(II) Fall

83 (II) Fall

Both Uva and Adam were utterly speechless. "I... I..." Adam let out a moan of incredulity and disgust. "That's just grotesque, Shiv."

"But it's effective," Shiv said. "Also, it builds my Dread Aura."

"Is that going to be your excuse for all of this?"

"It's not an excuse. It's leveling."

Uva said, though not nearly as severe as Adam.

it

Shiv said.

Uva replied with a low growl in her voice.

Adam shook his head.

"Alright, Adam," Shiv said, tugging on his new weapon. "Open up the rift. Let's go say hi to these bastards. And show them my new cancer flail.”

“Please don’t call it that,” the Young Lord muttered, and he fired his arrow. It shot and tore through dimensions. And as it struck, Shiv saw the insides of a vampire mage burst open on the other side, and the impact was hard enough that several others aside from him were flung off their feet.

"Looks like it hit pretty hard," Shiv said, complimenting Adam before patting the Young Lord on the back.

Adam grunted from the impact, but didn't fall over. "Distance is damage," Adam repeated. "After you, you psychotic mess of a man. Go show them the nightmare you just made." And despite everything, there was a hint of mirth in Adam's voice as well.

Shiv chuckled. "I knew you would learn to like it."

"It's either that or learning to hate it."

Shiv shot across, and as he did, he spun in the air, launching the cancer flail out from his cloak and letting it blast forward through the air. He realized it was going to be a little short, and then immediately started adding a bit more biomass to it—mainly tendons and other tissues for length. Another cool thing about the cancer flail—. It didn’t need that much Biomancy to work, either. He could keep this up indefinitely.

The other vampires magi gathered and prepared to respond to the sudden attack. One of their members finally noticed the dimensional rift and pointed into it, calling out to the others, only to immediately get turned to bloody paste by Shiv's flail.

It impacted, and a second shockwave tore through the area. And it was then that the furrows in Shiv's brain activated again.

As he traveled along, he slammed his fists together, building up some of his Momentum Core. He emerged about a second after his flail, and a third shockwave shook the First Blood backline. With all of their Master-Tiers in the area occupying Confriga's focus, the magi were vulnerable, and Shiv tore into them. He wasn't a hound in a henhouse; he was a wildfire spreading through a village made from nothing but wood.

The vampiric magi tried to fight back, but his kukri slashed out, cutting them, Deepest Edge splitting them from neck to groin. His Conduit of Dawn flared, and he cut out from above, slicing heads and searing faces. Then Shiv pulled with his other arm. He swung hard and wide, and using his gravitic field to guide the path of his flail, it whipped hard and twisted at an unnatural arcing angle.

Whips were not common weapons for most warriors. Shiv suspected that slavers probably developed Whip Proficiency more than anyone else. But when one had perfect tactile control over anything they held, an extended flail connected to an adamantine hard string could go a long, long way.

The head of the cancer flail smashed and smeared several bodies. Armor shattered before its accelerating mass, and the cord of tendon and spine connecting it to Shiv himself also did their work, becoming as if a long scythe against most of the vampires. They came apart, their bodies split, their organs burst out from their rupturing flesh, and Shiv laughed as he spun hard in place.

He fed some more length of tendon and spine to his flail using his Biomancy, and his heart leapt with childlike joy. There was a purity to creating something. There was a purity to playing with your work. Shiv found that while true while cooking, it was true in war as well. He was still an aspiring Biomancer when it came to the technical details, but even a student could make a great many things, could make art from the clay they could muster.

As he spun in several arcs, Shiv felt hundreds of magi die in the formation, and hundreds more get flung off their feet or badly maimed in the aftermath. Then at the end, as he saw another group nearby, positioned on the bridge, preparing to blast him with a series of spells, the flail halted unnaturally, seized by Shiv's gravity field, and it exploded straight down. Right into the middle of that formation.

Silhouette > 81

Deepest Edge > 62

Another shockwave consumed the world. Blood, gore, limbs, and more flew everywhere. But Shiv still had his Silhouette active, and with all the chaos, the dust, and the viscera-soaked clouds splashing down, they lost track of him again.

Shiv pulled his flail back into his cloak, and the trace of his presence became little more than just an outline. By this point, however, the Young Lord was in the fray as well. A small tide of Veilpiercers completely devastated the vampire magi backline, eliminating them before Shiv could smash another formation with a flail.

Moreover, the bridge he was standing on—or rather the remnants of it—were coming apart, as were the Biomancy-shaped organic extensions the vampires added to the structure. Adam materialized just beside him. Some of the Young Lord's clones were still firing in the air, and so the crawling, maimed, or crippled vampire magi immediately burst apart, as did several golems under the same fire. A few seconds later, Adam's clones vanished, and the Young Lord looked around at the carnage they wrought.

"Bloody hells," Adam said, gagging.

Shiv laughed. “I wasn't lying about the smell.”

And he stared into Shiv's cloak. He stared at the cord connected to Shiv's left arm, looking more disturbed than impressed. "Shiv, when we get back to Blackledge, you cannot do this."

"What?" Shiv said. "Do what?”

“The whole weaponizing your body thing. It might have been fine because we've been tearing apart terrible people this entire time, but if you do this around normal people, they will be deeply, truly traumatized. We're going to disguise that flail."

"No, we're not," Shiv said.

"We are," Adam insisted. “It won’t be bad. Maybe just wrap some flowers around it. Clump some earth to make it seem like a Geomancy Skill. Can Hu! Can you help?”

“Yes,” Can Hu said. “Though—”

"The cancer flail stays a cancer flail," Shiv said, adamant.

And just then, a series of vampires staggered through the portal, only to collapse dead in front of Shiv, their bodies badly burned. It was then that he noticed Uva's mana strands sinking through the gateway, and the Umbral shook her head.

"Sorry, Uva," Shiv said as he patted Adam on the arm. "The Young Lord here got consumed by his urge to admire my flail."

The Umbral reacted with a note of disgust. "You two are such children sometimes."

"It's not that large," Adam muttered.

"True, Adam. The thing is, I can make it . Can you make your Veilpiercers bigger?"

The Young Lord sneered. "Eat shit and die."

"There we go." Shiv patted Adam on the back. The Young Lord stuck a particular finger in his face.

Adam reached out with a hand and channeled his dimensionality. Shadowy mana crashed into the gate and he focused. "What are you doing?" Shiv asked.

"I'm making sure that it's accessible from this side and not the other anymore," Adam replied. "And I'll be able to come back through. These vampires will be stuck out. Whatever frequency they were using before was the same as the one we used to get in. I'm simply blowing out the easy access points, so to speak."

Shiv nodded. He didn't know much about spatial magic or dimensionality. And so he let Adam do his thing. Meanwhile, Shiv walked forward. "See you in a minute then. I’m going to go show some more people my new flail first.”

"Not too long at all," Adam said. "Have fun.”

"Fully intend to, Young Lord."

He emerged through the gateway and saw that the landscape was, as Adam described, disfigured and absolutely vile. A mass downpour of blood and cancerous pieces of flesh were raining down. Enormous growths of misshapen tissue lined with eyes and jagged teeth rose over the horizon, occupying the space where the guard towers used to.

And speaking of the guards, a series of long pikes were arranged around the gateway. And on it were practically every wyvern rider the vampires could leave intact after their feeding frenzy. Well, mostly intact. Several of the wyvern riders were missing multiple limbs as well. And some had no heads, or had their heads dangling from their body, and various other delightful assortments. On Shiv's side, there was the tasteful creation of his cancer flail, which was purely meant to intimidate and to enhance his combat capabilities. And then there was this, a pointless grotesque display that was absolutely unnecessary.

As he stood there, he saw a few hundred Blood Horrors momentarily pause. They looked towards where he was, but they couldn't fully spot him. His Silhouette was active. And then the vampires felt him thereafter. But they were confused as well. For all they knew, there was a Master-Tier Biomancer among them, emerging from the gate. And more likely than not, that was one of theirs.

Unfortunately for them, Shiv was the “not” portion of probability. He counted enemies everywhere, and his attention fell on a group of Jump Mages trying to create a massive spatial sphere. They were trying to teleport another formation right in front of the gate. Reinforcements.

He targeted them first. He shot towards them, slamming his fists together over and over as his Momentum Core built. But as he did that, he thrust his flail out, twisting to his side, and using both hands to grip the spinal length. He brought the flail down like a meteor hammer, and it struck the Jump Mages with an absolutely colossal impact. What followed wasn't merely a shockwave, but an explosion of force. The spatial portal broke, popping without bringing anyone over. The Jump Mages were little more than bloodied smears or bits of tissue lodged in a deep crater. Some of them were still regenerating, though.

With a snarl, Shiv swung his cancer flail to the left, and then to the right again. He swatted multiple adversaries off their feet, and he sensed something coming down towards him, a wound golem reaching out. He fired three bone drills into its body, stunning it momentarily before he himself crashed into it.

Another benefit of having Gravitic Wrestler: he could move everything he touched in the same direction. And so there was no awkward jerking with the flail. He simply guided its movement and had it enhance his vector. He obliterated the wound golem against his body, and he swung the flail down, using that to pull him along. As he did, he channeled Conduit of Dawn, slashing at everything he could see. And all the while, his silhouette climbed, and he gained a new skill during the carnage.

Skill Gained: Whip Proficiency (Initiate)

Whip Proficiency > 1

Silhouette > 83

He got a picture of what the scene looked like from the perspective of the vampires as Uva filtered some of her memories over to him. She was piloting what was a particularly large and horrible-looking Blood Horror. She was staggering through the back line and jumping from body to body, compromising and breaking the minds of their most powerful assets.

As such, there was disarray unfolding through the vampire army. In fact, many of the commander vampires were twitching on the ground due to sudden mental breakdowns suffered because of unknown reasons.

But few noticed them, as they were trying to figure out what was attacking them. Shiv's movements were erratic, and all they could see was a strange length of cord followed by a massive clump of bone and cancerous tissue. Every time it landed, something exploded. People died. Then it snaked through the air, twisting unnaturally as if it was a living thing itself, and so the vampire started targeting the flail instead of Shiv, their confusion feeding into his Stealth.

Could he even call it Stealth anymore? It was mostly just Concealment and confusion. They generally knew where he was, but unfortunately, generally wasn't exactly, and in combat, you needed to be exact.

Across his mental link, he could hear her chuckling darkly.

And Shiv was on the verge of roaring with laughter himself. Then Adam stepped through the portal, along with a small army of clones. They took to the air, their wings burning hot, their bows singing as lightning, fire, ice, wind, and more accompanied their Veilpiercers. Then in certain cases, corrosion. A creeping barrage of dimensional arrows crashed along the land, and from behind came Shiv, sweeping his flail from side to side, clearing the chaff with every sweep of his new weapon.

Then Can Hu called out, "Shiv, behind us, something has breached my—"

Shiv swung his kukri back on instinct. A vampire emerged seemingly from thin air, the shadows breaking over its body as it came for Shiv. It caught a slash across its neck, but to Shiv's surprise, it wasn't beheaded, rather it merely staggered back, momentarily stunned. Master-Tier Toughness at least. Shiv drove a headbutt into its body, and he pulled his flail back toward him. It exploded across space, liquefying another dozen or so unfortunate foes that managed to survive the initial sweep.

Shiv dodged his own flail, then, and that smashed into the chest of the vampire. Before they could go flying off to the distance, Shiv seized the vampire with his Gravitic Wrestler and powerbombed them into the ground, stabbed them twice, and then wrapped his flail cord around their neck. He swung them about with the cancer flail, bashing them against the air over and over.

Whip Proficiency > 4

Gravitic Wrestler > 121

But the vampire was . He felt the hardiness of their body as they were stunned more than hurt, something comparable even to the scab armored vampire, Kraid.

Instead of struggling against him, their limbs shifted into blood, and he felt their mana field twist into strange shapes around him. He cast a laceration into their body, briefly stunning them as the spell exploded against their Magical Resistance. In response, their body remained half liquid shifted, and their transformation wasn’t complete. This gave Shiv another opening. He lashed out with his feeble Psychomancy and his kukri. The blade flared with light, and it briefly blinded the vampire. It cried out, and Magical Resistance launched him out.

Yet before he could do anything else, a few hundred mana strands woven into spells speared through the vampire's mind, and it shattered before Shiv. They cried out as Uva bound herself to the vampire, wearing its body and finishing its transformation into a thing of flowing blood. It slipped out from his flail and drifted beside Shiv, full compliant—a new body for Uva.

"So how's that feel, wearing a vampire?"

"Like I'm wearing vermin," Uva replied with disgust in her voice. Faintly, he could hear the vampire screaming, and then she broke something in its mind. It offered little more than whimpers after that.

There they were, standing before the battered remnants of the First Blood, but there were still a few hundred of them. And from between the Blood Horrors, he heard, "Assemble! Gather! Muster yourselves!."

And then came a heavily armored vampire, covered in what seemed to be thick layers of skin. Shiv narrowed his eyes. The armor resembled a great many flayed faces, and they were still moaning, still screaming. The vampire was joined by seven others, and Shiv had the feeling they were all Master-Tier, at least.

Just then a whisper came from within.

Rose muttered to him, and Outside Context Problem triggered as a screen formed in his eyes.

Outside Context Problem: The Skinthief stands before us. He was a disciple of Ekkihurst, and he, more than any other, covets the glory planned for this operation. He cannot allow this to fail, for to return in defeat and disgrace after promising the ancient elders a gate of Compact and a pathway to the surface toward even greater rewards would see him worse than dead; disgraced, shamed and stripped of the title of elder.

He knows not that Kraid, his cousin, is dead. He knows not that things are going so poorly deep within the gate. He cannot believe it. He refused to hear the reports, but now, as he stares at the bloodied, mangled remnants of his rear line, he has to take point now himself, and an unease fills him.

The screen faded, and Shiv's spirit roused for the coming battle.

"Oh, look, Shiv," Adam said, landing beside the rest of his team, "another terrible, vile monster who stole from your fashion sense."

"Hey, the skin decoy was your idea, asshole. You encouraged me.”

Adam let out an uncomfortable snort. "Yes, well, you could have said no. And Uva should have rejected this."

Uva replied.

Adam nodded without shame.

She scoffed but said no more.

Shiv eyed the eight vampires and licked his lips. “Adam. Are you still interested in that wager?"

"What, who could kill more bastards?" The Young Lord nocked an arrow.

"Yes, these seem like proper prey, don't they?"

"Yeah," Adam said. "They do, don't they? I'm going for the big one. You two stay away from him."

"He’s mine," Uva said.

“Mine first,” Shiv said.

“Both of you eat shit,” Adam sneered.

Before the Skinthief could start a dialogue, he immediately found himself impacted by a cancerous flail, struck by dimensional arrows, and stabbed with Psychomancy strands.

Shiv laughed internally.