Chương 502: 502

The sky swirled with the Green and Mark was a ribbon of black hearts and black minds spilling through the storm. He flowed, a buzzing chain of Union after Union, drinking deep of the cursed Green and spilling out more and more black with every pulse, every spark of thought. The Green swung its stick and the stick crashed into Mark, sending him skittering away across the sky, condensing him down into a single person again, right in time for the Green to scream instructions at the smaller bits of green down below."

Now! Hit him! NOW!" Mark spiraled into himself, trying to spread away, to become more than one target, but he could not. The black staff in Wongod's hands had injured him in a way more than physical. Mark's skin just bulged here and there, but then Mark Unioned with Glory and Disgrace, and the Green was way too glorious for its own good.

Mark's skin fractured and fractal'd, veins spreading in every direction, becoming ribbons and then wires— A cannon sparked below and a line of nothingness hit Mark's center right in time to erase several meters of space, but Mark was already on the Green wind, turning into hearts and minds again, eyes multiplying, speed increasing. Void cannons on the ground. Goblin gods in the air. It was a good fight.

Mark grabbed what remained of himself as he cut up into the aurora-heavens and then cut down into the Green sky, putting the center of the goblin nation between him and ground fire. Wongod stared up at him and aimed his Enforcer's Staff, elongating it and swiping it through the sky, trying to collect Mark like Mark was noodles so that the ground forces could void him again. It was an attack that carried something witchy with it, because otherwise Mark could have separated and avoided the attack.

Mark was wary of this trick, though, and this time he prepared to counter it. With a flick of intent, Mark multiplied a broom from his Clean House ritual and smashed the broom into the descending staff. The broom bent, the Enforcer's Staff gathered Mark like spaghetti, knocking him out of the sky and turning him into a person, putting him right in front of the void cannons." I'm gonna need your help, big guy," Mark told Pillar of God, even as he struck at Wongod with a Union of Glory and Disgrace.

Mark was rather solid, but he was still gathered into most of a single target. Ah, fuck. The staff was broken, for now. It could not move. Ah, fuck. Void energy slipped through the space Mark had been, erasing most of him, washing over Wongod's staff and leaving the staff unharmed. A part of Mark remained. Mark regrew himself, Unioning with Purity and Corruption, aiming all the Corruption he could at Wongod, at the staff in his hands, and Wongod screamed as the curse in the Green suddenly speared deeper.

Wongod flinched backward, too surprised and in pain to do anything else. He was also very mad at the soldiers on the ground. The entire Green flinched, like a retreating anemone. Mark felt Wongod's concentration falter and so Mark spiraled out into unconnected body parts again. Several more void blasts sparked through where he had been. Pillar of God whined in Mark's soul, its makeup still repairing." I shouldn't have been so harsh on you, Pillar," Mark echoed inward. He needed another plan.

First, he started heating up his body as he moved. That was easy enough. He didn't use it now, but he was building a charge for later. Pillar of God purred in the heat, surprisingly, even from inside Mark's soulhouse, bits of adamantium repairing its broken end a bit faster. It wasn't healed, but it was good to know how to heal the staff faster. Quark appeared next to the staff, and said, "I can work, too!"" Oh shit!

Y—" Mark avoided a few blasts of Void from below, or rather, he regrew himself from the Purity he drained out of Wongod, basically ignoring the damage the Void weapons were doing. Whatever was happening down there, Mark was not going to fall into that trap. Void weapons? Big deal. This was a fine range for him to fight Wongod. Mark conjured a Sig a ldry hand-orb from his library of prepared adamantium shapes, bringing the black sphere into the real world, and told Quark, "I need cleaning spells, fast as you can.

Directed corruption everywhere but me." Mark grew an eyeball into the sphere he conjured to make sure it was working right. For a moment, Mark watched Quark's silver body inhabit the tens of hands inside, each of them throwing cleaning sigils. It sounded —in the small bits of Mark's mind that he allowed to focus on the action— like a thousand old-time cameras taking shots one right after another. Noisy.

Magic flowed from that sphere, and perhaps even better than the newfound ease with which Mark flowed through the air, pumping the world's Corruption into Wongod. Wongod instantly noticed the new spellwork, his vector latching onto the sphere. Mark split the sphere from near him, making sure to keep it out of the range of the void shots cascading up from below, but Wongod aimed for the sphere anyway. Wongod's staff came across the horizon like a flashing black line. The sphere exploded.

Mark, however, twisted up and around the staff, pumping Corruption deeper into Wongod. Wongod hadn't been able to hit both Mark and the sphere, so this was very good. This was the turning point. Wongod and the Green screamed as the black shard in his 'tree trunk' shoved inward, splitting the wood, splitting his mind with a headache and a soul ache. He briefly dropped his staff. The Green caught the staff for him, and Wongod pulled back, racing away to give distance.

Mark summoned another sphere for Quark and pursued." Fuck off!" Wongod yelled behind him as he swiped at Mark. Quark's flickering sigils were like a soft shield preventing the staff from actually latching on to any of Mark. Sure, the staff still grabbed him. Mark was spread out over a few hundred meters and the staff was a kilometer long. Basic physics meant that the staff gathered him as it passed through his body.

But Mark was a thread on the breeze and he slipped off of that staff, curling down the staff, closer to Wongod, trailing Quark's sphere behind him, the tiny sphere making constant clacking noises as precision joints moved through the use of tiny silver muscles. The constant mana drain was nothing these days, to have Quark constantly cast. This was especially true in battle." GO AWAY!" Wongod yelled as he ran faster, suddenly shrinking the staff and dislodging Mark." SUBMIT!""

FUCK YO—" Mark switched his Union to one of Homeostasis and Agitation. This was it! He had been stretching himself out a lot, and he was kinda incredibly hot right now. He shoved all of his heat into Wongod.

"— UUUUUAHHH!" The Green fried on the edges, flames licking in the ephemeral wood, Wongod exploding into brilliant white fire as his scream echoed in the sky. Wongod died and the remains became scattered, burning ash. So that was one death. Mark wondered if it would stick. He imagined not. The Green was still there. Still hurt Wongod like hell, for sure. The Enforcer's Staff went flying. Mark reached for it— The Enforcer's Staff sunk into the burning Green, slipping away.

The Green flickered, like fiber optics flowing, the center of the Green rippling through the sky to a distant root where Wongod popped out of that ephemeral tendril, still burning but not that much anymore. He was too far away for Mark to Union with him directly, but the Green was still here. Yup. Didn't die, even though he clearly had. Wongod collected himself, turned, and— Mark wasn't burning up right now, so he switched back to Purity/Corruption, driving the black nail inside Wongod deeper.

Wongod screeched in sudden-surprise-pain, faltering, the staff dropping from his hands momentarily. Mark spun closer, making sure he didn't fly directly there, void cannons still firing below. They weren't firing that much, though. They were losing power. Ammo? Probably out of ammo. Some void bolts tried to make a wall between him and Wongod; they failed. Wongod muttered tiny, scared curses as he saw Mark approach, and then he turned tail and ran, staff firmly gripped in his fists.

Mark was gonna get that extra staff. He was almost there. Wongod probably realized this, somehow, and the staff vanished. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. And then Wongod began to internalize, fading from sight as he turned ephemeral like his Green tree— Adamant/Ethereal. Wongod jerked as he faltered out of whatever he was doing, and then Mark hit him with a rapid-fire flickering of Adamant/Ethereal, firmly dropping Wongod back into reality.

Wongod faltered more. Mark had him. Black swallowing darkness fully enveloped Wongod, adamantium strong, the goblin god suddenly realizing that he was completely trapped. Wongod's fear was almost delicious, his eyes glowing Green in a tomb of absolute black. The void cannons stopped firing, even though they probably should have kept shooting. Perhaps they didn't want to hit their false god? He wouldn't die even if he was killed, though; Mark was absolutely sure about that. He had already proven that.

He could prove it again, but… Yeah. Mark had been right; Wongod wouldn't die if his physical body was killed. Mark could tell that just based on the fear ebbing away from him right now. There was a certain kind of fear that things felt when they were about to die. Resignation-fear was a big one. Refusal-fear was another, followed closely by disbelief-fear. Angry-fear was also up there. All Wongod felt was fury-fear, like he still had a thousand knives hidden in the dark, and wow was it dark in here. That was fine.

Mark had a thousand knives in this darkness, too." This is not the end, you bastard," Wongod said, staff gone, feet resting on Mark's darkness. Mark stepped out of the darkness to stand in front of Wongod, black on black on black. He was still spread out over a good 500 meters out there so he wasn't really 'here', but Mark wondered if Wongod would actually see him. As expected, Wongod instantly locked eyes with Mark, eyes Green, mouth Green, nails and skin Green.

Quark glittered to the side, providing illumination, casting more shadows than brightness, but it was enough to let all the participants here know that Mark towered over Wongod, even though Wongod still towered over him, out there, beyond the cube of this space. Wongod tried not to grimace. He failed. Mark grinned. If it was wrong to revel in the defeat of a terrible, horrible enemy, then Mark did not want to be right." This doesn't end here," Wongod threatened… and then he sat down, cross-legged.

"You can't kill me in any meaningful way, and I have been tortured before. Whatever you do is nothing." Mark gestured, like he was actually using his hands to do something, and ten spikes ripped out from the sides of the cube and missed every part of the goblin, but they did trap him even more, pressing against his neck, holding his face still, keeping his arms at his sides. Wongod tensed against the trap but he did nothing else.

Mark gestured again, lifting Wongod onto his feet, adamantium sparking against itself as it moved Wongod to stand, because Mark wanted it to spark. And then Mark gestured a third time and the spikes holding Wongod upright suddenly retracted. Mark sat down on a suddenly-conjured chair, a throne, while Wongod stood. The gesture of power was not lost on either of them. Mark said, "I know I can't hurt you. But here's the thing: You can't hurt me anymore, either. You tried, and you failed.

And if you kill my friends, my family, if you come after me and mine, or any other humans, then I'll go through your entire society, too. And then what do we have? You'll have nothing, because I'll make sure of it. I'll get another society soon enough. More friends. More family. Everyone I know is going to die anyway; it's just a matter of how and when. But I'm not dying. You're not dying. We're both immortal. Let's deal with this issue now."

"… What do you want?"" A promise to never harm humans unless they encroach upon D'Australia, which, of course, does not apply to me, for multiple reasons. A promise to keep your goblins in check with the same promise you give me. The return of the humans you do have. I want Kialo, too. I want that staff.

And I want a complete true history of the world from you, regarding every single issue there might be with a Reset Quest and focusing on every former True Empire and finishing with all of Dominant's weaknesses, signed and delivered to Aluatha, to Dawncoast, to me."" And I want this curse gone!" Wongod spat." And no more human districts," Mark added, staring at Wongod. Mark also looked outside at the gathering forces of the goblins far, far below. Quark helped with that second one.

Wongod's eyes were outside of this cube, too, of course. Mark noticed how the Green undulated through Wongod and out there, the branches overhead and the roots below touching upon any number of uncountable forces. Wongod didn't seem like he was planning a counter, though. He seemed highly interested in whatever Mark was saying.

"… Will you get rid of my curse?"" I don't know about that. Could we pull the plug on your curse while you're fighting for Dominant? Would you be willing to swing against Dominant if that happened? Because you were correct earlier; Dominant is more dangerous than you are, even if you were truly your old self. He already beat you once, after all." Wongod was interested, but he said nothing. He was thinking.

He was also trying not to scowl too much at being called lesser than Dominant, but that particular wound was a very old wound; he ignored that taunt well enough. Mark added, "I would, of course, be joining that battle against Dominant. Probably do my own thing; you know. You would probably have to join up with Aluatha's military instead. And of course, there's the big caveat: I don't speak for Aluatha, or the gods. I speak for myself.

I can't promise anything for later, if it actually did come down to removing your curse in the middle of some grand battle, but that's life. It's not like you expected Thrashtalon's offer to be clean and clear, did you? I bet he extracts something from all of us, if, indeed, that offer was real at all."

"… I keep the Enforcer's Staff."" Then I want your fangs, instead." Wongod spat, "You impertinent… ignorant upstart!"" Knowledge doesn't matter as much as power when it comes to actual power, Wongod. Do I know anything? Maybe a little. Do I know everything? Not at all." Mark enunciated, "So. What."

"… That superhero shit has rotted your brain, but I will take advantage. I take this offer." Wongod popped his fangs out and threw them at Mark's feet. He could regrow them in a moment, but the symbology was important.

"I require a symbol of our pact."" Quark! Take a picture of Wongod kneeling." Wongod glared… and then he kneeled, Green dripping from his mouth and down his chest, fangs covered in Green on the ground, Mark on his throne. And then Mark Unioned with Purity and Corruption, destroying Wongod's discarded fangs in a flow of shattering Green brilliance. Wongod cringed. Light flashed; picture taken.

Quark couldn't actually print out anything, so Mark took the image and translated it to adamantium and tossed it toward Wongod, to hover in the air in front of him. Wongod snatched the 'photo' out of the air, and though he frowned, he was resigned. His vector felt something close to 'satisfied'." I'm dispelling the cube now." Wongod was prepared for it. Mark swept the cube away and flew on a rotor of adamantium, spirals of himself still drifting on the breeze, hearts beating in the distance.

Wongod floated on his own Green. Mark asked, "Will this treaty last?"" Probably shorter than all the other ones I've made over the years. You're aiming too high, Dominant is a dangerous foe, and this is the age of monsters." Wongod moved on, looking south and saying, "I'll have Kialo's goblin out in the open down there, and the humans are at Clearwater. It's the central city with all the farms around it. Pick up Kialo or whatever, and I'll open the small gate at Clearwater for the humans.

You can take the same portal and remove yourself from my lands."" Let's not fight again for a while." Wongod clenched the photo in his right hand tightly, the adamantium bending in his grip.

"You didn't try to steal my Skills."" You think I'm dumb enough to stick my hand into that curse-hole you call a soul? No fucking way." Wongod grumbled, "I'll kill you someday."" You too, buddy," Mark got to flying, calling back, "You too!"