Theurgy: Forsaken Oaths (Book Two)

Chapter 61 God Slayers

Sameal's hands shook as he began loading his rifle. Pouring black powder from the horn into the breech, then down the barrel in a strained practiced procedure. As footsteps could be heard getting closer to his crouched position, he hastily jammed the black power held within the barrel till it settled against the powder charge. And then, just as the footsteps approached him, he shoved a lead bullet into the barrel, sweat beading down the side of his face, and just able to pull back the locked hammer to aim at the doorway as it burst open. But he didn't fire. Instead sighed in relief as the building around them still shook. They were other Military police, or at least that was what they were for now. Among them were black-clad men and women holding curved swords inscribed with runes and a few among them sporting pale eyes that watched the terrified Talin Agent slowly lower his rifle.

"Get up, you welp," yelled one of the other Talin agents as he grabbed Sameal by the collavr of his uniform and hauled him out of the broom closet. "We shall look over your cowardice for now; that damned godling has gotten onto the roof."

"The roof?" Samael said in disbelief. They had prepared all manner of countermeasures and traps on the ground floor, anticipating the godlings' attack. Some of their forces have intercepted one of them, the black-haired bounty hunter native to this city, and were in the process of hopefully apprehending or, at the very least, killing him. That meant that the one assaulting them now was the blond-haired prince. He must have surmised their preparation and sought to circumvent them successfully. Now all their forces were attempting to slow him down, giving their Makhai and mages enough time to mount some sort of defense against him before he reached their goddess.

Samael guessed that was where the rumbling was coming from. The knight descended floor by floor, meeting all their opposition head-on. He was half dragged, half led through the halls, and upstairs till they came upon a long corridor, perfectly narrow and with no doors to leap or evade their counterassault. They organized themselves in neat firing rows, half kneeling and the others among over their shoulders down the dark hallway. Sam was one of those standings, though his hands trembled around the trigger as his eyes fixed to the stairs that led to the upper floors, where the rumbling was coming from. They all stood as still as statues, Makhai, and mages going further down to take up more secure points, leaving their platoon utterly alone to face this menace. A faint light could be seen slowly growing brighter from the stairs, alongside the sounds of light footfalls. Even though Samael could not sense avra, he could feel the immense presence of this godslayer, almost making the air around them heavy. Then he saw him. Samael was only given a few seconds to take in the details of this beast before chaos ran loose. Samael had thought that the godling was wielding a weapon or such that gave off the glow that he saw earlier, but no. The godling himself was glowing. His white cape, silver armor, and skin radiated a soft light like the faint glare of the moonlight above. Samael would have been raptured by this sight if not for the roar that came from behind him.

"Fire!" yelled their commander, and almost in unison, everyone pulled their trigger upon him. Samael's eyes clenched as he did his best to keep his aim steady on the godling and fired a shot at his head. After the initial volley, everything grew silent-the smoke from their spent gunpowder for a moment. But the horror that awaited them chilled Samael to the bone. The godling had not stopped his steady advance, nothing more than a stride. His armor nor his cape suffer a scratch or scuffle from their assault.

Already the backline hurried to reload their weapons, though Samael knew this to be futile. He took an unconscious step back as the front line prepared bayonets and sabers to try and engage the knight in combat. The godling did not draw a blade; instead, he lifted his hand toward them. Samael again could not sense it, but he felt a sudden rippling of the air. And like a wall of force, every one of the charging Talin warriors was sent flying away from the godling, slamming into floor walls and ceiling with cracking impact and falling in heaps all around. Samael himself was sent flying further down the hall near the next set of stairs that lead to the floor below. Without thinking, he fled as he heard the warcries of his comrades turn into death throws behind him. He tumbled down the steps, abandoning his spent rifle he clutched as he came upon the following line of defense here. Makhai warriors who ignored him as he fled passed, instead kept their eyes trained on the staircase waiting for the godslayer to arrive. Sam dived into an adjacent room and huddled down, his heart ramming his ribcage and blood rushing his ears as he got control of the gripping fear within him. But so did curiosity. Surely the supernatural warriors and mages will be enough to take down the godling. Samael peaked outside of the room he hid within to see the mage holding out their curved ivory staff towards the four makhai, chanting beneath his breath as a variety of different glows encased the four forms, providing them with all manners of mystical enhancements in the preparation of battle to come very soon. But then, suddenly, two of the Makhai frantically ducked out of the way as a beam of white light suddenly flashed toward them. Samael had to avert his eyes as the flash nearly blinded him, forcing him to blink out the bright impressions left in his visions. But as his sight came back into focus and he looked back outside into the hall, he saw that the mage was gone. Where he stood, there was nothing, no blood, no charred remains, just a precise slice carved from the ground where he stood just a moment ago. And with his disappearance, whatever enhancements the Makhai had before slowly faded.