Date: Þórri 15th, 598 AD. (Alt: 27th January, 599 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)
The mass inventorial shunting had many of these grenade covers landing within their ranks, them not knowing what they were, they reacted by freezing. Which was their undoing.
*SKRA-KA P O O O W* The sound shockwaved through them, all of the individual covers blinding all who looked into its flash while also exploding over half of their army in a single bound. "Ugly bikkjersvín (bitch pigs) in all, ENJOYED THAT?!" Yufren swore upon their features.
His smoky voice had enough oomph to it to hear their general location. With no working crossbowmen ready, the Ghast-blimps instead aimed for them. A fiery hail came, blasting the rack side and causing much of the wall to collapse below itself. They ran as their lives depended on it, leaving into the caves as to find another ledge to strike from. The leftovers of the piglins scattered in three quarters to leave for the other exits, not expecting the traps that had been made, just for them. They were targeted first, shooting their eyes out to crash.
Thin trapped shells of basalt that were only held by fungus underlays gave out, causing dozens of unprepared on each side to fall below into the chasm. The speed of their croaching into their territory surprising The Great Hog, who gave a derisive snort.
"*AROM AEGH, HOIKɣ!*" He targeted his enchanted golden halberd at those above, throwing it at Leif with legendary accuracy. It struck the black stone beside Leif, who had moved in reaction, now pulling itself out through Loyalty. Leif saw this as a chance, and with a glance towards the golem, the giant ran and jumped down, ready to land upon the head of this boss mob. Leif targeted The Seer at the same time, leading to her two-pronged magic charming being weak enough to be pummeled through and for the golem to body its brunt into him.
The Great Hog's head caved in, its body splayed onto the floor, the steel giant now getting up as to focus its strength onto new enemies, except the sound of mechanical whirring began chiming from the corpse.
Rising up using those robotic legs, it stood straight with muscles primed alchemically, and tendrils of cyan and red worming from the eviscerated neck. The golem charged in, punch ready to pummel into the torso. The unexpected occurred, his fist got caught! The piglin general's clawing hand forced its grip into the wrist of the golem, bending it unaturally before kicking him with enough strength for him to fly into the piglin crowd, which ganged up on him with spears and swords, jamming into his creviced joints.
They battered into the golem, its steel holding well even when immobile. Yufren gathered the information needed, now understanding a potential weakness of The Great Hog from above. "Throw a grenade cover or two into its open neck!" He shouted into his comms.
"On it!" The barely speaking freed þræll Arngunn dexterously charged down, using strats and her smaller one-handed pick to climb down. She lands upon the ground, and to gain the attention of The Great Hog, she fires multiple concentrated beams with her hilt into its torso, searing its flesh and nearly shooting through to its spine. Wasting battery at an incredible rate. It charged ahead, using its superior seismic sense and sensitive hairs upon its body to feel the changes in the air, accurately telling her location, ready to grind her into a pulp.
The halberd has been caught again, soon throwing it to her general location while aiming for the floor, he struck the rack, splintering it and giving him enough time to trigger a spell on the weapon. A ring of fire shot out from the reactive floor, taller than Arngunn by one of her arms.
That locked it into a stun state, leaving the weapon incapable of Loyalty retrieval. But The Great Hog knew that a normal creature could never jump that height. Yet, he could never have expected her to extend the adaptable hilt and to jam it below, using it to vault herself over the green flames. She ran to the halberd, throwing it over the edge and into the chasm below, irretrievable now. The Great Hog charges a running attack, preparing his legs and using a newly grown eye from the tendrils, he jumps with a smashing spin!
A massive height had been made, with Arngunn dodging, it cracked its surface below, almost destroying its stability, but from that, his tendrils were soon overwhelmed by uncountable shots in a spray, from one fire to the next, it felt impossible to dodge, and inbetween that, she threw two grenade covers.
One landed in the open chest cavity, the other below his legs. Both blew up simultaneously, burning away its flesh and internal mycelial guidance system into an unrecoverable dust. Arngunn no longer covered from the blinding, seeing that the leftovers of The Great Hog were now instead crawling towards her, a single arm, lolling over in semblance to a fast slug. She beamed a final attack, disintegrating the arm to particulates, no longer a threat.
Heath, outside in the meantime, appeared gob-smacked, the second time that this occurred.
"How in all that is holy did she do that?!" He looked down, seeing it like a boss fight in a Lara Croft game. Her acrobatics were top-notch! "She was once my battle sister before having a debt to pay." Hervor explained, nodding in acceptance of her skill.
Heath frowned towards her general direction. "She had not felt that type." He murmured in response. Hervor chose to pat his shoulder in recognition before moving back into Agnarr's arms, enraptured by the display of skill. Valyria was watching Arngunn's prowess with an analytical eye, hoping to copy her skill while using her own frame for reference. Ari, now sitting outside after dying, was staring at the screen, evaluating future stock. A frame of mind nearing that of the Dǫkkálfar.
'Had he just?' Heath felt the senses of the merchant's materialistic thoughts, ogling Arngunn in a way of seeing possible business ventures. The tall God simply sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do except to put him through mandatory therapy after these games.
There was nowhere that man could go, after all. It was a small land to scour through once using the sigil. He refocuses onto the screen, now seeing that both Arngunn and Leif are tag-teaming The Seer to a deadlock. Her magic fizzling out with her every move, cornered and countered. Yufren fired sniping shots at those coming too close to their range, training his vision to two spots for the golem to not get too hurt. The deer have no way of going down without taking a winding route, so they stay and fire the same.
From the thousands originally alive, few smouldering wrecks and blasted corpses are visible from the warzone. There was no sense of honour or civility, it was only about survival. From their own views of going out as warriors, they see themselves as nothing but a people being slaughtered.
The rage of our heroes had been quenched a time ago, only leaving a sense of loss from the death of so many 'soulless' creations within a simulatory world. It was too real, seeing their displaced emotions of horror, guilt and vengeance in their beady eyes, there was no wonder and novelty to these sights any more. They began understanding Heath's point of view on the destruction brought by such powerful forces. Yet The Seer had not felt the same way. She fought in a dangerous extremism bordering on possession.
The golem's locked form becomes unbound, the gold-coated steel swords buckling and shattered upon the floor for him to destroy. Even in the giant's rage, it knew only one type of mercy, striking once at the skull for a quick death. Hundreds more perished under his fists.
From this massacre, a silence is being brought. No longer the sound of hicks and squallor, only the clash of metal and magic against flesh stung out, Yufren's own sightline focused on The Seer the same, her torso always shrouded in magic. Instead, for every mistake she makes, another limb is targeted. 3 shots to take out her right leg, 7 for her left. Immobile, the most shots fired were made, 12, for her staff-holding arm, by the final *BANG* of his adaptable hilt, her shouldered foci fell, and her magic disengaged.
Just the same, she died from a stab to the neck. Her body warped from all manner of experiments and toiled solutions that altered her structure that formed boils, warts and fungal growths upon her sagged skeletal frame. Her face was elderly and slanted, jaw crooked with chipped tusks.
Her pure sclera of a colour they are too familiar with: Mossy green. She had been controlled by another force, similar to the Dragon's power. Her own sister, Malgosha, using her as a pawn? It made many sick to have such callous heartlessness to blood and kin alike. "Damn fífl (Fool, monster) who has power unchecked." Leif leans down upon the broken form of The Seer, closing her eyes with his fingers, then taking two golden nuggets to place upon her lids, another show of respect Heath would explain from Greek mythology.
There were a few straggling survivors who appeared dulled and lost, having been controlled by what manner of hallucinogens under the now dead ruler and cohort. Stripped of the weapons, armour and purpose they had, they gathered any manner of supplies available.
New hastily sacked leather was squared, made and shoddily wrapped . They were carried in groups to help keep the food for ease of carrying, given from the deads' own leftover pockets. Kept as a group, these wanderers travelled to reach the next bastion, unabated from their experiences. The unmoving left upon the ground were rounded up and placed into the lava below after their eyes were covered in equal respect, their absorption a slow yet meticulous removal of any evidence that the battle was even there.
Leif had felt towards bringing them back to the city for funereal purposes, but such work would be too time-consuming. His eyes turn cold as he sees the now silent city, ready to deal with the 'creature' that was Malgosha once and for all. But before that, a signal.
From their armour, the Most Valuable Player of this round came with a light of power that distinguished the one who dealt the most damage to the army, Yufren with his greatest amount of grenade covers, the one who dealt them with close quarters combat, Arngunn. The one who dealt the greatest damage to both bosses, a tie between Arngunn and Leif, which came to a vote outside for the people of the Völsung to choose, who chose their Clan Heir sanctimoniously, and for the final verdict being the one to earn this power?
Well, as you would expect from a protagonist, it was Leif who helped deal the final blow. The essence of strength that Heath had in his stories of that realm built into him as a grand tidal wave, his own experience and development left none out, his presence no longer contained.
His eyes shone with amber irises and golden sclera, appearing Godly in manner and truly divine in nature. Leif looks down at his hands, seeing the coursing 'veins' that jut out of his skin from a normally invisible perspective, the essence of all that is his personality would allow in the digital world, shown through his every move. From Leif's recollection of Heath's memorable battles, he pictures the end ships that were ripped apart from the physical arcana that ran through the environment.
The city tore itself from its anchored ground, rising and splitting into multiple dirigible chunks of various sizes. The strain in the Clan Heir's voice was apparent, yet was drowned out by the unholy screeching coming from that same direction.
An orb of combined reds, browns and greens shot out through the vaulted ceiling. Showing a crooning old lady of obese size with a hunger undisguised, her mouth opened widely, shooting a mildewed bile that covered a grand piglin-hoglin catacomb where the dead had once rested. She screamed similarly to the creatures of 'I Am Legend.' Leading a new horde to charge in with no sense of abandon. 'There were no living piglins. That army must have been all of them, but where are the children?' Leif internally scowls, preparing his powers.
Sigrid, outside, had long since been accustomed to these challenges while sitting upon the closest table, yet the sight of her husband turning into a God was one she would never have seen in her wildest dreams. She cooed at how handsome he was~.
HE STRUCK DOWN A HAMMERFIST! An earthquake of proportions approximated to a magnitude 7 ran through the rack's durability. It cracked, the heavier stones subducting and leaving the lighter crumbling to thresh down the slope towards the nearest ventilating chasms. Malgosha never expected this, seeing her exanimated swarm being dropped down below, she knew what had to be done. For all to see, the horde began floating up and towards her, coalescing into a rotten shell that would surround the piglin queen.
Of the many thousands of bodies, Leif tried to disintegrate many, targeting hundreds at a time while using the help of the now Divinely overcharged hilts to dust their very existence. But from their destruction of bodies, it was still too high of an area of effect for them to destroy.
> 500 bodies of these piglins now surrounded her bloating, congealing with trypophobic pustules and solidifying into a creation most demonic. 4 legs of incredibly stumpy nature, 2 elongated arms that would drag across the ground, a body distended with a connective latticework of excess organs and mushroom webbing. ITS size 37-Model m (≈ 11.9588-m (≈ 39 foot 2.8189.)) tall, a height close to the found length of a Titanoboa snake. And chronically diseased skin that had been hardened, granulated and cracked like a carapace, a disgusting texture.[1]
Not needing to walk upon its feet, it stood upon a moving froth of disease that polluted at a constant rate for a controlled height, similar to the capability of the Canaanite God Ba'al, rider of clouds. A monstrosity that needed to be put down.
With the newfound strength, Leif charged in. Creating a reflective avatar made of gold skin and incarnated netherite. The hand that held a true 'portal blade' of height equal to the piglin queen's own smashed into the mace-wand held. Yet had not cut through, surprising them of its robustness. Flurries of equal batterings came between avatar and weapon, strength to shake the bedrock foundation of this blistering realm. Our party, whose strength is greatly outmatched chose to retreat from the ground's ceaseless tremors.
Before they left for the cavern, the hilts-turned-shields were kept as a bubble around themselves in a caterpillar formation, allowing their safe passage while hearing the battle of a caliber best resemblant for Ragnarǫk.
Leif turned the blade into a flat baton, striking the mace-wand with new strength found. The unstable foundation of the smog caused the legs of Malgosha to buckle and fall into the wall of their cave. Collapsing it on top of themselves and now becoming entrapped in multiple Model meters of solid rack. Without stopping, she swung, leading the gravel rack to landslide, pushing his avatar back enough for ITS weapon to then hit the left forearm. It blasted off, destroying a part of the terrain and leading to a moment of weakness for the new God.
With his arm weaponised arm removed, he refocused using both the stump and his still-functioning arm into a hand-to-mace combat, using the time and dodging to regenerating it into a new limb for greater finishing attacks.
The piglin queen side-swiped with the netherrack as a defensive blinding tool, now causing a red opaque mist to block his view and making him vulnerable to another attack on his other arm. His shoulder was crashed into by a metallic material downwards, flinging him through the macadamised flooring and into the glowing sea below. He screamed a battle cry of incredible pain, flying himself upwards in wasting his internal reserves to push Malgosha through the roof and upwards through multiple flowstones, corridors and caverns.
"*SCE A A A A H H Hɣ?!*" IT is stabbed through the bedrock stalactite ceiling, punctured and made stuck in a wailing that deafens the ears to tinnitus, yet Leif ignored his pain, droning punches that each splash her innards outwards from behind herself.
To try the strength of his newly grown arm, he keeps his hand flat, chopping forward with his now bladed fingers that then pierce her abdomen and reach her core. Malgosha recognised he was reaching for her in this attack, so in ITS rage, the piglin queen began slamming down her broken mace-wand to splinters, leaving the arm bare of gold and nearly severing through. Unsuccessful in deterring him, he grasps her as the Mayans would a heart and pulls her outwards, simultaneously crushing his grip on her into what manner of alchemical barrier.
His second arm grasped her damaged mace and plunged the tricep for immobilisation. He yanked her out, magic crackling with explosivity to destroy his hand. Too slow, he put his second hand over his first, forcing it open with his thumbs, breaking the spell.
*CRUNCH* The sound of bone gave way to green, oozing blood pouring from his enclosed double fist, acidic in toxicity and smoking verdant puffs. He opens the palm her body is in, and his palm strikes open into the bedrock ceiling repeatedly, again. Again. AGAIN! It was a mess by the time he was done, dropping however many chunks of stained flesh onto the ground. Making sure she can never return in case of reanimating powers or necromantic magic seeping from her pork tenders, no soul was left behind under his scope.
He lets go of this power now after returning with the others' location by the cobbled base by the cliffed edge, finally completing the challenge set by Heath. The avatar's netherite scrap coating is now refined with gold and used as a replacement finishing coat for the outpost.
He sees the golem deactivating its yellow eyes, turning to a dull brown. "Hey all, congrats on winning this challenge!" The controlled golem talked in Heath's voice, enjoying the spectacle he had done but chastising him for having done it too bloodily. He says the golem's body is ready in the real world, and that his consciousness is waiting for all of them to return. "And Arngunn, since Leif had won the boss battle but you had done the next best damage, you will be winning the hovercopter. Instructions will be available on your awakening!"
He waves goodbye, the golem's body shutting down still, a steel tapyric angel in its own pose, another poppy suddenly appearing in the six-fingered hand and aiming towards Leif. Leif grabbed the flower and put it upon the chest of his armour, a nice contrast to the grey.
"Let us return home." The Clan Heir smiled towards all of them, thinking of exiting this world, he soon returned within the opening Uni-pod. Coming back to a spectacle of celebratory wall banners, stockings and wreaths bearing the survivors' names!
Clapping, cheering and wooping came from all over, the thousands who came to watch their battles were incredibly proud of their accomplishment. Leif had his chest out, puffing with pride. Yufren stroked his beard in acknowledgement, and Arngunn kept silent, but a smile upon her face. The deer, from Agostino, to Faustino, to Ezio were all enjoying their return, and the selectively mute Grazia kept herself quiet, yet showing happiness from her hyper-wagging tail and a spring to her double steps.
'If not for my memory, I would have forgotten she was there.' Heath thought with worry at how meek she had presented herself. He may talk with her later on if she is having issues. Either way, it is time for a !!! C E L E B R A T I O N !!!
They partied the night away, drowning away sorrows from within the simulated world and help them reacclimate back to a real environment. The golem kept with them in the background, bobbing its head up and down and shining its yellow eyes closer to a golden hue with increased emotionality from the weight of a new soul bearing within it. Valyria and Sterling came by and talked with the rather quiet being, who's now nicknamed 'Goldie.' A real name only being thought of after everyone had had their fill.
Many danced along with the random music, creating minor choreography beats and following traditional dance patterns or simply pulling off random stunts without a care in the world. Heath was dancing the marimba, tapping his feet and clapping his hands in beat.
"-come on, dance with me! I know you want to." Jhurvon swayed his hips to a hypnotic beat, trying to make Heath's eyes follow his movement as he turned back to his original form from his home realm. "I am sorry, I cannot follow it like that! Ay, let us do something a bit different." Heath changed the audio and put it to a more relaxed reggae, slowing their groove and allowing them to talk in a better environment. Heath went around to the table of food to grab some nibbles, getting a grasp of some sandwiches, he sees Frichga walking up to him.
'Seems the ambitious one is readying to talk.' Heath used his tray to hold 5 sandwiches, and knowing of Frichga's preference to salmon, brought one over for her to have a bite. A small thanks was said before they began talking.
"So, how have the new 'diplomatic' ventures been going that I have talked to you about?" Heath had given her a small job with her skill set, towards possibly speaking with the crows to help build rapport. "Quite well. However. . ." She pauses, rethinking on how to say it. "They appear to have hinted at speaking to -you- directly." Frichga's high-pitched, yet noble tone set their bars like an emissary to a newly founded clan. As for the goats, they appear to not have been affected much by the magic, weirdly enough. Possibly a limit set by Þórr.
Yes, that Þórr. Heath believes they may be more challenged than other species for the power of many deities focusing their strength to immortalise the ones that pull their chariots, such as Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. Heath may need to directly intervene for their species to rise.
"I see, then I will do that after the party. Any favourite drinks? I have never asked you before." Heath created small talk, and it seems she especially liked the sparkling wine. It continued on for a few Model hours, and with him feeling he is leading himself to nowhere, Heath leaves the tower and goes into the (forest farm) to meet up with these intelligent birds. And it appeared they were quite amicable in a meetup, Heath flew beside them in the canopy, and they talked about many things, thanks to how their syrinx allowed them to create words.
Just the same as the deer, he healed them, made their dead reborn, made them truly intelligent and free willed, the usual. But this time, he also increased their size and wing span by a larger margin than the deer had. They are now the same height as a Hatzegopteryx!
A flying dinosaur with a wingspan of >≈ 30.9396-Model m (≈ 10-m (≈32.8084-feet).) If not for their hollow bones, they would be big enough to be flown upon! These crows were made with shorter necks and a stockier body in comparison, but used a similar wing structure. They were incredibly thankful for this incredible makeover and had given their loyalty the same way as the deer had in the past, creepily enough. 'Okay, who's doing this? Is this just a normal reaction?' Heath ignored his own complaints, firmly leading with a few names.
He chose to apply that same naming convention of Italian and Greek, except he had reversed the genders: The Greek names were female, the Italians were male. Simple enough swap. And their population numbered 2,002, nearly x10 the amount of the deer and near-twice of mennskr.
So many flying terror birds of human intelligence certainly led to some thoughts from both species. Mostly joy, that there was another awe-inspiring sight before the night ended.
Total population: 1,165 + 237 + 2,002 = 3,404 sapient creatures, an extra 37 from new foals and 2 from babies in the nest.
[1] A combination of The Devourer and The Unbreakable from Minecraft Legends, amalgamated close to a Great Unclean One of Nurgle as a comparison.