BOOK 4: CHAPTER 25: ABOMINATION

Was that really William? He looked…different.

That was not how William looked or how David expected any human to look two years into the integration.

Nonetheless, he was certain.

That thing was William.

He was two meters tall and covered in polished-green scales. His arms were elongated and covered in a second layer of scales, and the tail jutting from his tailbone was massive and barbed. It was also stuck in one of the dying Champions.

His neck was thick and long, almost like a python’s, and his eyes were a vibrant yellow that resembled the sun.

But while he looked like an amalgamation of a Tirac and some Kobolds he’d seen in the past, the abomination was also very…human. He looked like a bulky human with a humongous neck, clattering scales, and razor-sharp fangs jutting from his maw.

It was nothing like the William he knew, yet there was not the faintest inkling of a doubt in David’s heart.

William turned to him as he stepped forward. He regarded David momentarily, and a glimmer of something flashed through his eyes, but it didn’t last long.

The glimmer disappeared as William’s maw opened. A hiss rang through the vicinity, and the blood in David’s body drained when the corner of the abomination’s massive maw curled into a smile.

What happened to you? David wanted to ask – scream – but his lips wouldn’t part.

And, deep down, he knew the answer. Zachariah had mentioned the Divinity Fragment before, and David knew that it was part of the problem. It was no more than that; a part of the problem.

Even the Poisonous Beast God was not the main problem. If William had been the same old friend he had known for years, neither a Beast God nor the promise of power would have affected him.

“You…really are the Venomancer?” David asked, hoping everything was a lie.

He knew it was to no avail. The question was foolish, the answer obvious.

“Is that really what you want to know?” William snorted coldly.

David grimaced, his hair standing on end. His mind was a mess and threatened to abandon him, but he knew better than to lower his guard now.

The Giants were one thing. They could be dealt with relatively easily now that the survivors had been evacuated. But William? If William was truly the Venomancer, he’d killed dozens of Champions in the months before David disappeared in the Naughtrealm.

He sincerely doubted William had stopped his hunt since then.

William was strong. He’d eliminated the Champion council, pushing all of them to the verge of death to kill and consume their Might one by one.

Clearly, William didn’t even have to try hard. If the fight with the Champion council had been a challenge, he would have killed the strongest Champions right away, but that was not necessary.

The power they’d released was nothing to him.

He is an Ascendant.

William may not have a Divine Seed, but David sincerely doubted that mattered. All that separated them was the method they used to ascend the flight of stairs to attain godhood.

“Your mind is a mess, David,” William hissed sarcastically.

He lifted one of his clawed fingers and vanished into thin air. David sensed a fluctuation of energy, but he couldn’t sense where William had gone or what exactly his old friend had done.

He didn’t lower his guard and sensed another fluctuation, and William reappeared, holding a familiar Champion in the air.

The abomination looked at the dwarf as he held him in the air by his neck and tightened his grip.

The Prime Champion gathered his energy and moved, but his veins turned green and his energy dissipated at once.

“Nice try,” William hissed, cocking his head to the side as his chokehold of the Prime Champion grew firmer.

And, before David could cast [Phantom Rush], William’s head snapped back to him.

“Long time no see, David,” he said, his voice laced with exhilaration. “I don’t know why I pushed back our reunion. I am so happy to see you again.”

David disappeared in a flash. He appeared before William, who didn’t seem particularly impressed, as he teleported again.

David spun around, sword tightly gripped, [True Sight] unleashed to the fullest. He rushed toward the trace of spatial energy that appeared no more than ten meters away, yet William didn’t follow his prediction.

The Venomancer laughed aloud, his barbed tail impaling the same unfortunate Champion he’d pierced a moment ago.

“You are a Healer, aren’t you?” he laughed, his maw extending alongside his smile. “I wonder if you can heal your headless friend.”

With that, William’s head expanded in all directions. His neck extended further and his maw tore wide open.

Chains of [Archaic Shackles], crimson barriers of [Bloodbound Bastion], and the surge of harmony between Bloodlust and [Fearwrought] sprang to life simultaneously. David shot forward, circulating Vitae and Origin Essence into his legs as he activated [Herald’s Blessing], [Unyielding Vitality], and [Origin Lightning] in the hope of arriving in time, but the primordial chains never reached William, and the crimson barriers crumbled as the abomination’s fangs tore through them.

He reached William, sword fueled with Lightning Rend in his sword arm, and Deryadus’ Arm transformed into a hand cannon charged with [Primeval Pulse] in his left arm, but all he received in response was a side-eye filled with mockery.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl around David as a sudden sense of despair—and weakness—overcame him. The sensation of failure struck him hard and unbidden. David was not new to failure, but it had been a while. Yet, no matter how far he went into the past, failure had never felt like this: so miserably. So… final.

A mesh of emotions threatened to overwhelm him. They forced their way into his mind, and his very being, and held tightly onto him. David could have tried to fight against the chaos of emotions, but he knew he didn’t deserve it. He had to face his emotions head-on, no matter how much of a mess they were.

They can't be worse than this, he thought, gritting his teeth as time returned to normal.

A moment later, the abomination’s maw snapped shut around Torb’s head.

Blood spurted everywhere, but David ignored it as he slashed down. Scales cracked, flesh burned, and wet snaps reached his ears, followed by a pained hiss, yet David did not look at William. His eyes lingered on the fading spark of life of the headless Prime Champion.

“Torb…” he murmured as his friend’s body slumped to the ground, blood pouring from his neck.

Part of him wanted to rescue Torb—to give his all to heal his old friend—but David knew it was in vain. His emotional side did not want to accept that, and that was why the rational, logical part of his brain was all the more clear about the Prime Champion’s chances at survival.

It was nil.

Or maybe it wasn’t nil. David was certain he could help Torb and fix him… somehow, if he were to spend hundreds of pure Blood droplets, and the lifeforce of dozens of Giants over the course of hours, maybe even days, to fix him. But there was no way to be certain how it would work out. Restoring grey matter was complicated. It had worked for Maja, but their condition was different. Maja had only been wounded, leaving enough structure and tissue to restore. Torb’s head was no longer there.

Worse still, William was still alive and present. The Venomancer was also powerful. He was stronger than David had expected.

He played with me, David cursed inwardly, his head flicking back to the abomination that had once been his friend.

William swallowed and stared intently at him, lightly patting his seared flesh and severed scales as they regenerated at a visible pace. David didn’t sense a Skill Rune or Spark at play, but that was impossible. How could William’s natural regeneration be even faster than his? David knew that he’d have to overclock [True Restoration] to rival such a high regeneration rate.

William smiled broadly at the despair in David’s face, but his attention did not remain on his old friend. His head flicked to the Champion impaled on his barbed tail after mere seconds.

The Venomancer was stronger than David, and Fortress’ Might had already begun to transfer to William. He would only grow stronger.

I can’t do both.

He could not heal the dead, resurrect Torb after the spark of his life extinguished, and go all-out against William. David wasn’t even sure if he could win against William, forget about protecting the remaining members of the Champion council.

A frustrated roar escaped David’s lips as he shot forward. William locked onto him at once and turned to him once the tail jutted out of the impaled Champion’s back.

William hurled the Champion to the side and released a green jet stream of acid. It corroded the Champion’s armor and skin. Pained screams rang out, but neither David nor William paid the wounded Champion any more attention.

David noticed subtle distortions in the space around William and released [Origin Lightning]. A faint red tinge enveloped the pure-white lightning bolt that whipped through the air, but the Venomancer didn’t seem to pay much attention to the bolt. He waved his clawed hand and backhanded the bolt, scattering pure-white arcs in all directions.

A moment later, he disappeared—and the mark of [Lifeweaver’s Bond] vanished with him.

Focusing on the Advanced Spark showed David everything. Not only how much of a messy amalgamation William had become, but also his location as well.

David pressed his feet into the ground and dashed to the right, ignoring the pain in his cracking ankles as he sharply veered off course. He attached a few [Healing Sphere]s to his body and cast [Herald’s Blessing] to accelerate and find William, who was nowhere to be seen.

Is that some sort of camouflage skill?

It could have been Stealth, but that didn’t make much sense either. How could William teleport through space and use an Assassin’s most important ability at its highest level—when he was actually a Venomancer? David didn’t know everything about William, but he was fairly confident William had been a Venomancer—and whatever Secondary Class was required to create, dominate, and nourish a Cohorte.

It was most definitely unrelated to spatial-attributed Classes like Portaligist.

Is he…? Possible. But that would mean he had dozens of high-level powers. Powers Ascendants granted to their Sworn and Champions. David grimaced, feeling sick to his stomach.

At least he could sense William. The Venomancer hadn’t left the market square. He moved stealthily around the area and closed the distance to David slowly. David considered releasing a geyser of Vitae to tear through William’s defenses, but being uncertain about the rest of his abilities made it increasingly difficult to decide what to do.

No. It was just hard to tell if Vitae could weaken William enough to kill him. To… kill his friend.

I need more.

Vitae Nihilum might no longer be his greatest power, but it held the potential to change everything. Thus, David didn’t use it right away. He ordered it to devour the rest of the Sanctuary first instead.

William didn’t remain idle. He moved slowly at first and accelerated when David turned around. His claws spread as the invisible Venomancer burst forward. David still couldn’t see him, but he could sense it all—life signal and [Lifeweaver’s bond].

He retrieved some Platinum-ranked blood from his storage and controlled it at once. David stared ahead and unleashed a shockwave of blood. It moved unhindered in all directions—except ahead. The shockwave momentarily outlined William’s frame, and David attacked, Obsidian Blade in his hands. He cleaved downward, certain his timing was impeccable.

But timing was of little importance if the opponent was faster. The Obsidian Blade never reached William. Instead, David’s grasp on the soulbound weapon shifted drastically as blood spurted through the air.

William disappeared into the fountain of blood, his hoarse laughter ringing in David’s ears.

“This wouldn’t be enough to kill our oh-so-powerful Healer, would it?” William’s voice rang out from farther away.

David spun around, grimacing as his eyes flicked to his right hand—or what was left of his arm. His right hand, alongside his wrist and a portion of his forearm, had been severed. The rest of his arm still clung tightly to the Obsidian Blade—until the lifeforce within the severed limb had been drained.

Unfamiliar verdant lines sloshed through the hand, devouring all the lifeforce and nutrients. It consumed everything until the hand was no more than a husk of its former strength.

The hand fell unceremoniously to the ground, but that wasn’t why David groaned.

He cast [True Restoration] on his right arm, but his hand wouldn’t regrow. Not even the bleeding could be stemmed with the combined efforts of [Healing Sphere] and [True Restoration]. Instead, the same verdant lines rampaged near the arm stump, consuming his lifeforce as they attempted to force their way toward his upper arm and shoulder.

“Are we really playing like that?” David growled quietly, transforming the Obsidian Blade into a curved scimitar and chipping off a chunk of his right forearm. His body wanted to resist the attack, but David forced his body, mind, and soul to obey.

The chunk of flesh landed on the ground with a thud, right before the verdant lines devoured it all. They disappeared once again a moment later, but David focused on his forearm instead, overclocking [True Restoration] and [Vital Weaving] to stop the blood and regrow his arm perfectly.

“I wonder how long you can keep up with that,” William snickered, looking unimpressed at David as his arm regrew. “Can you regrow your legs as well? How about your organs? Your heart maybe even? Your head? Well, I sure hope you can bring some excitement in my life. It has been an eternity since we met, so we have to make it special, don’t we?”

David wasn’t sure about that last part—but he’d definitely give this fight his all. After all, he had to rescue someone.

David had to protect his old friend—before the abomination devoured what remained of him. And if killing that friend was the only way to stop it... he would.