All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 335: Blinded By The Light

I hovered before the demon lord, pretending to be a man in a suit. We stared at each other across the room as everyone else ran. I was out-leveled, but this was nothing new. When I first got here, everything I fought was at a much higher level than me. But there was a qualitative difference in the Demon Lord, too, a particular pattern and intensity of energy that I had never seen before. That told me that it was more than just powerful. It had a kind of influence on the world itself.

As we continued to watch each other motionlessly, I wondered if we would talk. It seemed a little bit calmer and more put together than its minions. The sharp suit certainly gave me a good first impression, at least. So even though my projections indicated that there was a 95.67% chance of combat initiating within the next 10 seconds, maybe we could have an actual conversation before anything else happened.

Then again, I wasn't sure what we had to say to each other. Even if it seemed relatively reasonable, its underlings certainly weren't. And the Lieutenants were presumable following this guy's orders, after all. So, their acting as completely destructive and chaotic forces in the world didn't exactly reflect well on their boss. They promoted everything I stood against, so how could we find common ground?

Subtly, I formed a barrier of air between us and slowly coated it with my protective sealant. It was a good thing I did. As soon as everything was clear, it made the first move. It was just a simple hand gesture. But that small movement sent an explosion tearing through the room.

On one hand, it was awfully considerate of the Demon Lord to wait for others to be out of the way. It once again raised my estimation of him. On the other hand, that was offset by it being a really big explosion.

My protective barrier strained under the force of the impact, bending and threatening to crack. But luckily, my use of that skill had paid off. It barely held as the blast and debris flew around me and upwards, ripping off the roof.

The redirected force punched a hole through the several layers of floors above us, decimating the upper layers of the fortress. Thousands upon thousands of pounds of black stone and wood flung into the sky with such force that the air pressure disintegrated them as they flew, nothing more than tiny motes of dust and ashes floating down around the entire valley. Some of it even made it so far as the peaks of nearby mountains.

I narrowed my Sanitation Lamp to the finest beam size that I could make, upping its intensity to make the most potent and precise strike possible. A solid line of blue-purple light shot through my protective wall, its clear nature allowing it to pass unhindered. The beam bored right into one of the Demon Lord's pupils, which I noted was vertically slit like a cat's.

The demon blinked a couple of times as its pupil constricted drastically, but didn't so much as move. 0.52 seconds later, the pupil suddenly disappeared, leaving the iris solid red.

That was a pretty promising result. I decided to keep going as long as I could. I kept my Sanitation Lamp in place until smoke began to pour from its eye, forcing it to finally close. Undeterred, I shifted the laser off of its eyelid into the other eye, effectively blinding it.

It felt kind of odd that it wasn't really reacting to my attacks. I mean, I thought they were doing something, but it was hard to tell. Wouldn't it have raised a hand at least if it was really bothered though?

Even as it closed both eyes, I could see the creature begin to smile. Its mouth was filled with pointed teeth like those of a shark. It was also far too wide, spanning from ear to ear and acting as further evidence that it was not, in fact, human. As it threw its head back to laugh, its jaw stayed in one place while the rest of its head hinged back at an unnatural angle.

The sound of its laughter was a sharp, high-pitched one. It peaked my microphone slightly in a way that I was certain the humans would find uncomfortable as well. Large wings spread from its back as it flew upwards. I followed, keeping pace as we rocketed into the sky. I didn't want this thing to get away, especially if it intended to go after my friends. Staying near it was the least I could do. As we flew, it made gestures at me, each resulting in explosions and arcs of shadowy energy hurtling toward me at unprecedented speeds.

I found some way to deflect or absorb the strikes. In response, I fired different variations of my own attacks, attempting to wipe away its smug look however I could. But I only had medium success. Even sprays of hyper-concentrated acid to the face did little more than make it smile wider. That, and make it look like it had taken a fresh shower.

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I blocked an ice bolt; a spray of a very strong base caused its eyebrows to sizzle slightly, and I had to deflect some black energy that washed over me. My analysis indicated that it was some kind of death magic. Luckily, it found nothing to take hold of and simply passed over me. That seemed to give it pause, but only for a moment. Then, it resumed its attacks.

As our ascent took us level with the mountaintops, I changed up my approach. I switched my Spray Bottle to holy water, deciding that it might be a better option in this case. Luckily, my Spray Bottle could do more than emit a fine mist now. A veritable geyser of sparkling blue water gushed forth to drench my opponent.

And finally, I got a reaction. It managed to sense the danger of the attack before it smashed into its unnatural face, dodging to the side. But some of the water still sprayed across its dapper suit jacket, smoking where it made contact. I watched as the buttons on its sleeve melted off. This time its laugh shortened into a growl of annoyance.

Its dark hair fluttered as it attempted to brush off the water with its hand, but that proved to be a mistake. As the holy water touched the tips of its fingers, it hissed in frustration. But my Holy Water skill was relatively unpracticed, and my reserves were running low. I had to stop, the geyser ceasing suddenly as I pulled out my Divine Sword instead. As it shed its coat, I ran a System Diagnostics on it. Information about its movements and reactions raced through my processors at breakneck speeds as the skill synthesized the information I collected and other details that I wasn't privy to.

Preparing myself for the next assault, I waited for the skill to complete. Then, I'd see if the Demon Lord had any other weaknesses.

—

Bee felt her involuntary gasp of horror break the silence. She tried to hold her breath, but it was too late. Her words broke the fragile stillness that had seemed to last a lifetime. She'd wanted it to go on forever, if only so that the world wouldn't end so soon.

"Level 100." Her skin crawled at the words. It was a literal god, come from the demon plane. She could only pray to Void that her master had the power to face another ultimate being. There was one thing for certain, though: this wasn't her battle. It was way too far above her level.

Only taking the time to make sure the Nighty Knights were also running, she turned and fled for the exit. For a moment, she feared that the Lieutenants would take advantage of their distraction, but she saw that they, too, were fleeing; the witch doctor and the death knight that Void had been fighting were both running. They weren't even trying to fight anyone. Everyone was entirely focused on getting out of the way. The Knights helped each other as they fled. The flying members scooped up the slower ones. Bee found herself carrying two of the bulkier members who were more focused on strength and defense than speed as they all rushed away, leaving just the two gods to face each other.

As they ran, Bee remembered what Tony had told her and considered the two Lieutenants. They were running with them. She could fight one of the Lieutenants and possibly win, but two... well, she hadn't been able to stop two from interfering with the Nighty Knights. Not totally. But if the Nighty Knights were helping her fight, she was pretty sure they could take them. Once they were far enough away from the immediate danger, of course.

Just she had was considering how to communicate her plan, the roof of the fortress vanished.A shock wave slammed into them from behind, daylight suddenly illuminating the space as bits of the roof went sailing off into the distance, leaving behind only the ground floor on which they were running.

She was sent tumbling. She pulled in the Nighty Knights she was carrying, trying to shelter them with her body, but it wasn't very effective as they were both larger than her. She released them as she regained her feet and looked around. Above their heads, the blue sky had replaced the otherwise oppressive stone ceiling, although it was now clouded with debris and ash. A quick head count showed that everyone was thankfully still there. The smoking ruins of the fortress around them were filled with Nighty Knights picking each other up and the few healers running between prone forms.

Soon, Bee joined them. She found several injuries that she quickly fixed with an intense blast of her repair skills before the Knights could hop to their feet. Before she could get to every one of them, though, the first Lieutenant made itself known.

The sound of a shield slamming into stone shook the ground, raising a cloud of dust several feet off the ground. The pavement's stones rocked, their mortar breaking loose. Bee stood up and, instead of running to the next injured, left it for the Nighty Knights' own healers. They could take care of things. But she needed to take care of this.

Adjusting her grip on her broom, she turned to face the foe. The Death Knight stood in front, shield braced. Behind it, she could barely make out the beak of the witch doctor's mask.

The witch doctor began to chant something. Given how that had gone last time, Bee wasn't exactly eager to let it do as it pleased again. Bee charged forward, attempting to slam her way through the Death Knight, but was rebuffed by the massive shield. Its defenses were incredible. She ran a Scan on it, blanching at the results. Something had changed. The Death Knight was no longer level 70 as she'd expected. Oh, no, not just the temporary buff was on them. It had actually gained 20 levels.

Bee nearly despaired. How had this happened? Was it just the Death Knight? She quickly scanned the witch doctor and saw the same result. Level 90. There were no lesser demons around for her to double-check, but she had a sinking feeling that they weren't the only ones, either. Her estimation of their odds against the two Lieutenants plummeted. There was only one saving grace: the Death Knight was heavily concentrated on constitution and defense. As for the witch doctor, based on what she knew, it also had limitations. It did best with ritual spells and long preparation times. It might not have the same short-term destructive capabilities as Nazareth'gak or some of the elemental demons.

She knew what had to be done. She had wanted to avoid this, but at this point? They needed everything they could to survive. Steeling herself, Bee called over her shoulder. "Nighty Knights, form up!"