when he turned his own ire against the flying warrior. No, it wasn’t an instantaneous black out, there was a complete domination first.

At first Ajimal had used his lightning, firing out a wide arcing blast. But then with a casual ease the man, that flying monk of a warrior somehow managed to lazily redirect the blast back at him. The entire thing was, well it was disconcerting.

Ajimal knew that he was not at his full strength thanks to the curses, and could let himself rest a little easier, knowing that if he had been at his full-strength things would have been different. At least that is what he would have told himself had any of his men seen the display. Unfortunately, none of his men were here. In fact, the only ones who knew what had happened were himself, Lykan, the witch that killed the bonded dragon, and of course the woman that was clearly with Lykan.

Well, the woman, and the little girl as well. There were so many pieces that Ajimal knew he was missing. First what was this monster? Even dead, it seemed to have a powerful menacing aura that spoke of danger. A danger that had been averted.

Seeing the body, and realizing how easily he had been dispatched, he realized the only reason he still lived was due to the benevolence of that man.

Then he realized the truth, the fact that after being allowed to live, after being struck down so easily by that same man. He realized that if he wanted to have his two remaining curses removed, he would need to ask that same man for forgiveness. Though this forgiveness would have to not just be about the attack, but also, he still needed to journey to the heart of the disabled titan labyrinth to remove his Echelon Drop curse.

At this realization, the name of the black monster before him suddenly made sense. He now understood what the creature was, and why even in death it looked so formidable.

This was a Titan, a monster that even the Gods feared. Realizing what it was, Ajimal suddenly realize why he had been summoned. The fact that there was one who emerged after all this time, implied that there might still be more that are coming or will soon appear.

Worse, he now had to go into the depths to see what those three managed to do. A place that still radiated power and malevolence. Feeling the chills run down his back, he reluctantly entered the depths below.

***

Ajimal returned to the surface three days later. What he was, was enough to send chills down his spine. Seeing the monsters below, and the brutally efficient way they had all been killed was one thing. But then when he saw the dungeon core room, the place that stood at the heart of everything. That was when he realized how myopic he was.

Worse, he still needed to seek forgiveness.

As he emerged, he found his sister. She was, well lost would be the one word he would use to describe her. The way she clung to the corpse of her fallen dragon sent pangs of sorrow in his heart. He moved to comfort her, but as he approached, she answered.

“Don’t!”

“Don’t what?” Ajimal asked.

“Don’t. Just don’t do anything. This is all your fault anyways.” She hissed.

Ajimal wanted to argue with her but realized the look of anger in her eyes. She was beyond reason. Looking at her, it was clear she had been abandoned, or at least had no reason to maintain herself. She was still beautiful, still the same woman who he felt could easily tempt a promising soldier to their side. The only problem, she was gone.

Realistically Ajmial knew that his beloved sister was always lacking when it came to social graces. But it appears that the recent events were more than enough to break her spirit.

Ajimal felt this was a key moment in time. One that would define himself going forward. He felt the importance of this moment and decided to give his sister the space she so desperately wanted.

Using the moment, Ajimal tried to decipher where Lykan was, or where he had gone. By now, he knew the man could be anywhere. That Lykan was so fast, that they could have gone anywhere by now.

That was why he asked for the impossible.

“Please guide me to where I am needed?” Ajimal found himself saying. It had been years since he asked for anything. Even longer since he was provided exactly what he had asked for. Yet, that was what he found to be the case at this moment.

Ping.

A faint echo to the south and west chimed in his mind. At first, he was elated by the sound, for it meant that the Gods, or maybe just his own family Deity heard his prayer and answered. Of course, there was only one problem. The ping directed him to Sidhertha. The lands where he had been forbidden from entering for two years. While that time limit had ended over five years prior. His entering the country could be considered an act of war.

But he was desperate. He had come so close. Now all he needed to do was go to the lands of his enemy, find Lykan and get the man to forgive him.

With a reluctant sigh, he left the lands. Once again, he left his sister alone, to work out her place in the world. Somehow, she was even more alone now that she had been, when he last saw her. He made the mental promise that one day, when this was all over that he would return. The only problem was, even now while he was thinking these thoughts, he found himself coming up with dozens of reasons why he couldn’t.

He was still trying to conquer the north. He was trying to make the world a better place, and now he needed to take even more of his precious time to go and find Lykan.

With a reluctant sigh, he breathed in, then used that breath to rise into the air.

Then he took off in the direction indicated by the gods.

***

He arrived in time to witness feats of grandeur that would come across as a tall tale if the stories were about anyone else. That is, if what was being seen was attributed to someone other than Lykan.

Ajimal watched from a distance, as the flying monk destroyed arrow after arrow from the air. Lykan was so at ease with his self-appointed task of clearing the sky of arrows, that Ajimal could only look on in stunned silence.

Then he watched as Lykan seemingly dueled the traitor Shai’jan. But a duel was far too kind of a term to describe what was happening. Lykan easily dodged under and around every strike made by the flying sword master. Yet, despite Shai’jan’s best efforts, he was no match for Lykan.

Lykan had a smooth grace that let him dance and glide throughout the battlefield.

Also, now that he had a time to notice, Ajimal felt his chest tighten at the sheer volume of control Lykan was able to exert over the battlefield.

Ajimal for his part kept well beyond the battle lines. His reason for staying out of the fight was self-explanatory, as he couldn’t win if he was found to be here.

If he was seen aiding Lykan, then it would be considered an act of war by his people, and now he could not handle a battle on the southern border. Also, just his being in the air seemed to send shivers of warning down Ajimal’s spine. He had a well-developed sense of combat awareness and everything in his body was screaming at him that he needed to get down low. That he needed to get out of the air.

With that alarm blaring so brightly in his mind, Ajimal dropped to the top of a nearby hill and proceeded to watch what was happening.

He watched as Lykan mercilessly toyed with the flying swords man.

Then he watched as the dreaded airship armada took off from the Sidherthan capital.

Even though the entire fleet was going against one man, there seemed to be a look of concern. That or the ships looked to be at a loss for how to deal with a single solitary threat that was much smaller than the Dragons they had been so used to fighting.

By comparison the man was far smaller and more agile. Though even with speed and agility there were mitigations in place that should have prevented what happened next.

At the very least Ajimal was certain that the Sidherthan Kingdom had cluster and fragmentation bombs that could be used to destroy swaths of land.

But the types of bombs didn’t even matter.

Well the bomb types didn’t matter, and normally they would be more than capable of rendering the opposing forces inert by their own skill and precision. There of course was just one problem, these were not standard forces, nor was this a conventional battle.

The ships aligned themselves, as devastating volley after devastating volley landed. Yet, what greeted the ships was not the silence of a perfectly squashed enemy force. No, what greeted the blimps was likely their worst fears all added to one action.

With but the wave of his hand, Lykan affected the air from within the ships. Looking at the attack, it was completely novel, and required a level of control and finesse that were impossible for even grand mages to wield.

Rip, whoosh.

The air from the blimps was ripped out, and the ships began all turning away from the enemy in attempts to make emergency landings. Then just like that the once overwhelming forces of the Sidherthan military were brought low by one man who stood floating in the air.

“Surely you realize the futility of any further resistance, at this time?” Lykan asked, his voice calm and collected. It was clear he had been aware of the outcome of this operation from the start. The only problem was, he just wanted others to understand the futility of their resistance. This was not meant to be a demoralizing effort, but that is what it became none-the-less.

Ajimal stared on in awe at this man, no, this monster. A monster who even the gods took notice of. Seeing Lykan’s relaxed attitude, it was clear that this man could do what he could not. That the outcome of their battle was no fluke or caused by his being weakened by curses. No, this was a man who need not fear the outcome of a thousand battles, for all it would take was his will to determine the final outcome.

Seeing him, Ajimal could only wonder what would have happened if he had joined forces with him.

Then another more important question filled his mind. Just what had he done over the last seven years to get so strong?